Classic Rocktails

⚡ AC/DC: BACK IN BLACK ⚡
One of the biggest, loudest, most indestructible rock albums ever made.
This week on Classic Rocktails, Doc and Mac dive into AC/DC’s 1980 masterpiece Back in Black — the impossible task of replacing Bon Scott, Brian Johnson’s arrival, Mutt Lange’s massive production, and the riffs that turned tragedy into one of the best-selling albums in history.
We break down the highs, the lows, the stories behind the songs, and ask the only question that really matters:
Does Back in Black still hold up?
Pour something strong, turn it up, and join the bar fight. 🥃⚡
#ACDC #BackInBlack #ClassicRock

Survivor had the songs, the singers, the hooks—and somehow still managed to make their own road to rock history harder than it needed to be.
This week, Doc and Mac dive into the strange, hit-filled story of Survivor: from the monster success of “Eye of the Tiger” to the arrival of Jimi Jamison and the polished perfection of Vital Signs. We get into Dave Bickler vs. Jamison, Jim Peterik’s songwriting machine, the band’s revolving-door lineup, and the baffling decisions that kept Survivor from becoming even bigger.
Was Survivor an underrated great rock band—or just a brilliant singles machine that could never quite get out of its own way?
Plus: the highs, the lows, a Chicago-inspired cocktail, and another round of The Game Mac’s Not Expecting.
🥃 Pour one. Turn it up. And decide for yourself: Did Survivor do Survivor dirty?

Bob Seger walked into 1978 and casually dropped:
🔥 “Hollywood Nights”
🥃 “Still the Same”
🎹 “We’ve Got Tonite”
🍺 “Old Time Rock and Roll”
That’s not an album side. That’s a barroom murderers’ row.
We’re cracking open Stranger in Town on Classic Rocktails.
Does it still hold up?
#classicrocktails #vinyl

Rush’s Moving Pictures is one of those albums where technical brilliance and huge rock songs somehow coexist perfectly. Doc and Mac dig into “Tom Sawyer,” “Red Barchetta,” “YYZ,” “Limelight” and the rest of a record that helped bring prog rock into the mainstream without sanding off its weird edges.

They debate whether this is peak Rush, where the album still holds up—and pair it with the Limelight, a bright, sharp absinthe cocktail built for the occasion.

Hit play and join the argument: is Moving Pictures Rush at their absolute best?

Night Ranger’s Midnight Madness is pure 1983: huge guitars, huge hooks, MTV, arcade games, and one power ballad that became impossible to escape.
This week, Doc and Mac go track-by-track through the album that gave us “(You Can Still) Rock in America,” “When You Close Your Eyes,” and, of course, “Sister Christian.” Does Midnight Madness still hold up as one of the great melodic rock albums of the ’80s—or are we letting nostalgia do some of the heavy lifting?
Along the way, we revisit the glory days of ’80s video games, imagine what would happen if rock bands could make player trades, and put Mac through another edition of The Game Mac’s Not Expecting.
Grab a drink, turn it up, and MOTORIN’.