Thanks, Wheelz...Joe is as cool as the car and it runs great. I've always had a thing for Topolino Altereds myself.
My pick for Racer of the Week is Justin Wilkinson from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Justin was recommended to me by my friend Karlene Morrison. Thanks, Karlene!
Justin is the owner and operator of JW Automotive in Omiston, and his work there is truly extraordinay. He is an engine specialist who builds turbocharged small-block engines, and the results he gets out of these projects are simply breathtaking. Justin can build a thousand horsepower into these cars if that's what the objective is. He is a master of turbo technology and his Holden VL 10.5 Radial Pro Street car is what I believe is the ultimate sleeper. It's different. His best ET to date with this car is an 8.05 and he got 169.5 mph with it.
The only giveaway with this car is the exhaust header that curves upward from the wheel well in front. Other than that, it looks like a standard right-steered Australian street car that would pull up next to you at a stoplight. His use of a dyno and computer technology is first-rate, and he can fine-tune an engine to a thousandth of a degree that will hit exact numbers and blow everybody's mind while doing it. I highly recommend visiting Justin's Facebook page for JW Automotive, as it deals with stuff I am not qualified to detail here on the show, but I can tell you that what I've seen there is nothing short of awesome.
He features his customer's engines, everything from old-school Camaros and Falcons to modern-day street cars. He shows dyno results and subsequent performances, and it was a very entertaining and informative trip going to the JW Automotive page and checking all this stuff out. GREAT job on these projects, Justin. Good luck, safe racing and best of times to you in the future.
Rich Panicaro suggested I give an essay on Bachman-Turner Overdrive. What I found from doing some research on this band is that it is part of the story of Randy Bachman, from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and in his 71 years, he has been the driving force behind several bands that reached the pinnacle of success on the record charts. He is also one of the most individualistic, some would say eccentric personalities in Rock History. Along with Frank Zappa, Todd Rundgren and David Bowie, Randy Bachman created and thrived in his own universe and he did not compromise either his music or his career to suit anyone or anything but his own singular vision.
As a child, Randy (I should point out that the actual pronunciation of his name is Backman but he's cool with how it's said) played violin and he was a prodigy who studied and took lessons at a conservatory in Canada. His life and my life were identical in many ways during this time. When he was 12, he found his mission in life when he heard Little Richard on the radio, and from then on it was rock 'n roll. Having learned and mastered music theory by then, he was no longer interested in the structured and rigid format of classical music. He ditched the academics and started playing from the heart. In his teens, he met Les Paul and Les taught him some of his stuff, which you can hear throughout Randy's recording career. Les Paul, Randy Bachman, and yes, even John Bockelman didn't read music anymore. Randy started writing songs and jamming with rock 'n roll musicians.
An early example of his lead guitar playing is on the Guess Who's first hit, a cover of Johnny Kidd and the Pirates' "Shakin' All Over" in 1962. I purchased that record when it came out. It rocked harder than anything else, and I performed the song in the early 1980s as a note-for-note cover of his version. He founded the Guess Who and co-wrote all their hits. In 1970, he had beliefs and standards, and he left that world-conquering band to start his own career, forming Brave Belt which eventually morphed into the incredible Bachman-Turner Overdrive, which they named after the truckers' magazine.
It was at this time that Randy broke the mold and dug into his Fender Stratocaster guitar and committed what purists called Supreme Blasphemy. He installed a Gibson Humbucking pickup in it. He was vilified for this atrocity by his peers, who probably never thought to do something like that, but what came out of that guitar from then on was pure magic. All of BTO's hits had that guitar in the lead slot, and it was not only the big beat, the awesome vocals and the great songs they did, it was that sound...that unique, special tone of Randy's guitar that grabbed me and kept me listening. Over the years, he has reunited with every musician and every band he played in. He didn't burn any bridges, and there isn't one bad word anybody has ever said about Randy Bachman. In the music business, that speaks volumes about the character that he posesses. He played here in Houston a couple of years ago as the guitarist in Ringo Starr's All-Star Band.
I bought all of BTO's and Randy Bachman's albums. I have everything he recorded formally with bands from the beginning of his career up until present time. He is not just a guitar gorilla. As well as the unforgettable rock 'n roll songs we all know, Randy wrote, sang and played some of the most poignant and touching music I have ever heard. He has deep insight and a firm grasp of song structure and music theory, and his latter-period BTO and solo recordings exposed his soul in a way I never would have expected.
I highly recommend Randy Bachman and anything he worked on, if you're looking for quality, talent and depth. I guarantee that he won't disappoint.
Y'all be sure to tune in tomorrow evening at 7 PM Eastern on RacersReunion Radio for Racing Through History. It's a Goat Rodeo you don't want to miss. Everybody Rock On. Thanks, I'll see y'all next week.