The Sandman is a mythical character in Western and Northern European folklore who puts people to sleep and brings good dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto the eyes of people while they sleep at night, i.e. rheum. — Wikipedia

Eighties Metal and Pop

Greetings Biters! For the April tribute to the Sandman, I’d take you for another trip into my music library. Let me introduce you to the band Rock Sugar and their hit Don’t Stop The Sandman.

The band consists of guitarist Chuck Duran, former bassist Johnny Santoro and now current bassist, Ken Cain, drummer Alexander Track and lead singer Wakko Warner himself Mr. Jess Harnell.

Rock Sugar is a metal band. When stranded way back in 1989 on an island with nothing but a CD player and batteries along with the CD collection of a thirteen-year-old girl they became whom we know now.

At least, so goes the band’s fictional backstory and framing device for their unique sound of mashing up eighties metal and pop songs.

Metallica’s Journey?

As I just mentioned the band’s claim to fame is a mash-up of genres from the eighties. Their debut number is a rather obvious take on the Metallica’s famous song, Enter Sandman and Journey’s legendary, Don’t Stop Believing. It is not only their opening track on their album, Reimaginator, hitting the scene back in 2010 it is also the only video I could find from the band itself.

One could find it a strange mix when thinking of Metallica and Journey while to me it appealingly complements one another. While Enter Sandman gives Journey’s an edge, Don’t Stop Believing gives Metallica a brighter side.

The video itself falls more into the light-hearted side switching from them performing on a beach and singing in a recording studio while goofing around having fun with their fans.

The light, upbeat footage pairs and contrast nicely against the hard rock fashion of the traditional black clothing, rings, and leathers we see them wearing on the beach for the big Enter Sandman intro. I merely knew the video would be great.

Cowby Wacco

My final thoughts on the video have me wishing I had Jess Harnell’s cowboy hat. I’d also wish for someone to play this song over Animaniacs clips for the fact I can’t un-hear Wakko when he sings the Journey lyrics.

The bottom line is, I enjoy Rock Sugar and their unique way to mash up eighties music together. So, Biters, if this sounds like your cup of tea, hit YouTube and give Don’t Stop The Sandman a listen or maybe check out Rock Sugar’s other tracks.

James Vaughan