PRISM ARMAGEDDON REACTION - They scared me with this! First time hearing

[@robscott9414]

THE quintessential Prism song!! I have no idea why, but Prism never seems to get the recognition that they so richly deserve. Canadian content -- it rocks!

[@jethro1963]

Prism is noteworthy for launching the careers of several former group members, including international record producer Bruce Fairbairn, songwriter Jim Vallance, Powder Blues Band frontman Tom Lavin and Headpins and Chilliwack musician Ab Bryant. A pre-fame Bryan Adams also contributed as a songwriter to several early Prism releases.

[@MmmmPiePants]

@@jethro1963 goddamn...

[@kevinm4022]

Thank you for this. My brother had the record....yes i said record. Prism is a HIGHLY UNDERRATED Canadian band. Ron Tabak is really missed as the lead singer

[@timtabor6893]

Just love Prism another underrated Canadian band from the 80s

[@alharlowofficial8933]

Hi Harri: Al Harlow here. I'm an original member of Prism, on Armageddon and still onstage. Glad you approve of "Armageddon"! We were raised on R&B, Motown, British Invasion etc, playing clubs & dances in our youth, so using a horn section and R&B rhythm section stuff was natural. Our guitarist Lindsay Mitchell wrote the song in '78-'79, some of it from a helicopter flying over Memphis TN, directly above Graceland on the 1st anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. Elvis fans swarmed below, and with the police on strike, the National Guard acted as police. We were performing in Memphis that night, and saw it all from the sky. It seemed like a tongue-in-cheek metaphor for Armageddon, and so the concept took shape. The jet-fighter pilot cross-talk heard in the intro is real: We brought an ex-Air Force pilot into the studio; he wrote out the "script" of what a real scramble conversation would be, spoke his half, while our producer Bruce Fairbairn read his half. Thanks for listening, Harri! - Al H

[@Mike990920]

Holy shit!!! Al Harlow!!! Thanks for chiming in!! That said, I’ve seen Prism 3 times in Calgary. And every time, it sounded awful. Parts of the show would sound fine, but then in other parts of the show, all of a sudden, an instrument would be totally lost from one side of the stage or the other. I concluded that Prism must be a nightmare to mix. I did ask the sound guy (at The Chrome Room) about this once, and he didn’t want to comment.

[@maureenwagg5305]

Grew up listening to Prism. This song and the album are in my collection right now. Fantastic choice.

[@marybaillie8907]

Originally, the band was called The Seeds of Time. Prism released this album in 1979 and it was their best selling album reaching double platinum with writing credits to Bryan Adams for several songs. A song about fans streaming to Graceland to see if Elvis was really dead. Another great 🇨🇦 Canadian Band with a great melody for this tune and wonderful instrumentation. Great reaction Harri. Thanks Harri and Louie. 👏👏 Cheers from Canada 🇨🇦

[@kevinm4022]

As a canadian i appreciate others who mention how important Prism is. If it wasn't for my older brother i wouldn't know who Prism was. Before covid my wife is like Prism is coming and im like ummmm no. Without Ron its not Prism. Thanks for the post

[@realsergegrenier6857]

Staple of Canadian rock radio. Try Young and Restless!

[@bikeracer6045]

WOW! Pretty amazed you are reviewing this song! One of the best and most iconic bands in Canada. Thank you. I have this song used in one of my videos on my KZbin channel.

[@andreagiesbrecht611]

Thank you for reacting to these underrated Canadian bands! Much appreciated.

[@timtabor6893]

Love Prism Toss up between them and April Wine as my favorite teenage self band Listened to Armageddon many times during the Cold War 80s

[@pittless22]

I love that you are playing Canadian music , your channel is the best reaction channel on KZbin! Please play Under my thumb by ❤streetheart❤️. So much more by Prism as well , Armageddon is a good but far from the best prism song . Cover girl or take me away would be great for you to react to later . 👍

[@robertsonsid]

It's a turn up the volume song on the radio when driving. Great review always.

[@jackndan6603]

Wow, this band is from my home town. Try Spaceship Superstar, or Virginia. Thanks for the Canadian content. Cool song,been a while!😃🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦

[@Nana_Reads]

I believe that the beginning was done with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

[@Adrian-ql3co]

Brilliant channel mate nice to hear and appreciate new music to me I love the old stuff could be because I'm old lol but brill 👍👍

[@StarLakeFarm]

Best Canadian rock and roll song of all time 🍁🍁🍁

[@bobwirth9256]

So many great bands from canada , like bto , april wine , streetheart , loverboy , helix , queen city kids and many more cheers

[@robscott9414]

We can add Harlequin, The Guess Who, Steppenwolf, Chilliwack, Kim Mitchell, Honeymoon Suite, the Headpins -- and one-hit wonder the Payola$ to that list (among others).

[@MyElvis1994]

young and restless by these guys is an amazing song

[@WineSippingCowboy]

Good 👍 song 🎵. I heard this and other hits when I traveled to and from Canada 🇨🇦, mostly Lower Mainland, starting in the 1970s. Prism was founded in Vancouver, Canada 🇨🇦 Late Bruce Fairbairn, RIP, produced them at their peak. Jim Vallance played with them and wrote songs. In the 1980s, Bryan Adams wrote some songs with them. 1 of them is in my suggestion. Suggested video 📹: Prism performs Don't Let Him Know. RIP Ron Tabak, one of the lead singers.

[@jaqathome]

The first concert I ever went to was these guys in 1978! Jeez, I’m getting old!!!

[@6916dog]

Saw them in Prince Albert Sask in 1980. Their Greatest Hits tour. Some unknown band, Loverboy opened. 7 of us drove 1 hour in December in a half-ton to the show. Had a 40 ounce whiskey bottle confiscated coming in. Two others got past security. Lol

[@jaqathome]

@@6916dog 🤣🤣🤣 I fondly remember the art of deciding how to sneak in the booze!

[@spuzzum42]

Harri, those are real horns. They used real horns in the studio and often (although not always) on tour. When I saw them in 1980 , they were backed up by a six-piece horn section. And yeah, this song sounded great. :) The verse about Elvis and Memphis is based on their real experience as they were in Memphis touring when Elvis died.

[@robscott9414]

It's the post-explosion tempo change from rocking tune to funeral dirge that ties it all together.

[@leftcoaster67]

Harri likes Canadian Content.

[@kdpflush]

More Canadian stuff please. Check out the video for "Don't it make ya feel" by Headpins or the live video for "Shake it up" by Lee Aaron, or anything by Trooper.

[@vansongs]

Geez almost forgot about these guys. More Canadiana. We rock, heh heh

[@williamanderson5437]

Never Forget - try Al Harlow's 2023 album ''NOW' - ten Excellent tracks.

[@twclay10]

The second verse has always struck me as very intriguing. Jerry and Linda in the Whitehouse President asleep in his shoes Red phones ring in the blackout Ain't got time to lose U-Boats off of New England Enemy submarines From Boston to Miami On the red alert You better scramble all the F-15s Now, if you were alive and old enough in 1979, you may recall that Jerry Brown (the governor of California at that time) was beginning to make a 2nd run at the Presidency by challenging Jimmy Carter's re-election bid during the Democratic Primaries, leading up to the 1980 Presidential Election. You may also recall that Jerry was dating one of the most popular rock stars of that era, Linda Ronstadt. It seems to me that the songwriter may have been envisioning a future where Jerry got the nomination and eventually won the election, thus putting "Jerry and Linda in the Whitehouse".

[@toddstevens13]

You want a sci-fi sounding Canadian Tune, then it must be "Phasors On Stun" by FM, (not the British pop group FM ), or anything really from their Sci-Fi Cult Rock album Black Noise.

[@Lemurion287]

I still think "Armageddon carry me home," is the most epic line in all of Rock & Roll. One of the most powerful things about the song that people don't always catch on a first listen is that you can hear the bomb coming down before the explosion.

[@norwaypete]

Ron as my dads best friend, i heard so many stories about the man, heard about the bar fight that ended up causing his death. I was always told by my dad that he wished he could have been my god father

[@brianemmanuelgrey9276]

Great song!

[@Stygian60]

THANK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU so much for featuring Canadian rock bands ! Too often unknown or ignored ! :)

[@leftcoaster67]

Awesome song but the message is clear by the end.

[@gordlusty9316]

This was what growing up in the cold war like. It reflected in art everywhere. I'm horrified at how the world seems headed back to that existence. Mutually assured destruction is just that. MAD. Great song tho eh? Ciao.

[@terryomalley1974]

Harry, you had to grow up in the 70's and early 80's to really grasp the significance of the song. We'd been living with the Cold War stalemate between the US and the former Soviet Union since the end of World War II, and everybody on both sides lived under this cloud of a confrontation between these two superpowers, which would have destroyed the whole world.

[@ogam5]

.....that was in REALITY an(other) Industrialist LONG CON, Terry - read Antony Sutton's book 'Wall Street And The Bolshevik Revolution' - if you haven't already.....

[@leftcoaster67]

It's a commentary on the Cold War. I think it's purposely catchy, so it gets people to think. It's honestly brilliant.

[@ellzedd4113]

Who was Gerry and Linda in the Whitehouse?

[@ogam5]

@@ellzedd4113 : Brown & Ronstadt, Eliza.....

[@apubakeralpuffdaddy392]

@@ellzedd4113 President Gerald Ford. But his wife's name was Betty.

[@jethro1963]

@@apubakeralpuffdaddy392 It was California Governor Jerry Brown who had Presidential aspirations, and he was dating Linda Ronstadt

[@apubakeralpuffdaddy392]

@@jethro1963 From that far back, all the way up to the 2000s. Governor Moon Beam. Boy, did he keep on trying 2B da Prez. But his own party rejected him. Is that guy still around?

[@3felinesstudio]

Saw them years ago, at the Danforth Music Hall, Toronto.

[@radarman2011]

The song is a product of the cold war. One can view the lyric of "Carry me home" as taking me off to heaven. If you want a similar catchy song with a dark end of world overtone, listen to Alphaville's Forever Young.

[@perfidiousalbion5985]

The song is dedicated the USAF B52 crews who trained so hard to make their ultimate bomb run!

[@williamanderson5437]

Two 'Pilots' conversing were Bruce and Rocket Nortons father (an ex Canadian Pilot - source Al Harlow), actual wording used is real I was informed.

[@dancampeau1963]

You can exactly pinpoint the time period to 1977-1878. Elvis dead, and scramblng the F-15s. This was the main interceptor at the time. Still a great song.

[@tmwii8795]

Biggest benefit to attending Uni in the UP of Michigan, Sault Ste Marie, was Canadian Music. The concerts I got to attend; I'm sad I lost my 'eh' a couple years after leaving the area. This was a great song and the album.......I wore out.

[@billyt7081]

Peace

[@janmacdermaid6767]

This Beat Goes On / Switchin' to Glide by The Kings is epic!!

[@Mikey-xz4vn]

In the event of a non-survivable asteroid impact or nuclear exchange, this is the song I'll be listening to as the world ends.

[@scotthcomyns3426]

Atomic clouds have no silver lining,...

[@Adrian-ql3co]

Try misfits cough cool 77

[@williamanderson5437]

Drummer Rocket Norton sadly passed away (in April 2024), from Cancer - RIP Rocket, now with Ron Tabak - original lead vocalist who tragically passed away.. PRiSM are a Brilliant Canadian band from Vancouver (same era as Bryan Adams, and perform his track 'Jealousy' far better - compare them both), Try Al Harlow's (lead vocalist), album 'Now' from 2023 - 10 excellent tracks, try also NASA's favourite 'Spaceship Superstar' and the other 100 PRiSM tracks.

[@AnahataMaryjane]

holy moly dude, i never noticed the explosion at the end and i've known this song since i was a kid!!!