Battleaxe - Make it in America (electrosound)

Once upon a time, back in the magical 80s, there was a British heavy metal band called "Battleaxe". Let's just say that they almost made it super big. Anyways, the video below plays one track of the 2nd Battleaxe album "Power From The Universe", it's called "Make it in America":



Battleaxe went through several lineups over the years (note that they are still playing and touring to this day) but what's important in C64 music history is that, at one point, a lead guitarist named John Stormont joined the band (for a relatively short time). Heavy metal was/is his passion but he was also very much into the Commodore 64 and, in particular, the music of Rob Hubbard (it is rumored that some other members of the band were also C64 afficionados).

John composed tons of tunes on the C64 (see John Stormont - When 64s ruled the Earth) with Ubik's Music. He also composed a few tunes on Electrosound including this cover of Battleaxe's "Make it in America":



Which version sounds better? Well, I'll let you be the judge of that.

John Stormont - When 64s ruled the Earth

I "met" John Stormont on youtube (had to do with a Commodore 64 tracker named Ubik's Music). After graciously giving me the Ubik's Music manual, he provided me with a bunch of brilliant tracks (44 of them) he had made back in the day (1987) using Ubik's Music. John is a big Rob Hubbard fan and it shows.

Not too long ago, I started a music label called Ugo Capeto Records to distribute my melodic electronica tracks made on the Nintendo Korg DS-10 (see Home of the Korg DS-10). Looking for other artists to join in, well, I've got to say that John was number one on my list and here we are! All 44 tracks are available at John Stormont's "When 64s ruled the Earth". It's not free but it's pretty cheap.

Here are 3 tracks among the 44:


John Stormont - Maggie Might


John Stormont - Snowball


John Stormont - Tank

Yep, this is real chiptune made on the C64 using a tracker in the eighties, not chiptune made on an emulator in the 21st century. These 44 tracks are a real treasure, a sort of chiptune time capsule.

MGMT Kids

The beginning of the MGMT tune "Kids" on Activision's Music Studio.

I had heard that song a few times on the radio (a while ago now, when MGMT was not too popular) and thought that was pretty cool. But, for some reason, the radio guys would never give the name of the song and who was responsible for it. So, being pretty resourceful, I would "google" what I thought was the title of the song, that is "Take only what you need from me", but ... it's not "from me", it's "from it" and it's not the name of the song. Amazingly enough, google could not give me the name of the song or band from that lyric. There were just no matches. So, still had no idea what that tune was.

One morning, pretty early, when MTV shows videos, I heard something that sounded a bit like that tune. The name of the song was "Electric feel" and the band was MGMT. Direction youtube, search for MGMT and within seconds, the problem was solved. The name of the song I was looking for so long is "Kids", of course. I think it's an amazing tune but that's just me. Glad to see Weezer decided to cover it in concert.

Kajun Klog

If you’re like me and can’t get enough of Commodore 64 SID tunes, here’s a little gem that’s one of the included demos in Music Shop, the most excellent music editor for the C64. Kajun Klog is also featured in Bounder, a weird (but interesting) platform game that features a lot of tennis balls.

Nena 99 Luftballons

Who can forget this peace anthem from 1983? Anyways, 99 luftballons, also known as 99 red balloons in the Anglo-Saxon world, catapulted Nena to one-hit wonder status. To be fair, she’s had a pretty long-lasting career in her native Germany and she delivered a good string of hits in the 80s beside the balloons song.


This is of course just the intro. A big thanks to Music Studio from Activision.

New Order Blue Monday

New Order’s Blue Monday on the Commodore 64! Who needs sequencers or synthesizers when you have a C64 laying around with Music Studio from Activision?


Blue Monday was released in 1983 when the Commodore 64 started to rule the byte world.

Beverly Hills Cop Axel F

Axel F, written by Harold Faltermeyer, was part of the soundtrack for the movie Beverly Hills Cop starring Eddie Murphy (and the great Judge Rheinhold).

Here's a C64 (short) version made with Activision’s Music Studio. Wonder how many versions of this fine tune have been made over the years (sorry to add to the pile).

Top Gun Anthem

Top Gun Anthem, written by Harold Faltermeyer, was of course part of the score for the movie Top Gun. It is such a great instrumental that I couldn’t resist producing a (short) Commodore 64 version using Activision’s Music Studio.