V-Rock

V-Rock is a radio station based in Reddick, Florida in 1984 and later Vice City by 1986. It broadcasts to Vice City. The station is featured in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. It was originally hosted by Couzin Ed, until Lazlow took over in 1986, when Grand Theft Auto: Vice City takes place.

As its name implies, the station primarily plays rock, particularly 80s hair metal and glam metal, but also plays some heavy metal tracks. Station promos often included derogatory comparisons to other stations, mocking the kind of synthesizer-based music played by its competitors while insinuating that real men only listen to the rock music that V-Rock airs. The station's mascot is a vulture, as can be seen in the station's logo; V-Rock DJ Lazlow would often complain that the bird got more air time than he did.

The station was officially endorsed by rock artists of the time, including Jezz Torrent of Love Fist, who can regularly be heard in V-Rock's promos. The station also operated a studio at it's Vice City headquarters, which would often be used by Love Fist for their recording sessions. V-Rock also features call-ins from members of the public (similar to that of Lazlow's later station Chatterbox FM, although with far reduced prominence). The three callers featured in GTA Vice City are Couzin Ed, who wishes to vent his anger at Lazlow for "stealing" his job, Mitch Baker and a person who refers to himself as Snow-Dog. The phone line is also used in GTA Vice City Stories, although in this instance the only caller is a guy who hates Couzin Ed.

The V-Rock Hotel in Las Venturas, San Andreas takes its name from the radio station and features the V-Rock logo prominently on its sign.

GTA Vice City
The original Vice City V-Rock playlist is as follows:


 * Twisted Sister - "I Wanna Rock" (1984)
 * Mötley Crüe - "Too Young to Fall in Love" (1983)
 * Quiet Riot - "Cum On Feel the Noize" (1983)
 * The Cult - "She Sells Sanctuary" (1985)
 * Ozzy Osbourne - "Bark At The Moon" (1983)
 * Love Fist - "Dangerous Bastard" (Unknown. 2002 in real world)
 * Iron Maiden - "2 Minutes To Midnight" (1984)
 * Loverboy - "Working for the Weekend" (1981)
 * Alcatrazz - "God Bless Video" (1985)
 * Tesla - "Cumin' Atcha Live" (1986)
 * Autograph - "Turn Up The Radio" (1984)
 * Megadeth - "Peace Sells" (1986)
 * Anthrax - "Madhouse" (1985)
 * Slayer - "Raining Blood" (1986)
 * Judas Priest - "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" (1982)
 * Love Fist - "Fist Fury" (Unknown. 2002 in real world)
 * David Lee Roth - "Yankee Rose" (1986)

GTA Vice City Stories
The Vice City Stories V-Rock playlist is as follows:


 * Dio - Holy Diver (1983)
 * Queensrÿche - Queen of the Reich (1984)
 * KISS - Lick It Up (1983)
 * Dokken - Breaking the Chains (1983)
 * Autograph - All I'm Gonna Take (1984)
 * Accept - Balls to the Wall (1984)
 * Scorpions - Rock You Like a Hurricane (1984)
 * Krokus - Long Stick Goes Boom (1982)
 * Ted Nugent - Stranglehold (1975)
 * Ratt - Round and Round (1984)
 * Judas Priest - Electric Eye (1982)
 * Mötley Crüe - Looks That Kill (1984)
 * Quiet Riot - Metal Health (Bang Your Head) (1983)

Trivia

 * A large portion of Couzin Ed's  banter references the 1986 cult-documentary "Heavy Metal Parking Lot".
 * One of the V-Rock stingers contains the first few seconds of the Dio song "Jesus, Mary & The Holy Ghost".
 * Couzin Ed also says "Comin' atcha live! The bitch is back...", referencing to Cumin Atcha Live by Tesla in GTA Vice City, The Bitch Is Back by Elton John is also a popular classic rock song, although, not on the playlist.
 * Also near the end of Queen of the Reich he says "Metal up your ass" which is a reference to the original name for the Metallica album Kill 'Em All, however no Metallica songs are played on V-Rock.
 * Couzin Ed makes reference to the movie This Is Spinal Tap, saying "let's turn it up to 12", an obvious play on 11 being "one louder" than 10 on the guitar amplifier volume control in the film.
 * Mötley Crüe, Quiet Riot, Autograph and Judas Priest appear in both games, while Love Fist is mentioned in Vice City Stories. Also Ozzy Osbourne and KISS's music appear on GTA San Andreas, on Radio X and K-DST, respectively.
 * In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, since V-Rock is in Reddick and not in Vice City, the V-Rock HQ in Downtown Vice City doesn't have the V-Rock sign on the top of the building like it does in GTA Vice City.
 * Lazlow quotes the famous Neil Young song My My Hey Hey...Into The Black during one of his segments by quoting the line "It's better to burn out than to fade away." This was also the final line in Kurt Cobain's suicide note when he committed suicide in 1994, and was used prominently by Tom Clancy's villain in the 1986 film Highlander.
 * The V-Rock name may also be a reference to the Vrock from the game Dungeons & Dragons, a humanoid demon with the head, claws and wings of a giant vulture.
 * The word "Rock" in the V-Rock logo, and the text on its billboards, are written in the same font as the logo for heavy metal band, Iron Maiden.

GTA Vice City Stories


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