I needed a holiday posting for my blog, and I found the coolest video to end the year 2009. There is a YouTube video posted by "shaddow999999999music" with the Bon Jovi ballad "These Open Arms" to the movie animation of "The Nightmare Before Christmas". This is a beautiful song from 2007 by Bon Jovi. Just to clarify "The Nightmare Before Christmas" movie was released back in 1993 and this is not on the soundtrack. What a beautiful ballad with great lyrics. Please enjoy the video and lyrics below. Happy Holidays Everyone!! - Kenny Leibow
The Nightmare Before Christmas and Bon Jovi - These Open Arms
These Open Arms - Lyrics by Bon Jovi
What if everything you always took for granted was gone And everything you ever thought was right was wrong And what if everyone you ever loved just torn from the pages of your life Would you reach out for tomorrow or try to turn back time ?
These open arms will wait for you These open arms can pull us through Between what's left and left to do These open arms These open arms These open arms will wait for you
Did you even love the one you said you loved, that's right Did you make a tender difference in somebody else's life ? Tell me, is a song you can count on when you need a friend ? Can you see I need a friend...
These open arms will wait for you These open arms can pull us through Between what's left and left to do These open arms These open arms These open arms will wait for you
Can you lean me your skin ? Walk in your own shoes ! You can't win if you don't know how to lose Crawl, fall, try to get out of the learner, fly !
These open arms will wait for you These open arms can pull us through Between what's left and left to do These open arms These open arms These open arms These open arms These open arms will wait for you
There is a lot of buzz regarding VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs. This was a five-part television version, which was hosted by Brent Michaels earlier this year. You can see some clips on VH1.com. Skid Row, Scorpions, Ratt and Poison all made the list along with Twisted Sister's "I Wanna Rock" at #17. I remember this music video was hilarious especially the outrageous teacher. See the original rock video below. Like all lists there are those who will disagree. Please leave your comments on what you think should be the number one Hard Rock song. - Kenny Leibow
VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs
01. GUNS N' ROSES - "Welcome To The Jungle"
02. AC/DC - "Back In Black"
03. LED ZEPPELIN - "Whole Lotta Love"
04. BLACK SABBATH - "Paranoid"
05. METALLICA - "Enter Sandman"
06. THE WHO - "Won't Get Fooled Again"
07. NIRVANA - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
08. AEROSMITH - "Walk This Way"
09. VAN HALEN - "Running With The Devil"
10. MOTÖRHEAD - "Ace Of Spades"
11. DEEP PURPLE - "Smoke On The Water"
12. JUDAS PRIEST - "Breaking The Law"
13. DEF LEPPARD - "Photograph"
14. IRON MAIDEN - "Run To The Hills"
15. MÖTLEY CRÜE - "Dr. Feelgood"
16. KISS - "Rock And Roll All Nite"
17. TWISTED SISTER - "I Wanna Rock"
18. SCORPIONS - "Rock You Like A Hurricane"
19. RUSH - "Tom Sawyer"
20. BON JOVI - "You Give Love A Bad Name"
21. LED ZEPPELIN - "Kashmir"
22. THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE - "Hey Joe"
23. OZZY OSBOURNE - "Crazy Train"
24. IRON BUTTERFLY - "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
25. THE RAMONES - "Blitzkrieg Bop"
26. LYNYRD SKYNYRD - "Freebird"
27. WHITESNAKE - "Still Of The Night"
28. FOO FIGHTERS - "Everlong"
29. JOAN JETT - "Bad Reputation"
30. PEARL JAM - "Evenflow"
31. AC/DC - "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap"
32. TED NUGENT - "Cat Scratch Fever"
33. GREEN DAY - "Basket Case"
34. HEART - "Barracuda"
35. ALICE COOPER - "School's Out"
36. VAN HALEN - "Hot For Teacher"
37. THE WHO - "My Generation"
38. QUEEN - "Stone Cold Crazy"
39. BOSTON - "More Than A Feeling"
40. POISON - "Talk Dirty To Me"
41. QUIET RIOT - "*** On Feel The Noise"
42. THE CLASH - "Should I Stay Or Should I Go"
43. DIO - "Holy Diver"
44. CREAM - "Sunshine Of Your Love"
45. FOGHAT - "Slow Ride"
46. ANTHRAX - "Madhouse"
47. KID ROCK - "Bawitdaba"
48. KORN - "Freak On A Leash"
49. IGGY POP AND THE STOOGES - "Search And Destroy"
50. RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS - "Give It Away"
51. MEGADETH - "Peace Sells"
52. THE RUNAWAYS - "Cherry Bomb"
53. STEPPENWOLF - "Born To Be Wild"
54. FAITH NO MORE - "Epic"
55. BLUE ÖYSTER CULT - "Don't Fear The Reaper"
56. WARRANT - "Cherry Pie"
57. THE KINKS - "You Really Got Me"
58. STONE TEMPLE PILOTS - "Interstate Love Song"
59. BILLY SQUIER - "The Stroke"
60. SKID ROW - "18 And Life"
61. RATT - "Round And Round"
62. DOKKEN - "Breaking The Chains"
63. SURVIVOR - "Eye Of The Tiger"
64. ROLLINS BAND - "Liar"
65. MC5 - "Kick Out The Jams"
66. EUROPE - "The Final Countdown"
67. ZZ TOP - "Tush"
68. WHITE ZOMBIE - "More Human Than Human"
69. LIVING COLOUR - "Cult Of Personality"
70. FOREIGNER - "Hot Blooded"
71. JANE'S ADDICTION - "Mountain Song"
72. PAT BENETAR - "Heartbreaker"
73. THIN LIZZY - "Jailbreak"
74. THE CULT - "Love Removal Machine"
75. WHITE STRIPES - "Seven Nation Army"
76. LITA FORD - "Kiss Me Deadly"
77. SOUNDGARDEN - "Black Hole Sun"
78. BAD COMPANY - "Feel Like Making Love"
79. BILLY IDOL - "Rebel Yell"
80. JOURNEY - "Any Way You Want It"
81. BLACK SABBATH - "Heaven And Hell"
82. RAINBOW - "Since You've Been Gone"
83. EVANESCENCE - "Bring Me To Life"
84. W.A.S.P. - "I Wanna Be Somebody"
85. VELVET REVOLVER - "Slither"
86. MARILYN MANSON - "The Beautiful People"
87. WINGER - "Seventeen"
88. ALICE IN CHAINS - "Would?"
89. ANDREW W.K. - "Party Hard"
90. JETHRO TULL - "Aqualung"
91. SMASHING PUMPKINS - "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"
92. NIGHT RANGER - "Don't Tell Me You Love Me"
93. AUTOGRAPH - "Turn Up The Radio"
94. THE DARKNESS - "I Believe In A Thing Called Love"
95. CREED - "Higher"
96. KANSAS - "Carry On Wayward Son"
97. EDGAR WINTER'S GROUP - "Frankenstein"
98. BUCKCHERRY - "Lit Up"
99. GRAND FUNK RAILROAD - "We're An American Band"
100. SAMMY HAGAR - "I Can't Drive 55
Mötley Crüe's Dr. Feelgood album went number 1 on the Album Billboard Charts in 1989. This album propelled Mötley Crüe to worldwide fame. You can read Mötley Crüe's biography below. I remember listening to and watching the video from the band's 1987 hit "Girls, Girls, Girls". Mötley Crüe seemed to get the most press coverage at times over the other glam bands. You can scan all the Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson gossip on any number of thousands of websites. This blog posting is focused on the music.
Below see all the information regarding Mötley Crüe's "Dr. Feelgood" album; and watch the video of the live performance of the song "Dr. Feelgood" from 1989. I also included from the Dr. Feelgood album the music video of "Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)". Of course, check out the bonus video which I am sure will bring back memories, "Girls,Girls, Girls". - Kenny Leibow
The poster boys for Eighties hair metal, Mötley Crüe parlayed whip-lash hard-rock songs, melodic power ballads and a hedonistic image into platinum-level heavy-metal superstardom, topping the charts with Dr. Feelgood (Number One, 1989) and coming close with Theatre of Pain (Number Six, 1985), Girls, Girls Girls (Number Two, 1987) and a greatest-hits collection, Decade of Decadence — '81-'91 (Number 2, 1991).
Nikki Sixx was a member of a successful L.A. metal band called London when he decided to form his own band. Tommy Lee came aboard as drummer, and they decided to call themselves Christmas. Guitarist Mick Mars was discovered through a classified ad reading, "Loud Rude Aggressive Guitarist Available." Vocalist Vince Neil was plucked from a Cheap Trick cover band. Mars came up with the new, strangely umlauted name. Their eponymous, independently released debut was picked up by Elektra Records and retitled Too Fast for Love (Number 77, 1983).
Shout at the Devil (Number 17, 1983), with its canny hints of Satanism, followed, but the band did not catch on in a big way until Theatre of Pain. Fueled by a cover of Brownsville Station's 1974 hit "Smokin' in the Boy's Room" (Number 16, 1985) and the power ballad "Home Sweet Home" (Number 89, 1985), the album sold more than two million copies.
For all the album sales, Crüe also was known as an extravagant live band, a scrappier Van Halen doing a rock version of a Vegas review, with elaborate sets and lighting, revolving drum platforms, pyrotechnics and dancing girls. Still, subsequent albums Girls, Girls, Girls and Dr. Feelgood continued the band's streak of platinum discs, selling two million and four million copies, respectively. In addition to its selection of greatest hits, Decade of Decadence included new material, such as a hard-rock cover version of the Sex Pistols' "Anarchy in the U.K."
Off stage, Mötley Crüe lived the rock & roll lifestyle to its fullest, with celebrity marriages — Tommy Lee to actress Heather Locklear, from 1986 to 1994, then to Baywatch bombshell Pamela Anderson from 1995 to 1998; Nikki Sixx to former Prince protégée Vanity in 1987 — substance abuse and scrapes with the law. Sixx spent more than a year addicted to heroin. In 1986 Neil was convicted of vehicular manslaughter after a drunken car accident two years earlier resulted in the death of Hanoi Rocks drummer Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley. Neil served twenty days in jail, performed 200 hours of community service and was assessed $2.6 million in damages.
After the band replaced Neil with singer John Corabi in 1992, Neil filed a $5 million wrongful termination suit and released a couple of solo albums, Exposed (Number 13, 1993) and the weak-selling Carved in Stone (1995). Mötley Crüe (Number Seven, 1994), the band's first album without Neil, produced two songs that charted on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks, "Hooligan's Holiday" (Number Ten, 1994) and Misunderstood (Number 24, 1994). The band fired Corabi two years later to bring Neil back on for a reunion of the original lineup. The resulting album, Generation Swine (Number Four, 1997) attempted to cash in on the alternative-rock craze, with songs exploring grunge and industrial metal, but despite the band's carbon-copy re-recording of an old hit, re-titled "Shout at the Devil '97," the album quickly fell off the chart.
Greatest Hits (Number 20, 1998) and Live Entertainment or Death (Number 33, 1999) continued the Crüe's commercial skid. Shortly after completing the subsequent tour, drummer Lee spent four months in jail for assaulting his then-wife, Anderson. Upon being released, Lee left the band and formed the rap-metal band Methods of Mayhem, in which he played guitar and sang. Mötley Crüe replaced Lee with former Ozzy Osbourne drummer Randy Castillo and returned to its original hard rock formula for its final album, New Tattoo (Number 41, 2000). Castillo died of cancer two years later. The band went on a recording hiatus for five years but its members, appearing on reality shows and in gossip columns, never left the public eye. In 2005, the Cr ü e hit the road for a reunion tour that coincided with another greatest-hits compilation, Red, White & Crüe (Number Six, 2005), that included three new tracks, "If I Die Tomorrow" – penned by pop-punkers Simple Plan - (Number Four, Mainstream Rock, 2005), "Sick Love Song" and a cover of The Rolling Stones' "Street Fighting Man."
All four members of Mötley Crüe convened in 2008 to record Saints of Los Angeles, a musical autobiographical companion to the band's 2001 tell-all book, The Dirt. A planned movie stalled in the production stages. The title track holds the honor of being the first single to be debuted in the influential Rock Band video game series, and the album debuted at Number Four.
Skid Row was formed in Toms River, New Jersey not far from where I grew up. Below is a full biography of Skid Row. I bought their first album "Skid Row" in 1989, which went Multi-Platinum. Below is a list of the tracks from Skid Row's first album. Please watch the two music videos, "18 and Life (Live)" and "I Remember You (1989)". I always thought that "18 and Life" had powerful lyrics. - Kenny Leibow
Biography Skid Row were one of the very last hair metal bands to hit the mainstream before grunge took over in the early '90s. While the band's self-titled debut employed standard pop-metal riffs and generic lyrics (albeit to great commercial success), 1991's Slave to the Grind and 1995's Subhuman Race broke away from the pop-metal mold with uncharacteristically hard, thrashy guitars and unique songwriting techniques. Though personal differences and changing trends would eventually tear the core lineup apart by 1996, Skid Row showed tremendous promise during their short time in the spotlight.
Based in New Jersey, Skid Row were formed in 1986 by bassist Rachel Bolan and former Bon Jovi guitarist Dave "The Snake" Sabo. The pair added guitarist Scott Hill, drummer Rob Affuso, and a larger than life vocalist named Sebastian Bach to the lineup by early 1987, and the band spent the next year and a half playing a series of local clubs in the eastern U.S. Having remained in contact with Jon Bon Jovi, Sabo convinced the established rock star to land Skid Row a record deal with Mercury Records. In 1989, the band released its first album, Skid Row, which went multi-platinum on the strength of the Top 40 singles "18 and Life" and "I Remember You." Success came with a backlash, however -- the bandmembers had naïvely signed away much of their royalties, and Sebastian Bach's wild, often childlike behavior landed the group in additional trouble. During the subsequent tour, Bach garnered harsh criticism for a T-shirt he publicly sported displaying the message "AIDS KILLS FAGS DEAD." Suits were also filed against Bach after a concert during the supporting tour, where the singer allegedly threw a glass bottle into the crowd and injured a young female fan.
Nonetheless, Skid Row's muscular songcraft retained a devoted audience. Released in 1991, Slave to the Grind debuted at number one on the Billboard chart, an unprecedented accomplishment for a metal band. While the album did not chart any real radio hits, Grind received stronger critical praise and eventually reached platinum status. However, like so many of their peers, Skid Row lost much of their fan base during the grunge invasion of the '90s. As Nirvana stormed the scene in 1992, Skid Row took a hiatus, waiting out the grunge period and pondering breakups (ironically, Nirvana had once gone under the name Skid Row in the '80s). Skid Row returned in 1995 with Subhuman Race, which surprisingly charted in the Top 40 but otherwise did not attract any real attention.
During the supporting tour, tensions between the group members ran high and Skid Row disbanded shortly afterward. Bach went on to form the Last Hard Men with Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, but the group broke up after recording a cover of Alice Cooper's "School's Out" for the Scream soundtrack in 1996. Plans to record new songs for the Skid Row greatest-hits album, 1998's Forty Seasons, fell through, and Bach went on to form a solo project and portray the title role in the Broadway musical +Jeckyll and Hyde. In mid-2000, Skid Row re-formed with new singer Johnny Solinger and toured as the opening band for Kiss' farewell tour. They released Thickskin with Solinger in 2003, followed by Revolutions Per Minute in 2006. Meanwhile, Sebastian Bach enjoyed a surge in popularity when he appeared in a VH1 reality show opposite Ted Nugent and Scott Ian. Barry Weber, All Music Guide
Tracks 1. Big Guns 2. Sweet Little Sister 3. Can't Stand The Heartache 4. Pieces Of Me 5. 18 And Life 6. Rattlesnake Shake 7. Youth Gone Wild 8. Here I Am 9. Makin' A Mess 10. I Remember You 11. Midnight / Tornado
Skid Row – 18 and Life (Live) Warning: Some Strong Language
Poison's "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" was number one in 1989 for three weeks. You can see the popular music video below. This video source is from a "MySpace" page. Typically I write a short background of the band; however as I was doing my research I kept seeing the same biography published over and over again. I will keep the Poison bio trend alive by re-posting it. Back in the 1980's I never really followed Poison; however their big hit "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" flooded the airways and MTV. Kenny Leibow
"Every Rose Has Its Thorn" by Poison
Biography In a decade fueled by party anthems and power ballads, Poison found a high amount of popularity, with only Bon Jovi and Def Leppard outselling them. While the group had a long string of pop-metal hits, they soon became just as renowned for their stage show, and continued to be a major attraction over the course of their first three albums. Although their commercial success was rather short-lived, one cannot deny the major effect that Poison had on the music industry during their heyday.
Formerly known as Paris, Poison were formed in 1984 by singer Bret Michaels, bassist Bobby Dall, and drummer Rikki Rockett. After traveling from Harrisburg, PA, to Los Angeles, CA, the band added guitarist C.C. Deville to its lineup. Poison were signed to Enigma Records in 1986, where they released their first album, Look What the Cat Dragged In. The record, spawning the Top Ten hits "I Want Action," "Talk Dirty to Me," and "I Won't Forget You," was a surprise success, selling two-million copies within a year following its release.
While the band was already quite popular by the end of 1987, 1988's Open Up & Say...Ahhh! was its commercial breakthrough, due to the massive hits "Fallen Angel," "Nothin' But a Good Time," and "Every Rose Has Its Thorn." After a prosperous tour with David Lee Roth, the group returned to the studio to record Flesh and Blood in 1990. The album, which included the upbeat "Unskinny Bop" and the sentimental "Something to Believe In," was another major success. The dynamic tour supporting the record brought on the release of Swallow This Live, a double-disc set that included live versions of their biggest hits, along with four new studio tracks. The band was secretly falling apart, as an infamous appearance on MTV showed Deville perform nearly half of "Talk Dirty to Me" with his guitar unplugged. The band broke into a brawl backstage after the disastrous performance.
Shortly after the release of Swallow This Live, Poison fired Deville due to his increasing addiction to drugs and alcohol. His replacement, Richie Kotzen, made his commercial debut with the band on the 1993 Native Tongue album, which, despite some strong reviews and a hit single, "Stand," was a commercial disappointment. Kotzen was fired during the subsequent tour, and Blues Saraceno became Poison's third guitarist. The band recorded its fifth studio album, Crack a Smile, for release in 1996, but the record was shelved and replaced with the Greatest Hits: 1986-1996 disc. Toward the end of 1996, Saraceno left and Deville returned to the band, which eventually resulted in a successful reunion tour in the summer of 1999; the Crack a Smile sessions were finally released the following spring, soon followed by the mostly live Power to the People. Another tour was cut short by an accident that left Dall with serious back surgery and at least a six-month break from the band.
By the time he got back into shape, the band stepped into the studio and recorded Hollyweird, which was released in the summer of 2002. The following tour was promoted as a nostalgia experience and was funded by VH1, laying the brickwork for a lucrative relationship between the band and the television channel. Deville would later appear in the network's sixth season of The Surreal Life, while Michaels was awarded his own show, Rock of Love with Bret Michaels. Hollyweird's reception was lukewarm at best, and Poison spent some time out of the spotlight while Michaels and Rockett released solo albums. They reconvened in 2006, celebrating their 20th anniversary with a nationwide tour and a greatest-hits album. The Best of Poison: 20 Years of Rock debuted in the Billboard Top 20, a feat the band hasn't accomplished since Native Tongue. The following year brought similar luck, with the band's seventh studio effort -- a covers album titled Poison'd! -- moving over 20,000 units during its first week. ~ Barry Weber, All Music Guide
Vixen in the late 1980's is one of the bands that lit up the stage with other heavy metal and hard rock bands. Sometimes referred to as the female Bon Jovi; Vixen created great music and fun live concerts. This is my first blog entry regarding female rock artists. Below is a brief history of Vixen. I have included 3 rock videos. The first video is on Vixen's big hit "Edge of a Broken Heart". The second video is a live concert in the late 1980's of Vixen performing "I Want You To Rock Me"; then the last video is the rock ballad "Cryin". Kenny Leibow
History
Vixen was formed in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1980 by guitarist Jan Kuehnemund while still at high school. In 1984, an early version of the band with Kuehnemund and singer Janet Gardner appeared in the movie Hardbodies as the on-screen band "Diaper Rash." In 1985 the band moved to Los Angeles to be part of the LA rock scene. Line-up changes happened during the following years until the 'classic' line-up of Jan Kuehnemund (guitar), Janet Gardner (vocals & rhythm guitar), Share Pedersen (bass guitar) and Roxy Petrucci (drums) was formed. This line-up of Vixen was interviewed in 1987 along with many other rock artists of the day by Penelope Spheeris for her film The Decline of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years.
In 1988 the band were signed to EMI and they began recording their debut album Vixen which was released in September 1988. Singer and Songwriter Richard Marx actually wrote and arranged their signature hit, "Edge of a Broken Heart," on the album. He also produced the song. Rumor was he was asked to assist the all-female band by EMI to produce their first major hit to compete with the all-female band The Bangles. Marx had nothing to do with their follow-up CD since he was becoming a more of a mainline singer than songwriter. The next year Vixen spent touring the world supporting acts such as Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions and Bon Jovi as well as headlining their own shows. The band returned to the studio in late 1989/early 1990 to record their follow up album Rev it Up which was released in July 1990. A year of touring followed including headlining their own shows and supporting acts such as KISS and Deep Purple. In mid 1991 the band split due to musical differences.
Every hard rock band in the 1980's had a love ballad, which is categorized for example as (Rock Ballad, Power Ballad, and Hard Rock Ballad). Some of the most notable are Night Ranger's "Sister Christian" and White Snake's "Is This love". I would place Warrant's "Heaven" in a similar rock ballad subgenre. As I remember the first time hearing this song, it was far from a romantic setting. On a Saturday night I went to a club to see a heavy metal band in Miami Beach with some friends, which included Deniz and Leo, then afterwards we went back to someone's apartment. I can't remember whose place it was; however there was a big, tan colored, L-shaped, comfortable sofa placed around a big screen projection TV. It was early morning and some of the group had been drinking. I was dead tired trying to keep my eyes open, knowing that I had a long ride back home to Miami Springs. As we were hanging out just chilling, I remember seeing the Warrant video - Heaven on MTV... It was just a moment of complete relaxation. ~ Kenny Leibow
Below is a short biography of the group Warrant along with that infamous Sony music video featuring Warrant's song "Heaven":
With a pair of double-platinum albums and three Top Ten singles, Warrant were one of the most popular pop-metal bands of the late '80s. Formed in Los Angeles in the mid-'80s, the group featured vocalist Jani Lane, guitarist Erik Turner, guitarist Joey Allen, bassist Jerry Dixon, and drummer Steven Sweet. They released Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich in 1989; by the middle of that year, it had climbed into the Top Ten and launched the hit singles "Down Boys," "Sometimes She Cries," and "Heaven," the last of which reached number two. Released in the summer of 1990, Cherry Pie was an even bigger success, climbing into the Top Ten and featuring the Top Ten hits "I Saw Red" and "Cherry Pie." Warrant had some trouble continuing their multi-platinum success during the alternative explosion of 1992, although their third album, Dog Eat Dog, did go gold; 1995's Ultraphobic and 1996's Belly to Belly, however, failed to chart.
The band's lineup began to splinter as the '90s progressed, with the majority of Warrant's founding members leaving the group. Under the Influence arrived in 2001, comprised of several cover songs and two original tracks; it also marked Jani Lane's last recording with the band. He ultimately left in 2004, taking two of Warrant's members with him, and was replaced by former Black 'N Blue vocalist Jaime St. James. While Lane attempted a solo career, the revised version of Warrant released Born Again in 2006. Jaime St. James' tenure in the band proved to be very short, as he was ousted in 2008 in favor of Lane's return. Later that year, Lane left once again and was replaced by Lynch Mob's Rob Mason. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Great White, a Bluesy Hard Rock band, was at their peak 20 years ago. Great White's 1989 album …Twice Shy, which featured the Top 5 hit "Once Bitten, Twice Shy", went double platinum. Read below a brief background of the band; followed by the number one music video "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" in the Burger King Top 5 Rock Video count down. Then terribly in 2003, tragedy hit with the horrid fire at a Rhode Island night club. Read the Great White stories below and enjoy the music video. Kenny Leibow
Band Background
Great White came together in 1978 in the Los Angeles area, the brainchild of singer Jack Russell. The group played blues-influenced hard rock in the style of Led Zeppelin, updated for the MTV generation. The band was first known as Dante Fox, and its original lineup consisted of Russell on vocals, Mark Kendall on guitar, Lorne Black on bass, and Gary Holland on drums. Playing first in small local clubs, the band gained a following, moving up to larger venues and changing its name to Great White along the way.
The band's first recording was an EP called Out of the Night, which was produced by Don Dokken, founder of the band Dokken, and financed by the group in 1982. Another record,On Your Knees, quickly followed in the same year. The EMI record label signed the band on the strength of these releases, but dropped it after sales of its first recording with the label, Great White, failed to meet expectations.
After leaving EMI, Great White moved to Capitol Records, and there its fortunes soared, and the group enjoyed widespread popularity throughout the rest of the decade. Great White's fourth album (and first Capitol release) Once Bitten hit the Billboard Top 30 chart in 1987. The band also picked up a Grammy nomination in 1990 for Best Hard Rock Performance for "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" on its followup Twice Shy album, released in 1989. Other songs for which the band became well known included "Face the Day," "Rock Me," and "Save Your Love." The group's last successful Capitol recording was Hooked, which was released in 1991.
At its peak, they were the main event at 20,000- to 60,0000-seat arenas and shared the stage with top bands such as Kiss and Iron Maiden. Great White became popular in an era of "hair metal" bands who filled football stadiums and dominated MTV playing loud music and sporting wild hairdos and heavy makeup. Most of these bands fell out of favor and even stopped playing when this era drew to a close. Great White, however, found a way to keep playing, perhaps because unlike many other popular metal bands of the time, they focused first and foremost on the music they played, instead of merely cultivating a flashy image. The band turned to smaller clubs as their bread and butter, touring in lesser venues and cutting albums on independent record labels after being dropped by Capitol Records in the early 1990s. …Twice Shy Released 1989 Capitol Records Track Listing
1. Move It
(Kendall, Russell, Niven, Lardie)
2. Heart The Hunter
(Kendall, Russell, Niven, Lardie)
3. Hiway Nights
(Kendall, Russell, Niven, Lardie)
4. The Angel Song
(Kendall, Niven)
5. Mista Bone
(Kendall, Niven, Desbrow, Montana)
6. Baby's On Fire
(Kendall, Russell, Niven, Lardie, Montana)
7. House Of Broken Love
(Russell, Niven, Lardie)
8. She Only
(Kendall, Russell, Niven, Lardie)
9. Once Bitten, Twice Shy
(Hunter)
Jack Russell — Vocals
Mark Kendall — Lead guitar
Michael Lardie — Guitar & keyboards
Audie Desbrow — Drums
Tony Montana — Bass
Produced and arranged by Alan Niven and Michael Lardie
Engineered by Michael Lardie
Great White - Once Bitten, Twice Shy
Tragedy 2003
Tragedy struck while the band was on this new tour, which they dubbed "Play On 2003." The Station, a nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, was packed for the band's performance on February 20, 2003. The show featured pyrotechnics--three spinning wheels of sparks that were harmless if they struck people, but that could ignite flammable materials. At the start of the band's show, the pyrotechnics went off, shooting sparks at the ceiling over the stage. The sound insulation behind the band caught fire, and from there the blaze spread rapidly to the nightclub walls.
Many fans at first thought the flames were part of the show, and panic did not strike until the ceiling caught fire. The wooden nightclub was engulfed in flames almost immediately, trapping the audience, band, and crew inside. Because of a loophole in Rhode Island law, the building was not required to have a sprinkler system, and the blaze swept through the building unchecked. Michael Powell and Christopher Lee of the Washington Post called the fire "one of the worst such tragedies in the nation's history." Among the dead was guitarist Ty Longley, who had joined the band in 2000.
Accusations flew between the surviving members of Great White and the nightclub's owners. Club owners claimed that the band did not have permission to use pyrotechnics during its show, while the band claimed that the club owners had been duly informed and had presented no objections. Fire department officials said that neither the band nor the nightclub had applied for the required permits before setting off pyrotechnics, and furthermore, that no permits would have been granted because of the size and construction of the nightclub.
Back in 1988 I was not a big Guns N’ Roses fan. It was mainly because they were an LA band that was together for a short time, and then hit it big with their debut album "Appetite For Destruction ". Specifically in 1987 Guns N’ Roses started to build a following with their numerous live shows, but the album didn't start selling until almost a year later, when MTV started playing "Sweet Child O' Mine." Soon, both the album and single shot to number one, and Guns N' Roses became one of the biggest bands in the world. My view at the time was that they were a commercial band. This album was Guns N' Roses high point and it was almost certain that they hit their peak as compared to the less successful albums that followed. Because of their impact during this time period, it would be criminal not to give Guns ‘N Roses the proper recognition.
Here is some interesting information about Guns N’ Roses without spewing a whole biography. Their 1987 major label debut, Appetite for Destruction, produced by Mike Clink, went on to sell 25 million copies worldwide and reached number 1 in the USA a year after its release date. The song "Welcome To The Jungle", the second track released from the album (after "It's So Easy"), gained notoriety after it was used on the soundtrack of Clint Eastwood's 1988 film The Dead Pool. The band's musical style, onstage presence, and bad boy rock image helped usher in the new era within the dominant hard rock scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s. While glam metal was the leading genre in record sales, video charts, and radio airplay, Guns N' Roses offered a grittier, more traditionalist take on rock music, which helped to popularize the sub-genre known as sleaze rock and won many fans who admired their apparent authenticity. The band enjoyed worldwide success from 1987 through 1993, but clashing personalities of different band members brought about the end of the original line-up. Today, frontman Axl Rose is the only original member in the band's current line-up; he has now served as lead singer for 22 years.
Appetite For Destruction Track List 1. Welcome to the Jungle 2. It's So Easy 3. Nightrain 4. Out Ta Get Me 5. Mr. Brownstone 6. Paradise City 7. My Michelle 8. Think About You 9. Sweet Child O' Mine 10. You're Crazy 11. Anything Goes 12. Rocket Queen
