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Vintage Spotlight on Poison Part 2

11/28/2018

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Read Part 1 Here! 
 ‘Flesh and Blood’, Poison’s 3rd studio album, was released in 1990. This record generated many hit songs, 2 of which were top 10 singles with “Unskinny Bop” & “Something to Believe In”. 3 other songs were hit singles as well. “Ride the Wind”, Flesh and Blood (Sacrifice) and “Life Goes On”. This album went Triple Platinum in 1991.
    
In the 90’s, after the bands release of their 1st live album, “Swallow This Live”, the band went through some line-up changes. C.C. DeVille's addiction caused a lot of problems in the band, and he was replaced with Richie Kotzen (The Winery Dogs).
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Despite the grunge movement that settled in and took over the rock scene in the early 90’s, Poison’s 4th studio album, “Native Tongue” was still able to hit gold status and their first compilation album, ‘Poison’s Greatest Hits, 1986-1996’ went Double Platinum. ​

In 1993 Kotzen was replaced by Blues Saraceno who toured with Poison until the inevitable reunion with C.C. and the classic lineup. 
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​ In March of 2000, the band put our their 5th studio album, ‘Crack a Smile...and More’.  This record actually started in 1994 but came to a precipitous halt when frontman, Bret Michaels lost control of his Ferrari. As a result of this accident, Michael’s suffered a broken nose, ribs, jaw and fingers along with 4 teeth. Shortly after recovery, they went back in the studio but management put the album “on hold” and opted to release the greatests hits album instead.

 ‘Hollyweird’ was their next album that came out in May of 2002. 

This record sold 11,000 copies in the first week. Their sound was much different from albums from their past. It had a more pop/punk rock feel. The coolest part of this album is the song “Home (C.C.’s story)” which Deville also lends his vocals.
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In 2007, Poison put out their final studio album, ‘Poison’d’. The band asked on their official MySpace page for fans to pick their favorite songs. This record features 14 of the band’s & fan’s favorite rock classics. The first single dropped was The Romantics song, ‘What I Like About You’. Some of the other tracks they did were interesting to hear them sing like The Cars,“Just What I Needed”, The Who’s “Squeeze Box” & Alice Cooper’s “I Never Cry”. There is also an exclusive Walmart track featured and that’s Justin Timberlake’s, “Sexy Back” (which by the way is AWESOME!).
    
Poison has toured extensively all over the world. Their fans stretch from the US to Japan to Russia. They are one of those rare bands who have remained relevant for the span of their career. Not only do they have loyal fans who have been with them every step of the way, the are impacting the younger fans as well. That is a testament to all the hard, diligent work they’ve done through the years. Despite personal issues the band had suffered periodically, especially the medical issues with Michael’s, they still persevered and continue to tour to this day.

    
​This band will always be one of my favorites and I hope they’ll be around for a long time.
​~Misti-Dawn 


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Vintage Spotlight on Poison Part 1

11/26/2018

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How did a band from Pennsylvania become one of the longest lasting and most well known 80s hair bands out there? In a story that is pure rags to riches and filled with a lot of ups and downs Poison somehow became the “last band standing” as it is 2018 and the guys are still touring together!!!!

In the beginning Poison was called Paris, and the guitarist was Matt Smith. The boys left Pennsylvania in 1983 to find their way in Los Angeles. The hair metal scene was hot on the sunset strip and they knew if they wanted to find success they had to go to the center of that flame.

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When they arrived in L.A. the bad struggled to make their name. They developed an extremely “pretty” glam look that somehow was different from the other bands at the time. When Matt Smith returned to Pennsylvania the boys hooked up with a flamboyant guitarist from New York named C.C. DeVille. This completed their lineup and helped with their look as well. There is truly no other like C.C. It should be noted though that before deciding on C.C. the guys also considered Slash (Guns N Roses) and Steve Silva (Joe Perry Project).
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Bret Michaels, C.C. DeVille, Bobby Dall and Rikki Rockett took the sunset strip by storm. The band was signed by Enigma Records in 1986 and immediately released their debut album that same year. “Look What the Cat Dragged In” had a unique look and a unique sound. Thanks to heavy play on MTV their catchy tunes and videos for "I Want Action", "Talk Dirty to Me", and "I Won’t Forget You" became very popular songs and fans awaited new releases eagerly. This popularity landed the boys tours with RATT, Cinderella and Quiet Riot.
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While the party hard atmosphere was to be expected it seems as if Poison took being the good time band to extremes. There were rumors of condom dispensers on their tour bus, groupies and drugs as well as fist fights and scandalous behavior that followed them on tour and off.

The initial success was thought to be a flash in the pan for a band called Poison but they persevered even through their own individual challenges and completed their next album "Open Up and Say...Ahh!" in 1988.Album # 2 brought even more success with the iconic ballad Every Rose Has it’s Thorn and of course the good girl lost in Hollywood tale told in Fallen Angel.

Open Up sold 8 million copies worldwide.
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Success looked good from the outside. Fans swarmed to shows, watched their videos and bought albums left and right. From the inside things were beginning to fall apart.
We'll have more POISON throughout the week! 
~Suz

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Vintage Spotlight on RATT Part 2

11/8/2018

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Read Part 1 Here

Our vintage spotlight artist this week is RATT. As one of the sleaziest of hair metal bands back in the day these guys had quite a reputation for debauchery. When the band began coming apart at the seams it was hard to watch and was terrible for fans of the band. The early 90s were not good for RATT.

At the end of 1991, just months after their album “Detonator” came out, American rock band Ratt, released the final single of their career, with all 5 members of the band. “Nobody Rides for Free” which was featured on the soundtrack for the movie Point Break.
Each of the 5 band members fought demons such as alcoholism, drug addictions, unprotected sex, just a plethora of bad habits. It’s quite understandable why, after some time, they fell apart.
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  • In 1992, Stephen Pearcy left the band and went on to form another band, Arcade, with former Cinderella drummer, Fred Coury. After Arcade, Pearcy went on to other bands such as Vicious Delites in 1995 & then onto Vertex in 1996.     
  • Warren DeMartini left the band right after Pearcy’s departure and went on to play with Whitesnake in 1994. In 1995, he released a solo project,  the single “Surfs Up” then in 1996, put out a full length album, ‘Crazy Enough to Sing to You”.
  • Robbin Crosby went off to form a band with bassist, Krys Barrato in 1993. He also lent his talents to Rumbledog’s self titled album.Shortly thereafter  Robbin  was diagnosed as HIV positive which later turned into full-blown AIDS.
  • Juan Croucier continued producing underground music from his studio, “The Cellar”. In 1994, he was given a lifetime achievement award in L.A. 
  • Bobby Blotzer went on to work for a carpet cleaning company. Before eventually launching a legal battle to use the name RATT. 
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Throughout the years, the band would bounce back and forth from hiatuses to reunions but never performed again collectively, with all 5 members. With people coming and going, there were a lot of hard feelings amongst the members which led to the two versions of Ratt and even more problems. After Pearcy’s 2nd departure, DeMartini & Blotzer temporarily replaced Pearcy with Robert Mason (Lynch Mob) and also added guitarist, Keri Kelly. Neither of the replacements lasted very long. Mason was only in it if there was going to be a major label deal & Kelly left to join Slash’s Snakepit. John Corabi was then the replacement as singer & guitarist.
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In 2002, former Ratt guitarist, Robbin Crosby, died from a heroin overdose. People suspected if was from complications of AIDS, but on May 11, 2006, the band was a featured profile on VH1’s, ‘Behind the Music’ it was the first time it had been publicly announced that he did, in fact, die from an overdose.

We’ll be back with one more post about the iconic metal band RATT later this week!
Until then keep rockin!
~Misti

    
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Vintage Spotlight on Ratt Part 1

11/5/2018

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When I think of Ratt, I think sex, drugs, rock and roll and the Sunset Strip. If you’ve seen them live or on Mtv, you can clearly tell what they are all about.
 
The beginning of the Ratt saga dates back to the early 70’s. Stephen Pearcy founded a band, Firedome. They disbanded in 1974 and Pearcy formed a new band, Crystal Pystal. This band changed names a couple of times to Buster Cherry which then went onto become Mickey Ratt in 1976. Mickey Ratt went thru various line-ups. In 1981, they shortened the band name to just Ratt. In late 1981, guitar player, Robbin Crosby joined the band. In 1982, 18 year old guitarist, Warren DeMartini, joined Crosby & Pearcy, followed by drummer, Bobby Blotzer & bassist, Juan Croucier. This line-up is what I call, the “dream team”.


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In 1983, Ratt released their 6 song, debut EP titled “Ratt” on the independent label, Time Coast Music. A UK label, Music for Nations, released a 7 track rendition of the EP, that included the song “You’re in Trouble”.
 This ep was well received & caught the eye of Atlantic Records, which was a huge step for them. Once they were signed, they jumped right in and began writing songs.

In March of 1984, they dropped their first full length album, ‘Out of the Cellar’ and what an album it was! Timeless songs, such as, “Round and Round”, “Wanted Man” & “Back for More”, all of which where played in heavy rotation on MTV. This album went multi-platinum.

 A year later, the band’s 2nd full length album was released. ‘Invasion of Your Privacy’ produced songs, “You’re in Love” &  ‘Lay it Down’. This album sold over 1 million copies. By this time, they were selling out concert venues all over the country. After ‘Invasion of Your Privacy’ was released, a few months later, the band released a video simply called, “Ratt:The Video”. Videos from their EP and 2 full length albums were featured. This is an extremely rare find and out of print.

 In 1986, Ratt’s album, ‘Dancing Undercover’ was released. Songs such as “Body Talk”, “Dance” & “Slip of the Lip” were featured and are amongst their greatest hits. This is also the album where DeMartini seems to have taken the reigns on lead guitar from Robbin Crosby. The song “Body Talk was featured on the soundtrack for Eddie Murphy’s movie, “Golden Child”.
   
Fast forward to 1988, the album, ‘Reach for the Sky” came out. The 2 most popular songs from this album were “Way Cool Jr.” & “I Want a Woman”. This album was no different by way of heavy play on MTV and went platinum just as the records before this one.
 

In 1990, they released the album ‘Detonator’. There were mixed reviews by critics and fans. Critics felt they lost their “live sounding energy” that they had with their previous albums. Sales were down as well with only 800,000-900,000 copies sold. This will begin the downfall of their career.

We'll have more RATT for you throughout the week! 
~Misti
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Vintage Spotlight on Motley Crue Part 3

11/3/2018

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Read Part 1 Here
Read Part 2 Here
What can you say about the Crue outside of their music? They are 4 very interesting guys who have racked up some major headlines and infamy throughout the years. If you have not yet read The Dirt it is definitely a must-read! Here are a few highlights from Nikki, Tommy, Vince and Mick although it would require another book or two to cover all of their stories!
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  • Vince has spent time in jail and had various legal troubles from alcohol and his temper. Fighting, DUIs, and the death of Razzle from Hanoi Rocks are just a few of the problems he's encountered.
  • Tommy has been married to Heather Locklear and Pamela Anderson as well as Elaine Bergen and currently Brittany Furlan. He has 2 sons with Pamela. 
  • Nikki has detailed and shared his journey through addiction with a book and album release The Heroin Diaries. 
  • Mick Mars has had a hip replacement and suffers from ankylosing spondylitis.
  • A child attending a birthday party drowned in Tommy's pool, he was later cleared of any negligence. 
  • Nikki is an avid photographer.
  • Vince is a businessman and has his hand in many ventures. He owns the Dr. Feelgood Bar and Grill restaurants, has a tattoo parlor and co-owns a sports team. 
  • Mick Mars was married to Emi Canyn one of the Nasty Habits  backup singers for the Crue, 
  • While Nikki never left the Crue he participated in many other band projects including the Brides of Destruction with Tracii Guns. 
  • Tommy and Pamela made a sex tape that was stolen from their home and made headlines over a lot more than Pam's body... apparently Tommy has an "anaconda"! 
  • Vince Neil's daughter with then wife Sharise, Skylar passed away at the age of 4. 
  • Mick's daughter made him a grandfather 3 times before he turned 40!
  • Tommy and his son Brandon Lee have made headlines this year with their family dysfunction. 
  • Nikki has a syndicated radio show called Sixx Sense
  • Tommy is a PETA supporter
  • Vince has appeared on several reality TV shows and has been in movies as well. 
  • A man named Matthew Trippe claimed that he stepped in as Nikki in the band for several months. This 
  • Nikki  has been married to 2 Playboy Playmates,  Brandi Brandt and Donna D'Errico he has 4 children. 
  • Tommy's sister Athena Lee is also a drummer and was married to Scorpions drummer James Kottak.
  • Mick Mars was known as Zorky Charlemagne in the 1970s.
  • Tommy released his autobiography and accompanying album Tommyland in 2005.
  • The Crue signed a legal agreement that they would no longer tour together as Motley Crue.
  • They may not tour but there is new music from the guys coming out for "The Dirt" movie soundtrack. 
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