Vintage Spotlight on Poison Part 1

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.

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.

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