Express-News: Music Poison still rocking in its
classic '80s style
By David Glessner Special to the
Express-News
Poison's 1986 debut album had more lipstick, teased hair
and pouty, come-hither stares than an X-rated hot line ad, but
the music has endured far longer than a one-night stand. With
more than 20 million albums sold, the Cadillac tramps are
still talking dirty, playing hard and delivering on their
promise of nothing but a good time.
Poison will headline
the Glam Slam Metal Jam for the third year in a row.
Courtesy Photo |
Glam Slam Metal Jam Where:
Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, 16765 Lookout Road,
Selma Featuring: Poison, Warrant, Quiet Riot,
Vince Neil, Enuff Z'nuff, Great White,
Bulletboys When: 2:30 p.m.
Saturday Tickets: $17.50-$35
Get out the hair spray! A look at the Glam Slam
Metal Jam
Now that they're not spending as much time at the
salon, some of the '80s' most famous hair-metal bands
are out on the road and packing venues all summer long.
The bands get knocked for being so image conscious, but
hey, even the hardest-rocking metalhead can recall a
special night with Whitesnake in the background. Hair's
the latest on the Glam Slam Metal Jam lineup.
Warrant One of the worst offenders of the
'hair band' aesthetic, Warrant nonetheless displayed
some skilled songwriting ability. Yeah, 'Cherry Pie' was
as cheesy as a stuffed crust pizza, but 'Down Boys,'
'Uncle Tom's Cabin,' 'I Saw Red' and 'Heaven' had merit.
Singer Jani Lane has not yet retired to the Hair Club
for Men.
Quiet Riot Back with the classic lineup of
Kevin DuBrow, Carlos Cavazo, Rudy Sarzo and Frankie
Banali, Quiet Riot's new album, 'Guilty Pleasures,' is
due any day. DuBrow describes it as being a return to
the anthemic metal and the 'big drum sound and big,
dirty guitars' of 'Metal Health (Bang Your Head),'
'Slick Black Cadillac,' 'Cum on Feel the Noize' and
'Mama Weer All Crazee Now.'
Enuff Z'Nuff A Chicago-based institution,
Enuff Z'Nuff was all over MTV in the '80s with the
Beatles-esque smash hit 'Fly High Michelle.' Singer
Donnie Vie and bassist Chip Z'Nuff now have guitarist
Monaco and drummer Ricky Parent in their ranks. The
band's 10th album, appropriately titled '10,' features a
guest appearance by fellow Chicago homeboy and former
Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan. A new album is
being finished with reported cameos by Rick Nielsen of
Cheap Trick and James Young from Styx.
Great White Led by skilled vocalist and
rock-out party dude Jack Russell, this revolving door of
a rock band has a catalog that includes the cuts 'Rock
Me,' 'Save Your Love,' 'Stick It' and the
once-overkilled cover of Ian Hunter's 'Once Bitten,
Twice Shy.' The band's last single, 'Rolling Stoned,'
was a killer return to form.
Vince Neil The Motley Crue singer is
reportedly playing loads of classic Crue along with
material from his soon-to-be-rereleased solo albums
'Exposed' and 'Carved in Stone.' And no, Motley Crue has
not broken up, according to Neil.
Bulletboys If there were an award for
cloning vintage David Lee Roth, Bulletboys singer Marq
Torien would have won it repeatedly back when he was
belting out 'Smooth Up In Ya.' It's safe to assume he'd
trade 'the look' for Roth's sales figures. --
David Glessner |
For the third summer in a row, the original Poison lineup
of Bret Michaels, C.C. DeVille, Bobby Dall and Rikki Rockett
shows up to blow a kiss Saturday when the Glam Slam Metal Jam
pops the cork at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. The
Glamour Shots reunion also includes '80s pretty boys Warrant,
Quiet Riot, Enuff Z'nuff, Motley Crue's Vince Neil, Great
White and Bulletboys. Pass the hair spray.
"This year, obviously we wanna do all our greatest hits
songs," vocalist Michaels said. "But we want to add the
brand-new songs from (last year's) 'Power to the People,' we
wanna do 'Sexual Thing' off 'Crack a Smile,' we want to add in
a brand-new song we've got called 'Rock Star,' and just add
new songs in there to make it exciting for us. Plus, there's a
lot of (breasts) out there, which is awesome. (Breasts) and
beer are timeless (laughs)."
If Michaels sounds like a skirt-chasing, Ferrari-crashing,
ex-boyfriend of Pamela Anderson, it's because he is. He's also
an eternally grateful performer and fan, and the voice of rock
classics such as "Nothin' But a Good Time," "Talk Dirty to
Me," "Something to Believe In" and the immortal karaoke hit
"Every Rose Has Its Thorn."
The fortune, fame and flamboyant image recently landed
Poison at the top of VH-1's "Top 40 Hair Bands of All Time"
special (a list that also included Warrant, Quiet Riot and
Great White).
"I don't look at (the hair-band label) as being
derogatory," Michaels said. "I truly am passionate about what
I do, and it's part music and part image. What the (expletive)
would rock 'n' roll be without attitude? We're up there with
Motley Crue, the Scorpions — that's not such bad company."
Long before landing in such good company, Poison was a
starving bar band that formed in Pennsylvania in 1983. Taking
a cue from idols Kiss and David Lee Roth, Poison spent every
elusive nickel on lipstick, pyro, banners and outrageous
clothes to make sure their keg party gigs were the talk of the
town. With stars in their eyes, they sold everything they had,
piled into a beat-up Chevette and headed for Los Angeles,
where their definition of poverty sank to a new low.
Life in an abandoned dry cleaning establishment was too
much for original guitarist Matt Smith, who bailed out, making
room for DeVille, who has been in and out of the band due to
personal problems and personality conflicts. It should be
noted, however, that DeVille remains a fan favorite and has
been in the band far longer than he's been out.
By 1986, the small, independent Enigma record label spent a
meager $30,000 to produce Poison's debut album, "Look What the
Cat Dragged In." The tracks "Talk Dirty to Me," "Cry Tough"
and "I Won't Forget You" catapulted Poison out of the dry
cleaner and into the big leagues, including the 1987 Texxas
Jam with Aerosmith. Poison's star was shining so brightly that
Kiss' Paul Stanley showed up in street clothes to play the
Kiss classic, "Strutter" on a guitar borrowed from DeVille.
Former guitarist Smith has been kicking himself ever since.
"I think it's an honor if I can go out there and my fantasy
and my reality become one and the same," Michaels said. "For
me, that's a dream come true."
Poison and the countless bandanna bands they inspired were
living the dream of platinum albums and glitzy videos until an
unbathed bunch called Nirvana exploded out of Seattle and
turned self-loathing and ratty cardigans into big business and
high fashion. Glam was out, goatees were in and the Poisons,
Ratts, Motley Crues and Skid Rows of the world struggled to
remain viable when music became therapy instead of
hot-and-bothered escapism.
MTV and radio will say it ain't so, but Poison and their
contemporaries remain big business on the concert circuit.
"I think people come out and go, 'Look, this is a big
summer show, stuff's gonna explode, it's gonna be exciting,'"
Michaels said. "And, again, I go back to the universal bonding
— a lot of naked breasts."
05/24/2001
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