Glam rock is back -- and it's coming to Duluth for Glam Slam Metal Jam

By V. Paul Virtucio
News Tribune staff writer

Remember the days when having a bad hair day increased your chances of being mistaken for a heavy metal rocker?

When spandex, heels and makeup were unisex?

Or what about those days of unskinny bops, banging heads, flying high and fallen angels?

Well, they're back.

The onset of Seattle's Nirvana and the grunge music scene in 1992 might have meant that the days of '80s rock -- called hair metal, heavy metal, hard rock and glam rock -- were gone, but not forgotten.

At least not forgotten by Poison, Warrant, Quiet Riot and Enuff Z'Nuff, four bands from another generation that are touring the nation this summer to take their music to new audiences.

"By doing what we did back then, it ends up being something totally different than what's on the radio today. In a sense, we're kind of the alternative to alternative,'' said Quiet Riot's Kevin DuBrow. "I think this generation of music fans is looking for their own kind of music and we're one option, we're the '80s hair band.''

Poison, Warrant, Quiet Riot and Enuff Z'Nuff will take the stage at 6 p.m. Sunday in the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Arena as part of the "Glam Slam Metal Jam,'' a 51-city tour.

For the bands, the tour isn't an '80s revival, where old fogies get together to reminisce about a bygone era. In the past year, three of the bands have put out albums with new material. Quiet Riot's "Guilty Pleasures'' was released in May while Poison's "Power to the People'' and Enuff Z'Nuff's "10'' were released last year.

Warrant will put out a tribute album this month, called "Under the Influence,'' with covers of bands like AC/DC, Badfinger and Nazareth.

Glam Slam is a chance for the bands to reconnect with their fan base and market their music to a post-alternative, bubble-gum pop, fusion-metal generation.

"On one hand you have the super, super pop acts out there right now, the Disney ones. On the flip side, you have extremely angry music out there,'' said Poison's Rikki Rockett. "Somewhere among that, people are going 'Just give me a rock star. Someone that kicks ass on stage.' ''

That's what these bands have built their careers on. They're no longer looking to be the best bands in the world, said Chip Z'Nuff of Enuff Z'Nuff.

The fact that they're still playing, the bands say, is evidence that '80s rock is still viable and they still have something to offer.

Job security is what makes Glam Slam a different tour than what they did in the 1980s.

When Poison was topping the charts and touring heavily with its "Open Up and Say... Ahh'' and "Flesh & Blood'' albums, its members were just waiting for the bottom to drop out, Rockett said. They thought there was nowhere to go but down once they peaked.

"Now, at this point, I think we've made our mark. It's 15 years later and we're still out here playing, we're still doing our thing and we're doing it pretty well,'' Rockett said. "We now know we have a career. We don't have to be the flavor of the moment anymore. That's good, trust me.''

Confident that their music-making is no longer in jeopardy, these bands have stuck with their '80s sound -- power ballads, heavy guitar riffs and explosive drums mixed in with poppy lyrics -- rather than trying to conform to what's commercially viable.

Because of Enuff Z'Nuff's spotted history -- debt, bankruptcy and drug addiction -- Z'Nuff said the band is damaged goods anyway and record labels don't want to take risks. So there's no real reason not to stick with its aggressive pop sound.

DuBrow's songwriting philosophy is to stick with what he's good at and create the music that comes naturally. In writing "Rock the House,'' a single off Quiet Riot's new album, he wanted to create a tune like "Cum On Feel the Noise,'' one of the band's biggest hits in the '80s. "Rock the House'' even starts off with the band's trademark song opener of just heavy drums and vocals.

In the mid-'90s, Warrant attempted an alternative-sounding rock, which its fans didn't appreciate.

"I think redefining yourself is dangerous because that means changing. It should always be about the good song,'' DuBrow said. "The whole idea about reinventing yourself smells of following a trend.''

Poison's Rockett agrees. While terms like hair metal, heavy metal, hard rock and glam rock have all been applied to the band, all Poison does is rock 'n' roll and that's all it will ever do, he said.

"That's why I don't like the term hair metal because I think I can shave my head and still look glamorous,'' Rockett said. "I think the hair is the least interesting thing about us.''

Another strategy the bands employed to stay in business was to reduce their reliance on major record labels and corporate radio. Enuff Z'Nuff has gone with independent labels. Poison and Warrant have their own record labels.

Quiet Riot concentrates on a city-to-city approach to marketing its music, rather than going nationally. DuBrow said that's the best way to ensure air play.

"The well-tuned fine big machine is fine to have if there's instant gratification. If you go eight weeks with a major label and you don't sell a hit, you're doomed,'' Z'Nuff said. "With an indie label, you have a career.''

In the end, the bands chalk up their success to fate, luck, karma and a whole host of unseen forces. With all the work they put into their songwriting and performances, they said it took a special something -- a blessing, Rockett said -- to make everything come together and last this long.

"I honestly believe that the best is yet to come. Right now, I'm happier than I ever was because I am very comfortable with what we do and who we are,'' Rockett said. "When a guy comes and says I inspired him to pick up the drumsticks, there isn't a journalist in the world who can make me feel bad for what I do.''

V. Paul Virtucio can be reached at (218) 279-5536 or by e-mail: pvirtuci@duluthnews.com

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