Poison frontman Bret Michaels happy to keep rockin'

By Cameron French

TORONTO (Reuters) - Bret Michaels is the first to admit that the heyday of heavy metal, lipstick-laden, 1980s rock is long gone, but he doesn't want any sympathy.

After all, the telegenic frontman of Poison, known as much for its pyrotechnic stage shows as for prom-closing ballads like ``Every Rose has its Thorn'' and ``Something to Believe In,'' isn't exactly at a loss for things to do.

In addition to a burgeoning filmmaking career that has seen him writing, producing and starring in movies such as 1999's ''Letter from Death Row,'' Michaels and his still-rocking bandmates are headlining the ``Grand Slam Metal Jam'' tour, stopping in at Toronto's Molson Amphitheatre this weekend to squeeze every last bit of sweat from aging metalheads wanting to relive their youth.

``Canadians have always been very receptive to Poison's guitar-driven rock, as we call it. When we play here, people get excited about it,'' he said in a phone interview from Vancouver, British Columbia, where the 38-year-old Pennsylvanian owns a house to go along with the one he has in Malibu, Calif.

It wasn't long ago that a bunch of guys in tight leather pants and mascara, singing songs about girls and cars, could sell five million albums and sell out stadiums up and down both coasts of the U.S. and Canada.

But Michaels isn't bemoaning the loss that the entire heavy-metal genre suffered when grunge music took the industry by storm in the early 1990s.

``I personally thought grunge music was great,'' he said.

``Now the new thing is, the critics are kind of dissing the grunge scene. It was supposed to be this big thing that was supposed to waste all music. It lasted about three years and disappeared.''

Now, sharing a bill with 1980s metal heavyweights Quiet Riot, Great White, Warrant, and Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil, Michaels is getting the chance to do a show on the scale the band was used to in its heyday.

``The production that we're bringing this year is the biggest one we've ever taken on the road, as far as pyro and flames, confetti and explosions, and just great songs,'' he said.

``The show's going to be over the top, and they're totally going to be blown away.''

At first glance, Michaels might seem a caricature of 1980s rock excess -- an aging icon with plenty of stories of backstage fistfights, on-the-road one night stands, screaming teenaged fans and music that, while rarely appreciated by the critics, nevertheless sold albums by the millions.

He talks seriously about the lasting power of songs with names like ``Talk Dirty to Me'', and ``Unskinny Bop''.

But the blonde-haired Michaels has displayed a remarkable ability to reinvent himself in the public eye.

After the band fell apart in 1995, he put his time into releasing solo albums and forming a movie production company with film star Charlie Sheen.

But after a ``Behind the Music'' broadcast on Poison on the VH1 cable channel, which drew 5.1 million U.S. viewers in 1999, Michaels realized the Poison franchise still had legs.

``I really focused on making movies and solo records, just because I like creating, but Poison's always my main focus,'' he said.

And despite the changing demands of rock fans, Michaels and Poison have been adamant about maintaining their familiar sound. A quick listen to their latest single, ``Rock Star'', reveals the band's sound has remained intact.

``There are some critics that absolutely hate our band, and there's some that love it. They love that we're balls-out, that we stuck to our guns,'' he said.

``My advice to any rock band is this: If you can't do it right, do it anyway. Just do it. Period.''

Reuters/Variety REUTERS

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