THE STORY OF RECKLESS IS THE story of Steve Madden. Man and project have been around like social disease; seemingly forever and never out of touch. With the passage of time and in the absence of a powerful enough antibiotic, Reckless have mutated through various changes but has never entirely died off. Nor has Madden ever lost sight of his unholy grail.
Among the exotic night creatures of the Toronto metal underworld, Steve hangs out with the cream of the wild and slimy. He's the last one to leave the party, the first one on a joint or a new girl. The man never travels without an entourage of teased-hair slimeoids and raps endlessly on sex with strange objects, death and the global importance of endless slime. Record companies and Reckless lineups may come and go but Steve Madden remains firmly rooted in the seamy side of the street. And you have to rank
him as far as honesty's concerned. With a new deal from Quality and a tough-sounding album out, Reckless look set for a solid resurrection, but Madden remains unrepentant.
"I really don't know how they're going to present us. I don't care to get marketed in that Canadian pretty-boy rock band way like was done with Helix, Kick Axe, bands like that. I think we've got international potential and in the long run, that image would hurt us. "I like hanging out with weird people. I like getting into strange stuff. It
doesn't bother me that as many men want to fuck me as women. I don't know how I could play rock 'n' roll if I wasn't living in a way that wasn't taking chances. I don't feel I have a death wish; I just like seeing what happens if...Everybody's responsible for the personal world they live in I like to make mine lots of good dirty fun with loud music."
You can understand why Steve stuck by the name Reckless for every band he put together. Lineup after lineup buckled and died under the strange pressure of the twisted world of Madden but incredibly, one held together long enough to make it into a recording studio. The public face and voice of the band at that time was the lovely and riding-cropped Jan Melanson. The album was called, wait for it, Reckless, and didn't stir
up much of a brew in these parts though the Brit press went ape for it. For a while it looked like Madden and Reckless were gonna take off like geese flying south but a series of events at home froze their little webbed feet firmly in the pond.
"Originally, Capitol Canada had passed on the album but then Capitol EMI in the U.K. picked it up for international release. Which means Capitol in Canada were forced to release it here. As you can imagine, they didn't exactly bust their asses pushing the record. We were going out on major tours and finding no product in the stores. "Then Jan got to be a problem
because she started pulling the band in her softer, poppier direction rather than the hard rock one I'd established for the group. This in turn put the record company in two minds as to how to market the band. "I wasn't all that happy with the album even though I did my damnedest to help move it. I
felt Jan's voice wasn't strong enough to put over all the songs on the album and the situation in the studio got very pressured and personal."
Without N.A. interest, Reckless began to slide into debt, Madden's darker side came into greater focus and the band was wracked by internal hassles. The Steve'n'Jan Show, always a stormy one, went public and several
brawls later, Reckless was disbanded leaving Madden in that particular limbo reserved for musicians with contractual problems. Off the recording scene but not out of mind, Madden busied himself with various low-profile projects and came to a firm decision. Who sings Reckless songs must be a he, never a she. It
was time to make the change; never again would Reckless be a beaver-fronted outfit. From here on in, snake-shakers only need apply. The one that fit the bill best was Doug Adams,
screamer with Ottawa thrash-metal combo Witchkiller, who was looking to give his tonsils a break with something more melodic.
"The first time we jammed together, I knew he was the one. Of course, he had to get used to singing songs with more than one chord change, but the man's an opera-trained singer so he was ready to try something with more range. Also,
I play loud and I needed a voice strong enough to get above my highest runs."
With a core to work from, Madden quickly set about putting the rest of the pieces in place. Bassist Todd Pilon and skinsman Steve Lederman got on board at about the same time as Steve Thompson, manager of Ronnie Hawkins (???), got in on the act.
The rest became history after the boys completed a demo called Hearts Of Steel with eight new Madden tunes. It was so good, not much in the way of cosmetics was needed to turn it into the album called Hearts Of Steel.
Master tapes in briefcase, Thompson went shopping for a deal in Europe and scored with Britain's Heavy Metal Records, shortly after which Quality's Larry Macrae jumped on it for Canadian release. Just before the band played
their showcase dates, another guitarist in the form of Brian Beggs was added (*Ed's note:Brian was the bassist.) amd bassist Pilon subtracted and replaced by Nick Brewerton. (*Ed's note: Nick was the guitarist.) Madden
explains the fine-tuning is crucial as this time around, Reckless will make no false moves.
.
"There was this question of image, of how people look and fit in with the presentation of the band. Also, Doug plays guitar, so that gives us the ability
to do triple harmonies, which you don't hear much of in Canada. It can free me up to concentrate on playing more complicated figures. I'm pleased with the sound we've got now. It's
hard, it's melodic and it's done with passion and intelligence. There's not a song on this album that doesn't belong there; there's no fat, it's all bone and muscle."
Sounds like the ol' slimer has found a reason to keep on living. Don't know if that's healthy or not. I mean, can success spoil Steve Madden? Or is he so far gone that nothing can? Hope so; a respectable Steve Madden is no fun at all.
by LENNY STOUTE
Metallion magazine, Vol. 1 No. 5, 1985.
|
|
