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Cream was the brainstorm of drummer Ginger Baker. He had been toiling away with several British Blues and Jazz outfits, including the Graham Bond Organization where he played with bassists Jack Bruce. But the two never seemed to click. Meanwhile, guitarist Eric Clapton had split from the Yardbirds because the band had ditched its Blues…
If you’re gonna be a big hair & make-up band it might be a good idea to have a licensed cosmetologist in the group. That was the previous calling of Poison’s bassist Bobby Dall (a.k.a. Robert Kuy Kendall). Vocalist Bret Michaels (a.k.a. Bret Michael Sychak) and Dall shot out of their native Pittsburgh to try…
Hailing from Long Island, Blue Oyster Cult formed in ‘70 and managed to land a recording contract in ‘72. On the way, they became a regular opening act for Alice Cooper. The starting line-up had Eric Bloom (vocals, “stun” guitar, keyboards and bass), Donald Roeser a.k.a. Buck Dharma (vocals, keyboards, bass, regular guitar – no…
This is the story of how good kids, from presumedly good families, went horribly wrong. One might ponder how a band of Phoenix, AZ high school buddies who possessed a knack for cranking out third rate Rolling Stones, The Who and Yardbirds covers could, over time, devolve into the founders of Shock Rock. First as…
The Libertines career was short-lived and modest but could have been more… if not for Peter Doherty’s ongoing drug abuse. Doherty and guitarist/vocalist Carlos Barat started as an acoustic duo playing in London’s King’s Cross-area. In ’02, they added bassist John Hassall and drummer Gary Powell. The Libertines got picked up by the Rough Trade…
Godsmack, a name lifted from an Alice In Chains’ song, have released eight studio albums. “Faceless” (’03), “IV,” (’06) and “The Oracle” (’10) were three consecutive #1 albums on the Billboard 200. The band has had over a dozen songs top the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. As Strip Mind and Lillian Axe bit the dust in…
The most unsettling aspect of Grunge was the death toll – either by drug overdose or suicide. The list includes Kurt Cobian (Nirvana), Layne Staley (Alice In Chains), Mike Starr (Alice In Chains) and the one that seemed most unlikely of all, Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell. Soundgarden’s initial line-up had lead singer Cornell, guitarist Kim Thayil,…
When Sexart ran into LAPD (another group) things started to happen. LAPD members James “Munky” Shaffer (guitar) and Brian “Head” Welch (guitar) saw vocalist Jonahtan Davis and were impressed. So Sexart was history and KoЯn was born with Davis choosing the name. Added to the line-up were Reggie “Fieldy Snuts” Arvizu (bass) and David Silveria…
Between ’70 and ’73, ZZ Top records were huge in the great state of Texas – and nowhere else. They even managed to draw 80,000 fans to Austin for their First Annual Texas Sized Rompin’ Stompin’ Barndance Bar-B-Q. With the release of “Tres Hombres” and the song “La Grange” they began to garner national attention….
Aerosmith’s self-titled debut didn’t do much in 1973 nor did the single “Dream On” (it would rise from the ashes a couple years later). A second effort, “Get Your Wings,” also initially failed to garner much attention even though it had “Same Old Song And Dance.” “Toys In The Attic” hit the streets in 1975…