Great White

Great White came together thanks to the musical partnership of singer Jack Russell and guitarist Mark Kendall. Initially, Russell asked Kendall to join the band he was fronting at the time, but their creative chemistry proved so potent that they went off together to form their own band. They wrote and rehearsed together until 1979, when Russell botched a robbery he was committing and accidentally shot a live-in maid in the house he had broken into. Quite rightly, he was caught and sentenced to eight years in prison, and Kendall was left to pick up the pieces on his own. He did actually put together a band called Dante Fox, and played some shows around the Orange County area of California with them. However, Russell was released from his prison sentence after 18 months and rejoined Kendall soon afterwards.

The band played their debut show with Russell at Hollywood’s legendary Troubadour venue and after recording some demo tapes, they secured the services of Alan Niven as their manager. Niven’s first act as manager was to change the band’s name to a nickname that Kendall had picked up around the L.A rock scene. Due to his naturally platinum blonde hair, his white Fender Telecaster and his habit of wearing a white jumpsuit with matching shoes on stage, he’d been given the nickname Great White after the band’s first few gigs. The band unanimously agreed on their new name and by 1982, the band were known as Great White.

By the same year, Niven had formed Aegean, his own independent record label, and with his backing the band hit the studio to record their debut E.P “Out Of The Night”. In the end, not only did he put the record out but he also convinced the L.A Radio Station KMET to playlist a couple of songs from the E.P. They ended up playing the songs so regularly that the bands profile shot up within months, and by the end of the year they were headlining and selling out concert halls all over California. By the end of 1983 the band had signed to EMI America and their self-titled debut album was released early the following year.

The band rode out the rest of the decade as the connoisseur’s hair metal band of choice. They opened for everyone from Judas Priest, and Whitesnake to Dokken and had their 1987 album “Once Bitten…” certified platinum in April the following year. Its follow up “…Twice Shy” was an even bigger deal, achieving double platinum status within five months of its release. Ever since then the band have become one of the most fondly remembered acts of the hair metal era. They were always a little more respectable than the likes of Poison and their ilk, willing to rock out in a way that arguably made them pave the way for Guns N’ Roses. To this day both incarnations of the band that still play can blow the roof of any venue they play, and with a back catalogue like theirs, they come highly recommended.

Rising out of the ashes of Vinnie Vincent Invasion, members Mark Slaughter (lead vocals/rhythm guitar) and Dana Strum (bass) brought in Tim Kelly (lead guitar) and Blas Elias (drums) to form Slaughter in 1988. The band quickly got to work developing their sound, fusing catchy pop melodies with their driving metal in the hope that they could find crossover appeal between rock fans and pop fans alike.

Success was not long awaited for Slaughter, with their debut album becoming a huge breakthrough hit. Bolstered by three hit singles, “Fly to the Angels,” “Up All Night” and “Spend My Life,” the debut recording went on to be certified double-Platinum in the US. Having been requested by Orion Pictures, the band then recorded the single “Shout it Out,” which appeared in the film, “Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey,” gaining heavy airplay and finding new fans from this exposure.

Their second effort, “The Wild Life,” appeared in 1992, achieving moderate success through the hit, “Real Love,” becoming certified Gold. Plans to return to the studio for a third album were set back by Kelly’s arrest for drug trafficking, as well as a motorcycle accident that prevented Strum from being gable to play due to his injuries. The album was finally completed in 1994 but by then it was released upon a changing musical market and the band were soon dropped from their label.

Signing to CMC Records, they returned with 1995’s “Fear No Evil,” a commercial failure in the US but the band had found a huge market in Japan. After releasing 1997’s “Revolution,” a more psychedelic affair, the band were struck with tragedy, following the sudden death of guitarist Kelly. Despite being deeply affected by the loss, Slaughter continued, releasing 199’s “Back to Reality,” which found commercial success once again through a number of successful singles.

Whilst not returning to the studio, the band have since toured extensively alongside the likes of Mötley Crüe member Vince Neil, Skid Row, Quiet Riot and Firehouse amongst others, helping to keep the hair metal fandom alive.

Quiet Riot formed in 1973 with the original line-up of guitarist Randy Rhoads, bassist Kelly Garni, lead vocalist Kevin DuBrow, and drummer Drew Forsyth. Originally under the moniker Mach 1 and later Little Women, the Quiet Riot name was inspired by Rick Parfitt of Status Quo whose thick English accent made the potential band name “Quite Right” sound like Quiet Riot. After becoming a well-known band in the Los Angeles area, opening for such acts as Van Halen, Quiet Riot signed with Song in 1977 and released their eponymously-titled debut the same year.

The band subsequently released “Quiet Riot II” in 1978, but like it’s predecessor was only released in Japan. After which, Garni was kicked out the band and replaced by Rudy Sarzo and in 1979 lead guitarist Rhoads departed for Ozzy Osbourne’s band essentially derailing the whole project, which officially ended in 1980. The band returned in 1982 with a line-up of DuBrow, guitarist Carlos Cavazo, bassist Rudy Sarzo and drummer Frankie Banali, which turned out to be their most commercially successful. Quiet Riot recorded and released their American debut album “Metal Health” in 1982, which became the first heavy metal album to ever reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Led by the eponymously-titled lead single and spawning the cover of Slade’s “Cum on Feel the Noize”, the latter of which became the first heavy metal song to break into the Top 5 on the U.S. singles chart, the album was their American breakthrough.

With this new found success, Quiet Riot were able to tour as the opening act for Black Sabbath on their Born Again Tour from October 1983 to March 1984. The band’s subsequent release, “Condition Critical”, despite reaching No. 15 in the U.S. album chart and No. 14 in the Canadian album chart, failed to live up to the success of “Metal Health” and marked the band’s decline from the mainstream. Quiet Riot released “QR III” in 1986 and “QR” in 1988, the latter of which proved to be their last album to chart on the Billboard 200.

The band didn’t let this halt their flow however and continued to record and release a host of new albums , and still maintain an impressively extensive touring schedule and live show. Quiet Riot’s subsequent albums include “Terrified” in 1993, “Down to the Bone” in 1995, “Alive and Well” in 1999, “Guilty Pleasures” in 2001, “Rehab” in 2006 and “Quiet Riot 10” in 2014.