Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History of Metal

by Jon Wiederhorn

  CHERYL RIXON: I always loved rockers. They’re more honest and straight-ahead. There’s no pretense about what they want. But when it comes to the sex and groupies, I think it’s more a case of being alone on the road away from home and needing some companionship.

  ROXANA SHIRAZI (groupie, author): I tend to really surprise rock stars, as I can easily conduct an orgy or get a band to do me at once, and the next minute I can start talking about political theory. Groupie to me is very one-dimensional. Man, when I go to hang out with bands, if they don’t give me fun or get me off sexually, I leave or tell them to go and find me someone who will. I genuinely don’t [understand] girls who do things just to please these guys. What do they get out of it?

  BRET MICHAELS: I do not consider myself sleazy. I consider myself a good host of a good party, and some sleazy things may occur, but it’s all in the eyes of the beholder. It looks great on TV, if they were slapping themselves in the ass and sticking stuff up the vajayjay every two seconds. But eventually you gotta cook, have dinner, and talk about what’s going on in the world—“How about Obama, is he working?” There’s gotta be some amount of intelligence going on.

  While bands and groupies had no ethical qualms with the lifestyles they led, others were appalled by the unbridled hedonism in metal videos and song lyrics—especially a group of Washington, DC–based politicos who banded together in 1985 under the name Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC). The group included Tipper Gore, wife of future vice president Al Gore, and Susan Baker, wife of ex-U.S. Treasury Secretary James Baker. Metal was far from their sole target: along with W.A.S.P., Twisted Sister, and Judas Priest, the group also took aim at Frank Zappa, Prince, and Madonna.

  FRANK ZAPPA (1940–1993) (1985 speech to the Senate): The PMRC proposal is an ill-conceived piece of nonsense which fails to deliver any real benefits to children, infringes the civil liberties of people who are not children, and promises to keep the courts busy for years dealing with the interpretational and enforcemental problems inherent in the proposal’s design. It is my understanding that in law First Amendment issues are decided with a preference for the least restrictive alternative. In this context, the PMRC demands are the equivalent of treating dandruff by decapitation.

  SUSAN BAKER (PMRC): The material we are concerned about cannot be compared with “Louie Louie,” Cole Porter, Billie Holliday, et cetera. Cole Porter’s “The birds do it, the bees do it,” can hardly be compared with W.A.S.P.’s “I f-u-c-k like a beast.” There is a new element of vulgarity and violence toward women that is unprecedented. While a few outrageous recordings have always existed in the past, the proliferation of songs glorifying rape, sadomasochism, incest, the occult, and suicide by a growing number of bands illustrates [this] escalating trend that is alarming. Judas Priest [wrote “Eat Me Alive,”] about forced oral sex at gunpoint, [and that] has sold over two million copies.

  ROB HALFORD: [For “Eat Me Alive”] we were all fucking pissed out of our minds in a little studio in Ibiza being very hedonistic, and I was writing whatever came to mind. I don’t know where the title came from. We were falling about in the studio because we all thought it was really funny. I don’t think we knew that song was going to end up on Tipper Gore’s hit list. It was just a moment that had a lot of repercussions, and I’m glad it did because that’s what rock and roll is about. I still think it’s very important that rock and roll carries that title and energy, and vibrates and irritates.

  IAN HILL: Tipper Gore and the Washington Wives were trying to get rock and roll banned, and it was real right-wing Nazi-type stuff. Obviously, that was never going to work. The thing is, heavy metal bands aren’t the establishment. The establishment is people like Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, and Barbra Streisand. And that’s the kind of thing the people in power listen to. They don’t understand anything else. And some of them think, “Well, if I don’t like it, nobody else should either,” and try to put a stop to it, which is rather ludicrous. I’ve got no problem whatsoever with rating records. It’s the same thing with movies. But trying to ban it as something that’s detrimental to the country—I mean, c’mon.

  After a well-publicized Senate hearing, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) agreed to place “parental advisory” labels at the bottom right hand corner of records deemed potentially inappropriate for young, impressionable ears. Some outlets, including Walmart, refused to carry albums with warning labels. But the titillation that accompanied obtaining an album with a parental warning increased the marketability of many metal bands. Still, in the post-PMRC climate, some had to compromise. Poison and Guns N’ Roses were forced to change album artwork to appease conservative lobbyists. Neither band suffered. Poison’s 1988 sophomore offering—Open Up and Say . . . Ahh!—went quintuple platinum in America, and GN’R’s Appetite for Destruction had sold eighteen million in the United States. The two groups were on opposite ends of the glam/Strip spectrum, of course. Poison had a happier, less abrasive aesthetic. Vocalist Bret Michaels, bassist Bobby Dall, guitarist Rikki Rockett, and original guitarist Matt Smith moved to LA from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, in early 1984, changing their name from Paris to Poison before adding guitarist C.C. DeVille and exploding with flashy neon intensity.

  VICKY HAMILTON: Poison did several Reseda Country Club gigs with guitarist Matt Smith, prior to C.C. I tried to get Slash in the band. Slash actually auditioned and got the job. He said, “Yeah, I’ll take the job, but I’m not gonna wear all the fucking makeup. And I’m not gonna say, ‘Hi, my name is Slash.’” You know, Poison had that whole thing in the early days where it was, ‘Hi, I’m Bobby.’ ‘Hi, I’m Rikki’ . . .” Slash was like, “I’m not doing that. Sorry.” Enter C.C., who would do anything.

  BRET MICHAELS: Poison is not a resurgence of the glitter rock scene of the seventies; we’re just products of the music and bands we were influenced by. The first two records I bought were Led Zeppelin II and Lynyrd Skynyrd [pronounced 'lĕh-'nérd-'skin-'nérd]. And then I stole KISS’s Alive from Sears. That went over big when my dad made me return it after I bragged that I stole it. My first influences were those guys, the Beatles, and the Stones. And then I bought a Strat [guitar] because I thought Jimi Hendrix was the bomb, and he played one. That’s where I was coming from. Poison has three things onstage: attitude, image, and most of all, that down-to-earthiness, that rolling-in-the-mud attitude of being with the crowd.

  WILLIAM HEIN (founder, Enigma Records) [1986 interview]: [Their songs] might tend to cut off the more intellectual side of the market. I can’t see too many Philip Glass fans going crazy over Poison. I’m not too concerned. It seems obvious to me that this band is going to have huge appeal. I think, actually, Poison is going to end up selling more records than KISS.

  BRET MICHAELS: I first realized I was a rock star the day I got to play Texas Stadium when we shot the “I Won’t Forget You” video. Paul Stanley was onstage with us jamming. Steven Tyler was in the wings with David Coverdale, and we were playing to 83,000 people on our first album. Afterwards I got completely hammered and dove into what I thought was a really deep fountain at Texas Stadium at the Cotton Bowl, but it had a shallow bottom and I banged myself up pretty well. I faked my way through the injury because I didn’t want anyone to know I was hurt. The night ended at Carl’s Corner truck stop to eat. There were probably six people in there and I don’t think anyone knew who we were. So the same day I realized I was a rock star was also the same day that humbled me. I think that’s what’s helped give me such a long career. Every time something good has happened, I’ve sort of gotten a kick in the teeth that came with it. That’s what helped make me a fighter.

  RONNIE JAMES DIO: All Poison had to offer musically was a load of crap. They were just a hair band with makeup, but they were supposed to be heavy metal. I laughed at all that. Heavy metal bands, to me, were always Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. Sabbath created that form of music and I was in that band. So when you’re in a band that pioneers a style of music, you look at everyone el
se who tries to emulate it and go, [sarcastically] “Yeah, sure. You’re a real heavy metal band.”

  Though they shared some of the same audience, Guns N’ Roses was grittier, heavier, nastier, and more self-destructive than Poison. The road to GN’R’s formation was long and convoluted, encompassing the bands LA Guns, Hollywood Rose, and numerous other musicians before the group’s “classic” lineup solidified in 1985 with the addition of Indiana-bred vocalist Bill Bailey (aka Axl Rose) and his friend, guitarist Izzy Stradlin.

  TRACII GUNS: I met Axl through Izzy, who I first met in 1982 or 1983. He was playing with a friend of mine’s band, Shire. We became good friends, and within a year he was living at my mom’s house. He kept telling me about Axl. He showed me pictures: “He’s my best friend, I’m going to get him out here and do this band.” Axl came out to LA a couple of times. He went back and forth between Izzy’s girlfriend’s house, my mom’s house, and guitarist Chris Weber’s house, until he ended up in LA Guns. We were best friends for a couple of years. Then, when I went back to do LA Guns, I tried to do a heavier version of Guns N’ Roses.

  STEVEN ADLER: Tracii had LA Guns, Axl and Izzy had Hollywood Rose, and then they got together and turned into Guns N’ Roses. That was with Rob Gardner on drums and Tracii and that was only for about a week.

  TRACII GUNS: The first LA Guns show was 1983, or ’82. I recall the very first show we did with Paul Black singing. It was the closing night of the Cathay de Grande. One of the highlights for me was Mentors singer El Duce right in front of me all night, with his pants around his ankles, going, “Tracii Guns is god!” He was the sweetest man.

  IZZY STRADLIN (ex–Guns N’ Roses): This lineup started with Duff, Steve, Axl, Slash, and myself like two days after rehearsal. Duff said, “I got a West Coast tour—Oregon, Seattle.” We had six people in his car [and] a U-Haul trailer. We made it to Bakersfield and the car broke down. But we made it. We played all the shows. That’s how the band really cemented. It’s a survivalist band. I ran away from home when I was almost seventeen. I’ve been out in LA ever since. Same with Axl.

  STEVEN ADLER: Tracii and Rob weren’t ready to be road dogs. And me and Slash had already played with Axl, Izzy, and Duff, and we’re like “fuck yeah, we’ll do it.” We were in this guy Danny’s car, this big old Cadillac, with a U-Haul, and we’re driving through Bakersfield and the car caught on fire, and I got some truck driver to give the band a ride. We had our guitars and our bags and we’re in this big eighteen-wheeler, and he takes us to Medford, Oregon. It must’ve been the coolest scene ever, to see five guys with their guitars and suitcases standing on the freeway hitchhiking. Then these two hippie girls picked us up. That was our first show as Guns N’ Roses. But we did shows as Hollywood Rose and Rose. Actually, the first GN’R show was at the Troubadour. That was on a Thursday night, and Friday morning we were on the road.

  JERRY CANTRELL: At a Guns N’ Roses concert, me and [vocalist] Layne [Staley] were trying to pass a demo tape to Axl Rose, through the fucking gate. When we first met, Layne actually had this other band. [Late bassist] Mike Starr and I were in this band called Gypsy Rose. We got canned after a week ’cause I couldn’t do squiggly diddlies on my guitar and they found a bass guitarist that could do better Steve Harris impersonations than Mike.

  VICKY HAMILTON: Axl called me when I worked at Silver Lining Entertainment as an agent and said, “You come highly recommended. We want you to book some shows for us.” I was like, “Cool, send me a demo.” He said, “No—can’t I come and play it for you?” I said, “Well, you could if I had a stereo system here.” He said, “That’s okay, I have a ghetto blaster.” A few hours later, he and Izzy showed up with “Back Off Bitch” and a lot of the songs that were on Appetite. I was like, “Shit. This is good.” I actually booked them at the Music Machine without even seeing them live. It was like this slo-mo moment where I was introducing Slash to Axl. Slash says that he met Axl before that and he probably did, but I thought I introduced them. Whether I did or I didn’t, I did reintroduce them that night. They stood there talking for quite a while. Chris Weber was basically leaving the band. His parents were shipping him off to England or whatever. At that point, Steven Adler was in the band, too.

  PHIL LEWIS: I didn’t see Guns N’ Roses early. We did a couple shows with them, like Perkins Palace in Pasadena, but Slash and Tracii didn’t get along and there was some shenanigans with the amps. Slash doesn’t like Tracii at all. He mentioned it twice in his book, and one of the reasons is something to do with that show.

  SLASH: There were a few Iron Maiden dates for us to do in California to end the tour. But Axl’s throat was such that he just couldn’t do them. LA Guns was hired to play the opening slot as long as enough of us showed up to jam with them. Duff, Izzy, Steven, and I showed up reluctantly—at best—to play a few songs. We got up there and our crew told me after that LA Guns had tried to sabotage our gear; they’d turned down all the amps to make us sound bad. I guess Tracii was worried that I was going to outplay him. That show ended any sort of civil relationship between Tracii Guns and me.

  Early on, one of Guns N’ Roses’ favorite haunts was the weekly rock club Cathouse, which helped popularize glam metal in the same way the Soundhouse spearheaded the NWOBHM.

  RIKI RACHTMAN: We went to this party, six of us, and Taime [Downe] was one of them. We started talking and totally hit it off. I was DJ-ing this regular club; he came down and hung with me in the DJ booth. I said, “I should start a rock club.” He said, “I’m starting a band called Faster Pussycat.” I said, “I’ll call it the Cathouse and you can do it with me.” We called it Riki and Taime’s World Famous Cathouse. He was a very important part for the first couple months. The Cathouse is not to be confused with Gazzarri’s. We were more the gypsy/junkie thing, as opposed to the [hair metal thing]. I wanted a place for everybody to hang out. The very first live performance at Cathouse was Guns N’ Roses, Jet Boy, LA Guns, and Faster Pussycat, all taking turns playing acoustic; nobody had record deals. We probably had five hundred people there. Nobody knew Guns N’ Roses would become the biggest band in the world.

  VICKY HAMILTON: [GN’R] ended up living with me because Slash called one day and said, “The police are looking for Axl [on rape charges]. Can he come sleep on your couch for a couple of days?” This was before I was their manager. Axl moved in, then a few days later they were, like, “The police are still coming around. Can we move in?” So the rest of Guns is living with me, with the exception of Duff, who always lived with his girlfriend. I felt like I was having a heart attack every day because there was always something going on—the cops were beating at my door, or whatever. At one point, Howie Hubberman, who backed me on Poison and Guns N’ Roses financially, said, “Here’s a few hundred dollars. You and [roommate and concert promoter] Jennifer [Perry] need to go check in a hotel. I think you’re gonna have a nervous breakdown and die.” [The rape charges against Rose were ultimately dropped.]

  STEVEN ADLER: We lived there for three months; the five of us and Vicky and Jennifer. We destroyed this apartment. The last day we were there, Axl and I got into a fight and he pushed me into this fire extinguisher outside the front door. The glass broke and then I grabbed him in the living room, because he pushed me out the door. I pushed him on this coffee table; everything was destroyed.

  VICKY HAMILTON: The building we lived in was the first apartment building on Clark Street, across from the Whisky. I wasn’t present when that fight happened, but I did return to the broken window and my apartment being even more trashed than when I left. Once Steven was trying to help me pick up empty Jack Daniel’s bottles and beer cans while Axl was sleeping on the couch. We woke him up and he was so mad he picked up the heavy wood coffee table (which I still have, complete with cigarette burns and water rings) and heaved it at Steven with everything on it. Then he started punching him. It was the day before a showcase and I said, “Great, you want to kill your drummer the day before an industry showcase. Perfect!”

 
; SLASH: I hated Gazzarri’s. I never would set foot in there. But I did actually play there with Guns N’ Roses, once, right after we got a record deal, and Paul Stanley did sound for us, because he was courting us to produce us at that time. When [Geffen A&R man] Tom Zutaut was bending over backwards trying to find people to work with Guns N’ Roses in ’85, ’86, no one really wanted to work with us; anybody that we met would disappear. They’d show up at a meeting and go to the bathroom and never come back.

  DUFF McKAGAN: Finally, at the end of April of 1986, we got signed. There was heavy interest by all the majors, five or six. We were personally dealing with them.

  IZZY STRADLIN: We were staying at a place with a phone, and they’d call and leave messages. We’d say, “Yeah, we’ve been talking to Capitol, EMI, and Geffen, but we’ll meet you down at, uh, yeah, Le Dome. Yeah, for dinner. We’ll talk some more.” We went from eating fucking bean burritos to steak and lobster in a matter of a few days. That lasted about two weeks, and we got bored with that, so we said, “We’d better sign with somebody.” Geffen was very hip to what was going on. They know about rock and roll. There were labels we went to who wanted to sign us but they didn’t know who Aerosmith was. We’re in this office with big plants and desks and something came up about Steven Tyler, and the chick goes, “Who’s that?”

  VICKY HAMILTON: John Kalodner said to me after I went to work at Geffen, “Yeah, you brought me Stryper, you brought me Mötley Crüe, you brought me Poison—then of course the day you wanted to bring me Guns N’ Roses at Columbia, I wasn’t here.” I took ’em to Tom Zutaut at Geffen at that point.

  W. AXL ROSE: We got two firm, and a six-album deal. That’s good, because they wanted a lot more, and we didn’t want to be tied for that long. The deal is the best thing we could have fucking hoped for from any label, and we wouldn’t have gotten any more support from another label.