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Featured Band archive T
Tattooed Millionaires
April 14-22, 2009
We're extremely happy to have brought you this band this week. The band is Tattooed Millionaires. We've been wanting to feature them for some time and the timing of this feature works out perfectly, because not only are we featuring them here, but our friends in my hometown of Phoenix, Arizona will get the chance to see them live this Friday, April 17th at The Blooze Bar. Unfortunately, I'll be out of town and will miss the show, but I'm sure my friends will let me know all about it, and I'll be sure to catch Tattooed Millionaires next time they come to town.
Photo by Will @ Desert Rose Photography. Used with permission. Courtesy the Tattooed Millionaires
The music of the Tattooed Millionaires, although generally put into the glam/sleaze category of rock, actually combines many styles of rock spanning the entire history of rock 'n' roll. There are elements of 60s acid rock, doo wop, and psychedelic rock, to 70s garage rock, glitter rock, and punk, to 80s glam, goth, and sleaze, and more. I don't think I've ever heard so many styles so neatly packaged into one band, and it all works.
The Tattooed Millionaires members are Johnny Jetson on lead vocals and lead guitar, Jackie Joyride on bass, and Bard By on drums. Like most glam/sleaze rock 'n' roll bands, a lot of their music deals with the, as they put it, "holy trinity" of sex, drugs & rock and roll. But, this band goes deeper than that. The Tattooed Millionaires also deal with issues of freedom, global conspiracies and secret societies, social issues, and much more. These are issues that affect us all, whether we know it, or believe in it, or not. You'd be wise to pay attention to what they have to say on many of these issues. However, unlike grunge, which delivered its messages in a most depressing way, the Tattooed Millionaires deliver their messages in songs you can dance and rock out to. The songs are uplifting and fun, even though they occasionally deal with serious topics. That's a difficult thing to balance, but they manage to do it and do it well.
This band also differs from most others because of their philosophy of giving back, of helping their fellow man (and woman). The Tattooed Millionaires put their money where their mouth is, so to speak. That's something that's in short supply these days. Most people are quite greedy and self-centered, particularly the so-called "elite" of this world. (I use the word "elite" loosely. Just because someone has a lot more money, doesn't make them better than you or I. In fact, I have a much higher IQ than most of those "high class" types. So, I could, and perhaps should, be considered "elite" compared to them. However, I don't think of myself as superior to anyone else. We're all equal in my book, and deserving of the same dignity and respect as anyone else.) At any rate, this quality in a band is a refreshing thing to see.
In the few short years that the Tattooed Millionaires have been in existence, they've managed to amass a very large and loyal fan following all over the world. They've even managed to hit 1,000,000 song plays on MySpace, which is quite extraordinary considering they're an unsigned band. So, make sure to check 'em out and when they embark on an extensive tour this summer and fall, make sure you get out to see their live show.
The Tattooed Millionaires will also be releasing a new album on April 20th, so be sure to get yourself a copy. For more information and to check out their tunes, you can visit the band's MySpace page and their website. You'll also find info about their other ventures there, as well. We've also got their tour dates here on our events page, and we've got a very cool interview with Johnny Jetson, so check it all out and enjoy! (And Phoenix, don't forget to see them live this Friday, April 17th at The Blooze Bar. They'll rock your ass off!)
Back to top of page ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
April 14-22, 2009
We're extremely happy to have brought you this band this week. The band is Tattooed Millionaires. We've been wanting to feature them for some time and the timing of this feature works out perfectly, because not only are we featuring them here, but our friends in my hometown of Phoenix, Arizona will get the chance to see them live this Friday, April 17th at The Blooze Bar. Unfortunately, I'll be out of town and will miss the show, but I'm sure my friends will let me know all about it, and I'll be sure to catch Tattooed Millionaires next time they come to town.
Photo by Will @ Desert Rose Photography. Used with permission. Courtesy the Tattooed Millionaires
The music of the Tattooed Millionaires, although generally put into the glam/sleaze category of rock, actually combines many styles of rock spanning the entire history of rock 'n' roll. There are elements of 60s acid rock, doo wop, and psychedelic rock, to 70s garage rock, glitter rock, and punk, to 80s glam, goth, and sleaze, and more. I don't think I've ever heard so many styles so neatly packaged into one band, and it all works.
The Tattooed Millionaires members are Johnny Jetson on lead vocals and lead guitar, Jackie Joyride on bass, and Bard By on drums. Like most glam/sleaze rock 'n' roll bands, a lot of their music deals with the, as they put it, "holy trinity" of sex, drugs & rock and roll. But, this band goes deeper than that. The Tattooed Millionaires also deal with issues of freedom, global conspiracies and secret societies, social issues, and much more. These are issues that affect us all, whether we know it, or believe in it, or not. You'd be wise to pay attention to what they have to say on many of these issues. However, unlike grunge, which delivered its messages in a most depressing way, the Tattooed Millionaires deliver their messages in songs you can dance and rock out to. The songs are uplifting and fun, even though they occasionally deal with serious topics. That's a difficult thing to balance, but they manage to do it and do it well.
This band also differs from most others because of their philosophy of giving back, of helping their fellow man (and woman). The Tattooed Millionaires put their money where their mouth is, so to speak. That's something that's in short supply these days. Most people are quite greedy and self-centered, particularly the so-called "elite" of this world. (I use the word "elite" loosely. Just because someone has a lot more money, doesn't make them better than you or I. In fact, I have a much higher IQ than most of those "high class" types. So, I could, and perhaps should, be considered "elite" compared to them. However, I don't think of myself as superior to anyone else. We're all equal in my book, and deserving of the same dignity and respect as anyone else.) At any rate, this quality in a band is a refreshing thing to see.
In the few short years that the Tattooed Millionaires have been in existence, they've managed to amass a very large and loyal fan following all over the world. They've even managed to hit 1,000,000 song plays on MySpace, which is quite extraordinary considering they're an unsigned band. So, make sure to check 'em out and when they embark on an extensive tour this summer and fall, make sure you get out to see their live show.
The Tattooed Millionaires will also be releasing a new album on April 20th, so be sure to get yourself a copy. For more information and to check out their tunes, you can visit the band's MySpace page and their website. You'll also find info about their other ventures there, as well. We've also got their tour dates here on our events page, and we've got a very cool interview with Johnny Jetson, so check it all out and enjoy! (And Phoenix, don't forget to see them live this Friday, April 17th at The Blooze Bar. They'll rock your ass off!)
Back to top of page ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Electric Wasted
September 1 - 25, 2009
Photo provided courtesy of Nightrain Management
September 1 - 25, 2009
Photo provided courtesy of Nightrain Management
The Electric Wasted, winners of our “Favorite New Band” contest for the month of June, formed in Barcelona, Spain in 2008 when vocalist Dani Midnite and lead guitarist Charlie Rood decided to start a new band, a band that would match their personalities and taste. They wanted a band that would be dripping with all kinds of sleaze and attitude. Their new band would have to be bigger than life and forward looking, so that, although they were inspired by some of the greatest music of the past, their sound would not just be a mere re-hashing of older music (although doing a cover of an old Guns N’ Roses song is perfectly acceptable!).
With the decision made, and the band's direction set, Dani and Charlie set out to find the right musicians, musicians who were not only talented, but shared the vision they had for a band. They soon added drummer J.E. Duclosson, who had worked with Charlie in the past. J.E. brings a special dimension to the band's live performances. As the songwriting commenced, the lineup of the band was completed with the additions of Mark on rhythm guitar and Sick on bass.
Once their lineup was complete, The Electric Wasted hit the road, performing shows all over the Iberian peninsula, often in support of well known national and international acts. Through this touring, the band started making a name for themselves in their home country of Spain, receiving rave reviews wherever they played.
After releasing their
first demo, and continuing to gain more notoriety with their live
performances, The Electric Wasted won the Aza Rock 2008 contest, a
yearly contest and festival held in Spain. Their music is also being
heard in the U.S. and the UK, in addition to Spain, thanks to
internet radio stations, and they've been performing shows in the UK,
as well. In addition, the band has released an EP this year, along with a video single for their song "Sex and Violence" (shown above - please pause the music player at the bottom of this page before playing the video).
With their reputation of giving 110% on stage and great songwriting, The Electric Wasted is on their way to reaching their goal of following in the footsteps of some of the best bands in rock n' roll, such as Aerosmith, The Cult and Guns N’ Roses. Their hope is to give a new generation of rockers a taste of some killer rock music like previous generations enjoyed, to be a new voice rising up out of the mediocrity that now makes up what passes for rock music on corporate radio. This is a band worth checking out, and we couldn't be happier that they've won our contest!
For more info about The Electric Wasted, including how to get your hands on their EP, please visit the band's MySpace page. Also, find out what we think about their new EP in our reviews archives and read our interview with the band.
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The Four Horsemen
January 5-11, 2009
This week we did something a little different. We didn't just spotlight this band, but paid tribute to it as well. Our band of the week this week was The Four Horsemen.
This band was one of the most overlooked and underrated bands of the late-80s to mid-90s. Unfortunately their first album hit the scene just as grunge was taking off, so their record label, as labels were doing with so many other great bands of that time, failed to promote this band as they should have. (The Four Horsemen did have an EP that was released in 1989, but most people didn't know about them until the first album, "Nobody Said it Was Easy" was released). Although they received some radio play and had some videos appear on MTV, even though MTV complained they were too "ugly" (really?), it wasn't a big enough push by the record label to launch them into super stardom. Apparantly, their style of rock, hard straight forward rock 'n' roll with a bit of a blues edge, and even a little southern rock sound thrown in for good measure, just wasn't what the labels were interested in at the time. The idiocy of the music business, then, deprived the world of a truly remarkable band. This band should have been absolutely huge, with their own unique sound that you just can't compare to anyone else.
It is for those reasons that we paid tribute to them this particular week. We wanted to give them some of the recognition they deserved a long time ago. Those of you who are fans of this band will probably already know the story that follows. But, for those of you who don't know of this band, we hope to make you new fans of The Four Horsemen, because we think they are one of the best bands in rock 'n' roll!
The Four Horsemen are no longer together, and that will be explained in the following story for those of you who don't know why. During the all too short-lived tenure of this band, they experienced severe tragedy, not once, but twice. Here, then, is their story.
(To watch the videos, first scroll to the bottom of the page and pause the music player.)
"Nobody Said it Was Easy"
The Four Horsemen's original members were Stephen Harris (aka Haggis), the Welsh guitarist sleeved with tattoos who has a great sense of humor, Dave Lizmi, guitarist and computer guru and genius, who had once worked as a programmer for the Department of Defense at the young age of 17, Ben Pape on bass, who had previously been in the Washington DC band, Scream, Frank C. Starr, the charismatic lead vocalist who was a gun enthusiast, enjoyed working on cars, and was a bit, OK a lot, wild and crazy, and spent a number of terms in jail as a result, and Ken "Dimwit" Montgomery, drummer extraordinaire, a gentle giant who had worked as a Canadian mental hospital orderly, and was one heck of a nice guy. These guys were genuine and not concerned with "trends". They weren't concerned with impressing anyone; they had a real "don't give a shit" attitude. They just wanted to play their music. Frankie was a genuine rock 'n' roller, and would perform exactly the same way whether there were 10 people in the audience or 10,000. These rude and crude, worn out jean wearing guys, were the real deal!
Haggis, who had been a member, going by the name Kid Chaos, of Zodiac Mindwarp, had toured with The Cult during the "Electric" album tour, and even did some stand-in work with Guns N' Roses, formed The Four Horsemen in the late 80s. They based themselved in Hollywood, the hotbed of rock music at the time, and they rehearsed in a crack house. The band then released it's, now hard to find, four track EP, "The Four Horsemen", in 1989.
Def American records was sufficiently impressed enough with the EP that they offered the Horsemen a full record contract. The legendary Grammy winning Rick Rubin, who has worked with such acts as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Beastie Boys, Slipknot, Linkin Park, Danzig, and others, produced the band's first full album, "Nobody Said it Was Easy". The album was delayed by almost two years due to legal entanglements with Rubin, and the fact that Frankie Starr spent some time in jail on drug charges. Once finally released in 1991, the title track, as well as the hit song "Rockin' is Ma Business", were both released as singles. The album received critical acclaim for the band's straight-forward style. This band's songwriting was superb. They wrote songs that will never go out of style, just like bands such as the Stones, Aerosmith, and AC/DC do. However, just as their star was rising grunge was coming along in a big way. They refused to compromise themselves and kiss the ass of their record label. The band was not interested in the latest trend, but instead wanted to stay true to their own style; good news for us fans. However, their label support evaporated as a result. Then band infighting, more business problems, and another jail term for Frankie caused Haggis to leave the band.
"Tired Wings"
In 1994, most of the members reunited and mended their disputes. They started work on another full album of music. Pharaoh had replaced Ben on the bass. Unfortunately, at this time the first tragedy for the band occured. Their drummer, Dimwit, passed away on Sept. 27, 1994 of a heroin overdose. The band went on, however, with Dimwit's brother, Chuck Biscuits, on drums. The beautiful track from the album, "Song for Absent Friends" was a tribute and dedication to Dimwit. However, it was also eerily prophetic.
The following year the second tragedy for the band occured. In November 1995, front man Frank Starr was hit by a drunk driver while riding his motorcycle at about 25 miles per hour down Sunset Strip in Hollywood. He was thrown head-on into a road sign and suffered serious head injuries.
The band plodded on and released their third recording, "Gettin' Pretty Good.....At Barely Gettin' By...", in 1996. They then embarked on a tour with Ron Young (of Little Caesar) as their temporary vocalist, hoping for Frankie's recovery.
Sadly, Frank C. Starr never recovered from his coma and passed away more than three years later in a hospice on June 18, 1999. With his passing, the band called it quits.
These horrible tragedies were difficult on the surviving band members and fans alike. It is hard to accept that we will never have more new music from this great band.
"Rockin' is Ma Business"
However, in 2005, surviving members Haggis and Dave Lizmi began gathering archive films and videos of the band, and in 2007 released a 2-disc DVD anthology and live CD boxset called "Left For Dead". The DVD contains all of their "major release" videos, the promo videos for "Nobody Said it Was Easy", all their unreleased videos, rare television interviews, behind the scenes footage, and live performances, including footage from the early club days of the band. The CD features the band performing many of their best songs live. This box set was self-released by the guys, without the help of any record label. As they so eloquently put it, "It's something we did ourselves, for ourselves, and for our fans. Fuck the record labels."
For more info check out their web site, www.thefourhorsemen.com, and their official MySpace page, www.myspace.com/fourhorsemenband .
I'm honored that I had the opportunity to see The Four Horsemen perform live back in the day, and I'm very glad that the surviving members decided to share all the DVD footage and the live music on the CD with us fans. Thank you!
Back to top of page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
January 5-11, 2009
This week we did something a little different. We didn't just spotlight this band, but paid tribute to it as well. Our band of the week this week was The Four Horsemen.
This band was one of the most overlooked and underrated bands of the late-80s to mid-90s. Unfortunately their first album hit the scene just as grunge was taking off, so their record label, as labels were doing with so many other great bands of that time, failed to promote this band as they should have. (The Four Horsemen did have an EP that was released in 1989, but most people didn't know about them until the first album, "Nobody Said it Was Easy" was released). Although they received some radio play and had some videos appear on MTV, even though MTV complained they were too "ugly" (really?), it wasn't a big enough push by the record label to launch them into super stardom. Apparantly, their style of rock, hard straight forward rock 'n' roll with a bit of a blues edge, and even a little southern rock sound thrown in for good measure, just wasn't what the labels were interested in at the time. The idiocy of the music business, then, deprived the world of a truly remarkable band. This band should have been absolutely huge, with their own unique sound that you just can't compare to anyone else.
It is for those reasons that we paid tribute to them this particular week. We wanted to give them some of the recognition they deserved a long time ago. Those of you who are fans of this band will probably already know the story that follows. But, for those of you who don't know of this band, we hope to make you new fans of The Four Horsemen, because we think they are one of the best bands in rock 'n' roll!
The Four Horsemen are no longer together, and that will be explained in the following story for those of you who don't know why. During the all too short-lived tenure of this band, they experienced severe tragedy, not once, but twice. Here, then, is their story.
(To watch the videos, first scroll to the bottom of the page and pause the music player.)
"Nobody Said it Was Easy"
The Four Horsemen's original members were Stephen Harris (aka Haggis), the Welsh guitarist sleeved with tattoos who has a great sense of humor, Dave Lizmi, guitarist and computer guru and genius, who had once worked as a programmer for the Department of Defense at the young age of 17, Ben Pape on bass, who had previously been in the Washington DC band, Scream, Frank C. Starr, the charismatic lead vocalist who was a gun enthusiast, enjoyed working on cars, and was a bit, OK a lot, wild and crazy, and spent a number of terms in jail as a result, and Ken "Dimwit" Montgomery, drummer extraordinaire, a gentle giant who had worked as a Canadian mental hospital orderly, and was one heck of a nice guy. These guys were genuine and not concerned with "trends". They weren't concerned with impressing anyone; they had a real "don't give a shit" attitude. They just wanted to play their music. Frankie was a genuine rock 'n' roller, and would perform exactly the same way whether there were 10 people in the audience or 10,000. These rude and crude, worn out jean wearing guys, were the real deal!
Haggis, who had been a member, going by the name Kid Chaos, of Zodiac Mindwarp, had toured with The Cult during the "Electric" album tour, and even did some stand-in work with Guns N' Roses, formed The Four Horsemen in the late 80s. They based themselved in Hollywood, the hotbed of rock music at the time, and they rehearsed in a crack house. The band then released it's, now hard to find, four track EP, "The Four Horsemen", in 1989.
Def American records was sufficiently impressed enough with the EP that they offered the Horsemen a full record contract. The legendary Grammy winning Rick Rubin, who has worked with such acts as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Beastie Boys, Slipknot, Linkin Park, Danzig, and others, produced the band's first full album, "Nobody Said it Was Easy". The album was delayed by almost two years due to legal entanglements with Rubin, and the fact that Frankie Starr spent some time in jail on drug charges. Once finally released in 1991, the title track, as well as the hit song "Rockin' is Ma Business", were both released as singles. The album received critical acclaim for the band's straight-forward style. This band's songwriting was superb. They wrote songs that will never go out of style, just like bands such as the Stones, Aerosmith, and AC/DC do. However, just as their star was rising grunge was coming along in a big way. They refused to compromise themselves and kiss the ass of their record label. The band was not interested in the latest trend, but instead wanted to stay true to their own style; good news for us fans. However, their label support evaporated as a result. Then band infighting, more business problems, and another jail term for Frankie caused Haggis to leave the band.
"Tired Wings"
In 1994, most of the members reunited and mended their disputes. They started work on another full album of music. Pharaoh had replaced Ben on the bass. Unfortunately, at this time the first tragedy for the band occured. Their drummer, Dimwit, passed away on Sept. 27, 1994 of a heroin overdose. The band went on, however, with Dimwit's brother, Chuck Biscuits, on drums. The beautiful track from the album, "Song for Absent Friends" was a tribute and dedication to Dimwit. However, it was also eerily prophetic.
The following year the second tragedy for the band occured. In November 1995, front man Frank Starr was hit by a drunk driver while riding his motorcycle at about 25 miles per hour down Sunset Strip in Hollywood. He was thrown head-on into a road sign and suffered serious head injuries.
The band plodded on and released their third recording, "Gettin' Pretty Good.....At Barely Gettin' By...", in 1996. They then embarked on a tour with Ron Young (of Little Caesar) as their temporary vocalist, hoping for Frankie's recovery.
Sadly, Frank C. Starr never recovered from his coma and passed away more than three years later in a hospice on June 18, 1999. With his passing, the band called it quits.
These horrible tragedies were difficult on the surviving band members and fans alike. It is hard to accept that we will never have more new music from this great band.
"Rockin' is Ma Business"
However, in 2005, surviving members Haggis and Dave Lizmi began gathering archive films and videos of the band, and in 2007 released a 2-disc DVD anthology and live CD boxset called "Left For Dead". The DVD contains all of their "major release" videos, the promo videos for "Nobody Said it Was Easy", all their unreleased videos, rare television interviews, behind the scenes footage, and live performances, including footage from the early club days of the band. The CD features the band performing many of their best songs live. This box set was self-released by the guys, without the help of any record label. As they so eloquently put it, "It's something we did ourselves, for ourselves, and for our fans. Fuck the record labels."
For more info check out their web site, www.thefourhorsemen.com, and their official MySpace page, www.myspace.com/fourhorsemenband .
I'm honored that I had the opportunity to see The Four Horsemen perform live back in the day, and I'm very glad that the surviving members decided to share all the DVD footage and the live music on the CD with us fans. Thank you!
Back to top of page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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