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Suncity Records - Nov. 23, 2009


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Hello all,

 

We are back in action after a turbulent start to 2009. 2009 has been anything but smooth sailing with natural disasters, the well-publicized death of Gregg Fulkerson as well as a family tragedy too.

 

But the show must go on and I would like to say a big thank you to everyone for being so patient and hopefully the next bunch of signings will be well worth the wait.

 

Today we will be announcing 7 new signings, yes that's right 7 cracking new signings that will have fans drooling at the chops.

 

I will start with the announcement of the signing of Femme Fatale. Suncity Records will be releasing one of the most talked about, infamous unreleased albums of all, as we will be presenting Femme Fatale's second unreleased album Lady In Waiting.

 

Femme Fatale

 

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Femme Fatale are an outfit that were remembered for the hot looks, rockin' voice and over the top stage presence of its front woman Lorraine Lewis. In an era that was dominated by testosterone driven rock, Femme Fatale became a popular frontrunner in the 80's Rock and Roll scene. The band came together in their hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico and consisted of Lewis (vocals), Mazzi Rawd (guitar), Bill D'Angelo (lead guitar), Rick Rael (bass and Lewis' brother) and Bobby Murray (drums). They quickly picked up and moved to Los Angeles amid the late eighties glam explosion, and after only ten live shows managed to score a major label contract.

 

The debut album was a moderate success, thanks mostly to M.T.V., where the videos for "Waiting For The Big One" and "Falling In & Out Of Love" were in high demand by teenage males who couldn't stop drooling over Lewis. M.T.V. gave heavy rotation to the videos "Waiting For The Big One" and "Falling In & Out Of Love" (both directed by Marty Callner), the band's two signature songs. The heavy airplay helped the album to sell nearly 250,000 copies, not bad for a baby band. The self-titled album, released in 1988 landed on the Billboard charts and shortly thereafter, Femme Fatale began touring the world in support of one of their favorite bands Cheap Trick.

 

Femme Fatale was snatched up so quickly in the L.A. scene that at that time had only written twelve songs together. The record label, MCA had a love affair with Lorraine. She was obviously the one getting the attention and filling the seats. So they made pictures of Lorraine and printed the words 'Look Out Lita!' on them and she became 'the new Lita Ford to the people at MCA. The image stuck with the band and they released their one and only self-titled album "Femme Fatale". It contained ten killer rock songs, all which where very catchy and well written. It showed Lorraine's main influences, as she had always been a fan of Aerosmith, Bad Company, AC/DC and Janis Joplin. On stage, Lorraine wanted to be the female version of the former Van Halen front man, David Lee Roth. She was determined to become "the #1 Metal Maiden of the late eighties.", "Waiting For The Big One" was chosen to be the bands first single release. In the U.K. it came out as a limited 12" with a fold out poster of Lorraine. The producer of the "Femme Fatale" album, Jim Faraci was becoming a respected new producer with the success of Poison's first record and Femme Fatale was receiving good reviews, because the music was hot. The next single was called "Falling In & Out Of Love" re-recorded by Tom Werman (Motley Crue). It was backed with an AC/DC cover, which didn't appear on the album. ("It's A Long Way To The Top"). By this time the U.K. obviously had the hots for Lorraine - Oops - I'm sorry, I mean Femme Fatale of course! The best next move was to get the band over to play live.

 

Femme Fatale played the Marquee club in London, England. The press were very excited about it all. Lorraine brought her mega-watt performance along with a road worthy rockin' band. Femme Fatale was a tight band on stage, sweating their arses off. Of course they'd already played a lot of gigs in America, but England was something else. The kids went totally crazy for Femme Fatale and the band gave them the full hundred percent. Femme Fatale had finally been given the respect they were seeking in America. They released a third single in England, called "Rebel." After such respect in the U.K., the expectations were high. The band was asked to play on the famous Castle Donington festival next to Vixen and Whitesnake. Sadly, the whole event was cancelled, because a year before two people were killed during the event.

 

The band remixed the song "Touch And Go" from their debut album to release it as a fourth single, which was released by Kerrang! (England's leading metal magazine) as a 'free' flexi disc with their magazine. Femme Fatale was asked by MCA to record a second album and even though a lot of songs were already written, the album was never released, Until now, And with that Suncity Records is proud to announce the release of Femme Fatale - Lady In Waiting. The album was written and recorded in 1988 in Hollywood California. It has been re-worked, re-mixed and re-mastered. The original recordings were engineered by Toby Wright and Femme Fatale. The album was re-mixed by Scott Gutierrez in Hollywood, California. Stand out tracks include, "Lady in Waiting", "I Know" (Co-written with Wes Arkeen - considered the sixth member of Guns 'N' Roses), "One More For The Road" and the heartfelt ballad, "Buried Alive". Lewis' voice is at the top of its game and the band sounds like an aggressive well-seasoned force to reckon with. Rock out!

 

Sound Sample: Femme Fatale - Lady In Waiting

 

 

 

Once you've picked your jaw up from the floor with the news of Femme Fatale and while we're on a roll, let us introduce signing number 2 - Merri Hoaxx.

 

Before Cats In Boots, Heavy Bones or Ellis Island there was The Hoaxx. Merri Hoaxx was forged out of the mid 1970s Rock and Roll melting pot of Cleveland, Ohio, the birthplace of "Rock and Roll". Its members; Joel Ellis, Denny Holan, Chris "Grizz" Gryzbowski and Kenny Delaro were weaned on the greatest rock era in history as the music blazed like a volcano from FM radio giants WMMS "The Home of the Buzzard" and M105. Cleveland, Ohio was a huge pivotal stop on every major bands tour schedule with endless sold out crowds flocking to enormous events like the 100,000 in attendance "World Series of Rock" concerts at the Cleveland Browns football stadium and the 30,000 capacity Richfield Coliseum where Cleveland fans rushed in record numbers to see frequent historical shows by The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, The J. Giels Band, Peter Frampton, RUSH, Bob Segar, BOC, Ted Nugent, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Yes, KISS and on and on and on it went through their high school years of the late `70s and into the 80s. First as concert goers and then as the favorite local garage band and party band and then into the concert club scene, the band finally began drawing from their experiences to create their own sound and write their own music. Then in 1981 when their lead singer Joel Ellis decided the band needed to head for the higher ground, he led the way to Los Angeles, California and the Hollywood Sunset Strip Rock scene. Merri Hoaxx had ambitions to join their Rock counter parts of Motley Crue, Ratt, London, Dokken, Great White, L.A. Guns, Metallica, etc. to be in the thick-of-it-all and find their place in Hollywood Rock history, which is eventually what they did.

 

Merri Hoaxx

 

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After re-uniting in Los Angeles, all 4 original members of Merri Hoaxx moved into Joel's 1 bedroom luxury flat in SoCal and enjoyed reaping the debauch lifestyle benefits that Southern California had to offer. They also decided to take a very serious approach to their writing, song crafting, performing and recording skills to compete with the best of the L.A. Rock Scene. They became extremely resourceful on a shoe-string budget and rented a small office space where they sound proofed the walls, crafted songs by day at the swimming pool and showed up for work to record each night as all the other offices were closing up and heading out for Happy Hour. In those late night hours the band worked on a Tascam 4-Track tape machine to capture these early 1980s classic demo recordings.

 

The band hung out nightly in the notorious Rainbow Bar and Grill in the heart of Sunset Strip during its heyday, stepping out from time to time to play the Sunset Strip club scene in clubs like The Whiskey A Go-Go, The Roxy, Gazzarri's, The Troubadour, The FM Station, The Country Club in Reseda, Palominos' and other undisclosed spots in the L.A. underground and after hour parties. This is where they began to melt into the scene gaining immediate recognition from their peers. Merri Hoaxx also started attracting major record label interest from Atlantic Records, who brought the band onto the label for development through Kenny Ostin where the band worked with production greats like George Tutko and Richie Podlar at American Studios. The band began getting calls from helpful guys like Gene Simmons and Dweezil Zappa off of the cassette tape demos they handed out everywhere. They eventually found themselves becoming major Rock debut contenders in the mid-1980s. Before signing with Atlantic Records, Kenny was replaced on drums by Houston, Texas drummer Randy Meers of Black Oak Arkansas fame.

 

The 1980s Sunset Strip scene was, to say the least, wild!! The boys became deeply entrenched in the wild side of Hollywood. Unfortunately the record label dragged its feet due to the band's A&R staff at Atlantic being even farther gone into the void of Hollywood's wild side. Joel recalls: "I remember going up to the Atlantic Records offices on Sunset to meet with Kenny (Ostin) or Nick (Loft) to discuss the record's mastering or art work, ya know, the band's business and there would be more cocaine on Kenny's desk than contracts. There was always music playing on his stereo from some new band they were signing but I never heard any of those great new bands make it into the mainstream,".

 

 

Sound Sample: Merri Hoaxx - The Last Days Of Autumn

 

 

The tracks that the band recorded between 1983-1987 in Southern California will be released on one CD called Merri Hoaxx The Hoaxx Never Jokes and you can hear one of the songs off the album entitled "The Last Days Of Autumn"

 

So to the next signing we go. Please welcome to the Suncity family, Oregon, Portland's very own - X-Piracy.

 

X-Piracy

 

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X-Piracy are a very hard band to describe but have all the trademarks that Suncity Records loves! Frontman, Shane Thornon tells the X-Piracy story - Once in a lifetime, if you're lucky you meet someone of similar style and taste, whom you become fast friends with. You develop a kind of friendship lasting from there on. Extraordinary good fortune would have it that you meet several somebody's of this sort and that you each find you're inseparable. Better still, you each love to make the kind of Rock & Roll music that feels good and generates a great deal of attention. In the summer of 1985, just such an occurrence took place in Eugene, Oregon, population 100,000. Singer Shane Thornton, guitarist Robb Dee Crabaugh, guitarist Tony Antone, Bassist Danny Jack and stepbrother, drummer Kevin Stacey had found their ways to one another via the popular record store, Record Garden. Thornton, Crabaugh and Antone had attended high school (most of the time) together in nearby Elmira, while Jack and Stacey attended Churchill High. In no time at all, the young men formed a tight bond of music and friendship a Brotherhood, if you will which would blossom into something very special for a long time to come.

 

By 1988, X-Piracy had arrived as a respected musical force with infinite potential on the Oregon music scene. Three years of countless rehearsals, carefully chosen gigs, photo session locations and grass-roots group promotions (incorporating everything from gig posters to half-naked girlfriends) had culminated into Eugene's very first ultra-popular rock band. Whether you were a fan or not, you'd probably heard or seen the name X-Piracy. Maybe it was the Register Guard's coverage of the gig at Oregon State Penitentiary, or maybe it was one of the neon flyers on hundreds of telephone poles around town. Perhaps it was the all-night, out-of-hand parties at 11th and Polk St. (The circa 1940 two-story house affectionately known as "Dodge City", for which the song was created in 1987), which kept attracting police attention. Or maybe it was simply that everywhere you went, people were talking about X-Piracy. Repeated venue sell-outs up and down the I-5 corridor performing with the likes of Cherry Poppin' Daddies, Head East, Molly Hatchet, Pat Travers and in L.A., Night Ranger - garnered the attention of out-of-towners as well. Big shots such as legendary producer, Tom Werman (Cheap Trick, Motley Crue, Ted Nugent, Poison, etc.) and Virgin Records, took more than a passing interest in what the young pirates were doing. Werman flew to Eugene to introduce himself and coach the band during recording sessions at Gung-Ho Studio. Meanwhile, Virgin had offered a lucrative publishing contract to the band, which in turn, invested entirely in all-new road gear. News of these developing relationships only added to the hype taking a foothold around the five young, head-strong, driven rock and rollers.

 

In 1989, due to strong audience turnouts at a popular Portland club known as Starry Night (The Roseland, today), the band was invited to take part in the Northwest Battle of the Bands. The competition was solid, with a full evening of worthy talent taking the stage. Around midnight, as the event was winding down, X-Piracy was heralded as the evening's winner and there wasn't a soul in the house who felt inclined to protest.

 

Feeling confident and strong, the group returned home victorious and scheduled what would be the third sell-out in the Soreng Theater at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts. It would also be perhaps the most talked about X-Piracy performance in the band's history, due in part to the mysterious showering of smelt upon the audience and stage at the end of the set. The group was well known for unauthorised stunts and surprises, but this would prove to be all the Hult Center would tolerate. X-Piracy was banned indefinitely from ever again performing at the prestigious hall. The Pirates, however, had bigger fish to fry. . .

 

Soon thereafter, the band members began to feel the first throws of stagnation. The band had set it's sights high from the beginning, but with no challenges or hurdles remaining in Oregon and a newly burned bridge at a large venue, the time had come for substantial change. Change with sacrifice and risk. X-Piracy deliberated on a major change of location, one which would lend itself to the band's potential and growing popularity. The decision to move north to Seattle or South to Los Angeles was not an easy one, but the latter had a far more noted track record. Despite early warnings from some that the recording industry was turning it's attention north, away from California, the band prepared for a win all/lose all move to L.A., which took place between August and October of 1990. Despite many moments of exuberance and triumph there, the ensuing year would prove to be a tumultuous one for X-Piracy.

 

With all band members, gear, female companions and crew accounted for, the Pirates settled into Los Angeles/North Hollywood and secured a place to rehearse (Dee's garage in Van Nuys). Gigs were booked at iconic venues such as The Whiskey-A-Go-Go, The Troubadour, The Roxy, Florentine Gardens and other popular hot spots. The band and crew were not above hitting the streets, shaking hands and handing out promotional material, which they did many a late night.

 

As 1991 began, X-Piracy continued to write and record new material, music coming forth amid a backdrop of big city turmoil and increasing hardships. The resulting songs struck a new level of maturity and depth, even pain. The track, "Ever-Lovin' River", set a new precedent within the band's growing repertoire and was as strong a song as any in the industry. Shane one a national poetry contest, which led to meeting comedian Sam Kinison. This new friendship, in turn, led to an invitation for X-Piracy to be the sole music entertainment at Kinison's Halloween Bash. Kinison, who had recently starred in a popular Motley Crue video, vowed to help promote the pirates. Sadly, however, he was killed when he was struck by a 17-year old drunk driver.

 

The stress of survival in an unfamiliar land while gigging and promoting the group - was intense. For five years, the Brotherhood had been tight, and disagreements were seldom heard. But in-fighting was on the rise, and eventually, an internal affair led to drummer Stacey's departure in early summer, 1991. Drummer Jerry Johnson was recruited to replace Stacey, who had returned to Oregon to begin life as a new father. Though stunned, the band was relieved to have found a drummer of similar style and appearance. Heartened, the new pirate line-up trudged on for almost a year, recording such shining gems as, "A Cool Walk In The Sand" and "On A Good Night". These songs and several other favorites were performed live at KNAC's summer concert production in Long Beach, CA. This was X-Piracy's largest audience to date. Ironically, it would also be the final show.

 

The Brotherhood had been broken. Stacey's departure and circumstances leading to it had dealt a painful blow to the pirate camp and the ship was losing momentum. By late summer of 1992, to the great dismay of many faithful fans, X-Piracy disbanded.

 

Sound Sample: X-Piracy - Dodge City Limits

 

Featured above is the title track off the album and a band anthem from back in the day. Turn the stereo up to 11 and let rip with "Dodge City Limits".

 

 

Eight lives gone, in a time not so long ago, in a galaxy of leather, lipstick, guyliner and lace sees our next signing Priscilla jump aboard the Suncity train.

 

Priscilla

 

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There is no denying that Priscilla deserves their place in the footholds of eyeliner addicts and glam junkies the world over. Few bands have emerged onto the arena of rock music and immediately garnered the mass attention of audiences, critics and radio stations alike that Priscilla did when they exploded onto the scene.

 

Sex, drugs and rock n' roll, it was all there in abundance for Priscilla. From an enigmatic frontman awash in groupie-adorned excess, who nearly died after an accidental drug overdose, to a guitarist who battled his own demons and was at odds with the sudden and immediate glory of success that was thrust upon him and his band and felt he had to get out. The Priscilla story is a story of wasted youth. Not wasted in the classical sense, but in the sense that the rewards that are thrust upon the overnight heroes of a local glam generation are sometimes too much for any one group of young men to physically and mentally withstand. The lyrics to the band's Z-Rock chart topping anthem "Wake Up The Neighborhood" could have easily been "Grab Yourself A Line And A Joint" rather than "Grab A Bottle Of Beer", would it not have caused the song to be banned from being played on the radio. But, with the tragedy of chemical and physical excess there also comes the glory and this is also a tale of rock and redemption, atale of conquering hometown heroes set on the streets of a metropolitan city that was begging for something different.

 

Hailing from their somewhat unlikely industrial hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland was, at the time, breeding such artists as Trent Reznor and his act Nine Inch Nails and bands of an altogether grittier nature than the polished and made up look that would be Priscilla. Going against the normal grain that Cleveland had come to accept from its musicians at the time, the five members of Priscilla tucked themselves away in their rehearsal studio and would take the time to craft a carefully thought out and calculated selection of three chord power progressions. These tracks were largely influenced by the underground glam movement that was taking place at the time on the Los Angeles Sunset Strip by artists as diverse as Motley Crue, Hanoi Rocks, T Rex, Kiss and even bands that one would not expect such as power pop bands The Babys, Starz and The Raspberries (influences which can clearly be heard on the band's slightly softer side on such cuts as Broken Angel, Stay With Me and Just Can't Stop). The group had a master-plan that would be assured to get and keep audiences on their feet. Taking months to properly demo their glam opus in the studio with producer/engineer Sean Beavan (Guns 'N' Roses, Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, No Doubt, Depeche Mode, Kill Hannah), the band's music, upon its initial release immediately caught the ears of nearly every national record label in America. Whether you loved them or hated them, Priscilla was a band who could not and would not be ignored; they turned the music world on its collective ear with their instantly recognizable sound and catchy brand of power pop. Several chart topping songs, Wake Up The Neighborhood, Lick N' A Kiss and Love In Action were played on American satellite hard rock radio station Z-Rock (with a listener-ship of millions and broadcast from coast to coast) were further proof of the band's magnetic hand on the pulse and only made the the national labels want them more. It was at this early point in the band's career, with the speculation of a major record deal becoming imminent and with word on the street already turning Priscilla into major hometown heroes, that caused El Mar Kramer and guitarist Mike Koloda already veterans of the culture of excess to celebrate once more to exorbitance.

 

Not wanting to rest simply on their musical laurels and only the songs that they had to offer, Priscilla took a cue from some of the greatest and most colourful glam and theatrical bands of their time and literally burst onto the concert music scene amidst a blaze of colourful looks and catchy hooks. The band devised an altogether new way of presenting themselves and began work on an elaborate stage and stage show unlike anything that had ever been presented on a smaller venue stage. Priscilla wanted to showcase their material to their audiences in a setting worthy of attention and did so with a three-tiered stage show that had before this only been reserved for stadium and arena acts. With their magnetic and energetic live shows, the band made believers out of even their harshest critics and won over audiences near and far. Even with all that was in their favour, there was a darkness at the end of the band's tunnel. Potential record deals eventually ran dry due to poor executive decisions made on behalf of the band and internal dissension had also reared its ugly head among band members.

 

The group emerged from their blaze of glory and enjoyed years worth of acclaim, usually only reserved for mainstream national acts, until the grunge juggernaut began with its overthrow of the empire that had been glam rock. Even before that, singer El Mar Kramer whose drug-fueled benders met with continued disdain and opposition from several of his squeaky clean band mates, sensed that something needed to change. He had, by this time made his way to the metal bars and rock clubs of southern Florida and at these clubs, crossed paths with a fledgling Marilyn Manson. His run-ins with a young Manson would soon change the singer's belief on what a band should be, as he would exchange his ideas and philosophies with El Mar of what he thought would be the future of rock n' roll and shock rock and would briefly share with him his vision for what would soon become his band Marilyn Manson And The Spooky Kids (later simply Marilyn Manson). It was, in part, this ideology and vision to take a different musical path that would cause El Mar to return home and finally call it a day with his glam upstarts in Priscilla. In a final twist of irony, Sean Beavan, who had earlier helped Priscilla with their vision of a new power pop-infused glam concept in the studio and recording of their initial tapes, would end up becoming Marilyn's producer/engineer/sound technician and would go on to help the shock rocker craft such goth/glam masterpieces as Antichrist Superstar and Mechanical Animals. And to further the irony, Tony Ciulla, a Cleveland club owner who gave Priscilla their very first concert on the stage of his then club Peabody's Downunder, would go on to become Marilyn Manson's personal manager.

 

Sound Sample: Priscilla - Wake Up The Neighborhood

 

So, as all good things eventually do, Priscilla had come to an end. But still, for a time the group were indeed the darlings of the underground glam and music scene. People who are fans of early Poison, early Tuff, Pretty Boy Floyd and even Roxx Gang will really dig these boys. Just check out the title track off the soon to be released album, entitled "Wake Up The Neigbourhood".

 

Signing number 4 sees the hard rocking Live Tongue get brought to the limelight.

 

Live Tongue

 

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From the ashes of killer glam group Pretty Please, Live Tongue formed in the early 90's. Hailing from Texas, Live Tongue caught the eyes of the public, the world press and the music community in South Texas when they signed to independent label Perris Records.

 

The band released their first self-titled debut album in 1995 with rave reviews. Some scribes calling it one of the best produced and energetic independent hard rock CD's to emerge in recent decades. The roaring, melodic leads of Chris Johnson and Meatt, the blusesy sound of bassist Joey Monosmith, the thundering, powerful drums of Larry Jentz combined with the dymanic voice and individualistic style of singer Chase Jentz all serve to punctuate electro-acoustic music of Live Tongue.

 

As frontman for Live Tongue, Chase has an energetic and friendly persona that enables him to keep the audience on their feet throughout a live show. Along with his singing, he is an accomplished composer and musician. His original music has been played by local radio stations KISS, KZEP and Z-Rock since he was thirteen. His musical versatility, with roots in both jazz and rock, led him all the way to the L.A. circuit, including an appearance at Gizzari's in Hollywood by the time he was only fifteen.

 

Chase and lead guitarist Meatt handle most of the burden of the recording sessions, spending many hours in the band's private studio writing, engineering and directing the finished product. This really goes to show when the listening to the amazing production on both of the bands albums. Meatt, born into an accomplished musical family, brings many resources and talents to the band.

 

Chris Johnson, the other lead guitarist, is a graduate of the Guitar Institute of Technology in Los Angeles. He began playing guitar when he was nine. His upbringing in classical music shows in his unique writing and melodic soloing.

 

Joey Monosmith, bassist, carries much more than the rhythm line for the band, he is the band's own manager and is a major reason why the band are such a tight unit.

 

Last but not least, Larry Jentz is one of those rare drummers who can make direct contact with the audience. He is fun to watch. He is "Mister Showmanship" with a flair for dramatic and visual effectiveness that reaches any and all audiences.

 

The greatest thing about Live Tongue lies in the multi-talents that each member brings to the table. They all write, they all sing, they all are focused on just doing one thing - making well-produced music that plain rips! It is more than a passion, it is the drivin' force behind this wonderful group. Their diverse, colourful backgrounds are blended together into the original flavour and signature style of Live Tongue. Following trends is not the path Live Tongue have ever chosen. Their music is straight ahead, in your face, rock 'n' roll; music that has withstood the test of time and is heavily supported by millions of loyal fans throughout the world. They are a powerful live band that captivate their audience with realism and confidence.

 

Sound Sample: Live Tongue - Drowning Rivers

 

 

Suncity Records will be releasing Live Tongue's second unreleased album that will be titled "Live Tongue - Snake Eyes". Click on the link to hear what the band have to offer, the first single off "Snake Eyes" called "Drowning Rivers".

 

 

Kidd Skruff

 

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Next up WOW! another amazingly talented group of rock and rollers with the signing of New Jersey's Kidd Skruff.

 

The Kidd Skruff story begins way back in the early 1990's. Rock And Roll was about to make a turn that had not been seen since the early 1960's when a group of youngsters from Liverpool struck the first chords of their debut album. The sound that was generating from the North Western territories of the United States was unlike any music that had been recorded in the past, and it was about to take the world by storm. The New Jersey music scene had just produced such legendary bands as Bon Jovi, Skid Row and others that were at the time referred to as "Hair Bands", but were about to give way to the grunge movement. While such bands as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Temple Of The Dog and others of that genre were on the rise, Kidd Skruff was just about to form.

 

Kidd Skruff started as a side project for then Lead Singer/Guitarist Jimmy Forest, who was performing with the popular New Jersey band "Push" in the late 80's and early 90's. At that time, Jimmy was the Drummer/Songwriter for "Push", and had a plethora of musical ideas that he wanted to express but they just didn't quite fit the style of the band and he really needed another outlet.

 

Jimmy first called on his childhood friend Ray Sorenson, and together they decided they needed to put together a band and somehow get this music out into the mainstream. Jimmy was to sing, and also play guitar in this new project. Being close friends growing up and practicing many hours in his basement, he and Sorenson could feel each others vibes and played off one another like it was an extension of each other's musical talents. Now that Sorenson was in place, Jimmy decided to hand pick the bands talent from the overwhelming supply of musicians in the New Jersey Bayshore area. They first called upon the services of Randy Powers, bass player extraordinaire who happened to be a close friend and frequent acquaintance of Forest. Not only was Randy Jimmy's favorite bass player, he was extremely talented and fit the band perfectly as he knew where the two were coming from since their inception. Finally to complete the band, Jimmy recruited another local musician Brian Clayton who at the time was playing drums for a top New Jersey cover band as well as doing local studio work. When Jimmy heard the back beat rhythms and arse breaking sounds of the skins that night in Edison, he knew right away this was the last piece of the puzzle.

 

From the first moments it was like Forest had captured lightning in a bottle. They had a sound that was best described as The Beatles meet Skid Row. The next step was to record a demo tape of songs that Forest had selected. The demo was done in a shitty 12-track recording studio. Forest knew he was on to something very real, but be reminded the time frame is now the early 90's and Nirvana had just broken all boundaries. With the surge of the sound coming from Seattle, Forest knew this project was now just for shits and giggles, but still had to know for himself how it would pan out if presented to the music industry.

 

Jimmy knew he had nothing to lose, so he sent the demo out to some of his music industry friends. Shortly then afterwords he received a phone call from a small independent label stating they wanted to release the album. "Skruff" needed a quality recording now at a discount price. Jimmy Forest recalls.." I Remember it well, we all kicked in a few grand and booked time in the best studio we could get for the money in New Jersey, "Butterfields" I think it was called, then recruited producer Steve Decutis. We recorded and mixed the album in like a week, so we immediately sent out the master tapes and artwork to Azra Records".

 

By this time the Seattle "Grunge" scene had totally taken over and just as quick as it rose to the top, the new sound of Rock and Roll buried the successful 80's and 90's commercial metal scene. The days of long hair, make up, glitter, over indulgence and unrestricted partying was over. The small record company that had recorded "Skruff's" one and only album had gone bankrupt. The original recording was sold only on cassette, had a short release and sold only a few thousand copies.

 

With the overwhelming popularity of the internet, a lot of these classic "Hair Bands" have gained a whole new audience. Those same bands now tour again with the original lineups and sell out concert venues on a nightly basis. Now as the music of that time is being teamed with the development of guitar video games that often uses these bands songs as the backbone of the game, the youth of the world is once again yearning for that big sound of the guitars, bass, personalities and attitudes that only the 80's could deliver. As Forest sits back with that reminiscing look in his eyes, he states...."We never forgot how to play, people just forgot how to listen.

 

Sound Sample: Kidd Skruff - Down & Dirty

 

 

Suncity Records will be releasing the 10 track full-length album entitled "Kidd Skruff Angels With Dirty Faces". Check out the killer track "Down & Dirty" for a sneak peak of what's to come.

 

The last signing for today are true legends of the sleaze rock scene. First we brought you Swingin' Thing, then there was Blackboard Jungle, now Suncity Records are thrilled to announce the signing of another killer group Alleycat Scratch.

 

Alleycat Scratch

 

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Every Hard Rock fan that loves their Hollywood Glam/Sleaze bands will know about Alleycat Scratch's classic debut album Deadboys From Trash City. Regarded as one of the top Glam/Sleaze albums of all-time, Deadboys was sadly the only album that the boys ever released. The whole "In with the Grunge, out with the Rock" story doesn't need to be rehashed but Alleycat Scratch were just another band that fell by the way side with the change of the musical scene.

 

Alleycat's unreleased recordings were touted to be released on the Regeneration Records sometime is 2008 but the band were dropped from the label. Good thing is Suncity Records will be releasing a CD/DVD double disc package that will capture all the attitude, energy & unruly fun that the Deadboys had when headlining the Strip back in the day.

 

When Alleycat Scratch formed in 1988 in San Francisco, CA, they never really intended to take over Hollywood. As time went by, it became obvious to the band members that a relocation was necessary in order for them to be noticed. So in the summer of 1991, after some musical housecleaning, the core of the band, guitarist Devin Lovelace, drummer Robbi Black and Dias packed what they could fit into a car and headed south.

 

Blasting through the L.A. club circuit with the subtlety of an atomic bomb, the newly revitalized band took on all comers and slammed their way to the top of the heap. As one of the top drawing acts of 1992, the band felt it was time to give a little more and started preparing their debut album. That album was as previously mentioned 1993s 'Deadboys In Trash City' and became the bands calling card. The strutting, highly energetic Alleycat Scratch looked as if they were on the verge of cutting a huge slice of the Glam marketplace for themselves with their self-financed, Mikey Davis produced debut album but unfortunately for the band, just as the music industry started to take notice of Alleycat Scratch the musical tide changed and the momentum the band had built suddenly ground to a halt. The band had very few options available to them so in April 1994, the inevitable happened and Alleycat Scratch pulled the claws out one last time for a packed show at Los Angeles' famed nightclub "The Troubadour". It was their last stand and they went down fighting as a screaming, blood thirsty audience showed Eddie Robison, Devin Lovelace, Bobby "Boa" Dias and Robbi Black their appreciation by giving their heroes a drunken orgy of a send off that many of their Sunset Strip predecessors would have been envious of.

 

Sound Sample: Alleycat Scratch - Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone

 

15 years later, the time has come for the world to hear the rest of the material Alleycat recorded as well as a bunch of amazing live material. Prepare yourself for Alleycat Scratch - Last Call and you can start by listening to one of the unreleased studio tracks that will be featured on the new album.

 

More news will be posted soon...

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Nice. Looks like some good stuff. I've got quite a few demos from Priscilla and they're not bad at all. Should be a cool release and all the others sound good too!

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