Stuff you didn't find out about bands until much later

[Chisel Chin]

For any artists/bands you used to listen to at the time they were around (rather than getting into them retrospectively), can you recall finding out something significant about them many years after an event actually happened, i.e. you weren't aware of it at the time for whatever reason?

 

For example, I just went to Wikipedia to check the spelling of Steelheart singer Miljenko Matijevic for another thread I've just created, and I never knew that the band ended in 1992 after Matijevic suffered an accident falling from a stage rig and was seriously injured when a piece of equipment fell on him.

 

I had their debut album on cassette when it first came out, and then subsequently got the CD... a fantastic album. It was only several years ago that I picked up their second album which I had never previously owned. Obviously this was long after they had split, but I had no idea until today that the band ended because of that accident, rather than the usual reason of going their separate ways, etc. I had just assumed they were another casualty of the Grunge era taking over.

[Fat Freddy]

I have been a Dokken fanboy since I first saw "Breaking the Chains" on MTV... but it wasn't till I was wandering around YouTube just a few weeks ago that I learned that the very first lineup of the band (a trio which featured Don on vox and all guitars) released a single in 1978 - "Hard Rock Woman" b/w "Broken Heart." Until this, I thought the very first Dokken recordings were the 1979 demos which eventually became the "Back on the Streets" bootleg. This is why I love the internet...you really do learn something new every day.

 

[Gibbo]

I've always been a fan of Status Quo (stop laughing) ... well, the Rossi/Parfitt/Lancaster/Bown/Coghlan and/or Kircher line-ups ... and it was only after reading their autobiography that I realised they had a massive problem with drugs during the early 80s ... neither Rossi nor Parfitt remember recording many of the albums that I love (Rossi even went as far as to say that he hated one of them, because of all the internal problems with the band.) They also talked about their opening slot at Live Aid here in the UK, when most of them were off their faces on Class A.

 

They seemed like such sensible chaps

[Nightrain]

some things I learned not so long ago (probably in the last 5 years) :

 

- EUROPE won a rock competition that landed them a record deal for their debut

- John Norum's (late) wife is Michelle Meldrum, guitarist of PHANTOM BLUE

- Gregg Giuffria quit music after his HOUSE OF LORDS and GIUFFRIA era to pursue career in construction business and then casino and he's successful

- Ralph Saenz (also known as Michael Starr of STEEL PANTHER) was an LA GUNS singer for their 'Wasted' EP and he's briefly a cameo in Mark Walhberg's movie, 'Rock Star'

- Russ Parrish (STEEL PANTHER guitarist, known as Satchel), is a guitar instructor and played a lot with Paul Gilbert (also help him in his project)

- Mitch Malloy was offered the position as the lead singer in VAN HALEN before Gary Cherone

- Drew Hannah (lead singer of WILDSIDE) was involved in porn industry, either he's starting a pornsite or star in some movies, read it on the main page, don't know if it's true or not

 

will add more later when I remember

[Geoff]

Sorry I don't have anything to contribute at the moment, but this is a very cool thread. A lot of stuff I didn't know about here. I'd heard some of the stuff about Drew Hannah and the Steel Panther guys, but not the rest.

[Glen]

I knew about Mitch Malloy - he's continually posting about this on Facebook.

[DaHun72]

Whilst we are on VH Patty Smyth from Scandal was offered the gig before Sammy but turned it down.

 

https://youtu.be/47y5bo8wtqM

[Chisel Chin]

Testament was a band I'd only followed up until around 1992/93 (the last album I bought was "The Ritual"). However, it was only a few years ago that I found out that Chuck Billy had auditioned for Sepultura to replace the departed Max Cavalera.

 

I wonder what his bandmates thought of it at the time, thinking they were in one of the major thrash bands with a singer who was quite prepared to abandon them for a (then) higher-profile band.

[Gibbo]

I knew about Mitch Malloy - he's continually posting about this on Facebook.

 

If only he'd got the job ... we might've been spared the dog's dinner that was 'III'

[Grey]

I'd always known that Jack Russell from Great White spend time in prison before joining the band (he wrote a song about it and the liner notes from their '84 LP has a photocopy of his parole report).

 

But it wasn't until recently that I learned why. He shot the maid during a botched home invasion and robbery.

[CureTheSane]

Jon Stevens from Noiseworks was considered for the VH job after Sammy left.

[Geoff]

Wow, definitely did not know those two... especially about Jack Russell. Craziness.

[Gibbo]

I knew Tony Iommi/Sabbath had considered a number of different vocalists in the 'post-Dio' years, but I didn't know that Ron Keel had been one of them