08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
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08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
CHAPTER INDEX
- AUGUST 1987: MAKING A MUSIC VIDEO FOR WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
- AUGUST 14, 1987: TOURING WITH THE CULT, FIRST SHOW IN HALIFAX
- AUGUST 15-SEPTEMBER 4, 1987: THE CULT TOUR
- SEPTEMBER 5, 1987: LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA; THE SHOW IS STOPPED EARLY
- SEPTEMBER 6-17, 1987: THE CULT TOUR FINISHES
- LOOKING BACK AT TOURING WITH THE CULT
- DOUG GOLDSTEIN, TOUR MANAGER AND THEN CO-MANAGER
- SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 1987: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE IS RELEASED AND FLOPS
- SEPTEMBER 29-OCTOBER 8, 1987: HEADLINING IN EUROPE WITH FASTER PUSSYCAT
- OCTOBER 6, 1987: POISON ATTACKS BRYN; THE FEUD WITH POISON
- MTV WON'T PLAY WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
- OCTOBER 16-18, 1987: HEADLINING IN USA WITH EZO; IZZY IS SLOSHED AND PEES AT A DESK
- OCTOBER 20-NOVEMBER 1, 1987: HEADLINING IN USA WITH EZO; THE RITZ, CGBG'S AND OTHER SHOWS
- SONG: PATIENCE
- SONG: USED TO LOVE HER
- SONG: ONE IN A MILLION
- NOVEMBER 3-21, 1987: OPENING FOR MÖTLEY CRÜE, PART 1
- NOVEMBER 22, 1987: THE OMNI, ATLANTA, AXL GETS ARRESTED
- NOVEMBER 24-29, 1987: OPENING FOR MÖTLEY CRÜE, PART 2
- DECEMBER 3-12, 1987: OPENING FOR ALICE COOPER
- DECEMBER 12-17, 1987: STEVEN BREAKS HIS HAND AND FRED COURY STEPS IN
- DECEMBER 18-19, 1987: "BON JOVI CAN SUCK MY DICK"
- DECEMBER 1987: GEFFEN WANTS TO QUIT TOURING AND FOCUS ON THE NEXT ALBUM
- DECEMBER 1987-JANUARY 1988: MTV FINALLY STARTS PLAYING WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
- 1987-1988: THE DEVIL MAKES WORK FOR IDLE HANDS
- DECEMBER 26-30, 1987: PLAYING FOUR SHOWS AT THE PERKINS PALACE
- 1987-1988: STEVEN STARTS ON HIS DOWNHILL DESCENT
- JANUARY 5-21, 1988: ACTIVITY IN EARLY 1988
- SONG: YESTERDAYS
- WHO IS THE BOSS?
- JANUARY 31, 1988: THE LIMELIGHT
- 1988: SLASH'S HABITS GET OUT OF CONTROL
- FEBRUARY 2, 1988: "WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE, RITZ!!"
- FEBRUARY 1988: 'APPETITE' FINALLY SELLS TO GOLD
- 1988: DUFF; THE KING OF BEER II
- FEBRUARY 4-8, 1988: TOURING WITH 'TSOL'
- FEBRUARY 12-13, 1988: AXL IS FIRED FROM THE BAND
- 1988-1989: IZZY AND HIS COKE-INDUCED PARANOIA
- FEBRUARY 1988: LOSING A TOUR WITH DAVID LEE ROTH
- AXL JUST SAYS 'NO'
- FEBRUARY 26, 1988: PLAYING ON 'UNDER THE WHEELS' WITH ALICE COOPER
- PROFESSIONAL CREW
- AXL'S MOOD SWINGS, SENSITIVITY AND INSOMNIA
- MARCH-APRIL 1988: LOST TOURS WITH AC/DC AND MONSTERS OF ROCK
- MARCH 31, 1988: PLAYING AT THE LATE SHOW
- 1987-1988: "THERE'S NO CHEMICAL DEPENDENCIES IN GUNS N' ROSES"
- APRIL 26-MAY 11, 1988: US TOUR WITH ZODIAC MINDWARP & THE LOVE REACTION AND UDO
- DOCUMENTARY, BOOK PLANS AND THE CONSPIRACY INC. FAN CLUB
- MAY 13-25, 1988: OPENING FOR IRON MAIDEN
- SONG: HAIR OF THE DOG
- MAY 27-28 1988: DUFF MARRIES MANDY; HAGGIS STEPS IN
- MAY 30-JUNE 5, 1988: OPENING FOR IRON MAIDEN
- JUNE 6, 1988: GUNS N' ROSES QUITS THE TOUR WITH MAIDEN
- JUNE 1988: THE "SWEET CHILD O' MINE" SINGLE AND MUSIC VIDEO
- JUNE OR JULY 1988: SLASH IS SENT TO HAWAII FOR DETOX
- ARTISTIC SACRIFICES: EDITING 'SWEET CHILD O' MINE' FOR RADIO PLAY
- JULY 1988: 'THE DEAD POOL'
- JULY 1988: AEROSMITH AND GUNS N' ROSES TO TOUR TOGETHER
- JULY 9-10, 1988: MAKE-UP GIGS IN PHOENIX
- BUT AEROSMITH ARE SOBER
- JULY 17-AUGUST 2, 1988: THE AEROSMITH TOUR
- AUGUST 4-5, 1988: AXL FIGHTS A PARKING ATTENDANT
- AUGUST 6, 1988: 'APPETITE' REACHES NO. 1 ON BILLBOARD
- RONNIE STALNAKER - THE CLEAN-UP GUY
- EXPLAINING THE SUCCESS OF 'APPETITE'
- TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
- AUGUST 14, 1987: TOURING WITH THE CULT, FIRST SHOW IN HALIFAX
- AUGUST 15-SEPTEMBER 4, 1987: THE CULT TOUR
- SEPTEMBER 5, 1987: LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA; THE SHOW IS STOPPED EARLY
- SEPTEMBER 6-17, 1987: THE CULT TOUR FINISHES
- LOOKING BACK AT TOURING WITH THE CULT
- DOUG GOLDSTEIN, TOUR MANAGER AND THEN CO-MANAGER
- SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 1987: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE IS RELEASED AND FLOPS
- SEPTEMBER 29-OCTOBER 8, 1987: HEADLINING IN EUROPE WITH FASTER PUSSYCAT
- OCTOBER 6, 1987: POISON ATTACKS BRYN; THE FEUD WITH POISON
- MTV WON'T PLAY WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
- OCTOBER 16-18, 1987: HEADLINING IN USA WITH EZO; IZZY IS SLOSHED AND PEES AT A DESK
- OCTOBER 20-NOVEMBER 1, 1987: HEADLINING IN USA WITH EZO; THE RITZ, CGBG'S AND OTHER SHOWS
- SONG: PATIENCE
- SONG: USED TO LOVE HER
- SONG: ONE IN A MILLION
- NOVEMBER 3-21, 1987: OPENING FOR MÖTLEY CRÜE, PART 1
- NOVEMBER 22, 1987: THE OMNI, ATLANTA, AXL GETS ARRESTED
- NOVEMBER 24-29, 1987: OPENING FOR MÖTLEY CRÜE, PART 2
- DECEMBER 3-12, 1987: OPENING FOR ALICE COOPER
- DECEMBER 12-17, 1987: STEVEN BREAKS HIS HAND AND FRED COURY STEPS IN
- DECEMBER 18-19, 1987: "BON JOVI CAN SUCK MY DICK"
- DECEMBER 1987: GEFFEN WANTS TO QUIT TOURING AND FOCUS ON THE NEXT ALBUM
- DECEMBER 1987-JANUARY 1988: MTV FINALLY STARTS PLAYING WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
- 1987-1988: THE DEVIL MAKES WORK FOR IDLE HANDS
- DECEMBER 26-30, 1987: PLAYING FOUR SHOWS AT THE PERKINS PALACE
- 1987-1988: STEVEN STARTS ON HIS DOWNHILL DESCENT
- JANUARY 5-21, 1988: ACTIVITY IN EARLY 1988
- SONG: YESTERDAYS
- WHO IS THE BOSS?
- JANUARY 31, 1988: THE LIMELIGHT
- 1988: SLASH'S HABITS GET OUT OF CONTROL
- FEBRUARY 2, 1988: "WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE, RITZ!!"
- FEBRUARY 1988: 'APPETITE' FINALLY SELLS TO GOLD
- 1988: DUFF; THE KING OF BEER II
- FEBRUARY 4-8, 1988: TOURING WITH 'TSOL'
- FEBRUARY 12-13, 1988: AXL IS FIRED FROM THE BAND
- 1988-1989: IZZY AND HIS COKE-INDUCED PARANOIA
- FEBRUARY 1988: LOSING A TOUR WITH DAVID LEE ROTH
- AXL JUST SAYS 'NO'
- FEBRUARY 26, 1988: PLAYING ON 'UNDER THE WHEELS' WITH ALICE COOPER
- PROFESSIONAL CREW
- AXL'S MOOD SWINGS, SENSITIVITY AND INSOMNIA
- MARCH-APRIL 1988: LOST TOURS WITH AC/DC AND MONSTERS OF ROCK
- MARCH 31, 1988: PLAYING AT THE LATE SHOW
- 1987-1988: "THERE'S NO CHEMICAL DEPENDENCIES IN GUNS N' ROSES"
- APRIL 26-MAY 11, 1988: US TOUR WITH ZODIAC MINDWARP & THE LOVE REACTION AND UDO
- DOCUMENTARY, BOOK PLANS AND THE CONSPIRACY INC. FAN CLUB
- MAY 13-25, 1988: OPENING FOR IRON MAIDEN
- SONG: HAIR OF THE DOG
- MAY 27-28 1988: DUFF MARRIES MANDY; HAGGIS STEPS IN
- MAY 30-JUNE 5, 1988: OPENING FOR IRON MAIDEN
- JUNE 6, 1988: GUNS N' ROSES QUITS THE TOUR WITH MAIDEN
- JUNE 1988: THE "SWEET CHILD O' MINE" SINGLE AND MUSIC VIDEO
- JUNE OR JULY 1988: SLASH IS SENT TO HAWAII FOR DETOX
- ARTISTIC SACRIFICES: EDITING 'SWEET CHILD O' MINE' FOR RADIO PLAY
- JULY 1988: 'THE DEAD POOL'
- JULY 1988: AEROSMITH AND GUNS N' ROSES TO TOUR TOGETHER
- JULY 9-10, 1988: MAKE-UP GIGS IN PHOENIX
- BUT AEROSMITH ARE SOBER
- JULY 17-AUGUST 2, 1988: THE AEROSMITH TOUR
- AUGUST 4-5, 1988: AXL FIGHTS A PARKING ATTENDANT
- AUGUST 6, 1988: 'APPETITE' REACHES NO. 1 ON BILLBOARD
- RONNIE STALNAKER - THE CLEAN-UP GUY
- EXPLAINING THE SUCCESS OF 'APPETITE'
- TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
AUGUST 1987
MAKING A MUSIC VIDEO FOR WELCOME TO THE JUNGLEThe main premise of the video was really sort of an introduction to the band as people.
_____________________________________
To direct a music video for Welcome to the Jungle, Alan Niven contacted Nigel Dick, as Dick would later remember:
I was strictly known as a pop guy. But I was a huge fan of Led Zeppelin, Rory Gallagher, Bad Company, and Free, so getting to direct a Great White video was a breakthrough for me. And I was on my second Great White video when Alan Niven, their manager, said, “I’ve got this new band called Guns N’ Roses. They’re hugely difficult, they don’t want to work with anybody, nobody wants to work with them. Would you do their video?” I turned him down. A week later, Alan said, “Look, I can’t find anybody to do it. You have to do me a favor.” So I thought, What the heck, I’ll make some extra money. I shot the second Great White video on, say, a Thursday and Friday, and shot “Welcome to the Jungle” on Saturday and Sunday. I honestly preferred Great White’s music.
Craig Marks & Rob Tannenbaum, I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution; Plume, October 27, 2011
I’d directed a number of videos for Great White who had the same manager and he asked me to shoot “Welcome To The Jungle.” My first meeting with the band was awful – they’d just come from the funeral of a close-friend. They certainly didn’t want to talk to anyone about videos – least of all me.
The funeral mentioned by Dick above was for Todd Crew who had died on July 18, 1987 [see earlier chapter].
When asked about the idea for the music video, Slash would refer to Axl:
Uh, I don't know... you have to ask Axl. Actually, it’s not a concept video. It's totally live, I think. Besides, there is no concept in this band, that’s why I don’t see much usefulness in us doing interviews; I just know how to write songs and play guitar... "C'mon, fuck this interview and let's party! What do you wanna drink?"
Hard Force [French], October 8, 1987; translated from French
It's live, intercut with concept. It doesn't make a big statement or nothing like that.
It seems that Axl already a year before had a plan for the music video's thematic content:
[Our first video] is going to be realistic and it might show a lot of violence so it might get banned. There's a lot of violence in the world. That's the environment we live in and we like to show what we live in rather than hide it and act like everything is nice and sugary.
Everybody likes to paint their pretty pictures, but that just ain't how it is. It just seems easier to know the rougher side [of life] than the more pleasant side just because it's more readily accessible.
Everybody likes to paint their pretty pictures, but that just ain't how it is. It just seems easier to know the rougher side [of life] than the more pleasant side just because it's more readily accessible.
But their budget didn't allow for any lofty plans, as Alan Niven would point out:
The budget that Geffen afforded for “Jungle” was insufficient for us to realize the storyboard we wanted, so we piggybacked it onto a Great White shoot, so we could have a four-day rental in equipment and staff.
Craig Marks & Rob Tannenbaum, I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution; Plume, October 27, 2011
Niven then came up with a story for the video:
[Nigel Dick]: The video for “Welcome to the Jungle” was Alan Niven’s idea. He told me, “Axl will step off a bus, then he’ll be sitting in a chair watching TV, and there will be all this horrible footage on the TV.” The hardest part of a Guns N’ Roses video was waiting for Axl to show up. He was always late. You were always worried he’d have a tantrum and leave. After we did the close-up of him on a stage, he hid in the dressing room for two hours. He couldn’t handle the shiny boards and the lights and the bounce cards. It freaked him out.
Craig Marks & Rob Tannenbaum, I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution; Plume, October 27, 2011
Everything of worth in a video is stolen from somewhere, so I stole from some cool movies. Axl’s character is a corollary to Jon Voight in Midnight Cowboy, who comes to a city that’s a cauldron of false dreams. That plays beautifully into the scene from The Man Who Fell to Earth where David Bowie is in a motel out in the desert with a pile of TVs, trying to absorb information about the planet he’s landed on. Then there’s the scene from A Clockwork Orange, when Alex is made to watch all these violent images on TV.
Craig Marks & Rob Tannenbaum, I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution; Plume, October 27, 2011
That was basically ours and Alan's concept.
I came up with the idea of stealing from three movies: Midnight Cowboy, The Man Who Fell to Earth and Clockwork Orange.
And quite deliberately that video was a steal of three movies, Midnight Cowboy, you know, that's the ingenue coming to the big city and we were talking about living in, you know, how it can be tough some days to deal with city living. And here's the ingenue with the stem of [?] in his mouth his mouth to denote, "Yeah, he's come from rural [?] Lafayette," or whatever, but he's coming to the city to chase his dreams. Then you have the steal from The Man Who Fell To Earth, and in that particular movie it's when the alien is so perplexed by human behavior [that] he isolates himself in a rundown motel with all these stacks of TVs watching them all simultaneously to figure out what the hell is going on in this place. And then you have the steal from Clockwork Orange where you're forced to watch one screen and it is driving you fucking crazy with what's going on. And we intersperse that with actual news footage that we see on a daily basis. I mean, I got a phone call out of London yesterday from a company called ITN, which is a major TV producer in the United Kingdom, and they want to come over and set up cameras and talk and so on and so forth. And I found myself talking to the producer and saying, "You know, it's interesting watching news feed from the Sky Channel right now. In some ways I think I'm watching Welcome to the Jungle, actually, every day." And, you know, I think that video told people, yeah, this is a band with an attitude, but it's also a band with an intelligence, because obviously all this was built on Axl's lyric. And within that lyric was a very acerbic, insightful viewpoint. So, you know, that meant that we could make a video that actually had a social commentary that showed intelligence, that we didn't just have big booby girls running around in it, you know, for eye candy to catch people, you know, males to watch the latest rock and roll song. I think there was a clear indicator from the get-go of, yeah, we might have a fucking attitude, but we've also got a fucking point of view, mate. And I think that came across, and I think that was part of what inspired the most amazing reaction that the band got in 1988.
Tom Zutaut would later talk about how the video was supposed to represent the band:
Guns N' Roses wanted to make a statement about their philosophy and their crazy rock and roll life. [...] This wasn't going to be Tawny Katane strutting her stuff in a Whitesnake video. It had to capture the mayhem of Welcome to the Jungle which was inspired by Axl hitchhiking through Harlem in neighborhoods that at that time, really, you know, no white kid from Indiana should set foot into.
Axl talking about his experience while visiting New York which inspired both the lyrics and the music video for Welcome to the Jungle:
I slept one night in a schoolyard in Queens with a big fence around it. This black guy came up to me and said, 'You know where you are? You in the jungle! You gonna die!' So we put that in a song. Then I was in the [South) Bronx, right off the freeway where the big rock walls are and the buildings are all destroyed. There were all these cops and guys pissing on the street and little kids running around with sticks. We got stranded there on our way to Connecticut, so we climbed up the fuckin' wall and the little kids came up to us with the sticks and started bashing me in the knees, going, 'I'm gonna kick your ass, muthah fuckah!'
Circus Magazine, January 31, 1989; from an unknown 1986 interview
Talking about the video:
It starts off with Axl coming in on a bus from greater America, you know, the Midwest kind of deal, getting off a bus with a corn stalk in his teeth and then Izzy's there at the bus stop dressed in black leather and looking like a street cover and he's trying to sell him some drugs and that's how he gets introduced, more or less, to L.A.
MAKING THE VIDEO
On August 2, 1987, the band did a video shoot for the video at the Park Plaza Hotel Ballroom in Los Angeles [Intense Guitar, August 1, 2019].
Nigel Dick:
[Axl]'s gonna be in a room and there's all this stuff he's being shown, you know, people beating other people over the head with truncheons and riots. I think the first thing we did was Axl in the chair. He's going to have the head brace on, you know, the rest of it. [...] Of course you turn on the music and he just goes berserk. Check! Got the screaming? Yep, got that good.
Steven would talk about making out with his roommate Julie in the video:
Believe it or not, we couldn’t find any girls to be in the video. It was one night out of forever when no girls were around. So I called my roommate—her name was Julie, I couldn’t tell you her last name—and she’s the girl laying in bed with me while Axl watches the TVs. There was an X-rated part where I was making out with the girl, rubbing and licking her neck, her boobs were out and everything. When we went to Japan, I saw the video and they didn’t cut out that scene. It was so great!
Craig Marks & Rob Tannenbaum, I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution; Plume, October 27, 2011
Slash was not into making a video and would later refer to it as an unnecessary evil:
I was like, "Okay, yeah, we're shooting a video," and our sort of attitude was like, it was like an unnecessary evil. It was part of the process. And we tried to make as much fun out of the process.
During the movie shoot, Niven would recall having to deal with a drunk Slash who wandered into the streets and "terrified rush hour motorists":
At the video shoot for Welcome To The Jungle in 1987, a frazzled grip came running up to me: “Ah, Mr Niven, you’ve got a bit of a problem.” There, outside the empty store we were shooting in, where Axl was strapped into a chair with a metal restraint around his head, was Slash stumbling around in the middle of the traffic on La Cienega Boulevard, brandishing a gallon of JD at the terrified rush hour motorists.
I grabbed him and took him around the back of the Winnebago we were using as a dressing room. I explained, in short syllable Anglo Saxon, and with a certain degree of firmness, that this was behaviour that was not suited to the circumstances. Slash looked me silently in the eye, then turned and walked home – some six or seven miles away.
I grabbed him and took him around the back of the Winnebago we were using as a dressing room. I explained, in short syllable Anglo Saxon, and with a certain degree of firmness, that this was behaviour that was not suited to the circumstances. Slash looked me silently in the eye, then turned and walked home – some six or seven miles away.
Dick would also remember Slash stealing the motor home used in the video:
Slash got completely out of it and tried to steal the motor home that we were shooting. Suddenly the motor home took off and lurched across the street and made a U-turn and came scrunching to a halt. Slash sort of kidnapped the vehicle. The next day, I said, ‘All right, we’ll have no drink on set, we’ve got to be together.’ The first person to come up to me is Slash, and he’s apologizing. He says, ‘I’m sorry I took the motor home up into the hills, I hope I didn’t damage it too much.’ I remember thinking, ‘He crashed the motor home? Fuck!’ He hadn’t — this was part of his vision of the night before. He said to me, ‘So I understand we can’t have drinks on the set. Can I have a beer, man, please? I can’t remember what my response was, but I’m sure he got his way.
Slash was spectacularly drunk and could hardly stand up. Suddenly i see the motorhome like lurching into gear and just doing an incredible U-turn in front of four lanes of busy Saturday afternoon traffic.
Slash and Zutaut would also discuss the episode:
The thing about this band, for the most part, is very, very impatient. Especially me, all right, I can't sit still. And, uh, you know, the thing about shooting videos and a lot of other stuff is a lot of hurry up and wait. I had one incident where I just got sick of waiting around and got really drunk one night and after that started some trouble. [...] I mean, I'm a troublemaker so I would find anything, you know, harmless but at the same time, you know, annoying probably to the people that were just trying to do their job. And I guess, yeah, I did, I stole the trailer and took off with it and that started a lot of ruckus.
It disappeared, and we couldn't find Slash and we couldn't find the motorhome, and then it suddenly reappeared and Slash apologizing profusely and making a comment something along the lines of, "Well, I hope there's not too much damage."
I mean, there was an RV like for dressing room at one of the video shoots, and, I mean, Slash disappeared with the RV in the middle of the shoot and turned up like a day later. The thing was all bashed and dented. And, you know, I mean, they were crazy like that. I mean, we're making a video and all of a sudden, you know, the dressing room is gone and Slash is gone, only to be found a day later. The thing looked like it had been squeezed through parked cars.
Dick would go on to direct all the five first music videos (Welcome To The Jungle, Sweet Child O' Mine, Paradise City, Patience and the unreleased It's So Easy), and would later discuss the problems of directing a music video with the members of Guns N' Roses:
It's like, you know, a bag full of kittens all trying to get out, but these aren't fluffy kittens, these are, you know, tiger cats waiting to explode and they're all on meth amphetamine and that's just crazy.
The storylines were always presented to me by Alan Niven, their manager. My job was to flesh them out and make them work. Generally speaking I think their reaction to me was to take direction from me and just get on with it so they could leave and go party somewhere else. A few days after one of the later shoots I bumped into Axl in a parking lot and said Hi and held out my hand. He walked by me without a nod and didn’t say a word. That remains my abiding impression on the closeness of our working relationship!
Let’s just say Axl and I never exchanged Christmas Cards. I remember one pleasant lunch where we talked for ages about the Electric Light Orchestra but mostly I was handed a short scenario by Alan Niven which he’d presumably discussed with the band and told to flesh it out and make it happen. Incidentally I don’t have bad memories about this process – it was very efficient and pushed me into an attitude of working with bands whose approach and music I didn’t necessarily like or understand which I think was very healthy
According to Vicky Hamilton, the 'Welcome to the Jungle' video was partly inspired by the 'Faces Of Death' series of snuff video clips which Axl had studied in detail while living in her apartment [Vicky Hamilton, "Appetite For Dysfunction", 2014, p. 134]. The band had paid for news footage that didn't make it into the final edit:
There's a few changes been made to this video. We bought actual news footage that had been shown on television from NBC and CBS and ABC, but we had to cut a lot of that out.
Axl would refer to this video shoot as the "most fun [he] ever had" [Metal Edge, June 1988].
Deanna Adler would mention that she and Steven's brother Jamie, had been there, too:
In July of 1987, “Appetite for Destruction” was completed and they filmed their first video in an old theater in downtown Los Angeles. Steven invited us to be extras. I have to admit that was very exciting for us. They really didn’t need us to be extras because there had to be more than 300 kids crowding around the stage. If you ever see the video of “Welcome to the Jungle” you see two drumsticks in the crowd. That’s Jamie, sitting on some guy’s shoulders waving the drumsticks.
Dianna Adler's blog, September 17, 2012[/url]
The music video would be released on September 28 in the UK and in October in the US.
LOOKING BACK AT THE VIDEO
Steven would look back at the filming with fond memories:
God damn that was so much fun. We filmed that where Robert Kennedy got shot, in the Park Plaza hotel.
Talking about the girl he was sitting in bed with in the video:
Wait, uuh, Julie! Julie Angel, yeah, yeah, she was wonderful. Her and this girl named Lisa, I was there roommate. I rented out their laundry room. Oh yeah, I put this futon mattress in there, and I had a TV I put in there, and I had the cable put in, and I had you know, my own little door, they were my roommates. Those were the greatest girls.
Think about this, Guns n’ Roses, one of the coolest, biggest bands, and we’re filming “Welcome to the Jungle” and none of us could find a fucking girl to be in it with us. Nobody could think of a girl. And I go: “Hey, let’s get Julie man, she’s got a great ass.” She was so fine. I said: “Let’s call Julie and get her to come over here.” So I call up and say: “Hey Julie, can you be in this video with us?” And she says: “Yeah, okay.” And I say: “We’ll be by to pick you up in 10 minutes.” And that’s why she was in the video. Cause none of us could get, well, obviously I could, cause I got her.
Think about this, Guns n’ Roses, one of the coolest, biggest bands, and we’re filming “Welcome to the Jungle” and none of us could find a fucking girl to be in it with us. Nobody could think of a girl. And I go: “Hey, let’s get Julie man, she’s got a great ass.” She was so fine. I said: “Let’s call Julie and get her to come over here.” So I call up and say: “Hey Julie, can you be in this video with us?” And she says: “Yeah, okay.” And I say: “We’ll be by to pick you up in 10 minutes.” And that’s why she was in the video. Cause none of us could get, well, obviously I could, cause I got her.
In 2009, the girl in the video, Juliana Sedbrook would also discuss her involvement:
I was actually sick at the time and got a phone call from Steven saying, Axl didn’t like the girls Geffen had sent down to do the video and he wanted me to do it, so sick, I went down “for the band” lol and we filmed ALL night. After the video was done, Axl came back to my house and spent the night, it was our 1st time together and it was amazing. It has made a difference in my life in many ways, just being seen on tv is strange for me, I remember when they had their 1st tour to England, me and Lisa went too- I saw the welcome video on TV at the hotel, it was surreal! Then at the show, people wanted my autograph, it was a lot of fun, I had some great pics Robert John took of me and Axl before a The Cult show, I would love to get copies of, they were really nice just of me and him. The video connects me to them forever and he used it again in the “Patience” video, Axl’s sitting on the couch, looking like he’s thinking back on his life and he’s watching the “Welcome” video with the parts of me in it, it’s sweet.
DailyBetter Group, December 2009
Zutaut would claim he had fought hard to get the video made:
I fought really hard to get that video made because I felt like this is the most visual band in rock music. But Guns N' Roses was a living, breathing, walking car wreck. The guys were so screwed up and, you know, high on drugs and, you know, could barely focus on things.
On the importance of the music video:
I think probably, looking back at the Welcome to the Jungle video, it's significant because it was the first step towards what we ended up becoming.
Looking back at the video and discussing the term "dangerous band":
I actually went to look at that video not so long ago. I hadn't seen it in decades and I sat and watched it. And I thought, you know what, it passes the test of time. You know, obviously it’s a really good song, but it was also an intelligent video. And you know what, people talk about dangerous bands. My assessment of that is, a dangerous band is one that - if any band is ever dangerous. As far as I'm concerned, somebody with a sawed-off shotgun is dangerous. Bands are bands. But in terms of a band being called dangerous, the element and factor that I think makes a band “dangerous” is intelligence matched with viscerality. And if you can see that there's an intelligence behind a band, then you're required to think and respond and wonder what is going on, and, you know, hence that ridiculous terminology of dangerous band. And I think that video has an intelligence to it. It had a whiff of politics to it. It certainly had a whiff of sociology to it that matched the content of the song. And that video made a mark.
There was no meeting about how the band were going to look; the band were going to look as the band usually look. What I did enjoy was that every time Axl put his hair up, Duff would come in the room and go, 'Nice hair, Ax' - dripping with sarcasm. And eventually that permeated through, and Axl took a look around and looked at the other people putting their hair up and went, 'Yeah... I'm done with that.'
Even if go back and look at that video now, if I were to do that, my focus would be on his voice, maybe a little bit on his moves, the kind of dynamics - because he is a kinetic person. And, 'Has he got the energy,' and, 'What does that voice sound like?' and most importantly of all, 'What is the motherfucker saying?' Because that song, to me, had a significant [layer] above the superficial. There was a tinge of the political in it, there was a tinge of the social in it, and that turned me on.
Even if go back and look at that video now, if I were to do that, my focus would be on his voice, maybe a little bit on his moves, the kind of dynamics - because he is a kinetic person. And, 'Has he got the energy,' and, 'What does that voice sound like?' and most importantly of all, 'What is the motherfucker saying?' Because that song, to me, had a significant [layer] above the superficial. There was a tinge of the political in it, there was a tinge of the social in it, and that turned me on.
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
AUGUST 14, 1987
TOURING WITH THE CULT, FIRST SHOW IN HALIFAXWhen we left on the first tour supporting THE CULT, those who knew the band all figured they wouldn’t last ten days on the road and they’d want to come home to be close to their dealers again. That was the perception that everybody had of GNR at the time and they’d earned that perception.
____________________________________
Despite the problems getting tours, the band started their first proper tour in August 1987, opening for the Cult across Canada and USA.
Do you know how we got this tour? Because Ian Astbury, the Cult's lead vocalist, came to our first show at the Marquee, the one we got such a slagging for, and liked it so much he offered us the tour. So f**k those journalists who wrote those bad things, Ian Astbury liked what he saw, right?
In addition to having seen the band live in London in June 1987, Astbury also had gotten hold of an advance copy of the soon-to-be-released debut album Appetite for Destruction [Guitarist Magazine, November 1993], which likely helped him in his decision to invite the band to open for the Cult.
Ian Astbury was a fan of the band and Guns N' Roses were dying on the vine. I talked to Ian and said, "Hey man, I got this new band. If you guys take him out on tour, it'll be really awesome." And he did.
The Cult were nice enough to give us that first tour and, you know, they saw us at the Marquee in London and they were like, "We want to take those guys on tour. We think that band's killer."
Billy Duffy, of the Cult, would later talk about how they had tried to see the band in London in 1987:
We'd never met them. They had a buzz on them. Ian tried to get me to go see them in London. They did two nights at the Marquee Club. They were sold out and I actually couldn't get in. They just wouldn't let me in, the typical London thing. I remember, it was like a real buzz on them, and that was before they toured with us.
Ian was the guy that found them. Ian uses the phrase cultural savant. We could sense a return to blues/organic rock. Suddenly people were whispering Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin, and finally the vacuum created by punk, enough time had passed that people were daring to mention the unmentionable, and that kind of blew up a little bit. Rock got massive again for about 5 or 6 years until grunge really. I mean, Guns N' Roses got bigger than The Stones almost.
Ian was the guy that found them. Ian uses the phrase cultural savant. We could sense a return to blues/organic rock. Suddenly people were whispering Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin, and finally the vacuum created by punk, enough time had passed that people were daring to mention the unmentionable, and that kind of blew up a little bit. Rock got massive again for about 5 or 6 years until grunge really. I mean, Guns N' Roses got bigger than The Stones almost.
SuicideGirls, November 24, 2010
People around the band were unsure of whether they would manage to complete a whole tour due to addictions:
[...] we were wondering if we could get through a 10-week tour back then, the odds were that when we went out with The Cult that they'd come back with their tails between their legs looking for their dealers within about 10 days, you know.
The band invited their friend West Arkeen to join the on the tour but the label insisted he had to perform some sort of job, so he was paid $300 a week to place water bottles onstage for the band [Classic Rock, July 19, 2017].
I have an indelible memory of [Arkeen] on the band bus riding from New Orleans to L.A. in a pink nightie and cowboy boots. Great style.
For the tour the band also got a crew of two people, including Mike "McBob" Mayhue, who would remain as Duff's technician for the next 30 years [see previous chapter].
We had McBob [when we toured with The Cult in 1987], who's my tech still. [...] So he started in Halifax. That was this first gig, it was just McBob and another guy then. [...] we had two guys. Which was like huge to us. "We have two guys!" And a backdrop. And it was probably like 4 by 8, the backdrop [...].
The first show was in Halifax, Canada, August 14, 1987.
Poster and ticket stub
On crossing the border to Canada, Axl was arrested for trying to bring in a stun gun, allegedly the only time in 1987 he was arrested [Spin, January 1988].
Guns N' Roses started the Cult tour in Halifax on August 14, with shows almost every night for a little over a month. Halifax is in Nova Scotia, in the easternmost corner of Canada. Despite everything else, it was an exciting prospect [...]. Hitting the stage that night was extra special. It did not matter in the slightest that there were maybe fifty people in the audience when we took the stage. One thing I hadn't reckoned on were the barricades between the stage and the audience, leaving a ton of space where the building's security personnel could gather and show their force. Because of that gap, the stage lights did not illuminate the few people in attendance. And all of those lights were blinding. The overall effect was to make us feel like we were playing to this big yawning void.
Duff's autobiography, "It's So Easy", 2011, p. 126-127
Appetite for Destruction was banned in parts of Canada, and Duff would later claim this had been the case in Nova Scotia:
It depended [on the state it the album was banned], but you could definitely tell where [it was banned]. Like Nova Scotia.
This indicates that the audience in Halifax did not know their music or that few showed up for the opener.
Duff would also mention that their tour bus driver got robbed by prostitutes in Halifax:
[...] the first night we were in Halifax our bus driver got rolled for his float by a hooker.
In 2008 Axl would look back at this show and say this was his relationship with Slash was starting to unravel:
I like touring with [the current] guys a lot more than the old band. The beginning was fun but it started going bad our first gig opening for the Cult in Halifax between Slash and I. That’s when the ok I put up with all Axl’s and Izzy’s crap now I’m gonna be the man trip started with him runnin’ right out front on the ego ramp for the whole show. It was pretty funny. :rolleyes:
Axl's chat with the fans, mygnrforum, December 14, 2008
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
AUGUST 15-SEPTEMBER 4, 1987
THE CULT TOURAfter the opening show in Halifax on August 14 followed shows in Moncton, Canada (August 15) and Verdun Auditorium, Montreal, Canada (August 17).
When looking back at the tour in August 25, Izzy would say the best show had been the one in Montreal:
The best show so far was... in Montreal. The people were just great. To have that response from people who’ve never heard of us, the album has just come out, it’s great.
The next show was at Super Skate 7, Kicthener, Canada (August 18), CNE Grandstand, Toronto, Canada (August 19), State Theatre, Detroit, USA (August 21), Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, USA (August 22), Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg, Canada (August 24), and Edmonton Convention Centre, Edmonton, Canada (August 26).
Fake wrestling star and podcaster Chris Jericho would later mention that he attended the August 24 show in Winnipeg and that Duff was selling pins of his jacket after the show [Talk Is Jericho, September 6, 2017]:
Never heard of you guys or anything about Guns N' Roses. And I remember, still remember, the guy came on stage, maybe it was McBob, and he was like, "Of all the bands in the world, this is one of them. Here's Guns N' Roses!" [...] And then you [=Duff] walked out there, plug in and start It's So Easy. And I was like, "Who the fuck are these guys?" "Just scums. What a bunch of bums," you know? [laughs]
But you [=Duff] were at the back of the arena selling the buttons on your jacket for 5 bucks each in the middle of the crowd. And I know this because I just talked to my cousin Chad. I said, "What was Duff doing?" Because we saw you. And he said, "He was selling the pins on his jacket for 5 bucks apiece."
The review for the show in Edmonton would say that the band displayed "a wide scope for non-linear arrangements and cathartic and often quite personal hard rock" and "their signals are a bit mixed but they hint at a vulnerability made all the more poignant by their swagger and volume" [Edmonton Journal, August 27, 1987].
Review in the Edmonton JournalAugust 27, 1987
The next show took place in Max Bell Arena, Calgary, Canada (August 27) and the review would say that "this was a show that recaptured the emotional centre that has always represented the best and most powerful rock 'n' roll, both with The Cult and the raw, sexually aggressive opening set of Guns N’ Roses" [Calgary Herald, August 28, 1987].
For their August 29 show at the Coliseum Theatre Stage in Vancouver, the press would claim the band would be "the first band to play Vancouver whose contract calls for the promoter to supply condoms (multi-colored)" [Province, September 18, 1987].
Duff looking back at playing in Vancouver:
Playing Vancouver for me is awesome. I remember the first time I was back there, playing an arena [with Guns N' Roses]. I'm sure we were opening for somebody, but I really felt like I'd made it. A lot of my old punk rock buddies came to the show.
Richard Duguay, a punk friend of Duff, would meet the rest of the band (sans Axl) in Vancouver:
Well, when I met them the first time - I mean, I met Duff obviously in like '83 or whatever - was in '87 when they were out with The Cult. Because the record had just come out in Canada, I believe. June or July of 1987, so they were not really well known at all. I mean, I knew who they were, Duff had sent me an advance cassette and blah, blah, blah. They were on tour with the Cult and I was on tour in Vancouver and we met up. They came over to where we were staying and hung out. And we played that, my band at that time was the Hellcats. And they came out, not Axl, but everybody else was out. And we all hung out and then ended up at Slash and Duff's hotel room and Slash was pretty drunk. And he kinda got a bit on me and was throwing shit out the window at parked cars and shit. That was my introduction to Slash.
The review from the next show, on August 30 at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle would conclude "Guns N' Roses may have a rosy future" [Seattle Times, August 31, 1987].
It was hectic—the whole family was there.
When we played the Paramount Theatre in Seattle, I got a bunch of my friends in for free.
Duff's autobiography, "It's So Easy", 2011, p. 127
[...] went through my hometown of Seattle, and it was amazing. Played The Paramount, this place I'd seen The Clash and all these at the place.
The band then continued to Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, USA (September 2).
Malcolm Dome, writing for Kerrang!, would review the San Francisco show:
So, what is this danger? It's an uncontrollable edge, a sense of unpredictability that is a constant companion, straining at the leash of convention and always likely to break loose and push Axl and his troops (Izzy and Slash on guitar, Duff on bass and Steven Adler on drums) right over the precipice. It happened in San Francisco, when Gn'R recently opened up for the Cult. Right at the climax of a spectacularly frightening performance, Duff ripped off his bass and threw himself, Mosh-style, into the audience. It was an impulse act, folly coupled to adrenalin, and certainly not a pre-rehearsed contrivance. It had the effect of bringing home to me just what is the essence of this brilliant rock 'n' roll band: they don't give a toss!" "Duff hasn't done a stage dive like that since the last night at the Marquee," said Slash backstage after the show. "And that really is the point, you don't know what you're gonna get from this band, but whatever it is you can be sure it's worth the wait!
[…]
In San Francisco, the Gunners had a dark, foreboding insolence. They seethed with a magnetic malevolence, at once invoking an uneasy, tempestuous spirit whilst kicking sharply with the sheer fortitude of their street-forged greed and hunger for gouging out a niche.
There is no arrogance about Guns, nor an air of superiority. They simply lash straight and burn with an incandescent fragility.
Izzy and Slash (the former operating with amps that threatened to pack up at any time) literally tore neon-glitz viscera out of their strings, rather like a pit bull terrier ripping apart a panicking victim at the shoulder blade, feeding the torn torso avariciously into the rhythmic rotary stare and the sawblade cutting thrust that is Duff and Adler. And holding the entire cannibal atmosphere in the palm of his hand is Axl, the knave at the court of crimson death, Rasputin defrocked for the jean jeanie jeneration. Possessed of a rapturous vocal range, possessed of a mesmeric presence, Axl is ... possessed. He commands and demands, shadowboxing, lunging, triggering, never more than a hair's breadth away from bedlam as he lasciviously twirls his lyrics, twisting 'em into a frenzy of erotic homicide.
THE SONGS speak of drugs, sex, violence. They are the poetry of the alleys, this band are the laureates of the gutter - God knows, I love 'em for it. 'Welcome To The Jungle', 'It's So Easy', 'Mr. Brownstone', 'Paradise City', 'Knockin' On Heaven's Door' ... this was another definitive performance from perhaps the latest band to deserve that irrelevant accolade of 'The Greatest Rock 'N' Roll Band In The World'.
[…]
In San Francisco, the Gunners had a dark, foreboding insolence. They seethed with a magnetic malevolence, at once invoking an uneasy, tempestuous spirit whilst kicking sharply with the sheer fortitude of their street-forged greed and hunger for gouging out a niche.
There is no arrogance about Guns, nor an air of superiority. They simply lash straight and burn with an incandescent fragility.
Izzy and Slash (the former operating with amps that threatened to pack up at any time) literally tore neon-glitz viscera out of their strings, rather like a pit bull terrier ripping apart a panicking victim at the shoulder blade, feeding the torn torso avariciously into the rhythmic rotary stare and the sawblade cutting thrust that is Duff and Adler. And holding the entire cannibal atmosphere in the palm of his hand is Axl, the knave at the court of crimson death, Rasputin defrocked for the jean jeanie jeneration. Possessed of a rapturous vocal range, possessed of a mesmeric presence, Axl is ... possessed. He commands and demands, shadowboxing, lunging, triggering, never more than a hair's breadth away from bedlam as he lasciviously twirls his lyrics, twisting 'em into a frenzy of erotic homicide.
THE SONGS speak of drugs, sex, violence. They are the poetry of the alleys, this band are the laureates of the gutter - God knows, I love 'em for it. 'Welcome To The Jungle', 'It's So Easy', 'Mr. Brownstone', 'Paradise City', 'Knockin' On Heaven's Door' ... this was another definitive performance from perhaps the latest band to deserve that irrelevant accolade of 'The Greatest Rock 'N' Roll Band In The World'.
Kerrang! October 1987
The followed Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, Santa Cruz, USA (September 3) and Open Air Theatre, San Diego, USA (September 4).
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
SEPTEMBER 5, 1987
LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA; THE SHOW IS STOPPED EARLYThe next show was at Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, USA on September 5, a city in southeastern Los Angeles.
The next tour stop [after Seattle] where any people came early enough to see Guns play our set was at the Long Beach Arena; it was a homecoming show for us after not playing there much that year.
Duff's autobiography, "It's So Easy", 2011, p. 127
It was nerve-racking to me in a sense. [...] The night before we played, I went out with one of our roadies until like six in the morning, then we walked about eight blocks to get breakfast at Denny's, and on the way there, you could just see the [Long Beach Auditorium). And I remember like all the times I'd gone clown there scalping tickets and stuff. Five o'clock in the morning, getting sick and stuff, getting tickets for Aerosmith. And the times I've been there for AC/DC and stuff. And then all of a sudden, we're playing there. I just looked at the place and it's just sitting there. It was a trip .... Enough of that sensitive bullshit!
Actually, it was hell for me, too, but those were personal reasons.
Ad in L.A. Weekly, August 28, 1987
Izzy being asked about them being "dressed down" for this show, "in contract to their earlier glam image":
It's probably from touring. You wash your clothes once a fuckin' month. You just wear what's the least dirty.
This show would be abruptly ended when the PA closed down. In the notorious rumor column "L.A. Dee Da" in LA. Weekly, it would be claimed that The Cult had turned it off out of jealousy [L.A. Weekly, September 11, 1987]:
L.A. Weekly, September 11, 1987
Axl would comment on the show just a few weeks later:
There was a weird vibe in the air that night. Like I read in "L.A. Dee Da" to the extent of us whimpering about how the Cult fucked us, and it wasn't like the Cult fucked us. But that show was the only show where the managers and everything decided, right before the show, to change all the passes—change all the laminates. [...] There wasn't really any reason given; it was just that this was Guns N' Roses territory and right now we were like big heroes. And it was more the management than the band. And it wasn't like fucking us, it was everything just got completely uncomfortable. It was a really weird aura. Even [the Cult) felt kind of weird.
Slash would also comment on the LA. Weekly claim:
That's a fucking ugly rumor. We blew the PA out. We had it going at half power. "L.A. Dee Da" [in the L.A. Weekly] is fucked. All they've ever written about us is shit anyway.
Later, Raz Cue would suggest an alternative explanation to why the PA had stopped working:
About two-thirds into Guns N' Roses' set, the free Heinekens caught up with me. I stashed my current Heineken on top of a stack of Peavey power amps and headed for the pisser. Just as I exited the restroom, the music stopped on a dime. Except for the murmuring crowd, the house was silent. I hurried back to the stage and almost bashed into an ultra-pissed Axl as he hit the bottom step. After he stormed past me, the rest of the guys were not far behind. I asked someone, "What happened?" Apparently, the PA had quit. Later, I heard someone from the crew guessing that a jealous Cult had ordered the sound guy to shut G N' R down.
Remember that Heineken I set on those power amps? Don't ever do that shit, because it might get knocked over. If beer spills into a power amplifier, not only must you procure more beer, a protect circuit will shut it down. From the stage monitor's failure onward, it was all a chain reaction toward a total PA failure. I almost fessed up later during a little after-show get-together inside an Embassy Suites room, but didn't want the party supplies cut off. Besides, G N' R were almost finished with their kick-ass set before... Oops! For those of you who attended the show, no worries. I managed to find another beer.
Remember that Heineken I set on those power amps? Don't ever do that shit, because it might get knocked over. If beer spills into a power amplifier, not only must you procure more beer, a protect circuit will shut it down. From the stage monitor's failure onward, it was all a chain reaction toward a total PA failure. I almost fessed up later during a little after-show get-together inside an Embassy Suites room, but didn't want the party supplies cut off. Besides, G N' R were almost finished with their kick-ass set before... Oops! For those of you who attended the show, no worries. I managed to find another beer.
Raz Cue, "The Days of Guns, & Raz's", 2015, p. 248
So I was watching GN'R from side stage and I got about five or six Heinekens in me and I decided to go take a piss. So I set my beer on top of the stack of power apps in a road case. And I'm in the bathroom and like GN'R's like rocking out and all of a sudden it's just silent, so I was like, "Fuck, let me go back out there." So I go out and right as I get there, Axl's like the first one off the stage, he's at the bottom step and he storms past me and then, like, the rest of the guys kind of straggle past. And I go to Steven, I go like, "What happened?" And it's like "I don't know, PA went out so his monitors went out." So I look and my beers are like sideways and, I guess, they spilled on the power app or something and it just caused like a chain reaction of like shutting down the circuit. And then later we were at the Suites, or whatever, those suites where we used to do drugs, where Nikki OD'ed, I can't remember... Embassy Suites, over in Hollywood, GN'R had, like, some rooms over there. We're hanging out drinking, doing maybe other stuff, and there's somebody, like, surmise that The Cult had cut the power to the PA because they were jealous with GN'R and I was like, "I don't think they did that, I think it was probably the..." But I didn't want to tell anybody- [...] I was like trying to let them know, don't be mad at the [?] Yeah, but somebody had got it into their head maybe like that The Cult was jealous and it was the GNR's home crowd, and that they had done that, and I was like sitting there, like, "Oh man, I got my favorite band in trouble" [...].
Deanna Adler, Steven's mother, would reminisce about taking Steven's little brother, Jamie, to the show:
Capt. Casual, that was the name Steven used when he was in guns and roses to check into hotels while on tour. He would change it often but the time we went to see him that was his alias. Guns and roses were touring with the”CULT” he really wasn’t speaking to us that much but Jamie had heard he was going to be performing in orange county and he wanted to see his brother. Believe me, if it wasn’t for Jamie I would never have gone, but Jamie missed his brother so much and wanted to see him. I always tried to make excuses to Jamie why Steven never called. We arrived at his hotel around lunchtime and I asked the clerk for Capt Casuals room. We knocked on his door and after a few minutes he answered and the first thing he said was Why are you here? I didn’t invite you! You can never imagine the hurt we felt! I told him Jamie wanted to see his brother! It’s so sad for your own son to say that to you. If Jamie wasn’t with me I would have left then. Steven told us to go to the hotel restaurant and get some lunch and he would be there soon. Of course Steven never showed up. After lunch we went back to the room to tell him we were leaving and to take care of himself. He answered the door and let us in. The room was dark and I asked Steven to turn on a light. Next to his bed was a set of metal suitcases. He said they were a gift from Aerosmith. I started to open the smaller one and all of a sudden Steven screamed don’t open that. He was so angry. Later on I learned that was where he kept his drugs! I wished I could leave but Jamie wanted so bad to be with Steven and to see him play. God! He hurt us so much through the years. My heart was broken for Jamie. Jamie must have been eleven years old at the time. He loves Steven so much! We went to see the concert. My husband and I sat toward the back of the venue and watched the people come in. Jamie was near the stage with Steven’s bodyguards. It seemed like everyone was smoking pot and no one cared. This was not the environment I wanted for Jamie but I promised him he could watch the show. On the way home Jamie fell asleep and I nursed a giant headache! It must have been all the pot I inhaled.
Dianna Adler's blog, May 20, 2012[/url]
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
SEPTEMBER 6-17, 1987
THE CULT TOUR FINISHESThe next shows was in Tucson Garden, Tucson, USA (September 6) and The Jar, Phoenix, USA (September 7) before the band came to Sunken Gardens Theatre in San Antonio, Texas, on September 11.
While in Tucson Steven thrashed his hotel room:
[Steven] threw his whole room out the window in Tucson!
During the show at the Sunken Gardens, Slash cursed from the stage resulting in the police looking for him after the show:
Me and (Cult singer) Ian (Astbury) were hiding on the bus after the show. We got pulled over a few blocks down the road and had to hide in the luggage bays, which are really hot 'cause they're right behind the engine.
On top of that, we had pockets full of gum we ripped off from a convenience store 'cause we had no cash. But I'm a law-abiding citizen now.
On top of that, we had pockets full of gum we ripped off from a convenience store 'cause we had no cash. But I'm a law-abiding citizen now.
Then followed shows in Palmer Auditorium, Austin, USA (September 12), and Bronco Bowl Auditorium, Dallas, USA (September 13).
Duff and Slash would later talk about an incident at the show in Dallas:
It's gotten bad at times. In Dallas once we almost got arrested, and we had to pay like $3,000. We tore all the doors off our rooms, and there were a lot of local kids around.
The worst I think I’ve done up to this point was, me and Duff both completely destroyed two hotel rooms in a Four Seasons hotel in Texas.
Another time when we were in Dallas, Duff and I had adjoining rooms connected by a door and we invited over too many friends with piles of coke. Our party lasted all that night and well into the next afternoon. Things got out of hand, of course, and a big glass coffee table got smashed, and I walked all over it barefoot and bled everywhere. At some point someone kicked the dividing door off the hinges and tipped the beds over and smashed all of the lamps. There were too many of us behaving badly for Ronnie[/i] [=Stalnaker, Slash's security guy] [i]to deal with, so he came up with a plan to get us out of the hotel without the management noticing. He somehow herded us into a service elevator and snuck us out of a loading dock and onto the bus. The hotel had heard all of the noise and was very aware of the party going on, but Ronnie had kept security out of there somehow for an hour or so. We thought we’d gotten away, until the cops pulled us over a few miles down the road at a convenience store where, if memory serves, I’d actually just stolen a bunch of candy.
We were lined up against the side of the bus and taken in for trashing the hotel rooms. It was expensive and I can say in all honesty that it was the last time I’ve ever really destroyed a hotel room. Sure, I’ve been through a couple of TV sets and done a few other stupid things since, but that was the last time I engaged in total annihilation because I got the bill for that one.
We were lined up against the side of the bus and taken in for trashing the hotel rooms. It was expensive and I can say in all honesty that it was the last time I’ve ever really destroyed a hotel room. Sure, I’ve been through a couple of TV sets and done a few other stupid things since, but that was the last time I engaged in total annihilation because I got the bill for that one.
Slash's autobiography, "Slash", 2007
The people who are on the road with me really think I'm an asshole. Actually, I think I'm hell on tour. I cost them a lot of money because of all the damage I do wherever I go; clubs, hotels, underage girls... Not long ago, in Dallas, we got kicked out because we fucked up too much. Now hard rock bands have been banned from playing there. Even Def Leppard couldn’t go.
Hard Force [French], October 8, 1987; translated from French
The label would deduct pay from Slash's salary to cover the costs:
I went to the accountant yesterday and she said, "Slash, I'm going to pay for your damages in Dallas, and you won't see any more money until February."
Slash would also share his wisdom on thrashing hotel room versus misbehaving in bars:
Then [=after thrashing a hotel room] [Alan Niven] bitches at us and we get a new travel agent and we stay at a different hotel. It's better to get thrown out of bars and shit, 'cause they only last a year or two and there's a new one and they don't remember you.
In Dallas, the band fired its tour driver and Slash decided to hitchhike to their next show in Houston [The Galveston Daily News, April 30, 1995]. He got a ride with "these two chicks":
They had this car with no windshield wipers and it was pouring down rain. Guns had just fired its bus driver while we were on a couple-day break and I went on to the next gig without them. They eventually showed up, but I was there first.
The tour followed ar Houston Music Hall, Houston, USA (September 16) and ended at Sanegar Theatre, New Orleans, USA (September 17).
While in Texas, likely during this tour, the band tricked a DJ into playing It's So Easy rather than any other song:
We were in Texas, before anyone knows the record, and we’re, like, on this little club thing trying to promote the album, and stuff like that. And we’d go to this radio station - it’s, like, 5:00 in the morning or something and we’re doing interviews – and the guy wants to know what song, but he doesn’t know the record. So we distract him like, “Where’s the coke machine?” and when he turns over, we put It’s So Easy on, you know? (laughs). We were, like, so happy about that.
For the last gig The Cult had a surprise for the band:
[...] New Orleans [GNR's last show with the Cult] was completely radical. Ian was throwing shit at us onstage, and one guy came out sweeping the floor like a janitor right in the middle of our songs. Then they took Steve's whole drum set away while he was playing. Then we went into this song called "I Used to Love Her, But I Had to Kill Her," and the crowd went wild—it's a real catchy little thing. So when they came out us and our roadies, we all came out with towels and duct tape on our heads, like sheiks, and we went above their drums and did this stupid Egyptian dance and covered them with cottage cheese and cups of gook we made from all the deli trays—guacamole and shaving cream. And then Ian got Steve naked—because all he had on was his towel—and he carried him around. Then we left the stage. Then they had this little Stonehenge come down. And the roadies came down with big Joe Piscopo masks and danced around it.
It's sort of a rock 'n' roll ritual for the headlining act to play a practical joke on the opening band on the last night of the tour. I was definitely the people person of the band, so I was always in with the roadies and the bands we toured with. The Cult's crew, and the band themselves, were all in on this practical joke. In New Orleans, during one of the last songs in our set, the Cult's crew came out and took my drum set apart piece by piece. First, the cymbal, then the cymbal stand, finally the snare drum, until I was just sitting there looking like a dork. Izzy, Duff, Axl, and Slash were all pointing an laughing at me. The the guys brought the drum set back one piece at a time. Now, usually the opening bands dare not play a practical joke back at the headliners, but we got along so well, we knew it'd be cool. We got naked, with only towels wrapped around our waists. Then the five of us, and a couple of our roadies, walked onstage while the Cult was playing. I had mixed a disgusting concoction of eggs, mustard, and relish in a Styrofoam cup. I walked behind Ian [Astbury] holding it. He didn't see me, and I motioned to the crowd, "Should I?" holding it over his head, ready to pour, and they were like, "Yeah!". He turned around and started chasing me all over the stage. He grabbed at me and pulled the towel off of my waist. I was totally naked onstage in front of everyone.
Steven's autobiography, "My Appetite for Destruction", 2010, p. 131-132
[...] we were playing with The Cult and it was our last show with them. They came out and started taking my drums away piece by piece. There have been a couple of those, “Hello Cleveland! Where’s the fucking stage? Oh! It’s right over here! Hello Cleveland!”
We were touring with The Cult and it was our last show in New Orleans. Usually, what happens is the headlining band will do something to the opening band (assuming they like them). With us, they had the road crew come out and take my drum set apart piece by piece, so I was just sitting there with the snare drum.
So after that (which was something they weren’t expecting), we all put towels around our waists and our heads and I filled this cup with mayonnaise, mustard, raw eggs and relish. I went skipping out on the stage and smashed the cup on top of Ian Astbury’s head. He started chasing me around the stage and ripped my towel off and I was naked underneath. I tell you what, after being naked in front of 10,000 people, it takes a hell of a lot to embarrass me now. [laughs]
So after that (which was something they weren’t expecting), we all put towels around our waists and our heads and I filled this cup with mayonnaise, mustard, raw eggs and relish. I went skipping out on the stage and smashed the cup on top of Ian Astbury’s head. He started chasing me around the stage and ripped my towel off and I was naked underneath. I tell you what, after being naked in front of 10,000 people, it takes a hell of a lot to embarrass me now. [laughs]
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
LOOKING BACK AT TOURING WITH THE CULT
During the touring as an opener band for The Cult very few knew who they were. Although Appetite for Destruction had just come out in the US the Canadian release date was 6 weeks after the US release date. Because of this, for most shows they played for a small audience who were there just waiting for the main act.
Despite this, the band thoroughly enjoyed playing with the Cult and would praise how well they were treated by the headlining act. According to Kerrang!, Ian Astbury even "dashed out to get Duff a ripped black T-shirt to use as a headband" at one point [Kerrang! October 1987]. And later Matt would claim it was Astbury that suggested to Axl to change his hair style:
A lot of people were influenced by Ian - a lot of people - (by) his persona and his stage thing. He gave Axl his first headband. He told him to take that puffy hair and comb it straight, put that headband on. Because all those other bands in L.A. were doing it. If you watch the 'Welcome to the Jungle' video, you can see the difference in Axl's hair between that and 'Sweet Child of Mine.'
In 2012, Astbury would confirm this:
There’s a camaraderie that we’ll have (with GNR) that nobody else will ever experience. My girlfriend at the time straightened (GNR singer) Axl Rose’s hair, put one of my bandanas on his head, and that became his look. That was my look!
Austin American-Statesman, March 6, 2012
But this is not entirely right, because there are pictures of Axl with straight hair and wearing a bandana from before the tour with Cult, like the one below.
Axl at Live Like A Suicide release partyThe Cathouse, December 23, 1986
More comments from the band about the Cult and the tour:
The Cult is great. I really like the direction their music is moving in and, as people, they’re so cool to us on the road. Hell, they even give us a sound check before the show. It makes the whole tour a helluva lot of fun.
The Cult are the first band we've met who really have treated us right. […] We've been having a great time with the Cult, and Ian seems to spend more time in our dressing room than his own.
They supported it 100 percent. Those guys are A-1. They were like, "Lets give them more PA and lights."
The last time we played in Canada was with The Cult and our album wasn’t even out yet—you know because of the postcard cover [the original 'Appetite' cover]. Now the album is out and we’re looking forward to playing there again. We had a great time in Canada last time. The kids in the audience were really great.
Rock Scene, December 1989; interview from May 1988
That was our first tour and we were real naive. There was nothing we could do to fake who we are. So we would go to all these places assuming that they (The Cult) were a really big band. They lost a lot of money on the whole tour and ended up bitter about it. They’re not as happening as I thought and their goals have really changed.
The Cult and GNR got along phenomenally well, and we had a great time together. They always had catering at sound check, great food that positively spoiled us. During our set, Axl made it a point to announce to the crowd how great the Cult was to us.
Steven's biography, "My Appetite for Destruction", 2010, page 131
It was a good tour for us. Both bands got on real well together, and they were nicer to us than most headlining bands are expected to be. It was a good start.
We went out on tour before Appetite actually was released; we went out with the Cult. So they were touring without an album. We were up in Canada, I think, when the album was released – I’m not sure about that – but nobody knew who the band was. I’m pretty sure that at the time it was going nowhere (laughs).
You don’t really realise what fucking street urchins you are, and what lack of couth and experience you have, until you go out with different people who have been doing it for a while and you start to learn from experience. The Cult guys took us under their wing a little bit. We’d go and pass out in their hotel rooms - they always had nicer hotels. Me and Ian almost got arrested one time. We had to hide in one of the bays in one of the equipment trucks cos they wanted to arrest us for using profanity onstage at this place in Texas. We had some great experiences with those guys and I love Ian to death.
[...] we book our first national tour in America opening for the Cult. Everyone in Los Angeles said we wouldn’t last 10 days on the road, that they’d be back home with their tails between their legs, looking for their drug dealers. Surprise, surprise.
In an interview in October 1987, the interviewer would allude to the band having "redecorated" many hotel rooms [MTV Headbanger's Ball, October 24, 1987]. Slash would later admit to this:
[We've trashed] a few. It costs a lot of money to do that, though. […] I don’t know [how much], it just costs a lot. I mean, I’ve been broke for a long time just paying back things I broke (chuckles).
Duff would also add details:
Opening for the Cult in 1987, Slash and I knifed open the mattresses, pulled out the stuffing, threw the TV off the balcony and pissed everywhere.
Despite being treated very nicely by the headlining band and enjoying the tour in general, Axl would be struggling with adjusting to a regular touring schedule:
It was traumatic for me. I was just so disorganized, a f.ckin' wreck. I don't follow anyone's time schedules but my own, and all of a sudden you gotta get up at 9 in the morning. I'm screaming, 'I didn't get enough sleep!' I'm much more organized and everything's a lot smoother now.
When looking back at the tour in 1993, Duff would comment that Astbury was so impressed with the band he prophesized the Cult would one time open for Guns N' Roses:
Our first tour, like I said, was opening for The Cult and we started up in Nova Scotia and came across Canada; ‘Appetite’ wasn’t even out in Canada so nobody knew who we were but Ian had managed to get a pre-release of the record, or something, and he got us on the tour. Back then we just played things like Reckless Life and all the fast punk things for 40-45 minutes, just whipping it out. But Ian said then that one day he would be opening for us and sure enough...!
Astbury would in 2012 talk about the tour:
They were the understudies. We’d already been through several tours with bands that had junkie tour managers (pulling) revolvers after midnight. On that tour, I was the guy getting chased by the cops.
Austin American-Statesman, March 6, 2012
And in 2017, Duff would reminisce about the tour:
Oh, I remember it well. Yeah, I really do. I mean that was the first arena tour we'd ever done. And we had a tour bus, like a real tour bus. And you know, of course the tour bus was 20 years old at that time [...]. I remember having no money on that tour and like going through the audience after we played and say, "Do you have change so I can make a phone call?" [...] like catering, like "Why they got catering? There's food." So there was like a meal on gig days that you could have. But we had no money. There was like... We had no per diem, no money. So it's like, "Okay, well, you guys are on tour."
So yeah, we went, started in Halifax, came across Canada, and played the hockey rinks and in some theaters, came down the west coast, went through my hometown of Seattle, and it was amazing. [...] Came back down to LA, then across the southwest, through Texas, and ended in New Orleans. And I remember the tour very well.
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
DOUG GOLDSTEIN, TOUR MANAGER AND THEN CO-MANAGER
We have this new tour manager, and if you're not on time, you get shot in the head.
-------------------------------
Until this point, the band's road manager had been Colin Gardner [Unknown UK Source, June 1987]. But allegedly, Gardner used more coke than the band:
I was literally told when I was brought in, they had just finished the Cult tour, and I was told they had an Australian tour manager named Colin. Who, I think Niven said, "We didn't think it was possible, but he was doing more blow than the band." [laughing]
The new tour manager who would take over for Gardner was Doug Goldstein, and as can be seen from the quote above, he started right after the Cult tour finished and right before the European "Destruction '87" tour:
[...] the first thing I did with them, we went to the UK and Germany.
In November 1987, when the band was interviewed after their first Lakeland Civic Center show (November 21), Goldstein is referred to as the tour manager, and Slash again refers to Goldstein as their tour manager in December that year [Late Night Bull, December 1987].
Before becoming tour manager for Guns N' Roses, Goldstein had worked as head of security for the band Air Supply [The Signal, July 27, 2008]. While working for Air Supply, Goldstein would get to know Craig Duswalt who was also working for Air Supply, and who would later become Axl's personal assistant for the touring in the 90s [The Signal, July 27, 2008].
In 2015 and 2018, Goldstein would discuss how he ended up working security, and also mention how he had a brother who was a manic depressive and how this made him connect to Axl:
[My father] was the self defense instructor for San Diego Police Department. And so I had this unique opportunity to have a brother, who was my roommate, who was a genius manic depressive, oddly enough, and which will lead me into something with Guns. But, so my father was a bit of a tyrant. I had this love of music because of my brother. I was listening to Cream and Yardbirds and Django Reinhardt, John McLaughlin and Mahavishnu and then I also had this penchant for martial arts. So I married the two and about age 14 started working concert security in the San Diego area.
[...]
I worked my way through college by doing concert security in the Arizona area and I would often be brought out to LA and San Diego to do, like, big shows, like The Who or the Rose Bowl. I actually was in charge of logistics for the Rose Bowl. Not just the football game but also the Tournament of Roses Parade. [...] So when I graduated from college I moved out to work with the largest, called Peer Group Security Company. They invented the yellow shirts that you see at concerts today. [...] Two gentlemen, one guy, Damon Zumwalt and his college partner Pete Kransky, invented that whole thing. And they've done pretty much every Super Bowl and Olympics since so I've gotten the opportunity to work eight Super Bowls. So in '83 I moved out to work for them and I was the Chief Recruiter of Olympic Security out of the Westwood Staffing Center. So I literally had a hand in pretty much every person that worked privatized security for the '84 Olympics. An strangely enough, before that the Olympics took place, I was approached by a guy named Steve Vandal, formerly Van Halen's tour manager, which is where I met him.
He asked me to tour with Air Supply and doing security. So, you know, I'd always thought that it would be fun to go on the road. And so I took that job. [...] and then I also worked with David Lee Roth as director of security on his Eat'em And Smile tour.
[...]
I worked my way through college by doing concert security in the Arizona area and I would often be brought out to LA and San Diego to do, like, big shows, like The Who or the Rose Bowl. I actually was in charge of logistics for the Rose Bowl. Not just the football game but also the Tournament of Roses Parade. [...] So when I graduated from college I moved out to work with the largest, called Peer Group Security Company. They invented the yellow shirts that you see at concerts today. [...] Two gentlemen, one guy, Damon Zumwalt and his college partner Pete Kransky, invented that whole thing. And they've done pretty much every Super Bowl and Olympics since so I've gotten the opportunity to work eight Super Bowls. So in '83 I moved out to work for them and I was the Chief Recruiter of Olympic Security out of the Westwood Staffing Center. So I literally had a hand in pretty much every person that worked privatized security for the '84 Olympics. An strangely enough, before that the Olympics took place, I was approached by a guy named Steve Vandal, formerly Van Halen's tour manager, which is where I met him.
He asked me to tour with Air Supply and doing security. So, you know, I'd always thought that it would be fun to go on the road. And so I took that job. [...] and then I also worked with David Lee Roth as director of security on his Eat'em And Smile tour.
You know, I alluded to my two bites at the apple, Mitch, one in my childhood with my father and my brother and then again with Niven an Axl. And point of fact, Axl's birthday is the day after my brother's. So I have this love for Axl, this understanding of who he is because I was fucking roommates with a guy who was Axl Rose, growing up.
I had lived it with my own brother, who is a genius manic depressive, who attempted suicide a number of times, so it wasn’t that foreign to me, I was just reliving my childhood basically. He was my best friend, Axl was born 6 years later but born the day after my brother, so the Aquarian tortured genius manic depressive, I shared a room with that guy for 14 years, that was my brother. It made me more emphatic, I certainly understood, I was the one who could the call at 2, 3, or 4 in the morning that Axl wasn’t doing well, I happened to be the guy to go sit with him, sometimes for days at a time.
Explaining how he got involved with Guns N' Roses:
I was at home working in the [?] industry, which is a branch of real estate, and I was called by Barry Siegel and Rich Feldstein, two business managers that I had done work for in the past. And, you know Mitch, I wasn't following the music scene at that point. They asked me what I knew about Guns N' Roses and I'd never heard of them. So my reply was, "I'd rather have the end of a rose stuck in my face," and they said, "No, it's a band," and so I said, "Well, send me the music." So they did and I loved it. Actually, [?] Appetite and I thought, "Well, how interesting, they have two singers in the band," because I listened to the first two tracks and they're so diverse that yeah, I believed that they actually had two singers. So I talked to Niven on the phone and we got along pretty well and he brought me up to meet the guys.
Goldstein would also say he was brought in because Niven was struggling to work with Axl and because the band was unruly and needed discipline:
I mean, clearly there were difficulties between the manager Alan and Axl. And he kind of asked me to bridge that gap. And they were having problems with - particularly Slash - trashing hotel rooms, and Axl to some extent.
Explaining how he ended Slash's habit of wrecking hotel property:
But I said, "You know, give me two months and I can fix the trashing hotel scene." So what I did, Mitch, is - and I had done it before, it works - so Slash trashes a hotel room and so I take them downstairs to meet the the manager of the hotel and I said, "Sir, we broke a TV," and he said, "Okay," I said, "How much is that?" and he goes, "Well, that's going to be $500," and I said, "No, not a chance." Because we were staying in really old hotels, two to a hotel room. And I said, "Not a chance." I said, "That's a 250 dollar television. And he said, "No, it's 500." I said, "Fuck you. No, it's 250. Here's your 250," and we're walking. So we go to sound check and Slash's singing my praises about how I'm saving him money. So I do that about five more times and then Slash breaks a lamp in his hotel. And at this point he's looking for me to go to the manager and save him money again. So I take him downstairs and I go to the manager. I said, "Sir," I said, "We broke one of the lamps, he goes, "Yeah?" I go, "How much is that lamp?" He goes, "Well, that's like a hundred dollar lamp," I go, "Not a fucking chance." He goes, "What do you mean?" I go, "Dude, I've been traveling with rock bands for my adult life," I go, "That's a $500 fucking lamp" and Slash looks at me like, "What are you doing!? What are you doing?" I go, "Yeah, here's 500 bucks from Slash, and our apologies." And so that was it, that got out there and I say for the most part, Mitch, that was the end of trashing hotel rooms.
Goldstein would also suggest the band thrashed hotel rooms because that was what was expected of a band like Guns N' Roses [One On One with Mitch Lafon, April 5, 2015].
In 2015, Goldstein would talk about how they divided the work between them:
[...] to me it was all about being creative, particularly when it comes to the touring. That's really what I excelled at. And I think that that was why Alan and I made a good partnership. Alan was really good at the label stuff. I wasn't. But Alan knew nothing about touring. Absolutely nothing. And he let me run with that ball.
Goldstein would also talk about how the relationship between Alan Niven and Axl Rose resembled the relationship between his own father and his brother, a "tyrant" and a "manic depressive", and that he had refused offers to work elsewhere because he felt he could "fix the relationship":
[...] because I believed in GN'R. And I believed in Alan. But more importantly, there was this dynamic which I had lived earlier in my life. My father, the tyrant, and my brother, the manic depressive, I wasn't able to fix that relationship. And so I was given a second bite at the apple because you had Alan, who was clearly a tyrant, and Axl, the genius manic depressive.
Raz met Goldstein before the August 1988 show at Giants Stadium in New Jersey:
Axl was there with his road manager Doug, who would eventually become their business manager. When we were introduced, he said to me, "Raz, good to finally meet you." He paused momentarily, seemingly pondering something, and then said, "You know who was asking about you the other day?" I perked up, feeling important about him knowing who I was, and that folks were talking about me. But he just chuckled and said, "No one".
Raz Cue, "The Days of Guns, & Raz's", 2015, p. 255
In February 1989, Goldstein and Niven were referred to as co-managers [RIP Magazine, February 1989].
Looking back at becoming a co-manager with Niven and how they were a great management team because of their different skillsets:
[...] I never thought that I would be a manager. I always thought I was gonna be a tour manager. And so, I mean, I didn't think that, but I got a call from two business managers and they said, "Your last name's Goldstein, you need to get out of security. There's no Jewish bodyguards, right, so what about being a tour manager?" And so when I started with GN'R, that's what I was. And within two months, Alan made... And this is where like people go, "Okay, Alan was a manager from '87 to '91, and then you took over." Well, no, that wasn't the case. I was made a partner in Stravinsky Brothers, Alan's company in '88, because I was offered a job by John Bon Jovi to be his year round live-in road manager. And so Alan, I believe that Alan saw that... He didn't like Axl, Axl didn't like him, right from the start. And I believe that Alan probably saw the one way to hold on to the band was to make me his partner. And so I was a 50-50 partner in Stravinsky Brothers. And again, Alan didn't have to do that. He could have said, "Hey, you're my 25% partner." He was really good to me, which is why I don't like the whole, you know, he says, she says, that goes back and forth between Alan and I. We had our roles. He did a really good job working in the record company, but he didn't know anything about the road. And that's where my forte was. So I was cutting all the deals with the agents and the sound and light deals and, you know, hiring the staff. And so, I mean, we were a great team.
Goldstein, Axl and SlashUnknown date, but likely 1991
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 1987
'WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE' IS RELEASED AND FLOPSWhen I first heard 'Welcome to the Jungle' I was jealous of that song. Very rarely do I hear a song that I'm jealous of and I was jealous of that song. I was sitting there going, 'Jeez, why didn't I write that?'
___________________________________________________
The second single from Appetite for Destruction was Welcome To The Jungle and it was released on September 28, 1987, in the UK and on October 3, 1987, in USA. The reason for the earlier release date in the UK was likely that the band would embark on an European tour in late September and wanted more radio air play as promotion.
Welcome to the Jungle single
Despite cutting a lot of the violent video footage out [see previous chapter], the music video was controversial and received little attention on MTV.
Steven Thompson, one of the engineers at the recording of Appetite had big hopes for the single:
I think we released "Welcome to the Jungle" first, which I thought was an anthem. I was pretty shocked that it didn't break the way it should have. "Sweet Child O' Mine" was not even in the picture. It was a good song, but to say that I thought that was the song that was going to break GNR, I couldn't predict that. I'm usually good at predicting what songs are going to hit. To me it was "Welcome to the Jungle".
Marc Canter, "Reckless Road", 2007
In July 1988 Geffen President Eddie Rosenblatt would refer to the low initial sales of the Welcome To The Jungle single as a "flop".
In 2012, Alan Niven would describe the mood at Geffen around the end of 1987:
Guns had been only a nightmare to the label. $365,000 spent on recording. Rape allegations. Slash throwing a hammer through the company window. Death in New York. You name it …. and then President Eddy Rosenblatt had threatened to drop the band even before Appetite was recorded … so when we had, by December 87, actually toured, and on the back of the touring, sold almost 250,000 records, Eddy was recouped, and in the relief he felt at that moment he told me it was time to bring the band off the road and prep another record. I felt otherwise. If we could sell to that point with no radio airplay or MTV support I rather wondered what might happen if we got those things in place. Well. We found out, didn’t we?
NOVEMBER 1999: AN UPATED VERSION OF THE WELCOME MUSIC VIDEO IS RELEASED
In connection with the release of the live album, Geffen decided to release updated music videos for It's So Easy and Welcome To The Jungle [Rolling Stone, November 9, 1999].
Doug Goldstein would comment on the new video for Welcome To The Jungle:
It's very 'end of the Millennium' based. Waco, Columbine, Nike shoes, Rodney King… anything newsworthy.
We just decided to put out another video, the idea came along, (video director) Jeff Richter did a great job cutting it, and we went for it.
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
SEPTEMBER 29-OCTOBER 8, 1987
THE EUROPEAN 'DESTRUCTION 87' TOUR WITH FASTER PUSSYCATThe newly released album was not selling well, partly because radio stations wouldn't play the singles, so the label opted to let the band keep touring:
Radio really wouldn't play it. They just said, "There's no way, these guys are too scary," so the only thing that we could think to do was to keep the band out on the road and keep them touring.
After touring with the Cult, the band had planned to open for Aerosmith in Europe, but they pulled out in the "11th hour" [Kerrang! March 1989] allegedly because Aerosmith hadn't got their new record out [Endless Party Magazine, August 1987] or due to "finances" [Kerrang! October 1987]. See later chapter for more information on the aborted tour with Aerosmith.
[...] Aerosmith pulled out of doing the tour, not the first time they’ve done that by the way, and that left my strategy high and dry. A very sharp agent, John Jackson, I got a late-night phone call from him, and he had a preposterous idea: Why not come back to England and headline? That was totally ridiculous because I think we’d sold 5,000 copies of (Appetite For Destruction). We had come to England for the first time in the spring of ’87, the album was released in July of 87, and we were supposed to support Aerosmith in October. So like I said, I thought about it overnight, and I called him back and said, “You know what? If you think we can do a short headline tour, you tell me,” and he came up with a five-date tour with a final date at Hammersmith Odeon, 3300 seats. On the back of selling 5,000 to 7,000 units of the record, we went for this headline tour — and we pulled it off. Hammersmith had 3,300 tickets, and we came within 100 tickets. We sold 3,200 tickets.
...and if I remember correctly this would have been at the back end of October of '87 [that] we were supposed to be the [?] and this whole build through the UK was absolutely critical to the strategy I had for breaking the band and... the Aerosmith tour fell through so our English agent, was a guy called John Jackson, and John and I would, you know, I'd be up really late at night and he'd be up very early in the morning, we would be discussing these things. And John jokingly in one of the conversations said, "Why don't you just come and headline yourself?" And I thought about it for a moment and I said, "That's a great idea, John, why don't we?" And he said, "You know what I think, it might be possible," and I said, "You're kidding." He said, "Look, let me think about this for 24 hours and I'll come back to you." And John came back, he said, "You know what, if you're really prepared to take a huge risk we could put up five dates and as a possibility we might pull it off." Bear in mind that Warner Brothers hadn't even sold 5,000 records at that point and he's talking about headlining. And when he came back with his five dates the fifth one was Hammersmith Odeon, which is three 3,325 seats, if I remember correctly, so he's telling me that we can sell more tickets than [?] albums. And of course as a, you know, especially in the conditioning you had in those days you'd have to have a wide album base to sell that many tickets. He's going, "You've sold maybe three-four thousand albums but come and tour anyway." And we went for it. We had faith- [...] Yeah, it was [a risk], but like anything else it was calculated and my calculation was that I saw Warner Brothers UK would that fucked up, that they didn't represent what our base could be or should be and my sense of faith and power of the UK press was such that if we could for example get some silly stories in the press, you know, we will get people to turn out. And also, small detail, and I have one left framed, but the poster was a cross right. It looked fucking awesome on those walls in England and Nottingham and Liverpool where they pasted them up. And we pasted them everywhere and that was an eye-catcher and that really got you. They looked fucking awesome. It were. It was a risk. It were.
So instead of scrapping the plans altogether, they decided to headline with Faster Pussycat as their opener. The band thus went to Germany, Holland and UK as headlining acts from September 29 to October 8, 1987 on the Destruction Tour.
Advert for the UK shows of the Destruction 87 Tour
The month after our album came out we did a week-and-a-half tour with Guns N’ Roses in Europe—a couple shows in Germany, one in Amsterdam, and then like five in England.
Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock, Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion, 2021
Taime had a decent relationship with Axl, so, you know, that’s how that played out in terms of the convivial politics of the tour. But from my point of view I was led to believe from Geffen that we might have a chance of getting a little more support from WEA on our second trip over there if we had another WEA band on board. What I found interesting was Warren Entner, who was their manager [after Vicky Hamilton] and was glowing with his success earlier with Quiet Riot, had kind of persuaded the, um, cognoscenti of the companies in Germany and the UK that Faster Pussycat were the shit. You know, despite the fact that they were the opening band. Of course, come the day of the show, anybody could see that they were not superior to Guns N’ Roses.
Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock, Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion, 2021
Guns were ahead of us in popularity because they had been to England two months before. Plus, they had the label over there pushing the shit out of them. And our label was just like, not. But I remember that we had a fucking killer double-decker bus and they had a van. And they were fucking pissed.
Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock, Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion, 2021
Even though we were friends in L.A. and we hung out at the Cathouse at the same time and stuff like that, the bands weren’t, like, buddy-buddy best friends. We were both new bands on our first record. Everybody was just focused on working hard and trying to make it. But I think the feeling in Guns N’ Roses was that they were like a better band than us. Better musicians. And I don’t think that’s wrong to say. Faster Pussycat were a different kind of band than Guns N’ Roses.
Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock, Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion, 2021
At the start of this tour Axl's voice was in a bad shape and the band was starting to feel exhausted:
[...] Axl's voice is getting to the point where he can't keep going. Everybody's been having a good time. The thing is, we're burned out.
The first show took place at the Markthalle in Hamburg on September 29:
The next night we did the gig, the first one of our headlining tour, and it's good that it didn't set a precedent. The venue was on the water; it was this really industrial, dark room with benches and long tables on the sides. Everything in there was painted black - it was the blackest club I've ever seen and it just reeked of stale beer [...]. The audience was without doubt the most lackluster crowd we had ever played to in our lives; as I recall, they were as cold and miserable as the weather. I remember that before we went on and the second we got off, the club played nothing but Metallica, nonstop. It was obvious that any American band, or any band at all, that didn't sound like Metallica wasn't going to go over. And I was right. We got through the show and the only thought going around in my mind when we finished was I would fucking hate to have to do this again tomorrow.
Slash's autobiography, p 205-206
Faster Pussycat would look back at playing in Hamburg:
There was a lot of partying going on, a lot of drinking going on. I remember we were in Hamburg, Germany, the first night and I took a walk down to the train station to try to find a pay phone to call America. And when I came walking back to the hotel I see … actually I didn’t see it at first, I heard it. But our drummer Mark was up on the sixth-floor balcony of our hotel room, pulling the drunk rock star thing, you know like throwing all the furniture off the sixth-floor balcony and tossing it into the subway station down below, creating this huge commotion. So when I got back to the hotel, the manager of the hotel had our band manager at our door and he had Mark there and basically what he was saying was either this guy leaves the hotel now or I’m gonna call the cops and you guys can all get kicked out.
Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock, Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion, 2021
It’s like, Dude, who goes to another country and fucking causes so much trouble that you can’t even get back into the hotel?
Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock, Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion, 2021
So Mark basically just walked away with a bottle of vodka in his hand. And I guess he ran into the Guns N’ Roses guys and then later they went up to one of Guns N’ Roses’ rooms. Mark was so fucked up that he passed out in one of the beds. And I guess Duff was trying to tell him, “Hey man, get the fuck out of the bed!” But Mark was just laying there, all drunk and shit. So finally Slash and Duff said, “Well, fuck this guy.” They took him and wrapped him up in duct tape, covered him in shaving cream, and they were in the process of carrying him down the hall to the elevator and they were gonna toss him in the elevator and hit “Lobby” and just leave him there. And I guess he kind of came out of his drunken stupor and he got his hands loose and he just started wildly swinging. I think he hit Duff in the face.
Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock, Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion, 2021
To my memory Duff and Slash took him down the elevator and dumped him in the street. And it was getting a bit cold. But I think he’d overstayed his welcome, shall we say.
Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock, Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion, 2021
And that was the first fucking night! We were laughing about it the whole tour. It was funny as fuck.
Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock, Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion, 2021
Steven, Goldstein and Niven would also talk about this incident:
[Recalling how the drummer from Faster Pussycat passed out in Duff's bed]: I couldn't understand it, but this made Duff super-pissed. Duff's the mellowest guy, but the booze could turn him into one mean mother. "Fuck this shit," he said. He wanted to play a practical joke on the guy, so he had me help him grab and tie the drummer's legs and wrists with duct tape. We taped all around his mouth and head too and we carried him to the hotel elevator. It was one of those really old lifts with the gate that you have to pull open. We threw him in, and at that point, I thought it was funny as hell.
Then Duff pressed all the buttons in the elevator, closed the door, and let him go. The next day at the show, Duff and I saw hi, bruised and very hungover. He avoided us completely, never uttering a word about the previous night.
Then Duff pressed all the buttons in the elevator, closed the door, and let him go. The next day at the show, Duff and I saw hi, bruised and very hungover. He avoided us completely, never uttering a word about the previous night.
Steven's biography, "My Appetite for Destruction", 2010, page 134-137
There's a great story. So we're in Germany, and I think Frankfurt, and I go to a - I'm a I'm a vegan at the time, full vegan - and so I go across to McDonald's and I'm looking for anything. So I'm eating, like, I think, hash browns because that was the closest thing they had. And I come back and I see Faster Pussycat's drummer is naked and duct taped in the elevator. And so I help the guy out. I'm like, "What the fuck is going on?" And apparently Faster Pussycat had thrown him out of their hotel for being fucked up and he came over to party with Duff, Slash and Izzy and he ended up urinating on Izzy's bed. So the guys roped him up and sent him on the down flight of the elevator.
Well, I do remember that one of the poor unfortunate members of Faster Pussycat got gaffer taped and dumped in the snow outside the band hotel, which I thought was a bit mean. But, you know, apparently Duff and Slash thought they had reason to do it.
In May 1988, Creem Close-Up Metal would allude to an incident at the Reperbahn in Hamburg, but it is not clear if this is the same incident as the one described above, something else, or just exaggerations from Creem's side:
Guns N' Roses have landed the opening slot on Motley Crue's European tour, although they'll do well to avoid Hamburg's red-light district, the Reeperbahn, in their time off-considering the trouble they got into there last time!
After Hamburg the band travelled to Düsseldorf, Germany (September 30) and to Amsterdam, Netherlands (October 2).
If I had to choose my favorite show of the tour, it was The Paradiso in Amsterdam. The venue is amazing: it is a dark, foreboding building that used to be a church. Inside the main hall are high ceilings, arches, and great acoustics. [...] I remember Axl going off on old rock stars that night during the set: I don't recall his exact words but the gist of it was that any older-generation rock star who felt that we were ripping them off was right - we were, but we were doing it better. I think he capped that speech off by telling Paul Stanley to suck his dick.
Slash's autobiography, p 208
Izzy was mesmerized by Amsterdam:
Like the cabby said, "Speed limit? What speed limit—who cares? Prostitution—who cares? It's legal. Drugs—who cares? You can buy anything you want." It's the most degenerate place I've ever been. [...] In Amsterdam, they have fucking hash bars with menus of all the different types of hash.
I walked into a hash bar looking for this character (gestures toward Steve) and the air was like paste.
Then followed five shows in England. Axl looked forward to re-visiting England after having been there for the three concerts at the Marquee in June earlier that year:
We are looking forward to this so much. It's a chance to get out around the country and visit some of the places that fans travelled from to see us at the Marquee [in June earlier that year]. We had a blast in London earlier this year and I'm sure this tour will go extremely well.
The UK shows were Newcastle, England (October 4); Nottingham, England (October 5); Manchester, England (October 6); Bristol, England (October 7); and London, England (October 8).
At one of the hotels they stayed at, Axl got angry after the hotel missed "four or five strikes" in hospitality and service:
Usually by the time it gets to thrashing, it's not really in-fun thrashing—we're pissed about something. It might not be a hotel every time, but sometimes it is. Like this one place in England, they could not figure out how to tell me what was on the menu; they could not figure out how to put a phone call through. I was really nice, just like I'm talking with you. Finally, after four or five strikes, I decided to call the other guys' rooms and see if they're having the same problems. Downstairs, though, they had shut off my phone. So I ripped my phone out and threw it into the lobby about 300 miles an hour.
During their October 5 show at the Rock City in Nottingham, England, Axl was refused entry to the show when he came alone dressed in nothing but a bathrobe. Apparently, he had locked himself out of the tour bus and had to return with his security pass to be allowed into the venue [BBC, December 2015].
While in Nottingham, Slash would also smash a hotel TV and Niven would convince him it cost much more as punishment:
Jack [Daniels] and Slash pitched a television down the stairwell of a hotel in Nottingham. “That television cost over £300,” wailed the hotel manager. The manager was informed otherwise. The television, as far as the band management was concerned, did not cost £300 – it cost £1,000! When Slash was informed as to the personal cost to him of the escapade, he was not very pleased with Jackie D. He never, to my knowledge, threw another one.
In particular, their October 7 show at the Bristol Colston Hall went well:
Last night, in Bristol, it was fantastic, people wanted to jump from the stands, and many of them ended up dancing on the PA. I don’t believe there’s any band that’s not able to lift the spirits of the people in Bristol. When we play at Hammersmith, I’ll ask people to see if there’s no other crowd as good as in Bristol – even though I may get into trouble if I encourage people to go too wild.
Popular 1, April 1988; interview from October 8, 1987; translated from Spanish
Bristol Colston Hall were full of slammers and stage-divers and people jumping off the balconies, jumping off amplifiers.
Mick Wall, writing for Kerrang!, would say that the Hammersmith Odeon in London was a fantastic show [Kerrang! March 1989], and he would also applaud the show at Manchester Apollo show [Kerrang! October 24, 1987].
The band's publicist, Arlett Vereecke would talk about an incident in London which likely happened at this time:
Yeah, but you know, there were not, you know, because they have this rough reputation from there. But they were always extremely sweet guys. You know, there was nothing, you know, because somebody came after me in London because they said that I favored another magazine to give them a cover and, you know, we got in an alley to fight, actually, and Duff came and said, "No, no, no, no, not with her! You're not touching her!" So they're all, drunk as they were, still trying to defend me, you know- [...] but, as I said, they had a bad reputation, but they're very sweet guys.
Before the show at the Hammersmith, Steven would talk about having prepared a drum solo:
Tonight I'm going to do my first solo! No, actually, it’ll be the second. I did the first when we opened for Alice Cooper in Santa Barbara. I don't know if Axl got lost or if he wasn’t let in backstage, but he wasn’t there when we went out on stage. So we had to play without him and it was real hell. Slash, Izzy and Duff had to sing in his place. Then, at one point, they motioned at me, "Drum solo!" I said, "No, no!" But they left the stage and I was there all alone like an idiot, so I had to improvise. Needless to tell you how big a disaster it was! At least tonight I’ll do something I’ve worked on.
Hard Force [French], October 8, 1987; translated from French
Photographer George Chin was present on the UK tour in the fall of 1987 (George Chin would then work with the band on the UYI tour, along with Robert John and Gene Kirkland, and also on the CD tours in 2002 and 2006), and would photograph Axl before this show:
I was hired by BURRN!, the Japanese rock magazine, to shoot a cover of Axl for the January 1988 issue. When I got to the theater, the Geffen publicity people warned me that Axl was in one of his mostly unresponsive and just glared at the camera. Chin knew that Axl was quick to anger and offense, that the pictures would be bad, and so gave up after one roll.
Later, when I showed him the pictures, he immediately agreed to a new session. He reappeared a bit later, in a better mood and with a revamped look. A large silver cross hung from his neck. He’d wrapped his head in his trademark bandanna, and after he warmed up a bit, he agreed to take off his black leather jacket and fold his arms to emphasize his unique tattoos. I knew that was the shot for the magazine cover. So did he, and he started using that pose when he had to be photographed—something he really grew to hate.
Later, when I showed him the pictures, he immediately agreed to a new session. He reappeared a bit later, in a better mood and with a revamped look. A large silver cross hung from his neck. He’d wrapped his head in his trademark bandanna, and after he warmed up a bit, he agreed to take off his black leather jacket and fold his arms to emphasize his unique tattoos. I knew that was the shot for the magazine cover. So did he, and he started using that pose when he had to be photographed—something he really grew to hate.
Stephen Davies, Watch You Bleed: The Saga Of Guns N' Roses, 2008
The band would also be happy about the London show:
The thing that's cool is that—not to put these bands down—but Ratt and Motley Crue and a lot of these other L.A. bands do not go over well at all. It was really nice to be from L.A. and be totally accepted. When we played Hammersmith [on GNR's second tour of England], we did three encores.
We ended our tour on October 8, 1987, in London and it was amazing. The band was really coming into its own; we'd had enough road time by then to know what we were doing. We had become comfortable as players: we knew one another well enough that we didn't have to think much about what we were doing the movement we went on. Once you have that familiarity, you can improvise and build from there and make every show unique. The Hammersmith Odeon show was explosive; die-hard fans that I run into to this day tell me it was the best show of ours they've ever seen. [...] It couldn't have happened in a better venue: the Hammersmith Odeon is the famous room where everyone from Motörhead to The Who to Black Sabbath to the Beatles to Johnny Cash had played; and it's where Bowie did his final gig as Ziggy Stardust in 1973.
Slash's autobiography, p 208-209
Returning to London on October 8, three months after our first visit, we had a date at Hammersmith Odeon. This was a huge step up. It was a legendary theatre - both the Clash and Motörhead had written songs abut the place. when I found out we would be playing the Hammersmith Odeon, I thought to myself, Whoa, that's it, we've made it.
Duff's autobiography, "It's So Easy", 2011, p. 128
Our last show in England was at the Hammersmith Odeon on October 8, 1987. We opened with 'It's So Easy' and rocked that place, closing with 'Sweet Child O'Mine' into 'Whole Lotta Rosie.' Playing there cemented our popularity, which had grown during the tour. The Odeon seated over thirty-five hundred, five thousand standing room only. From Cream to Van Halen, a lot of the biggest, most legendary bans played there, and it felt amazing when I looked out over the crowd. It was nearly packed, ad those Brits caught one hell of a show. GNR was moving up over hallowed ground to the big time.
Steven's autobiography, "My Appetite for Destruction", 2010, p. 138
We played Hammersmith six months after the first time we came to London and played the Marquee, but then we sold out Hammersmith. To me, that was crazy. I thought, ‘This is it, we’ve made it!’ Credit to the Marquee because those were great shows and they were important for us, but the club is tiny. Hammersmith seemed huge. People forget that Guns N’ Roses broke first in the UK.
Despite this Slash would not be too positive about the five UK shows they did:
When [the next LP] comes out, we're all very adamant about going to England first to tour... It seems like out of everywhere we've played we've sort of, like, cut England short. We haven't given it, I dont think, enough of our time. I mean, we did a tour in England with Faster Pussycat, and there were a couple shows that were great, bit the whole tour itself was sort of half-assed. It was only five shows and I don't think we gave enough in a lot of those shows....
He also didn't visit his English family while travelling through the country:
I'm thinking of visiting them but they haven’t seen me since I was about ten or eleven years old. I don’t really know if they’re still there. We went through Stoke on our English tour. I could have stopped and gone over there - I knew exactly where it was. I couldn’t take the pressure, though. Can you imagine?
Mick Wall, GUNS N' ROSES: The Most Dangerous Band in the World, Sidgwick & Jackson, U.K. 1991, 1993; interview from October 1988
Axl would echo the statement of wanting to do more shows in England:
We miss England. We miss England. Japan was great, we miss England. I hope that when we will do our next tour we can plan out something really big and do it right for your [?]. We had a lot of fun when we did our last tour over there and we would like to make it a lot more special next time.
LOOKING BACK AT THE TOUR
[…] the people in the first row at a Guns show are, like, pretty nuts. Even in the first 10-15 rows that I can see - cuz the lights make it so you can only see so far - it can be pretty crazy. In Europe, we had people jumping off the balconies and – I mean, we jump into the crowd, too. It’s at the point now where it’s, like, Axl jumped in the crowd at one of these gigs that we were – it was one of those nights where just everything was technically going wrong, but it was a great show; and to top it off at the end of the night, just to get that last – squeeze that last drop out of it, Axl jumped into the crowd. And you just cannot do that anymore. It’s gotten to the point where, you know, you can’t get back. They just take you.
It was our first headlining tour; it began in Germany, at the Markthalle in Hamburg on September 29, 1987. It was great to headline, but we had a few issues. Faster Pussycat was one of those bands we hated from L.A.; they were exactly the kind of people we tried to avoid. The tour was also a bit of a culture shock: Hamburg still felt like it was a post-World War II casualty - the place had a pretty narrow viewpoint. It was dark, industrial, sort of sour city that seemed, as a whole, as if they'd rather not have us there if they could help it. That kind of environment always inspired us to show our true colors more than usual, which didn't go over well. Every time we'd walk into a restaurant, every head cranked around and the room got quieter. And when it did, we were all the more determined to order a bunch of drinks and smoke and carry on more than we ever would have in the first place.
Slash's autobiography, p 205-206
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
OCTOBER 6, 1987
POISON ATTACKS BRYN; THE FEUD WITH POISONI want to dedicate this song to the band Poison. This is called "Nice Boys Don't Play Rock N' Roll."
The Troubadour, September 20, 1985; retold in Marc Canter, "Reckless Road", 2007
Christ... You should read the hate mail I get from their fans.
_________________________________________________________
One of the main competitors on the rock scene in Hollywood when Guns N' Roses was starting out was the band Poison who was well established in the flourishing L.A. glam rock scene.. As Jeanna Barsamian, booker at the club Troubadour would say about them in early 1986, "They're the top drawing (club) band in L.A. When they play people pour in to see them" [Los Angeles Times, February 9, 1986].
Poison was about escaping reality. As Bob Dalli, bassist in Poison, would say, "We dress up to give you your money's worth" and "Poison does not have a political message to give to anyone. […] Everything we do is about day-to-day life. We’re entertainment, pure escapism. We’re here to make you forget about your problems, forget about Monday through Friday [Chicago Tribune, September 7, 1986].
Guns N' Roses also started out with one foot in the glam scene [Chicago Tribune, September 7, 1986] and would wear make-up and typical glam clothes for their first shows. Chris Weber, who played with Izzy and Axl in Hollywood Rose before Guns N' Roses would claim they revived the glam scene in Hollywood:
We had Izzy's little tape deck, and this girl named Laura came by and she turned us onto Hanoi Rocks and we really got into them. We were the first band to really revive glam in Los Angeles because back then heavy metal and leather and studs were in. It was really big to wear black, spandex, and studs, and we started wearing bright colors and makeup. We were the first band to do that since the '70's, when the last glam bands died out, right before punk. We wanted to revamp it in Los Angeles. In the beginning, we got a lot of flack for it, with our big hair, a million different ways. My hair was white and Izzy's was blue/black, and we had these rhinestone earrings, scarves, pink leather jackets and high-heeled boots. We got a lot of shit, but we were really proud. We went up there and played a lot of hard rocking stuff, a little heavier than Guns N' Roses is now. So we had that glam thing going, and people started catching on to it. We were friends with Poison and they were kinda dressing like that too.
Slash would talk about how important the image was to the early Guns N' Roses:
It’s 75 percent music and 75 percent image. No matter what the music is, the kids need to have something visual to relate to. They need to look up and see someone who’s definitely ... having a good time. They need to feel a relationship with your attitude, something they can stand behind so they don’t feel alienated.
But in contrast to Poison, Guns N' Roses was dead serious in their music and used the music as a vehicle to describe the nitty gritty reality of the streets on which they lived. The band would also soon drop the glam outfits and instead go for a more punk and hard rock style. In subsequent interviews they would emphasize the differences between them and bands like Poison who they considered to be posers first and musicians second.
In LA there’s a million people who think they’re musicians and only a few who are.
[Talking about dressing up before shows]: Like Poison, sure. I just can't do that, it's so fake and it's really asinine to me, you know. There's no real rock and roll attitude in a lot of things I see today, and I'm not trying to say we're better and this and that, just I know we have the right attitude.
The animosity between GN'R and Poison would go back to when the bands used to open up for each other in the bands early days. Slash would recount being pissed at poison guitarist CC DeVille (the man who competed with Slash for the Poison lead guitar spot before Slash joined Guns N' Roses) because he allegedly had started to copy Slash's gimmick of wearing a top hat:
Some nights [Poison]'d come on first, some nights we would. It really didn't matter which one of us came on first, neither of us had a really big following yet. A lot of people would just come down to the club to see what was going on and then split. […] Anyway, every time those assholes played first, Bret Michaels would end their set by announcing that Poison were having a big party somewhere, and everybody was invited, but those who wanted to go would have to come now because the band bus was leaving in 15 minutes! […] And man, the people who frequent the sort of dives we were playing in those days didn't need to be asked twice to go to some party somewhere, and within minutes the f**kin' club would be empty! We'd come on and play to half a dozen no-hopers who couldn't get it up in time to leave when everybody else did . . . I tell ya, they were always into pulling sneaky, shitty little stunts like that. Full of dirty tricks. And that kind of attitude sucks, man . . . I think it's because they're insecure about their talent. And then some time after that, when we both started getting some attention, I couldn't believe it when that CC DeVille started wearing a top hat onstage! Listen, I'm not saying I was the first rock and roller ever to wear a top hat onstage. But look, man, CC's the kind of guy who probably didn't even know what a top hat looked like until he saw me wearing one... You know, I caught up with him one night in the Rainbow, and I just told him quietly, 'If I ever see you wearing a top hat onstage again, I'm gonna shoot you!' I tell ya, he freaked, man! [laughter]. And I mean, I don't own a gun ... wouldn't know how to use one if I did. And I'm really not a violent guy at all. I just felt something had to be said to that f**ker ... Sometimes, you gotta draw the line for people.
They are bill masters of low kicks and dirty and mean rigging. They got on my nerves in a creepy way, although I knew they were doing it all out of self-doubt. But the biggest bummer came when we both signed contracts when C.C. DeVille (Poison's guitarist) started wearing a top hat!
Rock-Pop, January 1989; translated from Serbian
Duff would confirm that Poison "fucked [them] over on the LA scene" in the band's early days [Hit Parader, October 1988].
This would contribute to GN'R repeatedly taking potshots at Poison in interviews and articles.
We don't want to associate ourselves with glam and the main reason, is because that's what Poison associates themselves with. I've told those guys personally that they can lock me in a room with all of them and I'll be the only one who walks out! They used to come to our shows before they ever played a gig. Everybody copying them? Sorry I don't see it. Poison came out in an article saying they started glam - I don't know where they were in the '70s [laughs]. The only reason I put my hair up is because Izzy had these pictures of Hanoi Rocks and they were cool, and because we hung out with this guy who studied Vogue magazine hairstyles and was really into doing hair....
[…] we're not filling anybody's shoes, so to speak. We're not trying to get live radio play, we're not trying to… to… We're not trying to be like Poison, you know. We're not trying to sacrifice ourselves to the media or anything.
Poison? I'm not too interested in them. It’s a totally different band than us; their audience is different and so is the music. Poison is a band that may appeal to girls, but, other than that, I think their music is without substance.
Hard Force [French], October 1987; translated from French
Axl would be dismayed by the influence Poison had on the LA music scene:
Poison fucked it up for all of us. They said that everyone in LA was following their trend.
In particular the animosity between Slash and DeVille would be strong:
CC from Poison came up to me the other day like he was like my last best friend in the whole world, and came to me shake my hand I told him to get the hell out of my face [laughs].
In July 1988, Slash would talk about how the feud started:
Before I joined this band, I used to play in any band that I thought I could get exposure from. I developed a bad reputation as sort of a mercenary for doing that. I almost joined Poison at one point. Their old guitarist Matt [Smith] called me and said he was leaving the hand. and that if anyone could replace him, it was me. It was down to a choice between me and C.C. DeVille. They wanted us to do this thing where I'd play a riff and then go, 'Hi! My name as Slash' And I couldn't bring myself to do that. so they hired [C.C.].
Later on down the line, I met him. And I couldn't understand him. He pissed me off, and the next day I made the mistake of mentioning it in another magazine The next thing I knew one sentence about C.C. DeVille had turned into an entire article!
Later on down the line, I met him. And I couldn't understand him. He pissed me off, and the next day I made the mistake of mentioning it in another magazine The next thing I knew one sentence about C.C. DeVille had turned into an entire article!
OCTOBER 6, 1987: POISON DOUSES BRYN
The sniping back and forth between the bands would eventually escalate to two members of Poison pouring alcohol (champagne, according to BAM Magazine), on Geffen publicist Bryn Bridenthal [BAM Magazine, November 1987; Rolling Stone, November 11, 1988], allegedly because they felt she was showing favoritism to GN'R [Juke Magazine, July 15, 1989].
In a following lawsuit, Bridenthal would describe what had happened, as recounted by Los Angeles Times:
In the December issue of Hit Parader magazine, a member of Guns N’ Roses said Poison was made up of “posers,” who represent “everything bad about rock ‘n’ roll.
[Bryn Bridenthal] Housman, a publicist for Guns N’ Roses, said the article was apparently enough to make her a target when she ran into Poison band members at a party Oct. 6 that followed a concert by Motley Crue and Whitesnake.
The publicist said she was ready to leave the party about midnight when Dall confronted her and began “ranting” about the article. Dall then threw a cup of beer into her face, she told police. After she dried off in a restroom, Housman said, she was grabbed by Dall and Michaels and doused with a second beer and with ice water from what she believes was a champagne bucket. Housman said she then was escorted outside by Forum security officers.
The dispute did not end at the Forum. According to the lawsuit, Poison manager Tom Mohler “continues to threaten to ‘ruin’ Housman at Geffen Records, and within the music industry, if she speaks to the press about the unprovoked attack on her by Dall and Michaels. . . .”
[Bryn Bridenthal] Housman, a publicist for Guns N’ Roses, said the article was apparently enough to make her a target when she ran into Poison band members at a party Oct. 6 that followed a concert by Motley Crue and Whitesnake.
The publicist said she was ready to leave the party about midnight when Dall confronted her and began “ranting” about the article. Dall then threw a cup of beer into her face, she told police. After she dried off in a restroom, Housman said, she was grabbed by Dall and Michaels and doused with a second beer and with ice water from what she believes was a champagne bucket. Housman said she then was escorted outside by Forum security officers.
The dispute did not end at the Forum. According to the lawsuit, Poison manager Tom Mohler “continues to threaten to ‘ruin’ Housman at Geffen Records, and within the music industry, if she speaks to the press about the unprovoked attack on her by Dall and Michaels. . . .”
Bridenthal would much later recount how it had gone down:
I was talking to Bobby Dall at the L.A. Forum after a Mötley Crüe show and he was all anti–Guns N’ Roses. There was an article that Andy Secher ran in Hit Parader where Slash said that Poison was everything he hated about rock ’n’ roll, that they were posers. Andy said to me, “Do you want me to take this out?” And I said, “Well, did he say it?” He said, “Yes.” He had it on tape. I said, “Then let it play. It’s true.” Bobby was raging about it. What I did bad, I will admit, is that I had a big grin on my face when I talked to him. I thought this was just hysterical. I said, “Bobby, this isn’t Time magazine for Christ’s sake, it’s the Hit Parader. I don’t see how a band that sold two million records can feel so threatened by a band that hasn’t even sold two hundred thousand.” And he looked at me and he threw his beer in my face.
Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock, Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion, 2021
According to Bridenthal, she would then have to plea with Slash and Axl to not fight the Poison members [Juke Magazine, July 15, 1989]. Guns N' Roses, who was touring USA at the moment, sent a postcard in support to Bryn:
Postcard sent from Guns N' Roses to Bryn BridenthalOctober 22, 1987
Arlett Vereecke, the band's other publicist, would later suggest the postcard has been Niven's idea:
That's probably Alan Niven because the guys wouldn't send postcard, I can tell you that much. Alan Niven even probably did, he had them sign it or something, because it would, it wouldn't come out. They were busy with drugs and with music. You know, writing a postcard was probably the furthest thing from their minds at that time, but I'm sure that they signed it.
But Bridenthal would mention that the band was truly upset with her mistreatment and that she tried talking Axl and Slash away from violence:
When Axl and Slash heard what happened, they both had such a violent reaction, I just kept talking real fast, begging them not to do anything. I said, 'Please let me handle this my way. Your career and tour is much more important than Poison and I don't want you breaking anything.' Both of 'em said they weren't gonna break anything. They were gonna break Poison! I just told them, 'You never know, it might be an accident and what if you hurt yourself. It isn't worth it.'
This incident led to a civil lawsuit between either Geffen, Bridenthal or GN'R and Poison [BAM Magazine, November 1987; Rolling Stone, November 11, 1988] which would be settled out of court [RAW, March 7, 1989].
[Bryn Bridenthal] Housman has suffered physical and emotional trauma, according to the lawsuit, including a twitching right eye, frequent outbursts of crying and loss of sleep. The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, demands $1.1 million in damages and a restraining order to prevent Poison members and their manager from approaching Housman
Speaking of the lawsuit:
I’d like to pull down their pants at high noon on Main Street. They’re thinking this is all cute and adorable. They think they can just go around assaulting women and get away with it.
I hope to show Poison that they made a gross error in judgment and to help them to be remorseful.
I hope to show Poison that they made a gross error in judgment and to help them to be remorseful.
Well, I won't slag [Poison], though I'd like to. [...] The epitome of Los Angeles is Poison, and what's wrong with Los Angeles. Okay? Enough said.
In the liner notes to Appetite, the band would refer to Bridenthal as "Bryn 'I Love Danger' Bridenthal":
When the Gunners listed me as Bryn 'I love danger' Bridenthal on Appetite for Destruction, I took it as a compliment. But Axl has since taught me the true meaning of the word 'danger.'
1988: THE FEUD DIES DOWN
By early 1988 it seems the squabbling between the two bands were over:
Let me tell you, the feud between us and Poison isn’t even a feud. It’s just a situation that happened between me and one of their band members, and it was nothing so serious that had to turn into this full-blown type of ordeal. It held no bearing on the rest of the guys in the band.
I don’t have anything against the entire band enough for them to go and cause a major problem with the lady from our record company, and I haven’t said anything else in the press about it. It’s not been such a major concern that it’s on my mind, and if they want to take it that far, they can, but the only thing I have to say is that I thought it was in really bad taste.
If they really wanted to make a point about it, they could have come to me, or they could have come to the rest of the band, who, in turn, would have talked to me about it. I don’t want to start a fight with them. I don’t want to try to beat them up. I don’t want to do anything like that. All I can say is that something was blown way out of proportion by a member of the so-called press, and it was nowhere near as big a statement as it was made out in print to be, so I can understand the misunderstanding there, but at the same time, regardless, I don’t think the whole thing is answered by that kind of action. I’ll stand behind what I did say, but I won’t stand behind what the press said, and, you know, basically, you’re on your own!
I don’t have anything against the entire band enough for them to go and cause a major problem with the lady from our record company, and I haven’t said anything else in the press about it. It’s not been such a major concern that it’s on my mind, and if they want to take it that far, they can, but the only thing I have to say is that I thought it was in really bad taste.
If they really wanted to make a point about it, they could have come to me, or they could have come to the rest of the band, who, in turn, would have talked to me about it. I don’t want to start a fight with them. I don’t want to try to beat them up. I don’t want to do anything like that. All I can say is that something was blown way out of proportion by a member of the so-called press, and it was nowhere near as big a statement as it was made out in print to be, so I can understand the misunderstanding there, but at the same time, regardless, I don’t think the whole thing is answered by that kind of action. I’ll stand behind what I did say, but I won’t stand behind what the press said, and, you know, basically, you’re on your own!
[We] sat down and talked it out. Yeah. we do have our differences from when we were both on the street playing the club circuit. But they're doing their thing and we're doing ours, and we're not really in each other's way, so we don't have the time to deal with this bullshit anymore.
What Slash is referring to in the first quote here, and earlier in this chapter, is a comment towards DeVille that was published in Hit Parader [Metal Edge, January 1989]. This interview is now lost.
According to Axl, the feud between GN'R and Poison would finally be settled some time in May or June 1988 when Axl had a talk with Brett Michaels:
We had some really heavy differences. Poison's comments were retaliations against comments we made. We talked about it that night. I said, 'We've got our differences from when we were rival bands on the street. We still have those, but I don't have time for 'em, you don't have time for 'em. You're doing what you're doing, I'm doing what I'm doing, let's just fuckin' right now put 'em aside.
But the air has been cleared. It's over. I'm not out to get them.
Although in October 1988, Slash would still throw insults towards Poison:
I can’t deal with that rock star bullshit, which just permeates this whole fuckin’ business. Even in the new bands, who have no business acting like that. You know, like, “We’ve got our three chords, ’cos some of the guys in Poison taught ’em to us... I just don’t care any more, I really don’t care. Somebody made a T-shirt for me with POISON SUCKS written on it... […] Axl wore it on stage. ’Cos I’d just gotten it, this was with Aerosmith, and I was like, shall I wear this? Then I thought, naw, and Axl was like, “I’ll wear it!” And off he went...
Mick Wall, GUNS N' ROSES: The Most Dangerous Band in the World, Sidgwick & Jackson, U.K. 1991, 1993; interview from October 1988
We really hate Poison —they totally emphasize everything we hate in a band! They're like the type of guys who got turned onto rock 'n' roll by Circus magazine, you know? They saw pictures and said 'Oh yeah, this looks cool, we can get girls!' They probably went shopping and picked all their clothes and stuff and then went and bought their instruments. They pick up a guitar and learn how to play three chords and go out onstage.
When asked if this squabbling wasn't getting a bit petty:
Yeah, but there’s never gonna be a relationship there ’cos it’s like, even if they come up and say hi and this and that I still have a fuckin’ deep hatred for what they’re all about.
Mick Wall, GUNS N' ROSES: The Most Dangerous Band in the World, Sidgwick & Jackson, U.K. 1991, 1993; interview from October 1988
And then recounted a story about meeting Bret Michaels at the Rainbow in Hollywood:
Izzy was the one who grabbed him. That was so funny. I was drunk, there was a whole table of us, and I was sitting at the head. The next thing you know Izzy’s got Bret Michaels to sit down. So there’s Bret in between the two of us... […] [He was scared] shitless. I was so fucked up and it was like, me and Izzy sitting either side of him, so he’s getting it from both ends. In stereo! I mean, I wouldn’t like to sit next to a couple of Poison guys like that.
Mick Wall, GUNS N' ROSES: The Most Dangerous Band in the World, Sidgwick & Jackson, U.K. 1991, 1993; interview from October 1988
Then finding Bobby Dall in his apartment:
Another time I had Bobby [Dall] in my apartment. I was staying at the Franklin Plaza and Steven brought him over. I was in the bedroom dealing with some other shit and Steven had just gone back to his apartment for a second and was coming back, but I didn’t know. So I came out into the living room and I looked and Bobby was on the couch. I was, like, what is this fucking guy doing in my apartment?
He was tripping over himself just trying to make amends. That’s when I first decided, OK, fine, we’ll leave it. Then they came out with their next video and it’s awful! It’s an insult to my intelligence for them to do what they’re doing. What we’re doing has nothing to do with that. Like, I can say hi and hello, I don’t have anything against them as people. I just hate what they play.
I guess there’s a place for it and it works...
He was tripping over himself just trying to make amends. That’s when I first decided, OK, fine, we’ll leave it. Then they came out with their next video and it’s awful! It’s an insult to my intelligence for them to do what they’re doing. What we’re doing has nothing to do with that. Like, I can say hi and hello, I don’t have anything against them as people. I just hate what they play.
I guess there’s a place for it and it works...
Mick Wall, GUNS N' ROSES: The Most Dangerous Band in the World, Sidgwick & Jackson, U.K. 1991, 1993; interview from October 1988
Then, likely not longer thereafter, Slash would have a talk to CC DeVille and would square up like Axl had done:
That whole situation got to be a real mess. I thought I was just making some honest comments, and then all hell broke loose. But after the dust settled I got together with C.C. and we've worked everything out. Actually, he's pretty cool. I really never had anything against him personally, but maybe when all that shit began to happen I wasn't in the right frame of mind to accept his success. There's room for everyone in this industry; we're not out to make any enemies.
I tried to bury the hatchet. I have nothing against those guys—I don’t have a vendetta against them
Axl's quote about being locked up with Poison but only he coming out of the room [see above], would be attributed to Slash and when asked to comment on it, Slash would say:
I don't know if that was the actual remark, something like that, but I've been advised by the powers that be not to talk about that. There's already a magazine out with my feelings on it in big bold letters… I mean, I'd enjoy doing it, if I had it my way - I say all kinds of stuff, but I'm supposed to act like an adult….
In March 1989, Poison's Rikki Rocket would be asked about the feud with GN'R and answer:
Our bands don't hate each other. It's like once something's in the press it becomes an 'Issue', whether it's true or not. […] They've done well, more power to them. We made it before they did... I'm not trying to sidestep the question, but if I get too into it then I'll have another f**king lawsuit, know what I'm saying?
RAW, March 7, 1989
And Bret Michaels would discuss it later:
There was a verbal feud created, first and foremost, by the press. In other words, it was a-- You know, there was the cover of Hit Parader with Brett Michaels vs. Axl Rose -- which immediately says to any fan: Hey, these guys must be feuding. Well, then, the next thing was -- you know, which was really surprising to me in that whole thing -- is Axl came out with a pair of chaps that says GLAM SUCKS -- right? Obviously taking a swipe at us, right? And I'm like: Well, fuck -- this guy was more glam than any of us. (Laughs) Which was really odd to me. I'm like going: Now, this guy's the guy that was like, you know, was one of the inventors of that sorta -- I call it "gypsy glam," or whatever you want to call it.
[…]
I mean, yeah -- it definitely got violent. I mean, it got, you know, the fuck you's. You know, everything was exchanged except for the final blow ... if you know what I'm getting at. You know how all the words come out, and all the shit -- and then, finally, Bobby and Slash and me just sorta said: What the fuck are we all --? You know, here we are -- we're struggling to make it, you're struggling to make it. You know, and at this point our second record had come out, and this is just as their first one was coming. And our second record, for whatever reason, just came out, and we opened up, and it started out -- it came out of the box at like a million and a half or two million copies. And I just think it was one of those things that Guns N' Roses was just coming out -- and then look what happened with their career. These fuckers made one of the best records in history.
[…]
I mean, I consider "Appetite for Destruction" to be up there with "Highway to Hell" -- which, to me, is one of the all-time-- You know, I consider "Appetite for Destruction" -- not just the songs, but the actual sound of the record. I mean, I can put that record on at any time and say: That's a great-sounding record.
[…]
I mean, yeah -- it definitely got violent. I mean, it got, you know, the fuck you's. You know, everything was exchanged except for the final blow ... if you know what I'm getting at. You know how all the words come out, and all the shit -- and then, finally, Bobby and Slash and me just sorta said: What the fuck are we all --? You know, here we are -- we're struggling to make it, you're struggling to make it. You know, and at this point our second record had come out, and this is just as their first one was coming. And our second record, for whatever reason, just came out, and we opened up, and it started out -- it came out of the box at like a million and a half or two million copies. And I just think it was one of those things that Guns N' Roses was just coming out -- and then look what happened with their career. These fuckers made one of the best records in history.
[…]
I mean, I consider "Appetite for Destruction" to be up there with "Highway to Hell" -- which, to me, is one of the all-time-- You know, I consider "Appetite for Destruction" -- not just the songs, but the actual sound of the record. I mean, I can put that record on at any time and say: That's a great-sounding record.
In 2011, Michaels would say it was mostly a media-generated feud and indicate it helped sell records:
Let me be very straight with that. That was more of a feud in the media than it was in real life.
Guns N' Roses, Motley Crue and Poison were rock bands that were really passionate about what they did. Without a doubt there's a certain amount of competition. You wanna go out there and put on the best show but that friendly competition is good.
It helped to sell records back then. Guns N' Roses and Poison were touring, doing the same stadiums and both record labels Capitol and Geffen they'd go back and forth with these big publicity releases and then I would see the guys, I'd go to their shows and hang out with them and I'm thinking 'in the media we're fighting but in the real world we're friends.' 'Appetite For Destruction' is one of my Top 10 ever favorite records."
Guns N' Roses, Motley Crue and Poison were rock bands that were really passionate about what they did. Without a doubt there's a certain amount of competition. You wanna go out there and put on the best show but that friendly competition is good.
It helped to sell records back then. Guns N' Roses and Poison were touring, doing the same stadiums and both record labels Capitol and Geffen they'd go back and forth with these big publicity releases and then I would see the guys, I'd go to their shows and hang out with them and I'm thinking 'in the media we're fighting but in the real world we're friends.' 'Appetite For Destruction' is one of my Top 10 ever favorite records."
Triple M (via Blabbermouth), September 20, 2011
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
MTV WON'T PLAY WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
We released that thing 3 times.
_________________________________________
Getting airplay on MTV was vital for the success of Appetite, but getting MTV to play their second single, for Welcome To The Jungle, would prove very difficult. This was not because they didn't have internal champions at MTV.
Tom Zutaut would later claim that John Malone, owner of the networks MTV was on, would specifically state that they were not going to play any Guns N' Roses music videos:
There was this anti-Guns N' Roses movement. They were too dangerous. I was like 26 years old at the time I get called up into the de facto President of Geffen Records [=likely Ed Rosenblatt], he said, "MTV is never going to play a video by Guns N' Roses." John Malone, who's a conservative Republican, owns half of the cable housings that MTV is broadcast. He basically told MTV if they showed any videos from this dangerous heroin junkie rock'n'roll band, that he would take MTV off his cable networks. He said his company is not going to spend another penny on Guns N' Roses. The record is over.
John Cannelli, though, who was MTV senior vice president of talent and artist relations, would describe hearing the song for the first time:
I was taking a ride through Central Park on my ten-speed, and I put the Guns N' Roses cassette on my Walkman. When I heard "Welcome to the Jungle," I almost fell off my bike.
Craig Marks & Rob Tannenbaum, I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution; Plume, October 27, 2011
And Cannelli would bring the song to his boss' attention, Sam Kaiser, MTV vice president of programming, 1986-1988:
I had two right arms in the department. One was Rick Krim and the other was John Cannelli. John maybe had the best eyes and ears in the place. He was soft-spoken and dry, but he had a knack for picking stuff. When John spoke up, you listened. He brought us a video by Guns N' Roses, "Welcome to the Jungle," and I fell out of my chair.
Craig Marks & Rob Tannenbaum, I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution; Plume, October 27, 2011
Still, the song would not be put in heavy rotation:
MTV wasn’t interested. Their response was “We’ll play it two times overnight and see how it goes.”
Craig Marks & Rob Tannenbaum, I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution; Plume, October 27, 2011
MTV didn’t give a damn. Didn’t care.
Craig Marks & Rob Tannenbaum, I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution; Plume, October 27, 2011
MTV basically said, "we will never play this band because they are drug addicts, they are scary, and the cable operators have threatened to drop MTV off cable." The guys who ran the big cable companies were basically putting pressure on MTV to tone it back. They said, "This is HBO, this is about family entertainment, and MTV, if you cross the line we're going to pull you off the cable network because we're not going to have our cable franchises pissed at us because of your programming." Now MTV says they will never play Guns N' Roses, they're way to dangerous, and they'll get thrown off the cable networks. We've sold 200,000 units by word of mouth only. People who are buying the record are people seeing them open for Motley or The Cult and they are telling their friends. Honestly, it was like clockwork. They'd go into town and open for somebody, and the next week, spike in sales.
Marc Canter, "Reckless Road", 2007
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
OCTOBER 16-18, 1987
HEADLINING IN USA WITH EZO; IZZY IS SLOSHED AND PEES AT A DESKAfter returning to US, they toured the East Coast (October 16, November 1, 1987), supported by EZO who were also on Geffen Records which, according to Axl, "made it really easy just to do quickly" [Rock City News, January 1988].
The first show was at The Sundance, Bay Shore, New York, USA (October 16) followed by a show at the Airport Music Hall, Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA (October 17).
In two 1988 interviews, Duff would talk about playing at a club in Long Island where the club owner was really timid and afraid of them because of their reputation:
I started talking to him and he said, 'I was really scared, because just from what I read, I thought you guys were gonna come out and kick my ass for asking.' And we're going, 'What?! We're just normal dudes playing in the clubs.'
[...] we met a guy at a Long Island show. He had records, posters. He was shaking when he asked for our autographs. We said, 'Sure' and he goes, 'No way! I though you'd kick my ass from what I've read!' We're never really rude to anyone unless they're rude first. Then I guess we can be more rude than the average per-son!
This was likely at The Sundance show which was in Long Island.
In 2017, Duff would mention how little audience they still had at this time in the US, and refer to their "three people", despite selling out venues in the UK earlier in the year:
But yeah, so we've toured for a year, you know, we'd go to London, we'd go to the UK and stuff, and we were blowing up there. Such a strange thing to go there and, like... We sold out the Hammersmith Odeon, that's 2500 people or something, right. And we sold out other big theatres in the UK and then we'd come back to America and there'd be, like, three people up front who'd be like, "Yeah, that's our band" "That's our three people!"
The third show on this tour took place at a place called Hammerjacks in Baltimore, Maryland, USA on October 18. Apparently, Izzy got so wasted the band had to turn his amp down:
Like Izzy—he's usually the one not to cause any trouble. But he got wasted at this place called Hammerjack's—the most fucked place I've ever played. They have 30 security guys who look like West Hollywood sheriffs. So Izzy got in arguments with them early in the day, and he got so drunk we had to tum his guitar down—and he threw it into the crowd. So then, right before we played—he's sick of everything—Izzy walked into the manager's office and just whipped it out and pissed all over the place. The guy's sitting there. It just blew their minds.
Slash would confirm Izzy had peed in the manager's office [The Baltimore Sun, April 9, 1995] and that he could barely play:
I remember playing there. Hammer-jacks is the gig — I don’t know if you should print this or not — but it was the gig where... […] Me and Izzy got really messed up. When you're touring around in a bus, you get there in the morning, you have a day room at the hotel, you go to the gig way too early... and you get bored. […] I play well when I’m messed up. Izzy, on the other hand.... [laughter] So during the gig, he just sat on his amp. But he had a Marshall stack behind him, so he sat on the tiny lip of the bottom cabinet, and we just sorta covered for him. [...] I think he was pretty much turned off at that point [laughter].
Years later, Bud Becker, Hammerjacks' national talent consultant in the 1980s, would comment on the Izzy incident:
Actually, I think the security guys threw him out or something. Of course, nobody knew what the band was going to become at that point, or they’d probably have invited him to urinate on stage!
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
OCTOBER 20-NOVEMBER 1, 1987
HEADLINING IN USA WITH EZO; THE RITZ, CGBG'S AND OTHER SHOWSDuring this touring Axl was still "fighting a see-saw battle with a tenacious case of laryngitis" [BAM, November 1987]. Slash also fell out of the tour bus in October when travelling in upstate New York:
Slash fell against me and I fell out of the chair straight to the ground, about five feet. Concussion time. Knocked out. They thought I was dead.
The next shows was at the Trocadero, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA (October 20). After the show Fred Coury would introduce Steven to what would become Steven's future wife, Cheryl Lynn Swiderski [The News Journal, June 1989].
Then the band travelled to Palace Theatre, Albany, New York, USA (October 21), a show that would be remembered fondly:
That night, the members of Guns N' Roses were everything a lean, mean rock act should be. They pumped out raw, powerful and genuinely dangerous music with little regard for the consequences. If memory serves, the band was furious that the orchestra pit had been lowered to create a moat between the stage and the fans. It must have been Slash, the guitarist, who jumped into the pit like a buccaneer -- guitar in one hand, bottle of Jack Daniels in the other.
Ironically, there was no need to separate the band from the fans: Only 187 fans attended the show, in a theater that could have held 2,500 more.
Ironically, there was no need to separate the band from the fans: Only 187 fans attended the show, in a theater that could have held 2,500 more.
Albany Times Union, November 21, 2002
And then a show at Obsessions, Randolph, Massachusetts, USA (October 22) before travelling to the Ritz in New York City, New York (October 23). At this show a drunk Dave Mustaine was thrown off the stage when he wandered on with a guitar in his hands ("We didn't know who he was. We just thought it was some weirdo out of the crowd" [Kerrang! March 1989]).
At the Ritz, Axl would talk about Todd Crew:
Now, if you have known of us, then you know that we recently, a couple of months ago, lost a friend of ours. A little over a month ago, I OD’ed, and I ended up in a hospital called Cedars-Sinai. I was in a coma for about two days. When I got out of the hospital, the first person I saw was a guy named Todd Crew. Todd used to be in a band called Jetboy, and one of the reasons he got kicked out – Jetboy sucks. One of the reasons he got kicked out, was for hanging out with us. I think we were more friends than the people he knew all of his fucking life. When I got out of the hospital, the first person I saw was Todd, and I really didn’t wanna see anybody I knew, because I didn’t know if I had any friends left. Todd came up to me, and gave me a hug and said, “You can’t do this to the family, man.” Two weeks later, Todd OD’ed here in New York. We tried doing this song without dedicating it to Todd, and every time we feel too fuckin’ guilty and we end up doing it anyway. And a friend told me that we won’t get over it till it happens again. So until then, this is for Todd. And this is “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.”
Axl would also take the opportunity to talk about pidgeon-holing the band into a specific genre:
I’ll do my best to make a point for what it’s worth. We’ve got a lot of people, a lot of magazines and a lot of things going, “It’s a glam band,” “It’s a metal band,” “It’s a glam metal band,” “It’s a hard rock band,” “It’s a thrash band,” “It’s a...”. Fuck it! It doesn’t make a good god damn whether my hair is up, my hair is down, or I’m fucking bald. It’s all fucking rock ‘n’ roll to me.
After Ritz the band travelled to The Chance, Poughkeepsie, New York, USA (October 25); Providence, Rhode Island, USA (October 26); The Paradise, Boston, Massachusetts, USA (October 27), after which they would get the following review:
Guns n’ Roses play with the requisite rough-and-rowdy rawness. fueled by desperation. The main flaw during Tuesday’s 70-minute set was that most of what came out of Rose’s mouth sounded like “Rawr, raaagh, grrrbdz!," but a quick check of the album's lyric sheet - and Rose's more pointed song introductions - gave a clearer idea of what's going on. Which is, basically, living fast and hard and playing music to match.
But these bad boys cut the fun with, dare we say, a certain social consciousness. “My Michelle” doesn’t celebrate excess as much as it suggests the flipside of the too-much-ain’t-enough ethic; ditto for "Mr. Brownstone," for which Rose admonished "Make sure you wake up in the morning." And why else cover Dylan’s "Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” if not to make the point that a little bit of reflection and redemption never hurts? Guns n’ Roses is about living life on the edge, but being smart enough to pull bark at the right time. Climb, bill don’t fall off the mountain.
But these bad boys cut the fun with, dare we say, a certain social consciousness. “My Michelle” doesn’t celebrate excess as much as it suggests the flipside of the too-much-ain’t-enough ethic; ditto for "Mr. Brownstone," for which Rose admonished "Make sure you wake up in the morning." And why else cover Dylan’s "Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” if not to make the point that a little bit of reflection and redemption never hurts? Guns n’ Roses is about living life on the edge, but being smart enough to pull bark at the right time. Climb, bill don’t fall off the mountain.
In an interview with WAAF radio in Boston in 2019, Duff would look back at how this station had played Welcome to the Jungle back in 1987 and helped break the band:
So, your station [WAAF], you guys played 'Jungle,' you guys started playing it, and it spread. So I remember when we came to Boston, there was a bunch of people at the show, like, 'They're playing you on the radio station there.' I guess that brings people to the show, and it spread down to New York, they didn't want to be second - but they were - so they started playing, so it spread.
The next show would be at L'Amour, Brooklyn, New York, USA (October 29).
I remember one particular night at L'Amour in Brooklyn, which was one of the most classic metal/hard-rock venues that anyone could ever play in New York City. Izzy got totally drunk downing beers backstage while we were waiting to go on. But he remained cool in his own way - Izzy was always funny like that. That night he let on like nothing was wrong, spending the entire show sitting on the tiny ledge between the top and bottom cabinet of his rig. It was hilarious to watch.
Slash's autobiography, p 225-226
The band would do a second show in New York City, this one at legendary CBGB (October 30, 1987). This was an acoustic show and the band would debut songs for their upcoming new EP, Lies,
Next up was a show as CBGB, the famous punk rock club in Manhattan. Duff was particularly excited because his heroes Iggy Pop and the Ramones had played there. A lot of my favourites like Blondie and Talking Heads has started out there too. When we got there, I said, "Are you sure this is CBGB?" It was the smallest room, very, very intimate. It held only like fifty to seventy people. I just couldn't imagine that all those famous bands had played there. We performed an acoustic set and I rocked the tambourine. We debuted some songs that we hand't played publicly yet. The lyrics "I used to love her...but I had to kill her" from "Used to Love Her" got a huge laugh. And "Patience" got a very nice response. We also played "Mr. Brownstone" and "Move to the City". Someone yelled out, "Drum solo!" so I shook the tambourine wildly. Everyone laughed.
Steve's autobiography, "My Appetite for Destruction", 2010, p. 145
I played [CBGB's] after the original club closed. We did an acoustic thing at CBGB's and that was the only time. [...] Because there were all, you know, the Dolls, the Ramones and all these New York sort-of, Blondie, even, Television, all these - excuse me, I've got a cold - all these different, really iconic bands were coming out of the scene in New York so it was really exciting to go there.
After the CGBG show Axl would talk about an incident that happened at the Gramercy Hotel in New York:
We stay at the Gramercy hotel here [in New York], and one of our friends, West Arkeen, the guy jumped over the counter. His dad had a heart attack and they didn’t give him the message, and then when he yelled at the guy, the guy jumped over the counter and hit him. And then three guys jumped in - it was at the hotel here in New York. So then he came up and got me. I went downstairs and two big guys come with a club. So I grabbed a huge metal sign, you know, and it was like a showdown, they backed off. And then the cops came and, you know. That’s, like, the most recent thing that’s happened.
GN'R at the CGBG'sOctober 30, 1987Credit: Mark Weiss
Much later, in 2015, Duff would talk about what a club like CGBG's meant to him:
CBGB was a safe haven for new ideas to live. Not all of the ideas took root, but a lot of them did, and many of the bands that were given an early chance at the club went on to absolutely revolutionize rock and roll in the late Seventies — a time when change really did need to happen — when rock and roll was at risk of becoming Spinal Tap–ish. It was getting vanilla and somewhat ridiculous. It wasn't speaking to a large swath of kids, people my age, who felt left out. So we started punk rock bands.
Punk rock was all about being an individual. There was no dress code. You didn't have to wear the coolest clothes, own the best record collection, or play some name-brand guitar. As long as you were doing something that you believed in and were honest about, other bands and audiences would back you. We shared riffs and clothes and records, and we protected each other from the jocks and bigger kids who wanted to beat you up simply because you were different.
In GN'R, we carried forth the tenets set by our punk rock forefathers in our music. It was music for the people, by the people. We returned to New York later in 1987 to play CBGB. My knees sort of buckled as we rounded the corner in the then-still-seedy Lower East Side street that the infamous CBGB sat. I wasn't scared because of the shady environs of that street. I felt that I had somehow finally made it to my Mecca. The proving ground. The church and school and protectorate for all of the things in rock and roll that I believed in.
When people talk about Guns N' Roses these days, punk rock is a term that's rarely used. But in truth, we were those kids who benefited directly from early groundbreaking bands who played CBGB in the mid-to-late Seventies — those bands, and that club, tore down walls, both musically and socially. Without the Ramones and Johnny Thunders and CBGB, I would have not had the career that I have.
I got a CBGB shirt on that first visit and I wore that thing every day as our band started to break. There's an entire GN'R era, captured in photos, in which I'm rarely seen without my trusty CBGB shirt. I even wore it when we shot the video for "Sweet Child O' Mine." It wasn't like I chose some costume for the video, it was just the shirt that I was wearing every day.
Because that song and video sort of catapulted our band, I've been forever attached to CB's. In truth, that shirt was a security blanket for me in those early, chaotic days. It was my daily reminder of what rock and roll was all about. The punk spirit that CBGB to me had inspired would live on through me, if I could help it.
Punk rock was all about being an individual. There was no dress code. You didn't have to wear the coolest clothes, own the best record collection, or play some name-brand guitar. As long as you were doing something that you believed in and were honest about, other bands and audiences would back you. We shared riffs and clothes and records, and we protected each other from the jocks and bigger kids who wanted to beat you up simply because you were different.
In GN'R, we carried forth the tenets set by our punk rock forefathers in our music. It was music for the people, by the people. We returned to New York later in 1987 to play CBGB. My knees sort of buckled as we rounded the corner in the then-still-seedy Lower East Side street that the infamous CBGB sat. I wasn't scared because of the shady environs of that street. I felt that I had somehow finally made it to my Mecca. The proving ground. The church and school and protectorate for all of the things in rock and roll that I believed in.
When people talk about Guns N' Roses these days, punk rock is a term that's rarely used. But in truth, we were those kids who benefited directly from early groundbreaking bands who played CBGB in the mid-to-late Seventies — those bands, and that club, tore down walls, both musically and socially. Without the Ramones and Johnny Thunders and CBGB, I would have not had the career that I have.
I got a CBGB shirt on that first visit and I wore that thing every day as our band started to break. There's an entire GN'R era, captured in photos, in which I'm rarely seen without my trusty CBGB shirt. I even wore it when we shot the video for "Sweet Child O' Mine." It wasn't like I chose some costume for the video, it was just the shirt that I was wearing every day.
Because that song and video sort of catapulted our band, I've been forever attached to CB's. In truth, that shirt was a security blanket for me in those early, chaotic days. It was my daily reminder of what rock and roll was all about. The punk spirit that CBGB to me had inspired would live on through me, if I could help it.
After this the band travelled on for the two final shows, at The Horizon, Syracuse, New York, USA on October 31 and in Washington D.C., USA on November 1. The band would then immediately proceed with opening for Motley Crue.
Last edited by Soulmonster on Tue Oct 01, 2024 4:24 pm; edited 12 times in total
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
Album:
GN'R Lies, 1988, track no. 5.
Written by:
Lyrics: Izzy Stradlin and Axl Rose.
Music: Izzy Stradlin, Slash and Duff McKagan.
Musicians:
Vocals: Axl Rose; lead guitar: Slash; rhythm guitar: Izzy Stradlin; bass: Duff McKagan.
Live performances:
This song was played for the first time October 30, 1987 at an acoustic gig at CBGB's, USA. In total it has, as of {UPDATEDATE}, at least been played {PATIENCESONGS} times.
GN'R Lies, 1988, track no. 5.
Written by:
Lyrics: Izzy Stradlin and Axl Rose.
Music: Izzy Stradlin, Slash and Duff McKagan.
Musicians:
Vocals: Axl Rose; lead guitar: Slash; rhythm guitar: Izzy Stradlin; bass: Duff McKagan.
Live performances:
This song was played for the first time October 30, 1987 at an acoustic gig at CBGB's, USA. In total it has, as of {UPDATEDATE}, at least been played {PATIENCESONGS} times.
Lyrics:
Shed a tear 'cause I'm missin' you
I'm still alright to smile
Girl I think about you ev'ry day now
Was a time when I wasn't sure
But you set my mind at ease
There is no doubt
You're in my heart now
Said woman take it slow
It'll work itself out fine
All we need is just a little patience
Said sugar make it slow and
We come together fine
All we need is just a little patience
Patience
I sit here on the stairs
'Cause I'd rather be alone
If I can't have you right now I'll wait, dear
Sometimes I get so tense
But I can't speed up the time
But you know, love there's
One more thing to consider
Said woman take it slow
And things will be just fine
You and I'll just use a little patience
Said sugar take the time
'Cause the lights are shining bright
You and I've got what it takes to make it
We won't fake it
Aah, never break it
'Cause I can't take it
...little patience, mm yeah, mm yeah,
need a little patience, yeah,
just a little patience, yeah,
some more pati..
I've been walkin' the streets to night
Just trying to get it right
It's hard to see when so many around
You know I don't like being stuck in a crowd
And the streets don't change, but baby the names
I ain't got time for this game
'Cause I need you,
Yeah but I need you,
Oh I need you,
Oh I need you,
Ooh this time
Shed a tear 'cause I'm missin' you
I'm still alright to smile
Girl I think about you ev'ry day now
Was a time when I wasn't sure
But you set my mind at ease
There is no doubt
You're in my heart now
Said woman take it slow
It'll work itself out fine
All we need is just a little patience
Said sugar make it slow and
We come together fine
All we need is just a little patience
Patience
I sit here on the stairs
'Cause I'd rather be alone
If I can't have you right now I'll wait, dear
Sometimes I get so tense
But I can't speed up the time
But you know, love there's
One more thing to consider
Said woman take it slow
And things will be just fine
You and I'll just use a little patience
Said sugar take the time
'Cause the lights are shining bright
You and I've got what it takes to make it
We won't fake it
Aah, never break it
'Cause I can't take it
...little patience, mm yeah, mm yeah,
need a little patience, yeah,
just a little patience, yeah,
some more pati..
I've been walkin' the streets to night
Just trying to get it right
It's hard to see when so many around
You know I don't like being stuck in a crowd
And the streets don't change, but baby the names
I ain't got time for this game
'Cause I need you,
Yeah but I need you,
Oh I need you,
Oh I need you,
Ooh this time
Quotes regarding the song and its making:
Writing the song:
Talking about recording the song:
Talking about the song:
Talking about the music video:
It's a ballad. It's mainly pinned by Izzy Stradlin.
MTV, 1988
It's funny, there's actually two versions of that song. Izzy wrote the verse [humming the verse with help from Steven] and I wrote the part at the end, "A little patience, yeaaaaah" Okay, so that came together like that and we had it. We never really rehearsed it, we kinda just started playing it live. [...] And there's another version that I have of it. I used to have an 8 track recorder. The 'Patience's that's on that is about a girl and it is really sweet and nice. I have another version that is more of a comedy thing, you know, it was when I lived in this apartment with three people and and were doing drugs and shit, we sit there, and it's kinda comedic, it's like you sit there, and you just need a little patience. Your roommate takes a shit and forgets to flush it. All you need is a little patience. [...] Yeah, that song just came together and the only way we rehearsed it was, actually, "Whoop! Let's play it live!" We wrote it, uh, Slash, Steven, Izzy, myself in the rehearsal studio but we only rehearsed it like once. And then, the next time we played it was live in front of 20 thousand people, or something.
Interview with Steven and Duff, December 1988
[...] as we developed songs, we put a lot of emphasis on anything that veered away from the main melody - we all felt that diverging from a good tune was only justifiable if the other part was just as good. That meant we rejected cookie-cutter songwriting that demanded bridges for bridges' sake and strictly delineated between verses and choruses. Instead we only went places we really felt strongly about. There's a reason the codas in songs like 'Rocket Queen,' 'Paradise City,' or 'Patience' sound so distinctive - we didn't feel compelled to add them; we were just so excited about certain ideas that, working together, day after day, we found ways to incorporate them.
Duff's autobiography, "It's So Easy", 2011, p. 96-97
When I sang the song it was the first time I ever sang it. Izzy basically wrote most of the words except for the ending part, and then Slash and Duff got in on it, rearranging and rewriting parts of it, music parts, guitar parts (...). One reason the song was written was about needing patience and having a lack of it. (...) Duff's written his version of 'Patience', it's kinda a comedy version which may be out some time. Izzy has a new song (...) "Double talkin' jive motherfucker 'cause I got no more patience."
Patience CD Single, June 1989
Axl is so prolific lyricwise and has such a heartfelt sense of melody that combined with Izzy's songwriting skill and Duff and myself, creating great guitar parts was easy, and so we'd have amazing songs in no time. Izzy and Axl had such great chemistry because Axl knew how to transform one of Izzy's simple structures into a perfect, well-rounded, melodically and lyrically rich song. A great example is 'Patience': Axl really elevated that song of Izzy's into something else entirely.
Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, pp 265
[...] Axl had come up with a great idea for 'Patience,' seemingly out of nowhere, that had immediately become the story and melody of that song. The whistle part at the beginning was another ballsy and unusual move by Axl; the song just wouldn't be the same without it. 'Patience' quickly became one of my favourite GN'R songs to play live.
Duff's autobiography, "It's So Easy", 2011, p. 131
I was sitting in the studio kitchen with Izzy. He was playing Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door, which the band was doing in their set at the time. All of a sudden he shifted the chords a little bit. That was the beginning of Patience. He started humming this great melody. I heard: ‘Hey, said woman, take it slow,’ and other lines that ended up in the song. I said: “Man, that sounds really great. Why don’t you finish that?” A couple of weeks later Axl was in the studio, so I said to Izzy: “Hey, play that song you did for Axl.” Axl just loved it. So we went in and cut it as part of this idea to do an unplugged session. That became the core song for the whole session.
Talking about recording the song:
In 1984, Izzy Stradlin lived in an apartment across the street from me in Hollywood, right behind the Chinese Theater off Hollywood Boulevard. The man seemed to ALWAYS have an acoustic guitar in his hands, and was always writing bits and pieces of songs. He still does this today.
There was one especially melodic thing that he had been working on, and every once in a while he would dust it off and work on it some more.
By 1986, our band Guns N' Roses had a record deal. With that money, I put myself on a small stipend that could basically pay my rent--or half-rent, I should say--for about six months.
One of my best friends at the time was looking to move to Hollywood from her parents' house somewhere in Orange County. She and I decided that we could share rent on a one-bedroom apartment on Gardner; she would get the bedroom, and I the floor of the dining room (which I cordoned off into my little den of darkness).
My other good friend then was a guy named Del James, a recent transplant from New York who became an important part of our tightknit little group of friends and ersatz consiglieres.
Del needed a place to crash for a week or so, and back then, what was mine was his. During that first week of couch-surfing at my apartment, Del and my roommate Debby became romantic, and Del moved from the couch to her bedroom.
Del was an avid reader, and turned me onto a book called Slugs by Shaun Hutson. I remember just sitting in my bedroom/dining room with my curtain pulled taught, and reading this book with life sort of swirling around me in our apartment. There were drugs aplenty then, and Valium was the drug-of-the-month at that particular point.
I remembered Izzy's little ditty, which at that point had a working title of "Patience," and I wrote a lyrical verse then that went, '"I sit here doing drugs/Reading a book about slugs/All I need is a little patience."
This horrible lyric never made it past my apartment front door, thank God. Axl came up with a great lyric, seemingly out of nowhere, that of course became the story and melody of that song. The whistle part at the beginning--a ballsy move by Axl--while seeming odd to some of our fans and critics alike when the record Lies was released, became a part of pop culture. The song just wouldn't be the song without it, right? This was always one of my favorite GN'R songs that we did live.
A few years ago, when Loaded was recording something or other (maybe "Wasted Heart"?), I counted in the song. On playback, someone in the room exclaimed that the count-in (me) sounded like the recorded count-in of "Patience," which is also me. For a while, the joke went that if I couldn't get a good table at a restaurant, I could simply say "One-two-one-two-three-four," and the gates would open for me.
There was one especially melodic thing that he had been working on, and every once in a while he would dust it off and work on it some more.
By 1986, our band Guns N' Roses had a record deal. With that money, I put myself on a small stipend that could basically pay my rent--or half-rent, I should say--for about six months.
One of my best friends at the time was looking to move to Hollywood from her parents' house somewhere in Orange County. She and I decided that we could share rent on a one-bedroom apartment on Gardner; she would get the bedroom, and I the floor of the dining room (which I cordoned off into my little den of darkness).
My other good friend then was a guy named Del James, a recent transplant from New York who became an important part of our tightknit little group of friends and ersatz consiglieres.
Del needed a place to crash for a week or so, and back then, what was mine was his. During that first week of couch-surfing at my apartment, Del and my roommate Debby became romantic, and Del moved from the couch to her bedroom.
Del was an avid reader, and turned me onto a book called Slugs by Shaun Hutson. I remember just sitting in my bedroom/dining room with my curtain pulled taught, and reading this book with life sort of swirling around me in our apartment. There were drugs aplenty then, and Valium was the drug-of-the-month at that particular point.
I remembered Izzy's little ditty, which at that point had a working title of "Patience," and I wrote a lyrical verse then that went, '"I sit here doing drugs/Reading a book about slugs/All I need is a little patience."
This horrible lyric never made it past my apartment front door, thank God. Axl came up with a great lyric, seemingly out of nowhere, that of course became the story and melody of that song. The whistle part at the beginning--a ballsy move by Axl--while seeming odd to some of our fans and critics alike when the record Lies was released, became a part of pop culture. The song just wouldn't be the song without it, right? This was always one of my favorite GN'R songs that we did live.
A few years ago, when Loaded was recording something or other (maybe "Wasted Heart"?), I counted in the song. On playback, someone in the room exclaimed that the count-in (me) sounded like the recorded count-in of "Patience," which is also me. For a while, the joke went that if I couldn't get a good table at a restaurant, I could simply say "One-two-one-two-three-four," and the gates would open for me.
Talking about the song:
Patience is pretty self-explanatory, you try to keep it, but it comes and goes.
Hit Parader, May 1989
I know one song in particular, "Patience," where Axl hits a certain vocal that gives me chills, and it affects my playing, when that goes by. And it happens every single night when we play it.
Interview Magazine, June 1992
This next song was written by Izzy Stradlin, somebody that I get real pissed off at because I miss him greatly. And maybe he knew a thing or two that I don’t know about, or that I didn’t’ know, that I gotta work on now, and that's something called Patience.
Talking about the music video:
I can't stand to watch the video. I'm proud of the video, it's just when I hear it I think of how I don't have any patience now. (...) It's like it depresses us 'cause (...) I thought we were getting closer to finding some piece of mind.
Interview with Axl, 1990?
Last edited by Soulmonster on Fri Feb 10, 2023 6:37 pm; edited 6 times in total
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
Album:
GN'R Lies, 1988, track no. 6.
Written by:
Guns N' Roses.
Musicians:
Vocals: Axl Rose; lead guitar: Slash; rhythm guitar: Izzy Stradlin; bass: Duff McKagan; drums: Steven Adler.
Information:
At first the band referred to the song with the title "I Used To Love Her But I Had To Kill Her" [Circus, July 31, 1988].
Live performances:
This song was played for the first time October 30, 1987 at an acoustic gig at CBGB's, USA. In total it has, as of {UPDATEDATE}, at least been played {UTLHSONGS} times.
GN'R Lies, 1988, track no. 6.
Written by:
Guns N' Roses.
Musicians:
Vocals: Axl Rose; lead guitar: Slash; rhythm guitar: Izzy Stradlin; bass: Duff McKagan; drums: Steven Adler.
Information:
At first the band referred to the song with the title "I Used To Love Her But I Had To Kill Her" [Circus, July 31, 1988].
Live performances:
This song was played for the first time October 30, 1987 at an acoustic gig at CBGB's, USA. In total it has, as of {UPDATEDATE}, at least been played {UTLHSONGS} times.
Lyrics:
I used to love her
But I had to kill her
I used to love her
But I had to kill her
I had to put her
Six feet under
And I can still hear her complain
I used to love her
But I had to kill her
I used to love her
But I had to kill her
I knew I miss her
So I had to keep her
She's buried right in my back yard
I used to love her
But I had to kill her
I used to love her
But I had to kill her
She bitched so much
She drove me nuts
And now I'm happier this way
I used to love her
But I had to kill her
I used to love her
But I had to kill her
I had to put her
Six feet under
And I can still hear her complain
I used to love her
But I had to kill her
I used to love her
But I had to kill her
I had to put her
Six feet under
And I can still hear her complain
I used to love her
But I had to kill her
I used to love her
But I had to kill her
I knew I miss her
So I had to keep her
She's buried right in my back yard
I used to love her
But I had to kill her
I used to love her
But I had to kill her
She bitched so much
She drove me nuts
And now I'm happier this way
I used to love her
But I had to kill her
I used to love her
But I had to kill her
I had to put her
Six feet under
And I can still hear her complain
Quotes regarding the song and its making:
Writing the song:
Introducing the song:
Talking about the song:
Arlett Vereecke:
'I Used To Love Her But I Had To Kill Her' is a joke. I was sitting around listening to the radio and some guy was whining about a broad who was treating him bad. I wanted to take the radio and smash it against the wall. Such self-pity! What a wimp! So we rewrote the same song we heard with a better ending, it's a real New York type song.
Superstar Facts No. 16, 1988
I remember when we wrote that Used To Love Her song. It really, really wasn't about misogyny or anything. It was just that... there was another band in town, and they had written a song; and Izzy and I were sitting around, and it was all about how a woman kicked the guy's ass. And we were like "wow, what a bunch of pussies!"
Hartford CT, October 23, 2017
Introducing the song:
Our first song I would not consider a true song but maybe how you feel sometimes.
CBGB's, October 30, 1987
Listen to me, fuckers. This is a song that we wrote as a joke. We actually wrote this making fun of another band's song, some song about kissing ass and I thought that was really pussy, so. We wrote this as a joke, but it is basically what to do with your sweet child, or sweet boy, when they become a pain in your fucking ass. And it's called 'I Used To Love Her But I Had To Kill Her'.
Val du Lakes Amphitheatre, July 30, 1988
Talking about the song:
I think it’s pretty fuckin’ funny. I don’t know anybody who hears it and doesn’t find it funny, except for the people that never find jokes funny...
Mick Wall, GUNS N' ROSES: The Most Dangerous Band in the World, Sidgwick & Jackson, U.K. 1991, 1993; interview from October 1988
It’s very tongue-in- cheek! It’s not to be taken seriously, ya know, it’s like a joke. I don’t condone wife-beating. I understand it, but I don’t condone it. So, it’s very tongue-in-cheek.
MTV, 1988
Used To Love Her is one we've played in concert a lot, and we got a lot of heat about it because the lyric goes, 'I used to love her, but I had to kill her.' People think it's about one of our old girlfriends, but it's actually about Axl's dog. It's really a joke, nothing more.
Hit Parader, May 1989
[It's] a joke. Wife beating's been around for 10 million years or something, I mean, I don't advocate it. I understand it. But I don't treat women any differently than I treat men.
Rolling Stone, November 1988
The first type I heard lyrics to that song was back at the Hell House. Axl and Duff came up with them. I thought it was so damn funny.
"My Appetite for Destruction", 2010, pp. 160
When I first heard that, I thought it was about me! I used to manage the band and then they hired Alan. I had put all this money into them and suddenly I was left with nothing.
Arlett Vereecke:
The other new acoustic song was Used To Love Her [featuring the lyrics, ‘I used to love her but I had to kill her’]. Izzy wrote that. He said it was about a dog. Axl said: “It could be about my girlfriend.”
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
Album:
GN'R Lies, 1988, track no. 7.
Written by:
Axl Rose.
Musicians:
Vocals: Axl Rose; lead guitar: Slash; rhythm guitar: Izzy Stradlin and Duff McKagan; bass: Duff McKagan; drums: Steven Adler.
Live performances:
This song was played for the first time October 30, 1987, at an acoustic gig at the CBGB's, USA. It was later played at the Limelight, USA, on January 31, 1988, and in Mears in July 30, 1988. In total it has, as of {UPDATEDATE}, at least been played {ONEINAMILLIONSONGS} times.
GN'R Lies, 1988, track no. 7.
Written by:
Axl Rose.
Musicians:
Vocals: Axl Rose; lead guitar: Slash; rhythm guitar: Izzy Stradlin and Duff McKagan; bass: Duff McKagan; drums: Steven Adler.
Live performances:
This song was played for the first time October 30, 1987, at an acoustic gig at the CBGB's, USA. It was later played at the Limelight, USA, on January 31, 1988, and in Mears in July 30, 1988. In total it has, as of {UPDATEDATE}, at least been played {ONEINAMILLIONSONGS} times.
Lyrics:
Guess I needed
Sometime to get away
I needed some peace of mind
Some peace of mind that'll stay
So I thumbed it
Down to sixth and L.A.
Maybe your greyhound
Could be my way
Police and niggers
That's right
Get out of my way
Don't need to buy none of your
Goldchains today
I don't need no bracelets
Clamped in front of my back
Just need my ticket till then
Won't you cut me some slack
You're one in a million
Yeah, that's what you are
You're one in a million, babe
You are a shooting star
Maybe someday we see you
Before you make us cry
You know we tried to reach you
But you were much too high
Much too high
Much too high
Much too high
Immigrants and faggots
They make no sense to me
They come to your country
And think they do as they please
Like start a mini Iran
Or spread some fucking disease
They talk so many goddamn ways
It's all Greek to me
Well some say I'm lazy
And other say that's just me
Some say I'm crazy
I guess I'll always be
But it been such a long time
Since I knew right from wrong
It's all the means to an end, I,
I keep on movin' along
You're one in a million
Yeah, that's what you are
You're one in a million, babe
You are a shooting star
Maybe someday we see you
Before you make us cry
You know we tried to reach you
But you were much too high
Much too high
Much too high
Much too high
Radicals and racists
Don't point your finger at me
I'm a small town white boy
Just tryin' to make ends meet
Don't need your religion
Don't watch that much TV
Just makin' my livin', baby,
Well that's enough for me
You're one in a million
Yeah, that's what you are
You're one in a million, babe
You are a shooting star
Maybe someday we see you
Before you make us cry
You know we tried to reach you
But you were much too high
Much too high
Much too high
Much too high
Guess I needed
Sometime to get away
I needed some peace of mind
Some peace of mind that'll stay
So I thumbed it
Down to sixth and L.A.
Maybe your greyhound
Could be my way
Police and niggers
That's right
Get out of my way
Don't need to buy none of your
Goldchains today
I don't need no bracelets
Clamped in front of my back
Just need my ticket till then
Won't you cut me some slack
You're one in a million
Yeah, that's what you are
You're one in a million, babe
You are a shooting star
Maybe someday we see you
Before you make us cry
You know we tried to reach you
But you were much too high
Much too high
Much too high
Much too high
Immigrants and faggots
They make no sense to me
They come to your country
And think they do as they please
Like start a mini Iran
Or spread some fucking disease
They talk so many goddamn ways
It's all Greek to me
Well some say I'm lazy
And other say that's just me
Some say I'm crazy
I guess I'll always be
But it been such a long time
Since I knew right from wrong
It's all the means to an end, I,
I keep on movin' along
You're one in a million
Yeah, that's what you are
You're one in a million, babe
You are a shooting star
Maybe someday we see you
Before you make us cry
You know we tried to reach you
But you were much too high
Much too high
Much too high
Much too high
Radicals and racists
Don't point your finger at me
I'm a small town white boy
Just tryin' to make ends meet
Don't need your religion
Don't watch that much TV
Just makin' my livin', baby,
Well that's enough for me
You're one in a million
Yeah, that's what you are
You're one in a million, babe
You are a shooting star
Maybe someday we see you
Before you make us cry
You know we tried to reach you
But you were much too high
Much too high
Much too high
Much too high
Quotes regarding the song and its making:
Writing the song:
For the controversy this song caused due to it's homophobic and anti-homosexual lines, see later chapters.
I hit L.A. with a backpack, a piece of steel in one hand and a can of maize in the other. And guys were trying to sell me joints everywhere, and some black guy turned me on to the bus station. So, I found the bus station. And there'll be a song about the bus station on our EP called "One In A Million".
One of the most shining moments was when [Axl] sat with an acoustic guitar on the edge of his sofa in his trashed apartment and sang 'One in a Million' [from their recently-released Ep, GNR Lies]...and just floored me. It's an amazing song, but it's not very often I hear something that raw or in an early stage where you go, 'That's the whole sentiment. That's the whole execution and that's the whole song.' Usually you hear things and you say, 'Well, this has got a lot of potential and we ought to do this.'
Axl had an apartment at the time, and he said: “Come on over. I want to run a song by you.” He sat on his bed with an acoustic guitar and played me One In A Million. At that moment he seemed incredibly vulnerable. It was almost like his personality shape-shifted and transported back to the very moment he experienced the things he was talking about in that song. The hook of the song was rather plaintive. ‘One in a million’ – a faint wish in his mind that he might ever be.
For the controversy this song caused due to it's homophobic and anti-homosexual lines, see later chapters.
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
NOVEMBER 3-21, 1987
OPENING FOR MÖTLEY CRÜE, PART 1And up until… ’87, so, like six or seven years after we exploded, Guns N’ Roses came out. They were friends of ours, we took them under our wing, we took them on tour.
______________________
After having played individual shows headlining around the US, the band opened for Mötley Crue on parts of their "Girls, Girls, Girls" tour in the US (November 3-29, 1987), something Izzy had been looking forward to [Concert Shots, May 1986]. The members of the two Los Angeles-based bands knew it other from before, and particularly Slash and Nikki Sixx would bond over a shared substance abuse. Slash would recollect that they probably met at the Cathouse:
I was trying to think, like, all the way back, I can't remember when we first met. I remember you [=Slash] being at my house in Van Nuys all the time, always had a guitar, we were, you know, having fun back in the days. I don't remember the day we met, how did you end up at my house because then we became friends and you would come all the time.
Maybe at the Cathouse? You know, hanging out- [...] And then, I don't know, invited us up or something? I mean, I have a recollection of us hanging out of the Cathouse for sure, I don't know if that's where we first were introduced-
Slash would also remember having seen Sixx all the way back in 1982 when Sixx came to Slash's school to promote an EP:
Did I ever tell you the story where - I think I have - but when you were promoting the EP back in whatever it was, 1982? Or something, and you came to Beverly Hills High with Tommy and you had - I was in continuation class, was my final year of high school, 11th grade, and I was in this continuation class with all these - continuation is where all the... your last leg of trying to make an attempt to finish your graduation, and so they have all the screw-ups in there, you know, all the different levels, all the different looks, you know, you've got your drug addicts and you've got your metalheads and you've got your, I don't know, whatever else, there was a biker chick in there. Anyway, so there was these three very 80s hair metal type groupie types, but they're all really sweet, and they were just way into you guys and I was really, you know, I knew who you were from back in the day but I didn't know that much about Motley Crue, and so they went out and you met them on the sidewalk in front of the school and gave them all flyers. I was like, "Wow, check this out!" [?] And they promoted the shit out of you, they were so enthusiastic about it, and they were so smitten and you guys were all, you know, anyway, and I ended up going to that gig and it was you guys and Y&T at the Whisky.
Talking about almost meeting Axl:
At first, it was a big party. Izzy Stradlin would be rolled up in a ball in front of the fireplace, porn stars would be passed out in the living room, and Britt Ekland would come stumbling out of the bathroom One night, two girls came by and said that they were with a guy named Axl who was in a band called Guns N’ Roses, and he wanted to come in but was too shy to knock and ask.
“I think I’ve heard of him,” I told them. “I know his guitar player or something.”
“Then can he come in?” they asked.
“No, but you can.” I told them. And they did.
“I think I’ve heard of him,” I told them. “I know his guitar player or something.”
“Then can he come in?” they asked.
“No, but you can.” I told them. And they did.
The Dirt, HarperEntertainment, 2001
Originally, Guns N' Roses was supposed to open from the start of the tour (The "Girls, Girls, Girls" tour started on June 19), but since Appetite For Destruction wasn't out yet Whitesnake got the job:
Well, we were gonna do it on the original beginning of their tour, but we weren’t ready. Our album hadn’t been put out yet. And so they got Whitesnake and they were real happy with that. But now Whitesnake is ready to start headlining on their own, and they like us and we like them, so it’s like, we’re ready to do it.
Steven would comment on how they had been invited to join the tour:
Nikki [Sixx] called Slash up at the hotel and said, "Hey dude, what's happening? Wanna party?"
In November Whitesnake dropped out to headline their own tour and Guns N' Roses stepped in [Kerrang! March 1989].
Axl was excited about opening for Motley Crue and grateful for the how accommodating the headliner was:
They’re like, they’re rolling out, like, the red carpet. I mean, they’re giving us more lights than they usually give an opening act. They’re giving us more monitors and more things. […] They’re like, they’re really helping us, because they’re into what we’re doing. And like, someone told me the other day, Circus Magazine told me that Vince Neil said some nice things about us (?). I figure that any kid that has the Guns N’ Roses album has a Motley Crue album too, so it should be great.
Slash would also look forward to the tour, and particularly about Tom Zutaut joining them for the first few weeks:
What's really cool is that Tom Zutaut is going out with us for the first week of the tour [which began in early November]. 'Cause he signed Motley Crue to Elektra. It's gonna be funny, 'cause we're gonna get in lots of trouble.
The Crue tour was a much bigger show then what the band was used to by then, and, according to Axl, the band "learned a lot about professionalism from that. Fuckin’ a lot" [Rock City News, January 1988]. The band also learnt a lot about partying and wild living:
Well, touring with Motley everybody tends to get very excessive, which we like. If I get too wasted and carried away or pissed off about something, rather than punch someone in the mouth I'll throw a phone, smash a picture on the wall. The first night of the Motley Crue tour, Slash, Steve, Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx got in a wrestling match at their hotel, trashed the whole place. We got the bill, but that's the nature of the business—seeing how much you can survive. Nikki's version of winning a drinking contest is not who drinks the most but who can get away without drinking as much and who can make the other guy pass out.
THE SHOWS
The first two shows of the tour were at Mobile Municipal Auditorium, Mobile, USA (November 3, 1987) and at the Albany Civic Center, Albany, USA (November 4).
The next show took place on November 6 at the Cajun Dome in Lafayette, Louisiana. Not sure on whether the concert should be allowed to take place, a six-man delegation of local officials attended the earlier show in Mobile, Alabama on November 4, to find out if it "warranted any concern". This little mission was described in the Daily Advertiser on November 5. Some excerpts follow:
Cajundome officials found a Motley Crue concert in Mobile to be “way better” than expected and anticipate “no major problems” when the rock group appears here Friday, the Dome Commission’s chairman said Wednesday. […] Bill Rucks III, speaking for a six-man contingent that previewed the act, said while it “may not be suitable to all people” a local assistant district attorney agreed it is “so far from” violation of obscenity laws as to not warrant serious concern. […] The trip followed complaints by several Lafayette citizens and groups that Motley Crue is not up to area legal and moral standards. […] Rucks added that performers used “tough language,” but claimed there was no promotion of drugs or Satanic views in the lyrics he heard.
The same newspaper also published a review of the November 6 show at Cajun Dome in Lafayette, Indiana:
It was a 14-year-old’s fantasy and a parent’s nightmare. […] Even before the opening act, Guns and Roses, took the stage, the decibel level was deafening. When Guns and Roses did go on stage, sound levels became excruciating. There is little to say about the music. Each song was indistinguishable from the one before. This was the heaviest of heavy metal. […] Profanity was the order of the evening. Unprintable four letter words spewed forth with unpleasant regularity. The band even offered up a little of their own philosophy while commenting from the stage about the controversy that preceded their appearance here. “The apathy of the young,” said the lead singer, “is the strength of the old.” A telling point about the overall tender years of the audience members is that the singer followed that comment by asking if the audience knew what the word apathy meant. […] Musically, Motley Crue is light years ahead of Guns and Roses. Crue band members can and occasionally did play their musical instruments with a high degree of skill […]. And Lafayette was not spared the group’s cheeky salute as the drummer dropped his pants and mooned the audience. [...] The insult to the injury here is that neither band is especially good. Mediocrity rises to the top again. There is good rock ’n’ roll. There is even good heavy metal. The Motley Crue/Guns and Roses concert was neither. It was just a chance for the younger citizens of Lafayette to rebel.
The next shows were at Lake Front Arena, New Orleans, USA (November 7); Lake Front Arena, New Orleans, USA (November 8); Von Braun Civic Center, Huntsville, USA (November 10); Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, USA (November 11); Coliseum, Columbia, USA (November 14); Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, USA (November 15); Jefferson Civic Center, Birmingham, USA (November 18); and UTC Arena, Chattanoga, USA (November 21). The band also played Coliseum, Columbia, USA and Savannah Civic Center, Savannah, USA but it is not known when these shows took place.
While in Savannah, someone stole Duff and Slash's clothes:
Slash and I got our bags stolen. We got on the tour bus in Savannah, Georgia. Put our like bags under the bunk, left the thing open like rookies. [...] Left it open, got on the bus. Somebody stole our bags. So we just had literally the clothes we had on. You can't go to a mall in Savannah, Georgia and get new shit, right? What are you gonna get? Acid washed jeans.
In 2016, Axl would be asked how audiences had changed over the years and mention how violent it used to be back in the day when they were opening for other bands.
When we were opening for bigger bands and then we were first starting headlining. You didn't have everybody videoing. I don’t think anyone realizes how violent it was... and it was really violent in the crowd. I don't think it was as bad as when…Woodstock with Limp Bizkit and Nine Inch Nails or whatever got really out of hand. There were shows where there'd be a wheelchair coming on stage because they are standing on someone that fell out of it. And you have to stop the show. I got a lot of grief for stopping the shows for no reason. That was media just- somebody being…when I say media, media is somebody writing for somebody else and protected by that company and saying whatever they want whether it is true or not. And… there was just a lot of really rowdy crowds. And people like the music but they might want beat [themselves] up- I remember when we first started we'd have security looking for that. So they want to get in and get in a fight with someone and we put a stop to that pretty quick and got rid of people working for us that wanted to go beat up kids. Like a lot of cops get jobs because they can beat up people for you know… and it is legally protected. That's the way people get in sometimes for a security [gig]. It was really violent and it is not as near that now. [...] a lot better [now].
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
NOVEMBER 22, 1987
THE OMNI, ATLANTA, AXL GETS ARRESTEDIn Atlanta on November 22, at The Omni, when touring with Motley Crue, Axl jumped into the crowd to fight a security man he claimed pushed one of his friends [The Atlanta Constitution, November 24, 1987; Rolling Stone, November 1988]. According to Doc McGhee, the manager of Mötley Crüe, the security man was an off-duty cop [Nikky Sixx biography, 2008].
Charlie Brusco, the Omni's head of security would later describe the incident like this: "First strike, he hit an Atlanta police officer. Second strike, he hit a female Atlanta police officer. Third strike, he hit a black female Atlanta police officer. He’s going to jail" [Vulture, 2016].
With Axl detained, roadie Big Ron got on stage to sing 'Honky Town Women' and 'Communication Breakdown' [Rolling Stone, November 1988]. According to McGhee, he sang 'Communication Breakdown' four times, "not terribly well" [Nikki Sixx biography, 2008]. McGhee would also say that Slash sang "a few songs", including a Rolling Stones song [Nikki Sixx biography, 2008].
Axl's mugshotNovember 22, 1987
According to Brusco, he begged for Rose to be allowed to finish the show and finally the head of security said, "If he apologizes to the police officer in writing, we’ll let him go." Axl signed his apology, and security brought in the female officer who had been hit. Axl looked up and said, “Fuck you, you fucking jag-off cop.” Axl was then hauled to jail, and the show was canceled.
"I don’t think,” Brusco would say, "I did another Guns show after that" [Vulture, 2016]. To avoid a trial, Axl pleaded guilty to assaulting the police and paid a fine [Rolling Stone, November 1988] and was released the day after [Nikki Sixx biography, 2008].
The band members would remember it this way:
Two nights ago we did a show in Atlanta. At about the second song, I found myself on the way to jail. I won’t go into a lot of detail on that, but, basically, that was a case of people getting pushed around to sit in the back, people getting hurt to sit in the back; and people abusing their authority and guys going “Look, I got the lead singer!”. I’m gonna dedicate this to the “Atlanta’s finest” and to the guys that bailed me out. This is a song called “Out Ta Get Me”!
This guy named Scott, he works in a record store up in Detroit, and he sells records, he’s got a Guns N’ Roses tattoo and stuff, and he comes to a lot of our shows. And the show is in Atlanta, at the Omni, and they make the people... the people can’t get in the aisles, people can’t come to the front of the stage, it’s a big law there; the security will get fined like $25,000 if people are in the aisles or anything. But some of the security doesn’t really seem to care about that, they like the job so they can push around kids. On the Friday night show [11.20.1987] there was this one guy particularly hassling the kids... and the kids don’t know, they come round to the front of the stage, they just think it’s a concert. And this guy like was being overly rough and I jumped off the stage into the pit, leaned on the barricade and grabbed him.
We just recently did a show in Atlanta, opening up for Motley Crue [...], and I [...] actually warned a security guard being a little shit and pushing the kids around, really proving that he was an asshole, and he called me out. So I dived down over the fucking rail, and before I got over the rail, the fucker hit me. So I got him about three times, and now I’m being charged with four counts of assault for hitting police that I never touched. These are the kind of people that can just suck my dick! You know, I’ve got nothing against fucking security. [?] you're out doing your job, but you don’t need to fucking push kids; not my friends that come here. These are the kind of people that get me down. They make me feel that somebody out there is out to get me!
I can think of a few people I wouldn't want to have [Appetite For Destruction] in their collections, like the Atlanta police. I don't want them to even have listened to it at all.
There was one crowded show we did, where Axl jumped in the crowd to beat up a security guard who pushed one of our friends around, and we did the whole show without him. He went to jail and we did, like, Honky Tonk Women and guitar solos, and we had a roadie come out and sing Communication Breakdown and we hung out (?) As long as that real feeling and that sincerity is there, people always pick up on it, because that’s what rock ‘n’ roll is all about.
We played in Atlanta and Axl jumped off the stage to help out a fan who was getting beaten by these security guys. He never made it back on stage so we improvised a seven minute blues jam.
In Atlanta I dived in and I had police saying I hit them. I never did, but I had to plead guilty because we didn't have any money at the time. Lie? Yes, I guess I did lie once. I lied and said that I hit four cops. I guess we should reopen the case and take me to trial for perjury. But I didn't have $56,000 to pay them off under the table.
Concert promoter Charlie Brusco looking back at the show in 2016:
As concert promoter Charlie Brusco walked through the back door of the arena shortly after the concert started, he knew something was wrong. “I heard this horrible sound,” Brusco says. “I look up, and one of the guys in the road crew was singing.” A roadie for the band named Big Ron was on lead vocals, because, earlier, Rose had jumped offstage, punched a cop, and been carried away. The Omni’s head of security told Brusco, “First strike, he hit an Atlanta police officer. Second strike, he hit a female Atlanta police officer. Third strike, he hit a black female Atlanta police officer. He’s going to jail.” Brusco begged for Rose to be allowed to finish the show. Finally the security chief said, “If he apologizes to the police officer in writing, we’ll let him go.” Brusco agreed. He was led to Rose, who was sitting at a makeshift booking table wearing his trademark bandanna. Rose dutifully signed his apology, and security brought in the female officer. Then Rose looked up and said, “Fuck you, you fucking jag-off cop.” He was hauled to jail, and the show was canceled. “I don’t think,” Brusco says, “I did another Guns show after that.”
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
NOVEMBER 24-29, 1987
OPENING FOR MÖTLEY CRÜE, PART 2After the November 22 show in Atlanta, the band played five more shows on the Motley Crue tour. The first took place at the Lakeland Civic Center, Lakeland, USA (November 24).
[Being asked if it was a good show]: Fucking righteous, man! It kicked ass. I had a good time. Highly satanic. In a big way.
Then followed a second show at Lakeland Civic Center, Lakeland, USA (November 25); Jacksonville, USA (November 26); and Lee Civic Center, Fort Myers, USA (November 27) before the last show of the tour at the Sportarium in Hollywood, Florida, on November 29, 1987. As customary, the headliners decided to prank the opener band:
We had one bomb explode on us once. And we didn't even do it! The guys in Mötley Crüe when we toured with them. Scared the shit [interrupted]. It was the first song [interrupted]. 'It's So Easy', and it comes in goes "bom-cha-bom-bom-cha-BOOOOM!" and I watched everybody in the band, standing in front, in one leap they were all behind me.
Scared the shit out of me, too! […] It was sick. It was the last show. They did it as a joke to us.
One time when we toured with Motley Crue, in our last show with them, we did so much cocaine on that tour that they, when we were playing they poured flour over me. Like it was cocaine falling from the lights. Sweat and flour make dough, and it sits in your hair for weeks and weeks.
NOVEMBER 29: NIKKI SIXX OVERDOSES; FURTHER TOURING WITH THE CRUE IS CANCELLED
Presumably after the band's last show with Motley Crue, Slash and Nikki Sixx visited the Rainbow club in Los Angeles for some post-tour partying. Sixx overdosed and was wheeled out of the Rainbow on a stretcher and rushed to the hospital where for a period of six hours doctors feared for his life [Hit Parader, November 1988].
According to Izzy, they should also have continued touring with Motley in Europe after the US tour, but this was cancelled when the guys in Motley had to "go into detox" [The Face, October 1987]. This was likely due to Sixx' overdose. This planned European tour with Motley is mentioned in other contemporary sources, and was planned to extend into 1988 [Interview with Steven Harris, December 1987; Rock City News, January 1988].
I know fans were very disappointed when the Mõtley Crüe tour was called off. They shouldn't have done it, but that's up to them.
Metal Hammer (Germany), April 1988; translated from German
Sixx would incidentally have another overdose on December 23:
I needed to go out on the scene to escape from my own decay and loneliness. I flipped through my phone book in search of old friends. I called Robbin Crosby, then Slash, because Guns N’ Roses were going to open for us in America after the European tour. I picked up Robbin at his house in a silver limo I liked to rent and gave him some blow. On the way to the Franklin Plaza Hotel, where Guns N’ Roses were staying because they were all homeless, I threw up all over the limo. I wiped the chucks off on an antique beaver-hair covered top hat I had bought for Slash and gave it to him at his door along with a bottle of whiskey. Some of the guys in Megadeth were also staying at the hotel, so we all piled into the limo. Robbin scored some junk from his dealer, who wasn’t too happy about the conspicuous limo outside his house, and we did drugs until our minds went blank.
The Dirt, HarperEntertainment, 2001
This overdose is likely the one described in The Dirt movie (2019) and Slash would comment on it:
I actually talked to Nikki and he told me that there was something in the movie - before I'd seen it - sort of a tip of the hat to me or something. And then when I saw the movie, I was like, “Oh yeah, yeah.” Because, I mean, there is some truth to that, you know, because Nikki was at… We were staying at the Franklin apartments, and Nikki and myself and Steve Adler and my friend Mark Mansfield had gone to the Cathouse. And we ran in, and Mark and me were getting some smack, and we went back to the Franklin apartments, and I was drunk so I just passed out. And then my girlfriend woke me up to tell me that Nikki had OD'd. And he was in the next apartment over in (?) apartment. And Mark Mansfield was the one that had the smack and he took off. And then the paramedics came and they had to pick me up and put me in the shower so I could get coherent enough to be able to talk to them (?).
LEARNING FROM THE CRUE
Obviously, this was a very raucous period for the band and the match between Guns and Motley was explosive:
These guys are nuts. I mean, they keep me hopping, all the time. I'm getting about two hours sleep a-night. […] They are the craziest guys I ever worked for. […] I have to make sure that I always have enough alcohol. It doesn't matter if it's 8 am or when.
That was the craziest tour we'd ever been on.
One incident happened when Slash and Nikki Sixx were wrestling, resulting in neck injury for Slash:
When I was on tour with Motley Crue, Nikki Sixx fell on me when we were wrestling one night when we were drunk, and dislocated through the vertebras in my neck, and I had to go onstage – I had to go to chiropractors every day and stuff. I was in serious agony, I couldn’t move on stage. It was like, I just had to stand there..
Another incident was when the Motley guys fooled Steven into sniffing washing powder:
Talkin' of sick. Y'now Motley Crue? Sick fuckin' guys, man! Real sick fucks, those guys! […] You wouldn't have believed these guys. Like they're doin' an ounce of cocaine each a fuckin' day. These guys are walkin' into fuckin' walls, man. And they're doing this shit... Y'know, havin' this chick tied to the bed and stuff. And they tried to get us into that shit too, just to fuck us up, right. Which is what happened. I mean, can you believe... These guys gave fuckin' Stevie fuckin' Ajax to snort all fuckin' night. Fucked him up. You don't pull that kinda shit on another musician!
SLASH GETS TEABAGGED
In 2005, Tommy Lee would talk about teabagging Slash during the tour:
When Guns was opening for us, Slash thought he could keep up with us drinking Jack. So we started ripping em back. Slash throws up. We got him back to one of our rooms, laid him down on the bed, put our nut sacs right on his chin and took a fucking Polaroid of it. I think we laminated it and made that his tour pass.
FHM Magazine, March 2005
Don’t trust your friends (laughs). [...] I saw the picture. [...] It’s actually in Nikki’s book. I think it’s a little bit more graphic in Nikki’s book, of course-
LOOKING BACK AT THE TOUR WITH CRUE
But all in all, the band was happy about the tour and their increased popularity:
We’ve been really lucky, because the album’s been selling. This is our first major tour and it’s only a month long tour, and we’ve sold a lot of records. And we’ve kept having sold out gigs. Every single one that we’ve done has been packed by the time we went on, which is, for me, unheard of for an opening band; it’s usually half a house before it.
[Motley Crue's] been really cool, real supportive. They’ve been giving us a lot of leeway, giving us almost an hour on stage, which is another thing that is pretty much unheard of. You know, we can do pretty much whatever we want and we hang out with them a lot. It’s been really great.
And then we went out with Mötley and that was that was pretty insane, you know, 'cause like any night that we did two nights in a row, the first night, you know, we got them going, but if we did two nights in a row when we came back to the second night they were like, "Whoa, now we know who these guys are. The first time people see us, a lot of times unless they've really heard us and are into us, they are more into watching and checking us out and watching every little thing. But by the time you do a second night they lose their minds. They're like, "Yeah, now I can let myself go. It's it's cool to act like I like these guys."
Then we went out with Motley Crue, which was great. I mean, playing 15,000 seaters and stuff with bands like ourselves just fresh out of the clubs. It went over real well.
I had tonsillitis the whole two weeks of the tour. It was a real bitch just getting on stage, one of the hardest things I've ever done. But the guys [in Motley] were great. Every night they were on the side watching our show. We did the same with them. They gave us 50 minutes, we'd go to 52 or 53 and it was cool.
The dates with the Crue have been the coolest of the tours we've done. Just being part of this huge production and walking around and hanging out backstage and seeing what goes into something like their stage show was pretty incredible. Going to Europe and playing there was pretty nice too.
[Reminiscing about walking around at the arenas when they were opening for Crue] and just freaking - our little band as a part of this huge, major thing.
It was chaotic. I’d say we were on a par [with Crue on partying]. There were no limitations. Our management would try keeping things away from us but we always caused mayhem. Madness is the only word. We just didn’t give a shit.
Mötley kicked our asses. Back in the halcyon days of GN'R, when everyone thought we were the most badass and hard-drinking/drugging motherfuckers around (and maybe so did we), we quickly found out we were in the minor league compared to where Mötley Crüe resided. With their code names for different drugs and private jet, our peek into their world—when we opened for them on the "Girls, Girls, Girls" tour—was a peek into an abyss that they'd found a way of skating around the brink of while many others had fallen in. Hey, there is nothing glamorous about drinking and drugging, but I must say these guys at least perfected that dark art for a while there back in the '80s.
In June 1988, Axl would list some of his favorite musician to be Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee [Metal Edge, June 1988].
There were many similarities between Guns N' Roses and Mötley Crüe, something Sixx would acknowledge:
We've had our influences, and Guns N' Roses have theirs. We've toured together, and hung out together, and I think we call each other friends. That's cool. I don't see them as competition to us because we're all working towards the same goal - to play rock and roll for the kids out there. They're going through some of the things that we went through five or six years ago, and they're having a great time. More power to 'em. Bands like Guns N' Roses are what rock and roll are all about in my book.
Hit Parader, November 1988
DID NIKKI SIXX STEAL THE RIFF TO DR. FEELGOOD?
In 2018, Doug Goldstein would claim that Nikki Sixx had stolen the riff to Dr. Feelgood from Guns N' Roses:
There is something worth noting, Dr. Feelgood, the Motley Crue song, that’s a Guns N’ Roses song. Slash and Duff [McKagan] wrote that riff. They wrote it down in Redondo Beach, when I was with them. [Guns N’ Roses] were rehearsing, and Steven [Adler] would come down once a week, and Duff would come down five days a week, and they were jamming and they came up with that riff. Nikki is famous for taking a recorder to a club and stealing songs from bands, [they got it] because they recorded the recorded before we did. [...] They’re friends. I never pushed it, I brought it up, ‘Guys, hello, it’s that song.’ ‘Oh it’s Nikki, don’t worry about it.'
Steven would deny this:
None whatsoever. Nikki is a genius. He is one step ahead of everybody. But he didn’t steal nothing from nobody. He’s a freaking genius. [...] The only thing of ‘Dr. Feelgood’, that ‘Kickstart My Heart’ song, he wrote it about the paramedics took that syringe and did that Pulp Fiction thing to him. But they didn’t do that; they didn’t do that. I dragged him into the shower with a broken hand and a cast on my hand, I rolled him in, I put the cold water on him in the shower and I started slapping him in the face with my cast. And next thing you know, the purple in his face just disappeared. And then right then, the paramedics came in and they grabbed him out of the shower like a rag doll, dropped him in the living room and they just pumped his chest with their hands. And that was it. But he got a hell of a good song out of it. It is entertainment, after all.
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
DECEMBER 3-12, 1987
OPENING FOR ALICE COOPERMy favorite song on Appetite for Destruction is “Mr. Brownstone,” something about that song is very, very cool. It just jumps out at me. When we took Guns N’ Roses out, we played Santa Barbara with them when they were pretty much a bar band, and they just rocked. I thought, if they can keep from either dying in jail or in the bathroom from drugs, they’re gonna be unbelievably good.
_______________________________
The Mötley Crue tour ended after Nikki Sixx' overdose on November 29, 1987, and the band, who had planned to continue touring with Motley in Europe [The Face, October 1989] was without a job. Fortunately, the band got a call from Alice Cooper asking them to open for him for two weeks in December (December 3-19, 1987) [The Face, October 1989] on a tour that also included Megadeath [Talk Is Jericho, September 6, 2017].
We said, 'Alice Cooper... Fuckin' A!' Hey, I grew up listening to y'know "Sick Things", "I Love the Dead". It was a lot better than fuckin' reality. So we did 'em. Alice was cool. He's still... Y'know... "Alice".
Opening for Alice Cooper was monumental because me and Izzy, it's funny, we leave Alice Cooper onstage and go backstage to get our showers and have an old Alice Cooper taped in, you know, in the deck playing, and not because we were on tour with Alice Coopers but because it's stuff we listen to. And I go, "Wait a minute man, we'll shut the tape off and go out and watch it live for the first time in our lives."
We did a tour of a stage with Alice Cooper, and he just really likes the band. And it was a huge compliment to have someone like Alice Cooper actually have any kind of respect for us, only because we've loved Alice Cooper for so long. So when he said that he liked the band, we were like, "fucking great!", you know?
Alice Cooper would reminisce about taking them on tour, but here he probably mixes up shows, because the Rolling Stones shows at the Coliseum took place in 1989, well before Guns N' Roses opened for Alice Cooper in 1987:
It was backstage at the Rolling Stones show at the LA Coliseum during the Steel Wheels tour. Axl found me and said, "You have to do me a huge favor. My mom is here. Could I please introduce you to my mom?' I came over and he says, 'Hey mom, remember that time back in 1974 when Alice Cooper was on TV and you wouldn't let me watch it? Well, guess who I'm friends with now?' And I was very charming. She was a lovely lady. I said, 'Don't worry, I'll take care of Axl on the road.' I've been sweet revenge to a lot of people. I've met so many mothers. Even better when somebody comes up and says, 'Hey, dad, this is Alice Cooper. He can beat you at golf.'
The first show took place at La Villa Real Special Events Center in McAllen, TX, USA, on December 3, 1987. While touring in South America in late 1992, Axl would mention how Mexico is one of his favorite states to tour in and that the McAllen show in 1987 was particularly good due to all the Mexicans attending:
We did a show in McAllen, Texas when we were opening for Alice Cooper, and there was 5,000 people and the majority was Mexican. It was one the most exciting crowds we’ve played to.
Guns N' Roses and Alice Cooper, December 1987
The band then went to Fair Park Coliseum, Dallas, USA (December 4); Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, USA (December 5); Pan American University Field House, Edinburgh, Texas, USA (December 7); Chaparral Center, Midland, USA (December 8) (this show was likely cancelled due to too few tickets sold [Odessa American, Dec. 8, 1987]; Show Me Center, Cape Girardeau, Missouri (December 11); and Louisville Gardens, Louisville, Kentucky, USA (December 12).
In 2017, Duff would look back at the tour:
We did Alice Cooper tour, we were the first of three [bands on the bill]. [...] through the Midwest. So that's like, you know, it's us, Megadeth, Alice Cooper. [...] So you got to set up in front of not only Alice Cooper stuff, but Megadeath's stuff- [...] There was gigs where we had to jump over the bass drum to get to the other side of stage.
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
DECEMBER 12-17, 1987
STEVEN BREAKS HIS HAND AND FRED COURY STEPS INSTEVEN FIGHTS A LIGHTPOST
Some time after the band's December 12 show at Louisville Gardens in Louisville, Kentucky, Steven broke a finger in his hand, according to Izzy after having got in some trouble at a Holiday Inn.
I’ll explain to you very basically what happened with my hand. I went to this bar in Michigan for lunch, and I had 14 Kamikaze’s (7 but they were doubles). Anyway, I got drunk, got a little out of hand, got into this fight with the manager, no, what do they call them? [...] Lumberjacks. This big old dude just pushed me around, tossed me out of the door of the bar. There was this lamppost outside, I got mad, punched it, kinda missed and hit the metal part. I wasn’t the nicest guy in the universe after that.
He drank 7 double kamikazis and punched a lightpost outside the bar.
Izzy would mention that it was connected to Alice Cooper's father passing away:
Anyway, after like a week Alice's old man died or somethin', a gig was canceled and we got, like, really slaughtered in a Holiday Inn like somewhere in West Michigan. And it's snowing, right, fuckin' Stevie's fucked up, he goes and punches out a fuckin' electric light bulb in the fuckin' street, man. His hand's fuckin' swellin' up like an egg and he's on the bus cryin' and shit. We're goin', 'Shut the fuck up!' This shit tends to use up an awful fuckin' lot of our time.
This suggests the band had travelled to the destination of their next show, Muskegon in Michigan, but that this show was cancelled after the sad passing of Alice Cooper's father which resulted in heavy drinking for the band at a local Holiday Inn. That the incident happened in Muskegon would be confirmed in a December 1987 article [Hard Rock (France), December 1987].
The rumours in the newspapers had it that Steven was frustrated with having to be longer on the road due to logistic surrounding the death of Cooper's father [L.A. Weekly, December 25, 1987].
Apparently, Steven was so messed up Slash and Duff had to drag him away across the street, resulting in wounds to his back. Doug Goldstein then took him to the hospital [Late Night Bull, December 1987].
Because of Steven's mishap, or possible due to Cooper's father's death, the band missed the three next shows with Alice Cooper: LC Walker Arena, Muskegon, Michigan, USA (December 13); Lakeview Arena, Marquette, Michigan, USA (December 15; possibly cancelled); and Duluth Arena, Duluth, Minnesota, USA (December 16).
FRED COURY GETS A CALL
In August 2018, Fred Coury, the drummer for the band Cinderella, would describe how he became the stand-in for Steven:
I got a call on my answering machine that simply said “learn the song on your outgoing message, I’ll call back in an hour”. (I had Welcome To The Jungle on my machine) it was GNR’s manager. 3 hrs later I was on a flight to Minneapolis to play a show that night with them. Steven had broken his hand and they asked me to fill in for the remainder of the tour.
Thunder Bay Arena Rock, August 2018
Doug Goldstein, who is Guns N’ Roses’ tour manager, called me on the phone one night around 3:00 in the morning and said, ‘What are you doing currently? Are you busy with Cinderella?’ I told him I wasn’t until April, since I had finished the drum parts for the new album. I had the song ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ on my answering machine - I had it since the album came out. Eventually, I got a message saying, ‘It's Doug. Call me and learn how to play the song that's on your answering machine.’ Then the guys from Guns contacted me and told me me that Steven had broken his hand. I was really happy to fill in, because it’s one of Cinderella’s favorite bands. So I called our manager, Larry Mazer, and then Tom Keifer, and asked them if they were okay with it. They agreed with no problem.
The band would discuss how it happened:
Right now we're using Fred Coury from Cinderella because our drummer has a broken hand, and so him and Fred are really good friends and Fred flew in and Fred knows all the songs because he has time off right now. And so the other night we were playing with Alice Cooper and Fred played two songs he'd never played before all his life live. [...] He did great, he did great [?]. I told the crowd, "Not bad for a guy who's never played the song before, huh?" and they went screaming.
So, we were up in the northern part of the country a couple of months ago and we met the likes of this character right here (points to Fred). He came to a few of our shows. You know, he told us that he practiced to our album. Drummers do that, Steve practices to Frankie Vallie and Fred practices to our album. We thought, Stevie broke his hand but we’re obligated to finish this tour. We’re obligated to a lot of things actually. So we called Fred Coury and he was gracious enough to come out and do this for us.
Fred’s really cool, and he came and filled in at the last minute, and he knew all the songs and he really saved our necks.
That was very strange. Freddy is a great drummer, but every drummer has a different feel, and even if he's playing exactly what Stevie's doing on the record, it's not the same. You know, I was a drummer before I played bass, and that gave me more insight into working with a drummer, because you know what's going on inside his head. So it creates a much better groove because we can talk to each other. Most drummers are odd things to begin with, and usually the band can't understand what he's saying. But me and Stevie are real tight, so I did not enjoy playing with a different drummer.
Coury would claim to be paid $ 25,000 per show [Late Night Bull, December 1987].
Steven, with cast, unknown, and Fred Coury
Interestingly, Slash would admit to having broken his hand, too, some time before Steven's incident, in Seattle and having to wear a cast for eight weeks [Late Night Bull, December 1987].
COURY LOOKS BACK AT PLAYING WITH GUNS N' ROSES
It was really amazing. I literally had a blast! [...] I really needed it. I mean, Cinderella are a pretty wild and goofy band when they're on the road, but when they come home they have their little families and want to stay home. With the Guns N’ Roses guys it's a non-stop party!
It was quite special, because I loved this band since the first time I listened to them and I had a tendency to share their music with everyone around me. These guys became my friends very quickly. I had just met them once; two weeks later, it was my birthday and they were playing in Philadelphia. They interrupted their show and asked me to go up on stage. Actually, the exact words were, ‘Is Fred Coury here? You’d better get your ass on stage or this show isn't gonna last long.’ So I walked out of the crowd and climbed on stage, and there was a big cake. As you can guess, I slipped and fell all over it. It was fun and we became friends right away for many reasons.
Coury would also talk about how Steven had been supportive:
Steven was amazing! He was there to tell me what parts to play and to direct me like a coach on a football team. He was always by my side and if I needed anything during the show, I just had to look at him; he’d get it and air-drum the parts. He saw me as a friend and not as a guy who would come out of some studio with drum parts to play. I also had great support from all of the Guns members because they knew I was totally into their music. So I’m available to help them whenever they want.
ROY WILKINS AUDITORIUM, FIRST SHOW WITH COURY
The first show with Coury on drums was at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium, St. Paul, USA on December 17.
AxlDecember 17, 1987
Izzy and SlashDecember 17, 1987
Axl, Duff and SlashDecember 17, 1987
CouryDecember 17, 1987
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
DECEMBER 18-19, 1987
"BON JOVI CAN SUCK MY DICK"The next show was at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago on December 18, 1987. Before the show, the band got in a major brawl at their hotel. Rolling Stone Magazine would describe what happened:
[…] the band members got hassled when they tried to check into the hotel early. A fight was narrowly averted. Later that night, in the hotel bar, Axl punched a business man who hassled his friends and called the singer a "Bon Jovi look-alike." Dozens of cops broke up the brawl, and Axl and Steven went to jail.
This story is corroborated by Monica Gregory, an old friend of Axl whose ex-husband, Dana, was with Axl at the time:
[…] for very little reason, these guys started hassling them: 'Who do you think you are? Bon Jovi?' It was like: 'No, leave me alone'. The guys with the ties and short hair were yelling obscenities at Axl and Dana 'cause they got long hair. All the cops came in and basically beat the crap outta Axl.....Just because.
Steven would later prefer to not say too much about this incident:
I went to jail in Chicago once. We got into this big fight, a major fight in the bar of a hotel. But I better not say anything else about that
Axl would later talk about the incident:
We got in a fight in Chicago at the Hyatt Regency. It was about a 60 person fight, cops and paddy wagons, security guards, guys in suits from a wedding who started throwing the first punches. They told us they knew it wasn't our fault.
But the fun wasn't over yet. Rolling Stone would describe what happened later at night:
Afterward, Goldstein found Slash drunk in the bar, threw the guitarist over his shoulder and carried him back to his room. To show his thanks, Slash peed on Goldstein's shoulder.
The next show, and the final show of the tour with Alice Cooper, was at Dane County Coliseum, Madison, USA on December 19.
From the stage in Madison Axl would talk about the previous day's brawl and say he got in a fight because he had long hair and that one guy grabbed him and told him he looked like Bon Jovi, causing him to utter the now famous "Bon Jovi can suck my dick":
Now last night, what happened was, five guys in suits decided in the Hyatt Regency Hotel that we were scumbags. They were right, we are scumbags, But that doesn't mean we're gonna take their shit. So, first off this guy grabs me and calls me Bon Jovi. Bon Jovi can suck my dick. Second off he tried to hit me, that's when Steven cracked him in the head with his cast. [...] You never try to hit one of the family. Then another guy tried to hit me [...]. And after that they kicked us out of the bar and the same five guys holding ice bags on their heads blocked us off in the hallway and called us out away. He knocked the same motherfucker out twice. After that the cops came and started arresting people who weren't even involved in the fight! Because they have typical cop mentality. The reason I went to jail was because this real big fucking cop told this 17 year old girl who they were trying to arrest her boyfriend and she was upset, that if she didn't shut her fucking mouth he'd kick her fucking ass and that she was a stupid bitch. Pretty low, right, for a big fucker? And then he went to hit her, and so, to distract him I told him to fuck off. This guy chased me for about 20 feet and threw me ten feet [?] into the bar. I wasn't even fighting and it took 5 fucking assholes to hold me down. People wonder what we write our songs about. I think you can get the general idea when we write a song like...out to get me!.
LOOKING BACK AT THE TOUR WITH ALICE COOPER
The band would remember the shows with Alice Cooper this way:
We were the epitome of Red Dog surviving on the road. Plus we had to play in the corner of the stage because Alice’s stage set was so large.
Everybody in the band on the Alice Cooper tour was really cool to us, they dug it. They’d be walking down the halls going, “Welcome to the Jungle”, you know. And we hung out with Alice and was like, you know, this is a great band and stuff, and we did photos with him.
The last night of the tour he was getting off the stage, and me and Axl were hanging out on the side, and he goes by and says, “Hey man, thanks for everything.”
With Alice [Cooper] we had to be a strict 45 [minutes' set]. Alice has still got it, and he's a really nice person. We didn't meet him until the next-to-last show. He likes his privacy.
Alice Cooper would also look back at the shows and especially talk about Slash with fondness, although this is also likely a result of having built a good relationship with him in the years after the tour:
They had a reputation for fighting and getting in trouble and getting thrown in jail but they were never late for a show. Never late for a soundcheck. They had a lot of respect for us. Slash knew every Alice Cooper song. He was the invisible member of Alice Cooper. He's still got an invitation at all times to come up and play guitar, whenever he's in town...without asking. Sometimes I'll be playing and singing and I'll hear this extra guitar and I'll turn around and it'll be Slash.
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
DECEMBER 1987
GEFFEN WANTS TO QUIT TOURING AND FOCUS ON THE NEXT ALBUMMTV DOES NOT WANT TO PLAY THE BAND
The importance of getting aired on MTV was very important to bands back in the 80s and 90s because of the global exposure it provided. But MTV was not interested in playing the video to Welcome to the Jungle:
You know, Guns N' Roses scared people. I mean, you know, Mötley Crüe were like the third rate Kiss that were the laughingstock of LA. You know, Guns N' Roses were these like dangerous drug addicts that everyone was scared of and, you know, MTV vowed from the day the album came out that they would never play something like Guns N' Roses ever, and to not even bother badgering them or talking to them. Radio refused to play Guns N' Roses. I mean, at least with Mötley Crüe, I mean radio wanted to play it, but the Elektra employees were trying to keep it off the radio because it wasn't their priority. In this case, radio literally said, "This band is too dangerous, we can't play it, and they don't have any hits."
Talking about the GN'R's reputation back then and claim Geffen people would be hiding in their offices when then band visited:
People were literally afraid of Guns N' Roses. You know, people weren't afraid of Mötley Crüe. I mean, you know, Mötley Crüe were rebellious and, you know, they had antics and they did crazy stuff. [...] But somehow they were less threatening, you know, believe it or not. And, you know, their songs actually are very hooky and very poppy and very commercial in a way. You know, Nikki Sixx writes hit songs, you know. Guns N' Roses obviously had as many, or more, hits than Mötley Crüe, but, you know there was this thing about Guns N' Roses people were deathly afraid of them. I mean, they were afraid to look at them. I mean, one of the funniest days at Geffen would be when Guns N' Roses were rolling by, everyone would close the doors to their offices and hide.
Mickey Finn, the singer of Jetboy would find this strange:
No [I wasn't afraid of them]. I mean, because I was friends with all the guys and, you know, we were peers in the music scene and I just didn't see him that way at all. I mean, they were all super cool guys and fun to hang out with. [...] We were kind of ruling the San Francisco scene and we came to LA and opened for Guns N' Roses and Poison and L.A. Guns and those bands, and they would come up to San Francisco and play with us. [...] We wound up signing with MCA and we had our trials and tribulations. But no, I didn't... You know, it's kind of shocking to me to hear that people were that terrified of Guns N' Roses because they weren't big, muscular, scary guys, so to speak- [...] They were reckless, though. They were super reckless. You never knew what they were gonna do next, you know. [...] But somehow that kind of behavior worked for them. It doesn't always for every band, it definitely didn't work for us. There was a few hotel thrashings and that kind of thing, and which we got totally screwed for and in trouble and huge bills and stuff. But I was always hearing about stuff with those guys and they could just get away with it for some reason. I don't know.
GEFFEN WANTS TO FOCUS ON THE NEXT ALBUM
Because of MTV's unwillingness to play the song, heads at Geffen wanted to give up on the record. Both Zutaut and Niven would be told that the band needed to end the touring and instead focus on the next record:
I get called into the president of the company's office one day and he looks at me and says, "Hey kid, it was a great run, but you've got to quit beating up the promotion people. They can't get it on the radio, MTV's not going to play it, and we're done with this record at 200,000 units." So I looked at my half-boss, who was a great guy, and as smart-aleck of a kid as I was then and as sure of with Gins N' Roses, I had to give him some deference. I said, "with all due respect Eddie, this is the biggest rock and roll band in the world, and 200,000 hasn't even scratched the surface yet. I will not go in the studio and make the next record, I will not stop pushing for this record. It's only the beginning; I don't know how you can say it's over. I'm going to call David Geffen, because I disagree with this decision. I'm not going to accept this decision that we're giving up on this record."
Marc Canter, "Reckless Road", 2007
Finally one day I got a call from the president of the company. He said, "Tom, this record's done," and I looked at him and I said, "You're out of your mind, this record's just beginning. We've only just begun the fight. I respect that you're the president but I just disagree with this decision so I'm gonna go to the guy who owns a company."
So I get called up into the President of Geffen's office [=Ed Rosenblatt] and he looks at me and he says, "Appetite for Destruction is over. There's no debate, no discussion. The record's done. I'm instructing you as the president of the company, you're not allowed to go into anyone's office and badger them about Guns N' Roses anymore. The record's done." So I looked at him and I said, "Well actually, the record's just beginning, I mean, you know, this record still got sell like 5 or 10 more million. I mean, you know, 200,000, that's just like a few people like going to the concert and getting excited. You know, we're not done yet." He said, "You got to listen," he said, "Radio's not going to play it, MTV's vowed they'll never play it. It's done and I'm instructing you to go do demos and make their next record." And I said to him, I said, "Well," I said, "Actually it's a good thing that I work for David Geffen and not for you, because I'm not going to listen to what you have to say and I'm gonna go see David Geffen."
The interesting thing nobody knows is that we’d been touring for a year and three months and had sold 150,000 units. Eddie Rosenblatt took Alan Niven to lunch and said, “Great first album, it’s time to record another one.” But Alan begged for the money to make the “Sweet Child O’ Mine” video.
Craig Marks & Rob Tannenbaum, I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution; Plume, October 27, 2011
I looked at Eddie with total disbelief and said, “What do you think might happen if we got MTV’s support?”
Craig Marks & Rob Tannenbaum, I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution; Plume, October 27, 2011
[...] in June of '87 I had a record released and then I had a record released four weeks later. They were both originally scheduled to be released on the same day and I prevailed on Eddie Rosenblatt to give me a bit of a break and let me do a little bit of work on one before I had to start taking on two records from debut records from new bands, or pretty much new, simultaneously. And the other band fortuitously absolutely lit up AOR radio and... but for god damn Geffen and their fucking Whitesnake, my band would have been the number one band at AOR radio that summer, but we were always number two behind Whitesnake. And that band went gold in November and when you have two things, I mean, you know, I'm really pushed to be able to recall were in rock and roll anybody in management had the privilege of the experience of two bands breaking simultaneously, which was fundamentally what I was dealing with and what I was working through and trying to drive, and I remember getting a phone call from the guy who ran ICM booking agency at one point and we'd just secured for November of '87 Motley Crue for a Motley Crue tour for GN'R and a month, the first month of Whitesnake playing in America for the other band, and this guy said, "How does it feel to have the two hottest up-and-coming bands in the nation?" and I said, "Not as good as having the two hottest headliners, let's get to work." Point was, I was trying to keep my head in a very grounded place and even so there was a sense of energy momentum and a little bit of accomplishment so when in December of '87 Rosenblatt took me out for lunch and sat me down and said, "You've done a great job, kiddo, we really appreciate it but we think you should prep the band for coming off the road and start getting them ready for a second album," and I'm getting this instruction from Geffen in '87, December of '87. I was a little stunned to put it mildly because at that point we were somewhere between we were closing in on about a quarter million sales and that had been done on the basis of word-of-mouth and press and touring. We'd had no support from album radio, we'd taken a kind of half-hearted and ridiculous run at top 40 radio with Jungle, which was obviously gonna go nowhere at that point, but my point was that if we could get almost a quarter million sales between July and December without radio playing the record and without one single showing on MTV. If we could turn a couple, one or other, of those mediums around I was thinking I might even be... you know, I'm an optimist but we could be looking in the platinum record here. So I was a little stunned by that. Zoots felt exactly the way as I felt about it [...]
Radio was afraid to play them. MTV was afraid to play them. I get called up into the de facto president of Geffen Records, he says, "I need you to sit down. We're going to cut our losses now. Appetite for Destruction is over. This record is dead. It's done. You've got to move on."
And bear in mind that Eddie Rosenblatt in December of 1987 took me out to lunch and informed me that the label wanted to have the band come home, and start preparing their second record and record their second record. And at that point we were at approximately 250,000 units sold. So there was an aspect of, we even survived Geffen because the company policy was, “we've sold a quarter million albums, we've basically recovered our money, now it's time to look at a second album”. And I looked at him across the table with a certain amount of annoyance and frustration. And I said, “Eddie, we're at a quarter million sales in six months without any AOR airplay and without any MTV airplay. Can you imagine where we might get to if we got a little of both?” And I was thinking, you know, we could maybe get this thing up to gold. You know, what did I know? I know nothing at all ever. But there was a big push from myself and from Tom to stay with the record in the coming year. And part of that push was harassment of MTV by everybody to give the video a play because they'd never played it. Another thing that we did was we had an offer to play the Santa Monica Civic as a Christmas show at the end of ’87, and I also had someone come to me and offer to play Perkins Palace, which was a smaller venue in Pasadena, and play more than one night. And I chose to go with the Pasadena shows, because I felt that if we could do multiple nights in Pasadena, it would be more of an event over the holiday period. And we ended up squeaking through four nights at Perkins Palace. And the executive at Geffen noticed that we played four nights, which was more than one, you know. Had we done one at Santa Monica Civic, they would have gone, “Okay, well, they can get a few people at Santa Monica Civic”. But they were impressed by the fact that we played four nights at Perkins Palace. That had a sense of event. And it was the holiday period, and a lot of people came out to look and see what was going on, and David Lee Roth turned up to check out a show, and so on and so forth. So there was a really good buzz over that. And so, coming out of the holiday period, we had a psychological momentum to stay with the record and keep supporting it. Had I sat there at the lunch table and said, “Yes sir, I'll do as instructed”, who knows where the band would have gotten to or what they would have been. But Tom and I both felt that, nah, we're not giving up on this sucker right now. Are you kidding me? A quarter million records after six months with very little support, you're smoking crack if you think we're coming home. We're staying out there.
Last edited by Soulmonster on Mon Feb 19, 2024 12:41 pm; edited 11 times in total
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
DECEMBER 1987-JANUARY 1988
MTV FINALLY STARTS PLAYING WELCOME TO THE JUNGLEGETTING MTV TO PLAY THE SONG...ONCE
As discussed earlier, MTV had been reluctant to play Welcome to the Jungle, and this was hurting both album sales and touring possibilities, to the point where Geffen wanted the band to stop touring and start working on the follow-up album [see previous chapter].
Tom Zutaut pleaded with David Geffen to try to get MTV to play the song:
So I went to David Geffen, said, "You know, if you could just get them to play that video I think we could sell millions of records."
MTV was afraid that if they played GN'R, local cable systems would throw them off. So Appetite was up to about 200,000 and it was standing still. I got called up into the president of Geffen's office and he said, "This record is over." So I went up to David Geffen's office and I said, "Could you get MTV to play the video for 'Welcome to the Jungle'?" A couple of hours later, he said, "They're going to play it at five in the morning on Sunday as a personal favor to me." Even in the wee hours of Sunday morning, MTV got so many requests that it blew their switchboard.
I called David Geffen and David said, "I've never heard you so adamant about something." And I said, "I'm telling you, 200,000 records is a disgrace." And he said, "do you know how many new bands sell 200,000 records?" And I said, "well this band can sell ten million, so it's not enough." So David said, "What's the one thing I can do?" And I said, "Well, you could put the 'Welcome to the Jungle' video on MTV. I mean, you're best friends with Fresten the guy who runs it, and they owe you favors. MTV owes you favors." And Geffen's like, "Yeah, I could do that. I'll take care of that and I'll put in a call."
Marc Canter, "Reckless Road", 2007
So the next day David Geffen calls me up into his office and he says, "You tricked me!" And I said, "What?" And he said, "Well, first off you didn't tell me that they already, adamantly vowed and sworn to never play this band on MTV. If you had told me that in advance I might have been able to do better for you." I said, "You're David Geffen, you're the man, they either owe you a favor or they don't." He said, "Next time, don't forget minor details like that, because it's very important when I call somebody to know what I'm up against. I said, "I promise if something like this comes up again, I'll give you all the nitty gritty." And he goes, "Ok, in spite of that, I did get them. They'll play it one time, this Sunday at 5am New York time, 2am L.A. time." I sad, "That's it?" And he said, "Look, don't be a schmuck, you could have gotten nothing." And I said, "Alright."
Marc Canter, "Reckless Road", 2007
I'm waiting in my office and I'm wondering when am I going to hear back, get the call from his assistant to go up to his office and I get up there and he looks at me and he goes, "They're going to play the video," and I'm like, "All right!" I'm like jumping up and down, he's like, "Wait a minute," he goes, "They're only going to play it one time." [...] They're only going to play it one time. It was on a Sunday morning 4 am... 1 am L.A time 4 am New York time.
I looked at [Ed Rosenblatt] and I said, "Don't take it personally, but I have to go over your head. I cannot let this rest." Walked into David Geffen's office and he got off the phone, he said, "What's going on? Why are you in my office without an appointment?" And I said, "The guy who you have running your company day-to-day is gonna destroy Guns N' Roses' career and he's gonna prevent this from being the biggest rock and roll band in the world." And so he looked at me and he said, "What's the one thing I can do to make this right?" I said to him, "We made a great video for Welcome to the Jungle. If you can get this band on MTV, it will change history." About two hours later, he called me up into his office, and then he looked at me, and he goes, "They're going to play it." And then I was like, super excited, I was like "Yeah!" And he goes, "One time," and I'm like, "One time?" He goes, "It's going to be one time at 4:00 in the morning in New York, 1:00 AM in LA, Sunday night. Honestly, you asked me to do one thing. That's the best I could do."
But anyway, so I went up to David [Geffen] and, you know, I made my pitch and he looked at me and he said, "Well," he goes, "What is the one thing that I could do to make a difference in this situation?" He goes, "On one hand I have you, you know, the ears and soul of the music of the company, and then I have the people who market and sell it and promote it." And he goes, "Because right now they want me to fire you because they feel like you've unmercifully beat them up over Guns N' Roses." And I said, "Well," I said, "I guess you could fire me, but then you wouldn't sell 10 million Guns N' Roses records because you walk away from this record." He's like, "Well, what's the one thing I can do?" I said, "If you put the Welcome to the Jungle video on MTV, man, the record will literally explode overnight." And he said, "You really think that?" I said, "No, I don't think it, I know it." I said, "There's some things I know and some things I think, but this I know." And he said, "OK." So about a day later, he called me up into his office. He looked at me. He goes, "You're a liar." He goes, "You lied to me." And I said, "What are you talking about?" He goes, "You didn't tell me that MTV had vowed to never play this band," and I said, "You didn't ask." And he said, "Well," he said, "Let me explain something to you. Do you understand how it works? MTV survives because these like right wing conservatives who own these gigantic cable companies like John Malone and the Dolans that run Cablevision," and he names all these people who are probably like in his circle of like billionaires and who owned these cable companies that service millions of homes. So he says, "Here's the thing, this band is very dangerous and TV feels that if they put this band on the channel, if John Malone decides to drop MTV off of his networks, they lose like 10 million viewers overnight." So he said, "This is like the impossible task," but he said, "In spite of that obstacle," he said, "MTV are going to play that video one time, so," he says, "I will have honored my commitment to you. You asked me what was the one thing that I could do." And he goes, "They vowed to never play it, but they're gonna play it at 4:00 AM New York time. It'll be 1:00 AM in LA on Sunday night. They figured John Malone won't be watching then." And whatever the other guys' names were, they run these conservative cable organizers, companies that pipe stuff into people's homes. But anyway, so I thought, "Well, I guess the band and I'll have a party, we'll, like, stay up and watch it on the screen, see what it looks like." And I was like almost fully prepared now because there was nowhere else to go, really, other than David Geffen, it's down to this one play on MTV, like the entire fate of rock'n'roll and certainly Guns N' Roses-
So 200,000 units, and I get a call from Ed Rosenblatt, and he said, "Tom, this record's over. We're walking away from this record." I said, "This record's going to sell millions and it's only at 200,000.” So I went upstairs, I saw David, and he's like, "Well, what can I do?" And I said, "Well, you could call your friends that run MTV and get them to play this video we made. This video is fantastic. Tell them to play it." "All right," he goes, "I'll take care of it." About an hour later David calls me up. I go up and he says, "They're kind of hoping that no-one that knows John Malone will be watching the channel at 4am in New York, 1am in LA, but they're going to play the video one time." And he goes, "That's the best I could do." So that's it, they're going to play it once.
In an article in Los Angeles Times in July 1988, the story is told somewhat differently. In this article it is said that Geffen president Eddie Rosenblatt made a personal effort to make MTV air the 'Welcome to the Jungle video: "Rosenblatt started sending its execs a weekly computer run of the band's record sales. Impressed, MTV put the "Welcome" video into its "Headbanger's Ball" program" [Los Angeles Times, July 1988]. This is different to Zutaut's story which suggests Rosenblatt had given up on promoting Appetite and wanted the band to focus on the next record, and instead suggested it was David Geffen who convinced MTV to play the song once.
Rosenblatt would confirm the Los Angeles Times story:
[Eddie Rosenblatt]: Geffen Records had sold a couple hundred thousand albums and MTV still wouldn’t play the video. I sent my weekly sales report on the album to Lee Masters, and I got on the phone and made him read it with me.
Craig Marks & Rob Tannenbaum, I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution; Plume, October 27, 2011
Also, Alan Niven would make it seem MTV turned around because of his efforts and not mention Zutaut at all:
We toured with the Cult, we toured with Motley Crue, we toured with Alice Cooper. At the end of 1987, we actually had sold more than 200,000 units, and that’s when Eddie Rosenbatt, the president of Geffen, called me up and took me to lunch. He said thank you for a job well done, Alan. He said he thought it was going to be a disaster, but Geffen was in black ink, and then he said it was time to bring the band home to record a second record. That was going to be it. I was fucking stunned. I told him, “You mean we’ve sold almost a quarter of a million LPs with no airplay and no MTV, and now you want to throw in the towel on ‘Appetite For Destruction’?” He eventually agreed to keep working on it, and it took all of us to get on MTV. Me, Eddie, David Geffen himself. We took another run at trying to get on MTV. I went to the people at MTV, and I was like, “What the fuck? The band is obviously connecting with people. Why keep doing the easy Euro pop and why not give these guys a chance?” So MTV put the band on overnight, when you had to use an alarm clock to see the videos. But even in overnight, “Welcome to the Jungle” got a reaction, so MTV started moving it up.
Niven also sent a strongly worded letter to John Cannelli at MTV just before Christmas break:
And Geffen as a company and as an individual started getting on onto MTV. I had already sent a letter to John Cannelli, it was the very last thing I did walking out of my office prior to the Christmas holiday, I wrote this really toxic, acerbic acidic letter to John Canelli asking him why the fuck he was supporting all these gay, faggot bands - excuse me for using the language, but I did back in those days, God forgive me - from the UK when we had a good old American rock-and-roll band here that he was ignoring and John, bless him, took it graciously and he and I ended up being really, really good and close friends. But it was one of those bridge burnings letters where it was, like, the last thing I did was hit that fax button and walk out, locked the door and put it all out of my mind for the next week while we had the Christmas holiday, because I'd had next to no support on Great White on MTV and none on GN'R and I was pissed, and I was getting [?] with him. And Cannelli thought it was funny.
Regardless of who were responsible for turning MTV around, David Geffen did call MTV as recalled by Tom Freston (CEO of MTV Networks, 1987-2006:)
The programming group decided to put “Welcome to the Jungle” on Headbangers Ball for starters. Not in regular rotation. It was getting played a couple of times a week. David Geffen called me and said, “Every time you guys play this thing at 3 A.M., our sales light up. Please leave it on.” Normally, I would never tell the programming guys what to put into rotation. But this was David Geffen.
Craig Marks & Rob Tannenbaum, I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution; Plume, October 27, 2011
In the words of Tom Hunter (vice president of music programming at MTV):
Freston called me and said we had to play “Welcome to the Jungle” in regular rotation. I said, “Have you seen the video?” He said, “One of the pieces of advice I got from Pittman was: When David Geffen calls, pay attention. And Geffen called me.”
Craig Marks & Rob Tannenbaum, I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution; Plume, October 27, 2011
I love the euphemistic quality of that statement. In other words, David is an incredibly powerful person, don’t piss him off.
Craig Marks & Rob Tannenbaum, I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution; Plume, October 27, 2011
Hunter would continue:
If we added it into regular rotation, we’d get shit from other managers and labels whose hard rock videos we wouldn’t play. So I handwrote it into the programming log—that way, the add wouldn’t appear in trade magazines. I gave it two plays a day in regular rotation. It got an amazing number of calls right out of the box.
Craig Marks & Rob Tannenbaum, I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution; Plume, October 27, 2011
1 A.M. VIEWING PARTY
It is not clear when exactly MTV aired the video for the first time, but Classic Rock sets the date to "some point between August and October 1987" [Classic Rock, July 19, 2017]. With a promise to air the video one time at night, the band arranged a viewing party on the Sunday when the video would be shown:
So I called the band and said, "Look, we'll stay up all night and watch it." It was exciting. Here it was on MTV in all its glory and it looked amazing. So I come into work the next day, not thinking much of anything other than I hope something happened. I took my shot with David Geffen and the record's over and I don't know what I'm going to do.
Marc Canter, "Reckless Road", 2007
So the band decided to throw a party, we had a big swan song party and we watched it play at 1:00 a.m. in LA because there weren't East and West Coast feats for MTV yet. And we stayed up to about 7 or 8 a.m. and we thought it was all over. And little did I know when my office managed to wake me up at about 5:00 p.m. that the switchboard at MTV had literally caught on fire from so many phone calls, back before there was digital exchanges, it was long wires and stuff and electrical impulses. And so they added the video. The record sold a million in a month.
This [=when Zutaut was informed that MTV would air the video] was like on a Tuesday and I had to wait till Sunday. So, you know, I was pretty antsy, man, just sort of on pins and needles. [...] I mean, you know, we put the word out wherever we could, but there was no Internet then. [...] There were some press people, you know, that could put blurbs out, but by the time they got printed, it was over, you know, so it was really a different kind of world. It wasn't like MTV was gonna promote the fact that they were gonna play this video. So, you know, we finally get to Sunday and you know, Guns N' Roses were, you know, living in what we called the Hell House and, you know, there was a TV there, fortunately. So we go and, you know, we all hang out and watch this video and it's a great party, you know, like, you know, throwing stuff up in the air. We see it, it was amazing. We're probably up till about 8:00 AM and so, you know [...].
So I had to deliver this horrific news to the band, and they were like, "Well, let's just have a big party." And one of the funniest things about this party is that, you know, some of the band were shooting heroin in the kitchen. The rest of the band was sort of drinking beer and whatever, whiskey… I went out and got bucket-loads of cookies and milk. You know, people who drink and do drugs still like cookies and milk. So before the video comes on, maybe like 11 at night, there's a knock on the door and it's the LA County sheriffs, and they want to, like... "We've had some complaints about noise." And I let them in and I definitely gave warning that I was going to let them in, and some people were in the toilet flushing things, whatever, you know, scrambling. And then so the sheriffs come in, and they see, like, some really hot chicks and the guys in the band. They're all sitting there with, you know, milk-lips and milk-chins eating cookies watching MTV (laughs). And so the sheriffs are like, "We have no idea why your neighbours are complaining.” You know, “You just look like a bunch of kids watching TV and having milk and cookies." And they left, and that was the end of it.
MTV SWITCHBOARD BLOWS UP
The next day, I had multiple phone calls from my office. I got in around four in the afternoon, and the head of promotion told me the video had lit up MTV’s switchboards. He was yelling hysterically and said MTV finally added the video into rotation after just one play of 'Welcome to the Jungle'.
L.A. Weekly but copied in Intense Guitar, August 1, 2019
So the head of promotion was this real excitable guy named Al Corian. Because I was up all night with the band, I probably didn't get in until 1:00pm. […] I get an urgent message from Al Corian as soon as I get in and I went to his office immediately. And this guy starts babbling, "I've got to tell you, that Guns N' Roses thing -- it's unbelievable. We're going to get it everywhere." He said, "You don't understand, they blew up the switchboard at MTV, I'm telling you the switchboard blew up. They're putting it in heavy rotation. This is amazing." I told this guy for months it was going to be the biggest band in the world. They wanted to drop the record on Friday and now on Monday it's the biggest thing that ever happened. MTV had put the video into heavy rotation, and it explodes, and we go from 200,000 units to million units practically overnight.
Marc Canter, "Reckless Road", 2007
I go to the office the next day and Al Corey was the head of promotion at Geffen Records, I walked through his office, he goes, "That video, man, they got so many phone calls and the the switchboard blew up!"
I woke up at like three or four in the afternoon and I had a bunch of missed calls from my office and I was thinking, "They're probably gonna fire me or something, I don't know." The guy who called the most, or seemed to be the most urgently wanting to see me, they had a promotion. "Hey guy, MTV just added the video!" and I'm like, "What?" "Their switchboard blew up, it caught on fire!" And I was like, "Well, what do you mean? I mean how can it blow up?" "10,000 simultaneous calls came in! When the phone call comes in, it sends an electric spark like the wires melted and it caught on fire. The fire department came." I go into Ed Rosenblatt's office. He's like, "MTV has never had anything like this happen before. They think Guns N' Roses can build their channel. They're going to play the shit out of it"
I got back to, you know, my place and crashed out and at about, you know, three in the afternoon, I finally woke up. And you know, at that point we had like cell phones that were like the, the size of gigantic brick, right. [...] So I noticed I had like a bunch of missed calls. And I was like, "Wow!" So I called my office and like, "Where are you, man? People are looking for you. Everybody's looking for you." And I said, "I was up late last night." You know, one of the great things about doing A&R is that you can stay up all night and sleep all day and still get your work done. You know, but anyway, so I got into the office and the Head of Promotion was waiting for me and this is a guy who told me Guns N' Roses would never get put on the radio and all that good kind of stuff. And I thought, "Well, I wonder... he's trying to get me fired a few days ago and complaining about me and getting the company to walk away from Guns N' Roses, and now he wants to see me." So - I swear man - I go into his office and this guy, he turns red, his eyes are bulging like a monster and he's, like, jibbering and I can't even understand what he's saying, you know? Finally I decipher what he's saying is, MTV's switchboard blew up and caught on fire. [...] Literally. And their phones are down, but somebody called me to tell me that they never got so many requests for video in the history of the channel. And they never knew it was even possible that if like X thousands of phone calls came into a switchboard simultaneously, it would blow it up. Because back then, you know, it wasn't a digital like thing. You know, it was like, you know, all wires and circuits and stuff, you know, a switchboard was like a, you know, it wasn't all through a computer. It was like a physical thing, and that physical thing like caught on fire from all the phone calls raised, all those electric impulses coming in at once.
Finally, I wake up around three, and I've got all these messages. So I call into the office, and my assistant's like, "We think you need to come in." I said, "Who made the most phone calls looking for me?" And they go, "Al Coury, the head of promotions." So I go and see him and he's like... [shouts gibberish]. You know, he sounded like a gremlin on steroids or something. Basically he says, “The MTV switchboard blew up last night. Too many phone calls came in, it sparked the thing and it melted. MTV's never had so many calls, and they continue to be bombarded with phone calls today. Every kid in America is calling them requesting this video, and they know there's no way we could have paid that many people to do it. So they're going to add the video.”
When MTV's Headbanger's Ball played Welcome To The Jungle, the record and single sales picked up quickly.
And they added the video and, you know, the record went from 200,000 to 1,000,000 in like 10 days. It was the most insane thing that anyone ever seen. And it was so undeniable, the response was so overwhelming, that, you know, it changed MTV's opinion. I mean, they were like, "Well, we gotta get in on this," because, I mean, you gotta imagine that people were like literally watching MTV, waiting for this video, and then one kid would see it and just freak out and call out his friends and, you know, people were having parties to watch it. It changed the course of history, you know, and it just proves that if you believe, you know, you can overcome the obstacles, even one as great as MTV saying they would never play the band. And it's kind of funny now because when MTV meant something and it really was music television, I mean Guns N' Roses was one of the things that put MTV over the top and made it a 'have to do kind of thing'.
Geffen responded by promptly re-releasing the 'Welcome' single [Los Angeles Times, July 1988]. This increase in sales coincided with Guns N' Roses touring with Mötley Crue, and more and more of the audiences seemed to appreciate the opening band.
Steven and Slash would describe the breakthrough this way:
Even though we had shot it, our video was not getting played. David Geffen had to call in a huge favor from the head of MTV to get one fucking airing of "Welcome to the Jungle." They tried to bury it at like five A.M. on a Sunday morning. But guess who's wide awake at that hour on a Sunday and just getting in from a night of partying? That's right, kiddies, GNR Nation! Legend has it that "Welcome to the Jungle" hadn't even gotten done with its one airing and the MTV switchboard was lighting up like a Christmas tree. They were all demanding to know one thing: when would MTV be airing the video again?
Steven's biography, "My Appetite for Destruction", 2010, page 143
The problem, from what we understand, is that new people took over MTV right about the time our first clip came out. They didn’t know anything about rock and roll, and their main concern was just not to offend anyone. And you know that when it comes to not offending people, you’re dealing with the wrong guys when you’re dealing with us. But once we did get the clip on the air, the response was incredible. Yeah, we flipped when it made it all the way to the top of their dial-in show. That proved the fans really were behind us.
Nigel Dick, the director of the music video, would as the result of GN'R's success be highly sought after:
I became, for a while, the go-to guy for that kind of band, and I'd get all these awful band managers coming up to me, 'The job you did for that band was amazing, man, so you've got to do for my band what you did for Guns N' Roses,'You just go, 'Oh my God.' If the guy ain't Axl, he ain't Axl. You can be the best video director in the world, but if the singer doesn't have his oats together, you're f---ed.
Rolling Stone but copied in Intense Guitar, August 1, 2019
Bumblefoot would many years later mention having watched the video:
[Being asked his earliest memory of Guns N' Roses]: That would be about 3 o’ clock in the morning, watching MTV. I think I was 17. I remember seeing this video for the song “Welcome To The Jungle”, and I was pretty blown away. Every once in a while you see a band that you just know has something special about them, and they most definitely did.
And in 2018, Alan Niven would talk about the longevity of the song and how it was being used on sports stadiums:
[...] the fact that the intro to Jungle is used so universally here in America and sporting events all these years later is pretty stunning. And just from a small personal level, when I'm in a hockey arena and I hear Slash's riff start - and I have heard it before a couple of times - it's amazing because when I hear the combination of a crowd responding to their team responding to the music it still gives me goosebumps as if I were in an arena watching the band. Which is very bizarre to me that after all these years that I can sit there and literally break out in goosebumps just like back in the day.
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
1987-1988
THE DEVIL MAKES WORK FOR IDLE HANDS - DRUG ABUSE IN DOWNTIMEDuring the Appetite for Destruction touring in 1987 and 1988, the band lived out lives of sex, drugs and rock and roll. This was a period of constant touring, gigs every week, and learning from the headliners, especially Mötley Crüe, who had been on this circuit of debauchery for much longer.
DECEMBER 23: NIKKI SIXX OVERDOSES AGAIN
One famous incident in this period was when Nikki Sixx, bassist of Motley Crue, overdosed on December 23, 1987, while partying with Slash and Steven:
So I was kicking around, getting drunk, doing drugs in Hong Kong. And the soothsayer said, "You'll die before the end of the year if you don't change your ways." Ah yeah, fuck off and whatever. So I fly home and pick up the phone and call Slash, and say, "Hey dude, I'm going to get a car, a couple bottles of Jack, and I'm coming over. And we're going out."
I came and I picked him up and we went out to the Cathouse and you know, doing everything that we could get our hands on, and I was asking around to get some smack and this guy had showed up after we had gone back to the Franklin Plaza Hotel and Slash passed out, and I think his girlfriend was stumbling around, and Steven was stumbling around out somewhere in the hallway, and I think there were some other people in the hotel they were hanging out with, and the drug dealer came, and almost always you shoot yourself up, you never let anybody shoot you up. Drug addicts are very particular about that. And I don't know why, I guess I was so drunk, I said "Go ahead and fix me" and I fuckin' turned blue instantly. Steven Adler and Slash's girlfriend at the time came around the corner and there I was turning blue and they started beating on my chest, and they sent me into the shower, and they called the paramedics, and Slash was passed out through the whole thing.
I came and I picked him up and we went out to the Cathouse and you know, doing everything that we could get our hands on, and I was asking around to get some smack and this guy had showed up after we had gone back to the Franklin Plaza Hotel and Slash passed out, and I think his girlfriend was stumbling around, and Steven was stumbling around out somewhere in the hallway, and I think there were some other people in the hotel they were hanging out with, and the drug dealer came, and almost always you shoot yourself up, you never let anybody shoot you up. Drug addicts are very particular about that. And I don't know why, I guess I was so drunk, I said "Go ahead and fix me" and I fuckin' turned blue instantly. Steven Adler and Slash's girlfriend at the time came around the corner and there I was turning blue and they started beating on my chest, and they sent me into the shower, and they called the paramedics, and Slash was passed out through the whole thing.
I saved Nikki's life. I dragged him into the shower and put cold water on him. I had a broken arm and I was slapping him in the face with my cast. Then I finally got Slash's stupid girlfriend to call the paramedics. Nikki called me the next day and said, "Dude, what happened? My face is killing me."
The only thing of ‘Dr. Feelgood’, that ‘Kickstart My Heart’ song, he wrote it about the paramedics took that syringe and did that Pulp Fiction thing to him. But they didn’t do that; they didn’t do that. I dragged him into the shower with a broken hand and a cast on my hand, I rolled him in, I put the cold water on him in the shower and I started slapping him in the face with my cast. And next thing you know, the purple in his face just disappeared. And then right then, the paramedics came in and they grabbed him out of the shower like a rag doll, dropped him in the living room and they just pumped his chest with their hands. And that was it. But he got a hell of a good song out of it. It is entertainment, after all.
According to NME, this wouldn't be the last time Nikki Sixx was to OD while partying with a member of Guns N' Roses. As the story goes, and it might not be true at all, Slash found Sixx blue from an overdose but instead of calling for an ambulance, he called a friend who saved Sixx while Slash left to not get in any trouble himself [NME, December 25, 1999].
COPING WITH BOREDOM
1987-1988 was a period with occasional down-time between recordings and between tours, which proved dangerous to drug users like Slash:
Yeah, I’m kind of bouncing off the walls. Getting prepared to record [=Appetite] is involving a lot of time sitting around with nothing to do. And that’s time that I need to fill. It’s not just me. We all really need constant activity. We hate the dead time, sitting around waiting for something to happen.
It pretty much began when we signed with our record company. Before that we were rocking out and kicking ass all the time. Then all of the sudden we found ourselves sitting around with a lot of money, being told not to do anything, there’s only one thing you can do. Party!
When I’m at home the thing that gets to me the most is being inactive. You know, just sitting around and doing nothing. We actually had an eight-week break in Los Angeles before we started our tour.
Rock Scene, December 1989; interview from May 1988
The thing about being on the road constantly is that you never really have any big problems hanging over you. When you’re moving around from place to place the whole time you don’t think about anything except getting to the next gig. Then when you come off the road, it’s like this whole other world that you thought you’d left behind, but that’s been waiting for you to come back to it so it can start fuckin' with you again. I mean, I hate having to deal with normal day-to-day shit. It leaves no time for anything else...
Mick Wall, GUNS N' ROSES: The Most Dangerous Band in the World, Sidgwick & Jackson, U.K. 1991, 1993; interview from March 1989
That downtime in-between activity would get the boys in trouble, and especially Slash, would become a recurring theme.
MANAGING ADDICTIONS
In July 1988, Alan Niven would describe the band this way:
Where there's smoke, there's fire. Their reputation is not unjustly earned. But I also think there's been a tremendous amount of exaggeration about their exploits. [...] Let's just say that they are very willful and they do like to enjoy themselves. In fact, sometimes they really enjoy themselves. And right now I'd just like them to enjoy their career.
Later, in 1997, he would look back at managing addicts:
Oh it was horrific! It got totally out of hand. Izzy went through a period of appalling self-destruction with cocaine. He got himself into a mess, which scared me personally very much indeed. Steven Adler was the worst. He became quite tragic. I remember one time in San Francisco when Steven was rushed to the hospital for an overdose. Doug Goldstein was literally running up the streets with him on his shoulders!
Raz Cue hung out with the band in September 1988, and noticed a change in the intra-band dynamics although he wouldn't go in any specifics:
Less than a year before, whenever I'd hang out with any of the guys, we'd have a blast. Get two or more of them together, and it was a legendary, good-time rock 'n' roll fun. When I headed out on the road with the second-most dangerous band in the world, I fully expected to live it up like we used to. But sadly, there were no big bags of blow or endless partying. [...] And although I left out all the gossip-column-style tell-all dirt, you might have heard that, at times, the guys didn't get on well. So of course there were a few tense, stressful interactions amongst folks during my visit.
Raz Cue, "The Days of Guns, & Raz's", 2015, p. 268
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
DECEMBER 26-30, 1987
PLAYING FOUR SHOWS AT THE PERKINS PALACEWith Geffen wanting to force the band into the studio to work on the next record [see previous chapter], Niven concocted a plan to make them understand they still hadn't realized the inherent potential in Appetite for Destruction:
[...] at the time, if I remember correctly, we've been offered to do a holiday show, you know, a December show in the Santa Monica Civic, which is one night, and you know, the money would be good but it was one night. And alternatively we looked at going to Perkins Palace in Pasadena which is a theater show. The economics weren't quite as brilliant but it was four nights. Four nights is an event. Four nights you got people talking about it. Four nights you're probably going to need people to come at least twice but you've got a better shot at getting journalists see. And four nights of an event you've got half a chance of getting some indulgent lazy fucking Geffen executive to come down there. And four nights especially when you're hiring the PR person who has a - shall we say - very close relationship with David Lee Roth that we're going to get some faces down there, and you get faces around an event and even a fucking record executive can notice that. So that's what we elected to do is to do the four nights at Perkins Palace. And it was an event and, you know, we were basically giving away tickets on the fourth night but it was still an event. And in the consciousness of Geffen when we came back after the Christmas holiday was, "Well, maybe this guy isn't totally out of his mind, maybe we should keep watching this record."
Another thing that we did was we had an offer to play the Santa Monica Civic as a Christmas show at the end of ’87, and I also had someone come to me and offer to play Perkins Palace, which was a smaller venue in Pasadena, and play more than one night. And I chose to go with the Pasadena shows, because I felt that if we could do multiple nights in Pasadena, it would be more of an event over the holiday period. And we ended up squeaking through four nights at Perkins Palace. And the executive at Geffen noticed that we played four nights, which was more than one, you know. Had we done one at Santa Monica Civic, they would have gone, “Okay, well, they can get a few people at Santa Monica Civic”. But they were impressed by the fact that we played four nights at Perkins Palace. That had a sense of event. And it was the holiday period, and a lot of people came out to look and see what was going on, and David Lee Roth turned up to check out a show, and so on and so forth. So there was a really good buzz over that. And so, coming out of the holiday period, we had a psychological momentum to stay with the record and keep supporting it.
The four shows at The Perkins Place in Pasadena, California, took place on 26., 27., 28. and 30. December.
Great review by Andrea Dee Trent in Screamer Magazine after the second show (December 27):
Screamer MagazineFebruary 1988
Axl at Perkin's PalaceDecember 1987
The band though was happy with these shows:
We only booked one, and then that sold out and then we tried another one. And then after 4 shows we were going to try for 5, but the people at the Rose Bowl wouldn’t let us. Can you imagine booking the Rose Bowl?
The Perkins Palace shows were some of the best shows we'd ever done...and Fred Curry [sic] was playing.
Slash's autobiography, p. 223
After the final show at Perkin's Palace Axl invited everybody down to Riki Rachtman's invitation-only party at The Central, resulting in long queues before 8:45pm [L.A. Weekly, January 8, 1988]. Guns N' Roses would then play two songs there and Axl would lead everybody in an a capella rendition of 'Honky Tonk Women' at closing time, before invitation everybody to continue the party at his West Hollywood hotel room [L.A. Weekly, January 8, 1988].
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
1987-1988
STEVEN STARTS ON HIS DOWNHILL DESCENTDuring the tour with Alice Cooper in December 1987, Steven broke a bone in a finger when he in anger hit the door of a bar where he had just been thrown out. As a result of this, Fred Coury from Cinderella had to step in for Steven on drums on the following shows.
After that incident, things started to accelerate downhill. The band was just like, "What a dumbass, breaking his hand." They didn't care about me one bit. No one called the hospital while I was there. There was no talk of postponing anything until I knitted up. They just went out and got someone else to fill in. I swear, if it was anybody else in the band, they would never have gotten a replacement. No way in hell.
Steven's biography, "My Appetite for Destruction", 2010, page 152-153
In 2015, Doug Goldstein would tell an anecdote from not long after Goldstein started working with the band in 1987, that suggested that Steven had a low status in the band:
And interestingly enough there was this point where we were gonna go to a restaurant and so Steven gets into the back of the truck and I said, "What are you doing back there?" He says, "Well, I'm the drummer." And so I get to the back of the truck. So I said, "Fuck it, me too then," so I jumped in the back. So him and I were always really close just based upon that moment in time.
Around this time, Steven was also becoming a heroin junkie. He tried shooting it for the first time in Amsterdam in October 1987 [Steven's biography, "My Appetite for Destruction", 2010, page 133]. He claims the second time happened during the Aerosmith tour in 1988:
The worst moment of my life, was when the second time I did heroin was on the last show of the Aerosmith tour, and you know you had those meet n’ greet rooms. And, you know I opened up the door and I’m standing there in my rock star pose, all looking all cool and Stephan Tyler is like, 5, 10, 8 feet in front of me, talking with this girl laughing, and he looks up cause he noticed my presence. And he has the biggest smile on his face, and then he could just see in my eyes, that I did heroin, and he made the saddest face and umm… my heart just dropped, and I wanted to die right there. Because Stephen Tyler is the greatest person in this whole world, and I love him, and there is nobody in the world like him, and I (pauses) hurt his feelings, and it just hurt me so bad.
Talking about how he got the heroin that fateful day:
(long pause) ahh, umm, that last night when we played with Aerosmith at Irvine Meadows and I was riding my scooter around, and I rode up the ramp where the trucks come down. And I ran into the bass player – God bless his soul – from TSOL, and I said “hey” cause I knew him you know, cause I was friends with his drummer and that’s why I wore the TSOL shirt in the “Sweet Child O’ Mine” video. And I go “hey dude” his name was Roach, and I said; ”Roach what’s happenin’ man, how you doing man?” he said; “oh good, hanging out.” I said; “you got tickets, passes?” And he said; “no.” So I reach in my little hippie bag and give him tickets and passes. So I go: “Well where you going now?” And he goes: “I’m going to score some dope!” And I did heroin one time before with Izzy and Slash and I was never so sick in my whole life. And ahhh, this was like, 3-4 years later again, I didn’t even think about it and totally forgot how sick I did get. And I said; “ahh, here, you know, here is twenty bucks, get me a little bit too. “ And then I did it, and I didn’t get sick. And that’s when I walked in and Steven Tyler saw me. And that’s when it, Oh God…
Steven says it happened during their last show with Aerosmith, which was on September 15, 1988, at the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa. He also says it happened at Irvine Meadows, but he is probably here mixing it with the preceding tour with Iron Maiden and the show on June 9, 1988.
During the filming of Dead Pool [see later chapter], which was released on July 13, 1988, Steven OD'ed on heroin:
I woke up in a hospital room the day we were supposed to be filming our second scene for [The Dead Pool]. I had no idea how long I had been out. In fact, I had no idea where I was or what has happened, but as my Visio cleared it was apparent someone was keeping vigil over me. Someone was at my bedside patiently waiting for me to come out of it, though no one knew if or when that would be.
I blinked. I blinked again. It was Axl. Axl got up and was now standing over me. He smiled. He looked genuinely relieved. He said, "Man, that was close, Stevie." He was the only one there. Later, a nurse told me he had sat by my bed the whole time, The other guys went ahead to do the movie but Axl stayed at the hospital.
I blinked. I blinked again. It was Axl. Axl got up and was now standing over me. He smiled. He looked genuinely relieved. He said, "Man, that was close, Stevie." He was the only one there. Later, a nurse told me he had sat by my bed the whole time, The other guys went ahead to do the movie but Axl stayed at the hospital.
Steven's biography, "My Appetite for Destruction", 2010, page 162-163
Since the OD happened some time before July 1988 (when Dead Pool was released), it means the OD either did not come from shooting heroin, or that he started shooting heroin earlier than Steven would claim in his book.
In the quote above Steven mentions that Axl had been there for him when he woke from the OD, Arlett Vereecke would claim that Slash had visited Steven, too, and that Izzy had also, in the end, managed to get to San Francisco where filming, assumingly, was taking place:
But Slash was there as well in San Francisco and Izzy. I just told the story to somebody last night because they asked me about Izzy. Somebody asked me about Izzy and Izzy happened to show up the day before he was supposed to leave. And he said, "Hey, my girlfriend picked me up. Can I stay here?" I said, "Sure." So I had a big dog at the time. I said, "I need to take the dog out." "Oh, where'd you go?" I said, "I don't know. I'll just go with him. You know, he's not on a leash, he's a shepherd, he knows where he's going." He said, "I'll go with him." I said, "Are you sure?" He said, "Yeah." Okay. So it was now 11 o'clock. He showed back up, I think, at 3:30 or 4:00 in the morning I was like, "Where the hell did he go with my dog?" So he showed back up and I said, "Where were you?" I said, "You got to get on the flight." He said, "Well, you said I had to go with the dog. I went with the dog and he kept going," and so he followed the dog. I said, "Oh my God," I know Niven hated dogs, especially big ones. I said, "Whatever you do, don't tell Niven. You got lost with my dog, OK? He's gonna have a fit." Of course, Izzy never showed up. He spent the night here. He never showed up, missed the flight, stayed here. And as Slash and Axl said, "Have you seen Izzy?" I said, "No, not recently." He said, "He didn't show," I said, "Well, let me check on him, and I'll let you know," [laughs]. So I knocked on his door, "Izzy, you gotta get going. I don't know what to say. They're going to find out you're here," and he said, "Okay, book me a later flight." So I said, "Oh, I found Izzy, can someone pick him up on the other end? He'll be there this afternoon." He said, "Where were he?" I said, "I'm not sure, not quite sure," "Not quite sure!" So I took him to the airport, someone picked him up on the other side, while Stephen OD'ed. Yeah.
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
JANUARY 5-21, 1988
ACTIVITY IN EARLY 1988The band started 1988 with playing selected shows in the Los Angeles area. The first one was a 'Find the Children Benefit' show in Santa Monica (January 5). 'Find the Children' was involved in putting missing children's faces on milk cartons. The bands playing at this charity show included Armoured Saint, Great White and Party Ninjas [Los Angeles Times, January 7, 1988; L.A. Weekly, January 15, 1988].
Review in L.A. Weekly January 15, 1988
Then the band played a show at The Whisky on January 10 to fight a lawsuit against Ruben at the Hollywood magazine Rock City News [source?]. For this show Steven was replaced by their friend Howard Teman. Teman would explain how he came to play and discuss the show:
Howard Teman, talking about how he came to play drums at this show:
And I think it was just from jamming with them [in Hollywood] and all, and Duff asked me to... I guess when Steve broke his hand in Chicago they asked me to sit in with them for a show at the Whisky, which I did. I'm not sure really what the chronological order to all these things are, but that show is really cool. I got the whole thing on video, you could check it out, you can look it up on Youtube. Guns N' Roses at the Whisky a Go-Go. I think it was '87. [...] Actually, Duff came up and we went over like four songs and what he didn't tell me is when we got there that the first song, I Used To Love Her But I Had To Kill Her was a song I never even heard before because the album wasn't even out yet. It was before Use Your Illusion, or before Lies, and so they were teaching me backstage. And we ended up doing like 10 songs or something like that and half of them I didn't even know, let alone I've never even heard. But that was a lot of fun, that was a great, great, fun night. [...] you know I had the roadie from hell, Damon, sitting behind me and also Del James was sitting on the other side of me who knew the songs and they were cueing me, If you see the video you can see them going, "Okay, stop here!" "Go!" that kind of stuff, that was really funny. They were conducting me and telling me, like sometimes I'm pounding really, you know, my dynamics were like I was really enjoying it and they're like, "Oooh, settle down! This is the slow part," or, "This is a mellow part."
After this at least some of the GN'R members did a Drunk Fux (now going by the name 'Drunks') show at the Coconut Teazer in Hollywood (January 14). For this show Steven had got rid of his cast [L.A. Weekly, January 29, 1987]. Axl would also join the Fux this evening and one of the songs played would be 'Honky Tonk Women' [L.A. Weekly, January 29, 1987] and another would be Yesterdays (later to be released on Use Your Illusions II).
A few days later, on January 18, a couple of members of GN'R and a couple of members of Drunk Fux would come together with some other guys and play a show under the moniker Pigs at Large on Coconut Teaszer [L.A. Weekly, January 15, 1987].
This was followed by a proper Guns N' Roses show at The Cathouse (January 21). This was an unannounced show in support of a well-known Hollywood DJ (likely Joseph Brooks) who had gotten into financial straits after an incident with his car and having no car insurance [L.A. Weekly, January 29, 1988]. For this last show Steven was finally back on drums again, and Vince Neil would join the band for the closing song, Whole Lotta Rosie [L.A. Weekly, January 29, 1988].
Kim Thayil and Chris Cornell from Soundgarden attended this show:
Chris and I went and saw Guns N’ Roses at the Cathouse. They hadn’t gone gold yet, but I remember we went there with an A&R person from Geffen and they told us, “Their record’s going to be gold next week.” We’re like, “Okay…” That didn’t mean anything to us because we’re just kids in a band. The Cathouse, there was a lot of fucking Aqua Net and spandex and we thought that was kind of stupid and silly. But we’re watching them play and Chris and I looked at each other like, “Fuck, these guys have some presence.” It didn’t seem rehearsed. It didn’t seem scripted. It didn’t seem assembled. They seemed like they were who they were and we loved it. And then we ended up touring with them like, four, five years later.
Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock, Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion, 2021
The band was likely happy to finally have Steven back on drums again, although Duff would later joke about Fred Coury being a good replacement:
That’s always been a philosophy of the band, that we’d be around for a long time, not just a flash in the pan— here’s our record; see ya. And [jokingly], if Steven dies, we’ll just get Fred Coury.
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Re: 08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS
Album:
Use Your Illusion II, 1991, track no. 3.
Written by:
Axl Rose
West Arkeen
Del James
Billy McCloud.
Musicians:
Drums: Matt
Bass: Duff
Lead and Rhythm Guitars: Slash
Rhythm Guitar: Izzy
Vocals, Piano: Axl
Organ: Dizzy
Information:
In October 2019, Cynthia M. Woodman, the sister of the late Billy McCloud, would contact Axl to thank him for listing her brother as co-writer of Yesterdays [Twitter, October 23, 2019]. According to Woodman, McCloud had met Axl prior to the formation of Guns N' Roses and although Axl did not remember McCloud's last name, and it is unsure to what extent McCloud was involved in writing the song, Axl named him (as simply "Billy") in the liner notes when Use Your Illusion II was released in 1991 and ensured that McCloud's family would receive royalties [Twitter, October 25, 2019]. This would also imply that the songs, or parts of it, dates back to before 1985.
Live performances:
The first GN'R show where 'Yesterdays' was played, was at Pantages Theatre, USA, on May 11, 1991. It had previously, January 14, 1988, been played on a Drunk Fux show. In total it has, as of {UPDATEDATE}, at least been played {YESTERDAYSSONGS} times.
Use Your Illusion II, 1991, track no. 3.
Written by:
Axl Rose
West Arkeen
Del James
Billy McCloud.
Musicians:
Drums: Matt
Bass: Duff
Lead and Rhythm Guitars: Slash
Rhythm Guitar: Izzy
Vocals, Piano: Axl
Organ: Dizzy
Information:
In October 2019, Cynthia M. Woodman, the sister of the late Billy McCloud, would contact Axl to thank him for listing her brother as co-writer of Yesterdays [Twitter, October 23, 2019]. According to Woodman, McCloud had met Axl prior to the formation of Guns N' Roses and although Axl did not remember McCloud's last name, and it is unsure to what extent McCloud was involved in writing the song, Axl named him (as simply "Billy") in the liner notes when Use Your Illusion II was released in 1991 and ensured that McCloud's family would receive royalties [Twitter, October 25, 2019]. This would also imply that the songs, or parts of it, dates back to before 1985.
Live performances:
The first GN'R show where 'Yesterdays' was played, was at Pantages Theatre, USA, on May 11, 1991. It had previously, January 14, 1988, been played on a Drunk Fux show. In total it has, as of {UPDATEDATE}, at least been played {YESTERDAYSSONGS} times.
Lyrics:
Yesterday, there was so many things
I was never told
Now that I'm startin' to learn
I feel I'm growing old
'Cause yesterday's got nothin' for me
Old pictures that I'll always see
Time just fades the pages
In my book of memories
Prayers in my pocket
And no hand in destiny
I'll keep on movin' along
With no time to plant my feet
'Cause yesterday's got nothin' for me
Old pictures that I'll always see
Some things could be better
If we'd all just let them be
Yesterday's got nothin' for me
Yesterday's got nothin' for me
Got nothin' for me
Yesterday, there was so many things
I was never shown
Suddenly this time I found
I'm on the streets and I'm all alone
Yesterday's got nothin' for me
Old pictures that I'll always see
I ain't got time to reminisce old novelties
Yesterday's got nothin' for me
Yesterday's got nothin' for me
Yesterday's got nothin' for me
Yesterday
Yesterday
Yesterday, there was so many things
I was never told
Now that I'm startin' to learn
I feel I'm growing old
'Cause yesterday's got nothin' for me
Old pictures that I'll always see
Time just fades the pages
In my book of memories
Prayers in my pocket
And no hand in destiny
I'll keep on movin' along
With no time to plant my feet
'Cause yesterday's got nothin' for me
Old pictures that I'll always see
Some things could be better
If we'd all just let them be
Yesterday's got nothin' for me
Yesterday's got nothin' for me
Got nothin' for me
Yesterday, there was so many things
I was never shown
Suddenly this time I found
I'm on the streets and I'm all alone
Yesterday's got nothin' for me
Old pictures that I'll always see
I ain't got time to reminisce old novelties
Yesterday's got nothin' for me
Yesterday's got nothin' for me
Yesterday's got nothin' for me
Yesterday
Yesterday
Quotes regarding the song and its making:
Yeah, it is a Strat. That was a conscious thing I went for. Even though there's not many notes, it was just a sound and a feel. After I did the basic track, I knew that's what I wanted to sound like. (...) Axl wrote that [the piano ending] and I think that was a part of it. When we did it in the studio, he might have extended it a bit more.
Guitar, April, 1992
I moved into this apartment building and my next-door neighbor was West Arkeen, this crazy little guitar-player guy, this little freak. He went to the Guitar Institute a couple blocks from our house, and he came out of the Institute, and there was some guy selling an Alesis drum machine and a four-track cassette recorder. It was apparently Sheila E.’s bus driver. Somehow he got stiffed and he’s like, “Fuck it, I’m selling this shit.” So West comes home with this drum machine, [and] we figured out how to use the stuff. The demo of “It’s So Easy” was pretty great. West at this exact same time had taught me how to tune the guitar to open E. We used like, every feature on the drum machine: cowbell, woodblock, and everything on this demo. I sang it, tuned the guitars, put the drum track on, and it was just this cool little lazy summertime hit. West and I would recall all these “summertime hits,” we’d call them. I had an apartment and West had an apartment before we had a rehearsal space, and it became an encampment for about two months for the band. “It’s So Easy,” “Yesterdays,” and I think “14 Years,” a lot of songs were recorded on West’s four-track. I think “You’re Crazy” came out on the West four-track. Sitting in an apartment, we’d play a lot of acoustic guitars, so I think “Easy” was recorded on acoustic guitar. Thing about our songs, we played ’em all on acoustic guitar. “Night Train,” we wrote on acoustic guitar. Because we’d write them in little cramped apartments.
The Onion A.V. Club, May 2011
[West Arkeen] wasn't the type who wanted to be in a band, but he was an incredible guitar player. He ended up writing songs with several of us. He had a hand in an unreleased song called 'Sentimental Movie,' and in 'Yesterdays' ad 'The Garden,' which eventually turned up on Use Your Illusion. All of those songs were written there on El Cerrito [where Duff lived] together with various members of our band.
Duff's autobiography, "It's So Easy", 2011, p. 86-87
Last edited by Soulmonster on Tue Jun 28, 2022 10:08 am; edited 6 times in total
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