MrZerr0 and 80's Hair Metal

"Songs From The 80's"
Dr. Rox Remember When?
Article #181 March 2026
BY RLSchwinden aka MrZerr0

You know what I find so interesting, the fact that most people seem to think I am into 80's Hair Metal, simply because I have had long hair most of my life, somehow people forget it was the Hippies Of The 60's that reintroduced long hair to the music society, so yes folks, that is my jam, 60's Music specifically from 1964 to 1969. Now that being said, I can usually find a song or 2 or 3 that I like or even love by almost any band or artist, while I was not really into the hair metal scene of 1983 to 1990, I would like to list off some of the music that I enjoy from that period. So here is a list of some of the bands for that era, when they formed and where and the songs that I like. What did I learn from this exercise, that most of these bands DId form in the early 80's and almost all of them are from Los Angeles, however if we dig into this I am sure hardly any of the members were born in California. And so if they are not on this list, either I am a big fan of bands like: Motley Crue, Twisted Sister, Skid Row Faster PussyCat, Warrior Soul, Hanoi Rocks, Saigon Kick, Ratt, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden. Or If they are not on this list I do not like anything by them ....

Adam Bomb: (born Adam Brenner; 14 August 1963 in Seattle, WA.) from Black And Blue
"SST" "Johnny In The Sky" I got ahold of a promo 45 single of this song and I loved it, he tried out for KISS in 1982 and Jimmy Cerespo of Aerosmith joined his band also Sandy Slavins of Ace Frehley's band was in Adam's band.

Black N Blue; Formed in 1981 in Portland, OR.
"Best In The West" only because it reunited Peter Criss and Gene Simmons. I met ROn in Sioux Falls, SD. while he was a DJ on Radio KBAD -FM.

Bonham: Formed in 1989 in the UK by Jason Booham; 15 July 1966 in Dudley, ENG.
"Wait For You" if anyone has the right to sound like Led Zeppelin it is the son of Led Zeppelin.

Bon Jovi: Formed in 1983 in Sayreville, NJ.
"Wanted Dead Or Alive" "You Give Love A Bad Name" I saw them in April 1989 with Skid Row, I loved Skid Row, Bon Jovi ... well they used a lot of KISS' stage show for their own.

Bullet Boys: Formed in 1987 in Los Angeles, CA. from King Kobra
"For The Love Of Money" "Smooth Up in Ya" their bass player launched his bass into the crowd in May 1989 at the Iowa Jam in Des Moines, and hit some girl, who sued him for personal injury, starting off the policy of "No Bands Shall Though Out Anything Into The Audience" ending me ever catching a guitar pick from the bands.

Cinderella: Formed in 1983 in Philadelphia, PA.
"Don't Know What You Got Til It's Gone" "Gypsy Road" "Shake Me" here is another band named I presented to the guys back in 1978, they laughed me out of the room ....

Cry Wolf: Formed in 1985 in San Francisco, CA. their Drummer Paul was a friend of mine back in the day.

Dokken: Formed in 1978 in Los Angeles.
"Breakin The Chains" I saw Dokken several times in March 1985 and Sep 2016. While I was not really a fan of their music when I saw them in concert in 1985 they were a great live band, with excellent musicianship.

Guns N Roses: Formed in 1985 in Los Angeles, CA. from Hollywood Rose
"Knockin On Heaven's Door; Live '88" "Pretty Tied Up" "Locomotive" I actually started playing a hard rock version of "Live And Let Die" in July 1981 when I lived in Phoenix, also I do Love Sharyl Crow's version of "Sweet Child Of Mine". Here's a prime example of everyone thinking I like what they like, I heard "Live Like A Suicide" a few months Before "Appitite" was released. I could not stand Axel's voice from the very beginning, and so I used to wear a Button that read "I Hate Guns N Roses" to try to keep people from asking me what my favorite song by them was.

Jetboy: Formed in 1983 in San Francisco, CA.
Really only because of Sam Yaffa of Hanoi Rocks was their Bass Player, I used to work with a guy who was roommates with Sam and Randy Piper after he was in WASP.

King Kobra: Formed in 1983 in Los Angeles, CA. from Bullet Boys
"Legends Never Die" "It's My Life" 2 KISS "Creatures Of The Night" out-takes, I saw them open for KISS in Mar 1986 in Des Moines.

Kingdom Come: Formed in 1987 in Hamburg, GER.
"Get It On" even though they tried to be a Led Zep clone, I did like this song.

LA Guns: formed in 1983 in Los Angeles, Ca. from Hollywood Rose
"What Happened To Jane" "Never Enough" I didn't really pay any attention to this band until I saw some videos of them in about 2005.

Megadeth: formed in 1983 in Los Angeles, CA. from Metallica
"Wanderlust" "Crush Em" "Peace Sells" I definitely did not care for their artwork, but I always felt for Mustaine as he was kicked out of Metallica, then they released 'Risk' I thought it was ok. I saw them in August 2010 and May 2007.

Metallica: formed in 1981 in Los Angeles
"Memory Remains" "Fade To Black" the 1st time I heard this band in 1984, I busted out laughing, I could not believe anyone would enjoy this (wow, was I wrong) I did met Jason Newsted in July 2003, I saw the band in August 2016.

Poison: formed in 1980 in Mechanicsburg, PA. renamed in 1983 in L.A.
"Mama Let Me Go To The Show" I actually presented the name "Poison" to band members as early as 1978, the guys thought it was too negative. When the Promo of this album came in in fall 1986 I was excited, then I heard the songs ... I was less than thrilled, I thought they were very weak. Rikki Rockett hid out in the backroom of the RecordShop I worked at in May 1989, I found him to be super cool. I saw the band in Aug 2003 and I saw Brett Micheals solo in Oct 2003.

Pretty Boy Floyd: Formed in 1986 in Hollywood, CA.
"Toast Of The Town" this band was smart enough to cover a rare Motley Crue song that all of us Crue fans were dying to hear as there were very few copies of the original Crue 45 Single in circulation.

Queensryche: formed in 1980 in Bellevue, WA.
"Queen Of The Ryche" "I Don't believe In Love" I saw them a couple times, with KISS in Dec 1984 and June 2005 and Geoff Tate Solo in Nov 2012 I think his voice is fantastic and his eyes shined like flashlights from the stage

Quiet Riot: formed in 1973 in Los Angeles, CA.
"Metal Health" "The Wild And The Young" I was with High Fever when we opened for them May 1983 and I saw them later in Aug 2005

Warrant: formed in Los Angeles, CA.
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" "I Saw Red" I saw them a couple times, the 1st time in Sep 1995 they were great, the 2nd in July 1996 not so much.

Tesla: formed in 1981 in Sacramento, CA.
"Cowboy Of The Modern Day" I was never that impressed with this band, how I do love this song.

Toto: formed in 1977 in Los Angeles, CA.
"Hold The Line" "99" "I'll Be Over You" the band came together from being Sessions players to almost everyone.

Ugly Kid Joe: formed in 1989 in Isla Vista, CA.
"Everything About You" "Cat's In The Cradle" "N.I.B." I saw this band open for Warrant in Sep 1995

Vandenberg: formed in 1981 in Amsterdam, Netherlands
"Wait" I was with High Fever when we opened for Vandenberg Feb 1984. Adrian, told me himself that he was one of the original guitarists that started finger tapping, although he called it the "Turkey Gobble" and that he and Eddie were both Dutch.

WASP: formed in 1982 in Los Angeles, CA. from Killer Kane and Circus, Circus.
"Animal" "5:15" "I Don't Need No Dr" "I Wanna Be Somebody" I saw them in Sep 2001, and met Mike Duda before the show. I didn't care much for the image, but some of the songs were pretty good. I think they are best doing covers.

Winger: formed in 1987 in New York.
"Who's The One" "In The Day We'll Never See" "Me And My Amigos" I saw Winger twice in 1990, Sep and Oct and Kip solo in June 1997. I found Kip to be a really cool RockStar. I met Reb Beach in July 2009 and July 2015.

Zebra: formed in 1975 in New Orleans, LA.
"Tell Me What You Want"

Saw in Concert: Lord Tracey April 1990 in Phoenix and Love/Hate in Dec 1990 in Ames, Iowa.

So there you have it, fans, the extent of MrZerr0's love for 80's Hair Metal, until the next time.... MrZerr0

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