LA HAIR METAL 1981–1988
Hair metal — named for obvious reasons — is a glorious genre of rock music, dudes. Instrumental in the rise of MTV’s popularity and most probably hairspray sales thanks to its outrageous, back-combed, feast-for-the-eyes, tubular aesthetic. Musical Influences on the hair metal genre were of course glam rock acts such as KISS and Alice Cooper. The heavy makeup, over-the-top stage presence and sensational theatrics inspired the genre. The punk rock ‘live fast, die young’ attitude and irreverent behaviour was definitely carried over into the hair metal lifestyle. Virtuoso hard rock and heavy metal guitarists such as Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads’ shredding styles and impressive solos paved the way and set the bar for the electric-guitar-heavy hair metal setup. Van Halen’s propensity for spandex and agile, energetic showmanship also had an obvious influence on flamboyant hair metal stage performances. The Sunset Boulevard scene was a very concentrated, word of mouth scene. One street, just 1–3 square miles where 50–75 bands could be playing over a weekend. Classic venues were a stone’s throw away from one another — Gazzarri’s, The Roxy, Troubadour, Whisky a Go-Go. The LA hair metal scene was a lifestyle. Musicians lived, worked and partied on the Sunset Strip, working in music stores and self-promoting by putting their flyers around the street and in their customers’ shopping bags.
Key musical features for hair metal are: More mainstream accessible ‘pop-y’ hooks. Less screaming, atonal vocals as per the punk era norm and more melodic, powerful belting ranges with decorative, gritty vocal compression. Bands comprised of mostly electric guitars offering over-the-top shredding solos, showing off the technical prowess of their lead guitarists and elevating them to rock god status.
Some great examples of key acts from this genre are: Mötley Crüe — Ex-London member Nikki Sixx on bass, Tommy Lee on drums, Mick Mars lead guitar and Vince Neil vocals. Mötley Crüe formed on the Sunset Strip. They were known for elaborate live stage performances featuring pyrotechnics, flame thrower guitars and rollercoaster drumkits. ‘Shout at The Devil’ was their breakthrough album, making a name for themselves and causing controversy with the use of the Pentagram and satanic symbolism — a bold, risky move in conservative, Christian America. They became infamous for their wild, hedonistic behaviour and carried the image of the untameable hotel-trashing rock stars.
Poison — Vocalist Bret Michaels, bassist Bobby Dall and drummer Rikki Rockett moved from Pennsylvania to LA in 1983 to further their music career. Once they arrived in the city of Angels they recruited guitarist C.C. DeVille and made their name in the Sunset Strip hair metal scene. They demonstrated to their genre how to use the power ballad to successfully crossover into mainstream radio with their wildly successful release of ‘Every Rose Has its Thorn’ in 1988 from their massive sophomore album ‘Open Up and Say…Ahh!’
Def Leppard, featuring vocalist Joe Elliot, bass and keys Rick Savage, legendary one-armed drummer Rick Allen and Phil Collen on guitar — although immigrants to LA from the UK — immersed themselves in the scene and released the Pyromania and Hysteria albums which greatly impacted the genre. They rocketed up the mainstream billboard charts and brought hair metal to the masses thanks to their easily marketable ‘cleaner’ version of their genre peers. Scoring multiple hit singles from these albums such as ‘Foolin’ and ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me’, the songs became genre defining hits and truly captured the sound and image of LA hair metal.
REFERENCES
The Sunset Strip in the 1980s: The heyday of glam metal and hair bands — Curbed LA
Hair Metal History: Nothin’ But A Good Time On The Sunset Strip (udiscovermusic.com)
I Hold Def Leppard Responsible For Hair Metal — If My Records Could Talk
An oral history of hair metal | Louder (loudersound.com)
14 Rock Bands + Artists Who Pioneered Hair Metal (loudwire.com)
