W.A.S.P. vocalist, Blackie Lawless, is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the band's September 21 and 28, 1982 shows at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, California. A message from Blackie follows:
"After the first show W.A.S.P. did in August we were trying to move up to Hollywood. That was the place if an artist wanted to really get noticed was the only place to be. From as early as the 1960’s Los Angeles was the place to be if a record deal was an artist’s ultimate goal. Yes, it could be done elsewhere, but L. A. was the place that was the real seat of power in the music world.
But the day after our first show we had a major problem. There had been a serious disagreement between Chris Holmes and Don Costa the bassist. The next day Chris called me and said, “either he goes or I go. I won’t play with him anymore”. This was serious. I felt strongly we had the personal chemistry as a band with these people as players and performers. I spent 6 years in L.A. trying to find this combination of guys that had that special magic…that “Chemistry”. Chris was the guy I was starting the band with but when he gave this ultimatum I had little choice. I knew how hard it was to find people like Don and this was no small problem.
I had known Randy Piper from a band we worked with before so I gave him a call. The 4 of us rehearsed and it was seeming to work but we had another big problem…. 3 guitar players and no bass player. This combination of chemistry I keep referring to might work, so as opposed to trying to find this “unicorn” of a bass player I decided to do it myself. First and foremost I’m a guitar player, so switching to bass wasn’t hard, but playing bass and singing took a bit of time to get it feel of it.
Prior to our first show I had sent demo tapes of what ended up being mostly our first album to both Ace Frehley and Bill Aucoin (manager of KISS) and they were scheduled to come out to this first show at the Troubadour. So let’s see, all I need to do is find another guitar player with that magic, learn the songs on bass guitar and start putting a show together, all in just about 3 weeks. What could possibly go wrong? I felt like I was trying to build the pyramids in less than a month, and that’s not an overstatement. I’ve often said 'we never had any intention of ever playing live' because we were concentrating on recording, but there’s also an old expression that says 'you only get one chance to make a first impression'.
I knew we weren’t ready to showcase ourselves as a band so I called both Ace and Bill and asked them if they could postpone coming out from New York for another week to September 28th. But now we have another problem. We had no track record as a band for selling tickets. To get into a venue like the Troubadour and have them book us in the first place was a huge deal. The Troubadour was World Famous. The show on the 21st was at 8 PM on a Tuesday night. Considering the place is closed on Mondays, the 8 PM slot on Tuesdays was the worst spot in the week. The talent buyer at the Troubadour was Mike Glick and he booked all the shows. He booked us for the first show on the 21st on the strength of our demo tape. So when I asked him if he would book us again the following week on the 28th it meant he was putting his butt on the line. Usually that venue was booked months in advance, but fortunately he still needed a band for that slot so he gave it to us. I cannot describe how unusual this series of events came into being and how everything needed to fall perfectly into place. Getting that second date, for an unproven band was an absolute miracle!
The first show on the 21st was OK. Fairly uneventful with no real Hollywood type movie beginnings or ending. There was a whopping 63 people in the crowd that night. For the show on the 28th both Ace and Bill were there. As a band we were better but we had none of the big stunts or visuals the band would later be known for. But the one thing we did have, we had those songs. 'Love Machine', 'Hellion' and 'I Wanna Be Somebody', and our look and image was also starting to take shape.
After the show they both came up to the dressing room and we talked late into the night. I remember getting the feeling from Bill that he felt we still needed work. As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. As he put it we were “still developing”. I distinctively remember him saying that, and the sick feeling I had in the pit of my stomach thinking, ‘well, we had our shot and now we’ve blown it’.
But looking back Bill was absolutely correct. We needed time to “develop”. To develop the visuals that perfectly matched those songs. To get “tight” as a band, that only playing live gigs can do for a group. As disappointed as I was after that night I really started to mentally dig in and stretch my imagination. The whole band did. Thinking back, that development happened very, very quickly. Over the next 2 to 3 months we would come up with the “Saw Blades”, “Drinking Blood” and the “Raw Meat”, the naked girl on the “Rack” and a “Sign that Exploded into Flames” and the Show the World would be assaulted with, reviled over, banned and condemned by, 18 short months later. From that second Troubadour show we grew at “light speed” and doubled and tripled the size of our crowds with every show we did. Both visually and musically we had become a dangerous band, and from that moment with every gig we played you could feel that “magic and tension” in the air, and every time we took the stage it was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
Not bad for a band that “never had any intention of ever playing live”!"
Rufus Publications recently released further details for the upcoming book, W.A.S.P. By Ross Halfin.
“It’s time to meet the group who the moral majority would most like to murder and the only group I can remember who’ve had a record banned by their own label… this is W.A.S.P.!” - Andy Kershaw.
Having sold over 12 million albums worldwide, W.A.S.P. were one of the pre-eminent major label American heavy metal bands of the 1980’s. Formed in 1982 in Los Angeles California, the band built a large and dedicated global following with their eponymous debut album and subsequent releases including The Last Command, Into The Electric Circus, The Headless Children and more.
W.A.S.P. By Ross Halfin starts at the very beginning in Hollywood, CA were Ross shot the band for the first time at The Troubadour – the famous club on Santa Monica Blvd which launched the careers of many artists including Motley Crue, Guns N Roses and Elton John to name just a few. Ross would work with the band right the way through this period from the small clubs to headlining venues such as Long Beach Arena and Hammersmith Odeon.
In addition to the photography, former W.A.S.P. guitarist and co-songwriter Chris Holmes provides anecdotes and memories throughout the book, sharing insights and stories for the very first time that provide a truly exceptional commentary that is an absolute must for all fans of the band.
There are also forwards from the band’s original manager Rod Smallwood and photographer Ross Halfin sharing their own perspectives and experiences with one of America’s most notorious and influential Metal bands of that era.
This 300 page plus coffee table book features a 3D lenticular cover, is bound in red recycled leather and presented in a protective slipcase. Only 300 numbered copies are available worldwide and each copy is personally signed by guitarist and co-songwriter Chris Holmes.
Pre-order is underway now at rufuspublications.com. Watch a video trailer below:
