This is a band I’ve had a lot of requests for and i’m glad I’m finally getting around to it.
Kix was a hair metal band that achieved some success in the 80’s and was signed to a major
label in Atlanticrecords. But they never achieved the level of success that their
peers like like Cindarella and Ratt. Why? That’s what were going to talk about in today’s video.
Originally called Shooze and then The Generators,. Kix Formed in Maryland in 1977 The band consisted
of guitarists Ronnie Yonkins and Bryan Forsythe, bassist Donnie Purnell, frontman Steve Whiteman
and drummer Jimmy Chalfan. Kix’s influences included Grand Funk Railroad, Alice Cooper, Deep
Purple, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Kiss, and AC/DC. In fact these influences would show early on in
the band’s career as Kix would cut their teeth on the bar circuit playing a collection of covers
including AC/DC, Led Zeppelin and The Stones, while also throwing in a few originals. The band
would end up sending a tape to producer kim Fowley who took their demo to several labels. By early
1981 the Kix would be invited to a showcase in New York by Atlantic Records President Doug Morris.
Bassist Donnie Purnell would tell the Washington Post "There were only six people in the rehearsal
hall. We did our original songs and performed just like there was a regular crowd out
there . . . pretty strange. After three songs, Morris walked out with our manager. We thought
he was going to tell us to get lost, but he went out and said he thought we were ready."
Released in 1981 the band’s self titled debut album featured 50’s rock,
metal and blues influences. The album wouldn’t chart but back then labels were more than willing
to nurture a band through several records. To promote their debut album the band
would tour with Cheap Trick and Triumph and headline their own midwestern dates as well.
The band’s follow up album 1983’s Cool Kids would be the band’s first album from the group
to chart on the billboard charts peaking at number 177. The record would be more
pop and nu-wave influenced and it would start the band’s trend of working with outside songwriters.
Two songs off the record including the title track and body talk would get the video treatment for
MTV, but frontman Steve Whiteman would admit to VH1s that metal show that he personally
hated the music videos for the record and in a separete interview with sonicperspectives.com,
he revealed it was the band’s least favourite album. Whiteman would lay the blame for the sound
of the album at the feet of the label and producer who tried to tone down the band’s
sound to make them appear more radio friendly. As the band turned their attention to their third
album, they wanted to regain more creative control with Whiteman telling Sleazeroxx
We felt like on the next record, we needed to make the record that we wanted to make.
We wanted melodies. Bands like Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones and AC/DC were huge influences
for us. That was in the vein of what we wanted. That’s how we wanted to be known
for and recognized for. It was intentional to get away from that ‘pop sound’ and get a lot harder
and was more in line with the hair metal scene.” Kix’s next record, 1985’s midnite dynamite would
see the band employ outside songwriters include Kip Winger and Bob Halligan Jr. who previously
worked with Kiss, Judas Priest, Blue Oyster Cult. Despite getting the sound they wanted the album
failed to chart. Whieman would would mostly lay the blame at their record label telling Sleazeroxx
We felt that we had a ‘hit’ record. We had one of the most powerful record companies in the world
releasing our records. We had good management at the time and we had Beau Hill coming on board
hot off the heels of a Ratt hit record. What could go wrong? We felt it was a hit,
but Atlantic Records didn’t quite know what to do with us. They released “Cold Shower.” It had
very little success and little MTV airplay. When the song didn’t take off, they were done with it.
But the band wasn’t ready to let the record die and they soon funded their
own tour across clubs in major cities which paid fairly well. In a strange turn of events,
Kix who were signed to a major label soon found themselves opening for unsigned
bands at the time including Guns N’ Roses. In fact Steve Whiteman would tell the Washington
Post in 1988 how frustrating the band’s journey had been at this point in time revealing Everybody
that's ever opened for us has gone on to be big stars," "Guns N'Roses, Poison, Cinderella, White
Lion-they've all opened for us and we've watched them all go big time. It's kind of frustrating."
Since there was a large gap between their third and fourth record the band’s label
got the song "No Ring Around Rosie," to be included in the 1987 film "Johnny Be Good."
After almost 10 years, Kix finally hit it big with their 4th album Blow My Fuse,
which was released in September of 1988. The band took an unusual approach to choosing
tracks for their album. They had written 40 or so songs for the record and according to
Whiteman ," Kix decided to test-market them, gathering some friends' younger
brothers and sisters around Hagerstown, as well as a similar teen group in Long Island.
The album initially sold about the same number of copies as their previous record,
but it wasn’t until Atlantic Records released the power ballad don’t close your eyes
that the album really took off. The song peaked at number 11 on the hot 100 charts. The single Cold
Blood would also get the video treatment, and became a top ten hit on MTV’s headbangers ball.
The album would become Kix’s biggest of their career going platinum and the record
also presented the band with some big time touring opportunities opening for both Ratt
and Cindarella. I recently did a whole video on Robbin Crosby of Ratt which is one of the
most popular videos on my channel. Check out the link below to watch it. Getting back to the story.
It also seemed like Whiteman and the band’s attitude towards their label had changed as the
frontman would tell Washington Post in 1988 "With this record, the kind of music that we
make is really popular right now. We've changed management and Atlantic finally
realized that you can break a band"-making it a success-"without getting them on the radio
{with tour and video support}. They hired a new heavy metal department and they work real hard,
so the whole attitude of the record company has changed toward music like ours"-this
from the label that brought us Led Zeppelin and Bad Company. "It feels like justice being due."
And as the 80’s came to a close the band turned their attention to their next record 1991’s
Hot Wire which sold about 2/10th of their previous record moving over 200,000 copies..
Released in June of 1991, the album came out a few months before alternative and grunge music
took over. While the album did have a modest hit single with Girl Money it wasn’t enough.
And it wasn’t too long after the album was released that Atlantic cut it’s losses and dropped
the band. They would sign a new deal though with CMC records who put out their next album 1995’s
Show Business. Between their album releases, the music industry had undergone a massive shift
and their brand of music had died in 1991. The band would break up in 1996
and its members would focus on other musical projects. Whiteman perfectly summarize the band's
breakup and decline telling front row report' Basically, there was a new party in town and we
weren't invited anymore. We front from playing arenas down to playing clubs down to playing
you'd call it french fry stands. It was so bad we could hardly make a living anymore.So we knew
it was time to call it a day, but I still needed to rock so i started funny money a year later.
It wasn’t until 2003 that the band reunited minus bassist Donnie Purnell who had a falling
out with Whiteman over the recording of a song as he would state in this interview.
We had a conversation on the phone. I was going to record a song with Funny Money that him and and I
had co-written and I had just called him up to say hey i am going to record this song just so to
let you know and he tore me an ass oh man and I mean he jumped down my throat and I just let him
go and I just held out the phone for 20 minutes and I let him rant and rave and after he was
done ranting i said i'm really sorry you feel like that way. I used to have a lot of respect for you.
.I'm done. Recording new material seemed tricky for the band as Purnell wrote most of the music,
but in 2014 they would put out their first album in nearly 2 decades
releasing Rock Your Face Off. To this day the band iis still around touring.
So that does it for today's video guys thanks for watching. Be sure to hit the like button
and subscribe and we'll see you again on rock n' roll true stories. Take care.