This was a suggestion a subscriber of mine sent in and i want to thank them for the idea.
Jacky is a band who almost seemed like the antithesis of what was happening in rock music
when they became popular in the early 90’s. The bands who dominated the rock charts at the time
heavily consisted of alternative rock acts singing about social causes or the harsh realities of
life. Jackyl, didn’t takes themselves so seriously as they’re a southern metal band who sang about
the pleasures of life including sex partying and having a good time. Their musical themes
seemed to be more in line with the glam metal bands of the sunset strip than the pacific
northwest. But not everyone was happy with Jackyl including major retailers like K-Mart who had an
issue with the band’s debut album. I mean these guys were so bold they had a song called she
loves my expletive. But being the badasses they are, Jackyl didn’t take it lying down
and got revenge in a very timeless way. That’s what were going to talk about in today’s video.
Jackyl hailed from Kennesaw, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. The group's music was
heavily influenced by the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd and AC/DC. They soon developed a
reputation for being hard partying animals andit sometimes landed the band in trouble.
Frontman Jesse James Dupree was arrested in 1993 for dropping his pants on stage and fined $1,500.
The same year Dupree posed for playgirl in their sexiest rockers issue it and while photos probably
earned the band some more female fans it also cost the group an important business deal.
Director Penelope Spheeris who directed Beverly Hillbillies, was in negotiations with Jackyl to
write and perform the film’s title track. After the magazine photos got published
Spheeries pulled the plug on the deal. It was hypocritical given that actress Erika
Eleniak , the actress playing Ellie Mae, was the Play boy Playmate for the Month in July 1989.
Dupree would tell the Morning Call "I don't understand why it is worse
for a man to pose naked in a magazine than a woman,". "I was told I wasn't the right
image. That would be OK, except ... Penelope obviously didn't hold it against her (Eleniak)
for getting naked in a men's magazine." In addition to that Bon Jovi a refused
to have the band as an opening act as well. Jackyl would sign with Geffen Records in the
early 90’s and the label would put out their self titled debut record in 1992.
The record would go platinum, thanks in large part to five singles all of which charted in the top
40 on the mainstream rock charts in America including the lumberjack, i stand alone, down
on me and dirty little mind. And when will it rain Released in the summer of 1992, the band’s debut
record’s lyrical themes and cover art was deemed too indecent for Kmart to sell the album The band
didn’t take the move lightly, taking a flatbed trailer into the parking of of a Marietta Georgia
KMART where they performed an afternoon concert in june of 1992. The band would film the video for
the single I Stand Alone during that show. Dupree would tell the morning call in 1993 ",the bottom
line is, this parental advisory sticker s--- sucks," D. "I mean, hell, young people can turn
the TV on and see the damndest stuff. And they can read the newspaper and watch the news. But
they go in to buy a rock 'n' roll record and they can't buy it because they're not 18 years old,
that's stupid. That is pure ignorance" he'd say. Ex guitarist Jimmy Stiff would tell Legendary
Rock Interviews what went down the day they filmed the 'I Stand Alone' video.:
We announced on the radio that we were going to be there, indirectly, and we played ‘til the law came
and shut us down. They told Jessie if he could get everybody to leave without starting a fuss,
they’d let us go, so he got the cop’s bullhorn and said, “Cops say we have to leave… see
ya’ll across town…” Everyone left, we left, took the party elsewhere. Today,
on the way here (The Georgia 120 Tavern & Music Hall), we drove by the scene of the
crime, that old K-Mart. It’s not a K-Mart anymore.: The video we made, I Stand Alone,
we blew up a van for that. The record company gave us five grand to buy an old van to blow up
but we decided to blow up our own van and buy another one with that money. We used dynamite.
That’s me in the video driving the orange van. It would be ironic that after all these years
Kmart is no longer around but Jackyl is still rocking to this very day.
That does it for today’s video guys, we’ll see you again on rock n’ roll true stories. Take care.