Skid Row
Bon Jovi and KISS framed Skid Row's existence. The group formed in '86 with Bon Jovi's former guitarist Dave "The Snake" Sabo and bassist Rachel Bolan. Drummer Rob Affuso, guitarist Scotti Hill and vocalist Sebastian Bach joined a year later.
First, Sabo got Skid Row an opening slot on a Bon Jovi tour. Next he worked on Jon Bon Jovi to help get Skid Row a record deal. Bon Jovi obliged and Skid Row signed with Mercury Records. Their self-titled debut rolled out in '89 containing a slew of MTV/radio friendly hits including "18 and Life," "I Remember You" and "Youth Gone Wild." Their success landed them on a Guns 'N' Roses tour where they hit a few bumps. First, Bach got slammed for publicly wearing a T-shirt with "AIDS KILLS FAGS DEAD" (a play on the Raid insect killer slogan). Then there was the lawsuit filed by an audience member injured when Bach threw a glass bottle into a concert crowd. While these incidents got press and wasted time, they didn't have any long-term impact.
The commercially successful "Slave To The Grind" appeared in '91 but that success was short-lived. As Grunge rose in the early '90s, Skid Row's pop-metal/hair band appeal faded. Disputes kept the group inactive for the next couple of years.
While touring in support of their '95 release, "Subhuman Race," internal tensions finally blew the group apart. Bach briefly teamed with Smashing Pumpkin's drummer Jimmy Chamberlin in The Last Hard Men, who managed, before unraveling, to contribute a cover of Alice Cooper's "School's Out" for the "Scream" soundtrack. After that, Bach went solo and found his niche playing the title characters in the Broadway musical "Jeckyll and Hyde." As for the rest of the group, they re-formed in '00 with Johnny Solinger handling vocals. They were an opening act on the KISS Farewell Tour.
Bach was on a comeback trail of sorts in '08 when he entered CMT's Gone Country 2 celebrity competition. Yeah, like a Hair Metal wailer turned Broadway belter could do even passable Country. Amazingly, Bach won the damn thing. He impressed the judges by performing an original song titled "Battle With The Bottle."
Skid Row's first album was their best and their last album was their worst. The albums in between chart the rapid decline. "Skid Row" ('89) contains the group's most-remembered songs. Hardly brilliant, creative or all that compelling, it tops the short list. Skid Row relies on simplistic themes and '80s Metal formulas to make things work. "Slave To The Grind" ('91) and the fairly entertaining EP "B-Sides Ourselves" ('92) are next. "Grind" comes off as a pale re-working of the debut indicating the group is already running on fumes. Skid Row cuts themselves a little slack with "B-Sides Ourselves." They cover the Ramones and Jimi Hendrix but aside from hearing yet another version of "Psycho Therapy" or "Little Wing" there isn't much to recommend except that it is far better than "Subhuman Race" ('95).