WILDSIDE
Formed 1991, U.S.A.
Albums:
1992 Under The Influence
1995 Wildside
2004 The Wasted Years
History:
Wildside was an excellent band that burst onto the scene to late in the game to make any commercial break-through. The band played energetic melodic metal on their awesome debut album before trying too hard to fit in with the changing music scene.
Formed in Los Angeles, California, the band was originally known as Young Gunns and consisted of Drew Hannah (vocals), Brent Woods (guitar), Benny Rhynedance (guitar), Marc Simon (bass) and Jimmy D. (drums). With a name change to Wildside, Capitol picked up the band in record time. Andy Johns co-produced the debut album that included singles such as "Hang On Lucy" and "Just Another Night." In also included a track co-written by Kiss's Paul Stanley, but with the grunge invasion in full force, the album sank without a trace.
Three years later the self-titled follow-up album was released, which featured Bruce Draper handling all the guitar work. However the album turned out to be a huge disappointment for the few people that got a chance to listen, discarding their hard rock sound in exchange for a grunge alternative hybrid. Guitarist Woods resurfaced in Vince Neil's solo band and Hannah is rumored to be running a pornography company. The group did reform for some live shows promoting The Wasted Years in 2004, a collection of demos and unreleased material. In 1988, at the pinnacle of the "Hollywood Hair Metal" craze, WILDSIDE was formed by guitarist Benny Rhynedance and singer Drew Hannah. Both were 1986 Hollywood Hair Metal transplants from the pre-grunge Seattle music scene, which was then dead as a doornail.
In 1988, after slugging it out for 2 years on the L.A. club scene as glam rockers ROGUE, and enduring the Hollywood "Pay To Play" club promoter rip-off, Benny and Drew quit their original Seattle band. The two formed YOUNG GUNNS and recruited 2nd guitar player Brent Woods from the pop-metal strip band ALRISHA, and super glam bassist Marc Simon from ST.VALENTINE.
The guys searched for a permanent drummer and dominated the Sunset Strip and THE WHISKY A GO-GO on Monday Night "No Bozo Jam" nights. After a year and a half of "false starts and flakes," they found ex-NRG and "no non-sense" drummer Jimmy D. from San Bernadino, CA.
With a solid line-up, the band began an all out assault on Hollywood. Sold-out shows followed at The ROXY, WHISKY A GO-GO, GAZZARRI'S, XPOSUER 54, and SPICE ON SUNSET. Front page covers on all the L.A. rock press arose, and record labels began to take notice.
Famed Sunset Strip entertainment attorney Dennis Rider sought out the band after a show at THE WHISKY and offered his brokering services. Rider had successfully negotiated the LOVE/HATE record contract with Columbia a year prior. WILDSIDE retained Rider's services, and he would ultimately pay off in spades and get the band their Capitol Records deal through his label connections.
The guys needed a decent band name. They were known as YOUNG GUNNS from '88 to '90, but the movie company quickly sent out "cease and desist" letters. After another late night Sunset Strip debaucle at the Rainbow Bar, "WILDSIDE" was thrown around by Benny Rhynedance, and it fit their lifestyle to a tee. They had their name. (But so did another local band - They received a check and went away quietly.)
Through Dennis Rider, Capitol Records came calling in August of 1990, and a bidding war between Capitol and Polygram ensued, with Capitol winning the bid for 7 figures and 5 albums. It was the biggest signing of a Hollywood rock band since WASP back in 1984. Eyebrows were definitely beginning to raise in the industry. This band was destined for success and the buzz on the street was growing.
With legendary LED ZEPPELIN record producer ANDY JOHNS at the helm, WILDSIDE recorded their debut CD in secret at Eddie Van Halen's personal home studio, and also at the renowned A&M studios in Hollywood throughout 1991. Master metal mix-meisters STEVE THOMPSON and MICHAEL BARBIERIO mixed the CD to near perfection. They had mixed and produced many big hair rock bands in the 80's. Capitol Records had a slick package to market to the metal masses. How could they lose?
With a release date of May 1992, music was quickly changing to a new sound. One that was raw, less polished, and stripped down. NIRVANA led the charge of this new "GRUNGE" sound, and "hair bands" were quickly deemed "uncool." Amazingly, Kurt Cobain destroyed 10 years of "Pop-Metal" in six months. It was actually quite an accomplishment for a guy who wrote "radio hit songs" as a clinically depressed, homeless heroin addict who shunned the spotlight, hated mass-marketed corporate pop music, and at the time, lived under a bridge outside of Seattle. RIP Cobain.
Before their CD release in May of 1992, the boys hit the road with THE FOUR HORSEMEN in January. WILDSIDE's Under The Influence debut CD was released worldwide on May 22, 1992 to little fanfare. After the release of UTI they immediately hit the road with BABYLON A.D. and ROXY BLUE throughout the summer on a packaged summer rock tour. Sales bumped up at a brisk pace throughout the tour, and into the fall of 1992. WILDSIDE headlined their own tour December 1992 through March of 1993. This was the highest WILDSIDE would ever climb.
In late 1993, after an "upper management shake up" at Capitol Records, all the execs that signed WILDSIDE were "no longer with the company," including then Capitol President Hale Milgrim. New management at Capitol immediately called it quits for the band in the fall of 1993. Regardless of an iron clad contract and a 5 album deal, new Capitol execs ripped up the band's contract and said, "Good luck guys, it was nice knowin' ya!" All in the name of GRUNGE.
WILDSIDE continued to tour into 1994 and write new songs for a new disc on a new label.
Following the dismissal from Capitol, and the recent shift in music tastes, Brent Woods left the band to join Vince Neil's solo project, as a "hired gun." Benny Rhynedance was next to exit the sinking ship.
WILDSIDE, minus Benny and Brent, continued on and recorded a new CD for a privately owned small entertainment company. Releasing a "GRUNGE" CD in 1995 as a foursome, with Bruce Draper from ex-Geffen GRAVEYARD TRAIN handling the guitar chores. The album sold very poorly, and fans were shocked to hear a "jump on the GRUNGE bandwagon." The remaining members disbanded shortly after for regular day jobs.
Bassist Marc Simon is now a successful ticket broker at a very popular L.A. ticket company.
Brent Woods was fired from the Vince Neil band in 2002, (replaced by Mandy Moore guitarist Jason Hook) after years of touring and axe slinging.
Jimmy D. and spouse run a family-owned San Bernadino flower shop.
After a brief stint in 1995 at the Las Vegas Treasure Island Hotel as a pirate/stuntman, guitarist Benny Rhynedance went into Investment Banking in L.A. in '96 and ended up on Wall Street with a known firm in 1998.
Singer Drew Hannah is now in the adult film industry working on background music for adult films.
WILDSIDE had the sound, the talent, the looks, and the attitude to be a HUGE band. What they didn't have was the luck of timing, band camaraderie, and the proper management team making the band's critical business decisions.
Capitol Records had said many times, "WILDSIDE is the next POISON!" Had UNDER THE INFLUENCE been a CD release in 1988, this would be an entirely different article indeed.
Today, UNDER THE INFLUENCE by WILDSIDE is no longer made, but can be found on eBay or Amazon, consistently selling for $15 to $20, and is considered a rare item even now, 14 years later. Not too shabby for a band that came so close to stardom.
- Logan Cromwell has written articles for SPIN,
BLENDER, DETAILS, and PREMIERE magazines
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