Bob Welch was a guitarist and songwriter who was instrumental in steering early Fleetwood Mac towards a more radio-friendly sound. He was in the band from 1971-1974 (for 5 albums), just before the band exploded with the arrival of his replacements, Linsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. Nonetheless, Welch seemed poised to be a superstar on his own as his solo debut "Sentimental Lady" soared to #8 in 1977 (the song features Christine McVie and Buckingham on backing vocals). He followed it up with respectable chart showings for "Ebony Eyes" (#14), "Hot Love, Cold World" (#31), and "Precious Love" (#19). But that was pretty much the end of the road. Aside from the lackluster "Church," which stalled at #73 in 1979, Welch fell off the radar. His early 80s albums sold badly, as did a comeback he attempted in 1999 called "Bob Welch Looks At Bop." Through the 80s he fell into drug and alcohol addiction, partly due to having Guns N' Roses researching out of his garage. Welch sobered up but was dealt another blow by being snubbed from the induction of Fleetwood Mac into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. A final blow arrived in 2012, after Welch realized that he would not recover from recent spinal surgery. He committed suicide at the age of 66. Despite their commercial disappointment, I enjoy Welch's solo work from the 80s. "He's Really Got A Hold On Her" is a selection from his 1983 effort, "Eye Contact."
Velvet Revolver was a supergroup consisting largely of members of Guns N' Roses, but with Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots at the vocal helm. The band's first single, "Slither," made a decent splash, reaching #56 in 2004 and winning a Grammy for Hard Rock Performance. Hopes were high that the band had even better tricks up their talented sleeves, but those hopes were dashed when the follow-up single, "Fall To Pieces," stalled at #67 and became their final chart appearance. No further singles charted and the band's sophomore release, "Libertad," drew little interest. Weiland then left to return to STP. The aptly titled "The Last Fight" was the second single from "Libertad."
In the 80s, STP referred to a motor oil. In the 90s, it referred to Stone Temple Pilots. STP came soaring out of San Diego at the dawn of grunge as a gritty hard rock band that could also show grace when unplugged. Their breakthrough hit was "Plush," which went to #39 in 1993 and won them a Grammy for Hard Rock Performance. STP continued to dominate the airwaves and make chart appearances throughout the decade, most notably with "Interstate Love Song," which gave them their biggest hit at #18 in 1994. In 2000, they had their last chart appearance when "Sour Girl" peaked at #78. The band took a break, which allowed members to explore other projects. Lead singer Scott Weiland joined the supergroup Velvet Revolver with members of Guns N' Roses while the DeLeo brothers of STP formed Army of Anyone with Filter vocalist Richard Patrick. Weiland also fronted a side project called The Magnificent Bastards in the mid-90s, which had a minor hit in 1995 with "Mockingbird Girl" (#66) from the movie Tank Girl. STP reunited in 2008 and released their 6th record in 2010, which was a self-titled effort. It is vastly underrated, and is the record from which "Cinnamon" can be found. The record shows matured and seasoned songwriting with just enough of a shout out to their harder edged past. Weiland was replaced in 2013 with Chester Bennington of Linkin Park but sadly both died early - Weiland passed away in 2015 from a drug overdose and Bennington in 2017 from suicide. The band selected Jeff Gutt from an online audition to be their new lead singer. Weiland also released three diverse solo records and was fronting a new band called The Wildabouts at the time of his death. The versatile singer and creative lyricist is remembered as one of the signature vocalists of the era.
One of the greatest sins in the history of the music charts is the virtual absence of a band like The Replacements. Led by the songwriting genius of Paul Westerberg, the band only managed a single chart appearance at the twilight of their career together when "I'll Be You" peaked at #51 in 1989. Many other entities have recognized their hugely influential role in the annals of rock. For example, "Here Comes A Regular" and "I Will Dare" are both in the R&R Hall of Fame. The band formed in Minneapolis in 1979 around brothers Bob and Tommy Stinson (who was a member of Guns N' Roses from 1998-2014, and also side bands Bash & Pop, and Perfect). They released their first album in 1981, a raw thrash record called "Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash." The band's sound quickly evolved as they began to incorporate new genres into their songwriting, and Westerberg was growing into a talented lyricist with a knack for snark and wordplay. He'd soon be tackling issues of addiction, suicide, spousal abuse, politics, and more. The band's 1984 album "Let It Be" is widely considered to be one of the best of the era. The album was not a commercial success at the time, but did get the band signed to the major label Sire. Two more back-to-back masterpieces would follow with "Tim" and "Pleased To Meet Me." In-between those records, the band dismissed Bob Stinson since he showed clear disdain for the less rocking songs and suffered major issues with substance abuse (which took his life in 1995). Slim Dunlop replaced him for the rest of the band's career, which included two more albums, "Don't Tell A Soul" and "All Shook Down." While these two albums are gems in their own way, they were a far cry from The Replacements of old and more like solo efforts from Westerberg. Picking a single song to highlight their brilliance is nearly impossible. They're one of the few bands in which every song they've ever done is worthy of a listen. Nonetheless, I'm going with "The Ledge," a track about solitude and suicide from 1987's "Pleased To Meet Me." This haunting song should have broken the band, but the video was banned from MTV. Not because of the visuals (in true Replacements style, the video just shows the band hanging out on a sofa and chairs), but due to the lyrics alone.
L.A. Guns has a confusing origins story that began in 1983 with guitarist Tracii Guns. In the shifting membership, his band merged with Hollywood Rose, which would evolve into Guns N' Roses. But Guns had a falling out with Axl Rose and bailed (he was replaced with Slash). L.A. Guns didn't achieve any mainstream success until a new singer, Philip Lewis, took to the mic. With Lewis on board, the group finally scored a charting single with "The Ballad Of Jayne." "The Ballad of Jayne," which hit #33 in 1990, was an acoustic-driven power ballad -- the kind of tune that many a hairband turned to in order to score a hit and expand their audience. This great song gave the band a modest hit, but it still failed to attract more fans to their gritty rock and roll. Which is a shame, because Lewis and Guns were a solid songwriting team. Songs like "Never Enough," "Kiss My Love Goodbye," and "It's Over Now" (which peaked at #62 in 1992, the band's only other chart appearance) were better than most of what the competition played.
The original lineup of Guns N' Roses released one of the best hard rock records of all time, 1987's "Appetite for Destruction," which yielded three top 10 hits including the #1 smash "Sweet Child O' Mine." Everyone was eager to hear more, so the band rushed out 1988's "G N' R Lies," perhaps a bit prematurely. A mix of live cuts and new songs, it performed very well off the heels of "Appetite" and the terrific acoustic ballad, "Patience," which went to #4. Fans would have to be patient for the next Guns N' Roses release, a double-album called "Use Your Illusion," which arrived in 1991. The band grew by leaps and bounds but divided fans who wanted "Appetite II." The bevy of songs (29 tracks) on the "Use Your Illusion" records was a mix of angst-driven rock, power ballads, cover tunes, and some overly long experimental tracks. Nonetheless, the band scored some big ballad hits including "Don't Cry" (#10) and "November Rain" (#3). Their rock tracks fared less well. It's so easy (you see what I did there?) for a lot of good songs to get lost in the woods of a double-album. "Civil War" is one of them. An epic ballad at nearly 8 minutes, it is a fan favorite and among the better lyrics Rose has ever written, a modest redemption from the dreadful lyrics of "One In A Million" from "Lies." "Civil War" has the added distinction of being the last song original drummer Steven Adler played on. The clip at the beginning is from the movie Cool Hand Luke, and the song Axel is whistling is "When Johnny Comes Marching Home."
