Poison (band) Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Poison is an American hair metal band which achieved popular success in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Early years
Poison began life in 1984 as Paris, a band from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania comprising vocalist Bret Michaels, bassist Bobby Dall, guitarist Matt Smith and drummer Rikki Rockett. The band moved to Los Angeles in 1985 to begin playing in clubs there. Smith later returned to Pennsylvania and was replaced by C.C. DeVille, a guitarist who'd been in several bands previously, including Roxx Regime (Stryper) and Icon.
The band's flamoyant live shows striking "glam" image attracted music industry attention and Michaels, Dall, Rockett and DeVille signed to Enigma Records in 1986 (see 1986 in music). Their debut album, Look What the Cat Dragged In was released on August 2, 1986. It included three hits, "Talk Dirty to Me", "I Want Action" and "I Won't Forget You".
In 1987 the band also recorded a cover of the KISS song "Rock And Roll All Nite" for the Less Than Zero movie soundtrack.
Poison's second album, Open Up And Say...Ahh, which was released on May 21, 1988 (see 1988 in music) would ultimately go on to sell 8 million copies worldwide. The record included the band's biggest hit, "Every Rose Has Its Thorn", along with other top 10 hits, "Nothin' But A Good Time" and the Loggins & Messina cover "Your Mama Don't Dance". By the time the band toured with David Lee Roth it was clear that they had become major live act. Subsequent headlining shows in support of Open Up and Say... Ahh! would ultimately place the band alongside Metallica as one of the largest grossing touring acts of the late 1980s.
Poison's third album, Flesh & Blood; (1990), was also highly successful. The record went multi-platinum, spawning three gold singles: "Unskinny Bop", "Ride the Wind" and the ballad "Something To Believe In". Flesh & Blood reached #2 on the American charts, providing the impetus for a further World Tour.
Poison recorded a number of performances during its 1990/1991 "Flesh & Blood" tour which were released in November 1991 as their fourth album, Swallow This Live.
Despite Poison's success, DeVille's cocaine and alcohol addictions were tearing the band apart. Conflict between Michaels and DeVille cluminated in a fist fight at the MTV Music Awards in 1991. Deville was fired and replaced by Pennsylvanian guitar virtuoso Richie Kotzen.
Poison's 5th album, Native Tongue (1993) was a fiery, bluesy rock album, strongly influenced by Kotzen's fresh songwriting contributions and impressive guitar performances. The record received generally positive reviews, but sales were sluggish. Kotzen's future in the band was sealed, however, when it was discovered that he had been seeing Rockett's girlfriend behind his back. Kotzen was promptly fired, and replaced by Blues Saraceno.
Poison began recording its 6th album Crack a Smile in 1994. Recording was brought to an abrupt halt in May 1994, however, when vocalist Michaels lost control of his Ferrari. The singer suffered a broken nose, ribs, jawbone, fingers and losing four teeth and production of the record was put on hold. After Michaels' recovery in 1995, the band continued recording. However, Capitol Records had by this time decided to put the album on the back burner and instead decided to release a Greatest Hits record. In 1996, Capitol released Poison's Greatest Hits. The record went Platinum, despite Poison having been out of the spot light for a number of years. The band's tour in support of the record was equally successful, with its show at Pine Knob Amphitheater in Detroit drawing a sell-out crowd of 18,000.
Crack a Smile was finally released in on March 14, 2000. The album saw Poison update its sound and take on a "Southern" flavour on tracks such as "Best Thing You Ever Had".
Later in the same year Poison also released Power to the People marking the return of DeVille to the band. The record contained five new studio songs: "Power to the people" , "Can't bring me Down", "Last Song", "Strange", and "I hate every bone in your body but mine". The remainder of the album featured live performances from tours in 1999 and 2000.
Poison's most recent record, Hollyweird (2002), was released on May 21 2002. The album was regarded by many as a a "melting pot" of the sounds in Poison's first 3 records. In an unexpected move, the record included three tracks featuring vocals by guitarist DeVille.
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Later years
Discography