“Richie takes a little getting used to.  He’s a strange cat.” — Bret Michaels

In 1991, a new cable access show catering to metalheads hit the local airwaves:  The Metal Mike show, with host Mike Coughlin.  Since MuchMusic’s Power 30 was declining in quality, there was a vacuum for another good metal show.

Check out this terrific interview with Poison frontman Bret Michaels in 1993.  The band had parted with C.C. Deville and were re-emerging the middle of the grunge era with Native Tongue. Today it’s considered to be their best album, but nobody cared in ’93.

Metal Mike eases Bret in comfortably but then hits him up with a tough question:  what really happened with C.C. Deville?  And Bret doesn’t hold back.  Fist fights, drugs and alcohol all came into play, and the trainwreck MTV Awards appearance all contributed.

They move on to finding Richie Kotzen.  Pay attention and notice that the fit seems awkward.  The clues were there.  “He sometimes can be kinda weird,” says Bret of his new bandmate.  There was no question of the man’s chops, however, nor his stage presence.  Check it out.