I love this vintage interview clip. If anyone in rock holds the title of “Captain A.D.D.”, it would have to be Poison’s Bret Michaels! This scattershot blurb on good press vs. bad press goes about a million miles per hour, but it’s all fun.
Rikki Rockett
REVIEW: Poison – “Stand” (1993 promo cassette)
POISON – “Stand (CHR edit)” (1993 promo cassette single)
What is a “CHR edit”? It’s a special single edit of a song specifically intended for “contemporary hit radio”. In other words, Top 40. So, when “Stand” by Poison was selected to be the first single from 1993’s brand new Native Tongue album, it had to be trimmed for length. Getting Poison on the radio was going to prove to be an impossible task, so why make it harder by giving them a 5:16 long track that they definitely wouldn’t touch? “Stand” was shortened to 4:21, with much of Richie Kotzen’s delightfully idiosyncratic guitar licks getting the axe, along with some of the choir.
The cassette you see here contains two edited versions of “Stand”: the 4:21 “CHR edit” and another at 4:30 simply called “edit”. The differences are in the guitar solo which starts to deviate at the 2:28 mark. It’s in interesting curiosity, a peak inside the minutia of thinking that goes into marketing a song. “Hey, this format needs another nine seconds of song, leave in some guitar solo.” Is that how it worked?
The tape has both edit versions on both sides…twice. 2x2x2=8 times total, that you will hear “Stand” by Poison, if you play it all the way through. Call the CIA and let ’em know I have this cassette; they can use it with their enhanced interrogation techniques. I’ll sell.
On that note I can all but guarantee this cassette has never been played through, ever. It was sent to the Record Store about a year and a half before I started working there. The owner hated Poison. Hated — with a passion. There is no way he played this tape in store, ever. I rescued it from a giant, forgotten stack of promos that were stuffed into a bin. All garbage. “Don’t take any of those,” said the owner. Eventually all that junk was slated to be thrown out when the only location that sold tapes changed formats at the end of 1996.
This tape is valuable for one thing: it reveals the true North American release date for Native Tongue. Currently (August 2019), Wikipedia claims Native Tongue was released on February 8, 1993. That’s impossible because the 8th was a Monday. New releases came out on Tuesdays. This promo cassette clearly states on the back that the forthcoming album Native Tongue was retailing on February 16 — a Tuesday. You’re welcome, internet.
Otherwise, this cassette is fairly useless.
1/5 stars
Share this rock:
VHS Archives #57: Rikki Rockett of Poison live interview (1993)
Did you check out our Poison album list today, as we counted ’em down from worst to best?
I have a surprising amount of Poison interviews on my VHS tapes. They must have been an extremely media friendly band. From the Native Tongue period alone, I have three separate interviews on my tapes. The first was the best Bret Michaels interview I’ve seen, on Kitchener’s Metal Mike show in 1993. The next will be a sit down with Bret and Richie Kotzen in the MuchMusic studios. This one, however, is a rare live interview with drummer Rikki Rockett.
There are awkward moments, like when he lies about the album selling “really good”. Hear all about the “party cage” and other tour goings-on. He also talks about growing up in a musical family, which is probably the most illuminating part.
Check out Mr. Rockett on live TV!
Share this rock:
#744: A Poison-ous List
GETTING MORE TALE #744: A Poison-ous List
Over 30 years of being a band, and yet Poison only have a handful of albums! We won’t get into the whys and wherefores, for they are many. In terms of studio music, Poison have:
- 6 full studio albums
- 2 live albums with about an EP’s worth of new songs
- 1 covers album
That’s it. There are more live records and greatest hits, but Poison don’t have much music to show for such a long time in the business.
Naturally, anybody with an opinion has their own list of worst-to-first Poison albums. The only thing special about mine is my conviction that I’m right and everybody else is wrong!
#9: Hollyweird 2002
Poison’s last album of original songs was not a letdown at all. To be disappointed, you have to have expectations. I don’t think anybody expected much out of Poison in 2002. This dull, bland album had no hits for a good reason. Was Bret saving his best material for his solo career?
#8: Power to the People 2000
Part live, part studio, this album should be included as it was the first new Poison material with C.C. Deville in a decade. Shame that the studio songs are largely forgettable. All but “I Hate Every Bone in Your Body but Mine”, sung by an autotuned C.C., which you’ll wish you could forget. Nobody asked for this, nor the live guitar and drum solos. In concert, Poison need to play long solos so Bret Michaels can take his insulin. On album, there is no excuse for including such boring solos.
#7: Swallow This Live 1991
This album is plagued by the same problem as Power to the People: horribly long live solos that should have been omitted. At least the studio side was decent. There were two pretty good songs, and one excellent single called “So Tell Me Why”. Possibly their best single, actually. Unfortunately you had to wade through 2 CDs of crap to get to it.
#6: Poison’d! 2007
Kinda sad that Poison’s last album was a covers album over 10 years ago. Still, it was a surprisingly good covers album. Just delete the Walmart bonus track “SexyBack” and you’re all set for nothing’ but a good time. Incidentally this is the easiest place to find Poison’s first recorded cover, “Rock and Roll all Nite”!
#5: Crack A Smile…And More! 2000
In 1994, Poison began working on their first album with new guitarist Blues Saraceno. It sat unreleased for another six years. When it finally came out, it was beefed up with two new B-sides, the cool and unfinished “Crack A Smile” demo, an old B-side with C.C., and four songs from MTV Unplugged (also with C.C.). Hence the “And More!” tag in the title. Saraceno is a wiz on the guitar, and with Poison he wrote some cool songs. Just not enough for such a long album. There’s a bit of filler on Crack A Smile, but for guitar playing it’s one of their best.
#4: Look What the Cat Dragged In 1986
I know, I know, it’s their “classic” debut, right? But it ain’t produced so good, and there’s some filler in those grooves. The singles, however, are all great, with “Cry Tough” joining “So Tell Me Why” as one of their all-time best. Poison had an adorable rawness and party attitude, but like many bands they got better as they went.
#3: Open Up and Say…Ahh! 1988
This is when Poison really started getting good. By my measure, this album only has one filler song, “Bad to Be Good”. There’s actually some stunning material here, including non-singles like “Love On the Rocks”. It has the big ballad (and only one ballad!) as well as the unforgettable “Nothing But a Good Time“. Open Up and Say…Ahh! is definitely the best of Poison’s “party rock” albums.
#2: Flesh & Blood 1990
A lot of people consider this to be Poison’s best, and while that argument can be made, I just can’t get past “Poor Boy Blues”. That song is so awful it leaves a limburger-like aftertaste. (It’s even worse when it’s extended on Swallow This Live.) “Unskinny Bop” is painfully dumb, a fact we recognized back in 1990. It didn’t fit the more mature sound Poison were going for with new producer Bruce Fairbairn. “Why is this song the single?” we asked each other, as we discovered way better material buried inside. “Valley of Lost Souls”, “Sacrifice”, and “Life Loves a Tragedy” were never singles but certainly catalogue highlights. Flesh & Blood also boasts two of their best ballads, “Something to Believe In” and “Life Goes On”. It’s a tough album to beat.
#1: Native Tongue 1993
But Native Tongue does surpass Flesh & Blood, thanks to the supernatural talents of Mr. Richie Kotzen. On paper, it was a slam dunk. Poison were never taken seriously as musicians, but with Kotzen, suddenly that bar was raised. That tone! Earthy and hot. He was a shredder, and a soulful singer/songwriter. He dominated Native Tongue. Unfortunately the personalities didn’t mesh (or so we will word it). It was a weird fit, but it resulted in a very special album. Most of the songs are clearly Richie’s, with Bret Michaels singing. (It’s possible that Richie played other instruments as well, but we’ll leave that to speculation.) Kotzen brought to Poison a real soulful bent that they simply didn’t have without him, although they sure did try on Flesh & Blood. His raspy voice didn’t hurt. The good time rock isn’t gone either, though there’s less of it. “Ride Child Ride”, “Strike Up the Band” and “Seven Days Over You” are as fun as the old days, but with a richer more musical palette. Poison also went heavier than ever before. “Scream” and “Bring it Home” groove harder than anything before or after. Perhaps this album should be disqualified from the list as it’s more a Kotzen record with Poison as his backing band? Nope, it’s my list and this is #1.
Share this rock:
VHS Archives #37: The Girl With the Poison Tattoo
Speaker’s Corner was a place where anyone could get on TV! You would step into the recording booth, pop in some coins, and record a brief video. If you were lucky, you’d be chosen for the Speaker’s Corner TV show.! The Barenaked Ladies got their start by playing a song on Speaker’s Corner (“Be My Yoko Ono”). There were lonely people looking for love, there were eccentrics and even LeBrain and his pals (though I don’t know if our video was ever broadcast). There were also recurring people, like Brie.
Funny thing. A guy I used to work with at the Record Store named Joe Perry once said to me “I know a girl with a Poison tattoo.” He was shocked when I answered, “Is her name Brie?”
“How, how the hell do you know that?” he asked.
How could Joe have known that I was taping Speaker’s Corner the day she showed off her Poison tattoo!
You gotta give the girl credit for getting a Poison tattoo in the 1990s.
Share this rock:
REVIEW: Poison – Native Tongue (1993)
POISON – Native Tongue (1993 Capitol)
C.C. DeVille was let go from Poison after an embarrassing performance on the 1991 MTV awards. Who can forget the pink-haired C.C.? Drugs and alcohol had taken their toll on the guitar player. There were musical differences as well. Bret Michaels liked the bluesier direction Poison were going on; C.C. preferred basic sloppy rock. A parting of ways was all but inevitable.
Poison were lucky enough to convince guitar prodigy Richie Kotzen to join the band. Kotzen was from Pennsylvania, like Poison, and had released three critically acclaimed solo albums. Richie Kotzen and Electric Joy were hard-to-penetrate instrumental albums, while Fever Dream introduced Richie’s soulful singing voice. He had also contributed the bluesy rock of “Dream of a New Day” to the Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey soundtrack album.
Like many fans, I waited and wondered what the new Poison would sound like. Kotzen claims that many of the songs were completely written, lyrics and all, before he joined Poison. Regardless each song received a four-way songwriting split among the band members. Fans in the know could tell right away that Kotzen’s impact on the songs was much greater than the other members.
Native Tongue was not as immediate as any prior Poison album, but what it lacked in instant hooks it made up for in musicianship and integrity. Native Tongue was also a long album, at almost an hour not including B-sides such as “Whip Comes Down”. It was a lot to absorb, and due to the changing winds of rock, not too many fans were willing to spend time with and get to know Native Tongue.
You couldn’t have asked for a better start to the album that the duo of “Native Tongue”/”The Scream”. Tribal drums by Rikki Rockett and Sheila E. set the scene for one of Poison’s heaviest songs ever. “The Scream” is killer: a relentless driving rock song with aggressive playing and lyrics. Bret Michaels merged this with his Poison singing style, creating a successful hybrid. “The Scream” is one of Poison’s finest achievements, and a hell of a way to kick off the new album with the new guitarist.
“Stand” was the soulful, gospel-like lead single. It didn’t do anything for me, but you have to give Poison credit for going all-in. With choirs and Kotzen’s soulful guitar playing, it’s still an outstanding Poison song. “Stay Alive” was another good tune, this time about bassist Bobby Dall’s struggles with substances. That led into the ballad “Until You Suffer Some (Fire and Ice)”, one of the band’s best such songs. The only weakness here is a grouping of slow songs on side one. “Body Talk” and “Bring It Home” make up for that. “Bring It Home” in particular had that heavy groove that you needed to have in the 1990s, as well as strong backing vocals from Kotzen. “Bring It Home” ended the first side with the heaviest song since “The Scream”.
The one thing that I found difficult about Native Tongue was the aforementioned lack of immediacy. Thankfully, side two had a few songs that maintained that old-tyme Poison singalong chorus. They were “Seven Days Over You” (a horn-inflected goodie), the anthemic “Blind Faith” and, “Ride Child Ride”. These tunes weren’t too much of a departure from earlier Poison of Flesh & Blood. Perhaps if they had been released as singles, there would have been more chart action. “Strike Up the Band” is similar, capturing the high octane rock that Poison were good at doing live.
“Richie’s Acoustic Thang” and “Ain’t That the Truth” are swampy bluesy goodness, crossing Poison and Kotzen perfectly. Where Poison failed to do decent blues before, they finally managed to get it done with Richie. Likewise, “Theatre of the Soul” is a soulful ballad that acts as another album highlight.
The final song was “Bastard Son of a Thousand Blues”, and it is really the only stinker, despite Kotzen having plenty of vocal time. It reminds me of “Poor Boy Blues” from the prior album, and unfortunately ends the album on a mediocre note, guitar pyrotechnics notwithstanding.
Kotzen didn’t last long with Poison. After a controversial departure, he was replaced by Blues Saraceno, another highly rated shredder. The ironic thing was that Blues Saraceno was in the running for the guitar slot in the first place, but the band chose Kotzen. Saraceno recorded the strong Crack A Smile CD, an intentional return to good-time Poison rock, but were dropped by the record label before a release. That’s a whole other story, with six years of delays and bootlegs before the album was out, eventually leading to a reunion with C.C. DeVille.
Fortunately, Native Tongue remains a reminder of a brief period in Poison where they were momentarily among the best acts in hard rock. No shit.
4.75/5 stars
Share this rock:
REVIEW: Poison – Poison’d! (2007 Walmart version with bonus track)
POISON – Poison’d! (2007 Capitol)
Talk about defying expectations. As a general rule, covers albums suck. By extension of that, you would certainly predict that a cover album by Poison would absolutely suck. After all, the band Poison haven’t made a decent studio album in well over 20 years. 2002’s Hollyweird was junk. Maybe it’s the presence of legendary producer Don Was, but Poison somehow managed to make a good cover album! I’m almost worried about losing credibility by saying this. I did indeed get Poison’d by it.
I think Poison are at their best when playing upbeat but hard pop rock numbers. “Little Willy” by the Sweet is a great example of that kind of song, and it’s right up Bret’s alley. It’s obvious that he doesn’t have the voice he once had (which wasn’t much to start with) but when Bret’s at home with a particular style it always works better. “Little Willy” is hella fun.
Here’s my Bowie confession — this guy here is not a fan. Maybe it’s over-exposure. I do like the hits, and of those “Suffragette City” is one I enjoy. Once again, Poison are at home, putting their slant on Bowie and somehow making it work. I don’t even mind C.C.’s over the top guitar slop — silly but that’s his style. I’m sure Bowie diehards will absolutely hate this.
The classic Alice Cooper ballad “I Never Cry” is a great song, and Poison throw a little twang on it while keeping it pretty true to the original. Dick Wagner had a knack for writing incredible songs, and “I Never Cry” is one of the best he’s ever written. As for Bret, he’ll never be Alice Cooper but he’s not trying to be. Too bad C.C. can’t seem to hit the notes he’s searching for on the solo! If Poison had done this in 1988, they absolutely would have had a hit with it.
You wouldn’t expect a band like Poison to have too many Tom Petty records in their collection, but they do a great job glamming up “I Need to Know”. They nailed it by doing it in their style, and as long as you’re not too attached to Tom Petty’s original then you’ll dig it. On the other hand, I can picture Bret having a whole bunch of albums by the Marshall Tucker Band. “Can’t You Say” has that laid back, southern gospel rock vibe that Bret has been trying to copy for 25 years. Unsurprisingly, “Can’t You See” is better than most of Bret’s originals in the same style. Guitar solo aside it’s actually pretty great!
One song I really don’t care for anymore is “What I Like About You” by the Romantics. Hearing a decent cover though ain’t so bad. Surprisingly, once again, Poison do a great version. C.C.’s soloing doesn’t fit the track, but hey, that’s C.C. for you. Bret’s enthusiasm carries the track, which is in Poison rock mode. Then they slip by covering the Rolling Stones. “Dead Flowers” isn’t a song I would be brave enough to do, and Poison should have erred on the side of caution and not tried it. This is filler, but I love the Cars, so I had my hopes up for the next track “Just What I Needed”. No need to fear — this one is in that hard pop rock mode that Poison do very well. It reminds me of their own song “So Tell Me Why” in tone. Count this one as an album highlight and personal favourite.
Some previously released tracks fill out the set. A Poison covers album should include their first cover, “Rock ‘N Roll All Nite”. This Kiss cover (produced by Rick fucking Rubin, no shit) was first released on the Less Than Zero soundtrack in 1987. You can also hear it in the background at the start of their music video for “Nothin’ But a Good Time”. I do not like it, but it’s nice to include. The Who’s “Squeeze Box” was originally from the aforementioned Hollyweird CD, and it’s sadly (but not surprisingly) a stinker. Jim Croce’s “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim” is a demo from 1987, previously released on the remastered Look What the Cat Dragged On. Not bad when you want a taste of that old-style Poison.
I think it’s kind of odd to put “Your Mama Don’t Dance” on this CD, since pretty much every Poison fan in the world already has that song. But here’s the overrated Loggins and Messina cover for you one more time! “We’re An American Band” was also previously released, on the Poison best of 20 Years of Rock. (“Rock ‘N Roll All Nite” and “Your Mama Don’t Dance” are also on that CD.) It’s a good tune on which to end the CD.
Except it’s not! Walmart’s version of the CD had a bonus track, and it’s a baffling one. I’m very proud to say that I have never heard the song “Sexy Back” by Justin Timberlake. Having said that, I’m sure it’s better than Poison’s industrial-flavoured version. A colonoscopy is better than this. So essentially what Walmart have done is ended the album with a colonoscopy for you. You’re welcome!
Missing: “Cover of the Rolling Stone” from the Crack A Smile album. Too bad, as that would have been better than getting “Your Mama Don’t Dance” yet again. Also missing (but not missed): “God Save the Queen” from the remastered Flesh & Blood.
Overall though? Good CD.
4/5 stars
mikeladano.com 