Hair Band History (March 26th)

March 26, 1988: Def Leppard's "Hysteria" the song, peaked at No. 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was the first of four singles from the "Hysteria" album to reach the Top 10 ("Pour Some Sugar On Me", "Love Bites" and "Armageddon It").

Late March 1980: Three years removed from their original name "Atomic Mass", then "Deaf Leopard", then "Def Leppard" released their debut album "On Through The Night" in North America (March 14th in the UK) featuring singles "Rock Bridgade" and "Hello America". Release information source: Billboard Magazine Top Album Picks - April 5, 1980.

March 1986: Guns N' Roses signed with Geffen Records for an estimated $250,000. The label rep had told competing reps the band was terrible so he could close the deal. Slash took his cut and spent "almost all of it on heroin".

Released three weeks earlier in North America, Scorpions eighth studio album "Blackout" was "The fastest seller yet", having moved nearly 200,000 copies and single "No One Like You" destined for "Classic Track Status." FMQB US radio trade publication ad - March 26, 1982

March 26, 1989: "ARE YOU ready to Blow My Fuse!?" Touring America with RATT and Britny Fox, Kix played Civic Coliseum in Knoxville, Tennessee. Image: Kerrang!

Happy Birthday to Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler (March 26, 1948).

Remembering drummer Randy Castillo [Ozzy Osbourne, Mötley Crüe, Lita Ford], who died March 26, 2002 at age 51. R.I.P.

March 1980: Van Halen released their third studio album "Women And Children First" in North America and the UK, their first not to feature any cover songs. The band also got a little sonically heavier on this one (i.e., "And the Cradle Will Rock..."). Release information source: [US] Billboard Magazine ad - April 5, 1980; [UK] Sounds Magazine review - April 5, 1980.

March 26, 1985: With special guest W.A.S.P., KISS played Pittsburgh. The "Animalize" World Tour would end three nights later in East Rutherford, New Jersey. "KISS would be almost camp if it weren't for the fact that the band and the music remain top-notch... There's something very likable about (Paul) Stanley, who does the rambling, semi-obscene raps before each song. He's the Sid Nice of rock. He also trashed Duran Duran and the Thompson Twins and at one point improvised humorously with a Michael Jackson doll." -Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

March 26, 1986: The film "The Money Pit" opened in US theaters, starring Tom Hanks and Shelley Long, plus featured in two scenes, an unknown glam band that one year later would be known to most everyone, White Lion.