Hair Band History (March 3rd)

March 1985: Robbin Crosby and Nikki Sixx were on the cover of Hit Parader Magazine. Metal and hard rock bands from the "West Coast" like RATT and Mötley Crüe were exploding in popularity.

March 3, 1978: Former Deep Purple singer David Coverdale and his new band Whitesnake (originally billed as David Coverdale’s Whitesnake) performed their first concert in Lincoln, England. The band was comprised of Coverdale, guitarist Mick Moody, guitarist Bernie Marsden, bassist Neil Murray, keyboardist Pete Solley and drummer David "Duck" Dowle.

Six years later, Whitesnake played London's Wembley Arena for the first time with support from Great White.

Happy Birthday to original BulletBoys bassist Lonnie Vencent (March 3, 1964). Lonnie and bandmate Mick Sweda were arrested on opening night of their 1989 tour with Cinderella and Winger for trashing their hotel room.

Happy Birthday to Roxx Gang co-founder and lead singer Kevin Steele (March 3, 1964).

March 1990: Featuring Aerosmith's Steven Tyler on guest vocals, Alice Cooper released power ballad "Only My Heart Talkin'" as the fourth and final single from the album "Trash". Release information source: [US] The Hard Report radio trade publication spotlight - March 16, 1990.

March 1988: As first single "Wait" was racing up the US Billboard Hot 100, "Tell Me", the next single from White Lion was being pitched to American rock radio stations. It would debut on the US Billboard Rock chart on April 23rd. The band toured with Aerosmith in April and May that year.

March 3, 1987: Ahead of the release of their next album "Big Life" due on March 23rd, the first single from Night Ranger, "The Secret Of My Success", was hitting North American radio stations. The track was also on the soundtrack of the movie of the same name starring Michael J. Fox, that opened in theatres a month later and the music video features cameos by Mötley Crüe's Tommy Lee and Vince Neil playing saxophones along with Weird Al Yankovich on trumpet.

Memphis rockers Roxy Blue released their debut album "Want Some?" in 1992, but arriving to the hair band scene a little late, disbanded shortly afterwards. The LP was produced by Mike Clink, best known for producing Guns N' Roses' debut album "Appetite For Destruction" and features singles "Too Hot To Handle" and power ballad "Times Are A Changin'"... Sadly, they were.

For every hair band that made it, there were many more that found success elusive. In the March 3, 1990 issue of Billboard Magazine was a full page ad (an expensive buy) for the debut album from a band called Barracuda and their first single "Memory". The music video was featured on MTV Headbangers Ball in 1989 and then radio silence until the band's second album was released in 2006.

March 3, 1977: Opening for Montrose and Journey, Van Halen began their first world tour in Chicago. They were only given 30 minutes. Not enough VH, but enough time to play every track from their debut album that had come out just three weeks earlier.