Hair Band History (July 12th)

July 12, 1982: One day after parting ways with original guitarist Pete Willis during the making of the "Pyromania" album, Def Leppard hired Girl guitarist Phil Collen as his replacement.

July 12, 1986: Van Halen with Sammy Hagar kicked off the second leg of its North American tour to support the "5150" album with a show at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado. That morning they were interviewed on the Today Show... "I just figured, if we make a good record and it sounds good, it doesn't matter who's playing", said Eddie Van Halen, who jokingly added, "Actually we didn't even play on the record." [laughs]. Van Halen were also featured in the July issue of Hit Parader Magazine.

July 1985: Mötley Crüe's new single "Smokin' In The Boys Room" was getting airplay at American rock radio stations, but there were some holdouts. That would change when the music video premiered on MTV a week later and the song would become the band's first Top 40 hit, reaching No. 16 in September that year. FMQB radio trade publicaton ad - July 12, 1985

One year later, total sales of the first three Mötley Crüe albums reached 7 million. Billboard Magazine ad - July 12, 1986

Remembering KISS drummer Eric Carr, who would have celebrated a birthday today (July 12, 1950). Eric died in 1991. R.I.P.

July 1988: The "Monsters Of Rock" Tour featuring Van Halen, Scorpions, Dokken, Metallica and Kingdom Come was making its way across the Midwestern US when Dokken's "So Many Tears" from from the "Back For The Attack" album was issued as a promotional single to American rock radio stations.

July 12, 1989: On the road with Winger and BulletBoys, Cinderella brought the "Long Cold Winter" Tour to Duluth, Minnesota.

July 1986: KISS' Gene Simmons was in the studio producing the next Black N' Blue album "Nasty Nasty" while also filming a new movie with Rutger Hauer titled "Wanted Dead Or Alive".

July 1991: Starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze, the movie "Point Break" opened in US theatres. The soundtrack featured RATT's "Nobody Rides For Free" and L.A. Guns' "Over The Edge".