Hair Band History (September 9th)

September 9, 1985: Ahead of the release of their new album "Asylum", KISS issued "Tears Are Falling" as the lead single in North America... "It's hard for fans that love the song to hear it, but it kind of has a Motown influence. And we all now know with [Stanley's solo band] Soul Station, how much he loves Motown. That whole riff - bomp bah-dah-dah-dum, bah-dum-dah-dah-dah dah, if you play it with that kind of a feel, that's actually like 'I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" by the Four Tops." -Guitarist Bruce Kulick (Read More). Release date source: FMQB radio trade publication - September 6, 1985.

September 9, 1985: Touring with RATT, upstarts Bon Jovi made an in-store appearance at Budget Tapes & Records in Billings, Montana and fans jumped at the chance of meeting the band and getting a Polaroid photo of themselves with Jon Bon Jovi 😊

September 9, 1992: Def Leppard and Guns N' Roses performed at the MTV Video Music Awards, the latter winning "Best Cinematography In A Video" for "November Rain". Van Halen won the main award, "Video Of The Year" for "Right Now".

September 1989: From the new Alice Cooper album "Trash", lead single "Poison" was a Top 15 smash at American rock radio and now the push was on for Top 40, where it would rise even higher, peaking at No. 7 in November that year.

September 9, 1981: Just over four months after their first show, Mötley Crüe were paying their dues and building a following, opening for Euphoria at the Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood, California.

September 1989: Swedish glam rockers Shotgun Messiah released "Shout It Out" as the lead single from their forthcoming debut album. The song was a No. 1 hit in their home country where the band was known as "Kingpin". Release information source: The Hard Report radio trade publication ad - September 8, 1989.

September 1983: The music video for lead single "Street Of Dreams" was almost banned on Friday Night Videos in the US because of the opening scene with hypnotist slowly swinging a watch in front of a patient's face, "apparently worried that viewers all across TV-land would nod off and fail to watch the adverts," but that didn't stop the release of "Bent Out Of Shape" several weeks later, the new album from Rainbow. Release information source: Billboard Magazine ad - September 24, 1983.

September 1988: The last single from "OU812", Van Halen's second album with Sammy Hagar, "Feels So Good" was on its way to the Top 10 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. A crossover to pop radio would follow and the song would reach the Top 40 in March 1989. Surprisingly, the band never played it live. As to why, Wolfgang Van Halen has posted on social media in the past, "Perhaps it did not feel as ‘good’ as they initially believed." 😉

September 9, 1989: Mötley Crüe's latest album "Dr. Feelgood" was now in stores worldwide and that got Vince Neil on the cover of the UK's Kerrang! Magazine. The band had just played the "Moscow Peace Festival" a month earlier with Skid Row, Cinderella, Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions and headliner Bon Jovi... Apparently the Crüe were upset with the media circus that developed in Moscow centered around the boys from New Jersey. There were rumors that Nikki Sixx challenged Jon Bon Jovi to a fight! 😯 Sixx later claimed it wasn't true... "It wasn't me! Honest, I never threatened to bash Jon Bon Jovi's head in, it's all lies!"