Hair Band History (December 28th)

Late December 1988: The Poison lads were busy over the holidays. Lead singer Bret Michaels dislocated his shoulder skiing, then went to the Virgin Islands with "Fallen Angel" video star Susie Hatton, where he knocked out a man in a bar who tried to hit on her. Meanwhile, back in Philadelphia, bassist Bobby Dall suffered broken knuckles in a neighborhood pub brawl. HITS Magazine - January 23, 1989

December 1994: Van Halen released "Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)" as the lead single from their forthcoming album "Balance". When Sammy Hagar heard that Nirvana's Kurt Cobain had taken his own life, "the first thing I thought of was I wish I were there and could have tried to save him. The original title for these lyrics were 'I Want To Show You What Love Can Do,' but because it was such a dark horrible thing, I just couldn’t shine a light on it. So I changed the final line to 'Don't Tell Me What Love Can Do'.

In 1990, Metallica's Lars Ulrich gave Slash Matt Sorum's phone number and eventually Matt replaced Steven Adler as drummer for Guns N' Roses. Sorum has said he hadn't rehearsed with Axl Rose before his first GnR show at Rock in Rio.

December 1989: Mötley Crüe's "Kickstart My Heart", the second single from the "Dr. Feelgood" album, was "high on speed" as it rose up the US Billboard Hot 100, reaching the Top 30 by late January 1990. The song "was penned to prove that Crüe can still burn." -Nikki Sixx & Vince Neil (Circus Magazine)

Happy Birthday to Bon Jovi bassist Hugh McDonald (December 28, 1951), who also played on Alice Cooper's "Trash" and "Hey Stoopid" albums. He has worked with Bon Jovi in the studio since its inception and has been their bassist since replacing Alec John Such in 1994.

December 28, 1984: Playing select US west coast dates in support of their debut EP "The Yellow And Black Attack", Stryper performed at the Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California with special guests Autograph and Lȧȧz Rockit.

For every hair band that made it, there were many more that found success elusive. In 1989, Cherry St. were featured on MTV's "Pay To Play" segment with members of Guns N’ Roses, Bang Tango and Warrant. The unsigned band then recorded a home video with many fans and celebrities, plus their first music video for single "The Walk" that included cameos by Bon Jovi, Sam Kinison, Tracii Guns, Jani Lane, Bret Michaels and CC Deville. Cherry St. were eventually signed to JRS/BMG in 1993, but the scene had changed and so did their fortunes. The band found out in 2023 that their album "Twisted, Rude & Sticky Sweet" had been illegally bootlegged in Russia. 😬

Getting close to a new year so time to get a new calendar. Really going to miss this one, Def Leppard from 1989 was reusable in 2023 ❤️