On This Date, May 30th, in 1997: Songwriter and musician West Arkeen, a close friend and collaborator to Guns N’ Roses who co-wrote “It’s So Easy” and numerous songs with the band, died of an accidental opiate overdose. West had returned to his home from a hospital intensive care unit where he was being treated for burns over much of his body after his indoor barbecue exploded 11 days before his death. He was 36 years old.
Tag Archives: hair metal
Pink Thing of The Day: Pink Fuzzy Cabinet Shelving!
The Seventies Will Never Die
Designer Ryan Humphrey – a former contestant on Bravo’s Top Design – got what can only be called wildly creative with his apartment redesign project, which features these Hot pink fake fur-lined shelving units. Oh my. Ryan explains: “These are guitar amplifier cabinets that I turned into bookshelves lined with faux fur. Nothing says ‘Hair Metal’ more than high quality pink fur.” I would have them in my house; that is without question. Read all about the redesign project and see pictures of all of the other rooms (hint: very cool) at this link.
Thanks to Rose at The Lacking Organization for the Tip!
NYC’s Best Hard Rock Band, Z02, Scores Its Own IFC Comedy Series!
Attention hard rock fans: a hilarious new show called Z-Rock debuted last night on IFC.com and I already know I’m going to be watching it for the next ten weeks! Z-Rock stars the amazing Brooklyn based hard rock trio, Z02, who I’ve been fortunate to see live a couple times. Considering the fact that I hate almost everything, I must tell you this show is just as awesome and entertaining as the band is ass-kicking. The basic premise of Z-Rock tells a “real life” story of a rock band that has to play kids’ birthday parties during the day to make a living.
Last night’s episode featured an appearance by ‘80s Hair Metal casualty, Sebastian Bach, playing himself as a dad who’d brought his kids to a party that Z02 were booked to play. Hilarity ensues, of course, but man, I gotta ask, have Bach’s former pretty boy looks taken the Bullet train to Hell or what? The guy looks like he barely survived a co-starring role in Fight Club. Ow! Previews of upcoming episodes indicate they’ve got all sorts of other special guests lined up for future adventures in rock and, oh yeah, besides Z02’s great fun music there’s lots of nudity and swearing and stuff, so you’ve got many reasons to tune in to IFC on Sunday’s at 11:30 PM for the next few months!
In a Metal Mood
“I Want To Go Where The Down Boys Go”
Despite my busy and very ass-kicking social life, it’s not unusual for me to spend full weekends holed up in the Chick Pad working on my book or writing an article for Modern Drummer magazine. Because that’s just the kind of dedication to The Rock that I possess. Today I spent most of the afternoon listening to Quiet Riot’s Metal Health and Warrant’s Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich over and over (at a volume that I can only hope completely annoyed the shit out of my upstairs neighbors) while composing 100-word reviews of each album for an upcoming issue of Metal Edge magazine featuring a section on “The 25 Essential Hair Metal Albums.” Honestly, I’m all over it. Continue reading In a Metal Mood