1/27/2024 0 Comments Fasster pussycat ballad of jane![]() ![]() was my buddy he was in a band called Angels in Vain and they moved out from New York. We had this guy Walter in the band for a little bit in the very, very beginning – our first few shows – and then Kelly Nickels became the bass player. It was all early, and then we tried out a couple of different bass players. I met Mark at a show at The Roxy back in the day, our old drummer, and Mark was friends with Brent. Brent wasn’t even in the picture until afterward. But I was working, and they were like, “Is it OK if we put one of our flyers up?” Greg had just moved down there, so we just got to shooting the shit and exchanged numbers. Greg and his friend came in, and he was in some other band from the Bay Area. Taime Downe : I met Greg when I worked down on Melrose at this place called Retail Slut. Recent interviews with Taime Downe, Greg Steele, Brent Muscat, Eric Stacy, producer Ric Browde, manager Vicky Hamilton, and guitarist Mitch Perry allow us to take you through a time capsule to West Hollywood’s Sunset Strip in the mid-1980s, when a band few believed in took a burgeoning music scene by storm.įaster Pussycat’s classic lineup provides perspectives on how they met. “ I liked Mark’s style, actually,” former Faster Pussycat guitarist Greg Steele recently expressed. On the sophomore album, which proved to be the final to feature Michals behind the kit, the enigmatic sticksman showcased his gradual maturation as a musician. Whenever I think of Michals’ playing, it’s the echoing drums that open “Bathroom Wall,” a perennial mainstay in the band’s setlist, as well as his execution on “Where There’s A Whip There’s A Way” and “Poison Ivy” from the band’s gold-charting follow-up, Wake Me When It’s Over, that immediately come to mind. My attempts to obtain any new information regarding Michals, the embattled drummer whose whereabouts have been unknown for nearly two decades, proved fruitless, but I would be remiss not to acknowledge his role in laying the foundation of the band’s classic sound. Downe’s trademark gravelly, raspy snarl and discernible attitude are infused into each punk-inspired track, while Steele, Stacy, Muscat, and Michals (more on him in a moment) enrich the songs with catchy hooks and palpable energy, further enhancing the album’s charm and appeal. “ We weren’t together long enough to have an album’s worth of material.“Īs apparent as its imperfections are, Faster Pussycat eloquently captures the essence of the Sunset Strip as it was at the time: sleaze, debauchery, and excess. “ We had to write songs in pre-production because we didn’t have enough songs,” Downe recalled. While still unsure of who they were musically, Faster Pussycat enlisted former Poison producer Ric Browde to assist them in navigating their 1987 self-titled debut album on a truncated budget, inadvertently creating a seminal record that would become an enduring landmark. “ By this time, I think we were rehearsing in North Hollywood, and we all, I think, felt sad at the rehearsal because it was obvious that it wasn’t working.” ![]() “ We played a rehearsal with Kelly,” Muscat recounted. As a result, the band’s classic lineup was born. Stacy’s multifaceted bass playing, which incorporated R&B and funk elements, was quickly recognized as a key component to unlocking the band’s musical potential and ultimately securing a deal with Elektra Records. When Nickels was hospitalized due to a debilitating motorcycle accident on the way to rehearsal at a crucial juncture in the band’s career, Darling Cool bassist Eric Stacy stepped in to fill the void. It wasn’t long after Downe met Bay Area guitarist Greg Steele at Retail Slut and subsequently made contact with drummer Mark Michals and guitarist Brent Muscat that Downe’s brainchild began to take shape.īassist Kelly Nickels was the last to join, stabilizing the lineup for a short while. In 1985, when Downe founded Faster Pussycat, the local scene flooded with anticipation. While many like-minded hopefuls prowled the Sunset Strip in those days, few possessed the work ethic and tenacity of Seattle transplant Taime Downe, a well-connected scenester who worked at a popular rock ‘n’ roll clothing store on Melrose Avenue called Retail Slut and moonlighted at The Troubadour as a stage light operator. By Andrew DiCecco prospective musicians in the 1980s, West Hollywood’s Sunset Strip was hardly perceived as a proverbial boulevard of broken dreams, but rather an inspiration for bullish expectations, unwavering resolve, and boundless enthusiasm.įlavored with the distinctive aromas of cigarettes, Aqua Net hair spray, and leather, Sunset Boulevard’s 1.5-mile stretch often overflowed with aspiring rock stars and eager concertgoers alike lining the sidewalks outside the scene’s most prominent music venues, including the Whisky a Go Go, The Roxy, Gazzari’s, or The Central.
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