The Cathouse, L.A.'s Infamous Metal Club Reopens
Hairspray. Spandex. Poison and Ratt. Oh, to return to the halcyon days of the 1980s. Or maybe not. No matter what you think of the glory days of glam, hair bands and Guns 'N' Roses, they're back every Tuesday at the Martini Lounge in Hollywod, where former MTV VJ/Headbangers Ball host Riki Rachtman has reopened the infamous metal club he championed in the late '80s. Everyone who was anyone (and even people who just thought they were someone)in the national metal scene frequented the club.Guns 'N' Roses, Faster Pussycat, White Zombie, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, et al, performed at the club. The Cathouse gained a reputation as the "eye of the storm" for all the vices favored by rock stars before the politically correct '90s put the kabash on such fun.
The decadence of the old days may not return in its entirety, but the Cathouse has reopened. The June 5th "premiere" featured a performance by L.A. faves Junkyard, and subsequent weeks featured sets by Saliva and Metallica tribute band Alcoholica. And the band features non-stop video wall and a DJ who spins only hard rawk music. Definitely check out the Cathouse next time you're in Hollywood.
Official site:
Bands from the original Cathouse era:
See if you remember any of these bands from circa 1987-1990, during the original Cathouse era.
Saigon Kick - This band formed in Miami in 1988, but got lost in the shuffle during the end of the hair-band decade. The cover of their first CD gave potential buyers a clue that the contents were not the usual metal lite fare of the time. The band's greatest success came with a power ballad Love Is On The Way which was wholly different than the rest of their music. A live/greatest hits CD was released last year by Cleopatra Records.
http://www.wyattworld.com/saigon-kick/
Kik Tracee - One of the last hair bands signed in the early 90s, their album No Rules was produced by Dana Strum of Slaughter. Most notable for the only known hard rock cover of Mrs. Robinson, (and the ultra-slick press kits that were distributed to rock writers at the time), this band was a way watered down version of Guns N Roses. The music and image would only impress someone who had not seen any prior L.A. hair bands; by 1990, it had all been done before.
Danger, Danger - They were from Queens, not L.A., and their self-titled debut is fun to listen to even now. Danger Danger was remarkably free of the pretension of its Left Coast counterparts. Naughty, Naughty, (not to be confused with the John Parr song of the same name) was their Z-Rock entry.
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