Contraband was a short-lived supergroup/side project that included members of several famous rock bands from the 1980s, such as Shark Island, McAuley Schenker Group, Ratt, L.A. Guns, and Vixen.
Contraband | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1990–1991 |
| Past members | Richard Black Michael Schenker Tracii Guns Share Pedersen Bobby Blotzer |
Contraband came to be after a Vixen and Ratt unplugged session on MTV.
The band released only one self-titled album in 1991 which received lukewarm reviews. The album was a commercial failure and the band disbanded shortly after, while touring with Ratt. The song "Loud Guitars, Fast Cars & Wild, Wild Livin'" was included in the movie If Looks Could Kill soundtrack. In the US, the album charted at number 187. Their cover version of "All the Way from Memphis" appeared on the UK record chart in July 1991.[3] "Loud Guitars, Fast Cars & Wild, Wild Livin'" was later covered as "Loud Guitars, Fast Cars & Wild, Wild Women" by Blue Tears later in the early 1990s and released for the 2005 album Dancin' On the Back Streets. "Bad for Each Other" was previously recorded and released by Richard Black's main band Shark Island on their 1989 album Law of the Order.
Band members
edit- Richard Black (Shark Island) – vocals
- Michael Schenker (McAuley Schenker Group) – guitars,[1] backing vocals
- Tracii Guns (L.A. Guns) – guitars, backing vocals
- Share Pedersen (Vixen) – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Bobby Blotzer (Ratt) – drums,[4] backing vocals
Contraband (1991)
edit| Contraband | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cover design by Hugh Syme & Frenchy Gauthier | ||||
| Studio album by Contraband | ||||
| Released | May 6, 1991 | |||
| Recorded | American Recording Studio, Woodland Hills, Sound City Studios, Van Nuys, Cornerstone Studio, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California | |||
| Length | 43:06 | |||
| Label | Impact/EMI | |||
| Producer | Kevin Beamish and Randy Nicklaus | |||
| Michael Schenker chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [5] |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 6/10[6] |
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "All the Way from Memphis" | Ian Hunter | 4:56 |
| 2. | "Kiss by Kiss" | Michael Thompson, Mark Spiro | 4:19 |
| 3. | "Intimate Outrage" | Spiro, Dann Huff, Phil Naish | 4:57 |
| 4. | "Bad for Each Other" | Richard Black, Spencer Sercombe, Steve Diamond | 4:28 |
| 5. | "Loud Guitars, Fast Cars & Wild, Wild Livin'" | Gregg Fulkerson, Michael Spears, Black | 4:26 |
| 6. | "Good Rockin' Tonight" | Roy Brown | 3:23 |
| 7. | "If This Is Love" | Steven Pasch, Anthony Krizan, Black | 5:03 |
| 8. | "Stand" | Tim Feehan, Brian MacLeod | 4:04 |
| 9. | "Tonight You're Mine" | Pasch, Krizan | 4:43 |
| 10. | "Hang On to Yourself" | David Bowie | 2:47 |
Credits
edit- Spencer Sercombe – guitars, backing vocals, musical director
- Steffan Presley – keyboards
- Kevin Beamish – backing vocals, producer, engineer, mixing
- Randy Nicklaus – producer, mixing
- Joe Barresi – engineer
- Steve Hall – mastering
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Saulnier, Jason (January 23, 2009). "Michael Schenker Interview". Music Legends. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
- ^ Popoff, Martin (2014). The Big Book of Hair Metal: The Illustrated Oral History of Heavy Metal's Debauched Decade. Voyageur Press. p. 205. ISBN 978-0-76034-546-7.
- ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 118. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ "Biography by Doug Stone". Allmusic.com. Retrieved January 18, 2009.
- ^ Henderson, Alex. "Contraband Contraband review". AllMusic. Retrieved November 6, 2012.
- ^ Popoff, Martin (August 1, 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 85. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
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