Hollywood Rose | |
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 Hollywood Rose playingMadame Wong's East on 28 June 1984. From left to right, bassist Steve Darrow, singerAxl Rose, drummerSteven Adler, and guitaristSlash. | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | AXL, Rose |
| Origin | Los Angeles,California, U.S. |
| Genres | Glam metal[1] |
| Years active | 1983–1984, 1985, 1989–1990 |
| Labels | Deadline (division ofCleopatra[2]) |
| Spinoffs | Guns N' Roses |
| Members |
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| Past members |
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Hollywood Rose was an Americanglam metal group formed in June 1983. They are best known as the precursor for what would eventually becomeGuns N' Roses. The group was founded byAxl Rose,Izzy Stradlin andChris Weber, while they were aided during live shows by Rick Marrs, Andre Troxx, Daniel "DJ" Nicolson, Johnny Kreis and Steve Darrow. Rose, Stradlin and Weber, along with Kreis and Nicolson, recorded a five-song demo in January 1984. However, after a number of lineup changes, which includes Weber, Kreis and Nicolson being replaced bySlash andSteven Adler (both then ofRoad Crew) as well the departure of Stradlin, the group disbanded the same year.
Hollywood Rose reunited for a New Year's Eve show on 1 January 1985 with Rose, Stradlin, and Darrow returning and adding formerL.A. Guns drummerRob Gardner to the group. L.A. Guns founderTracii Guns replaced Weber for the reunion gig. In March 1985, they merged with L.A. Guns to become Guns N' Roses.
The five-song demo was released on 22 June 1984 with the titleThe Roots of Guns N' Roses. A number of Hollywood Rose songs were included on the Guns N' Roses albumsLive ?!*@ Like a Suicide (1986),Appetite for Destruction (1987),Live from the Jungle (1987), andG N' R Lies (1988).
Prior to forming, guitaristChris Weber was introduced toLafayette nativeIzzy Stradlin in the parking lot of theRainbow Bar and Grill, by friendTracii Guns, who was leading the first incarnation ofL.A. Guns at this time, after Weber expressed an interest in forming a band.[3][4]
Soon afterwards, Weber and Stradlin started writing material and, at the suggestion of Stradlin, recruited his childhood friend, formerRapidfire and L.A. Guns singerAxl Rose, then known as Bill Rose. At the suggestion of Rose, the group called themselves AXL, with Rose adopting Axl as his first name.[5] They played their first gig at The Orphanage inNorth Hollywood and played a few more shows before changing their name to Rose.[4] The group soon changed their name, for the final time, to Hollywood Rose when Weber discovered that the name Rose was already being used by a New York band.[5]
During the group's live shows, they were aided by bassists Rick Marrs, Andre Troxx, Daniel "DJ" Nicolson and Steve Darrow, along with drummerJohnny Kreis, who remained the only consistent member of the group outside of Rose, Stradlin and Weber.[6]
After borrowing money from Weber's father, the group recorded a five-song demo inHollywood in 1984.[7][8]
After playing a number of shows, they appeared at the Music Machine in 1984. During the show, Weber accidentally hit Rose with the headstock of his guitar. Rose stormed off and eventually fired Weber from the band, with formerRoad Crew guitaristSlash joining the group.[6] Unhappy at the firing of Weber, Stradlin left the group when Slash first came to rehearse, going on to joinLondon.[9][10] Slash's Road Crew bandmateSteven Adler also replaced drummer Kreis during this time.[6] The group continued to play more shows before eventually disbanding, playing their final show atThe Troubadour in 1984.[6] Rose went on to frontL.A. Guns, while Slash auditioned forPoison at the suggestion of former guitaristMatt Smith.[11]
The group reunited for a New Years celebration show on 1 January 1985, with Rose, Stradlin and Darrow returning along while L.A. Guns drummerRob Gardner also joined the group. Weber, who left to move toNew York City, was replaced by Tracii Guns for the gig.[4][3][7]
Hollywood Rose then merged with L.A. Guns in March 1985, forming Guns N' Roses. The initial lineup consisted of Axl Rose, Tracii Guns, Izzy Stradlin,Ole Beich and Rob Gardner.
Beich, Guns and Gardner were all gone from the band within two months and replaced byDuff McKagan,Slash, andSteven Adler. The lineup of Rose, Stradlin, McKagan, Slash and Adler became known as the "classic lineup" of Guns N' Roses.[7]
A number of Hollywood Rose songs would be included on releases by Guns N' Roses, including "Anything Goes" (fromAppetite for Destruction), "Reckless Life" and "Move to the City" (both fromLive ?!*@ Like a Suicide andG N' R Lies) as well as "Shadow of Your Love" (fromLive from the Jungle).[12]
In 1998, former guitarist Weber sued Axl Rose, claiming that he co-wrote two songs he was not credited for, "Shadow of Your Love" and "Back Off Bitch" (fromUse Your Illusion I).[13]
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In 1989, Weber re-formed Hollywood Rose with new vocalist Jimmy Swan[14] and they were signed toSumma Music Group. A full-length album was recorded, but went unreleased. One track from the album, "Sweet Little Angel", was subsequently released on the soundtrack to the 1990 filmMiami Blues.
A second studio track, "Come A Little Closer", with Jimmy Swan on vocals, can be heard on the four-disc box setRock 'n' Roll Rebels & the Sunset Strip, Vol. 1.
In 2004, Weber, who had formedU.P.O. since leaving the band, sold the five-song demo the group recorded in 1984 toCleopatra Records.[15]
They released the album, which included, along with the original recordings, remixes by former Guns N' Roses guitaristGilby Clarke (which featured addition guitar overdubs by Tracii Guns) and former London andCinderella drummerFred Coury (who had filled in for Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler for a few shows) on June 22 with the titleThe Roots of Guns N' Roses.[15] TheJapanese edition of the album included a DVD with footage of the group.[16]
On 21 June 2004, Axl Rose sought an injunction against the release of the album, suing Cleopatra Records for trademark infringement, violation of rights in his name and likeness, andunfair competition.
Slash and former Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan were also named as plaintiffs with Rose. However, on July 6,United States district court Judge Gary A. Fees denied the motion of Rose and his Guns N' Roses partnership for a preliminary injunction against the independent record label.[15][17]
In 2012, Cleopatra Records re-released a CD entitledDopesnake by a similarly named Guns N' Rosestribute act named Hollywood Roses (plural), which had been originally put out in 2007 by another label. There were no songs by either Guns N' Roses or Hollywood Rose on the album, but it did feature guest performances by Phil Lewis ofL.A. Guns as well as Guns N' Roses veteransTracii Guns,Gilby Clarke,Chris Weber andTeddy Zig Zag.[18]
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