About
Faster Pussycat:
Faster Pussycat
was formed out of the streets of Hollywood, California, with Taime Downe
(vocalist), former co-owner of the Los Angeles club, The Cathouse, Brent Muscat
and Greg Steele (guitarists), Eric Stacy (bassist), and Mark Michals (drummer).
With their name derived from Russ Meyer's movie Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!,
the band signed to Elektra Records in December 1986. Faster Pussycat (1987), was
recorded on a low budget, with Poison producer Ric Browde, and was an infectious
collection of Aerosmith/Rolling Stones influenced material, with the band's
sense of humor shining through in "Bathroom Wall," "Don't Change That Song" and
"Babylon."
A UK tour with
Guns N' Roses and U.S. dates with Alice Cooper, David Lee Roth and Motorhead
helped to build respectable album sales, and the band had matured considerably
by the time they recorded Wake Me When It's Over (1989), with John Jansen. This
buried the "glam" image under a heavier sound and greater lyrical depth, with
"Pulling Weeds," addressing the abortion issue, while the emotive "House of
Pain" examined the trauma of divorce through a child's eyes. The humor still
permeated through, however, on "Slip of the Tongue" and "Where There's A Whip
There's A Way." Michals left in disgrace, jailed on drug charges, on the eve of
a European tour with the bands Almighty and Dangerous Toys, and Frankie Banali
filled in before Brett Bradshaw assumed the drum stool for further U.S. touring
with Kiss and Motley Crue. Whipped (1992), showed further progression and a
different approach, but emerged into a much-changed musical climate. Despite the
quality of the album, Faster Pussycat fell victim to a combination of the
recession and the success of the Seattle bands. Ironically, Downe was a Seattle
native. Elektra dropped them while they toured America with Kiss. After selling
well over a million records worldwide, and an eight-year career, the band played
its final show together on July 6, 1993 in Japan. In the years ahead, Taime
would work with PIGFACE and, eventually form his own band 'The Newlydeads.'
Brent Muscat made records with Phil Lewis and joined L.A. Guns on guitar for a
summer tour.
Fast forward to
2001: Faster Pussycat reformed for a summer tour with original members Taime
Downe, Brent Muscat and Greg Steele in tow. The summer tour also marked the
introduction of three new members, who did double duty playing in Taime's
project 'The Newlydeads.' Bassist Danny Nordhal (The Throbs, NY Loose,
Motochrist), Chad Stewart on drums (Coyote Shivers, Motochrist), and Xristian
Simon on guitar, rounded out the new line-up. Before the tour was complete,
Steele left the band, and they continued on as a 5 piece.
In May 2002, the
newly revamped Faster Pussycat will tour this summer with Poison and Cinderella
on the "Hollyweird World Tour 2002."
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