L.A. Guns are an American glam metal band from Los Angeles, Californis. In 1983, Tracii Guns formed the band with singer Michael Jagosz, bas...
L.A. Guns are an American glam metal band from Los Angeles, Californis. In 1983, Tracii Guns formed the band with singer Michael Jagosz, bassist Ole Beich, and drummer Rob Gardner but line up would only last a while. nnThe second lineup of L.A. Guns was formed by Mau Maus and The Joneses drummer Paul Mars Black, who switched to lead vocals, and guitarist Mick Cripps, who switched to bass. They teamed up with drummer Nickey "Beat" Alexander, who was jamming with guitarist Tracii Guns. This lineup is considered to be the original version of the band. Originally this group was going to call itself Faster Pussycat, a name brought in by Paul Black and Mick Cripps. After much debate, this new group re-adopted the name L.A. Guns in order to utilize the backing and promotional material left over from the former lineup which had been disbanded for over a year.nnAfter Tracii left the band, Paul Black recruited ex-Dogs D'Amour singer Robert Stoddard to be the new guitarist. This lineup quickly picked up where they left off. They demoed and gigged in 1985 and 1986, with Black contributing most of the material that would be recorded on their debut album. Several record labels were already interested in signing this line-up but the band wanted a fuller sound. At the end of 1986, after his stint with the former Penthouse model fell apart, Tracii was brought back in to make L.A. Guns a five piece band for the first time. A record deal with Polygram Records was secured after Paul introduced a song called "Love and Hate." The label wanted this to be the first single. However, the new five piece line up would not survive.nnPaul was replaced by Phil Lewis of the British band Girl. Mick then switched back to guitar, replacing Robert, and former Faster Pussycat member Kelly Nickels was added on bass. L.A. Guns then recorded their eponymous first album, released in 1988 on Vertigo Records. The gold award debut album spawned the singles "One More Reason" and "Sex Action," both written by Black. "Sex Action" evolved from Black's earlier song "Love and Hate." Black also contributed "No Mercy," "Nothing to Lose," "Bitch Is Back," "One Way Ticket," and "Winter's Fool" to the first record and "Never Enough," the first single off the second album, Cocked and Loaded. Black also made many other contributions to the L.A. Guns repertoire which would later appear on a record called Black List, which features Black singing the original L.A. Guns songs with the original band, recorded during his time in the band.nnOn the first album's supporting tour from which this video is taken, Nickey was replaced by former W.A.S.P. drummer Steve Riley, leaving only two original members. This lineup remained until 1992.nnPhil Lewis - Lead VocalsnTracii Guns - Lead guitarnMick Cripps - Rhythm guitarnKelly Nickels - BassnSteve Riley - Drums Less
