About Me
What a trip down memory line.
In the beginning:
Pete Stevens and Rob Pace formed Wicked Ryhme in 1986. We went into the studio and recorded a three song demo. It was called Wicked Ryhme. We were on the look out for a bass player so we could get this band going. My first day of the school year I was in a computer math class. Class was starting and this guy walked in late carrying a guitar case. He walked up and sat down right next to me. We started talking (during class) and I found out he played bass. He brought the bass with him for an after school lesson he had. That day, I told Pete, we may have a bass player. We asked him to join the band and he did. That computer math class was never the same. Every day they would teach about computer math but, Bob and I were too busy playing computer games during the class. We were more interested on who would get the higher score on Dig Doug. We decided back then, music was more important then being in that shit hole, Proviso East. We then went into the studio with Bob and recorded a 5 song demo. We submitted it to a radio station called WVVX Chicago. We knew the DJ and he liked our music. He would play us every 2 hours. One week he featured us as Chicago Rockers of the week. It was nice to drive around in the car and hear our stuff playing on the radio. However, we still needed a Lead guitarist. We auditioned several people, but one stuck out like a sore thumb. This sore thumb was Rob Laforte. He was only 16 at the time. This kid could shred like no one we have ever seen. We asked him to join the band and he accepted. Wicked Ryhme was fully formed in 1988.
After Wicked Ryhme was formed, we started to rehearse at 5th Avenue studio in Maywood, IL. Bands like Holland, Survivor, D'Moll's and Diamond Rexx where rehearsing there. Being there, we expanded our musical direction to new levels. We recorded a 2 song demo in the spring of 1989 at 5th Avenue studio. These two songs were totally different from anything we have ever done in the past. With the addition of keyboards, the songs had a more poppy feel to them. One song (You Keep Running Away) we had our engineer sing backup (high vocals) on it. As we were remixing we had other bands rehearsing and stopping in for a listen. Needless to say, they were very impressed on what they heard. That summer, fall and winter we started gigging all over the place. We played places like Malo's, McGregor's, Thirsty Whale and Oddessy to name a few. We were trying to save up money to do another recording. We were booked with local bands like O'dette, Smash Alley, LSD and Enuff Z Nuff. We were picking up steam and getting ready for the next recording. However, turmoil was lurking it's ugly head. Rob LaForte and Pete were arguing all the time.
In the summer of 1990 we entered Tanglewood Studio in Brookfield, IL. We picked out 5 tunes that we were working on. Every tune was very close to being a hit. We had a top engineer (Grant Austin - Marry J. Blige) produce and mix us. We started this project and the arguing was set aside. I have to tell you, this was the best recording experience any of us ever had. This was PRO all the way!!! We walked out of there with a 5 song demo (of which I have the only copy in existence) that was unreal to say it lightly. At that time we had our management company Mueller Entertainment start shopping for a record label. He submitted it to a Las Vegas radio station asking they put us into rotation. Meanwhile, we continued to gig and arguments were getting worse and worse. The radio station had a contest going on. They put non-sighed bands up against a national acts. Then, they would have people call into vote for the better band. Well, our management company received a letter saying they put Wicked Ryhme (She Don't Give Love Anymore) up against Bon Jovi (I'll Be There For You). Based on the number of calls from people, Wicked Ryhme had 70% of the votes and won the competition. They aksed us to do an on air interview. Well, we did the interview without Pete. He and Rob LaForte could not handle each other anymore and Pete parted ways with the band. We started getting record company interest from Atlantic and Island. We did not have a singer and we were franticly looking for one. It took us 8 months to find someone that had the image and talent. We finally found Jeff Tokar in 1991. We started gigging quickly to make up for lost time. We landed a gig at the Thirsty Whale opening for Lizzy Borden. We did a really good job and rocked the house. After that, our music direction changed again and we wanted to go back into the studio. The record company's wanted to hear new stuff with the new singer. Needless to say, we had to get this done quickly. The studio of choice was DKP studio in Villa Park, IL. We started to record a 4 song demo but never finished it because we had differences between us and Jeff Tokar. Jeff was notorious for not showing up for rehearsals, recording or even shows. At that point we all parted ways. We all figured we gave it all we had and the team just was not jelling. Rob Laforte joined another Chicago band and Bob Vee took a break from playing. Rob LaForte then disappeared and we never heard from him again. I was starting my own band rehearsing at DKP studio. That band had 4 different personalities and they were clashing almost immidalty. Eventually, that project ended and I was on the lookout for something new. I spent most of my time checking out bands, auditioning and hanging with the guys in Defcon (Tony and Mark).
In 1996 Pete, Bob and RP decided it would be best to get back together and make another run of it. We could not find Rob. When we finally did, he wanted no part of it. We still needed another Guitar player. RP's cousin Mike was more than able to fill the position. We started writing immediately. Our first gig was a battle of the bands. We won big time!! We did a couple more gigs after that and came up with enough money to do a recording. This next recording was alot different from all the others we did in the past. We rented all the equipment for 1 month and set up a studio in our practice spot. Pete, being all knowing, mixed and produced the whole thing with all of our collaborations and efforts. We recorded a 10 song CD in 1997. We labeled it "Recorded at Basement Studio". The recording turned out better then we all expected. Clubs were clambering about it and wanted to book us. We were playing 2-3 shows a week. In 1998 we were ready to record our next CD. This time we recorded at a studio in Brookfield, IL. We laid down 5 songs and these were very aggressive compared to what we have done in the past. After this recording was done, we wanted to start shopping for a record label. We were gigging consistently until Pete was hospitalized. He had a problem with his pancreas and part of it needed to be removed. In the process of doing that, they nicked his bowl and contaminated his blood. He was on life support. Pete being our singer, we wanted to wait and see what was going to happen. He was on life support for 5 months and stayed in the hospital for another 2 months. He eventually got out however, he was not the same. We tried to get things back together but his voice was not up for the challenge. With that breathing tube in his throat, it mess up his vocal cords. We tried for 5 months to get back on track however, Pete was too weak to carry on. Wicked Ryhme called it quits in 2000. Mike and Bob continued on with other bands and I stopped playing. In 2002 Mike stopped playing. Bob Vee continued on and never stopped playing. On August 10th, 2004 I received a call from Bob Vee at 5:30am. Needless to say, it was one of the worst calls I ever received. Bob told me Pete passed away from complications of hernia surgery. They revive him 7 times but the doctors could not bring him back. Bob, Rob LaForte, Mike and I got back together to do a benefit show. All proceeds went his mom and sister. All of us are still playing and want to get something going again either together or separately.
Robert Pace (RP)
Fallen Angel Track Listing:
The track listing is as follows:
01. Just Another
02. Leave Me Alone
03. Hate Song 1
04. Beautiful Thing
05. She Will Make You A Believer
06. Take These Eyes
07. In This Hole
08. Tie That Binds
09. Rain Song
10. Last Chance
11. Back Inside My Head
12. Fallen Angel
You can purchase the new CD at this location. Three songs from the CD can be previewed through the this official web site.
Wicked Ryhme is:
Pete Stevens - Vocals, Lead Guitars
Robert Pace - Drums
Mike Newman - Rhythm Guitars and Backing Vocals
Bob Vee - Bass and Backing Vocals
