JETBOY

The Jetboy story
By: Frank Meyer
Editor, KNAC.COM
Author, On the Road with The Ramones
  Lipstick, lace, leather, cheap booze, cheaper dames, low slung guitars, and hair...lots and lots of hair. This was the Sunset Strip music scene in the ‘80s. A poisonous cocktail of post-Mötley Crüe metal meets Van Halen influenced cock rock, served with a healthy dose of Hanoi Rocks pout and New York Dolls trash. The Hollywood, CA scene held a lot of weight, spurning other likeminded bands throughout the rest of the world, so it wasn’t any surprise to find that just up the coast San Francisco had it's own thriving punk/metal/glam thang goin’ on. So by 1986, Hollywood had Poison and Guns N’ Roses, and the Bay Area had Jetboy and the Sea Hags. But Jetboy were always different from the rest…a little more warped, and a lot more punk. San Francisco, 1983. Teenage, blonde die-job Billy Rowe meets SF Airport freight worker and guitar slinger Fernie Rod while serving as roadie at Bill Graham's club the Old Waldorf. Fernie’s grandfather, Fernando Rosas, was a Mexican balladeer in the ‘50s and he shared the same passion for making the little girls cry. They discover they both have virtually the same record collection: Stones, AC/DC, KISS, Aerosmith, Girl, Starz, Cheap Trick, Sex Pistols, Kix etc. Seems like a pretty good reason for two axe slingers to form a band, eh? Taking their glam cue from the Dolls and adding some goth overtones ala Lords of the New Church and Specimen, the duo shot for image with musical expertise, ‘tude over chops. They started jamming when Billy ran into a familiar face, ace drummer Ron Tostenson. “I was briefly in a metal band with Billy, but two weeks after I joined it self destructed,” recalls Ron. “A year later I was in a local record store and happened to be holding a Hanoi Rocks album. Billy walked up and said, ‘Oh, you like those guys?’ We started talking and he invited me to come jam with him and Fernie, and that was it.” Fernie called up bass buddy Todd Crew, who fit right in with his glam-punk swagger and party ‘tude. The foursome rehearsed and liked what they heard, but they needed a frontman extraordinaire. In walks…er, stumbles in…Mickey Finn Finn grew up in New Jersey and moved to Santa Clara, Calif. at age 16. A punk who loved metal, he started as a drummer before switching to lead vocals to sing in the band Sweet Evil. “I was just getting out of the punk scene,” recollects Finn, “and was really getting hip to the English metal scene like Saxon, Motorhead and Fastway. And then Mötley Crüe came around and I started getting into all of that stuff.” “I was hanging around with Todd Crew, whose girlfriend knew my girlfriend at the time. He was turning me onto the glam rock scene, and I tried to pull him into my band at the same time Billy and Fernie were trying to pull him into Jetboy. He went with them and started to tell me, ‘You should bail your band and join Jetboy with me.’” Todd set up a back-alley meeting behind hot spot's the On Broadway and Mabuhay Gardens in North Beach. Finn shows up so wasted he can’t stand, and promptly falls flat on his face out cold. The deal was sealed, the boys had found their man. “As soon as I heard them I knew I wanted to join,” Finn says. “The fact that they already had 5 or 6 decent songs all ready worked out and I could just jump right in and write the lyrics, was great.” “We auditioned tons of singers, but Mickey really nailed it,” Ron agrees. “Things got more upbeat with the energy he brought to the band.” Calling themselves Jetboy after the Dolls song of the same name, they played their first show June 18, 1984 at Mabuhay Gardens. Soon they were gigging around with other new locals like Mickey Shields, Sybil and Sea Hags, who later had guitarist Frankie Wilsey, the guy Fernie was schlepping gear for when he & Billy met. “We were fortunate to blow up quick,” reckons Finn. “In California, we seldom had to play for a small crowd. We played a lot of good, quality gigs to packed houses and built a following pretty quick.” By late-’84, Jetboy were recording their material, the first attempt simply being a 4-track recorded in Billy’s parent’s garage (repped here by “On The Lips”), while the Pink demos were tracked at Dangerous Rhythms in Berkeley by soon-to-be mega producer Matt Wallace (Replacements, Faith No More, Blues Traveler) and were sold at shows and record stores. The songs were all live favorites (“Little Teaser,” “In The Alley,” “Don’t Mess With My Hair,” “Car Sex”) and the Pink demo even got reviewed in European magazine Kerrang! and Canadian Metal Forces. The next logical step was to head to Hollywood. Billy and Fernie used to hitch rides down to LA who's friend wanted to see W.A.S.P. and meet Hollywood Rose, Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin’s pre-Guns N’ Roses band. They became friends having the same influences so they knew the scene was happening. On June 9, 1985 Jetboy played the Roxy Theatre on the Sunset Strip for the first time on a bill with Madam X and Doll. They killed. The promoters were GNR’s manger Vicky Hamilton, and Poison’s PR gal at the time, Deb Rosner, who started throwing them more gigs. “When we got to LA we got serious about shopping a deal,” Ron says. So serious the band relocated to Hollywood and shared one apartment, just like the Crüe and Poison before them. “The element we brought to LA was the punkish, tainted glam rock,” Finn reckons. “LA wasn’t hip to Hanoi Rocks yet. You had Poison, who were trying to be like Van Halen and were wearing spandex pants and capizzio shoes. Then we showed up and wearing creepers and bondage pants with fringe down the side, bolo ties with vests and cowboy hats. We were making all of our clothes, sewing buckles and straps onto our own pants. Sure enough, a coupla years later bands were sportin’ creepers. We stood out. We could play with Jane’s Addiction or Guns N’ Roses or Poison. There was a lot of variety on the scene and we all had a lot to offer.” “Hollywood was much more flashy and fake,” Ron pontificates. “It was very bubblegum. The Bay Area scene was much edgier, with more punk rock and heavy metal. You had Jetboy, but you also had Metallica and Exodus.” “Me and my friends used to do whatever it took to get down to LA to see Jetboy every time they came around. I remember Greyhound Bus rides, uncomfortable trips in the back of a pickup truck, bumming rides off my friend's parents - whatever, it didn't matter as long as we got down to the gig.” - Chris Shiflett, Foo Fighters Soon Jetboy had a manager of its own, Brigitte Wright, and were swapping gigs with LA bands like Poison, GNR, and LA Guns. Jetboy would help them get gigs in the Bay Area in exchange for choice slots in Hollywood. It worked so well, most kids assumed Jetboy were a Hollywood band. You know, the band with the Mohawk guy! “When I first joined I had messy, frizzy glam hair,” Finn reveals. “It wasn’t super long. Very early on though I got the Mohawk. It was probably from my early days in the punk scene. I used to have a ‘hawk that was shaved all the way around, so it was just like a fin. That’s where Mickey Finn came from. I was known in the punk scene as Mike Finn. I was always into contrast, especially with fashion. I love to combine different looks.” “The LA scene at that time was Guns N’ Roses, Poison, Faster Pussycat, L.A. Guns and a band that wasn’t from LA at all, Jetboy. They were one of those bands that visually separated themselves from the pack. Each member had their own look, and the singer had a big Mohawk. So the punkers and the Hollywood sleaze glam crowd became fans.” - Riki Rachtman, Cathouse The next demos were recorded with Psychedelic Furs drummer Vince Ely at Studio 58 in Hollywood and included fan favorites like “Bad Disease” and “Fire In My Heart.” By 1986, the band were a headlining act in LA and SF, supporting national touring acts like Iggy Pop, Johnny Thunders, the Ramones and W.A.S.P. They played the hippest shows at clubs like Scream, Cathouse, the Roxy, the Troubadour, the Whisky a Go Go, and the Country Club, and were getting written up in all the local rags. Mickey even shared the cover of BAM magazine with Poison’s Bret Michaels in an issue about the burgeoning Hollywood glam scene (funny, Jetboy being from SF and Poison being from Pennsylvania). With the demos making the rounds to the labels, it wasn’t long before they were courted and signed to Elektra Records, world famous home to The Doors, MC5 the Stooges, and the mighty Crüe themselves. Pretty sweet. On November 30, 1986, the band hit Music Grinder on Melrose for an all night session on the label’s dime and recorded 17 songs. The results were pleasing enough for the label to greenlight the budget, but ironically only five of the songs tracked were re-recorded for the album, and just three of those even made it to the final release. Things got shakie when Todd Crew started spinning out of control in a haze of drugs and booze. The Music Grinder sessions turned out to be his last, as he was asked to leave the group soon after. “The partying just got heavier and heavier, and by the end he wasn’t playing very well at all,” recollects Billy. “At the time, we had all these people talking in our ears, managers and this and that. But he saw it coming. There were plenty of times we tried to work with him and talk to him about It. You know, we were young and there was a lot of shit going on.” “We were just all San Francisco party kids,” laughs Finn. “Todd was down to earth and cool; a big hearted, sweet guy. But as the years went on, and leading up to his demise, he definitely got corrupted by a scene that he wasn’t strong enough to handle. He worshipped Stiv Bators, Keith Richards, Johnny Thunders and that whole persona, and strove to be that way. A lot of kids did. But he couldn’t handle it. He didn’t know his limits and always went too far. Everyone likes to party, but it was ridiculous.” After getting cut loose, Todd was pissed and hit the road with his GNR buddies, with whom he even had a side-project band with, the Drunk Fux. “When we started to do gigs with Guns N’ Roses, Todd became pretty tight with some of them,” says Billy. “He started hanging out with them all day and partying.” Guns N’ Roses were starting to break big off their major label debut, 1987’s Appetite For Destruction, and were heading over to tour Europe for the first time with Todd in tow as a roadie. After he returned to the U.S., Todd flew to New York to hang with Guns guitarist and porn star Lois Aires. Sadly, he never made it back to the west coast. “He was in New York with GNR,” Billy recalls. “They were partying and Todd OD’d. Whoever he was with revived him, but after that they freaked and left, and he OD’d again.” Todd Crew died at age 21. The band was devastated. “He got carried away. LA was too much for him. He had his warnings. ” - Ron “Everybody was young and thought they were invincible.” - Billy “I was disappointed in him because he was offered a gig in Junkyard, which would have been really great for him,” Ron remembers, “but he decided to be a roadie for Guns N’ Roses instead, and look where that got him.” Meanwhile, Jetboy had already replaced Todd with hero Sam Yaffa of Hanoi Rocks, and had begun recording Feel The Shake, a title based on a new AC/DC-ish rocker the band wrote. “Sam was the first person we thought of,” Mickey reminisces. “If you could have any bass player in the world? Sam Yaffa of Hanoi Rocks! So our management company contacted him and sent him the demos. He had heard of the band and said, ‘Send me a plane ticket.’” Jetboy worked the Finnish glamster into the fold and, after a brief flirtation with KISS’ Paul Stanley for the producer gig, started tracking with Tom Allom (Judas Priest, Kix, Def Leppard) at the Record Plant in LA. Later, while mixing at Tom’s favorite spot, Criteria in Miami, they got the call Todd had died. Despite the dark cloud over the band, the sessions went well and the guys felt they were about to hit the big time. To mark their ascension, Jetboy was asked to play Bill Graham’s Day On The Green Festival on Oct 10, 1987 with Mötley Crüe, Whitesnake, and Poison, who by now were getting huge around the world. But on the way up to the gig the day before, the car Billy was driving on the I-5 to Oakland, with passengers Sam and Mickey, was struck by a car careening across the center divider. The elderly man behind wheel just had a heart attack and lost control of the wheel. “It was like out of a movie. We were going 70 miles per hour, so that’s how fast it happened,” Billy recalls. “By the time I swerved, it was over. We got pretty beat up from the impact. We just spun off to the side of the road. That’s when the semi that was behind us hit the breaks and hit this guy, and threw him off the road. He went barreling through the fence and tipped over.” Mickey and Sam walked away torn and frayed, but in one piece. Billy suffered a broken arm and was forced to sit out DOTG. So the band played their biggest gig yet, minus Billy, who spent two months in cast plus two more months of rehabilitation. In the meantime, the album got pushed back due to label politics (the A&R rep got axed) to January of ‘88. Then, out of nowhere, after promotional copies had gone out to press and ads were running in the trades, Elektra dropped the band and shelved the album. It was over. “The label was based on the East Coast and the West Coast office was weak at that point,” Finn explains. “So after they spent a shitload of money, and within a week or two of our release date, everybody got fired from the west coast offices. Boom. Everyone was gone, and we were gone.” Luckily the band was still a top draw and the Hollywood scene was still a breeding ground for majors to snatch up hot acts, so it didn’t take long for Jetboy to secure another major label deal, this time with MCA courtesy of red-hot A&R exec. Michael Goldstone. Through months of legal wrangling, MCA bought the album from Elektra. ‘There were other labels that wanted to sign us, but they wanted us to re-record the album, “says Billy. “We said, ‘Fuck that.’, we just wanted to get out what we just recorded.” “It took too long,” agrees Ron. “They signed us and said, ‘Now go write songs for a year.’ We started getting a bad attitude. Prior to all this we were just partying and having fun, and then all of a sudden we were tied up in red tape and discouraged.” MCA’s version of Feel the Shake was to feature most of the Tom Allom sessions, but they recorded “Make Some Noise” with Ric Browde (Poison, Faster Pussycat) and Whitesnake engineer Brian Foraker, and dropped “Missing You” (the lone ballad of the bunch). When it was finally released in October, 1988, Feel the Shake managed to hit 135 on the Billboard charts, which is pretty incredible when you think about it, considering they had yet to tour outside of the west coast. But the band weren’t thrilled with the final product. Ron: “Everyone at the label had opinions as to how the songs should be, so the album came out overly polished and toned down. When I listen to demo tapes of the same songs, they sound better to me.” Despite the bad mojo, it turned out that ‘88/’89 was a good time to be in Jetboy. Circus magazine said of Feel the Shake, “[The songs} are more than just rockers – they are exciting.” They played the prestigious Concrete Foundations Forum, and toured with the likes Kix, Stryper (I said good time, not great time), and Cheap Trick. They also had songs featured in films such as The 'Burbs and She's Outta Control. The boys even took their album photo shoot inside the Psycho house on the Universal lot. “We got to play ‘He’s A Whore’ with Cheap Trick, and Bun E. Carlos let me play his kit, which was owned by Ringo Star,” gushes Ron. “It was his prized possession, the orange kit that’s on Let It Be. In one shot I played Bun E and Ringo’s kit!” "I remember leaving the house wearing my wetsuit and telling mom I was going to the beach with my friends. As soon as I was out of sight I changed into my stretch jeans and creepers, put on some eyeliner, and jumped in a car with some friends and beers, and headed down to Los Angeles to be in the crowd for the ‘Feel the Shake’ video.” - Marko 72, Sugarcult Soon MCA wanted a follow-up, and the guys got to work on new material. Damned Nation found the band battling a changing musical landscape, with metal dominating over glam, and grunge on the horizon. Produced by ’80 hard rock aficionados Duane Baron and John Purdell (Poison, Motley Crue, Kix) at One On One and Devonshire in LA, the band took a darker, bluesier approach on songs like “Trouble Comes,” “Ready To Rumble,” and “Heavy Chevy” (co-written with Cobra and Krokus drummer Jeff Klaven). The accompanying video for the single, “Evil,” found the band is a swampy, misty mansion, rocking to voodoo imagery. Not exactly the teasin’ ‘n’ pleasin’ vibe of old songs like “Don’t Mess With My Hair.” “That album was where we were going musically, that heavier, bluesier feel,” Ron reckons. “We start off kinda glam-punk, like on the early demos, then we headed in that direction. But there was so much time in between, that Feel The Shake ended up being the transition album between those two sounds.” “By that time were more experienced, better musicians, and we had a younger production team behind us,” adds Finn. “We were listening to The Clash and a lot of rockabilly like the Stray Cats A lot of slide guitar. We kind of branched out to more rootsy stuff. I’m really proud of that record,” Billy beams. “Overall, as much as the early stuff was cool for what it was at the time, musically and songwriting-wise, I think Damned Nation stands up to a classic record. If it had gotten that shot it coulda been big, and today would be looked at with the same respect as Appetite For Destruction. It just never got there.” Released August 2 1990, Damned Nation was indeed damned on the charts and the guys started splintering. Yaffa left right before it's release and was replaced by Charles Norman. “The record was out for three months, we had tours lined up, the video was on MTV Headbangers Ball, we were in all the magazines, great reviews, everything was set to go,” reminisces Finn. “Then Sony Music came along and bought MCA/Universal and once again everyone from the label was fired.” Dates with Vixen, Electric Boys, and Quireboys followed before tour support got pulled. Soon Norman quit and was replaced, resulting in Ron finally throwing in the towel. He was replaced by drummer Rick Davis, and the band briefly soldiered on, but things weren’t the same. By 1993, Jetboy had morphed into a darker new band called Mindzone, with Billy, Mickey and Fernie carrying on together. “We thought, ‘We are never gonna live down Jetboy,’ says Finn. “We had to change.” Soon after, Fernie bailed and bassist Bill Fraenza (who went on to play with 22 Jacks) switched to guitar, with Michael Butler stepping in on bass. “We were running from the past, doing gigs with Prong and Machine Head for a few years,” says Billy looking back. He and Butler would later go on to form American Heartbreak, who went on to make a slew of albums and continue today. During the late-'90s, with Mickey living in Hawaii and the rest of the boys splintered, Billy oversaw several collections of Jetboy raritie albums to keep the band’s name alive, and unearth all of the demos and outtakes that were recorded along the way. In 2005, the guys were approached by a friend and fan from the old days, Brian Perera owner of Cleopatra Records, who released a Jetboy rarities album, Lost & Found, in ’99, which included a pair of collaborations with Lemmy from Motorhead. Cleopatra also issued a book in 2003 called Hollywood Rocks documenting the Sunset Strip ‘80s scene with flyers, photos and anecdotes, and was planning a CD boxset audio companion. Brian asked the band to reform and play the release party at the Key Club. Mickey and Fernie hadn't seen each other in 14 years. After a few rehearsals with Michael Butler on bass, Mickey joined Billy, Fernie and Ron and they clicked right away. Just like the old days. The boys did an unannounced gig at the Viper Room the night before to warm up before killin’ ‘em at the Key Club. And, yes, Mickey’s Mohawk was in full effect. Soon Cleopatra started talking to the group about releasing another rarities album, this time with a companion live DVD and a few new tracks. More shows were booked, including a hometown gig at the Pound with fellow ‘80s dirt rockers Junkyard, a Whisky show, and the Cathouse reunion at the Key Club (formerly Gazzarri’s) alongside ol’ pals Faster Pussyscat, LA Guns, Bang Tango and Rhino Bucket. “A visually stimulating band can only hold my attention for a short time if there isn’t something to back it up. There were a lot of roots in Jetboy’s music: a dash of rockabilly, some blues, and some loud ass guitars. I was lucky enough to have them play the Cathouse reunion. Twenty fuckin’ years later and, you know what, they were far from dated. It was the same music, but it sounded fresh and current. You know why? BECAUSE JETBOY PLAYS ROCK ‘N’ ROLL.” - Riki Rachtman, Cathouse The guys hit Different Fur Studios on December 19 and recorded an updated version of "Feel the Shake" and ol’ live favorite, Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.” They even grabbed the digi-cam and documented the sessions for your pleasure. So what you have here in your grimy little hands is the new album, the companion DVD from a June 20, 1986 live set at the Whisky, plus documentary footage from the reunion recording sessions and a killer slideshow from the archives. There is talk of a tour, and possibly even a new album…but you’ll just have to wait and see, kiddies. So lock up your daughters, smear your lipstick, and slide into your favorite dirty jeans, ‘cause the wam-bang, glam-slam kings of sleaze are back and the cops are comin’! Let’s ride!

WHAT PEOPLE HAVE TO SAY FROM THEN AND NOW

When It Rocks and It rolls, It rises to a noise so thunderous, It can't be Ignored.

" LA WEEKLY "

A True Rock N' Roll band In every sense of the word. Chuck Berry would be proud.

" ROCK SCENE MAGAZINE "

Led by vocalist Mickey Finn, this San Francisco quintet colors It's heavy metal-pop with shades of Rockabilly rowdiness. Highlights of this excellent airworthy debut include the head-banging title track, the harmonious 'Make Some Noise', 'Fire In My Heart', & 'Hard Climb'.

" BILLBOARD MAGAZINE "

The long-awaited debut by this San Francisco quintet Is one of those rare cases where the wait was actually worth It. With AOR radio ripe for harder rock, JETBOY can't miss. Originally scheduled for release a year ago on Elektra, the Tom Allom-produced 'Feel The Shake' Is unquestionably the hottest debut since G N' R's. With Influences ranging from The Rolling Stones to the New York Dolls to Hanoi Rocks, tracks like 'Hard Climb', 'Bad Disease', 'Hometown Blues' and 'Feel The Shake' are more than just great rockers - They're actually exciting. This LP just might be the most Important release of the season.

" CIRCUS MAGAZINE - PAUL GALLOTTA "

You know what kind of music JetBoy play !?! It's called Rock n Roll ! There was a lot of roots rock in there music. A dash of rockabilly, some blues, and some loud ass guitars ! I recently was lucky enough to have Jetboy play the Cathouse reunion twenty f@kn' years later and you know what ? The band was far from dated ! they still sounded fresh and current. You know why ? BECAUSE JETBOY PLAYS ROCK N' ROLL !

" RIKI RACHTMAN - CATHOUSE/HEADBANGERS BALL "

"When punk rock lost the plot and metal became a parody of itself; JETBOY was there (for those of us lucky enough to find them) to give us rock n roll fanatics something to get excited about. They looked cool, oozed with attitude and most importantly wrote great songs. "Together with their European counterparts, Hanoi Rocks, JETBOY represent one of rock history's biggest missing links. It's good to hear that they are back to finish what they started."

" MARKO 72 - SUGARCULT "

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