1990.05.DD - Blast! - Guns N' Roses Update

Transcript:
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JUST the FACTS

By Arlett Vereecke

GREAT WHITE scored big last year with the remake of MOTT THE HOOPLE tune "Once Bitten, Twice Shy,” written by IAN HUNTER and MICK RONSON, who explained to the British press how he felt about Great White’s version and how it came about. ”I don’t like their version at all,” he said candidly. "The singer’s up for a Grammy. Talk about adding insult to injury... It appears we have GUNS N’ ROSES to thank for Great White’s big break. They have the same management. Guns N’ Roses said they were gonna do the song, had a meeting with the manager, and the manager really wanted Great White to do it ’cause they didn't have a hit single on their album. This is Axl Rose’s story. It would have been nice if it had gone on their record. There’s just something vital about GNR, especially the guitar player (Slash), and they’re really nice people, too.” Guess we shouldn’t ask how he felt about Great White’s bar-attitude music, huh?!

And speaking of GNR’s manager... Besides managing GNR and GREAT WHITE, he also manages HAVANNA BLACK, a Finnish rock band with little future. And since he does manage GNR, what better way to use them for his own benefit? Knowing DUFF McKAGAN had arranged a birthday bash at a certain restaurant in Hollywood, he scheduled a press get-together for Havanna Black at the same time. So, whoever didn’t want to see Havanna Black still showed up to see some GNR action.

By now, we’ve all heard about SLASH’S and DUFF’s use of "foul language” at the American Music Awards. If you were wondering where the rest of the band was, here’s the answer. Drummer Steve Adler, who was desperate to go (especially since it coincided with his birthday), had to stay home, per orders from his manager; IZZY STRADLIN doesn't particularly like big events and preferred to stay home, and AXL ROSE was in Paris with his longtime girlfriend, Erin Everly (see our GNR update in this issue.)

***

GUNS N' ROSES UPDATE!

Here’s BLAST!'s exclusive update on Guns N’ Roses by someone who knows the band well. Read all about the new double album, the latest controversies, break-ups and get-togethers with girlfriends and wives. All rumors answered!

The word "controversy” can be used in almost every sentence having to do with Guns N’ Roses. Causing major havoc seems to be a way of life for them. And recently, they’ve again proven that with their "thank-you” speech at the American Music Awards.

On a more positive note, the five members of GNR are working happily on new songs in the studio, and their personal lives are looking up, as well.

A DOUBLE ALBUM DUE

Although the tabloids again reported that Axl Rose was so distraught by Slash’s Music awards speech that he threatened to leave the band, nothing is further from the truth. Axl was vacationing happily with his girlfriend, Erin, in Paris, France and thought the whole thing was quite amusing. The drug wars are behind them, and a little drinking doesn’t bother him. After all, it only affects their "TV language”! Let’s face it—most of us have been drunk on more than one occasion, but when it happens to a member of Guns N’ Roses, everybody goes for the "hypocrite approach” and feels insulted.

The fact is, Axl and Slash have been working very closely on their next project, with Axl again writing the lyrics while Slash churns out the cool guitar licks. Duff McKagan, Steven Adler and Slash have been rehearsing for months and are just rolling along in the studio. A double album can be expected hopefully before summer, followed by their first headlining world tour.

AXL AND ERIN ATTACKED IN PARIS

As I mentioned before, Axl and his girlfriend vacationed in Paris for 10 days, and were actually attacked by some seven or eight French loonies, whose only reason for hating them was the fact that they were Americans! They never even heard of GnR, and that happened on the posh Champs Elysees. Axl and Erin counter-attacked, and the total damage was a shiner of a black eye to decorate Erin’s beautiful face and two broken fingers for Axl. However, Axl is a happy man these days. His personal life is right on track. After some serious, rough sailing, the lovebirds are living together again and toying with the idea of marriage.

DUFF SEPARATED FROM HIS WIFE

Duff’s life, however, took a left turn for the worse this past Christmas, when he separated from his wife of two years. The reason for the split is quite simple: They realized they weren’t meant to be.

Izzy Stradlin has kept a low profile, since his probation doesn’t allow him to drink. After relieving himself in a trash can on an airplane, Izzy’s probation included a sober life for 18 months, and he’s sticking to it. When not in the studio or at rehearsals, he spends most of his time at home with his German fiancee, Juliette. Since cleaning up his act, the other band members boast about Izzy’s dedication to his music and how great a songwriter he really is.

SLASH AND L.A. MODEL

Slash, like Duff, had a change in his personal life and split up with his live-in girlfriend, Chicago model Meegan, this past New Year’s Eve. Now he keeps company with a Los Angeles-area model named Renee.

Steve Adler, also a clean and sober man, plays drums and hangs out at his home with his wife, Cheryl, and two dogs.

GNR’S FIRST HEADLINING WORLD TOUR

What are GNR’s expectations for their new album? They have no expectations whatsoever. They offer killer songs and die-hard lyrics. Everything else is classified under "what you see is what you get,” and that’s plenty!

Guns N’ Roses are a unique formula; it can’t be bottled, but millions of rock fans have developed an addiction to them.

It’s been well over 20 years since the Stones "did it their way,” and nobody else has taken the rock route the way GNR has. As long as they can combine their honesty, their taste for the fast lane and their totally off-the-wall characters, their music always will stand out. So, for now, we have nothing to worry about!

Their first headlining world tour promises to be the event of the ’90s. Whatever it takes, make sure you don’t miss the show when it comes to your town. Of course, no specifics are known yet, but one thing’s for sure: They won’t need fashion designers! The "poseur” image is not their style! Producer Mike Clink is back at the helm, although, according to Axl, the band is co-producing this time around.

SNAKES AND JACUZZIS

As far as hobbies go, nothing has changed. Axl still reads a lot, indulging himself with his books (and his current favorite author, Charles Bukowski) to the point where he now has Duff hooked on this writer, as well.

Slash was the first one to go gung-ho over Bukowski’s books, but he’s also still very much involved with his other interest: his pet snakes! Maybe the word "pet” isn’t so appropriate when you keep company with a dozen slithery pythons, boa constrictors and anacondas ranging in length between eight and 15 feet! But the lovely creatures are well kept, as Slash has built them their own jungle in his house to accommodate them with a more nature-like environment (including many green plants and a custom jacuzzi.

And, last but not least, nothing keeps Guns N’ Roses away from a good party or a good show. So, stay with BLAST! for all of the latest on Guns N’ Roses.

Interesting how Arlett criticises Alan Niven at the start of this article. Although it would still be a year before the band would dismiss Niven as their manager, rumours had it that the conflict between Niven and Axl had been brewing for a while, and this certainly suggests that is true, because I assume Arlett was still close with Axl (and Slash) at this point and worked for them.

Soulmonster wrote:Interesting how Arlett criticises Alan Niven at the start of this article. Although it would still be a year before the band would dismiss Niven as their manager, rumours had it that the conflict between Niven and Axl had been brewing for a while, and this certainly suggests that is true, because I assume Arlett was still close with Axl (and Slash) at this point and worked for them.

Yeah, I thought that was interesting, too. In the interview Arlett did about two years ago, she implied that she and Alan Niven didn't get on too well.

Blackstar wrote:

Soulmonster wrote:Interesting how Arlett criticises Alan Niven at the start of this article. Although it would still be a year before the band would dismiss Niven as their manager, rumours had it that the conflict between Niven and Axl had been brewing for a while, and this certainly suggests that is true, because I assume Arlett was still close with Axl (and Slash) at this point and worked for them.

Yeah, I thought that was interesting, too. In the interview Arlett did about two years ago, she implied that she and Alan Niven didn't get on too well.

That could also be part of the explanation.

It is also quite telling as a premonition for what would happen in 1991, that Izzy isn't mentioned in this section:

"The fact is, Axl and Slash have been working very closely on their next project, with Axl again writing the lyrics while Slash churns out the cool guitar licks. Duff McKagan, Steven Adler and Slash have been rehearsing for months and are just rolling along in the studio. A double album can be expected hopefully before summer, followed by their first headlining world tour."

He was already slipping away...

And of course that Steven was still in the band at the time this was written. It must been just about when he was put on probation, or after, but before he was out.

Although the date of the magazine is May 1990, the actual release date was more than a month before, i.e. around March 25th. So this would explain why the article hadn't caught up with the developments with Steven and Axl's wedding.

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GREAT WHITE scored big last year with the remake of MOTT THE HOOPLE tune "Once Bitten, Twice Shy,” written by IAN HUNTER and MICK RONSON, who explained to the British press how he felt about Great White’s version and how it came about. ”I don’t like their version at all,” he said candidly. "The singer’s up for a Grammy. Talk about adding insult to injury... It appears we have GUNS N’ ROSES to thank for Great White’s big break. They have the same management. Guns N’ Roses said they were gonna do the song, had a meeting with the manager, and the manager really wanted Great White to do it ’cause they didn't have a hit single on their album. This is Axl Rose’s story. It would have been nice if it had gone on their record. There’s just something vital about GNR, especially the guitar player (Slash), and they’re really nice people, too.”

The original version of "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" wasn't in fact by Mott The Hoople (Ian Hunter's and Mick Ronson's band), but it was released on Ian' Hunter's eponymous solo album, with Mick Ronson playing guitar and being the arranger and producer of the track.

Great White's cover was on their 1989 album "...Twice Shy" (their previous album, released in 1987, was titled "Once Bitten".

Jack Russel of Great White said about the cover:

Sleaze Roxx: ‘Twice Shy’ was a killer record with “House Of Broken Love,” “Move It,” “Heart The Hunter” and “Once Bitten…Twice Shy.” In retrospect, was it a good idea to put the Ian Hunter track on there?

Jack Russell: Oh, I love “Heart The Hunter.” That’s one of my favorite songs. As far as “Once Bitten…Twice Shy,” I’m alright with it of course. That’s become a signature song. I’m okay with it selling three million records! It’s good song and I felt we made a great song. We got a Grammy nomination out of it. Honestly. I never thought the song was going to be a hit. That song broke all the rules. It takes forever to get to the chorus. For some reason, that song just would just keep going [laughs]! That song just wouldn’t stop going [laughs]!

Sleaze Roxx: Earlier, we talked about the previous covers. Where you fan of this song before you recorded it?

Jack Russell: I honestly hadn’t heard the song it before. It was Izzy Stradlin that played me the song for the first time.

Sleaze Roxx, February 4, 2017]
http://sleazeroxx.com/interviews/jack-russell-interview-2/

Alan Niven replied that Jack Russel lied and the cover was his idea, saying that he had heard from another source (he credits Izzy only with coming up with the title of the Great White album) and doesn't mention that GnR were going to cover the song:

Sleaze Roxx: Then you followed things up with ‘…Twice Shy’ which tied everything together from the album covers and music videos. The cover of “Once Bitten…Twice Shy” was brilliant. That was your doing, if I recall. When I spoke to Jack, he mentioned that he wasn’t familiar with Mott The Hoople.

Alan Niven: That was me. What Jack said was a bunch of bullshit! Like what he said about Tesla, that was a lie too! While we were on the Judas Priest tour, our sound man had worked with Ian Hunter. We were sitting in the lounge one day before a show and he said, “You have got to hear this song.” The song he played me was “Once Bitten…Twice Shy.” I said, “That’s a pretty funky performance but that’s a really interesting and entertaining song.”

Around the time that we were naming the first album, ideas kept floating around and it was at that point, Izzy [Stradlin] brought up ‘Once Bitten’ after the Ian Hunter song “Once Bitten…Twice Shy.” So I was thinking ahead, if we name this one ‘Once Bitten…’ and the next one ‘…Twice Shy’ and maybe we’ll just knock this track out. The irony Ruben, of doing this song is that we stuck it on the end of the album. It wasn’t designed to become a ‘hit.’ I never thought of my band of having hits per say. I always considered them a road band. When we released that song, I assumed we’d get 10-12 weeks of AOR radio and then we’ll move on to the next; possibly something like “Mista Bone.” The thing took on a life of its own.

[Sleaze Roxx, June 17, 2017]
https://sleazeroxx.com/interviews/interview-with-former-great-white-and-guns-n-roses-manager-alan-niven/

Mick Ronson, of course, as mentioned in the Blast! article, wasn't happy at all with the Great White version:

Last autumn, the imminent Hunter- Ronson revival got an unexpected shot in the arm from Great White's limp cover of their 'Once Bitten Twice Shy'. It took a lousy cover of a great song to hit the US Top Five, while the original was never actually released as a single in the States. And the irony doesn't end there...

Ronson: 'When we were playing our way around the Southern states people were asking us if we were a cover band - they thought 'Once Bitten' was a Great White song. It was even worse when Barry Manilow had the hit with 'Ships' then it was, F***, what the hell's he doing that for? '

[Sounds Magazine, March 3, 1990]
http://mickronson.co.uk/z_900303sounds.shtml

Axl and Slash had jammed with Ian Hunter and Mick Ronson at their show at the Palace in L.A. on December 13, 1989 (they joined them for a liveversion of Velvet Underground's White Light, White Heat).
And Mick Ronson daugther has talked about meeting Axl with her father after Axl's request:
http://www.mygnrforum.com/topic/222230-mick-ronsons-daughter-about-meeting-axl-with-her-dad/

I know Axl's fight in France is referenced in other articles/interviews, but after searching I can't find them. Do you happen to remember where this was, @Blackstar ?

Soulmonster wrote:I know Axl's fight in France is referenced in other articles/interviews, but after searching I can't find them. Do you happen to remember where this was, @Blackstar ?

Yes, I was about to post it

Howard Stern had asked Axl about it a few months later, on July 30:

Stern: That's sort of proof, but everybody heard that. Let me ask you a question that only Axl would know.

Bach: Okay. (Speaking to someone in the room) Will you get Axl?

Quivers: What happened to him in Paris?

Stern: What happened to him...

Bach: Okay, dude. Here, listen. This is a question that Howard says only you will know (laughs). What happened in Paris?

Axl: What happened in Paris? I got in a fight with...

Bach: Is it live, I put him on?

Stern: Yeah, put him on.

Quivers: Yeah!

Bach: There he is, bro.

Quivers: He’s gonna tell Sebastian (laughs).

Axl: We fought twelve French guys.

Bach: (laughs)

Stern: You fought twelve French guys (?)

Axl: We fought twelve French guys. I still have a broken finger from smacking this guy in the head.

Stern: Alright!

https://www.a-4-d.com/t3245-1990-07-30-the-howard-stern-show-interview-with-axl-and-sebastian-bach

And Izzy had mentioned it in 1991:

Stradlin, who's with his girlfriend Anneka for the tour, has his mind set on other things. "After this tour's finished, I'd like to go hang out in Europe, preferably somewhere near the ocean, and just keep writing songs. I think Axl will probably end up living over there at the end of this tour too. He's talking about getting a place in Europe, in Paris or Spain maybe, 'cos he really liked it over there, even though a bunch of French guys ended up macing him. He phoned me up straight afterwards: 'Izzy, man, I just got into a gnarly fight'. He said these guys were talking shit - though I don't know how he'd know 'cos he doesn't know any French." He pauses. "Maybe they were looking at him funny."

[[Vox, October 1991]
https://www.a-4-d.com/t562-1991-10-dd-vox-welcome-to-my-nightmare-izzy

Thanks

What sort of system do you have to find pieces like this so quickly? Just an amazing mind and memory? A huge library with articles sorted after topics?

Soulmonster wrote:Thanks

What sort of system do you have to find pieces like this so quickly? Just an amazing mind and memory? A huge library with articles sorted after topics?

Just good memory, I guess

Blackstar wrote:

Soulmonster wrote:Thanks

What sort of system do you have to find pieces like this so quickly? Just an amazing mind and memory? A huge library with articles sorted after topics?

Just good memory, I guess

Here's how my memory works:

When reading this article I instantly knew I had read about Axl fighting in France. I thought there was a chance we had talked about it before. I also thought that maybe, just maybe, Izzy had mentioned it before, and probably when interviewed by Nick Kent (I actually remembered that name). So I looked up the VOX article but couldn't instantly find it (because I am not thorough enough) and because of a better idea: searching through my 1757 pages long word document with every interview up to 1996 or so. So I first search using "France" returning 24 results but I still missed it since the quote only contains "French" and "Paris". I then in a very optimistic mood searched for "fight" but couldn't really be bothered to go through the 282 hits. Then a much better idea struck me, why not ask @Blackstar and her massive brain?

And, which always seems to be my curse, the final suggestion I make to a problem invariably presents the solution.

Blackstar wrote:

GREAT WHITE scored big last year with the remake of MOTT THE HOOPLE tune "Once Bitten, Twice Shy,” written by IAN HUNTER and MICK RONSON, who explained to the British press how he felt about Great White’s version and how it came about. ”I don’t like their version at all,” he said candidly. "The singer’s up for a Grammy. Talk about adding insult to injury... It appears we have GUNS N’ ROSES to thank for Great White’s big break. They have the same management. Guns N’ Roses said they were gonna do the song, had a meeting with the manager, and the manager really wanted Great White to do it ’cause they didn't have a hit single on their album. This is Axl Rose’s story. It would have been nice if it had gone on their record. There’s just something vital about GNR, especially the guitar player (Slash), and they’re really nice people, too.”

The original version of "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" wasn't in fact by Mott The Hoople (Ian Hunter's and Mick Ronson's band), but it was released on Ian' Hunter's eponymous solo album, with Mick Ronson playing guitar and being the arranger and producer of the track.

Great White's cover was on their 1989 album "...Twice Shy" (their previous album, released in 1987, was titled "Once Bitten".

Jack Russel of Great White said about the cover:

Sleaze Roxx: ‘Twice Shy’ was a killer record with “House Of Broken Love,” “Move It,” “Heart The Hunter” and “Once Bitten…Twice Shy.” In retrospect, was it a good idea to put the Ian Hunter track on there?

Jack Russell: Oh, I love “Heart The Hunter.” That’s one of my favorite songs. As far as “Once Bitten…Twice Shy,” I’m alright with it of course. That’s become a signature song. I’m okay with it selling three million records! It’s good song and I felt we made a great song. We got a Grammy nomination out of it. Honestly. I never thought the song was going to be a hit. That song broke all the rules. It takes forever to get to the chorus. For some reason, that song just would just keep going [laughs]! That song just wouldn’t stop going [laughs]!

Sleaze Roxx: Earlier, we talked about the previous covers. Where you fan of this song before you recorded it?

Jack Russell: I honestly hadn’t heard the song it before. It was Izzy Stradlin that played me the song for the first time.

Sleaze Roxx, February 4, 2017]
http://sleazeroxx.com/interviews/jack-russell-interview-2/

Alan Niven replied that Jack Russel lied and the cover was his idea, saying that he had heard from another source (he credits Izzy only with coming up with the title of the Great White album) and doesn't mention that GnR were going to cover the song:

Sleaze Roxx: Then you followed things up with ‘…Twice Shy’ which tied everything together from the album covers and music videos. The cover of “Once Bitten…Twice Shy” was brilliant. That was your doing, if I recall. When I spoke to Jack, he mentioned that he wasn’t familiar with Mott The Hoople.

Alan Niven: That was me. What Jack said was a bunch of bullshit! Like what he said about Tesla, that was a lie too! While we were on the Judas Priest tour, our sound man had worked with Ian Hunter. We were sitting in the lounge one day before a show and he said, “You have got to hear this song.” The song he played me was “Once Bitten…Twice Shy.” I said, “That’s a pretty funky performance but that’s a really interesting and entertaining song.”

Around the time that we were naming the first album, ideas kept floating around and it was at that point, Izzy [Stradlin] brought up ‘Once Bitten’ after the Ian Hunter song “Once Bitten…Twice Shy.” So I was thinking ahead, if we name this one ‘Once Bitten…’ and the next one ‘…Twice Shy’ and maybe we’ll just knock this track out. The irony Ruben, of doing this song is that we stuck it on the end of the album. It wasn’t designed to become a ‘hit.’ I never thought of my band of having hits per say. I always considered them a road band. When we released that song, I assumed we’d get 10-12 weeks of AOR radio and then we’ll move on to the next; possibly something like “Mista Bone.” The thing took on a life of its own.

[Sleaze Roxx, June 17, 2017]
https://sleazeroxx.com/interviews/interview-with-former-great-white-and-guns-n-roses-manager-alan-niven/

Mick Ronson, of course, as mentioned in the Blast! article, wasn't happy at all with the Great White version:

Last autumn, the imminent Hunter- Ronson revival got an unexpected shot in the arm from Great White's limp cover of their 'Once Bitten Twice Shy'. It took a lousy cover of a great song to hit the US Top Five, while the original was never actually released as a single in the States. And the irony doesn't end there...

Ronson: 'When we were playing our way around the Southern states people were asking us if we were a cover band - they thought 'Once Bitten' was a Great White song. It was even worse when Barry Manilow had the hit with 'Ships' then it was, F***, what the hell's he doing that for? '

[Sounds Magazine, March 3, 1990]
http://mickronson.co.uk/z_900303sounds.shtml

Axl and Slash had jammed with Ian Hunter and Mick Ronson at their show at the Palace in L.A. on December 13, 1989 (they joined them for a liveversion of Velvet Underground's White Light, White Heat).
And Mick Ronson daugther has talked about meeting Axl with her father after Axl's request:
http://www.mygnrforum.com/topic/222230-mick-ronsons-daughter-about-meeting-axl-with-her-dad/

Ian Hunter has also expressed his disdain for Great White's version:

[Ian] Hunter is not so sanguine about Great White's hit version of Once Bitten Twice Shy." "It was a bit anemic," he says. "Actually, Slash found the song and wanted it for Guns N' Roses. But Guns N' Roses had the same manager as Great White and he persuaded Axl [Rose] to let Great White do it."

To Hunter's artistic and financial sorrow. "At the end of the day you're talking money," he says. "If Guns N' Roses had played it, it would have been on an album that sold 7.1 million copies, compared to Great White's, which sold about 2.9 million."

[The Morning Call, October 20, 2001]

"Once Bitten Twice Shy" cover, cont.:

In a new interview with Matt Wake, Mark Kendall of Great White said, more or less, the same as Jack Russell (that the Ian Hunter song was introduced to them by Izzy):

Mark Kendall wrote:[...] Our manager (Alan Niven) managed Guns N’ Roses, and we had an album called “Once Bitten,” and so we felt like the obvious follow up would be “…Twice Shy,” and Izzy Stradlin, who played guitar in Guns N’ Roses, came to our manager with that Ian Hunter track. I had never heard it before. I knew a little bit about and heard Mott the Hoople, but I’d never heard Ian Hunter, any of his solo work.

But anyways, Izzy Stradlin brought that song in and he goes, “This would be cool for you guys to do because you have the album ‘Once Bitten’ and then you have ‘…Twice Shy.’ He presented it to our manager. We didn’t hear it. Our manager really liked the lyrics and everything, so he presented it to us and we thought it was OK, we liked it. We just kind of put our own twist on it.

https://www.al.com/life/2021/03/great-white-guitarist-talks-once-bitten-twice-shy-eddie-van-halen-guns-n-roses.html

And Alan Niven has fired back again (source: Mitch Lafon's twitter, March 12, 2021):