Rough Cutt is an American

glam metal Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal music, heavy metal that features pop music, pop-influenced Hook (music), hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat arena rock, rock anthems, and slow Sentimental ballad#Powe ...

band from Los Angeles that released two studio albums on

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

in the mid-1980s. Rough Cutt never achieved the commercial success enjoyed by many other Los Angeles bands of that time, but various members went on to find success in other groups, including Jake E. Lee with

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...

, Amir Derakh with

Orgy An orgy is a sex party where guests freely engage in open and unrestrained sexual activity or group sex. Swingers' parties do not always conform to this designation, because at many swinger parties the sexual partners may all know each other o ...

and

Julien-K Julien-K is an American electronic rock band based in Long Beach, California, that began as a side project for electronic music created by Amir Derakh and Ryan Shuck from Orgy, alongside Anthony 'Fu' Valcic. The band's name comes from the mo ...

, Paul Shortino with

Quiet Riot Quiet Riot is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band founded in Los Angeles in 1973 by guitarist Randy Rhoads, bassist Kelly Garni, and vocalist Kevin DuBrow. The original lineup featured Rhoads and Garni with lead vocalist Kevin Du ...

, and

Craig Goldy Thomas "Craig" Goldy (born November 6, 1961) is an American musician, best known as the guitarist of the rock bands Dio (band), Dio and Giuffria. Early musical life Goldy was born in San Diego, California. Before Dio, he played in the bands Ve ...

and Claude Schnell with Dio. A more recent lineup of Rough Cutt, which debuted in November 2019 at the Bossanova Ballroom in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, included drummer Dave Alford, first guitarist Chris Hager, second guitarist Darren Housholder (

Shrapnel Records Shrapnel Records is an American record label group founded by record producer Mike Varney. The group principally uses the ''Shrapnel Records'' record label, a guitar-oriented label which features shred guitar, hard rock, metal and progressive ...

recording artist; Love/Hate, War & Peace), bassist Jeff Buehner (The Loyal Order), and lead vocalist Steven St. James (

Motown Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

; Kagny & The Dirty Rats).

History

The first Rough Cutt lineup featured vocalist Paul Shortino, drummer Dave Alford, guitarist Jake E. Lee, keyboardist Claude Schnell, and bassist Joey Cristofanilli. Both Lee and Alford had previously been in another Los Angeles band,

Ratt Ratt (stylized as RATT) was an American glam metal band that had significant commercial success in the 1980s, with their albums having been certified as gold, platinum and multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, RIAA. ...

. Schnell and Cristofanilli had previously been in the band Magic. Two other former Ratt members and bandmates in Sarge—guitarist Chris Hager and bassist Matt Thorne, a.k.a.

Matt Thorr Matt Thorne, also known as Matt Thorr, is a bassist who has played in the glam metal band Ratt, Rough Cutt, and Jailhouse. He co-wrote the song "Back For More" with Stephen Pearcy on Ratt's album ''Out of the Cellar''. He currently owns MT Studio ...

(who replaced Cristofanilli)—would also soon join Rough Cutt. After his departure, Cristofanilli temporarily joined Ratt himself, later joining forces with members of the band Sin, who went on to release the album ''Made in Heaven'' under the name Jag Wire in 1985. Lee left Rough Cutt in 1982, auditioned for and was briefly hired by the band Dio, and then replaced the deceased

Randy Rhoads Randall William Rhoads (December 6, 1956 – March 19, 1982) was an American guitarist. He was the co-founder and original guitarist of the heavy metal band Quiet Riot, and the guitarist and co-songwriter for Ozzy Osbourne's first two solo albu ...

's guitarist. Lee, in turn, was replaced by

, formerly of the San Diego band Vengeance.

Ronnie James Dio Ronald James Padavona (July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010), known professionally as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal singer. He fronted numerous bands throughout his career, including Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio and Heaven & Hel ...

greatly influenced the development of the band. Dio's wife, Wendy Dio, was the group's manager, and Dio himself helped write one of the band's songs. Rough Cutt contributed two tracks, "A Little Kindness" and "Used & Abused," both produced by Dio and featuring Jake E. Lee on guitar, to the compilation album ''L.A.'s Hottest Unsigned Bands'', issued in 1983. Another Dio-produced track, "Try a Little Harder," with Goldy on guitar, appeared on the ''

KLOS KLOS (95.5 FM broadcasting, FM, "95-5 KLOS") is a commercial radio station City of license, licensed to Los Angeles, California, and serves the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Meruelo Group, Meruelo Media. KLOS airs a mainst ...

95 1/2: Rock to Riches'' compilation, along with another Wendy Dio project, NuHaven, released later in 1983. Goldy soon left the band and went on to play in

Giuffria Giuffria was an American rock band from Washington, D.C., formed in 1981 by Gregg Giuffria after his departure from the band Angel. History Giuffria was formed as Gregg Giuffria's side project in 1982 after Angel disbanded. The band's clas ...

, and later in Dio's band. Goldy was replaced by Amir Derakh, another San Diego band alumnus. With the lineup solidified with Shortino, Alford, Derakh, Hager, and Thorne, Rough Cutt was signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1984. The band gained national exposure when they appeared on the ''Rock Palace'' TV show, performing the songs "Crank It Up," "Dreamin' Again," "Street Gang Livin'," and "Try a Little Harder." Hosted by comedian

Howie Mandel Howard Michael Mandel (born November 29, 1955) is a Canadian comedian, television personality, actor, and producer. Mandel is known for voicing Gizmo in the 1984 film ''Gremlins'' and the 1990 sequel ''Gremlins 2: The New Batch'', playing rowd ...

, the recording took place on January 1, 1984, at the Hollywood Palace, now the

Avalon Hollywood Avalon (or Avalon Hollywood) is a historic nightclub in Hollywood, California, located near the intersection of Hollywood and Vine, at 1735 N. Vine Street. It has previously been known as The Hollywood Playhouse, The WPA Federal Theatre, El Ca ...

. Rough Cutt also made their way to Europe, showcasing at

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

's famed

Marquee Club The Marquee Club was a music venue in London, England, that opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. It was a small and relatively cheap club, in the heart of London's West End of London, West End. It was the location of the first ...

on April 13, 1984, and playing a poorly promoted show at the Fabrik in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, Germany, both well in advance of recording their first studio album. After waiting around for a year to work with producer

Ted Templeman Edward John "Ted" Templeman (born October 24, 1942) is an American musician and record producer. Among the acts with whom he has had a long relationship are the rock bands Van Halen and Doobie Brothers and the singer Van Morrison; he produced ...

, who had signed the band to Warner Bros. but was busy with

David Lee Roth David Lee Roth (born October 10, 1954) is an American rock singer. Known for his wild and energetic stage persona, he was the lead vocalist of the hard rock band Van Halen for three stints: from 1974 to 1985, during 1996, and from 2006 to when ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

, and

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of lead vocalist Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarists Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry and B ...

at the time, Rough Cutt decided to record their debut album, ''

Rough Cutt Rough Cutt is an American glam metal band from Los Angeles that released two studio albums on Warner Bros. Records in the mid-1980s. Rough Cutt never achieved the commercial success enjoyed by many other Los Angeles bands of that time, but var ...

'' (1985), with

Tom Allom Thomas James Allom is an English record producer and sound engineer. His best-known work was in the 1970s and 1980s, working with artists such as Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Krokus (band), Krokus, Loverboy, Def Leppard, KIX (band), Kix and Rou ...

instead. The band toured extensively in the United States as an opening act supporting Krokus on their ''

The Blitz The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a co ...

'' tour, alongside Accept, followed by an extensive trek with Dio on their ''

Sacred Heart The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus () is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus Christ is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devotion to Christ is p ...

'' tour, which lasted from August through December 1985. Rough Cutt was also part of the Super Rock '85 festival bill on August 10, 1985, at Odaiba-Undohiroba in Odaiba,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Japan, sharing the stage with headliners Dio, Foreigner,

Mama's Boys Mama's Boys were a 1980s hard rock/heavy metal music, heavy metal group from County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The band includes the three McManus brothers Pat, a.k.a. "The Professor", (guitar, fiddle), John (bass, vocals), and Tommy (dru ...

, Sting, and Japanese act Earthshaker. The show was commemorated with a VHS release titled ''Super Rock In Japan '85''; Rough Cutt was featured with four songs from their debut album: "Black Widow," "Take Her," "Dreamin' Again," and "Piece of My Heart." Veteran producer Jack Douglas of

fame guided the band's follow-up effort, '' Wants You!'' (1986). Rough Cutt joined Dio on the last date of their ''Sacred Heart'' tour at the R.C. Coliseum in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

on October 10, 1986, and once again made their way to Japan. While in Japan, Shortino made the decision to leave the band due to internal differences about the direction their music should take. Rough Cutt's manager,

Wendy Dio Wendy is a given name generally given to girls in English-speaking countries. In Britain during the English Civil War in the mid-1600s, a male Captain Wendy Oxford was identified by the Leveller John Lilburne as a spy reporting on his activitie ...

, introduced Shortino to

and engineered a deal for him to step in as their new lead singer in place of

Kevin DuBrow Kevin Mark DuBrow (October 29, 1955 – November 19, 2007) was an American singer, best known as the lead vocalist of the Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Quiet Riot from 1975 until 1987, and again from 1993 until his death in 2007. Early ...

, who had been fired. Shortino was briefly replaced by Parramore McCarty of

Warrior A warrior is a guardian specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal society, tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracy, social class, class, or caste. History ...

before Rough Cutt called it quits. Derakh, Thorne, and Alford regrouped with singer Danny Simon and guitarist Michael Raphael to form Jailhouse, releasing a live EP, ''Alive in a Mad World,'' in 1989; while Hager teamed up with Jeff Warner of

Black 'N Blue Black 'N Blue is an American glam metal band from Portland, Oregon. The current members are lead vocalist Jaime St. James, bassist Patrick Young, drummer Pete Holmes, and guitarists Brandon Cook and Mick Caldwell. The band is best known for ...

in Woop & the Count. Thorne was also briefly a member of L.A. Rocks, renamed

Eyes An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system. In higher organisms, the ey ...

once vocalist

James Christian James Christian is an American musician and songwriter who is perhaps best known for being the frontman of the band House of Lords. Career Christian began his musical career in the early 1970s, playing for various bands in the Connecticut club ...

joined, while Derakh found major success with the self-proclaimed death pop band

in the late 1990s. In 1996, DeRock Records released '' Rough Cutt Live'', which contained three new studio cuts, "House of Pain," "Prowler," and "Peyote," as bonus tracks. The same label would also issue a full-length studio album by Rough Cutt offshoot Jailhouse in 1998, with all five songs from the 1989 ''Alive in a Mad World'' EP added as bonus tracks. Shortino reformed Rough Cutt in 2000 with an all-new lineup that included former Aerosmith guitarist

Jimmy Crespo Jimmy Crespo (born July 5, 1954) is an American guitarist. He was the lead guitarist for Aerosmith from 1979 until 1984. He co-wrote " Rock in a Hard Place" with Steven Tyler, and has performed or recorded with Rod Stewart, Billy Squier, Meat Loa ...

, keyboardist James "J.T." Garrett, Shortino's former Quiet Riot bandmate bassist

Sean McNabb Sean McNabb (born September 24, 1965) is an American actor and bassist. While still on tour with rock bands, he is also acting and writing, composing, and singing music for TV and film. In 2015, he released his first solo music as a lead singer, ...

, and Magnitude 9 drummer John Homan. The band announced the release of an EP titled ''Sneak Peek'' in 2000, but it was canceled and expanded into a full-length album instead. ''Sacred Place'' was released in 2002 under the name Paul Shortino's The Cutt on Shortino's own MusicWorks Entertainment label and featured additional contributions by guitarists

Brad Gillis Bradley Frank Gillis (born June 15, 1957) is an American guitarist most famous for playing with the band Night Ranger. He grew up in Alameda, California. He was in the band Rubicon during the 1970s before Night Ranger. Since forming in 1979, Gi ...

Carlos Cavazo Carlos Cavazo (born July 8, 1957) is a Mexican-American musician best known as the guitarist for heavy metal band Quiet Riot during their commercial peak. He has also played with Snow, 3 Legged Dogg, Hollywood Allstarz, and Ratt. Biography C ...

Howard Leese Howard M. Leese (June 13, 1951) is an American guitarist, record producer, and musical director who played with Heart as guitarist and keyboardist for 23 years (1975 through 1998). He continues to record and tour as a solo artist, and as guitar ...

, and Dave Whiston, as well as bassists

Chuck Wright Chuck Wright (born September 13, 1959) is an American bassist, best known as a member of the hard rock/heavy metal band Quiet Riot. He originally joined Quiet Riot in 1982, playing bass on the tracks " Metal Health (Bang Your Head)" and "Don' ...

and Jason Boyleston. The classic Warner Bros. era lineup of Rough Cutt reunited for a one-off show in October 2002 at the

Viper Room The Viper Room is a nightclub and live music venue located on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California, United States. It was established under that name on August 14, 1993, co-owned by actors and ''21 Jump Street'' co-stars Johnny Depp a ...

in Hollywood, with Shortino, Alford, Derakh, Hager, and Thorne performing together once again. In late 2005,

Wounded Bird Records Wounded Bird Records is an American compact disc only re-issue record label that was founded in 1998 in Guilderland, New York. They re-release lesser known albums from popular and lesser known artists. Most of the Wounded Bird catalogue is licen ...

reissued both Rough Cutt Warner Bros. studio albums as a two-for-one single disc, ''Rough Cutt/Rough Cutt Wants You''. British label

Rock Candy Rock candy or sugar candy, also called rock sugar or crystal sugar, is a type of confection composed of relatively large sugar crystals. In some parts of the world, local variations are called Misri, nabat or navat. This candy is formed b ...

reissued remastered versions of both albums in 2016, complete with 16-page full-color booklets, 3,500-word essays about the making of the albums with new band member interviews, and enhanced artwork. In 2008, Deadline Records issued the double disc ''Anthology'', consisting of pre- and post-Warner Bros. era demos and a live set recorded in Syracuse, New York, in 1985. In October 2019, 10 songs from the Fiddler's Studio Sessions portion of the ''Anthology'' were released as ''The Fiddler Sessions '84'' on limited edition red vinyl, with only 300 copies made. In 2016, the classic lineup of Shortino, Alford, Derakh, Hager, and Thorne reunited again. They performed on the Monsters of Rock cruise in 2018. In 2019, Shortino sang and played lead guitar for

's Rough Riot, while Alford and Hager began auditioning musicians to complete the Rough Cutt lineup. During this time, they signed with David Adkins and Integrity Music Management. After hiring vocalist Steven St. James—whom Hager had previously played with in Sarge during his pre-Rough Cutt days—the band added Buehner and then Housholder. After three rehearsals, the new Rough Cutt played its first live show, opening for

L.A. Guns L.A. Guns are an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1983. The lineup currently consists of Tracii Guns (lead guitar), Phil Lewis (musician), Phil Lewis (lead vocals), Ace Von Johnson (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Johnny Mar ...

featuring

Tracii Guns Tracy Irving Richard Ulrich (born January 20, 1966), known professionally as Tracii Guns, is an American guitarist best known as the co-founder of glam metal group L.A. Guns, as well as the Supergroup (music), supergroups Brides of Destruction ...

and Phil Lewis in Portland, Oregon, at the Bossanova Ballroom on Black Friday, November 29, 2019. Rough Cutt closed its 10-song set by playing "You Wanna Be a Star," a song written by Hager, St. James, and Alford. According to Alford in an interview after the performance, the song aired on an episode of the 1980s television series Fame and had not been played live by Rough Cutt since the 1980s, when arena audiences of the time failed to appreciate it. Former Rough Cutt bassist Matt Thorne most recently played rhythm guitar with the band Platinum Overdose, whose debut album, ''Murder in High Heels'', was released on the Demon Doll label in August 2019. On June 8, 2021, a reformed version of Rough Cutt featuring original members Paul Shortino, Amir Derakh, and Matt Thorne released a new album, ''3'', on CD and digital platforms. It was their first new album since 1986's ''Wants You''. Another version of Rough Cutt existed, featuring Dave Alford and Chris Hager. However, they claimed there were "no ill feelings between the two groups."

Members

Current members * Paul Shortino – lead vocals (1981–1987, 2016–2019, 2021–present) *

– bass, backing vocals (1983–1987, 2016–2019, 2021–present) * Amir Derakh – guitar, synthesizers (1984–1987, 2016–2019, 2021–present) Former members * Dave Alford – drums, backing vocals (1982–1987, 2016–2019) * Chris Hager – guitar (1983–1987, 2016–2019; died 2025) * Jake E. Lee – guitar (1981–1982) * Claude Schnell – keyboards (1981–1982) * Joey Cristofanilli – bass (1981–1982) *

– guitar (1982–1983) * Parramore McCarty – lead vocals (1987) * Jeff Mayer – lead vocals * Steven St. James – lead vocals (2019) * Jeff Buehner – bass (2019) * Darren Housholder – guitar (2019)

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (1985) * '' Wants You!'' (1986) * ''Rough Cutt 3'' (2021)

Live albums

* '' Rough Cutt Live'' (1996)

Compilation albums

* ''

Anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

'' (2008) * ''The Fiddler Sessions '84'' (2019)

Guest appearances

* "A Little Kindness", "Used & Abused" (from the compilation album, ''LA's Hottest Unsigned Rock Bands'') (1983) * "Try a Little Harder" (from the compilation album, ''KLOS 95 1/2: Rock to Riches'') (1983) * '' Super Rock '85 in Japan'' VHS (1985)

References

External links

* * *
Matt Thorne's MT Studios website

Chris Hager official website

Rough Cutt Rock Detector page
{{Authority control Glam metal musical groups from California Hard rock musical groups from California Heavy metal musical groups from California Musical groups established in 1981 Musical groups disestablished in 1987 Musical groups reestablished in 2000 Musical groups disestablished in 2002 Musical groups from Los Angeles