Michael Rea (born April 4, 1960) better known by his

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Michael Ray or M. Ray, is an American

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

and

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

, who was a guitarist for the

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band

Plasmatics The Plasmatics were an American punk rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed by Rod Swenson and Wendy O. Williams in New York City in 1978. They were a controversial group known for chaotic, destructive live shows and outrageous thea ...

and for fromwoman Wendy O. Williams' solo projects. He also worked with

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

and toured with the English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1975 by bassist and lead vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox. Kilmister was the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band a ...

Early life

Ray was born in

Queens, NY Queens is the largest by area of the five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn and by Nassau County to ...

in 1960. He grew up in Woodhaven,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and attended

Beach Channel High School Beach Channel High School (BCHS) (also known as High School 410 or H.S. 410), was a high school in the public school system of New York City, located at 100-00 Beach Channel Drive in Rockaway Park in the borough of Queens. The school opened i ...

. He was discovered by

Gene Simmons Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; ; born August 25, 1949) also known by his stage persona "The Demon", is an Israeli-born American musician. He was the bassist and co-lead singer of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss, which he co-founded wit ...

at My Father's Place, a club on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

in 1982 at the age of 22.

Career

In the year 1982, Michael Ray auditioned for the band ''Kiss'' as the replacement of

Ace Frehley Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley (, ; born April 27, 1951) is an American musician who was the original lead guitarist, occasional lead vocalist and founding member of the rock band Kiss (band), Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman (a.k.a. ...

. He recorded guitar solos for the album ''

Creatures of the Night ''Creatures of the Night'' is the tenth studio album by American rock band Kiss, released in 1982. It was the band's last for Casablanca Records, the only label for which Kiss had recorded up to that point. The album was dedicated to the memor ...

'' at

Record Plant Studios The Record Plant was a recording studio established in New York City in 1968 and last operating in Los Angeles, California. Known for innovations in the recording artists' workspace, it produced highly influential albums, including the New York ...

, New York. Michael recorded as lead guitarist for the songs ''Keep me comin'', ''

'' , ''I Still Love You'', and ''War Machine''.Lead guitarist for WOW
/ref> In 1983 after the departure of

Vinnie Vincent Vincent John Cusano (born August 6, 1952), better known by his stage name Vinnie Vincent, is an American guitarist. He is a former member of the rock band Kiss from 1982 until mid-1984 during the band's transition out of their 1973–1983 makeu ...

, Michael played live with ''Kiss'' at ''Rocket Rehearsal Studios'', New York for the ''Live Lick it up'' audition. He performed the songs ''Fits like a Glove'', ''Gimme More'', ''Exciter'' and ''Hells Breakin Loose''. In 1984, Michael recorded as lead guitarist for the Wendy O. Williams first solo album WOW, produced by Gene Simmons. He signed the management contract and the record was released on

Passport Records Passport Records was a U.S.-based independent record label that existed between 1973 and 1988. It was notable for popularizing such artists as Larry Fast, FM, Richard Barone, and Wendy O. Williams. It was distributed by Jem Records in the Unit ...

. He also wrote songs for Wendy O. Williams second solo album Kommander of Kaos. He appeared on

The Joan Rivers Show ''The Joan Rivers Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Joan Rivers. The show ran for four seasons, from September 5, 1989, to December 26, 1993. History The show aired for five seasons and ended in December ...

in 1986 in

Studio City, Los Angeles Studio City is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, United States, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in ...

and performed two songs. In 1987, he collaborated music for the

New World Pictures New World Pictures (also known as New World Entertainment, New World Communications Group, Inc., and New World International) was an American independent production, distribution, and (in its final years as an autonomous entity) multimedia com ...

release of Reform School Girls. Ray also wrote songs on the Plasmatics 9th Anniversary album, Maggots: The Record that was released on

Profile Records Profile Records was one of the earliest hip hop labels. As well as hip-hop they released disco, dance, and electro records. History In 1980, Cory Robbins, who was 23 at the time and had worked briefly for MCA, wanted to start a record label ...

in 1987. It was considered to be the biggest selling Plasmatics album to date.Plasmatics/Wendy O. WIlliams Maggot:The Record
/ref>

Discography

Vocals

* ''Wendy O. Williams / Plasmatics - Maggots: The Record'' (1987) * ''Wendy O. Williams - Kommander Of Kaos'' (2000)

Instruments & Performance

* ''Wendy O. Williams - WOW'' (1984) * ''Wendy O. Williams - It's My Life'' (1984) * ''Wendy O. Williams - Live'' (1985) * ''Wendy O. Williams - Fuck N' Roll'' (1985) * ''It's My Life - Reform School Girl (1986) * ''Wendy O. Williams / Plasmatics - Maggots: The Record'' (1987) * ''Wendy O. Williams - Kommander Of Kaos'' (2000) * ''Wendy O. Williams - Bump 'N' Grind'' (2000) * ''Sara Johnston - Trespassing'' (2011) * ''Kiss - Gene Simmons Vault Disc One Track 6 solo on Legends Never Die'' (1982)

Writing & Arrangement

* ''Goin Wild Various - Reform School Girls'' (1986) * ''Wendy O. Williams / Plasmatics - Maggots: The Record'' (1987)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Michael 1960 births 20th-century American musicians Plasmatics members People from Woodhaven, Queens Living people American male guitarists Beach Channel High School alumni