Sea Hags were an American
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 from
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, United States.
Their style has primarily been referred to as motorcycle rock and sleaze metal.
History
Sea Hags formed in San Francisco in 1985
by frontman Ron Yocom, and bassist Chris Schlosshardt.
During the three years before they had the chance to record a major label debut album, they often worked two jobs to keep their dreams of a music career alive. During the band's early years they played gigs with bands such as
Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run.
Initially consisting of lead guitarist East Bay Ray, bassist Klaus Fl ...
,
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 ...
, the
Ramones
The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of th ...
, and
The Cramps
The Cramps were an American rock band formed in 1976 and active until 2009. Their lineup rotated frequently during their existence, with the husband-and-wife duo of singer Lux Interior and guitarist Poison Ivy the only ever-present members. T ...
. They were signed to
Chrysalis Records
Chrysalis Records () is a British independent record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ell ...
in December 1987.
Kirk Hammett
Kirk Lee Hammett (born November 18, 1962) is an American musician who has been the lead guitarist of heavy metal band Metallica since 1983. Prior to joining Metallica, he co-formed the thrash metal band Exodus in 1979. In 2023, Hammett, along ...
, the guitarist of
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
, co-produced their first demos with
Sylvia Massy
Sylvia Lenore Massy is an American record producer, mixer, and engineer. Her first major breakthrough occurred with 1993's ''Undertow (Tool album), Undertow'', the full-length triple platinum-selling debut for Los Angeles alternative metal band ...
, who went on to produce two releases by progressive rock band
Tool
A tool is an Physical object, object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many Tool use by animals, animals use simple tools, only human bei ...
.
Ian Astbury
Ian Robert Astbury (born 14 May 1962) is an English singer, best known as the lead vocalist, frontman and a founding member of the rock band the Cult. During various hiatuses from the Cult, Astbury fronted the short-lived band Holy Barbarians ( ...
of
The Cult
The Cult are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Bradford in 1983. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band had performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead vocalist Ian Astbury ...
offered to produce their debut.
Finally
Mike Clink
Mike Clink is an American record producer. He began his career as an engineer at Record Plant Studios, recording such bands as Whitesnake, Triumph, Guns N' Roses, Mötley Crüe, Megadeth, UFO (including ''Strangers in the Night''), Jefferson ...
, who had just finished producing
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...
' ''
Appetite for Destruction
''Appetite for Destruction'' is the debut studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, released on July 21, 1987, by Geffen Records. It initially received little mainstream attention, and it was not until the following year that ''App ...
'' was enlisted by the group as producer.
Guitarist Frank Wilsey, who had recently left the San Francisco band Head On, joined in November 1988, shortly before the band started to record their eponymous debut for Chrysalis with Clink.
Drummer Greg Langston also gave way during this period to Adam Maples.
Kevin Russell, a musician who had performed on
Ted Nugent
Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He goes by several nicknames, including Uncle Ted, the Nuge, and Motor City Madman. Nugent initially gained fame as the le ...
's ''
Penetrator'', contributed additional guitar to the recording. Before finishing the album, the band wrote the track "Under The Night Stars" for the movie ''
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master''.
The band toured Britain in June 1989, opening for
The Georgia Satellites
The Georgia Satellites is an American Southern rock band from Atlanta, Georgia. They achieved mainstream success with their 1986 self-titled debut album, featuring their best-known single " Keep Your Hands to Yourself," which peaked at No. 2 o ...
. This stint in the UK also gave them the opportunity to do a short headline club tour including Bristol Bierkeller. In October 1989, Frank Wilsey quit the group.
The band disbanded in February 1990, apparently because of drug abuse and poor management. After the dissolution, Adam Maples became the drummer for Guns N' Roses for a short period in 1990 before
Matt Sorum
Matthew William Sorum (born November 19, 1960) is an American drummer. He is best known as both a former member of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he recorded three studio albums, and as a member of the supergroup Velvet Revolver. ...
took over the slot. Chris Schlosshardt died on February 1, 1991,
officially ending the band's existence.
Frank Wilsey changed his name to Wilcox (and then Wilsex) and joined
Arcade
Arcade most often refers to:
* Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game
** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game
** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware
** Arcad ...
, a band started by former
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. ...
vocalist
Stephen Pearcy
Stephen Eric Pearcy (born July 3, 1956) is an American musician who is the founder, singer, songwriter of the heavy metal band Ratt. He has also created the bands Firedome, Crystal Pystal, Arcade, Vicious Delite, and Vertex. He has also reco ...
.
He also played with Pearcy's band
Nitronic
Nitronic is the trade name for a collection of nitrogen-strengthened stainless steel alloys. They are austenitic stainless steels.
History
Nitronic alloys were developed by Armco Steel. The first of these alloys, Nitronic 40, was introduced in ...
. Ron Yocom went on to team up with industrial goth rocker
Sarine Voltage, forming The Power of 3, a "Now Wave" project that he currently co-fronts.
The Sea Hags re-existed for a short time in 2007, under the management of Wendee Key, with Ron Yocom as the frontman. The band quickly decayed due to unexplained issues between management and band members.
Members
*Ron Yocom - vocals, guitar
(1985-1990)
*Chris Schlosshardt - bass guitar
(1985-1990; died 1991)
*Greg Langston - drums
(1985-1988)
*
Frank Wilsey - guitar
(1988-1989)
*Adam Maples - drums
(1988-1990)
Discography
Studio albums
*''
Sea Hags'' (1989)
References
External links
Sea Hags's MySpaceFrank Wilsey's MySpace Sea Hags at sleazeroxx.com
{{Authority control
1985 establishments in California
Glam metal musical groups from California
Hard rock musical groups from California
Heavy metal musical groups from California
Musical groups established in 1985
Musical groups disestablished in 1990
Musical groups from San Francisco