Part 3 of Sunday Stories with B.A.D.
With the success of “Bang Go The Bells” and the album moving up the Billboard Charts, Arista Records was approached by Orion Pictures to obtain the rights of the the song “Kid Goes Wild” to use in their upcoming movie, RoboCop 2.
Their pitch was to use the song as the trailer lead and they offered to pay for half of the video the band would eventually make.
The hard choice for the band was that they had been told by A&R and Clive Davis that the third single would be the band’s ballad. “Desperate”. The choice was between the two songs, which one would be released.
At that time, late 1989-90, many rock bands had broken out with their ballads which were all over AOR radio. It was a perfect time to keep the wheels rolling with “Desperate”. A meeting was called and the band was told, no matter what, the record company would release “Desperate” after “Kid Goes Wild”, because Orion Pictures’ offer was too good to pass up with marketing the band.
The band eventually agreed, with some reservations. Not many bands had the opportunity to have four singles and four videos on a debut album, so it seemed with the promise of “Desperate” being released right after “Kid”, and the movie, they would surely break big.
While recording “Kid Goes Wild” a year earlier, the guys had met and befriended the wild man comedian Sam Kinison at Ocean Way studios in L.A. while Sam was recoding his new album full of classic rock covers in another room.
Sam asked Derek if he would sing back up on a few recordings, and Derek said ‘Only if you come and do some of your crazy shit on our track.’
A deal was struck between the two after much partying and mayhem, and Sam shows up at the band’s recording studio at 2:30 that morning.
Derek had written what he thought Sam might say in the breakdown of “Kid Goes Wild”, but Sam listened to the track twice and said ‘I got this.’
Two takes later and the classic tag line, “Ah ya Fukin Cops, You’ll Never Take Me Alive” was born!
A year and a half later and the video for the song was now in the making.
The huge stage set the video was shot on, with the young child star Gabriel Damon running around being chased by stunt men dressed as Vato looking bad guys seems kinda cool, and the director had explosions going off and the cool fight scenes made the band think, ya this is gonna work!
At the same time, the A&R department was making a new mix of “Kid Goes Wild” called the Fat Bottom mix and Think It Over mix, where they removed the screaming voice of Sam Kinison! The band was pretty pissed when they heard the versions and realized Sam’s voice would not be on the track in the video.
On June 22, 1990 the movie was released and the band felt it was a BOMB! It was the showcased opening in San Francisco at the original Regal Theater where a line around the block of fans of RoboCop and Babylon A.D. stood outside waiting to get in and have their pictures taken and autographs with the band and RoboCop. Problem was, the star Peter Weller, did not show up. Backstage in the green room, it was choas! The record company marketing team and Orion Pictures team where freaking out, it was hilariously funny… Spinal Tap for sure!
So, one of the marketing guys from Arista Records tried on the suit and it fit him, so he went out in the crowd with the band and fooled a whole lot of fans. Meanwhile the band was cracking up watching him pull the stunt off.
The guys sat in the very back of the theater watching the movie and about half way through, instantly knew for certain that the movie did not live up to the original debut.
Well, on to the next single and video they thought. The band went back on tour for another three months, thinking they were going to come back home to L.A. and start the production and release of “Desperate”, only to find out the record company had changed its mind and thought it was best for the band to start writing and recording the next album. It had been over a year since the debut album came out. The band peaked at #56 on the Billboard Charts and now it was back to the drawing board. Boy did the guys feel FUCKED! Pissed off and down – “Desperate” was the song that was supposed to take them to the next level of the ladder.
But soon the band started writing for the next record, Nothing Sacred. The music and the lyrics flowed easy for Derek! “Take The Dog Off The Chain” and “Bad Blood” were both written about the record company and the betrayal the band felt. Just a cog in the machine was now becoming a reality. Babylon A.D. would need to adapt to the bullshit of the industry!
Next week, the “Desperate” debacle!
The post BABYLON A.D. – B.A.D. Sunday Stories Episode Three, “RoboCop 2 Dirt” appeared first on BraveWords - Where Music Lives.
Continue reading...
With the success of “Bang Go The Bells” and the album moving up the Billboard Charts, Arista Records was approached by Orion Pictures to obtain the rights of the the song “Kid Goes Wild” to use in their upcoming movie, RoboCop 2.
Their pitch was to use the song as the trailer lead and they offered to pay for half of the video the band would eventually make.
The hard choice for the band was that they had been told by A&R and Clive Davis that the third single would be the band’s ballad. “Desperate”. The choice was between the two songs, which one would be released.
At that time, late 1989-90, many rock bands had broken out with their ballads which were all over AOR radio. It was a perfect time to keep the wheels rolling with “Desperate”. A meeting was called and the band was told, no matter what, the record company would release “Desperate” after “Kid Goes Wild”, because Orion Pictures’ offer was too good to pass up with marketing the band.
The band eventually agreed, with some reservations. Not many bands had the opportunity to have four singles and four videos on a debut album, so it seemed with the promise of “Desperate” being released right after “Kid”, and the movie, they would surely break big.
While recording “Kid Goes Wild” a year earlier, the guys had met and befriended the wild man comedian Sam Kinison at Ocean Way studios in L.A. while Sam was recoding his new album full of classic rock covers in another room.
Sam asked Derek if he would sing back up on a few recordings, and Derek said ‘Only if you come and do some of your crazy shit on our track.’
A deal was struck between the two after much partying and mayhem, and Sam shows up at the band’s recording studio at 2:30 that morning.
Derek had written what he thought Sam might say in the breakdown of “Kid Goes Wild”, but Sam listened to the track twice and said ‘I got this.’
Two takes later and the classic tag line, “Ah ya Fukin Cops, You’ll Never Take Me Alive” was born!
A year and a half later and the video for the song was now in the making.
The huge stage set the video was shot on, with the young child star Gabriel Damon running around being chased by stunt men dressed as Vato looking bad guys seems kinda cool, and the director had explosions going off and the cool fight scenes made the band think, ya this is gonna work!
At the same time, the A&R department was making a new mix of “Kid Goes Wild” called the Fat Bottom mix and Think It Over mix, where they removed the screaming voice of Sam Kinison! The band was pretty pissed when they heard the versions and realized Sam’s voice would not be on the track in the video.
On June 22, 1990 the movie was released and the band felt it was a BOMB! It was the showcased opening in San Francisco at the original Regal Theater where a line around the block of fans of RoboCop and Babylon A.D. stood outside waiting to get in and have their pictures taken and autographs with the band and RoboCop. Problem was, the star Peter Weller, did not show up. Backstage in the green room, it was choas! The record company marketing team and Orion Pictures team where freaking out, it was hilariously funny… Spinal Tap for sure!
So, one of the marketing guys from Arista Records tried on the suit and it fit him, so he went out in the crowd with the band and fooled a whole lot of fans. Meanwhile the band was cracking up watching him pull the stunt off.
The guys sat in the very back of the theater watching the movie and about half way through, instantly knew for certain that the movie did not live up to the original debut.
Well, on to the next single and video they thought. The band went back on tour for another three months, thinking they were going to come back home to L.A. and start the production and release of “Desperate”, only to find out the record company had changed its mind and thought it was best for the band to start writing and recording the next album. It had been over a year since the debut album came out. The band peaked at #56 on the Billboard Charts and now it was back to the drawing board. Boy did the guys feel FUCKED! Pissed off and down – “Desperate” was the song that was supposed to take them to the next level of the ladder.
But soon the band started writing for the next record, Nothing Sacred. The music and the lyrics flowed easy for Derek! “Take The Dog Off The Chain” and “Bad Blood” were both written about the record company and the betrayal the band felt. Just a cog in the machine was now becoming a reality. Babylon A.D. would need to adapt to the bullshit of the industry!
Next week, the “Desperate” debacle!
The post BABYLON A.D. – B.A.D. Sunday Stories Episode Three, “RoboCop 2 Dirt” appeared first on BraveWords - Where Music Lives.
Continue reading...