I was thinking about these guys the other day!! Another great underated band!!! ROX!!!
Rox were from Manchester, England, and burst onto the burgeoning New Wave of British Heavy Metal scene in 1982 with a semi-hit single, Hot Love in the City (Teenteeze Records, their own label). Their sound was hard glam rock, influenced by Sweet, Starz, Gary Glitter, and Thin Lizzy (obviously, Lizzy werent glam, but every UK hard rock band was influenced by them back then), and their image was an exact match- lotsa hairspray, eyeliner, and gaybar leather n chains. Of course, bein Brit lads, they completely lacked the cheekbones and pouty lips to successfully pull off such a look, which is why you think of Wrathchild if somebody mentions early 80s UK glam metal (Ok, so maybe that doesnt come up all that often in your household. Lucky you, Jack), not Rox. Not that Wrathchild were anything resembling pretty boys either, but they had fuckin bazookas and 12 stackheels and all manner of tranny overkill gimmicks to distract you from the street thug mugs behind the mascara. Rox, far as I know, had no War Machine to blow confetti to the back wall if things got weird, and were left to simply bang out their chug-chug flash metal dressed like Freddy Mercurys houseboys.
The success of Hot Love in the City eventually landed them a deal with Music For Nations, the still-running UK heavy metal label that signed every metal band worth their Marshalls in the 80s, from Raven and Manowar to Tank and Rogue Male. In 83, they released the Krazy Kuts EP, a sleazy sexplosion of meathammer pop hooks and scorch metal guitars. Of course, at this point they were aping Wrathchilds slut bomb act so closely (the 3 songs on the EP were titled, respectively, Sweet
Sixteen, Sidewalk Strutter, and Shock Rockin'") that Rocky and the boys coulda sued the pink lace skivvies off of em, but apparently there was plenty of room for enterprising cock rock bands at the time.
They followed up in 84 with their sole full-length album, Violent Breed. MFN had high hopes for their gutterglam heroes. Label honcho Martin Hooker even produced the record. And hell, its good un too, but it didnt stop Rox from imploding in less than a year. And ya know whats weird? They were never heard from again, none of em. Mark Savage, Paul Diamond, Red Hot Red- all those bitchin rock star names, lost to the ages.
But hey, maybe all they needed was one album- its not like there was any indication that Rox were gonna spiral off into new, daring directions, or nothin. Pretty much every song on this record follows the standard flash metal rules of screech/riff/solo/big finish, and you can only do that so many times while dressed in a leather lace-up vest before things get creepy. In fact, opener Love Ya Like a Diamond pretty much blows Roxs wad in one throbbing, three-minute hard-on of crunching guitars and horny yelping. There are a few other notable moments, however. I Wanna Be a Hero is remarkable not so much for its epic, screamalong chorus and its thunderous, arena rock guitars, but because it sounds more n a little like WASPs I Wanna Be Somebody. Be interesting to see who came first, cuz its not like LA metal bands were above copping foreigners when no one was looking (Ask Poison about Finlands Easy Action next time ya see them). Otherwise, its just fun to hear how close serious metal bands actually were to being just as cheesy as Rox were- Wild and Crazy sounds like early Overkill, only with a puffy Gary Glitter chorus, and the soprano vox and twin guitars on Jailbait aint all that far way from the Supersatanic-isms of Mercyful Fate. As if there ever was a difference between a skull and bones microphone and a stuffed leather crotch. All rock n roll is cock rock, really. Rox were just more honest about it then most.
Admittedly, Mark Savages high-pitched caterwauling dates Violent Breed like a motherfucker, but for gooey-glam kicks, its not a bad lil retro-ride.
-Sleazegrinder
http://www.sleazegrinder.com/flashmetalrox.htm
Rox were from Manchester, England, and burst onto the burgeoning New Wave of British Heavy Metal scene in 1982 with a semi-hit single, Hot Love in the City (Teenteeze Records, their own label). Their sound was hard glam rock, influenced by Sweet, Starz, Gary Glitter, and Thin Lizzy (obviously, Lizzy werent glam, but every UK hard rock band was influenced by them back then), and their image was an exact match- lotsa hairspray, eyeliner, and gaybar leather n chains. Of course, bein Brit lads, they completely lacked the cheekbones and pouty lips to successfully pull off such a look, which is why you think of Wrathchild if somebody mentions early 80s UK glam metal (Ok, so maybe that doesnt come up all that often in your household. Lucky you, Jack), not Rox. Not that Wrathchild were anything resembling pretty boys either, but they had fuckin bazookas and 12 stackheels and all manner of tranny overkill gimmicks to distract you from the street thug mugs behind the mascara. Rox, far as I know, had no War Machine to blow confetti to the back wall if things got weird, and were left to simply bang out their chug-chug flash metal dressed like Freddy Mercurys houseboys.
The success of Hot Love in the City eventually landed them a deal with Music For Nations, the still-running UK heavy metal label that signed every metal band worth their Marshalls in the 80s, from Raven and Manowar to Tank and Rogue Male. In 83, they released the Krazy Kuts EP, a sleazy sexplosion of meathammer pop hooks and scorch metal guitars. Of course, at this point they were aping Wrathchilds slut bomb act so closely (the 3 songs on the EP were titled, respectively, Sweet
Sixteen, Sidewalk Strutter, and Shock Rockin'") that Rocky and the boys coulda sued the pink lace skivvies off of em, but apparently there was plenty of room for enterprising cock rock bands at the time.
They followed up in 84 with their sole full-length album, Violent Breed. MFN had high hopes for their gutterglam heroes. Label honcho Martin Hooker even produced the record. And hell, its good un too, but it didnt stop Rox from imploding in less than a year. And ya know whats weird? They were never heard from again, none of em. Mark Savage, Paul Diamond, Red Hot Red- all those bitchin rock star names, lost to the ages.
But hey, maybe all they needed was one album- its not like there was any indication that Rox were gonna spiral off into new, daring directions, or nothin. Pretty much every song on this record follows the standard flash metal rules of screech/riff/solo/big finish, and you can only do that so many times while dressed in a leather lace-up vest before things get creepy. In fact, opener Love Ya Like a Diamond pretty much blows Roxs wad in one throbbing, three-minute hard-on of crunching guitars and horny yelping. There are a few other notable moments, however. I Wanna Be a Hero is remarkable not so much for its epic, screamalong chorus and its thunderous, arena rock guitars, but because it sounds more n a little like WASPs I Wanna Be Somebody. Be interesting to see who came first, cuz its not like LA metal bands were above copping foreigners when no one was looking (Ask Poison about Finlands Easy Action next time ya see them). Otherwise, its just fun to hear how close serious metal bands actually were to being just as cheesy as Rox were- Wild and Crazy sounds like early Overkill, only with a puffy Gary Glitter chorus, and the soprano vox and twin guitars on Jailbait aint all that far way from the Supersatanic-isms of Mercyful Fate. As if there ever was a difference between a skull and bones microphone and a stuffed leather crotch. All rock n roll is cock rock, really. Rox were just more honest about it then most.
Admittedly, Mark Savages high-pitched caterwauling dates Violent Breed like a motherfucker, but for gooey-glam kicks, its not a bad lil retro-ride.
-Sleazegrinder
http://www.sleazegrinder.com/flashmetalrox.htm
