Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 15, 1993 TAG: 9304150023
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
MISCHIEF AND MUSIC
Obnoxious, pampered punks or the best rock band since the Stones? Roanoke will get to see for itself tonight when Guns N' Roses plays the Roanoke Civic Center in a sold-out concert.
BEFORE Axl, Izzy, Slash and the hype that would follow, there were two boyhood buddies from Lafayette, Ind., and the son of a Los Angeles album cover designer.
They had ordinary names like Bill Bailey and Jeff Isabelle.
They shared an ordinary, youthful dream: to become rock stars.
What followed in the ensuing windstorm of success and excess would take them to the top of the charts, bring them mythical status among a generation of headbangers and produce a seemingly endless string of controversies.
Their saga starts really in Lafayette, where Bill Bailey, an abused child and manic-depressive, was the local juvenile delinquent, and his friend, Jeff Isabelle, was known to everybody as Izzy.
They forged a bond that endured even after Izzy moved to California following his high school graduation in 1979. Music was their common interest. In LA, Izzy added the surname Stradlin and worked into the underground music scene.
Back home, Bill Bailey became engrossed in his own band, Axl. He also learned that Bailey was not his real name. His real name was Rose, which he later combined with his band's name to legally become Axl Rose.
He eventually hitchhiked to LA to join his friend.
Meanwhile, also knocking around the LA music scene was the son of Anthony Hudson, an album-cover designer whose credits include Joni Mitchell's "Court and Spark," and Ola Hudson, a clothing designer who made David Bowie's suits for "The Man Who Fell to Earth."
He was known simply as Slash.
Slash had hooked up with Duff McKagan, who had played in 31 different bands in Seattle before moving to LA and answering an ad Slash had placed in a local music rag.
In 1985, Slash, McKagan, Rose and Stradlin, along with drummer Steve Adler, formed Guns N' Roses. The name was taken from two bands that various group members had previously played in, LA Guns and Hollywood Rose. Two other names considered were AIDS and Heads of Amazon.
They settled into a seedy apartment on Sunset Boulevard and hit the LA club circuit with a vengeance. Word soon spread, and the record labels came calling. They signed with Geffen Records.
At the same time, they started cultivating that zonked-out, bad-boys-of-rock lifestyle that would quickly grow to legendary levels. Early club fliers routinely read: "Fresh From Detox" and "Addicted: Only the Strong Survive." The group's drug problems - which would worsen with fame - were common knowledge.
After one club date, they were invited by Aerosmith's manager, who was considering representing the band, to his hotel room. He eventually checked into another room to get some rest and learned in the morning that the group had ordered $450 worth of food and drinks on his bill. He decided not to manage them.
In 1987, Geffen released "Appetite for Destruction," the group's debut album, and Guns N' Roses hit the road, opening for The Cult, Motley Crue, Alice Cooper and Iron Maiden.
Fueled by the hits "Sweet Child O' Mine," "Paradise City" and "Welcome to the Jungle," the album sold 17 million copies and led to opening spots on tours by Aerosmith and the Rolling Stones.
Problems, more myth-making behavior and controversy followed.
On the Aerosmith tour, the two groups were kept away from each other so that Guns N' Roses couldn't tempt Aerosmith - drug- and alcohol-free after years of heavy abuse - with any of its old vices.
There was a series of well-publicized scuffles - most of them involving temperamental lead singer Rose. He jumped a security guard in Atlanta who Rose said shoved a friend of his without provocation. He got into a fight with a parking lot attendant in Philadelphia who failed to recognize him and would not admit him to his own concert.
In Chicago, he was jailed for punching a businessman in a hotel bar who called him a "Bon Jovi look-alike." In LA, he was charged with assault for hitting his neighbor over the head with a wine bottle. In St. Louis, he incited a riot during a concert.
The list goes on.
There are other incidents involving other band members. Stradlin and McKagan once beat up the drummer from Faster Pussycat, bound him with duct tape and tossed him in an elevator.
Stradlin was arrested for peeing in the gallery of a commercial airplane, and Slash caused a stink at the American Music Awards in 1990 for repeatedly using the f-word during an acceptance speech on live television.
Guns N' Roses also has been widely criticized for glorifying racism, sadomasochism, gay-bashing, xenophobia and violence in its song lyrics. The group shrugs off this criticism, saying that the meanings to some of the lyrics have been misunderstood.
Internally, the band has had its own share of scrapes as well.
Matt Sorum, who had worked with The Cult and Gladys Knight, replaced original drummer Steve Adler because of his heroin habit. Adler since has sued the band for encouraging him to use heroin and then firing him when he was trying to quit.
Slash and Stradlin also admitted to heroin problems, that worsened after the success of "Appetite for Destruction," but both now claim to be clean from drugs.
The band fired its manager and its record engineer.
Then, shortly after the release of the group's two follow-up albums to "Appetite" in 1991, Stradlin, the band's rhythm guitarist, left the group because of growing disagreements with Rose, his friend of 13 years.
Stradlin contributed many of the songs to the two albums, "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II," which were released simultaneously, but he became increasingly frustrated with Rose's chronic concert lateness. It is not unusual for Rose to go on stage two hours late.
The rest of the band acknowledges that Rose is moody and can be difficult to deal with. Geffen Records president Ed Rosenblatt has said talking to Rose is about as easy as talking to the Dalai Lama. Even Rose himself has said he's "real spoiled."
Stradlin since has released a solo effort, "Izzy Stradlin and the Ju Ju Hounds." He was replaced in Guns N' Roses by Gilby Clarke, formerly of Kill For Thrills and a friend from the club days in LA. The group also has added a keyboard player, Dizzy Reed.
Despite the personnel changes and public mishaps, Guns N' Roses remains about the hottest ticket in rock music. There is a reason for this. The lyrical content aside, musically, Guns N' Roses rocks the ceiling. It is a group that steadfastly clings to the hard-rock tradition of being loud and cocky and in-your-face.
Some say refreshingly so. Others might say obnoxiously so.
As of Wednesday morning, about 200 remained for the concert. Call 981-1201.
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