It's already known that many of these bands were dropped from their record companies. One such band was Seduce (formerly from Detroit, MI - lookup www.MotorCityRock.com/seduce/seduce.html). I worked for a company called Electro Scientific Industries (formerly - Palomar Systems located in Escondido, CA) from October 1993 to July of 1998. Sometime during the middle to end of this employment, Chuck Burns the drummer for Seduce, going by the name of Aaron Bacon, was employed in our materials handling stockroom for our machinist department, cutting material for the machinists. At the time he lived in a really nice double-wide mobile home with his lovely wife and Naval Academy ready stepson, situated in a really peaceful and nice looking mobile home park in Escondido, CA. Later he changed job positions to our parts stock room and then into the engineering drafting department taking digital pictures of our parts and subassemblies for assembly drawings (picture form). We had a lay-off the end of July 1998 and Chuck later found a similar job to the one he formerly held for ESI working for a company called Deutsche located in Oceanside, CA making more money than what he did when working for ESI. I had been to his house before on a couple of ocassions to play Dungeons and Dragons. One of those ocassions Mark Andrews (going by the name of Chris) joined in with us. He came in with his head buzzed not looking like his album photos. I had once asked Chuck to jam with him at his home and he said, "sure." I went over and Mark was there. Later Dave Black shows up and I tell these guys that I'm no good on guitar, that the only thing I knew how to play was a 12 bar blues shuffle in the key of E. I get to playing my guitar and Chuck comes in on the drums doing fine. Mark Andrews is doing good on the bass. So the three of us are doing okay. But, Dave Black is having a difficult time finding something to play with us. He's struggling to find the right key, the right resolve....but he can't do it. For something short of my saying that he was terrible, I told Dave that he needed to play the E minor penatonic scale or the E minor blues scale (5 and 6 note scale patterns respectively). Dave still couldn't get it together. Later....for some unknown reason....I blurted out, "you guys suck!" Insert foot into mouth! No way to apologize! No way to make ammends! Ejected from the club! But, the truth about these guys, they were good for the time that they had doing what a lot of other bands were already doing. They probably could play the 12 bar blues shuffle in the key of E if they read it from guitar tablature. But they really couldn't do anything on there own at least not from the stand point of there reliance on what the music industry standard already had accomplished at that time. But music changes so often and is fickle with its facial masks. It changes too often and too soon. These guys were good at doing what they did, but they came too late to establish themselves as pioneers of the sound and genre.
P.S. This was 2 weeks ago (now 09/29/2007). I have a friend that lives in south Houston, TX. He's a guitar player as well. He told me that he was at Guitar Center there in Houston listening to a kid trying to play one of their songs, but having a difficult time doing so. Then all of a sudden David Black comes up to this kid, picks up a guitar, sits down, plugs in and starts playing the song showing the kid how to play it.
So, I guess Seduce still does stuff publicly. Wow!
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danatania
17 years ago
wow what a story!
I love the part where the guy from Seduce goes "Stocks.. Bonds... Investments.. I got long hair but *beep* I'm a businessman!" LOLOLOLLL
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pansbeet
16 years ago
It's so easy to make fun of something you clearly do not understand. They were kids. Kids with dreams. If you interviewed kids in the "punk" scene today, in 20 years they will look just as stupid as the peeps in this film. I was part of the scene, as a matter of fact, I'm in the movie.
Many of the people in the LA metal scene went on to be writers, reviewers and preservers of the heavy metal lifestyle and new metal movements. Yes, many were pathetic kids from the strip, but many turned out to be normal people, just you and well, me.
I think those people were brave to put what they loved in front of the majority who did not get metal. It's in your blood. Spheeris didn't know metal and it shows. It is her crappy job that is more pathetic than even Chris Holmes. She had absolutely no handle on the popular acts on the strip or the respected fathers of metal save Ozzy and Aerosmith.
I think the fact that all the metal acts continue to tour and tv shows on metal are popping up all over, proves that metal will not die, and we will never go away.
So jeer all you want with your stupid LOLs, you just jealous baby, jealous YOU WEREN'T THERE!
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WalletGuy
16 years ago
^Just curious but who were you in the movie? Were you part of one of the main bands or one of the people interviewed?
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pansbeet
16 years ago
I'm one of the bimbos in the Gazzarri dance contest. I flip off Nadir and London when they had put up a sign that said "Skin to Win." After I flipped him off, they put up the sign "You get a zero." Spheeris spliced the film to make it look like I sucked, but I don't care. Bill Gazzarri always had me in the contests because I was a true metal babe, not a stripper, who by the way, hijacked that contest.
I am now a journalist, and relatively normal. I love metal and TOOL RULES.
I still go to the Rainbow when Im in LA, and Steady is still working the door.
I look great because I work out 10+ hours a week, and have no stints in rehab under my belt. Most of the metalhead bimbos I hung out with are all professional women. My circle of friends include lawyers, veterinarians, journalists and psychiatrists. And we all get together and go to metal shows whenever we can.
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Frequency270
16 years ago
^^^There's your Decline of the Western Civilzation IV: Metalhead Bimbos Gone White Collar. Let's make it and release it. I'd buy it, that's for sure.
Damion Crowley
Shake Well & Buy Often
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cristos_2
16 years ago
what killed metal in my opionion is the catagories all metal bands were put into to classify them.(glam, pop,heavy,speed)There was fighting within the metal scene. Can't go see that band because they put make up on their face, Or they look too much like girls or they have a girl singer(had one friend that said that line).What matters is the music. That's what people forgot. It's rock music.When metal hocked up with rap,it was a cool scene. metal heads and rappers-there for the music.As for the movie, I was angry when I heard what penolope did with some scenes. She delibertly tried to make people look stupid. Kids have dreams and they should all try to make their dreams come true.The problem is they have people telling them it's impossible to active their dream. Kids should be inspired from young age to think they can do whatever they want if they work hard at it;even if it doesn't work out at least they gave it they're best shot.All those people gave their shot; most didn't succeed but who cares, they tried. As for the girls; guys always think they have to act macho and put girls down.All metalheads have become regular people just like every other generation.Inspire the youth-don't put them down because you don't get what they're into,try to understand it and influence them to go with their heart.
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SonOfEvermore
16 years ago
Classifying then as certain genres killed metal?
Crap bands that weren'yt metal, but called themselves metal, killed metal. IE; every single band in this movie.
What killed the music and bands in this movie? The rest of the world got over the ridiculous stunts and looks these guys pulled.
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16 years ago
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Chris-369
15 years ago
NemesisRogue. Well said.
The main genres back in the 80's were thrash & glam. Then you had all the sub categories that most people ignored anyway.
Back in the 80's the bands in this movie WERE metal. There wasn't all this incredibly heavy 'let's tune down to C and scream til out throats bleed' music back then.
Metal was fun back then - all the songs were about chicks, drinking, partying, having fun and generally enjoying life. None of this self harming, all alone, pity me, my dad hates me nonsense!
And wasn't it Vince Neil who once said, 'this is show-business, what's wrong with a bit of glamour'...?!
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15 years ago
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pansbeet
15 years ago
No sweetie, we never discussed the taste of the "eruption," just the size of the volcano. :)
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jennifer_libby
16 years ago
This movie is highly entertaining but full of some of the lamest bands I have ever seen...and thankfully, after the movie, never saw again. Most of the music, including Aerosmith (in my opinion), isn't even metal.
The title of the movie should have been The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Glam Years.
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danatania
16 years ago
What those guys from Seduce said was hilarious. I'm not LOLing because I'm jealous. Besides, I'm way too young to have been in this movie.
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Bishop_of_Battle
13 years ago
Cool story, sgtmajhorsemarine. I actually liked the first Seduce album. It's unfortunate what happened to them as it's a story shared by dozens of bands during the period...One great album and loads of potential only to fizzle out.
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