Britny Fox
| Britny Fox | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Hard rock , hair metal |
| founding | 1985 |
| Website | www.britnyfox.net |
| Founding members | |
singing |
Dean Davidson (until 1990) |
guitar |
Michael Kelly Smith |
bass |
Billy Childs |
Drums |
Tony "Stix" Destra (until 1987, † February 8, 1987) |
| Current occupation | |
| Tommy Paris (since 1990) | |
guitar |
Michael Kelly Smith |
| Billy Childs | |
| Johnny "Dee" DiTeodoro (since 1987) | |
| former members | |
Drums |
Adam West (1987) |
Britny Fox is an American hard rock - band from Philadelphia , which celebrated its greatest success in the 1980s. Her self-titled debut album achieved gold status in the USA , not least because of the singles Girlschool and Long Way to Love .
history
1985–1987: The early years
Britny Fox was born in Philadelphia in the summer of 1985, where singer "Dizzy" Dean Davidson meets the two former Cinderella musicians Michael Kelly Smith (guitar, actually Michael Schermick) and drummer Tony Destra. Bassist Billy Childs (real name Bill Degley) completes the line-up. The band played in clubs and bars on the American east coast from the start and in early 1987 released a demo album called In America on the Wolfe label by manager Brian Kushner, which was only released on cassette . The group's following is growing steadily and when Columbia Records becomes aware of the demo, they sign the band.
Even before the debut album was released, the band suffered a major setback. On February 8, 1987, drummer Tony Destra died after performing in a car accident in Pennsylvania. His gap is temporarily filled by Tangier drummer Adam West before they find a new drummer in Johnny "Dee" DiTeodoro from World War III and Waysted .
1988–1993: The successes
The band relied on a strong image from the start and appeared as a royal Renaissance rocker with a glam twist that was trendy at the time. The self-titled debut album will be released in 1988 and is virtually prior to success, not least because they get Britny Fox possibility Poison as the opening act to accompany them on their US tour. The videos for the singles Girlschool and Long Way To Love will be put into rotation by MTV and so the debut album will already achieve gold status at the end of the year. The band spends the New Year in Japan, where they perform with Bon Jovi , and in early 1989 they are again on tour in the USA, in a three-pack with Ratt as headliner and Kix as opening act. In the meantime, they are voted Best New Band 1988 by readers in Metal Edge Magazine . The group then tours America again as the opening act for Great White and can finally look back on 130 concerts in front of over half a million people, number 39 on the American Billboard charts and one million albums sold.
In autumn 1989, Boys in Heat was released, the second album with which the band abandoned their renaissance image. Britny Fox will make their first European debut in December, supporting Alice Cooper and Great White, before heading out on their first headlining club tour across the States. However, the album only reached number 79 in the USA and is no longer selling quite as well as its predecessor. In April 1990, the music press reported a fight between singer Dean Davidson and guitarist Michael Kelly Smith in a hotel corridor after a band meeting. Davidson then leaves the band and forms Blackeyed Susan , while Britny Fox is looking for a new singer. The first candidate to appear is The Scream and later Mötley Crüe singer John Corabi. However, he declines the band's offer. At the end of 1990 they finally found a new singer in Tommy Paris and started working on their third album.
The third album Bite Down Hard , produced by John Purdell and Duane Baron, was released in 1991, but it cannot build on the success of the two predecessors. After a US club tour as headliner, the band went their separate ways.
1993–1999: New ways
Billy Childs meanwhile joins LeCompt , the band of former Tangier singer Michael LeCompt, with whom he tours and works in the studio. As a drummer, Johnny Dee is also part of the band's live line-up. Dee also tours as a drummer for Doro and can be heard on the two albums Live (1994) and Machine II Machine (1995). Another band in which Dee was active at this time is Uncle Edna , whose singer is Tommy Paris.
Michael Kelly Smith forms Area 51 and goes into action as the producer of Gunshy before starting a new formation with Razamanaz . Original singer Dean Davidson reappeared as Jarod Dean in the late 1990s . News of a Britny Fox live album with Paris on vocals made the rounds in 1996, but never appeared. Finally, in 1999, the band announced the reunion.
2000 to today: comeback
The announcement will be followed by six concerts on the American east coast in 2000, which the band will record for a live album. Long Way to Live was released in February 2001 and the Japanese version contains two additional cover versions of the songs Gudbuy T'Jane by Slade and Hair of the Dog by Nazareth . In April 2001 Britny Fox toured the States with Doro with Johnny Dee behind the drums of both bands. Further concerts as part of the Voices of Metal Tour followed in the same year together with Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil , Slaughter and Stephen Pearcy's Ratt .
Since 2001, fan club CDs with unreleased songs, live recordings and demo recordings have been released on the band's own label. For example a live concert from 2001 entitled Live At Froggy's or the demo compilation The Bite Down Hard Demo Sessions . After the tour activities in 2001, the band begins songwriting for the fourth album. Due to legal obstacles, Britny Fox cannot enter the studio for the time being. When the band signs a new record deal with Spitfire Records, nothing stands in the way of a release. Springhead Motorshark will be released in July 2003.
The band name
The band explains the name Britny Fox as a modification of the women's name Brittany Foxx . She is said to be originally from Wales and an ancestor of original singer Dean Davidson.
Trivia
- The band dedicated the debut album to the late drummer Tony Destra.
- The producers of Boys in Heat , John Purdell and Duane Baron worked, before this album already together on No More Tears by Ozzy Osbourne . Ozzy's guitarist Zakk Wylde plays the solo on the opening track Six Guns Loaded . Poison drummer Rikki Rockett can also be heard as a guest musician on the album.
- MCA Records released the previously unreleased song Turn On in 1991 on the Nintendo White Knuckle Scorin ' compilation .
- The third studio album Bite Down Hard was originally supposed to be called More Than Your Mouth Can Hold .
Discography
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Studio albums
- 1988: Britny Fox
- 1989: Boys in Heat
- 1991: Bite Down Hard
- 2003: Springhead Motorshark
Live albums and compilations
- 2001: Long Way to Live (Live)
- 2001: The Best Of (Compilation)
- 2001: Live at Froggy's (Live)
- 2002: The Bite Down Hard Demo Sessions (Demo Compilation)
- 2002: Gudbuy T'Dean (Official Bootleg)
Demos, singles and EPs
- 1987: In America (demo)
- 1988: Livin 'on the Edge
- 1988: Save the Weak
- 1988: girl school
- 1988: Long Way to Love
- 1989: Standing in the Shadows
- 1991: Six Guns Loaded
Video albums
- 1989: Year of the Fox (VHS)