Under the Influence

For every band that succeeds in the music industry, there are hundreds (if not thousands) more that never came close to that level of success, fame and fortune. They're destined to be lost and forgotten in the annals of rock n' roll history. But so what. It happens. Everybody has a favorite band (or ten) that should be more popular than they are. The good thing is that in today's digital and online world, it's much easier to re-discover those forgotten gems that may have passed us by the first time, often by bands with less talent who got that big break at the right time and rode it as long as they could. My first "hidden gem" is Wildside's 1992 release on Capitol Records: Under the Influence. When searching for information on the rock band Wildside, you'll that there are two artists with this name (along with countless cover bands likely inspired by the Motley Crue song of the same name), an American rock band (this one) and an Italian Eurodance band from the 1990's. Sadly, if one was to judge popularity by the most popular songs on iTunes, the Eurodance band would come out on top. However, they most certainly do not rock, and they never released one of the most underrated albums of the era. Formed in L.A., Wildside consisted of Drew Hannah (vocals), Brent Woods (guitar), Benny Rhynedance (guitar), Marc Simon (bass) and Jimmy D. (drums). They came onto the scene late in the game when the era was dying down and the energetic melodic metal on their debut album was slowly becoming a thing of the past while the grunge era was ushered in. Originally known as Young Gunns, a bidding war would form between Capitol Records and Polygram in the summer of 1990. By August, Capitol would win the bid with a seven figure and five album deal (which was a lot more in 1990 than it is today!), making Wildside the biggest signing of a Hollywood rock band since WASP in 1984. The band was destined to succeed and was finally getting well-deserved attention. Throughout 1991, Wildside recorded their debut CD at Eddie Van Halen's personal home studio and at A&M Studios in Hollywood. With the prolific Andy Johns (who engineered or produced records by Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Van Halen, Rod Stewart, and many others) at the helm, and with Steve Thompson and Michael Barbierio mixing the CD to near perfection, Capitol Records had the newest "sure thing" to market to rock fans everywhere. Wildside was going to be huge! Unfortunately, with a release date of May 1992, a little band called Nirvana was leading the way with a new grunge sound, and bands like Wildside quickly started becoming yesterday's news. Before the CD came out, Wildside would tour with The Four Horsemen in January. When Under the Influence finally came out on May 22nd, it would be to little fanfare. A followup tour with Babylon A.D. and Roxy Blue would follow throughout the summer as a packaged summer rock tour. Sales started to pick up and Wildside found themselves on their own headlining tour from December 1992 through March of 1993. This would be the peak of Wildside's career. Late 1993 would bring a change in upper management at Capitol Records. All of the big shots that were there when Wildside was signed were no longer with the company, including Hale Milgrim, Capitol President at the time. Even though the band had an "iron clad contract" and a five-album deal, that didn't matter to the new executives at Capitol, who ripped up the band's contract and wished them well before getting back to their beloved grunge music. That brings us back to where we are today. Under the Influence is no longer made, so finding it on eBay or Amazon is the best you can hope for, and 17 years after its release, it's still selling for $15-20 or more in many places. Is it worth it? Drew Hannah's high-octave vocals were what defined Wildside, but the entire album is filled with melodic rock music and great guitar licks. If you're into monster rock anthems, Under the Influence starts and ends with a bang. The opening track Hang On Lucy (video below) is a hard-rocking tune that lets you know Wildside means business and serves as a warning to anybody letting their daughters move to Hollywood. The last track Clock Strikes will surely satisfy with its loud, thumping guitars and powerful chorus. At the same time, if Under the Influence came out in 1988 instead of 1992, power ballads Just Another Night and How Many Lies would have been destined to become classics. That's a brief history of one of the many bands that came along too late in the late 80's/early 90's rock music scene. While Capitol Records said many times that Wildside was going to be the next Poison, I didn't consider them to have similar sounds, resembling Wildside to a gritter version of Skid Row mixed with Ratt.