Slaughter

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Slaughter's Bio: The band formed in late-1988 out of the ashes of lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist Mark Slaughter and bassist Dana Strum's previous group, Vinnie Vincent Invasion, which had featured the titular lead guitarist. By 1989, Slaughter and Strum completed the lineup by recruiting lead guitarist Tim Kelly and drummer Blas Elias. Their debut album Stick It to Ya saw 3 songs hit the Billboard Hot 100: "Fly to the Angels" (#19), "Up All Night" (#27), and "Spend My Life" (#39).

During this time, th ey were signed by Orion Pictures to record a song for the film Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey. The song, titled "Shout It Out", was accompanied by a music video and received heavy airplay.

In 1992, they released their second album, titled The Wild Lif e. It had the Billboard Hot 100 hit "Real Love" (#69), and was certified gold.

The band planned to dedicate themselves to their next album shooting for an early 1994 release date. However, in 1993 guitarist Tim Kelly was arrested for charges of drug trafficking, while bassist Dana Strum had a motorcycle accident that injured his playing hand. The delayed album was finally completed in February 1994 and a video for the proposed first single "Searchin'" was financed by Chrysalis. Due to the chang ing musical climate and Chrysalis' absorption by EMI Records, Slaughter was dropped from the label in a massive cleaning house that included dismissals of other previously popular acts such as Billy Idol and Huey Lewis and the News.

At this time, they negotia ted to be released from their label and signed with CMC Records, a new label that was working to keep hard-rock bands on the scene. In 1995, they finally released Fear No Evil. Despite little success in the US, the album did well in Japan. Guitarist Dave Marsh all had to fill in for Kelly at times, due to his legal problems.

Some time later, Kelly's legal troubles ended and the band committed to their next album. In 1997, they followed it with Revolution. This album featured a more eclectic and psychedelic sound, b ut again it was mostly ignored by the media and listeners.

On February 5, 1998, tragedy struck when guitarist Tim Kelly was killed in an auto accident in the Arizona desert. This deeply affected the band, but they were committed to continue with the band. Aga in, guitarist Dave Marshall (ex-Vince Neil Band) briefly performed as a touring guitarist for Slaughter in Japan. In 1998, they hired Jeff Blando as Kelly's replacement and began working on their next album. A live album titled Eternal Live was released featur ing some of the band's last performances with Kelly.

In 1999, they resurged with Back to Reality, featuring Blando as the new guitarist. Blando was previously in Left For Dead and Saigon Kick. Since then, Slaughter continues to play many rock package tours wi th other acts that saw prominence during the glam era of the late 1980s and very early 1990s.

During the summer of 1999, while on its own (self-named) "Rock Never Stops Tour" (which included Ted Nugent and Night Ranger) Slaughter enjoyed a brief com mercial resurgence, and had the "#1 Track" on the "VH-1" CD "Power Ballads" with "Fly To The Angels" and "Up All Night" became the "#1 Track" on Rhino Records "Hard Hitters," and also took p art in the Summer 2000 "Poison, Cinderella, Dokken and Slaughter" tour.

In 2001 Slaughter was a part of the "Voices of Metal" tour featuring Vince Neil of Mötley Crüe, Ratt, and Vixen.

Mark Slaughter and Dana Strum's former Vinnie Vince nt Invasion bandmate Bobby Rock has played as a touring drummer for Slaughter, filling in for Blas Elias on some shows of the Rock Never Stops Tour.

In April 2004, Slaughter released a DVD-A entitled Then and Now that features 12 songs and 50 rare photos of t he band over the years. Slaughter will also have a DVD that features all of the music videos and behind the scenes footage during the 2004 season.

On July 13, 2007, Slaughter performed at glam metal festival Rocklahoma. However, Strum and Blando were not pres ent during the band's performance, though they did perform with Vince Neil the following night.

At the end of January 2008 Slaughter performed a show at MOTLEY CRUISE, a 4-day cruise in the Caribbean (Miami, Key West and Cozumel, MX) with Vince Neil, Skid Row , Ratt, Endeverafter, Lynam.

Slaughter performed a show in Pocatello, Idaho on July 11, 2008, with Mark Slaughter and Jeff Blando were the only members from the recent lineup of Slaughter, Blando, Strum,Elias and Christian that was integrated as guitarist and vocalist in 2008

Slaughter performed a show in Fargo, ND on June 12, 2010 and Mark Slaughter, Dana Strum, Jeff Bland and cris were performing.

Slaughter will perform a show at Halfway Jam festival in Royalton, Minnesota in July 2011, with Lita Ford, Cindere lla, Skid Row, Stephen Pearcy, Kix, Quiet Riot and Firehouse. … Read more