How Did Skid Row Get Its Name?
As one of the more popular bands from the life of rock, Skid Row has sold over 20 million albums from 1986-1996. They’re still performing today, but their best years included Dave Sabo and Scotti Hill on the guitar, Sebastian Bach on lead vocals, Rob Affuso on the drums and Rachel Bolan on the bass. Their best album was of course their first, Skid Row, released in 1989 with their top hits:
- “18 and Life”
- “I Remember You”
- “Youth Gone Wild”
They’ve also managed to pick an amazing band name that seems to fit them well as a heavy metal band. But as to how they’ve chosen it is a big question for many fans.
What is Skid Row?
In pop culture, Skid Row is a neighborhood in Los Angeles with one of the largest homeless populations since at least the 1930s. It got its name for all the “skid roads” within the center of the neighborhood. It’s also been a target for police raids, targeted city initiatives and homeless advocacy, making it one of the most well-known districts in Los Angeles.
How Skid Row Got Their Name
According to an interview with Sebastian Bach, an ex-frontman, the name “Skid Row” was chosen and purchased from the legendary guitarist, Gary Moore, for $35,000. Sabo and Bolan, the original band members, said, “We have to pay Gary Moore 35 grand to use the name.” Sebastian Bach also commented, “We were all glad to do it because it is a great name for the band.” But there was a catch – only Sabo (Snake) and Bolan owned the rights to the name.
About Skid Row
Skid Row was formed in 1986 in Toms River, NJ by Rachel Bolan (bass) and Dave Sabo (drummer). The pair then sought out guitarist Scotti Hill and drummer Rob Affuso through newspaper ads. Lead vocalist Matt Fallon was also recruited for a short time before being replaced by Sebastian Bach in 1987 rock photographer Mark Weiss’s wedding at the young age of 18.
Dave Sabo was also good friends with John Bon Jovi and was briefly a member of Bon Jovi before he was replaced by guitarist Richie Sambora. Nevertheless, John Bon Jovi said he would help Sabo in the music business. So Bon Jovi’s manager sought out Skid Row and secured a record deal with Atlantic Records in 1988. They recorded their debut at the Royal Recorders in Lake Geneva, WI with producer Michael Wagener, where they put their name on their first album, Skid Row, just after securing it from Gary Moore.
Success of Skid Row and Slave to the Grind Album
Skid Row’s first album, Skid Row, released in January 1989 was and continues to be their top-performing album, going 5x platinum from the Top 10 singles “18 and Life” and “I Remember You”. They had supported the album by opening for Bon Jovi on their New Jersey tour. They also played their first-ever UK gig that supported Bon Jovi’s outdoor show at Milton Keynes Bowl on August 19, 1989. The following day, they performed at a successful club show at London’s Marquee Club in Charing Cross Road. They also performed at the Moscow Music Peace Festival, which was put together to keep McGhee out of jail for his drug trafficking charges.
Skid Row also opened for Mötley Crüe on their Dr. Feelgood tour in early November 1989 along with Mr. Big. This was followed by a UK headlining tour that culminated in a show at the Hammersmith Odeon (Eventim Apollo) in London, with Vain supporting.
“The Bottle Incident”
On December 27, 1989 in Springfield, MA, where Skid Row was opening for Aerosmith, one of the audience members had whipped a water bottle at Bach. He threw it back, but only to hit a girl (who didn’t throw the bottle), so he jumped on the crowd to beat the person who did it.
Bach also wore an anti-gay slogan shirt at another show that said, “AIDS Kills Fags Dead” as a spoof of the slogan for the insecticide Raid, “Raid Kills Bugs Dead”. It was given to him by a fan and was also caught wearing it one year prior. He said during an MTV interview that he didn’t read the slogan before putting it on, despite wearing it to a photo shoot in Metal Edge Magazine.
Slave to the Grind Album
In 1990, Skid Row returned to the studio with Wagener in 1990 to record their second studio album, Slave to the Grind, which was released in June 1991. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and reached 2x platinum states without any radio hits. Although its heavy metal style differed from the typical 1980s rock ’n roll.
Nevertheless, they set out on a worldwide tour for over a year, including supporting Guns N’ Roses in 1991 and making an appearance at Monsters of Rock in Castle Donington in 1992. Afterwards, they took out Pantera, Soundgarden, L.A. Guns and Love/Hate as supporting acts part of their Slave to the Grind tour. They had also asked the upcoming band Nirvana to open for them, but they declined, saying that Skid Row was “too homophobic”, referring to the Bach shirt incident.
Subhuman Race Album
Following the Slave to the Grind tour in 1993, Skid Row’s band manager, Doc McGhee had recommended for them to wait for the grunge movement to fade away, so they went hiatus for three years. This was also when Wagener decided to leave the band, most likely due to them taking a different direction after their last album.
In 1994, Skid Row met up at the studio again to record its third album Subhuman Race. But by then, each of the members had agreed that tensions were rising amongst themselves and with Rock, including which musical direction the album should take and the band’s weakening relationship with Bach.
Despite the tensions amongst the band, Subhuman Race was released in March 1995 and peaked in the top 40 on the US charts. The singles that supported the success of the album included “My Enemy”, “Breakin’ Down” and “Into Another”. Despite its commercial success, it received mixed positive reviews and is also known to be Skid Row’s darkest album. But these songs are rarely played at any of Skid Row’s concert as of lately.
Bach Leaves Skid Row
From this point on, the band shifted to play at smaller venues while their videos were rarely played on MTV, particularly because of the decline of the 1980s heavy metal styles. They did play as the opening act for Van Halen during their North American part of their Balance tour.
Bach eventually left the band in late 1996 after getting into an argument with Nolan who turned down an opening slot on the Kiss reunion tour even though Bach had already booked it. The other members also told him Skid Row was already too big a band to continue performing as the opening acts. Bach ended up leaving a message on Saba’s answering machine full of insults and that they would never be too big to open for Kiss, which led Sabo to tell Bach that he would never work with him again. Eventually, he was replaced by Dangerous Toys vocalist Jason McMaster.
As for Bolan, he had a side project which was the punk band Prunella Scales, which he left for after the dispute between Bach and the other band members.
In 1998, Skid Row released their compilation album 40 Seasons: The Best of Skid Row without Bach’s input. But after he left, the remaining members continued performing under the name Ozone Monday with singer Shawn McCabe of Mars Needs Women. In 1998 and 1999, they opened for Kiss and Mötley Crüe under the new name.
Where is Skid Row Today – 2022
Fast forward to 2019, Sebastian Bach announced that he was planning to perform the band’s self-titled debut album in its entirety on tour as a celebration of its 30th anniversary. He issued an open invitation for the band to play on stage with him for the first time since they split, hoping it would bring the band back together. Dave (Snake) Sabo declined the offer but the former drummer Rob Affuso agreed to join him for the tour.
On June 26th 2021, former vocalist Johnny Solinger died of liver failure.
As for the latest, Sabo confirmed in a February 2022 with The Music Universe that the band’s sixth studio album was expected to be released on September 16, his 58th birthday, and added its single would be released “around the second or 3rd week of March.”
On March 23, 2022, the band had parted ways with ZP Theart and was being replaced by Erik Grönwall. They also announced their latest album, The Gang’s All Here, would be released on October 14th.
What Do You Think of Skid Row?
While they may not be the most popular band of the 80s or 90s, their three original songs, “18 and Life”, “I Remember You” and “Youth Gone Wild” are amazing songs. For that, they are most definitely a worthy band to check out and listen to on Spotify or YouTube.
So what do you think of Skid Row? Any favorite songs? Have you ever been to a concert? I’d love to hear about it in the comments section below!
