ADVERTISEMENT

What was your favorite hair band?

e540891bf8c6a37dabb14cc5accc5daf.png

Guns and tranny's?
 
From what I have heard Cinderella will never reunite. True shame.

I think I have seen them live 4 times. Three of the four times they were opening acts and absolutely blew the headliners off the stage.
You can still see Tom Keifer, though, and if we're being honest, he IS Cinderella.

I know it's past Christmas but if you haven't heard this, you need to. He throws this down so hard, I've cranked it in the middle of summer.
 
Since there doesn't seem to be a consensus on what is or isn't a hair band I'll just list my top 3 bands from the 80's in no particular order:

Van Halen
GnR
Def Leppard
 
It kills me when people say "They are not good musicians". Bullshit, name me guitarist that are any better than :
I will just name a couple, no need listing 50.
George Lynch
Warren DeMartini

For the record, there is a difference and some of you are getting the two confused, but Glam Rock (Think of the 70's LA Scene) and Hair Bands are not exactly the same. Alice Cooper started the glam scene (late 60's), then copied by Kiss, David Bowie, Rolling Stones. The big traveling stage set and all kinds of Pyro. It was performing art with rock. Van Halen and Quiet Riot started in the early 70's, they where labeled Glam Rock.
Whether people want to admit it or not, the main reason people hated the glam / hair bands, was their look. They didn't like the big hair, the costumes, the flashy shows, make up, etc. It really wasn't because of their ability as musicians (there was some bands that sucked but played the part and had the look), they are the real "hair bands" people hated, example, Hanoi Rocks, Autograph, LA Guns to name a few. The great glam and hair bands got lumped in with the shitty glam / hair bands because they where not "Your Daddy's Oldsmobile" meaning they didn't look like typical rock bands people had grown accustom to, so people would assume "they wear make up, they suck." And then it all blew up and they took over rock, people resented them for changing the "Look" or Rock N Roll. Then the rest of the people, actually liked glam metal, but when it wasn't "Cool" no more, the pretended they hated it all along. Suddenly they where not Cinderella or Poison fans, they where Nirvana or what ever grunge of the day was fan.
 
70% of the people liked glam metal until it wasn't cool no more and they became "embarrassed to be associated with it.

25% used grunge as a way to say "all of the make up, pyro, and costumes are gone, so the true musical talent is at the forefront." "glam was a cover up for bad music" thought and they could be the smart guy in the room and latch on to grunge.

5% Really truly hated it based on content (sex, drugs, partying, etc.) Actually didn't like the sound, or theatre. Legit haters.


"Say what you want about us, but I never aspired to be a musician, I aspired to be a Rock and Roll star, and that is what I did"

Bobby Dahl
Bassist Poison
 
Whole body of work, the best Hair Band talent of the whole band, Dokken is by far the best, and it is not even close.

Don Dokken - Absolutely phenomenal lyricist.
George Lynch - has the total package. Malmsteem to Gilmour.
Jeff Pilson - Didn't get the pub of Dokken / Lynch, but he is as acclaimed Bassist as there is.
Mick Brown - Very solid and under rated a drummer as there is. Listen to the older Dokken and some of the newer Foreigner. A lot of people confuse talent with style. they can be equally talented, but play a totally different style. You will pick the style YOU like best. Not meaning the player is better per say.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Double A-ron
For me, I don't think of "hair bands or hair metal" as being a thing until the early 80's (after the launch of MTV in late 1981) and ending in the early 90's. It was a combination of harder rock, big teased up hair and makeup. Bands like Van Halen are not hair bands to me because they predate the movement (had three albums prior to 1981), didn't do the heavy makeup and two of the four members didn't even have long hair.

 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: ShoesSwayedBlue
Exactly, like I said, they where Glam Rock. The 80's they definitely got more pop. Then when DLR left and went solo, he was 100% pop.

 
For me, I don't think of "hair bands or hair metal" as being a thing until the early 80's (after the launch of MTV in late 1981) and ending in the early 90's. It was a combination of harder rock, big teased up hair and makeup. Bands like Van Halen are not hair bands to me because they predate the movement (had three albums prior to 1981), didn't do the heavy makeup and two of the four members didn't even have long hair.


Every hit song on 1984 had hair metal characteristics. Jump had almost every ingredient if not all of them.

Just because Van Halen was older, does not mean the music was not the same as everyone else of the genre.
 
Van Halen changed up and did what was selling with 1984. "Jump", "Panama", and "Hot For Teacher" all was glam metal, even threw in synthesizers to give an extry touch of non heavy metal. 5150 with Hagar continued along with the trend. Even the earlier stuff had some mixed in, "Ice Cream Man" was pop feeling.
 
Van Halen changed up and did what was selling with 1984. "Jump", "Panama", and "Hot For Teacher" all was glam metal, even threw in synthesizers to give an extry touch of non heavy metal. 5150 with Hagar continued along with the trend. Even the earlier stuff had some mixed in, "Ice Cream Man" was pop feeling.
Ice Cream Man was Blues riff
 
Van Halen changed up and did what was selling with 1984. "Jump", "Panama", and "Hot For Teacher" all was glam metal, even threw in synthesizers to give an extry touch of non heavy metal. 5150 with Hagar continued along with the trend. Even the earlier stuff had some mixed in, "Ice Cream Man" was pop feeling.

Exactly.

I LOL at everyone who thinks Van Halen, GNR, Kiss, and Ozzy and Alice Cooper were above Hair Metal. At the time, all that separated Van Halen from Poison was the lipstick, eye liner, and hair spray.

Actually, let me take that back. Poison never used a synthesizer.

You can call them sellouts if you want to, but they were all contributors to the genre, whether some like it or not.

BTW, I love all of the bands listed above.
 
I love all types of music as long as it’s rock. I love classic rock, southern rock, so-called big hair bands, etc. I guess if I had to choose my favorite 10 off the top of my head they would include Def Leppard, Journey, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Pink Floyd, Bob Seger& the Silver Bullet Band, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Aerosmith, Kiss, Styx (before Dennis DeYoung went weird), and the Eagles. I might change a couple if I took more time to think about it, but 6-7 are firm regardless.
 
Exactly.

I LOL at everyone who thinks Van Halen, GNR, Kiss, and Ozzy and Alice Cooper were above Hair Metal. At the time, all that separated Van Halen from Poison was the lipstick, eye liner, and hair spray.

Actually, let me take that back. Poison never used a synthesizer.

You can call them sellouts if you want to, but they were all contributors to the genre, whether some like it or not.

BTW, I love all of the bands listed above.

Yeap. Hell, KISS did anything and everything to sell records. They effin made a Disco song (I was made for loving you) and did a concept album with Symphony (The Elder), I know all this because they were my favorite band. I was a little ashamed at times to say they where, but they are. They had a grunge rock album loaded and ready to go (you guessed it, early 90's), but nixed at the last minute and did Alive 3 to tide fans over while they toured.

Do some research, the hairband / glam metal is a lot more represented than you would like to believe. OZZY teased his hair, wore costumes, do not get it twisted, they all did,,, if it sold. Speed and death metal was about the only exclusive form of rock n roll, glad I never got into it, terrible.
 
For me, I don't think of "hair bands or hair metal" as being a thing until the early 80's (after the launch of MTV in late 1981) and ending in the early 90's. It was a combination of harder rock, big teased up hair and makeup. Bands like Van Halen are not hair bands to me because they predate the movement (had three albums prior to 1981), didn't do the heavy makeup and two of the four members didn't even have long hair.

Which 2 did not have long hair ???

https://static.onecms.io/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2021/01/08/van-halen-1.jpg
 
ADVERTISEMENT