In 1984 the world had already had its fair share of shock rock, but WASP would come to revolutionize everything once again and in no small measure.
The takeoff of WASP in 1984 thanks to Iron Maiden’s manager
Between 1982 and 1983, Steven Duren, better known as Blackie Lawless, had to make decisions that would mark his entire life. The first: after the dissolution of Circus Circusa band based in Los Angeles that featured Blackie and Randy Piper, he decided to start a new band called WASP. The original WASP lineup was established in Los Angeles, California, in 1982 by Lawless, Piper, Rik Fox and Tony Richards. They quickly became known for their racy and sometimes shocking live shows. Lawless was known for tying half-naked models to a torture rack and also throwing raw meat to the public.
The band’s first lineup did not last long, as Rik Fox was fired and joined the band Steeler with vocalist Ron Keel and guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen. He was replaced by Don Costa, the bassist of Richards’ former band, Dante Fox (who would later evolve into Great White). Shortly after, Costa also left the band and his position on bass was filled by Brayden Parker. At the same time, guitarist Chris Holmes joined the band. Lawless contacted Iron Maiden’s then-famous manager, Rod Smallwood, who decided to consider managing the band.
Rod needed time to move the model of the group and ponder if there really was a future with them. Managing a band takes considerable dedication, and success often requires years of development. At the same time, Lawless maintained contact with Bill Aucoin, Kiss’s former manager, although his commitments to Billy Idol, especially after the release of “Rebel Yell”, limited his availability. Vital advice came from Ace Frehley, an old friend of Blackie’s, who warned him about the importance of the first record deal. Many successful artists end up trapped in unfavorable deals that permanently mark their careers. This concern was crucial in the final choice of manager and in the negotiation of his first major contract. Smallwood was the right man.
Enter Rod Smallwood
After considering it for three months, Rod decided to become WASP’s manager, marking a turning point. He returned to Los Angeles and together they began to hatch a plan that eventually led to them signing a historic contract with EMI/Capitol. This contract, for seven albums and $2.5 million, was negotiated under the pressure of a competitive offer from Enigma Records.
“First we needed a record deal, and first Rod asked EMI/Capitol, because it was Iron Maiden’s label,” Blackie Lawless recalled a few years ago in his biography published on the WASP website. “Now with Rod they were more interested, especially because they thought that if he took us we had something, but they were not yet decided to take the step. There was also a small label called Enigma Records that believed in us and had wanted to close a deal with us for months. In fact, the owner of the company offered the mortgage on his house as collateral for us to sign with them, and the truth is that we were very close to accepting. The fact is that we told EMI that Enigma wanted us at all costs, and a couple of weeks later EMI finally decided and we signed the longest contract in the history that a new band had signed until then: seven albums for two million and half a dollar” explained the WASP leader.
An unpleasant surprise
Curiously, preceded by their fame for live animal sacrifices, the day they signed with EMI they found a cow’s tongue on the conference room table, a welcome joke by the label’s executives. Shortly after, they entered the studio to record the single “Animal – Fuck like a Beast” with the intention of, well, messing up.
“We went into the studio a couple of weeks later to record, with my old friend Mike Varney as producer, the single “Animal” with the B-side of “Show no Mercy.” The idea was to release the song as a single to get reactions around the world and for the public to know us and be prepared for when the album was released later that year,” Blackie recalled. But it wasn’t that easy.
“EMI released some copies first in Britain but the Queen Council (a British government group that acted as an attack dog for this kind of thing) informed the higher ups at EMI that if they released that song they could go to jail for twenty-one days each. It was clear that EMI didn’t want that so they stepped aside and allowed the single to be released by Music for Nations,” Blackie reveals. “The truth is that we couldn’t have bought or gotten better publicity to explode on the English charts.”
EMI/Capitol pressure
The pressure from the record company was noticeable during the recording of that first album. Such a contract did not come without important compensations.
“They had given us a lot and expected a lot from us, so anything less than a gold record would be considered a failure,” Blackie recalled. “Fortunately the album was received incredibly well although we didn’t know how the world would receive us. The first album was so well received that it went gold in many countries but the first gold record came from Canada. We had returned to Los Angeles after our first tour and I remember arriving and sitting on the bed and turning on the TV. “Every two minutes I would watch TV for a while and then watch the gold record, and so on all night.”
August 17, 1984 marked WASP’s emergence onto the music scene with their first and glorious album. The album is loaded with defining elements of hard rock: guitar solos, powerful drums, legendary riffs and outstanding vocal ability from Lawless. Songs like “I Wanna Be Somebody” and “LOVE Machine” encapsulate the zeitgeist, mixing catchy melodies with stunning solos. and guitar riffs. “The Flame” and “BAD” maintain the momentum of the album, which also includes a cover of “Paint It Black” by the Rolling Stones, covered in a glam-metal tone. Thanks to this album, WASP established themselves as one of the great bands of the genre, influencing not only their contemporaries but also future generations of rock musicians.
The unparalleled WASP show
But it would be WASP’s live show that would make the difference for the band. Despite the fact that the band was banned from playing in places like Ireland or Norway on that first tour (“They banned us from playing in Ireland when we were already on the plane so we didn’t have any news and we didn’t know anything until we landed and saw a headline in the press that said ‘American rock and sex group banned in Ireland’” recalls Blackie). The band’s legendary concert at the Lyceum theater in London, captured in a shocking official video and held on September 24, 1984, shows how volcanic a WASP show was at that time: blood, skulls, smoke, rage and a lot of energy and desire to take on the world. Just four years later, WASP had left the whole circus behind to become much more introspective and mature with albums like “The Headless Children” or the magnum opus “The Crimson Idol”. But nothing even matches the energy and determination of the WASP to take on the world in 1984.
“It was the beginning of everything we had worked for… but it was also the end. The end of the magical journey that we began in Los Angeles with our friends, the small triumphs, the madness that was the year 1982 and 1983” Blackie remembers. “It was without a doubt one of the best moments of our lives. It was like that typical year of high school or college that was so wonderful you wish it had never ended. You never think you’re saying goodbye but when we finally had a break three years later and looked around returning to Los Angeles, nothing was the same. “Everything and everyone had changed.”
