Bobby Caughron 
Jailhouse, One-time Hair Metal Darlings of the Sunset Strip, releases 1989-1990 Demos via FnA Records
In the 80’s and early 90’s, the day and age of the Compact Disc, the Walkman, and MTV, Hard Rock hair bands reigned supreme over the airwaves. All over the place, everywhere you looked and everywhere you listened, they were there – The movies, The magazines, The advertisements, and so much more.
So when a band releases an album – the local fans take notice, when you sell 20,000 units – the majors take notice – but when you sell North of 400,000 units, and you do it without the help of a major label – this is something of an anomaly. This was Jailhouse!
But it wasn’t just about the music, it was also about the image. You had to have the look and Oh Boy! Did Jailhouse have the look – they had it in droves. Aquanet and guyliner were never an arm lengths distance away. “Music then [in the glam metal era of the 80’s] was a whole different world. The look was so important. But the music was big in that band [Jailhouse], too,” says guitarist/songwriter Michael Raphael.
Jailhouse, whose primary lineup included members of heavy metal bands Ratt and Rough Cutt were: Michael Raphael – guitar, Matt Thorr – bass, Danny Simon – vocals, Dave Alford – drums, Amir Derakh – guitar. The band was active from about 1988-1991.
Having come on the scene at the peak of the ‘Glam and Sleaze’ era with their breakout EP Alive In A Mad World, Jailhouse’s big hair and knee-bending guitar solos rocketed them right to the top.
However, before being the toast of the town, before being MTV darlings, before the world took notice, Jailhouse was a band trying to make the cylinders fire. They formed in 1988 in Los Angeles, California. From 1989-1990 they recorded a bunch of Demos (which you will find many of them on this new release by FnA Records). Jailhouse was a band that new how to record demos and make them sound and feel like tracks that most artists would release as their masters. The tracks on 1989-1990 Demos are just that GOOD! And they have been well preserved and will be a stellar addition to any hard rock/glam rock fans collection.
The band’s videos, “Please Come Back” and “Modern Girl” (Enigma Records), dominated the heyday of MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball and nowadays continue to rock the VH1 Classics reel and appear in TV and Movies.
Tracklist:
01 Automatic Breakdown
02 Long Way Up
03 The Mission
04 When Will I See You Smile
05 Don’t Say Goodbye
06 Last Stop
07 My Addiction
08 Electric
09 Starting Over
10 Keep Pushin’
11 When I See You Cry
12 Dangerous
13 I Believe
14 Season Of Suffering Jailhouse Demos 1989-1990 is a silver pressed disc and is available worldwide.
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