When the singers for Anthrax and Skid Row come to mind, the obvious are usually mentioned first like Joey Belladonna for Anthrax and Sebastian Bach for Skid Row. But, did you know that there was one singer who actually sang for both bands in the 80s and worked on what would become classic albums for those bands?
Matt Fallon fronted several local acts in the early 1980’s including Steel Fortune where he first teamed up with guitar player Dave Sabo (Skid Row). After playing the club circuit with Steel Fortune for a few years, Matt then joined Anthrax in 1984 and they began recording “Spreading the Disease”, however he left before finishing the album and he was replaced by Joey Belladonna.
In 1986 Matt was contacted by Sabo about fronting his newly formed band, Skid Row. Matt accepted, and Skid Row began recording a demo at Jon Bon Jovi’s studio in Philadelphia while playing crowd favorites like “Youth Gone Wild” and “18 and Life” in local clubs throughout the year. In December 1986, Skid Row opened for Bon Jovi on their Slippery When Wet tour in Bethlehem and Johnstown, PA. The following year Matt and the band parted ways and he was eventually replaced by Sebastian Bach. Matt later joined forces with Jon, Glen & Aaron to form Fallon.
Fallon recorded a 4 song EP at Sound Design Studios in Philadelphia, PA with Bill Fitch. The band was shopping the EP when they caught the attention of the program director of WSOU at Seton Hall. At the time WSOU was playing some of the best music around and was considered “the” college radio station in the area. They put Fallon’s ballad “The Rain Inside” into regular rotation, and were soon playing the groups other songs as well. During the early 90’s Fallon was also featured on WPAT, and played many NJ clubs including the Stone Pony, Club Bene, and the Fastlane.
Fallon was asked to appear on the 1993 Shore Records compilation CD, “Tri States Best Unsigned Artists”. Unfortunately, by the time the CD was released, Fallon had broken up. They did reunite to support the release, but it was a short-lived reunion as most of the members had moved on to other projects by that time. Years later, that compilation CD fell into the hands of FNA Records, which led to Fallon’s current self-titled release. It contains the songs from the original 4 song EP, as well as other material that the band was performing and recording before going their separate ways.
Fallon was a commercial hard rock band from NJ formed in the early 1990’s. The band featured Matt Fallon (Steel Fortune, Anthrax, Skid Row) on lead vocals, along with Aaron Wilkinson (Raze) on guitar and vocals, Glen Moran (Pierce, Monroe) on bass and vocals, and Jon Nicholson (Atom Stranger) on drums.
Fallon’s S/T album is available for purchase at the FnA Records website www.FnARecords.net
The CD is silver pressed and available for retail and wholesale as well.
Photo credit: Courtesy FNA Records
