Katie Jordan Presents--The Dirty Boys of the Underground,
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Side Bands
Hard Work Payed Off
On Friday, May 13th, 2011 I had the privilege off going backstage at M3 Rockfest to meet the members. Tina Bigg of Bigg Time Entertainment saw the website and took me backstage to meet the band. (I also baked cookies for the band and took them back so they would have them for after the show)
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On Tuesday, July 19, 2011 WQCM brought up this site during an interview with KIX's frontman Steve Whiteman. WQCM's DJ Shawn Quinn was generous enough to give me the file of the interview to post on here. Thank You WQCM THE rock station for the kind words.
WQCM's DJ Shawn Quinn.
WQCM The Rock Station
The Interview part 1
The Interview part 2
The Interview part 3
Special Thanks
Special thanks to the following people for all their support to me and the site. Thank you all SOOO much for all you have done. YOU ROCK!
Originally called “The Shooze”, “The Generators”, and “The Kix” the band finally came to be known as simply “Kix”. Kix was started by Donnie Purnell and Ronnie Younkins in December of 1977 in Hagerstown, Maryland. The first song they played together as a band was “Atomic Bombs”, which later appeared on their self-titled album Kix, which was produced in 1981 by Atlantic Records. At first, the band consisted of just two guys: a guitarist and a drummer who was from Pittsburg, PA. The first practices were held in the Old Mill Inn in Williamsport, Maryland. However, because of the distance Between Pittsburg and Williamsport the practices did not work out. Therefore, they started rehearsing with soon-to-be guitarist, Brian Forsythe, from Fredrick MD.
According to Brian Forsythe’s on-line biography, "I was on my way home from a gig one night and stopped into 7-11 for a late night snack when Ronnie Younkins approached me and asked if I'd be interested in starting an original band with him and Donnie Purnell."
After that, Brian and Ronnie asked Donnie Spence to join the band as a drummer. Unfortunately, he did not have a car so Ronnie had to drive him to practice. After a couple of lead singers, Terry Brady and Sam Smith, did not work out for different reasons, they added Steve Whiteman (current singer). They had met Steve at a gig in Ridgley WV, about 25 miles from his home town of Piedmont. Steve played drums as well so he and Donnie Spence, who happened to also be a singer, would alternate between drums and singing. Throughout practices, it became apparent that Steve was the better vocalist so he took the harder songs.
In the article Ronnie's story, Ronnie stated, "We had heard about him through the grapevine, and all went to see him play with his old band. During the break, we took him (Steve) out to the car and played him a cassette of our original songs. We asked him to join right then and there.” A week later, Steve Whiteman moved to Hagerstown, Maryland to join the band then called "The Shooze". (The Shooze arose in Brian's parent’s basement.)
After a while, Donnie Spence was not working out either. Therefore, Jimmy Chalfant was recruited as the new drummer. Jimmy Chalfant was well known in the area. Jimmy was Donnie Purnell's old band mate. He had played with him in all of his previous bands, such as Fire and Rain, Starship, and Jax.
By late 1979, the classic “Kix” lineup of Steve Whiteman (lead vocals), Ronnie "10/10" Younkins (guitars), Brian "Damage" Forsythe (guitars), Donnie Purnell (bass, keyboards, backing vocals), and Jimmy "Chocolate" Chalfant (drums, backing vocals) was complete. Soon, the changed their name from “The Shooze” to “The Generators” because they found out a band out of Chicago were using the name "Shooze." They spent a few weeks as “The Baltimore Cocks” before finally settling with “Kix” as a permanent name. They had already started to record with Atlantic Records before the final name came to be.
In 1981, they released their self-titled debut album, Kix, which was produced by Tom Allom, who famous for his work with Judas Priest and Loverboy. This album featured songs like "Atomic Bombs", "Heartache", "Contrary Mary", "The Itch", "The Kid", "Love at First Sight", and "Kix Are for Kids" which are all still live favorites to this date. On this Record, they added a take on two popular General Mill’s cereals, Kix that featured an atomic bomb commercial and Trix whose commercial featured the slogan “Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids!". "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" became the band's most popular concert song, preformed with an ad-lib performance by Steve. With this album, the tongue-in-cheek rock & roll style of Kix was showcased.
Cool Kids was their second album. It did not reach a position on the billboard charts either. Ronnie was kicked out of the band for drug use and replaced with Brad Divens for the recording of Cool Kids. Brad had played in other band like Wrathchild and Souls at Zero. Not long after the album was release Ronnie returned. However, that was not the end of his drug problem. By Christmas of 1988, he hit rock bottom when he missed a show at the infamous Hammerjacks in Baltimore, Maryland. Hammerjacks was where the original Blow My Fuse music video was filmed.
While the first album Kix was "their" album, Cool Kids was a very different story. With Kix, the band and they could do what they want with it. Unfortunately, the album did not even make the Billboard top 200. The record company decided that because the first album did not sell well that they could take over and have them record cover songs. Cool Kids did not sell well either so they went back to doing thing “their” way for Midnite Dynamite. The record sales still did not reach charts for Midnite Dynamite but ratings were getting better with every album. By the end of 1987, they got their third manager Mark Puma (Twisted Sister). With his help, they released Blow My Fuse. Blow My Fuse reached 46 on the Billboard Charts and was Kix's highest ranked album. During the Blow My Fuse Tour, Kix got their first tour bus before this they used a Ford Econoline van. In 1989, Kix got an arena tour with Ratt. It was their first arena tour. By the summer of 1989, they were touring with Tesla and Great White. But by that time, the record company was done spending money promoting Blow My Fuse.
That is when Great White's manger (and at the time Guns n Roses manager) Alan Niven started asking the record company, "Why don't you produce “Don't Close Your Eyes” as a single?" Kix's manager explained to him that Atlantic Records was "done" with Blow My Fuse. Alan went to Atlantic Records himself and told them they would be crazy if they did not produce “Don't Close Your Eyes” as a single. Apparently, they listened to Alan because in late summer of 1989 “Don't Close Your Eyes” was released as a single that led to Kix getting a Japanese tour.
"When we arrived at the airport, it felt like we were the Beatles. There was a crowd of Japanese fans with signs and banners. They were also waiting at our hotel when we got there. I've never signed so many autographs, taken so many pictures and received so many gifts in my life! I love Japan!” said Brian Forsythe in the on-line autobiography. The Blow My Fuse album went Gold and then ten years later it went platinum!
With all the success of Blow My Fuse, things still started falling apart for them. Kix managed to produce an album after Blow My Fuse called Hot Wire which was released on July 9, 1991. Hot Wire reached #64 on the billboard charts but still did not match the sales of Blow My Fuse. It sold roughly about 200,000 copies. It featured live favorites like “Girl Money” and the title track, “Hot Wire”. Although there were just coming from a platinum release the band was in major debt. Even though Blow My Fuse went platinum, the debt still grew. In addition, the band did not make any money off the album.
Kix album sales went even lower when a band called Nirvana came on to the music scene. When Nirvana released its first album, it caused a change in the music main stream. This change was called the grunge movement. The grunge movement wiped out most of the heavy metal music with songs like "Smells like Teen Spirit." by Nirvana.
Atlantic records decided that they did not want to waste their money producing something that would not reach the main stream so they decided that it would be smart to send them to their sub-affiliate company EastWest Records America. This was a bad move for the band. Not only were they going in headfirst facing the grunge movement but also they would have a new recording agent, a new producing agent , and a new sound agent. Still, Kix whole-heartedly began to work recording at Music Grinder and Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles for the tracks of Hot Wire.
After Hot Wire was released, Kix produced a live album in 1993 entitled Kix Live which was recorded at the University Of Maryland's Ritchie Coliseum. Following the release of Kix Live, Brian left Kix to pursue other interests. He returned a year later to play on the album Show Business. Kix also added another member to this album, guitarist Jimmi K. Bones. After Show Business was released, Brian left the band again and moved to LA.
Show Business was released in 1994 and had no hits, so album did not sell well. It was recorded in Guido's Studio, in Waynesboro, PA. The track line-up consisted of the following songs:
1. “Ball Baby”
2. “9-1-1”
3. “Fireballs”
4. “Baby Time Bomb”
5. “Book to Hypnotize”
6. “Put My Money Where Your Mouth Is”
7. “She Loves Me Not”
8. “Fire Boy”
9. “I'm Bombed”
10. “If You Run Around”
Brian played a few shows when Show Business was released but he left again a few months later. In 1995, Jimmi K. Bones left as well. All of this led to Kix ultimately disbanding and the members went on to solo projects.
“Basically, there was a new party in town and we weren’t invited, you know? We had run our course,” said Steve Whiteman in his interview for the Herald mail. “Our music and our whole genre of music just kind of got discarded. All the bands that we were out on the road with – the Cinderella’s, the Guns ‘n Roses' and all those bands – that whole genre of music just seemed to have gotten flushed. So there was a new sound in town; it was that Seattle thing, so when that came to town, everybody looked at us and went ‘Oh, you suck!’, so we just decided to take a break and see if it changed – and it never changed, so that was it."
After Kix split up, Steve started his other band Funny Money. Steve Whiteman and Billy Andrews started Funny Money in 1996. Billy recruited Bassist Ned Meloni. They got drummer Bobby George and started rehearsing. "After a few practices, I felt the need for another guitar player to round out the sound. I decided to invite one of my vocal students, Dean Cramer to try out because he had helped me out with some guitar work on some of my earlier demos. Dean came in and scored the job with no problems. We finally felt we had the band we were looking for." stated Steve Whiteman in his web article on the history of Funny Money. Nonetheless, Bobby George left before they could really 'get started', so they recruited drummer Geoff Burrell. "After a few gigs, it was fairly obvious that the fans wanted to hear some of the old KIX material, I finally relented and started mixing the originals with the KIX stuff and it seemed to work as the crowds continued to get bigger each week. In 1998, we released our first, self-titled CD, which was produced and engineered by Billy. It got rave reviews! We followed that one up in 1999 with Back Again, which was recorded, produced, and engineered at the House O’ Billy! After that, we thought it would be fun to try to capture the energy and humor of the live show, so we released Even Better Live, which was recorded at Jaxx Nightclub in Springfield, Virginia in 2001. Things were going well until 2003 when the line-up took a hit. Billy, Ned and Geoff all announced they were leaving to pursue other interests. At this point, Dean and I decided to keep things going, so we recruited former Centerfold bassist Mark Schenker ( current bassist for Kix ) on Ned’s recommendation, Sam Stillwell on drums, and Lewis Coppola on guitar. Things were good again on the Funny farm!” Steve Whiteman reported in his article on the background of Funny Money.
After Sam left, Steve coaxed Jimmy Chalfant out of retirement and got him to join. While Steve and former Kix drummer Jimmy Chalfant were busy in Funny Money, guitarist Brian Forsythe joined a band called Rhino Bucket. Rhino Bucket was formed in 1988 by Georg Dolivo, Greg Fidelman, Reeve Downes, and Rick Kubach. They signed with Warner Brothers Records in 1989 and they released a self-titled debut album in 1990. In 1993, they added drummer Simon Wright from AC/DC and Dio. After going with a few different names and lineups changes Rhino Bucket reformed in 2001 adding Brian Forsythe as lead guitarist. Greg Fidelman who was the previous lead guitarist went on to be a producer and recording engineer.
In addition, Ronnie had another band he was working with at the time. His other band was called The Blues Vultures. The Blues Vultures was started by Ronnie Younkins. The band's name is based on the fact that vultures pick and scrounge for food, so it symbolizes the fact that the Blues Vultures pick through the decades of blues history playing track that share dynamic backgrounds his Led Zeppelin and AC/DC.
With the members of Kix all busy in their own solo projects a permanent reunion seemed to be unlikely, however the Blues Vultures would perform with Funny Money and Rhino Bucket, so the members of Kix, with the exception of Donnie Purnell, would put on a Kix reunion show with all the live favorites. As time went on more of these shows went on and the crowds grew, almost all of them there to see the Kix show and the end.
As time went on Kix with bassist Mark Schenker filling in for Donnie Purnell, who went on to be a producer and recording engineer. Kix began to play festivals like M3 rock fest and Rocklahoma. Without Donnie Purnell, there will not be any new albums produced but Kix will always remain a live favorite for its fans.
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• Sarah and Barry Bladen
• Billie and Harry Neilson
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• Traci, Rik, and Justin Parks
• Shawn Quinn and everyone at WQCM
•Brian Forsythe
• Maria Hernandez
• Jen Seal
• Ryan Stillions
• Gene Fauble
• Dean Cramer
• Marcy and Frank Royce
• Norma Roth
• Edmund Allen Brown
• The Walkman (Chris Walker)
• Bigg Time Entertainment
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Atomic Bombs
Love At First Sight
Heartache
Poison
The Itch
Kix Are For Kids
Contrary Mary
The Kid
Yeah Yeah Yeah
Burning Love
Cool Kids
Love Pollution
Body Talk
Loco-Emotion
Mighty Mouth
Nice On Ice
Get Your Monkeys Out
For Shame
Restless Blood
.
Midnite Dynamite
Red Hot (Black and Blue)
Bang Bang (Balls of Fire)
Layin' Rubber
Walkin' Away
Scarlet Fever
Cry Baby
Cold Shower
Lie Like a Rug
Sex
Hot Wire
Girl Money
Luv-a-holic
Tear Down The Walls
Bump The La La
Rock and Roll Overdose
Cold Chills
Same Jane
Pants on Fire (Liar Liar)
Hee Bee Jee Bee Crush
Hot Wire.
Same Jane
Rock and Roll Overdose
Sex
The Itch
For Shame
Tear Down The Walls
Blow My Fuse
Girl Money
Don't Close Your Eyes
Yeah Yeah Yeah
Ball Baby
9-1-1
Fireballs
Baby Time Bomb
Book To Hypnotize
Put My Money Where Your Mouth Is
She Loves Me Not
Fire Boy
I'm Bombed
If You Run Around
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Get It While It's Hot
No Ring Around Rosie
Don't Close Your Eyes
She Dropped Me The Bomb
Cold Blood
Piece of the Pie
Boomerang
Blow My Fuse
Dirty Boys
The Band
Steve Whiteman
Brian "Damage" Forsythe
Ronnie "10/10" Younkins
Mark Schenker
Jimmy "Chocolate" Chalfant
Vocals
Guitar
Guitar
Bass
Drums
"Steve Whiteman is still nonstop energy, and the band has a seemingly endless stream of catchy, guitar driven rock that has the audience fully involved at all times." - Eddie Trunk