News Archive March 2010

The Rock Behind The Invasion
From: KISSfaq.com
by Tim McPhate
Posted: March 26, 2010

Upon his departure from KISS in 1984, Vinnie Vincent took some much-needed time off. Partly to process the roller-caster ride he had just been on with the hottest band in the land, and partly to plot his next move. "I took the time out just to think and to be sure. And to plan a new course," said Vincent in 1986. "I was looking for the ultimate band. I was looking for everything that I couldn't find in KISS."

In late 1984 while KISS were moving on with "Animalize," Vincent moved on too, working around the clock writing and recording material and crystalizing the foundation for his new project.

The "ultimate" cast was assembled. Vincent hooked up with the multitalented Dana Strum, who would not only play bass but also a key role as co-producer, arranger and engineer. Journey alumnus Robert Fleischman, who co-wrote "Wheel In The Sky" and possessed an unprecedented vocal range, was brought in as lead vocalist in early 1985. To complete his vision, Vincent knew he needed a killer player on drums. Enter the unknown Bobby Rock, who during his audition dazzled the trio with a combination of intricate rhythms, solid grooves and dazzling chops.

With Vincent penning an impressive batch of songs befitting of the band's collective talent (or as Rock describes them, "off the fucking hook") and a deal inked with Chrysalis Records, the Vinnie Vincent Invasion was born into a promising future. But things would slowly begin to unravel after the release of the Invasion's self-titled album in 1986. Due to an issue with Vincent's then-manager George Sewitt, Fleischman left the group and Mark Slaughter was brought in as the group's new lead vocalist. The Invasion then hit the road as the support act on tours for Iron Maiden and Alice Cooper.

A second album, "All Systems Go," was recorded with Slaughter and released in May 1988. With songs such as the moody "Love Kills," the Zeppelin-tinged "Ashes To Ashes," the dynamic "That Time Of Year," the raunchy "Dirty Rhythm," and the dangerous "Breakout" -- all rounded out by Vincent's sophisticated yet unpredictable guitar stylings and the explosive rhythm section combo of Strum/Rock -- the future again looked promising. A tour followed.

But all the while, inner turmoil was reaching a breaking point and just three months later the band played its final concert on Aug. 26, 1988, in Anaheim, Calif. After just three years, Vincent's vision vanished. Why? As Rock points out, there are likely four complicated sides to the story: "The WHOLE truth of the matter probably lies somewhere in the summation of ALL of our perspectives."

As for Vincent's take given the added benefit of hindsight, with him dropping out of the public eye for virtually the entire past decade, it's difficult to speculate. And so the enigma that is Vinnie Vincent continues, leaving fans to wonder if he'll ever be heard from again. But, according to Rock, there is no confusion surrounding the man's talents. "He was truly a fucking monster of a guitarist," he says, and when asked about his songwriting ability, Rock describes Vincent as "very gifted."

KISSFAQ sat down with Bobby Rock to talk Vinnie Vincent and rekindle the embers of the Invasion in an attempt to uncover one-fourth of the "whole truth."

KISSFAQ: Bobby, thank you for taking the time to speak with KISSFAQ.com. It's hard to believe it's been nearly a quarter century since the launch of the Vinnie Vincent Invasion. Right off the bat, let's start with your Vinnie Vincent Invasion beginnings -- when and how did you initially hear about the gig?

Bobby Rock: I was touring throughout the South and Midwest in a club band called Diamond Romeo, and heard that another band on the circuit -- Sweet Savage -- was being produced by Dana Strum, who was working with Vinnie. Somehow, I heard that the drummer chair was open, and it was actually Joey C. Jones, the singer of Sweet Savage, who turned me on to Strum's phone number.

KF: There is a documented story that you called Dana Strum from Texas and said, "I'm your guy, the killer you've been looking for," and that you proceeded to drive all the way from Texas to Los Angeles to audition and knew the gig was going to be yours. True tale?

BR: Pretty much, except that it took about six weeks from that first conversation I had with Strum until the auditions were actually set up. But yeah, I left Strum a pretty bold and brash message on his answering machine about how perfect I was for the gig, and how I would blow away anyone else they brought in, etc. Of course, I found out later that he and Vinnie joked about it, saying something about how it would be funny to have "that kid drive all the way out from Texas for an audition that he surely won't pass." But I had a feeling about that gig. In fact, I remember filling my van up with gas somewhere in Arizona, en route to the audition, and some stranger -- who obviously assumed I was a musician by my appearance -- asked who I played for. I said, "Vinnie Vincent." And this was about two days before I even met the guy!

KF: Can you tell us what you remember about your Invasion audition? According to a 1987 interview, Vinnie said you played for an hour and a half, and after your performance declared, "You are the one." Is this how things transpired and do you recall what you played?

BR: That's a fact. It was supposed to be a quick screening audition where Vinnie, Dana and Robert would just hear a bunch of guys come in and play for five or 10 minutes, by themselves. They didn't even have their guitars around or anything. So I start playing and doing different shit, and they just really got engaged with the process. It soon turned into a mini-drum clinic of sorts, with me demonstrating a lot of the crazy Latin-style, four-way independence stuff I do, and a lot of the heavy drum solo, chopsy stuff, as well as the obligatory rock grooves and double-bass madness. They loved it, and even tried to stump me with different requests and variations of what I would play.

But man, it was just one of those destined occasions in life where I could do no wrong. They basically hired me on the spot, even though there were a couple more guys waiting outside the rehearsal room for their shot. I remember Robert saying, "Unless some guy walks in here with three arms, you've got the gig!" I'll never forget that day.

KF: What were your first impressions of Vinnie? And what were your first impressions of the songs you heard?

BR: Vinnie was super cool...very friendly and laid back. But I didn't hear ANY music until a few days later, once Strum hooked me up with a cassette. I heard the original demos of "Boyz Are Gonna Rock," "Shoot U Full of Love" and "No Substitute," and, of course, I freaked. I thought those tracks were off the fucking hook.

KF: What are your favorite songs off the debut album?

BR: Well, besides those first three, I would say "I Wanna Be Your Victim," "Do You Wanna Make Love" and "Twisted" are all sentimental favorites, although I don't believe there's a bad one in the bunch.

KF: Ten songs ended up on the debut album. Was that the total number of songs recorded, or were there some ideas leftover or incomplete?

BR: As far as I remember, that was it, although I'm guessing Vinnie probably had a backlog of tunes that he picked these 10 from before I came along.

KF: The drum sound on the debut Invasion album is certainly bombastic. We've heard about the lengths Vinnie went to with his guitars; was there special attention given to the drums? How was your setup approached?

BR: Special attention to recording the drums? You might say that! We did the record at Baby-O Studios in Hollywood, which was on the second floor of this historic old building. On the first floor was a gutted old theater, which had been closed off to the public for some time. There was a big stage in there and, in fact, it was the same place where Van Halen filmed their "Jump" video. But it looked like not one person had set foot in there since. Nonetheless, as you might imagine, it sounded incredible down there...big, open, roomy...the kind of place where every drummer dreams of recording.

So we had the drums set up on the stage, then Dana and the engineer, Mikey Davis, arranged to have various baffles and a bunch of different mics strategically placed all over the theater, in addition to all the close mics, of course. All the cables were then fed up into the control room, and a second set of mic feeds was sent to yet another studio in the place, where my live drums were blasted through a fairly loud PA system...which was also being recorded. So we had close mics, killer room mics around the theater, AND this live concert PA vibe -- all hitting tape. And when you blended these three things together, along with all the latest, greatest outboard gear of the time, it sounded like the end of the fucking world, let me tell you.

The logistics for me recording were a bitch, though. There was a small "cat-walk" set up for my monkey ass to crawl back and forth between the theater down below and the main studio above. They also had a video camera on me so they could see what I was doing. It was a bizarre way to record tracks, as you might imagine. It was very isolating, because I had no idea what they were thinking up there between takes, since I couldn't see anything, and I obviously couldn't hear anything until they hit the talkback. Plus, it would get chilly as a motherfucker down there at night, which is when we did most of our recording.

The original drum tracks, as we recorded them, sounded insane, especially with all that room ambience. But here's the sad irony: After all we went through, something was lost in the drum sound somewhere along the way. I don't know if it had to do with all of the competing frequencies or overall master levels of all those rhythm guitar tracks, or how the record was ultimately mixed, or what. But if you think they sounded good on the record, you should've heard what was coming back at us during basic tracking. It was unprecedented.

KF: Of course, Robert Fleischman is the lead vocalist on the debut album. He ended up departing due to problems with Vinnie's then-manager George Sewitt. In an interview you were quoted as saying Robert "was really cut from a different cloth then the rest of us." In hindsight, do you think Robert was the wrong guy for the job?

BR: What I meant by that was Robert was never into the heavy glam/makeup thing. I believe he perceived it as being very faddish and unnecessary for our band, given that we were all "real-deal" musicians who could really play. In retrospect -- if that's really how he felt -- he was probably right! But at the time, it just seemed like such the thing to do, given what was going on in L.A. with bands like Poison and Motley Crue.

That said, sure, Robert was the right man for the job, just as Mark Slaughter was. They were just very different.

KF: There was reportedly a video for "No Substitute" in the works. Do you think a second video would have ultimately helped push sales of the album past gold?

BR: Yes, I personally do. It was a real disappointment when Chrysalis decided to pack it in after we did the Iron Maiden tour and start working on a new record. However, I didn't see what the label saw. Maybe they were already way in the red on this thing, or were experiencing a lot of resistance at radio and MTV, and who knows what else. But theoretically, yes, it seemed premature to pull the plug.

KF: Mark Slaughter was brought in to be the new vocalist. A studio version of "Shoot U Full Of Love" with Mark on vocals circulates in fan circles. How far did discussions, if any, go with replacing Robert's vocals for the album?

BR: As I recall, the album was a done deal, and any version of that tune with Mark on it was probably just as a demo for Vinnie and everyone else to hear what Mark sounded like. I believe it was Dana who was really pushing for Mark out of the gate. But I personally don't recall any talk about re-recording vocals.

KF: What do you recall about the Invasion's initial tours with Alice Cooper and Iron Maiden? And how would you describe the interaction between the band members on the road?

BR: What I remember most was Vinnie and me having pancakes for breakfast at the hotel restaurants most every morning! Seriously, all the band guys got along well. Slaughter and I roomed together, because we were the young guys and had no clout. And there was always a fair amount of chaos happening within the organization, it seemed. But again, things were largely okay between all of us. And both of these tours were run very professionally and with minimal amount of drama.

KF: What was your favorite song to perform live with the band?

BR: Uh...let's see. Can't say I had a fave. Maybe "Boyz" since that was our most well-known tune at the time and crowds would always react so strongly to it.

KF: As you just eluded to, the image for the Invasion on the debut album was outrageous and certainly emblematic of the times. The look was then paired back a bit for the second album. Looking back, do you think the outrageous look on the debut album hindered the band at all?

BR: Looking back...I think so, and here's why: On the one hand, we were never pop-metal enough to really justify THAT much of a Poison/glam vibe. On the other hand, because of all the glam shit, we probably alienated a lot of the heavier music fans -- and even some of the musician types -- who would've otherwise dug the band. Of course, the concept at the time was to appeal to both demographics. But ya know what? It's always easy to look in the rearview and know what you would've done differently. If the record would've sold 2 million copies, then we all would've been geniuses for combining both elements!

KF: Do you have a preference in terms of the Invasion vocalists? And, which album do you feel had the better material?

BR: Vocally, that's really apples and oranges. Robert had more seasoning and experience back then, so that gave his voice a more polished quality. Mark, on the other hand, also had bionic pipes, but had a more reckless, spontaneous vibe about his singing that was indicative of his being so young.

As for album one or two, material-wise...they're both pretty close. "All Systems Go" probably had more overall depth and dimension, but I'm inclined to lean toward the debut, just for sentimental reasons.

KF: I've read rumors in guitar magazines that Vinnie sped up his lead guitar parts by manipulating the tape speed in the studio. Any truth to that?

BR: Not that I ever saw. There might have been a couple tricks here and there to create certain effects. And like ANY record from that time, I know there were a lot of edits happening. But that was all part of the creative process that went on between Vinnie and Dana, who would usually be engineering when Vinnie tracked. But for anyone who saw him play in person, he really played like that! He used to do a weird thing with two of his other fingers on his right hand, almost like a finger-picking technique. It was really unique, and I believe that's part of what gave him the ability to do all of that crazy, over-the-top solo stuff. He was truly a fucking monster of a guitarist...seriously. If you listen to those records today, there's still no one out there playing like him.

KF: Amen to that.

Even before "All Systems Go" was finished press releases had been issued concerning the change in focus from Vinnie to more of a band project, yet mentioning Mark taking a leading role. How and when was this communicated to you, and where did the push originate?

BR: It was never really communicated. But when I saw how prominently Mark was featured in that first edit of the "Love Kills" video, I knew the wheels were turning at the label.

KF: As the band started to work on material for the second album, what was your role and what do you recall of the mood?

BR: My role was strictly that of a drummer. Vinnie did all of the writing, so I didn't have much input until we all got together for pre-production. And even then, it was mainly regarding drum parts. The mood was a little strained, but hopeful, as I recall. At the time of the recording, I think all of us band guys were cool with each other, but there was always some weird shit going on with management and the label.