From the pages of Hit Parader

I have in front of me the April, 1987 issue of Hit Parader so let's see what's inside here. There's an interview with Blackie Lawless, an Iron maiden centerfold and an article on Metallica with a picture of their new bass player only he is listed as Jason "Nusted". It must stink being the new guy. Oh, here is the Pick Hit section of the magazine. Pick Hit was a column they did where they featured an up and coming band. It's a one page write-up with a single black and white shot of the band and it's located towards the back of the magazine. This issues Pick Hit just happens to have been a band called Guns and Roses and it's complete with a picture of the band standing in the rubble of some demolished building. The caption below the photo reads "Part Motley Crue, part Hanoi Rocks, but all rock and roll". They weren't just 75% rock and roll not even 90%, but all rock and roll. In the article a description of the band reads "an amalgam of screaming blues and thumping rock that's guaranteed to set the trash and thrash crowd afire". I just hope someone was standing by with a bucket of water to put out that trash and thrash crowd when they caught fire. They go on to talk about how the band are different from the usual spandex and make-up bands that were coming out of LA at the time and I think that was true and it would become even more obvious once Appetite for destruction came out. The article mentions their Live like a suicide ep and the fact that they are now on Geffen and have an lp coming out soon. I am sure very few people if any knew exactly how much of an impact that Appetite would have once it came out. Towards the end of the article it is stated "The rock fans of America better be prepared, because Guns n' Roses are no slick prepackaged combination." That was true at that time because it wasn't until 1991 and the Illusion albums that G-n-R became that way.

I will close the magazine for now and next month I will find something else in an old Hit Parader to write about.