Bleach, line-up changes and the dreaded melodic turn

A new record store had just opened near me in the summer of 1985. One hot Summer day my dad was going into the grocery store and I had enough time to slip down to the record store and just enough money to buy one cassette (yes, I know that was a bad format to choose). I remember looking at lots of choices. Most were bands I only knew by name or one song from one of the late night metal radio shows that I soaked in. Finally after much deliberation I settled on King Kobra's "Ready to strike" although I don't remember why. This band was formed by former Cactus, Vanilla Fudge drummer Carmine Appice and eventually rounded out by four bleached blond musicians. Their debut wasn't anything new, but I loved it then and still do. The pace and heaviness level is comparable to Dokken or Black and Blue, but for me the kicker was singer Mark Free. Years before his gender change he was a remarkable singer. You can really hear it on the "Motor City Strike" bootleg too because there are no overdubs and you are treated to his fabulous range.

Unfortunately a year later their label pushed them to create more radio friendly songs and the result was the more AOR leaning "Thrill of a lifetime". Mark Free still sounded good, but guitarists Mick Sweda and David Michael Phillips get shoved to the background and Carmine Appice's drum sound is thin and limp. Only the last three tracks had much life to them. After this album the revolving door began going on full motion. Their label dropped them, Mark Free left and was replaced by Marc Torien and bassist Lonnie Vincent replaced Johnny Rod who had left for higher ground as he joined WASP. It wasn't long after that point until the four blonds left Appice to form their own band. However David Michael Phillips didn't get along with Marc Torien so he soon returned to Appice while the other band would become the Bulletboys. King Kobra was soon completed with Johnny Edwards on vocals, Jeff Northrup filling in the second guitar spot and Larry Hart on bass. By this point it was 1988 and the band couldn't get signed so Appice released "III" on his own label and got some distribution help in the form New Renaissance. To me this album was a mixed bag that sounded like it was made up of leftovers and while Edwards was quite decent he was no Mark Free. The band did not tour for this album and soon they broke up. An album of unreleased demos called "The Lost Years" came out years later and unfortunately so did an ill-advised not really reunion album called "Hollywood Trash" in 1999. Truly a band that never followed up on their initial potential, but I still enjoy the debut and the bootleg.