Band Rosters 1995 - 1996
The Rebuilding Era
The Slashtones (5)
(January 5th, - March 27th 1995)
| Slash | Kohn | Bondy | Hecht | Lawler | Steven | Sheehan | Hancock |
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Butch Garcia had left the band on very good terms during our month off and had joined our brothers in Reckless Fortune. The saxophone was then moved from a secondary to a primary lead instrument with this incarnation. Mike Lawler played strictly rhythm acoustic and electric guitars while Rod, Bondy and Arno would solo together, (Yes, I know "solo together" is an oxymoron but it makes sense musically.) Chuck was brought back on second sax and the band began to evolve again. Lisa was not able to return to the band in 1995 and Paul Sheehan was less than happy with the band's direction. The Slashtones were now on their way to becoming a full blown "Comic-Rock" satire band and Paul wanted to pursue his musical interest in pure Jazz. He would resigned after the Slashtones' April recording sessions.
The Dreaded Slashtones Recording Sessions Part 3
(April 1995)
Harry Slash: vocals - Bondy: guitar - Roderick Kohn: guitar - Arno Hecht: all saxophones - Even Steven: bass - Paul Sheehan: drums
with Gregg Gerson: flute
Our goal was to lay down primary tracks for six more tunes before I had to go away for a few months, but we were only able to get three good takes out of Paul and had to scrap the rest. We laid down "Welcome to the Family", our "Guns-N-Roses" parody, "The Pink Panther Theme" and 'La George' (ZZ Top meets The Jeffersons).
Multi Instrumentalist Gregg Gerson, formerly of the Billy Idol band, joined us on flute on these sessions. The Slashtones became inactive after these sessions for several months when I became "unavailable". Also, Even Steven's back problems were getting worse...
The Slashtones (6) “The Corporate Gig”
(October 5th, - November 27th 1995)
| Slash | Kohn | Bondy | Hecht | Lawler | Steven | Warner |
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I became available to play again in late 1995, six weeks earlier than expected for good behavior...
For the last gig of 1995, we were booked to perform, along with Buster Poindexter and Joe Lynn Turner, at the very high profile grand opening of "Gigwear NYC", a concert and tour merchandise company outlet in SoHo NY. (We played the opening of a clothing store?? Sheesh...) Lez Warner was invited back as a full band member. (He had played with Spinal Tap after all.) Even's back problems reached the point of needing surgery and The Slashtones went back into the "inactive' status.
The Side Trip Era.
LIFE?!
(December 5th, 1995 - January 20th 1996)
| Slash | Kohn | Carter | Moore | Duboys |
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The Slashtones were inactive and I was bored. Roderick and I batted around the idea of doing an acoustic version of the Slashtones' set, but shelved it when I pulled out a different concept altogether, "LiFE?!". This band was the exact opposite of the Slashtones and musically closer to the music we would make for ECW years later. While the Slashtones could be described as a "funny party band", "Life?!" was a dark, somber, brutal metal band. Guitar maniac Chris Carter, of "Ya Mutha", was the perfect choice because he had the opposite approach to playing than Rod did. Tony Moore (x of Riot) was invited in on bass & vocals and former "Cycle Sluts From Hell" drummer Scott Duboys, who had just gotten off the road with "Warrior Soul", joined in on drums.
LIFE?! (1.2)
(January 20th - January 30th 1996)
| Slash | Kohn | Tony Moore | Scott Duboys |
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Chris Carter bailed out 10 days before the debut show because he was booked to perform with his own band, 'Ya Mutha', at the same venue. We then rehearsed and went on stage as a four piece band and pulled out all the stops. People that saw the band were shocked at first, but got into the music and the story that was being told. 'LiFE?!' was offered a multitude of bookings, but the band fell apart a few days after the first, and only live performance, Chris couldn't commit to anything but his own band and Scott DuBoys wanted to take some time off away from music.
The Golden Age.
The Slashtones (7)
(March 1st, - October 14th 1996)
| Slash | Anselmo | Kohn | Bondy | Hecht | Moore | Warner |
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I didn't want to give up the booking I'd gotten for "Life?!", so I re-re-reformed The Slashtones. This time the band was stripped down to a solid seven piece. Tony Moore hadn't quit 'Life?!', so I offered him the spot on bass replacing Even Steven and Lisa Anselmo returned as the band's second lead vocalist. This time the band wanted to focus more on tight musicality amongst the chaos and comedy. To achieve this the band had to be stripped down to minimal instruments and Mike Lawler, while still on good terms, had to be let go.
This lineup was described by most as the definitive Slashtones incarnation at that time.
With guest appearances by:
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Lisa Anselmo was a Slashtone for most of 1996 but unavailable for a few shows at the beginning of the year. Rather than temporarily replace her, I had friends fill in for her until she returned. Having male voices singing female parts was in line with the Slashtones' twisted humor and brought a bizarre meaning to some of the bands duets. After Lisa left the band in September of 1996, I dropped some of the tunes that primarily featured her vocals.
In case anyone is wondering, I sang the male parts when my friends sat in with us. I guess that made Frank, Chris, and Mickey my 'Beechers'... (That was an "OZ" joke, go rent the video if you don't get it.)
The End Era
The Slashtones (7.2) “Where's Tony?” (and Lez!)
(October 15th 1996)
| Slash | Kohn | Bondy | Hecht | Warner |
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Alcohol poisoning led to Tony Moore missing the show, so Rod and Bondy tooke turns playing the bass and we somehow got through our set.
The Slashtones (7.3)
(For about a day, sometime in late Octomber, 1996)
| Slash | Kohn | Bondy | Hecht | Nowinski | Warner |
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After Tony Moore had missed the last show of the 1996 tour, several (soon to be x-) band members didn't want to play with him. Several bass players were considered, but a vote was taken and Paul Nowinski was offered membership by Bondy and the rest of the band in November of 1996. Paul Nowinski accepted band membership a few weeks later, but by that point Lez Warner was on his way out of the band and we would need to look for a new drummer. Nothing ever happened other than talking to Paul about the band's concept and exchanging ideas of how to incorporate an acoustic stand up bass player into the show...
The Dreaded Slashtones Recording Sessions Part ?
(Late October, 1996)
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The once state of the art studio was rapidly falling apart and recording became a grueling chore. Lez Warner couldn't deal with it or the band's constant problems and unceremoniously left. The band was now down to just the core members and in need of a whole new rhythm section. I finally gave up and disbanded the original Slashtones, again, and "retired" from music, again, on January 1st, 1997. A few in the band wanted to go on, but I didn't. While there was still a demand to see us perform, I'd grown tired of the joke band thing and music in general, so I joined the "9 - 5" world. That didn't last long...
1993 - 1994 / 1995 - 1996 / 1997 - 1999 / 2000 - 2003 / 2004 - ?