This incarnation of The Ace Frehley Band consisted of Ace on lead guitar and vocals , Karl Cochran on bass, "The Emperor" Richie Scarlet on guitar and vocals and, of course, Budgie on drums. The band started recorded songs for a CD release in mid 1995, but the project was put on hold when the KISS Reunion came up and Ace Frehley returned to KISS in 1996. Budgie then performed and toured with LESLIE WEST, recorded with Richie Scarlet and joined the band TANG.
"Budgie" was on his way to becoming a Slashtone in late 1996. The Slashtones had lost their then drummer Lez Warner, and Budgie was offered and accepted the spot. but then The original Slashtones were then broken up by Harry Slash in late December of 1996. It was in February of 1997 when Budgie, along with Richie Scarlet, Andy Abbene and Eddie Wohl, recorded with Harry Slash for the first time.Slash was asked to record music for the ECW Invasion of the (then) WWF. The music was used once but some of the primary tracks would later be recycled and used in some ECW tunes. One of Budgie's drum tracks was reused the following month when Harry Slash re-recorded "Path Of Rage" with former Slashtones Roderick Kohn (guitar & bass), Tony Moore (lead vocals) and Mike Lawler (backing vocals). The Slashtones were still defunct and the song was originally credited under the band name "LIFE?!" which at that point was just Harry Slash, Roderick Kohn and Steve "Budgie", They recorded most of the early ECW theme music. Steve Budgie "officially" became a Slashtone in April of '97 when Life?! recorded "Simply Ravishing/The Stripper" for Rick Rude with original Slashtones members Steve Bondy, Even Steven and Arno Hecht. (Francine of ECW sang the lead vocals on that track.) The campy nature of the tune lent itself more towards the original satirical version of the Slashtones than it did to the dark and moody tunes being recorded by Life?!. "Simply Ravishing/The Stripper" was originally credited to "The (Original) Slashtones". In May of 1997, Harry Slash gave the original Slashtones concept another try and agreed to perform an acoustic show under the band name "(Not) The Slashtones". The band was booked to play a very low key "unplugged" show in NYC on July 27th of 1997 with Budgie on drums. The show was a lot of fun and a few months later Harry Slash accepted a booking to play another low key "unplugged" show in NYC on January 11th of 1998. Harry wanteded to try and somehow incorporate the musical concepts of "LIFE?!" with "The (Original) Slashtones". Mixing in ECW tunes with some of the band's satirical songs and performing them unplugged seemed like a good idea at the time. Several good rehearsals led to one very dismal live performance. (Not) The Slashtones were broken up, but Life?! went on, or rather "Harry Slash & The Slashtones" did.
Steve "Budgie" Werner, Harry Slash and Arno Hecht kept The Slashtones going in the studio and formed another live version of in 2002 that included Roderick Kohn and Tony Moore on bass. That lineup performed live until 2006 and released two songs on two compilation CDs. The Slashtones stepped off the stage and back into the studio and shuffled the lineup again in mid-2006, this time Budgie brought keyboardist Felix Hanemann and guitarist Mark Hitt from his band HINDENBERG, and co-producer Tarik Solangi into the Slashtones roster of himself, Harry Slash, Arno Hecht and Tony Moore. That lineup released eight songs on various CDs. The decision to return to the stage and finally record a full length "all slashtones" CD came in late summer of 2009. Tony Moore had moved to California and rejoined his old band RIOT and Mark Hitt could not commit to any live performances due to his schedule. Felix Hanemann took over Tony' bass role and Budgie and Harry "drafted" Budgie's old Ace Frehley days bandmate Richie Scarlet to fill in the lead guitar role. "The New & Improved Original Slashtones" have been in the studio, recording, writing and rehearsing since early fall of 2009. They are expected to return to the live stage in early 2010 and release their "debut" cd later in the year Steve "Budgie" Werner performs regularly in the band "Snappahead". Steve "Budgie" Werner and Felix Hanemann also perform together in the band "Hindenberg." Steve "Budgie" Werner and Richie Scarlet also perform together in "The Richie Scarlet Band". Steve "Budgie" Werner, Richie Scarlet and Arno Hecht also perform together in the band "Dr. Rick & The Scrubs". Steve "Budgie" Werner will have probably formed another band before you finish reading this. |
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Cast Members: Harry Slash ~ Arno Hecht ~ Steve "Budgie" Werner ~ Felix Hanemann ~ Richie Scarlet
Cameo Appearances by: Mark Hitt ~ Gregg Gerson ~ Taso Karras ~ Mickey Leigh ~ Even Steven Levee ~ Joe Lynn Turner
Former Cast Members: Tony Moore ~ (others forthcoming)