TONE WORLD NEWS
This Month In Slashtones History
January
January 10th, 2001


Harry Slash & The Slashtones performed live for the first time in three years, doing a set at CBGB for Punk Magazine's 25 Year Anniversary party. The band featured mainstays Roderick Kohn on guitar, Arno Hecht on saxophone, Harry Slash on vocals and Steve Budgie on drums. Mikey Leigh played with the band as it's second guitarist and Rawn Randell got his bass out of the basement for the gig.

The show consisted mostly of E.C.W. originals, but it was the old comedic material that stole the show. E.C.W. luminaries in attendance that night included Tag-Team Champions, Danny Dorring and Roadkill, Chris Chetti, Big Sal and Balls Mahoney, who introduced the band. This show made the Slashtones the proverbial "Fat Lady", as E.C.W. had it's final show a few days later...
January 11th, 1998


The original incarnation of The Slashtones performed a low key accoustic set at The Gaslight in NY.
This line up featured four of the six original band members from 1993, Harry Slash on vocals, Roderick Kohn and Steve Bondy on guitar and Even Steven on bass. Arno Hecht, who was made a full band member in 1994, was on saxophone and Steve Budgie, who joined in 1997, was making his live debut with the band on drums.

Sadly, this would be the last performance of the original Slashtones. The Slashtones started one hour late, waiting for one of the band members that had forgotten about the gig even though the band rehearsed for it 48 hours earlier. The performance itself was a problem laiden nightmare. While no one in attendance noticed, including ECW luminairies Paul Heyman and Buh Buh Ray Dudley, the songs weren't performed as rehersed. Some members of the band kept forgetting parts and changes on songs and then the others had to improvise around them. Roderick Kohn broke two string on three songs during the set, much like he did on the night of the bands debut on March 27th of 1993. Harry Slash took this as a sign that it was time to move on and disolved the band following the performance.

Harry Slash, Roderick Kohn, Arno Hecht and Steve Budgie continued to record together with various former members of the Slashtones under the band name "Life?!". (Life?!'s name was changed to "Harry Slash & The Slashtones" in the fall of 1998)

January 3rd, 1997

Harry Slash breakes up the Slashtones, quits the music industry and joins the 9 to 5 world. This lasts about a month before he was drafted by ECW to write music for them and returned to the music industry.

January 20th, 1996

LIFE?! performs it's first, and last gig, debuting at The Lion's Den in NYC.
After three years of comic-rock, Harry Slash and Roderick Kohn had put The Slashtones concept on the shelf and formed a new band called "LiFE?!".
LiFE?! was the exact opposite of the Slashtones and archetype of the band that would record music used by ECW. While The Slashtones could be described as a "funny party band", Life?! was a dark, somber, brutal metal band. The lineup featured Harry Slash on vocals, Roderick Kohn on guitar, Tony Moore on bass and Scott Duboys on drums. Chris Carter was also a founding member on guitar, but left the band shortly before it's debut. LiFE?! was offered a multitude of bookings after it's debut, but the band fell apart a few days after the first, and only live performance when Scott Duboys decided to take some time off from music and quit. Slash and Kohn would go on to reform The Slashtones, adding Tony Moore to the mix on bass.
January 10th, 1993

Even Steven was jamming with Roderick Kohn and Paul Sheenan during the "Friday Night Jam" at Harry Slash's nightclub, The Space At Chase", on 98 Third Avenue. Harry Slash jumped on stage for the first time in years and joined them for a song. This would herald the formation of the earliest incarnation of The Slashtones that would also feature Steve Bondy on guitar and Brad Rosen on harmonica.

January 1st, 1992

Roderick Kohn's band Hitmeister ends their New Year's Eve set at Harry Slash's nightclub, The Space At Chase on 98 Third Avenue, at 5AM.

January 20th, 1991

The Sheriff closes down Harry Slash's nightclub, The Black Cat, on 21 Hudson Street in NYC. Property tenant Steve D-----------, never bothered to pay any rent during the time the club was open and the landlord was none too happy about that. The closing came as a big surprise to Harry Slash, the club staff, and the bands that were to perform there that nigh when they arrived and found the doors had been padlocked. Steve D----------- never bother to tell anyone and went into hiding.

January 1st, 1991

Roderick Kohn shaggs some girl in the lounge area of Harry Slash's nightclub, The Black Cat, on 21 Hudson Street in NYC. Roderick's band Hitmeister had performed earlier on the club's New Year's Eve show.