My Top 10 Hair Band Singers
If you grew up in the 70's and 80's, you had to have heard of these bands. Though some were bigger than others and some outlasted others, these were a few of my favorite singers from the 80's. I got this post idea because every morning, I wake up with a song in my head. It doesn't matter what format it is. I've had anything from the Carpenters to Anthrax. This morning, I had "Judgement Day" from Whitesnake. I probably haven't heard that song in 15 years. Why now? Who knows. So, when I got to the station this morning, I hit up YouTube to listen to it and I got stuck in a wormhole of 80's videos and it got me thinking how great some of the vocalists were from the 80's. Hairbands, sure but still great singers.These are in no particular order. Got one you want to add?
Ray Gillen - Badlands
This was Jake E. Lee's band. Lee played with Ozzy and is one hell of a guitarist. Put that together with vocals from Ray Gillen and DAMN! That dude could sing. Unfortunately, he died in December 1993 from an "Aids related disease." It would have been cool to see what more he could have done.
Oni Logan - Lynch Mob
George Lynch formed this band after Dokken. Oni still does shows with Lynch Mob. This whole album was good.
Sebastian Bach - Skid Row
You can't have a list of the "Top 10 Hair Band Singers" and NOT include Sebastian Bach. His vocals were nothing short of amazing. Now, if they could stop the bickering back and forth and reunite, that would be awesome.
Kelly Hansen - Hurricane
Though they got a lot of airplay on MTV (you know, when they used to play videos) They never really went anywhere. These days, Kelly is singing for Foreigner and he still sounds amazing. You'll also find Jeff Pilson (formerly of Dokken) now playing with Foreigner. fUn FaCt: Jason Bonham played with them for a while too.
Daniel McMaster - Bonham
This was Jason Bonham's band from the late 80's. Since then, Bonham went on to play with UFO and as mentioned before, Foreigner and MANY other bands. Sadly, McMaster died in March of 2008 at the age of 39 of a Group A streptococcus infection.
David Coverdale - Whitesnake
He's still touring with Whitesnake today. Back in the day, his voice was unmistakable. Still is but he's had to bring it down a notch and isn't quite able to hit those really high notes. But then again, who can? I had heard that when Steve Vai was asked to join the band, he said "Just give me what you've got laid down and I'll add my stuff to it." They did, and this is the result. Not sure how true that is but I wouldn't doubt it. He's an incredible guitarist.
Jeff Keith - Tesla
Jeff Keith has always been one of my favorite singers. "Mechanical Resonance" is one of a few albums that I can listen to all the way through and like EVERY song. After a brief stint away from the band to sing for another band called "Bar 7", Tesla got back together quite a while ago and are still touring and sound just as good as they did back then.
Marq Torien - Bullet Boys
BulletBoys are still touring and Marq's vocals sound great. Hit up some live stuff on YouTube to check it out.
Rob Halford - Judas Priest
He's been doing it for years and still sounds amazing.
Bruce Dickinson - Iron Maiden
I saw them a few years ago at Rock Fest and it was one of my favorite shows of all time. Bruce's vocals sound just as good now as they did back then.