During a conversation on the Nothing Shocking podcast, Poison drummer Rikki Rockett was asked whether he ever felt pigeonholed into a particular sound when the band became successful.
He said:
“Definitely. Listen, we get judged on what we looked like and sounded like on an album that happened 32 years ago [1986’s ‘Look What The Cat Dragged In’]. How does everybody else like to be judged on what they did and looked like 32 years ago?
“Now, I’m proud of what we did — don’t get me wrong — but even by [1988’s] ‘Open Up And Say… Ahh!’, which was the next record, our look and our sound had evolved. And by [1990’s] ‘Flesh & Blood’, our look had evolved and our sound had evolved. And on and on.
“So it myopically gets overlooked, all those things. And people go, ‘Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That hair band’ — that kind of thing. And usually when people say those things, it’s usually because they wanna say something bad.
“But I always tell new artists, ‘Be very careful about what you put out there at the very beginning, because people are gonna judge you forever, what you did that very first record.'”
Rikki also commented on the band’s sound and influences by saying:
“I think all rock is based in the blues, for one thing. And with us, glitter rock of the ’70s was only a part of what influenced this band. That was more or less what… We took pieces of what that looked like, because that was more exciting to look at than just jeans and a t-shirt at the time.
“And then sound-wise, man, we pooled from everywhere. I mentioned Foghat [earlier in the interview], but we pooled from Lynyrd Skynyrd, we pooled from Kiss, Van Halen — everything. And even punk rock bands. I mean, C.C. [DeVille, guitar] grew up in Brooklyn; there was a huge punk rock and new wave movement in that city. So that influence comes out on the guitar.
“You definitely hear it in songs like ‘Talk Dirty To Me’ and stuff like that. And Bobby [Dall, bass] was such a [Led] Zeppelin fan. Our influences definitely are clear all over the songs that we wrote, but sometimes the baby does get thrown out with the bathwater.”
9 comments
Don’t apologize guys…you were so cool and still are. See you in Orlando soon
I don’t see anything wrong with being a hair band, I love that stuff!!!! Keep rocking!!!!
Let’s the real ,they are a classic band
We all had “a look” but so.ewhere along the line, we grew up too…..
You still are fabulous, then and now xx
One of my favorite bands and still is
One of my favorite bands and still is. I love their music.
New album please!
You guys need ZERO apologies! Poisons music for me is still as great as it was back in the day! I was at the Stadium tour last July and Poison was my favorite band of the night! All I can say is haters gonna hate and let them! Keep rock in’! Poison is and will always be one of my favorite Hair Bands! I am a faithful listener of Hair Nation on XM radio and proud of it!
Man I was a young teen when talk dirty to me came out , Too all the guys in Posion I was 14 years old , your guys were my very first live concert I ever attended at Freedom
Hall in Johnson City , Tenn . Think it was the flesh n blood tour , with slaughter and Trixter . That look was so damn cool for the time , shock is what I call out looking back to most , but definitely was a great time for teenagers and the music that came with the new look you came with !! I wouldn’t give nothing to anyone , it was a great era and you guys did wonderful job ushering in a new look !