Contraband (band)

Contraband
Origin	Los Angeles, California
Genres	Hard rock,[1] glam metal[2]
Years active	1990–1993
Associated acts	Shark Island, Michael Schenker Group, Ratt, L.A. Guns, Vixen
Past members	Richard Black Michael Schenker Tracii Guns Share Pedersen Bobby Blotzer

Contraband was a short-lived supergroup/side project that included members of several famous rock bands from the 1980s, such as Shark Island, Michael Schenker Group, Ratt, L.A. Guns, and Vixen.

Contraband came to be after a Vixen and Ratt unplugged session on MTV.

The band released only one self-titled album in 1991 which received lukewarm reviews. The album was a commercial failure and the band disbanded shortly after, while touring with Ratt. The song "Loud Guitars, Fast Cars, and Wild, Wild Livin'" was included in the movie If Looks Could Kill soundtrack. In the US, the album charted at number 187. Their cover version of "All the Way from Memphis" appeared on the UK record chart in July 1991.^[3]

Band members

• Richard Black – vocals
• Michael Schenker – guitars^[1]
• Tracii Guns – guitars
• Share Pedersen – bass guitar
• Bobby Blotzer – drums^[4]

Contraband (1991)

Contraband
Cover design by Hugh Syme & Frenchy Gauthier
Studio album by Contraband
Released	6 May 1991
Recorded	American Recording Studio, Woodland Hills, Sound City Studios, Van Nuys, Cornerstone Studio, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California
Length	43:06
Label	Impact/EMI
Producer	Kevin Beamish and Randy Nicklaus
Michael Schenker chronology
Save Yourself (1989) Contraband (1991) M.S.G. (1992)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]

Track Listing

1. "All the Way from Memphis" (Ian Hunter) – 4:56
2. "Kiss by Kiss" (Michael Thompson, Mark Spiro) – 4:19
3. "Intimate Outrage" (Spiro, Dann Huff, Phil Naish) – 4:57
4. "Bad for Each Other" (Richard Black, Spencer Sercombe, Steve Diamond) – 4:28
5. "Loud Guitars, Fast Cars & Wild, Wild Livin'" (Gregg Fulkerson, Michael Spears, Black) – 4:26
6. "Good Rockin' Tonight" (Roy Brown) – 3:23
7. "If This Is Love" (Steven Pasch, Anthony Krizan, Black) – 5:03
8. "Stand" (Tim Feehan, Brian Macleod) – 4:04
9. "Tonight You're Mine" (Pasch, Krizan) – 4:43
10. "Hang On to Yourself" (David Bowie) – 2:47

Credits

• Spencer Sercombe – guitars, backing vocals, musical director
• Steffan Presley – keyboards
• Kevin Beamish – backing vocals, producer, engineer, mixing
• Randy Nicklaus – producer, mixing
• Joe Barresi – engineer
• Steve Hall – mastering

See also

• List of glam metal bands and artists

References

1. Saulnier, Jason (23 January 2009). "Michael Schenker Interview". Music Legends. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
2. Popoff, Martin (2014). The Big Book of Hair Metal: The Illustrated Oral History of Heavy Metal's Debauched Decade. Voyageur Press. p. 205. ISBN 978-0-76034-546-7.
3. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 118. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
4. "Biography by Doug Stone". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
5. Henderson, Alex. "Contraband Contraband review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-11-06.