Rose Tattoo |
Rose Tattoo led by Angry Anderson was an Australian hard rock band, .
Their sound is mixed with blues rock influences. Among their best known songs are "We Cant Be Beaten", "Scarred for Life", "Rock n Roll Outlaw"and "Bad Boy for Love".
Rose Tattoo was formed in Sydney in 1976 by slide guitarist Peter Wells, who had just departed the bassist role in Buffalo. Ian Rilen from Band of Light joined on bass. Rilen had apparently taught himself to play bass while in prison and thus gave Wells band the street-cred he was looking for.
Rhythm guitarist Mick Cocks, singer Tony Lake and drummer Michael Vandersluys completed the line-up howe'ver the last two only remained for a few rehearsals and were soon replaced by former Buster Brown members Angry Anderson and Dallas "Digger"Royal. Like Buffalo, Buster Brown had enjoyed a level of notoriety, playing at the Sunbury Festival in 1974 and at one point had featured AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd. Rose Tattoo made their public debut on New Years Eve at the rock club Chequers.
Chiefly inspired by The Rolling Stones and the Faces, Rose Tattoos hard-rocking sound quickly earned a devoted following in the Sydney area. Among the bands fans were the members of AC/DC, who recommended them to Albert Productions; the bands debut single "Bad Boy for Love"was written by Rilen, who left the lineup prior to the records release.
Andersons onetime Buster Brown bassist Geordie Leach was recruited for Rose Tattoos self-titled debut LP; after nearly three years of extensive touring, during which time Leach temporarily left the band to be replaced by Lobby Lloyde, they issued the follow-up, Assault and Battery, in 1981. During Lloydes brief tenure with the band, they recorded a song, "Legalise Realise"that was released as a single in 1980, backed with a track by country singer Colin Paterson to publicise a campaign to legalise marijuana.
Rose Tattoo toured Europe in 1981 and featured at the Reading Festival, and were hailed as the loudest band to play Londons Marquee Club since Led Zeppelin. Returning to Australia, the band began work on their third album; with new guitarist Robin Riley replacing Cocks who went on to join Heaven, they issued Scarred for Life in 1982, subsequently touring the US in support of Aerosmith and ZZ Top. The bands US visit was not a major success but proved to be extremely influential on the underground sleaze metal scene in Los Angeles, with bands such as Guns N Roses later citing Rose Tattoo as favourites.
After the US tour, Wells, Royal and Riley all left the group, with the remaining duo of Anderson and Leach recruiting guitarists Greg Jordan and John Meyer along with drummer Scott Johnston to record 1984s Southern Stars. Leach then exited to join Wells, Royal and Riley in the short-lived Illustrated Men. Anderson also took time out to play the character Ironbar Bassey in the 1985 film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. That year Rose Tattoo, as Anderson, Johnston, Meyer, Andy Cichon (bass) and Tim Gaze (slide guitar), released a version of Steppenwolfs "Born to be Wild", their first release for Mushroom Records. Meyer left and Rose Tattoo recorded 1986s Beats From a Single Drum as a four piece.
Anderson finally mounted a solo career soon after, as did Wells. After a long battle with cancer, Royal died in 1991. In 1992, Anderson was approached by Guns N Roses to reform Rose Tattoo in order to support them on an Australian tour. Anderson, Wells, Cocks, Leach and new drummer Paul DeMarco from Wells solo band reunited for the 1993 tour. The reunion proved brief, howe'ver, and each then member returned to his solo endeavours.
Around this time, ex-members of Rose Tattoo formed a short lived band with ex Candy Harlots vocalist Aiz Lynch. This band had numerous rehearsals, but only recorded one demo before disbanding.
The same lineup, with original bassist Ian Rilen replacing Leach, reformed yet again in 1998 for the "All Hell Breaks Loose!!"tour, howe'ver Rilen remained with the band only for the duration of this tour and by the following year, Leach had returned to the fold once more, although his place was taken by Steve King in 2000. Since that time Rose Tattoo has toured regularly around Australia and throughout Germany and France. In 2000, the band appeared at the Wacken Open Air festival as part of their European tour. These shows formed the basis of the 25 to Life live album. 2002 saw the release of Pain, the bands first studio album in 16 years.
Peter Wells died after a four-year-battle from prostate cancer on March 27, 2006.
In August that year, the band was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. Founding member Ian Rilen died on October 30, 2006 after a battle with bladder cancer. One of Rilens last public appearances was at Rose Tattoos ARIA Hall of Fame induction.
In October 2006, a number of Rose Tattoo songs were voted upon and ranked in the Triple M Essential 2006 Countdown of songs, including "Bad Boy for Love"(voted #1060 out of 2006) and "We Cant Be Beaten"(voted #397 out of 2006).
In the same month, Rose Tattoo were also one of 55 acts voted and played in Triple Js Impossible Music Festival of 2006, with their live recording of a gig performed on New Years Day 1980 at Mount Druitt, New South Wales being selected out of over 1000 Live at the Wireless recordings produced over the radio stations 31-year history.
In 2007, Rose Tattoo supported Guns N Roses with Sebastian Bach, and later Motorhead on their Australian tours. In an interview with Australian rock magazine Unbelievably Bad, Angry Anderson announced his intentions to retire the band after one more album. On April 21, 2007 Lobby Loyde died in Box Hill, Melbourne, after a long battle with lung cancer, aged 65.
The band have recently been confirmed as playing the Super Bock Super Rock festival in Lisbon, Portugal, and the Download Festival in England.
Rose Tattoo guitarist Mick Cocks dies from cancer, months after benefit gig. A brief statement on the bands website confirmed the death of the Sydney rocker.
"Were very sad to announce that Rose Tattoo founding member and guitarist Mick Cocks lost his battle against liver cancer and passed away today, on December 22th, the statement read. He had been battling the disease for about twelve months. The performer passed away in a Sydney hospital.
Describing him as a "true Australian rocker, Rose Tattoo manager Stephen White said that Cocks death was "devastating.
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❊ Web Links ❊
➼ Rose Tattoo
➼ www.rosetattoo.com.au
➼ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Tattoo
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