METALLIAN - Black 'n' Blue

April 28th, Anno 22

Black 'N' Blue - 1984 - Geffen
Without Love - 1985 - Geffen
Nasty Nasty - 1986 - Geffen
In Heat - 1988 - Geffen
One Night Only - Live - 1998 - Eon
Live In Detroit 1984 - 2002 - Z
Hell Yeah! - 2011 - Frontiers

Members

Vocals

Kevin Wet, Movie Star, Wild Dogs, Warrant, Let It Rawk>>JAIME ST. JAMES>>Mad House, Cold Gin, Solo, Warrant, Hard Rock All Stars, Let It Rawk

Guitar

Movie Star>>Tommy Thayer>>Solo, Harlow, Doro, Shake The Faith, Cold Gin, Kiss - Woop & The Count>>Jeff Warner>>Woop & The Count - Shawn Sonnenschein

Bass

Patrick Young>>Don Dokken, The Loyal Order - Don Dokken>>PATRICK YOUNG>>The Loyal Order

Drum

Black Symphony, MSG, Malice, Monster, WWIII>>PETER HOLMES>>Monster, Black Symphony, MSG, Malice, Hard Rock All Stars, WWIII

History & Biography

Formed in Portland on the US West Coast and influenced by Van Halen, the band moved to LA in 1982 and began releasing music courtesy of the infamous German Dieter Dierks and the more infamous Gene Simmons on the knobs. The group was founded by school-mates Jamie St. James (who was a drummer at first) and Tommy Thayer in 1981. The band had had a demo produced by Don Dokken. The early name was Movie Star. This band featured St. James and Thayer. The name was changed in order to go for a harder direction. The band appeared on the second pressing of the Metal Massacre compilation.

To support the Without Love record, the band opened for Kiss on the Asylum tour in 1985. The group toured with Saxon and Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force in the USA in 1986. The band played party-oriented hard rock and broke up in 1989. Cold Gin was predictably a Kiss tribute band. The vocalist and his solo band were based out of Ohio.

There was a one-off Halloween performance in 1997. It was released as a live record. The original Black 'N' Blue members Jaime St. James, Jeff Warner, Patrick Young and drummer Pete Holmes reunited in 2003 to record a new album for Z Records. Warner had run a studio with Chris Hager, formerly of Rough Cutt, in Oregon, USA and the two were in a band called Woop & The Count. Z Records would release older live material and a demo anthology of the band as well. Thayer was not part of the fold. He earned his keep in Kiss as a member after being that band's tour manager. St. James joined Warrant in early 2004. Crash Music issued a rarities album of the band on April 24th, 2007. The album featured a collection of rare and live tracks from the band's back catalogue.

Black 'N Blue would reform for a one-off show with Tommy Thayer, Jaime St. James, Jeff Warner, Pete Holmes and Patrick Young and for the Oregon Music Hall Of Fame. Black 'N Blue was one of the inductees at the 2010 event. The ceremony took place on October 9th at Roseland Theater in Portland. Hard Rock All Stars was a covers' band also featuring Ratt's Juan Croucier. Frontiers Records announced the release of a new album by Black 'N Blue called Hell Yeah! on May 13th almost 27 years after the group’s last! The band was Jaime St. James - vocals, Jef "Woop" Warner and Shawn Sonnenschein - guitar, Patrick Young - bass and Pete Holmes - drums. The album was first promised for 2003 and then 2008. The Loyal Order featured Black ‘N Blue guitarist Brandon Cook and Black ‘N Blue bassist Patrick Young, as well as Rogh Cutt's Jeff Buehner on vocals, guitarist Justin Gibson and Light The Torch/36 Crazyfists drummer Kyle Baltus some ten years later. Black 'N' Blue was active again and booked for Monsters Of Rock Cruise in 2024.

Reviews

Interviews

Black 'n' Blue