THE FIRST 50 GIGS: Guns N‘ Roses and the Making of Appetite for Destruction Jason Porath & Marc Canter

In this first episode, we’re going back to the beginning when Marc and Slash become friends in elementary school and bond over their love of Aerosmith and dirt bikes. Slash invited Marc to a rehearsal of his new band Tidus Sloan in 1981 and with Marc’s camera in hand, the journey of the First 50 Gigs began. Also on the episode, we have Adam Greenberg, one of the founding members of Tidus Sloan and Roadcrew. 
 
In this episode you’ll:
• Hear the first-ever live recordings of Slash playing guitar
• Find out what drove Marc Canter to document his friend
• Hear how Adam Greenberg formed Tidus Sloan and Roadcrew, but then was replaced by a future member of the Appetite lineup of GNR.
 
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“Do you know where you are? You’re in the Jungle baby!” In Episode 2 of the First 50 Gigs, we’re taking you back…all the way back to the origin of the Sunset Strip and answer Axl’s eternal question with Hollywood historian Laurie Jacobson, author of Dishing Hollywood: The Real Scope on Tinseltown’s Most Notorious Scandals
In this episode you’ll:
• Relive the scandalous history that gave rise to the Sunset Strip and how it became a throughway for Hollywood elite to commute from Beverly Hills to Hollywood.
• See the rise of legendary nightclubs on the Strip that showcased the biggest stars of the 20s, 30s, 40’s and 50’s.
• Witness the eventual decline of the Sunset Strip when a new “strip” took its place, Las Vegas, and learn how a new generation of clubs rose from the ashes of Hollywood to birth a new movement in music with the electrification of rock n’ roll.
 
Links:
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Subscribe to our Patreon Site to see the video version of this episode and access the deep archive of historical photographs we used to illustrate this story: https://www.patreon.com/first50gigs_gnr
Dishing Hollywood: The Real Scope on Tinseltown’s Most Notorious Scandals: https://www.amazon.com/Dishing-Hollywood-Tinseltowns-Notorious-Scandals/dp/1581823703

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Domenic Priore, author of Riot on the Sunset Strip, picks up where we left off in 1966 on the Sunset Strip during the counterculture riots and takes us on a rock n’ roll historical journey in L.A. from the 60s to the 90s that includes bands like The Byrds, The Doors, Van Halen and Guns N’ Roses.
This was the era that shifted the center of gravity of rock n’ roll from New York to Los Angeles.
In this episode, you’ll:
• Hear how the City of Los Angeles, in an attempt to shut down the clubs on the strip, instituted a curfew and sparked a counterculture revolution.
• See how the former Hollywood showcase clubs reinvented themselves with the electrification of rock n’ roll and spawned a new generation of legendary clubs like the Troubadour, The Whisky a Go-Go and The Roxy.
• Learn how bands like Van Halen and Guns N’ Roses capitalized on the increasing separation of music into genres on radio stations.
 
To see the incredible historical archive of photographs we draw upon to illustrate this story, become a subscriber on our Patreon site where you’ll get all the visual content, bonus episodes, galleries and more.
 
Links:
Preview this episode on YouTube
Subscribe to our Patreon Site to see the video version of this episode and access the deep archive of historical photographs we used to illustrate this story: https://www.patreon.com/first50gigs_gnr
Riot on the Sunset Strip: https://www.amazon.com/Riot-Sunset-Strip-Hollywood-Revised/dp/1908279907

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In Episode 4 we pick up the narrative thread of the origin of the Appetite lineup of Guns N’ Roses. In 1983, bass player Chris Weber, singer Bill Bailey and guitarist Izzy Stradlin formed the trio known as A.X.L. They later changed the name to Rose and then Hollywood Rose. Today we talk to Chris about forming the band and his legacy as it relates to Appetite for Destruction.
 
In this episode, you’ll:
• Hear the origin story of Rose and Hollywood Rose and how it set the revolving door in motion that ultimately led to the formation of Guns N’ Roses.
• Listen to the demos that Hollywood Rose cut in order to book clubs and was later packaged and released as The Roots of Guns N’ Roses by Cleopatra Records
• Discover how Chris felt about the end of Hollywood Rose and what it means to him to have been a part of this history.
Links
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Subscribe to our Patreon Site to see the video version of this episode and access the deep archive of historical photographs we used to illustrate this story: https://www.patreon.com/first50gigs_gnr
The Roots of Guns N’ Roses: https://www.amazon.com/Roots-Guns-N-Roses/dp/B004HZL8HS

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We continue the origin story of the Appetite lineup by following what Slash called “the incestuous revolving door of band and musicians.” Our guest Steve Darrow was the bass player for the New Hollywood Rose after Chris Weber and the Hollywood Rose broke up. Izzy and Axl started the New Hollywood Rose by recruiting Steve Darrow in 1984, as well as another guitar player and a drummer (can you guess who?). Izzy preferred only one guitar player in the band and left the New Hollywood Rose, joining London with Nadir D’ Priest.
 
In this episode, you’ll:
• Hear how Steve Darrow met Axl and Izzy and how their love of Hanoi Rocks, Aerosmith and mash up of metal bands shaped their sound.
• Watch the first time Axl, Slash and Steven Adler and Steve Darrow play together and how Steven Adler managed to get through his first live performance.
• Understand how the New Hollywood Rose look and sound evolved from metal to glam.
 
Links:
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Subscribe to our Patreon Site to see the video version of this episode and the photographs Marc captured during the time this version of Hollywood Rose played: https://www.patreon.com/first50gigs_gnr

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We got The First 50 Gigs team together to recap the first five episodes of the First 50 Gigs and the Appetite lineup origin story. In this episode, Marc Canter, Jason Porath, and host Mina McNair fill in the gaps as we spin our way through the incestuous revolving doors of bands and musicians that ultimately led to Guns N' Roses. From Slash's garage bands Tidus Sloan and Roadcrew to Rose and the New Hollywood Rose, we talk about what we learned from our guests, take you behind the scenes of our production, share new stories and preview what's to come for the rest of Season One.
In this episode,  you'll:

Learn about Slash's audition for KISS.

Understand why the New Hollywood Rose was only one step away from the Appetite lineup of Guns N' Roses.

Hear about what's coming up for the rest of Season One.

Links:
Subscribe to our Patreon to see the video version of this episode, access bonus episodes, merch, and much more.

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