Kill For Thrills - Dynamite From Nightmareland (MCA, 1990)
Current Gemm price: $2.95- $23.00
Price Sleazegrinder paid: $4.99, Disc Diggers, Somerville
Price Pepsi Paid: I think he traded it for sex.
Worth: “Motorcycle Cowboy” is priceless; everything else…I dunno, how much are you willing to pay for a Gilby Clarke album, man?
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Cleveland, Ohio boy, Gilby Clarke, moved to Hollywood like all us starry-eyed dreamers do, and lucked into one of the most criminally unsung bands of all time. CANDY wrote these really incredibly special bubblegum pop songs about adolescent romance that were the perfect mix of classic A.M. radio hooks ala the Raspberries or Bay City Rollers with the harder edge of punks and power popsters like Generation X or the Boys. They made one of the greatest rock'n'roll albums of all-time, 1985's "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO FUN", got to tour with Rick Springfield and tease their hair all big, and enjoyed an exciting little ride as bubblegum heart throbs, who, even to this very day, continue to elicit crazy devotion from a loyal, worldwide cult following. A couple of the guys from CANDY went on to form ELECTRIC ANGELS and THE LOVELESS.

 

Gilby Clarke worked as a session-musician for Kim Fowley and bummed around Hollywood for awhile before forming KILL FOR THRILLS in the Metal Years. Gilby sang. The other guitarist, Jason Nesmith, had previously been in another glam rock band called the Beauties, I think, and was son of Monkee Mike. The bass-player, Todd Muscat's brother, was Brent from Faster Pussycat. They were signed to MCA after one show in Hollywood. I remember reading the RIP magazine review when it first came out, penned by legendary rock critic Bruce "Screamin' Lord" Duff -and if I remember right, I'm thinkin' he felt compelled to mention something to the effect that they got signed overnight based on their real merit and it wasn't mere nepotism, but their collective pedigree sure didn't hurt, right?  So their record came out, but really kinda got lost in the shuffle. Back then, there was really just such an overwhelming glut of these cowboy-booted motorcycle bands, that it was hard, after awhile, to weed through 'em all. This is where their connections didn't seem to help much, cos somewhat sadly, a lot of inferior rock groups made off with all the thunder and glory. In truth, another part of the problem was that Gilby Clarke, apparently, is a genuinely decent human being, and it's possible that no one in KILL FOR THRILLS was obnoxious enough to command attention away from all the tattooed monkey men competing to be the biggest hellraiser on the sunset strip. Where I came from, more rock fans were hip to like, Dangerous Toys than KILL FOR THRILLS. A shame I guess, but really, no big tragedy, either.

After releasing a really genuinely decent EP, "Commercial Suicide", they followed it up with a far from ground-breaking full-length that also reflected their perfect decency. Some good tunes, my fave was "I Wanna Be Your Kill" from the EP. Their other perfectly decent non-hits that I remember were "Something For The Suffering", "Paisley Killers", and Gilby's early signature tune, "Motorcycle Cowboys". KILL FOR THRILLS produced some really likable music that just wasn't distinctive enough to get much notice with guys like Axl Rose runnin 'round. I think Todd Muscat joined a group called Blackboard Jungle, but I used to drink some, so, y'know, I kinda need a fact-checker. Jason Nesmith formed NANCY BOY with fellow rockstar's son DONOVAN LEITCH and Nigel from the London Quireboys, and I guess he makes solo records on his father's label now. All surprisingly nice guys, actually. Gilby, as you already know, went on to replace IZZY STRADLIN in Guns N Roses, made some thoroughly decent solo albums, formed a super group with Slim Jim Phantom called Colonel Parker, and produces cool young bands, including the best unsung pop band since Material Issue, if not Candy; the sensational BEAT ANGELS. OK, so how 'bout that? A perfectly decent, happy story, really. Gilby's early group, CANDY just released an exciting and essential retrospective of rare and unreleased stuff called "TEENAGE NEON JUNGLE" that you really oughta do yourself a favor and check out if you like the anthemic pop'n'roll music. 

Anyway, KILL FOR THRILLS ultimately committed "commercial suicide" by focusing too much on the the commercial and not enough on the FLASH METAL.
 
Gilby Clarke official website
 
Hear “Something for the Suffering” on Metal Reviews.com

-Pepsi Sheen
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