Lock Up was a rock band that featured

Tom Morello Thomas Baptist Morello (born May 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is best known for his tenure with the rock band Rage Against the Machine and then with Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, Morello ...

on guitar before

Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerfor ...

was formed. The band was founded by the original guitar player Mike Livingston (formerly of

The Mau-Mau's is a band started by Rick Wilder (formerly the singer of the Berlin Brats). Following the breakup of the glam rock / proto - punk band the Berlin Brats in 1976, two years of inactivity followed before Rick Wilder updated his image and sound to mo ...

) and Kevin Wood on bass. They had previously played together in the band Ella and the Blacks, which also included Brian Grillo and

Brendan Mullen Brendan Mullen (October 9, 1949 – October 12, 2009) was a Scottish nightclub owner, music promoter and writer, best known for founding the Los Angeles punk rock club The Masque. Through Mullen's support at various nightclubs in Californ ...

(founder of

The Masque The Masque was a small punk rock club in central Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, California which existed from 1977 to 1978. It is remembered as a key part of the early LA punk scene. History The Masque was founded by Scottish-American rock ...

, the first L.A. punk rock club). Grillo became Lock Up's lead singer. Grillo had worked several years before with

Martin Atkins Martin Clive Atkins (born 3 August 1959) is an English drummer and session musician, best known for his work in post-punk and industrial groups including Public Image Ltd, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Pigface, and Killing Joke. He also works as ...

in the latter's Brian Brain project, and then was known in Los Angeles for fronting Brian Grillo's Wild Coyote Review. The original drummer was Michael Lee, (later drummer with

Sylvia Juncosa Sylvia Juncosa is an American punk and metal guitarist, singer, songwriter and keyboardist from Los Angeles. Noted primarily for her guitar work, during the 1980s she was among relatively few women with established aggressive rock guitar credibil ...

and with The Homebillies), who quit and was replaced briefly by

D. H. Peligro Darren Eric Henley (July 9, 1959 – October 28, 2022), better known by his stage name D. H. Peligro, was an American punk rock musician, most commonly known as the drummer for The Dead Kennedys along with a brief stint as the drummer for Red H ...

, formerly of the

Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk rock, punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Dead Kennedys' lyrics were usually political in nature, sa ...

and later in

Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea (musician), Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates element ...

. After Peligro left, he was replaced by Vince Ostertag . In early 1987, Lock Up signed a production deal with Third Story Music, which was the company associated with

Herb Cohen Herbert Cohen (December 30, 1932 – March 16, 2010) was an American personal manager, record company executive, and music publisher, best known as the manager of Judy Henske, Linda Ronstadt, Frank Zappa, Tim Buckley, Odetta, Tom Waits, Geor ...

, by Evan Cohen, who later ran

Manifesto Records Manifesto Records is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California that has released records by Dead Kennedys, Tim Buckley, Cinerama, Concrete Blonde, Cranes, The Czars, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Lilys, The Rugburns, Sing-Sing, Ken S ...

. Cohen brought the band to the attention of Anna Statman, who was an A & R person at

Slash Records Slash Records was an American record label originally specializing in local punk rock bands, active from 1978 to 2000. It was notable as one of the first and most successful independent record labels in alternative rock, alternative music, befor ...

. In 1988, Statman moved to a new job at

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

, and Lock Up was her first signing at Geffen, in mid-1988. Livingston had left Lock Up in late 1987. In early 1988, Livingston was replaced by Morello. Chris Beebe on bass completed the lineup that released Lock Up's sole album on

, ''

Something Bitchin' This Way Comes ''Something Bitchin' This Way Comes'' is the sole album by Lock Up, released in 1989. It is the first label-released album to feature Tom Morello. The album was re-released in 1997 by Manifesto Records. Track listing # "Can't Stop the Bleeding ...

'', which came out in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

. The title of the album was based on

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...

's 1962 novel '' Something Wicked This Way Comes''. Vince Ostertag was subsequently replaced by

Jon Knox Jon Knox is an American session drummer who has been a member of the bands White Heart, Adam Again, Future User and is currently the drummer for The Union of Sinners and Saints. He is also a producer, beatmaker and composer. Background Knox ...

who played drums until the group disbanded. Following the Lock Up break up, Jon encouraged bassist

Tim Commerford Tim Commerford (born February 26, 1968) is an American musician, best known as the bassist and backing vocalist for rock band Rage Against the Machine, and supergroups Audioslave and Prophets of Rage. Since 2013 and 2015, he has also been the l ...

and

Zack de la Rocha Zacharias Manuel de la Rocha (born January 12, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, and political activist. He is best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the rock band Rage Against the Machine. Through both Rage Against ...

to jam with

and drummer

Brad Wilk Brad Wilk (born September 5, 1968) is an American drummer. He is best known as a member of the rock bands Rage Against the Machine (1991–2000, 2007–2011, 2019–present), Audioslave (2001–2007, 2017), and Prophets of Rage (2016–2019). ...

who unsuccessfully auditioned for Lock Up. This line-up went on to form

. Most of Morello's guitar with Lock Up is unlike his work with

and

Audioslave Audioslave was an American Rock music, rock supergroup (music), supergroup formed in Glendale, California, in 2001. The four-piece band consisted of Soundgarden's lead singer and rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell with Rage Against the Machine membe ...

. His solos, in contrast to Livingston's rootsy blues oriented style mainly consist of arpeggios, tapping and overall fast fretwork. Evidence of his experimenting with the toggle switch can be heard in a few tracks ("Can't Stop the Bleeding", "Nothing New" and "Punch Drunk"). The songs "Punch Drunk" and "Half Man Half Beast" were featured in the 1991 comedy film ''

Ski School A ski school is an establishment that teaches skiing, typically in a ski resort. The modern version of the ski school was invented by the Austrian ski pioneer Hannes Schneider in the early 1920s when he formalized instruction methods and establis ...

''. In 1997,

licensed the Lock Up album from Geffen, and released it on compact disc. After the release, Manifesto, Morello, and Morello's label, Sony, got into a legal dispute over whether Manifesto could place a sticker on the compact disc that read "Featuring Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine."

Band members

*Brian Grillo – lead vocals (1989–1990) *

– guitar (1989–1990) *Mike Livingston – guitar (1989) *Kevin Wood – bass (1989) * Michael Lee – drums (1989) *

– drums (1989) *Vince Ostertag – drums (1989–1990) *Chris Beebe – bass (1989–1990) *

– drums (1990)

Discography

*''

'' (1989)

References

*https://books.google.com/books?id=VuuGvMBRrYAC&pg=PA70&dq=%22tom+morello%22+%22lock+up%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=xM-KUafRO6PR0wHnxoCwCQ&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22tom%20morello%22%20%22lock%20up%22&f=false *https://books.google.com/books?id=KPOsu8JOHO8C&pg=PA205&dq=%22tom+morello%22+%22lock+up%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=xM-KUafRO6PR0wHnxoCwCQ&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=%22tom%20morello%22%20%22lock%20up%22&f=false ;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Lock Up Heavy metal musical groups from California