Wrathchild (sometimes known as Wrathchild UK in the United States due to a naming conflict with

Wrathchild America Wrathchild America was an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Martinsburg, West Virginia, in 1978. Before settling on the Wrathchild America name in 1988, the band had performed under the names Atlantis, Tyrant, and Wrathchil ...

) were an English

glam metal Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal that features pop-influenced hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat rock anthems, and slow power ballads. It borrows heavily from the fashion and image of 1970s glam r ...

band. Formed in 1980, the group was an early band of the glam metal genre, starting off about the same time as bands of the genre such as

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. The group was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee, lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe has sold over 100 million albums ...

. In their home country, the band's speciality was in its

D.I.Y. "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, wikt:modification, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individual ...

aesthetic (common for many

NWOBHM The new wave of British heavy metal (commonly abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that started in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Journalist Geoff Barton coined the term i ...

bands), over the top stage shows, and striking image. During their early days, they would often play in pubs but still used confetti,

pyrotechnics Pyrotechnics is the science and craft of creating such things as fireworks, safety matches, oxygen candles, explosive bolts and other fasteners, parts of automotive airbags, as well as gas-pressure blasting in mining, quarrying, and demolition. ...

, and dressed in full glam metal gear, including their trademark

platform boots Platform shoes are shoes, boots, or sandals with an obvious thick sole, usually in the range of . Platform shoes may also be high heels, in which case the heel is raised significantly higher than the ball of the foot. Extreme heights, of both ...

and huge, teased hair. The band has gone through several line up changes over the year's with line up number 2 consisting of Rocky Shades, Lance Rocket, Marc Angel and Eddie Starr being considered the classic line up of the band. Bass player Marc Angel is the only consistent member having featured in every line up of the band.

History

Wrathchild was formed in November 1980 in

Evesham Evesham () is a market town and parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. It lies within the Vale of Evesha ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

, by Marc Angel and Philip Vokins. They recruited

Rocky Shades Wrathchild (sometimes known as Wrathchild UK in the United States due to a naming conflict with Wrathchild America) were an English glam metal band. Formed in 1980, the group was an early band of the glam metal genre, starting off about the s ...

for lead vocals, and Brian Parry on drums. Phil Vokins left in 1981 to join Bill Ward (

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

) in America with the new band Max Havoc, and Brian Parry also left. The band added two members from the band Medusa; guitarist Lance Rocket and drummer Eddie Star, who became mainstays in the band and completed the line-up for a decade of touring and recording. After releasing a string of demos, such as ''Mascara Massacre'' in 1982, the band was offered a record deal by

Bullet Records At least five record labels with the name Bullet Records have existed. Bullet Records, Nashville, 1946-1952 The earliest Bullet Records was a record label based in Nashville, United States, which was started in 1946 by Jim Bulleit and C.V. Hit ...

. On this label the group put out their first official release in 1983, an EP called ''Stackheel Strutt''. In 1984, the band recorded and released their debut studio album, ''

Stakk Attakk ''Stakk Attakk'' is the debut album by the British glam metal band Wrathchild, released in June 1984. Recorded at DJM Studio in London and mastered at Abbey Road, the album was engineered by Murray Harris and produced by former Magnum guitari ...

''. It would spawn two singles; a cover version of the

Gary Glitter Paul Francis Gadd (born 8 May 1944), best known by his stage name Gary Glitter, is an English former singer, songwriter, and record producer. He achieved success during the glam rock era of the 1970s and 1980s, and his career ended after he w ...

classic "Doing Alright with the Boys" and "Trash Queen". Just as Wrathchild became successful, they came embroiled in contractual problems with their label, Heavy Metal Records.

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

, a major label, unsuccessfully attempted to sign the band from Heavy Metal Records in an effort to free them from their contract. Meanwhile, the group released a video compilation called ''War Machine'' in 1984. After settling the dispute with Heavy Metal Records, nearly four years later, the band released their second album, ''

The Biz Suxx ''The Biz Suxx'' (also known as ''The Biz Suxx (But We Don't Care)'') is an album by the British glam metal band Wrathchild, released in 1988. The line "I look like a star but I'm still on the dole" from the title track is a reference to Mott ...

'', in 1988. The album spawned a single, "Nukklear Rokket", which had a promotional video that was produced by

Bruce Dickinson Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer who has been the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1981 to 1993 and 1999–present. He is known for his wide-ranging operatic vocal style and energetic stage ...

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

. Dickinson played the protester in the video whilst the performance was filmed in the car park at his home in Chiswick. Ron Kennedy directed and edited the video as well as appearing as the mad professor. Steve Prior was the cameraman. The band's third and final studio album, ''

Delirium Delirium (also known as acute confusional state) is an organically caused decline from a previous baseline of mental function that develops over a short period of time, typically hours to days. Delirium is a syndrome encompassing disturbances in ...

'', was released shortly after in 1989. It featured

Grim Reaper Death is frequently imagined as a personified force. In some mythologies, a character known as the Grim Reaper (usually depicted as a berobed skeleton wielding a scythe) causes the victim's death by coming to collect that person's soul. Other b ...

's Steve Grimmet on backing vocals. Soon after the release Rocky Shades left to join the punk band Discharge and with the onset of grunge, Wrathchild broke up.

Wrathchild & Psychowrath

Marc Angel, Eddie Star, and Phil Vokins, with new singer Gaz Harris started a band in 2005 called Psychowrath. In 2009, they acquired the trademarks for Wrathchild & Wrathchild UK and reverted the name Wrathchild and released ''Stakkattakktwo'' on 23 August 2011 from Perris Records. Marc Angel explained in an interview how important the name "Wrathchild" is for them: "I spent my entire youth putting together and propagating the band known the world over as the mighty 'Wrathchild'. Wrathchild as a collective is unique, we forged an entire new glam-metal scene borne of mine and Eddie (Star's) punk roots". ''Stakkattakktwo'' was voted the Best Album of 2011 by both Grande-Rock.com and the site's Readers' Poll.Best Album of 2011
Reader's Poll.Best Album of 2011
Grande-Rock.com - Best of 2011. In August 2013, Gaz Harris and Wrathchild parted ways, Gaz joined Gypsy Pistoleros. This in turn once again lead to Wrathchild splitting up.

Rocky Shades Wrathchild

Rocky Shades Wrathchild, also known as R.S.W., was founded by former lead vocalist Rocky Shades in 2006. They recorded the demo ''Dead Good'' which was featured on their Myspace website for a short time. The line-up included Rocky Shades, Jon Sudbury and James Crofts. They were set to play the

Hard Rock Hell Hard Rock Hell is a three day music festival held at Vauxhall Holiday resort, Great Yarmouth. It was previously held at Hafan y Môr Holiday Park, Pwllheli, Gwynedd, North Wales, and up until 2011 at Pontin's Holiday Village, Prestatyn, Wales. ...

III festival in December 2009, but were removed from the bill in October; reason as quoted by Hard Rock Hell promoters "All involved in Hard Rock Hell felt that without being able to use the name to advertise, and without more than one member of the original line-up in the band, what we were left with was simply not what we booked. It’s as if we had booked Genesis and got Phil Collins. Hence it was not a proper booking, to which the agent who booked it agreed to."

Wildside Riot

In December 2010, Rocky Shades decided to start afresh by creating a new band with no relation to the Wrathchild name, Wildside Riot. The initial line-up was Rocky Shades on vocals, Gaz Wilde (Gary Hunt) on drums, Iggie Pistolero and Rob D'Var on guitars. Natt Kid took on bass duties initially, eventually replaced by James Crofts (previously of Rocky Shades Wrathchild). The present line-up is Shades and Wilde, with Joss Riot and Jimmy Gunn on guitars, and Marty Mayhem on bass. Wildside Riot was launched in July 2011, and played a handful of UK dates from May until July 2012 promoting the new outfit. Their debut album, ''No Second Take'', was released 28 January 2013 on CD and as a digital download. The band released a video to their self-titled track "Wildside Riot" ahead of the album which can be seen on the website. Among several other promotional gigs in late 2012 and early 2013, they also secured a Saturday slot at Hard Rock Hell VI in December 2012.

Members

* Gaz Psychowrath - vocals 2005-2013 * Phil Wrathchild - lead guitar, backing vocals 1980-1981, 2005-2013 * Marc Angel - bass guitar, backing vocals 1980-1990, 2005-2013 * Eddie Star - drums 1981-1990, 2005-2013 * Rocky Shades - vocals 1980-1990 * Lance Rocket - lead guitar, backing vocals 1981-1990 * Brian Parry - drums 1980-1981

Line-ups

Discography

Albums

* ''

'' (1984) * ''

Trash Queens ''Trash Queens'' is an album by Wrathchild Wrathchild (sometimes known as Wrathchild UK in the United States due to a naming conflict with Wrathchild America) were an English glam metal band. Formed in 1980, the group was an early band of t ...

'' (1985) * ''

'' (1988) * ''

'' (1989) * ''

Stakkattakktwo ''Stakkattakktwo'' is the fourth and final album of the British glam metal band Wrathchild Wrathchild (sometimes known as Wrathchild UK in the United States due to a naming conflict with Wrathchild America) were an English glam metal band. ...

'' (2011)

EPs

* ''Stackheel Strutt'' (1983)

Singles

* "Do You Want My Love?" (1982) * "Alrite with the Boyz" (1984) * "Trash Queen" (1984) * "Nukklear Rokket" (1988)

Demos

* ''Mascara Massacre'' (1982)

Video albums

* ''Live in London''/''War Machine'' (1984)

References

External links

*
Wrathchild at NWOBHM.com
{{Authority control English glam metal musical groups English heavy metal musical groups English glam rock groups English hard rock musical groups Musical groups established in 1980 Musical groups disestablished in 1989 New Wave of British Heavy Metal musical groups