Michael Rea (born April 4, 1960) better known by his stage name Michael Ray or M. Ray, is an American guitarist,

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

and

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

, not to be confused with Michael Roach Ray the country singer. Michael Ray was the

lead guitarist Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

for the punk rock band

Plasmatics The Plasmatics were an American punk rock, hardcore punk and heavy metal band formed by Rod Swenson and Wendy O. Williams in New York City in 1977. They were a controversial group known for chaotic, destructive live shows and outrageous theat ...

and for Wendy O. Williams solo projects. He also worked with hard rock band

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

and toured with the English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...

Early life

Ray was born in

Queens, NY Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

in 1960. He grew up in Woodhaven, New York and attended Beach Channel High School. He was discovered by Gene Simmons at

My Father's Place My Father's Place was a music venue in Roslyn, New York. It first opened in 1971, and according to ''The New York Times'', "created a scene that would influence music for decades to come." In the nearly sixteen years the club was open before it ...

, a club on Long Island in 1982 at the age of 22.

Career

In the year 1982, Michael Ray auditioned for the band ''Kiss'' as the replacement of

Ace Frehley Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley (; born April 27, 1951) is an American musician, best known as the original lead guitarist and co-founding member of the hard rock band Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman (a.k.a. Space Ace) and played wit ...

. He recorded guitar solos for the album ''

Creatures of the Night ''Creatures of the Night'' is the tenth studio album by American rock band Kiss, released in 1982. It was the band's last for Casablanca Records, the only label for which Kiss had recorded up to that point. The album was dedicated to the memo ...

'' at

Record Plant Studios The Record Plant is a recording studio established in New York City in 1968 and currently operating in Los Angeles, California. Known for innovations in the recording artists' workspace, it has produced highly influential albums, including Blon ...

, New York. Michael recorded as lead guitarist for the songs ''Keep me comin'', ''

'' , ''I Still Love You'', and ''War Machine''.Lead guitarist for WOW
/ref> In 1983 after the departure of

Vinnie Vincent Vincent John Cusano (born August 6, 1952), better known by his stage name Vinnie Vincent, is an American guitarist. He is a former member of the rock band Kiss from 1982 until mid-1984 during the band's transition out of their 1973–1983 make ...

, Michael played live with ''Kiss'' at ''Rocket Rehearsal Studios'', New York for the ''Live Lick it up'' audition. He performed the songs ''Fits like a Glove'', ''Gimme More'', ''Exciter'' and ''Hells Breakin Loose''. In 1984, Michael recorded as lead guitarist for the Wendy O. Williams first solo album WOW, produced by Gene Simmons. He signed the management contract and the record was released on

Passport Records Passport Records was a U.S.-based independent record label that existed between 1973 and 1988. It was notable for popularizing such artists as Larry Fast, FM, Richard Barone, and Wendy O. Williams. It was distributed by Jem Records in the United ...

. He also wrote songs for Wendy O. Williams second solo album Kommander of Kaos. He appeared on

The Joan Rivers Show ''The Joan Rivers Show'' is an American talk show hosted by comedian Joan Rivers that premiered on September 5, 1989, in broadcast syndication. The show aired for five seasons, and ended in December 1993. The show was nominated for numerous Emmy A ...

in 1986 in Studio City, Los Angeles and performed two songs. In 1987, he collaborated music for the

New World Pictures New World Pictures (also known as New World Entertainment and New World Communications Group, Inc.) was an American independent production, distribution, and (in its final years as an autonomous entity) multimedia company. It was founded in 19 ...

release of

Reform School Girls ''Reform School Girls'' is a 1986 American prison black comedy film, written and directed by Tom DeSimone. It stars Linda Carol, Wendy O. Williams, Pat Ast, Sybil Danning and Sherri Stoner, and depicts the story of a young girl (played by Carol ...

. Ray also wrote songs on the Plasmatics 9th Anniversary album, Maggots: The Record that was released on

Profile Records Profile Records was one of the earliest hip hop labels. As well as hip-hop they released disco, dance, and electro records. History In 1980, Cory Robbins, who was 23 at the time and had worked briefly for MCA, wanted to start a record label. H ...

in 1987. It was considered to be the biggest selling Plasmatics album to date.Plasmatics/Wendy O. WIlliams Maggot:The Record
/ref>

Discography

Vocals

* ''Wendy O. Williams / Plasmatics - Maggots: The Record'' (1987) * ''Wendy O. Williams - Kommander Of Kaos'' (2000)

Instruments & Performance

* ''Wendy O. Williams - WOW'' (1984) * ''Wendy O. Williams - It's My Life'' (1984) * ''Wendy O. Williams - Live'' (1985) * ''Wendy O. Williams - Fuck N' Roll'' (1985) * ''It's My Life - Reform School Girl (1986) * ''Wendy O. Williams / Plasmatics - Maggots: The Record'' (1987) * ''Wendy O. Williams - Kommander Of Kaos'' (2000) * ''Wendy O. Williams - Bump 'N' Grind'' (2000) * ''Sara Johnston - Trespassing'' (2011) * ''Kiss - Gene Simmons Vault Disc One Track 6 solo on Legends Never Die'' (1982)

Writing & Arrangement

* ''Goin Wild Various - Reform School Girls'' (1986) * ''Wendy O. Williams / Plasmatics - Maggots: The Record'' (1987)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Michael 1960 births 20th-century American musicians Plasmatics members People from Woodhaven, Queens Living people American male guitarists Beach Channel High School alumni