Biographies

For over thirty years Phil Lewis has performed with numerous rock acts, most notably serving as the frontman of L.A. Guns at the height of the hair metal scene. Born in London on January 9th 1957, Lewis had spent his teenage years struggling to break into the entertainment industry, first as the assistant to a hypnotist and then later as a guitarist for a theatre company, which led to performances around Europe. When this eventually came to an end Lewis was desperate to launch a professional music career and relocated to a small recording studio in London’s Chinatown, where he soon made the acquaintance of a young guitarist called Gerry Laffy. The two shared a common love of sleazy rock ‘n’ roll and androgynous glam and, with Laffy’s older brother Simon on bass, decided to form their own band. Recruiting Dave Gaynor on drums, the line-up was finally completed when they met guitarist Phil Collen, formerly of Dumb Blondes. After undergoing numerous name changes, the group finally settled on Girl.

In an effort to attract interest from record companies they decided to film themselves miming in the studio to a backing tape and were soon approached by music mogul Don Arden, who had expressed interest in signing the band to his new label Jet Records. Despite not having performed a single gig, Girl signed a contract with Arden in January 1979 and began writing material for their upcoming recording sessions. The group’s home over the coming weeks was Morgan Studios in Willesden, North London, where such acclaimed artists as Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath had recorded classic albums. To help define their sound, the band worked closely with producer Chris Tsangarides, who had previously worked with Judas Priest, Phil Lynott and Gary Moore. Most of the material that Girl would record during these sessions were written by either Lewis or Gerry Laffy, although Collen would also contribute to four songs. Midway through the sessions the band were recruited as the opening act for UFO on a sixty-date tour, before returning to the studio to complete the recording.

It was around this time that they were contacted by Nick Tauber, a producer most associated with Thin Lizzy, who suggested that they record a cover of the Kiss track Do You Love Me? (from their 1976 album Destroyer) in an effort to cater to the American audience. Girl‘s debut album, Sheer Greed, was finally released the following January and was accompanied by the single My Number, which would become the band’s most recognised song. This soon led to other opportunities supporting ZZ Top and Ozzy Osbourne, while Sheer Greed performed exceptionally well in Japan. During this time Lewis started a relationship with actress and model Britt Ekland, perhaps best known for her role as “Bond Girl” Mary Goodnight in The Man with the Golden Gun and the former partner of Peter Sellers and Rod Stewart. Although Sheer Greed would fail to break into the mainstream in their home country, My Number proved to be a minor hit and convinced the label that they should return to the studio to record their follow-up.

Gaynor would leave the band soon afterwards and was replaced by Pete Barnacle, formerly of Broken Home (which had featured Mr. Big frontman Dicken). Yet although Barnacle would be credited for these sessions, the majority of the drumming would be performed by Bryson Graham (ex-Spooky Tooth). Consisting solely of original material, Wasted Youth was released in 1982 but lacked the commercial appeal of its predecessor, dividing both critics and fans. Due to its poor performance, Jet soon lost interest in the band but, due to their contract, they were unable to relocate to a new label. To make matters worse, Collen was approached by rising rock act Def Leppard to replace their guitarist Pete Willis.

This stalemate soon caused frictions within the band and Girl eventually called it a day, with Gerry Laffy being hired as the manager for director Russell Mulcahy, who was preparing to make the leap from music videos to feature films. Disillusioned and frustrated with the music industry, Lewis remained in London and hooked up with two of his friends, Barry Jones and Steve Dior, performing rhythm guitar for their band The London Cowboys for a short time. He tried to launch several different projects but each one proved unsuccessful, yet despite this he refused to give up and was eventually contacted by Bernie Tormé, an acclaimed guitarist whose work had included collaborations with Ian Gillan and Ozzy Osbourne. His group Electric Gypsies had undergone numerous line-up changes and recently lost their frontman, Kef, and so he approached Lewis, who at the time was trying to get his latest band, the New Torpedoes, off the ground, about standing in for some upcoming shows at The Marquee in London. Lewis agreed and, despite having little time to prepare, the group managed to sell out the venue, now appearing under the name Tormé.

Although the band would fail to seduce the major labels, they soon landed a deal with Zebra Records and recorded their debut album, Back to Babylon, in 1986. Produced by John McCoy, whom Tormé had performed with in Scrapyard during the mid-1970s, the album became a modest success and was soon followed a year later by a second release, Die Pretty, Die Young. Although Tormé would tour in support of both albums, they failed to break into the mainstream and soon the band began to dissolve. Despite his career once again coming to a standstill, Lewis’ break came soon afterwards when he was asked to travel to Hollywood to audition for a rock group called L.A. Guns. Having recently lost their singer Paul Black, who would go on to form the short-lived Black Cherry, the band were desperate for a new frontman and so Lewis was invited to audition. Arriving in Los Angeles, Lewis met up with L.A. Guns on April 1st 1987 and it was immediately apparent that he had something new to offer.

The band had been formed several years earlier by guitarist Tracii Guns, who had also helped to create Guns N’ Roses with Axl Rose, but following the release of an EP, 1985′s Collector’s Edition No.1 (which had featured their original singer, Michael Jagosz), they had temporarily split. With the hair metal scene having begun to dominate Hollywood, L.A. Guns had attracted a following through the club circuit and were on the verge of landing a record deal. The line-up during this time would also include Kelly Nickels, who had originally played bass for local act Faster Pussycat before injuring his leg in a motorcycle accident, forcing the group to replace him with Eric Stacy for the recording of their eponymous debut. L.A. Guns finally signed a deal with Polygram Records and worked with producer Jim Faraci at Village Studios on the recording of their first album. Featuring a cover of the Girl track Hollywood Sleaze, as well as a song co-credited to Black, Guns and Lewis would remain the key songwriters, while Nickels would also include a reworking of his own composition Shoot for Thrills, which he had previously performed with an earlier group, Sweet Pain.

Following the release of both the album and the band’s first single, Sex Action, Lewis became a heartthrob to young metal fans, while L.A. Guns soon became one of the hottest bands in Hollywood. Not only becoming a regular fixture on MTV and music magazines, they were soon supporting the likes of AC/DC and Def Leppard (which, ironically, now featured Lewis’ former Girl bandmate Collen on guitar), but by this point they had replaced their drummer with Steve Riley, formerly of shock rockers W.A.S.P. While Guns may have had some hidden resentment regarding Guns N’ Roses‘ success eclipsing that of L.A. Guns, Lewis had finally become a rock star and on his return to England, now as the frontman for a major label band, he finally reaped the rewards of his hard work.

While their debut may have brought them to the attention of the metal community, it would be their second album that would push them into the mainstream. Produced by Tom Werman, who had also worked with other Los Angeles acts like Mötley Crüe and Poison, Cocked & Loaded would see the band heading into more commercial waters, while the acoustic track The Ballad of Jayne would land them the biggest hit of their career. Yet despite its success, the song had caused issues within the band as certain members felt that it was inappropriate for a heavy metal album. Werman had already dealt with similar issues during his time with Poison, however, as guitarist C.C. DeVille had protest about the inclusion of the ballad Every Rose Has Its Thorn on their album Open Up and Say… Ahh!, although this would also prove to be their most successful single. The song would also help propel the sales of Cocked & Loaded, eventually earning it Platinum status.

By the time L.A. Guns released their third album in 1991 the Seattle grunge movement had begun to dominate the music scene, effectively bringing an end to hair metal. While their track Over the Edge would be featured on the soundtrack to the Keanu Reeves/Patrick Swayze blockbuster Point Break, the album Hollywood Vampires would fail to match the sales of Cocked & Loaded and the relationships between the band members was starting to strain. Riley would be the first to quit, departing the band in 1992 shortly after the touring for their third album had come to an end. Following the recording of a fourth, Vicious Circle, Lewis announced his decision to leave L.A. Guns to focus on other projects, commencing with a new group called Filthy Lucre. The other main creative force behind the band was Steve Dior, his friend from The London Cowboys who had performed in a punk outfit called The Idols during the late 1970s.

Lewis also began producing for several artists, having created his own studio, while also working on his first solo album, More Purple Than Black (which would enjoy success in Japan under the alternative title EL Nino). During the mid-1990s Lewis was employed by the Fox Sports Network as an audio mixer and recording engineer, helping to mix sport trailers for the channel. Having already worked with Nickels in L.A. Guns, Lewis joined forces with two other members of Faster Pussycat for his next project, which he dubbed the Liberators. Featuring both Brent Muscat and Eric Stacy, as well as Stacy’s former Supercool bandmate Dave Moreno, the group was short-lived.

Yet despite splitting, an album of material was later released, although sometimes it would be credited as a Lewis solo record. Among the tracklist were covers of L.A. Guns, Faster Pussycat and even Girl, yet the album would fail to attract much attention due to lack of promotion. In 1999, several years after he had walked from the band, Lewis was contacted by L.A. Guns regarding a possible reunion. In the time since he had quit they had recorded with no less than four singers, including former Love/Hate frontman Jizzzy Pearl and Ralph Saenz, now better known as Michael Starr of Steel Panther fame. Although unsure as to why he had been re-hired, Lewis was enthusiastic to be performing once again with the band that had given him the most success, while his reunion would coincide with the release of the retrospective Greatest Hits and Black Beauties. L.A. Guns was once again touring and recorded a live album called Live: A Night on the Strip, which captured the band at the Key Club on Sunset Boulevard.

L.A. Guns would return to the studio with Lewis for the first time in almost a decade to record their 2001 comeback Man in the Moon, produced by former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke. While it seemed that the band were once again at their peak after the sessions for their next album, Waking the Dead, came to an end Guns decided that he wanted to pursue a new project and instead joined forces with Mötley Crüe‘s Nikki Sixx to form the group Brides of Destruction. Although their founder had parted ways, L.A. Guns felt energised and had no intention of falling apart and instead searched for a suitable replacement. Following a short spell with former W.A.S.P. guitarist Chris Holmes and Keri Kelli (who had performed with Slash’s Snakepit and Pretty Boy Floyd), Lewis hired Stacey Blades, then most known for his work with Roxx Gang. The first release with this new line-up would be 2004′s Rips the Covers Off, which featured reworkings of classic rock songs by Queen, Aerosmith, Hanoi Rocks and The Stooges.

Although he had decided to leave the band in 2002, four years later Guns announced that he intended on leading L.A. Guns once again, despite both Lewis and Riley still performing under the name. Following a brief reunion with Paul Black, Guns turned to Jizzy Pearl and launched his own version of the group. Meanwhile, Lewis’ L.A. Guns continued to record, releasing a new album of music entitled Tales from the Strip in 2005, another collection of cover songs called Covered in Guns and the live albums Loud and Dangerous: Live from Hollywood and Hellraiser’s Ball Caught In The Act. In 2011 it was announced that Lewis would be performing vocals for The Heavy Metal Kids during a series of live dates, following the departure of their previous singer.