Biographies

Following the phenomenal success of their self-titled debut album and the singles Youth Gone Wild and 18 and Life, Skid Row became a huge hit with metal fans in the late 1980s. Despite hair metal coming to an abrupt end two years later with the rise of grunge, the band’s second album would mark a significant change of direction and saw them venturing further into thrash territory. Born and raised in New Jersey, Dave Sabo had developed an interest in rock music from an early age, citing artists such as Aerosmith and Kiss as early influences on him learning to play guitar whilst still in high school. His first recording came in 1981 when childhood friend John Bongiovi approached him about performing guitar on a track he had written entitled Runaway. Recorded at a local studio called the Power Station (owned by Bongiovi’s cousin, Tony), where he worked part-time as a janitor, the song was later re-recorded by Bongiovi with his group Bon Jovi and became a minor hit, although by this time Sabo had been replaced by experienced guitarist Richie Sambora.

After making friends with a bassist called James Southworth (who would perform under the stage name Rachel Bolan), Sabo decided to form his own group and, taking their name from an Irish band from the 1960s that featured blues guitarist Gary Moore and future Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott, called themselves Skid Row. After recruiting drummer Rob Affuso and guitarist Scotti Hill (after auditioning several other candidates), the line-up was completed with Brooklyn-born vocalist Matt Fallon, whom Sabo had known from a band called Steel Fortune. With Sabo and Bolan having written a handful of songs (including Rattlesnake Shake and 18 and Life, both of which would later be included on their debut album), Skid Row recorded a series of demos and supported Bon Jovi on several shows before Fallon was eventually replaced by Sebastian Bach.

With the help of Bon Jovi, Skid Row were signed by Atlantic Records in 1988 and commenced work on their first album, which included several tracks that the band had been performing for some time, including Youth Gone Wild and Midnight/Tornado. Working alongside Michael Wagener, who had produced albums for Dokken and Mötley Crüe, the sessions would produce approximately twenty songs, although only eleven would make it to the final release. The album was released on January 24, 1989 and the band’s debut single, Youth Gone Wild, began to arouse interest amongst metal fans. The album would produce two further hits, Youth Gone Wild and I Remember You, and would eventually reach multi-platinum. Sabo would make an appearance on Bon Jovi‘s VHS New Jersey: The Videos, whilst the group would encounter controversy when a member of the crowd threw a bottle onto the stage during a performance in Massachusetts, prompting Bach to throw it back into the audience, hitting a young girl.

After almost two years of success, Skid Row returned to the studio with Wagener to record their second album which, much like Pantera a year earlier, would see the group moving away from their earlier hair metal image and take on a darker and heavier sound. Despite refusing to recreate the style of their debut, the album was yet another success and would produce several hit singles, most notably the title track and their comeback Monkey Business, which would once again see the group regularly appearing on MTV. Skid Row would support Guns N’ Roses on their summer tour in support of their own Use Your Illusion double album, which would also feature a pre-fame Nine Inch Nails as the opening act. The following year they would appear in Donington, England, at the infamous Monsters of Rock event, which Bon Jovi had performed at twice before.

This time recording with acclaimed producer Bob Rock, Skid Row would release their third album, Subhuman Race, in March 1995 and would prove to be the band’s last successful album, as well as their last with Bach and Affuso. Skid Row would unofficially go on a hiatus for several years whilst the members worked on different projects, before Sabo reunited with Bolan and Hill, whilst also auditioning for a new singer and drummer, eventually hiring Johnny Solinger and Charlie Mills, respectively. Mills was soon replaced by ex-Saigon Kick drummer Phil Varone and the group began to tour alongside such artists as Kiss, Poison and Aerosmith. Their fourth album, and first without Bach (as well as label Atlantic), was Thickskin, which was released on August 5, 2003 by Blind Man Sound. The album would also include I Remember You Two, which was a heavier version of their 1989 ballad I Remember You.

After briefly being replaced by Timothy DiDuro, Varone soon returned to the group but would eventually leave again, forcing Sabo to hire Dave Gara as their new drummer. Once again reuniting with Wagener, recording commenced on their fifth album commenced in Nashville, Tennessee in 2005, with Sabo and Bolan once again being the principal songwriters (although they would cover a song by Welsh group The Alarm). Revolutions per Minute was released by SPV GmbH on October 24, 2006 and was largely dismissed by critics, although the band continued to perform regularly. Despite fans often pleading for a reunion with Bach, the singer has stated on numerous occasions that he has no desire to work with his former band again.