JACK PONTI (producer, Songwriter) Snake was living in my house and I remember him just being completely fucking despondent because he couldn’t believe he got cut from Bon Jovi and he couldn’t believe that he didn’t get the Cinderella gig. And then he put together Skid Row with Jimmy Southworth—Rachel Bolan.
DAVE “SNAKE” SABO In 1986 I had this band with one of my dear friends that I grew up and went to school with, this guy Jimmy Yuhas, who played rhythm guitar. And we had a singer named Matt Fallon, who had been in Anthrax for half a minute. But we didn’t have a bass player. Then I got a job at a music store in Toms River, New Jersey, which was like an hour and a half from where I lived. I had to take two buses to get there. And that’s where I met Rachel Bolan. He walked into the music store and I was like, “This guy looks like a rock star!”
RACHEL BOLAN (BASSIST, GODSEND, SKID ROW) I was living in Toms River. And there were two music stores—there was Silverton Music, and that was right down the street from Garden State Music, where Snake worked. I never really asked him why he traveled an hour and a half to work at a music store. Probably so that he didn’t have to cut his hair, I would imagine.
JACK PONTI Everybody hung out at the music store. I remember Snake behind the counter one day, and he has his fucking pants down while he was talking to these parents about renting a guitar or a violin or a trombone. Skid Row in general was probably the most comedic fucking group of people.
DAVE “SNAKE” SABO By that time I had been networking so much that I had no fear. And so I approached Rachel and started just name-dropping as much as I possibly could.
RACHEL BOLAN He was a name-dropping motherfucker!
DAVE “SNAKE” SABO I was like, “Well, I’ve got this and that going on, and Bon Jovi are my best buds, and I know this A&R guy…” You know, like a total buffoon. Just bloviating. But I guess it left an impression.
RACHEL BOLAN The thing that really grabbed me was that this guy had the same passion and fire about making it that I did. He had a band together, and I had a band with Scotti Hill called Godsend.
DAVE “SNAKE” SABO We got to talking and he told me he was a bass player and he had his own band going on. And we realize he’s the songwriter in his band and I’m the songwriter in my band. So I said, “My band rehearses in New Brunswick. Would you mind coming up?” And he goes, “Yeah. I just need some money for gas. I’m broke.”
RACHEL BOLAN Godsend was kind of petering out at that time and so I was like, “All right, I’ll come up and jam with you guys.” And so I met up with Snake and we drove up to rehearsal. And I got in there and, you know, everyone was good players and all, but we rehearsed a few times and then one day on the way to practice I was like, “How do you feel about all these guys?” I guess it was kind of a dick move on my part but there was only one thing I wanted to do in life and that was be a musician. I didn’t want to do construction anymore. And when Snake and I got together it just happened. Songs started coming out. I was still living with my folks at the time, and we’d write until six in the morning and then I’d get up and go to work.
DAVE “SNAKE” SABO Once we sat down and wrote together it was obvious that we were gonna do this together. And then we scrapped everybody in the band but Matt, the singer. And through [Bon Jovi keyboardist] David Bryan we got Rob Affuso to play drums.
ROB AFFUSO I had a girlfriend who was friends with David Bryan, and through that relationship I actually got an audition for Bon Jovi when “Runaway” was a hit on [New York radio station] WAPP. And Snake happened to be at that audition. But Jon ultimately decided to keep Tico [Torres]. I don’t think it was about whether or not he wanted Tico, but rather whether or not Tico wanted to play with him. Because I think he was still with Franke and the Knockouts. But anyway, I did not get into Bon Jovi.
So then later on Snake is starting a band of his own and they have me come audition. They had a drummer at that time, and I don’t know specifics but I think there were drug and alcohol issues. And so I actually went and auditioned in a basement on this other guy’s drums, and I felt awful because I pretty much destroyed his drums. But a couple songs into it Snake and Rachel said, “Do you wanna do this?”
RACHEL BOLAN We ended up making a bunch of changes. And the next one was getting Scotti Hill in the band.
SCOTTI HILL (guitarist, Godsend, Skid Row) Rachel and I were good friends, and after our band Godsend broke up and he started jamming with Snake I moved back to Orange County, New York, where I had previously been living. But I would go down to Jersey on the weekends and just hang out with Rachel—we’d go to bars, sometimes I’d go to rehearsal with him. I remember when Rob joined the band. Then after they let the other guitar player, Jimmy Yuhas, go, Rachel was like, “Well, we need a guy. Come audition.” They sent me a cassette with three songs on it. One was “Clock Strikes Midnight,” which became “Midnight/Tornado” on the first Skid Row record. And “18 and Life” was in the works. They were a kick-ass band.
DAVE “SNAKE” SABO I loved Mötley Crüe. I loved Van Halen. But I also loved the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and I was a fan of melodic bands like Boston. And then there was the local scene at CBGB and City Gardens in Trenton, and clubs in Philadelphia and Newark and Staten Island and Asbury Park and Brooklyn and Long Island. There were original bands playing everywhere every night. It all had a big effect on me. So I had my influences and then Rachel had the punk influence and we met somewhere in the middle.
RACHEL BOLAN I was into Mötley Crüe but not heavily. My roots were wearing a Hefty bag as a shirt and spray-painting an anarchy symbol on it.
SCOTTI HILL I just knew I wasn’t going to blow that audition. So I came down, I played rhythm, and I sang backups. And they asked me to join that night.
DAVE “SNAKE” SABO I remember Scotti joined the band in October of ’86, because it was the same night that the ground ball went through Bill Buckner’s legs in the World Series. Then two months later we were doing shows with Bon Jovi.
SCOTTI HILL As a matter of fact, I think my first gig with Skid Row was opening for Bon Jovi out in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
ROB AFFUSO This is before we were even signed.
DAVE “SNAKE” SABO We were lucky enough to be able to go out on three dates on the Slippery When Wet tour.
DOC MCGHEE Dave Sabo was Jon Bon Jovi’s best friend at that time. And then he had his band Skid Row and he would always bother me.
DAVE “SNAKE” SABO Look, the first time I met Doc, I went up the street to Jon’s parents’ house because Jon had invited me over. And we had a moment where it was just Doc and me out by their pool. And Doc’s on a lounge chair and I’m like, This is my moment. I’m gonna lay this spiel on him. And I did: I’m the greatest guitar player in the world. I’m the coolest son of a bitch. I’m a rock star. I’m this, I’m that, blah blah blah. I couldn’t have been more arrogant and egotistical. But in the nicest way possible! And I’ll give Doc props. He heard me out for, I don’t know, maybe five or ten minutes. And when I ran out of breath and ran out of words he looked at me—and this is a true story—he looked at me and he goes, “That’s great. You wanna go inside and get me a beer?”
RACHEL BOLAN So we wound up opening a few shows for Bon Jovi. I think it was two nights at Stabler Arena, and then the third show was supposed to be in Johnstown but something happened with production and we didn’t play. We had been doing small clubs and then all of a sudden we have these gigs at, like, a five-thousand-seat venue. It was the coolest thing ever. Like, “Yeah, this is what I meant to do!”
ROB AFFUSO We were really excited but we were really nervous.
SCOTTI HILL Butterflies. Like, I can’t believe I have a backstage pass around my neck! I can’t believe we have a dressing room in this giant building! I can’t believe we’re going to play for all these people! The arena was probably only half full when we played, but it felt like being dropped into rock stardom. I can still feel it.
DAVE “SNAKE” SABO We were in the dressing room after the first or second show and Doc came in and he was like, “Yeah, the songs are great.” Because we had done “Youth Gone Wild,” we had done “18 and Life.” But he says, “You need a new singer. This guy’s not gonna cut it.” So we basically fired Matt the next day. Well, not quite the next day …
SCOTTI HILL The last straw for us was a gig at Close Encounters in Sayreville. We got our gear onstage and Matt didn’t show up. We’re ready to play and the guy doesn’t show up! So the gear got loaded back into the van. And then Matt shows up. And I remember Snake going after him in the parking lot. He was furious. We were all furious. I’ve got nothing against the dude. He just wasn’t a good band guy.
DAVE “SNAKE” SABO We were opening for T.T. Quick. And Matt no-showed until after T.T. Quick was already on. And I went after him in the parking lot and he was running away from me. I was gonna kill him.
RACHEL BOLAN One day I walked into the music store and Snake says, “We’re getting rid of Matt…” I was like, “All right.” He goes, “Well, you accepted that pretty easily!”
DAVE “SNAKE” SABO Matt was good, don’t get me wrong. He just wasn’t great. He wasn’t a star. We needed our David Lee Roth or our Axl Rose. We needed a star, you know?