SCOTTI HILL After Matt Fallon was out of the band there was a long period of time where Skid Row didn’t have a singer. I was working at Garden State Music with Snake and living at Snake’s mom’s house with him and Rob Affuso. And then we would rehearse in the garage at Rachel’s parents’ house. The typical day was: Wake up, drive to Toms River, go to work, go to rehearsal, go out, party, wake up, and do it again.
RACHEL BOLAN We went back to our jobs. I worked for the [New Jersey] Aquarian Weekly. I was a glorified paper boy. And I would pick up shifts at the music store with Scotti and Snake. It was bad enough when it was the two of them, but when it was the three of us there, it was bedlam. And we auditioned a bunch of guys over nine months’ time, which seemed like ages.
DAVE “SNAKE” SABO We spent nine or ten months searching, putting ads in the back of Metal Edge, Hit Parader, things like that. And we had so many cassette tapes come in. We had people like Oni Logan [later of Lynch Mob] fly in, and he was really close but we just didn’t click. We reached out to [future Mötley Crüe vocalist] John Corabi and he passed. We auditioned singer after singer after singer—three, four, five a week. And nothing. It was disastrous.
ROB AFFUSO At one point we decided we were gonna call the band This Blows and do a bunch of punk tunes and Rachel was gonna sing.
RACHEL BOLAN But what happened was there was a guy named Dave Feld who we were all friends with. He was working with Mark Weiss as his photo assistant. And one day he mentioned, “Hey man, if you guys are still looking for a singer, I saw this kid get up onstage at Mark Weiss’ wedding…”
SCOTTI HILL Dave Feld was like, “This guy got up and jammed with Zakk.” And we all knew Zakk.
ZAKK WYLDE I’ve known Dave and Rachel and Scotti since they worked at Garden State Music. When I went to Mark’s wedding I had just gotten the gig with Ozzy. And Mark and Dave had helped me get that gig. That wedding was the first time I ever met Sebastian. And nothin’ for nothin’, he was the same guy he is now. Just without fame or money.
MARK WEISS I knew Sebastian because he had been singing for a band called Madam X.
MAXINE PETRUCCI In ’85 or ’86 Madam X needed a new singer, and there was this agent from Toronto, Shaun Pilot, that we met when we toured there at one point. He said, “I think I’ve got the right guy for you. He’s got big hair and a great voice.” We said, “Okay, send us a promo pack.” So we got an envelope in the mail with a photo and a tape of Sebastian singing with [previous bands] Kid Wikkid and VO5.
CHRIS DOLIBER (bassist, Madam X) We pull this eight-by-ten out of a manila envelope and there’s Sebastian with his hair up, a little like Michael Monroe, only a better-looking version of Michael Monroe, if you can imagine that. He was wearing some kind of black satin McDonald’s jacket, like what maybe the employees would wear, but he rocked it out.
SEBASTIAN BACH (singer, Madam X, Skid Row) I think I was fifteen years old in that picture. That jacket … I didn’t have any money. My mom was divorced from my dad. We were struggling. I didn’t have a winter jacket. So I was in line at McDonald’s in Toronto one day and I go to this chick behind the counter, “I love that jacket. Can I have that?” She looked around and nobody was looking and she goes, “Okay.” And I just wore it.
The other thing about that jacket was that as a kid I worshipped David Lee Roth. I would read all his interviews, and he would say things like “A Big Mac’s got all your three basic food groups. Vegetables, meat, whole grain … it’s the perfect food.” So I was like, “If Big Macs are cool with Dave, they’re cool with me!”
CHRIS DOLIBER I looked at this photo and I said to myself, “No fucking way. Guys that look like that can’t sing…” Because he was stunningly good-looking. Then we put the cassette in the player and it was like, “Holy shit, this kid can sing!”
MAXINE PETRUCCI So Sebastian joined the band and we went out on the road. We hit the East Coast, Canada, Texas, Louisiana, that sort of thing. He was with us for about a year, a year and a half. It felt longer.
CHRIS DOLIBER He didn’t really have an off switch. Which was kind of annoying after a while. Like, “Geez, shut the fuck up!”
MAXINE PETRUCCI He would say to us, “You guys are just jealous because I’m prettier than you.” Things like that. All the time.
CHRIS DOLIBER And onstage he was big and lanky and kind of in his own zone and not conscious of everybody else around him. Like, he would take the mic stand that had maybe a ten-pound cast-iron weight on the bottom of it and spin it around and whack you right in the shins. Bam! And it’s like, “You motherfucker…” That’s the kind of pain that brings you to your knees.
MAXINE PETRUCCI And what would happen was, he wouldn’t last past three songs. He would blow his load.
SEBASTIAN BACH I had this this ear-piercing fucking scream back then. I can’t even describe it—it was like the Mariah Carey note, but louder than that. It was earth-shattering. And Madam X would make me run out there and do it the first note of the show. I always tried to explain to them that it blew my fucking voice out. It was very stressful to me.
CHRIS DOLIBER The first song or two he’d be singing as hard as he could and then he would be flat. Because he’d be winded. And he would say, “Punch me, hit me, do whatever you have to do! Just make me great! When I’m flat, spit on me!” And I did—at his request.
MAXINE PETRUCCI Finally we told Sebastian, “This is just not working out. You need to go home.” Well, he wouldn’t. He didn’t even have a phone number! So we took him to Mark’s wedding. Mark had only invited me and Chris, but Sebastian really wanted to go. I’m sure he saw it as an opportunity.
MARK WEISS I got married at the Molly Pitcher Inn in Red Bank, New Jersey, in June 1987. I had my secretary invite almost anyone in my Rolodex that I got along with. So she said, “How about Madam X?” I mean, I had only done one shoot with them, but it was recently, that same year. So they were fresh in my mind. I’m like, “Yeah, they were fun and I had a good time with them, invite them.”
CHRIS DOLIBER We sat in with the wedding band. We did some Zeppelin covers. I played bass, [Madam X’s] Mark McConnell played drums, Zakk Wylde played guitar. And Sebastian sang.
MARK WEISS Then Sebastian called up Kevin DuBrow. And Kevin had told him, “Whatever you do, don’t have me come up. I don’t want to sing.” But Sebastian kind of forced him. You know, put him on the spot. It was like a half-hour, forty-minute jam.
ZAKK WYLDE Sebastian got up there and knocked it out.
SEBASTIAN BACH I was doing that crazy scream, and when Zakk heard me do it he kept saying, “Do that again! Do that again!” It melted the fucking speakers.
MAXINE PETRUCCI They played a couple covers and he sang ’em great. He was always great for two or three songs. Superb. So everybody heard the great Sebastian.
SEBASTIAN BACH Dave Feld approached me and he said, “Hey, Jon’s parents want you to come over and sit down.” I was like, “Holy moly! Okay.”
MARK WEISS I had invited the whole Bon Jovi band to the wedding, but they were on the road with Cinderella so they couldn’t make it. But I was close with Jon’s family, and so his parents came. I don’t really know how they got to talking to Sebastian, because I was busy getting married, you know what I mean? But what I heard was that Sebastian befriended them.
SEBASTIAN BACH They sat me down and I said to Mr. Bongiovi, “Hey, nice to meet you. What’s your favorite song by your son?” He said, “‘Never Say Goodbye.’” I go, “That’s cool. I like ‘Let It Rock.’”
DAVE “SNAKE” SABO After the wedding I got word from Mr. and Mrs. Bongiovi: “There was this kid singing at Mark’s wedding. Great voice, skinny, tall, good-looking…” The whole bit. So we talked to Dave Feld and Mark about it and we were able to get in contact with Sebastian, who I think was out of Madam X, and he was back up in Canada at this point. We sent him four songs: “18 and Life,” “Rattlesnake Shake,” “Youth Gone Wild,” and one other that I forget the name of.
SEBASTIAN BACH When I put in their tape, “Youth Gone Wild” was on there and I liked it, but it didn’t blow my mind. But the more I listened to it, I thought, I can fucking do something with this for sure … It sunk into my brain and the melodies would go around in my head, and that’s pretty much the sign of a good song.
DAVE “SNAKE” SABO We made arrangements for him to come down to New Jersey to jam with us.
SCOTTI HILL The guy’s in fucking Toronto, but we got our money together, got him a flight, and I picked him up at Newark airport and brought him back to Snake’s house.
DAVE “SNAKE” SABO The first thing he does when he walks in the door, he goes, “Hey dude, how you doin’? I’ve got a nine-inch dick!” My mom is sitting right there and I’m like, “That’s awesome. Just awesome…”
SEBASTIAN BACH They all still lived with their parents. I had lived in a couple different countries. I had been paying rent. I had a kid on the way with my girlfriend. It was a completely different scene for me.
SCOTTI HILL First impressions of Sebastian? High energy. Super high energy. He was all over the place. All over the house. Just, you know, pacing. Lots of elbows, very lanky and tall. He had a can of Aqua Net in his hand, and he was spraying his hair, it was going everywhere. The can runs out and he just tosses it behind him. Then we drank a bunch of beers and went out. And Sebastian got in a fight. The first night.
DAVE “SNAKE” SABO We went over to this club in Sayreville called Mingles. And Mingles had a big upstairs room and a smaller, more intimate downstairs room. We went downstairs to the smaller room and there was a band playing and we said, “You know, it’d be cool if we got up and jammed…” So we got onstage. I believe we did “Youth Gone Wild” and “18 and Life.”
SCOTTI HILL Sebastian was great. He was on fire. He captivated the audience. He captivated us.
DAVE “SNAKE” SABO We played terribly.
RACHEL BOLAN We were all hammered.
SEBASTIAN BACH Inhaling beers.
DAVE “SNAKE” SABO But I believe it was Rachel that got on a mic and announced, “This is our new singer and we’re Skid Row.” And that was that. Then we proceed to get really, really drunk, and we were walking outside and I don’t know what happened but next thing we know, Sebastian is fighting somebody.
SCOTTI HILL Maybe somebody elbowed somebody or bumped into somebody, just something stupid like that. And then it’s like, “What the fuck is your problem?” One of those things. And that was it. Sebastian takes a swing at the guy.
DAVE “SNAKE” SABO He missed by a mile.
RACHEL BOLAN A big swing and a miss. And we were just like, “Dude, just chill. You’re from Canada! You’re in Jersey! You’re gonna get your ass kicked!”
SEBASTIAN BACH Well, I don’t remember that, because we drank more beers than I remember. I don’t remember that at all.
SCOTTI HILL Everybody’s breaking it up, tossing each other in the car, we’re outta there!
ROB AFFUSO Then we went to a local White Castle. We go in, we’re all hairsprayed up, you remember what the band looked like early on. Somebody calls us a bunch of fags, Sebastian turns around and swings at him, and that’s it. All of us are fighting this group of guys and it rolls out into the White Castle parking lot. It was just a brawl. We wound up in the back of police cars. But nobody pressed any charges.
DAVE “SNAKE” SABO That was the infamous night where the five of us officially became Skid Row.
DOC MCGHEE Getting Sebastian was the turning point for them. Because the songs were all there. And he was this six-foot-five guy, weighed maybe 120 pounds if he weighed that. And he had hair as tall as him. If you put tits on him, he could run for Miss Texas. He was a really good-looking kid. I started managing the band in probably ’88.
SCOTTI HILL Doc and Jon Bon Jovi started courting all the labels.
JACK PONTI I was the one who called up Jason Flom at Atlantic. Because the second I met Sebastian, I was like, “Yeah, no shit!” Because Baz was an absolute rock star. You’d have to be in a fucking coma to not see that. I said to Jason, “Listen, this local band, they’re starting to get their fucking shit together and Jon Bon Jovi’s taking a very, very heavy interest in it.” I said, “You better get on this Skid Row thing.”
JASON FLOM I got a call one Friday night from Jack: “You should go see Skid Row tonight, they’re playing in Newark.” I didn’t even really know Jack that well. But I decided to go to Newark. It was this club called Studio One. It was snowing, it was not a nice area at all. This was only the second show they’d ever done with Sebastian. So I walk in and they’re playing “Youth Gone Wild.” They’re playing “18 and Life.” And Sebastian was the best-looking guy ever. I was like, “This is the greatest fucking thing.” I started going to see the band every time they played.
DAVE “SNAKE” SABO Jason was relentless, man. He was willing to do whatever he could to get our band on Atlantic.
RACHEL BOLAN One time he came to see us at the Airport Music Hall in Allentown, Pennsylvania, this old supermarket they turned into a venue. I think we were opening for White Lion. It was a snowstorm and Jason brought Ahmet Ertegun. They fly in on a helicopter, and they take a limo to the gig, which is basically on the other side of the parking lot.
JASON FLOM It was two stretch limos. And the club was across the street from the heliport. It was hilarious. And Ahmet was his usual self. He was having a lot of fun with girls around.
ROB AFFUSO We go onstage, we do our show, and when we come off we get escorted to this room. There’s a bar set up, there’s a couch, there’s carpeting. We’re like, “We’re in the wrong room…” And then the double doors open up and Ahmet walks in. He has maybe five girls on each side of him. And he says, “Hello, gentlemen, I’m Ahmet Ertegun.” And then he leaves the girls there and goes away.
RACHEL BOLAN That guy was classic.
JASON FLOM I was trying everything I could to get this band on Atlantic. And then finally Doc calls Ahmet one day and says, “Forget it. We’re not doing it with you guys. We’re signing with Geffen.”
DOC MCGHEE I gave it to David Geffen first because of Tom Zutaut. Because Tom was probably more responsible than anybody else for me getting Mötley Crüe. So I brought Skid Row to him. But he was not into it.
DAVE “SNAKE” SABO We did a showcase for Geffen at SIR Studios in New York. Tom Zutaut was there with John Kalodner.
SEBASTIAN BACH We get in this little tiny room, and Tom Zutaut’s talking to somebody else. I say on the mic, “Hey guys, how’s it going?” He looks at me and goes, “Shut up and sing.”
DAVE “SNAKE” SABO We played nineteen songs. And then Tom says, “Well, I think you’ve got two songs.”
SCOTTI HILL We did “Youth Gone Wild.” We did “18 and Life.” We did “I Remember You.” I think the only one he liked was “Makin’ a Mess.”
JASON FLOM And the crazy thing was that Zutaut, at the time, was on one of the greatest rolls in the history of A&R. He had signed Dokken, Mötley Crüe, Guns N’ Roses. He was a god at the time.
SCOTTI HILL And then Kalodner referred to us as Junkyard. He couldn’t tell the two apart.
JASON FLOM It’s like Babe Ruth missing a hanging curve ball. I still can’t figure out how that happened. But everybody makes mistakes.
DAVE “SNAKE” SABO Truth be told, for a brief minute we were signed to Geffen. I remember after that showcase we were rehearsing down in Rachel’s parents’ garage in Toms River, and Doc called on the cordless phone. He was like, “Congratulations—you’re on Geffen Records!” And it was so anticlimactic. It was terrible, man.
SCOTTI HILL We had a band meeting and we agreed unanimously: “We’ve gotta go with Jason.” We got together with Doc and we said, “We feel like we’re making a mistake.” And we went with Atlantic and we got a label that absolutely fucking loved us.