Listen to our full conversation on my podcast “Beyond the Fame.”
You heard them all over the radio in 1990 with hard rock anthems like “Up All Night.”
This Friday, Slaughter rocks Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races in West Virginia.
“We just stay right to the nostalgia-based stuff,” frontman Mark Slaughter told WTOP. “It’s a good time, it’s a trip down memory lane, the band sounds great, the shows have been doing outstanding business and people are walking away with smiles on their face, so it’s nice to entertain again and bring some happiness to a very distraught world, so to speak.”
Rather than touring the road, they fly in for specific gigs, this time with the band Great White.
“We do what we call fly dates, so we fly out,” Slaughter said. “We’ve done a lot of shows with Great White and it’s been awesome. We do shows every week. It’s been like a weekend warrior thing. … We’re jet-setting and earning our Delta points, that’s for sure.”
Born in Las Vegas in 1964, Slaughter grew up listening to the rock ‘n’ roll greats.
“I listened to the radio like crazy: The Beatles, Grand Funk [Railroad], then it became [Peter] Frampton, Boston and [Black] Sabbath — all those classic rock bands [are] a part of my DNA,” Slaughter said. “Being from Vegas, there’s a lot of different influences because that is the entertainment capital of the world, starting from the Rat Pack and forward.”
How did he meet future Slaughter bass player Dana Strum, a D.C. native?
“He was working at the studios in Hollywood out in Burbank. He needed some background vocals and somebody said, ‘You should call this guy,'” Slaughter said. “Next thing you know, I’ve been in a band with him since 1985 and we’re still going strong to this day.”
Slaughter and Strum joined former kiss guitarist Vinnie Vincent for the band Vinnie Vincent Invasion, creating the song “Love Kills” for “A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master” (1988).
“It was a great experience,” Slaughter said. “I went from guitar teacher to singer and got a chance to tour with Iron Maiden and Alice Cooper. As a young kid at 22, it was a pretty exciting time. I love being able to reminisce on being a part of all that. I’m very blessed.”
They soon broke off to form their own band, Slaughter.
“Vinnie had a different vision than we did,” Slaughter said. “Everybody’s entitled to how they think their music should be. It wasn’t a talent show. It was just about making music and being the guys next door and not doing the glam thing that Vinnie was very hot on.”
They didn’t waste any time. Their very first show was opening for Kiss in Lubbock, Texas, while their debut album “Stick It To Ya” went double platinum with the hit “Up All Night.”
“Being from Las Vegas, it’s what you do: You end up turning your clock around completely. There are no clocks in the casinos there — that was the whole vibe,” Slaughter said. “When we did our video, we ended up getting a new-coming video director, his name was Michael Bay — might have heard of him! — that was his first start in the entertainment side.”
They saw a spark in Bay, who would direct blockbusters like “Armageddon” (1998).
“We looked at a lot of directors’ reels and I just said, ‘I want like a beer commercial, I want the sexiness, the girls, the nightlife and the whole trip,’ and he got it,” Slaughter said. “It was a winning team and those visions are still in my head to this day.”
The debut album also featured the song “Fly to the Angels.”
“We all lose somebody sometime in our life,” Slaughter said. “It’s about letting go and moving on with your life and keeping their spirit alive in what you do.”
They also recorded “Shout It Out” for the movie “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey” (1991).
“We were on the road with Kiss at the time and Jimmy Iovine, the label exec at Interscope, reached out and said, ‘Hey, can you write a song for this movie?’ We said, ‘Absolutely,’ so Dana and I went into a little room at a Day’s Inn hotel and basically wrote the idea. Then we stopped one week later in Vancouver, Canada, and ended up tracking the song.”
You’ll hear all of these nostalgic tunes if you come to Hollywood Casino.
“If they want to party and have a good time and want to smile, come on out,” Slaughter said. “It’s Slaughter, it’s Great White, it’s going to make you smile, come get you some!”
Listen to our full conversation on my podcast “Beyond the Fame.”
