Formed 1981, U.S.A.
Albums:
1984
Black 'N Blue
1985
Without Love
1986
Nasty Nasty
1988
In Heat
1998
One Night Only: Live
2001
The Demos Remastered: Anthology 1
2001
Ultimate Collection
2002
Live In Detroit - 1984
2005
Collected
2007
Rarities
History:
Black 'N Blue were melodic pop-rockers that were labeled to be the "next big
thing" in the mid 80's, but despite having a loyal fan base, they never broke through
commercially.
The group was formed by Jaime St. James (vocals),
Tommy Thayer (guitar), Jeff Warner (guitar), Patrick Young (bass)
and Pete Holmes (drums) in Portland, Oregon in 1981. By relocating to Los
Angeles, they made their debut on the first Metal Massacre
compilation with the song "Chains Around Heaven", before landing a major label deal.
The band opened for Kiss in 1985, and was able to reach a much larger audience,
yet it failed to translate into sales for the boys. Kiss' Gene Simmons
even produced the In Heat album, but even that couldn't sell the band to the
public, and by 1989 the group had disbanded. Lack of a hit single seemed to be the missing
ingredient for this hard rocking quintet. By opening for some of the biggest names
in the metal scene, the band was able to sell roughly a million units of their albums,
but with expectations so high that just wasn't enough.
Since the groups demise, St. James has recorded with Freight Train
Jane, Dry Rot and St. James. Thayer went on to record with
Doro, Harlow and Shake The Faith. Holmes would form Monster with some ex-Malice
members.
Black 'N Blue reformed in 1997 for a show that would be recorded and
released as One Night Only - Live. The band would once again reform in 2003,
with Shawn Sonnenschein filling in for Thayer (who is currently playing
the Space Ace in Kiss); to work on a new album due for release called Hell Yeah!
A big break came to St. James in 2004 when he replaced Jani Lane as the
front man for multi-platinum rockers Warrant. Black 'N Blue is another
band that just didn't get the recognition they deserved.
Links:
The Official Jaime St. James Website
The Official Tommy Thayer Page
The Official Warrant Page
Buy Black 'N Blue CDs:
Purchase at Amazon.com
Purchase at CDUniverse.com
Purchase at eBay.com