Formed 1986, U.S.A.
Albums:
1986
Land Of The Damned
1989
Rated Rexx
1990
Golden Gates
2001
Rexx Erected
2002
The Evil
History:
Diamond Rexx was an outrageous band that came bursting onto the scene amid a flurry of hair spray and
cutting edge glam. Despite the look, their brand of music (similar to a sleazy version
of Alice Cooper mixed with some early Motley Crue) easily separated them
from the majority of pop friendly hair bands that were hitting it big in the 80's.
The band was formed in Chicago, Illinois by vocalist Nasty Habits and guitarist
S. St. Lust in mid 1986. Four short months after their first live show the band
got signed to Island records, and with the addition of bassist Andre and
drummer Johnny Cottone they unleashed the debut platter Land Of The Damned.
The video for "Wish I Was Rich" got limited play, but it wasn't enough for
Island, which dropped the band in 1988.
In early 1989 both Lust (opting to join D'Molls, going by the
name S.S. Priest) and Andre decided to leave the band. Habits
vowed to continue with a harder sound and recruited guitarist Johnny L. Angel and
bassist Chrissy Salem for the follow-up album. Cottone left the band just
prior to the release of Rated Rexx (later appearing with Eric Steel) and Tim Tully appeared on the cover
of the album. However the tour for this album saw the return of Lust
as well as the addition of drummer Billy Nychay, but only one more album was
released before the band broke up in 1993.
With the resurgence of hard rock in the late 90's, Diamond Rexx
decided to reform in 2001 with Habits, Lust, Andre and Nychay.
But a short month later Andre decided to pursue school, and was temporarily
replaced by Basil Cooper (Daisey Chain and Mind Bomb), before
Tommy Hanus rounded out the reformed band. Rexx Erected, a previously
record but unreleased album, showed that the band still had the magic that set them
apart so many years ago. Nychay (who would later form Kicking K8) then departed to be
replaced by Bill Schmidt for the group's latest offering. The band has remained quiet
during the last few years, but I doubt we have seen the end of Diamond Rexx yet.
Links:
The Official Diamond Rexx Page
The Official Kicking K8 Page
The Official Tim Tully Page
Buy Diamond Rexx CDs:
Purchase at Amazon.com
Purchase at CDUniverse.com
Purchase at eBay.com