History:
King Kobra epitomized the over-the-top glam movement of the mid 80's, they were and exceptional yet unsuccessful band. Legendary drummer Carmine Appice, who had been a part of Vanilla Fudge during heavy metal's birth, grabbed his peroxide cohorts from the Los Angeles glam scene and unleashed them on an unsuspecting public. A change of style and constant line-up changes killed any momentum King Kobra had.
  Appice had asked vocalist Mark Free to record some tracks he was working on with legendary guitarist Earl Slick (Dirty White Boy, Little Caesar, etc). These demos secured a major label deal, and a band was formed around Appice, Free, Mike Wolfe (guitar), David Michael Philips (Keel, guitar) and Johnny Rod (bass). Wolfe was gone before recording for the debut started, with Mick Sweda becoming the second guitarist.
  This line-up released the first two excellent King Kobra albums and toured behind such metal heavyweights as Kiss and Iron Maiden, but the records failed to garner huge sales, even with the help of "Iron Eagle (Never Say Die)" appearing on the movie of the same name. Rod left in 1986 to join W.A.S.P. and was replaced by Lonnie Vencent. New songs were being recorded when Free decided to walk away from the band, unsatisfied with the direction the band was headed (he would resurface in Unruly Child before becoming a female solo artist named Marcie!). Marq Torien stepped in as the new front man, however he didn't last very long and took Sweda and Vencent with him to form the BulletBoys.
  Appice and Phillips picked up the pieces of King Kobra and soldiered on with Johnny Edwards (vocals), Jeff Northrup (guitar) and Larry Hart (bass). They had lost their major label deal and released King Kobra III on their own imprint, only to watch it sink without a trace. Shortly after Appice was invited to join Blue Murder, and King Kobra was no more. A reunion of sorts occurred when Appice, Sweda, Kelly Keeling (Baton Rouge and Blue Murder, vocals/bass) and Steve Fister (Lita Ford, guitar) released the critically panned Hollywood Trash album. In 2005 Philips showed up in the higly acclaimed Big Cock and released Year Of The Cock. It currently looks as if King Kobra is finished, but their debut remains a glam classic.

Links:
The Official King Kobra Page
The Official Carmine Appice Page
The Official Mark/Marcie Free Page
The Official David Michael-Philips Page
The Official JK Northrup Page
The Official Kelly Keeling Page
The Official Big Cock Page

Buy King Kobra CDs:
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