In with the 80's Wednesday

I was their Number 1 fan - seriously, I thought I was. I am talking about the the 1980s glam metal band Poison.

I have to be honest though, when Look What the Cat Dragged In album was released (1986), I thought they were women. I truly did. I had gotten the newest Hit Parader magazine at the time, opened it up and saw a photo of Bret Michaels (lead singer), and thought (s)he was such a pretty lady. My friend (Shauna) told me I was crazy and pointed out all the armpit hair LOL. That is when I realized that this was the coolest band in the world - men in makeup!! How fancy!! I was hooked from there on out.

My room, no matter how many times I moved when I was a child, was always covered from head to toe in Poison posters and magazine pinups. I even had a door poster where Bret was *almost* life size *sigh*


Their debut album, Look What the Cat Dragged In was released on August 2, 1986. It included one single, followed by three hits, "Talk Dirty to Me", "I Want Action", and "I Won't Forget You". "I Won't Forget You" is one of my all time favorite Poison songs.



Poison's second album, Open Up and Say...Ahh!, was released on May 21, 1988. It peaked at #2 on the American charts and would ultimately go on to sell 8 million copies worldwide. The album included the band's biggest hit, "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" along with other top 10 hits, "Nothin' But a Good Time", and "Fallen Angel".

The album had created a controversy with its initial cover, a depiction of a female demonic figure with an apparently obscenely long tongue. A censored version of the cover followed, focusing on the figure's eyes.

My cassette tape had the alternative :)


Original cover: Alternative cover:



Poison's third album, Flesh & Blood, was released on June 21, 1990. It also was highly successful, peaking at #2. The record went multi-platinum, spawning three gold singles: "Unskinny Bop," "Ride the Wind," and the ballad "Somthing To Believe In ".

It too features an alternate cover, as the original featured what appeared to be running ink or possibly blood from the tattoo. (Subsequent versions of this cover removed this "extra" ink.)


Original cover:



Alternative cover:




Poison recorded a number of performances during its 1990/1991 Flesh & Blood tour which were released in November 1991 as their fourth album, Swallow This Live. The double album features live tracks from Poison's first three studio albums and four new studio tracks, which were the last recorded before C.C. Deville's departure from the band later that year.




The Band

Bret Michaels, vocals:




C.C. DeVille, guitar:




Bobby Dall, bass:




Rikki Rockett, Drums:



After doing all this "research," I had to run downstairs and dig in my keepsakes box. I pulled out my Poison scrapbook that I had made in the 80/90's and went through it. I am in possession of a 22 year old Poison magazine LOL - maybe I should put it on Ebay ;) Think anyone would mind that it is covered in my writing - I had to answer all the quizzes in it - afterall, I was truly their Number 1 fan.

Deanne xoxo