222403_381090448668671_1413592150_nThe Meister’s Metal Mayhem – Gypsy Rose – Sept. 1, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many, probably most of you have never heard of Gypsy Rose and while that’s not your fault, I’m here to try and correct that situation this week.  Gypsy Rose fell Prey to several factors never quite emerging from the shadows  of obscurity. Instead they were driven deeper into the darkness.  Placing high in a Toronto radio station’s Homegrown contest and being included on the 12 song compilation album Q107 Homegrown, beating out about 800 other bands. Gypsy Rose was born. They drew the attention of Tom Treumuth producer of Helix, Honeymoon Suite and Big Sugar, which quickly led to being signed by Gene Simmons of KISS for his new label, Simmons Records, a facet of RCA and vaulted Gypsy Rose from the Ontario club scene to the recording studio. After several successful producing stints with bands like Keel and  Black N’ Blue. Gene started his own record label in 1988 signing bands House of Lords and Silent Rage, Gypsy Rose would be the next addition. Gypsy Rose released their first and only (until 2012) album, Prey, on July 17, 1990.  The first single was released followed by a video on the lead track “Poisoned By Love”. The second single, an emotional ballad called “Don’t Turn Your Back On Me Now” would never hit the airwaves. There was a re-adjustment at RCA Records resulting in Gene Simmons and Simmons records being dropped from the roster, this crushing blow took place a mere eight weeks after the Prey album had hit the stores leaving Gypsy Rose floating in the wind.  With no record company or tour support the impending era of grunge music slammed closed the door on Gypsy Rose, enveloping them in the blackness of obscurity once again.  It could have been a different story if Prey had come out a year or two earlier as the song compositions here could certainly rival anything done by Poison, Def Leppard or Bon Jovi.

beda9e121753e22fb1e88fb9d2890865Gypsy Rose never got a fair chance back in the 1990’s and it’s hard enough to stage a reunion or comeback if you’re a band like Tesla, Stryper or Brighton Rock but more than twenty years later Michael Ross, vocalist and driving force of Gypsy Rose is again at ground zero.  In late 2012, Nashville based FnA Records released Poisoned By Love, a new album of Gypsy Rose music containing some demos, re-recordings and new material.  Michael Ross has battled with his own demons after having everything taken away when he was so close to success, as well as the loss of his mother with whom he was quite close. But older and wiser now he is ready to do what has to be done, get Gypsy Rose back out on the road and it’s easy to see how much he loves being on stage.

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On August 9th Michael Ross took the new Gypsy Rose band consisting of Rob Laidlaw (Platinum Blonde, Lee Aaron, Helix and Honeymoon Suite) on bass, guitarists Steve Skull (Killer Dwarfs) and Adam Arsenaut as well as original drummer Steve Thomas to The Rockpile in Toronto.  The band was stellar, exhibiting a great chemistry on stage even though the venue was less than packed up against Pat Benatar on the same night.

Gypsy Rose were cleargypsyly having fun on stage and gave the fans that were there everything they had, playing almost the entire Prey CD, some new compositions including “Sorry”, and selections from Michael’s solo CD, “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind”, such as “Time Flies” a song about getting clean, something Michael knows about first hand.  Michael was on hand after the performance to talk to fans and sign autographs obviously so happy to have Gypsy Rose back out on the road and thankful to those that remember them from 1990.  He was all smiles as he posed for photos with each fan and signed their CD or Cassettes, joking that he didn’t think that they’d sold this many.

preyToday Prey is out of print and only available at exorbitant prices on sites such as E-bay, in fact until recently Michael Ross did not even have a copy of his own band’s CD!!  Most of the Prey album can be found through you-tube videos. Here’s a link for the POISONED BY LOVE video and the FnA released POISONED BY LOVE ALBUM.  Assisting in bringing the Gypsy Rose name into people’s minds again is the inclusion of “Don’t Turn Your Back On Me Now” on the compilation download album provided with a donation to assist funding for the Hair I Go Again documentary film HAIR I GO AGAIN.  Hopefully I’ll be talking with Kyle Kreuger, the driving force behind Hair I Go Again in the coming weeks, so be on the lookout for that.

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Cheers, The Meister

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