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LUST
1980
I met Tim Morrison (bass) and Keith Maxwell(lead guitar) at a concert in Nashville and we exchanged phone numbers; a couple of weeks later I heard them on a KDF Radio 'Battle Of The Bands' competition with a song called 'Hooker' and I was duly impressed. The drummer, Mike Easley, had sung on the demo tape and sung well, but now they were in the Finals and needed a frontman to perform live.
They called and called, and finally a few days before the big show I came out to audition and got the gig. I learned three of their songs and wrote lyrics for a few more; we went on stage at Flanigan's in Nashville (it was my first hard rock gig) and tore the roof off that sucker, taking first place in the contest. The photos on this page are from that magic night.
Within days were in the studio recording my first commercial release (that means the first time you could actually walk into a record store and buy something I had done). Our songs 'Hooker' and 'Speed Demon' appeared on "The Homegrown Album" (not the same 'Speed Demon' that appeared on the KEEL releases, but similar lyrics and obviously the same title).
The music to both songs was written by rhythm guitarist Ken Kennedy, who was a big early influence on me in terms of Metal riff-writing.
"Hooker" was a big hit on Nashville radio. I went on to form STEELER and Lust went on to record a local independent release "You Can't Rape The Willing".
A lot of my rock voice and persona were developed while in this band; I was formulating the vision of what I wanted Ron Keel the frontman to be: I wanted to combine the vocal prowess of Rob Halford and Klaus Meine with the showmanship of David Lee Roth and Paul Stanley, and that became a blueprint for my future efforts with all my Rock projects.
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