| DOKKEN
DON DOKKEN—LEAD VOCALS
JEFF PILSON—BASS, VOCALS
WILD MICK BROWN—DRUMS, VOCALS
REB BEACH—GUITAR
Any band that’s managed to stick around for 18 years has a few battle scars to prove it and Dokken has a few more than most, as those familiar with its history can attest. But survival in rock ‘n’ roll comes down to one secret weapon: great songs, and Dokken has delivered eight albums full of them with multi-platinum success and the enduring appreciation of a worldwide audience.
Having survived the vagaries of a volatile music scene and internal volatility as well, Dokken approaches the new millennium armed with some of the strongest music it has ever created. With the addition of guitarist Reb Beach, who joined the band last spring, and a return to the big, hard-rocking, harmonized sound it temporarily abandoned on the experimental Shadowlife (1997), Dokken is back and in full control with the appropriately named Erase the Slate on CMC International Records.
"We have the means to take the talent that we have and make it go the distance," says bassist Jeff Pilson. "We’re all focused and going forward in the right direction. It’s time to erase the slate and get a new start with everything."
The result of that concentrated effort is a collection of 11 new tracks, including the powerful first single "Maddest Hatter," an electrifying new take on "One," the 1969 Three Dog Night hit, and the double bass burner "Erase the Slate," which became the album’s title after Dokken’s Internet fans chose it over IX in a landslide vote. "The intention was to make another great high-energy Dokken record with a lot of melody and plenty of harmonies," says Pilson.
The writing and recording of Erase the Slate was a more collaborative process than Dokken had recently experienced, thanks in great part to new member Beach, who Pilson describes as "a great player and very conscientious writer who’s right in line with where we want to go. He brings an excitement about playing both older songs and the new songs with a touch of the older style, and it’s nice to have that energy and excitement around us." The working vibe, however, was laid back, "100% more comfortable and relaxed," according to Wild MickBrown.
Dokken, without a permanent guitarist since the departure of George Lynch in November 1997, had re-established a friendship with Beach the previous summer on tour with Alice Cooper. The former Winger six-stringer and Cooper sideman, a Dokken fan, readily came aboard—and fit right in. "In Dokken, he can burn, shred, whatever he wants to do. There’s no restrictions on him," says Don Dokken. "If you’ve got a great player, let him play." Beach was thrilled: "I’ve never been in a band where I get to play so much," he raves. But Beach isn’t the only one who gets to shine. Pilson’s playing is spotlighted for the first time via the bass solo "Little Brown Pill," a hidden track on Erase the Slate, and Brown sings lead on the playful "Crazy Mary Goes Round." "Don Dokken’s vocals on this record are the best he’s ever done," says Pilson. "Every one gives me goosebumps."
Erase the Slate is the latest in a long line of accomplishments that include a 1989 Grammy Award nomination and over six million records sold, encompassing platinum-plus sales for Tooth and Nail (1984), Under Lock and Key (1985) and Back For the Attack (1987), which hit the million mark in three weeks. That year, Dokken also mined platinum with the Unchain the Night video compilation, and scored the following year with the "Dream Warriors" video, a tie-in to the Freddy Krueger thriller Nightmare on Elm Street 3.
Opening for Aerosmith from October 1987 through March 1988, and as part of the Monsters of Rock tour that summer with Van Halen, Metallica, the Scorpions, and Kingdom Come, Dokken played their biggest shows ever, including the Iowa Jam, and an L.A. Coliseum crowd of 93,000. "We played for a million people in one month," Dokken recalls. "We started out nobody and we ended up in stadiums."
On January 27, 1988, Dokken got the Key to the City from Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, who proclaimed it Dokken Day, but the distinction was somewhat ironic, as the band is not a product of the L.A. club circuit. Though formed in the city, Dokken went to Europe to record and release Breaking the Chains in 1981, remixed and reissued Stateside in 1983 after the band was signed by Elektra Records. From there, says Don Dokken, "We went straight into arenas with Blue Oyster Cult." Tooth and Nail, featuring "Alone Again," "Into the Fire," and "Just Got Lucky," launched Dokken at radio and on MTV, and the momentum continued with "In My Dreams" and "It’s Not Love" from Under Lock and Key, and "Burning Like a Flame" from Back for the Attack as the band played stadiums. But during the Monsters of Rock tour, "The internal problems had taken over the performances," says Don. Dokken officially disbanded after the last date on the tour. The live album Beast from the East (1988) was its final release, and the members went their separate ways.
Don Dokken recorded solo, receiving an American Music Award nomination in 1991. George Lynch and Mick Brown formed Lynch Mob, and Jeff Pilson fronted War & Peace. But when Dokken and Pilson’s paths crossed in 1992 and started writing together again, "the old chemistry was back. In a pretty short amount of time we had what became the Dysfunctional record," Pilson says. Recording began in early ’94 without George Lynch, who came aboard in time to finish the record for a 1995 release via Columbia/Sony. In December1994, Dokken recorded the live acoustic album One Live Night for release in Japan, and in November 1996 it became the first domestic release under Dokken’s new deal with CMC. "It gave us a new outlook on the old music, and it really worked. It really surprised everybody. Then we hit the bump in the road, and things got a bit chaotic," Pilson laughs. But now, two years later, "All the pieces are in place and we’re ready to move forward."
As Erase the Slate confirms, it’s about the music, and that has been the key to Dokken’s survival. Without the #1 hits or trendy image that helped but ultimately hurt some of its rock contemporaries, the band has the kind of timeless credibility that transcends genres. "18 years proves we have something to say," underlines Don Dokken, pointing out that the band stuck to those convictions in the grunge-ruled early ‘90s in the face of negative opposition. "At first it hit me hard and then it inspired me. ‘You know what? Kiss my ass!,’ " he told the nay-sayers. "It’s over when we say it’s over. If you don’t listen to your own instincts you might as well give it up. You’ve got to fight for what you believe in." That tenacity has been rewarded by the renewed strength of the rock market, indicative, Pilson believes, of the fact that people miss fun music. "They’re hungry for exciting rock music again. And we really feel that we finally have a record where the music and the timing and people’s tastes are going to converge. I speak for everybody when I say we’re very confident about this record," he says of Erase the Slate. "Wherever we end up going is going to be a result of great music and a band that’s ready to tackle it and focus on it."
Dokken Web Site: http://www.dokken.net
"ERASE THE SLATE"
"You see yourself doing things that you don’t like in your life, and at some point you want to erase the slate and start over again," Don Dokken sums up the sentiment of the track that gave the album its name. With all the double bass kick of the classic "Tooth and Nail," it was originally written for but not used on Shadowlife, and was revised musically and lyrically to fit the positive theme of the record.
"CHANGE THE WORLD"
Another song that went through a major metamorphosis, including a last-minute chorus change, it fell into place when Dokken had a lyrical breakthrough. His spark: " People have over-expectations from you sometimes, and want you to do everything and make it all better. But sometimes no matter how much you give them, it ain’t enough."
"MADDEST HATTER"
Inspired not by Alice in Wonderland but by a "crazy girl we know" named Mary (who returns later in the record), this slamming product of a very early writing session got a shot of adrenaline when Pilson suggested speeding it up. "Now the hatter is really off his rocker," he says. "Pretty much first take, too."
"DROWN"
"It’s about feeling like an outsider," says Dokken, "Feeling that you’ve been cast out by everybody and you’re all alone, and you want to save yourself from drowning, from everything in life that pushes you down." With a sexy groove and Dokken’s bluesy vocals, depression has never sounded this good. Late-in-the-game changes turned a questionable track into a choice cut, "and by that time we were ready to add that dark flavor to the record," says Pilson.
"SHATTERED"
It has the heavy groove, smoking guitar, and big harmony of a conventional Dokken rocker, but a spoken-word ending and some atypical vocals give this song about a broken relationship a new twist. "I got to stretch out on this song," says Dokken, whose personal experiences inspired the "shattered pictures" painted by his lyrics.
"ONE"
Three Dog Night’s 1969 classic gets rockingly Dokkenized in the band’s first recorded cover. Road-testing it live at Reb Beach’s suggestion during an "In My Dreams" jam drew rave response, and when Pilson mentioned it again during production, "We got the CD and worked it up that day. Don sang it very true to the original, but it sounds totally like his style, which is so rare in a cover," he says. "It’s perfect for him, and the three-part harmony and the way we approach the music is perfect for us."
"WHO BELIEVES"
"It’s a nice sad kind of song," says Dokken, whose chronic insomnia inspired the lyrics. "I wrote it in 20 minutes on acoustic guitar at my friend’s house in Arizona one night, when I couldn’t go to sleep. Too much was running through my head. I think everyone can relate to that. It talks about hurting over a relationship and sad things going through your mind." Musically, it was a disjointed collection of parts until "we sat down as a band and put them together," making the bridge the chorus and adding the guitar solo.
"VOICE OF THE SOUL"
Inspired initially by a book Pilson was reading called Care of the Soul, about "paying attention to your dark side," the meaning became more positive when combined with ideas Dokken had about listening to one’s inner voice. "Those crazy things you do like calling people in the middle of the night to see if they’re home, driving by their house; the relationship’s getting worse and everybody’s telling you this person is not good for you. And finally that voice inside you goes ‘Stop already! Get some pride. Why do you have to sink down to this insanity level?’ Saving grace, the voice of the soul."
"CRAZY MARY GOES ROUND"
Wild Mick Brown makes his recorded lead vocal debut on this tongue-in-cheek rocker inspired by the aforementioned wacky friend whose Harley-riding tumble and multiple-personality behavior are perfect fodder for a lighthearted, double entendre-filled party song like this. Dokken tried singing it, but felt he’d give it an inappropriate seriousness and handed over the mike to the drummer, whose vocal style he compares to "John Lennon meets Foghorn Leghorn meets Yosemite Sam."
"HAUNTED LULLABYE"
Based on musical ideas from one of the earliest jam sessions, this was the last vocal track Dokken sang, on the day Brown and Pilson finalized the lyrics, based on the latter’s painful divorce: "A haunted lullabye—that’s about what a divorce feels like."
"IN YOUR HONOR"
"It’s lamenting over lost love. Sometimes the thought goes through your mind that maybe you let the wrong one go. You blame yourself for the mistakes that you’ve made," says Pilson, who had penned the melody five years earlier, recorded it, forgot it, and reused the tape. One day Dokken left that tape running, heard the music, and while Pilson was at the store, wrote lyrics to it. "He and I finished the song in about as long as it took to write the title and play the chords."
Official Band Bio written by Gerri Miller, May 1999.
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