Tigertailz formed in Cardiff, Wales, 1985, and soon settled on a line-up featuring Pepsi Tate (bass), Jay Pepper (guitar), Stevie Jaimz (guitar/vocals), and Ace Finchum (drums). They recorded a demo which eventually became their first single 'Shoot To Kill', selling over 2000 copies, and this inevitably led to serious interest from record labels. Following 2 sold out shows at London's Marquee, the band signed to Music For Nations, a well respected metal label who had also signed Metallica and Poison. The debut album, 'Young and Crazy' was recorded in 2 weeks in 1987, and showcased the band's speciality - a mixture of extreme glam rock, heavy metal histrionics and pop melodies, with influences such as Kiss, Hanoi Rocks, Alice Cooper and Aerosmith very much in evidence. To support the album, Tigertailz supported Japanese superstars Vow Wow and Irish hopefuls Mamas Boys. During the tours, bad feelings between vocalist Steevi and the rest of the band came to a head and he departed. A replacement was found in the aptly named (for a glam band) Kim Hooker, who was previously bassist in another signed band, Rankelson. Tigertailz re-recorded 'Livin' Without You' from the debut album and released it as a single, then embarked on a tour supporting UFO. The fans took to Kim and the band seemed to become more fun (and more pop) than their previous line-up. The second album 'Bezerk' was released in early 1990, and the band found themselves commercially more successful, as the UK music scene had warmed to the glam metal genre thanks to American bands such as Guns n' Roses and Poison. The album featured Tigertailz crowning moment in future single, 'Love Bomb Baby'. With lyrics like "You're not a lady you're a love bomb baby, love bomb baby come and blow me away", the high camp of the bands' image took centre stage, but the music took the sassyness of Kiss and the melodies of Abba and created a surefire hit that was unbelievably ignored by the public. A b-sides compilation was released (Japan only) called Banzai in 1992, and the next album proper was already on the way when drummer Ace departed, having lost interest in Tigertailz. The album called 'Wazbones' took 2 years and £200,000 to complete, but was shelved on the eve of release when their US label fell out with their manager. Eventually they obtained the rights to the album after a year of legal wrangling, but by this time founder member Jay had left. The album was re-recorded with new guitarist Cy, and the band toured under the name Wazbones in the US (due to the dispute with their label) and Tigertailz in the UK (as no-one would know who they were otherwise!). When the album did emerge in 1995, the music industry was very different to the scene that they had first emerged from, and there wasn't much interest left in the band. Following his early departure from the band, Steevi Jaimz went on to form his own band, St Jaimz (who ironically would later kick him out, despite the band being named after him!) and then Warparty, before moving on to his most recent project, Jaimz Gang. He was last known to be based in London during 2000, but the whereabouts of Steevi and the other members of Tigertailz since this date are unknown. IF YOU LIKE THESE, YOU'LL LIKE TIGERTAILZ: Kiss, Hanoi Rocks, Aerosmith, Poison, Alice Cooper, Motley Crue, Faster Pussycat. |
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