Contraband was a short-lived supergroup/side project that included members of several famous rock bands from the 1980s, such as Shark Island, McAuley Schenker Group, Ratt, L.A. Guns, and Vixen.

Contraband
OriginLos Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres
Years active1990–1991
Past membersRichard Black
Michael Schenker
Tracii Guns
Share Pedersen
Bobby Blotzer

Contraband came to be after a Vixen and Ratt unplugged session on MTV.

The band released only one self-titled album in 1991 which received lukewarm reviews. The album was a commercial failure and the band disbanded shortly after, while touring with Ratt. The song "Loud Guitars, Fast Cars & Wild, Wild Livin'" was included in the movie If Looks Could Kill soundtrack. In the US, the album charted at number 187. Their cover version of "All the Way from Memphis" appeared on the UK record chart in July 1991.[3] "Loud Guitars, Fast Cars & Wild, Wild Livin'" was later covered as "Loud Guitars, Fast Cars & Wild, Wild Women" by Blue Tears later in the early 1990s and released for the 2005 album Dancin' On the Back Streets. "Bad for Each Other" was previously recorded and released by Richard Black's main band Shark Island on their 1989 album Law of the Order.

Band members

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Contraband (1991)

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Contraband
 
Cover design by Hugh Syme & Frenchy Gauthier
Studio album by
Contraband
ReleasedMay 6, 1991
RecordedAmerican Recording Studio, Woodland Hills,
Sound City Studios, Van Nuys,
Cornerstone Studio, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California
Length43:06
LabelImpact/EMI
ProducerKevin Beamish and Randy Nicklaus
Michael Schenker chronology
Save Yourself
(1989)
Contraband
(1991)
M.S.G.
(1992)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [5]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal6/10[6]

Track listing

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No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."All the Way from Memphis"Ian Hunter4:56
2."Kiss by Kiss"Michael Thompson, Mark Spiro4:19
3."Intimate Outrage"Spiro, Dann Huff, Phil Naish4:57
4."Bad for Each Other"Richard Black, Spencer Sercombe, Steve Diamond4:28
5."Loud Guitars, Fast Cars & Wild, Wild Livin'"Gregg Fulkerson, Michael Spears, Black4:26
6."Good Rockin' Tonight"Roy Brown3:23
7."If This Is Love"Steven Pasch, Anthony Krizan, Black5:03
8."Stand"Tim Feehan, Brian MacLeod4:04
9."Tonight You're Mine"Pasch, Krizan4:43
10."Hang On to Yourself"David Bowie2:47

Credits

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  • Spencer Sercombe – guitars, backing vocals, musical director
  • Steffan Presley – keyboards
  • Kevin Beamish – backing vocals, producer, engineer, mixing
  • Randy Nicklaus – producer, mixing
  • Joe Barresi – engineer
  • Steve Hall – mastering

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Saulnier, Jason (January 23, 2009). "Michael Schenker Interview". Music Legends. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
  2. ^ Popoff, Martin (2014). The Big Book of Hair Metal: The Illustrated Oral History of Heavy Metal's Debauched Decade. Voyageur Press. p. 205. ISBN 978-0-76034-546-7.
  3. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 118. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  4. ^ "Biography by Doug Stone". Allmusic.com. Retrieved January 18, 2009.
  5. ^ Henderson, Alex. "Contraband Contraband review". AllMusic. Retrieved November 6, 2012.
  6. ^ Popoff, Martin (August 1, 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 85. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.