STOP THE PRESSES!!!! MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!

Retro Active is getting ready to open a second location in Myrtle Beach!!!  Back In 2 Style, a satellite store of the original, will open in the new Market Commons on Friday May 2, exactly three years after we opened our doors at Broadway at the Beach!  What a way to celebrate our anniversary!  Wave 104, the local Classic Rock station who has been with us since the beginning, will be on hand to help us kick off our Grand Opening once again!  Scott Mann will be broadcasting live from 2p-4p on Saturday May 3.  There will be appearances by Splash and Dinger the Homerun Dog from the Myrtle Beach Pelicans Baseball team, giveaways, including a pair of tickets to see the Doobie Brothers at the House of Blues.  So get out and come say "Hello" to Amy & Amy (we're becoming local celebrities, ya know!!) and check out Back In 2 Style, 981-E Hackler Street, just east of Tommy Bahama.

That being said...

Welcome to the second installment of the Rocklahoma '08 Preview.  There's lot's to get to, so let's get right into it!

XYZ

The original line up of XYZ, out of Los Angeles, consisted of Terry Ilous(vocals), Patt Fontaine(bass), Bobby Pieper(guitar) and Joey Pafumi(drums).  They were first noticed when they consistently preformed as the "unofficail" house band at the Whiskey A-Go-Go, on the legendary Sunset Strip in Hollywood.  XYZ landed their first record deal in 1989 .  With the addition of Mark Diglio on guitar, and Paul Monroe joined the band to play drums, the self-titled debut album was released in 1989 and produced by Don Dokken.  The album contained the band's two hit singles "Inside Out" and "What Keeps Me Loving You".  The follow up release, Hungry, had less success, and Diglio and Monroe left to be replaced by Tony Burnette and Joey Shapiro respectively.  The group disbanded after their tour, but have reunited several times since then. 

Armored Saint

Deep rooted in childhood friendship, Armored Saint's fate was all but sealed when in high school, founding members bassist Joey Vera, vocalist John Bush and drummer Gonzala "Gonzo" Sandoval won their first battle of the bands under the name Royal Decree.  After meeting guitarist Dave Prichard at a party, adding Gonzo's bbrother Phil, and a brief jam session, the line up was solidified.  Like most metal bands of the time, Armored Saint put in their time on the LA club scene and recored a three song EP on Metal Blade label.  The EP led to a major recording contract with Chrysalis and their debut full length album, March Of The Saint, was released in 1984.  Shortly after the release of their follow up, Delrious Nomad in 1985, Phil left the band, but the remaining four members continued to tour and record.  Raising Fear was released in 1987.  In 1989, the band returned to Metal Blade and released a live album, Saints Will Conquer and recruited guitarist Jeff Duncan.  As they began to write and record demos for a new album, tragedy struck when Dave Prichard was diagnosed with Leukemia and passed away before studio recording began.  Phil returned to the line up and Symbol Of Salvation was released in 1991, a tribute to the memory of Dave Prichard.  It received critical as well as some commercial success.  Uncertain about the future of Armored Saint, John Bush left to front the band Anthrax, and the rest of the band disbursed.  During an Anthrax hiatus in 1999, Bush and Vera got together and reunited the entire line up from 1991, and released Revelation in 2000, and Nod To The Old School in 2001.

Kingdom Come

The original line up of Kingdom Come constisted of German-born vocalist Lenny Wolf, and four Americans-Danny Stag(guitar), Rick Steier(guitar), James Kottak(drums), and Jhnnye B. Frank(drums).  Their self-titled debut album, released in 1988, eventually went platinum.  They landed an opening spot on the Monsters Of Rock tour in 1988, and followed that with the opening gig for the Scorpions.  After the lack of commercial success of their follow up album, In Your Face in 1989, the band split, but Wolf held on and began to regroup.  With a mostly European line up, the band continues to tour and record.

Living Colour

In a genre of music that was heavily segregated and predictable in the 1980s, Living Colour crossed the barrier and broke into mainstream hard rock music with an infusion of Funk, Heavy Metal, Jazz, Hard Rock and Hip Hop.  The roots of their performing stem back to numerous appearances on the stage at the legendary CBGC in New York where they caught the eye of Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones.  Best known for the rock anthem "Cult Of Personality", Living Colour has recorded four studio albums as a group.  They have been nominated for four Grammy awards, and won twice for Best Hard Rock Performance("Cult Of Personailty" 1990 and Time's Up 1991), plus an MTV Music Award for Best New Artist in 1989.  After several solo and other collaborative effeorts throughout the years, the band reunited for good in December 2000, and plan on a new release in late 2008 or early 2009.

Night Ranger

Night Ranger was one of the pioneers of the term "melodic metal" with strong, catchy, sing-along anthems like "(You Can Still) Rock In America" and strong, moving power ballads like "Sister Christian".  The original line up consisted of Jack Blades(bass), Kelly Keagy(drums), Brad GIllis(guitar), Alan Fitzgerald (keyboards), and Jeff Watson(guitar).  Their debut album, Dawn Patrol(1982) featured the hit single "Don't Tell Me You Love Me" and went almost instantly into the top 40.  Before long, Night Ranger started headlining arena shows and continued to record.  In 1989, after releasing five studio albums and continuous touring, the band split to pursue individual endeavors, including Blades involvement in the "supergroup" Damn Yankees with Ted Nugent and Tommy Shaw.  In 1996, the original line up reunited and released two new studio albums.  Though Fitzgerald and Watson have since left the band, the original three still tour with the addition of Joel Hoekstra on guitar and Christian Matthew Cullen on Keyboards.

Lita Ford

One of the biggest stories coming out of Rocklahoma this year is the return of Lita Ford to the rock-n-roll stage after a fifteen year absence.  Born Carmelita Rosanna Ford, in London, England, Ford moved to the States at four years old and began playing guitar by age eleven.  Originally part of the all girl rock band The Runaways, she ventured out on her own with her debut solo album in 1983, Out For Blood.  She enjoyed moderate success, and even more with the follow up in 1984, Dancin' On The Edge.  But the album that really put her on the map, on the radio, and on MTV, was the 1988 release, simply title Lita. It produced three top ten hits, including her #1 hit "Kiss Me Deadly" and #2 hit "Close My Eyes Forever", a duet with Ozzy Ozbourne.  Ford was married to Chris Holmes(W.A.S.P) for one year, and has been linked to such rockers as Nikki Sixx, Joe Lynn Turnerof Rainbow and Tony Lommi of Black Sabbath.  She is currently married to Jim Gillette of Nitro and they have two sons.

Extreme

Not New York, not LA, not even San Francisco, it was Boston, MA that was the origin of the group Extreme.  Their self-titled debut album in 1989 garnered moderate sales, and the final track, "Play With Me" was featured in the "mall chase" scene in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.  It was successful enough for the label to release a second album, Extreme II: Pronograffiti (1990).  The third single of the album, the harmonious power ballad "More Than Words" went to #1 on Billboard's Hot 100.  By October 1992, the album went 2x platinum.  The band continued to tour and record.  In 1994, Geary left the band to pursue the business side of music and was replaced by Michael Mangini, until 1996 when the group disbanded.  Since 2004, the band has toured off and on, and the current line up of Cherone, Bettencourt, Badger and Kevin Figueiredo is planning to release a studio album in 2008.  Paul Geary still works with the band in a management roll.

Triumph

In March 2007, Triumph was inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame after more than 30 years as a successful rock trio.  Formed in Ontario, Canada in 1975, the band consisted of three extremely talented musicians, vocalist/guitarist Rik Emmett, bass guitarist/keyboardist Mike Levine and vocalist/drummer Gil Moore.  Their powerful, fast guitar-driven music combined with strong, uplifting lyrics and sensory overloading stage shows made them almost instant arena rock legends, and prompted several commercially successful albums.  Many of the their anthem-like songs including "Fight The Good Fight", "Lay It On The Line" and "Never Surrender" remain rock radio staples today.  After Emmett left the band in 1988, fellow Canadian Phil X joined Levine and Moore and released one more studio album.  The original line up has since reunited for two festival shows, Sweden Rock and Rocklahoma.