How GREAT WHITE Got SO POPULAR!

The story of how Jack Russell and his band Great White got so popular. Have a video request or a topic you'd like to see us cover? Fill out our google form! https://bit.ly/3stnXlN -----CONNECT ON SOCIAL----- TIKOK:https://www.tiktok.com/@rocknrolltruestory Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rocknrolltruestories Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RNRTrueStories Twitter: https://twitter.com/rocktruestories Blog: www.rockandrolltruestories.com #greatwhite #jackrussell #markkendall I cite my sources and they may differ than other people's accounts, so I don't guarantee the actual accuracy of my videos. These videos are for entertainment purposes only. READ OUR DISCLAIMER https://rockandrolltruestories.com/youtube-disclaimer/ Great White soon cut an EP with Don Dokken and Producer Michael Wagener for $5,000.The problem was that the rock stations in LA KLOS and KMET didn’t play independent records as part of their regular rotation. So Niven decided to talk with the folks at both stations who agreed to give the EP some spins and it soon took off selling an impressive 20,000 copies. Kendall recalled I’d never heard of a band with a song in rotation. Not Ratt, not Dokken, none of them. It was something that was unheard of. But Alan was able to do it. And that really got a buzz happening. Everybody was going, “What the heck’s going on here? Great White’s on the radio!” The band son got 8 record labels offering them deals with the group signing with EMI. . Great white released their debut lp which was self titled in 1984. . But it proved to be a commercial disappointment, with Russell telling the LA Times “It wasn’t a great album. We were trying to write heavy metal anthems back then. We were much more metal than we were much more metal than we are now. We really lacked direction.” Not helping was that after they returned from touring with Judas Priest, there was a shakeup at the their label, leaving them without any allies and they were soon dropped. Russell also claimed that the band hadn’t yet finalized their classic lineup and that worked against the band with him adding the group’s drummer gary holland wasn’t very good adding ‘everybody had progressed musically, but the drummer was the weak link in the chain.” without a label In search of a label deal, Their manager Niven went back to the 7 other labels who had previously offered teh band a deal. Niven remarked to loudersound “I was utterly naïve. I thought I’d have seven companies interested in taking a look at the situation. What I actually had were seven pissed-off bridesmaids who said that they weren’t good enough for us first time around.” The group brought in drummer audie desbrow, which according to russell made the band sound tighter. They also added keyboardist and one of the band’s assistant engineers on their debut LP Michael Lardie giving the group a more pop element making them more commercially viable. Lardie, had started playing LA’s music clubs at the age of 15. Without a label deal, Great White soon focused on playing clubs for two years refining their sound, becoming more blues influenced at the insistence of their manager who thought blues based rock was more timeless and niven even got involved in helping co-write some songs. Kendall admitted that Russell wasn’t yet refined in that dept The group independently released second LP Shot in the Dark in 1986. Their cover of the Angels song Face the Day quickly became one of the top played tracks on Los Angeles radio, getting the attention of Capitol records, coincidentally enough was the parents company of EMI in the States. Capitol signed the group and reissued Shot in the Dark and by the end of the decade it sold about 100, 000 copies. The band underwent another lineup change ahead of releasing their 1987 release once bitten firing bassist Lorne Black and enlisting tony montana. Russell told the times ‘some people don’t know when to stop partying and start playing.” Lardie remarked to an interviewer around the time of once bitten coming out “This band is a live band and that’s why we work so hard in the studio to make records to go out and play. I Never consider studio part of the job. I engineered the record, so i have an interest in that aspect as well. The album was produced by the band Lardie joined the group in 1985” Once bitten was considered to be a more mainstream record, - using more synethsizers and acoustic guitar,s but Russell admitted the album was completely rewritten months before it’s release admitting “they were trying to write hit songs. They were good tunes mind you but they weren’t great white. . They sounded like a heavy metal journ

Added 27 Jul 2026