Winger. Let's talk about Kip Winger, please

Am I alone in this world in thinking that guy's music was... well, a bit "fake"? Not to say he was a bit... lame (for the lack of a better word), but actually... I think he was. His voice was so-so, but his power ballads were quite a bit... ugly.

No wonder Beavis & Butthead's friend, Stewart, had a "Winger" t-shirt on at all times!

 

I've had the pleasure of meeting him several times in the past. He is a sweetheart of a person. While I wasn't a big fan of the music, the entire band had great chops (the drummer from the Dixie Dregs!). Don't blame Kip for cashing in on his looks, we'd all probably do the same given the shot. He also has several new age-y solo albums out which are pretty good. He also had a terrible tragedy in his life about five years ago when his wife of less than a year was killed in a car crash near their home in New Mexico. That inspired the new age stuff.

 

I had Winger's 1st 2 albums. I like their music. Yes they probably deserve to be lumped as a "hair band" but they were one of the better ones. Bands like Bulletboys, Little Caeser, Black N Blue, etc were awful. Winger actually wrote some good pop metal songs and their ballads I think were pretty damn good. I got to see him open up for Whitesnake as a one man solo act this summer and he was great. The audience was totally into it and the songs sounded really good stripped down without the gloss. Just remember that Reb Beach, Rod Morgenstein, and Kip are really excellent musicians that just decided to make some money and write some commercial music and it worked for a while. No harm in that.

 

I liked the "Seventeen" track. I could have met the guy, but I wasn't all into the music like a fan. To be honest, this music went against a young man's rock ethics: Hair band that chicks go gooey over.

Ratt was the same thing. Sure, the toones were hip and interesting for the time, but the band was marketed to make teenage girls slide off their chairs while I'm trying to ask 'em for a date to the prom.

One of the reasons this genre (or any) of music got old is the labels just signed what was close to a successful formula, and embellished it. Heck, Dokken was a band close to guy flavor, but as soon as you get the tight pants, frillies and the hair net with androgeny, git me outta there.

Then again, Ozzy seems to be the metal version of a Cher. Three decades, the man's got a hit album in there.

But Winger wasn't destined for deep success. I'm sure Atlantic only signed them on for two albums and a development deal.....

 

Great hair...

Norm

 

All I remember was when I saw a video of him and heard his music I was surprised since he played bass on a Dylan studio track. Can't recall the tune but it was in the 80's. It just didn't fit my mental picture.

mud-

 

They made 3 albums for Atlantic and have a recent best of comp through Rhino/Atlantic. I feel bad for Kip. Their 3rd album came out during the grunge era and MTV was actually playing the first single from it and sales were OK but then Beavis & Butthead came along and helped kill the album for them by having their nerd friend in a Winger shirt and making fun of their videos.

 

Hair Bands are a guilty pleasure for me. I actually burned a CD that's nothing but Ratt, Winger, LA Guns, Skid Row, Cinderella, Crue, etc.

The thing is, the playing was usually top notch (sorry to say it, but I never got the grunge thing. As an amateur guitar player, I like to hear music that I can't play, and most of the hair bands had some serious shredders in the line up).

And you could actually remember the tunes, although the lyrics were seriously lame. For some reason, I could not seem to do that with some of the metal stuff of the day. I think I bought one Pantera CD, and thought, WTF is the attraction here?

I did get a kick out of the videos. The dude is playing bass, and suddenly, the left hand leaves the fret board while the right keeps on plucking. OK, I know its a video, but come on, I am trying to suspend belief here!

BGL

 

London Quireboys (i think that's how they spelled it) were another REALLY bad hairband......they really bothered me. Remember that song?
"Oh it's seven o' clock, time for a party......" or something awful like that.

Or Salty Dog.....THEY sucked huge. They did a version of Spoonful that just reeked.

 

Didn't Winger do a version of Purple Haze on one of their albums as well? Some songs just aren't meant to be covered by anyone, and that's one on my list.

 

Yes and it was awful.

 

I have so much to say, I don't know how to fit it all in....

I saw Kip this summer also and thought it was a decent presentation of the Winger material, but I felt that it would be better presented in a small club format. I recently saw Rik Emmett from Triumph in Philly do something like that and I think Kip could do something similar and do well with it. I don't think he'll be able to get the original lineup together.

I recently heard the single, "Down Incognito," from their ignored third record at a "gentleman's club." I figured I'd at least hear "Seventeen" or something.

I was fortunate enough to have had dinner with Dee Snider once back in the early 90s when he did his Widowmaker records and he said that Winger was all studio musicians that producer Beau Hill used to use as ringers when actual bands couldn't or wouldn't play. He said that Reb Beach played most of the guitars on the last Twisted Sister record. He didn't say why though.

Speaking of Salty Dog, I actually have made 4 comps of all obscure late 80s, early 90s metal bands and pass them out to friends. Everything from The Scream to Bonham to Spread Eagle. Lots of bands with at least one good song that never got heard. Either they came out at the wrong time or just had a minor hit. Ratt and Motley Crue and Poison are way too cool for these comps. Cheesiest of the cheese.