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Album Details
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· Produced By: Spiders & Snakes
· Running Time: 40.14
· Release Date: Out Now
· Released: US
· Genre: Glam / Rock / Alternative
· ArtistLink: Spiders & Snakes
· LabelLink:
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Artist Bio
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Former LONDON and ULTRA POP bandmembers and founding SPIDERS & SNAKES
bandmembers Lizzie Grey and Timothy Jay are continuing SPIDERS & SNAKES as
an acoustic two-piece acoustic duo highlighting only
vocals/guitar/percussion (like the original T Rex band with Marc Bolan and
Mickey Finn). The exciting electric release in February 2005 of the
long-overdue album from these Hollywood veterans may prove to be the
biggest and best in SPIDERS & SNAKES notorious history as cult faves of
the Hollywood, California underground.
Entitled Hollywood Ghosts, the album features 12 BRAND NEW STUDIO TRACKS
with guest appearances from Angelo Moore from FISHBONE on saxophone,
Stephen Ellis from SURVIVOR on harmonica and Matt Cross from N.Y.C. on
bass. Recorded over a two year period, the album is the band's 7th release
overall and their first studio album since 2000’s London Daze. The
bonus DVD disc is a veritable 15-year documentary of the band in the form
of 15 music videos, live concert footage, backstage and on-air interviews
and a color slide show of rare and never-before-seen photos presented over
a soundtrack of the band's illustrious past. Produced by Gavin Ross
(TRACII GUNS, BLOOD JUNKIES et al) and mastered by Robert Hadley (RAY
CHARLES), Hollywood Ghosts explores various songwriting styles and musical
genres, including the lead vocal debut of drummer/keyboardist/co-founder
Timothy Jay on four songs, who wrote and/or co-wrote over half of the
original material on this album with partner Lizzie Grey. The mixture of
the duo's vocal and writing styles lends and extraordinary touch and depth
to the material, which makes Hollywood Ghosts unlike previous releases in
SPIDERS & SNAKES fifteen-year career.
SPIDERS & SNAKES are currently booking acoustic shows in the Hollywood
area and have been appearing on a consistent basis at the 14 Below,
Universal Bar & Grill, the Cat Club, The Joint and Paladinos.
Is this the year of the Spider? Is it the year of the Snake? Lizzie Grey
and long-time musical partner Timothy Jay are again gambling on both! For
more information, go to www.spidersandsnakes.com for news updates!
True Hollywood survivors. A Glam Rock band paying particular homage to the genre's greats of the 70's, SPIDERS AND SNAKES evolved from erstwhile LONDON guitarist Lizzie Grey's ULTRAPOP project. The group's first line-up in 1990 comprised vocalist/guitarist Lizzie Grey, guitarist Cup Cake, ex-RUBY SLIPPERS bassist Vinnie Votel and LONDON/ULTRAPOP drummer Timothy Jay (a.k.a. Tim Yasui). The first release in 1991 was a five track mini album entitled Arachnomania, containing three originals and covers of the SWEET's “Little Willy” and ALICE COOPER's “Billion Dollar Babies.”
The EP would eventually top the import charts in Japan, fueled by the infamous metal radio DJ - Masa Ito - and a stellar review in BURRN! Magazine. While on their first U.S. tour the band found themselves in the mountains of Arkansas, where they recorded their 2nd EP, entitled simply Arachno II. Released as a fan-only title in 1992, the band continued to write and tour, eventually losing their bassist and rhythm guitarists along the way. Recording as a duo for the first time, Grey and Jay released their first full-length CD 2000 RETRO thru RKD/RED (Sony) distribution in 1994 and despite an MTV music video for “Lost For Words”, the album failed to chart.
The band returned to the studio with new bassist Leigh Lawson and in 1995, Oddities: The Glitter Years was produced by the renowned figure of KIM FOWLEY. It boasted further covers in the form of THE HOLLIES “The Air That I Breathe” and SWEET’s “Little Willy.” As the US punk movement exploded mid-decade, Grey, Jay and Lawson hooked up with FLIPSIDE magazine’s Martin McMartin and Scott from Epitaph Records’ THE HUMPERS, releasing 1997’s Astro Pop in a co-venture with RAFR Records. Produced “punk rock” style with no click-tracks and two cases of beer, the album featured the “new look” SPIDERS & SNAKES in an all-silver “sci-fi” image, complete with shiny silver face paint! Returning to a more traditional hard-rock sound, SPIDERS AND SNAKES 2000 album London Daze features a cover of MÖTLEY CRÜE's “Public Enemy No 1”, a track co-written by Grey. Quite spectacularly, and boosted by a music video shot for the aforementioned “Public Enemy No 1”, the album became quite a radio hit.
Tragically the band was dealt a huge blow though when Lawson, who had been suffering from an enlarged heart, passed away suddenly. The bass player had simply gone to sleep in the middle of the day and failed to wake up, ironically only four weeks after London Daze hit the stores. Still in shock, SPIDERS AND SNAKES cancelled their fall 2000 tour to regroup. Eventually it emerged that a mysterious 'Mr. X' had filled the bass position in early 2001 (Mr. X was Jay’s longtime buddy from the east coast, Joe Petro). The band's seventh album, entitled Hollywood Ghosts featuring a guesting Angelo Moore of FISHBONE on saxophone, was recorded during 2004/2005, with Grey and Jay returning to their status as a duo. That same year Petro and Jay (Yasui) were featured in FOREVER SAY DIE!, a one-off band collaboration assembled to record a version of “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” for the Cleopatra Records BLACK SABBATH tribute album Evil Lives: A True Metal Tribute To Black Sabbath. The band was fronted by Happenin' Harry of the HAPTONES with guitars courtesy of ARMORED SAINT's Jeff Duncan.
In 2005, a 15-year DVD Documentary of SPIDERS & SNAKES’ illustrious career will be released in conjunction with Hollywood Ghosts, appropriately dedicated to the memory of the late Leigh Lawson……….GARRY SHARPE-YOUNG/Rock Detector.
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