Faster Pussycat
Biography Faster Pussycat
Faster Pussycat
Sleaze: immoral, sordid, and corrupt behavior or material. No band epitomizes Hollywood sleaze more than Faster Pussycat. Countless bands have adopted their look and demeanor in order to try and ride the Hollywood wave to success. Most fail. For those bands it’s a costume…an act. For Faster Pussycat it’s a way of life. They said it best in their own song “Sex, drugs & Rock-n-Roll” off their 2006 album “The Power and the Glory Hole”. However don’t be mistaken, they are much more than an image. First and foremost they are a rock n roll band that has put out consistently great records and given it all on stage, where it counts the most.
Singer Taime Downe formed the band in 1986, taking its name from the cult classic Russ Meyer film Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! In 1987 they released their self-titled debut album which went gold. The album was loaded with sexual innuendo and bravado and struck a nerve in the glam rock community, though they were always a little more down and dirty than glam. During that time they were interviewed and played two songs (Cathouse and Bathroom Wall) in the documentary film “The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years. The documentary captured the general vibe of the Sunset Strip bands during that time period, with Faster Pussycat being featured front and center.
In 1989 they released the album “Wake me when it’s over”, which spawned the massive top 25 hit single “House of Pain” propelling them beyond the sunset strip to worldwide acclaim. They received substantial airtime on MTV for the video and toured with some of the biggest bands in history: Guns n Roses, David Lee Roth, Motley Crue, Kiss, Alice Cooper and many more. They were able to reach fans all across the world and the sunset strip seemed endless as fans clamored for a taste of the famed Faster Pussycat sleaze. The album went gold and to this day many hail “House of Pain” as one of the greatest power ballads of all time. The band’s line-up during this time was Taime Downe (vocals), Greg Steele (guitar), Brent Muscat (guitar), Kelly Nickels (bass) and Mark Michals (drums).
In 1992 the band released the album Whipped and toured in support of it. Following the tour the band broke up, with each member heading in separate musical directions.
Taime Downe decided to go in a more industrial rock direction working with the Chicago-based band Pigface, before relocating back to Los Angeles to form The Newlydeads, who would release three albums. Their self-titled debut, a remix album titled “Re-bound” and “Dead End”.
