Pre-Hardline Band Brunette Release Two Demo Albums
October 30, 2014
Johnny and Joey Gioeli have released two albums full of demo recordings from their ’80s band Brunette, the group that pre-dated the formation of Hardline with Journey guitarist Neal Schon. ‘Demos 1989-1990’ and ‘Rough Demos’ — the latter featuring what would become a hit single for Hardline, “Hot Cherie” — can be pruchased now at www.fnarecords.net.
Undoubtedly, Brunette was one of Hollywood’s greatest unsigned treasures — despite the fact that every big-wig A&R guy had the ’80s hard rock band on their radar. The coveted major label deal was just around the corner, and Brunette had definitely paid their dues. Relentless cross-country touring, standing-room only showcases, sold out shows, and ingenious marketing schemes had the band prepared to jump to the next level. Unfortunately for Brunette, the oft-used excuse of ‘creative differences’ stopped this fast moving machine dead in its tracks.
In 1987 the Gioeli brothers had put together a solid powerhouse band that went by the name of Killerhit in Pennsylvania. On the advice of good friend and fellow Pennsylvania native Bret Michaels (Poison), they packed up their bags and headed out to Los Angeles where their cream of the crop craftsmanship could be better noticed. When they got to L.A., they had taken notice that the most successful bans all had a blonde frontmen. Since they didn’t follow the well recognized blueprint of having a blonde lead singer, let alone a blonde in the entire band, they changed their name to Brunette.
The band also struck down the blueprint of taking every gig you could get in Hollywood. Instead, they played once every other month which created a great demand and led to many sold out shows. In between those L.A. gigs, the band didn’t just sit idle, instead they criss-crossed the country building a name for the band in all markets. Brunette were definitely a hard-working band.
In 1988, Brunette masterfully executed an ingenious marketing campaign. They hired a plane to fly banners (which read ‘Brunette Rocks’ and ‘Brunette Attacks in August’) over the L.A. Coliseum during Van Halen’s set at the Monsters Of Rock Festival, exposing 90,000 plus onlookers to the band. Also, speaking of Van Halen, Brunette would eventually break Van Halen’s alltime single weekend attendance record at Gazzari’s night club.
In a few short years, the band had amassed a vast and varied catalog of demo recordings which can now be heard here on the FnA Records releases entitled ‘Demos 1989-1990’ and ‘Rough Demos’. ‘Demos 1989-1990’ have stellar recordings of the band’s most popular songs while ‘Rough Demos’ showcase some rough recordings and the direction the band was heading. The song “Hot Cherie”, later done by Hardline, is also featured on ‘Rough Demos’.
At the top of their game, Brunette called it quits due to creative differences. This would lead to the Gioeli brothers teaming up with Neal Schon (Journey) and the creation of the melodic band Hardline and their MCA released album ‘Double Eclipse’. Johnny Gioeli would later go on to sing for Axel Rudi Pell and most notably became the singing voice of the cartoon character Sonic The Hedgehog. Other members of Brunette went on to work with Vince Neil, Bangalore Choir, Cinderella and Big House.
So here we are, 25 years in the making, and the fans are getting what they have long been asking for, two official releases from Brunette on FnA Records.
Courtesy of www.sleazeroxx.com
