The Toy Box

Retro Spins: L.A. Guns - Cocked & Loaded

After releasing their self-titled debut in January 1988, L.A. Guns turned around relatively quickly, returning to the studio in April of 1989 to begin work on the tracks that would become their sophomore released Cocked & Loaded. Recording would wrap up in June, and by August of that same year, the album was on store shelves.

Cocked & Loaded would peak on the Billboard 200 at number thirty-eight, performing better overall than its predecessor which peaked at number fifty. Much like their debut, the album would also be RIAA certified gold for selling over 500,000 units in the USA. With it would also come their first (of two) Billboard Hot 100 hit singles, The Ballad Of Jayne, which landed at number thirty-three on the charts.

Ironically, though it was their most successful song, it was actually the third (of five) from the album to receive a music video in 1990. The first two videos were for the tunes, Rip And Tear, and Never Enough.

Jayne's music video was followed by ones for I Wanna Be Your Man, and Malaria. More on these two below.

L.A. Guns undoubtedly embraced the MTV generation, utilizing the channel to its fullest potential for aided promotion.

The album kicks off with the minute and a half long Letting Go. It almost serves as an intro to the whole thing, and candidly, just as I was getting into it, it ended. From there, the Guns deliver a solid rock / metal experience, once again showing that if nothing else, they know how to play their instruments.

This time around, they even manage to crank out a few noteworthy tracks, such as Never Enough, Malaria, Magdalaine, and 17 Crash which are pretty decent songs. Unfortunately, while notable, I don't think these are songs I'll necessarily come back around to.

As a whole, L.A. Guns has been kind of boring to get through. I think what it ultimately comes down to is that I expected more from the band the ultimately birthed Guns N' Roses. There's not a whole lot of hits, and the memorable tracks are non-existent, even those noted above.

While I don't personally see the longevity in the band, it's just my opinion, and clearly not one which impacted the band. Their career spans seventeen studio albums between 1988 and 2025, among a combined slew of EP's, live albums, compilations and video albums. So, someone out there must like them. They remain active to this day, though the lineup has changed since the 80's core members, and apparently, at one point there were even two different bands running around as the L.A. Guns.

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Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.

Retro Spins: L.A. Guns - L.A. Guns

Lead guitarist Tracii Gun and drummer Rob Gardner formed the first iteration of L.A. Guns with singer Mike Jagosz, and bassist Ole Beich in 1983. This same year, Gardner would introduce Chris Weber to Izzy Stradlin, and along with childhood friend Bill "Axl" Rose, would form the band AXL, which Rose would adopt as his first name. That trio would ultimately go on to become Hollywood Rose, after a brief stint of just going by Rose. Hollywood Rose would ultimately break up in 1984.

Meanwhile, the lineup of L.A. Guns would record their debut EP, Collector's Edition No. 1, releasing it in 1985. Shortly after, Jagosz would be replaced by Axl Rose as lead singer for the band. However, this would be short lived, as Hollywood Rose would briefly reunite with Rose, Stradlin, Weber and Steve Darrow. At this time, Gardner would also join them. Following this, Weber would leave and be replaced by Gun. Guns N' Roses would formally come to fruition, taking and combining the names of Axl Rose and Tracii Gun. This first iteration would feature Rose, Gun, Stradlin, Beich, and Gardner.

Beich would leave the band, replaced by Duff McKagan, and Gun would have a falling out with Axl that caused him to depart as well. Slash would replace Gun, and following Gardner's departure, Steven Adler would join, completing the classic lineup of Guns N' Roses.

Gun would form Faster Pussycat with Mick Cripps, Paul Black, Nickey Alexander and Robert Stoddard would join gun for this new iteration and eventually readopt the name of L.A. Guns. Faster Pussycat, of course, would also continue on, but with a completely different lineup releasing their debut album. They would sign to Polygram, but prior to recording their debut, Black would be replaced by Phil Lewis, and additionally, Killy Nickels would be added to the lineup.

Tracii Gun, Phil Lewis, Mick Cripps, Kelly Nickels, and Nickey Alexander would enter the studio in June of 1987, and by August, hammered out what would become their January 1988 self-titled debut. However, after its recording, Alexander would be replaced by former W.A.S.P. drummer, Steve Riley. Though Alexander would be credited with drum work in the liner notes of the album, it would be Riley who was noted as the band's actual drummer.

Their debut would perform fairly well, peaking at number fifty on the Billboard 200, though it would not produce any Billboard Hot 100 hits. In fact, the band wouldn't produce any hit singles until 1990's The Ballad Of Jayne, which peaked on both the rock and Billboard charts, at number twenty-five and thirty-three, respectively. However, now I'm in their follow-up album's territory. So, for now, leave us pause, and jump into today's Retro Spin.

It's interesting how Guns N' Roses can come from the roots of L.A. Guns and yet be far superior to them in every aspect. Everything that Axl, Izzy, Slash, Duff, and Steven delivered on their debut, 1987's Appetite For Destruction, is absent from what Tracii, Phil, Mick, Kelly, and Nickey bring to the table. In fact, I'll go so far as to say I ended this one still hungry for something good to hear.

Effort wise, everyone's bringing their "A" game. Quality wise, it just doesn't hit. There are no standout tracks, nothing memorable, and nothing that would lead me to need to hear this album again. Candidly, I'm not even all that interested in jumping into their 1989 follow-up, Cocked & Loaded. I mean, I will, tomorrow, but I'm not necessarily excited about it.

That's really all I have to say about it, and since the band headed right back into the studio to record said follow-up, there's not a lot to say about what happen in between their debut and second album. So, I guess we call it a day on this one.

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Retro Spins: Morris Day - Daydreaming

After successfully launching his solo career with 1985's Color Of Success, Morris Day hit the road for a support tour which wrapped up in September 1986. From there, he returned to the studio to record and release his follow-up album, 1987's Daydreaming.

With it would come his greatest hit single, Fishnet, which shot up to the number one spot on the R&B charts that same year. It would also land at number twenty-three on the Billboard Hot 100. As a whole, the album would mirror the success of its predecessor, reaching number seven on the R&B charts, but falter a bit on the Billboard 200, where it would fall a couple steps behind, reaching number forty-one (in comparison to Color Of Success clocking in at number thirty-seven).

Despite its success, Spin Magazine would provide a harsh critique of the album, calling it "musical Chinese food without the fortune cookie. As soon as they're finished, you don't remember if you heard 'em or not." Ouchie! That's mean! But is it accurate?

Kind of. It's a decent album. I wouldn't say I heard anything bad, and I did manage to hear two standout, Are You Ready, and Standing On The Line. However, the remainder was relatively forgettable. Truthfully, I wasn't even all that intrigued with the number one single, Fishnets. In fact, as I type this, I couldn't even tell you how that song goes.

As I said above, it's decent, but forgettable. Beyond that, there's not much to say about it. Truthfully, I doubt I'll remember the two standouts noted above past today.

While Morris hoped to launch a consecutive film career alongside his musical one, this didn't translate to well for him. He would appear in small roles, such as for Richard Prior's Moving (1988), as well as Andrew Dice Clay's The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990), the latter which will always invoke Booty Time in my head!

Um...where was I? Oh, right, Morris Day's acting career.

He would later reprise his role in Prince's Graffiti Bridge and show up with The Time in Kevin Smith's Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back. Mind you, these are just the noteworthy ones for me. In total, he's appeared in nine movies, including Purple Rain. He's also played roles in half a dozen television shows, which included main casting for 1990's New Attitude, and 2004's Da Boom Crew.

Day also reunited with the time several times and continued to perform with them as Morris Day And The Time until the 2022 dispute from Prince's estate. Purportedly, upon his death, Prince's estate issued notice to Day that if he wished to continue using the name that he would be required to pay them a fee for said use. There's no record that shows he agreed to do so, but as of this writing, they do have shows scheduled throughout the year.

On a totally unrelated note, my 80's movie collection has filled out quite nicely.

Watching John Carpenter's The Thing for the first time.
Great movie!

A few years ago, I gave up streaming and went back to physical media. But in doing so, I made sure that I stuck closely to a strict criteria. For the most part, I stick to movies from the 80's. These consist of either ones which meant a lot to me growing up, or which I never got the chance to see but are considered iconic to the era.

Admittedly, this has been a mixed bag of movies I have and have not enjoyed. However, when a disc costs you between a dollar or two, it's not tragic when it doesn't pan out for the better.

While I will buy movies from prior to or after the 80's, these are very specific and have to be films I have not only seen and enjoyed, but which I would watch again. These don't get incorporated into my 80's collection, unless they're part of a multi-disc or box set, where separating them isn't a feasible option. A good example of this is the Die Hard box set below.

That said, if a film series includes predecessors or sequels that came before or fell after the 80's, but were in their own package, they don't get to be on the shelf. Such as the case with Star Trek.

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Christmas Catalogs - Montgomery Ward 1976

Hey! You want to spend the next two years looking at the fantastic Christmas catalogs produced by Sears, JCPenny, and Montgomery Ward? Cause I do! Yeah, I said two years, cause that's a lot of catalogs! Join me on most Monday's each month as I post up one of those fabulous books starting with 1970, and ending with 1989.

Look through every page, feeling every bit of nostalgia. Chuckle at the look and style of the wardrobes those zanny past decade people wore. Gawk at the toys you used to have, but long since parted ways with. Bring back all those memories of hours spent laying on the floor, combing every inch as your young mind pined over everything you wanted. Reminisce over the Christmas that followed as you unwrapped those lucky few that you got.

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