The Obscure
The first official meeting to discuss the formation of WARRANT took place at
Burger King in Hollywood and included founders Jerry Dixon and Erik Turner along with
original singer Adam Shore and a drummer Max Asher -- he later joined Daddy Ray.
'Rocks' was the name of Warrant's first official bodyguard. He eventually
was fired for continually eating the band's food when they were on stage.
Shortly after signing their record deal, Warrant's Jani Lane invested his
share of the advance money in a black Corvette, which he crashed a short
time later.
Jani Lane's favorite candy bar is Nestle's Crunch. Also, he played high
school football (quarterback).
Steven Sweet used Pearl drums because good friend Todd Lane (drummer, New Haven) arranged an
early endorsement from Pearl.
Ironically, ex-guitarist Joey Allen currently lives next door to new guitarist Keri Kelli's parents in Orange County.
Waddell Solomon, a former asssitant for Warrant's ex-management firm,
was Keri Kelli's manager in Big Bang Babies.
Warrant was banned from the Troubador club before they were signed
because a girl named Erica jumped on stage during a performance there
and simulated oral sex on Jani Lane. It was a publicity stunt that
backfired.
"Heaven" was re-recorded after Columbia figured out the band was going
to be huge -- the label wanted a "bigger-sounding chorus" for radio -- so
the first 250,000 copies of DRFSR have the original, less-bombastic version.
The first label person to officially recommend Warrant was Columbia A & R intern Bret Hartman,
who happened upon the band at a Gazzarri's soundcheck. That's why Hartman is thanked on the
first record, even though by the time it came out he had accepted a paid position at rival
label MCA.
Heidi Richman, an attractive young blond, was Warrant's first clothes
designer.
Erik Turner's Pets: He's got two female Akitas: Ninja and Sake, whom you can see on the
VH-1 "Where Are They Now?" special. And he's got a cat named Malibu.
Jani used to be a mail man.
Joey "Allen" Cagle took two years of music theory in high school and Got an A on his composition
final by plagiarizing a Kenny Loggins tune!
Only days after the release of the Cherry Pie album, Warrant played live to a packed house at the FM Station under what pseudonym?
What 2 Warrant members were arrested when they went wheel chair racing in Carlisle, PA, after grabbing the wheelchairs from a hospital emergency room?
Which Warrant member (when still a child obviously) dressed up as a bunny for Halloween?
ANSWER: Jerry
What band's attendance record was Warrant the first to beat at Gazzari's nightclub in LA?
ANSWER: Van Halen
What famous musician financed Warrant's demo and first video only to decide he "didn't like it" when it was all completed?
Did you know that one of Erik Turner's guitars is on display at the Celveland Hard Rock Cafe?
What famous musician financed Warrant's demo and first video only to decide he "didn't like it" when it was all completed? ANSWER: Prince
What song did Warrant shoot a video for in conjunction with a public service campaign for motorcycle safety (but decided not to use the footage when it came time to release the single)? A: Big Talk
What t.v. pilot did Warrant appear in? ANSWER: Bodyguard
Who was the "moaner" on Love In Stereo? ANSWER: Fiona (Producer Beau Hill's Wife)
There are at least 4 names that were almost used instead of Cherry Pie for that album, what were they? Vertical Smile, Come Again, All You Can Eat, Love in Stereo
Who played drums on Warrant's "We will Rock you" and "The Power"? ANSWER: Clevelander Tommy Amato
This is information that donors have deemed factual.The first entry comes from Gerry G:
Next Entry from Jeanne:
Next Entry from Chris S' Webpages:
Jani won a scholarship to Kent State University in musical theater.
Erik used to wash dogs for a living [also worked for an L.A. promoter]
Joey also used to build prototype amps for Jackson Guitars.
Jerry was trying to quit smoking during the recording sessions for Ultraphobic
During the DRSFR supporting tours, the guys reportedly went
through 300,000 beers backstage! [Well, them and their guests!
On board their tour bus [christened "The Pie Wagon" for 1990] is a "groupie
filing system" stored on computer to help them keep track of who, where, how, etc.
Rumors once circulated that Jerry's bass parts were actually played by Kip Winger of Winger:
the same Kip Winger who was accused of having his bass parts played by someone else!
Jerry Dixon: "Everyone does it. When they see Aerosmith playing Permanent
Vacation, they know Steven Tyler's not making those sounds in the beginning
of the song. If you see Motley Crue do Girls, Girls, Girls,
Vince Neil's not revving up a Harley onstage. Everybody has some prerecording
somewhere. When we play In The Sticks and there are cricket sounds,
Jani's not behind the drums acting like a cricket. But without that you
lose the effect of the song. Heaven has a lot of strings. When we
play live, we want to sound close to the record, so the strings are there.
Big deal."
This info was sent to CHRIS S by Andy Jolliff:
"I worked for the original band in '85 and finished (due to
the fact that I wanted a job that paid) in early '87, so I am here to give
a few first-hand facts.
"The band was formed with the name by Adam Shore and Max
Masursky in '84, with Josh Lewis on guitar, then after one or
two shows they got Jerry Dixon in the band and played for a little
while as Warrant. Shortly after, they put an ad (or answered an
ad?) in the paper and that's how Erik got into the band.
"That's where I come in: I was hitting the clubs in L.A. and stumbled
onto this great band that won me over instantly. After following the band
to a handful of club shows, we became friends and I soon became Josh's
guitar tech. They made three or four demos, one of which made it to the
local licks show on the premier station in L.A., and the band soon started selling
out clubs almost as fast as KISS is taking over the world as we
speak!
"Anyway, that brings us to a show in San Diego, CA, July 26th (my birthday),
1986. The show was amazing! The place rocked! The party afterward
was.... anyway, we all talked of taking the world by storm, and the next
morning we all were taken by storm when Adam and Max announced their departure.
"Well, I tried to work with both bands, Warrant and Hot Wheelz
[Adam and Max], siding mostly with Warrant, and went through the
countless drummers and singers until finally Jani and Sticky
[Steven] showed up. The band didn't take long to regain the momentum
that the first Warrant had left off with. They did this by great
music and elaborate stage sets (that we built from scratch), and shortly
thereafter I left the band...
"Other techs involved in the early days were Valjean Lieker
[bass tech], Tim Mercier [Erik's tech], Andy Jolliff [me,
Josh's tech], Cindy Karpinski [drums only], and later on, after
Adam and Max, Danny and Mez [sound and lights]. I know there
were at least four techs before me, and tons after, that also deserve honorable
mention as well."
ANSWER: WADD SQUAD
ANSWER: Jerry and Jani - The State police were called and they were fined $250.00
ANSWER: Prince
Check out the photo
