Metal Sludge The Power and the Glory
LOVE/HATE/RESPECT
‘Women were never a problem. The only problem is when you have to kick them off the bus.’ On the 25th annivesary of Love/Hate’s masterful debut CD ‘Blackout in The Red Room,’ guitarist Jon E. Love looks back
By Gerry Gittelson
Metal Sludge Editor at Large
LOS ANGELES — He’s got a new band now called Jon E. Love and The Haters just in time for the 25th anniversary of the Love/Hate album “Blackout in A Red Room,” still regarded by those who know their ass from their elbow as among the best rock debuts in history.
Guitarist Jon E. Love has been known as much for his talent as for his temper through the years, but he is a good mood these days. His new band is in the formative stages, but with major talent this looks like it could be one of the success stories of 2015.
The band made an informal debut Friday, Feb. 20 at the Rainbow Bar & Grill — “free pizza,” Love said — before returning to the Sunset Strip for a concert on Monday, March 16 at the Whisky.
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METAL SLUDGE: So Love/Hate is celebrating the 25th anniversary of “Blackout in a Red Room.” When you look back, when you reach a milestone like this, what are some of your memories from that time?
JON E. LOVE: Oh man, back then, getting signed by Columbia after being the house band at the Whisky, that was like winning the lottery — and not having to pay taxes.
Take us through the process of actually getting signed.
JON E. LOVE: Well, we had actually first done a showcase in 1985. The band was called Data Clan, and Jizzy hadn’t joined yet. We had offers from Capitol and Atlantic, but they just didn’t go through. We had a bad showcase. Jerry Buss had let us use his backyard,and every major label in town was there, but unfortunately the sound company got switched with a different soundboard, and it was a horrible night, and that killed us.
Then we changed the name and regrouped after first going to Japan. When Jizzy first joined, we were still called Data Clan, and we did a show where our computer bumped out, so we just changed the name to Love/Hate and threw away the computer.
That’s interesting. It’s a great name.
JON E. LOVE: Love/Hate was actually the name of one of our songs, a horrible song but we liked the name.
I remember you guys back then. You were kind of raw, not as polished as some of the other bands, but good songs. One thing for sure, you did not sound like anyone else. Love/Hate had a very unique sound, would you agree?
JON E. LOVE: Yes. We all moved to live in a warehouse downtown, to stay away from the Sunset Strip, and we came up with some good concepts and you know what? We became the bastard child of our environment.
I also remember how Love/Hate used to love to smoke marijuana.
JON E. LOVE: Oh yeah, we were all pot heads.
You were one of the most popular bands in Rock City News. That’s where I got my start.
We did full-page ads, really creative full-page ads, and we were also the band that first started up the No Bozo Jam on Monday nights. Every time we ever went to the Whisky, they would just line up the free beers for us. For an unsigned band, we were treated really well. The Whisky was our house, and eventually we got turned into headliners, and we were doing sold-out shows. Everything started really coming together.
And you had those really cool custom leather jackets, remember?
JON E. LOVE: Yes, I do.
Do you still have yours?
Yeah, I’m actually giving it away when we play the Whisky on March 16. The jacket that I wore on the video “Blackout in a Red Room,” when we play there, I am going to present it the Whisky to honor them and pay tribute for all the help in our career. It’s a Monday night, too, just like the old days, and it’s a free show.
When you signed, you had Tom Werman as your producer, and he done Motley Crue.
JON E. LOVE: Tom did Motley Crue and Ted Nugent. He actually had four top-10 hits the year before we recorded the record, in 1988, and we wanted him because of the Motley Crue record. We wanted him to produce our first record.
How good did you think the band was?
JON E. LOVE: I thought we would make something special with “Blackout,” and that gave us some exposure. “Blackout in a Red Room” was a good song, but “Why Do You Think They Call it Dope” was actually bigger for us, and Riki Rachtman used to play us on Headbanger’s Ball all the time.
The tour with AC/DC must have been incredible. What a first break to have.
JON E. LOVE: We had actually gone out first with Ronnie James Dio. That was our real first tour, then we got picked up by AC/DC for the “Thunderstruck” tour. That was insane, sold-out every night, 20,000 people. It was just so insane.
You know, AC/DC is not the easiest band to open for. Yes, they’re 20,000 people there, but all of them have one thing on their mind: Angus.
JON E. LOVE: That just made us try harder to win people over. To this day, I still bump into people who saw those shows, and they tell me how they were blown away. It was like, here is our shit, look at us.
So you’re opening for AC/DC, one of the biggest bands in the world, one of the biggest productions, and how many total people did you have in our touring entourage? With all the techs, like 10 people?
JON E. LOVE: Probably 10 or maybe a dozen. But the AC/DC crew was so incredible — they were like a machine. You know what? To play huge arenas like that, to do that I would have helped set up AC/DC’s equipment myself.
How long were out together?
JON E. LOVE: The whole first leg, like 12 weeks.
How much fun did you have?
JON E. LOVE: Immeasurable.
You know, there are more guys than girls at AC/DC concerts. Did you still manage to get lucky?
JON E. LOVE: Women were never a problem. The only problem is when you have to kick them off the bus.
When you first really broke out, the first night you toured with Ronnie James Dio, how old were you?
JON E. LOVE: 31.
Yeah, so you were not an overnight success. You had your struggles, right? Did you eat Top Ramen?
JON E. LOVE: Oh yeah, we were Top Ramen and baked beans. I should have bought stock in baked beans — and Aquanet. But yeah, I had actually been playing since I was six years old.
Did you parents ever tell you to get a real job?
JON E. LOVE: Oh yeah. I actually worked. My dad was an orthopedic surgeon, and I tried working in medicine, and when I was 25, I was working in corporate banking. Then one day, I took all my suits, put them in a big pile and lit them on fire. That’s when I moved downtown with Skid and Joey and said this is what we need to do with our lives, full-time, if we want to make it. I just said fuck it, this is what we need to do.
Did you parents think you were crazy?
JON E. LOVE: My dad thought I’d gone off my rocker. Then he came for both nights at the AC/DC concerts, introducing himself backstage to everyone: “I’m Dr. Love. I’m Jon E’s dad.”
Oh, so Love is your real name?
JON E. LOVE: No comment. I changed it to protect the innocent.
Jizzy Pearl had a pretty lurid name. Think about what it means.
JON E. LOVE: I think we were jokingly daring ourselves to change our names to something so outrageous. I mean, every band had an Izzy or different names like that, different spellings. With our names, we did ‘em on a dare, but they stuck and turned into our personalities. I was just fighting like every other kid in L.A. to try and be recognized.
I guess you and Jizzy have not always been on good terms. But he is incredibly talented. You have to agree with that.
JON E. LOVE: Oh, 100 percent. I respect Jizzy. We had a problem last year, with releasing a Love/Hate record. He had asked me to play on it but we didn’t agree to the right terms, so I told him the right thing to do would be to release it under his own name.
One thing about Jizzy. He always hit the high note at the end of “Blackout.”
JON E. LOVE: Of course he did. He was in his prime. We were all in our prime. He would sing like that for 200 nights a year, and it’s hard for anyone on the planet to do that.
The band did six albums, but at one point, the third record, you left. Why?
JON E. LOVE: Oh man, it was just like, we were getting dropped from Columbia, the band was not getting along, and I saw a lot of money being wasted. Plus, by the third album, I was killing myself with drugs and alcohol. I would have been dead if something didn’t change.
Overall, the band was not as successful as some of the other bands from L.A. that were around at the same time. I mean, basically Love/Hate did not do as well as anticipated.
JON E. LOVE: Basically, the timing was no good. If you remember at that time, grunge exploded and radio changed overnight. I’m not going to blame everything on Nirvana, but I had never seen a musical climate change so rapidly. All of a sudden, it was passe to be a band from Hollywood. There were a lot of factors, the timing, and also there is a lot of luck involved. We were successful overseas in the UK, but in the USA the radio changed and we had a PMRC sticker, so it was hard to get on radio because of all the lyric content.
Tell me about the new band, Jon E. Love and the Haters.
JON E. LOVE: It’s some buddies of mine. Cordell Crockett on bass from Ugly Kid Joe and Hear Kitty Kitty, and Mike Dupke on drums.
Is he a good drummer?
JON E. LOVE: h, he’s excellent. He played with John Mellencamp and this blues player, Eric Sardinas.
And the singer is Colby Veil from Hollywood Roses, the Guns N’ Roses tribute band. He’s pretty good.
JON E. LOVE: I like Colby. He’s been a Love/Hate fan for most of his life, and when I was putting things together, if he told me that if I was looking for a singer to let him know. So let’s see what he can do because he has the hardest job trying to sound like Jizzy.
What are the latest plans?
JON E. LOVE: We’re going to NRG recording studios, hopefully in April to do at least an EP if not a full record, depending on the budget. I’m also working with a good friend of John Getty, Jr.
From Jean-Paul Getty? Is he rich?
JON E. LOVE: Of course he is. He’s the grandson. We’ve been friends for a long time, and like 10 years ago I was the musical director on a project he was doing.
OK
JON E. LOVE: And also, we’re planning a tour in the UK in the fall.
And how are you doing? We’ve known each other a long time.
JON E. LOVE: I’m having a good time. I don’t dwell on the negative and things like that. I’m just continuing my music career and having fun.
Jon E Love @ WebSite – Facebook – YouTube
Love/Hate @ iTunes
Gerry Gittelson can be reached at gspot@metalsludge.tv
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