MARK SLAUGHTER interview PT. 1

Mark Slaughter, singer and songwriter for band "Slaughter" is one of the nicest guys in Rock n Roll. Check out this interview where Mark discusses Slaughter origins, influences and style. We have more coming from Mark and others in the Slaughter camp. We ask that you SUBSCRIBE and stay tuned - thx for the support.

[@RedFlyRuledByTheRiff]

I grew up this time as a teenager. He's completely right. It wasn't grunge, there was room for both. The problem was all of sudden the business decided what we liked. This was before the internet, so if the radio didn't play you and Mtv didn't, you had no way of even knowing if your band came out with anything. The grunge bands laugh. But they lasted like 4 years as a scene and most of those bands never had a second album. And almost none of them ever filled a venue like the hard rock bands.

[@camilomontoya7412]

lol, right, i mean, grunge was dead by 1994. so like late 1991-mid 1994? Thats it. The shit that came after wasn't grunge but pop alternative utter trash like (collective soul, candlebox, vertical horizon, etc etc etc)

[@RedFlyRuledByTheRiff]

@@camilomontoya7412 I would say late 93 94. Grunge was around but it hadn't pushed everything out completely yet. I say this because my thrash bands were all having their best selling albums around that time. And then 98-99 all the Nu Metal came in.

[@gabrielwettenstein8659]

@@camilomontoya7412 kzbin.info/www/bejne/r6i6mWBna5KUhNk

[@camilomontoya7412]

@@gabrielwettenstein8659 fucking wow! Literally a conspiracy admission

[@RedFlyRuledByTheRiff]

@ Oh I agree, it got taken way too far and there were a lot of bands that needed to go. But outside of the bands you mentioned the alternative / grunge scene had the same problem or worse. But in a very short amount of time. Not the 12 or so years that it took rock to do it.

[@MajorAir]

Mark has one of the best rock voices ever in my opinion. 🤘

[@Marotta7]

Used to 😢

[@juanpabloperez9063]

had

[@MajorAir]

@@juanpabloperez9063 Bummer. I did not know it got bad. Not many older singers still have their voice, understandably.

[@TheArtofGuitar]

Scary how the industry could change the world so fast with one decision. One day everyone at my school had big hair and Crue T-shrts, and in a few months everyone wore plaid and acted really sad.

[@jeremysears4263]

@Jo Lawless Awesome

[@zimfan101]

People are sheep, want to be relevant and follow the herd!

[@ericmartinez6692]

The depressing time that came along was nothing but garbage...bag of shits is all they are, but nobody cares.

[@noppitynopenope6062]

I wear my crue t shirts still while listening to Soundgarden and organising my bluegrass album collection🤷🏻‍♀️

[@TheChenny73]

That’s not entirely accurate. Their were plenty of non hair glam rock...ie metal heads out there. And they continued on after the aforementioned died. Slaughter doesn’t have a clue. MTV etc don’t make the decisions, they play what people want to hear. Bands like Metallica with And Justice For All, and Megadeth were becoming more popular and I gotta tell you the wimpy hair metal band look just wasn’t cool by 1990. You wouldn’t be caught dead with a Slaughter T-shirt on in my high school unless you were a teen girl.

[@oxouk]

I still love listening to Mark sing "That time of year" from Vinnie Vincent Invasion. The notes he hits at the end of that song are unreal. what an incredible singer.

[@fuzzo73]

I just rediscovered All Systems Go. I was, and still am, more a Slaughter fan but that album has some great songs. Time Of Year and of course Love Kills, but Mark just slays on the whole album.

[@wilsonrawlin8547]

With out a doubt, No one can take away from his incredible voice.

[@AlexandertheGreat99]

I fucking LOVE that song!

[@projectDominic]

Vinnie Vincent Invasion for me everything sounds so urgent on it

[@NEIL-CURCIO]

you know what I loved the most about this interview is when Mark said- “fans come first” that’s awesome

[@pablocruise678]

An associate at work grew up with Mark, he said that when he made it the first thing Mark did was set his mom up... took care of her. VERR NIICE!!!

[@maxcapacity7022]

I saw Slaughter with Cinderella in Edmonton when I was a teenager. Blas, Dana, and Mark came out to meet the fans and sign autographs. Those guys were legit in it for the fans.

[@kylebjornson9752]

I was at that show, too. I didn't know they came out to meet fans, though. I'm a little bummed that I missed it now.

[@donnaperkowski711]

I met the band in the 90s Blas Tim and Dana. I have loved Mark since he was with Vinnie Vincent Invasion. I have been wanting to meet him for 30 years, well it finally happened on Saturday night. I was am still in heaven.

[@juanpabloperez9063]

​how old were you at that time?

[@soundgear7066]

Mark is 100% correct about Grunge not killing this scene! I've been saying that for years... the suits were to blame!

[@jeffg.3250]

Bingo. But all the rock "journalists" who never liked hard rock in the first place need to tell their false narrative. They took glee when hard rock died, and of course had to shut their mouths when it came back and those same bands started selling out stadiums years later.

[@guyinpajamapants6892]

If people were still interested in the music it would’ve survived. The world has low attention spans.

[@jonesy2111]

Social engineering and infact there is a dark history of popular music being manufactured. Read Dave McGowans Weird Scenes in the Canyon...

[@jeremysears4263]

@@jonesy2111 Laurel Canyon is one of the many offshoots that shot out of the Brainstorm of Tavistock. A manufactured sound and movement for the youth to become brainwashed by.

[@gregsretromusicchannel7000]

Me too. Glam Rock/Hair Metal/80's Rock 80's Metal....whatever you want to call it. Could have survived the grunge era. There was "room for everyone" so to speak. But the corporate suits decided that the 80s were over, basically put.

[@paulhornbogen980]

His music is timeless. A helluva singer. I would put him up there with Kip Winger. Truly underrated singer. Totally timeless.

[@alwhitney68]

"I would put him up there with Kip Winger" ...many would say thats not a good thing lol

[@juanpabloperez9063]

​@@alwhitney68like Beavis and Butthead😂😂😂 and Lara Ulrich

[@created4greatness]

Mark is one of my vocal inspirations. Had the pleasure of meeting him in Toronto a few ears ago. Awesome guy

[@MrRaymond1021]

Right on Mark. Saying it exactly the way it was supposed to be said. Grunge didn't kill nothing. All these freaking executive people changing shit. That's ok, because we can still listen to our favorite music whenever we want. 👍👍👍

[@juanpabloperez9063]

Dude, this is supply and demand, glam metal lasted almost 10 years, in the nineties those fans were in their 30s and were no longer interested, and people got tired of all that music with a rock single and a gay ballad, that market got oversaturated, I remember when I first heard the Counting Crows I said, wow, this is real music, and I was happy for all the alternative music that came out in the nineties.

[@jeffg.3250]

Been screaming FOR YEARS that it was new leadership at MTV that decided to no longer play hard rock, and that's what killed it. Adam Curry said this on the Stern show after he quit the station. The general public's tastes hadn't changed. Grunge was forced on us, and it was a huge myth otherwise. Glad Mark pointed this out.

[@gabrielwettenstein8659]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/r6i6mWBna5KUhNk

[@Kents1969]

@@gabrielwettenstein8659 Thanks! Jeez... Im not sure whether I like or hate the guy... haha...

[@dowens3781]

Styles and trends change - it's inevitable. Most true metalheads hated glam (or "Gay L.A. Metal", as many thrash metal fans called it) and pop metal with a passion, so when harder-edged bands with more stripped-down "street" images ike Guns 'N' Roses came out, glam and more pop-ish polished commerical hard rock like Def Leppard, Whitesnake, Slaughter, etc was already on it's way out. Then when Metallica put out the Black Album in 1991 and got hugely popular, it was all over - grunge bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam (the first two to get widely popular), Alice In Chains and STP simplu put the final nails in the coffin.

[@dowens3781]

Also, MTV played Guns 'N' Roses and Metallica in the late 80's and early 90's - isn't that "hard rock"? And the Headbangers Ball was on until 1995. When pop punk and ska got big in 1995/96, that's when hard rock and metal stopped being played on MTV and hard rock radio stations like Z-Rock went off the air.

[@jeffg.3250]

@@dowens3781 This timeline is way off. First off, when GNR came out, their image was glam. The peak of pop metal was 1989-1990, which was well after GNR was red hot. Slaughter came out in 1990, long after GNR came out and dominated. If changing styles and trends were truly responsible for rock's demise, then why didn't the same thing happen in the UK at the time? Answer: Because the European MTV office didn't refuse to play hard rock videos. Pop metal was poised to continue its dominance with a new crop of bands that weren't grunge. What killed their momentum was MTV and also the changing demographics of the base hard rock audience.

[@toma.4808]

One of the nicest guys in rock: Mark Slaughter! I remember seeing slaughter when they opened for kiss on the hot in the shade tour. Great time

[@fuzzo73]

Yup, one of the best shows ever. Met the Slaughter guys outside the arena, they hung out for almost an hour talking to the 100 or so kids that showed up 5 hours early lol. 4 months later Tim Kelly remembered me when they came back around on the same tour. I was 16 and just had to make sure he knew we had the same first and middle names lol....what a dork I was. He was the coolest.

[@fredlandry6170]

I was a teenager growing up in south Louisiana loving heavy metal 🤘. I love Slaughter’s first album Stick It To Ya, it was one of my favorites.

[@marciacorbin3513]

So true how fast music can change direction from one genre to the next. I started HS in 1990 when big permed hair was the style and heavy metal was all we listened to. Come graduation 1994 everyone was wearing flannels and listening to pearl jam, temple of the dog and nirvana. I never got into the whole grunge scene I stayed a metal head. I think it was Vince from Motley crue who said he never understood why people wanted to listen to grunge music ànd sit thru a concert because it's all negative. Nothing but complaining about how much life sucks when everyone already knows there life sucks. With a heavy metal concert it was a escape for a couple hours! I miss the 90's big time!

[@paulwoodcock764]

i,m back all over listening to slaghte right now, loving it & so are the neighbours

[@brianseneca3546]

Mark I opened for you guys in Hershey Pa in like 01 or 02? not sure. You were one of the coolest guys Ive opened for and I opened for a lot of guys in Harrisburg Pa area. You listened to our sound check encouraged us to play our original material and checked out our gear! The club was Shakey's in Hershey and you were such an amazing person. Thank you

[@drlarrymitchell]

Mom, Dad, Good Kid + Bad Kid = MIND BLOWN.

[@RyanMonty]

Had the pleasure of shooting the shit with Mark the other night. One of the nicest dude's you could ever meet. And the dude still has some pipes!

[@aldelacruz5526]

Slaughter was one of my favorite bands back in the day. Thanks for the great years!!!!

[@markd9410]

We need these bands now more than ever

[@elizabethsullivan7176]

My husband and I definitely had a lot of fun to Slaughter's music when we first got together. 😉

[@markslaughter4195]

Thanks for being a great friend and supportive fan of mine!

[@vegasaxeman]

Mark, my brother, your "Royale Razzdin Dudeness"! Before leaving my comment, I want to publicly THANK YOU for being such an inspiration and hero to so very many local Las Vegas musicians! You guys not only started "it" you graciously dragged as many as you possibly could with you! Your generosity only slightly exceeds your TALENT! So, so funny... I can remember the "band is like a family " talk in my rehearsal studio warehouse like it was yesterday! You also told me, per your advice to, lets just say, stir things up, "you have your bungee cord on and you're looking over the edge. Now is when you have to decide, Do I jump and move ahead not knowing if the cord will break and have the ride of my life, or do I back off and play it safe"... As Anthrax would say... "YOU'RE ZEE MAN"! I also must add, without you breaking Vegas wide open with not one, but TWO GOLD AND PLATINUM RECORDS, bands like Imagine Dragons and Panic at the Disco, etc... might not ever have dropped like they did. THEY REALLY NEED TO PUBLICLY THANK YOU, DANA, TIM (MAY HE REST IN PEACE) AND BLAS and give you all props for paving the way to good carriers! And I hate to repeat myself, but THANKS AGAIN FOR EVERYTHING YOU DID, going above and beyond what a normal friend or acquaintance would ever do! And I have to add... I'm not the only one who says that you're the nicest, most generous, and most genuine guy in Rock-N-Roll, everyone I ever talk to even before I tell them that you're my friend agrees! I think of the time I was working with a comedian (in Monitor World); NOT a musician, Craig Gass... When we were talking "back stage before and I was told a lot of you people like to drink Vodka and Orange Juice" oops never mind, my mind drifted... (only you would get that joke, and maybe Pat... Lol) No, really... I was talking to Craig about playing up and down both the Vegas Strip, and the Sunset Strip and he was the one who brought your name up first! He honestly went on and on about you before I had the chance to tell him that I was not only lucky to have met you, but very blessed to call you a REAL FRIEND! I love you brother! I think that you have figured out who this is... Lol... You were always smart that way! Thanks for the good times and great memories! Keep the faith, keep fighting the good fight, and keep on rockin' my brother! God bless and take care...

[@dawson70]

I first heard Mark sing on the Vinnie Vincent Invasion album. That guy can blast falsettos better than most anyone in the business. Thanks for the video, and I look forward to what's next.

[@deandean0570]

i grew up listening to these guys till now they are still one of the greatest rock bands ever

[@codeblueize]

Marks Dad was super supportive of his son, really cool. Grew up with Mark, I lived in parkdale and he lived in shadow mountain village right across Vegas Valley.

[@kathypayne7692]

Awesome interview. Such a real normal person not overly impressed with the fame game. Just responded in an honest manner. Keeping it real. Loved. Hope to see him in Maryland in the spring given the Covid situation not sure if it is a go but when it's okay can not wait to see Slaughter and the other bands. BLESSINGS PEACE AND LOVE TO EVERYONE . ❣🥰🕊👼🌈💐 Still Sweet.

[@ianbauer4703]

Love Slaughter, its songs and singing -- great rock band of the latter 1980s!

[@jasonstallworth]

He gives a really great explanation of the music business. Man, everyone was truly under the thumb of the labels.

[@juanpabloperez9063]

speak for you

[@carieyounginsurance]

I’ve seen Slaughter twice this year (2022) They still got it! Love ya Mark!! 🤘🤘❤️❤️❤️ 80’s rock forever

[@decee6990]

Lucky.i didn't know they still rocked

[@juanpabloperez9063]

Carie, are you young?

[@judithhodges2288]

Mark 's vocals are amazing!

[@dwade6322]

Met him an the rest of the band around '95 in Conowingo,Maryland. Great band,great guys.

[@freddylive4181]

I saw them for the first time in their later years .. in small venue near Detroit .. I was surprised .. they really Kick Ass.

[@mottosierra1372]

I love "stick it to ya" album forever

[@viewer9997]

yes a great band

[@snickersbud8799]

Same!

[@larsbonnet17]

Great album, but too many tracks.

[@gregsretromusicchannel7000]

Agreed, easily one of my favorite albums of all-time

[@gregmerkle1814]

What Mark started to say is and I totally agree, is that in the late 80s all the music executives were signing any band and then transforming them into a hairband, getting them to grow their hair, hiring stylists hiring outside songwriters like Desmond Child, so they turned everything to sound exactly the same and people started getting tired of it. That is why I think grunge became so popular, music is cyclical and thankfully great music like the 80s hair bands are timeless and came back stronger than ever.

[@_Chipster]

Got to meet him at Club La Vela meet and greet shortly after Tim Kelly's passing. He was so nice, such a down to earth guy. We got talking about BBQ and then his kids while he was signing cds. Didn't think i could become a bigger Slaughter fan, but i was wrong.

[@CozyCreationsYT]

Wow, I learned so much in such a short interview! I never knew the industry was to blame for killing off hard rock. BAD DECISION. Love Slaughter.. and they were there for my fave band Firehouse by helping them in the beginning to record their demo. Thank you Slaughter.

[@daniellehman8695]

The good thing about the internet is that this type of music will never die

[@jtmoore662]

I will tell you my take on this. I began HS in 88 and grad in 92 with two styles of music in my 4 yrs. What I like about this type of music over grunge was this music made you feel good and not depressed. So I still at 49 will listen to Soundgarden and Nirvana, but love to crank up the 80s rock!

[@nonombre7159]

Grunge ended up consisting of Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains. When it comes down to it those are the main bands people remember. I liked elements of all of them but they were never my main thing. Always be a fan of good players and good singers.

[@nataliespiker4656]

I saw slaughter in July 21 open for queensryche. It was awesome! Got 3 guitar picks from them

[@thinkrite3810]

Work all night! 🎼 Sleep all day...... I was at most of your concerts in Salt Lake Mark. I was really impresses with your writing, voice and your bands melodic rock sound. You and the band really nailed it in the rock concert market during that era! Great times I will never forget.

[@mustanggirly5602]

First band I ever met was Slaughter in 1992 🎸 They made a huge impression on me and still do to this day!

[@williammitchell1864]

We've got to bring back classic rock and change MTV and this other station that Mark Slaughter mentioned! We have to bring this era back!

[@stephaniedavis7488]

Wow! I never thought of it like that. Thank you, Mark for letting us know. It always bothered me how fast Rock was taken away from us. Thank goodness I lived in Northern Virginia we had a lot of great Bands there. Hopefully it will come around again.

[@markslaughter4195]

@@stephaniedavis7488 How do you mean my dear!!!

[@stephaniedavis7488]

@@markslaughter4195 first he does not say dear!!! Go away! Stop hurting people and stealing!!!!

[@jackwinklebock8560]

Smart dude. That band had great musicians. Saw them open for Kiss. They made me a fan. Hard hitting, excellent rock band.

[@timroelofsen1563]

Saw Slaughter, Winger, KiSS 🔥 been a Slaughter fan ever since, got all the CDs 💿

[@cherylbusch2161]

I’m 46 Slaughter was my first concert. They signed my scrapbook. Dana gave me a hug. I talked about it for years.

[@davecassady7468]

Seems like a genuinely good dude.

[@maretarodocker3258]

Dude you still sound amazing. And you look really good! Your music brings back so many memories!!

[@starr_love6196]

I was only 13 or 14 and I loved this band . I still listen to them .

[@jergervasi3331]

He's not kidding about Slaughter's focus on their fans. EASILY the nicest, kindest bunch of people in the business, to this day. Dana and Mark are still devoted to that, it's very cool.

[@TheQ2004]

I got a pick from this nice guy a couple years ago when he did a show with the Nelson Twins, Lita Ford, and Jack White from Great White

[@richardwarfordjr.5622]

I like Mark great band ! Rock on brother!!

[@sheliasims5786]

Love the 80s.i grew up with that music.

[@eldonfoster3824]

Love these vids!

[@bdp1966]

Recently spent some time with Slaughter when I shot some photos for their show in Biloxi Mississippi,some of the nicest guys I've ever met.

[@leftintime1463]

My mom listened to slaughter all the time when I was a child in the 80s. 2021 I'm rocking out to Slaughter with my children

[@ericarnold969]

Excellent interviews!

[@80smetalrecyclebin]

Thanks Eric

[@marcoamadei2317]

when you do part 2 ??? :)

[@sky173]

Some of the best times of my life right here. 80's rock music was the best.

[@groovykaps677]

Happy birthday mark....enjoy this weekemd great 4 of july celebration

[@nikki9597]

Mark u are still as handsome as ever and can still sing the freaking phone book and make it sound great ,

[@standandfight5573]

We opened for them at the Mix Factory in Nashville as Soultramp when we had just released our independent record "Long Time Coming" which was right at the turn of grunge music getting the big push by the industry he's talking about so that would have been during that hard time he mentioned in the mid 90s. We couldn't get any interest or even a showcase with that record at the time either bc it was considered to be a band that was in that in the same hair metal lane I guess , even though we had some grunge sounding songs on the record, or at least similar. He's not kidding about what the industry did to shift the market.

[@capt.morgan8975]

Nice! Never heard that perspective, very down to earth dude, dude showcased his talent V.V invasion love kills!! Amazing vocals!

[@goochma]

The dude stayed cool. A rocker to the core. Seems like a nice guy. 🤘🏻

[@reidj75]

Grunge never killed anything. Metal Still King! 🤘😎

[@alwhitney68]

Tell that to countless bands the were on top one day ..and the next couldn't even play a small venue.

[@reidj75]

Metal Still King! 🤘😎

[@alwhitney68]

@@reidj75 I agree

[@mikejohnson5375]

I really dig the interviews . I would like to see the full interview though . These are the best interviews I’ve seen just please put the full interview on .

[@joefox9765]

MTV was bought and sold. Now it's trash I haven't watched it in over 30 years. It was a major impact in the early 80s

[@jstratton30]

I remember seeing that tour with KISS. Slaughter and Winger were the openers in Portland Oregon .

[@forthedoggiesguitars2277]

I lived in Vegas, ran into Mark a few times, usually at Costco.

[@teresasmith3468]

So nice to me when I meet him.

[@codeblueize]

When Tim passed away I was in Las Vegas and KOMP THE ROCK STATION did him right. Big Marty played fly to the angels 😇 all day long with a tribute to Tim . It was very nice and very sad.

[@janebaldwin3837]

LOVE THE SOUND

[@ZoilStar]

My first concert I ever went to was to see Slaughter when they opened for KISS, The Hot in the Shade tour.

[@nymike06]

Sound guy. Good interview.

[@stevewolf111]

Is there a Part 2 to this video? I was Really Enjoying it! 🤘

[@krispecore17]

Love it!!!! Keep on rocking!!!

[@jamespendleton9879]

I always loved the High Pitched voice

[@lorettasearcy1471]

I'll always ❤this band,and I really miss Tim. 😢

[@joegi6431]

This is a awesome podcast

[@guyinpajamapants6892]

They were great Live.

[@mikebite229]

always enjoyed slaughter sound......

[@rozchristopherson648]

Tina Turner is a mother-figure. What a sweet thing to say. 🧡

[@dowens3781]

I just found out that he was the singer/guitarist of the early 80's Las Vegas metal band Xcursion. I used to love their song "Mouthful Of Steel" - LA rock station KMET used to play it on their program The Metal Shop (hosted by the legendary Jim Ladd).

[@dixierae6063]

I got to tell you there's a real sense of comfort and knowing that I'm not the only one who aged. Also still recognize that our powers in our hair. LOL

[@darthslater6077]

Class Act...I wish he was my singer.

[@daveg4236]

Don't we all 😁

[@anthonyalbanese9023]

Nothing can touch 80's music babe

[@noppitynopenope6062]

evolution of the music, guided by the industry😪. I hang on to the music that serves me my highest good👍🏻♥️

[@projectDominic]

Slaughter came right at the tailend of the Hard Rock scene in '89. Things were already changing, RHCP and Faith no More were bringing a more underground/experimental feel. the 90's was savage, it wasn't just music it was fashion, movies everything went a bit grunge the times had changed.

[@njineermike]

Sunset Blvd 1985-1990 was fucking crazy.

[@chrisodriscoll3077]

Never a fan of any of the bands featured in these shorts, but these interviews are very interesting. Having lived through this era I find the whole 'Grunge Killed Hair Metal' argument very strange. I don't remember it like that at all. For a start I'm from Ireland , and over here in Europe Hair Metal bands (with few exceptions) were never really as big as they seemed to be in the US. Sure GNR & Bon Jovi were big but they kinda transcended the genre so to speak. Even before Grunge the musical landscape had shifted. GNR although lumped in with that scene put paid to a lot of Hair Metal bands. Their image in comparison was a lot more toned down + they actually had songs. More extreme metal with acts like Metallica, Pantera, etc were coming more to the fore. Then you had say more alternative metal bands or bands who occupied that orbit coming through like Janes Addiction, RHCP, Faith No More, RATM etc all capturing the publics imagination. Last but not least you had the emergences of Hip Hop to the fore. In the face of all this Hair Metal just simply had its day. It was tired and jaded by the end of the 80's and Grunge in the 90s was just the tip that put it over the edge.

[@fivestring65ify]

Slaughter is a great band.

[@garydutton3441]

Saw Slaughter open for Cinderella, a helluva gig

[@TechSnazzy]

It's ok. The music has stood the test of time. And we all love the music. Those are the things that matter. Grunge is fine too. It's all good.

[@wolfmoon7745]

Ole Vinnie Vincent invasion had him for awhile too...Good times.

[@monicaschneider8120]

I love They're Music until now 2024 ❤

[@artvandelay9374]

Definitely a decent cat. Seems very humble

[@mommyshmear]

Come on Part 2! 🙏🙏🙏

[@matthewreed2614]

never heard of them, fun interview