Bret Michaels Wanted Slash to Join Poison Instead Of C.C. DeVille
It is no secret that Guns N' Roses legend Slash had once auditioned for a pre-fame Poison, but did you know that singer Bret Michaels was the only member of the band that wanted to hire Slash over C.C. DeVille, who ultimately landed the role as the glam metal act's guitarist?
Poison was founded in 1983 by Michaels, drummer Rikki Rockett, bassist Bobby Dall and guitarist Matt Smith. Originally, the group operated out of Pennsylvania under the name Paris, but changed the band name to Poison once they relocated to Los Angeles in 1983.
After moving from one coast to another, Smith elected to return home to Pennsylvania in 1985, leaving Poison in search of a new guitarist. Slash, who had left Hollywood Rose the year prior, was among those who tried out for the group, dazzling Michaels in the process.
In the new oral history book, Nothin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion, Michaels said (as originally reported by UCR), "I got where Slash was coming from. But Bobby and Rikki saw it with C.C. It was one of our first arguments in the band because Slash fucking killed it."
In comparison, he explained, "C.C. came in and barely learned our songs. He started playing his own stuff. He was like, 'I’ve got these other songs! You gotta hear 'em!' We immediately butted heads."
One of the first songs DeVille introduced to the band was "Talk Dirty To Me," which was one of the tracks named in a lawsuit against Poison by the band Kid Rocker (no affiliation with Kid Rock), who alleged the multi-platinum band was guilty of plagiarism.
In that same book, Slash noted that DeVille was right to have been selected to join Poison.
"He clearly fit the part better than I did. I mean, he came in with his hair all done up, he had all the right clothes and was wearing stiletto heels," said Slash, who wound up joining Guns N' Roses later that year.
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