So today I give you a band you most likely never heard of. It’s one those bands that came along a little late and never really made it big. They are about to Release their 8th studio album and it sounds great so far. It’s out in March and you can listen to the first track below. Please tell me what you think!
History
The band was founded late in the 1980s by Ron Young, who had previously worked as a nightclub bouncer.[1] The group independently released an EP and were featured on the 1989 Metal Blade compilation Street Survivors with one song “Down to the Wire”, which led to their signing with DGC Records, a subsidiary of Geffen Records, in 1989. John Kalodner did A&R work for the group, and Bob Rock produced their debut self-titled album, which was released in 1990 to positive reviews.[1] On the strength of the singles “Chain of Fools” (a cover of the Aretha Franklin song) and “In Your Arms”, Little Caesar hit number 139 on the US Billboard 200 in 1990.[2] Lead vocalist Ron Young made a brief cameo in James Cameron‘s ‘TERMINATOR 2‘ as the biker thrown through the window of the bar by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Despite the group’s chart success, they had problems maintaining a popular image, due in part to their heavily tattooed membership.[1] They remained with DGC/Geffen for a sophomore release, Influence in 1992, but neither Rock nor Kalodner continued working with them. By this time, guitarist Apache had left and was replaced with Earl Slick. After Influence failed to sell well the group disbanded. They were one of many metal bands whose careers faltered with the early 1990s rise of alternative rock. DGC – initially a label strongly devoted to metal/progressive rock label – began to favor alternative bands. Ron Young later went on to sing in The Four Horsemen, Manic Eden, and Dirt.
The band reformed for some live shows in 2001, and released a new album, ‘Redemption’, in 2009. They also introduced new guitar player Joey Brasler (who had played with Etta James, Bob Welch, Cherie Currie) replacing original member Apache. After touring in the US, Europe, and the UK during 2010/2011, Little Caesar released their fourth long-player entitled “American Dream” on the Unison Music Group label in May 2012. It was produced by Bruce Witkin. They embark on a tour of Spain, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium mid-June and will be performing at the Hard Rock Hell festival in Wales in Dec 2012.
On 25 March 2013, it was announced that band would perform at the Download Festival on the 16th June 2013. The band will perform on the Pepsi Max Stage. Frontman Ron Young explains: “20 years ago we were offered to play the festival when it was called Monsters Of Rock. We had to turn it down because our label would not give us the funds to get there.
“Today, with no label, manager or big-money supporters, we finally made it. We got there because we have some amazing people that prop us up, inspire us, and bless us with their talent, energies – and most priceless, their friendship. They’ve helped us accomplish what we couldn’t do with a lot of powerful people behind us.”
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