Reckless Road Guns 'n Roses and the Making of Appetite for Destruction

by Marc Cantor

  In the face of sluggish sales, limited airplay and a record company who was ready to pull the plug on the album, Tom played the last card he had; the goodwill he had earned with his boss, David Geffen. He convinced Geffen to use his influence to get "Welcome to the Jungle" aired on MTV. Geffen got the favor; albeit smaller than what Tom was hoping for.

  MTV promised "Welcome to the Jungle" a single airing during the graveyard shift of their programming schedule -- at 2am, Pacific Standard Time. Tom reluctantly accepted his fate and gathered the band to celebrate their four minutes and thirty-three seconds of fame. Tom strolled into work by early afternoon, mostly content with the MTV airing and never expected the news that would greet him at the office.

  The band came home from their tour as international superstars, not quite aware of the success "Appetite for Destruction" had become in the States until they returned. The album became legendary and the band, as a solidified unit, held on for the ride as long as they could. As the twentieth anniversary of the release of "Appetite for Destruction" passes, generation after generation of fans revere those who were involved in the making of the album. Tens of millions of records sold and the album lives on dozens of "Desert Island" lists around the world. "Appetite for Destruction" stands as one of the greatest rock n roll albums ever produced.

  TOM ZUTAUT When the record was done, after I mastered it, I went and played it for David Geffen and the president of the company. I said, "This is going to be the biggest album in the history of the label," and they looked at me like, "Sure kid."

  MIKE BARBIERO Axl asked me at the time if I thought the album had a shot, and I remember telling him that it was very original. I remember telling him that to my ear the songs and performances were good enough that, though the album wasn't at all like anything being played on radio, the band stood a good chance for a gold record based on word of mouth.

  STEVE THOMPSON I think we released "Welcome to the Jungle" first, which I thought was an anthem. I was pretty shocked that it didn't break the way it should have. "Sweet Child O' Mine" was not even in the picture. It was a good song, but to say that I thought that was the song that was going to break GNR, I couldn't predict that. I'm usually good at predicting what songs are going to hit. To me it was "Welcome to the Jungle."

  TOM ZUTAUT I didn't tell anyone at Geffen about "Sweet Child O Mine," and I buried that song towards the end of side-two. I did that because I knew that promotion people and radio people at that time very rarely listened past the first two or three songs. I did not want that song to be discovered until later. And my reason was, that Guns N' Roses needed to start based on its punk roots. And that song was way too refined. In some ways it was almost like a song for the second album. But I figured, if we buried it on side-two, we'd eventually get to it and there would be enough of a buzz and a base on the band that we would get an opportunity to take a shot at a song like that to mainstream radio. So I didn't tell anyone that. It was my little secret.

  We put the album out and radio stations were afraid to play them. It seemed like everyone at radio and MTV was afraid of the band. They were so dangerous. And a lot of this was the mystique; this was my whole mystique theory paying off. Because of the fact that they weren't being interviewed all the time, and they were kind of hidden, people began inventing stories about them. Their reputation was a lot worse than it really was, because people were scared and they were saying things like, "Oh, they're a bunch of drug addicts, they'll bite your head off." We actually had trouble getting them on the radio. Meanwhile, we put the band on the road and they opened for The Cult and they did some Motley Crue shows.

  SLASH The first thing we did after finishing "Appetite" was we went and played in England, playing three shows at the Marquee in London, which is a famous place. We played London down in Soho. From that point on, the record came out, we started opened for the Cult and we just became sort of an international band. We were no longer just a local L.A. band and the rest is sort of history.

  DUFF Once we completed the album and finished the artwork, we might've played a couple gigs in L.A. and then we were off. We did our first gigs outside of L.A. and they were in London at the Marquee. Then we caught the Colt tour and then we spent the next year and a half on the road. We became a worldwide rock band at that point.

  ROBERT JOHN I remember when they were going over to England, Axl and Izzy asked me if I wanted to go. I said yes, but that I would have to quit my job. That was it. I never went back to a nine-to-five job ever from that point on because Guns N' Roses hit. As soon as we went over to England, that was the beginning, at least for me. It opened up a lot of doors. Axl helped me out tremendously with my career, because as doors got opened for him, he made them available for me. I totally appreciate that to this day and thank him for that. I didn't realize how big they became because I was touring with them and it wasn't until I stepped back that I saw it. These guys got huge. We went from watching this band that drew thirty-five people at the Troubadour to this.

  TOM ZUTAUT MTV basically said, "we will never play this band because they are drug addicts, they are scary, and the cable operators have threatened to drop MTV off cable." The guys who ran the big cable companies were basically putting pressure on MTV to tone it back. They said, "This is HBO, this is about family entertainment, and MTV, if you cross the line we're going to pull you off the cable network because we're not going to have our cable franchises pissed at us because of your programming." Now MTV says they will never play Guns N' Roses, they're way too dangerous, and they'll get thrown off the cable networks.

  We've sold 200,000 units by word of mouth only. People who are buying the record are people seeing them open for Motley or The Cult and they are telling their friends. Honestly, it was like clockwork. They'd go into town and open for somebody, and the next week, spike in sales. I get called into the president of the company's office one day and he looks at me says, "Hey kid it was a great run, but you've got to quit beating up the promotion people. They can't get it on the radio, MTV's not going to play it, and we're done with this record at 200,000 units." So I looked at my half-boss, who was a great guy, and as smart-aleck of a kid as I was then and as sure of myself with Guns N' Roses, I had to give him some deference. I said, "with all due respect Eddie, this is the biggest rock and roll band in the world, and 200,000 is hasn't even scratched the surface yet. I will not go in the studio and make the next record, I will not stop pushing for this record. It's only just beginning; I don't know how you can say it's over. I'm going to call David Geffen, because I disagree with this decision. I'm not going to accept this decision that we're giving up on this record."

  STEVE THOMPSON I remember a meeting we had with David and he sat down and says, "This is not the type of music I listen to, but the people I hire, I expect them to find bands like this." He gave his people the breathing room to be creative. And I remember him pointing to his staff and saying, "You see this guy, you see that guy over there? He's kind of cold right now, but I think in a year or two he's going to come up with something big. Well, that same person was Gary Gersh; he signed Nirvana. Geffen had the integrity to let his people have the freedom to be creative. That's why people like Tom Zutaut went with their gut. Zutaut would camp out with Guns N' Roses, which is unheard of today. He stayed with them everyday along the way. And to me, I have the utmost respect for that. When they got Guns, they just believed in it. And Zutaut and Geffen spent over a year breaking this band, which is also unheard of today. They were not going to give up on this and it's a good thing they didn't.

  TOM ZUTAUT I called David Geffen and David said, "I've never heard you so adamant about something." And I said, "I'm telling you, 200,000 records is a disgrace." And he said, "do you know how many new bands sell 200,000 records?" And I said, "well this band can sell ten million, so it's not enough." So David said, "What's the one thing I can do?" And I said, "Well, you could put the 'Welcome to the Jungle' video on MTV. I mean you're best friends with Fresten the guy who runs it, and they
owe you favors. MTV owes you favors." And Geffen's like, "Yeah, I could do that. I'll take care of that and I'll put in a call."

  So the next day David Geffen calls me up into his office and he says, "You tricked me!" And I said, "What?" And he said, "Well, first off you didn't tell me that they already, adamantly vowed and sworn to never to play this band on MTV. If you had told me that in advance I might have been able to do better for you." I said, "You're David Geffen, you're the man, they either owe you a favor or they don't." He said, "Next time, don't forget minor details like that, because it's very important when I call somebody to know what I'm up against." I said, "I promise if something like this comes up again, I'll give you all the nitty gritty." And he goes, "Ok, in spite of that, I did get them. They'll play it one time, this Sunday at 5am New York time, 2am L.A. time." I said, "That's it?" And he said, "Look, don't be a schmuck, you could have gotten nothing." And I said, "Alright." So I called the band and said, "Look we'll stay up all night and we'll watch it." It was exciting. Here it was on MTV in all its glory and it looked amazing. So I come into work the next day, not thinking much of anything other than I hope something happened. I took my shot with David Geffen and the record's over and I don't know what I'm going to do.

  STEVEN ADLER When I first saw myself on MTV, I dropped my lighter, I picked it up and I said, "Man, we are the fucking shit!" We became everything we dreamed about, but cooler. Except for Aerosmith. I thought Aerosmith was cooler.

  TOM ZUTAUT So the head of promotion was this real excitable guy named Al Corian. Because I was up all night with the band, I probably didn't get in until 1:00pm. With Guns N' Roses, if I could get in by 1:00pm, that was pretty good. I get an urgent message from Al Corian as soon as I get in and I went to his office immediately. And this guy starts babbling, "I've got to tell you, that Guns N' Roses thing -- it's unbelievable. We're going to get it everywhere." He said, "You don't understand, they blew up the switchboard at MTV, I'm telling you the switchboard blew up. They're putting it in heavy rotation. This is amazing." I told this guy for months it was going to be the biggest band in the world. They wanted to drop the record on Friday and now on Monday it's the biggest thing that ever happened. MTV had put the video into heavy rotation, and it explodes, and we go from 200,000 units to a million units practically overnight. If there's anything to be learned by the lesson of Guns N' Roses and "Appetite for Destruction," it's keep it real.

  STEVE DARROW By the time GNR hit real big after the videos hit and by the time "Appetite" was on the charts, all the record labels were signing up every band that started coming to town and started playing at the Coconut Teaser and the Troubadour. Everyone was the next Guns N' Roses and none of them became that really.

  MIKE CLINK It was a gradual process, watching the album climb the charts. The interesting thing about "Appetite" is that when I finished it, I played it for friends and people in the business and a lot of them said, this is the biggest piece of crap I've ever heard. Fast forward a year later, and everyone's saying they love the record; they've always loved that record.

  VICKY HAMILTON I didn't know that they ultimately would sell the amount of records that they ended up selling - what was it, like 75 million in the end? All I knew was that I loved it and I thought it was great. They were amazing. Still to this day, there aren't bands that can rival what Guns N' Roses did and who knows if there ever will be. Their star burned very fast and bright.

  MIKE BARBIERO Anyone who says they anticipated the legacy of this album and the extraordinary sales figures it achieved would be a liar. It was a tremendous feeling to see the album steadily make its way up the charts. It took a really long time, which I came to appreciate more once I had an album that debuted at number one and then steadily fell off.

  RON SCHNEIDER When it really hit me was the American Music Awards. They got the number one song or best song of the year for "Sweet Child O' Mine." At the same time, the album went number one. They got up to accept and I think Slash and Duff were there just lit.

  STEVE THOMPSON I'm a stickler. Every record I make I want to make it timeless. I don't just want to make it for the present. What I've tried to achieve throughout my whole career has been to make it contemporary, but at the same time have it hold the test of time like a piece of art. You don't want to make it disposable, just for the moment. "Appetite" was a perfect example of something that remains timeless.

  MIKE CLINK Every week people come up to me, telling me how "Appetite" changed their lives. It's affected the generations. I'm a celebrity at my fourteen-year-old daughter's school now because I did "Appetite." "Emma, did you know that your dad did Appetite?" And she goes "Yeah, so?" It's interesting because even now the kids love it. That's the sign of a great record. Just like those AC/DC records or the Beatles records or Pink Floyd. It's a work of art that stands the test of time and everyone wants to hear it. That's what we set out to do when we made that record; was to make it timeless.

  Act III

  Chapter 13: Cast of Characters

  "There is video content at this location that is not currently supported for your Kindle device. The caption for this content is below."

  A Work that Stands the Test of Time (1:40).

  AXL ROSE "Victory or Death:" The tattooed motto on Axl's arm accurately describes his all-or-nothing approach to music and life. Axl was born and raised in Indiana, like his former band mate Izzy Stradlin. He left Indiana to escape a somewhat destructive lifestyle, having no outlet in a small town for his youthful energy and aggressive personality. Determined to become a great songwriter and a kick-ass rock n' roll frontman, he hitchhiked across the country to Los Angeles in 1984 and started several bands including Rapidfire, Rose, which later became Hollywood Rose, with Izzy, and after combining forces with Tracii Guns, Rob Gardner and Ole Beich, formed Guns N' Roses. After some disagreements with Tracii, Axl and Duff invited Slash and Steven to join Guns N' Roses for a Troubadour show in 1985, followed up by a tour of the Northwest. Slash and Steven accepted the invitation and the two events helped solidified the band into the "Appetite for Destruction" lineup. Axl is known for his strong stage presence, dedicated work ethic and vocal range. He contributed lyrics and melodies that shaped some of the best work Guns N' Roses produced and, as their frontman, never failed to captivate audiences, whether they were playing small Hollywood clubs or the largest stadiums in the world.

  SLASH Slash is known as a force of nature as a guitar player and is one of the most recognized musicians in the world. He began playing in his early teens, borrowing a six-string acoustic from Steven Adler's grandmother. He was a quick study and, having been raised in and around the music business, he knew that rock n' roll was his destiny. He started the bands Tidus Sloan and Roadcrew and played for Hollywood Rose, Black Sheep and eventually stuck as the lead guitar for Guns N' Roses. As a band leader, Slash was active in every aspect of living the rock n' roll dream: a tireless ticket salesman for gigs, a demanding musician who expected the most out of his fellow band mates and an Olympic-class inebriate. With the success of Guns N' Roses, Slash established himself as a world-class guitar virtuoso, bringing the Les Paul guitar back to life and is known for infusing hard rock and blues into his music. He has been a childhood friend of Marc Canter since grade school.

  IZZY STRADLIN Izzy was born and raised in Indiana, where he went to high school with Axl. Izzy began to play as a drummer, eventually took up guitar and decided that rock n' roll was his dream to pursue. He left small town America for Hollywood and started playing in different bands until Axl joined him in L.A. and together they formed Rose. After a few incarnations of Rose, renamed Hollywood Rose and the New Hollywood Rose, Izzy left the band citing creative differences with a new guitarist named Slash. Izzy joined the band London for a short period, but rejoined Hollywood Rose for reunion shows and continued playing with Axl when L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose combined to form Guns N' Roses. Izzy is an accomplished songwriter and contributed lyrics and melodies for several Guns N' Roses songs and had a
big influence on the look and sound of the band, which was drawn from his admiration of bands such as Hanoi Rocks and the Rolling Stones. Since his departure from Guns N' Roses in 1991, he has released seven solo albums.

  DUFF MCKAGAN Duff began his musical journey in dozens of garage and club circuit bands in his home town of Seattle, Washington. He played several instruments, but focused mainly on the bass guitar. The music scene in Seattle during the early 1980s was too small for Duff and he knew Hollywood was the place to pursue his dream. He answered a classified ad in a local paper in Los Angeles for a bass player, which led him to a meeting with Slash and Steven Adler at Canter's Deli. Over pastrami sandwiches and a few beers, supplied by Marc Canter, they decided to try playing together as Roadcrew. It only lasted a few rehearsals. Coincidentally, Duff moved in to an apartment across the street from a house where Izzy was staying, struck up a friendship with the visionary musician and they started playing together. Later, when Guns N' Roses reshuffled their band member lineup, Duff reunited with his former Roadcrew band mates, Slash and Steven. Duff described the first rehearsal as the "Appetite" lineup of Guns N' Roses this way: "It was lightening hitting the place." Duff was a grounding force for Guns N' Roses and actively participated in songwriting. He stayed with the band until 1998.

  STEVEN ADLER Steven became friends with Slash as a young teenager and they shared a passion for music. Together, they began experimenting with different instruments, and Steven gave Slash his first guitar, an acoustic six-string that his grandmother owned. At that time, Steven also played guitar and even tried singing, but realized his talents laid elsewhere. Once he discovered the drums, he knew he had found his calling. It took some time before Steven became proficient; he taught himself how to play and discovered how to achieve a unique double bass sound that remains his signature contribution to the "Appetite" lineup of Guns N' Roses. Once he felt confident enough, he invited Slash to listen. Slash was impressed and decided to give Steven a shot in Roadcrew, replacing Adam Greeenberg. Steven followed Slash whenever he could throughout different band changes, but it was his willingness to substitute for Rob Gardner at the last minute for a Guns N' Roses Troubadour gig in 1985 that solidified his future as the band's drummer. The meteoric rise to success of Guns N' Roses took its toll on Steven and he slipped further into drug addiction. His performances, both onstage and in rehearsals, became too unpredictable for the band. He was fired during the recording of Use Your Illusions 1 and 2 and replaced by Matt Sorum. His band, Adler's Appetite, tours the world playing songs from "Appetite for Destruction" to sold out crowds.