the history of the band BulletBoys who were best known for the songs Smooth Up Inn Ya and the O'Jay's song For the Love of Money

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#bulletboys

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Bulletboys emerged from Los Angeles, California as part of the last wave of hair metal, which occurred in the late 1980’s to early 90’s. Although they’d show promise during this time, their success would be brief, while continued bad blood and an ill-fated reunion would cause the original lineup to implode. Today, let’s explore the history of Bulletboys.
In 1987, Bulletboys would materialize when several members of the band King Kobra, a splinter outfit of drummer Carmine Apeace, opted for a fresh start. Mick Sweda, who’d put together Bulletboys as their lead guitarist, discussed the state of King Kobra at the time, telling the publication Full In Bloom,
“The band was kind of in trouble and trying to keep its head above the water, and Carmine was willing to do anything to secure some kind of deal and keep it going. He ended up getting in touch with Gene …and we ended up recording some songs that he and Paul had written.”
“At the time, he was planning on signing us to Simmons Records, nothing really came of that, so I’d form the band shortly after that.”
Alongside Sweda came frontman Marq Torien, second guitarist David Michael-Phillips, and bassist Lonnie Vencent. David would be the first to leave this new configuration. Meanwhile, the three members proceeded to play several shows with a temporary drummer, but the group would keep Torien’s long-time friend Jimmy D’Anda in mind, after he impressed them during a rendition of the song Misty Mountain Hop by Led Zeppelin. Once the drummer’s seat was vacant again, Torien encouraged D’Anda to audition. Initially, D’Anda would express having reservations, as he was committed to his own band Nasty Habit, telling Vinyl Writer Music:
“Honestly, I didn’t wanna, because I thought I had [something]. [My idea] ended up being what Rage Against the Machine was. “
“When I listened to [their first album], I was like, “Holy shit! This is kinda what I had!” You know, big guitar, but a guy who raps and has a scream. I was like, “Oh my God.” But of course, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one that thought of putting that peanut butter and jelly together. That’s why I hesitated to join BulletBoys because I thought I had a really good idea.”
But after D’Anda’s hesitance caused bassist Lonnie Vencent to storm out of the room, the band’s manager, Dave Kaplan, ultimately convinced him to join, with D’Anda recalling,
“I remember I walked outside. The manager had already talked to Lonnie, and then he pulled me aside and said, “Jimmy, can I talk to you for a few minutes?” I said, “Sure.” And after we talked, he goes, “How would you like to have free drums and free cymbals?” I go, “I would love that.” He said, “Join the band, you’ll get ‘em.” And I go, “I’m in.” That’s how simple I was,” he’d say.
As fate would have it, D’Anda would be the right fit for the Bulletboys, since they’d play only about a handful of shows before commanding the attention of major labels. But they’d be especially lucky, considering that most of their energy went toward rehearsing and songwriting rather than playing gigs. The band eventually settled on Warner Brothers, and were signed to the label in 1988 by Ted Templeman, who’d also step in as their producer. Guitarist Mick Sweda would recall the experience of when they got signed, while also elaborating on their circumstances, saying,
“I remember our manager bringing out the advance check, looking at it, taking pictures with it and everything.”
“You have to understand that when we started this band, none of us had jobs; we didn’t have any money coming in. In fact, I was driving, picking up Lonnie in my old 65 mustang and maxing out a gas card that I had no idea how I was gonna pay off. We’d just…spend 6, 8, 10 hours a day rehearsing and writing songs.”
Sweda would go on to mention that despite their advance being six figures, each member couldn’t really afford to spend any money outside of the band, adding,
“At that point, I had enough to buy a little Nissan pickup truck, but you have to [stash] a lot of that money away just to keep things going. We were given pretty meager salaries, and it wasn’t a ‘go-out-and by-your-mom-a-house’ kind of moment,”
The same year, Bulletboys headed to One To