A couple of years ago, I went to see Alice Cooper for the very first time. I wrote about it here on Pencilstorm: Concert Review: Alice Cooper - by JCE. One of the two guitar players that night was Ryan Roxie, who I believe is still with Alice Cooper at this point, having been in that band for something like 20 years.
RYAN ROXIE and ALICE COOPER
Ryan has always been a guitar player I admire, mostly for his time in Electric Angels. If you don’t know that name, they were an L.A. band that released a great self-titled debut in 1990. Prior to that Ryan had been in Candy with Gilby Clarke. Electric Angels, much like Enuff Z’Nuff, were cast in the Sunset Strip glam-metal wave of the time, but they were not that at all. Their songs were much closer to The Rolling Stones than they were to say, Poison. Probably their most well-known song would be “Rattlesnake Kisses” which has a great video that includes Christina Applegate, and you can’t go wrong with her, in my opinion.
“Rattlesnake Kisses” by Electric Angels with Ryan Roxie on guitar.
Since the days of Electric Angels, Ryan has played in countless bands with tons of great musicians. As I look more into Ryan Roxie, I keep finding more and more bands he has been a part of or has some tie to. His guitar tentacles run deep. He has played with Gilby Clarke on some of his solo efforts and also with Slash’s Snakepit. He fronted a great band of his own called Roxie 77 that made two records, and he fronted an outfit called DPM (Dad’s Porno Mag). He has some very good solo efforts as well. Roxie currently lives in Sweden and he played in a band there that I have enjoyed a few songs by in the past without knowing until recently that he was even a part of it. That band was Casablanca.
“Traci (The Unbelievable Truth)” by Roxie 77 with Ryan Roxie on guitar and vocals.
“The Uh-Oh Song” by Ryan Roxie, solo.
“Love and Desperation” by Casablanca with Ryan Roxie on guitar.
Most recently, I have been listening to a podcast called “In the Trenches with Ryan Roxie.” I highly recommend it. He spends about 75 minutes with each guest and the people he talks to are all excellent and full of great stories. In listening to the episode with Rick Nielsen, Ryan says to Rick that Cheap Trick has been “the soundtrack to my life,” and that he has essentially spent his whole career trying to write another “Surrender.” Now that’s a guy that has the right musical leanings for me, which he has proven throughout his career. Other podcast guests I have particularly enjoyed include Chip Z’Nuff from Enuff Z’Nuff, Michael Monroe (Hanoi Rocks), Gilby Clarke (Guns n Roses), Tracii Guns (L.A. Guns) and Alex Kane (Starz, Enuff Z’Nuff and more). I have a lot more to listen to before I get through them all.
“In the Trenches” podcast with Ryan Roxie and Chip Z’Nuff.
It’s pretty amazing how many bands have been touched by a handful of guitarists and how they can all be tied together. What’s that game—six degrees of Kevin Bacon? You could easily play that game with Ryan Roxie. Check him out.