Electric Love Hogs
This Los Angeles quintet originated when vocalist John Feldmann and guitarist Donny Campion linked with drummer Bobby Fernandez in a San Diego covers band. The addition of second guitarist Dae Kushner and funk-oriented bassist Kelly LeMieux, who was recruited following a wrong number phone call, saw the band move towards original material, incorporating LeMieux's slap bass into a trad/speed metal framework for an energetic hybrid style. The band adopted the Electric Love Hogs name as a reaction against the crop of Los Angeles glam bands on the late '80s club scene whom they felt were taking the music business too seriously. London Records were willing to sign the band without making them change their name, and ELECTRIC LOVE HOGS was a bright debut, offering a strong, punchy sound curtesy of Mark Dodson (although more interest centred on two tracks produced by Mötley Crüe's Tommy Lee), but didn't quite have the individuality to separate the band from the funk-metal pack. The band's live work was nonetheless impressive as they toured the USA with L.A. Guns and the UK with Ugly Kid Joe before returning to the studio.