Steve Whiteman knew the end was coming. Gone were the days of traveling in limos and playing arenas. That much was evident when his band KIX walked off the stage after a less than crowded nightclub gig in Frederick, Maryland.
“I’ll never forget it,” says the band’s lead singer of the night in 1995 when KIX decided to pull the plug on their eighteen year career. “It was inevitable,” he says by phone from his home in Hagerstown. “It was obvious that our whole scene of music wasn’t happening anymore. The clubs were getting smaller and they were paying less money.”
Just a few short years following the release of a platinum selling album, it was clear to KIX that the musical climate had shifted dramatically. Thanks to bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam; party hearty hard rock was out, and grunge was in.
“When all those bands came out, it sounded raw and new,” says Whiteman. “People were like, this is different and cool. That’s why we got flushed. There was a new party in town and we weren’t invited.”
Rather than bemoan the winds of change, KIX called it quits but not necessarily for good.
“We said, let’s just go away and if this music ever comes back, maybe we’ll pick it back up one day.”
It may have been wishful thinking at the time, but has since become reality. Eighties era rock and roll is making a comeback, and bands like Baltimore’s own KIX are leading the charge. “It’s amazing,” says Whiteman of the resurgence.“Why and where it came from I don’t know, but it’s reinvigorated us all.”
On Friday, fans can catch up with KIX when the band headlines the M3 Rock Festival kick off concert at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia. Now in its third year, the event is a throwback to the days when big hair, spandex and headbanging at Hammerjack’s was King. It’s been such a success that promoters have added a second day.
KIX is arguably one of the biggest bands to come out of the Baltimore music scene. Formed in Hagerstown Maryland, the band was a big hit in Charm City in the eighties, and was practically the house band at one of the era’s most popular nightspots.
“The old Hammerjacks was in a class of its own,” says Whiteman, now 54. “It was renown on the entire East Coast.”
The buzz surrounding KIX soon grew, and they were signed to a major label record deal. Their self-titled 1981 debut is one of three KIX albums to make the top 50 in rock critic Chuck Eddy’s book, “Stairway to Hell: The 500 Best Heavy Metal Albums in the Universe.” By 1988, KIX were touring with the likes of AC/DC and Aerosmith. Their videos were in heavy rotation on MTV and their power ballad “Don’t Close Your Eyes,” from their fourth album “Blow My Fuse,” was a hit; peaking at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The good times would not last.
By the time KIX released their fifth album, the band’s popularity plummeted with the arrival of a new sound coming from Seattle. The so called hair metal era was coming to a close.
“We unfortunately got lumped in with the hair bands,” says Whiteman. “We just kind of got put into that category. You couldn’t escape it at the time. Everyone was jumping on the bandwagon. So many bands just copied other bands. Everybody looked alike and sounded alike. It got to be so formulated. I really feel like that was the demise of the music that we were trying to do.”
The KIX 2.0 reboot happened in 2004 with a series of reunion shows. Whiteman was joined by original members, guitarists Ronnie Younkins, and Brian Forsythe, drummer Jimmy Chalfant, and new bassist Mark Schenker. Their appearance at the inaugural M3 Rock Festival was a huge hit with the hometown crowd.
“People stood up as soon as we hit the stage and they never sat down the entire time,” Whiteman says. “It was their way of saying; we appreciate your body of work and for entertaining us for all of these years.”
So now that the band is back in the public eye, will a new KIX album follow?
“One step at a time,” says Whiteman. “I see other bands trying to come out with stuff because they don’t want to ride on their history, but that’s what made them and we know that. We just want to give the fans what they want. I’ve got to tip my hat to them for all of the support they’ve given us over the years. It’s humbling and flattering at the same time.”
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