June 9, 2002 / 1294 reads
RockinYourWorld.com (June 9, 2002)
We caught up with Bobby Dall a few days before Poison kicked off their 2002 HOLLYWEIRD Summer tour. This is all the info we got from him.....hope you like it.
RYW: Bobby, how involved were you on the new album "Hollyweird"?
Bobby Dall: All the way. We came off the road last Summer and ended the tour a little short with my neck. I had to have an emergency diskectomy surgery. That was in August and by the end of September, begining of October, I started coming out here on the West Coast and we wrote and recorded, produced everything on the record.
RYW: Cool!
Bobby: The Band is always all four of us getting in a room together. One guy may be more responsible for a particular song. It all comes together in a room when the four of us are together.
RYW: "Flesh & Blood" was Poison's last studio album before "Hollyweird" with all original members. How excited was Poison doing a full-length record with all the original members?
Bobby: Absolutely excited! Working with C.C.Deville the last three Summers and now going into this fourth Summer has been incredible to us. Posion has always been Bobby, Rikki, Bret, and C.C. Unfortunately, there was a period of time when we couldn't work together. Sometimes you have to play the cards that life deals you. It has been wonderful to be back with C.C. This is the first full studio record that we've done with C.C. since "Flesh & Blood". C.C. is one of my favorite guitar players and songwriter in the world. I think the world of him. It was absolutely wonderful working with him again.
RYW: What is your favorite and least favorite song on the new album?
Bobby: That's a tough one. I like them all. I really like "Squeezebox", I know it's not our song, but I think the way we did that song was really unique and original and very heavy and cool. I really like that one and it's the first single that will be played on the radio. My least favorite song I think got left in the editing room.
RYW: What was your favorite album to tour on and why?
Bobby: Probably the second record "Open Up...". The first half of that tour we went out with David Lee Roth for the first 4 or 5 months and then that was our switch to headline. Then we toured for another 18 months as headliners. Probably the first time around as the headliner I would say would be the most favorite memorable experiences.
RYW: You guys did Regis & Kelly recently. How was the reaction from the crowd?
Bobby: It was great. It was a Poison crowd. We went into that show not sure, cause it's not exactly quite our cup-of-tea of things that we've done in the past. It was a big TV show and they really wanted us to come down and do it. We were going on the morning TV and catching a limo at 7 am and sound checking at 7:30 am. I never played so F***ing early in my life. When we got there and got in front of the crowd it was like any Poison show. I think the fans found out that we were playing there and they all went and got tickets. It looked like any other Poison audience. They were all sitting there with Poison banners and Poison shirts.
RYW: Was Regis & Kelly Rockin' out?
Bobby: Absolutely! We were all rockin with Egg Mcmuffins.
RYW: Is there any song that you're sick of playing live, or song that you just love to play on stage?
Bobby: There's none that I'm sick of. When you tour, you have to play the songs people remember and like. Every time we go out we play a couple new songs, we switch the order around a couple older songs come out and a couple of the older songs that we used to do go back in. We switch it around a little bit here and there and we're always trying to add new stuff. I can't imagine Poison doing a concert without playing "Talk Dirty To Me". I have seen shows of older performers where I've gone to see them and played their whole new record. To be honest with you, and I've never gone back to see those bands. If I go see someone I want to see their hits as well. To me I think it's important when you go see The Rolling Stones to hear "Satisfaction". There are songs that I don't sit around my house and play, but when you're playing on a stage, it's completely different once you put 16,000 screaming kids in front of me and it makes everything exciting. There are none that I'm sick of playing live. Touring for me is what a Rock n Roll band is all about. I could never get enough of that.
RYW: What can fans expect from the upcoming tour?
Bobby: Is this for all over America or are you in a particular city?
RYW: We're from the Hartford, CT area. We try to get around all over the States.
Bobby: Hartford was great last year. That was when Dee Snider came up and played with us. We had a blast playing "We're Not Gonna Take It" with him. It's going to be a Poison show as always. What can you expect new, we're doing a couple new songs from the record. We've taken a few of the older ones out and putting a few new older ones in, so it's been switched around a little. We've got new backdrops and new pyros, new lights and new sound. Every year we re-do everything, more of just Nothing But a Good Time.
RYW: How could Poison afford to have low-ticket prices compared to everyone else?
Bobby: Absolutely! We do that on purpose. Last year the cost of the shows had crept up a little bit on us and we were very unhappy. When we booked and sold this tour we actuall took a cut in pay to keep the ticket prices down. It's something we always believed in. There are certain situations that can't be avoided, if you end up in small venues where there are so many seats available and the cost of getting the band in there costs X amount of dollars, they have to raise ticket prices. Wherever and whenever we're capable of taking control of it, we always have and will. We've done that from the very beginning of time. It's just ludicrous to pay $200 to go see a show. It just doesn't seem right to us.
RYW: You guys started to tour again in *99. Who had the idea to get all four original members back together and put together a big tour with three other name bands?
Bobby: It was mine of course. The other three guys will tell you differently, but it was mine. About *93 or *94 we decided to take a break and that break turned out into a semi permanent vacation. We have not worked for 5 to 6 years. Prior to *99, I had been in touch with C.C. the whole time the band was not together with C.C., it was about going into the year *99 C.C. and Bret started communicating a little bit finally. We've gotten together and talked a little bit, the four of us. To be honest with you, managers and booking agents and so forth caught wind what we were doing, that we were talking and discussing some stuff. They pretty much found out what the business aspects are for this band to work again. They sort of called us and said "we hear you guys are talking and we have a 50 show offer for you if you guys can play together and do it". It was a little bit of both sides of the party. I guess the rest is history.
RYW: Do you ever watch any of the opening bands?
Bobby: Of course! All the bands that have toured with us all three Summers and going into this fourth summer have been bands we like. It's been a lot of bands from the 80s like ourselves. They're all the bands we grew up working together with early on in the L.A. scene. Like this year taking Cinderella back with us again. They came out of Philly, we came out of Harrisburg. Our two bands broke within months of each other. We played out there on tours together with Poison, Cinderella, and Loudness. We were out there doing club tours before both of our records ever broke. Our records broke the same year and stuff. There's always been a good commodore between Poison and Cinderella. That's why we're taking them back this Summer. I like all the bands that we played with. It's always enjoyable. It's a big Summer fest party out there.
RYW: You just brought up all the history with Cinderella. How did you guys choose the other bands on the tour like Enuff Znuff or Quiet Riot?
Bobby: We've known all these bands for years. I think every band that we have played with, we have toured with in prior years. We just put the list together and go thru it every Summer picking and choosing. The band personally chooses. It's been all good bands we played with. Like I said, we played with L.A. Guns back in the day. We toured with Ratt back in the day. We toured with Cinderella back in the day. We toured with Dokken, Slaughter, Warrant, Enuff Znuff, Quiet Riot back in the day. So the list goes on and on.
RYW: Poison after-show parties. Are they still as crazy these days as they were back then?
Bobby: Absolutely! Crazier!
RYW: Is Ricky Valentine still working with you guys as the 'entertainment director'?
Bobby: No. Mr. Valentine is no longer with the organization. He is retired out here in California. I see Ricky very often. He's no longer in the Rock n Roll business, but he's still a dear friend of the band.
RYW: If you can go back to any year. What year would you re-live again?
Bobby: I don't know if I would like to go back. If I could go back, it would probably be when I was 15 or 16. I would like to take all the knowledge that I have known back to 15 or 16.
RYW: Who influenced you to play bass?
Bobby: Tom Hamilton from Aerosmith. I could start naming names left and right. I don't know if bass players are responsible for influencing me to play bass or Rock n Roll bands are responsible for me being a Rock n Roll star. Bands like Aerosmith, Cheap Trick, Van Halen, Black Sabbath, the list just goes on and on are responsible for who I am in this businesss. All the Hard Rock bands from the 70s.
RYW: How do you spend your day off from touring?
Bobby: I don't think I ever have a day off. I live back in Florida and I have a couple of small children and when I'm not working and doing this Rock n Roll thing, most of my time is given to my children.
RYW: How is the airplay of "Squeezebox" on the radio stations?
Bobby: The airplay seems to be going very well. It seems to be getting played around the country quite regularly.
RYW: How are you recovering from your neck injury?
Bobby: I'm recovering very well. I had some bad discs and one of my jumps on stage flattened one of them out and bulged it out. It was a very painful process that I went thru. It was an emergency diskectomy. I didn't have a choice at that point. I could no longer walk and move. I went and had the surgery. It took like 6 weeks of recovery time to get back up on my feet. I was taking it slow all winter with my neck and my back. But so far so good, knock on wood. I'd say probably, I'm 99% there. The fusion has gone very well and I got the green light to do whatever I want, as long as it doesn't hurt.
RYW: That's good.
Bobby: We'll see. So far it's been great, but I haven't been in the Rock n Roll scene yet.
RYW: How do you think Poison survived the whole 80s thing? You're one of the bands that can go out and play in front of 10,000 - 15,000 people. A lot of other bands are struggling in the club scenes?
Bobby: I think it's like any other business. They come out with M&Ms and all of a sudden the world is crazy for M&Ms. A lot of people make M&Ms, but in the end M&M is the only one left. The cream rises to the top. There are other bands from our era that are also capable of doing what we are doing. Bands like Bon Jovi, if Guns n Roses could manage to keep the band intact, they could do the same thing. I would like to take credit for it, but at the same time I think it was the timing that happened with our band. It turned out to be a blessing instead of a curse. When we split up in *93 or *94, that's when the grunge scene sort of took over, now I would like to say it was done by design. The truth is just because we were a**holes and couldn't get along with each other anymore. Probably the fact that we didn't work thru that whole time it was a blessing instead of a curse and the bands that tried to continue, destroyed themselves down. Poison had 10 or better top 10 singles, we had a number 1 single. We were huge. Love us or hate us, you couldn't deny us. I think the band with it's building a fan base off of touring is one in Rock n Roll history that lives on. We had built that base, we had toured the first ten years non-stop and that fan base still exists for us today.
RYW: Is there anything else you'd like to say to all the RockinYourWorld.com fans out there?
Bobby: Keep Rockin Your World! God bless them and Thanks. It really comes down to the fans. They're the ones that make our Rockin World go round. Kudo off to you and we'll keep the ticket prices down.
