Bret Michaels is a rock ”n” roll gentleman.
Sure, his status as bad boy lead singer of glam-rock quartet Poison can make for some obvious leaps to conclusion. Add to that his romps with celebrity starlets (he was the first guy with a Pamela Anderson sex-tape) and current VH1 “celebreality” show “Rock of Love” (the glam-rock version of the network”s all-time ratings success, “Flavor of Love”), and one might write the guy off as a typical rock star cad.
On the show, 25 women compete in a variety of contests, from talking dirty on the phone to playing tackle football. Winners advance to the next week, with the grand prize being Michaels” affection and title of “Rock Star Girlfriend.”
Deep down, though, Michaels is a relaxed, affable and genuine personality who doesn”t exploit his character so much as reveal it. It”s that cool, down-to-earth demeanor that has endeared his show to VH1 fans and helped propel it to the top of the network”s ratings.
It also has helped build a resurgence for his band Poison, which after more than 20 years together continues to tour and release records. The band, which includes drummer Rikki Rockett, bassist Bobby Dall and guitarist C.C. DeVille, plays the Salinas Sports Complex on Friday. Fellow ”80s hair-rockers Ratt opens the show. Tickets range from $16.50 to $39.50.
The band”s success is due in large part to its catalogue of hits, which include the anthems “Nothing But a Good Time” and “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.” It also owes credit to Michaels” balancing act, maintaining the spotlight without completely hogging it like other rock stars (see David Lee Roth, Axl Rose and Zach de la Rocha).
Despite numerous tussles with bandmates — an infamous fistfight in 1991 with guitarist DeVille at the MTV Video Music Awards was followed 16 years later with an onstage battle with Dall — the band has never truly split up. (DeVille took time off for rehab during the mid-”90s, but later returned to the group.)
Michaels has always stumped for diabetes awareness, having been diagnosed with junior diabetes at age 6. He even has the names of his daughters tattooed on his forearm.
While “Rock of Love” won”t win him any fans from women”s rights activists, he at least treats his ladies with a measure of affection (in one episode teaser, he sings a tender love ballad to a weeping contestant).
In all, Michaels has managed to keep his persona and integrity intact, along the way opening the door for the band”s recent spike in popularity. The band released an album of rock covers, “Poison”d,” in June.
Michaels spoke with The Herald about his show, his band and his ability to balance the rock ”n” roll lifestyle on his terms:
Q: So, you got the show going, the tour, you”re releasing records. You”re pretty much back on top. Is it pretty hectic for you these days?
A: You know, as Poison, we”re very thankful to have had a 21-year career getting to do exactly what I love to do, which is music and everything that comes with it. We go out every year as Poison and tour and it”s an amazing show. This year, bar none, has been Poison”s biggest audio and visual production. With us, we”ve never backed down and been like, “Let”s just bring out one drum and a thing and just try to punt our way through it.” We”ve always tried to put on a big, exciting show and make it fun for us as well as the fans.
And then the show (“Rock of Love”), today we got the ratings and it”s the third week in a row, number one show for VH1 and number one in its time slot for cable. (Viewership) went up 23 percent this week. That was a really solid feeling.
Q: It”s picking up steam through word of mouth.
A: It is. When they did this show originally, this was not meant to be one of their big shows. This was one of the shows where they were quote unquote “trying” to bring a little more rock presence to VH1 and they bought six episodes (initially). After the first night of filming, they bought six more episodes.
Q: You”ve got your rock ”n” roll swagger, but you seem like a real approachable cat. That”s what I liked about the show, your personality.
A: Thank you very much, and the guy that you”re talking to now and the guy on the show, that”s the same guy. This is why the show has been number one.
I was just me. I went in there and said “Listen. If you want to script this and have me act, my acting is, I”ll admit, a little weak. Acting is not my strong point. If you want to script this show it”s going to fail miserably for you and me. But if you just let me be myself on the show and let me do fun (stuff), it”ll be great.”
Q: I saw the trailer where the girls are playing football and they look like they”re trying to kick the crap out of one another.
A: It”s like roller derby live! They”re out on that muddy field playing full tackle football. One girl breaks her ankle, that”s how bad it got. But it was an accident. She slipped on the mud and another girl hit her leg and I knew instantly, that”s not good.
I was mad at the (production) guys because the field was way too wet. I was running and falling on my (butt) every 2 inches. But those girls were really good sports, man. They made it fun.
Q: How did the final episode go down?
A: It is a very bittersweet ending. It”s not a Hollywood ending. The best word I can use is bittersweet, because I really got to know a couple of these girls really well, and I liked them both a lot. You know what I”m getting at. It”s a very emotional ending. You know, in reality television, a lot of the shows are scripted so you can tell there”s no emotion. On this one, you can tell there”s some deep emotion going on …
Let me ask you, Salinas is in what area?
Q: Are you familiar with Santa Cruz?
A: I am.
Q: Salinas is south of Santa Cruz.
A: That”s what I thought. Because Santa Cruz is great. My dad was up there for a while and I loved being out there. It was very cool. That was when I was living in So-Cal, when I first moved there. My dad was living up there with his second wife, but it was very cool. I loved it there.
Q: What kind of crowds are you drawing at your shows?
A: Our fan base is wild, because it”s a lot of young crazy rock fans mixed in with our hard-core fans.
Q: Is it weird to get young fans who were probably born when you were releasing your first records?
A: That”s an awesome feeling. And you know what it is? If you play good rock ”n” roll, it can withstand the test of time. We were fortunate that there were a few bands from our genre and era that did that. There was Bon Jovi, ourselves, Def Leppard, and even though it”s not the same style, Metallica came from the same era that we did. It”s an amazing thing.
Q: Are you touring with the original lineup?
A: Yeah, always. We had two records where C.C. was in rehab. He came out, got sober and then went back into rehab … but Poison has always been together. It”s just like, with me and C.C., we got into a huge fistfight at the MTV Awards and he went back underground for a while. But everyone”s back and playing amazing.
Q: What”s the group dynamic like after more than 20 years together? Do you guys ever get on each others” nerves?
A: We grew up as a garage band together. Me, Bobby and Rikki have known each other since junior high school. We met C.C., he came from Brooklyn, N.Y. We”ve known each other for 23, 24 years. We have a pretty good dynamic, but we all have our own separate tour buses, which is good because you need that separation.
We”re all great friends, but last year, me and Bobby, damn it, we got into a huge fistfight in Atlanta. We had a couple of words and all of a sudden, next thing you know, me and him are slugging it out onstage. And — this is how long we”ve known each other — we got done, they separated us, and we went back up and finished the song! But he hit me in the knee with his bass, and I had to get stitches, when the show was done, in the emergency room.
I was like, “You just split my knee!” It was painful that night, but the next day we were laughing about it.
Q: I was reluctant to ask about that incident. It”s cool you can talk about it so openly.
A: Here”s the thing we always say: In spite of ourselves, we”ve managed to succeed (laughs).
That”s the funniness of our band. Poison has a lot of great moments and a lot of “Spinal Tap” moments mixed together. And we”re able to laugh at ourselves because of it.
Q: What can folks expect at the Salinas show?
A: For the fans, I will guarantee this: This is Poison”s biggest production. I guarantee this will be the ultimate rock ”n” roll party. They will leave there going, “Yeah, that rocks!”
Marc Cabrera can be reached at 646-4345 or mcabrera@montereyherald.com.
If you go Poison and Ratt play Friday at the Salinas Sports Complex. Gates open at 5 p.m., concert starts at 8 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the Salinas Sports Complex box office, 1034 N. Main St., Salinas, or online at www.tickets.com.
