Poison is a band I always felt didn’t get nearly the respect they deserved. Even back in the ‘80s, Poison was looked at as if they were a kind of joke band. If you liked Poison, you weren’t a true metalhead. You were a pussy or a poseur, as they would say back then. I never understood it because underneath the veneer was a band that was rough around the edges, full of fire, attitude, and passion. I saw this plain as day, but what was it that kept others from seeing it?
Their debut album, Look What the Cat Dragged In, hit the streets in 1986 and was an instant hit with fans of hard rock music. Just like the same Hollywood scene that spawned bands before them, such as Ratt, Motley Crue, and W.A.S.P, to name a few, Poison looked like every other band in Hollywood at the time. Big hair, dayglo colored clothes, and more makeup than any woman you knew wore. Poison mastered the art of genderbending so well that 90% of the male population thought the four pictures on the cover of Look What The Cat Dragged In were hot chicks… until they flipped the cover only to see the same pretty faces on bodies with chest hair.
When I first heard Poison, like most fans my age, I heard “Talk Dirty to Me.” Even at 13 years old, I remember thinking to myself, “What a dumb fucking song, but goddamn, do I love this.” Poison wasn’t trying all that hard to be anything more than what they were as a band, and that was four dudes who were loving life, living for the party, and inviting everyone listening or seeing them live to join in. I remember reading an interview with Poison Bobby Dahl many years ago where he said, “I didn’t get into this to be a musician. I got into this to be a rock star.” How can you not tip your hat to that unabashed level of honesty?
Don’t go busting on my boys and saying they aren’t musicians. You don’t get to that level of success if you’re a shitty player (at least back then) with zero skill. Those guys knew what they were doing. Bobby Dahl and drummer Riki Rockett were a really tight rhythm section. CC DeVille with his over-the-top whammy bar shredding guitar playing. Bret Michaels has a strong and steady arena rock ‘n roll voice and a stage presence that gave his peers a run for their money. Poison wasn’t slouched by any means, but they also knew their limits and never tried to exceed them. While Poison may not have been King Crimson, they didn’t want to be.
Imagewise, Poison was as silly as their peers like Ratt and Motley Crue, but their ability to craft great songs put them at the front of the line—catchy songs yet songs that still had a tongue-in-cheek quality. “#1 Bad Boy,” “Let Me Go To The Show,” and “Blame it On You” were Poison proving that they could write gutter trash sleaze songs that were right up there with the New York Dolls and Hanoi Rocks. “What you heard about me is probably right. I’m the boy next door. The one you were warned about…” Poison managed to take elements of glam rock and sleaze rock that seemed to have gaps in the plot, and they used it for themselves in a way that locked heads on them.
Live, they were a force. Pulling from the KISS playbook, Poison figured it out. How could they look larger than life and bigger than the headliner with only a sliver of stage and a backdrop? They engaged the audience. KISS-esque choreography, carefree goofing, and playing TO the crowd, not to them, were all benefits to Poison, and they were what made them shine in a live setting.
Poison just continued to grow both as players and writers. Open Up and Say Ah, their 2nd album, is a banger. Forget that it spawned “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn.” Let’s acknowledge that this album had some absolute bangers like “Love On The Rocks,” “Back to the Rocking Horse,” and “Bad to Be Good.” While still maintaining the tongue-in-cheek, sleazy rock of the debut that put them on the map, the songwriting had grown, and you could also tell in their playing that they had honed their craft from extensive touring.
After supporting David Lee Roth, Open Up, and Say Ahh extensively throughout the summer of 1988, Poison returned in the Fall of that year as arena headliners with openers Lita Ford and Britny Fox. Poison was firing on all cylinders at this point, and they were no longer an opening band. Poison was now a big league band carrying their flag and proving to the world that they could run with the biggest and the best of them. Their live shows were electrifying and full of energy and fun. Even if you didn’t like Poison, you were going to, at the very least, that it was a fun fucking show to watch.
Poison never came across as too cool for their fans. They played to and for their fans, and this mentality shines in their performances. I never felt like I was seeing a band of guys with ginormous egos. I felt like I was witnessing the neighborhood kid’s older brother and his friends ripping songs out, having a good time, and making anyone watching feel like they were having the time of their lives.
Poison’s success as arena/amphitheater headliners would continue into the ‘90s, and they even saw a lineup change when they replaced long-time guitarist CC Deville with guitar hero Ritchie Kotzen in 1991 after a bitter feud with Bret Michaels. This change in the lineup also brought in a much more mature sound and more mature songwriting. While still boasting their signature sleaze/glam edge, Kotzen brought something out in Poison that we never really knew they had: Musicianship. Songs like “Until You Suffer Some (Fire and Ice),” “Stand,” and “Theater of My Soul,” Poison not only flexed the fact that they could be and were great players but that the songwriting could be taken to a whole other level with the change of just one member.
By the time the Native Tongue tour was done, so was hard rock and metal. The 90s was a time of a whole new musical revolution; honestly, it was about time for one. Bands like Warrant, Cinderella, and Ratt (to name a few), who once played in 15,000 – 20,000 seat arenas, were now playing at the same club that your buddy from work’s band plays at to about 100 (sometimes less) people. Poison, they went out big. While attendance was low for the Native Tongue tour, Poison dipped out as arena/amphitheater headliners and was not seen again for a long time. When Poison went out, they went out right under the radar and did so while still being a “big” band. Poison wasn’t it schlepping in the clubs like their peers were. Poison did the right thing, sat out the storm, and knew that once it cleared up, the world would be ready for Poison again. And they were right. 1999 welcomed Poison back with bated breath.
Since ’99, Bobby Dahl, Rikki Rockett, CC Deville, and Bret Michaels have been going strong and putting on some of the best live shows of their career just over the past couple of years. Poison even served as the “opening” act on the Motley Crue/Def Leppard stadium tour (following Joan Jett & The Blackhearts) and, to the surprise of many, turned out to be the strongest band on the bill by a country mile. Poison hit the stage every night in the heat of summer with minimal stage production and proved that sometimes good ol’ meat and potatoes just can’t be beaten.
Poison didn’t need the huge screens and corny retired strippers dancing on stage. They went out there armed with a great selection of songs that scratched all the itches and all the raw energy that put them on the map in the first place. I wish I could’ve seen it live for myself, but what I saw via the interwebs was beautiful to remember. There are few things greater than watching overinflated bands like Def Leppard and Motley Crue get chewed up and spit out by Poison, and I’ll take that to the grave with me.
Much like KISS, Aerosmith, and other legendary bands that inspired them, Poison is still playing songs that, after nearly 40 years, still sound great. While Poison will always be a “good time” band, let’s not forget that Poison gifted us with some of the best ballads of the era with “I Won’t Forget You,” “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn,” and “Until You Suffer Some (Fire & Ice.) Poison also showed their deeper side with songs like “Ride The Wind,” “Something to Believe In,” and “The Scream.” Poison has more depth than many would admit to or even care to acknowledge, but I’m here for that.
I have seen Poison 11 times, yes, 11, since 1988. I’m sure many people have seen them more than me, but this isn’t about that. It’s about the fact that Poison is such a great fucking band that I have seen them 11 fucking times. While I’ve seen some shows that were better than others, I never went to a Poison concert and left thinking to myself, “That wasn’t a good show” or, “Man, that was boring.” Years ago, Poison bassist Bobby Dahl said in an interview, “If you leave a Poison show without a smile on your face, you need to see a therapist.”
In 2025, Poison will hit the road again after a few years off, and I can guarantee that it will be nothin’ but a good time all the time.
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