The Numero Group Readying Compilation Featuring Forgotten Glam Metal Gems
“Bound For Hell: On The Sunset Strip” – Story by Anne Erickson, album artwork
Adam Luksetich of The Numero Group discusses the label’s new collection of hidden early ’80s glam metal bands and songs
Chicago-based record label Numero Group is known for crafting music collections featuring rarities, out-of-print and rare musical sub-genres and artists. Now, they have a new release on the way that highlights the early days of ’80s Los Angeles glam metal. The set, called “Bound For Hell: On The Sunset Strip,” arrives Friday (Oct. 28).
The package features 21-songs making up two LPs, with music critic and co-author of “Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History of Metal” Katherine Turman offering a 144-page, full color book. Artists featured include early glam metal acts such as Black ‘N Blue, Armored Saint, Lizzy Borden, L.A. Rocks, SIN, Max Havoc, Romeo and more.
Adam Luksetich served as the producer and lead researcher behind the collection. He’s been working at the Numero Group for about a decade now. As the resident metalhead of the group, he was a natural fit to head up this project. “Everyone at Numero likes all kind of music, but it’s known that I’m the heavy metal representative at the label,” Luksetich tells Audio Ink Radio.
The goal of “Bound For Hell” is to highlight the impressive independent or unsigned bands that were alive in that early glam scene but never got that major label success.
“That’s how Numero operates- we want you to hear the artists that didn’t make it,” Luksetich says. “Some of the best music is left out of the history books. There’s so much great music out there that people need to hear, and this is a great example of that, especially in a scene like the early heavy metal and glam metal scene.”
He added, “In the early stages of that scene, these bands like Motley Crue would be opening for Stormer. Ninety-nine percent of Crue fans don’t know who Stormer is. They were putting on just as exciting shows as Motley Crue with incredible performances and great songs, but they just didn’t make it to a major label. That’s the case with so many bands in general and in this scene. So, we’re shining a light on those bands that need some recognition.”
Looking back at that period in the early 1990s when glam metal was on a steep decline, Luksetich points out that while many blame the quick rise of grunge, there were many other reasons.
“A lot of people assume that it was grunge that killed hair metal, but there were really a lot of other factors,” he says. “Grunge was definitely part of it, but at that point in time when grunge was introduced, glam and hair metal were already starting to fade. As soon as Guns N’ Roses came out in ’87 and ’88, things started to slow down, and bands stared to change, so there were lots of factors.”
“That scene, the glam scene, had already been going for 10 years at that point, and even earlier, if you count Van Halen and stuff like that,” he adds. “I think the bubble had already burst.”
So, who does Luksetich think is the greatest hair metal band of all time? “I think it would be hard to argue against Motley Crue,” he says. “It’s my favorite hair metal band. They were one of the first ones I got into from that scene. I think it would be hard to not say Motley Crue. They put out so many great records in those first years.”
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