Namesakes #58: Skid Row

The term "Skid Row" has come to mean any area in a big city where people whose lives are "on the skids" go to live, though more specifically it refers to an area of downtown LA with a large homeless population. It's also a name that's been adopted by a number of musical acts over the years, including...

SKID ROW #1

The first band to feature Phil Lynott and Gary Moore together, before they moved on to Thin Lizzy, though the frontman was Brendan 'Brush' Shiels, who would go on to greater success in Ireland as a radio and TV personality, and with his own solo career.

Here's a song they wrote in 1969 all about their enjoyment of Saturday Snapshots...

SKID ROW #2

Some sources will tell you that Skid Row was the original name for Nirvana, though on further investigation I discovered Kurt Cobain had previously been in a band which delighted in the name Fecal Matter, and that he and bassist Krist Novoselic were then in a Creedence Clearwater Revival tribute band called The Sellouts. Before settling on Nirvana, they were also known as Pen Cap Chew, Bliss and Ted Ed Fred... but here they are in their Skid Row days in early 1987...

SKID ROW #3

New Jersey hair metal gods who formed in 1986 but didn't release any records until '89. Founding member Dave Sabo was briefly a member of his mate Jon Bon Jovi's band, until he was replaced by Ritchie Sambora and went off on his own. Iffypedia tells me this Skid Row had to pay Gary Moore $35,000 in order to use the name... although Brush Shiels tells a different story. They're still in the go today, although lead singer Sebastian Bach (not that one) was given his marching orders in '96.

God willing it never happens, but if you ever found yourself on Skid Row... which would be your choice?