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Last year's "Hello Kitty" Avengers morphed in the horror movie characters in "Hello Kitty" motif. Honestly? I'm not sure which version is more disturbing.
From L-R: Candyman; The Shining twins; Dr. Herbert West (Re-Animator cosplayed by my friend Ryan); Beetlejuice; Captain Spaulding (House of a Thousand Corpses); Serial Mom (not too sure about this one); Michael Myers (Halloween); Chucky (Child's Play); The Grudge ghost girl; Jason Vorhees (Friday the 13th); Leatherface (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre); Patrick Bateman (American Psycho); and Ghostface (Scream).
She was called Spark Plug as a small kitty. She morphed into a bigger cat and into the nick name Sparky! Sparky was very curious about the two butterflies on my flowers!
The long running Ralston Type-8 morphed into the 'Tigre' line in 1938, running late, as the promised V8 from Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Cord line failed with that company, and the inline-8 which had similarly been bought it from A-C-D (used in the Auburn), was also no longer in series production from the engine works.
No matter. There was a modest stockpile of inline-8 engines which was gradually depleted in the manufacture of the Rhino model. Meanwhile 1938 brought with it a V8 engine from Cadillac, fitted to a chassis frame of Ralston's own design. The shorter engine allowed a greater allocation of overall length to the passenger area - though truth be told, more of if went to providing greater luggage capacity, and a more cab-forward look to the cars.
The Tigre MkI, still know as the Type-8 Tigre was replaced after WWII, with a MkII design, losing this Type-8 appellation. The new model appeared at the end of 1953, the car based on the new post WWII Cadillac frame, engine and underbody of the 1948-53 Series 60 (in particular the slightly longer 60 Special). The tooling was transferred to Ralston upon completion of the 1953 model year. By this stage the preceding MkI was now 15 years old, though this included the period through the war years.
The adoption of Cadillac underpinnings provided the Ralston Tigre MkII with the calibre of running gear demanded by the marque's premium position, though with a much reduced outlay, particularly compared to their premium US-based builders such as Packard. Key differentiation with the originating Cadillac was the Ralston themed 'X' radiator grille, unique bumper treatment, and completely reprofiled rear fender tops, truncating in a rocket-pod tail lamp cluster, instead of the Cadillac 'fin'. Not elements sat completely at ease with the carryover Cadillac based structure.
An update to the Tigre MkII in 1956 led to the MkII-B. a few of the elements were cleared up in the styling, plus the addition of a number of 'flourishes' that had emerged during the 1952-55 model years. Chief among these were 'tailfins' no longer the preserve of Cadillac, but sprouting taller and wilder each year on all US domestic brands. Compared to the 1954 model, the MkII-B had slightly taller fins, but they were much more prominent in the styling, as they were accentuated by both chrome trim separating them from the fender bulge, and also incorporating one of the zones for the bi-colour and tri-colour themes.
In 1958 the car was upgraded further with the advent of the MkII-C. This model again received changes to the fender, front and rear. At the front, the fender height was increased, making the car look both more modern, and also tying the top ridge into the unmodified doors and sides. The rear fender was modified to include a tapering fin, which then led to a tail lamp treatment which was to evolve further into a 'rocket pod' on subsequent models. The 'X' theme was continued to include a 'X' rocket, mounted centrally in the trunk lid. This could alternatively be swapped out for a conventionally styled horizontal trim, if the Continental spare wheel option was included (though this had also phased out of popularity over a short time period). The new trunk lid also shared the tapering profile of the fins. Although this look less modern compared to the newly squared up trunk lids from GM and Ford's divisions, it suited the 'classic' lines of the Ralston Tigre model, leading many to state that the MkII-C was perhaps the most conservatively handsome of mid-century Ralston models, particularly on the SWB closed models.
Additional styling changes included a modest reinterpretation of the grille, including the addition of 'Dagmars' at its extremities, and a new front bumper including marker lights.
The 1954 car launched with the same tune 331 CID (5.4 litre) V8, producing 230 bhp (175 kW), for 1956 this was raised to 285 bhp (213 kW) with an increase in capacity to 365 CID (6.0 litres). The 1958 MkII-C retained the 365 CID V8, but power increased to 310 bhp (230 kW).
Shown here is the 1958 MkII-C Hardtop Coupen in two-colour treatment Dark Blue, and White. This is configuration was one of the most popular on the Tigre MkII Platform, and was particularly pretty as the MkII-C.
This Lego miniland scale Ralston Tigre MkII-C Hardtop Coupe (1958) has been created for Flickr LUGNuts' 96th Build Challenge - The 8th Birthday, titled - 'Happy Crazy Eight Birthday, LUGNuts' - where all previous build challenges are available to build to. This model is built to the LUGNuts 63rd build challenge, - "Designing the Ralston Tiger" featuring fictional vehicles styled with an 'X' form in the styling.
Stercorarius parasiticus
Parasitic Jaeger (Arctic Skua) ... dark morph
Schmarotzerraubmöwe .............. dunkle Morphe
Almindelig Kjove ........................... mørk fase
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If you like my pictures please have a look at:
Wenn Ihnen meine Bilder gefallen, besuchen Sie bitte meine Homepage
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PLEASE, NO AWARDS or these large group icons like "your wonderful, great photo was seen in group xyz". They will be deleted sooner or later.
BITTE KEINE AWARDS oder diese großen Gruppen-Icons wie "Ich habe Dein wunderbares Bild in Gruppe xyz gesehen". Die lösche ich früher oder später.
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Montage created for The World Through My Eyes :: #9 Leave It To Me, 16th - 23rd of April
Original photo by Kim Denise THANKS Kim!!
If you are having trouble with the illusion here are the two photos used in the montage
The long running Ralston Type-8 morphed into the 'Tigre' line in 1938, running late, as the promised V8 from Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Cord line failed with that company, and the inline-8 which had similarly been bought it from A-C-D (used in the Auburn), was also no longer in series production from the engine works.
No matter. There was a modest stockpile of inline-8 engines which was gradually depleted in the manufacture of the Rhino model. Meanwhile 1938 brought with it a V8 engine from Cadillac, fitted to a chassis frame of Ralston's own design. The shorter engine allowed a greater allocation of overall length to the passenger area - though truth be told, more of if went to providing greater luggage capacity, and a more cab-forward look to the cars.
The Tigre MkI, still know as the Type-8 Tigre was replaced after WWII, with a MkII design, losing this Type-8 appellation. The new model appeared at the end of 1953, the car based on the new post WWII Cadillac frame, engine and underbody of the 1948-53 Series 60 (in particular the slightly longer 60 Special). The tooling was transferred to Ralston upon completion of the 1953 model year. By this stage the preceding MkI was now 15 years old, though this included the period through the war years.
The adoption of Cadillac underpinnings provided the Ralston Tigre MkII with the calibre of running gear demanded by the marque's premium position, though with a much reduced outlay, particularly compared to their premium US-based builders such as Packard. Key differentiation with the originating Cadillac was the Ralston themed 'X' radiator grille, unique bumper treatment, and completely reprofiled rear fender tops, truncating in a rocket-pod tail lamp cluster, instead of the Cadillac 'fin'. Not elements sat completely at ease with the carryover Cadillac based structure.
An update to the Tigre MkII in 1956 led to the MkII-B. a few of the elements were cleared up in the styling, plus the addition of a number of 'flourishes' that had emerged during the 1952-55 model years. Chief among these were 'tailfins' no longer the preserve of Cadillac, but sprouting taller and wilder each year on all US domestic brands. Compared to the 1954 model, the MkII-B had slightly taller fins, but they were much more prominent in the styling, as they were accentuated by both chrome trim separating them from the fender bulge, and also incorporating one of the zones for the bi-colour and tri-colour themes.
In 1958 the car was upgraded further with the advent of the MkII-C. This model again received changes to the fender, front and rear. At the front, the fender height was increased, making the car look both more modern, and also tying the top ridge into the unmodified doors and sides. The rear fender was modified to include a tapering fin, which then led to a tail lamp treatment which was to evolve further into a 'rocket pod' on subsequent models. The 'X' theme was continued to include a 'X' rocket, mounted centrally in the trunk lid. This could alternatively be swapped out for a conventionally styled horizontal trim, if the Continental spare wheel option was included (though this had also phased out of popularity over a short time period). The new trunk lid also shared the tapering profile of the fins. Although this look less modern compared to the newly squared up trunk lids from GM and Ford's divisions, it suited the 'classic' lines of the Ralston Tigre model, leading many to state that the MkII-C was perhaps the most conservatively handsome of mid-century Ralston models, particularly on the SWB closed models.
Additional styling changes included a modest reinterpretation of the grille, including the addition of 'Dagmars' at its extremities, and a new front bumper including marker lights.
The 1954 car launched with the same tune 331 CID (5.4 litre) V8, producing 230 bhp (175 kW), for 1956 this was raised to 285 bhp (213 kW) with an increase in capacity to 365 CID (6.0 litres). The 1958 MkII-C retained the 365 CID V8, but power increased to 310 bhp (230 kW).
Shown here is the 1958 MkII-C SWB Saloon in two-colour treatment gun-metal brown, and midnight black. This is a somewhat rare model, as most four-door cars used the long wheelbase chassis (4-window and 6-window Limousines) - though as mentioned, it is well regarded. The customers of the SWB Saloon tended to drive the cars themselves with their families.
This Ralston Tigre MkII-C SWB Saloon (1958) has be built on Lego miniland scale for Flickr LUGNuts 95th Build Challenge, - 'Designing the Ralston Legacy' - a challenge to design the fictitious Dragon 'Motorcycle' model for the fictitious Ralston company, though any of the previous Ralston challenge vehicles, the Tiger or the Rhino are also eligible to be submitted. The chief stipulation is that the model must feature a 'X' in the styling.
Did you know that they have poisonous spurs in their hind legs? Yeah...But look at the cute baby platypuses and their mama (at the bottom of the page).
This Platypus is part of the Morphe II Soft Toy Exhibit in Australia, October 2006.
By 1992, my tastes in railroad photography had morphed from quantity to quality. The Amador Central hit my radar, as it was dependent on the beleaguered timber industry, and its motive power was a pair of 40+ year old Baldwin S-12s. Just 55 miles to the south of AMC's base at Martell, California, the Sierra Railroad had a trio of Baldwin S-12s at its enginehouse in Oakdale. If you had an affinity for photogenic shortlines - especially those with elderly locomotives constructed by minority builders - the Sierra foothills in Central California were the place to be.
These photos were taken the first time I visited the Amador Central Railroad in July 1992. My wife and I had chased the SP 4449 south from Portland the previous weekend, and we were visiting our friend Tom Messer in Fair Oaks. He took me to Martell so we could chase AMC. Unfortunately, the day we chose for a visit was a day that the railroad only switched out the Georgia Pacific mill, and did not run down the hill to the Southern Pacific interchange at Ione. These are the images I recorded on Kodachrome that day.
In a different crop of the previous image, AMC 9 fouls the California Lane grade crossing.
Nichols morphed into a chain of discount drug stores called PharmHouse by the 1990's. The Nichols stores were divided in half with the remaining portion leased to another retailer. Photo sent to me by a fellow retail fan.
The long running Ralston Type-8 morphed into the 'Tigre' line in 1938, running late, as the promised V8 from Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Cord line failed with that company, and the inline-8 which had similarly been bought it from A-C-D (used in the Auburn), was also no longer in series production from the engine works.
No matter. There was a modest stockpile of inline-8 engines which was gradually depleted in the manufacture of the Rhino model. Meanwhile 1938 brought with it a V8 engine from Cadillac, fitted to a chassis frame of Ralston's own design. The shorter engine allowed a greater allocation of overall length to the passenger area - though truth be told, more of if went to providing greater luggage capacity, and a more cab-forward look to the cars.
The Tigre MkI, still know as the Type-8 Tigre was replaced after WWII, with a MkII design, losing this Type-8 appellation. The new model appeared at the end of 1953, the car based on the new post WWII Cadillac frame, engine and underbody of the 1948-53 Series 60 (in particular the slightly longer 60 Special). The tooling was transferred to Ralston upon completion of the 1953 model year. By this stage the preceding MkI was now 15 years old, though this included the period through the war years.
The adoption of Cadillac underpinnings provided the Ralston Tigre MkII with the calibre of running gear demanded by the marque's premium position, though with a much reduced outlay, particularly compared to their premium US-based builders such as Packard. Key differentiation with the originating Cadillac was the Ralston themed 'X' radiator grille, unique bumper treatment, and completely reprofiled rear fender tops, truncating in a rocket-pod tail lamp cluster, instead of the Cadillac 'fin'. Not elements sat completely at ease with the carryover Cadillac based structure.
An update to the Tigre MkII in 1956 led to the MkII-B. a few of the elements were cleared up in the styling, plus the addition of a number of 'flourishes' that had emerged during the 1952-55 model years. Chief among these were 'tailfins' no longer the preserve of Cadillac, but sprouting taller and wilder each year on all US domestic brands. Compared to the 1954 model, the MkII-B had slightly taller fins, but they were much more prominent in the styling, as they were accentuated by both chrome trim separating them from the fender bulge, and also incorporating one of the zones for the bi-colour and tri-colour themes.
In 1958 the car was upgraded further with the advent of the MkII-C. This model again received changes to the fender, front and rear. At the front, the fender height was increased, making the car look both more modern, and also tying the top ridge into the unmodified doors and sides. The rear fender was modified to include a tapering fin, which then led to a tail lamp treatment which was to evolve further into a 'rocket pod' on subsequent models. The 'X' theme was continued to include a 'X' rocket, mounted centrally in the trunk lid. This could alternatively be swapped out for a conventionally styled horizontal trim, if the Continental spare wheel option was included (though this had also phased out of popularity over a short time period). The new trunk lid also shared the tapering profile of the fins. Although this look less modern compared to the newly squared up trunk lids from GM and Ford's divisions, it suited the 'classic' lines of the Ralston Tigre model, leading many to state that the MkII-C was perhaps the most conservatively handsome of mid-century Ralston models, particularly on the SWB closed models.
Additional styling changes included a modest reinterpretation of the grille, including the addition of 'Dagmars' at its extremities, and a new front bumper including marker lights.
The 1954 car launched with the same tune 331 CID (5.4 litre) V8, producing 230 bhp (175 kW), for 1956 this was raised to 285 bhp (213 kW) with an increase in capacity to 365 CID (6.0 litres). The 1958 MkII-C retained the 365 CID V8, but power increased to 310 bhp (230 kW).
Shown here is the 1958 MkII-C 6-Window Limousine in single-colour midnight black. This was a commonly ordered model using the long wheelbase chassis (along with the 4-window Limousine and Phaetons). The LWB chassis featured the 147 in (3,729 mm) chassis from the 1950-53 Cadillac 75 Series.
This Ralston Tigre MkII-C 6-Window Limousine (1958) has be built on Lego miniland scale for Flickr LUGNuts 95th Build Challenge, - 'Designing the Ralston Legacy' - a challenge to design the fictitious Dragon 'Motorcycle' model for the fictitious Ralston company, though any of the previous Ralston challenge vehicles, the Tiger or the Rhino are also eligible to be submitted. The chief stipulation is that the model must feature a 'X' in the styling.
The long running Ralston Type-8 morphed into the 'Tigre' line in 1938, running late, as the promised V8 from Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Cord line failed with that company, and the inline-8 which had similarly been bought it from A-C-D (used in the Auburn), was also no longer in series production from the engine works.
No matter. There was a modest stockpile of inline-8 engines which was gradually depleted in the manufacture of the Rhino model. Meanwhile 1938 brought with it a V8 engine from Cadillac, fitted to a chassis frame of Ralston's own design. The shorter engine allowed a greater allocation of overall length to the passenger area - though truth be told, more of if went to providing greater luggage capacity, and a more cab-forward look to the cars.
The Tigre MkI, still know as the Type-8 Tigre was replaced after WWII, with a MkII design, losing this Type-8 appellation. The new model appeared at the end of 1953, the car based on the new post WWII Cadillac frame, engine and underbody of the 1948-53 Series 60 (in particular the slightly longer 60 Special). The tooling was transferred to Ralston upon completion of the 1953 model year. By this stage the preceding MkI was now 15 years old, though this included the period through the war years.
The adoption of Cadillac underpinnings provided the Ralston Tigre MkII with the calibre of running gear demanded by the marque's premium position, though with a much reduced outlay, particularly compared to their premium US-based builders such as Packard. Key differentiation with the originating Cadillac was the Ralston themed 'X' radiator grille, unique bumper treatment, and completely reprofiled rear fender tops, truncating in a rocket-pod tail lamp cluster, instead of the Cadillac 'fin'. Not elements sat completely at ease with the carryover Cadillac based structure.
An update to the Tigre MkII in 1956 led to the MkII-B. a few of the elements were cleared up in the styling, plus the addition of a number of 'flourishes' that had emerged during the 1952-55 model years. Chief among these were 'tailfins' no longer the preserve of Cadillac, but sprouting taller and wilder each year on all US domestic brands. Compared to the 1954 model, the MkII-B had slightly taller fins, but they were much more prominent in the styling, as they were accentuated by both chrome trim separating them from the fender bulge, and also incorporating one of the zones for the bi-colour and tri-colour themes.
Another emergent theme was the incorporation of the Continental-style rear external mount spare wheel.
Somewhat more curious was the chrome trim along the body side, which seemed to not quite know what it wanted to be, but sort of wandered from the front fender vent back to the leading edge of the rear fender bulge, forming the the leading edge of the 2nd-colour zone covering the rear fender.
The 1954 car launched with the same tune 331 CID (5.4 litre) V8, producing 230 bhp (175 kW), for 1956 this was raised to 285 bhp (213 kW) with an increase in capacity to 365 CID (6.0 litres).
The Tigre MkII-B was in turn replaced by the MkII-C in 1958.
Shown here is the 1956 MkII-B Convertible in tri-colour pale yellow, tiger brown, and midnight black.
This Ralston Tigre MkII-B Convertible (1956) has be built on Lego miniland scale for Flickr LUGNuts 95th Build Challenge, - 'Designing the Ralston Legacy' - a challenge to design the fictitious Dragon 'Motorcycle' model for the fictitious Ralston company, though any of the previous Ralston challenge vehicles, the Tiger or the Rhino are also eligible to be submitted. The chief stipulation is that the model must feature a 'X' in the styling.
The long running Ralston Type-8 morphed into the 'Tigre' line in 1938, running late, as the promised V8 from Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Cord line failed with that company, and the inline-8 which had similarly been bought it from A-C-D (used in the Auburn), was also no longer in series production from the engine works.
No matter. There was a modest stockpile of inline-8 engines which was gradually depleted in the manufacture of the Rhino model. Meanwhile 1938 brought with it a V8 engine from Cadillac, fitted to a chassis frame of Ralston's own design. The shorter engine allowed a greater allocation of overall length to the passenger area - though truth be told, more of if went to providing greater luggage capacity, and a more cab-forward look to the cars.
The Tigre MkI, still know as the Type-8 Tigre was replaced after WWII, with a MkII design, losing this Type-8 appellation. The new model appeared at the end of 1953, the car based on the new post WWII Cadillac frame, engine and underbody of the 1948-53 Series 60 (in particular the slightly longer 60 Special). The tooling was transferred to Ralston upon completion of the 1953 model year. By this stage the preceding MkI was now 15 years old, though this included the period through the war years.
The adoption of Cadillac underpinnings provided the Ralston Tigre MkII with the calibre of running gear demanded by the marque's premium position, though with a much reduced outlay, particularly compared to their premium US-based builders such as Packard. Key differentiation with the originating Cadillac was the Ralston themed 'X' radiator grille, unique bumper treatment, and completely reprofiled rear fender tops, truncating in a rocket-pod tail lamp cluster, instead of the Cadillac 'fin'. Not elements sat completely at ease with the carryover Cadillac based structure.
An update to the Tigre MkII in 1956 led to the MkII-B. a few of the elements were cleared up in the styling, plus the addition of a number of 'flourishes' that had emerged during the 1952-55 model years. Chief among these were 'tailfins' no longer the preserve of Cadillac, but sprouting taller and wilder each year on all US domestic brands. Compared to the 1954 model, the MkII-B had slightly taller fins, but they were much more prominent in the styling, as they were accentuated by both chrome trim separating them from the fender bulge, and also incorporating one of the zones for the bi-colour and tri-colour themes.
In 1958 the car was upgraded further with the advent of the MkII-C. This model again received changes to the fender, front and rear. At the front, the fender height was increased, making the car look both more modern, and also tying the top ridge into the unmodified doors and sides. The rear fender was modified to include a tapering fin, which then led to a tail lamp treatment which was to evolve further into a 'rocket pod' on subsequent models. The 'X' theme was continued to include a 'X' rocket, mounted centrally in the trunk lid. This could alternatively be swapped out for a conventionally styled horizontal trim, if the Continental spare wheel option was included (though this had also phased out of popularity over a short time period). The new trunk lid also shared the tapering profile of the fins. Although this look less modern compared to the newly squared up trunk lids from GM and Ford's divisions, it suited the 'classic' lines of the Ralston Tigre model, leading many to state that the MkII-C was perhaps the most conservatively handsome of mid-century Ralston models, particularly on the SWB closed models.
Additional styling changes included a modest reinterpretation of the grille, including the addition of 'Dagmars' at its extremities, and a new front bumper including marker lights.
The 1954 car launched with the same tune 331 CID (5.4 litre) V8, producing 230 bhp (175 kW), for 1956 this was raised to 285 bhp (213 kW) with an increase in capacity to 365 CID (6.0 litres). The 1958 MkII-C retained the 365 CID V8, but power increased to 310 bhp (230 kW).
Shown here is the 1958 MkII-C SWB Saloon in two-colour treatment gun-metal brown, and midnight black. This is a somewhat rare model, as most four-door cars used the long wheelbase chassis (4-window and 6-window Limousines) - though as mentioned, it is well regarded. The customers of the SWB Saloon tended to drive the cars themselves with their families.
This Ralston Tigre MkII-C SWB Saloon (1958) has be built on Lego miniland scale for Flickr LUGNuts 95th Build Challenge, - 'Designing the Ralston Legacy' - a challenge to design the fictitious Dragon 'Motorcycle' model for the fictitious Ralston company, though any of the previous Ralston challenge vehicles, the Tiger or the Rhino are also eligible to be submitted. The chief stipulation is that the model must feature a 'X' in the styling.
My left arm has morphed into taffy, my brain is pulsating with fractured leaking cracks, and my body is fighting both sides of a civil war. I pushed myself a bit the past few days.
I decided (or some part of me did at least) that a good way to destress would be to double up on my raptor training sessions this week. Yesterdays session the raptor I was working with (a male Eurasion Eagle Owl) was just a complete butthead and in one of the nastiest moods imaginable. He tried out every intimidation trick he knows hoping to bluff me into giving up. Unfortunately those are the times when you can not give in at all.... they remember who can be bluffed and will use it against you everytime. He tried beaking my hand, biting my finger, hissing, throwing half a mouse at me, letting me get one snap on an anklet and yanking back so it dropped on the ground and he'd fly to another branch when I bent to get it. After about 10 min of rotten behavior, he gave in and let me put on his anklets, jesses, and swivel and stepped up onto the gauntlet. He then 'hooed' at me over and over as I took him across the grounds to the education building. Both me and the trainer knew we were in for a difficult session, but i'd rather learn to deal with him on his moody days so i'll know what to do if he crabs out somewhere during an outreach.
One of the things that can happen when handling raptors is called 'baiting', where they decide to jump off the glove and try to take flight. If the jesses came unhooked or you lost control and he got loose, holy hell would break open. Well he decided to put me through the paces and the first time he was so quick and strong he yanked my arm so hard I almost stumbled. Let me tell you that 6 foot wingspan gives him amazing power and lift, and he spent the next 45 min testing every bit of my reactions in as many ways as he could. In the end we called a truce, he was over heating and my arm was a rubber noodle.
I was on adrenaline rush and he was on excellent behavior as I returned him to his pen for the evening about 9:30pm. Here's where I lost a little sanity because I scheduled myself another session for today right after work. Apparently i became super woman or something in my mind right then because why the hell else would I think I could do that two days in a row? Maybe I thought I had gotten past him testing and challenging me already..... like I was a special case and won him over with my charm. Well did I have another thing coming today. He decided tonight to try a whole new bag of tricks to test me on. We'll despite my arm being a wet noodle at the end, I managed to pass again.... but decided to give myself a few days break so I can learn to use my arm again. I must admit though I am curious what he'll try on me next time.....
I know I must be delirious, but I think we may be learning to understand each other. Most raptors are solitary and don't bond with people, but they will interact individually, and though i haven't earned his respect so to speak, he seems to be deciding I can be tolerated at least.
This has been one of the most mentally, physically, and emotionally challenging things I have subjected myself to in a very long time, but I am loving every minute of it!
The KOM League
Flash Report
For
November 14, 2019
_____________________________________________________________________________
This report features a former Bartlesville Pirate who died earlier this year.
Photo of a San Diego High School football player taken five years prior to his becoming a KOM league catcher.
www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/49065122887/ This is the link to read the entire report.
KOM league catcher a quarter century after leaving the league and becoming head coach of his alma mater.
www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/49064393413/
It was not planned but this report morphed into talking about ballplayers from the West Coast.
_____________________________________________________________________________
A long sought “Mystery player” of the KOM league identified.
On the KOM league data base is a member of the 1952 Blackwell Broncos by the name of Bryan. For 25 years every attempt was made to find a first name for that fellow and more about his life. There have been times that it was tempting to “cheat” and delete the name. After all, who would know or even care?
Well, the guy keeping score on all the former KOM leaguers would know and that was enough of a conscience issue to keep his name on the list.
In recent days a trip through the old Baseball Questionnaires was undertaken and there was an Edwin Charles Bryan Jr. who entered this world on Christmas day of 1929 in Sacramento, California. His grandparents were natives of Switzerland. They arrived in the United States late in the 19th century and settled in southwest Illinois, around Belleville.
Edwin Charles Bryan Sr. was born at Belleville, Illinois in 1899. A couple of decades later he had signed a professional baseball contract and played sixteen years in leagues such as the Texas-Oklahoma, Texas and East Texas league. He spent parts or all of 11 seasons in the Pacific Coast league with team at Vernon, Mission, Sacramento and San Francisco from 1924-1935. The 1920 season was a very good one for him as he won 20 games for Sacramento while losing 12. He also had a big win on Christmas Day as he and his wife welcomed Bryan Jr. into this world. That birthday boy showed up for at least one game with Al Reitz’s Blackwell Broncos in 1952.
Following his long career in the PCL, Bryan Sr. moved back to Belleville, Ill. and went to work for the Griesedieck Brothers Brewing Company. The Brewery sponsored the St. Louis Cardinal radio broadcasts for many years.
Career of Edwin Charles Bryan Sr. www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=bryan-...
That site lists his place of death as Millstadt, Illinois. That was where he resided at the time but on the day of his death, January 3, 1978 he was in Walker, Michigan. There is an obituary in the Grand Rapids, Michigan newspaper on January 6. A copy of that isn’t available to me at present. Here is the link where Walker, Michigan was cited as his place of death. search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=3171&h=10848... For those readers without Ancestry.com you’ll have to take my word on this. His wife, Jacobene, died eight years later in Grand Rapids which is near Walker, Michigan.
Bryan Sr. is buried at Walnut Hill Cemetery in Millstadt. Here is the link: www.findagrave.com/memorial/160059363/ If you are curious click on the names of famous people who are buried there. There are some old-time baseball players in there but Bryan is not listed in that category. However, he was probably more talented than some of them and had a much longer career.
Edwin Charles Bryan Jr.--Blackwell Bronco for a day or so
While the elder Bryan was brewing beer his son was attending Freeburg, Illinois Community High School where he excelled in basketball as well as baseball. He graduated from high school in 1948 and enrolled at Southern Illinois University where he lettered for two years in both basketball and baseball. While in college he spent at least one summer, 1949, playing in the North Central Kansas Amateur Baseball League of America for the Manhattan Travelers.
During his time in the ABLA it was a league comprised of teams from Abilene, Clay Center, Junction City, Beloit and Manhattan. There he was honing his skills playing against many good players such as Bill Virdon who was with Clay Center. The ABLA was formed by citizens in those five Kansas towns after they got fed up with Ban Johnson Baseball.
While playing with Manhattan many major league scouts and bird dogs were inspecting the talent. Joe Becker of Joplin, Mo. who had played the game, umpired many years and served as an official of the Joplin Miners Baseball club also had another claim to the game. He was a scout for many years with the Brooklyn Dodgers and Boston Red Sox. Becker’s last job in baseball was that of supervisor of umpires for the KOM league.
Barney Barnett who founded the Baxter Springs Whiz Kids and Becker were close friends. Becker was around the Whiz Kids so much he even appeared in some of the team photos. Of course, Mickey Mantle was a Whiz Kid when Becker pleaded with the Boston Red Sox to take his word and sign the kid. The Red Sox weren’t interested.
However, the Red Sox did listen to Becker and Bryan was assigned to Marion, Ohio of the Ohio-Indiana league for the 1950 season. Bryan was impressed that he had been invited to spring training camp that year with Birmingham, Alabama of the Southern Association.
Like his father, Bryan Jr. was a left-handed hitter and a right-handed thrower and was a big rookie at 6’ 4” and weighing 180. The top hitters on the pennant winning 1950 Marion team were Tom Umphlett who later replaced Dom DiMaggio in centerfield for the Boston Red Sox and Bryan Bryan hit .301 and Umphlett .321.
In 1951 Bryan split his time between Roanoke, VA of the Piedmont and Oneonta of the Canadian American leagues. Uncle Sam was looking for a few good men and after a very short stint with the 1952 Blackwell Broncos he was in the U. S. Army, in 1952-53, as a field artilleryman.
Upon his return from the Korean War, Bryan was signed by Bluefield of the Appalachian league for the 1954 season. His baseball talents had not diminished too much for he hit .003 short of .300 that year. One thing going against him was that by the time he returned from the Korean War he was a quarter century old and there wasn’t much chance any major league team was going to promote a player in that circumstance.
In 1955 Bryan was shuttled between Greensboro, North Carolina and Yuma, Arizona. In 78 games at Yuma he hit .344 but the curtain was coming down on his career. In 1956 he started with Yuma and wound up with San Jose in the California league. Between those two teams he hit .306 and ended his career with a .292 batting average.
It is possible that Bryan could have been a star in the KOM and other leagues had it not been for the Korean War. It is obvious that he had the family background for baseball and was taking advantage of it.
Well, that’s it for this subject. The week started with scant knowledge of Bryan Sr. and Jr. It concludes with not knowing what happened to Bryan Jr. but I have an idea where he might reside and I have a telephone number that I plan calling before too long. I trust Bryan will recall his baseball days and if he doesn’t it may be that someone where he lives can help with the details. The last place Bryan lived, that I can document is Seattle, Wash. in 1956.
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Former San Diego High athlete/coach Jerry Dahms dies
www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/high-school-preps/sto...
By DON NORCROSS--APRIL 16, 2019 7:19 PM
Jerry Dahms, a standout baseball and football player at San Diego High in the 1940s who went on to coach at the school, died this month. He was 89.
Dahms, who lived in Point Loma, was a power-hitting catcher and versatile quarterback for the Cavers. He went on to play minor league baseball in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.
In football, Dahms was so strong and versatile that when he wasn’t directing the Cavers offense at quarterback he played offensive tackle but still called the plays.
But it was in baseball where he most excelled. He was an MCRD teammate with San Diegan Bob Skinner, a La Jolla High graduate. Skinner played 13 seasons in the major leagues, was a three-time All-Star and played on two World Series championship teams.
“He was a good catcher,” said Skinner. “He was a big guy, and he blocked the plate well. And he had power. He was a man’s man. He stood up to whatever came down the road regarding problems. He handled them. He was just a good person.”
Dahms was the varsity baseball coach at San Diego from 1959 through ’63. The Cavers were 71-26 under Dahms and played for the CIF Southern Section championship his first season, losing to Whittier.
Bob Cluck, a major league pitching coach for 11 seasons, pitched for Dahms at San Diego High.
“It was just a huge advantage (pitching for Dahms),” said Cluck. “He’d tell us how to pitch the best guys in town. We had terrific success against the best hitters. He was a real players coach.
“He had a knack, knowing when to discipline, when to encourage. He understood how players thought. In my career I recognized instantly when I played for a guy who played the game and understood how we thought.
“I just loved him as a man and as a coach.”
Dahms was one of five brothers who played at San Diego High. His brother Tom was an offensive lineman on the Los Angeles Rams’ 1951 NFL championship team.
Ed comments:
One of the most physically impressive guys ever to play in the KOM league was Jerry Dahms. He looked like a catcher, which he was. He was 6’ 4” and nearly 200 pounds when I first saw in in a Bartlesville Pirate road gray uniform. When Ronnie Kline joined the club, in 1950, they were the largest a pitcher/catcher combination the league ever witnessed.
In a team photo of the 1950 Bartlesville club, Kline and Dahms are seated beside each other. Although Kline was a big guy he looked much smaller than his counterpart. Photos of Dahms are to be found on pages 67, 83 and 96 of the book, “The KOM League Remembered.” That book was put together by the same, but much younger person, who is attempting to pen this story.
There was some hope the photos of Dahms could be shared as a link to this report but permission couldn’t be obtained from the author. In a conversation with him he commented “Ownership has certain rights.” He said the owners of that book should go to the pages cited in the previous paragraph. In further discussion with the author he stated that even if those photos were attached to this report very few readers would click on them.
So, on with the Dahms saga. The editor of this publication apologizes that it took seven months to become aware of the passing of the most prolific home run hitter, among the catchers, in KOM league history. He hit 11 in 1950. That season’s performance spiked the interest of the St. Louis Cardinals and they drafted him for the 1951 campaign. He spent that season with Cardinal teams at Fresno in the California league and Johnson City, Tenn. of the Appalachian league.
Dahms had started his baseball career with the Modesto, California Reds, in 1949, and then sent to Bartlesville in the latter part of that season.
Uncle Sam gave him a call in 1952 and he was stationed at San Diego where he play with the Marine team called “The Devil Dogs.” That team won the All-Marine championship in 1952 and included a former KOM leaguer pitcher by the name of Charlie Closs. Another member of that team was Bob Skinner who made it to the major league and who was a close friend of Dahms.
Dahms was released from his military duty in time to play the 1954 season with Winnipeg, Manitoba in the Northern league and back with Fresno to close out his baseball career. He then went into high school coaching where he became a legend, in San Diego.
Football may well have been the sport of choice in the Dahms family. As the obituary states, Jerry’s older brother had a great career in both the college and pro-football ranks. Here is a link to Tom Dahms. www.google.com/search?q=Tom+Dahms+football&oq=Tom+Dah... For those readers who ignore most of what is contained in the Flash Reports it is suggested you read many of the items on the link provided.
There is a rather long article regarding Dahms written by Dana Haddad in the Oct. 10, 1991 of the Los Angeles Times. It is quite lengthy and is not printed here. However you might be able to access it on the Internet. When I went to retrieve it the Times wanted me to pay for it. I refused but by having great hand/eye coordination it was possible to capture it before it got blacked out. I will share a copy of that for those who are interested.
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Still going
A member of the 1946 Carthage, Missouri Cardinals was William Henry Eckensberger of Cementon, Penn. Many years later he was located and I put him in touch with shortstop Bob Passarella of the 1949 Carthage Cubs.
The aforementioned duo got together a few years ago and came up with a gift to this aged writer who was not so old at the time. By that time Eckensberger was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Passarella was living in Scranton, Penn. and decided to come up with a nomination to a local hall of fame. After that nomination was approved it was sent to Eckensberger who issued a proclamation, during one of his six terms in the Pennsylvania House.
That item hangs on a wall in my basement and is special since it represents something that came from members of both the Cardinal and Cub affiliated teams in Carthage. No much was said about it at the time and not much will be said now. If anyone wants to see it they can drop by the KOM league Hall of Fame that resides mostly in my mind.
Link to William Eckensberger follows. This is his latest literary effort.
www.amazon.com/Murder-California-Zephyr-William-Eckensber...
If you care to know more about the former Carthage Cardinal right fielder, second baseman, shortstop and third baseman, here is a great cross-section of his life: www.google.com/search?q=william+eckensberger+jr.&oq=W...
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This report is now about over. It was mentioned last time that if the same level of interest continued, regarding these reports, they would come to an end. I think I see the terminus of the tunnel coming closer.
This report, with regard to Jerry Dahms, proves I haven’t kept up very well with the former players. That alone is the basis for being replaced with a more “on the ball” editor. Also, the material in recent reports hasn’t had as many readers as there are candidates for the 2020 presidential primary.
In previous issues, as far back as a decade ago, the talk of shutting down this project has arisen. Many of the times it has been over the frustration with Google. That outfit sometimes allows my messages to the masses to go through and at other times, not so much.
So, if time passes and you don’t get these reports you can go to this site: www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/ If there is a report to be shared it will be found there. It will be under the first photo you see.
Now, I’m done. I was going to tell the tale of Calvin Pool who caught for the 1951 Bartlesville Pirates. I discovered, recently, that his father, Hanlin, had a long career in the Pacific Coast league and a not so long a tenure with the Cincinnati Reds back in the days of Harry Craft and Johnny Vander Meer. Maybe I’ll get around to sharing that story, sometime.
Wednesday, 30 July 2008
In Shattered Dreams
I decided to not post for a couple of days (this is like a week ago now) as I had the house to myself, so naturally I rewatched loads of David Lynch (wanted to see them again with new eyes) and some other movies; I was only going to write a quick comment on them, but this post has morphed into something bigger as I attempt to show that many of the people portrayed in these films were, in "reality" mind controlled themselves and that the themes within them hint at this. In David Lynch's Blue Velvet the main programming/trigger song is not Blue Velvet, but rather Roy Orbison's In Dreams, or as the psychopath (obviously traumatized) 'Frank' (in the movie) calls it (because he has been programmed with it, known as this name): "Candy Colored Clown" [back to Lynch later]. Roy Orbison is an interesting character, the obvious synch here is his "patteé cross" (pre-christian solar cross) he wears showing either where his allegiances lie or who controls him, for those aware of mind control and the symbolism contained within this vast [mind]field it is somewhat blatantly portrayed (hidden in plain site) on his album covers and suggestible titles, some of which are pictured below.
Note yellow/green, break my mind, and just to 100% complete and confirm the MK picture we have a dissociative/hypnotic spiral positioned next to him and a door in the frame.
The Big (Octagonal) O
Mask programming
Attractive girl's split mind (symbolised by the half-face, in case you haven't realised yet). The movie "Pretty Woman" (which has made this song famous in part) helps in programming as the MPD prostitute (or "hooker", hooks are violent the candyman has a hook, equating sex/violence) would be made to think their only hope of escape is from some Richard Gere type prince-charming to ride in and save them, look out how many minutes the theatrical release lasted (119).
On Orbison's life, he seems to have been programmed as a child; as in 1946 they moved to a town called Wink, in Winkler Country (the "illuminati"AKA"insane assholes" love using this kind of symbolism in people's lives as it makes them appear in total control of them, wink=one eye/all seeing eye, 64/46 chess squares). He was born 23 April 1936 and died 6 December 1988, he died of (maybe) one of those CIA caused heart attacks (like Kubrick) to again show that they are in total control over all aspects of him and his life including his death (they gave him a scare in 1977 when he had open heart surgery), he was reported dead at 11:54 (so 11:9) according to wiki. He died in 1988, Elvis Presley (also probably mind controlled) died in 1977 (same year as Orbison's first heart scare) so we have number repetition/mirrored (88 77) involved in both death rituals of these entertainment monarch pentagrams ("stars"), Elvis Presley was pronounced dead at 3:30... and guess what he died of, a massive heart attack! [admittedly he was fat as f**k, heart attacks probably also play into Oz programming] According to wiki, Orbison's last performance was in 1988 at Highland Heights, Ohio (he was the "Big O"), so that also clearly plays into the ritual ('O HIGH O', playing at HIGH-Land HeIGHts, perhaps pyramid capstone symbolism as it doesn't get much higher).
Click image for another symbolic poster for it, the (probably) terrible film is about a guy sleeping with his student, note the bee, bluebird, suggestiveness.
Orbison mirrored.
Man of many faces.
His wife was killed in a typical "road 'accident' ritual" (like Diana)[continues at the *, after Sharon Tate tangent] which resonates (in terms of sacrificial wives) with (potential) programmer/Mind Controlled Model abuser Roman Polanski, (BBC article note the year + age of model for Vogue [or so she thought, this adds weight to what I've been saying about the fashion industry in my opinion] + former Joker Jack Nicholson's involvement: found in this TTLG post) whose wife (Sharon Tate, below) was ritualistically killed at 8 months pregnant by Charles Manson's mind controlled clan on August (8) 9th 1969 (6/9 thing I've been going on about), by the way "satanic"/occult ritual abuse and sacrifice is laid out somewhat in Rosemary's Baby (quickly, on the Charles Mason murders, I mean Manson... [WARNING: Actual crime scene images follow, do not click if that sort of thing bothers you.] this website has images of said crime scenes, including the word WAR scrawled into one of the victims' stomach's with the W as a Masonic compass and square shapeish, also note the Zebra pattern (black/white) on one side of Sharon Tate, and the American flag ((positioned with inverted pentagrams)) to the other in this image). The Daily Mail are always helpful in contributing to my articles, as in this one from last year illustrating how Sharon would say MK-esque things (both the author of the below words, and Sharon were likely MK'd) randomly such as:
Sharon 'doing the Egyptian' in large checker pattern dress thing.
"She kept talking about off-the-wall spiritual things - she talked about reincarnation and how in a previous life she had died in a fire aged nine... The second she said that, the doors to the restaurant blew open even though there wasn't any wind, and she looked really shocked... One night we went to visit the Trevi Fountain, and I looked at her and had the strongest feeling she was going to die... Another time I was looking over at her and asking her what she was thinking about, and she suddenly came out with: 'The Devil is beautiful. Most people think he's ugly, but he's not.'" (see movie described further down for added significance)
Sharon wearing the Eye of the Devil (Horus, on the occult $) "Occult thriller starring Deborah Kerr and David Niven [and "Introducing: Sharon Tate"] as the wealthy owners of a French vineyard who become obsessed with pagan sacrifice." [it mimics mind control cults like Charles Manson's somewhat; with Sharon speaking in hypnotic terms ((hypnosis/suggestion features heavily)), and even has its own symbolic Crowley as the bald-headed head priest/occultist], the film features all the symbolism you would expect (checkerboard floor near the beginning, aforementioned eye of Horus, doves, spirals, shattered glass etc.). I caught the film on TCM on the 21st (7+7+7) July (7); synchronicity hits me with another "gift" (only recorded it because of the title). Before this movie aired, an old favourite of mine was shown, the 1973 film "Westworld" (blatant robot programming). The eye (of the devil) is specifically focused on (zoomed in it is like a Labyrinthian glass sphere) during Sharon's hypnosis scene where she makes an easily suggestible child see a frog transform into a dove. In the UK, the film was released in (TCM airing it on 21/7 is obviously significant bearing this in mind) July (7th month) 1966 according to imdb (wiki has it as 1967, probably its US release). 'The New York Times wrote of Tate's "chillingly beautiful but expressionless" performance.' The VERY FINAL shot of the movie shows Sharon Tate (the camera zooms right in on her face, she is a "witch" in the movie with an Aryan looking brother btw), then it focuses on a pond with water lillies [Rewatched and edited for accuracing, originally thought there was a body under there, but still obviously highly symbolic ((regular lilies are the flower of death, originally placed on the graves of "young innocents"))] then, "The End". 1-2 years after this movie came out she married Polanski, and 3-4 years after this occult movie came out she was brutally murdered by mind controlled occultists.
Sharon Tate, (Catherine Tate plays multiple personalities and was also in the Doctor Who mindf**k, by the way another "comedian" Al Murray has a sketch show coming out called "Multiple Personality Disorders"...) she appeared in the movie Valley of the Dolls, which is also the name of a recent fashion event thing called "Fashion in the Mirror: The Valley of the Dolls". More on her from her wiki page: "Sharon Tate was born in Dallas, Texas, the first of three daughters, to Paul Tate, a United States Army officer and his wife, Doris. At six months of age, Sharon Tate won the "Miss Tiny Tot of Dallas Pageant"," Weird synch, her film Eye of the Devil (AKA thirteen or 13) I just recorded (a week ago now) on my Sky Plus (TiVo) box the other night, and now I find she is in it, it was released in 1966, it is 96 minutes long as you'd expect (6|9 sex, mirror/spin reversal). Note in the below poster we see it was made by MGM, Roy Orbison's contract with MGM (13|7|13) ended in 1973.
"The Devil is beautiful. Most people think he's ugly, but he's not."
The above movie was AKA 13, the below one was AKA "13 chairs" and it's regular title is "12+1"=13 anyway. (note one eye covered too) This (12+1) was her final movie, released posthumously, just like MK ritual sacrifice Heath Ledger's Dark Knight. In The Eye of the Devil it is described that there are 12 "dancers" (pre-christian Dionysiac worshippers, apostles) + 13th is christ: "long before christianity... a living god" (line from EOTD, referring to; Horus, Dionysus and others), hence why it is AKA "13", Occultism under the guise of "Christianity"; which is what ALL (and I can't stress that enough) ALL Christianity is and always has been (a creation of occultists for the purposes of control). "The Earth has to have sacrifice. There has to be blood." - Line from The Eye of the Devil [Edit: rewatched the movie, edited the quote to be 100% accurate], which summarizes their thinking and why (among other
Fonte : Wikipedia
The group was founded in 1981 under the name Paradox by drummer Kelly David-Smith and guitarists Pete Mello and Dave Goulder, who were later joined by bassist Jason Newsted. Jason had answered a newspaper ad that Kelly had placed in the local newspaper looking for a bass player. Jason came to Phoenix with his band Gangster from Michigan on their way to California, but Gangster broke up while in Phoenix. Kelly got a call from a couple of his high school friends, Mark Vasquez and Kevin Horton, looking for some people to jam with playing covers of bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, MSG, and UFO. The band then morphed into "Dredlox" together with the new recruits, Jason was now the main vocalist.
Kelly saw "A.K." (Eric A. Knutson) singing "The Goodbye Girl" at his high school talent show. In 1982 they were in the same summer school class and Kelly asked Knutson if he wanted to audition. They put him on 2-week probation and he later joined the band. Due to the provisional nature of his membership, the band referred to Knutson as "the 2 weeker." Ed Carlson, from another local rival band called Exodus (not to be confused with the California Bay Area thrash metal band of the same name), also joined in 1983 after Kevin's departure from the band. The name of the band changed into The Dogz, but it didn't last long. Eventually the band renamed itself "Flotsam and Jetsam" after writing a song inspired by a chapter of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Two Towers.
The band made its live debuts in local clubs and in California and had the opportunity to play with bands such as Megadeth, Armored Saint, Alcatrazz, Malice, Exciter, Mercyful Fate, Riot, Autograph and Icon. In 1985 Mark Vasquez stepped out and 17-year-old Michael Gilbert joined the band. Flotsam and Jetsam released two demo tapes Iron Tears and Metal Shock in 1985.
They created their first video "Hammerhead" from the Metal Shock demo: "We taped it in Jason and Ed's apartment living room. We also made a live video at the infamous Bootlegger in Phoenix", (owned by Gloria Cavalera, currently married to Max Cavalera) These videos and the band's demos made a good impression on record labels. After the band contributed to the Speed Metal Hell II and Metal Massacre VII compilations, they then signed a deal with Metal Blade Records.
1986–1987: Doomsday for the Deceiver
Flotsam and Jetsam recorded their debut album Doomsday for the Deceiver in Los Angeles with producer Brian Slagel and engineer Bill Metoyer. The album was released on the 4th of July in 1986, and was the first in Kerrang!'s history to achieve the 6K rating.
Bassist Jason Newsted, who was also the band's main lyric writer, departed soon after to join Metallica, replacing their bassist Cliff Burton, who died in a bus accident. On Halloween night 1986, Jason played his last gig with Flotsam and Jetsam. The band had asked another local bassist Phil Rind of Sacred Reich to fill in Jason's place for a short time. They then hired Michael Spencer from the Sacramento band Sentinel Beast. Flotsam and Jetsam inked a deal with Metallica's then-label Elektra Records before opening for Megadeth in 1987 on the Peace Sells tour in Europe and America. After touring with Megadeth, the band played selected shows in America with Slayer, Dark Angel, Possessed, Celtic Frost, Sacred Reich and Excel.
1987–1994: No Place for Disgrace, When the Storm Comes Down and Cuatro
Michael Spencer left Flotsam and Jetsam shortly after a U.S. tour in the fall of 1987; his replacement was Troy Gregory. Their second studio album, No Place for Disgrace, was released in May 1988, and includes a cover of Elton John's hit "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" for which a music video was shot. The band toured heavily behind No Place for Disgrace throughout 1988 and 1989. They opened for King Diamond in America, and supported Megadeth, Testament and Sanctuary in Europe on the So Far, So Good... So What! tour. The band also played shows with The Crumbsuckers, Fates Warning, Destruction, Death Angel, D.R.I., Acid Reign and Kreator, and landed a billing for festivals, such as Milwaukee Metalfest, and played at Aardschokdag twice (in May 1988 and April 1989).
In 1989, Flotsam and Jetsam were signed to MCA Records and began work on their third album When the Storm Comes Down, released in May 1990. The band expected to gain recognition with this album, but it suffered from a variety of mixed reviews. Flotsam and Jetsam toured for about a year and a half in support of When the Storm Comes Down; they co-headlined a U.S. tour with Prong, and subsequently toured or played selected shows with bands such as Testament, Savatage, Exodus, Vio-Lence, Sacred Reich, Wrathchild America and a then-unknown Pantera.
Shortly after returning home, bassist Troy Gregory departed to join Prong. Holding auditions in Phoenix, the band hired Jason Ward to fill the role.
Released in 1992, Cuatro marked an evolution in style and songwriting. The band released four singles this time, two of which ("Swatting at Flies" and "Wading Through the Darkness") were shot as music videos. "Wading Through the Darkness" received regular rotation on MTV during their tours that year.
1995–1999: Drift and High
Their fifth album Drift was released in April 1995, with three singles released off of the record. Jason dedicated it to his older brother Jeff Ward, former drummer of such bands as NIN, Ministry, Revolting Cocks and Lard, who died in 1993. A long break followed the release of the album.
During Flotsam and Jetsam's tour with Megadeth and KORN, MCA and Flotsam parted ways, and Flotsam returned to their former label "Metal Blade Records".
Shortly after auditioning a new drummer, Nick Menza of Megadeth insisted that the band check out a friend of Nick's named Craig Nielsen. Nick was there for the auditioning, and Craig Nielsen was hired.
On their 1997 album High the song titles were designed with the font types/logos of famous bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Kiss, Van Halen, AC/DC, Judas Priest, Misfits, etc. to pay homage to those whom came before and inspired the band while it was coming up the ranks. The music was more experimental than before, and the album also featured the Lard cover song Fork Boy. Music video was released, Monster to follow-up.
Michael Gilbert and Kelly Smith left the band after the release and were replaced by guitarist Mark Simpson and drummer Craig Nielsen. With the new line-up Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe together with Anvil and Exciter.
1999–2002: Unnatural Selection and My God
Unnatural Selection was released in 1999 and Mark Simpson took a short break. He joined the band again in 2000 to record a new album, My God released in May 2001. At that time Eric A.K. had founded a country band, the A.K. Corral. He left the band for a short time to take a break from Metal and pursue his side project. (AK) "I had given Metal my life for a solid 15 years, I took some time to explore other musical flavors." Though Flotsam and Jetsam did not disband, there was a long break at that time. They found a new singer, James Rivera, who took over vocal duties live. Later the band felt that no one other than Eric A.K. could be their singer and Rivera left the band soon after.
2002–2006: Live In Phoenix and Dreams of Death
During 2002 and 2003 the band were active only sporadically, but Eric A.K. rejoined for live dates in the Phoenix and Los Angeles areas in 2003. Tory Edwards was a guest for this tour. A live recording of these shows was released in 2004 as a live concert DVD under the title Live in Phoenix. Signed to the Crash Music label in May 2004 and with Eric A.K. joining the band again officially, they hit the road with Overkill and Death Angel for a series of sold out concerts in Japan.
Spring 2005 Flotsam and Jetsam returned to the studio to work on their new album. The lyrics were mostly inspired by Eric's nightmares. This resulted into a concept album entitled Dreams of Death - like track 2 of No Place for Disgrace. The album was released July 2005.
2006–2011: Live In Japan, Once in a Deathtime, The Cold
The live DVD Live in Japan was released in February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004.
Doomsday for the Deceiver was re-released in November 2006 by Metal Blade Records to celebrate the album's twentieth anniversary. This set (2 CD and DVD) includes the original recording of Doomsday and a re-mixed and re-mastered(Digitized)version and also the two Flotsam and Jetsam demos. The bonus DVD includes rare live material, an interview filmed at Kelly's High School and a photo slide-show.
In Spring 2008 Metal Mind Productions remastered and re-released the albums When the Storm Comes Down, Cuatro (including 5 bonus tracks), Drift (including 3 bonus tracks) and Dreams of Death. Unfortunately for the fans No Place for Disgrace could not be remastered due to existing legal issues between the band and their former label Elektra Records.
In March 2008 Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe and played at the Metalmania Festival in Poland. This show was filmed and released as DVD Once in a Deathtime in July. Midyear 2008 the band were signed to Driven Music Group, founded by former KORN guitarist Brian “Head” Welch.
After a tour in Europe with support act Neurasthenia in April 2010 Flotsam and Jetsam finished their album The Cold. It was released on September 14, 2010. It was the last album with Mark Simpson on guitar. He left the band in friendship and was replaced by returning guitarist Ed Carlson, who had quit the band in March 2010, to be replaced by Michael Gilbert.
2011–2013: Ugly Noise
Mid 2011, Craig Neilson departed the band soon after Mark Simpson's exit. Former Drummer and founder of Flotsam Kelly David Smith was asked to rejoin after a 14 years absence. The band then embarked on their newest release Ugly Noise. Flotsam would take a new turn and release and record Ugly Noise using the direct-to-fan platform, PledgeMusic. Ugly Noise was released through PledgeMusic on 12-21-12. Members on the Pledge site were the first to hear and download the recording before the public. Each Pledge purchased either a download of the new disc or a package of "exclusive items" only available through Pledge. All income from items sold went to fund the entire project.
Shortly after Flotsam inked a distribution deal with longtime friends '"Metal Blade Records" for worldwide distribution.
After tracking on Ugly Noise, Jason Ward was no longer able to commit to touring with the band any further due to his current personal commitments.
In Jan 2013, Flotsam and Jetsam jumped on board the acclaimed 70000 Tons of Metal in support of Ugly Noise. They then followed up on Testaments, Dark Roots of Thrash Tour US Package included Overkill and Australian metalers 4ARM.
During the tour, Edward Carlson started to have extreme physical pain in his lower back and numbness in his right arm. After the tour, an MRI revealed that he had bulging disks in his upper and lower back causing the dysfunction to occur. Flotsam and Jetsam then recruited guitarist Steve Conley of F5 to step in while they finished out their live commitments.
Flotsam and Jetsam also recruited Michael Spencer to rejoin the ranks in place of Jason Ward. Spencer was the first official bassist after Jason Newsted's departure to Metallica in 1986. He toured with Flotsam in 1987 to Europe on Megadeth's "Peace Sells" tour. Spencer also was a major player in the writing of classic acclaimed recording, "No Place for Disgrace" released on Elekra Records in 1988.
2013–2014: No Place For Disgrace 2014
In June 2013, the band headlined at the Warriors of Metal Festival in Columbus Ohio, then returning home, Flotsam hired manager Jeff Keller(JKM). His roster includes the likes of: UDO, Destruction, Lordi, Hirax, Primal Fear, Satan, Suicidal Angels.
In 2006, after the successful remix and master of the debut album “Doomsday for the Deceiver”, there was a lot of fan requests to have “No Place for Disgrace” follow the same process. After spending some time at the 25-year mark, the band decided to go forward with this idea. The band had some issues with the original production and definition of some of the parts played, due to the speed it was recorded at. Having had success with Ugly Noise through the PledgeMusic process, the band would be able to again gain the rights to this classic with a re-recording and some minor changes.
In the middle of 2013, Flotsam and Jetsam embarked in this monumental task of reviving some songs that, for the most part, had not been played in 20 years. All tracks (except drums) were done at the Flotsam studio with Michael Gilbert at the helm. In December, the project was finished and the re-recording of the classic album "No Place For Disgrace", was again released using PledgeMusic to finance the project.
The album, No Place For Disgrace 2014, was set to release on Feb 14th, 2014 worldwide through Metal Blade Records distribution. NPFD 2014 would feature some of Flotsam's friends from the past as guest musicians, Mark Simpson, Chris Poland, Tory Edwards.
Flotsam and Jetsam is currently ramping up for their (29 show) European tour with Sepultura, Legion of the Damned and Mortillery. The tour kicks off on Feb 7th in Bochum, Germany.
2014–present: No Place on Tour and Beyond, Flotsam and Jetsam and next album
Flotsam toured Europe 4 times in 2014 with a total of 40 shows in all.
Returning home from Europe on 8/11 the band planned to start writing for a new release in 2015. Michael Spencer and Steve Conley would be involved this time in the process. Spencer had written some material previously in 1987 that he took with him after his departure. Flotsam used at some of the archive material from Spencer.
In December 2014, drummer and founding member, Kelly Smith decided to leave the band due to unexpected family matters that required him to be home with his family. Handpicked by Smith to replace him on drums, was longtime friend and Shadows Fall drummer, Jason Bittner. In 2015, Bittner was working on the next album.
On July 6, 2017, it was announced that Flotsam and Jetsam were replacing Bittner (who had recently joined Overkill) with Ken Mary (Fifth Angel, Alice Cooper, House of Lords, TKO, Chastain, Impellitteri). They have also begun work on their thirteenth studio album, which is expected to be released in the spring of 2018.
Fonte : Wikipedia
The group was founded in 1981 under the name Paradox by drummer Kelly David-Smith and guitarists Pete Mello and Dave Goulder, who were later joined by bassist Jason Newsted. Jason had answered a newspaper ad that Kelly had placed in the local newspaper looking for a bass player. Jason came to Phoenix with his band Gangster from Michigan on their way to California, but Gangster broke up while in Phoenix. Kelly got a call from a couple of his high school friends, Mark Vasquez and Kevin Horton, looking for some people to jam with playing covers of bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, MSG, and UFO. The band then morphed into "Dredlox" together with the new recruits, Jason was now the main vocalist.
Kelly saw "A.K." (Eric A. Knutson) singing "The Goodbye Girl" at his high school talent show. In 1982 they were in the same summer school class and Kelly asked Knutson if he wanted to audition. They put him on 2-week probation and he later joined the band. Due to the provisional nature of his membership, the band referred to Knutson as "the 2 weeker." Ed Carlson, from another local rival band called Exodus (not to be confused with the California Bay Area thrash metal band of the same name), also joined in 1983 after Kevin's departure from the band. The name of the band changed into The Dogz, but it didn't last long. Eventually the band renamed itself "Flotsam and Jetsam" after writing a song inspired by a chapter of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Two Towers.
The band made its live debuts in local clubs and in California and had the opportunity to play with bands such as Megadeth, Armored Saint, Alcatrazz, Malice, Exciter, Mercyful Fate, Riot, Autograph and Icon. In 1985 Mark Vasquez stepped out and 17-year-old Michael Gilbert joined the band. Flotsam and Jetsam released two demo tapes Iron Tears and Metal Shock in 1985.
They created their first video "Hammerhead" from the Metal Shock demo: "We taped it in Jason and Ed's apartment living room. We also made a live video at the infamous Bootlegger in Phoenix", (owned by Gloria Cavalera, currently married to Max Cavalera) These videos and the band's demos made a good impression on record labels. After the band contributed to the Speed Metal Hell II and Metal Massacre VII compilations, they then signed a deal with Metal Blade Records.
1986–1987: Doomsday for the Deceiver
Flotsam and Jetsam recorded their debut album Doomsday for the Deceiver in Los Angeles with producer Brian Slagel and engineer Bill Metoyer. The album was released on the 4th of July in 1986, and was the first in Kerrang!'s history to achieve the 6K rating.
Bassist Jason Newsted, who was also the band's main lyric writer, departed soon after to join Metallica, replacing their bassist Cliff Burton, who died in a bus accident. On Halloween night 1986, Jason played his last gig with Flotsam and Jetsam. The band had asked another local bassist Phil Rind of Sacred Reich to fill in Jason's place for a short time. They then hired Michael Spencer from the Sacramento band Sentinel Beast. Flotsam and Jetsam inked a deal with Metallica's then-label Elektra Records before opening for Megadeth in 1987 on the Peace Sells tour in Europe and America. After touring with Megadeth, the band played selected shows in America with Slayer, Dark Angel, Possessed, Celtic Frost, Sacred Reich and Excel.
1987–1994: No Place for Disgrace, When the Storm Comes Down and Cuatro
Michael Spencer left Flotsam and Jetsam shortly after a U.S. tour in the fall of 1987; his replacement was Troy Gregory. Their second studio album, No Place for Disgrace, was released in May 1988, and includes a cover of Elton John's hit "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" for which a music video was shot. The band toured heavily behind No Place for Disgrace throughout 1988 and 1989. They opened for King Diamond in America, and supported Megadeth, Testament and Sanctuary in Europe on the So Far, So Good... So What! tour. The band also played shows with The Crumbsuckers, Fates Warning, Destruction, Death Angel, D.R.I., Acid Reign and Kreator, and landed a billing for festivals, such as Milwaukee Metalfest, and played at Aardschokdag twice (in May 1988 and April 1989).
In 1989, Flotsam and Jetsam were signed to MCA Records and began work on their third album When the Storm Comes Down, released in May 1990. The band expected to gain recognition with this album, but it suffered from a variety of mixed reviews. Flotsam and Jetsam toured for about a year and a half in support of When the Storm Comes Down; they co-headlined a U.S. tour with Prong, and subsequently toured or played selected shows with bands such as Testament, Savatage, Exodus, Vio-Lence, Sacred Reich, Wrathchild America and a then-unknown Pantera.
Shortly after returning home, bassist Troy Gregory departed to join Prong. Holding auditions in Phoenix, the band hired Jason Ward to fill the role.
Released in 1992, Cuatro marked an evolution in style and songwriting. The band released four singles this time, two of which ("Swatting at Flies" and "Wading Through the Darkness") were shot as music videos. "Wading Through the Darkness" received regular rotation on MTV during their tours that year.
1995–1999: Drift and High
Their fifth album Drift was released in April 1995, with three singles released off of the record. Jason dedicated it to his older brother Jeff Ward, former drummer of such bands as NIN, Ministry, Revolting Cocks and Lard, who died in 1993. A long break followed the release of the album.
During Flotsam and Jetsam's tour with Megadeth and KORN, MCA and Flotsam parted ways, and Flotsam returned to their former label "Metal Blade Records".
Shortly after auditioning a new drummer, Nick Menza of Megadeth insisted that the band check out a friend of Nick's named Craig Nielsen. Nick was there for the auditioning, and Craig Nielsen was hired.
On their 1997 album High the song titles were designed with the font types/logos of famous bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Kiss, Van Halen, AC/DC, Judas Priest, Misfits, etc. to pay homage to those whom came before and inspired the band while it was coming up the ranks. The music was more experimental than before, and the album also featured the Lard cover song Fork Boy. Music video was released, Monster to follow-up.
Michael Gilbert and Kelly Smith left the band after the release and were replaced by guitarist Mark Simpson and drummer Craig Nielsen. With the new line-up Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe together with Anvil and Exciter.
1999–2002: Unnatural Selection and My God
Unnatural Selection was released in 1999 and Mark Simpson took a short break. He joined the band again in 2000 to record a new album, My God released in May 2001. At that time Eric A.K. had founded a country band, the A.K. Corral. He left the band for a short time to take a break from Metal and pursue his side project. (AK) "I had given Metal my life for a solid 15 years, I took some time to explore other musical flavors." Though Flotsam and Jetsam did not disband, there was a long break at that time. They found a new singer, James Rivera, who took over vocal duties live. Later the band felt that no one other than Eric A.K. could be their singer and Rivera left the band soon after.
2002–2006: Live In Phoenix and Dreams of Death
During 2002 and 2003 the band were active only sporadically, but Eric A.K. rejoined for live dates in the Phoenix and Los Angeles areas in 2003. Tory Edwards was a guest for this tour. A live recording of these shows was released in 2004 as a live concert DVD under the title Live in Phoenix. Signed to the Crash Music label in May 2004 and with Eric A.K. joining the band again officially, they hit the road with Overkill and Death Angel for a series of sold out concerts in Japan.
Spring 2005 Flotsam and Jetsam returned to the studio to work on their new album. The lyrics were mostly inspired by Eric's nightmares. This resulted into a concept album entitled Dreams of Death - like track 2 of No Place for Disgrace. The album was released July 2005.
2006–2011: Live In Japan, Once in a Deathtime, The Cold
The live DVD Live in Japan was released in February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004.
Doomsday for the Deceiver was re-released in November 2006 by Metal Blade Records to celebrate the album's twentieth anniversary. This set (2 CD and DVD) includes the original recording of Doomsday and a re-mixed and re-mastered(Digitized)version and also the two Flotsam and Jetsam demos. The bonus DVD includes rare live material, an interview filmed at Kelly's High School and a photo slide-show.
In Spring 2008 Metal Mind Productions remastered and re-released the albums When the Storm Comes Down, Cuatro (including 5 bonus tracks), Drift (including 3 bonus tracks) and Dreams of Death. Unfortunately for the fans No Place for Disgrace could not be remastered due to existing legal issues between the band and their former label Elektra Records.
In March 2008 Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe and played at the Metalmania Festival in Poland. This show was filmed and released as DVD Once in a Deathtime in July. Midyear 2008 the band were signed to Driven Music Group, founded by former KORN guitarist Brian “Head” Welch.
After a tour in Europe with support act Neurasthenia in April 2010 Flotsam and Jetsam finished their album The Cold. It was released on September 14, 2010. It was the last album with Mark Simpson on guitar. He left the band in friendship and was replaced by returning guitarist Ed Carlson, who had quit the band in March 2010, to be replaced by Michael Gilbert.
2011–2013: Ugly Noise
Mid 2011, Craig Neilson departed the band soon after Mark Simpson's exit. Former Drummer and founder of Flotsam Kelly David Smith was asked to rejoin after a 14 years absence. The band then embarked on their newest release Ugly Noise. Flotsam would take a new turn and release and record Ugly Noise using the direct-to-fan platform, PledgeMusic. Ugly Noise was released through PledgeMusic on 12-21-12. Members on the Pledge site were the first to hear and download the recording before the public. Each Pledge purchased either a download of the new disc or a package of "exclusive items" only available through Pledge. All income from items sold went to fund the entire project.
Shortly after Flotsam inked a distribution deal with longtime friends '"Metal Blade Records" for worldwide distribution.
After tracking on Ugly Noise, Jason Ward was no longer able to commit to touring with the band any further due to his current personal commitments.
In Jan 2013, Flotsam and Jetsam jumped on board the acclaimed 70000 Tons of Metal in support of Ugly Noise. They then followed up on Testaments, Dark Roots of Thrash Tour US Package included Overkill and Australian metalers 4ARM.
During the tour, Edward Carlson started to have extreme physical pain in his lower back and numbness in his right arm. After the tour, an MRI revealed that he had bulging disks in his upper and lower back causing the dysfunction to occur. Flotsam and Jetsam then recruited guitarist Steve Conley of F5 to step in while they finished out their live commitments.
Flotsam and Jetsam also recruited Michael Spencer to rejoin the ranks in place of Jason Ward. Spencer was the first official bassist after Jason Newsted's departure to Metallica in 1986. He toured with Flotsam in 1987 to Europe on Megadeth's "Peace Sells" tour. Spencer also was a major player in the writing of classic acclaimed recording, "No Place for Disgrace" released on Elekra Records in 1988.
2013–2014: No Place For Disgrace 2014
In June 2013, the band headlined at the Warriors of Metal Festival in Columbus Ohio, then returning home, Flotsam hired manager Jeff Keller(JKM). His roster includes the likes of: UDO, Destruction, Lordi, Hirax, Primal Fear, Satan, Suicidal Angels.
In 2006, after the successful remix and master of the debut album “Doomsday for the Deceiver”, there was a lot of fan requests to have “No Place for Disgrace” follow the same process. After spending some time at the 25-year mark, the band decided to go forward with this idea. The band had some issues with the original production and definition of some of the parts played, due to the speed it was recorded at. Having had success with Ugly Noise through the PledgeMusic process, the band would be able to again gain the rights to this classic with a re-recording and some minor changes.
In the middle of 2013, Flotsam and Jetsam embarked in this monumental task of reviving some songs that, for the most part, had not been played in 20 years. All tracks (except drums) were done at the Flotsam studio with Michael Gilbert at the helm. In December, the project was finished and the re-recording of the classic album "No Place For Disgrace", was again released using PledgeMusic to finance the project.
The album, No Place For Disgrace 2014, was set to release on Feb 14th, 2014 worldwide through Metal Blade Records distribution. NPFD 2014 would feature some of Flotsam's friends from the past as guest musicians, Mark Simpson, Chris Poland, Tory Edwards.
Flotsam and Jetsam is currently ramping up for their (29 show) European tour with Sepultura, Legion of the Damned and Mortillery. The tour kicks off on Feb 7th in Bochum, Germany.
2014–present: No Place on Tour and Beyond, Flotsam and Jetsam and next album
Flotsam toured Europe 4 times in 2014 with a total of 40 shows in all.
Returning home from Europe on 8/11 the band planned to start writing for a new release in 2015. Michael Spencer and Steve Conley would be involved this time in the process. Spencer had written some material previously in 1987 that he took with him after his departure. Flotsam used at some of the archive material from Spencer.
In December 2014, drummer and founding member, Kelly Smith decided to leave the band due to unexpected family matters that required him to be home with his family. Handpicked by Smith to replace him on drums, was longtime friend and Shadows Fall drummer, Jason Bittner. In 2015, Bittner was working on the next album.
On July 6, 2017, it was announced that Flotsam and Jetsam were replacing Bittner (who had recently joined Overkill) with Ken Mary (Fifth Angel, Alice Cooper, House of Lords, TKO, Chastain, Impellitteri). They have also begun work on their thirteenth studio album, which is expected to be released in the spring of 2018.
Fonte : Wikipedia
The group was founded in 1981 under the name Paradox by drummer Kelly David-Smith and guitarists Pete Mello and Dave Goulder, who were later joined by bassist Jason Newsted. Jason had answered a newspaper ad that Kelly had placed in the local newspaper looking for a bass player. Jason came to Phoenix with his band Gangster from Michigan on their way to California, but Gangster broke up while in Phoenix. Kelly got a call from a couple of his high school friends, Mark Vasquez and Kevin Horton, looking for some people to jam with playing covers of bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, MSG, and UFO. The band then morphed into "Dredlox" together with the new recruits, Jason was now the main vocalist.
Kelly saw "A.K." (Eric A. Knutson) singing "The Goodbye Girl" at his high school talent show. In 1982 they were in the same summer school class and Kelly asked Knutson if he wanted to audition. They put him on 2-week probation and he later joined the band. Due to the provisional nature of his membership, the band referred to Knutson as "the 2 weeker." Ed Carlson, from another local rival band called Exodus (not to be confused with the California Bay Area thrash metal band of the same name), also joined in 1983 after Kevin's departure from the band. The name of the band changed into The Dogz, but it didn't last long. Eventually the band renamed itself "Flotsam and Jetsam" after writing a song inspired by a chapter of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Two Towers.
The band made its live debuts in local clubs and in California and had the opportunity to play with bands such as Megadeth, Armored Saint, Alcatrazz, Malice, Exciter, Mercyful Fate, Riot, Autograph and Icon. In 1985 Mark Vasquez stepped out and 17-year-old Michael Gilbert joined the band. Flotsam and Jetsam released two demo tapes Iron Tears and Metal Shock in 1985.
They created their first video "Hammerhead" from the Metal Shock demo: "We taped it in Jason and Ed's apartment living room. We also made a live video at the infamous Bootlegger in Phoenix", (owned by Gloria Cavalera, currently married to Max Cavalera) These videos and the band's demos made a good impression on record labels. After the band contributed to the Speed Metal Hell II and Metal Massacre VII compilations, they then signed a deal with Metal Blade Records.
1986–1987: Doomsday for the Deceiver
Flotsam and Jetsam recorded their debut album Doomsday for the Deceiver in Los Angeles with producer Brian Slagel and engineer Bill Metoyer. The album was released on the 4th of July in 1986, and was the first in Kerrang!'s history to achieve the 6K rating.
Bassist Jason Newsted, who was also the band's main lyric writer, departed soon after to join Metallica, replacing their bassist Cliff Burton, who died in a bus accident. On Halloween night 1986, Jason played his last gig with Flotsam and Jetsam. The band had asked another local bassist Phil Rind of Sacred Reich to fill in Jason's place for a short time. They then hired Michael Spencer from the Sacramento band Sentinel Beast. Flotsam and Jetsam inked a deal with Metallica's then-label Elektra Records before opening for Megadeth in 1987 on the Peace Sells tour in Europe and America. After touring with Megadeth, the band played selected shows in America with Slayer, Dark Angel, Possessed, Celtic Frost, Sacred Reich and Excel.
1987–1994: No Place for Disgrace, When the Storm Comes Down and Cuatro
Michael Spencer left Flotsam and Jetsam shortly after a U.S. tour in the fall of 1987; his replacement was Troy Gregory. Their second studio album, No Place for Disgrace, was released in May 1988, and includes a cover of Elton John's hit "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" for which a music video was shot. The band toured heavily behind No Place for Disgrace throughout 1988 and 1989. They opened for King Diamond in America, and supported Megadeth, Testament and Sanctuary in Europe on the So Far, So Good... So What! tour. The band also played shows with The Crumbsuckers, Fates Warning, Destruction, Death Angel, D.R.I., Acid Reign and Kreator, and landed a billing for festivals, such as Milwaukee Metalfest, and played at Aardschokdag twice (in May 1988 and April 1989).
In 1989, Flotsam and Jetsam were signed to MCA Records and began work on their third album When the Storm Comes Down, released in May 1990. The band expected to gain recognition with this album, but it suffered from a variety of mixed reviews. Flotsam and Jetsam toured for about a year and a half in support of When the Storm Comes Down; they co-headlined a U.S. tour with Prong, and subsequently toured or played selected shows with bands such as Testament, Savatage, Exodus, Vio-Lence, Sacred Reich, Wrathchild America and a then-unknown Pantera.
Shortly after returning home, bassist Troy Gregory departed to join Prong. Holding auditions in Phoenix, the band hired Jason Ward to fill the role.
Released in 1992, Cuatro marked an evolution in style and songwriting. The band released four singles this time, two of which ("Swatting at Flies" and "Wading Through the Darkness") were shot as music videos. "Wading Through the Darkness" received regular rotation on MTV during their tours that year.
1995–1999: Drift and High
Their fifth album Drift was released in April 1995, with three singles released off of the record. Jason dedicated it to his older brother Jeff Ward, former drummer of such bands as NIN, Ministry, Revolting Cocks and Lard, who died in 1993. A long break followed the release of the album.
During Flotsam and Jetsam's tour with Megadeth and KORN, MCA and Flotsam parted ways, and Flotsam returned to their former label "Metal Blade Records".
Shortly after auditioning a new drummer, Nick Menza of Megadeth insisted that the band check out a friend of Nick's named Craig Nielsen. Nick was there for the auditioning, and Craig Nielsen was hired.
On their 1997 album High the song titles were designed with the font types/logos of famous bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Kiss, Van Halen, AC/DC, Judas Priest, Misfits, etc. to pay homage to those whom came before and inspired the band while it was coming up the ranks. The music was more experimental than before, and the album also featured the Lard cover song Fork Boy. Music video was released, Monster to follow-up.
Michael Gilbert and Kelly Smith left the band after the release and were replaced by guitarist Mark Simpson and drummer Craig Nielsen. With the new line-up Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe together with Anvil and Exciter.
1999–2002: Unnatural Selection and My God
Unnatural Selection was released in 1999 and Mark Simpson took a short break. He joined the band again in 2000 to record a new album, My God released in May 2001. At that time Eric A.K. had founded a country band, the A.K. Corral. He left the band for a short time to take a break from Metal and pursue his side project. (AK) "I had given Metal my life for a solid 15 years, I took some time to explore other musical flavors." Though Flotsam and Jetsam did not disband, there was a long break at that time. They found a new singer, James Rivera, who took over vocal duties live. Later the band felt that no one other than Eric A.K. could be their singer and Rivera left the band soon after.
2002–2006: Live In Phoenix and Dreams of Death
During 2002 and 2003 the band were active only sporadically, but Eric A.K. rejoined for live dates in the Phoenix and Los Angeles areas in 2003. Tory Edwards was a guest for this tour. A live recording of these shows was released in 2004 as a live concert DVD under the title Live in Phoenix. Signed to the Crash Music label in May 2004 and with Eric A.K. joining the band again officially, they hit the road with Overkill and Death Angel for a series of sold out concerts in Japan.
Spring 2005 Flotsam and Jetsam returned to the studio to work on their new album. The lyrics were mostly inspired by Eric's nightmares. This resulted into a concept album entitled Dreams of Death - like track 2 of No Place for Disgrace. The album was released July 2005.
2006–2011: Live In Japan, Once in a Deathtime, The Cold
The live DVD Live in Japan was released in February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004.
Doomsday for the Deceiver was re-released in November 2006 by Metal Blade Records to celebrate the album's twentieth anniversary. This set (2 CD and DVD) includes the original recording of Doomsday and a re-mixed and re-mastered(Digitized)version and also the two Flotsam and Jetsam demos. The bonus DVD includes rare live material, an interview filmed at Kelly's High School and a photo slide-show.
In Spring 2008 Metal Mind Productions remastered and re-released the albums When the Storm Comes Down, Cuatro (including 5 bonus tracks), Drift (including 3 bonus tracks) and Dreams of Death. Unfortunately for the fans No Place for Disgrace could not be remastered due to existing legal issues between the band and their former label Elektra Records.
In March 2008 Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe and played at the Metalmania Festival in Poland. This show was filmed and released as DVD Once in a Deathtime in July. Midyear 2008 the band were signed to Driven Music Group, founded by former KORN guitarist Brian “Head” Welch.
After a tour in Europe with support act Neurasthenia in April 2010 Flotsam and Jetsam finished their album The Cold. It was released on September 14, 2010. It was the last album with Mark Simpson on guitar. He left the band in friendship and was replaced by returning guitarist Ed Carlson, who had quit the band in March 2010, to be replaced by Michael Gilbert.
2011–2013: Ugly Noise
Mid 2011, Craig Neilson departed the band soon after Mark Simpson's exit. Former Drummer and founder of Flotsam Kelly David Smith was asked to rejoin after a 14 years absence. The band then embarked on their newest release Ugly Noise. Flotsam would take a new turn and release and record Ugly Noise using the direct-to-fan platform, PledgeMusic. Ugly Noise was released through PledgeMusic on 12-21-12. Members on the Pledge site were the first to hear and download the recording before the public. Each Pledge purchased either a download of the new disc or a package of "exclusive items" only available through Pledge. All income from items sold went to fund the entire project.
Shortly after Flotsam inked a distribution deal with longtime friends '"Metal Blade Records" for worldwide distribution.
After tracking on Ugly Noise, Jason Ward was no longer able to commit to touring with the band any further due to his current personal commitments.
In Jan 2013, Flotsam and Jetsam jumped on board the acclaimed 70000 Tons of Metal in support of Ugly Noise. They then followed up on Testaments, Dark Roots of Thrash Tour US Package included Overkill and Australian metalers 4ARM.
During the tour, Edward Carlson started to have extreme physical pain in his lower back and numbness in his right arm. After the tour, an MRI revealed that he had bulging disks in his upper and lower back causing the dysfunction to occur. Flotsam and Jetsam then recruited guitarist Steve Conley of F5 to step in while they finished out their live commitments.
Flotsam and Jetsam also recruited Michael Spencer to rejoin the ranks in place of Jason Ward. Spencer was the first official bassist after Jason Newsted's departure to Metallica in 1986. He toured with Flotsam in 1987 to Europe on Megadeth's "Peace Sells" tour. Spencer also was a major player in the writing of classic acclaimed recording, "No Place for Disgrace" released on Elekra Records in 1988.
2013–2014: No Place For Disgrace 2014
In June 2013, the band headlined at the Warriors of Metal Festival in Columbus Ohio, then returning home, Flotsam hired manager Jeff Keller(JKM). His roster includes the likes of: UDO, Destruction, Lordi, Hirax, Primal Fear, Satan, Suicidal Angels.
In 2006, after the successful remix and master of the debut album “Doomsday for the Deceiver”, there was a lot of fan requests to have “No Place for Disgrace” follow the same process. After spending some time at the 25-year mark, the band decided to go forward with this idea. The band had some issues with the original production and definition of some of the parts played, due to the speed it was recorded at. Having had success with Ugly Noise through the PledgeMusic process, the band would be able to again gain the rights to this classic with a re-recording and some minor changes.
In the middle of 2013, Flotsam and Jetsam embarked in this monumental task of reviving some songs that, for the most part, had not been played in 20 years. All tracks (except drums) were done at the Flotsam studio with Michael Gilbert at the helm. In December, the project was finished and the re-recording of the classic album "No Place For Disgrace", was again released using PledgeMusic to finance the project.
The album, No Place For Disgrace 2014, was set to release on Feb 14th, 2014 worldwide through Metal Blade Records distribution. NPFD 2014 would feature some of Flotsam's friends from the past as guest musicians, Mark Simpson, Chris Poland, Tory Edwards.
Flotsam and Jetsam is currently ramping up for their (29 show) European tour with Sepultura, Legion of the Damned and Mortillery. The tour kicks off on Feb 7th in Bochum, Germany.
2014–present: No Place on Tour and Beyond, Flotsam and Jetsam and next album
Flotsam toured Europe 4 times in 2014 with a total of 40 shows in all.
Returning home from Europe on 8/11 the band planned to start writing for a new release in 2015. Michael Spencer and Steve Conley would be involved this time in the process. Spencer had written some material previously in 1987 that he took with him after his departure. Flotsam used at some of the archive material from Spencer.
In December 2014, drummer and founding member, Kelly Smith decided to leave the band due to unexpected family matters that required him to be home with his family. Handpicked by Smith to replace him on drums, was longtime friend and Shadows Fall drummer, Jason Bittner. In 2015, Bittner was working on the next album.
On July 6, 2017, it was announced that Flotsam and Jetsam were replacing Bittner (who had recently joined Overkill) with Ken Mary (Fifth Angel, Alice Cooper, House of Lords, TKO, Chastain, Impellitteri). They have also begun work on their thirteenth studio album, which is expected to be released in the spring of 2018.
Fonte : Wikipedia
The group was founded in 1981 under the name Paradox by drummer Kelly David-Smith and guitarists Pete Mello and Dave Goulder, who were later joined by bassist Jason Newsted. Jason had answered a newspaper ad that Kelly had placed in the local newspaper looking for a bass player. Jason came to Phoenix with his band Gangster from Michigan on their way to California, but Gangster broke up while in Phoenix. Kelly got a call from a couple of his high school friends, Mark Vasquez and Kevin Horton, looking for some people to jam with playing covers of bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, MSG, and UFO. The band then morphed into "Dredlox" together with the new recruits, Jason was now the main vocalist.
Kelly saw "A.K." (Eric A. Knutson) singing "The Goodbye Girl" at his high school talent show. In 1982 they were in the same summer school class and Kelly asked Knutson if he wanted to audition. They put him on 2-week probation and he later joined the band. Due to the provisional nature of his membership, the band referred to Knutson as "the 2 weeker." Ed Carlson, from another local rival band called Exodus (not to be confused with the California Bay Area thrash metal band of the same name), also joined in 1983 after Kevin's departure from the band. The name of the band changed into The Dogz, but it didn't last long. Eventually the band renamed itself "Flotsam and Jetsam" after writing a song inspired by a chapter of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Two Towers.
The band made its live debuts in local clubs and in California and had the opportunity to play with bands such as Megadeth, Armored Saint, Alcatrazz, Malice, Exciter, Mercyful Fate, Riot, Autograph and Icon. In 1985 Mark Vasquez stepped out and 17-year-old Michael Gilbert joined the band. Flotsam and Jetsam released two demo tapes Iron Tears and Metal Shock in 1985.
They created their first video "Hammerhead" from the Metal Shock demo: "We taped it in Jason and Ed's apartment living room. We also made a live video at the infamous Bootlegger in Phoenix", (owned by Gloria Cavalera, currently married to Max Cavalera) These videos and the band's demos made a good impression on record labels. After the band contributed to the Speed Metal Hell II and Metal Massacre VII compilations, they then signed a deal with Metal Blade Records.
1986–1987: Doomsday for the Deceiver
Flotsam and Jetsam recorded their debut album Doomsday for the Deceiver in Los Angeles with producer Brian Slagel and engineer Bill Metoyer. The album was released on the 4th of July in 1986, and was the first in Kerrang!'s history to achieve the 6K rating.
Bassist Jason Newsted, who was also the band's main lyric writer, departed soon after to join Metallica, replacing their bassist Cliff Burton, who died in a bus accident. On Halloween night 1986, Jason played his last gig with Flotsam and Jetsam. The band had asked another local bassist Phil Rind of Sacred Reich to fill in Jason's place for a short time. They then hired Michael Spencer from the Sacramento band Sentinel Beast. Flotsam and Jetsam inked a deal with Metallica's then-label Elektra Records before opening for Megadeth in 1987 on the Peace Sells tour in Europe and America. After touring with Megadeth, the band played selected shows in America with Slayer, Dark Angel, Possessed, Celtic Frost, Sacred Reich and Excel.
1987–1994: No Place for Disgrace, When the Storm Comes Down and Cuatro
Michael Spencer left Flotsam and Jetsam shortly after a U.S. tour in the fall of 1987; his replacement was Troy Gregory. Their second studio album, No Place for Disgrace, was released in May 1988, and includes a cover of Elton John's hit "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" for which a music video was shot. The band toured heavily behind No Place for Disgrace throughout 1988 and 1989. They opened for King Diamond in America, and supported Megadeth, Testament and Sanctuary in Europe on the So Far, So Good... So What! tour. The band also played shows with The Crumbsuckers, Fates Warning, Destruction, Death Angel, D.R.I., Acid Reign and Kreator, and landed a billing for festivals, such as Milwaukee Metalfest, and played at Aardschokdag twice (in May 1988 and April 1989).
In 1989, Flotsam and Jetsam were signed to MCA Records and began work on their third album When the Storm Comes Down, released in May 1990. The band expected to gain recognition with this album, but it suffered from a variety of mixed reviews. Flotsam and Jetsam toured for about a year and a half in support of When the Storm Comes Down; they co-headlined a U.S. tour with Prong, and subsequently toured or played selected shows with bands such as Testament, Savatage, Exodus, Vio-Lence, Sacred Reich, Wrathchild America and a then-unknown Pantera.
Shortly after returning home, bassist Troy Gregory departed to join Prong. Holding auditions in Phoenix, the band hired Jason Ward to fill the role.
Released in 1992, Cuatro marked an evolution in style and songwriting. The band released four singles this time, two of which ("Swatting at Flies" and "Wading Through the Darkness") were shot as music videos. "Wading Through the Darkness" received regular rotation on MTV during their tours that year.
1995–1999: Drift and High
Their fifth album Drift was released in April 1995, with three singles released off of the record. Jason dedicated it to his older brother Jeff Ward, former drummer of such bands as NIN, Ministry, Revolting Cocks and Lard, who died in 1993. A long break followed the release of the album.
During Flotsam and Jetsam's tour with Megadeth and KORN, MCA and Flotsam parted ways, and Flotsam returned to their former label "Metal Blade Records".
Shortly after auditioning a new drummer, Nick Menza of Megadeth insisted that the band check out a friend of Nick's named Craig Nielsen. Nick was there for the auditioning, and Craig Nielsen was hired.
On their 1997 album High the song titles were designed with the font types/logos of famous bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Kiss, Van Halen, AC/DC, Judas Priest, Misfits, etc. to pay homage to those whom came before and inspired the band while it was coming up the ranks. The music was more experimental than before, and the album also featured the Lard cover song Fork Boy. Music video was released, Monster to follow-up.
Michael Gilbert and Kelly Smith left the band after the release and were replaced by guitarist Mark Simpson and drummer Craig Nielsen. With the new line-up Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe together with Anvil and Exciter.
1999–2002: Unnatural Selection and My God
Unnatural Selection was released in 1999 and Mark Simpson took a short break. He joined the band again in 2000 to record a new album, My God released in May 2001. At that time Eric A.K. had founded a country band, the A.K. Corral. He left the band for a short time to take a break from Metal and pursue his side project. (AK) "I had given Metal my life for a solid 15 years, I took some time to explore other musical flavors." Though Flotsam and Jetsam did not disband, there was a long break at that time. They found a new singer, James Rivera, who took over vocal duties live. Later the band felt that no one other than Eric A.K. could be their singer and Rivera left the band soon after.
2002–2006: Live In Phoenix and Dreams of Death
During 2002 and 2003 the band were active only sporadically, but Eric A.K. rejoined for live dates in the Phoenix and Los Angeles areas in 2003. Tory Edwards was a guest for this tour. A live recording of these shows was released in 2004 as a live concert DVD under the title Live in Phoenix. Signed to the Crash Music label in May 2004 and with Eric A.K. joining the band again officially, they hit the road with Overkill and Death Angel for a series of sold out concerts in Japan.
Spring 2005 Flotsam and Jetsam returned to the studio to work on their new album. The lyrics were mostly inspired by Eric's nightmares. This resulted into a concept album entitled Dreams of Death - like track 2 of No Place for Disgrace. The album was released July 2005.
2006–2011: Live In Japan, Once in a Deathtime, The Cold
The live DVD Live in Japan was released in February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004.
Doomsday for the Deceiver was re-released in November 2006 by Metal Blade Records to celebrate the album's twentieth anniversary. This set (2 CD and DVD) includes the original recording of Doomsday and a re-mixed and re-mastered(Digitized)version and also the two Flotsam and Jetsam demos. The bonus DVD includes rare live material, an interview filmed at Kelly's High School and a photo slide-show.
In Spring 2008 Metal Mind Productions remastered and re-released the albums When the Storm Comes Down, Cuatro (including 5 bonus tracks), Drift (including 3 bonus tracks) and Dreams of Death. Unfortunately for the fans No Place for Disgrace could not be remastered due to existing legal issues between the band and their former label Elektra Records.
In March 2008 Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe and played at the Metalmania Festival in Poland. This show was filmed and released as DVD Once in a Deathtime in July. Midyear 2008 the band were signed to Driven Music Group, founded by former KORN guitarist Brian “Head” Welch.
After a tour in Europe with support act Neurasthenia in April 2010 Flotsam and Jetsam finished their album The Cold. It was released on September 14, 2010. It was the last album with Mark Simpson on guitar. He left the band in friendship and was replaced by returning guitarist Ed Carlson, who had quit the band in March 2010, to be replaced by Michael Gilbert.
2011–2013: Ugly Noise
Mid 2011, Craig Neilson departed the band soon after Mark Simpson's exit. Former Drummer and founder of Flotsam Kelly David Smith was asked to rejoin after a 14 years absence. The band then embarked on their newest release Ugly Noise. Flotsam would take a new turn and release and record Ugly Noise using the direct-to-fan platform, PledgeMusic. Ugly Noise was released through PledgeMusic on 12-21-12. Members on the Pledge site were the first to hear and download the recording before the public. Each Pledge purchased either a download of the new disc or a package of "exclusive items" only available through Pledge. All income from items sold went to fund the entire project.
Shortly after Flotsam inked a distribution deal with longtime friends '"Metal Blade Records" for worldwide distribution.
After tracking on Ugly Noise, Jason Ward was no longer able to commit to touring with the band any further due to his current personal commitments.
In Jan 2013, Flotsam and Jetsam jumped on board the acclaimed 70000 Tons of Metal in support of Ugly Noise. They then followed up on Testaments, Dark Roots of Thrash Tour US Package included Overkill and Australian metalers 4ARM.
During the tour, Edward Carlson started to have extreme physical pain in his lower back and numbness in his right arm. After the tour, an MRI revealed that he had bulging disks in his upper and lower back causing the dysfunction to occur. Flotsam and Jetsam then recruited guitarist Steve Conley of F5 to step in while they finished out their live commitments.
Flotsam and Jetsam also recruited Michael Spencer to rejoin the ranks in place of Jason Ward. Spencer was the first official bassist after Jason Newsted's departure to Metallica in 1986. He toured with Flotsam in 1987 to Europe on Megadeth's "Peace Sells" tour. Spencer also was a major player in the writing of classic acclaimed recording, "No Place for Disgrace" released on Elekra Records in 1988.
2013–2014: No Place For Disgrace 2014
In June 2013, the band headlined at the Warriors of Metal Festival in Columbus Ohio, then returning home, Flotsam hired manager Jeff Keller(JKM). His roster includes the likes of: UDO, Destruction, Lordi, Hirax, Primal Fear, Satan, Suicidal Angels.
In 2006, after the successful remix and master of the debut album “Doomsday for the Deceiver”, there was a lot of fan requests to have “No Place for Disgrace” follow the same process. After spending some time at the 25-year mark, the band decided to go forward with this idea. The band had some issues with the original production and definition of some of the parts played, due to the speed it was recorded at. Having had success with Ugly Noise through the PledgeMusic process, the band would be able to again gain the rights to this classic with a re-recording and some minor changes.
In the middle of 2013, Flotsam and Jetsam embarked in this monumental task of reviving some songs that, for the most part, had not been played in 20 years. All tracks (except drums) were done at the Flotsam studio with Michael Gilbert at the helm. In December, the project was finished and the re-recording of the classic album "No Place For Disgrace", was again released using PledgeMusic to finance the project.
The album, No Place For Disgrace 2014, was set to release on Feb 14th, 2014 worldwide through Metal Blade Records distribution. NPFD 2014 would feature some of Flotsam's friends from the past as guest musicians, Mark Simpson, Chris Poland, Tory Edwards.
Flotsam and Jetsam is currently ramping up for their (29 show) European tour with Sepultura, Legion of the Damned and Mortillery. The tour kicks off on Feb 7th in Bochum, Germany.
2014–present: No Place on Tour and Beyond, Flotsam and Jetsam and next album
Flotsam toured Europe 4 times in 2014 with a total of 40 shows in all.
Returning home from Europe on 8/11 the band planned to start writing for a new release in 2015. Michael Spencer and Steve Conley would be involved this time in the process. Spencer had written some material previously in 1987 that he took with him after his departure. Flotsam used at some of the archive material from Spencer.
In December 2014, drummer and founding member, Kelly Smith decided to leave the band due to unexpected family matters that required him to be home with his family. Handpicked by Smith to replace him on drums, was longtime friend and Shadows Fall drummer, Jason Bittner. In 2015, Bittner was working on the next album.
On July 6, 2017, it was announced that Flotsam and Jetsam were replacing Bittner (who had recently joined Overkill) with Ken Mary (Fifth Angel, Alice Cooper, House of Lords, TKO, Chastain, Impellitteri). They have also begun work on their thirteenth studio album, which is expected to be released in the spring of 2018.
For Wardrobe Remix.
Today, I morphed into an accidental shopper on the war path. I only meant to get my hands on Christian Lacroix. But I came home with an eye shadow palette of too many colours, 2 pairs of patent pumps and a foot massager for my beau's mom, amongst other trivialities. On a non-sequitor, Donatello is still my favourite TMNT.
Vintage geometric prints dress with tie collar, gold woven belt from Bugis, eBase green pumps with white stripes, orange and green plastic bangles from FEP, Zara patchwork bag, orange teardrop earrings from Bangkok, MNG shades and Paul Frank watch.
Fonte : Wikipedia
The group was founded in 1981 under the name Paradox by drummer Kelly David-Smith and guitarists Pete Mello and Dave Goulder, who were later joined by bassist Jason Newsted. Jason had answered a newspaper ad that Kelly had placed in the local newspaper looking for a bass player. Jason came to Phoenix with his band Gangster from Michigan on their way to California, but Gangster broke up while in Phoenix. Kelly got a call from a couple of his high school friends, Mark Vasquez and Kevin Horton, looking for some people to jam with playing covers of bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, MSG, and UFO. The band then morphed into "Dredlox" together with the new recruits, Jason was now the main vocalist.
Kelly saw "A.K." (Eric A. Knutson) singing "The Goodbye Girl" at his high school talent show. In 1982 they were in the same summer school class and Kelly asked Knutson if he wanted to audition. They put him on 2-week probation and he later joined the band. Due to the provisional nature of his membership, the band referred to Knutson as "the 2 weeker." Ed Carlson, from another local rival band called Exodus (not to be confused with the California Bay Area thrash metal band of the same name), also joined in 1983 after Kevin's departure from the band. The name of the band changed into The Dogz, but it didn't last long. Eventually the band renamed itself "Flotsam and Jetsam" after writing a song inspired by a chapter of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Two Towers.
The band made its live debuts in local clubs and in California and had the opportunity to play with bands such as Megadeth, Armored Saint, Alcatrazz, Malice, Exciter, Mercyful Fate, Riot, Autograph and Icon. In 1985 Mark Vasquez stepped out and 17-year-old Michael Gilbert joined the band. Flotsam and Jetsam released two demo tapes Iron Tears and Metal Shock in 1985.
They created their first video "Hammerhead" from the Metal Shock demo: "We taped it in Jason and Ed's apartment living room. We also made a live video at the infamous Bootlegger in Phoenix", (owned by Gloria Cavalera, currently married to Max Cavalera) These videos and the band's demos made a good impression on record labels. After the band contributed to the Speed Metal Hell II and Metal Massacre VII compilations, they then signed a deal with Metal Blade Records.
1986–1987: Doomsday for the Deceiver
Flotsam and Jetsam recorded their debut album Doomsday for the Deceiver in Los Angeles with producer Brian Slagel and engineer Bill Metoyer. The album was released on the 4th of July in 1986, and was the first in Kerrang!'s history to achieve the 6K rating.
Bassist Jason Newsted, who was also the band's main lyric writer, departed soon after to join Metallica, replacing their bassist Cliff Burton, who died in a bus accident. On Halloween night 1986, Jason played his last gig with Flotsam and Jetsam. The band had asked another local bassist Phil Rind of Sacred Reich to fill in Jason's place for a short time. They then hired Michael Spencer from the Sacramento band Sentinel Beast. Flotsam and Jetsam inked a deal with Metallica's then-label Elektra Records before opening for Megadeth in 1987 on the Peace Sells tour in Europe and America. After touring with Megadeth, the band played selected shows in America with Slayer, Dark Angel, Possessed, Celtic Frost, Sacred Reich and Excel.
1987–1994: No Place for Disgrace, When the Storm Comes Down and Cuatro
Michael Spencer left Flotsam and Jetsam shortly after a U.S. tour in the fall of 1987; his replacement was Troy Gregory. Their second studio album, No Place for Disgrace, was released in May 1988, and includes a cover of Elton John's hit "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" for which a music video was shot. The band toured heavily behind No Place for Disgrace throughout 1988 and 1989. They opened for King Diamond in America, and supported Megadeth, Testament and Sanctuary in Europe on the So Far, So Good... So What! tour. The band also played shows with The Crumbsuckers, Fates Warning, Destruction, Death Angel, D.R.I., Acid Reign and Kreator, and landed a billing for festivals, such as Milwaukee Metalfest, and played at Aardschokdag twice (in May 1988 and April 1989).
In 1989, Flotsam and Jetsam were signed to MCA Records and began work on their third album When the Storm Comes Down, released in May 1990. The band expected to gain recognition with this album, but it suffered from a variety of mixed reviews. Flotsam and Jetsam toured for about a year and a half in support of When the Storm Comes Down; they co-headlined a U.S. tour with Prong, and subsequently toured or played selected shows with bands such as Testament, Savatage, Exodus, Vio-Lence, Sacred Reich, Wrathchild America and a then-unknown Pantera.
Shortly after returning home, bassist Troy Gregory departed to join Prong. Holding auditions in Phoenix, the band hired Jason Ward to fill the role.
Released in 1992, Cuatro marked an evolution in style and songwriting. The band released four singles this time, two of which ("Swatting at Flies" and "Wading Through the Darkness") were shot as music videos. "Wading Through the Darkness" received regular rotation on MTV during their tours that year.
1995–1999: Drift and High
Their fifth album Drift was released in April 1995, with three singles released off of the record. Jason dedicated it to his older brother Jeff Ward, former drummer of such bands as NIN, Ministry, Revolting Cocks and Lard, who died in 1993. A long break followed the release of the album.
During Flotsam and Jetsam's tour with Megadeth and KORN, MCA and Flotsam parted ways, and Flotsam returned to their former label "Metal Blade Records".
Shortly after auditioning a new drummer, Nick Menza of Megadeth insisted that the band check out a friend of Nick's named Craig Nielsen. Nick was there for the auditioning, and Craig Nielsen was hired.
On their 1997 album High the song titles were designed with the font types/logos of famous bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Kiss, Van Halen, AC/DC, Judas Priest, Misfits, etc. to pay homage to those whom came before and inspired the band while it was coming up the ranks. The music was more experimental than before, and the album also featured the Lard cover song Fork Boy. Music video was released, Monster to follow-up.
Michael Gilbert and Kelly Smith left the band after the release and were replaced by guitarist Mark Simpson and drummer Craig Nielsen. With the new line-up Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe together with Anvil and Exciter.
1999–2002: Unnatural Selection and My God
Unnatural Selection was released in 1999 and Mark Simpson took a short break. He joined the band again in 2000 to record a new album, My God released in May 2001. At that time Eric A.K. had founded a country band, the A.K. Corral. He left the band for a short time to take a break from Metal and pursue his side project. (AK) "I had given Metal my life for a solid 15 years, I took some time to explore other musical flavors." Though Flotsam and Jetsam did not disband, there was a long break at that time. They found a new singer, James Rivera, who took over vocal duties live. Later the band felt that no one other than Eric A.K. could be their singer and Rivera left the band soon after.
2002–2006: Live In Phoenix and Dreams of Death
During 2002 and 2003 the band were active only sporadically, but Eric A.K. rejoined for live dates in the Phoenix and Los Angeles areas in 2003. Tory Edwards was a guest for this tour. A live recording of these shows was released in 2004 as a live concert DVD under the title Live in Phoenix. Signed to the Crash Music label in May 2004 and with Eric A.K. joining the band again officially, they hit the road with Overkill and Death Angel for a series of sold out concerts in Japan.
Spring 2005 Flotsam and Jetsam returned to the studio to work on their new album. The lyrics were mostly inspired by Eric's nightmares. This resulted into a concept album entitled Dreams of Death - like track 2 of No Place for Disgrace. The album was released July 2005.
2006–2011: Live In Japan, Once in a Deathtime, The Cold
The live DVD Live in Japan was released in February 2006 and shows their concert in front of hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at the Citta Club in Tokyo 2004.
Doomsday for the Deceiver was re-released in November 2006 by Metal Blade Records to celebrate the album's twentieth anniversary. This set (2 CD and DVD) includes the original recording of Doomsday and a re-mixed and re-mastered(Digitized)version and also the two Flotsam and Jetsam demos. The bonus DVD includes rare live material, an interview filmed at Kelly's High School and a photo slide-show.
In Spring 2008 Metal Mind Productions remastered and re-released the albums When the Storm Comes Down, Cuatro (including 5 bonus tracks), Drift (including 3 bonus tracks) and Dreams of Death. Unfortunately for the fans No Place for Disgrace could not be remastered due to existing legal issues between the band and their former label Elektra Records.
In March 2008 Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe and played at the Metalmania Festival in Poland. This show was filmed and released as DVD Once in a Deathtime in July. Midyear 2008 the band were signed to Driven Music Group, founded by former KORN guitarist Brian “Head” Welch.
After a tour in Europe with support act Neurasthenia in April 2010 Flotsam and Jetsam finished their album The Cold. It was released on September 14, 2010. It was the last album with Mark Simpson on guitar. He left the band in friendship and was replaced by returning guitarist Ed Carlson, who had quit the band in March 2010, to be replaced by Michael Gilbert.
2011–2013: Ugly Noise
Mid 2011, Craig Neilson departed the band soon after Mark Simpson's exit. Former Drummer and founder of Flotsam Kelly David Smith was asked to rejoin after a 14 years absence. The band then embarked on their newest release Ugly Noise. Flotsam would take a new turn and release and record Ugly Noise using the direct-to-fan platform, PledgeMusic. Ugly Noise was released through PledgeMusic on 12-21-12. Members on the Pledge site were the first to hear and download the recording before the public. Each Pledge purchased either a download of the new disc or a package of "exclusive items" only available through Pledge. All income from items sold went to fund the entire project.
Shortly after Flotsam inked a distribution deal with longtime friends '"Metal Blade Records" for worldwide distribution.
After tracking on Ugly Noise, Jason Ward was no longer able to commit to touring with the band any further due to his current personal commitments.
In Jan 2013, Flotsam and Jetsam jumped on board the acclaimed 70000 Tons of Metal in support of Ugly Noise. They then followed up on Testaments, Dark Roots of Thrash Tour US Package included Overkill and Australian metalers 4ARM.
During the tour, Edward Carlson started to have extreme physical pain in his lower back and numbness in his right arm. After the tour, an MRI revealed that he had bulging disks in his upper and lower back causing the dysfunction to occur. Flotsam and Jetsam then recruited guitarist Steve Conley of F5 to step in while they finished out their live commitments.
Flotsam and Jetsam also recruited Michael Spencer to rejoin the ranks in place of Jason Ward. Spencer was the first official bassist after Jason Newsted's departure to Metallica in 1986. He toured with Flotsam in 1987 to Europe on Megadeth's "Peace Sells" tour. Spencer also was a major player in the writing of classic acclaimed recording, "No Place for Disgrace" released on Elekra Records in 1988.
2013–2014: No Place For Disgrace 2014
In June 2013, the band headlined at the Warriors of Metal Festival in Columbus Ohio, then returning home, Flotsam hired manager Jeff Keller(JKM). His roster includes the likes of: UDO, Destruction, Lordi, Hirax, Primal Fear, Satan, Suicidal Angels.
In 2006, after the successful remix and master of the debut album “Doomsday for the Deceiver”, there was a lot of fan requests to have “No Place for Disgrace” follow the same process. After spending some time at the 25-year mark, the band decided to go forward with this idea. The band had some issues with the original production and definition of some of the parts played, due to the speed it was recorded at. Having had success with Ugly Noise through the PledgeMusic process, the band would be able to again gain the rights to this classic with a re-recording and some minor changes.
In the middle of 2013, Flotsam and Jetsam embarked in this monumental task of reviving some songs that, for the most part, had not been played in 20 years. All tracks (except drums) were done at the Flotsam studio with Michael Gilbert at the helm. In December, the project was finished and the re-recording of the classic album "No Place For Disgrace", was again released using PledgeMusic to finance the project.
The album, No Place For Disgrace 2014, was set to release on Feb 14th, 2014 worldwide through Metal Blade Records distribution. NPFD 2014 would feature some of Flotsam's friends from the past as guest musicians, Mark Simpson, Chris Poland, Tory Edwards.
Flotsam and Jetsam is currently ramping up for their (29 show) European tour with Sepultura, Legion of the Damned and Mortillery. The tour kicks off on Feb 7th in Bochum, Germany.
2014–present: No Place on Tour and Beyond, Flotsam and Jetsam and next album
Flotsam toured Europe 4 times in 2014 with a total of 40 shows in all.
Returning home from Europe on 8/11 the band planned to start writing for a new release in 2015. Michael Spencer and Steve Conley would be involved this time in the process. Spencer had written some material previously in 1987 that he took with him after his departure. Flotsam used at some of the archive material from Spencer.
In December 2014, drummer and founding member, Kelly Smith decided to leave the band due to unexpected family matters that required him to be home with his family. Handpicked by Smith to replace him on drums, was longtime friend and Shadows Fall drummer, Jason Bittner. In 2015, Bittner was working on the next album.
On July 6, 2017, it was announced that Flotsam and Jetsam were replacing Bittner (who had recently joined Overkill) with Ken Mary (Fifth Angel, Alice Cooper, House of Lords, TKO, Chastain, Impellitteri). They have also begun work on their thirteenth studio album, which is expected to be released in the spring of 2018.