Whatever Happened to Fun?

Until a short while ago, I only knew Gilby Clarke as (a) the guy who replaced the irreplaceable Izzy Stradlin' in Guns and Roses and (b) the guy in Rock Star: Supernova. Frankly I was never really impressed by his performances in either and thought in the Rock Star show the guy had an attitude not befitting a minor footnote in rock and roll history. Then I came across this album on Usenet by Candy, Whatever Happened to Fun? I looked up the band and lo and behold, on of ol' Gilby Clarke's first bands. And he began as a replacement guitarist here as well.

"Candy were a band featuring the future Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke. Original members were lead vocalist Kyle Vincent, bassist Jonathan Daniel, drummer John Schubert, and guitarist Geoff "Rexx" Siegel. Clarke replaced Siegel after 6 months.Their only album, titled Whatever Happened To Fun, was released in 1985, when the band toured the United States opening up for Rick Springfield and later Corey Hart.Later that year, Gilby Clarke replaced Kyle Vincent as lead vocalist, and guitarist Ryan Roxie joined the lineup. After Gilby left, the rest of the guys joined up with new lead vocalist Shane and became the Electric Angels. (More detailed biography here).

I can't speak to the talents of "Rexx" Siegel, so I don't know how Gilby stacks up. But he sounds pretty great on this record. It really is a fun album of guitar pop which probably will sound bloody fantastic in the summertime. Today, the only people who make music like this are from Sweden (Sahara Hotnights, The Sounds). I'd imagine it sounded very out of place around '84-85, and probably today as well. We're only half-way through, but I can't imagine I'll hear a better song than 'American Kix' this week.