They crossed paths at the Seagull Inn and Hammerjacks over the years, but Nestor finally got to discuss a football feud from Baltimore to Harrisburg with the lead singer of Poison.
Bret Michaels, a Steelers fan, discussed his upcoming solo tour at the Thunderdome, which will conclude on Friday. He reflected on his passion for music, which has kept him on the road for eight months. Michaels highlighted his new album โSongs of Lifeโ released through Sony. He reminisced about the 80s music scene, comparing it to todayโs loyal fanbase. Michaels also shared his love for sports and his motocross track. Nestor Aparicio, the host, humorously bantered with Michaels about their past interactions and the Steelersโ poor record. Michaels promised to wear a Ravens hat on stage and offered tickets to his fans.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Brett Michaels, Steelers fan, Ravens game, solo tour, Songs of Life, Thunderdome show, music passion, Poison band, 80s nostalgia, loyal fans, new music, Sony label, sports fanatic, motocross track, concert tickets
SPEAKERS
Bret Michaels, Nestor Aparicio
Nestor Aparicio 00:05
All right, it is celebrity rock star hour here. And why not Brett Michaels be appearing down at the Thunderdome on Friday night. Heโs a Steeler fan. We figure no better time to bring out good old fashioned Baltimore ass kicking for any Steelers fan, especially celebrity Steelers fan, than to bring the one and only rock star extraordinaire, Brett Michaels on the program. Brett, welcome in. How are you today?
Bret Michaels 00:37
Iโm doing awesome. How you doing?
Nestor Aparicio 00:39
And you know, Iโve never been better, man, youโre coming to town. The Steelers are four and eight. You know, I
Bret Michaels 00:44
know youโre killing me. You just, I couldnโt even defend myself when you were killing me. Iโm like, wait a minute. I canโt even defend my itโs all right, the Ravens. Look the Ravens this year are on. What can I say? They got it going on? You got Ray Lewis, you got the you got it going on.
Nestor Aparicio 00:59
You lost to the Bengals, dude, you know, Stop, please.
Bret Michaels 01:02
Why do you have to rub this in at home? Donโt you guys have the Bengals this weekend?
Nestor Aparicio 01:08
Yeah, and we said Marvin on a little while ago, Iโm right. He told me to not underestimate him in any way, and that we should fear the Bengals. And they beat us couple weeks ago. But at least they beat us out there. You know what? I mean, itโs, yeah,
Bret Michaels 01:20
I understand you. Itโs huge. Theyโre coming on. I donโt know what, what is going on.
Nestor Aparicio 01:25
Can take souls. Weโre playing a game that matters this week. And you guys are, you know, playing for draft position, and that makes us, it just gives us a little fuzzies. It really does. Being a Baltimore guy, you
Bret Michaels 01:35
know what Iโm going to make up for next spring, next summer, when training starts, Iโm going a little Trove with the Steelers, Iโm telling you now, and Iโm gonna, Iโm gonna whip them into shape. I got a bunch of buddies on the Steelers. Iโm gonna whip them into shape. Hereโs
Nestor Aparicio 01:46
what I want you to do, as you know, you know how, like, if youโre a Christian, you do Hail Maryโs and our fathers Friday night in a show of concession for you and for all your kind, I want you to wear a Ravens hat and a purple shirt at the Thunderdome on Friday night. What do you
Bret Michaels 02:04
think? Oh, my God. You know what? Iโll tell you, what youโve always been good to me. I may find myself in a Ravens took on stage.
Nestor Aparicio 02:12
Nice. Okay, all right, fair enough. Weโll take it. Weโll take it. How are you, man? Whatโs the Rockstar? Now, you know, I should tell you, I was the music critic at the Sun back in the 80s. And you and I had, you know, had a round or two Jill Deville back in the day. The whole bit, absolutely
Bret Michaels 02:25
we loved. I just saw Jill Deville when we were there to poison through their Nissan pavilion a few times over the summer. But we that poor was about five months and Iโve been back solo. I was at the record theater, then we were down at Jackโs. And now I come back to wind the solo tour down to Thunderdome on Friday night. Is it the end of the tour? Itโs, itโs going to be the last weekend? Yep, itโll Mark eight months. For me, itโs going to be eight months Iโve been on the road.
Nestor Aparicio 02:50
Dude, how do you you separate one from the other? I mean, because, you know, I look up, most people look itโs either solo gig or itโs the band gig. You know, Vince Neil comes in or and then as Molly creates one or the other. But like you come in one week itโs poison. The next week itโs Brett Mike, only one I know that does it? Don Henley does that. Heโll roll in solo. Two months later, the Eagles are doing, you know, itโs, itโs an amazing gig you got going there and, and how do you keep yourself on the road all this time? Itโs crazy. Well, I love, you
Bret Michaels 03:16
know, first of all, itโs really simple for me. I love making music and, and thatโs and Iโm still passionate about it. So the best thing about it is itโs never become a job to me. I just like doing it. I like making music. Anyone thatโs around me knows that, and itโs great to get on stage and have a lot of great friends and people I met over the years, and, you know, and and so going out on the road and playing, and especially when Iโm doing these shows like the record theater and going down to Jax. Those were sold out, Rowdy fun shows, and then all of a sudden you come back and do thunder dome on a Friday night. Itโs going to wind down the tour, and weโre just going to make a party out of itโs going to be
Nestor Aparicio 03:51
great. You know, every time you come in, I know, like Joel Deville is a dear friend of mine, and Notre many years and the whole hammer Jackโs crew, and you know, the guys from like SR 71 morphed out of Childโs Play and all that stuff those guys in mind. And itโs just amazing anytime a guy like you comes back, and youโre a PA guy, whatever, you come back, and you canโt help but think about the old days, you know, Jackson, and it makes us like weโre, like, easing you know what? I mean, weโre, like, getting older. We donโt discuss that, though, but we talk about the old days. So we know weโre getting older. You know,
Bret Michaels 04:21
only because me and you have just recently turned 21 do we know all this? You know, since weโre just hitting that drinking age
Nestor Aparicio 04:27
19 and holding on, man, still in 1986 to me every day, Iโm
Bret Michaels 04:32
telling you why. Let go. I love it. And we have no but we come back there and we weโre at the record theater, like I said. And it was great. And then Jackson, now thunder dome and the solo shows awesome because I mix up the showโs intermixed. The whole show is intermixed, half poison, half solo, just intermixed. It makes everybody now knows the solo songs, plus they like to hear new stuff, along with the hits and some poison stuff that we donโt do anymore. And like I said, I make a party out of it. It keeps me rock and roll, keeps me young. You. Know,
Nestor Aparicio 05:00
back in the day, I mean, you talk about your contemporaries. Weโre talking to Brett Michaels from poison. Heโs got his new album, Songs of life. Heโs gonna be down at the Thunderdome on Friday night. Heโs pretty good friend of the station to the show calls him from time to time, even though he is a Steeler fan. But this a perfect week for you to come in four and eight. Did I mention that? Yeah, I
Bret Michaels 05:15
know. Yes, you did. And believe me, Iโm unfortunately, well aware of it. Okay,
Nestor Aparicio 05:19
itโs well, you but you know, next year you might come in and be 84 you know, weโve taken our lumps with with the Steelers thing. But for you, back in the day you had the contemporaries. You mean, I can name the bands. I mean, you know, hammer Jackson, Merriweather and a capital center, and, you know, Motley Crue, a bunch of itโs funny that 1520, years later, so many of you branched off. Do I mean, Bon Jovi pops up in movies. He pops up on TV. You know, we see you guys still tour as a band. You tours a solo thing. You wind up on VH one with the behind the music and a good news. Bad news thing. You got CC cleaned up. He looks great, playing great. Last time I saw you guys down at the pier last summer. Itโs just amazing the way life takes, kind of its turns. I knew CC was in shape. Iโm walking into Ruth Chris on the way down there. Heโs jogging by me, you know, heโs jogging like 28 miles a day or something, right?
Bret Michaels 06:08
Yeah, absolutely. The guys, you know, he had to get himself sober, and then, you know, like I said, once in a while, it just happens, he gets back off that wagon and gets back on and thatโs his battle. But thatโs part of, you know, being out on the road. And I think that a lot of bands, if you really weโve been fortunate. We have 10 records on capital, our 10th one coming out this last summer, and we just been one of those bands, if you want you and youโre passionate about it, you work hard at it, and especially being a sports fanatic, as you know, I am. I mean, I got a motocross track on my property for Godโs sakes. I mean, itโs, you know, Iโm that that keeps you young man, he keeps you coming back and and I think some of the really good bands, like all genres, have a few good bands to stick it out. Through our genre. There was, you know, there was poison, Bon Jovi, Metallica, Def Leppard, we all managed to stay around and just make good tunes. And we have very loyal fans. Thatโs a good feeling.
Nestor Aparicio 06:58
Well, I think back in the day, did you ever give a thought at all but all the girls and all the backstage and all the party and did you ever give a thought to what 2003 would be like for you? Because Iโm sure many of you thought, especially with the makeup and the hair and the lipstick and all that, you probably thought at some point this is going to end, you know, that youโre going to be relegated to Bobby Sherman, Sean Cassidy day, you know, the oldies been type thing clearly. You know, 1718, years later, all of you and look, I saw leopard out at the Hard Rock in Vegas about three months ago. Saw Vince Neil when he came through. You know, I saw, Iโve seen you guys three or four times in the last couple of years that you guys are still doing it. But Iโm thinking back in 8687 88 in a heyday, you probably werenโt given a whole lot of thought to where you were going to be in 2003 right? Yeah, I
Bret Michaels 07:47
donโt. I pretty much lived, and I say it like this, Iโve lived in the moment of being excited about making music and new records. Fortunately for us, you know, when grunge came around, we took Allison chains in a row with us. When that scene disappeared. The alternative scene came up. We took some of these bands out with us on the road. I just say this, you know, like an Aerosmith, like an ACDC, I think you get better with time if youโre really into what you did, if you did it for just the moment of glory. In other words, if youโre living for just that second, and thatโs it, only that then, then itโs going to fade. But I live for making music and continuously wanting to make good tunes and and putting on a better show each year. So although Iโm living in the minute, also in 2003 I still feel like Iโm 20 years old. Iโm still excited about doing it, and I think not becoming jaded is whatโs kept me in the
Nestor Aparicio 08:35
game. Is it inspirational for you to see a band like Aerosmith that right when you guys were climbing up, they were at rock bottom. Mean, Tyler was strung out. The band had broken up, you know, du Fe and Crespo were in the band, and Perry and Whitford werenโt in the band. And then they kind of had to come back right along with you guys at that particular period of time. And now, you know, theyโre Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Theyโre legend. Iโm like a kiss. They take the makeup off. Theyโre doing the animalized Lick It Up thing, playing it probably half empty halls. Everybody wants them to put makeup on. And now these two bands, 30 years, you know, after Toys in the Attic and alive when I was there out on the road doing this stuff and still selling tickets and still making people happy more than anything else, people come to shows. They have a good time.
Bret Michaels 09:18
Thatโs it. You nailed it. Thatโs what itโs all about and and I say this, people like yourself and me, we grew up in an era where, and I still believe in this. Iโm still a loyal fan. Not only do I like new stuff and I get into some of it, but Iโm really Iโm a loyal supporter of bands I grew up with. Iโm talking Aerosmith, ACDC, kiss, you know. And these bands are still around, still. I went to see ACDC, and they were better now than Iโve ever seen them. I mean, it was, it was great. And Iโm saying that thatโs one of the things about our genre that still happened to be great. And the new fans, you know, look at all the new high school and college kids at the poison shows. Theyโre coming out because they want to see a big show. They want to be excited, you know. And they donโt want to, they donโt want to pay a lot of money to see a band staring into. Sneakers with their back turned towards them anymore. I think they just, theyโre kind of got over that, and theyโre going, Hey, I donโt mind if you play some good tunes, but make it exciting again. You know, you know, they
Nestor Aparicio 10:09
donโt have an association with, you know, talk dirty to me or unskilled pop like I do. Drink a beer at my buddies in the summer, 88 down in Ocean City, you know? Yeah, those
Bret Michaels 10:17
are good day. Those werenโt bad days.
Nestor Aparicio 10:19
Theyโre, theyโre the residue. Theyโre the product of what happened back in the 80s at some point with some of these young people, right? And
Bret Michaels 10:25
I think just filming, I think a lot of them had the record young, you know, maybe young to go to the shows then. But now theyโve come up and and in the good thing is, in your life is youโre still there, youโre still making music. And, like, I look at a guy like Jerry Rice, right? I mean, this guy, this guyโs that. This guyโs a veteran still out there as viable today as they were when they started, if not better. And I think that thatโs what itโs all about. If you love what youโre doing and youโre going for it, and with music, obviously, youโre not getting knocked down quite like a flute or Jerry Rice is in your bones and joints can handle a little bit better. You know, although poison live and myself live, weโre pretty, pretty athletic, running around up there on the stage, you know, giving it all we got. And thatโs Brett
Nestor Aparicio 11:08
Michaels from the rock band poison as a solo act, going out right now, songs of life. I could pick this up anywhere, right? I mean, I just go to anywhere grab this thing. Whatโs the label
Bret Michaels 11:17
Itโs on? Itโs on, poor boy, through Sony.
Nestor Aparicio 11:20
Okay, through Sony. No problem. So if you want to go out, check out Brettโs new music, it is always going on, and heโll be down at the Thunderdome on Friday. You know, Brett, hereโs Iโm gonna do. Iโm gonna extend a special wnst invitation to you. Weโve got two seats for you. Great seats up in a nasty section. You come down and watch the Steelers and their season and hit the golf clubs at the end of the month, itโs Sunday night football national TV. You
Bret Michaels 11:41
know what I mean? I might be able to just handle that, you know? You might be able to say, I got to sing the national anthem at three river stadium the day before they blew it, the weekend before they blew it down. Really, we beat the Raiders, yep, and, and I took a chunk of the Astro Turf with me. So, you know, maybe, maybe weโll work something great out. But Iโm telling you now, if you get me the Ravens took out where it
Nestor Aparicio 12:03
Friday night, come see it. We will have it waiting for you. I
Bret Michaels 12:06
will be there. Iโll have it in a glass case. Iโll break it in case of emergency, put it on my head.
Nestor Aparicio 12:11
You know, no true Steelers fan would ever put anything purple on man. I gotta be honest with you, you
Bret Michaels 12:15
donโt know. You know, it might disappear before I get to it,
Nestor Aparicio 12:18
I see how this is going to work back in the mail after Christmas, a little damaged, Hey, man, and look, I forgive you. And publicly, Iโm going to make this consider a true story. I was a music critic at the sun and I, you know, I probably did some things backstage at hammer Jacks I shouldnโt have done. Certainly, did some things in the parking lot that my press pass allowed me to do that, you know, some unmentionables, probably some stuff that was going on the back of your tour bus. Probably same stuff was going on with me. Yes, exactly. I mean, you know, I was riding the coattails, you know. I mean, all the shows, I mean, la guns would come to not even like LA guns Brett, but they used to bring the hottest chicks when la guns played at hammer jacks. You needed to be backstage. You
Bret Michaels 12:55
just did, and I hope that you took full advantage of it in every
Nestor Aparicio 12:59
way shape or form. Tommy Conwell shows were always off the hook. Deal with the chicks, but the college girls. So letโs say summer. I want to say 88 Merriweather Post, itโs the rat poison tour, and I meet these two chicks, and I get them in, and we get right up in the front that the fourth row, right center, you know, right off. And weโre enjoying rat. Theyโre doing their thing round and round, you know. And then you come on stage with your boys, and you got the makeup going, and you got the high flying, unskinny Bobs running on top of the charts, and something to believe in, old thing. And you point down to these two chicks next to me, and the next thing I know, one of your handlers comes up and slaps backstage Wrangler. They were from Fredericksburg, Virginia, and I never saw these girls again. I stole two chicks from me. I mean, canโt did you have enough? You know what I mean, you need to be stealing another guyโs trim. You know what I mean,
Bret Michaels 13:55
if I would have known it was you, I would have stolen them much earlier. I mean, no, I would have never taken them, is what I meant to say. Hey, bread, my wife, if I bring my wife, can you steal
Nestor Aparicio 14:08
her? You got some tickets to give away for the show? Is that correct? Yeah, what I want to do
Bret Michaels 14:12
is I always do take care of some of the fans and the listeners. If they want to come out Friday nights at Thunderdome, itโs going to be an awesome show. Thereโll be lots of hot, hot, hot chicks here, as always and and weโll bring them out there, and you give some tickets away, and weโll take good care of the fans. All
Nestor Aparicio 14:27
right, Brett will do that. Next five people call for it. 115, 70. Brettโs gonna hook you up with a couple tickets for the show on Friday night that thunder. Hey, man, itโs always a pleasure to have you around, even though you are still phones are
Bret Michaels 14:37
not one of these days me and you were gonna sit down and forget about all the music and shows. Weโre going to talk nothing but sports one of these days, just weโll get into everything. You
Nestor Aparicio 14:45
know what weโre going to do one of these days, youโre going to come in here and bring those two broads from Fredericksburg back with you and give me back what you stole from me 15 years ago. Is what you
Bret Michaels 14:53
think I remember who they are going to look them up right now in the computer, dude,
Nestor Aparicio 14:57
is your black book kind of like. Fonzieโs was, you know, the Fonzie had A through M and one and then N through Z in the other. Or what?
Bret Michaels 15:06
Itโs a computer. Now,
Nestor Aparicio 15:10
get your palm. Pilot out. Brett, take care of yourself. Good luck the old Friday night. Thank you guys. Steelers still suck, but weโll invite Ravens. Game rock, come take your punishment. Man, see you later. Brother, you.