Lee Rauch
William Lee Rauch was an American drummer who played in several thrash metal bands based in California from 1983 to 1987, most notably playing Megadeth's first live shows.
Career
Megadeth
Rauch's career began in late 1983. Former Metallica lead guitarist Dave Mustaine formed Megadeth shortly after having been abruptly fired from Metallica for "his problems with drink, drugs, and aggression towards fellow bandmembers". Brett Frederickson, Rauch's predecessor, briefly played with Megadeth in November 1983, while Frederickson was enrolled at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood.Megadeth, consisting of Rauch, Mustaine, Slayer guitarist Kerry King, and bassist David Ellefson, began rehearsing in December 1983 at Curly Joe's and would rehearse there in early 1984 for their first gigs.
The band played their first live gig at Ruthie's Inn in Berkeley, California on February 17, 1984. The band played their second gig two days later at The Stone in San Francisco and also played a gig at The Keystone in Berkeley that April.
Megadeth recorded their first publicly released demo, Last Rites, on March 9, 1984, in San Francisco on a twenty-four track multitrack recording. This consisted of three tracks: Last Rites/Loved to Deth, Mechanix and The Skull Beneath the Skin; Metal Hammer states that the demo was recorded at Hitman Studios in Hollywood. The lineup on this demo is debated, with former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson claiming the lineup consisted of himself, Mustaine, and Rauch's replacement Gar Samuelson. Other sources, including the Megadeth website, a 1984 issue of Metal Forces, as well as Ultimate Classic Rock, state that the lineup for the demo was Mustaine, Ellefson, and Rauch. Samuelson would not join the band until October of 1984, though Ellefson recalls Gar joining around April of 1984.
The same year, Rauch would leave the group due to internal conflict.
Dark Angel and Wargod
After leaving Megadeth in 1984, Rauch would play for Dark Angel, another well-known thrash metal band from California; however, though Rauch did play live shows with the band, he never recorded anything official with them during his tenure.In 1986, Rauch joined guitarist Michelle Meldrum's band Wargod, replacing Gene Hoglan who had left the group to join Rauch's previous band, Dark Angel. With Wargod, Rauch recorded their second demo, consisting of two tracks: Intimate with Evil and Burning Insanity.
Ultimately, Wargod would eventually split-up in 1987.