White Lion


White Lion is an American glam metal band formed in New York City in 1983 by Danish vocalist Mike Tramp and American guitarist Vito Bratta. Mainly active in the 1980s and early 1990s, they released their debut album Fight to Survive in 1985. The band achieved success with their No. 8 hit "Wait" and No. 3 hit "When the Children Cry" from their second album, the double platinum selling Pride. The band continued their success with their third album, Big Game, which achieved Gold status and their fourth album, Mane Attraction, which included a supporting tour. White Lion disbanded in 1991 and not long afterwards, their first compilation album, The Best of White Lion, was released.
Mike Tramp reformed White Lion with all new musicians in 1999 and again in 2004, following a failed attempt to reunite the original line up. The new White Lion released a live album in 2005 and a brand new studio album Return of the Pride in 2008.
From 2023, Tramp brought his version of White Lion back with a trilogy of albums, featuring re-recorded versions of White Lion classics, appropriately titled Songs of White Lion.

History

''Formation and Fight to Survive'' (1982–1986)

After moving from Denmark to Spain and then New York City, vocalist Mike Tramp met Staten Island guitarist Vito Bratta in late November 1982 at L'Amour Rock Club in Brooklyn when Tramp was playing with his band. In March 1983 they decided to put together a new band. At first they had a hard time finding a stable rhythm section, and they tried several different ones including Michael Clayton on drums. After a while, they recruited drummer Nicki Capozzi and bassist Felix Robinson and named the group White Lion.
White Lion was signed by Elektra Records in 1984, and recorded their debut album Fight to Survive. Elektra was unhappy with the final recording, and after refusing to release the album, terminated the band's contract.
The album Fight to Survive was eventually released by Victor Company of Japan, Ltd, in Japan in 1985. Philadelphia-based Grand Slamm Records bought the album from Elektra and released it in America the following year, under license by Elektra/Asylum Records. Fight to Survive charted at number 151 on Billboard 200 and featured the band's debut single and music video, "Broken Heart." A few months after the album's release, Grand Slamm Records went bankrupt.
Felix Robinson had departed the band after they were dropped by Elektra in 1984. He was eventually replaced by bassist Dave Spitz. With the Tramp, Bratta, Capozzi, Spitz lineup, the band recorded a round of demos for their second album, and continued to play shows in New York while shopping around for a new record deal. This incarnation of White Lion was hired to play a fictional band in the Tom Hanks/Shelley Long movie The Money Pit, which was released a year later. The soundtrack featured the song "Web of Desire", which was demoed that year. The film soundtrack was never officially released, although the song plays in the movie during both of the band's scenes. Nicki Capozzi was subsequently fired due to health issues and was, in September 1985, replaced by former Anthrax drummer Greg D'Angelo.
Dave Spitz left at the beginning of 1986 to join Black Sabbath, and was briefly replaced by Bruno Ravel, who left shortly afterwards because he was not allowed to contribute ideas. In March 1986, James LoMenzo was asked to join, and then the band finally was complete.

''Pride'' (1987–1988)

Early in 1987, the band was signed by Atlantic Records. The recording of the new LP took six weeks and on June 21, 1987, their album Pride was released. The first single, "Wait", was released on June 1, 1987, but did not reach the charts for nearly seven months.
The Pride tour started in July 1987 as White Lion opened for Frehley's Comet. The next year and a half was filled with constant touring, opening for such bands as Aerosmith, Stryper and Kiss. In January 1988, White Lion landed the opening slot for AC/DC on their Blow Up Your Video album American tour.
While the band toured with AC/DC, the Pride album and "Wait" single finally charted, due in no small part to MTV airing the "Wait" music video in regular rotation—nearly seven months after the single's release. "Wait" hit no. 8 on the singles chart, while Pride hit no. 11 on the albums chart. Pride would remain on the Billboard 200 chart for a full year, selling two million copies in the US alone and achieving double platinum status.
In August 1988, the album's second single, "Tell Me", reached no. 58. Around the time this single was released, White Lion played at the Ritz club in New York City. The show was filmed and later aired on MTV. The Pride album's third single, an acoustic ballad titled "When the Children Cry", made it to no. 3 on the US charts with heavy MTV airplay.
The success of "When the Children Cry" would eventually push sales of Pride over the two million mark. In addition, Vito Bratta was recognized for his instrumental talents by racking up Best New Guitarist awards with both Guitar World magazine and Guitar for the Practicing Musician magazine. "All You Need Is Rock 'n' Roll" was the final single released from the album.
In the end of 1988, the Pride tour finally ended, and the band released their first video albums titled Live at the Ritz and One Night in Tokyo both of which featuring full concerts on VHS.
The band then immediately began work on their next album.

''Big Game & Mane Attraction'' (1989–1991)

In August 1989, White Lion released their third album, Big Game, an eclectic follow-up to Pride that featured the single "Little Fighter", in Memory of The Rainbow Warrior, a Greenpeace boat which was destroyed by the French. A cover of Golden Earring's "Radar Love" was released as the second single and "Cry for Freedom", a political song about apartheid in South Africa was released as the third single. "Going Home Tonight" was released as the album's final single. The album quickly went gold, with a peak of No. 19 on the albums chart. The band's success continued with more constant touring. They did a European tour, including a string of UK arena shows supporting Mötley Crüe with Skid Row, and also played with Ozzy Osbourne and Cinderella.
After less successful gigs in England and mixed reviews of the new album, the band chose to take a few months off after the turn of the year to focus on writing a new album. Just in time for the late autumn of 1990, they entered the A&M studios with a new producer. White Lion released their fourth album Mane Attraction in March 1991. The album featured the singles "Love Don't Come Easy" which peaked at number 24 on the Mainstream Rock chart, "Lights and Thunder", which is an eight-minute heavy rock epic with a complex structure inspired by Led Zeppelin's "Achilles Last Stand", and a re-recorded version of the band's debut single "Broken Heart", all of which featured music videos. "You're All I Need" was released as promo single and "Farewell to You" featured a music video montage. The album also contained White Lion's only instrumental song, "Blue Monday", a tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan, who had died while the band was writing the album. The album's two ballads "You're All I Need" and "Till Death Do Us Part" gained popular airplay in Indonesia and the Philippines.
Greg D'Angelo and James LoMenzo left the band in June 1991 when they came back from the European tour, citing "musical differences," but White Lion carried on with bassist Tommy T-Bone Caradonna and drummer Jimmy DeGrasso.

Breakup (1991–1992)

After briefly touring in support of Mane Attraction, Tramp and Bratta decided to fold the group, their last show being held in Boston at the Channel in September 1991. Exactly one year later, in September 1992, the band's first compilation album was released, titled The Best of White Lion.
Tramp has in later interviews told that the band split up due lack of interest from the record company, issues with the band management and above all the entry of grunge music.
A video/DVD album featuring concert footage, behind the scenes interviews and all of the band's music videos was also released, titled Escape from Brooklyn.
When asked what the album would be like if he and Vito Bratta had released another album after Mane Attraction, Tramp said it would have hinted at their growth and evolution, and taken them further away from the 1980s sound. He commented:
Following White Lion
James LoMenzo and Greg D'Angelo joined Zakk Wylde's band, Lynyrd Skynhead, in the mid-1990s which became the band Pride & Glory when Greg D'Angelo was replaced by Brian Tichy. Pride & Glory released one album, then James LoMenzo left the band. James went on to record and tour with ex-Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth, Zakk Wylde's band Black Label Society and thrash metal pioneers Megadeth.
Vito Bratta stayed briefly with Atlantic Records to help produce an album for CPR, and later tried to form a new music group that never panned out. Despite a dedicated worldwide following of guitar aficionados, Vito disappeared from public view from 1992 until his interview by Eddie Trunk live on February 16, 2007. Vito is the sole owner of the White Lion music catalog, retaining the legal and distributive rights to all four original albums. The material was licensed entirely to Bratta's Vavoom Music, Inc, when Tramp sold off his share in the mid-1990s.
Mike Tramp went on to form the alt-rock / heavy metal band Freak of Nature, The follow-up was significantly heavier and darker than White Lion, featuring two guitar players and more visceral songs with a strong rhythmic foundation. The band released three albums between 1992 and 1998, Freak of Nature, Gathering of Freaks, and Outcasts. The band shared stages with Helloween and Dio in Europe in 1993. Freak of Nature eventually disbanded in 1996.
Following Freak of Nature, Tramp began a solo career, releasing his debut album as a solo artist in 1998 titled Capricorn. The album featured former Freak of Nature bandmates, guitarist Kenny Korade and bass player Jerry Best. Former White Lion bass guitarist James LoMenzo performed backing vocals on the album.
The song "Better Off" was released as Tramp's debut solo single and features his first solo music video. The album also features the singles "Already Gone", "If I Live Tomorrow" and "Take a Little Time".