Billy The Kidd
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Billy The Kidd
Michael Constable - Drums
Johnny G'Lover - Guitars
Matt Watkins (aka Christy Black) - Vocals
Dave Cothern - Bass Guitar
Billy The Kidd
Most people in Columbus may not remember who Billy the Kidd is but most likely people do remember the band New York (http://sumthinfierce.com/NewYork.html). New York was a band out of South Carolina who frequently played the Alrosa Villa in the mid 80's and later turned in to Billy The Kidd in the late 80's early 90's. Billy the Kidd consisted of ex-New York drummer, Michael Constable, ex-New York guitarist Johnny G'Lover, ex-Vyper vocalist Matt Watkins (aka Christy Black) and Dave Cothern ex-Petty Theft bass player.
New York was a band out of Rock Hill, South Carolina that toured the eastern US with support from booking agent Steve Cole, Tinkers Damn productions and Grand Slam records in support of their two albums, "Carry the Torch" and "Electric Thunder". During this time, Petty Theft (http://www.sumthinfierce.com/PettyTheft.html), was also touring the same regions using the same booking agent, Steve Cole. While New York and Petty Theft were touring, Matt Watkins' band, Vyper, had been touring the US in support of their two Greenworld Records released albums "Prepared to Strike" and "Afraid of the Dark".
In 1989, the future members of Billy the Kidd broke out of their current situations and decided to take a risk and try something more promising. In mid-summer of 1989, Billy the Kidd was formed in Rock Hill South Carolina. During the next two months, the band wrote 3 albums worth of material and rehearsed for their upcoming shows to support their debut album. Fall of 1989, Billy the Kidd recorded their first album at Woodland West Studios in Kansas City and started shopping the record labels. Management offers, recording contracts and distribution offers came in but no decent deals were offered until December of 1989 when legendary KISS bassist, Gene Simmons called Johnny G'Lover. Johnny and Gene talked at length about the bright future of Billy the Kidd. Gene felt that the band had a lot to offer and planned on helping Billy the Kidd get a well deserved recording deal. It was at this time that Gene felt the best thing to do is record another album so he'd have more push when meeting with record exec's. At Gene's advice, the band was asked to write something that was a little more "radio friendly" which ended up being a mistake. Billy the Kidd wasn't a "radio friendly" band so when they asked to be, the project failed. Billy the Kidd's second album, while being radio friendly, wasn't to Gene's taste and as a result, he lost interest. Billy the Kidd generated one more album which, again, gained the attention of many record companies but no deal was good enough to sign. Eventually, tensions grew within the band over the lack of quality recording deals and as a result, Billy the Kidd called it quits in Feb 1992.
Fast forward to the present, Johnny G'Lover is still playing guitar in a 80's cover band out of South Carolina called Black Glass. You can catch up with Johnny at www.blackglassband.com. Michael Constable went on to play in a few other bands but is no longer involved in music. You can catch up with Mike on MySpace.com. Dave Cothern is now playing guitar in a Columbus based 80's cover band band called Dirty Side Down (www.dirtysidedown.com). Matt Watkins after taking a 15 year hiatus will be re-introducing himself the the music scene this summer by re-releasing both Vyper albums this summer on Retrospect Records (www.retrospectrecords.com). With the re-realease, Matt Watkins and Dave Cothern will also be performing with a new version of Vyper this summer at "Rocklahoma". More info on Vyper can be found at www.vyper.info. The new version of Vyper will feature old Vyper material as well as selected songs from the Billy the Kidd catalogue
New York was a band out of Rock Hill, South Carolina that toured the eastern US with support from booking agent Steve Cole, Tinkers Damn productions and Grand Slam records in support of their two albums, "Carry the Torch" and "Electric Thunder". During this time, Petty Theft (http://www.sumthinfierce.com/PettyTheft.html), was also touring the same regions using the same booking agent, Steve Cole. While New York and Petty Theft were touring, Matt Watkins' band, Vyper, had been touring the US in support of their two Greenworld Records released albums "Prepared to Strike" and "Afraid of the Dark".
In 1989, the future members of Billy the Kidd broke out of their current situations and decided to take a risk and try something more promising. In mid-summer of 1989, Billy the Kidd was formed in Rock Hill South Carolina. During the next two months, the band wrote 3 albums worth of material and rehearsed for their upcoming shows to support their debut album. Fall of 1989, Billy the Kidd recorded their first album at Woodland West Studios in Kansas City and started shopping the record labels. Management offers, recording contracts and distribution offers came in but no decent deals were offered until December of 1989 when legendary KISS bassist, Gene Simmons called Johnny G'Lover. Johnny and Gene talked at length about the bright future of Billy the Kidd. Gene felt that the band had a lot to offer and planned on helping Billy the Kidd get a well deserved recording deal. It was at this time that Gene felt the best thing to do is record another album so he'd have more push when meeting with record exec's. At Gene's advice, the band was asked to write something that was a little more "radio friendly" which ended up being a mistake. Billy the Kidd wasn't a "radio friendly" band so when they asked to be, the project failed. Billy the Kidd's second album, while being radio friendly, wasn't to Gene's taste and as a result, he lost interest. Billy the Kidd generated one more album which, again, gained the attention of many record companies but no deal was good enough to sign. Eventually, tensions grew within the band over the lack of quality recording deals and as a result, Billy the Kidd called it quits in Feb 1992.
Fast forward to the present, Johnny G'Lover is still playing guitar in a 80's cover band out of South Carolina called Black Glass. You can catch up with Johnny at www.blackglassband.com. Michael Constable went on to play in a few other bands but is no longer involved in music. You can catch up with Mike on MySpace.com. Dave Cothern is now playing guitar in a Columbus based 80's cover band band called Dirty Side Down (www.dirtysidedown.com). Matt Watkins after taking a 15 year hiatus will be re-introducing himself the the music scene this summer by re-releasing both Vyper albums this summer on Retrospect Records (www.retrospectrecords.com). With the re-realease, Matt Watkins and Dave Cothern will also be performing with a new version of Vyper this summer at "Rocklahoma". More info on Vyper can be found at www.vyper.info. The new version of Vyper will feature old Vyper material as well as selected songs from the Billy the Kidd catalogue
