Saigon Kick was an
American rock band from
Miami, Florida that formed in 1988.
History
Saigon Kick was formed by lead vocalist
Matt Kramer and guitarist
Jason Bieler along with bassist
Tom Defile, and drummer
Phil Varone. They gained a following on the local club scene and generated enough of a buzz to be signed to Third Stone records in 1990 and release their first album in 1991. They toured at length but the album only made a marginal national showing.
They went immediately back into the studio to record their second album, The Lizard which was released in 1992. The album spawned the bands biggest hit single, "Love Is on the Way", which reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received a gold record, and whose video was in the top 10 MTV countdown for many weeks. Just before touring for the album commenced, bassist Tom DeFile was fired. He was replaced by ex-Cold Sweat bassist Chris McLernon. They toured from summer 1992 to spring 1993, enjoying gold status sales for The Lizard.
The band then headed to Sweden to record their third album Water. During recording, Matt Kramer became disgusted with the direction that the band was heading both musically and style wise. Kramer also argues that there were financial differences within the band, and that Bieler took most of the money. Matt flew back to Florida.
With Kramer gone, Bieler decided to take over all of the vocal duties as well as playing guitar on the album. The basic tracks were recorded in Sweden, with finishing touches added at sessions in Tampa, Florida. Regrettably, Water sold significantly less than the first album and Atlantic dropped Saigon Kick. It took two years for Saigon Kick to find another record label to sign them.
Former Cryer/Screams-N-Dreams guitarist Pete Dembrowski joined the band for their fall 1993 tour, and performed on the band's fourth album, Devil in the Details, released in 1995. The band toured to large success globally in 1994, 1995 and 1996, but Saigon Kick never managed to build on the success of The Lizard in the USA.
In July 1997, the band, with Kramer back in the fold but Varone replaced by former Cryer and future Super TransAtlantic drummer Ricky Sanders attempted a reunion. A new song was recorded with this line-up called "Dizzy's Vine" which was released on their Moments from the Fringe CD. The band once again could not deal with each others differences, and Bieler left after two shows.
Bieler, Dembrowski, and Sanders would record the final Saigon Kick album, Bastards for release in the Far East before changing their name and starting anew as Super TransAtlantic.
In 2000, Kramer, Varone, and DeFile resurrected the Saigon Kick name for a short tour lasting until about 2002. Bieler, being involved with Super TransAtlantic and wanting no part of a reunion, was replaced by former Left For Dead and current Slaughter guitarist Jeff Blando. After the tour, the members scattered, and it was thought that Saigon Kick was done for good. Saigon Kick was supposed to have a reunion at the Rock Gone Wild festival, however the show was canceled.
Recently, however, the Saigon Kick website was but back up, along with the names of the current members of Saigon Kick.
Post-breakup
Matt Kramer and Jason Bieler both later released solo albums.
Matt Kramer released his critically acclaimed debut solo album titled War & Peas on September 11, 2002 through Lascivious Records, and added the release of his debut book of poetry, An American Profit, on October 31, 2007 through Lascivious Books. Kramer has 3 additional books finished and slated for released in the near future.
Bieler, Dembrowski, and Sanders along with bassist Pat Badger of Extreme formed Super TransAtlantic' and released the album Shuttlecock in 2000. They also appeared on the American Pie soundtrack with the song "Super Down".
Phil Varone joined Skid Row, and also played in the band Prunella Scales with Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. Phil left Skid Row, citing his ongoing battle with cocaine addiction and his need to turn his life around. Afterwards, he began promoting his movie Waking up Dead in which a film crew followed him around for several years to document the life of a rock star and the ups and downs that come with it. Varone is now clean and sober. His focus is no longer primarily music, and up until the Summer of 2010, he was booking and hosting standup comedy shows in Los Angeles. In the Fall of 2010, Varone moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. There, he began playing drums again with a new band, The Jimmy Crespo Project, a band that consists of hard rock and heavy metal superstars, fronted by Jimmy Crespo, formerly of Aerosmith.
Tom Defile is clean and sober, is now a massage therapist and living in South Florida. He currently plays with Sex Cells, a local band that plays all over the tri-county area.
Chris McLernon and Ricky Sanders teamed up to form Two Heads Music working in television, film and advertising music production.
Jason Bieler and his brother Aaron now own a music studio and record label in South Florida called Bieler Bros. Records.
Ricky Sanders is currently the touring drummer for former Bad Company lead singer Brian Howe.
Discography
Albums
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! Year
! Album
! width="50"|
US
|-
| 1991
| align="left"|
Saigon Kick
| - (100,000+)
|-
| 1992
| align="left"|
The Lizard
| 80 (Gold)
|-
| 1993
| align="left"|
Water
| - (70,000+)
|-
| 1995
| align="left"|
Devil In The Details
| - (15,000+)
|-
| 1998
| align="left"|
| - (5,000+)
|-
| 1998
| align="left"|
Moments From The Fringe
| -
|-
| 1999
| align="left"|
Bastards
| -
|-
| 2000
| align="left"|
Greatest Hits Live
| -
|-
| 2007
| align="left"|
Live Around The World 1991 - 1996
| -
|-
|}
Singles
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Single
! colspan="2"| Chart positions
|- style="font-size:smaller;"
! width="50"|
U.S. Hot 100
! width="50"|
U.S. Main. Rock
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1992
| align="left"| "
Love Is on the Way"
| 12
| 8
|-
| align="left"| "All I Want"
| -
| 14
|-
|}
External links
Official Website
Matt Kramer
Bieler Brothers Records
Phil Varone's "Waking up Dead"
Chris McLernon.com
Category:Rock music groups from Florida
Category:American hard rock musical groups
Category:Heavy metal musical groups from Florida
Category:Musical groups established in 1988
Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2000
