Before they knew it, this rag-tag team of miscreants consisting of Taime Downe (vocals), Greg Steele (guitar), Brent Muscat (Guitar), Eric Stacy (bass) and Mark Michals (drums) scored a record deal with Elektra Records and released their debut self-titled album produced by Ric Browde (Poison, Ted Nugent, etc.) who was also instrumental in securing the deal in the first place. The debut record featured instant classics “Babylon”, “Bathroom Wall”, “Cathouse” and “Don’t Change That Song” , the latter of which, birthed their first music video directed by none other than “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!” director Russ Meyer!
- During this same time, the iconic documentary film, “Decline Of The Western Civilization 2: The Metal Years” was released and featured Taime and Riki Rachtman talking about their club the Cathouse and included Faster Pussycat performing “Cathouse” and “Bathroom Wall” live. The film, directed by Penelope Spheeris, was a dissection of the Los Angeles heavy metal scene from 1986 – 1988. The film also featured interviews with members of W.A.S.P., Motorhead, Aerosmith, Ozzy and more!). It, like it’s predecessor, went down in history as an iconic, cult hit.Never really fitting the mainstream mold, and always following underground sensibilities, if there’s such a thing, Faster Pussycat found themselves in their early twenties and touring with artists like; Alice Cooper, Motley Crue, David Lee Roth, Motorhead, Whitesnake, Guns N’ Roses, Kiss and Ozzy!Faster Pussycat would soon release their second album, ‘Wake Me When It’s Over” produced by John Jansen (Lou Reed, Cinderella & Jimi Hendrix) which garnered their biggest hit of their career, the reluctant and out of character ballad “House Of Pain” which reached #28 on the US Hot 100 and #23 on US Main Rock charts. The single also lead to a video direct by Hollywood titan, Michael Bay! Wake Me When It’s Over spawned a host of other memorable tracks such as “Poison Ivy” and “Where There’s A Whip There’s A Away” which saw them get more recognition and rotation on MTV.
- In between albums, and touring, Faster Pussycat was asked to contribute a track to the upcoming, limited edition release of “Rubáiyát: Elektra’s 40th Anniversary”, which featured current Elektra artists covering historic Elektra recordings. The compilation featured; Metallica, The Cure, The Sugarcubes, The Georgia Satellites, among others, and of course Faster Pussycat’s recording of Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain”. The track was a sleeper hit, that saw a lot of attention and even spawned a killer music video directed by Rocky Schenck (Alice in Chains, The Cramps, Devo).
- With each album it was evident the band was adopting further darker imagery and themes, including Taime dying his platinum hair a midnight black. With the band all clad in black and leather they released their third album, “Whipped!” again produced by John Jansen. While darker in it’s themes, Whipped! adopted a bit more of a streamlined, mainstream sound with it’s signature hit “Nonstop to Nowhere” peaking at #35 on the US Main Rock chart and spawning a video also directed by Rocky Schenck. Another single off the album, “Body Thief” saw moderate traction with a video that would ultimately get banned from MTV. With all the attention Faster Pussycat was gaining, positive and negative, including appearances on talk-shows like The Sally Jesse Raphael Show (to which the track ‘Cat Bash’ refers) it appeared they were continually on the rise. But, ultimately, this would be the last album the band would record together with the current roster. After the Whipped! tour, Faster Pussycat disbanded….
- With music still coursing through his veins, Taime kept his music motor running and moved to Chicago to meet up with Martin Atkinson of Pigface (Ministry, Al Jorgensen, Skinny Puppy) which ultimately lead into contribution to a new Pigface record as well. Eventually, Taime moved back to LA where he formed industrial rock act, The Newlydeads.
- The Newlydeads was like Faster Pussycat’s bitchy, insubordinate, no fucks left to give, bastard child. With moderate success in industrial and industrial rock scenes, the band featured Taime Downe (vocals, guitars & programming) and expanded with Kyle Kyle (Bass) and appearances by Tim Skold (Skold, Shotgun Messiah), Van Christie(KMFDM, Die Warzau) and Charles Levi(My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult).
- With his finger on the pulse of the scene, Taime then opened The Pretty Ugly club with longtime best friend, JD Terziu. Come Christmas ’99, The Pretty Ugly club would have it’s grand opening, which would ultimately set the stage for the first ever Newlydeads show. The Newlydeads were an instant hit with a loyal fanbase that continues to grow to this day. Time would see the band release 3 more albums. During The Newlydeads rise to fame, Taime was approached by Cleopatra Records to do a Faster Pussycat remix album featuring industrial remixes of original Faster Pussycat hits. The album titled “Between The Valley Of The Ultra Pussy” featured remixes of classic Pussycat tracks like; Bathroom Wall, Little Dove, Poison Ivy, House of Pain, Cathouse & more! It was the best of both worlds, having classic hits while flexing an industrial muscle not seen before.
- In 2001 someone threw out the idea to Taime about a new Faster Pussycat tour. With The Newlydeads running at full steam, after a bit of tweaking, Taime agreed and pulled together a relaunch and re-brand of Faster Pussycat with a darker vibe, harking to the Whipped! era, but stripping what was left of the glam look and replacing it with a more raw, spooky, dark-wave image…..which became painfully clear, was the true Taime Downe and the true core of Faster Pussycat.
- Taime, in his laboratory, assembled a new band for Faster Pussycat’s live show, consisting of original members; Greg Steele and Brent Muscat and Newlydeads members, Chad Stewart, Danny Nordhal and Xristian Simon. Faster Pussycat was back with a new jaded attitude to tackle an exhausted industry. A full tour with LA Guns was launched in 2001, during which, Greg left the band due to personal reasons. A popular 2002 summer tour with Poison and Cinderella saw the band sporting a new all black look and new skull branding armbands. Faster Pussycat continued touring in the coming years.
- The next couple years would be some of the most exhilarating, raunchy, provocative and productive. Taime began to put together the pieces that would later become the first Faster Pussycat album in almost a decade. Consisting of late night sessions, sleepless recording binges, nights at the Pretty Ugly club and an atmosphere full of naked porn stars, drug fueled highs and booze laden jam sessions, the journey to the new album was a wild one to say the least. In 2006, along with friend and bassist, Danny, Taime put together “The Power And The Glory Hole”. The album, an instant classic, was riddled with appearances from Taime’s friends such as; CC Deville (Poison), Dregen (Backyard Babies), Ed Mundell (Monster Magnet) & Mark Diamond (The Dwarves) to name a few, who just so happened to partake in the debaucherous jam sessions. “The Power And The Glory Hole” was released on Full Effect Records, owned and operated by Taime’s good friend, Anthony Srock of industrial dance legends The Final Cut fame, whom he met in Detroit on the Pigface tour in ’94. The album would spawn epic tracks such as “Number 1 With A Bullet”, “Pornstar” & “Disintegrate”, and also included covers of Betty Blowtorch’s “Shut Up & Fuck” and Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Were Made For Walkin'”. Taime then closed the album with a song titled “Bye Bye Bianca”, a tribute to his close friend, the late Bianca Butthole (Betty Blowtorch).
- This new music saw a now seasoned Faster Pussycat extremely comfortable in it’s skin and scars and not holding back anything. In 2007, Faster Pussycat saw it’s soft-more classic ‘Bathroom Wall’ selected to be included in Activision’s phoneme video game franchise, “Guitar Hero”, specifically on the “Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks The 80s” release.
- Having toured nonstop since 2001, Taime decided it was time to release a live album and try to capture the raunchy, dark vibe from the shows. In 2009, again on Full Effect Records, Faster Pussycat released “Front Row For The Donkey Show”, which was an expertly record and produced live album spanning Faster Pussycat’s career from front to back and even spawning the single for “Bathroom Wall (Live)”.
- In 2010, Faster Pussycat was rounded out with the addition of charismatic lead guitarist, Ace Von Johnson (U.S. Bombs, Unwritten Law, The Generators). Ace fit in immediately with the FP style. Now, no longer the “new guy”, Ace continues to bring his talented guitar playing and utter lack of demure, to every Pussycat show!
- Today, Faster Pussycat continues to tour extensively all over the world. And when not touring, each members is busy with respective side projects. Taime is hard at work writing new material for the next Faster Pussycat album as well as penning his memoirs for a possible future book release.
