White Lion

I

t was with Mike Tramp (vocals; previously of the Danish group Mabel - he was Danish by birth), and Vito Brata (ex-Dreamer; guitar) who started White Lion. White Lion signed to a six-figure sum with 'Elektra' on their founding year with Felix Robinson (ex-Angel; bass) and Nicky Capozzi (drums) joining the line-up to record a debut in the form of Fight To Survive (1995). The record company, however, was unhappy and enacted a part of the contract that allowed them to ditch the effort and the band along with it; it would be US indie 'Grand Slam' who picked up the album for distribution from the Japanese edition of 'RCA-Victor' to re-release the album in 1986. By this time, however, James Lomenzo and Gregg D'Angelo replaced the bass and drum positions respectively in time to see the act sign a deal with 'Atlantic'.

The follow-up Pride (1987) rose them above the crowd at the time and even featured two ballads in the form of Wait and When The Children Cry making US 8 and 3 respectively. Despite the hit tracks, the highlight was clearly Tramp and his pretty boy looks coupled with the act's AOR sound.

Not quite as commercial but nonetheless competent was the follow-up Game in 1989, an album featuring a cover of Golden Earring's Radar Love (getting US 59). The album, however, failed to get as much of a commercial success as the predecessor and the group enlisted another rhythm section to the tune of Tommy "T-Bone" Carbadonna (ex-Alice Cooper) replacing Lomenzo, and Jimmy DeGrasso (ex-Y & T; drums) replacing D'Angelo in an attempt to correct the problem, but the resulting follow-up, Mane Attraction (1991), failed to showcase their best of their work, and despite belated chart positions of 61 US/31 UK, Tramp shut the operation down in 1991 and went on to form Freak Of Nature.