Love/Hate was formed in 1985, after Jizzy Pearl joined Jon E. Love, Skid Rose, and Joey Gold, in a 1980s electronica influenced band called Data Clan.
They all lived together in a L.A. warehouse called SoulHouse, and they released a 4 song EP, and they did a small tour of Mexico, but it wasn’t well received. By 1986, they decided to change their name to Love/Hate, after a song they played called Love and Hate. They transitioned out of the glam look into a gothic rock style.
They tried all different styles of music and they pitched to numerous record companies, in an attempt to get signed. By 1987, they settled on rock as their genre. An early version of of their song, “She’s An Angel”, was featured in “A Nightmare On Elm Street: The Dream Master”.
They began performing regularly at the “No Bozo Jam” at the Whisky, and they improved their repertoire. They were still conflicted, because at that time, a lot of bands who were performing at the Whisky were getting signed, and Love/Hate was being overlooked.
They eventually put together a 4 track demo in December 1988 and they finally got a record deal with Columbia. On February 22, 1990, their debut album “Blackout In The Red Room” was released and it reached No. 154 on the Billboard 200. They did a small club tour, and they opened for Dio on an arena tour.
There was a music video for “Why Do You Think They Call It Dope?” and it was played often, specifically on Headbanger’s Ball, and they were able to go on tour with AC/DC, which became the first tour they would do in the UK.
In 1991, they wrapped up their tour, and they started to write material for their second album.
The initial songs they submitted were all rejected, and they chose to relocate to New York City, where they lived together as they did in their formative years. At this point, they started having creative differences with the label. They were progressing towards a crossover sound, which had more radio appeal, but the label thought that they were losing their edge.
The band wanted to release “Miss America” as a single, but the label vetoed this, and decided to put out “Happy Hour”.
Despite all this tension, Love/Hate scored a slot opening for Skid Row, 6 months before the album was released. The label made a decision to release an EP to support the upcoming tour and went against the band’s wishes to release “Evil Twin”, which was a song that was rejected for the second album.
While they were touring, Skid made numerous comments against the label, while the rest of the band attempted to divert attention those comments from being published. There was an incident where Jizzy got into a drunken fight with Sebastian Bach, and this led to the band briefly being thrown off the tour. They settled their differences before the next show.
In 1992, Wasted In America was released, and they embarked on another European tour, where they opened for Ozzy Osbourne.
Upon returning to America, they were told that Columbia was going to drop them from the label, due to “Happy Hour” not selling well, and the follow-up single, “Wasted In America” wasn’t getting much airplay on the radio.
After Columbia dropped them, Skid sold his car to finance their third album. “Let’s Rumble” was released in 1993, and the band went embarked on a 9-week US club tour.
BMG ended up picking up the album and they released it in the UK, and it was followed by a 3-week UK tour. However, the label didn’t want to release the album in the US. The band sent the album to a number of labels, but with the rise of grunge, their style of rock was considered to be out of fashion and there was no interest.
Eventually, they signed with a minor label to release “Let’s Rumble”, but it the release was delayed to January 1994. Their manager gave a copy to the album to the KNAC radio station, where the lead single, “Spinning Wheel” started to get heavy airplay.
Sadly, the band was unable to release it either as a single or an album, and despite playing to packed audiences, they were unable to capitalize on this popularity. Since the album was delayed, this derailed any chance of having the chance to take advantage of the airplay, and by the time the album was released, it was too late.
In 1995, the band started writing and recording their fourth album, “I’m Not Happy”. It was released on Mayhem Records. In December 1995, they played a two-week tour in Germany. During this time, the members of Love/Hate had side projects, but they collapsed, and they took excerpts of old b-sides and other unreleased songs to put out another Love/Hate album.
Eventually, since they were upset and frustrated, they decided to sell all their equipment and Love/Hate split up.
In 1999, Jizzy put together an album of old Sineaters tracks that he had written, and it was released on the Perris label under Love/Hate.
To me, Love/Hate is one of the greatest bands ever and the best bands seem to have one thing in common. They persevere. It's very easy to quit, but the best bands don't because they have something to say.
For some reason record labels make artists feel like being different is a bad thing...and this is only because if it's too different, it can't be capitalized. Making money is prioritized in the music industry instead of putting money into helping artists, or even taking the time to talk about artists. What I do here on Generation Clash is share information about artists, because I love these artists and I want others to check them out. This doesn't mean you have to love every artist I love, but at least listen to it instead of overlooking it.
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