'The Roar of L'Amour'

LAW AND ORDER - How I got the singer an audition for KISS as a guitarist 

Law and Order were an amazing NYC based band, that i brought into L'Amour.

In 1988, they along with Playmate were the two local (non-thrash bands) that we could rely on to fill nights.

Playmate eventually broke up, and Law and Order kept getting bigger and bigger and eventually signed with MCA and the legendary Bruce (more cowbell) Dickinson and released two critically acclaimed albums.

But before LnO, there was a very different version of Shane (LnO singer) and below is the story about the secret audition I got him to replace Ace in KISS as a guitarist.

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Staten Island circa 1982:

Before Shane was in Law and Order, he was a guitarist and an awesome one at that.

He had long straight hair and a guitar hero vibe.

He was a very different person than the Shane you know.

He was 20 years old and, in a band called Fourplay at the time but was getting frustrated at lack of progression and while not looking to leave, he was keeping an eye open.

One day, I find out that Aucoin management was looking for a guitar player.

Due to my connections at The Record Plant in Manhattan, I would hear things months before others.

I heard Starz was in flux and figured it was them.

I told Shane and we recorded him playing Coliseum Rock (Starz) in his basement with a friend of mine on the hi-hat.

That friend was Rob Steele who later would wind up as Shane's drummer.

I was a huge Starz fan so I would play them all the time and Shane was familiar with the song, so the whole process took under an hour.

What took 8 hours was the resume.

No computers or spellchecker in 82, so it was me handwriting a cover letter and Shane typing.

He sucked at typing ...

He wrote two of his influences were Al Dimola and Alien Holdsworth 

We laughed for hours

We send the package off and a week later, I get a phone call at my mom's. 

I was 19 years old and didn't have my own phone yet, so my mom yells "Chuck, pick up the phone it's Eggcorn Management" ... HUH?

I answer and it's Aucoin saying the received the package and thought Shane (who went by JJ) was incredible and were interested. 

I said, "for Starz?" and they said nope. 

He then asked if Shane was under contract with me and obviously, I said no, and they started talking legal mumble jumble that my 19 year old head was confused by, but told me to have Shane call directly.

I lived 5 houses away and ran to his house and his Mom said he was in his bedroom.

I run upstairs and fill him in and say "I think its KISS" ... imagine two kids at that moment?

So, Shane calls and I Cyrano the convo and ...

SHANE WAS OFFERED ONE OF THE FIRST FIVE AUDITION SPOTS TO REPLACE ACE IN KISS.

Nobody knew ACE left yet and Shane was sworn to secrecy.

Now Shane's recollection of the audition and mine are slightly different and when we recently reconnected, he admitted my memory was better, so ...

They give him three songs to play. 

I think Firehouse was one and I know Black Diamond was one and the other I forget, but they were all old school KISS 

Shane kicked ass on guitar, he was vibing with Eric and Gene look impressed, but Paul didn't seem to like him.

Shane has longer hair, younger and a lot of energy and stage presence and I think Paul thought he might have been too much.

They do two songs and Gene goes "OK, let's do Black Diamind" and Shane fn replies "can I sing it?"

I get he was excited and, in the moment, and as we all know from LnO he could sing, but ...

READ THE ROOM

Eric puts his head diwn, Gene's excitement leaves his face, and Paul goes "we are auditioning guitarist not vocalist"

They play it and the song was fantastic, but you can see that his mistake in asking to sing killed the vibe and his chances.

They say 'don't say a word about this audition" and outside of a few people we never told anyone.

Now this was many months before Vito Brata and others auditioned and they went public. 

When they announced Ace left, we told a few people the story and people were like "sure".

Months down the line the popular SI based band Cities were playing a gig, and they told everyone Aucoin was coming to check them out so they wanted a big turnout.

I told Shane, let's go and see if we recognize anyone.

We go and before Cities goes on, the rep from Aucoin runs over to Shane and makes a big deal of him.

The SI metal scene was very tight, so everyone was watching and saying, "holy shit", he explained the audition went awesome, but it just wasn't a good fit (Paul) and what do we know about Steve (guitarist) from Cities 

Shane and I said he was awesome and a good guy and when Cities played, it was obvious by who he was watching that Steve was the interest and Cities being a great band was a bonus.

I remember people coming up to us and asking why Aucoin knows him and Shane just saying, "months ago Chuck got me and secret audition for KISS" and mouths dropped.

Knowing Gene, Paul and knowing Shane, it wouldn't have lasted, but what a trip for a 19 and 20year-old from Staten Island. 

This was 2.5 years prior to L'Amour asking me to come aboard.

I had no idea how I would be in the music industry, I didn't play an instrument, I couldn't sing, I had a raspy Noo Yawk accent that turned people off, but somehow, I was going to figure a way in.

Shane always had faith in me a d vice-versa.

It's a shame we distanced ourselves from each other about a year later.

I was asked by Shane to manage Fourplay and I convinced Rob Steele to join and brought them to The Record Plant to try to get them a soec deal, but Shane and I sadly could not get along 

Fourplay broke up and Shane abd Rob firemen 'Romeo' and I got there song played on WSOU. 

Romeo turned into Law and Order and Shane dropped the guitar to focus on singing and Law and Order became the "next big thing" in NYC 

Sadly, there were a lot of issues the band couldn't overcome and bad luck and timing.

I know more than most.

Rob at the time was my best friend and Scott (manager) and I were very close and later roommates, but it's not my story to tell.

Chuck Kaye

Ah Yes Indeed

BACK

"When you thought of L'Amour, you thought of Chuck Kaye and that still holds through today.

Nobody knew who was the DJ in rock clubs outside of Chuck Kaye. He made his presence known and if he backed your band, you immediately had a following.

When you went to L'Amour, he was as important as the bands were to music fans."

- Shane (Law and Order)

MCA recording artist Law and Order