But then they went under the guise of PARIS!!
The Paris line up was ,Bret Michael Sychak (Bret Michaels), Richard Alan Ream (Rikki Rockett) & Harry Kuykendall (Bobby Dall) and Matt Smith who was soon to leave the band.... at this point the guy's were still going cross country in a cramped car & plugging there own gig's !! not to mention setting up there own equipment..!!
It was during one of these cross country drives that the band decided on a name change - from them on they would be known to the world as Poison...
Poison arrived in L.A in late 1985 & moved to the cheapest place they could find:
Some rooms behind a dry cleaners on Palm Grove Avenue!
They auditioned for a new guitarist after the departure of Matt Smith & two guitarists in particular caught the bands eye!, One was Saul Hudson who in the end didn't make the band! ......Instead he changed his name to SLASH & went on to join another up-and -coming young band, Guns N' Roses, though Bret admits, possibly somewhat tongue in cheek, that he preferred Mr Hudson to the other feisty young buck that auditioned, Step forward Bruce Johannesson, who would later change his name to C.C DeVille.
So with the line- up complete they set about writing songs, one in particular that .C.C had co-wrote & was able to bring with him to the Poison fold (And which possibly swung the audition for him) was "Talk Dirty To Me", which was to feature on there debut L.P "Look What The Cat Dragged In" when it was released by Enigma Records in 1986, the band were given a $30.000 advance & recorded the album in just 8 days!!!! ..... It went on to sell 40.000 copies upon it's release (the album has now sold in the region of 4 Million copies).
"Cry Tough" was the first single & to promote it the guy's went on tour as support to a number of bands including Quiet Riot, And they released a number of singles in quick succession, "Talk Dirty To Me", "I Want Action" & "I Wont Forget You" kept the band busy throughout 1987.
1988 sees Poison release there second album "Open Up & Say AHH!!....!" & they chose the party anthem "Nothing But A Good Time" as the first single & yet another tour opening for various artists including David Lee Roth.
But after releasing "Fallen Angel", "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" (which hit gold sales almost instantly & has now earned the distinction of being in BMI's Millionaires club for notching up over One Million U.S radio plays!) and "Your Mama Dont Dance" Poison finally got to set off on there own HEADLINE tour.
In 1990 the soon to be Platinum album "Flesh & Blood" was released along with the single "Unskinny Bop" which became the bands second Gold single, followed by "Something To Believe In" - a song that was wrote in the wake of a personal tragedy for the band, the death of there friend & bodyguard Kimo, and became the bands third Gold single.
Poison had now spent almost a consecutive 2 year on the road & as much as they respect each other found that they were needing there own space!!
Tempers were wearing thin & Bret & .C.C were involved in a punch-up starting rumours of a split.
They did however go on to release the live album "Swallow This Live"
Guitarist Richie Kotzen was brought into the band to replace .C.C DeVille for the bands 1993 album release "Native Tongue" which also achieved Gold status! Whilst on the road touring with "Native Tongue" it was decided that Richie Kotzen , due to some personal issues was not a suitable replacement
for .C.C & guitarist Blues Saraceno was brought in!
The "Native Tongue" tour ended prematurely in May, when frontman Bret Michaels ws involved in a automobile accident which resulted in not only in broken bones & teeth but in his prized Ferrari being un-roadworthy.
After 2 year the band got together to record what was considered by many to be there best album to date "Crack A Smile....And More!", although the album was recorded in 1994/1995 it was not released until 2000 due to industry politics, bad timing & a change of record company! It did look for a while as if the album would never see the light of a record shop!!! But due to pressure from fans & a growing black market trade in the album it was finally released by Capitol Records.
1999 was another busy year, it saw the release if another album "Power To The People" named in tribute to the fans that helped get "Crack A Smile....And More!" released as well as Bret take up some acting & both Rikki Rockett & C.C DeVille take up side ventures, C.C having formed another band by the name Samantha 7, he recorded a debut album with them and eventually returned to planet Poison & was working with both bands, while Rikki spent time putting together a solo project, an album, by the name "Glitter For Your Soul", both projects were originally sheduled for a 2000 release, Samantha 7's self titled debut album was released in February 2001 & Rikki is at present keeping us waiting as his project takes a back seat to Poisons touring commitments, the band toured the U.S.A with Warrent, Quiet Riot & Enuff Z' Nuff to rave reviews in the Summer of 2001 The tour was however cut short due to bassist Bobby Dall sufferering a serious back injury & 2002 saw Poison release the album"Hollywierd" And once again head out across America, this time with Winger, Cinderella & Faster Pussycat ......with a view to hitting Europe before the tour is finished!!!
And Rikki hopefully releasing "Glitter For Your Soul" in October or November of 2002, his plans are at present to release it via his web site first!