Sebastian Bach, the former vocalist for multi-million selling hard rock band Skid Row, says he can still sing the band’s biggest hit song like he did when he was in his twenties.
That song is 18 And Life, with its harrowing theme about a teen being sentenced to life in prison for murder.
Back in 1989 it reached No.4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Bach left Skid Row in 1996 but still performs the song with his solo band.
“I sing it at every show,” he tells MusicRadar. “For that music, I can’t think of a better example.
“I can sing it in the original key, with no backing tapes at all. I come out there and just do it.”
Featured on Skid Row’s self-titled debut album, 18 And Life is credited to the group’s bassist Rachel Bolan and guitarist Dave ‘Snake’ Sabo.
Bach comments: “I didn’t write that song. But I came up with the melody.
“Wherever it goes into the high range, specifically, like, ‘Worked his fingers to the bone,’ or ‘Blew a child away,’ any time that it goes into that high scream, nobody wrote that shit, except for me.
“That’s all me. Nobody can ever think of those notes. So, that’s what I brought.”
Bach says that 18 And Life was a part of Skid Row’s repertoire before he joined the band in 1987, and was recorded as a demo with their original singer Matt Fallon. This demo version has been removed from YouTube, but Bach says of the demo version and the finished version: “They’re very different.”
Bach also says that Skid Row had an edge that set them apart from other bands in the hair metal era of the late ’80s.
“We could have been Babylon A.D.,” he says in reference to one band that failed to attain mainstream success. “But we were somehow different than all the other bands coming out at the time.”
After Bach’s exit in the ’90s, Skid Row continued with other singers, including Swedish vocalist Erik Grönwall.
For years there have been rumours of a reunion between Bach and the remaining members of Skid Row — rumours which have always been quashed by the band.
In an unexpected twist, Halestorm star Lzzy Hale recently stepped in to front Skid Row for a few shows after Erik Grönwall left the band.
Bach tells MusicRadar that he still hopes for a reunion.
“I’m trying to figure out how to talk to those guys,” he says, “but when I text them, they don’t text me back.
“I mean… great job by Skid Row in getting Lzzy Hale. I’m happy for everybody. I’m not putting anybody down, okay?
“But they did four shows last year — and I did 91.
“If I can do 91 shows, and another band does four shows, like, can we analyse?
“I know that by me even just saying that, people will be like, ‘How did he say that?!”
He says of a potential reunion with Skid Row: “Absolutely I would consider it. And there’s a reason that it’s not happened.
“It’s not what you read, ‘Oh, he’s wild,’ right? It has nothing to do with that.
"It’s a business thing that was just a miscommunication. It’s just stupid. I don’t know.
“I don’t think [a reunion] could happen in the near future, but we’re all still alive.
“I had Rob Hammersmith, the drummer [currently in Skid Row], in my new video. It was a joy to work with him again. And I’m actually doing a private show with Rob in Connecticut this summer.”
And whatever the future holds, Bach says he will carry on singing that monster hit for as long as he can.
“If I can still do 18 And Life when I’m in my 80s,” he says, “that’ll be crazy!”
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