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Stevie Rachelle is best known as the lead singer of '80s glam metal band Tuff. He has also released multiple solo albums, as well as material with side projects such as Cheeseheads With Attitude & Shameless. He is the owner/operator/financer/manager & co-creator of '80s Glam Metal website Metal Sludge and the current manager of the Swedish sleaze rock band Vains of Jenna.
Early life
Rachelle was born Steven Howard Hanseter on March 2, 1966. He was raised in America around the Lake Winnebago area of Oshkosh Wisconsin despite being German. He moved to California as a young adult after spending hours dreaming of the place as a child. Rachelle graduated from Oshkosh West High School in 1984, now the owner of the nickname "Banger", which was shortened from "Headbanger". Rachelle didn't receive the name because of his love for Heavy Metal music however. It was given to him after falling flat on his face trying to jump over a fence to impress a group of girls.
By spring 1985 self-taught musician Rachelle found himself in the local band X-iter as vocalist after being suggested for the job by a skateboarding friend of his. The band would perform originals and heavy metal cover songs by bands like Kiss, Black Sabbath and Van Halen.
Tuff
After singing in a few local Wisconsin bands like X-iter and Talon he moved to Hollywood in June of 1987 to pursue joining the band Tuff. Tuff became a huge draw on the Sunset Strip selling out the "Whisky-A-Go-Go", "Gazzarris", "The Troubadour", "The Roxy" and even the 1,100 seat capacity "Country Club". The band were soon snatched up by Atlantic and recorded their debut album What Comes Around Goes Around in 1990. Their debut was produced by Howard Benson who had produced a list of similar bands Southgang featuring Butch Walker, Bang Tango, Sweet FA & Pretty Boy Floyd. He has now went on to produce bands such as Hoobastank, Papa Roach, Daughtry, & P.O.D..
Tuff never achieved Gold or Platinum success but did have a top requested single, I Hate Kissing You Goodbye, that hit #3 on Dial MTV just behind the #1 (Guns N' Roses) and the (at that time) new Metallica single Enter Sandman. The following week, Nirvana debuted.
Stevie Rachelle appeared in the Penelope Spheeris Rockumentary The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years. He was, at the time, one of multiple interviewees who were hopeful to land a record contract while trying to make a name for themselves on the crowded Sunset Strip music scene in late 1980s Los Angeles.
He is also the founding member of a Green Bay Packers tribute band called Cheeseheads With Attitude or CWA.
Indy Record Label
After struggling with record labels for years Stevie finally decided to form his own. Tuff was signed in 1990 and dropped by Atlantic Records in 1992. The band was then picked up by IRS Grand Slamm Records in early 1993. The label went belly up in less than a year, and Stevie and the guys were without a label. So in early 1994 Rachelle started RLS Records. The initials stood for Rachelle's Lyrics & Songs but the alternative meaning was Record Labels Suck. The imprint has issued on Cassette, CD, VHS & DVD roughly 40 titles selling upwards of 100,000 pieces globally. The offshoot Cheezee Records was formed in 1996 to be the home for the Cheeseheads With Attitude or CWA project.
Tuff again signed to a record label in early 1995 when BMG / Mausoleum / MMS records picked up the RLS Fist First release after it sold upwards of 10,000 copies. BMG re-issued it as Religious Fix in June of 1995 with 3 bonus tracks. The additional tracks were produced by Randy Cantor.
Later life
In 2001 a Greatest Hits package was released containing a new track called "American Hair Band. In this parody, there are also samples from the Poison song "Talk Dirty to Me", Skid Row's "Youth Gone Wild" and the Guns N' Roses classic "Sweet Child o' Mine." The song also has several lyrics attacking grunge music. Rachelle referred to the song as his tribute to a scene he was extremely proud to be a part of and wanted to give something back to. The track had regular rotation on major radio stations nationwide alongside groups like Limp Bizkit, Monster Magnet, and Marilyn Manson.
Rachelle was in recent years revealed as "the man behind the curtain" of the 80's Metal Music website Metal Sludge. Rachelle is now living in California with two young children.
Skateboarding
As a kid growing up in Oshkosh, Steven became interested in skateboarding in the mid 70s. By the late 70s and very early 80s he and his friends were very serious about skateboarding. They all had quarter pipes or half pipes in their driveway or back yard. They all rode BMX bikes. This group visited skate parks, empty pools or ditches, and back yard ramps all over NE Wisconsin. In January of 1985 Steven moved to Florida to pursue skating and warmer weather. While skating at the local Ron Jons Surf Shop Steven's ability to skate vertical drew the attention of a local rep from Kami Kaze Skates who wanted sponsor him and possibly to give Steven his own signature model. However the draw of rock and roll, and Motley Crue, became to much and it was around this time that Hanseter became obsessed and beyond serious about pursuing music. Skateboarding a 10 year passion was now taking a back seat to Heavy Metal.
Once moving to California in 1987, music replaced skating in his life. In 1996 after the break up of Tuff and the start of the X-Games Rachelle bought a new equipment and started to skate regularly at Skate Street in Ventura County, Skate Lab in Simi Valley and at the new Vans locations in Orange County, Ontario and Bakersfield. Stevie regained some of his skills and soon found himself doing skating on the 80' wide vertical ramp at Vans in Orange County. Many sessions included skating with the likes of Lincoln Ueda, Neil Hendrix, Mathias Ringstrom, Rune Glifberg, Omar Hassan and many of today's top professional vert skaters.
Discography
Tuff
- Live in the U.K. (2003) RLS Records
- History of Tuff (2001) RLS Records
- Regurgitation (2000) RLS Records
- Decade of Disrespect (1996) RLS Records
- Religious Fix (1995) BMG/Mausoleum/MMS
- Fist First (1994) RLS Records
- What Comes Around Goes Around (1991) Atlanric/Titanium
Tuff Home Videos/DVD
- Rock N' Rarities The Videos (2003)
- Decade of Distant Memories (1996/2003)
- Religious Fix The Videos (1995/2003)
- What Comes Around Goes Around The Videos (1991/2003)
Stevie Rachelle (solo) Albums
- Since Sixty-Six (2000) RLS Records
- Who The Hell Am I? (1998) RLS Records
Cheeseheads With Attitude Albums
- Greatest Slices of... (2003) Cheezee Records
- Say Cheese (1998) Cheezee Records
- Cheeseheads 4 Life (1997) Cheezee Records
- Tailgate Tunes - Greatest Hits of 1997 (1997) Just Right Records (Sixteen Games)
- Straight Outta Wisconsin (1996) Cheezee Records
Cheeseheads With Attitude Home Videos
- Straight Outta Titletown (1997) Cheezee Records/Merchandise - Video
Shameless
- Famous 4 Madness (2007)
- Super Hardcore Show Live (2003)
- Splashed (2002)
- Queen 4 a Day (2000)
- Backstreet Anthems (1999)
Shameless DVD
- Super Hardcore (2000/2002)
Metal Sludge Releases
- Metal Sludge Xtravaganza Brazil (2006) Metal Sludge Entertainment
- Metal Sludge's Hey That's What I Call Sludge Vol. 1 (2003) Metal Sludge Entertainment
Miscellaneous Releases
- Hollywood Rocks DVD - Ultimate Documentary (2008)
Related RLS Records Releases
- Vains of Jenna / Lit Up - Let Down (2006) reissue Filthy Note/Fontana/Universal
- Vains of Jenna / Lit Up - Let Down (2006) Raw Noize/RLS Records
- Vains of Jenna / The Demos (2006) Raw Noize/RLS Records
- WildSide / The Wasted Years (2004) RLS Records
- Kings of Sunset Strip / Vol. 1 (2004) RLS Records
- Nitro/Jim Gillette / Proud to be Loud (2003) RLS Records
- Trailer Park Posse / Tubtanic (1999) RLS Records
- Mistakes, The / Angry Youth (1997) (Producer Credit)
Compilations & Tribute Albums
- Kid Rock Tribute - Title tba (2009) American Bad Ass & Bawitaba (Lead Vocal)
- We Wish You a Hairy Christmas (Koch Records 2003) Jingle Bell Rock (Lead Vocal)
- Mullet Years - Rocker (Universal/Canada 2003) American Hair Band
- A Rock Tribute to Guns N' Roses (2002) {vocals on You're Crazy}
- A Tribute to Styx (2002) {vocals on Babe}
- A Tribute to Journey (2002) {vocals on Lights}
- Album Networks Rock Tune Up (2001) American Hair Band
- Bulletproof Fever: A Tribute to Ted Nugent (2001) {vocals on Wango Tango}
- Livin' On a Prayer: A Tribute to Bon Jovi (2001) {vocals on In & Out of Love}
- Fire Woman / A Tribute to The Cult (2001) {vocals on Outlaw}
- Name Your Poison: A Tribute to Poison (2001) {vocals on Look What The Cat Dragged In}
- Shout at the Remix: A Tribute to Motley Crue (2000) {vocals on Red Hot}
- Leppardmania: A Tribute to Def Leppard (2000) {vocals on Too Late for Love}
- Covered like a Hurricane: A Tribute to Scorpions (2000) {vocals on Blackout}
- Appetite For Reconstruction: A Tribute to Gn'R (1999) {vocals on You're Crazy}
Appearances in Published Books
- Fuck You - Rock n' Roll Portraits by Neil Zlozower (2008)
- American Hair Metal (2006)
- Hollywood Rocks - Ultimate Guide (2003)
TV & Film
- The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988) (Documentary Film)
- Waynes World 2 (1993) (Paramount Pictures)
- The Stoned Age (1994) (Trimark Pictures)
Guest appearances
During and after Rachelle's time in Tuff he has shared the stage with a several artists from the 70's through present time. Many of the musicians shared the stage and jammed, and some performed on Rachelle's recordings in the studio as well. The list includes the following;
- Aldo Nova
- The Atomic Punks
- Badlands
- Bang Tango
- Betsy Bitch
- Brian Tischy of Billy Idol's band
- Billy Morris
- Blackfoot
- Blue Öyster Cult
- Fred Coury of Cinderella
- Dirty Looks
- Dokken / Don Dokken
- Faster Pussycat
- Great White
- Gilby Clarke ex-Guns N' Roses
- Michael Raphael of Jailhouse - Neve
- Kane Roberts of Alice Cooper's band
- Keri Kelly of Alice Cooper's band
- Frankie Muriel of KingoftheHill
- Bruce Kulick ex-Kiss
- Leatherwolf
- Lita Ford
- Metal Shop aka Metal Skool aka Steel Panther
- Vince Neil of Motley Crue
- Pretty Boy Floyd
- Kevin DuBrow of Quiet Riot
- Bobby Blotzer and Robbie Crane of Ratt
- Sweet FA
- Dee Snider of Twisted Sister
- Warrant
- Vinnie Vincent Invasion
- Drew Hanna of WildSide
- The Zeroes
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