Great White started their career as Dante Fox, playing their first gig in 1981 at The Troubadour in Hollywood, California. After recording several demos, the band chose as manager Alan Niven, who had worked for the independent distributor Greenworld in Torrance, California and had dealt with Mötley Crüe's debut self-release. Niven suggested the name change from Dante Fox after seeing singer Jack Russell introduce Mark Kendall (guitarist) during his solo as "Mark Kendall, the Great White", due to his naturally white-blonde hair, white Fender Telecaster guitar, white jumpsuit, and white Capezio shoes. In 1982, founding members Mark Kendall, Jack Russell, drummer Gary Holland, and bassist Lorne Black recorded and released a 5-song EP, Out of the Night, on the independent label Aegean formed by Niven. Niven then convinced the Los Angeles radio station KMET to begin adding songs from the EP to its playlist in heavy rotation. KLOS-FM soon did the same. The band suddenly went from drawing 100 people to a local club to drawing thousands in L.A. concert halls such as Perkins Palace in Pasadena, The Palace in Hollywood and the Country Club in Reseda. As an unsigned act, Great White headlined at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia playing to 6,250 people. Near the end of 1983, EMI America signed the band and subsequently released Great White's eponymous debut album ('Great White') in early 1984. The band immediately toured the UK supporting Whitesnake's Slide It In tour and the entire US and Canada opening for Judas Priest's Defenders of the Faith tour. 'Shot in the Dark', their follow-up independent release, marked the arrival of drummer Audie Desbrow. By the time Capitol Records signed the band and reissued Shot in the Dark, keyboardist-guitarist Michael Lardie had come aboard. After the release of Shot in the Dark, Great White hit the road with Dokken and was on the verge of even bigger success.
The band hit the mainstream in 1987 when they released 'Once Bitten', which featured the hits "Rock Me" and "Save Your Love". Once Bitten... was certified platinum in April 1988.
The band followed up with '...Twice Shy' in 1989. The album included their biggest hit, "Once Bitten, Twice Shy", a cover of a UK hit single by Ian Hunter. They received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance. The album was certified platinum in July 1989 and then double platinum in September of that same year. The model Bobbie Brown (also known for being in Warrant's "Cherry Pie" video) appeared in the video for "Once Bitten, Twice Shy". They finished off the 80s touring in support of ...Twice Shy as headliners and with some best known bands, such as Bon Jovi.
In 1990, the band featured in the heavy metal video series Hard 'N' Heavy containing music, concert footage and interviews. The video included Slash and Duff from Guns N' Roses appearing with the band at a Children of the Night Benefit concert in L.A., the performance helping to raise money for housing abused homeless children. Both bands shared the same manager, Alan Niven at the time.
The band continued into the next decade performing the song "House of Broken Love" at the American Music Awards in January 1990. In March, Great White embarked on their first tour of Japan. They returned to the United States for the Memorial Day weekend festival dubbed The World Series of Rock, which featured Whitesnake, Skid Row, Bad English, and Hericane Alice. Great White recorded two more albums for Capitol Records, 'Hooked', which was certified gold, and 'Psycho City'. In support of Hooked, Great White did a tour as headliner tour, had a guest slot with German metal band Scorpions and travelled to Europe and Japan. Psycho City was followed by a US tour with Kiss.
Capitol issued the compilation 'The Best of Great White 1986-1992' in 1993, when Great White had already departed the label to begin work on their next studio release, 'Sail Away'. Before the release of the album, Great White spent seven months on the road headlining clubs. According to Lardie, it was "the longest stint we ever did without a break." Great White kept up the pace once Sail Away was released on Zoo Records in 1994, touring the US several times over the following year and a half. Their next release, Let It Rock, was released in 1996 through yet another label, Imago Records.
In 1999, the band released 'Can't Get There from Here' and embarked on a tour with Ratt, Poison, and L.A. Guns. The album featured the single "Rollin' Stoned", which managed to chart at No. 8 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
In a memo dated 20 January 2000 Mark Kendall announced he was leaving Great White, shortly thereafter both Audie Desbrow and Sean McNabb left Great White. Kendall was replaced by guitarist Matthew Johnson. Desbrow, clearly very unhappy with the financial state of the band posted a tirade on his website lambasting Jack Russell and Michael Lardie, while claiming to have been "fired" from Great White. Meanwhile, it was rumored that Sean McNabb was fired for going to management and asking to see the accounting books. Despite only having one original member left, the band announced plans to begin work on a new album in late 2000. Early in the process, some of the new songs were played for John Kalodner at Columbia Records. It was mutually agreed that the "magic was gone" and the band decided their heart was not in the recording process. They subsequently left Columbia Records and discontinued work on the new album. On 5 November 2001 Jack Russell announced the end of Great White, stating that he was moving on, and that Great White would play one final farewell show on 31 December 2001 at the Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana, CA. Both Kendall and McNabb rejoined the band for the farewell show, recorded for a live CD entitled 'Thank You...Goodnight!' released by Knight Records. The live album includes two new tracks, "Back to the Rhythm" and "Play On" from their discontinued studio sessions, both of which would ultimately wind up on their reunion album 'Back to the Rhythm' in 2007.
In late 2002, in part due to his failure to attract good audiences while on the road with his solo band, Jack Russell contacted Kendall, who himself was struggling to gain an audience on his own. Kendall agreed to play some dates with Russell's band, allowing Russell to use the name Great White once again. Billed as "Jack Russell's Great White," the tour was to consist primarily of classic songs from the Great White catalog with some of Russell's solo work mixed in. Eventually, more dates were added and the tour extended through the early months of 2003.
The band returned to the national spotlight on 20 February 2003. At the beginning of a Great White performance at The Station night club in Rhode Island, pyrotechnics used by the band's crew created a spray of sparks that ignited the foam soundproofing material in the ceiling around the stage. One hundred people including the band's guitarist Ty Longley, died in the fire that followed. In 2008 the band agreed to pay $1 million to survivors and victims' relatives of the fire while admitting to no wrongdoing. This amount also covers former tour manager Daniel Biechele along with the band members, record label, and management as it existed at the time of the fire. The settlement was the maximum allowed under the band's insurance plan. Victims had previously received $3.8 million raised by United Way of America.
Though the media referred to the band as "Great White" following the tragedy in Rhode Island, the band was officially performing under the moniker of "Jack Russell's Great White" at the time of the incident. In fact, prior to the fire, the band's official website posted a message stating that Great White had not re-formed. It's unclear when the band began officially going by "Great White" again.
Great White played their first full show following the Rhode Island tragedy on 22 July, starting a benefit tour for the survivors and victims of the fire. The band toured until 2005 to raise funds for the Station Family Fund, which had been set up to help the victims of the tragedy. In late 2005, citing "medical reasons", the band canceled the second half of their summer tour. The "medical reasons" turned out to be Jack Russell's addictions to alcohol and cocaine. This was the end of this version of Great White, as Jack Russell entered rehabilitation and did not perform again until 2007. Russell used the year of 2006 to get sober and get a facelift that was detailed on ExtraTV. Russell later referred to this incarnation of Great White as "Fake White", saying "It still sounded like Great White, but not – almost like we were doing a cover of ourselves."
Talk of a reunion of Great White began in a 2004 interview. Later in 2006, guitarist Mark Kendall officially announced that Great White had re-formed its classic lineup. The re-formed lineup of Russell, Kendall, Lardie, McNabb and Desbrow played their first date together in more than 5 years on 27 January 2007 at the Keyclub in Hollywood performing in the Harpseals.org Benefit Concert for the Seals 2007. In 2008, bassist Sean McNabb left Great White to concentrate on a career in theater and acting. McNabb was promptly replaced with Scott Snyder (Ramos, Accomplice). McNabb went on to join Dokken.
Great White released their album, 'Rising', on 13 March 2009 in Europe via Frontiers Records and on 21 April in the US.
In 2010, Jani Lane of Warrant filled in for Jack Russell, while Russell recuperated from surgery after suffering a perforated bowel. Terry Ilous (XYZ) replaced Jack Russell at the Coach House during the summer of 2010, and Paul Shortino (Rough Cutt, Quiet Riot, King Kobra) filled in for Russell when Great White performed at Stockholm Rock Out Festival in September. In December 2011, Russell formed a new incarnation of Great White with a brand-new lineup under the name of "Jack Russell's Great White".
On 18 March 2012 Great White announced their first new album with Ilous, 'Elation' , to be released in May that year, along with a live album ('30 Years: Live From The Sunset Strip') and a concert DVD of the band's 30th-anniversary show at the Key Club in Hollywood on 22 March.
Lorne Black, Great White's original bassist, who performed and recorded with the group up through the Once Bitten album, died on September 27, 2013. He was 50 years old.
On June 2, 2017, Great White released their most recent studio effort, 'Full Circle', on Bluez Tone Records, with Wagener as the producer. The song "Big Time" was released as the first single and video. On July 9, 2018, Great White announced that they had parted ways with Terry Illous as their singer and he was replaced by Mitch Malloy.
On May 31, 2022, Great White announced vocalist Andrew Freeman of Last In Line replaced Malloy as the band's lead singer and frontman.
Heart the Hunter
Great White Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Gave her all that I had
Kinda' woman she could make you believe her
Nothing's gonna go bad
Took awhile, and all the hurtin'
Since she left and went away
Behind her smile though I can't be certain
My heart's a hunter
And love is a loser's game
My heart's a hunter
And love is a loser's game
Little baby I won't give ya no heartaches
I won't give ya no pain
Sweet little darlin' can't ya see what is comin'
Cause ya know me by name
Used to be when I was a child
I thought lovin' should be free
And it's so hard to be reconciled
That ain't the way it oughta be
It's only lovin' when she's gone and she's left ya
It goes to show it's always something
That I felt when I met ya
It comes and it goes
I ride alone tonight
So bittersweet
I took a chance
I tried to love her
Someone whispered her name
Heartbreaker
The lyrics to Great White's song "Heart the Hunter" are written from the perspective of a man who had given all his love to a woman who ended up leaving him. The song begins by him describing how devoted he was to her, and how she was the kind of woman who could make you believe nothing would go wrong. He continues to express the pain he felt after she left and how he still can't be sure of what was really behind her smile when she was with him. The chorus speaks to the theme of the song, as he declares that his heart is a hunter, and love is a loser's game. The second verse is an address to a new love interest, where he promises not to give her any heartaches or pain, but also acknowledges the difficulty of reconciling in a world where love is often not free.
The lyrics of "Heart the Hunter" are rich in meaning as they explore the complexities and challenges of love. They highlight the fact that love can be a gamble, one that often ends up hurting people. Even though the man had given his all to the previous woman, in the end, it didn't guarantee his happiness. The chorus of the song is especially poignant, as it speaks to the idea that the heart is always hunting for love, even though it often ends up losing. The lyrics are also quite poetic, with lines such as "My heart's a hunter, and love is a loser's game" and "Someone whispered her name, Heartbreaker" adding to the song's rich emotional landscape.
Line by Line Meaning
had a woman, gave her all of my lovin'
I was in a relationship with a woman and I gave her all of my love and attention.
Gave her all that I had
I gave her everything that I had, both emotionally and materially.
Kinda' woman she could make you believe her
She was the kind of woman who could make you believe every word that comes out of her mouth.
Nothing's gonna go bad
I felt that nothing could go wrong between us, as our love was so strong and genuine.
Took awhile, and all the hurtin'
It took me some time to get over the pain that I felt when she left.
Since she left and went away
Ever since she left me and went away, I've been struggling to cope with the loss.
Behind her smile though I can't be certain
Although she used to smile and act like everything was fine, I was not sure if she was genuinely happy or just pretending.
But I thought I heard her say
I have a feeling that I heard her say something that gave me a clue about how she was feeling.
My heart's a hunter
I am always searching for love and affection, like a hunter looking for prey.
And love is a loser's game
But, in my experience, love always ends up as a losing game, with one person hurting more than the other.
Little baby I won't give ya no heartaches
I don't want to give you any pain, hurt or heartbreak.
I won't give ya no pain
I am committed to making this relationship work and ensuring that you do not experience any emotional pain.
Sweet little darlin' can't ya see what is comin'
I hope you can see what lies ahead of us, including the potential difficulties and challenges that we may face along the way.
Cause ya know me by name
Since you know me well, you know that I am a sincere and devoted lover who will always try to make you happy.
Used to be when I was a child
When I was younger, I used to think that love was something easy and simple to achieve.
I thought lovin' should be free
I believed that love should be pure, natural, and free of any complications, obligations, or expectations.
And it's so hard to be reconciled
However, as I grew older, I realized that love is not always easy, and it can be challenging to find a balance between what you give and what you receive.
That ain't the way it oughta be
I now understand that my childhood perception of love was too naive and simplistic, and the reality is much more complex and difficult to navigate.
It's only lovin' when she's gone and she's left ya
Sometimes we only realize how much we love someone after they have left us and we feel their absence strongly.
It goes to show it's always something
This experience of loss shows that there is always something missing in our lives, and we can never have everything we want at once.
That I felt when I met ya
I felt a strong connection with you when we first met, and I knew that I wanted to build a future with you.
It comes and it goes
However, love can be unpredictable and fleeting, and it can disappear as soon as it comes, leaving us feeling lost and confused.
I ride alone tonight
Tonight, I am alone and feeling lonely, probably because I miss my ex-partner.
So bittersweet
This feeling of loneliness is bittersweet, as I also appreciate the memories and experiences that I had with my ex-partner.
I took a chance
I took a risk by opening my heart to my ex-partner and giving her all of my love, even though I knew that there was no guarantee that it would last.
I tried to love her
I did my best to show my partner that I loved her and that I was willing to do anything to make the relationship work.
Someone whispered her name
I heard someone whisper my ex-partner's name, probably reminding me of the pain that I felt when she left me.
Heartbreaker
My ex-partner broke my heart and left me feeling hurt and betrayed, which is why I refer to her as a 'heartbreaker'.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: KENDALL, LARDIE, NIVEN, RUSSELL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Kristina
on Once Bitten, Twice Shy
50 here and the 80's still rock!!!