Hair I Go Again - Film Review
Friday, April 7, 2017 at 12:01AM A few years ago, I started posting on this site about an upcoming metal documentary called Hair I Go Again. The film has a simple enough premise: it follows Kyle Kruger and Steve McClure on their quest to put their teenage band back together again and to make a real run at fame and stardom.
Tryxx was formed in the 1980s and featured lots of hairspray, spandex and bad songwriting. To be clear Tryxx was based in Florida, not the Sunset Strip and during the band’s heyday they were young – 18 and under. They were well known at roller rinks in the area for doing great shows.
Kruger and McClure are lifelong best friends. At the beginning of the film it isn’t necessarily clear that they want to give up literally everything for their dreams, but as time goes by that becomes pretty evident and I’ve been conflicted about this ever since.
I watched the movie Sunday night and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to say about it, exactly. The film features a ton of hair metal musicians that we love including members of KIX, Anthrax, Warrant, Keel, Great White and of course ever present radio host Eddie Trunk, among others. Seeing all the old photos from the scene days and hearing the music was fun. The interviews are all great. But still something nags.
A not insignificant amount of time is spent on the financial struggles of Kruger and McClure. When it became clear it was just them against the world and Tryxx wasn’t going to get back together, they leaned in – hard. They both quit their jobs… and went broke. They both struggled with housing. Kruger sold plasma. They both put all their energy into making it as professional musicians. Thing is, neither is particularly great at music. We’re not talking about virtuosos here that honed their craft day in and day out. In fact, McClure had to relearn the guitar as he hadn’t played in decades! Kruger had to learn how to sing the right way, too. This was the most shocking bit of the documentary to me. Usually an artist that wants to give up a day job for their craft is working pretty consistently toward… something. Other than the dream of “making it” there didn’t seem to be much planning happening here.
Around Tuesday I realized that the confliction has more to do with me than Kruger or McClure. Replace “musician” with “artist” or “writer” or “actor” and the story is basically the same. I’m a writer. I’d much rather write all day than go to a day job, but I get up every morning, day after day, and go through the mundane slog of life. I have a mortgage and that’s the adult thing to do.
Or is it?
Along the way, Kruger and McClure fight – a lot. They struggle, and practice and get breaks, including landing some financial backers and a sponsorship deal with Peavy. Ron Keel helps them a lot, especially Kruger. The ever kind Steve Blaze lends his skills on an amazing guitar solo since McClure can’t play that fast. And on and on it goes. Eventually you realize Hair I Go Again isn’t a documentary about another 80s band. It’s really a film about friendship.
By the end of the film – and we’re talking about a process that took years – Kruger and McClure become the Denver-based band Bullet In The Chamber. They got to open for Jake E. Lee and played the Monsters of Rock Cruise.
Was this their dream realized? Probably not exactly, but the journey made for a great film and they did get on stage and in the studio to record original tracks. Do Kruger and McClure have day jobs now? I have no idea. I know they are promoting the heck out of the film right now and that takes a lot of time and effort. Will they be household-name musicians? Nope, but those are few and far between now. Of the modern generation of musicians, you can name the big ones on two hands, like Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars. The outlook for aspiring musicians isn’t great, but then it never really was, right?
All throughout the film, the famous 80s musicians give the same advice: “don’t quit your day job.” Some are pretty blunt and tell Kruger and McClure that they are too old to expect too much. The music industry sucks now (and so does the publishing world for fellow writers like me). The fact is this and it’s always been the case, but it is truer now than ever: talent doesn’t mean as much as your connections, your drive and your luck.
No, you can’t be anything you want to be, but you sure can try – and you should.
Hair I Go Again was directed by McClure and originally released January 2016. Follow the movie on Facebook to attend a special screening or order on Amazon.
Reader Comments (13)
I was particularly taken by the line towards the end of the review: "No, you can’t be anything you want to be, but you sure can try – and you should." The issue then becomes: when have you tried enough and when is it then time to move on to other things? I suppose that isn't for anyone else to say besides the person trying (and/or the people that rely on them). ''
I imagine that settling for lesser glories hurts. I know that it has certainly hurt when I have had to do that. But you can find a lot of blessings in paths you wouldn't have chosen, in occupations that weren't a first choice, and in friendships that persist in spite of all those circumstances.
Being determined helps. So does luck. And connections. And talent. But even with all of those things you are sometimes dealt a different card. That can eat you up. It can motivate you. It can . . . well, my point is really quite simple: How you chose to view your successes and failures says a lot about who you are as a person.
Thanks again, Allyson. Appreciate long-form items like this from you.
I wish I could play guitar, and I wish I were a better writer, but overall, I've got a pretty great life.
Hope you all have a great weekend.
🤘
Now days, most places want you to pay them to play if there isn't already a DJ in place, so that narrow's down a lot of opportunities. I couldn't imagine at middle age or even 20's trying to break into the business, especially with Youtube / Facebook with these 10 year old males and females just shredding the crap out of stuff I see that and I just quietly put my guitar back in the case and shove to the back of the closet..............
I know I am risking being thought of as arrogant when I write this, but I was born with natural musical ability. When I was a very little boy, I had toys to play with, but I'd spend most of my time banging out rhythms on pots and pans. Rather than telling me to stop, my parents decided to take my playtime to the next level. When I was five, they bought me a used drum kit. I loved it. they got me drum lessons with an amazing teacher/player named Tom Bleck. the guy who taught him was taught directly by Buddy Rich, so the stuff he was teaching me was absolutely mind blowing.
Anyway, within two years, I had gotten really good, and at seven years old I was jamming with all the local high school kids -- playing KISS, Aerosmith, Nugent, Hendrix, etc. When I was 15, Tom, my drum teacher took me to see Van Halen. the show was promoted by John Scher who was a big deal in New Jersey. Tom said he knew John Scher, and would introduce me to him. I was so excited -- I thought this might be the break I needed to eventually become a full-time musician. I was already making good money playing parties on weekends, but I wanted to hit the big time. As it turns out, I didn't meet John Scher. Instead, as so many other people do, I did the respectable thing and went off to college.
After college, while looking for work, I again made good money playing music in the NJ/NY/PA bar scene, but once I got a "Real job", I cut off my long flowing hair, quit most of the bands I was in, and settled into a life of respectable mundanity.
Now, my life is perfectly lovely. I live in san Diego with my incredible wife and I have a very good job. Occasionally I wonder what my life could have been like if I really went for it, or if I had been born in the age of viral video. Imagine...A video of a little blind kid ripping it up on the drum kit while singing his ass off at the same time? It probably would spread like wildfire on Youtube, and who knows what that could lead to.
That said, I would never do anything so radical as to quit my job, and try to pursue that dream which has no chance of becoming a reality. Instead, I learned to do what so many of us have done at some point: take a good hard look at my life, and see all of the wonderful things in it, and find my happiness in those things. that's so much better than obsessing over what could have been. Kyle Kruger and Steve McClure are adults, and they can do whatever they want, but to me, they are living in the past. That has very little chance of turning out well.
So, to my fellow aging rockers, I say rock on my friends! We may not have hit the big time, but it seems like we've done pretty damn good for ourselves, so embrace that happiness and rock on!
And, in spite of blechallnights attempt to lay a wet fart on things, your stories shine through. Very much appreciated.