White Lion

After moving from Denmark to Spain and then New York City, vocalist Mike Tramp (formerly of the bands Mabel, Studs, and Danish Lions) met Staten Island guitarist Vito Bratta (formerly of Dreamer) in December 1982 at L'amour Rock Club in Brooklyn when Tramp was playing with his band. In March 1983 they decided to put together a new band and recruited drummer Nicki Capozzi and bassist Felix Robinson (formerly of Angel) and named the group White Lion.

White Lion was signed by Elektra Records in 1984 and recorded their debut album Fight to Survive. Elektra was unhappy with the final recording, and after refusing to release the album, terminated the band's contract.

The album Fight to Survive was eventually released by Victor Company of Japan, Ltd, (JVC Records) in Japan in 1985. Philadelphia-based Grand Slamm Records bought the album from Elektra and released it in America the following year, under license by Elektra/Asylum Records. A few months later, Grand Slamm Records went bankrupt.

Fight to Survive charted at number 151 on Billboard 200 and featured the band's debut single and music video, "Broken Heart".

In 1985, Felix Robinson departed after they were dropped by Elektra. He was later replaced by bassist Dave Spitz (brother of Anthrax guitarist Dan Spitz). With the Tramp, Bratta, Capozzi, Spitz lineup, the band recorded a round of demos and continued to play shows in New York while shopping around for a new record deal. This incarnation of White Lion was hired to play a fictional band in the Tom Hanks/Shelley Long movie The Money Pit, which was released a year later. The soundtrack features the song "Web of Desire" (credited to "White Lion and Robey (portrayed by Louise Robey)), which was demoed that year. The film soundtrack was never officially released although the song plays in the movie during both of their scenes. Nicki Capozzi was subsequently fired due to health issues and was in September 1985 replaced by former Anthrax drummer Greg D'Angelo.

Dave Spitz left at the beginning of 1986 to join Black Sabbath, and was replaced by Bruno Ravel but he shortly left because he was not allowed to contribute ideas. In March 1986 James LoMenzo was asked to join and then the band finally was complete.

Early in 1987, the band was signed by Atlantic Records. The recording of the album took six weeks and on June 21, 1987, their album Pride was released. The first single, "Wait", was released on June 1, 1987, but did not reach the charts for nearly seven months.

The Pride tour started in July 1987 as White Lion opened for Frehley's Comet. The next year and a half was filled with constant touring, opening for such bands as Aerosmith, Stryper and Kiss. In January 1988 White Lion landed the opening slot for AC/DC on their Blow Up Your Video American tour.

While touring with AC/DC, the Pride album and "Wait" single finally charted, due in no small part to MTV airing the "Wait" music video in regular rotation—nearly seven months after the single's release. "Wait" hit No. 8 on the singles chart, while Pride hit No. 11 on the album charts. Pride would remain on the Top 200 Billboard album charts for a full year, selling two million copies in the US alone and achieving double platinum status.[4]

In August 1988, the album's second single, "Tell Me", reached No. 58. Around the time this single was released, White Lion played at the Ritz club in New York City. The show was filmed and later aired on MTV.

The Pride album's third single, a power ballad titled "When the Children Cry", made it to No. 3 on the charts with heavy MTV airplay.

The success of "When the Children Cry" would eventually push sales of Pride over the two million mark. In addition, Vito Bratta was recognized for his instrumental talents by racking up Best New Guitarist awards with both Guitar World magazine and Guitar for the Practicing Musician magazine. "All You Need Is Rock 'n' Roll" was the final single released from the album.

In the end of 1988, the Pride tour finally ended, and the band released their first video albums titled "Live at the Ritz" and "One Night in Tokyo" both of which featuring full concerts on VHS.

The band then immediately began work on their next album.

In August 1989, White Lion released their third album, Big Game, a musically eclectic follow-up to Pride that featured the single "Little Fighter" (which peaked at No. 52), in Memory of The Rainbow Warrior, a Greenpeace boat which was destroyed by the French.[5] A cover of Golden Earring's "Radar Love" (which peaked at No. 59) was released as the second single and "Cry for Freedom", a political song about apartheid in South Africa[6] was released as the third single. "Going Home Tonight" was released as the album's final single. The album quickly went gold, with a peak of No. 19 on the album charts. The band's success continued with more constant touring. They did a European tour, including a string of UK arena shows supporting Mötley Crüe with Skid Row, and also played with Ozzy Osbourne and Cinderella.

After less successful gigs in England and mixed reviews of the new album, the band chose to take a few months off after the turn of the year to focus on writing a new album. Just in time for the late autumn of 1990, they entered the classic A&M studios with a new producer. White Lion released their fourth album Mane Attraction in March 1991. The album featured the singles "Love Don't Come Easy" which peaked at number 24 on The Mainstream Rock Charts, "Lights and Thunder" which is an eight-minute heavy rock epic with a complex structure inspired by Led Zeppelin's Achilles Last Stand.[7] and a re-recorded version of the band's debut single "Broken Heart", all of which featured music videos. "Out with the Boys" and "You're All I Need" were released as promo singles and "Farewell to You" featured a music video montage. The album also contained White Lion's only instrumental song, "Blue Monday", a tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan, who had died while the band was writing the album. The album's two ballads "You're All I Need" and "Till Death Do Us Part" gained popular airplay in Indonesia and the Philippines.

Greg D'Angelo and James LoMenzo left the band in June 1991 when they came back from the European tour, citing "musical differences," but White Lion carried on with bassist Tommy T-Bone Caradonna and drummer Jimmy DeGrasso (Megadeth, Alice Cooper, Suicidal Tendencies, Y&T, Fiona).

After briefly touring in support of Mane Attraction, Tramp and Bratta decided to fold the group, their last show being held in Boston at the Channel in September 1991. Exactly one year later, in September 1992, the band's first compilation album was released, titled The Best of White Lion.

Mike has in later interviews told that the band split up due lack of interests from the record company, issues with the band management and above all the entry of grunge music.

A Video/DVD album featuring concert footage, behind the scenes interviews and all of the band's music videos was also released, titled Escape from Brooklyn.

When asked what the album would be like if he and Vito Bratta had released another album after Mane Attraction, Tramp said it would have hinted at their growth and evolution, and taken them further away from the '80s sound. He commented:

"I was kind of shocked cause to me it sounded like Vito and I weren't done working together and I was surprised that he never put up a fight when I said 'No more White Lion.' It was that he just lay down and gave up. I am not saying that White Lion would have continued if he and I had put up a fight. But I am sure that if we had sat down and talked and really looked at the picture and sorted out what had gone wrong and how much was our fault and how much was Kurt Cobain's, then there could possibly be a mature and musically serious band existing today, called White Lion."

Mike Tramp went on to form the hard rock / heavy metal band Freak of Nature, The follow-up was significantly heavier and darker than White Lion, featuring two guitar players and more visceral songs with a strong rhythmic foundation. The band released three albums between 1992 and 1998, Freak of Nature, Gathering of Freaks, and Outcasts. The band shared stages with Helloween and Dio in Europe in 1993. Freak of Nature eventually disbanded in 1996. Tramp has often called Freak of Nature the best band he has been a part of and also said that he wanted to stray from the 80s sound and adopt a more 70s approach.

Following Freak of Nature, Tramp began a solo career, releasing his debut album as a solo artist in 1998 titled Capricorn. The album featured former Freak of Nature bandmates, guitarist Kenny Korade and bass player Jerry Best.[9] Former White Lion bass guitarist James LoMenzo performed backing vocals on the album.[10] The song "Better Off" was released as Tramp's debut solo single[11] and features his first solo music video. The album also features the singles "Already Gone",[12] "If I Live Tomorrow"[13] and "Take a Little Time".[14]

It would be five years before Tramp returned to the studio to record his follow-up album, Recovering the Wasted Years, during which time he would move to Australia, with the aim of raising his son away from the rigors of big city life and to plan his next career move.[15] Recovering the Wasted Years was released in 2002 and featured the singles "Living a Lie" [16] and "Endless Highway" both featuring live music videos.

In 2003, Tramp followed-up with his third album, More to Life Than This, which Tramp once again produced himself but relied on producer/engineer Flemming Rasmussen (Metallica) to engineer and mix the sessions in his very own Sweet Silence Studios.[17] The album's title track, "More to Life Than This",[18] and "Don't Want to Say Good Night"[19] were both released as singles. A music video made in Australia was released for the song "Lay Down My Life For You". Also in 2003, Tramp released the double disc live album Rock 'N' Roll Alive, which features Tramp performing live versions of songs from White Lion, Freak of Nature, and his solo albums.

In 2004, Tramp released the solo album Songs I Left Behind.

• Mike Tramp – lead vocals, rhythm guitar (1983–1992, 1999–2009)
• Vito Bratta – lead guitar, backing vocals (1983–1992)
• Nicki Capozzi – drums (1983–1984)
• Felix Robinson – bass (1983–1984)
• Joe Hasselvander – drums (1983)
• Bruno Ravel – bass (1984)
• Dave Spitz – bass (1985)
• James LoMenzo – bass, backing vocals (1985–1991)
• Greg D'Angelo – drums (1985–1991)
• Jimmy DeGrasso – drums (1991–1992)
• Tommy T–Bone Caradonna – bass (1991–1992)
• Kasper Damgaard – lead guitar (1999–2003)
• Nils Kroyer – bass (1999–2003)
• Bjarne T. Holm – drums (1999–2003)
• Dan Hemmer – keyboards (1999–2003)
• Jamie Law – lead guitar (2004–2009)
• Troy Patrick Farrell – drums (2004–2009)
• Claus Langeskov – bass (2004–2009)
• Henning Wanner – keyboards (2004–2009)