Ah, the classified ads. They’re are a place to post and find sales, jobs, lost dogs, and even seedy romance. It’s wild to think that something as small and as seemingly mundane as a want ad could play such a significant role in music history.
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More than one newspaper advert has kickstarted a band, some legendary ones that may not have ever existed had it not been for a black-and-grey box reading, “Musician Wanted.” Here are six of them.
1. Mötley Crüe
“Loud, rude and aggressive guitar player available…”
The origin story of Mötley Crüe begins with bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee. Sixx had previously been a member of the popular Los Angeles-area band, London, but left the group to form his own, eventually teaming up with Lee and guitarist Greg Leon, someone the young drummer had played with in a band called Suite 19.
Leon wouldn’t stick and Sixx and Lee were left to find a new guitarist. It wouldn’t be long before the pair stumbled upon an ad in a local rag, The Recycler, that captured their attention. “Loud, rude, aggressive guitar player available,” it read. Behind that ad was guitarist Mick Mars who lived up to the description. He was asked to join the band immediately after auditioning.
2. Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
“Looking for three good men…”
After the dissolution of her all-female band the Runaways, Joan Jett was in search of “three good men,” or at least that’s what her ad in LA Weekly read: “looking for three good men.” That’s how the frontwoman met guitarist Eric Ambel, bassist Gary Ryan, and drummer Danny Furious. They would make up the original iteration of Jett’s famed backing band, the Blackhearts.
3. The Bangles
“Am Forming a Boss All Girl Group”
The group that would become the beloved ’80s pop rock band, the Bangles formed when musical siblings Vicki and Debbi Peterson responded to an ad that a young Susanna Hoffs had placed in the aforementioned LA paper, The Recycler.
The ad – its headline read: “Am Forming a Boss All Girl Group” – listed several of Hoffs’ musical inspirations, mainly classic groups from the 1960s. “The thing is, in 1980, people weren’t that interested in bands from the ’60s, especially the more obscure ones,” she explained in a conversation with Medium.
When Hoffs met with the Peterson sisters, she was immediately struck by their penchant for the oldies and sparks flew from there.
4. Guns N’ Roses
“Bass player needed for band influenced by Aerosmith, Alice Cooper. Call Slash…”
The Recycler also played a part in bringing together musicians that would form Guns N’ Roses. Guitarist Slash and drummer Steven Adler placed an ad, reading, “Bass player needed for band influenced by Aerosmith, Alice Cooper. Call Slash.” It attracted the attention of Duff McKagan.
“I called him up, we talked on the phone, totally cool guy,” McKagan recalled to authors Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock for their book, Nöthin’ but a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the ’80s Hard Rock Explosion (excerpt via Rolling Stone). “Then I went to meet him and Steven at Canter’s Deli. He said, ‘We’ll be in the left booth at the end.’ So I look in the left booth and there’s, you know, basically all this fucking hair! But also, I was wearing this long red-and-black, like, super-fly pimp jacket with an anarchy A on the back of it, and I had short blue hair. So I’m sure they’re looking at me and going, ‘Huh?'” The rest is rock and roll history.
5. KISS
“LEAD GUITARIST WANTED with Flash and Ability. Album Out Shortly. No time wasters please. Paul”
The arena rockers KISS were but a budding band when rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley placed an ad in the Village Voice classifieds. He called for a lead guitarist with “Flash and Ability” and added “Album Out Shortly. No time wasters please.”
Ace Frehley turned up to auditions and turned out to be the guitarist for the job. “As soon as he started playing, both Paul and I looked at each other when Ace started soloing,” bassist Gene Simmons said in the KISS biography, Nothin’ to Lose. “We finally heard the sound. There was a dangerous volatility about him but also glorious playing.”
See the original ad below.
6. Metallica
“Drummer looking for other metal musicians to jam with. Tygers of Pan Tang, Diamond Head, and Iron Maiden.”
The Recycler strikes again! In 1981, drummer Lars Ulrich took out an ad in the LA paper that heralded, “Drummer looking for other metal musicians to jam with. Tygers of Pan Tang, Diamond Head and Iron Maiden.” James Hetfield would answer the call, marking the start of a beautiful musical legacy.
(Photo by Marc S Canter/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
