Poison’s Biggest Album Almost Didn’t Hit Shelves in Some Stores Due to It’s “Demonic” Cover Art

January 1, 2025 10:17 am

Poison released their sophomore album Open Up and Say…Ahh! in April 1988. It would go on to be their most successful album, spawning multiple hit singles and bringing the band five Platinum certifications from the RIAA. However, they almost lost a large percentage of the album’s sales when Walmart refused to stock the LP due to its cover.

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Today, music sections in Walmart stores are miniscule if not nonexistent. However, there was a time not so long ago when the big box retailer boasted a large selection of albums, singles, and EPs at lower prices than other stores. As a result, many fans went there to buy their albums. So, the store’s refusal to stock the album was a problem.

Poison drummer Rikki Rockett recently talked about the issue on The Motley Croc Show.

Why Walmart Wouldn’t Stock Poison’s Biggest Album

“Walmart rejected it—Walmart,” Rocket said of the album. Sam Walton, the retailer’s founder made the call. “He was alive at the time, said it represented a demonic figure and he didn’t want it,” the drummer added.

Originally, the album cover featured a model with a long tongue, dramatic makeup, and teased hair. However, the label said the cover was too tame. They wanted something more shocking. So, Rockett and bassist Bobby Dall obliged. “We got his girlfriend Bambi and we started doing all those stripes on her and did all this stuff,” he recalled. “We had her get the contacts and then we just kind of did her up, Bobby and I did. And then, we did that tongue and everything like that. Everybody loved it, thought it was fricking great,” he added.

When Walmart refused to stock the album, Poison and their management had to make a decision.

Compromise Saved the Album

Rockett and his Poison bandmates sat down with their management team to discuss strategy. The first question on everyone’s mind was how much Walmart sales mattered in the grand scheme of things. “It’s 35%, sometimes 40% of your sales. At that time, man, people were just going through Walmart and going, ‘I’m getting my records here,’” he recalled. “It was cheaper than going to the record store by a certain percentage. So the percentage of people buying records at Walmart was high. We were like, ‘Are we gonna throw away 35-40% of our market share, getting our music into the hands of fans, or are we gonna grip about it and fight with Walmart,” Rockett added. “I just didn’t make sense.”