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===Compilations & Tribute Albums===
===Compilations & Tribute Albums===
*''[[Kid Rock Tribute - Title tba]]'' 2009 ''American Bad Ass'' & ''Bawitaba'' ''(Lead Vocal)''
*''[[Kid Rock Tribute - Title tba]]'' (2009) ''American Bad Ass'' & ''Bawitaba'' ''(Lead Vocal)''
*''[[Mullet Years - Rocker]]'' (Universal/Canada 2003) ''American Hair Band''
*''[[Mullet Years - Rocker]]'' (Universal/Canada 2003) ''American Hair Band''
*''[[A Rock Tribute to Guns N' Roses]]'' (2002) ''{vocals on You're Crazy}''
*''[[A Rock Tribute to Guns N' Roses]]'' (2002) ''{vocals on You're Crazy}''

Revision as of 06:15, 16 December 2008

Stevie Rachelle is best known as the lead singer of '80s glam metal band Tuff. He has also released multiple solo albums, as well as material with side projects such as Cheeseheads With Attitude & Shameless. He is the owner/operator/financer/manager & co-creator of '80s Glam Metal website Metal Sludge and the current manager of the Swedish Sleaze Rock band Vains of Jenna.

Early life

Rachelle was born Steven Howard Hanseter on March 2 1966. He was raised in America around the Lake Winnebago area of Oshkosh Wisconsin despite being German. He moved to California as a young adult after spending hours dreaming of the place as a child. Rachelle graduated from Oshkosh West High School in 1984, now the owner of the nickname "Banger", which was shortened from "Headbanger". Rachelle didn't receive the name because of his love for Heavy Metal music however. It was given to him after falling flat on his face trying to jump over a fence to impress a group of girls.

By spring 1985 self-taught musician Rachelle found himself in the local band X-iter as vocalist after being suggested for the job by a skateboarding friend of his. The band would perform originals and Heavy metal cover songs by bands like Kiss, Black Sabbath and Van Halen.

Tuff

After singing in a few local Wisconsin bands like X-iter and Talon he moved to Hollywood in June of 1987 to pursue joining the band Tuff. Tuff became a huge draw on the Sunset Strip selling out the "Whisky-A-Go-Go", "Gazzarris", "The Troubadour", "The Roxy" and even the 1,100 seat capacity "Country Club". The band were soon snatched up by Atlantic and recorded their debut album What Comes Around Goes Around in 1990. Their debut was produced by Howard Benson who had produced a list of similar bands Southgang featuring Butch Walker, Bang Tango, Sweet FA & Pretty Boy Floyd. He has now went on to produce huge and succesful bands like Hoobastank, Papa Roach, Daughtrey, & P.O.D..

Tuff never achieved Gold or Platinum success but did have a top requested single I Hate Kissing You Goodbye that hit #3 on Dial MTV just behind the #1 Guns n' Roses and the (at that time) new Metallica single Enter Sandman. The following week a new band debuted and they were called Nirvana. The beginning of the end for sure.

Stevie Rachelle appeared in the Penelope Spheeris Rockumentary "Decline of Western Civilization, Part II". He was, at the time, one of multiple interviewees who were hopeful to land a record contract while trying to make a name for themselves on the crowded Sunset Strip music scene in late 1980s Los Angeles.

He is also the founding member of a Green Bay Packers tribute band called Cheeseheads With Attitude or CWA.

Indy Record Label

After struggling with record labels for years Stevie finally decided to form his own. Tuff was signed in 1990 and dropped by Atlantic Records in 1992. The band was then picked up by IRS Grand Slamm Records in early 1993. The label went belly up in less than a year, and Stevie and the guys were without a label. So in early 1994 Rachelle started RLS Records. The initials stood for Rachelle's Lyrics & Songs but the alternative meaning was Record Labels Suck. The imprint will be 15 years old in 2009 and has issued on Cassette, CD, VHS & DVD roughly 40 titles selling upwards of 100,000 pieces globally. The offshoot Cheezee Records was formed in 1996 to be the home for the Cheeseheads With Attitude or CWA project.

Tuff again signed to a record label in early 1995 when BMG / Mausoleum / MMS records picked up the RLS Fist First release after it sold upwards of 10,000 copies. BMG re-issued it as Religious Fix in June of 1995 with 3 bonus tracks. The additional tracks were produced by Randy Cantor.

Later life

After the glam metal movement died out Tuff were unheard of and nobody was sure if they had split or not. However in 2001 a Greatest Hits package was released containing a new track called "American Hair Band. In this parody, there are also samples from the Poison song "Talk Dirty to Me", Skid Row's "Youth Gone Wild" and the Guns N' Roses classic "Sweet Child o' Mine." The song also has several lyrics attacking grunge music. Rachelle referred to the song as his tribute to a scene he was extremely proud to be a part of and wanted to give something back to. The track got regular rotation on major radio stations Nationwide along side groups like Limp Bizkit, Monster Magnet, and Marilyn Manson.

Rachelle was also in recent years revealed as "the man behind the curtain" of the 80's Metal Music website Metal Sludge. Which also seems to be something Rachelle is doing to keep the world of Glam Metal alive.

Rachelle is now living in California with two young children.


Skateboarding

As a kid growing up in Oshkosh, Steven became infatuated with skateboarding in the mid 70s. By the late 70s and very early 80s he and his friends (Kurt, Billy & Jay) were very serious about skateboarding. They all had quarter pipes or half pipes in the driveway or back yard. Ronnie, Sam & the 3 Mikes (Golden, Krienitz & Schneider) all road BMX bikes. This group visit skate parks, empty pools or ditches, and back yard ramps all over NE Wisconsin. In January of 1985 Steven moved to Florida to pursue skating and warmer weather. While skating at the local Ron Jons Surf Shop Steven's ability to skate vertical drew the attention of a local rep from Kami Kaze Skates who wanted sponsor him and possibly to give Steven his own signature model. However the draw of Rock n' Roll, and Motley Crue became to much and it was around this time that Hanseter became obsessed and beyond serious about pursuing music. Skateboarding a 10 year passion was now taking a back seat to Heavy Metal.

Oddly enough once moving to California in 1987 Stevie never skated once for almost 10 years. The music just took over his life. Then in 1996 after the break up of Tuff and the start of the X-Games Rachelle bought a new board, pads and started to skate regularly at Skate Street in Ventura County, Skate Lab in Simi Valley and at the new Vans locations in Orange County, Ontario and Bakersfield. Stevie got some of his skills back and soon found himself doing frontside airs, indy airs, lien airs, hand plants and sweepers on the 80' wide vert ramp at Vans in Orange County. Many sessions included skating with the likes of Lincoln Ueda, Neil Hendrix, Mathias Ringstrom, Rune Glifberg, Omar Hassan and many of today's top professional vert skaters.

Discography

Tuff

Tuff Home Videos/DVD

Stevie Rachelle (solo) Albums

Cheeseheads With Attitude Albums

Cheeseheads With Attitude Home Videos

Shameless

Shameless DVD

Metal Sludge Releases

Miscellaneous Releases

Compilations & Tribute Albums

Appearances in Published Books

TV & Film

Guest appearances

During and after Rachelle's time in Tuff he has shared the stage with a list of who's who. Bands from A to Z from the 70s through present time. Many of the musicians shared the stage and jammed, and some performed on Rachelle's recordings in the studio as well. The list includes the following;

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