hair story
Arcade were an American hair metal and hard rock supergroup formed in California in 1992, bringing together musicians from several established rock bands just as the glam metal era was losing its grip on the mainstream. The group was formed by Ratt frontman Stephen Pearcy and Cinderella drummer Fred Coury, who recruited guitarist Frankie Wilsex of the Sea Hags, guitarist Donny Syracuse, formerly of Gypsy Rose, and bassist Michael Andrews, previously of 9.0. With Pearcy’s recognizable raspy vocals and a lineup packed with hard rock experience, Arcade delivered a sound that retained the swagger, gritty guitar riffs, and catchy choruses of classic ’80s hair metal. Their self-titled debut album, Arcade, arrived in 1993 through Epic Records and reached No. 133 on the Billboard 200 and No. 5 on the Heatseekers Albums chart. The record featured the singles “Nothin’ to Lose” and “Cry No More,” both of which reached the Top 30 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart, as well as “Messed Up World.” The band toured with Bon Jovi in 1993, giving them exposure to a much larger audience, but the changing musical climate made it difficult for another glam metal act to break through commercially.
Arcade released their second album, A/2, in 1994, taking a heavier musical direction with tracks such as “Angry” and “So What.” However, the album failed to match the debut’s performance, and Epic Records subsequently dropped the band. Guitarist Frankie Wilsex was replaced by Tony Marcus, while drummer Ray Luzier later replaced Coury. Arcade ultimately disbanded in 1994, with Pearcy moving on to other projects before returning to Ratt, while Coury continued his musical career and remained associated with Cinderella. Pearcy has also maintained a solo career, releasing music and performing for fans of classic hard rock. Although a reunion was discussed in the mid-2000s, it never developed into a sustained comeback, and Arcade are not known to be an active touring band today. Their legacy includes the later releases A/3: Live and Unreleased and A/4: Calm Before the Storm, which helped preserve material from the group’s brief career. While Arcade never achieved the superstar status of Ratt or Cinderella, their two studio albums remain worthwhile discoveries for fans of early-’90s hair metal, offering a snapshot of talented musicians attempting to keep the hard rock spirit alive during one of the genre’s most challenging periods.
hair photos
hair band members
Stephen Pearcy, lead vocals
Frankie Wilsex, guitar
Donny Syracuse, guitar
Michael Andrews, bass
Fred Coury, drums
hair albums
Arcade (1993)
A/2 (1994)
post-hair albums
A/3: Live and Unreleased (2000)
A/4: Calm Before the Storm (2006)
Angry (2011)
live shows
Nothin To Lose Live in Minneapolis, MN 11/27/94