Today we are hanging with Stevie Rachelle of Tuff . Tuff will be in Australia as part of Silverback Touring’s Glamfest, along with Faster Pussycat, Enuff Z’Enuff and More. Stevie gives us the low down on what is happening in the Tuff camp as well as a little bit of Sludge talk too. Thanks to Stevie for his time and make sure you catch the band on Glamfest

The band with its classic line-up consisted of Stevie Rachelle on vocals, Jorge DeSaint on guitars, Todd Chase on bass and drummer Michael “Lean” Raimondo.

The band played all over the West Coast and eventually was doing cross country tours headlining clubs, yet they had no record deal. Tuff ended up finding a 2nd guitarist from the rhythm section want ads. Tuff was first signed in 1990 by Atlantic Records and released their debut album What Comes Around Goes Around in May 1991, which included the band’s successful power ballad “I Hate Kissing You Goodbye” co-written with Todd Meagher.

The video reached #3 on Dial MTV behind Guns N’ Roses and Metallica. In 1994, Tuff independently released Fist First, which was eventually reissued by another major label BMG as Religious Fix, in 1995 with the addition of two bonus tracks. The band was then picked up by IRS Grand Slamm Records in early 1993. The label folded in less than a year with the end of the mother label, IRS Records, which distributed Grand Slamm, and Tuff was without a label again.

After struggling with record labels for years, Stevie Rachelle decided to form his own label for the band and in early 1994, Rachelle officially started RLS Records. The initials had a dual meaning. The first was “Record Labels Suck” and the second was “Rachelle’s Lyrics & Songs”. The offshoot, Cheezee Records, was formed in 1996 to be the home for the singer’s side project, Cheeseheads with Attitude.[citation needed] Tuff again signed with 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 1995 with two bonus tracks. The additional tracks were produced by Randy Cantor.

In 2001, Tuff released the compilation CD, The History of Tuff which included the song “American Hair Band”, a parody of Kid Rock’s “American Bad Ass” (both of which incorporate the instrumentals of Metallica’s “Sad but True”). “American Hair Band” made references to numerous similar bands of the era, as well as criticizing grunge and alternative rock.[citation needed] Tuff re-released What Comes Around Goes Around Again in 2012, which featured four re-recorded songs from What Comes Around Goes Around plus new tracks.

Fast forward to 2023 where Tuff will be in Australia as part of Silverback Touring’s Glamfest, along with Faster Pussycat, Enuff Z’Enuff and More. Stevie gives us the low down on what is happening in the Tuff camp as well as a little bit of Sludge talk too. Thanks to Stevie for his time and make sure you catch the band on Glamfest

Follow Stevie and Tuff

Web: https://www.tuffcds.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StevieRachelle
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StevieTuff
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TUFFCDS
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevietuff/
Metal Sludge: https://metalsludge.tv/

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