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Jimmy Keeler (RED ALERT, TERRA) grew up an army brat and called many places home over the years. Born in Puerto Rico, he moved to Texas, Arizona, Alabama, Okinawa, New York, and finally back to Arizona (on July 4, 1975). He received a Yamaha classical acoustic guitar on his tenth birthday, and, after one lesson, he gave up playing guitar because he could not touch his hands across the fretboard to do a G chord. He changed his mind freshman year when a friend came over and showed him how to play DEEP PURPLE’s “Smoke on the Water” and BLACK SABBATH’s “Iron Man.” After that day, he wanted to be a M.F. rock star! Jimmy started teaching himself and then he went out and bought an Ibanez flying V and a Kustom half stack. Slowly, he gave up sports and put all his time into his guitar playing. He often went out with a few of his friends from his high school (Trevor G. Browne) to Laveen, Arizona, and jammed cover tunes from KISS, RUSH, THIN LIZZY, and AEROSMITH. At the age of sixteen, Jimmy’s older sister Marie snuck him into the local rock clubs where he would watch, learn, and listen. She got him hooked on a band called THE WUMBLIES. She was dating the drummer Randy Castillo (LITA FORD, OZZY OSBOURNE, MÖTLEY CRÜE). Shortly after graduating, Jimmy joined the band RED ALERT (Robby Pool, Mike Fricker, Steve Wilson, Pete Capelli) where they played cover tunes by JUDAS PRIEST, SCORPIONS, and IRON MAIDEN. RED ALERT only played one live show when bassist Greg Chaisson (SAINT MICHAEL, BADLANDS, STEELER, PAT TRAVERS) asked Jimmy to join his new project called SURGICAL STEEL in July 1981.
Around this same time, another guitarist, Paul Kosanovich (RAG DOLL, THE DRIFT), built a name for himself and started a band called NIGHTWING with his friend and bassist Steve Hooper. Paul loved hard rock music and was inspired by such bands as UFO, SCORPIONS, LED ZEPPELIN, and BOSTON. NIGHTWING had parted ways with their original drummer and a fifteen-year-old high school sophomore caught their eye in Bob Milan (RIP N TEAR, LYDIAN, HARLEQUIN, 40 THIEVES, BOB WELCH) and they invited him to come tryout. Bob, already a fan and a few years younger than the rest of a band, was pretty intimidated. Bob impressed the guys and was brought in as the new drummer.
The band practiced for several months and began to playout live. During one of the band’s live gigs, Bob caught the eye of another prominent musician in the area, bassist Greg Chaisson as he started up SURGICAL STEEL. Greg had secured a solid lineup with Steve Wilson on vocals, John Aquilino (SCHOOLBOYS, ICON) and of course Jimmy Keeler on guitar. And now with the addition of Bob on drums, the band was set. The project never really gained any traction and ended up fizzling out with all the members going in different directions. Bob returned to NIGHTWING, while Jimmy and Greg continued to jam in a new three-piece instrumental project with Pat Dixon (LOOSELY TIGHT, ICON) on drums, but this project ended up being short-lived.
Jimmy got a call on his twentieth birthday from Steve Hooper who asked him to come tryout for NIGHTWING. On the west side of Phoenix, Jimmy had a reputation of being a Michael Schenker/PRIEST type guitar player with an Eddie Van Halen look. Jimmy came over and showed off his guitar playing and the guys were thoroughly impressed and offered him the spot. Jimmy brought in his old high school classmate Harley (Gibbs) Van Kirk to take the frontman position in the band. With the lineup set, Jimmy wasn’t too keen on the name NIGHTWING and told the band they needed to come up with a better band name. Jimmy reached out to his and Bob’s old bandmate Greg and asked if it would be okay if he used their old band name SURGICAL STEEL. Greg was good with Jimmy taking the name and the new version of SURGICAL STEEL was born.
SURGICAL STEEL practiced in the garage of Steve Hooper’s parents. This lasted almost a year, but Steve and the band parted ways and SURGICAL STEEL was on the lookout for a new practice space and a new bassist. Jimmy reached out to Greg to see if he wanted to join and Greg took Jimmy up on the offer. The band found a band space and got back to work. SURGICAL STEEL entered the Battle of the Bands contest at Firebird Lake where they played on a floating dock. The band recalled how hot it was, especially in their denim and leather. They opened for KROKUS at the Star Theater in late April 1982. This was their last show with vocalist Harley Van Kirk, who wanted to head in a new direction. Greg told the band not to worry as he had just the guy to come in to front the band. He invited his old SAINT MICHAEL’s drummer Jeff Martin (RACER X, BAD DOG, BADLANDS, MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP, LETHAL X). Jeff grew up in Wisconsin and came from a musical family. He was inspired to begin drumming by his older brother who was also a drummer. Jeff made his own makeshift drumkit out of things he found around the house and spare parts off his brother’s kit (where he may or may not have had permission) and practiced daily. Jeff got his first real drum kit in 1969 at the age of thirteen. Two years later in 1971 when Jeff was just a sophomore in high school, he and his family moved to Phoenix, Arizona. Before the end of high school, Greg recruited Jeff as the new drummer of his band GHOST ROSE (which later changed their name to SAINT MICHAEL). In this band Jeff actually recorded his first song “Laser Lady” on lead vocals. Jeff was a huge Judas Priest fan and idolized Rob Halford. Getting the chance to sing lead vocals was a great accomplishment for Jeff. When SAINT MICHAEL disbanded, Jeff joined the band ELECTRA where they toured from Arizona to the Pacific Northwest. One day while hiking, Jeff fell down a mountainside and smashed the right side of his face and needed 85 stitches to put his face back together. The long recovery forced his dismissal from ELECTRA.
At the end of May 1982, Jeff agreed to join the band SURGICAL STEEL. A week and a half after Jeff joined the band, Jimmy was at the club “Mr. Luckys.” At the bar, he saw from the corner of his eye an arm reaching near him to grab some drinks. Jimmy noticed the spiked bracelets as the man walked away. Jimmy thought that nobody in town outside of his band SURGICAL STEEL wore stuff like that, so he followed the man back to his table. When the gentleman turned to sit down, Jimmy was shocked at who it was. Jimmy said, “Do you happen to be Rob Halford?” The gentleman said in a charming British accent back to Jimmy, “Yes, I happen to be Rob Halford.” Jimmy was blown away to be speaking to the Metal God himself, but he kept his cool and didn’t go all fanboy like he wanted to. Rob noticed Jimmy’s long rocker hair and clothes and asked Jimmy if he was in a metal band. Jimmy answered, “Yeah, I’m in a band called Surgical Steel.” That is when Rob got truly excited and told Jimmy that he had heard of his band and heard that they did a great PRIEST. Rob asked Jimmy if they had a gig coming up, and Jimmy being, excited, blurted out, “Yes, we have a gig coming up Saturday night,” knowing that the band did not have any gigs lined up. Jimmy quickly excused himself from the table and let Rob know that he would be right back. Jimmy ran up to the second floor of the bar to use the phone to call Greg. Jimmy told Greg that he was talking to Rob Halford and that he invited him to see SURGICAL STEEL live that Saturday. Greg said, “We don’t have a gig this weekend.” Jimmy said, “Yeah, but I told Rob we did. So, we need to line up a show quick.” Greg reached out to Dan Pool who was the band’s manager and employer. Dan was the CEO of PC MFG Inc. (aka “PC Warehouse”) and turned the industrial paper plant warehouse into a concert hall on the weekends to invite the top local metal bands to play. The band asked if they could play a show there on Saturday. Dan told them that the band ROCK CANDY was playing that night, but they are welcome to check with ROCK CANDY to see if they could open for them. Jimmy called future SURGICAL STEEL and current ROCK CANDY bassist Mark Lehman (LOOSLEY TIGHT) and asked if they could open the show for them on Saturday. Mark asked why they wanted to open for them when SURGICAL STEEL was the top local act and was always the closer. Jimmy told him that they just wanted an opening slot to get Jeff’s feet wet as the new vocalist. ROCK CANDY bought it, not knowing that Rob Halford was going to be in attendance that night. Jimmy hurried back downstairs to spend more time with Rob. Jimmy asked Rob and his friend if he wanted to come over and watch the HBO boxing match between Larry Holmes and Gerry Cooney at Greg Chaisson’s and Bruce Chamber’s house. Rob accepted the invitation.
On Friday, June 11, 1982, Rob Halford and his friend arrived at Greg’s house. A half hour later, Jeff Martin pulled up on his motorcycle in full leathers and entered the house. Jeff had no idea that the guys had invited company over. Jeff walked in and saw Rob Halford sitting on the couch. Jeff quickly walked into the kitchen and called out for Greg and Jimmy to come into the kitchen. Greg and Jimmy went into the kitchen and Jeff said, “There is a guy that looks just like Rob Halford sitting in the front room on the couch.” Jimmy laughed and told Jeff, “That is Rob Halford sitting in the front room.” Jeff was blown away and could hardly believe that the Metal God himself was sitting on Greg’s couch. Jeff was so excited to hang out with his idol. But joy quickly turned to nervousness when Jeff found out the guys booked a gig opening for ROCK CANDY the very next night and Rob would be coming to the show. Jeff had not sung live with the band yet and didn’t know all the lyrics to the songs. As a matter of fact, this was going to be Jeff’s first time ever fronting a band live. The guys all had a great time and Jeff stayed up late learning the songs and even taped the lyrics to the stage. Jeff sang his ass off the next night in front of a packed audience which included none other than Rob Halford. Rob actually came up on stage with the band and sang “Living After Midnight” and “Breaking the Law.”
SURGICAL STEEL changed the complexion of the music scene in Arizona, refusing to meet the club’s demands of four sets of 45 minutes. The band played local desert parties/keggers under their own rules. One time they played a 100 kegger and six thousand people showed up. SURGICAL STEEL filled the backline of the stage with stacks of amps to be larger than life because Jimmy heard an interview with Gene Simmons (KISS) who said, “People hear with their eyes” (referring to putting on huge visual shows). When they finally played the clubs, they used the national touring mentality with an opening act, playing one full set.
Rob quickly became very good friends with all the SURGICAL STEEL members and would even join the band on stage and sing with Jeff while they did JUDAS PRIEST covers. As the band played out more, the shows got bigger and bigger. Steve Brownlee (friend of Greg Chaisson) of Greenworld Record Distribution caught wind of Rob Halford joining the band on stage from a rock magazine out of Los Angeles, California. Brownlee happened to be good friends with Brian Slagel of Metal Blade Records, and he turned him on to SURGICAL STEEL. Brian received a practice demo and asked the band to go into the studio and record him one song. The band entered Pantheon Studio and recorded the song “Rivet Head.” Greg and Jimmy flew out to Los Angeles, where they stayed with Brian “Jay” Hongola (KEEL, DOGBONE). They met up with Brian Slagel, where they inked the deal to appear on the “Metal Massacre II” compilation alongside bands such as ARMORED SAINT, OBSESSION, SAVAGE GRACE, OVERKILL, WARLORD, and others.
SURGICAL STEEL opened for national touring acts such as Y&T, RAVEN, ALCATRAZZ [w/YNGWIE MALMSTEEN], MOTORHEAD, URIAH HEEP and SAXON. Rob Halford continued to support the band and came to all the shows that he could fit into his schedule. Rob also spent a lot of recreational time with the SURGICAL STEEL guys hiking and shooting together. Jeff one day told Rob about a song that he and his old SAINT MICHAEL bandmate Jim McMellen (40 THIEVES) had written called “Smooth and Fast” and asked Rob if he would be willing to sing dual lead vocals on it with him. Rob loved the song and agreed to join them in the studio. The band entered Chaton Studio in Scottsdale, Arizona, in late summer 1982 and recorded the songs “Moby Dick,” “Bad Boy,” and the song featuring Rob Halford, “Smooth and Fast.”
Shortly after the first demos were recorded, Greg Chaisson departed the band. The band replaced him with former ROCK CANDY bassist Mark Lehman. SURGICAL STEEL continued to record new songs (many co-produced by Dan Wexler of ICON and Dan Pool) and pushed to try and land that coveted record deal. Rob Halford helped generate interest in the band from Columbia Records, but nothing ever formulated from the label representatives.
There were many fan-favorite songs as SURGICAL STEEL played live. One of them in particular was the song “Officer Steel,” where Jeff rode out onto the stage on his motorcycle in full police tactical gear. At the end of the song, Jeff shot a sawed-off shotgun with special shells that were very loud and shot flames from the gun’s barrels. One night at the Rockers nightclub, Jeff got too close to the microphone when shooting off the shotgun and the loud bang went through the club’s PA and blew the speakers!
SURGICAL STEEL played live as often as they could at such venues as Rockers, Rascals, Mason Jar, PC Warehouse, Clancy’s, Star Theater, Celebrity Theater, The Library, Whiskey River, and Buddyz. They opened for such bands as ICON, FLOTSAM & JETSAM, MEGADETH, KING DIAMOND and many more. One of their most unique shows was when they were billed at Grand Central Station to open for THE B52’s. It was a very mixed crowd, but the night ended with all in attendance having a great time. The band started to get both local and national press. One magazine stated about Paul Kosanovich: “He is a tall skinny bad-ass guitar player that constantly has a cigarette dangling out of his mouth while he hits notes that only dogs can hear.”
The night before a big gig, Bob got food poisoning and was hospitalized for several days. The band reached out to Rob Halford (JUDAS PRIEST) whom they had become very good friends with and asked if he would fill in as the band’s frontman while Jeff Martin filled in for Bob on drums. Rob, being the great guy that he is, stepped in and saved the show. The crowd always gave a great ovation when Rob stepped up at the SURGICAL STEEL shows and this one was no different.
As time went on, the band’s stage shows got bigger and bigger with help from Dan Pool. The band obtained a backline that rivaled the national acts that came to town. The band had a huge drum riser that opened, and an additional smaller pop-up kit would be wheeled out during Bob’s big drum solo. The kit was manned by Jeff Martin as he and Bob performed a dual drum solo as part of the band’s elaborate show.
The band continued to get support from Rob Halford and the guys in JUDAS PRIEST. Rob and the guys from JUDAS PRIEST joined SURGICAL STEEL on stage to perform. Both bands spent a lot of time together and enjoyed many parties at Rob’s Arizona home. The JUDAS PRIEST song “Wild Nights, Hot & Crazy Days” off the “Turbo” album was inspired by the night club Rockers and the times that JUDAS PRIEST and SURGICAL STEEL had together.
Increasing the band’s local popularity, SURGICAL STEEL was frequently featured on the local cable TV show “Arizona Backstage Pass” that highlighted the valley’s premier entertainment. The show was created and hosted by Joel Samule with his sidekick Cindi Guerra. Jimmy appeared on the show with Rob Halford where they discussed their joint ownership of the local magazine Where It’s Hot Weekly. Jimmy and the band were grateful for Joel’s hospitality and hard work to help the band become more visible as they continued to build their audience and fanbase.
In early 1985, Ken Topolsky was searching for a band for the movie “Thunder Alley” (a Cannon Films production) that starred Leif Garrett (Outsiders), Roger Wilson (Porky’s), Clancy Brown (Bad Boys, Highlander, Shoot To Kill, Shawshank Redemption, Starship Troopers, Flubber, Cowboys & Aliens). Ken went through a talent agency to find a band that played heavy metal and had the bad boy image and right attitude. The talent agency contacted SURGICAL STEEL to try out for the part. The band auditioned at Star Theater for the role, where they played two songs. At the end of the second song, the talent scout walked up and slammed his hand down on the stage and said, “Where the f*** have you been, you guys are perfect.” Star Fields (known for his work on Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Raising Arizona, Young Guns II, The Sandlot and the TV series Sons of Anarchy and as the singer for the band “Whiskey Dogz”) gave the band a call and let them know that they got the part. The first day on the set, the band was given a trailer with full makeup and hair professionals. The band played themselves while even giving Jeff Martin a speaking part. The band read the script and saw that the band’s part in the movie had the band looked down upon and they were able to influence changes to the script to put the band in a better light. The movie featured two SURGICAL STEEL songs: “Gimme Back My Heart,” which the band played live, and the song “Surrender.”
The band recorded several demos at Chaton Studios while looking to the future. With a movie appearance under their belt, recordings with Rob Halford and the backing and support of Dan Pool, the band was well on their way to securing a record deal. The band continued to play out live as often as permitted. Some of these live shows included guest appearances by Glen Tipton (JUDAS PRIEST) and Rob Halford. The band was contacted by Chrysalis Records who were very interested in SURGICAL STEEL. The label put the band in contact with a producer. This producer put SURGICAL STEEL on the backburner as they pursued another project, which ultimately lost the band the deal with Chrysalis Records.
Shortly after the deal with Chrysalis Records fell through, the band recorded more demos at El Dorado Studios in Los Angeles, California, where they received interest from RCA, but that soon fizzled. With the RCA deal gone, Mark Lehman departed the band. He was replaced by Ian Mayo (HERICANE ALICE, BANGALORE CHOIR, BAD MOON RISING) and the band wrote several new songs. Ian and Bob ultimately left as well. Randy Marchetti was brought in on drums before Jeff was pulled away by Mike Varney (THE NUNS, CINEMA, ROCK JUSTICE) of Shrapnel Records where he became one of the original members of the band RACER X featuring himself with Paul Gilbert (MR. BIG), John Alderete (THE SCREAM), and Harry Gschösser (NO BROS, LETHAL X). This departure led to the addition of vocalist Derek Kendall (HOOKER, RAG DOLL) and bassist Rik Fox (W.A.S.P., STEELER, SIN, THUNDERBALL). The band morphed again when Rik departed and then Paul shortly thereafter. The band brought in Dave Ownbey on drums and Parrish Hultquist (MOVIESCREEN, MEGATTACK, TERRA) on guitar. They also recruited Tim “Slam” Jacobs on bass and recorded several more songs.
In 1988, SURGICAL STEEL reunited with Jeff Martin to perform some shows in the Pheonix area. Due to a minor medical procedure, Paul had to miss one of the shows and that vacancy was filled by a very young and upcoming guitarist in Russ Parrish (BAD DOG, WAR & PEACE, FIGHT), who would later be known as “Satchel” in the band STEEL PANTHER.
The band went through many lineup changes over the years and even a name change here and there, but the love for SURGICAL STEEL by their adoring fans was always constant. The band reunited with the first recording lineup (Jimmy Keeler, Jeff Martin, Greg Chaisson, Paul Kosanovich, and Bob Milan) to do a reunion show in 1992 which was very well received.
Sadly, we have lost both Paul Kosanovich and Mark Lehman who have both passed away. We will always remember them for the wonderful times and great music they brought to us. In loving memory.
Around this same time, another guitarist, Paul Kosanovich (RAG DOLL, THE DRIFT), built a name for himself and started a band called NIGHTWING with his friend and bassist Steve Hooper. Paul loved hard rock music and was inspired by such bands as UFO, SCORPIONS, LED ZEPPELIN, and BOSTON. NIGHTWING had parted ways with their original drummer and a fifteen-year-old high school sophomore caught their eye in Bob Milan (RIP N TEAR, LYDIAN, HARLEQUIN, 40 THIEVES, BOB WELCH) and they invited him to come tryout. Bob, already a fan and a few years younger than the rest of a band, was pretty intimidated. Bob impressed the guys and was brought in as the new drummer.
The band practiced for several months and began to playout live. During one of the band’s live gigs, Bob caught the eye of another prominent musician in the area, bassist Greg Chaisson as he started up SURGICAL STEEL. Greg had secured a solid lineup with Steve Wilson on vocals, John Aquilino (SCHOOLBOYS, ICON) and of course Jimmy Keeler on guitar. And now with the addition of Bob on drums, the band was set. The project never really gained any traction and ended up fizzling out with all the members going in different directions. Bob returned to NIGHTWING, while Jimmy and Greg continued to jam in a new three-piece instrumental project with Pat Dixon (LOOSELY TIGHT, ICON) on drums, but this project ended up being short-lived.
Jimmy got a call on his twentieth birthday from Steve Hooper who asked him to come tryout for NIGHTWING. On the west side of Phoenix, Jimmy had a reputation of being a Michael Schenker/PRIEST type guitar player with an Eddie Van Halen look. Jimmy came over and showed off his guitar playing and the guys were thoroughly impressed and offered him the spot. Jimmy brought in his old high school classmate Harley (Gibbs) Van Kirk to take the frontman position in the band. With the lineup set, Jimmy wasn’t too keen on the name NIGHTWING and told the band they needed to come up with a better band name. Jimmy reached out to his and Bob’s old bandmate Greg and asked if it would be okay if he used their old band name SURGICAL STEEL. Greg was good with Jimmy taking the name and the new version of SURGICAL STEEL was born.
SURGICAL STEEL practiced in the garage of Steve Hooper’s parents. This lasted almost a year, but Steve and the band parted ways and SURGICAL STEEL was on the lookout for a new practice space and a new bassist. Jimmy reached out to Greg to see if he wanted to join and Greg took Jimmy up on the offer. The band found a band space and got back to work. SURGICAL STEEL entered the Battle of the Bands contest at Firebird Lake where they played on a floating dock. The band recalled how hot it was, especially in their denim and leather. They opened for KROKUS at the Star Theater in late April 1982. This was their last show with vocalist Harley Van Kirk, who wanted to head in a new direction. Greg told the band not to worry as he had just the guy to come in to front the band. He invited his old SAINT MICHAEL’s drummer Jeff Martin (RACER X, BAD DOG, BADLANDS, MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP, LETHAL X). Jeff grew up in Wisconsin and came from a musical family. He was inspired to begin drumming by his older brother who was also a drummer. Jeff made his own makeshift drumkit out of things he found around the house and spare parts off his brother’s kit (where he may or may not have had permission) and practiced daily. Jeff got his first real drum kit in 1969 at the age of thirteen. Two years later in 1971 when Jeff was just a sophomore in high school, he and his family moved to Phoenix, Arizona. Before the end of high school, Greg recruited Jeff as the new drummer of his band GHOST ROSE (which later changed their name to SAINT MICHAEL). In this band Jeff actually recorded his first song “Laser Lady” on lead vocals. Jeff was a huge Judas Priest fan and idolized Rob Halford. Getting the chance to sing lead vocals was a great accomplishment for Jeff. When SAINT MICHAEL disbanded, Jeff joined the band ELECTRA where they toured from Arizona to the Pacific Northwest. One day while hiking, Jeff fell down a mountainside and smashed the right side of his face and needed 85 stitches to put his face back together. The long recovery forced his dismissal from ELECTRA.
At the end of May 1982, Jeff agreed to join the band SURGICAL STEEL. A week and a half after Jeff joined the band, Jimmy was at the club “Mr. Luckys.” At the bar, he saw from the corner of his eye an arm reaching near him to grab some drinks. Jimmy noticed the spiked bracelets as the man walked away. Jimmy thought that nobody in town outside of his band SURGICAL STEEL wore stuff like that, so he followed the man back to his table. When the gentleman turned to sit down, Jimmy was shocked at who it was. Jimmy said, “Do you happen to be Rob Halford?” The gentleman said in a charming British accent back to Jimmy, “Yes, I happen to be Rob Halford.” Jimmy was blown away to be speaking to the Metal God himself, but he kept his cool and didn’t go all fanboy like he wanted to. Rob noticed Jimmy’s long rocker hair and clothes and asked Jimmy if he was in a metal band. Jimmy answered, “Yeah, I’m in a band called Surgical Steel.” That is when Rob got truly excited and told Jimmy that he had heard of his band and heard that they did a great PRIEST. Rob asked Jimmy if they had a gig coming up, and Jimmy being, excited, blurted out, “Yes, we have a gig coming up Saturday night,” knowing that the band did not have any gigs lined up. Jimmy quickly excused himself from the table and let Rob know that he would be right back. Jimmy ran up to the second floor of the bar to use the phone to call Greg. Jimmy told Greg that he was talking to Rob Halford and that he invited him to see SURGICAL STEEL live that Saturday. Greg said, “We don’t have a gig this weekend.” Jimmy said, “Yeah, but I told Rob we did. So, we need to line up a show quick.” Greg reached out to Dan Pool who was the band’s manager and employer. Dan was the CEO of PC MFG Inc. (aka “PC Warehouse”) and turned the industrial paper plant warehouse into a concert hall on the weekends to invite the top local metal bands to play. The band asked if they could play a show there on Saturday. Dan told them that the band ROCK CANDY was playing that night, but they are welcome to check with ROCK CANDY to see if they could open for them. Jimmy called future SURGICAL STEEL and current ROCK CANDY bassist Mark Lehman (LOOSLEY TIGHT) and asked if they could open the show for them on Saturday. Mark asked why they wanted to open for them when SURGICAL STEEL was the top local act and was always the closer. Jimmy told him that they just wanted an opening slot to get Jeff’s feet wet as the new vocalist. ROCK CANDY bought it, not knowing that Rob Halford was going to be in attendance that night. Jimmy hurried back downstairs to spend more time with Rob. Jimmy asked Rob and his friend if he wanted to come over and watch the HBO boxing match between Larry Holmes and Gerry Cooney at Greg Chaisson’s and Bruce Chamber’s house. Rob accepted the invitation.
On Friday, June 11, 1982, Rob Halford and his friend arrived at Greg’s house. A half hour later, Jeff Martin pulled up on his motorcycle in full leathers and entered the house. Jeff had no idea that the guys had invited company over. Jeff walked in and saw Rob Halford sitting on the couch. Jeff quickly walked into the kitchen and called out for Greg and Jimmy to come into the kitchen. Greg and Jimmy went into the kitchen and Jeff said, “There is a guy that looks just like Rob Halford sitting in the front room on the couch.” Jimmy laughed and told Jeff, “That is Rob Halford sitting in the front room.” Jeff was blown away and could hardly believe that the Metal God himself was sitting on Greg’s couch. Jeff was so excited to hang out with his idol. But joy quickly turned to nervousness when Jeff found out the guys booked a gig opening for ROCK CANDY the very next night and Rob would be coming to the show. Jeff had not sung live with the band yet and didn’t know all the lyrics to the songs. As a matter of fact, this was going to be Jeff’s first time ever fronting a band live. The guys all had a great time and Jeff stayed up late learning the songs and even taped the lyrics to the stage. Jeff sang his ass off the next night in front of a packed audience which included none other than Rob Halford. Rob actually came up on stage with the band and sang “Living After Midnight” and “Breaking the Law.”
SURGICAL STEEL changed the complexion of the music scene in Arizona, refusing to meet the club’s demands of four sets of 45 minutes. The band played local desert parties/keggers under their own rules. One time they played a 100 kegger and six thousand people showed up. SURGICAL STEEL filled the backline of the stage with stacks of amps to be larger than life because Jimmy heard an interview with Gene Simmons (KISS) who said, “People hear with their eyes” (referring to putting on huge visual shows). When they finally played the clubs, they used the national touring mentality with an opening act, playing one full set.
Rob quickly became very good friends with all the SURGICAL STEEL members and would even join the band on stage and sing with Jeff while they did JUDAS PRIEST covers. As the band played out more, the shows got bigger and bigger. Steve Brownlee (friend of Greg Chaisson) of Greenworld Record Distribution caught wind of Rob Halford joining the band on stage from a rock magazine out of Los Angeles, California. Brownlee happened to be good friends with Brian Slagel of Metal Blade Records, and he turned him on to SURGICAL STEEL. Brian received a practice demo and asked the band to go into the studio and record him one song. The band entered Pantheon Studio and recorded the song “Rivet Head.” Greg and Jimmy flew out to Los Angeles, where they stayed with Brian “Jay” Hongola (KEEL, DOGBONE). They met up with Brian Slagel, where they inked the deal to appear on the “Metal Massacre II” compilation alongside bands such as ARMORED SAINT, OBSESSION, SAVAGE GRACE, OVERKILL, WARLORD, and others.
SURGICAL STEEL opened for national touring acts such as Y&T, RAVEN, ALCATRAZZ [w/YNGWIE MALMSTEEN], MOTORHEAD, URIAH HEEP and SAXON. Rob Halford continued to support the band and came to all the shows that he could fit into his schedule. Rob also spent a lot of recreational time with the SURGICAL STEEL guys hiking and shooting together. Jeff one day told Rob about a song that he and his old SAINT MICHAEL bandmate Jim McMellen (40 THIEVES) had written called “Smooth and Fast” and asked Rob if he would be willing to sing dual lead vocals on it with him. Rob loved the song and agreed to join them in the studio. The band entered Chaton Studio in Scottsdale, Arizona, in late summer 1982 and recorded the songs “Moby Dick,” “Bad Boy,” and the song featuring Rob Halford, “Smooth and Fast.”
Shortly after the first demos were recorded, Greg Chaisson departed the band. The band replaced him with former ROCK CANDY bassist Mark Lehman. SURGICAL STEEL continued to record new songs (many co-produced by Dan Wexler of ICON and Dan Pool) and pushed to try and land that coveted record deal. Rob Halford helped generate interest in the band from Columbia Records, but nothing ever formulated from the label representatives.
There were many fan-favorite songs as SURGICAL STEEL played live. One of them in particular was the song “Officer Steel,” where Jeff rode out onto the stage on his motorcycle in full police tactical gear. At the end of the song, Jeff shot a sawed-off shotgun with special shells that were very loud and shot flames from the gun’s barrels. One night at the Rockers nightclub, Jeff got too close to the microphone when shooting off the shotgun and the loud bang went through the club’s PA and blew the speakers!
SURGICAL STEEL played live as often as they could at such venues as Rockers, Rascals, Mason Jar, PC Warehouse, Clancy’s, Star Theater, Celebrity Theater, The Library, Whiskey River, and Buddyz. They opened for such bands as ICON, FLOTSAM & JETSAM, MEGADETH, KING DIAMOND and many more. One of their most unique shows was when they were billed at Grand Central Station to open for THE B52’s. It was a very mixed crowd, but the night ended with all in attendance having a great time. The band started to get both local and national press. One magazine stated about Paul Kosanovich: “He is a tall skinny bad-ass guitar player that constantly has a cigarette dangling out of his mouth while he hits notes that only dogs can hear.”
The night before a big gig, Bob got food poisoning and was hospitalized for several days. The band reached out to Rob Halford (JUDAS PRIEST) whom they had become very good friends with and asked if he would fill in as the band’s frontman while Jeff Martin filled in for Bob on drums. Rob, being the great guy that he is, stepped in and saved the show. The crowd always gave a great ovation when Rob stepped up at the SURGICAL STEEL shows and this one was no different.
As time went on, the band’s stage shows got bigger and bigger with help from Dan Pool. The band obtained a backline that rivaled the national acts that came to town. The band had a huge drum riser that opened, and an additional smaller pop-up kit would be wheeled out during Bob’s big drum solo. The kit was manned by Jeff Martin as he and Bob performed a dual drum solo as part of the band’s elaborate show.
The band continued to get support from Rob Halford and the guys in JUDAS PRIEST. Rob and the guys from JUDAS PRIEST joined SURGICAL STEEL on stage to perform. Both bands spent a lot of time together and enjoyed many parties at Rob’s Arizona home. The JUDAS PRIEST song “Wild Nights, Hot & Crazy Days” off the “Turbo” album was inspired by the night club Rockers and the times that JUDAS PRIEST and SURGICAL STEEL had together.
Increasing the band’s local popularity, SURGICAL STEEL was frequently featured on the local cable TV show “Arizona Backstage Pass” that highlighted the valley’s premier entertainment. The show was created and hosted by Joel Samule with his sidekick Cindi Guerra. Jimmy appeared on the show with Rob Halford where they discussed their joint ownership of the local magazine Where It’s Hot Weekly. Jimmy and the band were grateful for Joel’s hospitality and hard work to help the band become more visible as they continued to build their audience and fanbase.
In early 1985, Ken Topolsky was searching for a band for the movie “Thunder Alley” (a Cannon Films production) that starred Leif Garrett (Outsiders), Roger Wilson (Porky’s), Clancy Brown (Bad Boys, Highlander, Shoot To Kill, Shawshank Redemption, Starship Troopers, Flubber, Cowboys & Aliens). Ken went through a talent agency to find a band that played heavy metal and had the bad boy image and right attitude. The talent agency contacted SURGICAL STEEL to try out for the part. The band auditioned at Star Theater for the role, where they played two songs. At the end of the second song, the talent scout walked up and slammed his hand down on the stage and said, “Where the f*** have you been, you guys are perfect.” Star Fields (known for his work on Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Raising Arizona, Young Guns II, The Sandlot and the TV series Sons of Anarchy and as the singer for the band “Whiskey Dogz”) gave the band a call and let them know that they got the part. The first day on the set, the band was given a trailer with full makeup and hair professionals. The band played themselves while even giving Jeff Martin a speaking part. The band read the script and saw that the band’s part in the movie had the band looked down upon and they were able to influence changes to the script to put the band in a better light. The movie featured two SURGICAL STEEL songs: “Gimme Back My Heart,” which the band played live, and the song “Surrender.”
The band recorded several demos at Chaton Studios while looking to the future. With a movie appearance under their belt, recordings with Rob Halford and the backing and support of Dan Pool, the band was well on their way to securing a record deal. The band continued to play out live as often as permitted. Some of these live shows included guest appearances by Glen Tipton (JUDAS PRIEST) and Rob Halford. The band was contacted by Chrysalis Records who were very interested in SURGICAL STEEL. The label put the band in contact with a producer. This producer put SURGICAL STEEL on the backburner as they pursued another project, which ultimately lost the band the deal with Chrysalis Records.
Shortly after the deal with Chrysalis Records fell through, the band recorded more demos at El Dorado Studios in Los Angeles, California, where they received interest from RCA, but that soon fizzled. With the RCA deal gone, Mark Lehman departed the band. He was replaced by Ian Mayo (HERICANE ALICE, BANGALORE CHOIR, BAD MOON RISING) and the band wrote several new songs. Ian and Bob ultimately left as well. Randy Marchetti was brought in on drums before Jeff was pulled away by Mike Varney (THE NUNS, CINEMA, ROCK JUSTICE) of Shrapnel Records where he became one of the original members of the band RACER X featuring himself with Paul Gilbert (MR. BIG), John Alderete (THE SCREAM), and Harry Gschösser (NO BROS, LETHAL X). This departure led to the addition of vocalist Derek Kendall (HOOKER, RAG DOLL) and bassist Rik Fox (W.A.S.P., STEELER, SIN, THUNDERBALL). The band morphed again when Rik departed and then Paul shortly thereafter. The band brought in Dave Ownbey on drums and Parrish Hultquist (MOVIESCREEN, MEGATTACK, TERRA) on guitar. They also recruited Tim “Slam” Jacobs on bass and recorded several more songs.
In 1988, SURGICAL STEEL reunited with Jeff Martin to perform some shows in the Pheonix area. Due to a minor medical procedure, Paul had to miss one of the shows and that vacancy was filled by a very young and upcoming guitarist in Russ Parrish (BAD DOG, WAR & PEACE, FIGHT), who would later be known as “Satchel” in the band STEEL PANTHER.
The band went through many lineup changes over the years and even a name change here and there, but the love for SURGICAL STEEL by their adoring fans was always constant. The band reunited with the first recording lineup (Jimmy Keeler, Jeff Martin, Greg Chaisson, Paul Kosanovich, and Bob Milan) to do a reunion show in 1992 which was very well received.
Sadly, we have lost both Paul Kosanovich and Mark Lehman who have both passed away. We will always remember them for the wonderful times and great music they brought to us. In loving memory.