Our story begins with two guys, guitarist Gregg Malack and vocalist Luis Rivera, who went to the same high school together (North Penn)and were in rival rock bands, Lust and Telstar respectively. Even though both bands came from the same school (located about an hour north of Philadelphia), neither Malack or Rivera knew each other. While both bands played the same "cover" renditions of the latest Kiss, Rush, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath and AC/DC songs (and crossed paths doing the same local club circuit), the two future band-mates were soon introduced to each other and discovered that they both possessed a burning desire to be in the hottest rock band in the area.

They soon joined forces and quickly decided on what direction this new band would take. They wanted it to appeal to the ladies first (for all of the obvious reasons) and they knew it had to rock hard for the guys. Most importantly, they wanted the "show" to be front and center, the one you talked about for weeks after. Those first gigs done at school dances, fire halls, grimy shot and beer taverns, etc., would be the informal announcement of a musical partnership that would last twenty five years. Luis would be the one to name it Teeze.

Teeze would endure all of the typical growing pains of any young band trying to find its identity and sound. A seemingly endless succession of guitarists, bassists and drummers would come and go during the group's formative, part-time years until 1980 and the arrival of bassist Dave Weakley. It soon became apparent with the addition of Weakley that the personality of the band was beginning to gel.

Those fortunate enough to witness the early gigs will remember an agitated, animated Weakley on the bass doing scary dead-on versions of Bowie's Ziggy persona. The group continued to do the heaviest tunes of the day, including Ozzy, Scorpions, Def Leppard and new punkier stuff like the Dead Boys. It was also during this time that the infamous Teeze shredded "look" developed; something akin to some kind of mutant Twisted Sister/Motley Crue hybrid on steroids. It wouldn't be long before it was taking close to an hour just to apply makeup and clothes before a show. Malack, Rivera and Weakley would soon be joined by drummer Kevin Stover as the operation opted to make the ultimate commitment and become full time (complete with its own unique form of trucking; the fabled yellow school bus).

Teeze had always been devoted to live gigs and the lure of the road. Now as a full time act, they were playing five to six nights a week in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and New York. It was this dedicated commitment to heavy touring that would eventually give them a five figure mailing list/fan club base and a huge loyal following. It would also lead to the decision to start focusing on original Teeze material and re-vamping the entire stage show. It wasn't an easy decision since the band was making a healthy living off of the cover circuit and the "original" metal scene hadn't really gotten started in Philadelphia.

Teeze was stuck at a career-defining crossroads. Half the band wanted to continue doing cover material and the other half wanted to pursue originals. It would take the stunning, unexpected departure of guitarist Gregg Malack to force the issue. Malack quit because he was unable to convince some of the others that the cover circuit was a dead end and that the only way to move forward was to play Teeze music and nothing else. Even though his departure lasted all of one week, it would prove to be a pivotal moment by opening the door for guitarist Brian Stover, Kevin's younger brother, to join the band.

Cooler heads prevailed and Gregg re-joined the new, improved lineup. Bigger hair, louder amps, tons of smoke, concussion bombs, flash pots, spinning guitars, blood spurting, hair spray and spandex, spandex, spandex......If Motley Crue owned the L.A. glam scene and had successfully released a self-financed debut album on their own label, then Teeze was their east coast rival and was about to do the same. Philadelphia, arguably the birth place of rock & roll and the home of stars such as Todd Rundgren and Hall & Oates, had never seen a hard rock band breakout big from the City of Brotherly Love (although one could make a case for The Nazz in '68/'69). Teeze would lead Philly into the fray for what would become an Eighties' heavy metal hairband onslaught, a scene that wouldn't end until the arrival of a guy named Cobain from Seattle in 1989.

It's 1984 and in just a few short years, every major city in the US has a thriving metal scene with its locally based stars; L.A. has Motley Crue, Poison (Pennsylvania transplants), and Quiet Riot; Chicago has Enuff Z'Nuff and Seduce; New York has Twisted Sister and White Lion; Baltimore has Kix and Wrathchild; northern New Jersey has Bon Jovi and southern New Jersey has The Dead End Kids; and Philadelphia has Teeze, Cinderella, Britny Fox, and Tangier.

Teeze began the year by writing the songs that would eventually make up their debut album. The recording process started that summer and would stretch into October of that year before the original eight tracks were in the can. A special promo 45 seven inch single,"Party Hardy"/"Going Away" ( SMC 45-925), was released on the group's own SMC label to press and radio in November. Intended to announce the upcoming release of the LP, the disc (complete with a picture sleeve) was only pressed in a limited edition of 500 copies and was quickly snapped up by collectors.

This single quickly proved its value when it arrived on the desk of Philadelphia radio DJ Mark Didia at 50,000 watt flame-thrower WYSP. Didia, who would later go on to fame and fortune as an A&R rep for several major labels, had a little late night show called "Metal Shop". After giving "Party Hardy" a few spins, the phones lit up. It wasn't long before the song was in heavy rotation and the boys were making regular Saturday night visits as special guests. Although they probably didn't realize it then, WYSP would be instrumental in making the "Teeze" LP an immediate, huge independent success.