Red Hot Chili Peppers

The start of the ‘RHCP’ can be marked at the ‘Fairfox high school of L.A’, where Michael Balzari (Flea), Hillel Slovak and Jack Irons met when they were fifteen years old. The three friends formed a band called ‘Anthym’ and they played at the circuits of Los Angeles’s clubs. Anthony Kiedis, the best friend of Flea, joined casually himself to the band during them shows. For a short period Flea left the group to unite himself to the Punk Band of Los Angeles, ‘Fear’, but in 1983, all together again, they played at the ‘Rhythm Lourge Club’ with the name of Tony Flow and the miraculously majestic Misters of Mayhem’ and composed them first song, ‘Out in Lois Angeles’.

In six months the band, which had adopted definitely the name of ‘Red Hot Chili Peppers’, signed a contract with EMI. The album of debut had the same name of the band and was published in 1984 and produced by Gang of four’s guitarist, Andy Gill. Hillel Slovak and Jack Irons didn’t take part of the album and were replaced by Jack Sherman at the guitar and Cliff Martinez at the drums. Slovak joined himself to the group for the second album, ‘Freaky Styley’ (1985), which was produced by the legend of Punk-Funk George Clinton who helped the band to accentuate so much his funky side.

Is in this period, in particular during the tour for the promotion of freaky Styley , that Kiedis and Slovak start to take heroine.

With the publish of ‘The uplift mofo party plan’ in 1987 (when Martinez were replaced by Jack Irons going like this to RICOMPORRE the initial quartet) the RHCP’s commercial fortune started to turn fine and the album positioned itself at the number 148 of the billboard charts. In the meantime Slovak was falling more and more in the heroine BARATRO. Consequently at a tour in Europe the band’s member decided to go all went they separate ways for a short rest before to start to work again for the new album. Was in that moment when there was the tragedy. The Monday of 27 June in 1988 the police discovered that Slovak was died of overdose. Devastated, Kiedis decided to withdraw before to Mexico and then to go in a recover centre of California . iron decided to left definitely the band then Iron will become the drummer of the ‘Pearl Jam’). Finally, however Anthony and Flea decided to RICOMPORRE the band and in 1989 they try to replace Slovak and Irons, so John Frusciante became their guitarist and, after a series of auditions, Chad Smith was selected to take Iron’sli place. In September of the same year the RHCP published ‘Mother’s milk’, which became, the, the first band’s album to obtain the gold disc with songs like ‘Knock me down’ (a song written in memory of Hiller Slovak) and the cover of the song of Steve Wonder ‘Higher Ground’.

Rick Rubin produced the next album, ‘Blood Sugar Sex Magic’, which was recorded in a house out Los Angeles and was a blockbuster, making become a famous band in the world. The album did earn to Peppers a platinum disc and their first Grammy Award. Was during the world tour, the 7 May of 1992, straight away after the arrive the news that the Red Hot Chili Peppers AVREBBERO played to Lollaponza that summer, that John Frusciante announce to left the band, in the next two years many guitarist replaced John, guitarist in which stand out Arik Marshall, Zander Schloss and Jesse Tobias. With the guitarist of the Jane’s addiction, Navarro, the RHCP started to work on a new album in 1994, ‘One Hot Minute’ published in August of 1995, was produced by Rick Rubin and not so far than two months become a platinum disc.

In April of 1997, after than Navarro had announced his abandon of the band to work at the Spread’s project, Flea ask John Frusciante if he were interested to unite himself to the group. The guitarist accept the proposal and one year later the band star to work the next album. Californication was published the 7 June and produced by Rick Rubin.

writen by Marilyn Carbajal ( free4@itcgbianchi.mi.it )