White Hot Odyssey

Biography

In frontman Steve Perry's words, White Hot Odyssey was an attempt to bring the "roll" back to "rock and roll", an experiment in "sexual, stupid, big dumb rock" reminiscent of the glam, hard rock and protopunk of the 1970s. Perry explained that he had always wanted to front a band of this style since he was an adolescent and listened to groups such as the New York Dolls, The Stooges, Sweet and T. Rex. Having experimented with glam rock under the production supervision of Tony Visconti for the Daddies' 2000 single "Diamond Light Boogie", Perry was inspired to pursue the idea further. In a nod to the extravagant and outlandish fashion of glam rock (and perhaps the early years of the Daddies), i.e. feather boas and other such androgynous attire, White Hot Odyssey was styled around Louis XIV powdered wigs and knee-length pantaloons.

The band originally formed as "Vagiant", playing their first show in early 2003 as an opening act for the Cherry Poppin' Daddies (due to their lavish costumes, however, most people had no idea that it was, in fact, Perry performing in the opening act as well.). Shortly afterwards, their name was changed to "Vagiant UK" following the discovery of another band by the name of Vagiant, and finally to "White Hot Odyssey" after their signing to Jive Records to avoid legal complications. The group performed steadily throughout the next two years, playing major venues throughout the Northwest such as Portland's Crystal Ballroom and Eugene's W.O.W. Hall and McDonald Theatre, often as a supporting act for the Daddies.

In 2004, White Hot Odyssey was signed to Jive Records, largely due to the success that the similarly theatrical hard rock/glam band The Darkness had then seen, and released their self-titled debut in November 2004. Perry was surprised because the same label representative had rejected a similar demo earlier.

White Hot Odyssey played their last show in late 2005. Although there has been no official announcement as to whether or not the band will continue performing or recording in the near future, the song "Subway Killer" later appeared as a bonus track on the Cherry Poppin' Daddies' 2013 album White Teeth, Black Thoughts, re-written in a rockabilly style.

Members