Alice in Chains: The Untold Story

In 1982, Mike, Kramer, and guitarist Terry Hildebrand formed SATO—named after the Ozzy Osbourne song—and the band began performing in the Seattle area. One of the band’s flyers featured the catchphrase “Don’t Say No … SATO,” an idea which was credited to John Starr. Its members were between sixteen and twenty-one years old at the time but acted like professional musicians, practicing four or five nights a week, according to a 1983 article about the band published in The Profile. The band played their first show on November 20, 1982—a Battle of the Bands held at the Crossroads Skating Center in Bellevue—and won it, as reported by the December 1, 1982, edition of the Hit Line Times. They received a $1,000 gift certificate and a $500 photo session to promote the band. In its first year, SATO performed at the Seattle Arena, the Spokane Convention Center, and the Showbox and won the Washington State Battle of the Bands, held at the Moore Theatre in Seattle on December 3, 1982. The band used lights, pyrotechnics, and fog machines for their shows and, like many bands of that period, wore spandex and had well-rehearsed stage choreography. They recorded their original song “Halloween” at Entertainment Plus Studio on April 21, 1983. “Leather Warrior” was recorded at Triad Studios in January 1984.21

At some point in 1983 or 1984, Jeff Gilbert was working at Penny Lane Records when he put out a call for local bands to submit a song for a compilation album he was producing called Northwest Metalfest. SATO’s was one of the hundreds of tapes he received. “I went through and picked out the ten bands, because I wanted to represent a wide range of all the different styles of hard rock and metal. I was really young at the time; whatever sounded polished or pro I went with,” Gilbert said. “Leather Warrior” made the cut. According to Gilbert, “They were just kids. They were just trying to invoke the most powerful words or imagery. They didn’t even know what they were saying or doing. I had to laugh. They were so popular—I mean, they had ladies all over the place. So I thought, ‘If I put them on the record, I’m going to sell lots of records.’” The Northwest Metalfest album was released in 1984. It was at some point after Mike was out of SATO that he joined Gypsy Rose. By the time Mike joined Alice in Chains, he was probably the most experienced musician of the four founding members.22

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Gypsy Rose had three managers who concluded Graue wasn’t right for the band, for reasons Branom still doesn’t know. In retrospect, Branom called the decision to fire him a mistake. Gypsy Rose was in the market for a new guitar player.

Branom went to a party at Vinnie Chas’s home in Tacoma, where he met Jerry, who was staying there and asked Branom to listen to some demos he had recorded. Branom described the recordings as sounding like Boston because of the guitar harmonies. He told Gersema about Jerry and arranged for an audition at some point in July 1987. Jerry got the job. For a brief period, the band’s lineup featured half of the future Alice in Chains. Branom described the band’s sound as Dokken with Ronnie James Dio–style vocals. After getting the job, Jerry moved into the basement of Gersema’s mother’s home in the Des Moines area of Seattle.

Jerry didn’t last very long in Gypsy Rose—about three or four weeks. Branom said neither he nor Mike Starr were involved in the decision to dismiss Jerry. By process of elimination, this means the decision to fire Jerry was Gersema’s. To make things worse, Jerry had also lost his place to live.

Although Branom disputes Jerry’s explanations for why he was dismissed from the band, he acknowledges Jerry had a legitimate reason to be upset about it. He also disputes Jerry’s comments putting the whole Gypsy Rose episode on him. “People think because I’m the singer that I’m the boss of the band, but it wasn’t really that way,” Branom explained. “I got kicked out [of Gypsy Rose]—I mean physically beat up, like I might die because of it.”

Mike Starr didn’t fare much better. He was dating a girl who had drawn the attention of Mike Gersema. According to Branom, the two Mikes, Tony Avalon—Jerry’s replacement—and the girl had gone out to a club, where there was a huge argument between the two Mikes, which culminated in Mike Starr’s leaving the band. “Both Mikes were fighting over this girl. Because basically it was Mike Starr’s girlfriend, but Mike Gersema wanted her, and she started going to him. So, unfortunately, that was the end of that. I didn’t have any say in it. It was just done,” Branom explained. Jerry never played a show or recorded any material with Gypsy Rose, and Mike played bass on about twenty recordings and in one show before he left the band. The most consequential event of this brief but turbulent period was that Jerry met Mike Starr.