Six Guns Loaded

Hey Zoo Freaks, the Zoo Crew has Six Guns Loaded spinning right now from Britny Fox and their 1991 album Bite Down Hard, and it feels like the perfect track to dig into while the freeform vibe keeps rolling at THE ZOO. This one comes from that stretch when the band was finding its feet again after some big changes, and the stories around it make the whole thing even better when you know the backstory.

Michael Kelly Smith, the lead guitarist who co-founded the band, has talked in interviews about how the opening track came together out in Los Angeles. They were recording at One on One Studios, the same place where Metallica had just finished the Black Album and Ozzy was wrapping up No More Tears with Zakk Wylde. The producers for Bite Down Hard had worked on the Ozzy sessions, so things ran a little late and the Britny Fox guys got invited to hang around while the mixing happened. Zakk stuck around after his work was done, heard the band tracking Six Guns Loaded, and really liked what he was hearing. Smith offered him the chance to play on it, and Zakk jumped at it. Smith had already laid down the first solo, then handed over the ending section. Zakk plugged in his Les Paul and knocked out that blistering final solo in about three takes. Smith later said he had to learn the whole thing note for note so he could play it live, and keeping up with that kind of fire was no easy task. It is one of those guest spots that still stands out years later, giving the song an extra edge that fits the hard-charging feel of the whole record.

Bite Down Hard itself came after the original singer Dizzy Dean Davidson stepped away following the second album. The remaining guys, Smith, bassist Billy Childs, and drummer Johnny Dee, brought in Tommy Paris from Las Vegas, a strong vocalist who could handle the older material while bringing his own energy to the new songs. Fans who stuck with them through that shift often point to this album as a favorite, even if the timing with the rise of grunge made it a tougher sell commercially. The band had been on unemployment for a stretch while writing and waiting for the deal with East West to come through, then headed into the studio ready to prove they still had plenty left. Six Guns Loaded kicks the whole thing off with that driving riff and the kind of lyrical swagger about wanting someone so bad it feels like going into battle, all six guns ready. Paris and Smith shared the writing credit, and it sets a tone that carries through tracks like Louder and Liar. Rikki Rockett from Poison even added some percussion on another cut, showing how the scene still had those connections even as things were shifting.

Looking back at how Britny Fox got started brings the whole story full circle and shows why a song like this still lands with people who love that late-eighties energy. It all began in the Philadelphia area around 1985 when Michael Kelly Smith and drummer Tony Destra, both coming out of the early Cinderella lineup, linked up with vocalist and rhythm guitarist Dizzy Dean Davidson and local bassist Billy Childs. Smith and Destra had been part of the original Cinderella crew before the label situation led to changes there, and they brought that experience into the new band. Davidson had the idea for the name, pulling it from a Welsh ancestor somewhere in his family tree, and the whole group leaned into a colorful, theatrical glam look that fit the clubs they were playing up and down the East Coast. They cut a demo called In America that started getting attention, and their ties to the Cinderella camp helped open doors to a major label deal with Columbia.

Tragedy hit early when Tony Destra was killed in a car accident in February 1987, right as things were looking up. The band brought in Adam West for a short stretch, then settled on Johnny Dee, who had been playing with Waysted, and that lineup locked in for the debut. The self-titled first album in 1988 took off, earning gold status, landing them Metal Edge magazine’s Best New Band award, and putting them on big tours opening for Poison and others. Long Way to Love and Girlschool got the MTV push, and suddenly these Philly guys were out there in front of hundreds of thousands of fans. The second album, Boys in Heat, followed in 1989, and they even headed to Europe to open for Alice Cooper. Davidson left not long after, wanting to head in a different musical direction, which led to the search that brought Tommy Paris in and set the stage for Bite Down Hard.

What stands out about the early days is how quickly they went from local clubs to major stages, all while dealing with real setbacks and still managing to write songs that stuck. Smith has talked about the chemistry they had in those first years, the tight songwriting, and the sense that they were building something that felt bigger than the sum of the parts. Even after the lineup changes and the shift in the music world that hit so many bands from that era, the core of what they started in Philadelphia kept drawing people back. Tommy Paris has mentioned in later conversations that he still plays Six Guns Loaded and other tracks from that album in his solo shows because the fans connect with them so strongly. Johnny Dee and Billy Childs have stayed active in different configurations over the years, and the music continues to find new listeners who dig that unapologetic hard rock sound.

Six Guns Loaded captures a moment when the band was pushing forward despite everything changing around them. The guest solo from Zakk, the new voice up front, the same drive that got them out of the Philly clubs in the first place, all of it comes through in those three and a half minutes. It is the kind of track that rewards a closer listen once you know a bit about the road that led to it, from the early demos and the loss of Tony Destra to the gold records and the later determination to keep recording. For the Zoo Freaks who have been riding along with this freeform rock thing, it is another reminder of how the stories behind the songs make the music hit even harder. Keep those requests coming and stay locked in as the Zoo Crew keeps the albums spinning.

You can connect with the ongoing world of Britny Fox through their active fan community pages at Facebook and Instagram, along with the long-running account at X.