Never heard of Smashed Gladys? No worries, not many people remember this band. The band had plenty of people trying to help them become rock stars including Gene Simmons and Nikki Sixx. The band’s vocalist, Sally Cato, appeared in Motley Crue’s video “Looks That Kill.”

The band was based out of New York City and were poised to bring Glam back to that location. In hindsight, they would have been better off on the Sunset Strip as they would have been snapped up quickly and been the next big thing.

Their album is actually damn good. Its three chords, tons of distortion, tough girl lyrics and tons of sleaze but the result is something that needs to be cranked up to 11 as you cruise to your local watering hole on a Friday night. Cato is the star of the show and her ass on the back cover is a true work of art. Her vocals are dirty, gritty and nasty as she belts out “Hard To Swallow,” “Lick It Into Shape,” “17 Going On Crazy” and “Cast of Nasties.”

The band really came close to making it but the grind of taking two steps forward and one step back, even after this debut was released on a major label in 1988, was just too much to keep the machine moving forward. The band broke up but those who do remember them will attest that this was sleaze rock at it’s finest. More Crue than Poison, Smashed Gladys was a flash in the pan that, with more willingness and a bit more luck, could have made it huge in the era of the Hair Band.