Alcatrazz

The American heavy metal band Alcatrazz was formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by Jimmy Waldo, Gary Shea and Graham Bonnet. The band was first meant to feature ex-Nazareth guitarist Zal Cleminson and ex-Jethro Tull drummer Barriemore Barlow but they both pulled out at the last moment. Instead they found Yngwie Malmsteen after their manager Andy Trueman had been chatting with a heavy metal fan at Ozz Records who recommended him. Cozy Powell had promised them to help out if they had any problems finding a drummer but when he got an offer to join Whitesnake he could not refuse. Aynsley Dunbar was considered and ex-Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr was in the seat for a week but as he wanted to be based in England and not in LA they had to find someone else. After having gone through about fifty drummers they finally settled with Jan Uvena. In July / August 1983 they started recording their debut album which was released later that year. Touring both in the US and Japan followed and their Japanese tour was recorded for a live album. During these tours Bonnet and Malmsteen had several disputes, resulting in Malmsteen leaving after the tour. The band called it a day in 1987.