Kidd Skruff: Angels With Dirty Faces

The time was the early 1990's. Rock And Roll was about to make a turn that had not been seen since the early 1960's when a group of youngsters from Liverpool struck the first chords of their debut album. The sound that was generating from the North Western territories of the United States was unlike any music that had been recorded in the past, and it was about to take the world by storm.

This is where we start the story of Kidd Skruff.

The New Jersey music scene that had just produced such legendary bands as Bon Jovi, Skid Row and others that were at the time reffered to as "Hair Bands", were about to give way to the grunge movement. While such bands as Nirvana,Pearl Jam, Temple Of The Dog and others of that jondra were on the rise, Kidd Skruff was just about to form.

"Skruff" started as a side project for then Lead Singer/Guitarist Jimmy Forest who was performing with the popular New Jersey band "Push" in the late 80's and early 90's. At that time, Jimmy was the Drummer/Songwriter for "Push",and had a plethora of musical ideas that he wanted to express but they just didn't quite fit the style of the band. He needed to find an outlet,

Jimmy first called on his childhood friend Ray Sorenson, and together they decided they needed to put together a band and somehow get this music out into the mainstream. Jimmy was to sing, and also play guitar in this new project. Being close friends growing up, and practicing many hours in his basement, he and Sorenson could feel each others vibes and played off one another like it was an extension of each other's musical talents.

Now that Sorenson was in place, Jimmy decided to hand pick the bands talent from the overwhelming supply of musicians in the New Jersey Bayshore area.They first called upon the services of Randy Powers, bass player extraordinaire who happened to be a close friend and frequent acquaintance of Forest. Not only was Randy Jimmy's favorite bass player, he was extremely talented and fit the band perfectly as he knew where the two were coming from since their inception.

Finally to complete the band, Jimmy recruited another local musician Brian Clayton who at the time was playing drums for a top New Jersey cover band, and doing local studio work. When Jimmy hear the backbeat rythms and ass breaking sounds of the skins that night in Edison, he knew right away this was the last piece of the puzzle.

From the first moments it was like Forest had captured lightning in a bottle. They had a sound that was best described as The Beatles meet Skid Row. The next step was to record a demo tape of songs that Forest had selected.The demo was done in a shitty 12 track recording studio,
3 tracks were busted, Forest knew he was on to something very real. But be reminded the time frame is now the early 90’s and Nirvana had just broken all boundaries.With the surge of the sound coming from Seattle, Forest knew this project was now just for shits and giggles, but still had to know for himself how it would pan out if presented to the music industry.

Jimmy knew he had nothing to lose, so he sent the demo out to some of his music industry friends. Shortly afterwards he received a phone call from a small independent label stating they wanted to release the album. “Skruff” needed a quality recording now at a discount price.
Jimmy Forest recalls..“ I Remember it well. We all kicked in a few grand and booked time in the best studio we could get for the money in New Jersey, BUTTERFIELDS I think it was called, then recruited producer Steve Decutis.We recorded and mixed the album in like a week,so we immediatly sent out the master tapes and artwork to Azra Records”.

By this time the Seattle “Grunge” scene had totally taken over and just as quick as it rose to the top, the new sound of Rock and Roll buried the successful 80’s and 90’s commercial Metal scene. The days of long hair, make up, glitter, over indulgence and unrestricted partying was over.The small record company that had recorded “Skruff’s” one and only album had gone bankrupt. The original recording was sold only on cassette, had a short release and sold only a few thousand copies.
With the overwhelming popularity of the internet, a lot of those classic "Hair" bands have gained a whole new audience.Those same bands now tour again with the original lineups,and sell out concert venues on a nightly basis. Now as the music of that time is being teamed with the development of guitar video games that often uses these bands songs as the backbone of the game, the youth of the world is once again yearning for that big sound of the guitars,bass, personalities and attitudes that only the 80’s could deliver. As Forest sits back with that reminiscing look in his eyes, he states....”We never forgot how to play, People just forgot how to listen. So now it is time for All Things Kidd Skruff"