Contraband was a short-lived supergroup

Supergroup (music)

In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....

/side project that included members of several famous rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 bands

Musical ensemble

A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...

 from the 1980s, such as The Michael Schenker Group, Ratt

Ratt

Ratt is an American heavy metal band that had significant commercial success in the 1980s. The band is best known for songs such as "Round and Round," "Wanted Man," "Lay It Down," "You're in Love", "Slip of the Lip", "Back For More", "Dance", "Body Talk", "I Want a Woman", and "Way Cool Jr." Ratt...

, Vixen

Vixen (band)

Vixen is an all-female American hard rock band which achieved some commercial success during the late 1980s and early 1990s as part of the Los Angeles, California glam metal scene.-Early years:...

, Shark Island

Shark Island (band)

Shark Island was an American hard rock band from Los Angeles that played during the 1980s.-History:Shark Island was started in 1979 by singer Richard Black, whose name then was Rick Czerny, and lead guitarist Spencer Sercombe, under the name of 'Sharks'. Czerny and Sercombe met in high school and...

 and L.A. Guns

L.A. Guns

L.A. Guns is the name of a hard rock group formed in Los Angeles, California, of which two rival incarnations currently exist due to numerous line-up changes. The first incarnation of the group was formed, by Tracii Guns, in 1983 but disbanded in 1985 following its merger with fellow Los Angeles...

.

Contraband came to be after a Vixen and Ratt unplugged

MTV Unplugged

MTV Unplugged is a TV series showcasing many popular musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show has received the George Foster Peabody Award and 3 Primetime Emmy nominations among many accolades.-Unplugged:...

 session on MTV

MTV

MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

. Schenker was a guest guitarist on that show.

The band released only one self-titled album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 in 1991 which received lukewarm reviews. The album was a commercial failure and the band disbanded shortly after, whilst touring with Ratt. The song "Loud Guitars, Fast Cars, and Wild, Wild Livin'" was included in the movie If Looks Could Kill soundtrack. In the US, the album charted at number 187. Their only chart

Record chart

A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....

 entry in the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 was with their cover

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

, "All the Way from Memphis

All the Way from Memphis

"All the Way from Memphis" is a single released by Mott the Hoople. The song tells a story about a rock n' roller whose guitar is shipped to Oriole, Kentucky instead of Memphis. The musician gets half-way there before he realizes his instrument is missing and takes a month to track it down. When he...

" in July 1991.

Band members

• Richard Black (from Shark Island
  Shark Island (band)
  Shark Island was an American hard rock band from Los Angeles that played during the 1980s.-History:Shark Island was started in 1979 by singer Richard Black, whose name then was Rick Czerny, and lead guitarist Spencer Sercombe, under the name of 'Sharks'. Czerny and Sercombe met in high school and...
  
  ) - vocals
  Human voice
  The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Its frequency ranges from about 60 to 7000 Hz. The human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary...
  
  
• Michael Schenker
  Michael Schenker
  Michael Schenker is a German rock guitarist, best known for his tenure in UFO, in addition to his solo band. He first rose to fame as a founding member of the Scorpions, then achieved fame in the mid 1970s as the lead guitar player for UFO. Since leaving UFO in 1978, he has been leading the...
  
   (from Scorpions
  Scorpions (band)
  Scorpions are a heavy metal/hard rock band from Hannover, Germany, formed in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker, who is the band's only constant member. They are known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and many singles, such as "No One Like You", "Send Me an Angel", "Still...
  
  , UFO
  UFO (band)
  UFO are an English heavy metal and hard rock band, who were formed in 1969. UFO became a transitional group between early hard rock and heavy metal and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal...
  
  , Michael Schenker Group
  Michael Schenker Group
  The Michael Schenker Group is a guitar-oriented hard rock band formed in 1979 by former Scorpions and UFO guitarist, Michael Schenker. In 1986, Schenker and vocalist Robin McAuley formed the McAuley Schenker Group, which lasted until 1992. After that, the Michael Schenker Group was reformed.The...
  
  , McAuley Schenker Group
  McAuley Schenker Group
  McAuley Schenker Group was a band featuring core members Robin McAuley and Michael Schenker , a successor to Schenker's earlier band Michael Schenker Group. McAuley was initially contacted to replace singer Gary Barden in MSG...
  
  , and Ratt
  Ratt
  Ratt is an American heavy metal band that had significant commercial success in the 1980s. The band is best known for songs such as "Round and Round," "Wanted Man," "Lay It Down," "You're in Love", "Slip of the Lip", "Back For More", "Dance", "Body Talk", "I Want a Woman", and "Way Cool Jr." Ratt...
  
  ) - guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  s
• Tracii Guns
  Tracii Guns
  Tracii Guns is an American guitarist best known as the founder of glam metal group L.A. Guns as well as the supergroups Brides of Destruction and Contraband. He was also involved in the formation of the first lineup of Guns N' Roses but eventually left the group and was replaced by guitarist...
  
   (from Guns N' Roses
  Guns N' Roses
  Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
  
   and L.A. Guns
  L.A. Guns
  L.A. Guns is the name of a hard rock group formed in Los Angeles, California, of which two rival incarnations currently exist due to numerous line-up changes. The first incarnation of the group was formed, by Tracii Guns, in 1983 but disbanded in 1985 following its merger with fellow Los Angeles...
  
  ) - guitars
• Share Pedersen
  Share Pedersen
  Sharon "Share" Pedersen is a former bass player of the female hard rock band, Vixen....
  
   (from Vixen
  Vixen (band)
  Vixen is an all-female American hard rock band which achieved some commercial success during the late 1980s and early 1990s as part of the Los Angeles, California glam metal scene.-Early years:...
  
  ) - bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Bobby Blotzer
  Bobby Blotzer
  Robert John Blotzer, better known as Bobby Blotzer and nicknamed "Blotz" , is a drummer most famous for playing drums for glam metal band Ratt...
  
   (from Ratt) - drum
  Drum
  The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
  
  s

Albums

• Contraband (1991)

1. "All The Way From Memphis" - 4:56
2. "Kiss By Kiss" - 4:19
3. "Intimate Outrage" - 4:57
4. "Bad For Each Other" 4:28
5. "Loud Guitars, Fast Cars & Wild, Wild Livin'" - 4:26
6. "Good Rockin' Tonight" - 3:23
7. "If This Is Love" - 5:03
8. "Stand" - 4:04
9. "Tonight You're Mine" - 4:43
10. "Hang On To Yourself" - 2:47