Wes Scantlin
There are so few famous rock bands to truly make it outside of KC…
You know, Brewer & Shipley, The Rainmakers and of course, Puddle of Mudd.
And no, I haven’t forgotten about David Cook, but at this point, Cook is little more than a reality star whose 15 minutes are about up. Depending of course on if he can claw his way back into the limelight, a dubious prospect at this point.
Back to Puddle of Mudd and more specifically frontman Wes Scantlin.
“Just wanted to let you guys know that there is a free show on Halloween night at the Edge of Hell with Puddle of Mudd,” says Slam Radio’s Frank Arena. “It’s a make-up show from what happened at Voodoo and Wes wanted it done to try and make it right with KC.”
Speaking of KC rock exports, Scantlin’s in a league of his own.
Early on his band got airplay on MTV in 2001 when – you know – MTV still played a few music videos.
“The other night on the MTV awards, Limp Bizkit won an award and Fred Durst, their lead singer, was wearing a Puddle of Mudd T-shirt,” metal miester Jim Kilroy noted at the time.
Rachel Hunter & Rod Stewart
Scantlin also had the pleasure of bedding supermodel Rachel Hunter.
“What is it with Rachel Hunter and rockers?” US Magazine wrote in 2003. “Not only is the sexy mother of two – by her ex-Rod Stewart – starring in the Fountains of Wayne video ‘Stacy’s Mom,’ but she’s hot and heavy with (Scantlin). … They’ve recently been seen at Joseph’s Cafe and Bar and the Standard in L.A. Says (a) source: ‘They definitely dig each other.’ ”
Scantlin’s no lightweight either; he’s definitely from the hard knocks school of hard rock.
Check out this from his Wikipedia page:
Scantlin & Ex Michelle Rubin
“In 2002, he and his then fiance actress Michelle Rubin were both arrested for allegations of domestic violence after witnesses reported seeing the couple, on their way to a video shoot, fighting on the side of Highway 126 in Piru, California. Several witnesses reported seeing Scantlin forcing Rubin into a Jeep Cherokee driven by an unknown third person. Sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol officers stopped the Jeep shortly thereafter and arrested the couple. Scantlin and Rubin were both booked at the Ventura County jail and were released after posting $20,000 bail each. The reason for the argument remains unknown.”
And this:
“During a 2004 show at the Headliners night club in Toledo, Ohio, Scantlin took the stage with his band, but after only four songs admitted to the audience that he was too intoxicated to continue. Frustrated, his bandmates walked off the set, leaving Scantlin by himself on stage. He remained on stage for another 30 minutes, insulting the crowd and singing random songs that seemed to be made up as he went along. Objects were then thrown back and forth between Scantlin and the crowd before he walked off the stage, where he was subsequently arrested by the Toledo Police Department for disorderly conduct while intoxicated. On the way to his booking, additional charges were brought after he repeatedly spat on the windows in the back of the police cruiser he was being transported in. He was released on a $150 cash bond. He said he would never play in Toledo again because he was arrested for ‘nothing’ ”
In 2007 Scantlin was banned from Graceland in Memphis for swimming in an off limits pool while touring Elvis’s home in Memphis.
In September of 2012 Scantlin was arrested for public intoxication on a flight from Boston to LA that had to make a forced landing in Austin. And he was arrested on domestic violence charges this past May after he allegedly dragged his ex-wife and then pulled her by the arm or the shirt,” Billboard magazine reported. That following a guilty plea for possession of cocaine earlier that month.
In other words, Scantlin’s a tear-up-the-hotel room, old school rocker.
The perfect fit for the Edge of hell…tonight, free of charge!
Who?
And the David Cook of Blue Springs fame bashing continues.
Seriously, what did this guy do or not do for or to you?
I saw Wes headline Rock Fest maybe 8 years ago, crowd went nuts. He even looks like Johnny Dare a bit, they became friends there and Dare has had him on his show a bunch since. In fact Johnny had a copy, I think the original, of Puddle of Mudd’s biggest hit, BLURRY on the wall at Johnny Dare’s Bar in 2004. I thought they were a top notch rock group, one of the last. I wanted them to stay on top, but…I’m hoping for a comeback…Wes is a nice looking guy, so between that and being a rock star or was..of course come the hotties…HOPE WES MAKES A HUGE COMEBACK…and Hearne leave David Cook alone…he’s a good guy.
Johnny Dare wishes he looked like Wes Scantlin.
“…they were a top notch rock group, one of the last.”
No, they weren’t. And give me a break with Hearne’s old-fashioned, hard way crap, with his record-label hired bandmates, this clown was every bit the business-created sensation that Cook was. In fact, I’d say that coming through and winning an intense, hard-fought music competition that usually doesn’t favor a musician like Cook, was actually a bigger achievement than anything Scantlin ever accomplished. Well, except maybe for banging a past her prime supermodel part.
David Cook is a good guy, I’m just telling it like it is.
If he can make it in Nashville, he’ll be the real deal. If he continues on the path he’s on, he’ll be a footnote as a reality star. He’s far from alone. Only a small handful of winners have actually made it.
Puddle of Mudd did it the old-fashioned way. Writing songs, touring, paying their dues, getting signed to a label and then having a several year run.
Reality show winners take a huge shortcut to success but success is usually fleeting.
Pretty simple.
I won’t argue with you about reality show winners. However,
“Puddle of Mudd did it the old-fashioned way. Writing songs, touring, paying their dues, getting signed to a label and then having a several year run.”
Wes ditched his KC Puddle of Mudd band before they got famous. All the guys (and there have been numerous members of this band) are from not at all Kansas City.
You are correct. I know there were a lot of hard feelings about Scantlin moving on without his bandmates here.
Hey, but the Beatles moved on without Pete Best.
Obviously the record label wanted Scantlin first and foremost
“Hey, but the Beatles moved on without Pete Best.”
And some of us still aren’t over it.
/smashes Beatles records.
Does seem like you went out of the way to throw in a Cook slam in this particular case though. Outside of this story being about a KC-based musician, what the hell was the point of bring up David Cook except to take a shot at him? Why stop there and since KC is the commonality, just blast away at Charlie Parker for his drug use? That would have actually had way more in common with Scantlin’s story.
Fair enough, PB.
However, in taking into account other KC rockers that somewhat made it – however fleeting – I knew if I didn’t address David Cook, there’d be criticism.
So I opted to include him but put it in perspective. I mean, winning a reality show via the national television masses is hardly akin to paying your dues and getting a record deal simply on your own merits.
Right now, Cook is a reality star winner who got a record deal and had one decent selling album while the afterglow of his TV time was still fresh.
It’s been downhill from there, in every sense really. From size of venues to poor sales and being dropped by his label and shoe sponsor to selling the LA manse to trying to switch to country from rock.
There’s no doubt Cook still has a name and the jury is still out on whether he can bounce back. Scantlin also is having a tough go of it now. From RockFest to a local haunted house.
Fortunately for Cook he isn’t dealing with Scantlin’s demons. However, like Brewer & Shipley and like The Rainmakers Cook did have his 15 minutes and didn’t benefit from a cheesy reality show to get there.
“I mean, winning a reality show via the national television masses is hardly akin to paying your dues and getting a record deal simply on your own merits.”
Yeah, except I think his own merits perhaps had more to do with his look and the fact that he was willing to sell out his own bandmates for a stab at record-label contrived stardom. Really not all that dissimilar than Cook’s trajectory only without the reality tv show element.
You don’t think Scantlin’s music and singing played a part in his signing?
I’m sure his looks didn’t hurt but had he no chops I doubt he’d have been signed.
Puddle of Mudd is awful. And using Fred Durst as some sort of rock cred is laughable.
You also missed at least one cocaine bust, but I’m not sure how rock in roll this ad for his free show was supposed to be.
Hey, it was a last minute heads up for Puddle jumpers for a free show.
It was also a good excuse to catch people up on what’s been going on in Scantlin’s life the past few years since he’s dropped more-or-less out of sight.