McQueen Street

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McQueen Street
McQueen Street's original lineup, 1991.
Background information
Origin	Montgomery, Alabama
Genres	Hard rock, Arena Rock, Heavy Metal
Years active	1987–1993, 2002-2004, 2018-Present
Labels	SBK, EMI, Ring of Four
Associated acts	The Rat Race
Website	mcqueenstreet.com
Members	Derek Welsh
Past members	Chris Welsh Richard Hatcher Michael Powers

McQueen Street is a hard rock band from Montgomery, Alabama. The band members are Derek Welsh on lead vocals, Richard Hatcher on bass, Michael Powers on guitar, and Derek's brother Chris Welsh on drums.

History[]

Formed in 1987, McQueen Street, originally known as "Klass," was successful on the southeast rock music club circuit. The idea for the name "McQueen Street" came from the street where Derek's recording studio was located. In 1990, after the name was changed to McQueen Street, the band signed a record deal with SBK Records.^[1][2]

The band's debut album, titled McQueen Street, was produced by Tom Werman with additional production from Steve Stevens of Billy Idol. Steve and Derek wrote and performed on "Two Worlds." Two songs "Money" and "My Religion" had music videos that were played on MTV's Headbangers Ball. "In Heaven" reached #32 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Chart in early 1992.^[3]

McQueen Street played live shows in cities across the US and performed with bands such as Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, Bang Tango, and Mr. Big. The band was one of the featured live acts at Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, owned by Sammy Hagar. This show was a joint effort between KNAC out of Los Angeles and MTV.^[4]

The evolution of grunge didn't play a factor in MS not making it. Derek decided to leave EMI without talking to the rest of the band. They were blacklisted and lost the name McQueen Street for 7 years. Labels were not interested in signing him to a major deal again. This caused Derek to start his own label. Gene Simmons was interested in managing the band, however Derek told him no. The rest of the band didn't find that out until years later.

After struggling with drug addiction, Chris Welsh was fired by Derek Welsh from McQueen Street and returned to Miami. Soon after he passed away in 1994 due to a viral illness.^[5]

With the grunge movement of the early 1990s, most bands whose music was based on 1980s-style rock were no longer popular. Radio stations and MTV ceased to play most mainstream rock, causing the second album not to be released. The group disbanded shortly thereafter.

Derek Welsh and Richard Hatcher went into a partnership 50/50 and formed the band The Rat Race, a group edging towards psychedelic rock. The band released 2 studio albums Alice (1993) and Uncle Jim's Secret Garden (1995). In 1997, The Rat Race released Live Unelectrified, a live recording from Columbus, Georgia. The band toured the US as a support act for headliners including The Dave Matthews Band, Blues Traveller & Widespread Panic. After Richard Hatcher who shared in writing every song and was told many time he owned 50% but was left out of all writers credit and never paid for any of his work he left the band. Richard was the only one who could drive and serviced the bus. He also stored the bus at his house So when he left the band fell apart in 2000.Greed killed these bands and that is the bottom line.

The second McQueen Street album, McQueen Street 2, was recorded in 1993 by Tony Plattbut but it was released in 2003 with Ring of Four Records. After recording it in Nashville, EMI mistakenly sent the master recording to Derek Welsh. He had to wait for 7 years to release the songs that were written by Derek, Chris, Micheal Cummings and Hatcher. Derek took credit and released the CD on Ring of Four Records which was owned by Derek Welsh and his affiliates.

As of 2020, McQueen Street released two new songs, "Outside In" and "One Way Ticket." They were recorded in 1993 and written by the Welsh's Cummings, and Hatcher The latter reached #1 on the underground rock charts.^[6]

Members[]

Current members[]

• Derek Welsh - lead vocals, guitars, tmbourine (1987-1993, 2002-2004, 2018-), drums, keyboard, piano (2018-)^[7]

Past members[]

• Michael Powers - guitar, backing vocals (1987-1993)
• Richard Hatcher - bass guitar, backing vocals (1987-1993)
• Chris Welsh - drums (1986-1993: died 1994)

Discography[]

Studio albums[]

• McQueen Street - 1991
• McQueen Street 2 - 2003

Singles & EPs[]

• Time - 1991
• In Heaven - 1991
• My Religion (Radio Edit) - 1991
• McQueen Street Sampler - 1991
• Outside In - 2020
• One Way Ticket - 2020^[8]

References[]