Ronnie James Dio Takes Band Under His Wing
Several months later, after both Hellion and another female-fronted metal band, Bitch, refused to sign full recording contracts with Mystic Records, the label decided to retaliate by including both rival bands on one single. While many fans of girl singers like both Hellion and Bitch, some of each bands' fans regarded the two bands as rivals. Both the Sound of Hollywood Girls compilation album and the single are now considered valuable collector's items.
By 1983 Hellion had solidified their line-up with the addition of bassist Bill Sweet and a second lead-guitarist, Alan Barlam. In an attempt to gain a major label record contract the group entered Fiddler's Studio in Hollywood to record a demo. The band recorded the basic tracks in one evening between the hours of midnight and 07:00 am and recorded the guitar solos, vocals, and mixed on the following night. The demo did not gain Hellion a major recording contract, but, fans' demand for the demo surprised everyone. After destroying two separate cassette recorders while making multiple copies of the demo to sell at shows, Hellion decided to press the recording onto vinyl and formed Bongus Lodus Records.
The self-titled 12" soon made its way onto the import charts in Kerrang!, Sounds and Aardschok magazines. As a result, London-based record company, Music for Nations, offered the band a recording contract and gave the band money to record two more songs which were added to the earlier recording to make the Hellion Mini-LP. Tracks No. 2 through No. 5 are from that release. The Hellion Mini-LP was released in January 1984 and climbed to No. 6 on the UK rock charts in Kerrang! and Sounds. The record was voted No. 2 EP of the Year by the journalists at Kerrang! magazine.
Despite Hellion's success abroad, and later the assistance of Ronnie James Dio and managers Wendy Dio and Curt Lorraine, the band remained unsigned in America. In early 1985 Hellion's male members decided to split from vocalist Ann Boleyn and formed a new group under the moniker "Burn." Boleyn, however, retaliated by gathering a new Hellion line-up featuring some of Southern California's most respected musicians, guitarist Chet Thompson (World War III), bassist Alex Campbell (ex-Lion), and drummer Greg Pecka (ex-Dokken), and also began her own record company, New Renaissance Records.
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