POISON Singer Says He Was Against Doing Covers Album

Alan Sculley of The Morning Call recently conducted an interview with POISON frontman Bret Michaels. A few excerpts from the chat follow.

On his current solo tour, which precedes a big "Live, Raw & Uncut Summer Tour" with POISON this summer:

"Here's the whole thing that's about the solo show. It's very electric. It's very exciting. It's a full band. But what's cool about it, it's almost like an amped-up 'Storytellers', an energetic 'Storytellers'. So what happens is I play the songs, but in between them, I talk a little about what I was thinking, what I was doing. But then we give you the full production of the song. We don't strip it down. We give you the full band and the full song and make it a party."

"I want to show them a little different twist on all of the [POISON] songs, and people get that. We do 'Talk Dirty To Me', and I break it down with this jungle beat. I give it a different twist, and they still know it's the song. They still know it's obviously 'Talk Dirty To Me' but it also has a slightly different feel to it, which makes people excited because as much as they know the song and the big hit, it also keeps it fresh."

On how his audience now spans three generations, including young fans who have discovered him through something not directly connected to POISON his VH1 reality series, "Rock Of Love":

"Here's the deal. I came out of season one, which was bizarre. I've got to be honest, it was really strange to have cameras around me. It felt very uncomfortable doing a lot of the stuff ... What made me do season two, besides the fact that I get to meet some beautiful girls, was that also they didn't change it. They didn't say 'OK, now Bret, we're going to do this, you're going to wear this, you're going to try this.' They didn't tell me who I was. They let me just be who I am. By now I think anyone who knows me in or out of the industry knows I'm pretty headstrong on staying as true to who and what I am."

"Season one was a crazy, fun, experimental party. And the girls made it great. We had an awesome time. I got to be exactly who and what I am ... I felt that season two had beautiful women. I thought they were just as crazy, but much more emotional. And what made season two much more difficult was that a lot of the girls knew what I was like. They knew what I liked and didn't like. So they knew how to play it a little bit better."

On the possibility of doing a third season of "Rock Of Love":

"I don't think I could ever go back to doing a third season in a house. I don't think I could ever go back and be like 'here I am.' I can't find a date. Let's just tell the people the truth. I spend probably seven months of my year on a bus, maybe more. Let's go out and shoot the big rock road show. Let's go out and have fun on the road. And if there's some dating, great. If there isn't, let's just go out and shoot the party and watch what I go through."

On being against the making of POISON's 2007 album of cover tunes, "Poison'd":

"I literally gave in to the band. They had wanted to do a cover record, and I got outvoted and I lived with it. But I was a man and I stood up there and I took it and I did the best performances I could. I said 'Guys, didn't we get into this to make our own music?' And no offense, I love doing one cover song on an album. I don't want to do albums of cover material. No offense, but I got into this to write music. That's what I do."