Bitch Discography
Albums / Compilations / Members on Other Albums

Compiled and annotated by David Gasten

Please send any additions or corrections to davidgasten ??? yahoo !!! com.

Thanks to the following people for their generous assistance in compiling this discography: Gary Cambra, Fred Gordon of The Dirty Dogs, Spider (Bitch mega-fan who has a giant tattoo of Betsy on his back), Bryan Anderson of Lost and Found Records/Metal Blade Vault, Benny Cardenas of Cleopatra/Dead Line Records, Brian Slagel, Ann Boleyn, Leo Rodriguez, Niklas of Slayercollector.com, Tony "Lord Bones" van Hemert, Jym Harris, Curtis Loew, David di Sabatino, Pam Barlow, and, of course, all the following Bitch members that contributed information: Betsy, Robby (RIP), Dave, Steve G., Jay, Rob, and Dan.

 


Bitch Albums:

This part of the Bitch Discography lists all of Bitch's official album releases.

You can hear MP3 samples of all of the major releases and purchase the albums on MP3 or CD through the Amazon.com widgets next to the release information. You can also use the Amazon widget to the left under the menu bar to browse the items in this section of the Bitch Discography that are available on CD through Amazon.

 

All-Star Line Up Mark II (current lineup):

Betsy Bitch: Vocals
Steve Gaines (Anger as Art, Abattoir, Bloodlust): Guitar
Dan Oliverio (Anger As Art, Abattoir): Guitar
Angelo Espino (Anger As Art, Reverend, Hirax, Once Dead): Bass
Rob Alaniz (Anger As Art, Evildead, Abattoir, Winterthrall): Drums

All-Star Line Up Mark I:

Betsy Bitch: Vocals
Robby Settles: Drums
Steve Gaines (Abattoir, Bloodlust, Anger as Art): Bass
Steve Kara (Electric Prunes, Timothy Leary): Guitar
Jay Dean (Electric Prunes): Guitar


Classic Line Up
(featured on all Bitch releases listed here)

Betsy (aka Betsy Bitch): Vocals
Robby Settles:
Drums
David Carruth: Guitar
(Bass players varied and are listed on each release;
one line-up also had a second guitar player.)

 



4-Song Demo

Independent release, no serial #
Cassette Only
Released 2-18-1982

Track List:

1.  Never Come Home
2. Live For the Whip

3.  You’re On Your Own
4.  I Think We’re Alone Now

(Lyrics and Music: Richie Cordell and Richard Rosenblatt)

Recorded January/February 1982 at a home studio in Studio City
Produced by Bitch

Bass Player: Kevyn Redwine

According to drummer Robby Settles:  “[The demo] was played on the Sunday night local music shows on KMET, KWST, and KLOS.”  This version of “Live for the Whip” was the version that appeared on Metal Massacre I (listed in the Compilations section).  “Never Come Home” was also rerecorded for the Damnation Alley EP.  “I Think We're Alone Now” is a cover of the Tommy James and the Shondells song.

 

Damnation Alley

Enigma/Metal Blade MBR/MBRC-1002
12” vinyl (MBR) and Cassette (MBRC)
Released 12-1-1982
Reissued by Molten Metal (Italy/UK) as 8013252610417 on 1-26-2009;
180g vinyl, pressing limited to 1400 copies

Track List:


1. Saturdays
2. Never Come Home

_______


3. Damnation Alley
4. He's Gone
(Lyrics and Music: Bitch)
5. Live For the Whip
(“new version”)

Unless indicated, songwriting credits are:
Lyrics and Music: David Carruth


Recorded 1982 at Hit City West, Los Angeles, and Backroom Recorders, Sherman Oaks (Exact dates unknown)


Produced by Phil Pecora and Brian Slagel; engineer(s) unknown
Initial producer for the project: John Wilson
Executive Producer: Brian Slagel

Bass Players: Richard Zusman and Mark Anthony Webb

Richard Zusman was the band’s bass player at the time of the recording, but Mark Anthony Webb replaced Zusman between the recording of the album and the release of the CD.  According to drummer Robby Settles: “Most of the tracks had Richard Zusman on bass even though Mark Webb is pictured and featured. There is a subnote that Zusman played on the EP. When Zusman left we didn't have any budget to go back and re-record bass tracks.”

The entire tracklist was repeated on both sides of the cassette.  “Live for the Whip” is subtitled “new version” because the version on Metal Massacre I (which was released six months prior) came from their 4-song demo, whereas this one was professionally recorded in the same sessions with the other album tracks.

The Molten Metal reissue was released in 2009 to capitalize on the resurgence of interest in vinyl.  The lettering of the “Damnation Alley” title is black and white on the earliest Metal Blade pressings and on the Molten Metal reissue, whereas it is in bright red on later Metal Blade pressings (as shown here).

 

Bitch 'I'm in Love' / Hellion 'Nightmares' split single

  Mystic Records, M745131
7” 45 RPM vinyl
Released c. March 1983

Track list:

1. Bitch: “I’m In Love”
________

2. Hellion: “Nightmares in Daylight” (listed as “Nightmares”)


"I'm In Love" was recorded on an unknown date in late 1982 or early 1983 at Mystic Studios, Hollywood.
Produced by Dou
g Moody; engineer unknown.

Bass Player: Mark Anthony Webb

This is a rare split single released as a companion to Mystic Records’ The Sound of Hollywood Girls LP.  Features “I’m In Love” by Bitch on the A-side and “Nightmares in Daylight” by Hellion (fronted by Ann Boleyn) on the B-side.  Both songs appeared on The Sound of Hollywood Girls compilation (see the Compilations page for more information).  Interestingly, they are also the only two heavy metal tracks on that LP; the remainder of the tracks are from female-fronted punk acts. 

The Bitch song, “I’m In Love”, has never been released in digital format and is quite rare; “Nightmares in Daylight” has been reissued on a 1998 Hellion compilation on New Renaissance Records entitled Up From the Depths.   

 

The Mystic Sessions (Unreleased)
The Mystic Sessions bootleg cover
Mystic Records, no #
Cassette Only
Unreleased
(The above is the cover art included in a bootleg MP3 download)

Track List:

1.  It’s Up To Me, It’s Up To You
2. Some Things Never Change (informal title: "You're Mine")
3. I'm In Love
4. Live For The Whip


All songs recorded on an unknown date in late 1982 or early 1983 at Mystic Studios, Hollywood.
Produced by Dou
g Moody; engineer unknown.

Bass Player: Mark Anthony Webb

This is a widely-circulated bootleg of the full recording session at Mystic Records that yielded the song "I'm In Love", which was featured on The Sound of Hollywood Girls LP and the Bitch/Hellion split single listed above. This particular demo is an underground favorite, and has an energetic "punk" vibe that comes across due in part to the low fidelity and an incorrect playback speed that unintentionally speeds up the songs to a pitch two half-steps higher than was originally intended (the speed issue is only present on the demo, not on the release versions of "I'm In Love").

Three songs on this demo, "It's Up to Me, It's Up To You", "Some things Never Change", and "I'm In Love", were rarely (if ever) played live. It is popularly believed that "Some Things Never Change" is entitled "You're Mine", however Betsy has indicated that "Some Things Never Change" is the correct title of the song and that it was never entitled "You're Mine". The version of "Live For the Whip" featured here is a third recording of the song, with the first two being the 4-Song Demo/ Metal Massacre version and the Damnation Alley version respectively.

Although a popular bootleg, due to label complications, it is unclear whether this demo will ever receive a proper release. (Thanks to Tony "Lord Bones" Van Hemert and Jym Harris for their assistance with this one.)



Be My Slave

  Bitch "Be My Slave" cassette
Original LP   Cassette with alternate shot from the same photo session.

Enigma/Metal Blade E-1007/MBR-1007; EC-1007
12” vinyl (E/MBR) and Cassette (EC)
Released 7-1-1983
Reissued by Molten Metal (Italy/UK) as 8013252610516 on 1-26-2009;
180g vinyl, pressing limited to 1400 copies


Track list:

1. Right From the Start
(Lyrics: Betsy; Music: D. Carruth, R. Settles)
2. Be My Slave
(Lyrics: Betsy & M. Webb; Music: M. Webb, D. Carruth, R. Settles)
3. Leatherbound
(Lyrics and Music: M. Webb)
4. Riding in Thunder
(Lyrics: Betsy & D. Carruth; Music: D. Carruth)
5. Save You From the World
(Lyrics: Betsy & D. Carruth; Music: D. Carruth)

________  

6. Heavy Metal Breakdown
(Lyrics: Betsy; Music: D. Carruth, R. Settles)
7. Gimme a Kiss
(Lyrics: Betsy; Music: R. Settles)
8. In Heat
(Lyrics: Betsy; Music: R. Settles)
9. Make It Real (Make It Rock)

(Lyrics: Betsy; Music: D. Carruth, R. Settles)

10. World War III
(Lyrics: Betsy & D. Carruth; Music: D. Carruth)


Recorded May/June 1983 at Track Record, Hollywood.

Produced by Phil Pecora and Brian Slagel; Engineered by Bill Metoyer
Executive Producer: Brian Slagel

Bass Player: Mark Anthony Webb
 
The song “Be My Slave” would be remixed for the 1984 Metal Blade compilation Total Destruction (see entry in Compilations); every other appearance of “Be My Slave” on other compilations would be of the original album version.  “Riding in Thunder” was also released on Metal Massacre III, which was released on the same day as Be My Slave. 

The cassette version of Be My Slave (shown here) features a different photo from the same photo session and the inclusion of “Live For the Whip” (from Damnation Alley) at the end of Side 1 as a bonus track. 

Be My Slave became a particular target of Tipper Gore and the Parents’ Music Resource Center in the mid-1980’s due to concerns that the record industry was using adult-themed material to sell records to minors.  Mrs. Gore would show the cover of Be My Slave at many of her PMRC speaking engagements.  Betsy remembers that “That was the best publicity we ever got.”

Be My Slave also ended up playing an integral role in the famous “PMRC Hearing” held before the United States Senate’s Committee On Commerce, Science, and Transportation on September 19, 1985.  Be My Slave was shown in a slide show by PMRC consultant David Ling to illustrate the PMRC’s case.  When the slide for the Be My Slave album cover came up, Mr. Ling stated, “This is Betsy. She is the lead singer of a band called Bitch. The album is called ‘Be My Slave.’ It is available in record stores.”  Mr. Ling then read excerpts of the lyrics from “Gimme a Kiss” and “Leatherbound”.  (This appears on page 16 and page 17 of the official transcript of the hearing.)

At the Congressional hearing, the PRMC submitted for the Committee members’ review a large attachment of written material that featured two further references to Be My Slave.  They included a typed document entitled “Pornography in Rock Music,” which again featured excerpts of the lyrics of “Leatherbound,” crediting the band, album, and song in that order.  Another attachment submitted at the hearing was a copy of an editorial in the Washington Post by William Raspberry entitled “Filth on the Air” and dated June 19, 1985.  It refers to Be My Slave in the following statement:  “[S]urely the deejays must be aware that ‘Bitch, Be My Slave’ [emphasis added] is not exactly what parents want their pre-teens to listen to.”  These two further references to Be My Slave appear on page 40 and page 24 respectively in the official transcript of the hearing.

Because of the PMRC-related backlash, later editions of the LP featured stickers that stated “Warning: Adult Content” (different than the standardized “Tipper Sticker” that says “Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics”), which, according to Betsy, helped promote the album even further.  The publicity sustained the band through the period of forced inactivity that their management required of them at the time, and rolled over onto their next album, The Bitch is Back.

 


The Bitch is Back

Metal Blade/Enigma ST/4XT/CDE-73256
12” vinyl (ST), CD (CDE), and Cassette (4XT)
Released 3-1-1987
Reissued by Metal Blade as 3984-14218-2 on 1-28-1997 (CD only)

Track list:

1. Do You Want to Rock
2. Hot and Heavy

(Lyrics: Ron Cordy and Betsy; Music: David Carruth, Ron Cordy and Robby Settles)
3. Me and the Boys
4. Storm Raging Up

_______

5. The Bitch is Back
(Lyrics and Music: Bernie Taupin and Elton John)
6. Head Banger
(Lyrics: David Carruth and Betsy; Music: David Carruth, Ron Cordy and Robby Settles)
7. Fist to Face
8. Turns Me On

(Lyrics: Betsy; Music: David Carruth)
9. Skullcrusher

Unless indicated, songwriting credits are:
Lyrics: Betsy; Music: David Carruth, Ron Cordy and Robby Settles

Recorded Dec. 1986 - Feb. 1987 at Stagg Street Studios, Van Nuys; Preferred Sound, Woodland Hills; and Track Record, Hollywood.

Produced by Joseph Romersa
Engineered by Bill Metoyer

Joseph Romersa and Mick Adrian add additional background vocals throughout the album; Romersa also adds keyboards on “Storm Raging Up”, “Hot and Heavy”, and “Skullcrusher”
Stanley “Dad of a Bitch” Weiss plays saxophone on “The Bitch is Back”

Bass Player: Ron Cordy

The Bitch is Back was Bitch’s best-selling album, and according to David Carruth is both David's and Robby Settles' favorite Bitch album. The album was produced by Joseph Romersa, who went to high school with Betsy, and has a spontaneous, live-in-the studio feel, with great Motörhead-style guitar riffs throughout.

The song “The Bitch is Back” is an Elton John cover. Betsy’s dad, big band/jazz saxophonist Stan Weiss, plays the tenor saxophone solo on this song. The sax solo has an intense rock sound that doesn’t betray Weiss’ jazz background at all.
 


Betsy
(as “Betsy”)

Metal Blade/Enigma D1/2/4-73318
12” vinyl (1), CD (2), and Cassette (4)
Released 4-1-1988

Track list:

  1.    You Want It, You Got It
(Lyrics and Music: Bruce Turgon)
2. You'll Never Get Out (Of This Love Alive)
(Lyrics and Music: Gary Cambra, Pam Barlow, Janet Minto)

3. Devil Made You Do It
(Lyrics: Betsy; Music: The Boys)

4. Rock 'n Roll Musician
(Lyrics: David Carruth and Betsy; Music: David Carruth)
5. Cold Shot To The Heart
(Lyrics and Music: Pam Barlow, Janet Minto, Betsy)
______

6. Flesh And Blood
(Lyrics and Music: Bruce Turgon, Pam Barlow, Janet Minto)
7. Turn You Inside Out
(Lyrics: Pam Barlow, Janet Minto, Betsy)
8. What Am I Gonna Do With You
(Lyrics: Betsy; Music: The Boys)
9. Stand Up For Rock
(Lyrics: Betsy; Music: Ron Cordy)
10. Sunset Strut
(Lyrics: Betsy; Music: The Boys)
11. Get Out (Bonus Track on Cassette and CD)
(Lyrics: Betsy; Music: Robby)

(“The Boys” are David Carruth, Ron Cordy and Robby Settles.)

Recorded and mixed Dec. 1987-Jan. 1988, Sound City and Goodnight L.A. (both in Van Nuys)
Produced, Engineered and Mixed by Chris Minto
Assistants: Brett Newman, Allen Issacs, and John Hanolon
Mastered by Bernine Grundman

Bass Player: Ron Cordy

The LP calls sides One and Two “This Side” and “That Side” respectively; the cassette just calls them “1” and “2”.


Promo Singles From 'Betsy':

1.  "Devil Made You Do It" (EPRO-092, 1988)
12" 33 rpm promo single
Side A: "Devil Made You Do It"; repeated on Side B

2.  "You'll Never Get Out (of This Love Alive)"  (EPRO-117, 1988)
12" 33 rpm promo single
Side A: "You'll Never Get Out (of This Love Alive)"; repeated on Side B

  3.  "Turn You Inside Out" (EPRO-???, 1988)
12" 33 rpm promo single
Side A: "Turn You Inside Out"; repeated on Side B


The bright pink sticker on the album shrinkwrap proclaims, “NEW NAME, NEW APPROACH.  Following hot on the heels of THE BITCH IS BACK, Betsy has delivered a proud, polished and professional hard rock mix.” 

With the success of The Bitch is Back, Bitch decided to make a stab at the big time with a big budget album, outside songwriters, and a well-known producer, changing the band name from the more taboo “Bitch” to the non-offensive “Betsy”.  The self-titled Betsy album featured a departure from their traditional heavy metal sound into more commercial sounding hard rock and AOR.  

Producer Chris Minto had previously worked with Kiss, Animotion, Whitesnake, and Patti Labelle, as well as with Bitch’s Metal Blade label mates Armored Saint.  Minto had also worked for Pat Benatar, and it was because Betsy’s vocal sound is similar to Pat Benatar’s that Minto took an interest in producing the album. Chris' wife Janet Minto and her longtime friend and co-writer Pam Barlow collaborated on four of the songs, bringing in Bruce Turgon (Warrior, Lou Gramm, Foreigner) and Gary Cambra (The Tubes) to assist further with the songwriting. Janet and Pam would later release an album on MTM Major in Germany entitled Dreaming Ezekiel (1997) under the name Fake ID.

Despite the large investment that went into the album, the gamble backfired and the album stalled and sank, possibly because the band was not able to tour to support the album.  Sadly, the band's classic lineup never recovered from the financial hit they took with the commercial failure of Betsy.  Despite this, the band is still proud of the release and harbor no hard feelings about the album itself.  Betsy in particular considers Betsy her favorite Bitch album and still listens to it often.

Metal Blade has never reissued Betsy, which makes it the most difficult to find of all the Bitch albums.  “Devil Made You Do It,”“You'll Never Get Out (Of This Love Alive),” and “Turn You Inside Out” were chosen as singles for radio airplay, and corresponding music videos were recorded for “Turn You Inside Out” and “You'll Never Get Out (Of This Love Alive)”.  Both videos received airplay on MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball, and Metal Blade released the "Turn You Inside Out" video on the VHS/LaserDisc compilation Video Meltdown in 1990 (see the Compilations page for more information).



Metal Blade/Pink Dust/Restless Records 7 72412-2
CD only
Released 3-1-1989
Reissued by Metal Blade as 3984-14213-2 on 1-28-1997 (also CD only)
 


Track list:

1. Right From the Start
2. Be My Slave
3. Leatherbound
4. Riding in Thunder
5. Save You From the World
6. Heavy Metal Breakdown
7. Gimme a Kiss
8. In Heat
9. Make it Real (Make it Rock)
10. World War III
11. Saturdays
12. Never Come Home
13. Damnation Alley
14. He's Gone
15. Live for the Whip

Tracks 1-10: Be My Slave
Tracks 11-15: Damnation Alley
(see individual entries for recording and production details)


This is a reissue of Bitch’s first two albums on one CD. 

In 1989, CD releases and CD reissues were catching on, and Be My Slave/Damnation Alley came along in during the initial wave of CD reissues of older titles.  I would assume that one of Metal Blade’s motives for releasing Be My Slave/Damnation Alley when they did was to help recoup the losses the band and label suffered when the Betsy album stiffed.  But regardless of the motive, Be My Slave/Damnation Alley has remained a relatively consistent seller for Metal Blade for many years. 

The front cover of Be My Slave/Damnation Alley features the Be My Slave album artwork with the added caption “Includes ‘Damnation Alley’ EP” on the right hand side.  The cover of the 1997 reissue crops this artwork slightly and places it in an irregular red border.  Some import copies feature a transparent tray with the words “Classics Series” spelled vertically in the tray spine, and have the front cover cropped further, which eliminates the border but leaves a red bar on the left-hand side of the cover.

 



  Bitch "A Rose By Any Other Name"
Autographed CD   Cassette with expanded artwork

Metal Blade/Enigma 7 73418-2/4
CD (2) and Cassette (4)
Released 6-1-1989
Reissued by Metal Blade as 3984-14214-2 on 1-28-1997 (CD only)

Track list:

1. Walls of Love
2. Throw Me In
(initially unfinished track from The Bitch is Back sessions)
3. Sunset Strut (remix)
______

4. Skullcrusher (remix)
5. Crashthepartysmashthecake

(initially unfinished instrumental track from the Be My Slave sessions)

(Music: David Carruth and Robby Settles)
6. Make It Real (remix)
(Lyrics: Betsy; Music: David Carruth and Robby Settles)  

  Unless indicated, songwriting credits are:
Lyrics: Betsy; Music: David Carruth, Ron Cordy and Robby Settles

1 recorded at Track Studios, Hollywood, and Preferred Sound, Woodland Hills, March 1989, assisted by Annette Cismeros, Pete Madgaleno, and Ken Paulavovich
2 recorded at Stagg Street Studios, Van Nuys, December 1986 and Preferred Sound, March 1989
3 recorded at Sound City, Van Nuys, assisted by Allen Issacs and Brett Newman
4 recorded at Stagg Street Studios, December 1986, assisted by Kevin Beauchamp, and at Preferred Sound, assisted by Scott Campbell, January 1987
5 recorded at Track Studios, May 1983, and Preferred Sound, March 1989
6 recorded at Track Record, May 1983  

1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 mixed by Bitch and Bill Metoyer at Preferred Sound, March 1989
6 remixed by Bitch at Track Studios

1, 2, and 5 produced by Bitch and Bill Metoyer; engineered by Bill Metoyer
3 produced and engineered by Chris Minto
4 produced by Joseph Romersa; engineered by Bill Metoyer
6 produced by Phil Pecora and Brian Slagel; engineered by Bill Metoyer  

Bass Player: Ron Cordy

A Rose By Any Other Name was intended as a stopgap EP to help keep the Bitch name active and help pay off debts accrued from the recording of the Betsy album (see entry for more details).  Rose opens with a new song, “Walls of Love”, which was recorded by itself for a proposed 1990 album that was to be entitled Bet-Z.  Other than this track, nothing was recorded for the Bet-Z album, and the project was abandoned.

“Throw Me In” and the instrumental “Crashthepartysmashthecake” were tracks that were started during The Bitch is Back and Be My Slave sessions and completed especially for this EP. The versions of “Sunset Strut”, “Skullcrusher”, and “Make It Real” are intensified remixes of songs from Betsy, The Bitch is Back, and Be My Slave, respectively. 

I haven't been able to confirm this, but I am almost 100% certain that Betsy’s vocals were rerecorded for the remix of “Make It Real”. Likewise, both “Make It Real” and “Crashthepartysmashthecake” sound like they have bass parts recorded by Ron Cordy; Mark Anthony Webb, who would have been bass player when the two Be My Slave-period tracks were recorded originally, is never mentioned in the liner notes.

The cassette names Side One and Side Two “Disside” and “Datside,” respectively.  Because of the shape of cassettes, record companies had to create alternate rectangular cover artwork for them.  Occasionally, the cassette would end up getting the better or more complete artwork, and the Rose cassette is an example of this. The vertical rectangle shape with more roses stretched along the bottom makes the cassette look like a stone casket lid.

______


Notes on the 1997 Bitch reissues:

On January 28, 1997, Metal Blade did a second release of Be My Slave/Damnation Alley, The Bitch is Back, and A Rose By Any Other Name on CD.  The rereleased versions feature essentially the same album cover artwork and the exact same track listings and mastering as the original albums, only with slightly different layouts for the tray cards and booklets.  The layouts feature the then-current “guillotine blade” Metal Blade logo and the computer graphics of the period. 

Be My Slave/Damnation Alley and The Bitch is Back feature beautiful picture CD’s based on the album artwork, as well as black-and-white tray cards that are formatted similarly to each other. In the new layouts, the logos for both the band name and the album titles are completely different than the logos on the original releases. 

As for A Rose By Any Other Name, the layout of the 1997 reissue is pretty much the same as the original, only the old Enigma-related information is blacked out on the album artwork, and some of the graphics have been slightly improved, e.g. the band photo isn't as dark and the text and background colors on the spine have been adjusted so that they don't “vibrate”.  Also, the 1997 Rose CD face features plain text on a black background, whereas the original Rose CD face feautred red text on a silver background, the graffitied “Bitch” logo, and an image of a stemmed rose.  

Of the three 1997 reissues, only Be My Slave/Damnation Alley is currently in print.


Albums / Compilations / Members on Other Albums

©2009-2011 David Gasten. All rights reserved.