FAMED L.A. MANAGER VICKY HAMILTON RELEASES “APPETITE FOR DYSFUNCTION”
At 22, Vicky Hamilton left her hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and arrived on the Sunset Strip as a wide-eyed blonde with an ear for rock & roll, “I was back home interviewing Tom Petty for Three Rivers Review,” says Hamilton, “He told me I was a ‘real California girl,’ and that’s all it took.” It was 1981, and Hamilton arrived at the center of Hollywood, where the scene was erupting with spandex, sex, cocaine, Aqua Net hairspray and madcap visionaries.
Hamilton discovered Guns N’ Roses and became their first manager and surrogate mother, living in her apartment as Axl Rose ducked a rape charge. “I was basically harboring a fugitive,” she says, “Axl ended up crashing on my couch for six months.” Hamilton then negotiated the band’s contract with Geffen Records. In 1986, she was let go and forced to sue the band to recoup the $25,000 she’d borrowed to bankroll them.
Hamilton now shares her stories in a memoir about a woman who rode the crazy train with some of rock’s wildest frontmen, and matched their hard-partying ways. Sober for 15 years, Hamilton spent that last seven excavating her private collection of photos, flyers, contracts, letters, and interviews to create a revealing look into her fascinating life.
Her book includes new details about her turbulent relationship with Axl Rose and Poison’s Bret Michaels, her experience as an A&R rep for Geffen, and above all, Appetite for Dysfunction, is the story of her rise and fall, and how she regained her life by becoming a Grammy Award winning executive that helped relaunch the career of June Carter Cash in 1999.
Steven Adler (drummer, Guns N’ Roses), “Vicky was probably the best thing that happened to us in the early days. She dealt with us when nobody else would, and made everything happen for us. I’m grateful for that.”
Appetite For Dysfunction: A Cautionary Tale is now available through Amazon and other online book retailers.
Limited edition autographed pre-release editions and other merchandise may be ordered through Hamilton’s website.
Oh wow, talk about a blast from the past! When I was a wee young 17 year old, I wrote back and forth with Vicky, concerning GNR. A buddy of mine from L.A. turned me onto this new band called Guns N’ Roses, sending me local flyers and copies of their demo tapes. Soon I was in touch with Vicky, ad she even sent me a homemade GNR button that the band used to have at shows. I still have it. She was so delightful and excited to share anything about GNR with me. I will never forget how nice she was. This was back in the day of tape trading, mind you. Fast forward to 10/30/87I went to see GNR at the club L’Amour New York. I wore my GNR button proudly. Upon meeting Duff McKagen pre show (along with Steven), Duff saw the button, pointed at it and exclaimed, “Vicky Hamilton!!” I said “Yep, she gave it to me, man!” So nice to see she is putting out a book. And she still looks gorgeous. Good luck, Vicky!