7th Stranger

Fronted by female vocalist Rose Christair, 7th Stranger was an aggressive yet very melodic pop-metal/hard rock band that came out of Seattle in the late '80s. 7th Stranger was never well-known nationally, but the band did acquire a small following in the Pacific Northwest and around Vancouver, British Columbia. A forceful belter, Christair favored a high-pitched style of singing that was somewhere between former Warlock vocalist Doro Pesch and Judas Priest's ex-lead singer Rob Halford; other artists who affected 7th Stranger's sound included Led Zeppelin, Pat Benatar, Heart, and Lita Ford. 7th Stranger had been playing the Seattle scene for a few years when, in 1989, Christair met producer James Warsinske, who had recently started a small Los Angeles-based label called AVC Entertainment. (Warsinske's company subsequently changed its name to Solid Entertainment and, after that, Activate Entertainment). The producer liked what he heard and signed 7th Stranger, whose three other members were Eric Kris (guitar, keyboards, background vocals), Ted Pickett (electric bass, keyboards, background vocals), and a drummer who simply went by D. In 1992, 7th Stranger's debut album, Push Harder (which Kris produced), was released by AVC; Warsinske was listed as the executive producer and a cover of Sweet's "Love Is Like Oxygen" became its lead single. Unfortunately, Push Harder was a victim of bad timing. When grunge favorites Nirvana and Pearl Jam exploded commercially in 1992 and 1993, glossy pop-metal and hair bands suddenly went out of fashion -- and alternative rock became rock's primary direction. Although 7th Stranger was a Seattle band, it didn't sound anything like the million-selling grunge outfits that were coming out of the Emerald City. That was bad news for Push Harder, which went unnoticed and didn't sell. After 1992, 7th Stranger parted company with AVC and didn't record any more albums. But 7th Stranger's breakup didn't mean the end of Christair's involvement with music; Christair and Kris went on to join another Seattle-based band, called Sex Philes, whose debut album, Paranormal Action, came out in 2000.