Casino Steel

Casino Steel were a British glam rock band brought together by Gary Holton and Mickey Royce and consists of Holton, Royce, Danny Peyronel, Roger Kent and Billy Wharton. They are most famous for their song 'Hot Rods'.
Early years
Casino Steel was first formed in 1985 by Heavy Metal Kids lead singer Gary Holton and composer and pianist Mickey Royce. The members that were first rectuited onto the band were Heavy Metal Kids member Danny Peyronel, guitarist Roger Kent and drummer Billy Wharton. Phil Collins was originally intended for the role as the drummer but he turned down the offer.
Career
At first, Casino Steel was rejected, with their songs 'The Dragons', and 'Grow Up George'. However, when 'Hot Rods' was released in 1981 and became a number one hit, they became popular world-wide. They managed to keep up their popularity with 'Ghostriders' (1982), 'Ruby' (1982) and 'Blackberry Way' (1983).
However, Casino Steel's possibly most famous song was 'Baby I Love You' in 1984, which attracted many listeners.
However, on the 25 October 1985, lead singer Gary Holton died of a heroin overdose, and so the remaining band members wrote and performed a tribute song named . On 25 October of the following year, they wrote and performed a second tribute song named 'Catch a Falling Star'.
The band performed four more hits before their break-up in 1989: 'A Cruise to America' (1986); 'Starvation' (1986); 'His Name' (1987); and 'Bang Goes That Theory' (1988).
Post break-up
Seven years after the band's break-up, Mickey Royce was diagnosed with lung cancer for the first time, but was radiation treatment. However, in 2001, the cancer returned, and he died later the same year. The group wrote a song named 'Mickey's Song' in 2002 to pay their respects to Royce.
In 2009, Roger Kent was diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer. However, as of November the same year, surgeons were able to treat the cancer and Kent was cured.
In early 2010, Danny Peyronel and Roger Kent announced that the group would be reuniting in December with Marc Phelps as lead singer. Phelps himself confirmed this in early August and stated that they were 'going to arrive with a bang.' He also stated that it was a chance to boost the popularity of heavy metal bands in Britain. In a July 2001 interview with Danny Peyronel, he stated that it was 'what Gary and Mickey would have wanted,' meaning that the band was doing it for Gary Holton and Mickey Royce.
Discography
*Casino Steel (1981)
*Casino Steel: House of Cards (1982)
*Casino Steel: Massacre (1984)
*Casino Steel: A Tribute to Gary Holton (1985)
*Casino Steel: A Land of Punks (1987)
*Casino Steel: Queen of Hearts (1988)
*Casino Steel: Gary Holton Lives On (1989)
*Casino Steel: A Tribute to Mickey Royce (2002)
Film appearances
*Casino Steel made an appearance as a gang of street punks in Beverly Hills Cop (1984).
*They appeared in an episode of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1984) as brickies building a house.
*The band also appeared in 1984's The Terminator as people in 2029 defending their base against a Terminator.
*Gary Holton is also an actor who has appeared in many films including Minder, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, Quadrophenia and Bloody Kids.
*Peter Guinness has appeared in films Ralph Capone as title character Ralph Capone and Alien³ and in television roles such as Coronation Street and EastEnders.
*Mickey Royce appeared in Quadrophenia, Alien³, EastEnders and Emmerdale.

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