In a new interview with Professor of Rock on YouTube, Skid Row guitarist Dave "Snake" Sabo recently revealed the band's smash hit, "I Remember You" almost didn't make their 1989 self-titled debut, Skid Row.
"'I Remember You', believe it or not, almost didn't make the record," said Snake. "It's a true story. Rachel [Bolan, bass] and I had written it more as [an] exercise [for] that songwriting muscle, which you need to do as a songwriter.
"So, we didn't think that we wanted that song. We were like, 'Yeah, it's okay', and the rest of the band and our management were like, 'You both have lost your minds! That song has to be on the record!' And we're like, 'Okay, I guess.' [It] shows you how wrong we were."
Skid Row's debut was primarily loaded with rockers like "Big Guns," "Can't Stand the Heartache" and "Youth Gone Wild." Even the mid-tempo hit "18 and Life" had a lyrical edge that kept the album from veering into any serious power ballad territory. However, "I Remember You" put an end to that, and today it remains the band's biggest hit.
Reflecting on the song's history, Sabo noted that "The way it came out was such an eye-opening experience, I think to both Rachel and I, once we realized that we needed to put it on the record. Everybody's performances on that song are just amazing." You can watch the full interview with Sabo below.
Granted, if you had a pulse in the 80s and early 90s, you likely slow danced with someone to "I Remember You" in some high school gymnasium somewhere. Still, Skid Row would pivot to a much heavier sound on their masterpiece sophomore LP, Slave to the Grind.
The classic Skid Row lineup—Sabo, Bolan, vocalist Sebastian Bach, guitarist Scotti Hill, and drummer Rob Affuso—would go on to release an EP of covers, B-Side Ourselves, in 1992 and one last LP, the underwhelming Subhuman Race, before parting ways with Bach in 1996.
