Rox

Heavily influenced by Kiss and Angel, Rox emerged in 1981 from Manchester, England originally under the name Venom (not to be confused with the rather darker band of the same name arriving on the scene at the same time) with Mark Anthony (vocals), Red Hot Red(Real Name: Ian Burke; guitar), Paul Diamond (Real Name: Paul Hopwood; guitar), Gary Maunsell (bass) and Tony Fitzgerald (drums) to release two demos. They quickly built up a great deal of attention from Sounds Magazine and garnered considerable fan support.

A year in, Fitzgerald left and was replaced by Bernie Emerald (Real Name: Bernard Nuttall), and with the subsequent departure of Anthony they recruited their roadie, Kevin Read (a.k.a. "Kick Ass" Kevin Kozak). After reported threats from the aforementioned infamous Newcastle NWOBHM/black metal crossover merchants of the same name they changed their name to Rox. Maunsell was then replaced by Billy Beaman before they set out on their first tour and released of their debut EP Hot Love In The City (1982).

Their subsequent signing to 'Music For Nations' yielded a 12" EP Krazy Kutz the next year, before a higher profile tour and debut album one-off Violent Breed (1983) emerged to anything less than acclaim. Soon after, Kozak was replaced by the returning Anthony, now using the name Mark Savage, and despite having no new album in the works they managed to hook onto the Quiet Riot U.K 1984 tour. The following year, however, Diamond quit and the act split with him later turning up in the band Torino.

Recent reports say that the band reformed in 2016.