Molly Hatchet

Molly Hatchet came roaring out of Jacksonville, Florida, the band guitarist Dave Hlubek put together in 1971, and they played Southern rock with the throttle jammed wide open. With Steve Holland and Duane Roland alongside Hlubek, they had guitars to spare, and Bruce Crump kept the engine running on drums, with Banner Thomas and Danny Joe Brown also in the early lineup. Epic Records signed them, and their self-titled debut in 1978 went platinum.

Flirtin' with Disaster, in 1979, did the same, and its title track is the whole band in a nutshell: a runaway boogie with three guitars chasing each other down the highway and no intention of braking for the corners. Beatin' the Odds, in 1980, made it three platinum records in a row, and "The Rambler", "Bloody Reunion" and "Satisfied Man" all found their way onto the charts as they worked through six studio albums for Epic by 1984.

They split from the label in 1985 and kept releasing records, though none matched the early ones. Bobby Ingram, who took Hlubek's place and now owns the name, has kept the band on the road, with keyboardist John Galvin a long-serving presence. Hlubek later rejoined and stayed until his death in 2017, and by August 2020 all of the original members had died.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.