Q&A: Spandex Redux

Aging glam-rock warriors Cinderella will headline VH1’s Rock Never Stops tour, with Ratt, Firehouse and Quiet Riot. (See them at Trump Taj Mahal July 29th.) We caught up with frontman and Delaware County native Tom Keifer to discuss laryngeal injuries and litigation.

Where has Cinderella been all these years?
About 10 years ago, we all kind of went our separate ways. We reunited in 1998, when Sony offered us a record deal, and we started touring again. But that record got tied up in a lawsuit with the label, so it was never released, and probably never will be.

How did the band get its big break?
We got booked a lot at the Galaxy in New Jersey and the Empire Rock Club in Philly. Bon Jovi saw us at the ­Empire and signed us on for his Slippery When Wet tour.

Why the name Cinderella? Why not Rapunzel or Goldilocks?
We wanted something to make us stand out. And I always liked the light name that described something heavy, like Queen or Kiss.

Can you still hit those high falsetto notes?
I actually completely lost my voice in 1991 because of a paralyzed laryngeal nerve. I had four surgeries, worked with countless speech therapists, and today I still have to do a lot of vocal exercises. But the good news is that I now have my full voice back.

I was just watching some old Cinderella videos on your new Rocked, Wired & Bluesed DVD. Are you afraid of what some of those big-haired Jersey girls from the videos might look like today?
Um, I don’t know. Some people age gracefully, like Mick Jagger, and others don’t. But I’m having enough trouble keeping up with my solo recording, Cinderella, and my wife and new baby. … I’m not really interested.

Are you guys teasing your hair out for this tour, for old times’ sake?
Our look hasn’t really changed. We look similar to how we looked back in the day.