Slave Raider

{{Short description|American heavy metal band}}

{{about|the American heavy metal band|the military raid intending to enslave the residents of the raid area|Slave raiding}}

{{More citations needed|date=December 2009}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Slave Raider

| background = group_or_band

| origin = Minneapolis, Minnesota

| years_active = 1985–1990

| genre = {{flat list|

• Glam metal
• hard rock

}}

| label = Jive

| past_members =

• Chainsaw Caine
• Lance Sabin
• Nicci Wikkid
• Letitia Rae
• The Rock
• Tommy D

}}

Slave Raider was an American heavy metal band formed in 1985 that was known for its over-the-top antics, heavy make-up and glam song lyrics. In the Twin Cities, Slave Raider had a sizeable following that were known as "The Raid". They opened for such 1980s bands as Ratt and Poison with the original lineup.

The lead singer, Mike Findling, performed under the persona Chainsaw Caine (wielding and operating a chainsaw on stage as part of the act). Due to an injury in his youth he had a wandering eye that he felt was a distraction to the audience when he performed, so he began to wear an eye patch. As eye patches are often associated with pirates, the band took the name "Slave Raider" from the history of pirate lore. Other members of the band performed under the names Lance Sabin (guitar), Nicci Wikked (guitar), Letitia Rae (bass), and Rock (drums).{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/slave-raider-mn0000021471/biography|title=Slave Rider biography|website=AllMusic|accessdate=November 23, 2019}}

In 1986, Slave Raider won all four Heavy Metal honors at the Minnesota Music Awards; that year Prince performed at the ceremony and Soul Asylum won for Best New Band.

The band recorded three albums in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but were never able to make much of a dent in the glam metal scene of the time, due to the beginning of the grunge movement that has been attributed to the influence of their fellow Minnesotans, the Replacements.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

The band was dropped by its record label following their third album release in 1990 and broke up soon after that,{{cite book|title=The Guinness Who's Who of Heavy Metal|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1995|edition=Second|isbn=0-85112-656-1|page=330}} with the band members going on to solo projects, with front man Chainsaw Caine forming the band U.K.I. (The Unstoppable Kamikazee Idiots).{{cite web|url=https://sleazeroxx.com/interviews/chainsaw-caine-interview/|title=Chainsaw Caine Interview|website=Sleazeroxx.com|accessdate=November 23, 2019}} The original line up has periodically reunited since then{{When|date=November 2019}} to perform the occasional reunion show that is always "slave raiding room only".{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

Slave Raider's "Make Some Noise" (written by Slave Raider and D. Nagel) appeared in 1988's License to Drive, and "What Do You Know About Rock 'N' Roll?" was featured on the soundtrack to 1989's A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095519/soundtrack|title=License to Drive (1988) : Soundtracks|website=IMDb.com|accessdate=November 23, 2019}}

The song "Youngblood", written by Slave Raider members and performed by Slave Raider, appeared in the 1994 movie entitled The Paper, which was nominated for an Oscar.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110771/soundtrack|title=The Paper (1994) : Soundtracks|website=IMDb.com|accessdate=November 23, 2019}}