Tom Keifer, Eric Brittingham, Michael Kelly Smith in the Priscilla Hairriett Band – Cinderella/Britny Fox

The Priscilla Harriett Band was a formative Philadelphia‑area club act from the early ’80s whose lineup briefly included three musicians who would soon help define the glam‑metal era. At various points, future Cinderella frontman Tom Keifer, bassist Eric Brittingham, and guitarist Michael Kelly Smith (later of Britny Fox) all passed through the group, sharpening their chops on covers and early originals before breaking away to form Cinderella and, later, Britny Fox. Though the Priscilla Harriett Band never broke nationally on its own, it served as an important stepping stone in the intertwined pre‑history of these two classic hard rock bands.

From an article by Paul Gallotta: The scene was like an outtake from Life’s Most Embarrassing Moments. The location was an anonymous closet-sized bar in North Jersey. The Priscilla Harriet band were hacksawing their way through the standard Scorpions–AC/DC–Judas Priest covers to a half-empty house when the vocalist drew the proceedings to a screeching halt in mid-song and demanded that the musicians turn down their amps so she could hear herself through her monitor better. The guitarist, a lanky youth with shoulder length black hair, complied, and shot the chanteuse a sideways look that told her they wouldn’t be sharing the same stage much longer.

After that set, aspiring axe-hero Tom Keifer turned to bassist Eric Brittingham and asked him if he thought it was worth it. The blond string thumper, who had been friends with Keifer since the two first played together in Saints in Hell the year before, shook his head negative. That night, a rock & roll fable named Cinderella was born.

Three-and-a-half years later, Tom Keifer can reflect upon the incident and still manage a lopsided smile. It’s easy to find humor in awkward situations when your debut album (Night Songs), which your own record company wasn’t sure would ever see the light of day, has gone gold (500,000 units sold).