After leaving Krokus on the heels of the
Hardware tour in 1982, guitarist
Mandy Meyer set up in
Memphis, Tennessee to start his own band, joined by fellow Swiss compatriots, vocalist Tommy Andris and bassist Tommy Keiser, both formerly with
Lucerne, Switzerland-based group Roxane. Andris did not last and was replaced by the former
Target frontman
Jimi Jamison. Eventually named Cobra, the band's lineup was rounded out by Memphis-based guitarist/keyboardist Jack Holder (ex-
Black Oak Arkansas) and drummer Jeff Klaven. Managed by Butch Stone, who had also handled Jamison's old band Target as well as Krokus and
Black Oak Arkansas, the band became a fixture on the local scene and managed to score a record deal with
Epic Records. The group released their lone album, the
Tom Allom-produced
First Strike, in 1983. "Blood On Your Money" got
MTV airplay, "Looking at You", and "Travelin' Man" were promoted at the TV Club. The band toured in the United States, opening for
Quiet Riot, Nazareth, and Krokus; the band's show in Memphis on November 27, 1983, was broadcast on the
King Biscuit Flower Hour (KBFH) and later partly released on the
Live Attack! and
Only You Can Rock Me bootlegs. The live set included a half dozen unreleased songs, including their original "I'm a Fighter", which was covered by the group
Van Zant in the mid-1980s, a cover of "On and On" from
MSG's sophomore album and Head Games from Foreigner. Meanwhile,
First Strike was only a moderate commercial success, Cobra disbanded in 1984, Holder died early the following year, following a battle with cancer.
One-off reunion On October 25, 2015, the three surviving members of Cobra's classic lineup, Mandy Meyer, Tommy Keiser and Jeff Klaven, reunited for the first time in over 30 years to help pay tribute to their former lead vocalist, the late
Jimi Jamison, as part of the star-studded "Jam for Jimi Jamison" at the Hard Rock Cafe in Memphis, Tennessee. They were joined by Jamison's son-in-law, Todd Poole (ex-Roxy Blue,
Saliva), Jeffery Wade Caughron and Kory Myers for the occasion, performing songs off the
First Strike, as well as a cover of Krokus' "
Screaming in the Night". Meyer also performed Cobra songs, live in 2011, when he teamed up with German vocalist Hagen Grohe, who had featured on
Joe Perry's 2009 solo album,
Have Guitar, Will Travel, under the name Katmandü, with former Krokus drummer Patrick Aeby, bassist François Mohr, and keyboardist Alan Guy rounding out the lineup. They performed at the Rock Oz'Arènes festival in
Avenches, Switzerland on August 4, 2011, playing songs co-written by Meyer and recorded by Cobra, Van Zant, House of Lords, Katmandü and Gotthard as well as a cover of Krokus' "Fire". == Discography ==