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Southern hard rock band Molly Hatchet was formed in 1971 in Jacksonville, Florida. Founded by guitarist Dave Hlubek, formerly of psychedelic rock band Mind Garden, he brought along several of his former bandmates to help form a new band. After going through many band names, they finally settled on the name Molly Hatchet. They built up a loyal following and got to know many of the other Southern rock bands in the area including Lynyrd Skynyrd and 38 Special. By the time Molly Hatchet – still led by Dave Hlubek - signed a deal with Epic Records and released their self-titled debut album in 1978, the group’s line-up was completely different to the band that Hlubek had originally formed years before. The debut album was a success, climbing to number 64 on the Billboard 200. Their 1979 album, Flirtin’ with Disaster, proved to be the breakthrough that Molly Hatchet had been hoping for. The album rose to number 19 and went double platinum. They managed to maintain their hold on the charts with the number 25 album Beatin’ the Odds (1980) regardless of the band’s line-up changes. 1981’s Take No Prisoners album reached the Top 40 but by 1983, new wave and MTV had disrupted the careers of many old-school rock bands and their album No Guts… No Glory only reached number 60. After only hitting number 120 with 1984’s The Deed is Done, the group left Epic Records. Founding member Dave Hlubek left in 1987 (although he returned and played in the band from 2005 until 2017) but Molly Hatchet continued to tour and record albums including Lightning Strikes Twice (1989), Devil’s Canyon (1996), Silent Reign of Heroes (1998), Kingdom of XII (2000), Warriors of Rainbow Bridge (2005), and Justice (2010). Molly Hatchet has also released nearly 20 compilations, live releases, and covers albums. As of 2025, there are no original members in the Molly Hatchet line-up. Founding member Dave Hlubek, who left the band in 1987 but returned and played in the band from 2005 to 2017) died on September 2, 2017, at the age of 66.
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