McCourt suggested to Shrapnel that they take the band with the best response and produce an album. Varney suggested Wild Dogs, since there was most of an album recorded. However, Jaime St. James left the band to join Black n Blue in Hollywood, so the band was left with the task of finding a drummer. McCourt placed ads in the local newspaper, managed to get airplay on a local radio station and persisted at getting the demo played at local clubs during band breaks. McCourt recruited local whiz kid, 16-year-old drummer Deen Castronovo to join the band. The first album was released and the band had its first gig on August 20, 1982 in San Francisco at The Stone, with Culprit and Varney's band Cinema, leading to another MTV news segment. The following week the band played in Seattle, sharing the bill with TKO, Rail, Atom Bomb and Myth (Queensrÿche). They later toured with Slayer, Metal Church, Anthrax, Dio, Raven and Girlschool. Wild Dogs became known for their live show. With McCourt's use of spiked baseball bats, blow up dolls and other props, and Castronovo's twirling and stick juggling showmanship, the band earned its wild, bad boy reputation.