Y&T's next effort, 1984's In Rock We Trust, was another disappointment by comparison and yielded no hits, but the band's well-received appearance at the 1984 Monsters of Rock Festival at least inspired A&M (whose inexperience for promoting hard rock and metal was becoming increasingly evident) to transpose Y&T's blistering greatest-hits show into the following year's revelatory Open Fire set. And among the live recordings was snuck in a studio track as irresistible and catchy as it was premeditated, called "Summertime Girls," which finally scored a major radio and MTV hit with its unprecedented layers of keyboards and Meniketti's deliberate karaoke on Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth. Such were the '80s, though, and after being hastily reprised on the band's next studio set, Down for the Count, in late 1985, the song climbed as high as number 55 on the Billboard charts, and landed Y&T more tours opening for the Crüe and Aerosmith, yet ultimately signaled their departure from A&M (the obligatory greatest-hits set, Best of '81 to '85, emerged in 1990). Of course, Y&T were no strangers to second chances, and when hotshot record executive John Kalodner -- best known for orchestrating Aerosmith's incredible career resurrection -- approached them with a tantalizing offer to record for on-the-rise Geffen Records, the planets seemed to be aligning at last. Unfortunately, the same calculated image and musical overhaul (add hair spray, subtract aggression, equals glam metal heaven) that had worked so well for Aerosmith mysteriously misfired for Y&T on 1987's once again average-selling Contagious (whose title track's video even seemed to have been filmed on the same set as the 'Smith's "Rag Doll"). And the ejection of longtime drummer Leonard Haze to make way for the infinitely cuter (and, to be fair, extremely competent) Jimmy DeGrasso rubbed many longtime fans the wrong way -- regardless of Haze's reported ongoing struggles with substance abuse. This was also rumored to be the cause behind Joey Alves' replacement by Stef Burns prior to 1990's Ten, whose songs sounded more like classic Y&T but failed to strike a nerve with fickle hard rock consumers, still preoccupied with image instead of substance. Tired of fighting a losing battle, Y&T would officially disband a short time later (their passing eventually mourned via the release of their farewell gig as 1991's Yesterday & Today Live), increasing the void of quality hard rock bands amid all of the bubblegum glam casting a pall over the birth of the '90s, yet also sparing them from the ruinous fate awaiting all of those opportunist bands when grunge finally emerged. Years passed, though; grunge came and went, and 1995 unexpectedly saw the final Y&T lineup reconvene for a new studio album entitled Musically Incorrect and, two years later, the aptly named Endangered Species, after which Dave Meniketti spent some time exercising his blues kicks on 1998's On the Blue Side. He later formed a new touring band under his own name and released the Meniketti album in 2002, but with interest in Y&T finally in resurgence, the timing seemed once again ripe for a reunion. This began to take shape by way of some long-needed reissues of their classic catalog (boasting worldwide sales exceeding four million by now) and a pair of Unearthed rarities collections, after which Meniketti and old sparring partner Phil Kennemore resumed touring across America as Y&T, with the help of guitarist John Nymann and drummer Mike Vanderhule.