Paying little attention to the extreme death metal sounds their hometown was renowned for, the four natives of Gothenburg, Sweden, who formed Hardcore Superstar in 1998 drew upon melodic, glammed-up hard rock, especially the sleazy L.A. pop-metal sound of the '80s. Vocalist Jocke Berg, guitarist Silver Silver, bassist Martin Sandvik, and drummer Magnus Andreasson recorded an album titled It's Only Rock 'N' Roll and released it on their own label in 1998, attracting praise from Motorhead's Lemmy. After opening for Motorhead on a Scandinavian tour, Hardcore Superstar signed with Music for Nations and recorded their debut album, Bad Sneakers and a Piña Colada, in 1999. They scored two Swedish Top Ten singles from the record, and built up their audience through constant gigging. Koch Records issued their album in the U.S. in early 2001.