NWOBHM

[peteb]

It’s easy to go down a bit of rabbit hole with NWOBHM, but you have to take off the rose-tinted glasses. I was there and bought all the singles and saw all of these the bands as they come out (at the Princeville Club in Bradford), but how many were really that good? White Spirit were impressive live but had no songs, Diamond Head had some great riffs but were crap live and Def Leppard obviously had potential. Iron Maiden were an impressive revamp of Judas Priest, but to me that was it became a scene for teenage boys who couldn’t get laid, something I was desperately attempting to leave behind as I got a bit older. It’s weird that some people thought of UFO (working class guys from North London who had been around for ten years before NWOBHM) and Def Leppard (working class kids from Sheffield) were ‘a bit flash and rock star-ish'. Actually, when I think back, Girl were probably the pick of the bunch and they were the most rock and roll of the lot, as well as being genuinely entertaining.

There was obviously an influence on Metallica and the following, so in that way it left its mark, but you do have to keep a bit of prospective. Some people have talked nostalgically about how good Rock Goddess were (they weren’t), but at the same time a youthful Van Halen were playing house parties and then the clubs in Los Angeles. They had great songs and were incredible live even then, light years ahead of any of the corresponding NWOBHM bands. 

[Billy Apple]

2 minutes ago, peteb said:

but to me that was it became a scene for teenage boys who couldn’t get laid

Hey, I nearly did!

[Billy Apple]

15 minutes ago, peteb said:

Actually, when I think back, Girl were probably the pick of the bunch and they were the most rock and roll of the lot, as well as being genuinely entertaining.

I bought Girl's single Hollywood Tease, but for most kids with beer towels stitched to their jeans at that time they couldn't get past the thought that they were a bit fruity.

[peteb]

5 minutes ago, Billy Apple said:

I bought Girl's single Hollywood Tease, but for most kids with beer towels stitched to their jeans at that time they couldn't get past the thought that they were a bit fruity.

Yet ironically, they were the band that was getting all the girls to their shows and so on... 

[dave_bass5]

13 minutes ago, Billy Apple said:

I bought Girl's single Hollywood Tease, but for most kids with beer towels stitched to their jeans at that time they couldn't get past the thought that they were a bit fruity.

I had a copy of the first LP signed by the band after a Marquee gig.  No idea what happened to it though. 

[Old Man Riva]

1 hour ago, peteb said:

It’s easy to go down a bit of rabbit hole with NWOBHM, but you have to take off the rose-tinted glasses. I was there and bought all the singles and saw all of these the bands as they come out (at the Princeville Club in Bradford), but how many were really that good? White Spirit were impressive live but had no songs, Diamond Head had some great riffs but were crap live and Def Leppard obviously had potential. Iron Maiden were an impressive revamp of Judas Priest, but to me that was it became a scene for teenage boys who couldn’t get laid, something I was desperately attempting to leave behind as I got a bit older. It’s weird that some people thought of UFO (working class guys from North London who had been around for ten years before NWOBHM) and Def Leppard (working class kids from Sheffield) were ‘a bit flash and rock star-ish'. Actually, when I think back, Girl were probably the pick of the bunch and they were the most rock and roll of the lot, as well as being genuinely entertaining.

There was obviously an influence on Metallica and the following, so in that way it left its mark, but you do have to keep a bit of prospective. Some people have talked nostalgically about how good Rock Goddess were (they weren’t), but at the same time a youthful Van Halen were playing house parties and then the clubs in Los Angeles. They had great songs and were incredible live even then, light years ahead of any of the corresponding NWOBHM bands. 

Girl had that rock ‘n’ roll swagger that I associated with the bands that left me spellbound as a kid - Bowie, Rod, Bolan, Sweet etc. I only saw them supporting UFO (in early 1980?) but they were terrific - and, as I recall, the bass player played a Music Man, which was something you didn’t see much of at the time. My Number was such a good single.

I think I said on a separate thread (EVH?) that I went to see Black Sabbath at Cov Theatre in ‘78 with Van Halen supporting. Wasn’t a fan of Sabbath but I’d try and see any band I could scrape the money together to see (and my dear departed dad always looked to help me out!) and the Sabbath gig was a big draw.

If you’re talking about rock ‘n’ roll swagger then Van Halen bursting onto that Cov stage, all bright, shiny and brilliantly ridiculous, with their incredible musicianship and superbly catchy songs felt like music from another dimension.

Theirs (and UFO) was definitely more my kind of thing but in terms of inspiration, being a working class kid from the Midlands and seeing others from a similar background like Def Leppard and Iron Maiden taking the route they did definitely had a huge impact, even if I didn’t particularly like the music.

The music wasn’t really for me, but the attitude/ethos of the formative period of NWOBHM was one I found massively inspiring...

Edited February 15, 2021 by Old Man Riva

[Clarky]

Loved Schenker-period UFO but unfortunately my first gig seeing them was with Paul Chapman on guitar and it was so weak and disappointing.

Anyhow it gives me an excuse to post my fave ever guitar solo - Schenker on Rockbottom. Starts at around 3.45 if you can't be @rsed to listen to opening!

 

Edited February 15, 2021 by Clarky

[Billy Apple]

9 hours ago, dave_bass5 said:

So WOBHM then 😎

Biff Byford calls it Classic British Heavy Metal now

ClaBHeM?

[Rich]

9 hours ago, dave_bass5 said:

So WOBHM then 😎

Yup. It lost its Ner.

[three]

On 10/02/2021 at 21:11, Noisyjon said:

Oh wow, loving this thread everyone. Thanks for your memories and knowledge.

I am just a bit too young to have seen the NWOBHM bands BUT one of my favourite bands always site the genre as a big influence (it's very apparent in their early sound) and the drummer even helped curate this great compilation which helped me get a flavour:

 

I managed to support two of the bands on this compilation - probably back around '80 or '81.  Angelwitch and Witchfynde.  The former seemed like really good guys - the latter didn't really seem to be getting on well with their manager... though it's now a distant memory

[lemmywinks]

On 10/02/2021 at 21:14, 4000 said:

John Sykes comes from my neck of the woods and my old band used to rehearse and record at his step dad’s studio, where I’ve met him a couple of times. So Tygers aren’t obscure to me.. NWOBHM happened about the time I started playing and a couple of my early (not very good) bands were roped in with it, in the utterly, utterly obscure category. 😂

I bet they still have that old Peavey/McGregor stack in there! 

 

Non-interesting fact - John Sykes' nephew Jay currently sings in the punk band One Way System.

[4000]

56 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

I bet they still have that old Peavey/McGregor stack in there! 

 

Non-interesting fact - John Sykes' nephew Jay currently sings in the punk band One Way System.

Probably!😂

Really? Fun fact, their original singer, Gav White, was in my class at school. He was continually told he would amount to nothing. I remember therefore being somewhat amused when, a few years later, whilst rooting through the singles in a record shop, I came across a single with a picture of Gav on the front. 

My mate Tom Couch is the drummer. 

[4000]

11 hours ago, peteb said:

 but to me that was it became a scene for teenage boys who couldn’t get laid, something I was desperately attempting to leave behind as I got a bit older. 

Thing is, and I say this as a fan of a fair bit of the genre, isn’t this true of heavy rock generally? There certainly wasn’t a sniff of me or any of my mates getting laid in our mid teens! And if I was still in my embroidered denims 40-odd years later I doubt that would have changed.😉

I think the think with NWOBHM was that, as has already been said, it was heavy rock/metal’s equivalent of punk. It was about the energy of it all and feeling like yes, you too may have a chance to climb on a stage at the (insert venue of choice) and do your thing. And just like with punk, many of the bands actually weren’t very good, with hindsight. But when you’re 15 and first starting to think about seeing live bands, they seemed pretty darned exciting. 

 

Edited February 15, 2021 by 4000

[slojo]

Deleted 

Edited February 15, 2021 by slojo
Ooops, wrong thread! 😊

[lemmywinks]

12 minutes ago, 4000 said:

Probably!😂

Really? Fun fact, their original singer, Gav White, was in my class at school. He was continually told he would amount to nothing. I remember therefore being somewhat amused when, a few years later, whilst rooting through the singles in a record shop, I came across a single with a picture of Gav on the front. 

My mate Tom Couch is the drummer. 

 

I briefly knocked around with Jay many moons ago, he was a really good artist and did loads of HR Giger inspired pieces. You've probably seen him around Thornton years ago when he still lived here, had a massive mohawk and looked the part even back then.

 

Last time I went to Berlin the fella had befriended a local fox and fed it chicken every night, was stood outside smoking and it just casually wandered up the long path and sat there waiting for him.

[4000]

I probably will have done.

That’s awesome. Was that Ron? Haven’t been to Berlin in absolutely ages but it used to feel like we lived there!

[4000]

11 hours ago, Billy Apple said:

I bought Girl's single Hollywood Tease, but for most kids with beer towels stitched to their jeans at that time they couldn't get past the thought that they were a bit fruity.

Yep, that would probably have been me at the time. 😂 Ironic as I loved Judas Priest to bits. At the time I probably wouldn’t have seen the irony though, I was  15 going on 12. 😉

For me, I guess bands like Girl were kind of on the Hanoi Rocks / hair metal branch of heavy rock, which IMO eventually led to bands like Guns’n’Roses. The “rock’n’roll” side of it all, JD and partying. I never really liked any of those bands; still don’t. As soon as you attach the words “Rock’n’Roll” to heavy rock/ metal in that context (and I exclude Motorhead and DC from this, who really ARE rock’n’roll) I lose interest.

Bands like Purple and Heep aside(I loved those), I was always into the Sabbath/Priest thing, and later Manowar. Mighty Metallic Riffs. 😂

[peteb]

1 hour ago, 4000 said:

Thing is, and I say this as a fan of a fair bit of the genre, isn’t this true of heavy rock generally?

But was that necessarily the case? Certainly a few years later, rock clubs were full of girls attracted by music you could actually dance to and boys with long hair who had finally got rid of the embroidered denim jackets. The music that they were dancing to wasn't Angel Witch or Rock Goddess but Van Halen, Aerosmith, Whitesnake, Def Leppard and then GNR. It wasn't until Metallica came along that out and out metal became mainstream. 

I would agree that NWOBHM was heavy rock / metal’s equivalent of the second wave of punk. Not the original version of punk, which was more of a fashion driven thing, but the following DIY / underground scene. However, for people like me, NWOBHM was over the minute I heard the first Van Halen album...! 

Edited February 15, 2021 by peteb

[peteb]

8 minutes ago, 4000 said:

As soon as you attach the words “Rock’n’Roll” to heavy rock/ metal in that context (and I exclude Motorhead and DC from this, who really ARE rock’n’roll) I lose interest.

There is the thing - I am exactly the opposite! I have no real interest in heavy metal that doesn't have a healthy rock and roll element... 

[lemmywinks]

1 hour ago, 4000 said:

I probably will have done.

That’s awesome. Was that Ron? Haven’t been to Berlin in absolutely ages but it used to feel like we lived there!

 

Yeah Ron I think, no idea if he's still knocking around, heard he had health problems a while ago. We stopped rehearsing there a while ago, nice sounding room but I think most of the equipment had been there since I was in high school!

[nilebodgers]

28 minutes ago, peteb said:

There is the thing - I am exactly the opposite! I have no real interest in heavy metal that doesn't have a healthy rock and roll element... 

Me too. I never liked the Sabbath strand of heavy rock, I was very much on the Thin Lizzy/Whitesnake/UFO/Purple side and when Sabbath-derivatives became dominant I lost interest completely.

[4000]

47 minutes ago, peteb said:

But was that necessarily the case? Certainly a few years later, rock clubs were full of girls attracted by music you could actually dance to and boys with long hair who had finally got rid of the embroidered denim jackets. The music that they were dancing to wasn't Angel Witch or Rock Goddess but Van Halen, Aerosmith, Whitesnake, Def Leppard and then GNR. It wasn't until Metallica came along that out and out metal became mainstream. 

I would agree that NWOBHM was heavy rock / metal’s equivalent of the second wave of punk. Not the original version of punk, which was more of a fashion driven thing, but the following DIY / underground scene. However, for people like me, NWOBHM was over the minute I heard the first Van Halen album...! 

They weren’t in my era, in my area. I knew 2, no, 3 girls who were into rock, even into my 20s. That’s one of the things that makes me happy going to see someone like Babymetal these days, there are so many girls into it, which is great. It may have been different in cities, but I didn’t meet a girl who really knew who Van Halen were until Jump came out and they were on mainstream tv. I remember when we used to follow Girlschool. They were girls! Who played Rock music! They may as well have been from outer space to us. Evidently we didn’t all have the same experience. 

Oh I love Van Halen, but again probably didn’t discover them until about ‘81 or ‘82. By that time there pretty much was no NWOBHM. And discovering Van Halen in no way diminished my love of any of the classic rock bands. I’ll add that to me VH are a genre unto themselves; I in no way lump them in with the r’n’r metal bands that I dislike. 

 

 

Edited February 15, 2021 by 4000

[4000]

2 minutes ago, nilebodgers said:

Me too. I never liked the Sabbath strand of heavy rock, I was very much on the Thin Lizzy/Whitesnake/UFO/Purple side and when Sabbath-derivatives became dominant I lost interest completely.

See that’s the thing, I have Lizzy & Purple on the Sabbath strand. Classic rock. I guess Whitesnake would have been on there too. Obviously we all have different perceptions based on what we were into at the time. 

[4000]

27 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

 

Yeah Ron I think, no idea if he's still knocking around, heard he had health problems a while ago. We stopped rehearsing there a while ago, nice sounding room but I think most of the equipment had been there since I was in high school!

I can imagine Ron would be knocking on a bit now. Hope he’s ok. 
 

[Old Man Riva]

In terms of heavier music being embraced by the mainstream I don’t think the role of the first Beastie Boys album can be overlooked or understated, ditto the Aerosmith/Run DMC collaboration.

But that’s probably one for another day/thread!!