NWOBHM

[peteb]

1 hour ago, 4000 said:

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 think that where you come from has a lot to do with it. I spent my teenage years in a northern industrial city and there were always some girls who were into heavy rock (mainly bands like Whitesnake & Lizzy). By 81 or 82 there were a number of rock pubs around that plenty of girls would go to, with less and less guys around proudly wearing their patched denim jackets!  

I have to say that discovering Van Halen didn't diminish in the slightest my love of Led Zep, Whitesnake, Lizzy et al, but it did mark a bit of a change in the scene. It certainly meant that I had no further interest in buying the latest single from Diamond Head or whoever... 

Edited February 15, 2021 by peteb

[4000]

See I spent my teenage years in a seaside town, and although there was a fairly big well-known town nearby (Blackpool) it certainly wasn’t a rock haven, being the light entertainment capital of Britain.😂

I do remember one year going to a rock club in Manchester (Phoenix maybe?) with a mate and it was like another world. 

I’ll add that me and my mates went to an all-boys school so hardly knew any girls anyway!
 

I’ve just been thinking about it and around the age of 15 I knew of one local girl who was into rock, and I didn’t even know her; she worked in a local record shop. 😂

Edited February 15, 2021 by 4000

[peteb]

2 hours ago, 4000 said:

I do remember one year going to a rock club in Manchester (Phoenix maybe?) with a mate and it was like another world. 

Jilly's in Manchester??

That's the rock club in Manchester that we used to go across to every now and then in the mid 80s. 

[4000]

1 hour ago, peteb said:

Jilly's in Manchester??

That's the rock club in Manchester that we used to go across to every now and then in the mid 80s. 

No, wasn’t Jilly’s. I was aware of that but don’t think I ever went. 

It was this;

http://www.mancky.co.uk/?p=7221

We only went once. My mate met a female pen-pal from Manchester. I sat with her mate for about an hour, too terrified to even talk. I have nightmares about it even now. 😂 We sat in the precinct (?) and went to the club afterwards; I remember Hallowed Be Thy Name coming on and that’s about it.

To be honest, I was never that keen on rock clubs. They seemed to be about all the parts of heavy rock that I didn’t like; darkness, crap beer, blokes. 😂 At heart I remained more of a Progger, happier at home chilling to Pink Floyd, or in wilder moments listening to Live & Dangerous on my dad’s headphones, turned up to 11, obviously.  

[MacDaddy]

A blast from the past, for those wanting to relive their misspent youth...

[King Tut]

Here's the clip of moi from Newsnight (Repeated on Dance Britannia) after an Angelwitch gig at The Marquee. The original program was concerned with headbanging causing brain damage. I'm the one asking how many people have died from heart attacks while disco dancing. 

 

[Killed_by_Death]

 

 

anyone remember this compilation?

 

 

[davepb24]

32 minutes ago, Killed_by_Death said:

 

 

anyone remember this compilation?

 

 

Do recall it but never managed to acquire one

[Killed_by_Death]

 

Track listing:

 

[davepb24]

Don't know if I've still got it (or where it is if I have) but I did have another compilation of similar stuff which may or may not have been all local bands (to me - Brum/Black Country) - Handsome Beasts is one name I remember being on it

[Killed_by_Death]

 

It would have been cool to actually grow up with a scene like that.

By the time I got out to L.A. our Glam Metal wave had made way for Grunge.

 

[davepb24]

A lot of it kind of bypassed me at the time, I was the weirdo buying OMD and Gary Numan as well as the rock stuff 🙂

[Killed_by_Death]

 

The scene of the 70's was so incestuous in London, I thought it was such a weird coincidence that Chrissie Hynde started out working for NME & Vivienne Westwood.

She was nearly thrown into The Clash & some other Punk bands.

 I had a Welsh friend in Bangkok who was a roadie for The Cult, such a small world in the U.K..

 

[King Tut]

9 hours ago, Killed_by_Death said:

 

 

anyone remember this compilation?

 

 

Yeah I’ve got that - think I digitised it somewhere along the line!

[4000]

10 hours ago, Killed_by_Death said:

 

 

anyone remember this compilation?

 

 

Yep, remember that. A friend who bought pretty much all the NWOBHM stuff - which I didn’t - had it. 

[4000]

9 hours ago, Killed_by_Death said:

 

It would have been cool to actually grow up with a scene like that.

By the time I got out to L.A. our Glam Metal wave had made way for Grunge.

 

Have to say I was much happier with grunge than hair metal tbh. 😉

[Muzz]

15 hours ago, 4000 said:

No, wasn’t Jilly’s. I was aware of that but don’t think I ever went. 

It was this;

http://www.mancky.co.uk/?p=7221

We only went once. My mate met a female pen-pal from Manchester. I sat with her mate for about an hour, too terrified to even talk. I have nightmares about it even now. 😂 We sat in the precinct (?) and went to the club afterwards; I remember Hallowed Be Thy Name coming on and that’s about it.

To be honest, I was never that keen on rock clubs. They seemed to be about all the parts of heavy rock that I didn’t like; darkness, crap beer, blokes. 😂 At heart I remained more of a Progger, happier at home chilling to Pink Floyd, or in wilder moments listening to Live & Dangerous on my dad’s headphones, turned up to 11, obviously.  

Phoenix was Sunday night, Monday was the Ritz, they opened the Banshee on a Tuesday for a while, Wednesday was the Sporran, Thursday Banshee, Friday Jillys/Banshee/Phonenix, Satdy UMIST/Jillys/Banshee/Sporran. There were always lots of girls around, especially when Hair Metal kinda (Bon Jovi's first album in 83 really kicked it off) softened the whole biker bloke denim and leather thing...

I was never in the house after 10pm between 1982-89... 🙂

Edit; I should probably add that I wasn't out drinking 7 nights a week, I went on my bike most of the time, with two helmets...just in case...Satdy was a Last Bus Home fixture, tho... 😁

Edited February 16, 2021 by Muzz

[Stub Mandrel]

I never objected to listening to NWOBHM bands and as the Friday Rock Show was the guide to what's hot and what's not I got to hear plenty of it.

At the time I was most into 'first wave' bands like Sabbath, Zeppelin, Purple and derivatives like Rainbow, as well as Hawkwind, Stranglers and punk (thanks to my slightly younger brother) as well as more proggy stuff - Crimson, Greenslade, Gong and a big slice of Neil Young.

I suppose I was just old enough to have got into all the 'classic rock' before it hit, although rock was heading that way before it was defined.

The one band I have always struggled with is Def Leppard, which is ironic that as far as 'heavy metal' bands go only Metallica and Led Zeppelin have outsold them (I don''t count Aerosmith as metal).

Not sure if Kerrang!! has been mentioned? It's been through a few changes since but it was the 'def' guide to the NWOBHM back then.

[Billy Apple]

2 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Not sure if Kerrang!! has been mentioned? It's been through a few changes since but it was the 'def' guide to the NWOBHM back then.

Kerrang was first put out as a supplement in Sounds. I always thought it a bit after the fact and regarded Sounds as the true source.

I would've never have thought Kerrang would still be going with Sounds disappearing. 

I always thought Kerrang a stupid name.. too metal and too little rock in that word for me

[peteb]

19 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I never objected to listening to NWOBHM bands and as the Friday Rock Show was the guide to what's hot and what's not I got to hear plenty of it.

At the time I was most into 'first wave' bands like Sabbath, Zeppelin, Purple and derivatives like Rainbow, as well as Hawkwind, Stranglers and punk (thanks to my slightly younger brother) as well as more proggy stuff - Crimson, Greenslade, Gong and a big slice of Neil Young.

I suppose I was just old enough to have got into all the 'classic rock' before it hit, although rock was heading that way before it was defined.

The one band I have always struggled with is Def Leppard, which is ironic that as far as 'heavy metal' bands go only Metallica and Led Zeppelin have outsold them (I don''t count Aerosmith as metal).

Not sure if Kerrang!! has been mentioned? It's been through a few changes since but it was the 'def' guide to the NWOBHM back then.

NWOBHM was a creation of Sounds and pre-dated Kerrang by a couple of years.

I would suggest that the original Kerrang was a result of NWOBHM and the new interest in American metal bands (and AC/DC of course) promoted by Sounds and Geoff Barton in particular. 

Edited February 16, 2021 by peteb

[4000]

1 hour ago, Muzz said:

Phoenix was Sunday night, Monday was the Ritz, they opened the Banshee on a Tuesday for a while, Wednesday was the Sporran, Thursday Banshee, Friday Jillys/Banshee/Phonenix, Satdy UMIST/Jillys/Banshee/Sporran. There were always lots of girls around, especially when Hair Metal kinda (Bon Jovi's first album in 83 really kicked it off) softened the whole biker bloke denim and leather thing...

I was never in the house after 10pm between 1982-89... 🙂

Edit; I should probably add that I wasn't out drinking 7 nights a week, I went on my bike most of the time, with two helmets...just in case...Satdy was a Last Bus Home fixture, tho... 😁

I was at Uni tail end of ‘82, way down south and not a denim jacket to be seen. I’d also got into stuff like Bow Wow Wow and Siouxsie and moved away from metal somewhat, although I did buy Bon Jovi’s first, which I thought was great (the only one I did buy). 

[Stub Mandrel]

On 14/02/2021 at 21:57, Old Man Riva said:

I’m with you on UFO, but from experience knew hard rock fans who were suspicious of them - “poseurs” etc.

Again, purely to my ears at least, the early Iron Maiden stuff I heard was bordering on punk in its sound. Running Free had brilliant energy, and hearing it on Radio 1 at the time it really came across brilliantly. I remember reading about their approach in Sounds and it really did feel like the punk ethos, insomuch as their approach felt truly independent and driven by the same approach as a lot of the punk bands - a bunch of mates getting together and having a go at forming a band. The same with Def Leppard and their Bludgeon Riffola EP.

As a movement I wasn’t a fan of (much of) the music but loved the fact it was happening... 

I never had an issue with UFO - who could criticise with the band who came up with Doctor Doctor* or Lights Out?

Def Leppard were always cheesy.

Running Free was the first song my mate and I learnt (as in chunking along with barre chords) when we got our first electric guitars - it had just come out.

 

 

 

 

*The purest heavy metal always has a bit where the drummer ticks the cymbal bell - none of this cowbell nonsense 🙂

[4000]

17 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I never objected to listening to NWOBHM bands and as the Friday Rock Show was the guide to what's hot and what's not I got to hear plenty of it.

At the time I was most into 'first wave' bands like Sabbath, Zeppelin, Purple and derivatives like Rainbow, as well as Hawkwind, Stranglers and punk (thanks to my slightly younger brother) as well as more proggy stuff - Crimson, Greenslade, Gong and a big slice of Neil Young.

I suppose I was just old enough to have got into all the 'classic rock' before it hit, although rock was heading that way before it was defined.

The one band I have always struggled with is Def Leppard, which is ironic that as far as 'heavy metal' bands go only Metallica and Led Zeppelin have outsold them (I don''t count Aerosmith as metal).

 

In real terms, certainly when it came to buying records, I was the same as you, far more first wave. I came to heavier rock through Prog really. Hawkwind, Deep Purple and Thin Lizzy were really my breakthrough heavier bands, then Sabbath. 

S’funny, never liked Leppard or Metallica. I quite liked Zep but never loved them, 4 or 5 tracks aside. 

[PaulThePlug]

Axe Attack Vol 1 and 2... on a BASF C90...

Aerosmith - Sweet Emotion... Tune!

Gonna listen to it now... Close my eyes and pretend im 12 again, in the back of my Mums Mk1 Escort, Daytona Yellow, with my little mono cassette player...

Edited February 16, 2021 by PaulThePlug

[peteb]

In defence of Def Leppard, without them or Iron Maiden there wouldn’t have been a NWOBHM scene in the first place. Leppard were the first to embrace the DIY punk ethic and apply it to heavy rock, but their ambitions always went far beyond being the darlings of an underground scene.

The second, third and fourth Leppard albums are all great, although I have never even considered buying a DL album after Hysteria. As someone mentioned, they are one of the biggest selling rock bands of all time and they did have a huge crossover appeal, which I understand puts some people off for some reason.

To be honest, I never play those albums these days and DL aren’t one of my absolute favourite bands by any means. However, whenever I do hear / come across YouTube clips of tracks like Foolin’ or Hysteria (or whatever), I always note just how good they are and how well they have stood the test of time. This is in addition to them taking me back to a time and place, which is a mark of a great record... 

Edited February 16, 2021 by peteb