Episode 7: The Saturday NWoBHM Show!

It's not a 'word'...it's an acronym.  It's fair to say that if you were a heavy rock band of any type between 79 and 86 from the UK, you could be tagged as NWoBHM at some point (and you also have license to tag yourself!) but that doesn't give what NWoBHM is any credit.

So, there was this "movement" called the New Wave of British Heavy Metal that was a "thing."  Lots of bands emerged from this "movement thing" and became famous, like Def Leppard, Iron Maiden, and the like.  Pretty soon, NWoBHM was a pleasant musical disease that had lots of ears turned around, including my own in the summer of 1982 when I picked up "The Friday Rock Show" compilation on BBC records and spent the rest of that summer trying to play Diamond Head's epic "Don't You Ever Leave" on my Gibson S1.  I still consider it one of the most impressionable riffs I've ever heard in my life.

This will be the first of many NWoBHM themed programmes, I'm sure.  To start out, I basically chose selections from two of my own favorite compilations.  The first 3 tracks are from the 1987 Prism comp "Metal City," the next 9 come from another Prism comp called "Metal Minded" that began life as a cassette-only Neat Records 'bonus' for the readers of Sounds Magazine in 1982 called "60 Minute Plus" that Neat pressed as an LP entitled "All Hell Let Loose" the following year.  My old friend Warren scrambled these two comps up on a cassette once, and that tape has always been one of my "go to" tapes over many years of working in machine shops, sheet metal fab shops, and warehouses.  Warren also lent his aid to my appreciation of the last two songs on the programme, so you might as well join me in raising a pint of Boddington's to good ol' Warren, a very very good friend.

If you have any comments or suggestions, here's the place to do it...or you can always follow me on the twitter, I'm @yoshiki89 so go for it.  Also, please consider following me on Mixlr...if you do, you'll be notified not only when the live broadcast is on, but also when the archive is posted, and whenever I decide to play records on the fly.  Thanks for listening!!

Without any further ado...show notes!  Timestamps are approximate.  PLAY LOUD or KNEEL AT TEA TIME!!  Heavy Metal is the LAW!!

Episode 7 MixCloud (click here to listen to the archive of the broadcast)

This is GOLDSMITH...but it could really be any NWoBHM band, though

Prelude/Intro 0:00:00

Hammer and Anvil.  You can look that up.  

VENOM "Bursting Out" 0:03:18

Originally recorded in 1981, and usually appearing as a bonus track on reissues of "Welcome to Hell." If Iron Maiden and their lot were considered the most famous of all NWoBHM bands, then VENOM was certainly the most infamous.  Many think that Venom put Neat Records on the map; this really isn't true but it's pretty damn close to the truth. 

AVENGER "Under the Hammer" 0:06:18

This song also appeared on their 1985 "Killer Elite," and features Ian Swift on vocals, who was a member of Tysondog, Atomkraft, and Satan...a band that also featured NWoBHM legend Brian Ross, who also sang for AVENGER briefly and their work with him is typically better known.  

SARACEN "We Have Arrived" 0:08:51

To think that such a fantastic song as this came from such a low point in the band's history...this was the album opener for 1984's "Change of Heart," an album that came following founding member Rob Brendelow's departure.  He is back in SARACEN today (with original vocalist Steve Bettney, featured here also) and the band is still active today.  "We Have Arrived" is now and always has been a totally goose-bump inducing klassic.

MC  0:13:07

Up the irons, though.  Sons of Tommy Vance.

STEEL "All Systems Go" 0:14:21

Not all NWoBHM bands ended up as productive and as revered as others, with this track we're starting to dig into some of the former.  STEEL gave us one 7" EP in 1981, from which this song (the B-side) is taken from.

GOLDSMITH "Give Me Your Love" 0:17:51

One demo, one single, and GOLDSMITH were finished in 1983 or so.  The band featured former members of Bitches Sin at one time or another, and like the mighty ARAGORN even though their catalog was sparse, years later enough material existed on tape to justify a nice retrospective compilation.  Now, these lyrics aren't the most profound ever (in fact, not very many NWoBHM klassics are known for their staunch poetic charge), and they might make you blush...but the riffs in this song make up for it, I think.

PERSIAN RISK "50,000 Stallions" 0:22:28

This was a compilation track only, and I sometimes honor this as a prime proto-power metal klassic.  After releasing their debut LP in 1986, vocalist Carl Sentance moved to the U.S.A. (he was replaced by Lou Taylor, don't get me started!) and eventually ended up singing for Krokus in the late 90s.  Oh yeah, some guy named Phil Campbell played in the band as well.

Persian Risk: 50,000 Stallions, and just as much #want

MC 0:27:16

Thanks for listening to the show!! Let's have a spot of tea!!

WHITE SPIRIT "Watch Out" 0:28:00

This was a compilation track only.  Janick Gers was in this band before he was in Iron Maiden.  WHITE SPIRIT are really fuckin' good.  Bruce Ruff is well known as their vocalist, but some say that this particular recording is the only material the original band ever tracked with Brian Howe, who sang for Ted Nugent and Bad Company later on.  It does get confusing.

DEDRINGER "Lucy" 0:32:37

This was a compilation track only.  I'm not sure why DEDRINGER are not metal enough for Metal Archives (but well, OK).

WARRIOR "Kansas City"0:35:08

Where NWoBHM was amazing at bringing so many bands into the light, many of the band names caused confusion due to not being so original...take WARRIOR, for instance.  OK, we shall cut them slack for the name of the band!  This band is better known for their klassic tune "Dead When It Comes To Love," the great title of that track more than makes up for the not-so-great name.  "Kansas City" is on the B-side of that single.

MC 0:38:15

If you're still listening...thanks a lot!

DEMON "Wonderland" 0:38:55

An early NWoBHM favorite of many, DEMON are better known (and more respected by the media) for their early 'evil' themed albums...they were really a multi-faceted band that covered a variety of musickal genres as well as lyrical themes, so much that the name of the band pretty much cast them in the eyes of many.  One of their best albums was 1985's "British Standard Approved," and "Wonderland" is from that album.  "BSA" was also the last DEMON album to feature songwriter/guitarist Mal Spooner, who passed away in 1984.

HELLANBACH "All The Way" 0:43:37

An updated version of this appears on their 1983 LP "Now Hear This," but this version was a comp track only.  Early promo folders touted HELLANBACH as "the new Van Halen," and it's true that their energy was very Halen-esque (if that's a thing at all) but they were different in many other ways.  Their albums are very impressive, for sure.

Hellanbach responds to unreasonable Van Halen comps by adding someone's 15-year-old brother to their lineup

JAGUAR "Dirty Tricks" 0:46:52

This was a compilation track only.  If Persian Risk laid a template for contemporary power metal with "50,000 Stallions" earlier in the programme, then JAGUAR did the same for speed metal with their signature rip-roaring fare, such as the popular "Axe Crazy," which is the fastest NWoBHM track I can think of (even faster than VENOM).  "Dirty Tricks" isn't about speed, it's about using your "honey," as they say in the song.

MC 0:51:19

Time enough for one more pint of Boddington's, and a couple more pints of metal...

TYTAN "Blind Men and Fools" 0:52:37

My goodness!  Can I add this to my list of favorite songs ever? ADD TO CART? Y!  Former Angel Witch members Kevin Riddles and Dave Dufort (Denise's brother) formed this band in 1981 with Steve Gibbs and the incredible Kal Swan on vocals (who sounds a little like Kevin Heybourne and Dave Tattum rolled into one).  This EP heralded the band's impending greatness...a greatness so great they split up in less than two years; their "Rough Justice" LP was released 2 years later in 1985.

ANGEL WITCH "Straight From Hell" 0:56:45

Speaking of ANGEL WITCH...here's Heybourne and Tattum from 1986's "Frontal Assault" LP.  Sure, you've heard the typical ANGEL WITCH standards on other NWoBHM comps, but nobody talks enough about the Killerwatt (Records) era, of which this is a part of.  I get some unusual eyebrows when I cite this as one of my favorite ANGEL WITCH songs, but it really is.  Every time I listen to this, I nearly pass out from delight when Kevin's vocal part comes in for the first time..."what if I don't make it?" ARGH.

Outro  1:02:46

Thanks for listening!!

#NeverForget

If you like something on the show, please, go buy it (if it's available).  If you own something on the show and don't want me to play it, please let me know.