...CREEM, AMERICA’S ONLY ROCK MAGAZINE, according to its bold
strapline, posed the question “Is heavy metal dead?” alongside pictures
of Aerosmith, Kiss and other supposedly deceased artists looking
remarkably chipper. I only know this because I saw it on the internet
recently. I was 14 at the time, and Creem’s doomy death notice didn’t
make it as far as my Northwest London Comprehensive.
Here, in the UK, heavy metal was very much alive and well, thank
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its devotees gathered most breaktimes to peruse music weekly Sounds
and debate the pros and cons of Rush’s Hemispheres versus A Farewell To
Kings. “Fuck’s sake, Steve! Everyone knows Xanadu is their greatest
song...”, etc, continued ad nauseum until the bell rang.
When 1980 came along, Creem’s question seemed even more ridicuĥ
lous. It was the year I turned 1 5 and heard British Steel, Back In Black,
Heaven And Hell, Iron Maiden and
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without any received wisdom to disĥ
tract me. 1980 is hard rock’s greatĥ
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aligned. It was the year seasoned old
turns discovered a creative second
wind and hungry young groups
arrived snapping at their heels.
Meanwhile, in schools up and
down the country, teenagers sportĥ
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became avid consumers. A bit too
young to have experienced Zeppelin
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we were ripe for the taking. Never
in the history of rock did so much pocket/paper round money cross so
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ODAY, MOST MUSIC IS FREE at the click of a mouse. In 1980 it
required cash, patience and a lot of C90 cassettes on which to
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the same regardless of genre. If you were interested in any
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you had to buy a music paper to read about it and tune into a specialist
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IC Vance and Nicky Horne broadcasting at unsociable hours.
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Liking rock music required commitment, which bred devotion and
tribalism; the twin cogs on which the music business turned. By 1980,
punk had sort of been and gone. I had a mate that year who played the
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Nothing wrong with that, but those groups were everywhere and everyĥ
one seemed to like them. In a peculiar role reversal, listening to Rush
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well as being a giant smart arse. Metal had almost become like punk
three years earlier.
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genre called the New Wave Of
British Heavy Metal, encompassing
young bucks Def Leppard and older
lags Saxon alike. It was all