Triumphs and Other Happenings in 1984

 

Evidence that heavy metal had truly established itself in 1984 can be sited with the 1984 Monsters of Rock Festival at Donington Park, in England. This was the first and probably only Donington to feature seven artists and you can only look at the poster here, see which bands played on draw your own conclusions as to whether or not it was a kick ass day. I wasn't there but I know people who were and they can confirm it. The only negative comment I heard about the day was that Motley Crue had bottles thrown at them for making too many comments about sex, drugs and rock and roll. Something an opening band should probably not do. Anyway, to see Ozzy, Van Halen and AD/DC all on one stage must have been mind blowing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRMl9OgSOak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8Q3lSvhr3M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwWagee-BNM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3dZesrQS6E

I must apologize for Youtube not having any individual songs recorded from this memorable day.

[caption id="attachment_4130" align="aligncenter" width="259"] Cyndi Lauper[/caption]

You are probably asking yourself, "What is she doing here on an 80smetalman's post?" Well, some misguided individuals thought that Cyndi Lauper had replaced Joan Jett or Pat Benatar as the Queen of Rock in 1984. Nonsense, I say. I will never recognize Cyndi Lauper as such and will go to my grave stating that fact. Yes, I liked "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" the very first time I heard it but afterwards, I wanted to take an Uzi to the television every time the video came on MTV. The only song from of hers I nearly liked since was "Money Changes Everything" and a few years later, grew to like "I Drove All Night" a little.

So, why is she here you ask. Back when I posted about my weekend at Download, where I went to see wrestling, I mentioned that the Rock and Wrestling Connection began in 1984 and it began with Cyndi. At the time, wrestling manager, Captain Lou Albano, claimed she managed Cyndi Lauper on wrestling shows. Cyndi refuted that claim and without going into great details, she made a challenge to Captain Lou that she could manage a wrestler better than him. So, while Lou took Women's World Champion The Fabulous Moolah under his wing, Cyndi managed challenger Wendi Richter. I'll leave  you to watch the video to see who won but the Rock and Wrestling Connection started here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePHS6dHfjT0

There was a tragedy too in 1984 but that happened at the very end of the year, so I'm saving it for the end of the 1984 tour. So here, let us reflect on the happy times with all the great heavy metal and some wrestling too.

Next post: My Underrated Band

To Buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com 

1983 Triumphs and Tragedies

 [caption id="attachment_3349" align="aligncenter" width="539"] The Alamo[/caption]

The only tragedy I remember from 1983 actually happened the year before. Due to my military service, I didn't find out about it until 83 when I read about all the fallout from it. I'm talking about when Ozzy Osbourne pissed on the Alamo. He claims he was drunk as a skunk, (I've never seen a drunk skunk so I have nothing to compare it to.) Ozzy also said he didn't know it was such a national shrine, well it is in Texas. The result of his action got him banned from the city of San Antonio for ten years, although that was lifted a few years later when he made a large donation to the Alamo charity.

[caption id="attachment_2343" align="aligncenter" width="199"] Ozzy Osbourne[/caption]

Ozzy was already getting himself a reputation outside the heavy metal world for the wrong reasons. His infamous biting the head off a bat was making its rounds. Of course, the religious element in America embellished things further. There were rumours he blew up goats on stage and at one show, he supposedly threw a puppy into the crowd and said he wouldn't sing anymore until the audience killed the puppy. While this was all untrue hype, it didn't help Ozzy when he actually did something for real. So for Ozzy and somewhat in the metal world, this was a bit of a tragedy because it overshadowed the two albums he released in the year. I'll be covering those soon enough.

Now for the triumphs. It seems that 1983 was a cool year for festivals. I got to go to two of them. The first one, I mentioned when I posted about the Nantucket and Doc Holliday albums a few months ago. Those two bands topped the bill at the Mayfair Festival at Jacksonville, North Carolina. The other five bands remain pretty much unheard of with the bottom three being cover bands. So, I thought I'd include them in this little piece of history. They were Skeet Kelly, Roxy, Avalanche- who did a great cover of Sammy Hagar's "Heavy Metal," Peer Pressure- who did a reasonably decent cover of John Cougar's "Hurt So Good" and Eraxle- who closed their set with a fantastic cover of Van Halen's "Ice Cream Man." I consumed loads of alcohol and there were some interesting events between the bands like a wet t-shirt and a men's ugly legs competition. A fine day from what I remember.

[caption id="attachment_1322" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Nantucket[/caption]

Military commitments kept me from attending this festival but my sister went. I tried to pick her brains but she didn't remember much. In the June, Journey headlined in Philadelphia and with them were John Cougar, Sammy Hagar, The Tubes and Bryan Adams. From what she can remember, my sister says that Journey sounded great and had a fantastic light show. John Cougar and Bryan Adams were both very good as was Sammy Hagar despite his red spandex. Unfortunately, The Tubes weren't up to the rest of those who played that day. If this line up played in more cities than Philly, I would love to hear your account of the day.

[caption id="attachment_3350" align="aligncenter" width="387"] Journey Live[/caption]

It didn't matter that I was in the military for this one, I couldn't have gone to the US Festival because it was 3000 miles away in California. The US Festival was a three day festival where the first day consisted of new wave bands, the second day's line up was heavy metal and the third day's was a rock line up. From what I heard, all three days were fantastic although I do recall an interview with a local sheriff saying that he was going to try to ban such events following the festival. I didn't think about it then, but that was the first salvo fired at music in the 1980s. I think the best thing to do is just to let you look at the line up for the three days and I'm sure you will be just as awestruck as I was.

[caption id="attachment_3351" align="aligncenter" width="478"] Us Festival Showbill[/caption]

I did get to the final festival in 1983. This was my first Donington Festival as I happened to be in England at the time. From my memory, I can recall that Diamond Head were all right and Dio were very good. I didn't twig on who the lead singer was until they played "Heaven and Hell" but that was okay. They were brilliant. Then came Twisted Sister. I can still remember Dee Snider's quip: "We're not Culture Club or any of those gay boys or Duran Duran nor any of those other wimps. We're Twisted Sister and we play heavy metal rock and roll!" Of course I knew there must of been something about them when they were introduced as Twisted Fuckin' Sister. Their music was great too.

For me, ZZ Top took the concert. They played a magnificent combination of old and new material during their time on stage. Of course it helped that they played my two favourite ZZ Top tunes, "Jesus Just Left Chicago" and "La Grange." They also played quite a few songs off their new "Eliminator" album so they basically rocked. The big let down after ZZ Top was Meatloaf. I was not impressed, he just sounded terrible that day. Worse, my friend's English girlfriend didn't realize that they ran a special train after the concert so out of fear of getting stuck, we left early and missed headliners, Whitesnake. I remain gutted but overall, Donington 1983 was a kick ass day and proved that Great Britain could rock.

 

That was 1983 in a nutshell. The only real tragedy was Ozzy pissing on a national shrine but all the great concert festivals more than compensated for it. Just posting about it has me psyched for Bloodstock in two weeks. It was no wonder I was super excited when I got out of the marines that year.

Next post: Great Soundtracks

To buy Rock And Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com 

Great Metal Albums of 1982: Diamond Head- Borrowed Time

 

"Borrowed Time" by Diamond Head another album that passed me by in 1982 but then again, I had never heard of the band until a year later when I came to Britain and happened to see them at Donnington in 1983. While I thought they were okay, I still never got around to buying any of their albums. When I came to Britain to stay in 1986, it was only then I got to experience them because two of my new friends were heavily into them. In fact, one was nicknamed Diamond Head Andy because of his love for the band. Although the character based on him in "Rock and Roll Children" is called Diamond Head Martin. Even then, I can't say that I really listened to them. That is why, like a good number of the albums of 1982, I am only listening "Borrowed Time" for the first time before making this post.

What is my impression of Diamond Head? Well listening to "Borrowed Time," my first reaction is Led Zeppelin. It is very obvious that Diamond Head draw a major influence from the great Zep, not that I can blame them for that. Lead singer Sean Harris sounds quite a lot like Robert Plant on most of the tracks and guitarist Brian Tatler has a style very similar to Jimmy Page. The tracks which prove the point the most are "Borrowed Time" and "Don't You Ever Leave Me." However, there is a little of the Zeppelin influence in the other tracks too and that includes the closer, "Am I Evil" which any metalhead knows was covered by Metallica. But calling Diamond Head Led Zeppelin clones would be grossly unfair and inaccurate. Sure the Zep influence is definitely there but they aren't clones. Take "Am I Evil" for an example. There is some good power metal riffs in that song that I can see why one of the most famous thrash bands in the world would cover it. The same can be said for "Lightning to the Nations." That is another song where Diamond Head put their own stamp on it. Comparisons and contrasts aside, I found "Borrowed Time to be a great album to sit back and bang your head to and I have to give credit to Tatler as a guitarist, he can cook.

Track Listing:

1. In the Heat of the Night
2. To Heave from Hell
3. Call Me
4. Lightning to the Nations
5. Borrowed Time
6. Don't You Ever Leave Me
7. Am I Evil

[caption id="attachment_2861" align="aligncenter" width="236"]                          Diamond Head[/caption]

Sean Harris- vocals

Brian Tatler- guitars

Colin Kimberly- bass

Duncan Scott- drums

My trip through 1982 has been full of pleasant surprises for me. Because so many albums passed me by that year due to my military commitments, (though I can't use that excuse here), I have had the pleasurable experience of having to catch up on them. So far, every one of them has been a good experience but I have to say that Diamond Head's "Borrowed Time" has been the best surprise thus far.

Next post: UFO- Mechanix

To buy Rock And Roll Children,

Triumphs and Tragedy: 1982

You may remember that when I first entered 1982, I spent eight of the twelve months of that year deployed with the marines. The first six months were especially difficult because I was floating about the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean on a ship. So I didn't get that much news especially news pertaining to music. However, one piece of tragic news that did reach my ears whilst on the ship was the death of comic actor and Blues Brothers singer John Belushi.

Unlike the assassination of JFK, Belushi's death may not have been a where were you moment when you first learned about it to most people. While I can say for sure that I was on board the ship when I learned about his tragic passing, I can't say where exactly the ship was at the time. I do know that it was somewhere in the Indian Ocean.

His career may have been short but John Belushi packed a load of things to remember him by during those few years. For us music fans, the biggest contribution to music was most certainly The Blues Brothers. His collaboration with Dan Ackroyd  gave us a brilliant album and in 1980, a hilarious movie with one hell of a great soundtrack. For those new to 80smetalman, I have visited both on here if you want to take a look. Older statesmen like me, however, will always love Belushi for his antics on the old Saturday Night Live show. I will always love his Samurai character. In 1982, a true musical and comical genius was tragically taken from us. R.I.P. John Belushi.

[caption id="attachment_2678" align="aligncenter" width="259"] John Belushi as Samurai in my all time favourite one: Samurai Night Fever[/caption]

Now on to the triumph. This year saw the third Monsters of Rock Festival at Donnington Park. Attendance was up from the previous two years and evidence that slowly but surely, heavy metal was taking over the UK. A small piece of festival history was made that year when Saxon became the first band to play at there for the second time. Headlining was another British band who failed to make it very far in the US, Status Quo. I have to admit, that I haven't listened to them much over the years over the years. Guess I should rectify that. Other players that year included Gillan, Uriah Heep, space rockers Hawkwind and Canadian metal band Anvil. While it would be another year before I would hear about this great festival, I believe that this varied line up would have been a great thing to see and hear.

Like I said at the beginning, my knowledge of musical events is limited due to the circumstances. So if there is some other event from 1982, triumph or tragedy, let me know and I will post about it because it is part of our history. Call this an urgent appeal.

Next post: Status Quo- 1+9+8+2

To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London

1980: Triumphs and Tragedies Part 2

First of all, I owe a debt of gratitude to KramerTunes for saving me from committing a very fatal error in my first post of Tragedies and Triumphs. How stupid would I have looked if I had gone through 1980 and not mentioned the death of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham. His death from asphyxiation caused by too much alcohol intake would shock the rock world to its foundations and resulted in the band calling it a day on the grounds they couldn't continue without him.

John Bonham

Bonham would serve to be a major influence on not only drummers who were around at the time like Joey Krammer, Roger Taylor and Peter Criss, he continues to influence many a rock drummer to this very day. Drummers like Tommy Lee, Dave Lombardo and Dave Grohl all site John Bonham as their biggest influence as well. He created a legacy for rock drummers that will never die and I feel slightly sick that I won't be going to see Led Zeppelin tribute band Whole Lotta Led when they come to Stroud this Friday night.

Now the triumph. In 1980, the first of what was to be a line of great metal festivals took place at Donington Park near Derby in England on August 16 of said year. Rainbow would be the headliners for this mammoth event and supporting were the likes of Judas Priest, The Scorpions,  April Wine, Saxon and Riot. From what I've read and heard from people who were at the event, there were a lot of near mishaps including a pyrotechnics explosion the night before. Plus the rainfall on the previous days cause a quagmire on the actual day. Still, as can be expected, metal won the day and it turned out to be the start of a legacy that would go on for over a decade. (Although it can be argued that it still goes on under the name of Download.)

Shot of the first Donington

If you want to read more about this historic event, click this link:

http://www.ukrockfestivals.com/donington-1980.html

Many years have their own triumphs and tragedies and in 1980, the rock/metal world had more than its share. Especially as one more was yet to happen. Still, we can reflect back to the good times and raise a glass to those who left us.

R.IP. John Bonham

Next Post: Thin Lizzy- Chinatown

To buy Rock and Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London