Classic 21 #193 – NWOBHM

Classic 21: July (November/Oscar) N #12

The new wave of British heavy metal (commonly abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that started in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Journalist Geoff Barton coined the term in a May 1979 issue of the British music newspaper Sounds to describe the emergence of new heavy metal bands in the mid to late 1970s, during the period of punk rock’s decline and the dominance of new wave music.

Although encompassing diverse mainstream and underground styles, the music of the NWOBHM is best remembered for drawing on the heavy metal of the 1970s and infusing it with the intensity of punk rock to produce fast and aggressive songs. The DIY attitude of the new metal bands led to the spread of raw-sounding, self-produced recordings and a proliferation of independent record labels. Song lyrics were usually about escapist themes such as mythology, fantasy, horror and the rock lifestyle.

The NWOBHM began as an underground phenomenon growing in parallel to punk and largely ignored by the media. It was only through the promotion of rock DJ Neal Kay and Sounds’ campaigning that it reached the public consciousness and gained radio airplay, recognition and success in the UK. The movement involved mostly young, white, male and working-class musicians and fans, who suffered the hardships brought on by rising unemployment for years after the 1973–75 recession. As a reaction to their bleak reality, they created a community separate from mainstream society to enjoy each other’s company and their favourite loud music. The NWOBHM was heavily criticised for the excessive hype generated by local media in favour of mostly talentless musicians. Nonetheless, it generated a renewal in the genre of heavy metal music and furthered the progress of the heavy metal subculture, whose updated behavioural and visual codes were quickly adopted by metal fans worldwide after the spread of the music to continental Europe, North America and Japan.

The movement spawned perhaps a thousand heavy metal bands, but only a few survived the advent of MTV and the rise of the more commercial glam metal in the second half of the 1980s. Among them, Iron Maiden and Def Leppard became international stars, and Motörhead and Saxon had considerable success. Other groups, such as Diamond Head, Venom and Raven, remained underground, but were a major influence on the successful extreme metal subgenres of the late 1980s and 1990s. Many bands from the NWOBHM reunited in the 2000s and remained active through live performances and new studio albums

Classic 21 #126 – Iron Maiden

Classic 21: April (Indigo/Juliet/Kilo) I #6

Iron Maiden were formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since then the band’s discography has grown to 40 albums, including 16 studio albums, 13 live albums, four EPs, and seven compilations. 

Pioneers of the new wave of British heavy metal, Iron Maiden achieved initial success during the early 1980s. After several line-up changes, the band went on to release a series of UK and US platinum and gold albums, including 1980’s eponymous debut album, 1981’s Killers, 1982’s The Number of the Beast, 1983’s Piece of Mind, 1984’s Powerslave, 1985’s live release Live After Death, 1986’s Somewhere in Time, 1988’s Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, 1990’s No Prayer for the Dying, and 1992’s Fear of the Dark.

Since the return of lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith in 1999, the band has undergone a resurgence in popularity, with a series of new albums and tours. Their 2010 studio offering, The Final Frontier, peaked at No. 1 in 28 countries and received widespread critical acclaim. The sixteenth studio album, The Book of Souls, was released on 4 September 2015 to similar success, debuting at number one in the album charts of 43 countries.

Iron Maiden are considered one of the most influential and successful heavy metal bands in history, with The Sunday Times reporting in 2017 that the band have sold over 100 million copies of their albums worldwide, despite little radio or television support. The band and particular musicians of the band has received multiple nominations, honours and awards including Grammy Awards and equivalents awards in many countries, Brit Awards 2009, Silver Clef Award, ECHO Awards, Juno Awards, Emma-Gaala Awards, Nordoff Robbins Award (International Achievement 2002), Ivor Novello Awards, Public Choice International, Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards among many others. Theywere inducted into Hollywood RockWalkand Kerrang! Hall of Fame in 2005.  As of October 2013, the band have played over 2000 live shows throughout their career. For 40 years, the band have been supported by their famous mascot, “Eddie”, who has appeared on almost all of their album and single covers, as well as in their live shows.

Classic 21 #051 – Diamond Head

Classic 21: February (Charlie/Delta) D #6

The Jemtunes 2021 series ‘Classic 21’ is taking you on a Classic Rock musical A-Z mystery tour throughout the year. February features artists, bands and themes covering the second two letters – Charlies/Delta – and continues today with ‘Ds’ and a delve into ‘Diamond Head’.

Brian Tatler from Stourbridge formed Diamond Head with Duncan Scott while both still at school in June 1976. They found singer Sean Harris, who was in the same year, and went through three bass players before settling on Collin Kimberley in 1978. The band recorded two self-financed demo tapes in 1979. Recorded within six hours on a four-track, one of which was sent to Geoff Barton at Sounds. The timing was perfect with the emergence of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal.

In 1979/80 Diamond Head were managed by budding local managers Dave Morris and Ian Frazier. Dave put some money into the band and tried to get the band a record deal, Ian took to driving the band around the UK when on tour. Sean Harris’s mother persuaded her boss and boyfriend to come and see the band with a view to investing in them. Diamond Head’s demos and live reputation gained enough attention for the band get two support dates with AC/DC and one with Iron Maiden at The Lyceum, London. Although several record companies expressed interests in signing the band and Dave and Ian secured a couple of offers, none were deemed worthy by Reg and Linda who were now beginning to advise Sean as he still lived at home with his mother in a house paid for by Reg.

A difference of opinions about how to manage Diamond Head followed, which eventually led to Dave Morris and Ian Frazier quitting their role as management, and the job fell solely to Reg and Linda who turned down an offer from Foreigner’s manager Bud Prager to manage the band in the US, claiming they didn’t need any help over there. Thus while other new wave of British heavy metal bands were signed to major labels and headlining their own tours, Diamond Head remained independent.

Guitarist Brian Tatler thinks that Reg and Linda had unrealistic expectations about the kind of record deal the band should sign and when no deal lived up to this, Reg decided that the band should record an album quickly and cheaply at a local 24 track studio where they had recorded their first single “Shoot Out The Lights” (b/w Helpless); no money exchanged hands, and the studio owner Muff Murfin – in return for a weeks studio time – took 50 per cent of the bands publishing for fifteen years. It is believed that tapes were passed onto various labels, but when the debut album, Lightning To The Nations, failed to secure a record deal, management decided that they would release 1000 copies of the album on an independent label (also owned by Muff Murfin) called Happy Face Records.

The album was packaged in a plain sleeve with no title or track listings, and 250 copies were signed by each band member. The management thought that it should be perceived as a ‘demo’ album, so no fancy sleeve was required, making it very cheap to produce. The first 1000 copies were pressed and made available at concerts and via mail-order for £3.50. The only mail-order advertisement appeared in Sounds and ran for six weeks. The band’s management did not pay for the advertisement and ended up being sued.

The original stereo master tapes were lost after they were sent to the German record company, Woolfe Records, who released a vinyl version of the album with a new sleeve. The tapes were not returned until they were eventually tracked down by Lars Ulrich and Phonogram Germany for inclusion on the 1990 compilation album ‘New Wave Of British Heavy Metal ’79 Revisited’.

In 1980, Pete Winkelman from Wolverhampton got involved and tried to sign Diamond Head to his new label Media Records. Pete had been a record plugger and knew a lot about the music business. He advised the band to change management and leave Reg and Linda behind but because of Sean’s loyalty to his mother, this advice fell on deaf ears. In the end Diamond Head only agreed to make one single for Pete, a re-recorded version of Sweet & Innocent b/w Streets of Gold, which came out around October 1980.

In January 1981, Diamond Head successfully opened for April Wine on their UK tour. An ambitious UK tour was planned for the summer by Reg and Linda as a way of being perceived as being more popular than they actually were. An EP called “Diamond Lights” was recorded quickly to help pay towards the expenses. Reg hired a sleeper coach for band and crew, an articulated lorry filled with hired PA and Lights. Reg also hired the Wolverhampton chapter of Hell’s Angels to perform security duties on the whole tour. Reg bypassed promoters and booked the venues with a local agent to avoid paying a percentage but with very little promotion for the tour it lost money.

The only A&R man who was determined to sign the band was Charlie Eyre who quit his job at A&M and joined MCA in order to sign Diamond Head and Musical Youth. Discussions went on for around six months until the band finally inked a five album deal on 1 January 1982.