If you have additional info about any of the listed bands - or one that should be listed but is not - please don't hesitate to mail me!
Curly brackets, "{" and "}", mean that the enclosed band or artist is itself an entry in the list.
-U-
UDO:
Udo Dirkschneider (vo), Mathias Dieth (gu), Peter Szigeti (gu), Frank Rittel (ba), Tomas Franke (dr) (1987)
After the German singer Udo Dirkschneider left {Accept} he started up a new project, which became UDO. Apparently, the songs on Udo's debut album Animal House, released in 1987, were written by the band members of Accept, so it comes as no surprise that UDO was rather similar to Accept musicwise. UDO only released one more album in the eighties, Mean Machine, released one year after Animal House. By this time, guitarist Peter Szigeti had been replaced by Andy Susemihl, bass player Frank Rittel had been replaced by Thomas Smuszynski and drummer Tomas Franke had been replaced by Stefan Schwarzmann, leaving Mathias Dieth as the only remaining original member (together with Udo himself, that is...)
Even though Udo's solo project was never as successful as Accept, you can't blame the good man for not knowing how to pick his musicians. With the exception of drummer Tomas Franke, they all had an impressive history from various German metal bands:
- Guitarist Mathias Dieth was once a member of Sinner
- Andy Susemihl has also played in Sinner
- Guitarist Peter Szigeti was formerly in {Warlock}
- Bassist Frank Rittel also came straight from {Warlock}
- Bassist Thomas Smuszynski played in {Running Wild}
- Drummer Stefan Schwarzmann too had been a member of {Running Wild}
The official UDO site.UFO:
Phil Mogg (vo), Paul Chapman (gu), Pete Way (ba), Paul Raymond (ke), Andy Parker (dr) (1980)
UFO is yet another one of those bands that, if you ask most fans, had their most glorious moments back in the seventies. In UFO's case, they started out in England as early as 1969, and their popularity dropped after 1978. That was also the year when Michael Shenker (who was not, however, one of the founding members) left the band. Michael Shenker is, of course, most known to fans of eighties heavy metal as a member of {MSG}. He was also a member of {Scorpions} on two different occasions. (Trivia: before Schenker was hired, UFO also tried out future {Whitesnake} guitarist Bernie Marsden). Anyway, UFO's first two albums of the eighties, No Place to Run from 1980 and The Wild, The Willing & The Innocent from 1981 were rather disappointing, so the members must have felt some relief when they at least got a minor hit in 1982 with the single Back Into My Life, taken from the album Mechanix. Unfortunately, the following album, Making Contact from 1983, was not very successful, and the band decided to call it a day. Pete Way consequently went on to form {Fastway} and {Waysted}
They reformed two years later, this time featuring Atomik Tommy on guitar ({Yngwie Malmsteen}, at the time an up and coming talent, was the first choice, but he politely turned down the offer), bassist Paul Gray and drummer Jim Simpson. This setup recorded two albums, Misdemeanor in 1985 and Ain't Misbehavin' in 1988. None of them were very successful, however, and so UFO once again dissolved (only to reform once again a few years later). Musically, UFO played melodic but yet sometimes quite hard hitting Hard Rock, and were without doubt an important source of inspiration for many of the bands that emerged with the NWOBHM around 1980, such as {Saxon} {Iron Maiden} and {Judas Priest}. It is ironic, then, that UFO had such a hard time competing with those very bands in the eighties. You would think that their head start would have helped, but thats the way it goes...
UFO Official Website.Apparently, "U" was not among the most popular letters among Heavy Metal bands...
-V-
Steve Vai:
Once taught by guitar master {Joe Satriani}, no less, it was obvious early on that Steve Vai was a very gifted guitar player. He moved to Los Angeles to try his wings when he was 19 years old, and managed to persuade his old idol Frank Zappa - who was very impressed by his skills - to hire him for his band. Later, he also played with acts like {Alcatrazz}, David Lee Roth of {Van Halen} and {Whitesnake}. Somewhere in between, Steve Vai found the time to record a solo album, Flex-Able. Released in 1984, Flex-Able was to be his only solo album of the eighties, and although it didn't break any records sales-wise, it confirmed his position as a top Hard Rock guitarist.
The Official Steve Vai Site.Vandenberg:
Bert Heerink (vo), Adrian Vandenberg (gu), Dick Kemper (ba), Joe Zoomer (dr) (1982)
When Adrian Vandenberg formed the Hard Rock act Vandenberg in the early eighties, he was already an acclaimed guitarist in his native Holland with his trade mark melodic but still aggressive guitar playing. Thus, it's not surprising that he soon won a major label record contract and the band promptly went to England to record their debut album. Apparently not the humble type, Mr Vandenberg not only decided to call the album Vandenberg too, but also did the artwork for the cover himself. Vandenberg was released in 1982 and sold fairly well both in Europe and in the USA and saw Vandenberg touring with among others {MSG} and {Ozzy Osbourne}. Chances are you've at least heard the single ballad Burning Heart from this album, even if can't recall having ever heard of Vandenberg... The follow-up, Heading for a Storm, was released in 1984. While not unsuccessful, the second album didn't quite reach the same sales figures as the debut, and the third album, 1985's Alibi, sold even worse. Also, personal indifferences began to tear the band apart. Eventually Vandenberg joined {Whitesnake}, whose front man David Coverdale had already tried to persuade Adrian Vandenberg to join him for quite some time. This obviously meant the end of Vandenberg (at least for the time being...)
The Flying Dutchman - a Vandenberg site.Van Halen:
David Lee Roth (vo), Edward (Eddie) Van Halen (gu), Michael Anthony (ba), Alex Van Halen (dr) (1980)
Founded in 1974 and discovered in the late seventies by Gene Simmons of {Kiss}, Van Halen had already had a hit or two when the eighties began, and were already one of the most popular American rock bands. Their first two albums of the eighties, Women and Children First from 1980 and Fair Warning from 1981 were only moderately successful compared to their previous albums, but with 1982's Diver Down they were back on the right track thanks to the hit single (Oh) Pretty Woman, a Roy Orbinson cover. The real breakthrough for Van Halen came in 1984 with the release of the aptly named album 1984, containing the massive hit Jump. The band had now added a synthesizer, unusual for the genre but well received among record buyers. The success of Jump was repeated with other singles from 1984, but all was not well within the band and in 1985 singer David Lee Roth left the band (or rather was fired) and went solo.
Many fans feared this would be the end of the band, David being such a charismatic singer, and this fear was not lessened when Sammy Hagar was named as David's replacer. Nevertheless, Van Halen managed to released another very successful album in 1986, 5150, containing the hit single Why Can't This Be Love. Their last album of the eighties, OU812 from 1988, was also extremely successful.
Eddie van Halen was a very skilled and innovative guitarist and has influenced many later talents, but he also had the ability to write attractive Heavy Metal and Hard Rock melodies. he also proved that keyboards and Hard Rock was a good combination and thereby paved the way for bands like {Bon Jovi}. Even if he was not the technically most talanted of singers, David Lee Roth was also an entertainment genious in his own right, and you can only regret that they were unable to cooperate.
The Official Van Halen Web Site.Venom:
Cronos (vo, ba), Mantas (gu), Abaddon (dr) (1981)
English HWOBHM band, founded in Newcastle in 1980. Venom soon got a record contract and released their debut album Welcome To Hell in 1981, followed by Black Metal in 1982. Their breakthrough came in 1984 with the release of At War With Satan. venom continued to release albums throughout the eighties, but internal figths and member changes were frequent and towards the end of the decade both Cronos and Mantas left the band to pursue solo careers.
Venom played a very naked, primitive and aggressive kind of Heavy Metal, almost bordering on punk at times. So raw and crude was Cronos's voice in particular, that it was sometimes very close to being inadvertently comical. This was further emphasized by the fact that Cronos (whose real name was Conrad Lant) liked to call himself "Rabid captor of bestlad malevolence", Mantas (Jeff Dunn) went under the title "Grandmaster of hades and mayhem" and Abaddon (Tony Bray) preffered to be known as "Barbaric guardian to the seven gates of hell". Well, what can I say, it was the eighties, okay... Venom reveled in studs and black leather, and from the titles of the albums mentioned above it is not hard to guess what their lyrics were about. Infact, Venom did not only use satanic imagery as a means of provoking the moral majority (at least not according to themselves...), oh no, they actually took pride in being (again in their own opinion) the only "true" satanists in Heavy Metal. Be that as it may, Venom nevertheless spawned an entire genre of followers, Black Metal, and many later Speed- and Thrash Metal bands also admitted to being inspired by the pure energy of Venom.
The Seven Gates of Hell - a Venom web site.
Black Metal (158 K) from Black Metal (© Notting Hill Music)
Vinnie Vincent Invasion:
In 1984, guitarist Vinnie Vincent left {Kiss} and formed his own group, Invasion. This band featured bassist Dana Strum, who used to play with {Ozzy Osbourne}, singer Robert Fleischman (who was later replaced by Mark Slaughter) and drummer Bobby Rock. Even though The Invasion was theoretically a group it was in practice more or less Vinnie Vincent's solo project. Vinnie was no failure as a solo artist, but nevertheless only released two albums in the eighties, Vinnie Vincent Invasion in 1986 and All Systems Go in 1988.
As Vinnie Vincent Invasion disbanded, Mark Slaughter and Dana Strum started up their own band, {Slaughter}.
Pyro Messiah - a Vinnie Vincent site.Virgin Steele:
David DeFeis (vo, ke), Jack Starr (gu), Joe O'Reilly (ba), Joey Ayvazian (dr) (1982)
American band Virgin Steele started out in the early eighties by releasing two albums on their own label, Virgin Steele I and Virgin Steele II: Guardians of the Flame. In 1983 Virgin Steele released the EP A Cry in the Night (aka Wait for the Night) after which founder Jack Starr decided to leave the band due to differences between him and DeFeis.
Starr claimed he held the rights to the name Virgin Steele and so started an alternative version of the band. Eventually Starr drew the shortest straw and Defeis and company, now with Edward Pursino on guitar, released the album Noble Savage in 1985. This album is often said to mark the height of the band's career and was very well received, even though the sales never really went through the roof. The last album of the eighties for Virgin Steele, Age of Consent from 1988 was perhaps their most commercial work, but the Heavy Metal bandwagon had now completely lost its momentum and Age of Consent proved to be no exception. And the fact that their record label dropped out of business and Joe O'Reilly left the band certainly didn't make things better either.
Virgin Steele successfully blended American and European Heavy Metal, progressive and symphonic arrangements, pompous and melodic sounds. They are often credited for their unique and creative style, but nonetheless they never sold more than fair amounts of records. Nor did they manage to reach the same level of fame as many of their Heavy Metal colleagues. Their music was never typically "American" though, and perhaps they would have succeeded better had they been a European band?
The Official Virgin Steele Homepage.Vixen:
Janet Gardner (vo), Jan Kuehnemund (gu), Share Pedersen (ba), Roxy Petrucci (dr) (1988)
American band founded in 1981. There seems to be some confusion concerning whether Vixen was founded in 1986 by Roxy Petrucci, former member of the short-lived group Madame X, or whether it was formed in 1981 or even back in he seventies and later joined by Roxy. There is no doubt, however, that Vixen got a record deal in 1988 and recorded Vixen the same year. This was to be their only album of the eighties, and it sold very well thanks to the hit single Edge Of A Broken Heart, written by Richard Marx (ouch!) and Fee Waybill. Vixen played AOR-inspired Hard Rock which was nothing out of the ordinary, but are memorable all the same for being one of the few female acts in a very male-dominated corner of the music industry.
The Unofficial Vixen Page.
I Want You to Rock Me (46 K) from the album Vixen (© Polygram)Voivod:
Dennis "Snake" Belanger (vo), Denis "Piggy" D'Amour (gu), Jean-Yves "Blacky" Theriault (ba), Michel "Away" Langevin (dr) (1984)
Canadian band, founded in 1982. Their debut album, War and Pain from 1984, was not very far from vanilla Thrash Metal, but over the years Voivod became more experimental and avant-garde, and being different from other bands more or less became a goal in itself. Their musical style has been compared to bands like {Celtic Frost}. Their lyrics also changed over time to focus more on science fiction and hi-tech issues. Voivod released three more albums in the eighties: Rrroooaaarrr (siq) in 1986, Killing Technology in 1987 and Dimension Hatröss in 1988.
Voivod.com.Vyper:
Christy Black (vo), Robbie Saint (gu), Jacky Foxx (gu), Rik Brock (ba), Michael Scott (dr) (1984)
The American band Vyper released it's first album, Prepared To Strike, in 1984. At least two of the tracks from this album, Diamonds and Daddy's Girl, got some limited airtime. The second album, which was also the last (to my knowledge) was Afraid Of The Dark and was released in 1985. It contained tracks like Afraid Of The Dark, Daddy's Girl (again!) and Dealer (which was also on the first album, albeit in a different version.)
Musically, Vyper's sound has been described as reminiscent of early {Iron Maiden} or {Queensrÿche}. Good luck finding any of their recordings, though, as rumours claim all the original copies of their recordings literally went up in smoke in a warehouse fire...
Thanks to Anthony for providing the info for this bio.
Update:
It turns out the rumour about Vyper's master tapes having burned up was just that - a rumour. Eric Greif, who used to be their manager and producer, comments on the rumour (thanks for the info, Eric!):
Actually, it isn't that far from reality - what really happened is that, despite the success the band were having (at one point in early 1985 "Prepared to Strike" was listed as one of the biggest selling indie releases in the States), the label Greenworld (of Torrance, California) suddenly went bankrupt and everything came to a crashing halt. The problem was so quick and severe that it was impossible to jump to another label, as things were awash in legal red tape. The label Enigma somehow ended up owning the master tapes, and the band broke up amid a major bust-up.
Eric continues to tell the story of Vyper from his perspective:
Vyper were kind of a Spinal Tap story, and I was definitely the Spinal Tap manager - big ego stuff (mine was probably the biggest), fights, controversies (including a banned song, 'Daddy's Girl'), lawsuits, a label going bankrupt - and all in just a two-year period! I discovered them practicing in a rented garage in Kansas City, Kansas in 1984, and by two years later, the band were fighting each other and split into two groups, both calling themselves Vyper! They had been a great band, but we had bad luck after bad luck, and it resulted in me being sacked by four members of the band. I was left managing the singer Christy Black (Matthew Watkins) and his new line-up of Vyper (which also consisted of Greg Leon, formerly of Tommy Lee's Suite 19, {Quiet Riot} and {Dokken}), and we retained the record contract with Greenworld (whom I knew since my management days with {Mötley Crüe} five years earlier)...but the company went bankrupt and we lost our master tapes. The 'other Vyper' consisted of Michael Scott (Scott Mills) on drums, Rik Brock (Dan Brach) on bass, Robbie Saint (Bob Sitek) on guitar, Jacky Foxx (Jack Gravley) on guitar, and new singer Bill Mitchell (who later fronted 90s band Sacrifice Isaac). Both Vyper bands made it one year and caled it quits. In our two years together, we had put out a classic album 'Prepared to Strike' and a follow-up e.p. 'Afraid of the Dark'. One big problem for us was that, despite how big a seller the album was, the label never gave tour promotion, and therefore no major booking agency would take on the band...and this spelled the death of the group. I was of course blamed for everything - first praised for the rapid rise of Vyper, and then cursed for not having them playing arenas like their contemporaries {Ratt}, {Great White} and Dokken. The whole thing was a rock circus, and I know much of it was my fault - I built them up to such a level that none of them thought could be possible...made them believe anything could be achieved...and it was a shame such a great band didn't become more popular.
-W-
Warlock:
Doro Pesch (vo), Peter Szigeti (gu), Niko (gu), Frank Rittel (ba), Michael Eurich (dr) (1986)
Warlock formed in 1982 in Düsseldorf, Germany, and debuted two years later with Burning the Witches. They released three more albums in the eighties: Hellbound in 1985, True as Steel in 1986 and Triumph and Agony in 1987. Warlock played rather straightforward Heavy Metal and are worth remembering primarilly for having a female vocalist, which wasn't very usual in Heavy Metal. Which is strange, come to think of it, as female vocalists should in fact find it easier to reach those amasingly high falsetto-screams that were popular at the time. Oh well...
In 1989 Doro Pesch released her first album as a solo artist, Force Majeure, simply calling herself "Doro".
Official Doro Pesch Site.
Mr. Gold (131 K) from True as Steel (© Phonogram)Warrant:
Jani Lane (vo), Eric Turner (gu), Joey Allen (gu), Jerry Dixon (ba), Steven Sweet (dr) (1988)
Warrant formed in Los Angeles in the mid-eighties and released their debut album Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich in 1988. Featuring rather mainstream-oriented Metal, not totally different from other American bands such as {Bon Jovi), this album slowly gained more and more attention, not least thanks to extensive touring, and by the middle of 1989 it had reached top ten on the American charts. Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich also contained the hit singles Down Boys and Sometimes She Cries.
Not that their image or musical style was revolutionary in any way, but Warrant were still unique in that they launched their career and managed to get fairly popular during the very last years of the eighties, when most other Hard Rock and Heavy Metal acts were either already disbanded or rapidly tumbling downwards. Suffice it to say that their trademark album, and hit single, Cherry Pie was still to be released (although Jani Lane apparently hates Cherry Pie and once confessed that "I could shoot myself in the f***ing head for writing that song", so maybe it's just as well that the bio ends here...)
The official Warrant site.W.A.S.P.:
Blackie Lawless (vo, ba), Chris Holmes (gu), Randy Piper (gu), Tony Richards (dr) (1984)
Formed in 1982 in Los Angeles by Blackie Lawless, who had (briefly) been a member of New York Dolls
in the seventies. As well as being an acronym for "White Anglo Saxon Protestants" (or "We Are Satan's
People" as some christian antagonists would have it), WASP could also,
Blackie claimed, stand for "We Are Sexual Perverts". Fair enough. In 1982 W.A.S.P. got a record deal
and released their debut single. From the title of the single, Animal (F*** Like a Beast), it
was clear that W.A.S.P. was going for a provocative image. In fact many record stores refused to
sell the single. This was further accentuated by their abundant use of leather, blood, sawblades, raw
meat and so on.But W.A.S.P. was not all image. Blackie could also write some decent Heavy Metal riffs when he wanted to. This was not least apparent in the single I Wanna Be Somebody from the self-entitled 1984 debut album, which was a minor hit. And the debut album climbed as high as number 74 on the American billboard chart. The image shows the cover of this album (© Capitol).Just as their image, the music of W.A.S.P. was influenced by bands like {Kiss} and {Alice Cooper}. W.A.S.P. released three more studio albums in the eighties, The Last Command in 1985, Inside the Electric Circus in 1986 and The Headless Children in 1989. But over the years W.A.S.P. tried to break free from their "gore" image and take a more mainstream stance, which they only partially succeeded with. Having already frightened away the average record buyer they probably lost more fans than they gained by this. But it was fun while it lasted, and while many Heavy Metal bands went for a violent and extreme image, W.A.S.P. was really the band to take this the furthest, at least among the commercially successful ones.
W.A.S.P. Nation - a very attractive W.A.S.P. site.Waysted:
Ian "Fin" Muir (vo), Ronnie Kayfield (gu), Pete Way (ba), Paul Raymond (gu, ke), Frank Noon (dr) (1983)
When {UFO} disbanded in 1983, Pete Way went on to form his own band, {Waysted} (following a short adventure playing in {Fastway} and touring with {Ozzy Osbourne}). Waysted got off to a flying start and soon released it's first album, Vices in 1983. One year later, the album Waysted was released. Nevertheless, numerous member changes took place, and eventually the band had featured no less than three former UFO members, Pete Way, Paul Chapman and Paul Raymond.
Along the way, two more albums were released, The Good, The Bad, The Waysted in 1985 (regarded by many as their finest album) and finally Save Your Prayers, this time featuring singer Danny Vaughn. Danny Vaughn was in turn replaced by Jon Deverill of {Tygers Of Pan Tang} fame, but Waysted didn't release any more albums before finally breaking up in 1987. Despite existing for such a short period of time, Waysted were quite popular and toured frequently, at least in Great Britain, with their inspiring mix of NWOBMH and American Metal. But all things must come to an end, I guess, and for Waysted it came rather soon. What a wayst. (Ouch... Sorry about that, it won't happen again.)
The official Waysted site.Weapon:
Danny Hynes (vo), Jeff Summers (gu), Barry Downes (ba), Bruce Bisland (dr) (1980)Jeff Summers tells the story of Weapon:
Fast Relief was my first serious band and was formed circa 1978. The members of the band swapped around the nucleus of Pete and Lindsey from Flex and myself. Other members included singer Brian Keeting, singer Danny Hynes and guitarist Kevin Ingles. Gigs consisted of touring the live gig circuit throughout Britain, playing mostly original material with some of our own favourites thrown in. Again, we made many demos, one of which was comprised of a song named after the band, namely Fast Relief. This song became quite popular on the London heavy music scene and was played in a number of local discos. I later changed the name of this seminal song to Set The Stage Alight and my next band would benefit from the name change! Eventually after attracting a passing interest from some major record companies, Fast Relief changed a few members and metamorphosed into Weapon.
Weapon was my first professional band. The year was 1979 and the line-up consisted of drummer Bruce Bisland, singer/bassist Barry Downes, I on vocals and guitars and Danny Hynes on lead vocals. It was the tail-end of 1979 and Fast Relief had just been told that to secure a deal with Virgin Music Publishing we would need to replace both our drummer and bass player. Bruce Bisland had been playing drums in my brother Steve's band Lipservice and was approached to join us at this time along with Baz Downes who was a friend of Danny's. We felt that with a change of personnel and such a drastic improvement in the sound of the band we should change the band's name as well. Danny had a saying; every time that he heard something good or felt well he would say it was a "Weapon" - very Irish! So we changed our name (to that)!
During 1980 we toured Britain extensively including a supporting slot on the {Motorhead} Ace of Spades Tour. We played all original material and released a 12" double-A side single called It's a Mad Mad World with the second song Set The Stage Alight probably the more successful song of the two. We also mastered the following songs at Virgin's Beautiful Studios: The Townhouse, The Manor, Liar, Take That Bottle Away, One Night Stand, Midnight Satisfaction, Olivia and Remote Control. Despite mastering these songs at the said studio, they were never released at the time due to a change of A&R policy with Virgin at the time.
However the original "Weapon" tapes have now been tracked down and are being released via Zoom club records! The Album is to be called Set the stage Alight and it will feature around 14 original songs from the period 1979-1980!!
Massive thanks to Jeff Summers for providing this bio as well as the picture! Here's Jeff's comments on the image above:
We were all in our teens then and had just signed to Virgin records, about to go out on tour with "Motorhead" (Ace of Spades tour) and thought we were going to be Rock Stars!
White Lion:
Mike Tramp (vo), Vito Bratta (gu), James Lomenzo (ba), Greg D'Angelo (dr) (1985)
White Lion was put together in New York in the early eighties by Mike Tramp, who was born in Denmark and whose real name is Michael Trempenau. White Lion landed a record contract in 1985 and the debut album Fight To Survive was released the same year. Apparently, the record company was not at all pleased with Fight To Survive, and consequently White Lion were dropped. It was White Lion who had the last laugh, however, as they returned on a new label in 1987 with Pride, which contained the mega-hit ballad When the Children Cry.
Pride sold double platinum, and the comparatively non-provocative "Mainstream Metal" of White Lion was believed to have a bright future. Unfortunately their third album, Big Game from 1989, was nowhere near as well received, and White Lion soon drifted into oblivion along with the majority of similar bands as the Heavy Metal bubble burst.
White Lion Forever - a White Lion web site.Whitesnake:
David Coverdale (vo), Mick Moody (gu), Bernie Marsden (gu), Neil Murray (ba), Jon Lord (ke), Ian Paice (dr) (1980)
When the English band Whitesnake released Ready 'N' Willing in 1980, they had already been around for some years and Jon Lord and Ian Paice from {Deep Purple} had just joined the band. The same year a live album was released, and in 1981 came Come an' Get It. Then several member changes took place, but by the time Saints and Sinners was released in 1982 the setting seemed to be more stable, now featuring Mel Galley from Trapeze on guitar, Colin Hodgkinson from Back Door on bass and drummer Cozy Powell from {Rainbow}.
Up until now Whitesnake were doing well enough but were still missing that last bit to becoming
one of the really big names. They were also not very well known in the USA. All that would
change in 1984, however, with the release of Slide It In, not least thanks to the
platinum selling hit single Guilty of Love - and for once it wasn't even a ballad...
After this a period of turmoil once again began. David Coverdale caught a sinus illness that
prevented him from singing; Mick Moody was kicked out and replaced by John Sykes (of {Thin
Lizzy} and {Tygers of Pan Tang} fame), but Sykes left the band again for a short while in 1986
due to a depression caused by the death of Phil Lynnot; Hodgkinson was replaced by Neil Murray
(who had also worked with {Gary Moore}); Mel Galley broke an arm and had to retire and Jon
Lord left the band to join the rebirthed {Deep Purple}. And so on... Nonetheless, Coverdale
and friends managed to release 1987 in 1987 (as if you couldn't have guessed...) and
once again it contained a hit single, Here I Go Again. (And once again it wasn't a
ballad, even if it was far from Death Metal. Miracles do happen!) For the rest of the
eighties, the setting continued to change constantly, but Whitesnake again released a successful
album in 1989, Slip of the Tongue.Whitesnake, which could almost be characterized as a solo project by David Coverdale, surrounding himself with whomever he seemed fit for the moment, played Heavy Metal with strong blues influences. Unlike many other heavy metal artists, David Coverdale had more than two gears and was not afraid to throw in a few mid-tempo songs on his albums. Due to the contents of his lyrics, David was often accused of being sexist, but he defended himself by saing that the texts were only humourous and ironic. Be that as it may, he was very commercially successful and managed to stay so in the late eighties when so many other Metal acts disappeared. And this without retreating to Balladsville more than occasionally (but I may have already mentioned that...)
The image shows David Coverdale back in 1981.
Official Whitesnake Website.Wildfire:
Paul Mario Day (vo), Jeff Summers (gu), Martin Bushell (gu), Jeff Brown (ba), Bruce Bisland (dr) (1983)
Wildfire was a courageous and hardworking British Heavy Metal Band formed at the height of the NWOBHM by vocalist Paul Mario Day, who actually briefly sang for one of the early incarnations of {Iron Maiden}, before moving on to front More. After debuting with the track Soldier on the 1980 BBC Metal Explosion compilation More was signed by Atlantic and recorded their first album, Warhead in Detroit. They supported {Def Leppard}, {Krokus} and {Saxon} on British tours, and opened the 1981 Monsters Of Rock festival at Castle Donnington, before commencing the recording sessions of their second album Blood And Thunder, produced by Pete Hinton. Halfway though the sessions Paul Mario Day quit the band claiming that the band wasn't big enough for both guitarist Kenny Cox and himself. Mick Stratton would quickly replace Paul and even rewrite all the lyrics to the previously recorded tracks.
Some months later Paul Mario Day while visiting friends and fans in Belgium where More
had been rather successful called on the local WEA offices fishing for a deal for his
new band; Wildfire. Herman "Sherman" Schueremans immediately told Paul "if it's loud
and heavy you're best bet is to go see Alfie Falckembach. Paul and I immediately hit
it off in a grand way, and by the end of the afternoon we had hammered out a deal.
A couple of weeks later I always suspected he was still in the process of putting
his band together, and having a record-deal helped him do just that. He ended up
recruiting guitarist Jeff Summers and drummer Bruce Bisland, both ex-members of {Weapon},
and bassist Jeff Brown, who came over from biker band Dumpy's Rusty Nuts.
The line-up was completed with the addition of second guitar player Martin Bushell.So Wildfire arrived in Brussels. Five musicians and John McGowan the producer, all stuffed in the most minuscule museum-quality Honda van you'd ever seen. I put them up in a bed-and-breakfast dive, and the next day they started recording their first album, Brute Force and Ignorance, at Shiva, a studio held together by the grace of spit, chewing gum and indefinable substances, and owned by my dear friend Jack Mauer. We released Brute Force and Ignorance in 1983, and subject to international acclaim it racked up more then decent sales.
Wildfire was always more refined than most British bands of that era and they certainly proved it with the release of their second album Summer Lightning, once again recorded at Shiva in Brussels, but with overdubs done at West Three, and the final mix at Ezee, both London studios. Also this time around veteran producer Guy Bidmead was enlisted to ensure the best possible result. Guy had previously worked with artists as diverse as {Motörhead}, Exciter, {Cozy Powell}, keyboard wizard Don Airey and even Yes.
Summer Lightning was without doubt one of the best records we ever released on the Mausoleum label, a classic album of the 80s. It contained eleven imposing songs and highlighted the technically sophisticated and mature musicianship Wildfire was by now capable off. The compact disc album version of Summer Lightning reissued as part of the Mausoleum 20th Anniversary series furthermore contains Jerusalem, a beautiful and soaring ballad, which was previously only ever available as a limited edition vinyl 45RPM single.
The lack of the truly huge success they undoubtedly deserved was perhaps just one of the reasons for Wildfire splitting up in 1985. My good friend Paul Mario Day joined the revamped Sweet, and I regret not having heard from him since. Ex-{Michael Schenker Group} vocalist Gary Barden enrolled all remaining members of Wildfire into his band Statetrooper as replacements for guitarist Steve Johnson, bassist Paul "Fasker" Johnson, drummer Ed Stratton and keyboardist Steve Glover. Barden, who had the same management as Wildfire, had always been very impressed by their talents and saw the departure of Paul Mario Day as the ideal opportunity to upgrade Statetrooper.
In 1987 ex-{Thin Lizzy} and Motörhead guitarist Brian Robertson joined the band replacing Martin Bushell, and with this line-up Statetrooper recorded the eponymous album, produced by another old acquaintance; Phil Chilton. I released Statetrooper on the Ultraprime imprint, a label I had founded after the temporary demise of Mausoleum late 1986.
Huge thanks go to Jeff Summers for providing this bio as well as the picture! Here's Jeff's own thoughts on the image above:
[I'ts] a very rare picture taken in the TV studio's just prior to recording the (now defunct) Channel 4 Rock show called ECT back in 1984!! We did this show alongside the likes of {Gary Moore} and {Phil Lynott}.
The Official Statetrooper site.
Witchfinder General:Zeeb Parkes (vo), Phil Cope (gu), Rod Hawkes (ba), Graham Ditchfield (dr) (1982)
NWOBHM band who had only released two full length albums, Death Penalty in 1982 and Friends of Hell in 1984, when they disbanded. They also released an EP, Soviet Invasion, in 1983. Their sound was somewhat similar to that of {Black Sabbath}, but they primarilly gained a reputation thanks to their provocative album covers; both Death Penalty and Friends of Hell featured scantily dressed women in a medieval setting. Which is nice, obviously. In 1983, Rod Hawkes was replaced by Woolfy Trope.
The image shows the tasteful and atmospheric Friends of Hell album in all its picture disc glory. At least some things were better back when records were still big and made of vinyl...
No Stayer - The Official Witchfinder General site.Witchfynde:
Steve Bridges (vo), Montalo (gu), Andro Coulton (ba), Gra Scoresby (dr) (1980)
Formed in Nottinghamshire, UK in the late seventies, Witchfynde could easily be dismissed as just another NWOBHM band. And to some extent it was. If anything, the record cover of their debut album Give 'Em Hell, released in 1980, suggested that this was an early Black Metal act, featuring an evil demon maniac goat (well, why don't you try to explain it better, then...) and a pentagram. Musically, however, Witchfynde definately leaned more towards seventies progressive rock acts such as Yes. The release of Give 'Em Hell was perfectly timed, and with their interesting mix of different musical styles Witchfynde surfed the NWOBHM wave. Before long, they embarked on a tour as supporting act for {Def Leppard}.
In an attempt to strike while the iron was hot, Witchfynde released another album, Stagefright, only half a year after their debut. Featuring new bassist Pete Surgey, Stagefright was received with scepticism by many Metal Heads, and it was arguably less aggressive, less dynamin and more commercial than Give 'Em Hell, right down to the aestetically very different cover graphics. Perhaps the second album reflected both that Witchfynde had never really had the ambition to be a clear cut Heavy Metal act and the fact that it's not easy to come up with two consistent full length album in six months.
Witchfynde now seemed to disappear from the public eye to lick their wounds and didn't emerge until 1983 with the release of the concept album Cloak and Dagger. Now fronted by new falsetto-virtuoso vocalist Luther Beltz, Witchfynde took a musical step back towards more traditional Heavy Metal. The satanic imagery and lyrics also made a comeback. But despite a rather successful single, I'd Rather Go Wild, sales for Cloak and Dagger failed to take off. And Lords of Sin, once again featuring a new bassist, Edd Wolfe, and released in 1984, didn't do much better. This time Witchfynde apparently failed to recover from yet another disappointment and called it a day.
The Official Witchfynde web site.-X-
Xentrix:
Chris Astley (vo, gu), Kristian Havard (gu), Paul Mackenzie (ba), Dennis Gasser (dr) (1989)
Their debut album Shattered Existence wasn't released until 1989, but by then Xentrix had already been around for a number of years (originally under the name Sweet Vengeance.) In spite of being an English Thrash band, their sound was rather American, kind of like a mixture of {Anthrax} and {Metallica}. Xentrix were never among the most well known eighties Metal acts. In fact, most Metal Heads probably remember them mostly for their cover version of Ray Parker Jr's hit Ghost Busters. But that's not to say they weren't a competent Thrash band. And besides, their name began with an "X"...
X-mas Project
See this entry in the thesaurus.
XYZ:
Terry Ilous (vo), Marc Richard Diglio (gu), Patt Fontaine (ba), Paul Monroe (dr) (1989)
When French-born singer Terry Ilous started up XYZ in Los Angeles in 1985, he was certainly not the only guy in California with Rock Star ambitions. Like thirteen to the dozen other Los Angeles based bands, XYZ settled for "Sleaze" Metal similar to the kind played by {L.A. Guns} or {Ratt}. Unlike most other, though, XYZ actually managed to get signed to a major label. Apparently Don Dokken of {Dokken} had heard the band and was so impressed with them that he did not only help them get a record deal but also opted to produce their debut album. The result, XYZ, was released in 1989 and (just) reached the US top 100 list. As we all know, the Heavy Metal movement had already reached it's peak by that time, but XYZ still managed to enjoy a few good years in the early nineties before disbanding.
The official XYZ web site.-Y-
Y&T:
Dave Meniketti (vo, gu), Joey Alves (gu), Phil Kennemore (ba), Leonard Haze (dr) (1981)
The story of Y&T began in 1981 when the Californian band Yesterday & Today - who were named after a Beatles album and had been around for some years without getting much attention - decided that their name was a bit too long and consequently shortened it to Y&T. Whether this was the reason or not, they got a new record deal the same year (they had previously released two records on another label) and released the album Earthshaker, which was very well received. The follow-up, Black Tiger was recorded in England the following year and even if it wasn't quite as strong as Earthshaker, it helped build up their reputation further. Despite releasing several more reasonably successful (but still somewhat disappointing) albums and persisting all the way to the bitter end and the collapse of the Heavy Metal movement in the end of the eighties, they never quite managed to become one of the really big names. It is no doubt, however, that Y&T influenced many followers with their Heavy Metal/Hard Rock music, which was somewhat similar to that of other American acts such as {Dokken}.
Hm... If anyone can name another Metal band that was named after a Beatles album, send me an email. You could be the lucky winner of a car. Or at least a free tour of my home town, or something.
The official Meniketti and Y&T web site.-Z-
Zebra:
Randy Jackson (vo, gu), Felix Hanemann (ba, ke), Guy Gelso (dr) (1983)
It's tempting to claim that Zebra simply picked up the torch after Led Zeppelin disbanded in 1980. Musically the similarities were obvious, and singer Randy Jackson didn't sound terribly unlike Robert Plant. On the other hand, Zebra started out in New Orleans as early as 1976, and they were definately more talented than your everyday Led Zeppelin clone.
It is probably no coincidence, however, that Zebra managed to land a record deal and released their Hard Rock debut album Zebra in 1983, when the surge for "the next Led Zeppelin" was at its peak. And Zebra was an instant success, fueled by the hit singles Who's Behind the Door? and (in particular) Tell Me What You Want. Realizing the importance of striking while the iron is hot, Zebra soon released a follow-up, No Tellin' Lies. For some reason, No Tellin' Lies sold a lot less. It may not have been as strong as Zebra, but it was certainly not a bad album. However, it was now 1984, and the competition in Zebra's genre was considerably tougher. In 1986, Zebra released their third album, 3.V. Behind the pretentious title was an album that saw Zebra take a poppier approach, and it is widely regarded as a better attempt than its predecessor, perhaps even stronger than the debut. Unfortunately, 3.V didn't sell too well either, and bar a live album (Live) released in 1990, it was to be their last piece of work before disbanding.
The debut album sold gold, but apart from one or two singles, it's not unfair to say that Zebra had less impact on the Heavy Metal scene than you might have expected. Which is a bit of a surprise, really, as Zebra was without doubt a very talented Classical Hard Rock trio. Perhaps their limited commercial success was due to equal parts bad luck and lack of proper promotion.
The Door - official site.Zero Nine:
Kepa Salmirinne (vo), Tim Käsmä (gu), Mara Mäntyniemi (gu), Elmo Harju (ba), Iro Murtola (ke), Borno Korpela (dr) (1982)
Zero Nine got together in Finland in the late seventies, but the band setting stabilized around the time when they recorded their debut album Visions, Scenes and Dreams, i.e. in 1981. This didn't attract much attention - at least not outside their home country - but at least it must have appealed to Ian {Gillan} (from {Deep Purrple} etc.), as he agreed to produce their second album Blank Verse, which was released in 1982. Neither this, nor their third album Headline from 1984 did much for them internationally, however. But in 1985 they landed a record deal with a major label and released White Lines, which sold much better than their previous efforts.
The success continued in 1986 with the release of Intrigue, which marked the height of their career. Intrigue featured a whole bunch of very nice Hard Rock/Heavy Metal riffs, a singer that sounded like Sebastian Bach's (of {Skid Row}) older brother and an attractive production. The lyrics were perhaps a bit weird at times, though. Suffice it to say that the songs had titles like Bangin on Drums and Na Na Naa... Zero Nine's last album of the eighties, Voodoo You, was released in 1988.
Whereas the records of Zero Nine were good enough, it was really performing live that they liked best. During the eighties, they managed to play a very impressive number of gigs, primarily in Scandinavia, and their crown achievment in this area was perhaps their appearance at the Monsters of Rock festival in Stockholm, Sweden in 1986, together with {Ozzy Osbourne}, {Scorpions} and {Def Leppard}.
A Zero Nine Home Page - Short and to the point.Znowhite:
Nicole Lee (vo), Ian Lafoya (gu), Alex Olver (ba), Scott Schafer (dr) (1988)
Speed Metal band from Chicago who emerged in the early eighties and released two EPs in 1984 and 1985, All Hail to Thee and Kick Em When They're Down. Their only full length album, Act of God, came in 1988. Shortly after that they changed name to Cyclone Temple.
Zoetrope:
Barry Stern (vo, dr), Kevin Michael (gu), Louie Svitek (gu), Calvin Humphrey (ba) (1987)
Zoetrope was a Chicago based band playing some kind of Thrash Metal (or "Street Metal" as they preferred to call it themselves.) They released two albums in the eighties, their debut Amnesty in 1985 and A Life of Crime in 1987.
In 1989, singer/drummer Barry Stern left the band to play drums in {Trouble}.
ZZ Top:
Dusty Hill (vo, ba), Billy Gibbons (gu), Frank Beard (dr) (1983)
ZZ Top is by no means a typical eighties Heavy Metal band. Rather, they started out as early as 1970 in the USA (Houston, Texas), playing old school Rock n' Roll with heavy blues influences, spiced with a healthy dose of tongue-in-cheek humour. Incidentally, they sold platinum as far back as 1975. Gradually, however, ZZ Top started drifting towards more slick, boogie-based (but still bluesy) "crazy" party rock, something that was not least evident on their first record of the eighties, 1981's El Loco.
The band took another drastic step in the same direction with the release of Eliminator in 1983. Capturing the spirit of the era they made heavy use of synthezisers, and thanks to the hit singles Legs, Gimme All Your Lovin' and Sharp Dressed Man, they managed to stay on the top 20 charts for close to one year! Old ZZ Top purist fans may have ground their teeth when they heard Eliminator for the first time, but that didn't stop ZZ Top from recording another disc using the same recipe, only even more synthetic that it's predecessor. The result was Afterburner, released in 1985. Afterburner spawned two more hit singles; the sytheziser laden blues rocker Sleeping Bag and the power ballad Rough Boy (which propably gave many old blues fans a heart attack). For some reason, ZZ Top then disappeared from the scene and didn't return until the nineties. They never managed to repeat the success of Eliminator and Afterburner, however.
As was mentioned above, ZZ Top was not really a Heavy Metal band at all, but rather a Blues/Boogie/Rock/Party/Whatever act. Thanks to the Hard Rock influences that became particularly evident in the eighties they were, however, often grouped together with Heavy Metal bands in the eighties. Also, many Metal Heads (including yours truly, I have to admit) listened to ZZ Top back in the eighties.
The Official ZZ Top web site.
