New Wave of British Heavy Metal

This is the story of how a British heavy metal band began, as told by my husband, in his own words.

In the Beginning: "And So It All Started"

I also remember that I always wanted to play drums as a kid. Fortunately, my parents refused to buy me a drumkit, and so I used to get the kids on the street to join in while I bashed away at a cardboard box. I would have been about 10 or 11 at that time, and I actually wrote my first song. I still remember it now, six kids belting out a song called "I'm A Lover Yeah, Yeah, Yeah". There was only one verse and one chorus, but we just used to repeat it endlessly, much to the annoyance of the neighbours.

The Beginning Part 2: "Paranoid"

I continued listening to the 60s music, and my dad used to bring jukebox records from the local pub, when they changed the stock. These records could be anything from The Rolling Stones to Dean Martin. I eagerly awaited each new batch to find out what treasures I had got each week. I then heard "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath and was completely blown away. This was so far removed from anything I had heard before. I searched out for more music and soon found Radio Luxembourg and Caroline. I would sit under my blankets with a torch listening to any rock music I could find. This happened every night, and I was an avid fan of Top of the Pops, which was the only real music programme at the time. However, the bands that I wanted to hear were not really on this show. So I watched and waited.

The Beginnings Part 3: "Who Likes Heavy Rock"

By now a lot of my school friends had started getting into rock music of various forms, such as progressive rock. I was also a fan of Genesis and Yes at the time so I could just about fit in. Very few, however, liked heavy rock. The first album I ever bought was "Deep Purple in Rock" closely followed by "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath. Most of my school mates liked Simon and Garfunkel or the Beatles, so it was difficult to get someone to listen to my music.

The Beginning Part 4: "Bleeding Fingers"

When I was 14, I decided that I wanted to play guitar in a band, but the problem was I couldn't play a single note. My father and grandfather both played the piano but had this musical trait rubbed off on me?. This would have been about 1969/1970, and I bought a kid's scaled-down version of an acoustic guitar. Did that guitar make my fingers bleed? You bet it did. I came across a Bert Weedon guitar tutorial but couldn't make any sense of it. As such, I never learned to read or write music in the literal sense. Too much hassle for a young kid bursting to make his stage debut in a rock band. I learned a few chords from the drawing of finger positions, and I was now ready to rock, wasn't I?. Read on.

The Beginning Part 5: "Japanese Zenta Guitars"

Hey, I thought you wanted to be a famous heavy rock guitarist? One slight problem I had a cut down acoustic guitar and could only play a few chords. What next, you ask. I needed to get an electric guitar and amplifier, surely that would be all that I need. I went to my mum and told her what I wanted; she looked in the catalogue, which was the main way of buying things at the time. And there it was a guitar/amp combination for about £30.00 ( which was a lot of money then) which needed to be paid back weekly "on the club". I remember that guitar to this day, but I don't know what happened to it. It was a Japanese electric guitar-based upon a Fender Telecaster, a guitar I hated because no heavy rock musicians played Telecasters. It was made by a company called Zenta, and I recall it was white. It came with its own strap, a plectrum, an amplifier, and a guitar book, everything you could ever need to be a rock star. The amp even had a cover, but I doubt many guitarists could have coped with its 3 watts of power, decidedly tinny sound, and dodgy rattling speakers. But it was brand new, and I had everything I wanted to become a star. What next in my evolution to the next level? I remember messing about in the back room of our house one day. My dad promptly asked us to play a "traditional cowboy song" so we played "That'll Be the Day" by Buddy Holly, and he belted out a Jim Reeves song. Strange days indeed.

The Beginning Part 6: "The Next Level"

I started to play along to records and picking up chords as I went along. I bought sheet music (for those old enough to remember) that told you what chords were in a song. I then looked in my guitar book to see what strings and fingers I needed to use. Eventually, I could play along to bits of the song. I also tried a few lead phrases, but it was tough. What did I need next, you guessed it, a band. Luckily I knew some school friends who wanted to play along. There was a drummer who could not play, a bass guitarist who was just about as good as me, and my mate also bought a guitar and joined in. There you have it, the formation of a band. The problem was no one could sing never mind play. We had various guest singers who were mates, but the best thing we could manage was a few verses of "Alright Now" by Free. We could also nearly play "In My Chair" by Status Quo and the abovementioned song "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath. An old bloke came into the practice one day and took the drum sticks. He said he would show us how it was done. He proceeded to play a jazz rhythm to Paranoid and then promptly got up and left. Each Wednesday afternoon we "wagged" it off school when we should have been revising for our exams but the lure of playing was too much. We initially went round to the bass player's house to play our 2 or 3 songs, but we could never quite get all the way through. We progressed to playing upstairs in the local pub but just to ourselves. I think we eventually managed "Alright Now" and "Paranoid". Then we went our separate ways, but the news did not make it the "Sounds" or "New Musical Express". However, I had my guitar, and I was going to use it. I had covered the whole of my bedroom with pictures of rockstars and musicians and with a brand new copy of the LP, Deep Purple in Rock I was armed and ready to go. Not a very bright start, but at least it was a start. Is this it? You ask, not quite. Follow the subsequent ramblings in this series to find what happened next.