The Music of Degenerates That Became a Phenomenon - a podcast by Ace of Spades PDX

Birthed from the same circumstances that gave rise to the U.K. Punk scene, The New Wave of British Heavy Metal took the sound of what was called “degenerate trash” by the press and transformed it into a worldwide phenomenon. #heavymetal #metal #UKmetal #NWOBHM







NOTE: There are no ballads in this program. Repeat, no ballads.







Speed metal. Power metal. Dark metal. Thrash metal. Sub-genres of what was once a heavy and loud blues-based rock increased it’s speed and attack with a laser-sharp focus and intensity during the last years of the 1970’s and the early 1980’s in the U.K. during the rock evolution called the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, also called NWOBHM (“new-wobb-hum”).







Paul Di’Anno and Steve harris of Iron Maiden, performing live, 1980. Photo by Virginia Turbett.







In 1977, Punk Rock had taken a stranglehold on the U.K. music scene, giving it a much needed shot in the arm. It wasn’t if Metal bands had disappeared. However, by the time of the rise of Punk, many classic metal bands, like Black Sabbath, were a shell of what they once were. Interestingly, the same forces that shaped the birth of the punk scene, such as high unemployment, a recession and unions strikes also birthed NWOBHM.







The longest-running all-female band of all time: Girlschool. (l-r) Denise Dufort, Kim McAuliffe, Enid Williams and Kelly Johnson. 1980, photographer unknown. Courtesy of Bronze Records.







NWOBHM, long brewing in the underground scene as a reaction to Punk and Disco music, also took seed simultaneously during the rise of these genres. The music press loved Punk bands, but not Metal music, and were incredibly hostile to the latter’s fan base. Hip music magazines derided the Metal genre, without realizing that the most exciting new loud music was right under their noses and would have an even bigger impact on the industry than the old guard would realize.







Motorhead (l-r), 1979: “Fast” Eddie Clarke, “Philthy” Animal Taylor and “Lemmy” Kliminster. Creator: Estate Of Keith Morris | Credit: Redferns Copyright: 2009 Getty Images







However, by 1979, Punk Rock had all but lost steam and was considered anathema by the mainstream music press, who had then moved onto New Wave and electronic acts of the period. What was just a couple of years prior a direct reaction to the social and economic ills of the country had crashed with a resounding thud. Labels that had once courted the sound now ran from it altogether, and many of the acts that had come to define it were quickly gone or had changed their sound to one more radio-friendly, especially, and this is important, when the economy started to recover.







(If you hadn’t already guessed, the mainstream U.K. music press consistently earns it incredibly fickle reputation and deem themselves the ultimate tastemakers, throwing many under the bus when the hot new thing, which they christen themselves, comes around.)







Brian Tatler of Diamond Head, 1982. Courtesy of the artist.







Metal fans of this new movement really weren’t interested in mainstream coverage, largely due to press hostility. They were a fairly insular group, telling each other about new releases like a secret among close friends. They fans were called Muthas, and judged bands by typically two things: no ballads on your releases, and a high energy live show with speaker shredding volume. If you didn’t pull it off live, you went nowhere. Their fashion was almost always denim jackets with patches sewn upon them, something adopted from late 1960’s California biker culture.

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