wILL DO , IT MIGHT TAKE ME A WHILE....mY DEFINITION OF mETAL , OF hEAVY rOCK , Might differ from some.....I could have dug some of the Sunset Strip 80'S Metal bands if they'd sounded RAW. kILLER kANE , rON aSHETON'S nEW oRDER , NOW ,THAT'S WHAT SOME OF 'EM could HAVE SOUNDED LIKE.
Link Wray is Punk Rock Ground zero. PeoplE bitched because his no - hearing ass used Marshall amps later in life (when they were so lucky to see him , it's not funny !!!!!). SO WHAT ? He was still heavier than a line of Marshall Stacks WITH THOSE LITTLE AMPS WITH HOLES POKED IN 'EM.
dave said:
Great reply, John! I think Charles Lamey said that Link Wray may have been one of the first punks (or at least a proto-punk: Ur-punk?). Attitude plays a LARGE part. Have seen few bands since the 90s garage-punk thang with that, but on the topic of Metal, Have a listen to some of these, if you're of a mind. Curious as to your reaction.
Best, Dave
John Battles said:no , all the credit for being rebellious should'nt go to Punk alone , nor even Punk and it's myriad offshoots...But what gets called "Rebellious" over the years, hoo boy. I guess you could say Heavy Metal or Hard Rock had a rebellious "Who gives a fuck" attitude in the 70's , with The Sabs , The Purps , Thin Lizzy , Alice Cooper and the like , even tho' a good deal of those acts made millions. But , by the 80's , the public was being told that bands Like Quiet Riot , Motley Crue , (Later) Scorpions , (Later ) Priest and solo Ozzy were rebellious and even HEAVY ! The Underground Metal scenes were just taking off around that time , but , what passed for Metal at all....YEESH. REAL Metal or early Hard Rock , sure , e.g. Dust , Sir Lord Baltimore , Blue Cheer , MC5 , was rebellious as Hell , but , most of the bands that did make some real money ended up with nothing to show for it.
Just an example....Blues , not the shit that passes for it today , is Rebel Music. So is Country , Rockabilly ....But , just not what usually passes for it , today.
But , I guess I'm preaching to the converted when I say that.
Did people really think Screamin' Jay Hawkins was the demon daddy to "Psychobilly"?
I mean , I'm sure some of those bands were influenced by him in the 80's , but , apart from "Frenzy" , "Stone Crazy" and maybe one or two other songs , Jay did'nt havemuch of a Rockabilly base. I'd wager Sceaming Lord Sutch was a far bigger influence on that stuff , even though he , too , only dabbled In Rockabilly stylings. You can , of course , hear things in earlier , groundbreaking sounds that are reflected in the music of later acts who took more of the credit for breaking down musical barriers. I think Hawkins is more a forerunner of Punk in his general disregard for the status quo , that he presented himself as anti-social , with a bad attitude , in a musical context , though he was a great instrumentalist and arranger , and could have sang Opera if he's had a mind to. He was , however , a very likeable man. God help anyone who pissed him off , but , he was affable and frequently hilarious.