wmartin (11/18/82)
In the term "Heavy Metal" describing a form of rock, what did the "metal" originally refer to? The metal of the electric guitar and bass strings? Metallic reverb? Or something else entirely? Will Martin
dce (11/19/82)
The term metal in heavy metal comes from the type of substance that the makers of said music had (have) in their heads instead of brains. By the way, why do heavy metal bands play so slow? I saw Ozzy on TV and I thought they were playing waltzes. At least some bands (ie UFO) play fairly fast. David Elliott
rs55611 (11/19/82)
As I understand it, the term heavy metal came about with the
appearence of the group Led Zeppelin. Led Zep essentially
defined the genre of heavy metal music, and Led (lead) is
a heavy metal. Prior to Led Zeppelin's early records
('68 or '69), groups that could have conceivably fallen
into this category (Cream, Free, etc.) were just called other
things, such as "hard rock", or something like that.
Bob Schleicher
Bell Labs IX-1A269
ihuxk!rs55611lotus (11/23/82)
Re: Origins of Heavy Metal
I first recall the term "heavy metal" used in advertising by a now
defunct record store (good grief I don't even remember their name!)
in San Francisco. They were big on British imports (this is 1969 - 1970)
and applied this term to rock groups: Cream, Ten Years After, Who,
Deep Purple, and Jimi Hendrix, and others. (yes of course, Led Zep too.)
I, at that point in time, believed that they were referencing rock
groups with "loud" lead guitarists; e.g. Clapton, Lee, Townsend, Gillmore,
Hendrix, Page, etc.
For one group, they said they were "...heavier than a chain gang".
Although I don't remember who they were talking about I do, for some
reason, remember these words.
Tom Deak
lotus at ihlpb
Bell Labs, Indian Hillwagner (11/28/82)
I thought it was related to the cover on the machine head album.
jmd@aluxe.UUCP (Joseph M. Dakes, AT&T Bell Labs, Reading, Pa.) (12/14/84)
For you headbangers out there who are interested in the derivation of the term "Heavy Metal", the following article appeared in the September 1984 issue of Musician Magazine. It is, of course, printed without permission. The term "Heavy Metal" was first used to describe the style of pop music played by Lester Bangs in Creem. His inspiration was Steppenwolf's "Born to be Wild" which contains the phrase "Heavy Metal Thunder." The etymology of "Heavy Metal" is less certain. The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock credits William Burroughs for corning the term in his novel "Naked Lunch;" however, scientists used the same label to designate certain radioactive isotopes well before that. Mostly, "Heavy Metal" seems to be a matter of attitude, stressing underdog loyalty, communal pride and cathartic aggression within a culturally conservative perspective. Most stylistic developments have been related to notions of intensity. Ten years ago, intensity was generated by lengthy guitar and drum solos, while today it is mostly a function of rhythm guitar drive and vocal acrobatics. Now that you know the what, when and where's of "Heavy Metal" how about a discussion of the who's. Not "the Who" as in Townsend and Co. but, who is "Heavy Metal." I would not consider the Who to be a heavy metal band but, if you listen to wimpy new wave (i.e. Cindy Lauper, Human League, etc.) you probably would. Led Zeppelin a is good example of a band being labeled as "Heavy Metal" but, listen to "Led Zeppelin I" and you'll hear one of the best rhythm and blues albums of all time. Another example is Van Halen. Edward Van Halen insists Van Halen is a rock n' roll band not a heavy metal band; there's a difference. That difference is a person's musical taste. If you listen to classical, pop music or new wave you could label any rock band as being "Heavy Metal." Therefore, "Heavy Metal" is more of a label rather than a musical category. Are there any headbangers out there in netland? I've only been reading the net for a couple of months and I haven't seen any articles concerning "Heavy Metal" except the one I am responding to. Joseph M. Dakes AT&T Bell Laboratories Reading, PA aluxe!jmd "Play the record backwards again Martha"
mfs@mhuxr.UUCP (SIMON) (12/15/84)
> > For you headbangers out there who are interested in the derivation of the term > "Heavy Metal", the following article appeared in the September 1984 issue of > Musician Magazine. It is, of course, printed without permission. > > The term "Heavy Metal" was first used to describe the style of > pop music played by Lester Bangs in Creem. His inspiration was > Steppenwolf's "Born to be Wild" which contains the phrase "Heavy > Metal Thunder." The etymology of "Heavy Metal" is less certain. > The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock credits William Burroughs > for corning the term in his novel "Naked Lunch;" however, > scientists used the same label to designate certain radioactive > isotopes well before that. > > Mostly, "Heavy Metal" seems to be a matter of attitude, stressing > underdog loyalty, communal pride and cathartic aggression within a > culturally conservative perspective. Most stylistic developments > have been related to notions of intensity. Ten years ago, > intensity was generated by lengthy guitar and drum solos, while > today it is mostly a function of rhythm guitar drive and vocal > acrobatics. Gee, I remember that article as saying something to the effect that heavy metal was a music for "worthless puds" and other bizarre characters. (:-) > > Now that you know the what, when and where's of "Heavy Metal" how about a > discussion of the who's. <....> "Heavy Metal" is the American edition of French magazine Metal Hurlant (:-) Marcel "I myself am into listening to airplanes take off at close range" Simon ..!mhuxr!mfs
jbtubman@water.UUCP (Jim Tubman) (12/15/84)
I have heard that "heavy metal" is a translation of some French idiom; however, I don't know what the idiom means in the French and I can't recall where I heard this. It may give someone else a lead, though. By the way, as a Who fanatic, I must comment on Joseph M. Dakes observation: > Now that you know the what, when and where's of "Heavy Metal" how about a > discussion of the who's. Not "the Who" as in Townsend and Co. but, who is > "Heavy Metal." I would not consider the Who to be a heavy metal band but, if > you listen to wimpy new wave (i.e. Cindy Lauper, Human League, etc.) you > probably would. I suppose that if anyone who prefers wimp-rock plops "Live At Leeds" on to their turntable, they might mistake the Who for a heavy metal band. But perhaps the level of lyrical and thematic sophistication is another hallmark of a true heavy metal band -- loud guitars are not enough; the ideas must be accessable to a young [should I say "unsophisticated"?] audience. (And some of the audience is *really* young; the eight-year-olds I see in record stores are exclusively interested in the Ozzy Osborne/Twisted Sister type of stuff.) Let's put the ball in the headbangers' court. How do you distinguish the kind of music you like from the kind put out by the Who, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Van Halen, or Queen (in some of their incarnations, anyway)? Or would you include any of these bands in the heavy metal area? Jim Tubman University of Waterloo
myers@uwmacc.UUCP (Jeff Myers) (12/17/84)
> > Let's put the ball in the headbangers' court. How do you distinguish the > kind of music you like from the kind put out by the Who, Led Zeppelin, Rush, > Van Halen, or Queen (in some of their incarnations, anyway)? Or would you > include any of these bands in the heavy metal area? > > Jim Tubman > University of Waterloo OK, I tend to classify heavy metal into two categories: good bands, and lousy bands. Some examples from both categories are in order: Lousy: Huey Louis, Twisted Sister, AC/DC, etc. Good : Led Zeppelin, Iron Butterfly, Mountain (any fans out there??), Blue Oyster Cult, Van Halen (at times). I'm not sure how I go about categorizing, but I believe that it is highly correlated with musical talent. -- Jeff Myers The views above may or may not University of Wisconsin-Madison reflect the views of any other Madison Academic Computing Center person or group at UW-Madison. ARPA: uwmacc!myers@wisc-rsch.arpa uucp: ..!{allegra,heurikon,ihnp4,seismo,uwm-evax}!uwvax!myers
rick@uwmacc.UUCP (12/17/84)
[ "When they kick at your first line, how you gonna go?" ] In article <569@uwmacc.UUCP> myers@uwmacc.UUCP (Jeff Myers) writes: >I'm not sure how I go about categorizing, but I believe that it is highly >correlated with musical talent. > There's always the infallible Mad Magazine method of categorizing: What I like is good taste, and what I don't like is bad taste. That said, I'll plug for a very BAD band indeed, the Ramones. These guys have no talent and no stage presence. However, they aren't pretentious, either. I got through an entire class in artificial intelligence while listening to my tape of "Teenage Lobotomy". Obviously, a case of good bad taste. Or are they bad good taste? It's so confusing without my frontal lobes.... -- "Now I guess I'll have to tell 'em/That I got no cerebellum...." Rick Keir -- MicroComputer Information Center, MACC 1210 West Dayton St/U Wisconsin Madison/Mad WI 53706 {allegra, ihnp4, seismo}!uwvax!uwmacc!rick
myers@uwmacc.UUCP (12/17/84)
> [ "When they kick at your first line, how you gonna go?" ] "With your hand on your `n' key or on the trigger of your gun..." > In article <569@uwmacc.UUCP> myers@uwmacc.UUCP (Jeff Myers) writes: > >I'm not sure how I go about categorizing, but I believe that it is highly > >correlated with musical talent. > > > > There's always the infallible Mad Magazine method of categorizing: > What I like is good taste, and what I don't like is bad taste. > > Rick Keir -- MicroComputer Information Center, MACC Gee, I thought it was clear I was joking about my categorization method?! But then I guess it's hard to savvy someone like me who likes the Ramones! Eh? -- Jeff Myers The views above may or may not University of Wisconsin-Madison reflect the views of any other Madison Academic Computing Center person or group at UW-Madison. ARPA: uwmacc!myers@wisc-rsch.arpa uucp: ..!{allegra,heurikon,ihnp4,seismo,uwm-evax}!uwvax!uwmacc!myers
jmd@aluxe.UUCP (Joseph M. Dakes, AT&T Bell Labs, Reading, Pa.) (12/18/84)
> Let's put the ball in the headbangers' court. How do you distinguish the > kind of music you like from the kind put out by the Who, Led Zeppelin, Rush, > Van Halen, or Queen (in some of their incarnations, anyway)? Or would you > include any of these bands in the heavy metal area? > > Jim Tubman > University of Waterloo First off, the music I enjoy includes Led Zep, Rush, Van Halen and early Queen. Sorry but, I can't stand the Who. (No flames, please) I would not label any of these bands "Heavy Metal" with the possible exception of early Van Halen. I would consider these to be good old rock-n-roll bands. Bands that I enjoy which I label "HM" include Accept, Dio, IronMaiden, Judas Priest and Saxon just to name a few. The reason I would label these bands "HM" are heavy (upbeat) rhythm, screaming lead guitar, tight solid beat (double bass drums) and image. Judas Priest is probably the epitome of a "HM" band. Two excellent guitarists equipped with walls of Marshall stacks, thundering bass and drums, a frontman who generates a lot of excitement in the audience, laser lights, lots of leather and chains and a Harley. Their stage presence is absolutely awesome. > perhaps the level of lyrical and thematic sophistication is another hallmark > of a true heavy metal band -- loud guitars are not enough; the ideas must be > accessable to a young [should I say "unsophisticated"?] audience. (And some > of the audience is *really* young; the eight-year-olds I see in record > stores are exclusively interested in the Ozzy Osborne/Twisted Sister type of > stuff.) I don't know what you mean by unsophisticated lyrical and thematic ideas but, listen to some of the lyrics written by Ronnie James Dio (formerly of Sabbath and Rainbow) or Bruce Dickinson (IronMaiden). Most of their lyrics deal with sorcery, mythology and their own views of popular novels and movies. Sure some songs deal with simplistic ideas such as fast cars, fast women and other fun adventures but that's what music is supposed to be anyway - FUN. All bands use some unsophisticated lyrics. As a Who fan you should be familiar with "Boris the Spider." The satanic overtones associated with "HM" is just Jerry Fallwell media hype. IronMaiden's "Number of the Beast" quotes right from Revelations. People read and quote from the New Testament everyday but set it to music and right away you get a bad reputation. Another band that took some slack for their alleged satanic overtones is Motley Crue for their album "Shout at the Devil." That's shout at not shout with. I suspect the reason that *really* young people are interested in Twisted Osborne memorabilia is the same reason their interested in anything - radio air play and television. Joseph M. Dakes AT&T Bell Laboratories Reading, PA aluxe!jmd
mfs@mhuxr.UUCP (SIMON) (12/19/84)
> > > > Let's put the ball in the headbangers' court. How do you distinguish the > > kind of music you like from the kind put out by the Who, Led Zeppelin, Rush, > > Van Halen, or Queen (in some of their incarnations, anyway)? Or would you > > include any of these bands in the heavy metal area? > > > > Jim Tubman > > University of Waterloo > > OK, I tend to classify heavy metal into two categories: good bands, and lousy > bands. Some examples from both categories are in order: > > Lousy: Huey Louis, Twisted Sister, AC/DC, etc. > > Good : Led Zeppelin, Iron Butterfly, Mountain (any fans out there??), > Blue Oyster Cult, Van Halen (at times). > Let us not forget the greatest, longest lived and most punctual HM band in history, Spinal Tap! Marcel "I myself am into listening to airplanes taking off at close range" Simon
haapanen@watdcsu.UUCP (Tom Haapanen [DCS]) (12/19/84)
In article <569@uwmacc.UUCP> myers@uwmacc.UUCP (Jeff Myers) writes: >OK, I tend to classify heavy metal into two categories: good bands, and lousy >bands. Some examples from both categories are in order: > >Lousy: Huey Louis, Twisted Sister, AC/DC, etc. > >Good : Led Zeppelin, Iron Butterfly, Mountain (any fans out there??), > Blue Oyster Cult, Van Halen (at times). > >I'm not sure how I go about categorizing, but I believe that it is highly >correlated with musical talent. With musical talent!?!?!?!? I'd say more like using 1d10 to figure out the category... :-) There is no way in the world you should have Huey Lewis (*not* Louis) classified as `Heavy Metal'; he qualifies more as straight rock'n'roll to slightly bluesy rock. Not to mention ranking him as 'Lousy', but what with your taste... \tom haapanen watmath!watdcsu!haapanen
D3U@PSUVM.BITNET (12/19/84)
I've been looking for references on the origin of the label "Heavy Metal", but I can't seem to find any, although I remember reading some a couple years ago. One reference I remember was to the Steppenwolf song "Born to be Wild". And we all know the music has lots of heavy and metallic sounds. I have seen reference s to the roots of the genre in recent publications, but no account of its name. I think the term became popular in the mid Seventies, which was also when the magazine Heavy Metal became popular. The music and the mag don't really have much to do with each other, even though the movie used a lot of heavy metal in the soundtrack and was animated versions of stories from the mag. On the other hand, some groups, esp. Black Sabbath and Uriah Heep, use lots of images that fans of the Heavy Metal mag or movie would enjoy. Hawkwind, Rush, Dio, are others that often use science fiction, fantasy references. Some of the groups that were new or gaining popularity at the time (mid 70's) were the Scorpions, Rainbow, Judas Priest, UFO, Montrose, Pat Travers, Blue Oyster Cult, Kansas, Styx, AC DC, Joe Marino and Mohagany Rush.
sethian@cmcl2.UUCP (12/21/84)
Much as I consider myself one of the all-time Who fans (at age ~14 in
1968 I made my mother of all people go with me to a Who concert because I
couldn't drive and it was 150 miles away)...I agree that the Who are
not a Heavy Metal Band; as any Who fan knows, the Who has no lead
guitarist; Townsend plays rhythm, Entwhistle plays lead on his bass,
Moon (sob!) plays attack bass lines on the drums, and Daltrey is everything
else. Above all, the Who brood far too much to be heavy metal...this is
a band that thinks too much (it's why I love 'em).
However, if you want early Heavy Metal, let us never forget Deep Purple.
What that band did to "Kentucky Woman" probably hurt Neil Diamond more
than any of the millions of other attacks he rightfully deserved.
sethian@nyu sethian@lbl-csamscooper@brl-tgr.ARPA (Stephan Cooper ) (12/30/84)
As far as heavy metal bands go, Van Halen can only be listed as one by parents and teachers of teenagers. They are by far MORE (?) than Heavy Metal. Personally, I wouldnt call Led Zepplin a Heavy Metal band either. A few contemporary heavy metal bands are listed below: 1) Scorpions (my favorite, and one of the more talented heavy metal bands) 2) Krokus (less talent, but louder) 3) Motley Crue (very loud, but more talent than Krokus) 4) Judas Priest (one of the vetrans of heavy metal) 5) Iron Maiden (a lot like Priest, but not as proven) 6) Kiss (they were out of the limelight for awhile, but they're back) 7) Black Sabbath (heavy, heavy metal, they were better years back) 8) Ozzy Osbourne (formerly of Black Sabbath, now on his own - little talent) Talent in heavy metal can be disputed for years, but I refer to originality within the songs, singing on key (definitely), and variety and creativeness, as well as being able to "jam". These are just a few of the more popular ones now. If I've missed somebody's favorite, I apologize. -Steve