D3U@PSUVM.BITNET (12/12/84)
I am trying to remember when I first heard the genre refered to as "metal".
Of course it was in the late Sixties that the metallic sounds became popular in
rock music, and so an apt name for a genre came to be. Often the Steppenwolf
song "Born to Be Wild" from 1967 is credited because of the line "heavy metal
thunder", although it is an anthem for motor bikers.
Yes, there was a lot of acid rock that seemed to be imitating machines, like
trains, or computers, or electronic hum. Blue Cheer's version of Can't Get No
Satisfaction and other songs, esp on lp Outside Inside are good examples. Also
the Iron Butterfly Theme (the name here may be another clue to the origin of
the label) from their lp Heavy, and In the Time of Our Lives from lp Ball have
mechanical sounds. But this seems to be on the fringes although heavy metal som
etimes does use such sounds. And there was the MC5 (Motor City Five) from the
same years as Blue Cheer and Iron Butterfly. Jimi Hendrix and Cream are also
called credited with helping found the genre, along with Led Zeppelin.
Uuuuh, sorry about the rambling, ... maybe someone else can remember more
than I can right now.
Cosmic (and right now spacing out) RAY