Here is a Heavy Metal blast from the past! Man, I wish I attended this Heavy Metal festival! This vintage poster promoted the inaugural Monsters Of Rock festival at Castle Donington Raceway, Derbyshire, U.K., August 16, 1980. I was a freshman in High School back in 1980, plus I did not live in the U.K. either. Regardless, this is as fine a lineup of Heavy Metal bands that you could possibly ask for… going back to 1980. Rainbow headlining, with Graham Bonnet on lead vocals! Obviously, the Down To Earth Tour for Rainbow. Judas Priest, whoa, they were supporting their now ultra classic – British Steel album. Scorpions… wow… their Animal Magnetism album was already in the hands of fans when this festival took place. April Wine was out there supporting their Harder… Faster album, classic. Just how much praise can be said for Saxon? Tons! Saxon was out there, sandwiched in between supporting their Wheels Of Steel album, (released in May 1980) and their upcoming album – Strong Arm Of The Law, (released in October 1980).
Riot was out there supporting their Narita album, (an October 1979 release), while their Fire Down Under album was on the Metal horizon for a February, 1981 release. Touch was a relative newcomer, a melodic Rock/Hard Rock Band, they have the distinction of being the first band to open for this Castle Donington, U.K., Monsters Of Rock Festival. Touch was supporting their debut album, aptly titled… Touch. Neal Kaye I really do not know much about… maybe someone out there does? Drop a comment if you do, it would be Metal welcomed and appreciated.
This is without a Metal doubt, a vintage Heavy Metal concert poster I would love to own, an original printing would be preferred by me too. Aw, heck, I wouldn’t mind owning a reprint as well. I just really get into researching this stuff… it is Heavy Metal History, Rock History. Reading about and reflecting upon Heavy Metal History makes for a strong and great Metal mind. It is these concerts, festivals and the Heavy Metal Bands from yesteryear that played them… that make up the building blocks of what Heavy Metal is today… in 2010. Heavy Metal as we all know it today, would not be the same, without these legendary bands that played this historic Monsters Of Rock festival, back in 1980.
Judas Priest, Scorpions and Saxon are still Heavy Metal powerhouses… ’nuff said about their incredible legacies to Heavy Metal. Rainbow, despite not having a long standing band lineup or lead singer, is nonetheless as important as any Heavy Metal/Hard Rock band from their generation. Every Rainbow band lineup, will forever hold a special place in my Metal heart. From Ronnie James Dio fronted Rainbow to Doogie White at the mic, Rainbow… Rocks. Riot and April Wine may not have received the commercial acclaim of the other bands I have mentioned, regardless, they both are very important contributors to the historical development of Heavy Metal Music… in my Metal opinion.
LONG LIVE HEAVY METAL!
I can remember the moment like it was yesterday. The moment in time of buying my first Michael Schenker Group album, at Caldor department store, back in 1982. It was the second studio album from Michael Schenker Group, it is often referred to as MSG ll, yet no where on my original album that I bought does it have the marking of “ll” on it. I guess the mystery of “ll” shall stay in my Metal mystery files for now. You can see, as proof, on the image below this post, that the front cover does not have “ll” on it. This image depicts the original album cover, the copy that I still own to this day. I have kept this Michael Schenker Group album in pristine condition for 28 years, this is an album that I extremely admire and highly recommend. The eight songs on this album are best described as Hard Rock, I find it difficult to label this album as straight forward Heavy Metal. There is one exception, Attack of the Mad Axeman is the one song from this album that I would label as an early 1980’s Heavy Metal song, in my Metal opinion.
I found IOMMI With Glenn Hughes – the 1996 Dep Sessions on the Century Media Records online store CM Distro.com. This CD set me back 3 bucks plus shipping. (I bought a few CD’s so the total shipping cost of 5 bucks was reasonable to me). This CD was in the clearance section at CM Distro.com, proving to be a cool Metal find for me. Tony Iommi is the lead guitarist for the ultra legendary/Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee – Black Sabbath. Glenn Hughes has had a stellar career of his own, most notably being a vocalist and bass guitarist for Deep Purple on their Burn and Stormbringer 
I have owned the vinyl album of No Mean City by Nazareth since 1983. No, I could never part with this album at all over the years, never. For years I could never find No Mean City on CD, it most likely had been out of print for some time. To this day, No Mean City does not seem to be that readily available anywhere, on CD and especially on vinyl. Who knows, maybe there is an independent record store somewhere that has dozens of copies in their inventory… I just never come across this Nazareth classic myself. With the brilliant, Old School, Classic Hard Rock heard on this album, combined with the album cover artwork, makes for a keeper. I actually bought this album as a cut-out, back when Strawberries Records & Tapes was around. Back in the early 1980’s, cut-out bins found in any record store was Rock and Roll Heaven! You could always find cool albums in these cut-out bins at real discounted prices, many times there were hidden heavy gems in them. My copy of No Mean City has a cut in the top right corner of the album jacket – this never bothered me one bit. The enjoyment this album’s music has given me all these years more than makes up for any cosmetic defect on it’s exterior.
The Kinks – another legendary Rock and Roll Band, (and Hard Rock Band too), that I have never forgotten about… no Metal way. I first caught on to this great band upon their Low Budget album being released – back on September 7, 1979. The Kinks were huge back in the day… I specifically remember the late 1970’s into the 1980’s version of The Kinks. This band had one hell of a work ethic – always touring. There used to be a horde of kids wearing The Kinks concert shirts to High School back in the early ’80’s… as a Metalhead back then, I thought that was cool, due to my fondness for this band. I never was lucky enough to catch The Kinks in concert… back in the early 80’s would have been the choice time too. That is alright, I can always Rock out to The Kinks by listening to their songs whenever I want, like I have been doing since 1979. The Kinks were rightfully inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame back in 1990. I could not endorse a band like The Kinks any louder to the younger generation of Rock/Classic Rock fans… they really put out some incredible music spanning four decades.
Foghat Live was released in the Summer of 1977. I did not own this album in 1977, instead I got my ears tuned into this Hard Rock Classic right when I was entering High School, just a few short years ago in 1980. Yeah, yeah, yeah… I bought this Classic Hard Rock gem on 8-track as well in 1980. I played it until all you could eventually hear was – hiiiisssssss. This Foghat Live album introduced to me back then, an unreal good sound of live and powerful Hard Rock Music. Being fourteen years old at the time, I was not yet the concert goer, no adult in my young life was into Rock concerts, plus I obviously was not old enough to drive a set of wheels just yet. Therefore, Foghat Live was the Hard Rock concert that entertained me for hours and nights on end. As a young teen, this album was my Hard Rock concert, it took me right there… I imagined seeing Foghat live, center stage in a middle row, on the floor. I will forever look back upon Foghat Live as an album that enriched my Hard Rock soul… an album that was a stepping stone or prelude, if you will, to the incredible world of Metal Music. This album helped soften me up and navigate me towards even heavier music. Hearing the Hard Rock – live power of Foghat made me hunger for more, to hear more heavier bands that were out there. Fast forward to 2009 and I still reach out for some classic Foghat – Hard Rock boogie… it will never grow old on me.
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