Truth be told, I listen to way more metal than two thirds of the stuff that gets posted here at TVD. No joke. There’s only so much luke warm indie bullshit one can take without the fresh crunch of a power chord or three as salvation.
But I’m talking more of your 70’s hard rock/metal. Y’know…Rainbow, Deep Purple, Sabs, Dio, UFO, Nazareth, Priest, AC DC, Thin Lizzy. KISS.
So, timely it is indeed that the M3 Rock Festival kerrangs into Merriweather Post Pavilion this evening and all day tomorrow to put a little muscle back into music. So, set aside your Fleet Foxes or your Here We Go Magic or James Blake records for a day and bathe in the blood and sweat that is: the rock. You owe it to yourself. (Really.)
As a run up to M3, we’ve chatted up a metal legend (Twisted Sister’s Jay Jay French), a band PLAYING M3 (Modern Superstar), and a radio DJ still paying homage to metal (Tom Leykis) to get them all on the record—on records:
“As someone who is 58, asking me What vinyl record first inspired you and why? is like asking: Which day’s oxygen was most important to you growing up? All there was was vinyl so everything you listened to was either on the radio or 33 rpm or 45 rpm records. The actual impression of watching a record spin vs. what was on it were two very different experiences in my life.
The first record I ever saw was a transparent red colored 45 rpm single of the song “Bye Bye Love” by the Everly Brothers on the Decca label in 1957 owned by my older brother. I was five years old and it truly mystified me that that sound could actually come out of a spinning disc.
An actual vinyl experience where I played a record over and over again because it made me want to be a rock star was probably the constant repetition of the song, “You Really Got Me” by the Kinks in 1964 on the Reprise label. Back then, the actual physical movement of removing a record from it’s sleeve and watching it spin seared the the record label and all the info printed on into your subconscious and became, in retrospect, nearly as important as the music itself.”
Danny Watts: “Vinyl is all there was when I was young. Johnny Cash, Sabbath, and in later years, Ted Nugent and Kiss made the biggest impact on my life. I still have many albums today.”
“Dirty”: “Hmmm… this is an interesting question because since I’m the puppy of the band I grew up with tape cassettes. It wasn’t until later (late teens, early 20’s) that I started to buy LP’s. The first CD I ever bought was Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” which made me want to pick up the bass, and the first LP I ever bought was Judas Priest’s “Turbo” cause I’m a huge Judas Priest fan and I wanted my first LP to be Priest. Unfort’ the only Priest LP I could find was that album. By this time LP’s were hard to find and usually found in a mom/pop’s kinda music store (which in my area was very few.) I couldn’t tell you what the first casette tape I bought, thats waaaaay to long ago to remember.”
Jamie FLetcher: “As a youngster, I had always listened to vinyl. I loved going thru my parents albums and pulling them out of the sleeve without getting my fingerprints on it. Listening to the static before the music started, such old school. The first album I ever bought was Van Halen Women and Children First. I played it over and over and over.”
Ryche Green: “I would say that my very first record I could get my hands on would have been Christopher Cross which was owned by my much older sister. It kept me busy for hours on end. My next one which was a defining moment and the first I saved up to buy was Motley Crue Theatre Of Pain. I played that so much I went thru 2 needles on my 3rd hand record player. Let’s just say Tommy Lee and I had a show 3 times a day at least.”
Bill Carpenter: “I think the 1st 45 I had was a song by the Monkees. I watched the Saturday morning TV show and think that was why I got it. It is a long time ago so I can’t remember if that was the 1st or not but it is the one that sticks out in my mind.”
“I remember being mesmerized by the Capitol rainbow label as the LP spun. More importantly, I remember when my cousin Karen had a party for her friends how many times that album played over and over. Girls wanted to be where that music was. And, as of that moment, so did I. By the time I turned 14, I was a disc jockey.”
