Anyone else read this little gem by Chuck Klosterman? A pitch perfect account of being a heavy metal fan in rural America during the metal-drenched 80s. I too was a wannabe metal star, although I never grew my hair or owned a single pair of leather trousers. Around 1986 my tastes 'matured' and I got into the Replacements and REM and U2 etc., but I will ALWAYS have a soft spot for 80s metal. Anyone else want to fess up?
Metal discs still in my collection:
UFO- Best Of
Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast
Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny, British Steel, Hell Bent for Leather
Ozzy - Blizzard of Ozz
Black Sabbath - We Sold Our Souls for Rock and Roll
AC/DC - Highway to Hell, Back in Black, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Accept - Balls to the Wall, Metal Heart
Fargo Rock City
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noiseradio
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i don't own any metal, but i have a soft spot for it.
'back in black' by ac/dc always makes me thing of hanging in the back seat of my bud's mustang, waiting for everyone to figure out what the hell we were gonna do. there's no where to go except 'around' nothing to do but 'hang', but we still had to decide, and i didn't care what we did, as long as we were there and together.
and ac/dc was cranking at 11. ah, youth.
and i adored def leppard. yes, i did. but i don't own any of it. all my album buying money was spent on the beatles in those days. there's wasn't much money to be spent, i couldn't waste it.
'back in black' by ac/dc always makes me thing of hanging in the back seat of my bud's mustang, waiting for everyone to figure out what the hell we were gonna do. there's no where to go except 'around' nothing to do but 'hang', but we still had to decide, and i didn't care what we did, as long as we were there and together.
and ac/dc was cranking at 11. ah, youth.
and i adored def leppard. yes, i did. but i don't own any of it. all my album buying money was spent on the beatles in those days. there's wasn't much money to be spent, i couldn't waste it.
Poppet, I think a lot of what you said is why metal 'spoke' to rural kids back then. There wasn't anything to 'do' where I grew up and so it was just kind of a group of kids sitting around. Metal always positioned itself as us against them, and the 'us' was very inclusive. Other stuff of the time (Joy Division, Cure) was me against them, and kind of exclusive. I also enjoy some of the musical wankiness of old metal, where you couldn't wait for the stupid chorus to be finished so you could listen to the solo! That couldn't be further from my tastes today in terms of instrumentation, but but I still love and appreciate the musicality of one of Michael Schenker or Randy Rhoads' solos. This goes to eleven!
well, i gotta say, i much prefer Joy Division or Cure. in fact, i did in those days too. BUT my friends didn't listen to it, i honestly didn't know anyone who did. i sat in front of MTV for hours hoping for an Adam Ant video.
and yes, i remember when MTV started. what was it, 12 videos total, and 8 of those were Rod Stewart?
isn't getting old grand?
i at least had it better than my college buddy who lived on an island on the VA coast. there, they would pile into the pick-up, get a case per person, and drive around the island and get smashed. make your own fun.
but yes, metal was inclusive. even the prep girls could join in if they wanted to. even me, miss nerd, was part of the in crowd. the Cure just made me nerdier.
and yes, i remember when MTV started. what was it, 12 videos total, and 8 of those were Rod Stewart?
isn't getting old grand?
i at least had it better than my college buddy who lived on an island on the VA coast. there, they would pile into the pick-up, get a case per person, and drive around the island and get smashed. make your own fun.
but yes, metal was inclusive. even the prep girls could join in if they wanted to. even me, miss nerd, was part of the in crowd. the Cure just made me nerdier.
