September 1986
METAL CONTENTS
CHAINMAIL
I must first congratulate you on your METAL Close-Up magazine. As Hard Rock Coordinator for the CMJ New Music Report—a radio tipsheet/trade publication—I find the articles very interesting and entertaining. However, the UFO feature (July, ’86) contained a flaw very important to the band’s history.
Features
An Exciting Interview with BLACK SABBATH!
Sharon Liveten
We once decided to have bagpipes on an album,” he laughs. Bagpipes?
TED NUGENT: Deliberate Slayer Of The 2,000-lb Moose!
Judy Wieder
Ted Nugent threw his long blond locks back and screamed bloody murder at my question. Standing outside Atlantic Records’ Hollywood offices, I looked around for help. People smiled our way knowingly, (“Good ’ol Ted, being outrageous again!”), but no one interfered.
IT'S THOSE WACKY GUYS IN RUSH
Daniel Brogan
It’s taken Rush more than a decade to win a measure of grudging respect from the rock press. Now, though, Geddy Lee, Neil Peart and Alex Lifeson are discovering that their toughest critics are the ordinary folks who buy records and wait in line for concert tickets.
Yet Another Feature On The Wonderful "AUTOGRAPH"!
Sylvie Simmons
Another dandy L.A. band! “Best New Band Yet!” according to the cover of last August’s CREEM, and would they lie to you? We’re talking all vital requirements taken care of: bandanas, black stuff, birdchests, tattoos, scalp hair, spandex, anorexia, close personal friendship with Motley Crue, and, if that’s not enough, all of them—for the convenience of rock writers whose brain cells have been finally reduced to the two or three needed to find their mouth, nod at appropriate moments, and say “Charge this to RCA" to barmen, cab drivers and pizza delivery boys—are called "Steve”!
BRITMETAL: A Big Ol' Hairy Spider
Sylvie Simmons
Boris the spider is dead, legs up, gone to that great Bug Motel in the sky whence it shall never check out. Still, John Entwistle, its owner, can console himself that it lived to a ripe old age for an Arachnid in the U.K., and managed to inspire a Sex Pistols song as well as a Who number, which is more than most pet tarantulas have done.
RECORDS
Mark J. Norton
I simply can’t fathom what all the fuss is about—SO WHAT if Van Halen didn’t ask ME to replace David Lee Roth as lead vocalist, since I am the only logical choice. I’m better looking than both Roth and Hagar, plus I’ve got more personality than you can swing a dead cat at.
HUNKA MUNKA BURNING LOVE
Richard Riegel
I don’t mind confessing that I like Dee Snider a little better each time I watch his Heavy Metal Mania show on MTV. In fact, I.R.S.’s The Cutting Edge and Snider’s fangbang hour are just about the only monthly relief products I can purchase over the counter to escape the pain MTV programming has become.
DIO "Lovers" The Mode Of Dress!
Sylvie Simmons
Listening to metal singers is like scratching a severed leg. A lot of them, anyway. Voices so thin that only the best of micrometers can register them. But not Ronnie James Dio. Uh-uh. Little man, big voice. Such a big voice he was wooed by Blackmore, Black Sabbath, and all sorts of good stuff with “Black” in it.
SAXON: WHERE'S THE BIFF?
Joanne Carnegie
Few heavy metal bands can boast of drinking a lot of tea—but Saxon can! They used up 19,500 tea bags in just four months time during their 1982 tour. That’s a fact that you and I—hell, even the fantastic editors of METAL—would certainly want to remember years from now.
MOTLEY CRUE COLOR POSTER
Somewhat ACCEPTABLE
Andy Hughes
James Bond was told in the novel Moon raker that if you "scratch a German, you’ll find precision." The same applies if you talk to one as well. As I arrive, chaos reigns, which may be the norm. Accept are in Britain, rounding off three days of world tour rehearsals with one day of intensive press coverage, where various band members shuffle from room to room for interviews with the world’s rock press, who make sure that every utterance is captured by tape or telephone.
YOU KEEL ME!
Sharon Liveten
Ron Keel looks like a hippie, or would if he wasn’t partial to rock-star-tight blue jeans, and snazzy red leather cowboy boots. Even the tall, thin, founder/guitarist/frontman/singer of Keel admits that he looks kinda ’60s. In addition to the hair that ends just above his belt, Keel has an open, baby face, and a tendency to say things reminiscent of a few decades back.
METAL UNDERGROUND
Peter David
Hi, and welcome back to this, the third installment of Metal Underground—where you know a wretch like me needs a good editor to keep my syntax in check and my thesaurus outta the paper shredder. Yes, even / cringe and reach for the Tylenol when reading back through my copy.
SHRIEK ATTACK!
Toby Goldstein
So what do some not-so-poor boys do when they play in rock ’n’ roll bands and they know that the chops are still potent but the cold, cruel world has been wondering where the glory has gone...? Well, if we’re talking about shy, retiring folks like Ted Nugent or the Aerosmith gang, first they record “comeback” albums to vinylize the goods; then they ply their wares in concert, together, in Arenaville U.S.A., which in this case was that bastion of metal mania, New York’s Madison Square Garden.
SOMEWHAT MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION
Karen Troupe
Most of us have an obsession. I’m referring, of course, to the normal healthy types of vices like sex, booze, money and other fiendish delights that you can use to wile away the hours. Me? I like to gaze at color photos of Geddy Lee. Gives me a good buzz. Being that we live in America, a bunch of decent, hard-working guys decided to get together one day and make money out of all this by calling themselves Obsession in the hopes that their music will replace those things we hold dear.
IF THE CHERRY BOMBZ, TRY YOUR LIGHTS
Andy Hughes
In a small hotel in a small town in England, the evening’s guests are not sure what to make of the Cherry Bombz. A Renaissance play might be a good start, given ex-Hanoi Rocks guitarist Andy McCoy’s penchant for lace cuffs and delicate cheek-bones.
A GUIDE TO THE WORLD’S NOISIEST CITIES
Harold DeMuir
Among the hordes of ambitious young turks populating America’s underground metal scene, Cities is one band with a difference: they’re from Staten Island. That may not seem like much to you, but Staten Island (officially a borough of New York City, but anyone with half a brain knows it’s really part of New Jersey) is not exactly noteworthy as a breeding ground for enduring rock talent.
FASTWAYS AND MEANS
Alison Aquino
When I think of Fastway, I immediately think of the Raspberries. It’s not because both Dave King of Fastway and Eric Carmen have red hair; it’s because of Fastway’s desire to get that “one hit record; wanna be an overnight sensation.” (Remember that historic Raspberries tune?)
The Very Concept Of YNGWIE MALMSTEEN!
Judy Wieder
Yngwie Malmsteen has the kind of physical beauty that puts a torch to talent. In other words, it doesn’t hurt the "young Viking chief" (“Yngwie”'s literal translation) that he drives the young girls wild long before his fingers slam into his guitar strings at a hundred miles an hour.
THE KING KOBRA KRITERIA
Dave DiMartino
“Los delfines no son peces. sino mamiferos adaptos a la vida acuatica y ademas son de una gran inteligencia.” That’s what the brochure said, anyway. What’s it mean? It means DOLPHINS ARE NOT FISH. THEY ARE MAMMALS ADAPTED TO AN AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT WITH GREAT INTELLIGENCE.
MOTLEY CRUE: Flaunting The Perfection!
We here at METAL don’t want to point any fingers or anything, but it’s a known fact that once bands get their paws on Boy Howdy! Beer, that brew o’perfection associated with our “sister” mag, CREEM, anything can happen! Thus, it’s no suprise at all that Motley Crue have become internationally famous— since, as these photos document all too well, they’ve actually been allowed the privilege of touching the sacred cans! If you can’t believe your eyes, they’re lying!
MAGNETS
GOTT IN HIMMEL! This issue of METAL is, in its special way, over! SACRE BLEU! Wasn't it the best mag you ever read? We think so! We've actually kept a list of all the things you've ever read, so we really know, too! HECK! We bet you'd like to know what's gonna be in the next issue of METAL, too!