Heavy Metal of the 1970s...

I remember reading this article. It was an article about the death of heavy metal going out of the 70's, into the 80's. By the late 70's, heavy metal/hard rock had become a dirty word and disco was taking over the world. Some of the metal bands coming out of the 70's even experimented with this sound. Kiss experimented with it slightly, while Queen dove headlong into the sound.

Of course we know that the New Wave of British Heavy Metal was beginning to grow around this time as well. Bands like Maiden, Saxon, Def Leppard, Samson, etc. were set to become the new wave in England and would help spark things in the U.S. again as well. Van Halen helped to keep the heavy metal flame alive in the U.S. as well. Their success had record companies searching for more of the same. As well the AOR bands like Foreigner were also seeing success in the late 70's.

It wasn't long before heavy metal became a household word in the 80's. It's popularity lasting for over a decade, until the early-to-mid 1990's when "heavy metal" again became a dirty word and grunge became the "new cool"...then ska, alternative, nu-metal/rapcore, and right back around again.

Average White Band? The Outlaws? John Travolta? Man, Circus magazine was a lot more diverse in the '70s.

Sweet. Did you hang up the John Travolta poster?

Of course, even with print proof right in front of them, there will still be those that claim Nugent, Aerosmith, Kiss, etc. were never "heavy metal". Although, is that Stevie Nicks in the bottom corner? Even I'd have to draw the line at calling Fleetwood Mac "heavy".

Anyone else have to Google Yvonne Elliman?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yvonne_Elliman

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Anyone else have to Google Yvonne Elliman?

Yeah, me. I remember her hit song from the disco era ("If I Can't Have You") but I had no idea who sang it till now.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Sweet. Did you hang up the John Travolta poster?

Of course, even with print proof right in front of them, there will still be those that claim Nugent, Aerosmith, Kiss, etc. were never "heavy metal". Although, is that Stevie Nicks in the bottom corner? Even I'd have to draw the line at calling Fleetwood Mac "heavy".

Anyone else have to Google Yvonne Elliman?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yvonne_Elliman

The Stevie Nicks photo was for a different article.

I use to be a Circus and Cream magazine junkie in the 70's.

Creem Magazine was great. "Boy Howdy!"

I have a couple of old Circus magazines from the very early 80s (circa 81-83) and by then they were starting to make the shift towards all-metal, all the time, but they weren't quite there yet. It's kind of funny to flip thru'em and see an article about, say, Duran Duran sandwiched in between stories on Quiet Riot and Motley Crue.

Old mags like that are fascinating little time capsules. One of those Circus issues I have has a big article on the impact of music videos on the industry and states that "1983 is poised to be a year of massive growth for the new outlet called MTV."

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Sweet. Did you hang up the John Travolta poster?

Of course, even with print proof right in front of them, there will still be those that claim Nugent, Aerosmith, Kiss, etc. were never "heavy metal". Although, is that Stevie Nicks in the bottom corner? Even I'd have to draw the line at calling Fleetwood Mac "heavy".

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I am sure SOMEONE will chime in and say 'No, they weren't heavy metal"

BTW - did you notice the order of Metal bands on the cover? Big pic of Paul and Led Zep listed last - after the nuge and Queen

By the late 70's, Zeppelin's popularity wasn't what it was in the early 70's. Kiss was hot in mid-70's and selling tons of magazines. Nugent was one of the biggest concert draws of the late 70's.

Anyone remember GROOVES MAGAZINE? That was another one I liked in the 70's. I have the Aerosmith vs. Queen issue. Inside that issue they had a mail in contest in which fans could vote for either Aerosmith or Queen as the kings of Heavy Metal in 1978.



And the sledgehammer that powers the American Heavy Metal Machines is undeniably Aerosmith.
-Grooves Magazine, 1978

My Mom always thought the pics were of females, ugly ones but still.

I miss those huge posters i used to have around my room.

Those were the days...

ultmetal wrote:

Anyone remember GROOVES MAGAZINE?

I remember seeing it on magazine racks (usually right between Circus and Creem) when I was a kid but I never read it. By the time I started buying rock mags (early 80s) I think they'd closed up shop.

It's funny seeing how marginalized the genre has become today, and looking back on some of the bands that were technically considered metal in those days. I still see some of them as being very "metal," but others definitely just played a role in the development of it as a whole.

I never read very many of the music rags from when I was growing up, because they mainly covered drivel that I wasn't interested in, but had I grown up in the 70s, early 80s, I'd have had a subscription to some of those.

Back before the internet this is how I discovered a lot of metal bands was magazines such as Circus, Hit Parader, Creem etc

John Travolta is still as metal as ever.

Best 70's Rock/Metal Bands:
Captain Beyond
Flower Travelin Band
Budgie
Hawkwind
Pentagram
Argent

Temple of Blood wrote:

John Travolta is still as metal as ever.

Who said anything about Travolta being metal? Neither was AWB or The Outlaws. Circus was a pop magazine that focused mostly on music, but also on movies. Especially in the 70's, it was a very diverse magazine.

You know those mags basically only covered bands that were popular back in those days. But there were tons of underground bands that really never surfaced just like it was thru all the decades including today.

The 70's had some great metal bands or close to metal bands. Babe Ruth, Trapeze, Starz, Moxy, Riot, Legs Diamond, Armageddon, White Witch...........as well as 100's of others.

Wargod51

Starz saw some exposure. I remember reading about them back in the day.

Riot were a bit late on the scene and ended up being more of a "new wave of metal" band. Motorhead as well. They had no exposure in the 70's here in the U.S. Even AC/DC didn't really see a lot of exposure in those magazines until '79 - '80 with "Highway to Hell" and "Back in Black".

ultmetal wrote:

Temple of Blood wrote:

John Travolta is still as metal as ever.

Who said anything about Travolta being metal?

I think he was being sarcastic

Good thread.

stepcousin wrote:

ultmetal wrote:

Temple of Blood wrote:

John Travolta is still as metal as ever.

Who said anything about Travolta being metal?

I think he was being sarcastic

Of course he was. He's one that thinks there was no heavy metal scene in the US in the 70's.

manny wrote:

Back before the internet this is how I discovered a lot of metal bands was magazines such as Circus, Hit Parader, Creem etc

Yep - a lot of us did!!!!

I dont remember much of the 70s - I was too young