British Hair Metal never really took off, thank the Lord. The NWOBHM bands grew up with Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and AC/DC rather than Kiss or the New York Dolls, neither of whom were that popular in the UK in the 1970s. So, while the early 80s saw bands like Motley Crue gearing up in California, back in the UK, metal bands favoured denim and leather, and there was an unwritten rule that anything beyond a pair of striped Spandex trousers was venturing dangerously into New Romantic territory.
Of course, there were exceptions. The above picture of Rox appeared in Kerrang! No. 27 in October 1982. You kind of see why Hair Metal never really caught on in the UK. First of all, cloudy skies and council houses just didn't provide you with the same backdrop as Sunset Strip or Laurel Canyon. Then there was the matter of giving yourself cool names. Rox did have a go at this, but you have to say that Kick-ass Kev Kozak, Red Hot Red and Bernie Emerald just didn't have the same quality as Ace Frehley.
The overall impression is a bit like one of those "American Burger Bars" that you sometimes come across when traveling in Europe, which operate under the belief that a poster of the Statue of Liberty and couple of black and white photos of Elvis and Marilyn Monroe will make you feel that you've magically crossed the Atlantic (I don't think it's a surprise that the one British Hair Metal band that did make it big- Def Leppard - plastered themselves in Union Jacks).
Dressed like this you mean?
ReplyDeleteBloody Hell. Reading the comments to your post I'm afraid that I agree with Bright Ambassador. I never liked Def Leppard, and think that Hysteria would be the nadir of 80s Hair Metal if it weren't for that bloody Whitesnake album.
Delete'kin'ell. They look like a transexual branch of the BNP. Bet they went down well on The Shankhill Road.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that I lived near Larkhall and don't ever recall them being invited to play at the Gala day.
I love the idea of the Larkhall Gala Day, Tom.
DeleteActually, come to think of it, I'm not sure I do love the idea of the Larkhall Gala Day.
But...but...but they're wearing ladies' boots. I need a lie down.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not the only one that noticed that. I like the idea of them going into What Every Woman Wants in 1982 and trying them on.
DeleteCoincidentally, I was reading this the other day by HM journo and DJ Phil Wilding about Pepsi Tate of the Welsh hair metallers Tigertailz. They were pretty big on the UK scene when I was getting into heavy music. They were for girls though. And if you wanted to get a rock chick in those days, you had to get into Tigertailz. I didn't. Bah!
ReplyDeletehttp://philipwilding.wordpress.com/2012/09/22/september-song/
That's a really nice blog post. Tigertailz came a bit too late for me; I had stopped reading Kerrang! by then and moved on to Prog. I stopped buying Kerrang! in 1984 or so which meant that I never got into either Thrash or Hair Metal. I'm glad about the latter but I'm starting to feel that I may have missed out by not listening to the former.
DeleteI never knew Tigertailz were so popular with the rock chicks.