What have Donington, plus the albums Heaven And Hell, Ace Of Spades, On Via The Night time and Iron Maiden acquired in widespread with Black In Black? Easy – the yr 1980.
Not solely was this the yr when AC/DC launched the most important album of their profession, but additionally the one which noticed Black Sabbath usher in Ronnie James Dio to interchange Ozzy Osbourne for the seminal Heaven And Hell album; the New Wave Of British Heavy Steel take flight into worldwide waters because of the debut albums from Iron Maiden and Def Leppard (self-titled and On Via The Night time, respectively); and the discharge of an important album that Motörhead ever recorded, Ace Of Spades.
This was additionally the yr when a racetrack within the Midlands grew to become one of many well-known places on the earth of rock and metallic. Fort Donington could have had followers reaching for the closest street map when it was introduced that Rainbow can be enjoying an outside present on the website on August 16, 1980, but it surely quickly grew to become extra well-known for headbanging than for pit stops.
Joined by Judas Priest, Scorpions, Saxon, April Wine, Riot and Contact, Blackmore and co. turned a rain-sodden, muddy subject right into a Mecca for metallic, one which was to be an annual pilgrimage all through the Nineteen Eighties – the Monsters Of Rock Pageant at Donington was to shortly set up itself as a world-renowned and revered occasion. However this was merely the tip of an iceberg that arguably makes 1980 essentially the most essential yr within the historical past of the music all of us love.
In February of that yr, EMI launched the Steel For Muthas compilation, one which gave the entire NWOBHM idea a major-label cachet, that includes Maiden, plus Praying Mantis, Angel Witch, Sledgehammer, Nutz, to not point out the impossibly named Toad The Moist Sprocket and Ethel The Frog.
There was additionally the notorious Heavy Steel Barn Dance at Bingley Corridor in Stafford, headlined by Motörhead, who led a merry metallic jig with Saxon, Girlschool, Vardis, Angel Witch and Mythra. What number of followers ended up sleeping on Stafford station that evening, having missed their final connection?
The Studying Pageant crammed our heads with rock – 1980 was when Slade staged one of many nice comebacks of all time in the course of the August Financial institution Vacation weekend. Former UFO guitar hero Michael Schenker reduce his hair and began his personal band, MSG. Rush additionally took a radical flip away from their sword & sorcery imagery, with the Everlasting Waves album.
A lot occurred throughout these 12 months that, a long time on, it’s exhausting to pack the influence into mere phrases. However have little doubt what this yr meant to the music scene. A younger Danish wannabe was so fascinated by the UK melting pot that he spent a substantial period of time over right here, pursuing bands like Diamond Head and Jaguar. Actually he was so impressed by what was happening that {the teenager} decided to ditch his promising tennis profession and take a look at his hand with a drum stick.
We now know him as Lars Ulrich of Metallica. Simply ask him how 1980 modified his life.
This function appeared in Basic Rock Presents AC/DC. printed in 2017.