Very ‘eavy, very ‘umble and very loud…

One of my favourite styles of music is Hard (or Heavy) Rock. Hard rock is a form of loud, aggressive rock music where the electric guitar is often emphasised. It can be used with distortion and other effects, both as a rhythm instrument using repetitive riffs with a varying degree of complexity, and as a solo lead instrument. Drumming characteristically focuses on driving rhythms, strong bass drum and a backbeat on snare, sometimes using cymbals for emphasis. The bass guitar works in conjunction with the drums, occasionally playing riffs, but usually providing a backing for the rhythm and lead guitars. Keyboard instrument, especially the organ and synthesiser are frequently part of the line up as well. Vocals are often growling, raspy, or involve screaming or wailing, sometimes in a high range, or even falsetto voice. The genre developed into a major form of popular music in the 1970s, with bands such as the Who, Boston, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Aerosmith, Kiss, Queen, AC/DC and Van Halen producing, and selling huge quantities of material.

Hard rock has sometimes been labelled cock rock for its emphasis on overt masculinity and sexuality and because it has historically been predominantly performed and consumed by men: in the case of its audience, particularly white, working-class adolescents…..although with the passage of time we have become ageing, balding, over-weight geezers who, if the queues for the gents are anything to go by, have severe prostate problems.

I have chosen seven tracks that mean a lot to me personally because they remind me of incidents and people I have encountered and experienced over the years.

“Highway Star” is a song by the English rock band Deep Purple. It is the opening track on their 1972 album Machine Head and is the fastest song in tempo on the album. It is characterised by long, classically-inspired guitar and organ solos. Organist, the late, great, Jon Lord claimed that the organ and guitar solos were based on Bach-like chord sequences. This version is from their 1972 live album “Made In Japan” but, weirdly, the video is from a concert in Copenhagen the same year. The sound and video have been very cleverly mixed together.

“Love to Love” is a live track by British band UFO. It is taken from their 1978 double album Strangers In The Night. The original track comes from their 1977 album Lights Out. This album was the pinnacle of UFO’s studio career containing songs such as “Too Hot to Handle,” “Lights Out,” and the seven-minute opus “Love to Love.” With Lights Out, the band received substantial critical acclaim. The song is actually a very sexy song.

“Sunrise” is a song by the British rock band Uriah Heep, originally released on their fifth studio album, The Magician’s Birthday, in 1972. The song was written by Ken Hensley and sung by David Byron. The song is considered one of the band’s classics, and it also became famous for its live performances in late 1972 and 1973. It was included, as the opening track, on the band’s first ever live album, Uriah Heep Live, in 1973 which is where this recording comes from.

“Silver Machine” is a 1972 song by the UK rock group Hawkwind. It was originally released as a single on 9 June 1972, reaching number three on the UK singles chart. It was recorded live at a Greasy Truckers benefit gig at The Roundhouse, London on 13 February 1972 and remixed to have the vocals changed. The lyrics were written by Robert Calvert and he sang the lead vocal on the original live recording. However, the vocals were considered too weak for the single release so they were re-recorded in the studio. Calvert, who suffered from bi-polar disorder, had been sectioned at the time so was unavailable to attempt another version, and the lead vocals were eventually recorded by Lemmy. Hawkwind have very rarely appeared on television, but the success of the single necessitated an appearance on the BBC chart show Top of the Pops. However, the group felt ill at ease at the prospect of miming a performance in front of a studio audience who didn’t represent their following, so a compromise was reached with the BBC recording the band performing live at Dunstable Civic Hall on 7 July 1972, this clip being shown with the single version dubbed over it. Dancer Stacia appears prominently in the music video and she does keep her clothes on here which was actually a rare thing. I LOVE Hawkwind. Back in the early 70s their gigs were a thing of beauty. Lights, smoke (lots of smoke), nudity (on and off stage), and the volume and rhythm of the band. What a trip!!!!!

“Iron Man” is a song written and performed by the English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released on their 1970 album Paranoid. The lyrics tell the story of a man who time travels into the future and sees the apocalypse. In the process of returning to the present, he is turned into steel by a magnetic storm. He is rendered mute, unable verbally to warn people of his vision of impending destruction. His attempts to communicate are ignored and mocked. This causes Iron Man to become furious, and drives his revenge on mankind, causing the apocalypse seen in his vision. Upon hearing the main guitar riff for the first time, vocalist Ozzy Osbourne remarked that it sounded “like a big iron bloke walking about”. The title became “Iron Man”, with Geezer Butler writing the lyrics around the title. Osbourne sang behind a metal fan to get the sound effect in its first line, ‘I am Iron Man!’. Despite the title, the song has no connection to the Marvel Comics character of the same name, although it was used in the end credits of the 2008 movie Iron Man, and the trailer for the 2010 sequel, Iron Man 2; the superhero also wears a Black Sabbath T-Shirt during the events of The Avengers.

“Whole Lotta Love” is a song by English hard rock band Led Zeppelin. It is the opening track on the band’s second album, Led Zeppelin II, and was released in the United States, several countries in Europe, and Japan as a single but, as with other Led Zeppelin songs, no single was released in the United Kingdom. The US release became their first hit single, being certified Gold on 13 April 1970, having sold one million copies. It reached number one in Australia and Germany and number four in the Netherlands and the United States. The song has been widely covered by many artists. It was famous in the United Kingdom for having been the theme music for the long-running television programme Top of the Pops for much of its history. The first version used was based on a recording by the Collective Consciousness Society (or C.C.S.), a band led by blues guitarist Alexis Korner. The C.C.S. version reached No. 13 on the British charts in autumn 1970. The song returned as the theme in 1998, this time using a reworked version of the original Led Zeppelin guitar riff.

“Overkill” is a song by the British hard rock band Motörhead. It was released in 7″ and 12″ vinyl pressings in 1979. It is backed with B-side “Too Late Too Late” which appears on the CD re-issues of the Overkill album. The single reached number 39 on the UK Singles Chart. The song was a live favourite and was frequently featured at Motörhead concerts, often in an extended version. The track is notable for Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor’s use of two bass drums. It is a Metal classic.

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Deep Purple – Highway Star (Live)