The bands you mentioned are the "hand full" of bands I referred to that did get attention. I still think even with them it is using the term metal loosely, damn the QR was a Slade song for F&%k sake. HAHA
"Loosely" is a relative term, I suppose. Today what is Metal and what is not is much more, and I would argue somewhat overly, defined. I understand the distictions as the genre police ascribe them, but it seems pretty arbitrary as to which bands from the 80's get to be Metal, and which bands don't.
Def Leppard is Metal, but Cinderella isn't. Night Songs kicks the shit out of Pyromania IMO. Manowar's "Battle Hymns" is Metal, but Twisted Sister's "Under the Blade" isn't. Why?
It's even more arbitary compared to the standards of what gets to be Metal these days. The band that released "Shout at the Devil," Motley Crue, isn't Metal, but Within Temptation is. Edenbridge is Metal, but Kick Axe isn't. Helix isn't, but Royal Hunt is.
However, in 1985 that wasn't the way it was. Basically you had Heavy Metal, then Thrash and later it's Death and Black offsprings. That was pretty much it.
Today a lot of people get wrapped up in defining Metal versus Hard Rock. But back then the music and the bands were pretty much inseparable. They were featured in the same magazines, on radio shows, and on MTV. Any given tour could feature artists from either "genre," but I don't remember anyone making any distinctions. I mentioned some before, but other examples include:
Ozzy / Motley Crue (if Crue isn't Metal)- Bark at the Moon tour.
Judas Priest / Dokken- Turbo Tour
Iron Maiden / Ratt, Warrant, Twisted Sister, and Quiet Riot- at various points of the World Slavery Tour.
Quiet Riot covered a Slade song. True. Raintime covered Michael Jackson's "Beat It." Vision Divine covered Aha's "Take On Me." At Vance has covered several Abba songs. Their Metal cred seems to be intact.
It's also true that there were a few Super bands, that got much of the spotlight, and then there were a lot of second tier and one hit wonders below them. However, that was also true for other mainstream music. Rock had Journey, Springsteen, and U2. Country had Alabama, Kenny Rogers, and the Oakridge Boys. Pop had Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Gloria Estefan. Rap had MC Hammer, Run-D.M.C., and Ice-T. Yet, all those styles had their second tier and one hit wonder artists.
I'm not suggesting that Metal was bigger than Pop, Rock or Country, but for the only time in history Metal/Hard Rock was
almost on par with the staples of mainstream. It was the only time that you could name a Metal band to a stranger in the street, and it was likely they'd know who you were talking about.
I was in NC, and spent a lot of time traveling to gA. amd FL., by the mid-90s llived a while in Michigan. Never heard Maiden on the radio, well until it became classic rock.
However there was a college station in Raleigh that had a really good metal show in the mid to late 80s, and I was at a college show in the early 90s so I know metal was played there.
HAHA you know I'm not disputing the Billboards thing, I don't know haven't checked. But I'm not to sure about getting facts from Wikipedia. You know some college teachers suggest not to use that as reference material because it is often wrong. But hey why not; Columbus still discovered America, the world is flat, and Motley Crue is heavy metal.
Wikipedia is subject to scrutiny, and used with trepidation. Unfortunately, without access to Billboard's files it's what I have. Regardless, the first time I ever heard "The Flight of Icarus" it was on the radio, and I couldn't wait to get to the Record Bar. I was stationed at Camp Lejeune, and the local Jacksonville, NC station played it and The Trooper on a regular basis. Savannah's I-95 played them too, as did Miami's K-102.
