What I remember of the 80s
Hearing Saxon's "Stand up and be counted" on the BBC's "Fridaynight Rock Show" Tommy Vance ruled and it was the first NWOBHM song I ever heard.
Buying the first Iron maiden album and being blown away by it.
Seeing Judas Priest en Saxon perform in a sports hall in the south of the Netherlands and meeting Aardschok's Metal Mike again a few weeks after I crashed his first meeting with his editors
Going to see Saxon with Metal Mike and meeting Biff for the first time.
Starting to work for Aardschok magazine doing record and concert reviews and interviews.
Starting the Dynamo Hard Rock pub.
The Dynamo pub became famous in the whole of Europe and even the US
Bands from all over the world wanted to play there and many did.
Having a metal party at my place with all my friends and the members of Tokyo Blade, Satan, Avenger, Blitzkrieg and Mercyful Fate.
Meeting:
Ian Gillan, All of Accept in 1981 and becoming friends with them, All of Iron Maiden and chatting a long time with Paul Diannio and Steve Harris, Raven and becoming very good friends with them. Especially with John Gallagher, Tygers Of Pang Tang, Venom, Befriending Meryful Fate except their asshole drummer, Anvil, Exciter, Trance, Manowar, Motorhead [Lemmy RULES], Crossfire, Killer, Jaguar, Lars Ulrich [Complete and utter asshole], Heir Apparent, Savage Grace, Anthrax, Agent Steel, Helstar, Toxic, Crimson Glory, Laaz Rockit, Helloween, Overkill, Blitzkrieg [especially Brain Ross was a very nice guy].
I may have forgotten a few. Its been a long time...
Seeing all of the above and a few more.
An Anthrax session in the Dynamo with Scott "NOT" Ian and Joey Belladonna being present. Joey had not learned all their lyrics yet so I was pushed on stage by my friends. So there I was singing next to Scott "NOT" Ian who played the guitar and Joey on my left filling in on those parts he knew. We played amongst others "Seek and destroy", and "Metal thrashing mad" Joey did not know the lyrics to those songs yet. This was just after they recorded "Spreading The Disease" [1985]. The reason Joey did not know the lyrics to these metal standards was because he came from the AOR scene and had almost no knowledge of the thrash metal scene.
After this session which lasted about an hour, their manager John Zazula offered me a band in the US. If I came with him he would get a band together for me in the US. He told me it would be a band in the style of U2 and The Cult. I told him I wanted a Metal band. He said that would not be possible. So i told him to put his U2 band where the sun don't shine!!
Seeing Crimson Glory live a few times and on the last gig stagediving and landing on my back on the ground. Asking my friends to pull out all the glass out of my back!!
Giving an interview on national radio about headbanging.
The first Dynamo Open Air festival and seeing it grow into the biggest metal festival in Europe and indeed the world in the mid 80s. I was not involved in the organization. I was already planning to go and study history.
Seeing the serious metal scene going to shit in the latter 80s.
Those are some of the things I remember.
