I love Daleks. My favourite coffee mug has a picture of one threatening instant destruction with its ray-gun or instant unblocking with the sink plunger. I’ll freely admit that they are a bit rubbish and one dimensional as baddies and they still come across as a bit useless where staircases are concerned but there’s nothing that brightens my Saturday night up more than a bunch of the metal pepper pots exterminating the crap out of everything and everyone only to be thwarted at the end by a dubious bit of deus ex machina plotting or a decent shag-pile carpet.
The one big problem with the Daleks in recent years is that they are pretty much mandated to appear in every series and after 50 years’ worth of attempting to exterminate the Doctor most plot lines have been tried. To make matters worse they increasingly never get to exterminate anyone anymore - merely floating about shouting “EXTERMINATE!” without ever lighting up some poor sod like a fairy lamp. The first problem was addressed in last year’s Asylum Of The Daleks when a completely different take on Dalek society threw up a rather different menace. However the total lack of extermination went right through the 50th Anniversary and Christmas specials when really they should have been letting rip in no uncertain terms.
Into The Dalek restores the Daleks to their menacing violent best - in fact the body count was remarkably high: not quite up there with the Peter Davison adventure Resurrection of the Daleks but it was pretty much up there. However, the general sense of menace was present from the start and not only from the obvious foes – we are still left wondering about the true nature of Capaldi’s Doctor. The key line here was right at the beginning when he was questioning whether he was a “good man”. So far he has been but very much in a utilitarian manner in terms of acting in the greater good. His behaviour in the episodes so far has occasionally been callous: "He was dead already; I was saving us," was a particular line of note but not that far removed from an early First Doctor episode when schoolteacher Ian had to stop the Doctor from bricking in the head of an injured caveman to aid their escape. Matt Smith was great at not entirely understanding human emotions – Capaldi takes this to another level.
I did have great hopes for Capaldi as the Doctor. So far I haven’t been disappointed although as some wag pointed out, as a short-tempered, grey-haired man from Scotland with a caffeine addiction he appears to have been modelled on me! I’m wondering how much of an input he has had to the writing and characterisation. He is a very talented writer and director in his own right (he has won an Oscar for this after all) but I suspect he wants to keep at least a little distance between the roles of the actor and those of writer and director (apparently Tom Baker caused ructions by being somewhat domineering in this respect). So far the writing and acting have matched perfectly and the strong philosophical bent of the scripts is perfect both for Who and sci-fi in general.
I’m still not sure where the back stories and series arcs are heading. Danny Pink seems to be a similar kind of damaged goods to the Doctor. In what would seem to be an obvious homage to the original 1963 series he is also a teacher with a former military background, similar to Ian Chesterton, although I suspect the character may develop in a rather different fashion. The character of “Missy” also remains something of an enigma: seemingly collecting the souls of those that fall foul of the doctors meddling? Next week sees Robot Of Sherwood which has me somewhat worried that we will get a “romp”: aimless action with no story. However, this is written by Mark Gatiss who I have regarded as one of the better Who writers so we’ll have to see.
Sunday, 31 August 2014
Monday, 25 August 2014
Take a Deep Breath
I can remember settling down in December 1974 to watch the
first part of the new Doctor Who serial Robot. This was the first time we had
seen Tom Baker acting in the role and I was eagerly anticipating what he would
make of the part. I was glad the show was back on telly but I wasn’t that
fussed about the new guy. He was acting odd, dressing in weird clothes and I
really wanted the old one back. Introducing a new Doctor is a tricky business
and finding the right balance between new and old is going to be a fine line.
As it was, I did take to Tom Baker and the following serial, The Arc in
Space, still rates as one of my all-time favourites.
I’ve been looking forward to the new series of Doctor Who for weeks but I knew I wouldn’t be able to see it until Sunday night as we were taking my mother out for a birthday celebration on the 23rd. That meant pretty much blocking out any internet connection and avoiding all news media for the following 24 hours in a Likely Lads type plan to avoid hearing the result. It wasn’t until Sunday afternoon that I was able to settle down with the kids in front of the TV to watch some new Doctor Who but in that case it was Jon Pertwee in The Mind of Fear – LoveFilm had finally come up trumps with the DVD so I was able to see the only serial of 1970s Doctor Who that I had never seen before. And very agreeable it was as well.
Finally to Sunday night and I was finally able to watch Peter Capaldi’s debut as Doctor Who in Deep Breath. There seems to have been blanket media coverage of the episode and one of my friends had even seen it at the Cardiff debut several weeks before. Somehow I had managed to avoid all the spoilers of the episode save for knowing that the new Doctor was going to be older and Scottish. So what did I make of it? Well, given the Godzilla sized dinosaur that greeted the opening sequence I wondered whether I’d tuned into the wrong show – until it spat out the TARDIS: typical Steven Moffat humour.
Unlike the previous regeneration episode, Eleventh Hour, this story reverted to the convention of introducing a discombobulated Doctor for the first part of the episode which allowed for much of the humour. The Doctor’s recovery then leads into the mystery to be solved and we get to learn more about the Doctor’s new personality. To be perfectly honest, I preferred the approach used with Matt Smith. He was largely unknown as an actor but by the end of the episode we had got to know him more as the Doctor. Peter Capaldi is very well known as an actor but there is one part he is particularly associated with, Malcolm Tucker, and it is important that his interpretation of the Doctor takes precedence over any preconceived ideas that the audience may have about him.
That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the episode. I really did and I think Capaldi’s interpretation is much closer to the original concept of the Doctor. I had wondered whether he would be more like Pertwee’s interpretation and I can definitely see some of that in there. There is also much of the first Doctor’s terseness and the fact that we are not entirely sure whether he can be trusted as well as some of Christopher Eccleston’s idiot intolerance. I think it will take time for the character to fully develop but he has stated that he doesn’t want to find a formula and stick to it which is why I think Matt Smith left us wanting more – he somehow constantly found something new about the character in every episode. It was nice to see his cameo at the end even if it did feel as if he was stealing Capaldi’s thunder somewhat.
Aside from the MacGuffin dinosaur I was pleased to see the return of the clockwork robots from The Girl in the Fireplace. On the face of it these are not the most threatening of adversaries but their complete lack of empathy makes them far more frightening than a Dalek or Cyberman. They aren’t evil. It is difficult even to describe them as amoral as their mechanical simplicity makes them the grotesque consequence of technology gone wrong. It is this unreasoning menace that makes them so effective and certainly the only monster that has genuinely frightened my daughter (at least as far as she will admit). That simply leaves us with the strange Coda and the mysterious “Missy”. I’m sure this will be explained later in the series but could it be that Missy = Mistress = Master? We’ll have to see.
Reconnecting to the internet on Monday morning I took a deep breath and waited to see what the rest of the world thought of it? Given that I had enjoyed it so much I was rather taken aback by some of the reaction. Some people liked it, others didn’t. Of those, some don’t like Doctor Who full stop (their loss) and others still wanted Matt Smith in the role (fair enough). Quite a few people objected to having an older Scottish actor in the role which seems vaguely ageist and/or racist and it may surprise some to know that when Tom Baker was cast, Fulton Mackay had originally been suggested. Some seemed to complain that they couldn’t follow the plot (seriously?) or that it was too slow (having given up on several acclaimed US series that turned into dreary soaps, I find this surprising). Amongst fandom the views seem to be split but most fans objections relate to the fact that they aren’t writing the whole thing themselves. I can only suggest avoiding the hype and avoiding the spoilers – for some reason this appears to have vastly improved my enjoyment. Anyway, next week we have Daleks and I have Saturday night free.
I’ve been looking forward to the new series of Doctor Who for weeks but I knew I wouldn’t be able to see it until Sunday night as we were taking my mother out for a birthday celebration on the 23rd. That meant pretty much blocking out any internet connection and avoiding all news media for the following 24 hours in a Likely Lads type plan to avoid hearing the result. It wasn’t until Sunday afternoon that I was able to settle down with the kids in front of the TV to watch some new Doctor Who but in that case it was Jon Pertwee in The Mind of Fear – LoveFilm had finally come up trumps with the DVD so I was able to see the only serial of 1970s Doctor Who that I had never seen before. And very agreeable it was as well.
Finally to Sunday night and I was finally able to watch Peter Capaldi’s debut as Doctor Who in Deep Breath. There seems to have been blanket media coverage of the episode and one of my friends had even seen it at the Cardiff debut several weeks before. Somehow I had managed to avoid all the spoilers of the episode save for knowing that the new Doctor was going to be older and Scottish. So what did I make of it? Well, given the Godzilla sized dinosaur that greeted the opening sequence I wondered whether I’d tuned into the wrong show – until it spat out the TARDIS: typical Steven Moffat humour.
Unlike the previous regeneration episode, Eleventh Hour, this story reverted to the convention of introducing a discombobulated Doctor for the first part of the episode which allowed for much of the humour. The Doctor’s recovery then leads into the mystery to be solved and we get to learn more about the Doctor’s new personality. To be perfectly honest, I preferred the approach used with Matt Smith. He was largely unknown as an actor but by the end of the episode we had got to know him more as the Doctor. Peter Capaldi is very well known as an actor but there is one part he is particularly associated with, Malcolm Tucker, and it is important that his interpretation of the Doctor takes precedence over any preconceived ideas that the audience may have about him.
That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the episode. I really did and I think Capaldi’s interpretation is much closer to the original concept of the Doctor. I had wondered whether he would be more like Pertwee’s interpretation and I can definitely see some of that in there. There is also much of the first Doctor’s terseness and the fact that we are not entirely sure whether he can be trusted as well as some of Christopher Eccleston’s idiot intolerance. I think it will take time for the character to fully develop but he has stated that he doesn’t want to find a formula and stick to it which is why I think Matt Smith left us wanting more – he somehow constantly found something new about the character in every episode. It was nice to see his cameo at the end even if it did feel as if he was stealing Capaldi’s thunder somewhat.
Aside from the MacGuffin dinosaur I was pleased to see the return of the clockwork robots from The Girl in the Fireplace. On the face of it these are not the most threatening of adversaries but their complete lack of empathy makes them far more frightening than a Dalek or Cyberman. They aren’t evil. It is difficult even to describe them as amoral as their mechanical simplicity makes them the grotesque consequence of technology gone wrong. It is this unreasoning menace that makes them so effective and certainly the only monster that has genuinely frightened my daughter (at least as far as she will admit). That simply leaves us with the strange Coda and the mysterious “Missy”. I’m sure this will be explained later in the series but could it be that Missy = Mistress = Master? We’ll have to see.
Reconnecting to the internet on Monday morning I took a deep breath and waited to see what the rest of the world thought of it? Given that I had enjoyed it so much I was rather taken aback by some of the reaction. Some people liked it, others didn’t. Of those, some don’t like Doctor Who full stop (their loss) and others still wanted Matt Smith in the role (fair enough). Quite a few people objected to having an older Scottish actor in the role which seems vaguely ageist and/or racist and it may surprise some to know that when Tom Baker was cast, Fulton Mackay had originally been suggested. Some seemed to complain that they couldn’t follow the plot (seriously?) or that it was too slow (having given up on several acclaimed US series that turned into dreary soaps, I find this surprising). Amongst fandom the views seem to be split but most fans objections relate to the fact that they aren’t writing the whole thing themselves. I can only suggest avoiding the hype and avoiding the spoilers – for some reason this appears to have vastly improved my enjoyment. Anyway, next week we have Daleks and I have Saturday night free.
Sunday, 17 August 2014
What's in a Name?
Aside from all the misery on the news this week one story that interested me was the Office for National Statistics publishing the “league table” of popular baby names. This was based upon the first given names for children born in England and Wales during the last year. The General Register Office of Scotland (GROS) produces a similar list for those born North of the border – in fact they produce all sorts of interesting things like this which I used to aimlessly browse through at work whilst supposedly processing the other statistical data that they sent through. When I was at school the most popular boys names were things like John, David, Mark, Paul, James and Andrew – I’m pretty sure that must have covered a good proportion of my school year. In the whole school I knew one other boy that went by the name Rod although his full first name was different. In fact the only person I ever came across that appeared to have the same name was a former British diplomat but it turned out that his named had been misspelt (I know the feeling).
I find the trends in given names interesting. Some children are named after family members, whereas others are named after friends or popular celebrities. I was named after the 8th Century Last King of the Goths for reasons that I have never quite been able to determine. Apparently my Welsh grandmother favoured the name Rhodri whereas my father liked the more Scottish Gavin although at the time there was the famous writer Gavin Maxwell which might have given me some sort of otter fixation (although I ended up with that as a middle name). So I ended up with Roderic – possibly not so much as a compromise but more to do with the priest having been at the communion wine again. Whatever the reason it stuck and I have been endlessly spelling it out ever since.
So how do I compare to today’s children? Well, in England and Wales the most popular boys names are now Oliver, Jack, Harry, Jacob and Charlie each of which are represented by over 5,000 birth certificates. We would probably get Muhammed up there as well if it were not for several different spellings. In fact it is interesting that diminutive names are now more commonly given that the full name they are based on (for example: 6,212 Jacks compared to 576 Johns). And how many Roderics are there? None whatsoever. The nearest we get are 20 Rhodris and 6 boys called Roddy. To put that in context there are 13 Thors and 29 Odins (which I must admit are pretty cool first names).
So how do I fare on the Scottish list? Pretty much another non-appearance although we get closer with 4 Rodericks, 2 Roddys, a Rodi and a Rodrigo. It’s worth seeing Scotland in isolation due to the tradition of giving people second names as first names and, in fact, there are 22 people christened Maxwell which gives me the somewhat inverse Scottish attribute of having a first name as a surname.
Of course the popularity of names change over time which is why I find many names now given to children sounding somewhat antiquated – particularly girls names as many of those in current vogue are ones I remember as being ancient maiden aunts or old women who vaguely remembered Victoria being queen. Having a look at the data on GROS, the boys names that were most popular around 1900 are still reasonably modern sounding with James and Andrew in the top 10. Of the girls names it’s all change and very few girls are now given the once common names of Mary, Margaret or Agnes. The interesting thing is that in a few years time the Sophies and Olivers will become very dated again and it could be that the Johns and Agneses are prominent once more. However, I can’t see there being many babies being named Roderic any time soon.
I find the trends in given names interesting. Some children are named after family members, whereas others are named after friends or popular celebrities. I was named after the 8th Century Last King of the Goths for reasons that I have never quite been able to determine. Apparently my Welsh grandmother favoured the name Rhodri whereas my father liked the more Scottish Gavin although at the time there was the famous writer Gavin Maxwell which might have given me some sort of otter fixation (although I ended up with that as a middle name). So I ended up with Roderic – possibly not so much as a compromise but more to do with the priest having been at the communion wine again. Whatever the reason it stuck and I have been endlessly spelling it out ever since.
So how do I compare to today’s children? Well, in England and Wales the most popular boys names are now Oliver, Jack, Harry, Jacob and Charlie each of which are represented by over 5,000 birth certificates. We would probably get Muhammed up there as well if it were not for several different spellings. In fact it is interesting that diminutive names are now more commonly given that the full name they are based on (for example: 6,212 Jacks compared to 576 Johns). And how many Roderics are there? None whatsoever. The nearest we get are 20 Rhodris and 6 boys called Roddy. To put that in context there are 13 Thors and 29 Odins (which I must admit are pretty cool first names).
So how do I fare on the Scottish list? Pretty much another non-appearance although we get closer with 4 Rodericks, 2 Roddys, a Rodi and a Rodrigo. It’s worth seeing Scotland in isolation due to the tradition of giving people second names as first names and, in fact, there are 22 people christened Maxwell which gives me the somewhat inverse Scottish attribute of having a first name as a surname.
Of course the popularity of names change over time which is why I find many names now given to children sounding somewhat antiquated – particularly girls names as many of those in current vogue are ones I remember as being ancient maiden aunts or old women who vaguely remembered Victoria being queen. Having a look at the data on GROS, the boys names that were most popular around 1900 are still reasonably modern sounding with James and Andrew in the top 10. Of the girls names it’s all change and very few girls are now given the once common names of Mary, Margaret or Agnes. The interesting thing is that in a few years time the Sophies and Olivers will become very dated again and it could be that the Johns and Agneses are prominent once more. However, I can’t see there being many babies being named Roderic any time soon.
Tuesday, 12 August 2014
An Appreciation Of JNT
The Sunday afternoon Classic Doctor Who marathon with the kids has now reached the 1980s. In fact we have missed a few odd stories: Lovefilm haven’t managed to come up with the 1st Doctor’s Rescue and Romans stories and inexplicably missed the 3rd Doctor’s Mind Of Evil. There are also the Patrick Troughton stories that emerged at the end of last year but other than that we are now up to Peter Davison’s 1st series in 1982. It is also well into the tenure of John Nathan-Turner as series producer and I am beginning to appreciate this long-time producer in a new light.
If I had to pick a favourite period for the Classic Doctor Who series it would be the early to late 70s period of Barry Letts and Philip Hinchcliffe. They were succeeded by Graham Williams and, whilst he continued to produce some decent series, I felt that the show was becoming rather tired and was relying too heavily on comic touches from script editor Douglas Adams to cover up weak stories and creaky sets. John Nathan-Turner (known to fandom simply as JNT) made many changes to the show when he took over during Tom Baker’s final year in the blue box. At the time I wasn’t that fussed on the more superficial changes such as the new title sequence and synthesised theme tune but having watched the episodes again I can appreciate the fresh look he brought to the show.
1980s Doctor Who now looks rather dated but at least it looks to be dated from the 1980s and not from a period that its meagre budget would have justified. Sometimes the special effects do let it down but this is more a case of trying to push the technology too far rather than a slap-dash “it’ll do, it’s only tea-time telly” approach. Of course, on occasion the prop-failures are laughable but it is forgivable as long as the scripts are acceptable and for a period in the mid-1980s they often weren’t. I’d argue that the worst were when Colin Baker took over the role and his first story, The Twin Dilemma, set a poor tone by making Baker’s Doctor both unlikeable (strangling his assistant at one point) without the resolution of a decent story. It’s a pity as Colin Baker is a good actor with great ideas for the role – it’s just a pity that the scripts let him down and maybe it was not such a good idea to introduce him like this at the end of the series when most people knew Baker for playing complete bastards (Paul Merroney in The Brothers was his best known role up to that point).
In fact it’s interesting to see how the new Doctor, Peter Capaldi, is introduced. Amongst my Whovian friends there seems to be a great split between those who are really looking forward to see him (of which I am one) and those who aren’t particularly looking forward to him at all. The latter group seem to be grouped between those who wanted to see another series with Matt Smith (who I do sympathise with) and those who don’t particularly like the actor – possibly because he is best known as the aggressive yet creative profanasaurus that was Malcolm Tucker. The first film I remember him from was Local Hero and I can recall many parts that he has popped up in so I maybe have a different perspective. He is a versatile actor but many will only really know him from The Thick Of It where he was, it must be said, a complete bastard. I’m interested to see how he will be introduced as The Doctor in Deep Breath in a fortnight’s time – hopefully the doubters will be won over.
As for our Sunday classic series DVDs we are up to Kinda (great story, rubbery snake) and the kids seem to be enjoying it although Raymond is fed up with Tegan’s complaining (isn’t that the point of her?) and the others quite like Adric (they are in for a shock in a few weeks). I’m also quite happy to see these episodes again – most for the first time in some 30 years. I wonder if we will be revisiting Deep Breath in another 30 years time?
If I had to pick a favourite period for the Classic Doctor Who series it would be the early to late 70s period of Barry Letts and Philip Hinchcliffe. They were succeeded by Graham Williams and, whilst he continued to produce some decent series, I felt that the show was becoming rather tired and was relying too heavily on comic touches from script editor Douglas Adams to cover up weak stories and creaky sets. John Nathan-Turner (known to fandom simply as JNT) made many changes to the show when he took over during Tom Baker’s final year in the blue box. At the time I wasn’t that fussed on the more superficial changes such as the new title sequence and synthesised theme tune but having watched the episodes again I can appreciate the fresh look he brought to the show.
1980s Doctor Who now looks rather dated but at least it looks to be dated from the 1980s and not from a period that its meagre budget would have justified. Sometimes the special effects do let it down but this is more a case of trying to push the technology too far rather than a slap-dash “it’ll do, it’s only tea-time telly” approach. Of course, on occasion the prop-failures are laughable but it is forgivable as long as the scripts are acceptable and for a period in the mid-1980s they often weren’t. I’d argue that the worst were when Colin Baker took over the role and his first story, The Twin Dilemma, set a poor tone by making Baker’s Doctor both unlikeable (strangling his assistant at one point) without the resolution of a decent story. It’s a pity as Colin Baker is a good actor with great ideas for the role – it’s just a pity that the scripts let him down and maybe it was not such a good idea to introduce him like this at the end of the series when most people knew Baker for playing complete bastards (Paul Merroney in The Brothers was his best known role up to that point).
In fact it’s interesting to see how the new Doctor, Peter Capaldi, is introduced. Amongst my Whovian friends there seems to be a great split between those who are really looking forward to see him (of which I am one) and those who aren’t particularly looking forward to him at all. The latter group seem to be grouped between those who wanted to see another series with Matt Smith (who I do sympathise with) and those who don’t particularly like the actor – possibly because he is best known as the aggressive yet creative profanasaurus that was Malcolm Tucker. The first film I remember him from was Local Hero and I can recall many parts that he has popped up in so I maybe have a different perspective. He is a versatile actor but many will only really know him from The Thick Of It where he was, it must be said, a complete bastard. I’m interested to see how he will be introduced as The Doctor in Deep Breath in a fortnight’s time – hopefully the doubters will be won over.
As for our Sunday classic series DVDs we are up to Kinda (great story, rubbery snake) and the kids seem to be enjoying it although Raymond is fed up with Tegan’s complaining (isn’t that the point of her?) and the others quite like Adric (they are in for a shock in a few weeks). I’m also quite happy to see these episodes again – most for the first time in some 30 years. I wonder if we will be revisiting Deep Breath in another 30 years time?
Sunday, 3 August 2014
50 Years Of Metal
This Monday (4th August) marks the 50th anniversary of the birth of Heavy Metal music – or does it? Certainly The Kinks’ single, You Really Got Me, was released on 4th August 1964 and this has often been referred to as the first Heavy Metal record but it was neither described as Heavy Metal at the time and it was hardly the finished product. However, the distorted guitar, hard riff and power chords where all in place along with the inevitable Gibson Flying V guitar.
The big innovation on You Really Got Me was Dave Davis’s distorted guitar sound which he achieved by the unusual method of attacking the speaker cone of his amplifier with a razor blade. Much to his surprise, not only did the amp still work but produced an unmistakably crunchy metallic sound. However, he was not the first to experiment with distorted guitar. Many of the electric blues players of the 1950s were not averse to turning the amps up beyond what any self-respecting studio engineer would tolerate. One good example is from 1954 with Pat Hare’s delightfully titled I’m Gonna Murder My Baby.
Another element hinted at with The Kinks but would only really be developed by later hard rock bands is the thunderous drumming. This borrowed not so much from the blues but more from Jazz. It’s something that has seemingly disappeared as the genre has progressed and now Heavy Metal is synonymous with what I would call “machine-gun” drumming: fast, hard and highly proficient but somehow lacking the subtlety and creativity of early hard rock drummers. The names Louie Bellson, Elvin Jones, Joe Morello, Buddy Rich and Max Roach are mentioned time and again as influences on hard rock’s early drummers. However, Gene Krupa was doing all this back in the 1930s.
The factors driving the development of Heavy Metal in the 1960s were largely technological. Larger amplifiers and various electronic effects gave a huge array of sonic possibilities. The Who and The Beatles were great innovators in this area: the former with their massive power chords and the latter with heavy riffs and electronic experimentation all of this leading into the development of Psychedelic Rock. One curiosity recorded around this time was Jeff Beck’s Beck’s Bolero featuring a backing group including The Who’s Keith Moon, session players Nicky Hopkins, Jimmy Page and John-Paul Jones – the latter two would later form Led Zeppelin (the band name was actually a quip from Moon during these sessions)
Cream was formed in 1966 by Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. A mix of hard blues, heavily distorted guitar riffs, crashing drums and psychedelic imagery. The interesting thing when listening to their first album “Fresh Cream” is how low down the mix the guitar sound was set. The follow-up, "Disraeli Gears” took no prisoners and the single, Sunshine of your Love, would launch a thousand rock and metal bands.
Brought over to Britain in 1966 Jimi Hendrix transformed the art of electric guitar playing. A great player, writer and performer this was a man completely in control of the link between wooden instrument and the electronic brute force of the amplifier. Are You Experienced remains one of the all-time great debut albums but for me the opening track (at least on the original UK release) Foxy Lady still packs a powerful punch with its use of distorted guitar.
By 1968 the increasing power of the Marshall Stack was having an effect on the music that both up and coming musicians and established artist were producing. Deep Purple formed in 1968 and although still very much a pop orientated act at this point their debut single Hush is a statement of intent.
Also appearing in 1968 was Steppenwolf’s Born To Be Wild. As well as being a great hard rock song it featured the lyric “heavy metal thunder” to describe the sound of a motorcycle engine. I had always assumed that this was the origin of the term Heavy Metal as a musical genre as a heavily distorted guitar sounds remarkably similar to a finely tuned internal combustion engine although the exact origin of the phrase seems to be disputed.
Also in 1968, The Beatles produced their eponymous album (often referred to as the “White Album”) Side three of the album contains some of the groups heaviest recordings and, although not their best one, Helter Skelter is possibly the most brutal.
By 1969, this loud overdriven guitar sound was becoming the new standard for rock bands. A good example of this is Pink Floyd’s Nile Song which was recorded in March 1969 for the soundtrack of the film More. Floyd had been experimenting with electronic distortion since their first album in 1967 (check out Interstellar Overdrive) but The Nile Song conformed far more closely with a conventional rock performance – just that much louder.
Led Zeppelin released two albums in 1969. Their debut was recorded in 1968 and was still a very blues orientated affair but with tracks like Communication Breakdown that would be picked up by later Metal bands. The second album was far closer to what may be considered Heavy Metal but still with a variety of influences. Whole Lotta Love is a bit of an oddity but the guitar sound is a blueprint for many of the hard rock bands that would follow.
At the end of 1969 Black Sabbath recorded what is often regarded as the first Heavy Metal album. In fact the album – at least the second side is still very blues orientated but the sound was crushingly different. In fact the bludgeoning style of the guitar was due to the instruments being detuned to loosen the strings to help guitarist Tony Iommi following an industrial accident in which he had lost the tips of his fingers. The choice of chord sequences and the lyrical content were also far darker than previously used – possibly a legacy of their roots in industrial Birmingham.
The key difference with Black Sabbath compared to earlier groups is that the distorted “metallic” sound pervaded the entire album rather than being an occasional effect in the bands armoury. So was this the true birth of the Heavy Metal genre? The band themselves hated the tag and the term “heavy metal” was used mainly as an insult from music journalists who did not understand the music and despised the groups working class origins compared to what they regarded as the more worthy “progressive” rock of the art-school protégés. However, fans of the early metal groups would pick up on the label and other acts would later self-identify with the genre. Who was the first to do this? I expect that’s a whole other area of research.
The big innovation on You Really Got Me was Dave Davis’s distorted guitar sound which he achieved by the unusual method of attacking the speaker cone of his amplifier with a razor blade. Much to his surprise, not only did the amp still work but produced an unmistakably crunchy metallic sound. However, he was not the first to experiment with distorted guitar. Many of the electric blues players of the 1950s were not averse to turning the amps up beyond what any self-respecting studio engineer would tolerate. One good example is from 1954 with Pat Hare’s delightfully titled I’m Gonna Murder My Baby.
Another element hinted at with The Kinks but would only really be developed by later hard rock bands is the thunderous drumming. This borrowed not so much from the blues but more from Jazz. It’s something that has seemingly disappeared as the genre has progressed and now Heavy Metal is synonymous with what I would call “machine-gun” drumming: fast, hard and highly proficient but somehow lacking the subtlety and creativity of early hard rock drummers. The names Louie Bellson, Elvin Jones, Joe Morello, Buddy Rich and Max Roach are mentioned time and again as influences on hard rock’s early drummers. However, Gene Krupa was doing all this back in the 1930s.
The factors driving the development of Heavy Metal in the 1960s were largely technological. Larger amplifiers and various electronic effects gave a huge array of sonic possibilities. The Who and The Beatles were great innovators in this area: the former with their massive power chords and the latter with heavy riffs and electronic experimentation all of this leading into the development of Psychedelic Rock. One curiosity recorded around this time was Jeff Beck’s Beck’s Bolero featuring a backing group including The Who’s Keith Moon, session players Nicky Hopkins, Jimmy Page and John-Paul Jones – the latter two would later form Led Zeppelin (the band name was actually a quip from Moon during these sessions)
Cream was formed in 1966 by Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. A mix of hard blues, heavily distorted guitar riffs, crashing drums and psychedelic imagery. The interesting thing when listening to their first album “Fresh Cream” is how low down the mix the guitar sound was set. The follow-up, "Disraeli Gears” took no prisoners and the single, Sunshine of your Love, would launch a thousand rock and metal bands.
Brought over to Britain in 1966 Jimi Hendrix transformed the art of electric guitar playing. A great player, writer and performer this was a man completely in control of the link between wooden instrument and the electronic brute force of the amplifier. Are You Experienced remains one of the all-time great debut albums but for me the opening track (at least on the original UK release) Foxy Lady still packs a powerful punch with its use of distorted guitar.
By 1968 the increasing power of the Marshall Stack was having an effect on the music that both up and coming musicians and established artist were producing. Deep Purple formed in 1968 and although still very much a pop orientated act at this point their debut single Hush is a statement of intent.
Also appearing in 1968 was Steppenwolf’s Born To Be Wild. As well as being a great hard rock song it featured the lyric “heavy metal thunder” to describe the sound of a motorcycle engine. I had always assumed that this was the origin of the term Heavy Metal as a musical genre as a heavily distorted guitar sounds remarkably similar to a finely tuned internal combustion engine although the exact origin of the phrase seems to be disputed.
Also in 1968, The Beatles produced their eponymous album (often referred to as the “White Album”) Side three of the album contains some of the groups heaviest recordings and, although not their best one, Helter Skelter is possibly the most brutal.
By 1969, this loud overdriven guitar sound was becoming the new standard for rock bands. A good example of this is Pink Floyd’s Nile Song which was recorded in March 1969 for the soundtrack of the film More. Floyd had been experimenting with electronic distortion since their first album in 1967 (check out Interstellar Overdrive) but The Nile Song conformed far more closely with a conventional rock performance – just that much louder.
Led Zeppelin released two albums in 1969. Their debut was recorded in 1968 and was still a very blues orientated affair but with tracks like Communication Breakdown that would be picked up by later Metal bands. The second album was far closer to what may be considered Heavy Metal but still with a variety of influences. Whole Lotta Love is a bit of an oddity but the guitar sound is a blueprint for many of the hard rock bands that would follow.
At the end of 1969 Black Sabbath recorded what is often regarded as the first Heavy Metal album. In fact the album – at least the second side is still very blues orientated but the sound was crushingly different. In fact the bludgeoning style of the guitar was due to the instruments being detuned to loosen the strings to help guitarist Tony Iommi following an industrial accident in which he had lost the tips of his fingers. The choice of chord sequences and the lyrical content were also far darker than previously used – possibly a legacy of their roots in industrial Birmingham.
The key difference with Black Sabbath compared to earlier groups is that the distorted “metallic” sound pervaded the entire album rather than being an occasional effect in the bands armoury. So was this the true birth of the Heavy Metal genre? The band themselves hated the tag and the term “heavy metal” was used mainly as an insult from music journalists who did not understand the music and despised the groups working class origins compared to what they regarded as the more worthy “progressive” rock of the art-school protégés. However, fans of the early metal groups would pick up on the label and other acts would later self-identify with the genre. Who was the first to do this? I expect that’s a whole other area of research.
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