Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. The band's discography has grown to thirty-eight albums, including sixteen studio albums, twelve live albums, four EPs, seven compilations. Pioneers of the new wave of British heavy metal, Iron Maiden achieved initial success during the early 1980s. After several line-up changes, the band went on to release a series of UK and US platinum and gold albums, including 1982's The Number of the Beast, 1983's Piece of Mind, 1984's Powerslave, 1985's live release Live After Death, 1986's Somewhere in Time and 1988's Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. Since the return of lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith in 1999, the band have undergone a resurgence in popularity, with their 2010 studio offering, The Final Frontier, peaking at No. 1 in 28 countries and receiving widespread critical acclaim. Their sixteenth studio album, The Book of Souls, was released on 4 September 2015 to similar success.
Despite little radio or television support, Iron Maiden are considered one of the most successful heavy metal bands in history, with The Sunday Times reporting in 2017 that the band have sold over 100 million copies of their albums worldwide. The band won the Ivor Novello Award for international achievement in 2002; as of October 2013, the band have played over 2000 live shows throughout their career. For over 35 years the band have been supported by their famous mascot, "Eddie", who has appeared on all of their album and single covers, as well as in their live shows. Iron Maiden were formed on Christmas Day, 25 December 1975 by bassist Steve Harris shortly after he left his previous group, Smiler. Harris attributed the band's name to a film adaptation of The Man in the Iron Mask from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, the title of which reminded him of the iron maiden torture device. After months of rehearsal, Iron Maiden made their debut at St. Nicks Hall in Poplar on 1 May 1976, before taking up a semi-residency at the Cart and Horses Pub in Maryland, Stratford.
The original line-up was short-lived, with vocalist Paul Day being the first casualty as, according to Harris, he lacked "energy or charisma on stage". He was replaced by Dennis Wilcock, a Kiss fan who used make-up and fake blood during live performances. Wilcock's friend, Dave Murray, was invited to join, much to the dismay of the band's guitarists Dave Sullivan and Terry Rance, their frustration led Harris to temporarily disband Iron Maiden in 1976, though the group reformed soon after with Murray as the sole guitarist. Harris and Murray remain the band's longest-standing members and have performed on all of their releases. Iron Maiden recruited yet another guitarist in 1977, Bob Sawyer, sacked for embarrassing the band on stage by pretending to play guitar with his teeth. Tension ensued again, causing a rift between Murray and Wilcock, who convinced Harris to fire Murray, as well as original drummer Ron Matthews. A new line-up was put together, including future Cutting Crew member Tony Moore on keyboards, Terry Wapram on guitar, drummer Barry Purkis.
A poor performance at the Bridgehouse, a pub located in Canning Town, in November 1977 was the line-up's first and only concert. Afterwards, Iron Maiden replaced him with Doug Sampson. At the same time, Moore was asked to leave as Harris decided that keyboards did not suit the band's sound. A few months Dennis Wilcock decided to leave Iron Maiden to form his own band, V1, Dave Murray was reinstated; as he preferred to be the band's sole guitarist, Wapram disapproved of Murray's return, was dismissed. Harris and Sampson spent the summer and autumn of 1978 rehearsing while they searched for a singer to complete the band's new line-up. A chance meeting at the Red Lion pub in Leytonstone in November 1978 evolved into a successful audition for vocalist Paul Di'Anno. Steve Harris stated, "There's sort of a quality in Paul's voice, a raspiness in his voice, or whatever you want to call it, that just gave it this great edge." At this time, Murray would act as their sole guitarist, with Harris commenting, "Davey was so good he could do a lot of it on his own.
The plan was always to get a second guitarist in, but finding one that could match Davey was difficult." On New Year's Eve 1978, Iron Maiden recorded a demo, consisting of four songs, at Spaceward Studios in Cambridge. Hoping that the recording would help them secure more gigs, the band presented a copy to Neal Kay managing a heavy metal club called "Bandwagon Heavy Metal Soundhouse", located in Kingsbury Circle, northwest London. Upon hearing the tape, Kay began playing the demo at the Bandwagon, one of the songs, "Prowler" went to No. 1 in the Soundhouse charts, which were published weekly in Sounds magazine. A copy was acquired by Rod Smallwood, who soon became the band's manager, and, as Iron Maiden's popularity increased, they released the demo on their own record label as The Soundhouse Tapes, named after the club. Featuring only three tracks all five thousand copies were sold out within weeks. In December 1979, the band secured a major record deal with EMI, asked Dave Murray's childhood friend, Adrian Smith of Urchin, to join the group as their second guitarist.
Due to his commitment to Urchin, Smith declined and Dennis Stratton was hired instead. Shortly afterwards, Doug Sampson left due to health issues, was replaced by ex-Samson drummer Clive Burr at Stratton's suggestion on 26 December 1979. Iron Maiden's first appearance on an album was on the Metal for Muthas compilation with two early versions of "Sanctuar
Death (metal band)
Death was an American death metal band from Orlando, founded in 1983 by guitarist and vocalist Chuck Schuldiner. Death is considered to be among the most influential bands in heavy metal and a pioneering force in the extreme metal subgenre of death metal, their debut album, Scream Bloody Gore, has been regarded as the first death metal record. Death had a revolving lineup, with Schuldiner being the sole consistent member; the group's style progressed, from the raw sound on its first two albums to a more sophisticated one in its stage. The band ceased to exist after Schuldiner died of glioma and pneumonia in December 2001, but remains an enduring influence on heavy metal. Founded in 1983 or 1984 by Chuck Schuldiner under the original name of Mantas in Orlando, Death was among the more known, early pioneers of the death metal sound along with California's Possessed. In the late 80s, the band was both a part of and integral in defining the death metal scene which gained international recognition with the release of albums by a number of area acts.
Together with Kam Lee, Rick Rozz, Schuldiner started to compose songs that were released on several rehearsal tapes in 1984. These tapes, along with the Death by Metal demo, circulated through the tape-trader world establishing the band's name. In 1984, Schuldiner dissolved Mantas and started a new band under the name Death. Tim Aymar, in an article written in December 2010, states that Chuck Schuldiner renamed the band Death in order to turn his experience of the death of his brother Frank years earlier into "something positive", its members included the same Rick Kam Lee. Another demo was released, called Reign of Terror. In 1985, the Infernal Death tape was released. Rick Rozz was out of the band by early 1985. Kam Lee played with Scott Carlson and Matt Olivo and guitarist of the band Genocide for a short time. However, Kam had some "personal problems". Olivo and Carlson left soon afterward. Schuldiner moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and recruited Dirty Rotten Imbeciles drummer Eric Brecht recorded the Back from the Dead demo.
However, Chuck was not happy with this incarnation of Death and moved back to Florida without a band. In 1986, Schuldiner got an invitation from early Canadian thrash metal band Slaughter to play on their album, which he accepted, moving to Canada. However, this only lasted two weeks, he returned to the States, he returned to Florida moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area again, where he joined with 17-year-old drummer Chris Reifert. They recorded the Mutilation demo, which led to a deal with Combat Records, owned by Important Distribution, that enabled them to record the first LP. Scream Bloody Gore was released in 1987 considered a genre template for death metal. Schuldiner had a second guitar player, John Hand, but Hand did not appear on the album. By this time Schuldiner had moved back to Florida, splitting with Reifert who had elected to remain in California, where he went on to form Autopsy. There, Schuldiner teamed up with former bandmate Rick Rozz and two members of Rozz's band Massacre, Terry Butler and Bill Andrews.
In 1988, that line-up recorded Leprosy. After much touring in support of the album, including a quick and ill-planned tour of Europe, Rick Rozz was fired in 1989. After a tour of Mexico featuring guitarist Paul Masvidal, a replacement was found in James Murphy, with whom the third album Spiritual Healing was recorded in Tampa in the summer of 1989. Murphy left the band quickly. By this time Schuldiner abandoned the "gore" lyrical theme for more social critique and melody was added to the band's sound. In 1990, on the eve of a European tour, Schuldiner decided against traveling, claiming at the last minute that he felt the tour was not adequately organized. Andrews and Butler continued with the tour of Europe as'Death' to fulfill the band's contractual obligations, recruited roadies Walter Trachsler and Louie Carrisalez to replace Schuldiner, much to Schuldiner's shock and disgust. Schuldiner took legal action and Butler and Andrews were fired from the band. Schuldiner abandoned the idea of a band set-up altogether and began working with session musicians only.
Schuldiner hired Steve Di Giorgio and recruited Sean Reinert and Paul Masvidal from underground Florida band Cynic. In 1991, Death released Human, considered a more technical and progressive album than their previous works, incorporating complex rhythms and song structures. Human was Death's best-selling album yet, receiving many accolades and some MTV play for the group's first video, directed by David Bellino, for the track "Lack of Comprehension". Due to obligations with his primary band Sadus, Di Giorgio was forced to depart after the recording of Human and new bassist Skott Carino did Death's extensive world tour, from October 1991 until March 1992, in addition to appearing in the music video for "Lack of Comprehension". Schuldiner fired his manager Eric Greif after Spiritual Healing but settled and re-hired him before the recording of Human. Although there were at least two lawsuits between Greif and Schuldiner, Schuldiner was characteristically mellow in an interview with Thrash'n Burn about what the writer referred to as his "gruesome collaboration" with Greif: "We just came to the conclusion t
Helloween
Helloween is a German power metal band founded in 1984 in Hamburg, Northern Germany by members of bands Iron Fist and Gentry. Its first lineup consisted of singer and rhythm guitarist Kai Hansen, bassist Markus Grosskopf, lead guitarist Michael Weikath, drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg. After the release of a self-titled EP and their debut album Walls of Jericho in 1985, it expanded into a quintet with the addition of singer Michael Kiske, Hansen choosing to focus on guitar instead. Under this line-up, they released the Keeper of the Seven Keys albums, which established Helloween as a notable heavy metal band and led to the creation of the power metal subgenre. Hansen was replaced by Roland Grapow. After leaving Helloween, Hansen formed Gamma Ray. Helloween's first two albums without Hansen, Pink Bubbles Go Ape and Chameleon, were commercial and critical failures, which created tensions between band members and led to the firing of Schwichtenberg and Kiske, they were replaced by Andi Deris respectively.
The albums released under this line-up, Master of the Rings, The Time of the Oath, Better Than Raw and The Dark Ride, received warmer reception from both fans and critics establishing Helloween as a successful band again. However, tensions led to the dismissals in 2001 of both Grapow and Kusch, who went on to found Masterplan together. Grapow was replaced by Sascha Gerstner, but the attempts to find a new drummer were chaotic and Mikkey Dee recorded the drums for the next album Rabbit Don't Come Easy; the band found a stable drummer in Daniel Löble in 2005. Under this line-up, the longest in its history, the band has released four successful studio albums: Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy, Gambling with the Devil, 7 Sinners, Straight Out of Hell, their fifteenth and latest studio album, My God-Given Right, was released on 29 May 2015. On 14 November 2016, the band announced that both Kai Hansen and Michael Kiske were rejoining Helloween for a world tour, titled Pumpkins United World Tour, which concluded in 2018.
Since its inception, Helloween has released fifteen studio albums, three live albums, three EPs, twenty-seven singles, has sold more than eight million records worldwide. Helloween formed in 1984 in Germany; the original line-up included Kai Hansen on vocals and rhythm guitar, Michael Weikath on lead guitar, Markus Grosskopf on bass, Ingo Schwichtenberg on drums. That year, the band signed with Noise Records and recorded two songs for a Noise compilation record called Death Metal; the compilation featured the bands Hellhammer, Running Wild, Dark Avenger. The two tracks were "Oernst of Life" by Weikath and Hansen's "Metal Invaders," a faster version of which would appear on the band's first full-length album. Helloween released its first record in 1985, a self-titled EP containing five tracks; that year, the band released its first full-length album, Walls of Jericho. During the following concert tour, Hansen had difficulties singing and playing the guitar at the same time. Kai's last recording as the band's lead singer was in 1986 on a vinyl EP titled Judas, which contained the song "Judas" and live versions of "Ride the Sky" and "Guardians" recorded at Gelsenkirchen.
Following these releases, Helloween began the search for a new vocalist. The band found Michael Kiske, from a local Hamburg band named Ill Prophecy. With their new lead vocalist in tow, Helloween approached record labels Noise International and RCA and proposed the release of a double-LP to introduce the line-up; this proposition was turned down. Instead, they recorded a single LP, Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part I, released in 1987. In 1988, Helloween released Keeper of the Seven Keys: the companion album. MTV put the single "I Want Out" in support of its "Headbanger's Ball" show. MTV presented the inaugural Headbangers Ball Tour with Helloween joining San Francisco Bay area thrash-metal band Exodus in support of headlining act Anthrax; the band was slotted in the prestigious second spot, right before Anthrax's set. On the heels of this exposure to US audiences, the band achieved worldwide success. Guitarist Kai Hansen unexpectedly left the band in 1989 soon after the European leg of the Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part II tour, due to ill-health, conflicts within the band, troubles with Noise International, a growing dissatisfaction with life on tour.
Weikath chose his friend, including for the rest of the tour. Grapow, a car mechanic at the time, stated in 2017 that, if Weikath had not happened to ask him to join the band, he would have kept his job and given up on his dream of becoming a professional musician. In 1989, the band released a live album called Live in the U. K. featuring material from its 1988 European tour. The remaining members continued on but ran into label problems with Noise, after litigation kept them from touring and releasing new material, they were released from their contract. A new album would not appear until 1991 when, after several rumors about the band breaking up, they released Pink Bubbles Go Ape for their new record company, EMI; the album was less heavy and, with song titles such as "Heavy Metal Hamsters", "I'm Doing Fine, Crazy Man", "Shit and Lobster", showed a shift toward – and an emphasis on – humor rather than the epic moods on previo
Anthrax (American band)
Anthrax is an American heavy metal band from New York City, formed in 1981 by rhythm guitarist Scott Ian and bassist Dan Lilker. The group is considered one of the leaders of the thrash metal scene from the 1980s and is one of the "Big Four" thrash metal bands with Metallica and Slayer; as of April 2017, the band has released 11 studio albums, several other albums, 26 singles, including collaborating on a single with American hip hop group Public Enemy. According to Nielsen SoundScan, Anthrax sold 2.5 million records in the United States from 1991 to 2004, with worldwide sales of 10 million. Noted for its live performances, Anthrax signed with the independent label Megaforce Records, which released the band's debut studio album in 1984. Lilker soon left the band to form Nuclear Assault, was replaced by roadie Frank Bello. Lead vocalist Neil Turbin was replaced after two years by Matt Fallon, subsequently replaced in 1984 by Joey Belladonna. With a new lineup, the band recorded Spreading the Disease in 1985.
Anthrax's third album, Among the Living, was released in 1987 to critical praise. The band experienced another lineup change in 1992, when John Bush from Armored Saint replaced Belladonna as lead vocalist. Sound of White Noise was released the following year, peaking at number seven on the Billboard 200. Studio recordings during the 1990s saw the band, influenced by other genres, experimenting with its sound. Anthrax's lineup has changed several times over their career; the band has had a number of vocalists including Neil Turbin, Joey Belladonna, Dan Nelson and John Bush. Founding member Scott Ian and early arrival Charlie Benante, who joined Anthrax in 1983, are the only band members to appear on every album. Bassist Frank Bello has played on every album, except for the band's debut Fistful of Metal, which featured Dan Lilker. After rejoining the band from 2005 to 2007, Belladonna returned to Anthrax once again in 2010, the band has since recorded two more studio albums with him: Worship Music and For All Kings.
Anthrax was formed in Queens, New York City, on July 18, 1981 by guitarists Scott Ian and Dan Lilker. The band was named after the disease of the same name which Ian saw in a biology textbook, chosen because it sounded "sufficiently evil". Anthrax's initial line-up was completed by singer John Connelly, drummer Dave Weiss and bassist Paul Kahn. Kahn was replaced by bassist Kenny Kushner before Lilker took over on bass and Greg Walls joined as lead guitarist. Weiss was replaced early on by Greg D'Angelo, recommended to the band by Greg Walls. Scott Ian's younger brother Jason Rosenfeld was a temporary vocalist until Ian's former schoolmate Neil Turbin joined the band in late August 1982; the band recorded its first demo tape during this time. The band's first performance with Neil Turbin was at Great Gildersleeves, a New York club, in September 1982; this line-up played in the New York-New Jersey area over the next several months. Anthrax were on the same bill as the up-and-coming Metallica for several shows in the spring of 1983.
Guitarist Greg Walls left Anthrax that summer and was replaced by Bob Berry, recommended to Turbin by Rhett Forrester of Riot. Berry was in turn soon replaced by Dan Spitz, a member of the New Jersey thrash band Overkill. A second demo was recorded soon after. Drummer Charlie Benante replaced D'Angelo in September 1983 after a several-month courtship by Ian. By this time and Lilker had befriended New Jersey record store owner Jon Zazula, to whom they had given their demo tapes to critique. Zazula's new record label Megaforce Records had released Metallica's debut album Kill'Em All to great success. In late 1983, Zazula agreed to sign Anthrax and the band recorded the "Soldiers of Metal" single, produced by Ross the Boss of Manowar; the B-side was the song "Howling Furies", taken from a previous demo with Greg D'Angelo on drums. Anthrax released their debut album Fistful of Metal in January 1984. However, tensions were building between Lilker and the rest of the band for various reasons leading to the band firing Lilker.
He would soon form the band Nuclear Assault with former Anthrax roadie John Connelly. Lilker was replaced by roadie Frank Bello; the band went on a successful US tour opening for Raven and others to support Fistful of Metal. In August 1984, Neil Turbin and Anthrax went their separate ways after long standing personal issues. In his book Eddie Trunk's Essential Hard Rock and Heavy Metal, music journalist Eddie Trunk admits pressuring Jon Zazula, Scott Ian and Anthrax into firing Turbin because of his personal taste in vocals. Singer Matt Fallon was hired in late 1984, but he and the band soon parted ways; the remaining members decided to play live shows as a four-piece billed as "The Diseased" with Scott Ian on vocals, performing hardcore punk covers until a permanent singer could be found. In 1985, Joey Belladonna was chosen as the new vocalist; the Armed and Dangerous EP marked Belladonna's recording debut though it featured two live tracks from 1984 and the two songs from the "Soldiers of Metal" single that all had Neil Turbin performing on them.
Anthrax's second album Spreading the Disease was released in October 1985. With left over studio time from the sessions for the album Ian and former bandmate Dan Lilker collaborated with vocalist Billy Milano and formed the side project Stormtroopers of Death and recorded the album Speak English or Die in three days, whic
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1977 in Sheffield as part of the new wave of British heavy metal movement. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Joe Elliott, Rick Savage, Rick Allen, Phil Collen, Vivian Campbell; this is the band's longest lasting line-up. The band's strongest commercial success came between the early 1990s, their 1981 album, High'n' Dry, was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who helped them begin to define their style, the album's standout track "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" became one of the first rock videos played on MTV in 1982. The band's next studio album, was released in January 1983, with "Photograph" and "Rock of Ages" as the lead singles. In the U. S. Pyromania was certified diamond, making Def Leppard among the most popular music groups at the time. In 2003, the album ranked number 384 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Def Leppard's fourth album Hysteria, released in 1987, topped the UK and U. S. album charts. As of 2009, it has reached beyond the success of Pyromania, having been certified 12× platinum for sales of over 12 million in the U.
S. and has gone on to sell over 25 million copies worldwide. The album spawned seven hit singles, including the U. S. Billboard Hot 100 number one "Love Bites", alongside "Pour Some Sugar on Me", "Hysteria", "Armageddon It", "Animal", "Rocket", "Women", their next studio album, reached number one in UK and U. S. charts in 1992, contained several hits, including "Let's Get Rocked" and "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad". Their 1993 album, Retro Active, contained the acoustic hit song "Two Steps Behind", their greatest-hits album Vault, released in 1995, featured the UK hit "When Love & Hate Collide". As one of the world's best-selling music artists, Def Leppard have sold more than 100 million records worldwide, have two albums with RIAA diamond certification and Hysteria, they are one of only five rock bands with two original studio albums selling over 10 million copies in the U. S; the band were ranked No. 31 in VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" and ranked No. 70 in "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
Def Leppard were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. Rick Savage, Tony Kenning, Pete Willis, all students at Tapton School in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, formed a band called Atomic Mass in 1977; the band consisted of Willis on guitar, Savage on bass guitar after playing guitar, Kenning on drums. Only 18 at the time, Joe Elliott tried out for the band as a guitarist following a chance meeting with Willis after missing a bus in November 1977. During his audition it was decided, their first gig was in the dining hall in A Block in Westfield School in Sheffield. Elliott proposed the name "Deaf Leopard", a band name he thought up while writing reviews for imaginary rock bands in his English class. At Kenning's suggestion, the spelling was modified in order to make the name seem less like that of a punk band. In January 1978, Steve Clark joined the band. According to Elliott, he auditioned for the band by playing Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" in its entirety. In November, just prior to recording sessions for what would be a three-song release known as The Def Leppard E.
P. Kenning abruptly left the band, he was replaced for those sessions by Frank Noon. By the end of the month, Rick Allen only 15 years old, had joined the band as its full-time drummer. Sales of the EP soared after the track "Getcha Rocks Off" was given extensive airtime by renowned BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, considered at the time to be a champion of punk rock and new wave music. Throughout 1979, the band developed a loyal following among British hard rock and heavy metal fans and were considered among the leaders of the new wave of British heavy metal movement, their growing popularity led to a record deal with the major label Phonogram/Vertigo. Def Leppard's original management, MSB, a local duo consisting of Pete Martin and Frank Stuart-Brown, were fired after Martin and Joe Elliott got into a fistfight over an incident on the road; the band approached Peter Mensch of Leber-Krebs management, who had booked them on a tour of the UK supporting AC/DC. Mensch, who admitted that he had had his eye on the band, became their manager.
Def Leppard's debut album, On Through the Night, was released on 14 March 1980. Although the album hit the Top 15 in the UK, many early fans were turned off by the perception that the band was trying too hard to appeal to American audiences by recording songs such as "Hello America" and touring more in the US; this incident was blamed on a cover story in Sounds music newspaper by the journalist Geoff Barton titled, "Has the Leppard changed its spots?", accusing the band of selling out to the American market. In a documentary on the band recorded for BBC 2, Barton recalls feelings of guilt over the story and having a "stand-up row" with the band's manager, backstage at the show. In the documentary series Metal Evolution, Joe Elliott says that the media had exaggerated the event and all bands on the day had experienced'abuse' from the crowd; the band had by caught the attention of AC/DC producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who agreed to work on their second album, High'n' Dry, released on 11 Ju
Dee Snider
Daniel "Dee" Snider is an American singer-songwriter, radio personality, actor. Snider came to prominence in the early 1980s as lead singer and songwriter of the heavy metal band Twisted Sister, he was ranked 83 in the Hit Parader's Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time. Born in Astoria, New York, Snider grew up in nearby Baldwin, Long Island, graduated from Baldwin Senior High School in 1973, his father, Bob, is a retired New York State Trooper and Nassau County court clerk, his mother, Marguerite, is a retired art teacher. His father is Jewish. Snider and his siblings were raised as Episcopalians; as a child, he sang in a church choir, several school choruses and the Baldwin High School Concert Choir. Snider was selected for the All-State Chorus for singing. In early 1976, Snider became the sole songwriter of the band thereafter; the group released their first studio album, Under the Blade, in September 1982 and developed a following in the UK. Less than a year Twisted Sister released their second album, You Can't Stop Rock'n' Roll.
Their third album, Stay Hungry, hit shelves on May 10, 1984. This would become the band's most successful record with the hits "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock." To emphasize the "twisted sister" image, Snider adopted a trademark persona of metal-inspired drag with long blonde curly hair, an excessive amount of eye shadow and rouge, a Beauty mark and bright red lipstick. During the mid-1980s, before the premiere of Headbangers Ball, the first MTV program to consist of heavy metal videos was Heavy Metal Mania; the first episode was hosted by Snider. It featured metal news, interviews with metal artists, in-studio co-hosts; that same year in November, Twisted Sister released Come Out and Play which sold over 500,000 copies in the US, but was marred by a poor concert tour. In 1985, a Senate hearing was instigated by the Parents Music Resource Center, who wanted to introduce a parental warning system that would label all albums containing offensive material; the system was to include letters identifying the type of objectionable content to be found in each album.
Snider, John Denver, Frank Zappa all testified against censorship and the proposed warning system. Such a system was never implemented, but the result of the hearing brought about what is now the generic "Parental Advisory: Explicit Content" label; the PMRC was formed by the wives of Washington, D. C. power brokers Senator Al Gore, Secretary of State James Baker. Tipper Gore in particular became a public foil for Snider in the hearings. A fifth Twisted Sister album would be made in 1987's Love Is for Suckers; the record was planned to be a Snider solo effort, but Atlantic Records encouraged a release under the Twisted Sister name. Touring lasted only into October that year and on the 12th of that month, Snider announced his departure from the band, it was during this time that Snider formed Desperado, a band featuring ex-Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr, ex-Gillan guitarist Bernie Torme, bassist Marc Russel. The group's only album, has never been released, but was bootlegged on CD under the title Bloodied But Unbowed.
In the 1990s, Snider formed Widowmaker with Joe Franco, a good friend to Twisted Sister and drummer on the album Love Is for Suckers, as well as Al Pitrelli and Marc Russel. The quartet recorded two albums with limited underground success, titled Blood and Bullets and Stand By For Pain. In the late 1990s, Snider toured with a "self-tribute" band called Dee Snider's SMFs, sometimes featuring ex-Twisted Sister drummer A. J. Pero; the usual line up included Snider, Derek Tailer, Charlie Mills, Keith Alexander, Spike. In 1993, he composed the theme song for The Terrible Thunderlizards. In 1997, Snider began hosting The House of Hair, a syndicated 1980s hard rock/heavy metal radio show that airs on over 200 radio stations across North America, it is syndicated by the United Stations Radio Networks. The show's format runs two hours and features Snider's closing catchphrase, "If it ain't metal, it's crap!" In 1998, Snider had penned a song entitled "The Magic of Christmas Day" which would be recorded in 1998 by Celine Dion for her album These Are Special Times.
According to Snider, Dion at the time was not aware of. That year, he wrote and starred in the horror film Strangeland. Snider has penned the script to a sequel which has the working title of Strangeland: Disciple. In January 2008, Snider was less than optimistic that it would see the light of day, saying in an interview with Bullz-Eye.com that he had reached a point where he should "put a sign on my website that says,'Y’got ten million dollars? Give me a call. I've got the script ready to go, Robert Englund's attached. If somebody’s serious and wants to make it, call me, but don’t call me ‘til you’re ready to hand the check over.'" In May 2009, Dee Snider revealed on his radio show, "The House Of Hair," that Strangeland: Rising Sons will go ahead and is set to begin shooting in the fall of 2009 and was slated for a 2010 release. Snider indicated in a fall of 2016 interview that there was still no movement on the development of Strangeland: Disciple. From June 1999 to August 2003, Snider hosted a morning radio show on a Hartford, Connecticut Clear Channel station, Radio 104, called Dee Snider Radio.
His show returned to the air at night in August 2004 on 93.3 WMMR in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania until
Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe Inc. is a chain of theme restaurants founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll memorabilia, a tradition which expanded to others in the chain. In 2007, Hard Rock Cafe International, Inc. was sold to the Seminole Tribe of Florida and was headquartered in Orlando, Florida until April 2018 when the corporate offices were relocated to Davie, Florida. As of July 2018, Hard Rock International has venues in 74 countries, including 185 cafes, 25 hotels, 12 casinos; the first Hard Rock Cafe opened on 14 June 1971 at Old Park Lane, London, under the ownership of young Americans Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton. Hard Rock had an eclectic decor, but it started to display memorabilia; the chain began to expand worldwide in 1982 with locations in Toronto, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Berlin. Hard Rock Cafe locations in the United States vary from smaller, more tourist driven markets to large metropolises.
Hard Rock Cafe does not franchise cafe locations in the United States. All US cafes are corporate owned and operated, except for cafes in Tampa and Four Winds New Buffalo casino. However, in the transition of the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel property owned and later sold to Rank by founder Peter Morton, Morton retained hotel naming rights west of the Mississippi; when Morton sold his Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel to the Morgans Hotel Group, he sold those naming rights, which gave rise to two US franchised hotels in Albuquerque and Tulsa. The Albuquerque hotel no longer pays for the Hard Rock rights and reverted to its former name in June 2013. More hotels franchised from Morgan's are planned for Sioux Vancouver. In 1990, The Rank Group, a London-based leisure company, acquired Mecca Leisure Group and continued expansion of the concept in its geographic territory. Rank went on to purchase Hard Rock America from Peter Morton as well as Hard Rock Canada from Nick Bitove. After the completion of these acquisitions, Rank gained worldwide control of the brand.
In March 2007, the Seminole Tribe of Florida acquired Hard Rock Cafe International, Inc. and other related entities from Rank for US$965 million. In 2008, anonymous members of the wait staff criticized the business because of its practice of paying them less than half the official minimum wage in the UK, with the business allocating tips to staff to bring their salaries within the law. Most customers, it was argued, do not realize that they are subsidizing a low wage when they give the tip. HRC is known for its collection of rock-and-roll memorabilia; the cafes solicit donations of music memorabilia but purchase a number of items at auctions around the world, including autographed guitars, costumes from world tours and rare photographs. The collection began in 1979 with an un-signed Red Fender Lead II guitar from Eric Clapton, a regular at the first restaurant in London. Clapton wanted management to hang the guitar over his regular seat in order to lay claim to that spot, they obliged; this prompted Pete Townshend of The Who to give one of his guitars un-signed with the note "Mine's as good as his!
Love, Pete." Hard Rock's archive includes over 80,000 items, is the largest private collection of Rock and Roll memorabilia in the world. Marquee pieces from the collection were displayed in a Hard Rock museum named "The Vault" in Orlando, Florida from January 2003 until September 2004. After the closure, items were disbursed to various restaurant locations; the London Vault remains open and free to visitors, located in the retail Rock Shop of the original cafe. The Hard Rock Café is in possession of a Bedford VAL 6 axle coach used in the 1967 film The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour; the vehicle was refurbished after filming. It is displayed in the US, but makes regular appearances in events in the UK at the original Hard Rock Cafe in London. In 2001, a competition was run to win the actual bus, but it was never given away and remained with the cafe. In 1995, Peter Morton spent $80 million to open the Hard Rock Hotel near the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. A subsequent $100 million expansion in 1999 nearly doubled the hotel's capacity.
In May 2006, Morton sold the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas to Morgans Hotel Group for $770 million, including the rights to the Hard Rock Hotel brand west of the Mississippi, including Texas, California and Vancouver, British Columbia. The hotel began another expansion in 2007 at a cost of $750 million; the project added 875 rooms in expanded meeting space. In March 2011, Morgans surrendered control of the property to partner Brookfield Asset Management, citing the high debt on the property in the face of the economic downturn. In April 2018, the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas was sold to Richard Branson with plans to renovate the property under the Virgin Hotels brand. Today, the Seminole Tribe of Florida owns and operates all units except the Las Vegas, Sioux City and Vancouver properties. In 2004, Hard Rock International and Sol Melia Hotels and Resorts launched Lifestar Hoteles España SL, a joint venture that intended to manage Europe's first Hard Rock Hotel in Madrid, but it was never opened as a Hard Rock property upon the dissolution of the joint venture in 2007.
The other joint venture hotels are in Chicago, New York, San Diego. Hard Rock operates hotels and resorts in Orlando, Florida.
