hmsoundhouse.com - The Heavy Metal Soundhouse and Bandwagon.
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>>Soundhouse fashion accessories of the day: Three-button T-shirt and flared jeans slung low enough for the ragged cuffs to soak up any spilled puddles of Worthington E.
>>There were fifteen
million fingers learnin' how to play...
Who can forget the Wagon's great cast of characters? AC/DC fanatic "Superloon",
complete with schoolboy uniform going berserk to Highway To Hell,
and then showing his hairy arse as a finale; Rob Loonhouse, whose
carefully crafted cardboard (Sorry Rob - hardboard) guitar became
the country's most famous headbanger when asked to join Iron Maiden
on tour becoming their unofficial sixth member.
Alex "Quo" Laney beating Neal into submission just to play
Caroline... and the many other characters that made up what Neal
described as the Soundhouse Nation.
A heavy metal Mecca (the place of worship, not the bingo hall), no
self-respecting hard rock band could play a gig in London without
enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of Kingsbury.
Motorhead, Ted Nugent, Sammy Hagar,
April Wine, Rainbow and Judas Priest (whose singer Rob Halford once
gamely walked into the Prince Of Wales's public bar, clad head to
toe in leather and ordered a large orange juice).
With Neal drafted in to pen the sleevenotes and help compile Metal
For Muthas, a compilation of new metal bands (now seen as a cult- I
think that's spelt right- classic), and warming up the crowds as
metal-DJ-in-residence at The Music Machine - where, on one of the
Soundhouse band nights involving Iron Maiden, the term "New Wave Of
British Heavy Metal" was coined by the music press.
There was no escaping the flowing locked, wizard moustached one. The
White Hart (Now The Redback) in Acton also housed the Soundhouse for
a time, including its most bizarre evening: The Soundhouse Christmas
Party... in May. |
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History The Soundhouse Story - Part 2>>
>>By 1979 ...
the club had attracted TV crews, rounded up regulars to appear in
music videos for Judas Priest and Pete Townshend and as extras in
the movie Quadrophenia. Meanwhile, Sunday afternoon TV was invaded by an
hour-long documentary titled 20th Century Box, which tried to
explain to a frightened nation, this thing called "heavy metal",
leading to a trip down the Wagon, and an interview with Neal and the
club's celebrity headbanger, Rob "Loonhouse" Yeatman, along these
lines... Danny Baker (interviewer):
" Do you think that this headbanging thing could be a career for
you?" Rob Loonhouse: "Well, yeah it could be, it's basically what
I'm good at." Ask a silly question, etc.
The programme was later reprised in the late '90s on comedian Bob
Mills's late-night TV show In Bed With Me Dinner - though perhaps
Bob missed the irony.
Elsewhere, the club was attracting the attention of the music and
national press. The former showing up to report on the phenomenon
that was taking place on the music scene with The Bandwagon at it's
epicentre and to witness the, erm, Headbanging Band Of The Year; and
the latter, to spread hysteria about the dangers of shaking the head
to loud music.
The Soundhouse also went out on the road to spread the word and with
Neal leading the charge "The Heavy Metal Crusade" brought the likes
of Saxon and Iron Maiden to the masses on tours covering the length
and breadth of the country. Meanwhile, Sounds magazine took to
regularly printing the Soundhouse's Heavy Metal Chart based on
requests at the club. The Chart became a definitive guide. |
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