Putting a face to a name
It’s fun to finally put a name to a face. Or rather, a face to a name. This morning, still in long weekend mode, I watched several hours of documentary footage about heavy metal music. Come on, we all need to know more about the logos and hand signs and power chords.
My first metal would have been that Black Sabbath album that Tommy, who lived next door, had around the house. Right next to the Led Zeppelin II record that he loaned me for a few days. With a bit of electronic magic, a copy of dubious quality was soon available on the little Philips EL3302 cassette recorder that served as my home sound system for many years. And furthermore, I had a reason to learn to play bass guitar; just in case I ever would be called to take the place on the stage of a famous musician. It could happen.
Here we are, better than four decades later, and there’ve been a lot of other bands that laboured under the metal banner. I can’t claim to have listened to the complete catalogue, but certain groups have achieved the level of notoriety that gives one a sense of knowing who we’re listening to. The pantheon of rock gods is an odd one, but what struck me throughout the interviews is that the good ones continue to be good, and they also seem wise. No freaks, or misfits. Just musicians with all their warts and tics, working to entertain while having a great deal of fun along the way.
