In 1979 The Buttons Opened for Judas Priest; It Didn't Go Well - by Ricki C.

(editor's note: Ricki C. wanted to follow up Scott's Judas Priest blog with his own first-hand Priest story.)

Click here to read Scott's story

Sometime in early 1979 Willie Phoenix’s then-current band The Buttons opened for Judas Priest at the Agora Club here in Columbus, Ohio.  (I tried to find the exact date utilizing the InterWideWeb, but couldn’t locate it in Judas Priest tour logs.)  I was working as a roadie for The Buttons when that show took place.  It was a bloodbath.  For the uninitiated, it was roughly like The Raspberries (Eric Carmen’s pride of Cleveland, Ohio power-pop assemblage) opening for Black Sabbath in 1972 or so.  (I guess in more contemporary terms it would be like Columbus’ The Whiles opening for Metallica.)

My job at that point on the road crew of The Buttons – at least when they played The Agora, which had a first-class lighting rig – was to run lights.  Willie’s reasoning was that I knew all the songs, knew when the choruses, bridges & solos were going to come up and could do the most to highlight those changes.  I was no Marc Brickman with Bruce Springsteen, but I have to admit (and simultaneously pat myself on the back), I became a pretty good lighting guy.  

When the opening slot for Judas Priest came up, pretty much NOBODY on the band or crew were crazy about the idea. True, The Buttons (and Romantic Noise, the previous incarnation of The Buttons before a name change at the end of 1978) had become the go-to local Columbus band to open Agora shows.  Previously Willie & the guys (Greg Glasgow on bass, John Ballor, lead guitar & drummer Dee Hunt) had opened shows for The Ramones, The David Johansen Group, Squeeze and a coupla others that slip my mind.  (Later, after Dee & I left the organization they did a TRULY STUNNING opening set for Talking Heads at Mershon Auditorium.  I witnessed that performance from the audience and DESPERATELY wished I could have been a part of it.)

But I digress……Did I say NOBODY in the band thought a Judas Priest opener was a good idea? No, WILLIE thought it was a good idea.  Willie was a force of nature at that time (as he still shows flashes of to this day).  He had a truly charismatic stage presence and a KILLER band to back him up.  He knew no fear, no goal he set was unattainable, he admitted no limits.  BUT – and this is a big but – opening for Judas Priest was another beast entirely. Playing in front of The Ramones’ or David Johansen’s crowds was a natural fit for the punk-edged power-pop of Romantic Noise and The Buttons; the Judas Priest mob of metalheads, quaalude-kings and West Side reprobates I had grown up with and amongst were another animal entirely.  (My use of the word “animal” in this context borders more on the literal than the figurative.)

From my catbird seat at the lighting board up in the Agora balcony I could tell there were gonna be problems from the very beginning.  When I brought the stagelights up after the Buttons had positioned themselves onstage there was this kind of low murmur of disapproval at the sight of five-foot two, black, dreadlock-sporting, left-handed Willie Phoenix center stage in some kind of Sgt. Pepper jacket.  

Boos were starting before they played a note, but Willie cut ‘em off by counting in the first song of the set.  After the first tune, not one person clapped. There were probably 750 people in the 1300 capacity Agora that night (this was well before Rob Halford’s arena days) and not one person clapped.  In fact, nobody made a sound.  It was the quietest I had ever heard that club.  (One night in spring or summer 1978 Romantic Noise had played a no-publicity, virtually-unannounced Wednesday night show at the Agora and only SEVEN people showed up.  And THAT audience was noisier than the Judas Priest crowd.)        

Things never got better.  By the end of the second song loud, sustained booing started ringing out.  During the third tune the crowd started throwing stuff at the stage: cups, beer bottles, coins, sandwich wrappers, pieces of pizza (the Agora served food back in the day) began raining down on the band.  Mid-set a CRUTCH flew out of the crowd and crashed into Dee’s drum-kit.  (Three or four years after that night I was telling this story in a West Side bar and the guy who THREW that crutch was sitting at the table. “Hey, that was ME!” he slurred, “I had banged up my knee on my Harley and Security wouldn’t give me my crutch back.  My buddies had to carry me out that night.”)    

Partway through the set, Steve Sines – the lead singer of local band The Muff Brothers (later simply The Muffs) – sat down next to me at the lighting board.  He’d been hired by the Agora to run lights that night for Judas Priest, who didn’t even carry their own lighting guy at that point.  “Your boys are havin’ a rough time up there,” he said, lighting up a joint and offering it to me.  “Yeah, I noticed,” I replied, declining the joint, feeling like I shouldn’t be enjoying myself up in the balcony as debris and boos washed over my employers down on the stage.  I was nothing if not fiercely loyal to Willie & the guys. 

The Buttons had stopped even pausing between songs in the set, powering right through from one song to the next, to not give the crowd time to catcall and throw beer.  (I figure the whole thing was pretty much like when Watershed opened for The Insane Clown Posse, but with a lot less Faygo; and this was just one show, not an entire TOUR.)  I give ‘em credit, they finished the 40-minute set.  They never backed down for a minute.  They battled that Judas Priest crowd to at least a stalemate.

During the last song, Willie took off his prized Les Paul Junior and bashed it to kindling on the Agora stage, Pete Townshend-style, giving his all to do ANYTHING to get a rise out of that audience, to salvage that set.  “Can he AFFORD that?” Steve Sines asked, wide-eyed, the joint paused in mid-air as he took in Willie’s six-string destructo finish.  “No, he cannot,” I said back to Steve, “no, he CAN NOT at all.”  I would’ve walked off that stage after five songs.  I wouldn’t have given that mob the time of day; Willie gave them his Les Paul.  That is why Willie Phoenix is a rock star and I am a Pencilstorm writer.  Willie, I salute you. – Ricki C. / February 26th, 2017

The Buttons / 1979

The Buttons / 1979 / "Hot Beat"

Judas Priest / 1979 / students, compare & contrast…….

February 26, 1981 Judas Priest Release Point Of Entry - by Scott Carr

UK cover art

Released on February 26th 1981, Point of Entry is the seventh studio album by British metal gods Judas Priest.
 
In the 36 years since its release, Point Of Entry has become somewhat of a forgotten gem in the Priest discography. Released just ten months after their worldwide breakthrough album British Steel and followed up by the band's biggest selling album Screaming For Vengeance less than a year and half later. Point of Entry often gets lost in the shadows of these iconic metal classics.
 
After the success of the previous years' British Steel, Judas Priest found themselves with a bigger budget to record its follow up and sonically came up with their best sounding album to date. The band also had very little time to come up with new material for their new record.. The majority of the songs were written in the studio, which was typically not the way the band had done their previous records. Generally, Halford and Co. had most of the material worked out prior to entering the studio, but with the success and touring for British Steel there was no time for a break.
 
British Steel had spawned a minor hit with the anthem-esque "Living After Midnight," so the band took a more commercial direction with the material on Point of Entry. Three singles and videos were released from the record, including "Heading Out To The Highway". That song opens the record and sets the tone for the the songs that follow: a crunchy opening guitar riff, harmony guitar solo and a big chorus. "Don't Go" is up next and is probably the most different sounding track on the record, with it's pop rock swagger. "Hot Rockin'" is classic Priest and sounds like it was lifted right off of British Steel. This song is textbook Priest. "Turning Circles" again ventures into a more pop rock realm but has enough crunch that it still sounds like Judas Priest. Side one closes with the atmospheric sounding "Desert Plains" and is a highlight of the record. "Desert Plains" became a staple of the Judas Priest live set list for years to come.
 
"Solar Angels" kicks off side two with a mid-tempo grind and soaring vocals from Rob Halford. This track would open every show of the 1981 World Wide Blitz tour and became a fan favorite from the record. The last four songs on the record all kind of follow the same format: short, rocking and melodic. Of these four songs, "Troubleshooter" would be the strongest; the others are good but a bit forgettable.
 
While the band has said there wasn't a conscious decision to go in a more pop oriented direction with Point Of Entry, that definitely seemed to be the case. The core songwriting team of lead vocalist Rob Halford and guitarists KK Downing and Glenn Tipton have stated that it just happened organically and that's just how the songs came out. The record was recorded in Spain and it has been said there were many outside distractions during the recording of the record, so that may have also contributed to the overall direction of the record.
 
Point Of Entry went gold and was considered a bit of a failure compared to the million selling British Steel.
 
I rank this record pretty high in the Priest catalog and I loved it immediately. I thought it sounded different at the time but it worked for me. Of course I tend to like when a band takes a left turn and does something a little different. Priest would return to their metal roots with 1982's Screaming For Vengeance. Point Of Entry was not the bands last flirtation with pop tho, they tried it again with 1986's Turbo but the result was mediocre at best.

Some say Point Of Entry was a misstep for the metal gods but I think time has been good to this record and it still sounds fresh and exciting.

During the 1981 World Wide Blitz tour Judas Priest was scheduled to play my hometown of Huntington, WV with Iron Maiden as their opening act. Sadly that show got cancelled due to "lack of interest, low ticket sales": I'm pretty sure that's exactly how it read in the local newspaper. I was crushed. Luckily though, they would return to Huntington a year later, again with Iron Maiden as their opening act. Screaming For Vengeance had become a worldwide million seller and Point Of Entry was a distant memory. Things were right with the world and the Metal Gods were riding high once again. 

Scott Carr is a guitarist who plays in the Columbus, OH  bands Radio Tramps andReturning April.  Scott is also an avid collector of vinyl records and works at Lost Weekend Records. So...if you are looking for Scott....you'll either find him in a dimly lit bar playing his guitar or in a record store digging for the holy grail.

Music video by Judas Priest performing Don't Go. (C) 2003 Sony Music Entertainment (UK) Limited

Judas Priest - Hot Rockin' (Official Music Video) Widescreen HD

Judas Priest - Heading out to the Highway (Official Video) 'Turbo' special 30th anniversary reissue...

Judas Priest - Desert Plains (Live Vengeance '82) 'Turbo' special 30th anniversary reissue...

Uploaded by Me Rock on 2014-09-17.

THIS WEEK IN ROCK N ROLL HISTORY - HEAR 'N AID CELEBRATES 29TH ANNIVERSARY, BY SCOTT CARR

When talking about charity songs from the 1980's, Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and  USA For Africa's "We Are The World" generally come to mind first. Both singles brought together some of the biggest pop music stars of the 80's to help raise money for famine relief throughout the world. Band Aid was made up of mainly British and Irish performers while USA For Africa was predominately American artists. These songs were very successful, "Do They Know It's Christmas?" went to the No. 1 position in the British Charts while "We Are The World" took the top spot on the Billboard singles chart in America. While both projects proved to be a hit, there was no real involvement from anyone outside the pop music genre.......and it left a void that felt like the rock world had been left out.
 
In 1985 the heavy metal/hard rock music community came together to create their own anthem to help in the world's fight against hunger. The project was called Hear 'N Aid and the song they delivered was "Stars." The initial idea was brought to the table by DIO band members Jimmy Bain and Vivian Campbell. Jimmy felt that representation from the hard rock/heavy metal community was light in regards to the fight against famine and thought it was time for hard rock/heavy metal artists to step up and do their part to help and be heard. Jimmy and Vivian talked to Ronnie James Dio about their idea to create a charity single, Ronnie liked the idea and the three wrote the song "Stars." 

The song was recorded in 1985 over two days at A&M studios in Hollywood, California. The project featured contributions from members of Dio, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Quiet Riot, Dokken, Mötley Crüe, Twisted Sister, Queensrÿche, Blue Öyster Cult, Vanilla Fudge, Y&T, Rough Cutt, Giuffria, Journey, W.A.S.P., Night Ranger and even parody band Spinal Tap was involved. Lead vocal duties for the track were shared between Ronnie James Dio, Rob Halford, Kevin DuBrow, Eric Bloom, Geoff Tate, Dave Meniketti, Don Dokken and Paul Shortino. A lengthy guitar solo was recorded for the mid-section of the song and included blazing riffs from the likes of Vivian Campbell, Carlos Cavazo, Buck Dharma, Brad Gillis, Craig Goldy, George Lynch, Yngwie Malmsteen, Eddie Ojeda, Neal Schon, Ted Nugent plus Iron Maiden's Dave Murray and Adrian Smith supplied a nice harmony guitar part.
 
Ronnie James Dio had intended for the single to be released shortly after it was recorded but due to legal issues with some of the artists involved it did not get released until January 1st, 1986. Dio felt that the delay in releasing the single may have hurt the impact it made. "Stars" was released as a single and there was also a documentary called "Hear 'N Aid - The Sessions" released at the same time. A compilation album was released featuring "Stars" as the lead track and included live tracks from some artists that were unable to participate to the recording of the single, including Kiss, Accept, Motorhead, Rush and others. Hear 'N Aid was originally only available on vinyl and cassette. In 1994 it was released on CD for the first time, but only in Japan. Ronnie James Dio's widow Wendy Dio has said that there will be a reissue of the project on CD & DVD at some point and that there are plenty of outtakes that will be included. No info on when this may happen.
 
The project was reported to have raised 1 million dollars in its first year.

I have included a couple links below, one is the documentary on the making of "Stars." The section featuring the recording of the lead vocals is worth the price of admission alone. Check it out....good stuff.

Scott Carr is a guitarist who plays in the Columbus, OH  bands Radio Tramps and Returning April. Scott is also an avid collector of vinyl records and works at Lost Weekend Records. So...if you are looking for Scott....you'll either find him in a dimly lit bar playing his guitar or in a record store digging for the holy grail.

Hear 'n Aid was a one-off project of the heavy metal/hard rock scene of the 1980s to raise money for famine relief in Africa. According to Ronnie James Dio's MySpace profile, the project raised $1 million within a year. The song was recorded on May 20 and 21 1985 at the A&M Records Studio in Hollywood, California.