Diamond Head are a well-respected heavy metal band, who were at the forefront of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal movement of the late-70's, and are acknowledged by thrash metal bands such as Megadeth and Metallica as an important early influence, with the latter including the band's 'Helpless' on their classic EP 'The $5.98 E.P. - Garage Days Re-Revisited' in 1987. Diamond Head was formed by Brian Tatler and Duncan Scott while they were both still at school in June 1976, and although they soon found singer Sean Harris, they had to go through three bass players before settling on Collin Kimberley in 1978. The band recorded two self-financed demo tapes on a four-track recorder in 1979, and they sent the demo to Geoff Barton at Sounds magazine, which was perfect timing with the emergence of a new genre coined by Barton as The New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. In 1979/80, Diamond Head were managed by budding local managers Dave Morris and Ian Frazier, with Morris putting some money into the band and trying to get them a record deal, and Frazier driving the band around the UK when on tour. The band's demos and live reputation gained enough attention for them to get two support dates with AC/DC, and also one with Iron Maiden at The Lyceum, London. Although several record companies expressed interest in signing the band, none were deemed worthy by Harris's mother Linda Harris, who was by now taking an interest in her son's band, and advising him on important decisions, along with her boyfriend Reg Fellows. Following a difference of opinions about how to manage the band, Morris and Frazier quit their roles, leaving the job solely to Linda Harris and Reg Fellows, and so while other young heavy metal bands were signed to major labels and headlining their own tours, Diamond Head remained independent. Guitarist Brian Tatler thinks that their joint managers had unrealistic expectations about the kind of record deal the band should sign, and so when no deal lived up to this, Fellows decided that the band should record an album quickly and cheaply at a local 24 track studio, where they had recorded their first single 'Shoot Out the Lights', in a deal which gave studio owner Muff Murfin 50 percent of the bands publishing for fifteen years in exchange for use of his studio.
Tapes were passed around various labels, but when the album, now titled 'Lightning To The Nations', failed to secure a record deal, the band's management decided that they would release 1000 copies of the record on Muff Murfin's independent Happy Face Records label. The album was packaged in a plain white sleeve with no title or track listings, and 250 copies were signed by each band member. The management thought that it should be perceived as a 'demo' album, so no fancy sleeve was required, making it very cheap to produce. The first 1000 copies were pressed and made available at concerts and via mail-order for £3.50, with a mail-order advertisement appearing in Sounds for six weeks, but which the band's management neglected to pay for, and which resulted in them being sued. The original stereo master tapes were lost after they were sent to the German record company Woolfe Records, for them to release a vinyl version of the album with a new sleeve, and they were eventually tracked down by Lars Ulrich and Phonogram Germany for inclusion on the 1990 compilation album 'New Wave Of British Heavy Metal '79 Revisited'. In 1980, Pete Winkelman from Wolverhampton got involved and tried to sign Diamond Head to his new label, Media Records, along the way advising the band to change management, but this advice was not heeded, and in the end Diamond Head agreed to make just one single for Winkelman, which was a re-recorded version of 'Sweet & Innocent' b/w 'Streets Of Gold', appearing around October 1980. In January 1981, Diamond Head successfully opened for April Wine on their UK tour, and the 'Diamond Lights' EP was quickly recorded to help pay towards the expenses of an ambitious UK tour which was planned for the summer. However, their management tried to save money by bypassing promoters and booking the venues with local agents, and so with little promotion for the tour, it lost money. The only A&R man who was determined to sign the band was Charlie Eyre, who quit his job at A&M and joined MCA in order to sign Diamond Head and Musical Youth. Discussions went on for around six months until the band finally inked a five-album deal on 1 January 1982.
First on the agenda was to record and release the 'Four Cuts' EP, which contained two early era songs, 'Shoot Out The Lights' and 'Dead Reckoning', alongside new songs 'Call Me' and 'Trick Or Treat'. Their first MCA album 'Borrowed Time', housed in a lavish Rodney Matthews-illustrated gatefold sleeve based on the album's Elric theme, was commercially successful, climbing to No 24 in the UK Albums Chart, and it enabled the band to perform a full-scale UK tour at premier venues such as London's Hammersmith Odeon. Once the two-week UK tour was over, they were told to start writing the next album, and they tried a more experimental sounding follow-up, tentatively titled 'Making Music', and which was later re-named 'Canterbury' in 1983. Using top engineer Mike Shipley at an expensive London studio put immense pressure on the band, and Scott struggled to adapt to this new level of scrutiny and was fired, after completing just six drum tracks in three weeks. Then once all the bass parts had been recorded, Kimberley also quit, leaving just Harris and Tatler to complete the recording, and resulting in Tatler almost having a nervous breakdown. The initial success of the album was stalled as the first 20,000 copies suffered vinyl pressing problems, causing the LP to jump, but it still made number 32 in the UK Albums Chart, although it sold less than their debut, possibly because the sound was so different to 'Borrowed Time', and fan were somewhat confused by it. The band were invited to open that year's Monsters of Rock Festival, and toured Europe as special guests of Black Sabbath, but in early 1984 they were dropped by MCA records, and after an 18-date UK tour which lost money they put the band on hold. Harris and Tatler still continued to write together, and in October/November, they re-convened in a purpose-built studio in Stambermill, West Midlands, to record their next album, but it was never finished, and the band fell apart in early 1985. Diamond Head were one of the better exponents of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, but just didn't seem to have the luck of Judas Priest or Iron Maiden, although 'Borrowed Time' is rightly considered a classic of the genre. This post brings together their singles and EP's which led up to that record, excluding the songs which were later re-recorded for it, and including a handful of demos for their second album. It's a great collection of heavy metal from one of the best bands of the period.
Track listing
01 Shoot Out The Lights (single 1980)
02 Streets Of Gold (b-side of 'Sweet & Innocent' 1980)
03 Waited Too Long (single 1981)
04 Play It Loud (b-side of 'Waited Too Long')
05 Diamond Lights (from the 'Diamond Lights' EP 1981)
06 We Won't Be Back (from the 'Diamond Lights' EP 1981)
07 I Don't Got (from the 'Diamond Lights' EP 1981)
08 Dead Reckoning (from the 'Four Cuts' EP 1982)
09 Trick Or Treat (from the 'Four Cuts' EP 1982)
10 Can't Take No More (demo 1983)
11 Time's On My Side (demo 1983)
12 Come To Hear You Play (demo 1983)
