History of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal: Def Leppard II

This second video from Def Leppard is off the 10-million selling Hysteria.

This was a hair metal anthem in the 80s - "Pour Some Sugar on Me."

History of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal: Def Leppard

Def Leppard, in many ways, was the definitive hard rock band of the '80s. There were many bands that rocked harder, and were more dangerous, than the Sheffield quintet, but few others captured the spirit of the times quite as well. Emerging in the late '70s as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, the group actually owed more to the glam rock and metal of the early '70s.

Def Leppard had their origins in a Sheffield-based group Rick Savage (bass) and Pete Willis (guitar) formed in their late teens in 1977. A few months later, vocalist Joe Elliott, a fanatic follower of Mott the Hoople and T. Rex, joined the band, bringing the name Deaf Leopard. After a spelling change, the trio, augmented by a now-forgotten drummer, began playing local Sheffield pubs, and within a year they had added guitarist Steve Clark, as well as a new drummer. Later in 1978, the recorded their debut EP, Getcha Rocks Off, and released it on their own label, Bludgeon Riffola. The EP became a word-of-mouth success, earning airplay on the BBC. The group members were still in their teens.

Following the release of Getcha Rocks Off, Rick Allen was added as the band's permanent drummer, and Def Leppard quickly became the subject of the British music weeklies. Soon, they signed with AC/DC's manager, Peter Mensch, who helped them secure a contract with Mercury. On Through the Night, the band's full-length debut, was released in 1980 and instantly became a hit in the U.K., also earning significant airplay in the U.S., where it reached number 51 on the charts. Over the course of the year, Def Leppard relentlessly toured Britain and America, including opening slots for Ozzy Osbourne, Sammy Hagar, and Judas Priest. High 'n' Dry followed in 1981, and it became the group's first platinum album in the U.S., thanks to MTV's strong rotation of "Bringin' on the Heartbreak." MTV would be vital to the band's success in the '80s.

As the band recorded the follow-up to High 'n' Drywith producer Mutt Lange, Pete Willis was fired from the band for alcoholism, and Phil Collen, a former guitarist for Girl, was hired to replace him. The resulting album, 1983's Pyromania, became an unexpected blockbuster, due not only to Def Leppard's skillful, melodic metal, but also to MTV's relentless airing of "Photograph" and "Rock of Ages." Pyromania went on to sell ten million copies, establishing Def Leppard as one of the most popular bands in the world. Despite their success, the band was about to enter a trying time for their career. Following an extensive international tour, the group re-entered the studio to record the follow-up, but producer Lange was unavailable, so they began sessions with Jim Steinman, the man responsible for Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell. The pairing turned out to be ill-advised, so the group turned to its former engineer, Nigel Green. One month into recording, Allen lost his left arm in a New Year's Eve car accident. The arm was reattached, but it had to be amputated once an infection set in.

Without a drummer, Def Leppard's future looked cloudy, but by the spring of 1985 — just a few months after his accident — Allen began learning to play a custom-made electronic kit assembled for him by Simmons. Soon, the band resumed recording, and within a few months Lange was back on board, but once he joined the team, he judged the existing tapes inferior and had the band begin work all over again. The recording continued throughout 1986, and that summer, the group returned to the stage for the European Monsters of Rock tour. Def Leppard finally completed their fourth album, now titled Hysteria, early in 1987, releasing it that spring to lukewarm reviews; many critics felt that the album compromised Leppard's metal roots for sweet pop flourishes.

The record was slow out of the starting gates — "Women," the first single, failed to really take hold. But with the second single, "Animal," Hysteria began to take off. It became the group's first Top 40 hit in the U.K., but more importantly, it began a string of six straight Top 20 hits in the U.S., which also included "Hysteria," "Pour Some Sugar on Me," "Love Bites," "Armageddon It," and "Rocket," the latter of which arrived in 1989, a full two years after the release of Hysteria. During those two years, Def Leppard was unavoidable — they were the kings of high-school metal, ruling the pop charts and MTV, and teenagers and bands alike replicated their teased hair and ripped jeans, even when the grimy hard rock of Guns N' Roses took hold in 1988.

Hysteria proved to be the peak of Leppard's popularity, yet their follow-up remained eagerly awaited in the early '90s as the band set to work on the record. During the recording, Steve Clark died from an overdose of alcohol and drugs. Clark had long had a problem with alcohol, and following the Hysteria heyday, the band forced him to take a sabbatical; he did enter rehab, but to no apparent effect. In fact, his abuse was so crippling that Collen had to play the majority of the guitar leads on Hysteria.

Following Clark's death, Def Leppard resolved to finish their forthcoming album as a quartet, releasing Adrenalize in the spring of 1992. Adrenalize was greeted with mixed reviews, and even though the album debuted at number one and contained several hit singles, including "Let's Get Rocked," "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad," and "Make Love Like a Man," the record was a commercial disappointment in the wake of Pyromaniaand Hysteria. After the release of Adrenalize, the group added former Whitesnake guitarist Vivian Campbell.

The band continues to tour and record but has yet to recapture their glory days when everything they touched turned to gold.

Chart History: MC5

Chart History is a feature that highlights a hard rock/heavy metal act and how well the duo/group or individual performed on the Billboard charts.

This week we focus on MC5. Here is a rundown of all singles and albums that charted while the group was together. Greatest hits and other compilations are not included -only studio and live albums are.

Albums:
1969: Kick Out The Jams (No.30)
1970: Back In The USA (No.137)

Singles:
1. Kick Out The James (No.82)

History of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal: Y&T II

The closest Y&T ever had to a legitimate hit on the charts. This was a summertime staple for hair metal fans in the mid-80s.

It's "Summertime Girls" from their Down for the Count album. Oh the memories from that song.

History of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal: Y&T

Y&T were within reach of the Grail of rock & roll stardom many times in their long career. Unfortunately for the group, the ultimate prize always seemed to elude them in the end due to a series of mistakes and sheer bad luck. A legendary live band, the group never managed to translate their electric on-stage intensity into the studio, and despite their 20 years of service, they have now become little more than a blot on the American hard rock canvas.

Taking their name from a Beatles album, Yesterday. . . and Today, Yesterday & Today formed in San Francisco around 1973 with Dave Meniketti on vocals and lead guitar, Phil Kennemore on bass and Leonard Haze on drums. After stealing rhythm guitarist Joey Alves from a rival band, the foursome began to gig constantly around the Bay Area, opening for such heavyweights as Journey and the Doobie Brothers.

They were eventually picked up by London Records, which released their eponymous debut in 1976 and followed it with Struck Down two years later. Neither album ended up being successful, though, and after being dropped from the label, the band spent another two years struggling to stay alive.

Their perseverance finally paid off in early 1981, when they inked a long-term deal with A&M Records and shortened their name to Y&T in the process. Earthshaker, their first album for the label came out later that year and was a resounding success, earning the band a number of high-profile opening slots with AC/DC and Kiss.

The group's newfound success culminated in a performance at the prestigious Monsters of Rock festival in Donington, England. An optimistic Y&T returned to England the following year to begin work on Earthshaker's follow-up, Black Tiger. But despite its strong material, the record was let down by an uncharacteristically lifeless production job from veteran Chris Tsangarides and failed to meet the lofty expectations of both the media and their label.

Inexplicably, the group reunited with Tsangarides for 1983's Mean Streak, obtaining equally disappointing results despite scoring a decent international hit with "Midnight in Tokyo." Subsequent releases such as In Rock We Trust (1984) and Down for the Count (1985) fared no better, and by the time they found redemption with the blistering power of their first live set, Open Fire, the band had been forgotten and surpassed by an entire generation of younger bands. The band's association with A&M finally came to an end later that year and was effectively buried with the obligatory greatest-hits set, Best of Y&T (1981-1985).

Y&T wasn't ready to give up yet, though. Signed to Geffen by A&R guru John Kalodner — best known for resurrecting the career of Aerosmith — the group decided to revamp their image in order to fit into the late-'80s hair band scene. The band continue to release albums that received sporadic sales and called it quits in 1997.

History of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal: Whitesnake II

This video was from the huge album "Whitesnake" in 1987. This video had everything. Led Zep riffs and vocals and very hot Tawney Kitaen as the video vixen of the month.

Good song, little too much of a Zeppelin ripoff, but good nonetheless. This is when hair metal ruled the airwaves.

History of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal: Whitesnake

After recording two solo albums, former Deep Purple vocalist David Coverdale formed Whitesnake around 1977. In the glut of hard rock and heavy metal bands of the late '70s, their first albums got somewhat lost in the shuffle, although they were fairly popular in Europe and Japan. During 1982, Coverdale took some time off, so he could take care of his sick daughter.

When he re-emerged with a new version of Whitesnake in 1984, the band sounded revitalized and energetic. Slide It In may have relied on Led Zeppelin's and Deep Purple's old tricks, but the band had a knack for writing hooks; the record became their first platinum album. Three years later, Whitesnake released an eponymous album which was even better.

Portions of the album were blatantly derivative — "Still of the Night" was a dead ringer for early Zeppelin — but the group could write powerful, heavy rockers like "Here I Go Again" that were driven as much by melody as riffs, as well as hit power ballads like "Is This Love." Whitesnake was an enormous international success, selling over six million copies in the U.S. alone.

Before they recorded their follow-up, 1989's Slip of the Tongue, Coverdale again assembled a completely new version of the band, featuring guitar virtuoso Steve Vai. Although the record went platinum, it was a considerable disappointment after the across-the-board success of Whitesnake. Coverdale put Whitesnake on hiatus after that album.

1997 saw Coverdale resurrect Whitesnake (guitarist Adrian Vandenberg was the only remaining member of the group's latter lineup), issuing Restless Heart the same year. Surprisingly, the album wasn't even issued in the United States. On the ensuing tour, Coverdale and Vandenberg performed an "unplugged" show in Japan, which was recorded and issued the following year under the title Starkers in Tokyo. By the late '90s however, Coverdale once again put Whitesnake on hold, as he concentrated on recording his first solo album in nearly 22 years.

History of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal: Saxon II

Here's another from NWOBHM rockers Saxon. It's the name of this blog. This is title track from the great album "Denim and Leather."

History of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal: Saxon

Saxon was one of the early leaders of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, along with Iron Maiden and Def Leppard. The band was formed in Barnsley in 1977 by vocalist Biff Byford, guitarists Graham Oliver and Paul Quinn, bassist Steve Dawson, and drummer Pete Gill.

Originally calling themselves Son of a Bitch, they soon decided to find a more subtle name, settling on Saxon. Like many young metal bands of the day, Saxon found it difficult to land a record deal in post-punk England, but eventually signed with French-based Carrere Records.

Though Saxon's 1979 self-titled debut album was marred by a lightweight production job, the band built a strong following touring Britain as support group to Motörhead and Nazareth. The band capitalized on this exposure with their sophomore effort the following year. Wheels of Steel featured a much heavier, metallic sound which finally did their songs justice. The album was immediately heralded as a NWOBHM classic by fans and critics alike and the band was apparently on their way.

They released two more fine albums, Strong Arm of the Law and Denim and Leather, over the next year while touring relentlessly across Britain, Europe, and the U.S. Even the loss of founding drummer Pete Gill to Motörhead (replaced by Nigel Glockler) didn't slow their momentum, and a live album, The Eagle Has Landed, capped their hot streak in 1982.

Though they'd barely dented America, Saxon's early success was only rivaled by Iron Maiden, and the band seemed poised on the brink of worldwide success. Then a strange thing happened. A series of unfocused, lackluster albums (Power and the Glory and Crusader) stopped the band cold in its tracks. And when they attempted to follow the trend set by other British bands like Whitesnake (who cracked the U.S. with a peroxide-fueled fashion makeover), the band's career went into an irreversible slide.

Despite never being able to break in America, Saxon remains a solid act in Europe and Japan.

History of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal: Cheap Trick II

Here's Power Rock icons Cheap Trick with the cool theme to "That 70s Show."

"We're all alright. We're all alright!"

History of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal: Cheap Trick

Combining a love for British guitar pop songcraft with crunching power chords and a flair for the absurd, Cheap Trick provided the necessary links between '60s pop, heavy metal, and punk. Their sound provided a blueprint for both power pop and arena rock; it also had a surprisingly long-lived effect on both alternative and heavy metal bands of the '80s and '90s, who also relied on the combination of loud riffs and catchy melodies.

Cheap Trick's roots lie in Fuse, a late-'60s Rockford, IL, band formed by Rick Nielsen and bassist Tom Petersson, who released an unsuccessful album on Epic in 1969. After the record failed to gain any attention, the band relocated to Philadelphia and changed their name to Sick Man of Europe. The group toured Europe unsuccessfully in 1972, returning to Illinois in 1973.

Not long after their return to Rockford, Nielsen and Petersson changed their band's name to Cheap Trick, adding drummer Bun E. Carlos and vocalist Randy "Xeno" Hogan. Hogan was fired the following year and ex-folksinger Robin Zander joined the group. Between 1975 and the band's first album in 1977, Cheap Trick toured constantly, playing over 200 concerts a year, including opening slots for the Kinks, Kiss, Santana, AC/DC, and Queen. During this time, the band built up a solid catalog of original songs that would eventually comprise their first three albums; they also perfected their kinetic live show.

Cheap Trick signed with Epic Records in 1976, releasing their self-titled debut in early 1977. The record sold well in America, yet it failed to chart. However, the group became a massive success in Japan, going gold upon release. Later that year, the band released their second album, In Color. It backed away from the harder-rocking Cheap Trick, featuring a slicker production and quieter arrangements that spotlighted the band's melodic skills. Due to their constant touring, the record made it into the U.S. charts, peaking at number 73; in Japan it became another gold-seller. The band realized that they were virtual superstars in Japan when they toured the country in early 1978. Their concerts were selling out within two hours and they packed Budokan Arena.

Cheap Trick's concerts at Budokan Arena were recorded for release — the record appeared after their third album, 1978's Heaven Tonight. That third album captured both the loud, raucous energy of their debut and the hook-laden songcraft of In Color, leading to their first Top 100 single, "Surrender," which peaked at number 62. However, the live performances on At Budokan (1979) captured the band's energetic, infectious live show, resulting in their commercial breakthrough in the U.S.

The album stayed on the charts for over a year, peaking at number four and eventually selling over three million copies; a live version of "I Want You to Want Me" became their first Top Ten hit. Later that year, the group released their fourth studio album, Dream Police, which followed the same stylistic approach of Heaven Tonight. It also followed At Budokan into the Top Ten, selling over a million copies and launching the Top 40 hit singles "Voices" and "Dream Police." In the summer of 1980, the group released an EP of tracks recorded between 1976-1979 called Found All the Parts.

Following the recording of the George Martin-produced All Shook Up, Petersson left the group in the summer of 1980 to form a group with his wife, Dagmar; he was replaced by Jon Brant. The band experienced a rapid commercial decline for most of the 80s. That is until 1988.

Petersson rejoined the band in 1988 and the group began working on a new record with the help of several professional songwriters. The resulting record, Lap of Luxury, was a platinum Top 20 hit, featuring the number one power ballad "The Flame" and a Top Ten version of Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel."

Cheap Trick weren't able to maintain its newfound success, but still tour and record to this day.

Chart History: Humble Pie

Chart History is a feature that highlights a hard rock/heavy metal act and how well the duo/group or individual performed on the Billboard charts.

This week we focus on BOC. Here is a rundown of all singles and albums that charted while the group was together. Greatest hits and other compilations are not included -only studio and live albums are.

Albums:
1971: Rock On (No.118)
1971: Rockin' The Fillmore (No.21)
1972: Lost and Found (No.37)
1972: Smokin' (No.6)
1973: Eat It (No.13)
1974: Thunderbox (No.52)
1975: Street Rats (No.100)
1980: On To Victory (No.60)
1981: Go For The Throat (No.154)

Singles:
1. I Don't Need No Doctor (No.73)
2. Hot 'N' Nasty (No.52)
3. Fool For A Pretty Face (Hurt By Love) (No.52)

History of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal: Brownsville Station

A Detroit-area rock & roll band formed in 1969 by guitarist Cub Koda. Original members also included Mike Lutz (guitar), T.J. Cronley (drums), and Tony Driggins (bass). Initially influenced by Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and other '50s rockers, their early albums included inspired covers and genre-faithful originals, all presented in Marshall stack, double-bass-drum bigness.

Far more effective as a live act (with Koda's onstage banter influencing everyone from J. Geils' Peter Wolf to Alice Cooper), the group finally hit paydirt in late 1973 with their number-three hit, the Koda-penned "Smokin' in the Boys' Room." Unfortunately, the band never was able to have any follow-up success after "Smokin' in the Boys' Room." After disbanding the group in 1979, Koda went on to a career as a solo recording artist and as a journalist for several music magazines.

Koda died of kidney failure in 2000.

History of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal: Status Quo II

The second video from boogie rock pioneers Status Quo is the tune Paper Plane (couldn't find a video for Pictures of Matchstick Men).

The band found a formula that worked and stuck with it. The hard boogie sound was pioneered by Savoy Brown, Foghat and the Quo in the early to mid-seventies.

History of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal: Status Quo

Status Quo is one of Britain's longest-lived bands, staying together for over 30 years. During much of that time, the band was only successful in the UK, where they racked up a string of Top Ten singles that ran into the '90s. In America, the group was ignored after they abandoned psychedelia for heavy boogie rock in the early '70s. Before that, the Quo managed to reach number 12 in the US with the psychedelic classic "Pictures of Matchstick Men" (a Top Ten hit in the UK).

Following that single, the band suffered a lean period for the next few years, before deciding to refashion themselves as a hard-rock boogie band in 1970 with their Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon album. Over the next 25 years, the Quo have basically recycled the same simple boogie on each successive album and single, yet their popularity has never waned in Britain. If anything, their very predictability has ensured the group a large following.

The origins of Status Quo lie in a London-based beat group called the Spectres. Francis Rossi (vocals, guitar) and Alan Lancaster (bass) were the core members of the Spectres from their inception; within a few years, the band had addied drummer John Coughlan and organist Roy Lynes. The Spectres released three unsuccessful singles before changing their style to psychedelia and adopting the name Traffic Jam and releasing the unsuccessful single, "Almost But Not Quite There." After it flopped, the group added Rick Harrison (guitar, vocals), formerly of the cabaret band, the Highlights. When Harrison joined the band in August 1967, the group again changed their name, this time to Status Quo.

"Pictures of Matchstick Men," the group's debut single, was released toward the end of the year and quickly shot to number seven on the UK charts; within a few months, it was a number 12 in the US as well. The immediate follow-up single, "Black Veils of Melancholy," was a flop, but "Ice in the Sun," written by former British pop star Marty Wilde, became Status Quo's second Top Ten hit in the fall of 1968. Over in America, the single barely registered, squeaking to number 70; it was the last time the group would ever chart in the US.

For the next year, Status Quo tried to replicate the success of their first two singles with similar psychedelic material, but they had little luck. Finally, they revamped their sound — and jettisoned organist Lynes — in the summer of 1970, debuting their new heavy, bluesy boogie rock with the single "Down the Dustpipe." The single reached number 12, yet the full-fledged hard-rock album Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon didn't gain much attention.

Status Quo began playing concerts regularly across England, slowly building up a strong following in England. Following well-received sets at 1972's Reading and Great Western festivals, the band became a hot property. The group signed with Vertigo Records and their first single for the label, "Paper Plane," cracked the Top Ten in early 1973, while their first album for Vertigo, Piledriver reached number five. Later that year, Hello entered the charts at number one, while its accompanying single "Caroline" reached number five. Also in 1973, keyboardist Andy Bown, formerly of the Herd and Judas Jump, became the band's unofficial keyboardist.

Throughout the '70s, each album Status Quo released went into the Top Five, while their singles — including the number one "Down Down" (1974), "Roll Over Lay Down" (1975), "Rain" (1976), "Wild Side of Life" (1976), and a cover of John Fogerty's "Rockin' All Over the World" (1977) — consistently hit the Top Ten and frequently went gold. Since they were experiencing a great deal of success, they didn't change their sound at all, they just kept churning out the same heavy boogie. America basically ignored Status Quo, yet their eponymous album managed to chart at 148 in 1976.

Status Quoe continue to record and tour and still remain popular in their native England.

History of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal: Beck, Bogart & Appice

Although the all-star power trio of guitarist Jeff Beck, bassist Tim Bogert, and drummer Carmine Appice discussed a potential collaboration as early as 1970, the project went on indefinite hiatus after Beck suffered a fractured skull in an automobile wreck. With the guitarist on the sidelines for well over a year, Bogert and Appice — who previously teamed in Vanilla Fudge — opted instead to form Cactus with singer Rusty Day and guitarist Jim McCarty, issuing a series of boogie rock LPs for Atlantic before dissolving.

In the meantime, following his recovery Beck founded a new incarnation of his Jeff Beck Group, releasing a pair of albums before disbanding the project in 1972; with Bogert and Appice again available, the threesome immediately set to work on recording, issuing Beck, Bogert and Appice to solid sales in 1973. A much sought after live album was subsequently issued in Japan only, but while working on a second studio effort, the famously mercurial Beck abruptly dissolved the trio in early 1974.

History of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal: Vanilla Fudge II

This second video by psychedelic power rock act Vanilla Fudge is the hit remake of the Supremes classic, "You Keep Me Hanging On."

Check out the hair and the outfits. You've just gotta love psychedelic rock. Seriously though, drummer Carmine Appice went on to perform with a variety of hard rock acts in the 70s and 80s - like Cactus, Beck, Bogart and Appice, KGB, Ted Nugent and Blue Murder. Believe it or not, Appice also co-write "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" and "Young Turks" with Rod Stewart.

History of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal: Vanilla Fudge

Vanilla Fudge was one of the few American links between psychedelia and what soon became heavy metal. While the band did record original material, they were best known for their loud, heavy, slowed-down arrangements of contemporary pop songs, blowing them up to epic proportions and bathing them in a trippy, distorted haze.

Originally, Vanilla Fudge was a blue-eyed soul cover band called the Electric Pigeons, who formed on Long Island, NY, in 1965. Organist Mark Stein, bassist Tim Bogert, and drummer Joey Brennan soon shortened their name to the Pigeons and added guitarist Vince Martell. They built a following by gigging extensively up and down the East Coast, and earned extra money by providing freelance in-concert backing for girl groups.

Inspired by the Vagrants, another band on the club circuit led by future Mountain guitarist Leslie West, the Pigeons began to put more effort into reimagining the arrangements of their cover songs. They got so elaborate that by the end of the year, drummer Brennan was replaced by the more technically skilled Carmine Appice. In early 1967, their manager convinced producer George "Shadow" Morton (who'd handled the girl group the Shangri-Las and had since moved into protest folk) to catch their live act. Impressed by their heavy, hard rocking recasting of the Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On," Morton offered to record the song as a single; the results landed the group a deal with the Atlantic subsidiary Atco, which requested a name change.

The band settled on Vanilla Fudge, after a favorite ice cream flavor. "You Keep Me Hangin' On" didn't perform as well as hoped, but the band toured extensively behind its covers-heavy, jam-oriented debut album Vanilla Fudge, which gradually expanded their fan base. Things started to pick up for the band in 1968: early in the year, they headlined the Fillmore West with the Steve Miller Band, performed "You Keep Me Hangin' On" on The Ed Sullivan Show, and released their second album, The Beat Goes On. Despite its somewhat arty, indulgent qualities, the LP was a hit, climbing into the Top 20.

That summer, Atco reissued "You Keep Me Hangin' On," and the second time around it climbed into the Top Ten. It was followed by Renaissance, one of Vanilla Fudge's best albums, which also hit the Top 20. The band supported it by touring with Jimi Hendrix, opening several dates on Cream's farewell tour, and late in the year touring again with the fledgling Led Zeppelin as their opening act.

In 1969, the band kept touring and released their first album without Morton, the expansive, symphonic-tinged Near the Beginning. Exhausted by the constant touring, the band decided that their late-1969 European tour would be their last. Following the release of their final album, Rock & Roll, Vanilla Fudge played a few U.S. farewell dates and disbanded in early 1970. Bogert and Appice first formed the hard rock group Cactus, then later joined up with Jeff Beck in the aptly named Beck, Bogert & Appice. Appice went on to become an active session and touring musician, working with a variety of rock and hard rock artists.

Chart History: Blue Oyster Cult

Chart History is a feature that highlights a hard rock/heavy metal act and how well the duo/group or individual performed on the Billboard charts.

This week we focus on BOC. Here is a rundown of all singles and albums that charted while the group was together. Greatest hits and other compilations are not included - only studio and live albums are.

Albums:
1972: Blue Oyster Cult (No.172)
1973: Tyranny And Mutation (No.122)
1974: Secret Treaties (No.53)
1975: On Your Feet Or On Your Knees (No.22)
1976: Agents of Fortune (No.29)
1977: Spectres (No.43)
1978: Some Enchanted Evening (No.44)
1979: Mirrors (No.44)
1980: Cultosaurus Erectus (No.34)
1981: Fire of Unknown Origin (No.24)
1982: Extraterrestrial Live (No.29)
1983: The Revolution By Night (No.93)
1986: Club Ninja (No.63)
1988: Imaginos (No.122)

Singles:
1.(Don't Fear) The Reaper (No.12)
2. In Thee (No.74)
3. Burnin' For You (No.40)
4. Shooting Shark (No.83)

History of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal: Van Halen

The second video from Van Halen is off the 1984 record. VH made a lot of good tunes, but this is my personal favorite.

I loved the groove, the guitar and the video back then.