In The Groove, Sixties

IN THE GROOVE  (May 2, 2023)

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

We’re going deep today In The Groove. Hang onto your knickers, kids; it’s time for some heavy metal! And I have more than one video for you. Please do not dismiss this post out of hand; I give you my word – no blood will be shed, no eardrums shattered.

Rather than choosing just one song, I wanted to do something unique by offering three songs representative of three different time periods. The release date of each video is separated by approximately 25-27 years; I spaced them out this way for you to listen for musical changes over the years which will assist in setting up the question of the day.

There’s heavy metal and then there’s HEAVY METAL; what you’re about to hear falls into the first category. You will never hear “death metal”, “black metal”, “doom metal” or “metalcore” on any of my posts; I am not a fan and I choose not to play them.

Are you ready? Then let’s start with a song by a group that may surprise you. Considered by many in the music industry to be the first heavy metal song in history, here is “Helter Skelter” released by The Beatles in 1968.*

Next up is the American group Anthrax with their 1993 song “I’m Alive”.

And finally from Norway here is Jørn with “Over the Horizon Radar” from 2022.

Are you still with me? I tried my best to bring you heavy metal that wouldn’t chase you out of the room. Hopefully, I was successful.

Here now is the question of the day; it is fully conceptual and there is no right or wrong answer:

Keeping in mind that there is a span of 54 years of heavy metal music represented here, which of these three songs did you enjoy the most and why? How do these pieces differ for you?

Here was last week’s question:

Who was the performer who originally sang “Me and Mrs. Jones” in 1972?

And the answer is … Billy Paul. Did you get it right? A shout-out to our very own Pete and also to John Holton from The Sound of One Hand Typing right here on WP who both knew the answer.

Thanks for hanging out with me today; I know heavy metal isn’t for everyone. Think of it as a way of broadening your musical horizons!

Speaking of horizons, where in the world could Deb be taking us next? Tune in tomorrow to find out where her magic carpet will land.

That’s it for me, friends.

See you on the flip side.

I’m The Sicilian Storyteller

NAR © 2023

*Some may argue that “Born To Be Wild” by Steppenwolf was the first heavy metal song; that is only because of the second verse lyric “I like smoke and lightnin’/Heavy metal thunder/Racing with the wind/And the feeling that I’m under“. That is the first time the phrase “heavy metal” was used in a rock music song but it is not describing the music; “Heavy metal thunder” is a reference to motorcycles. Remember the bikes in “Easy Rider”? Now that’s metal! The music genre of the song “Born To Be Wild” is categorized as “hard rock”, not “heavy metal”. The three songs above have all been categorized as “heavy metal”. 🏍️

13 thoughts on “IN THE GROOVE  (May 2, 2023)”

  2. Yes, yes and yes!

    It is beyond any doubt that Heavy Metal for the last 50 years is one music genre that keeps evolving and creating new expressions.
    Yes, there are parts of it that may bleed one’s ears… and yes, there are parts of it where gimmickry of a dark tone is used ( needless, imo).
    But, go beyond these…and a sea full of unique islands is waiting to be explored and enjoyed.

    It brings me no surprise that amidst the offerings of The Rhythm Section, Heavy Metal is one of…and I just love, Nancy, you dived in first!

    Broadening perspectives is always crucial to any process of evolution, musically or personally.

    I agree 100% with your Born to be wild analysis…and indeed, The frikin Beatles woke up one morning and ( according to general consensus) created the seed of what we call today Heavy Metal.

    I am also glad you broke the norm of 1 video; there are posts, such as this one, where less is not more!

    Jorn… I will say one thing: when I discovered him I was blown away with his voice; I consider him the best HM voice I have heard since Ronnie James Dio.
    The guy is around for 50 years…but the PR big corpo mechanics never gave him the promotion he deserved ( more about that at Breaking Boundaries upcoming episodes).
    The year I first listened to Jorn, Spotify informed me that I had spent 2,364 minutes listening to Jorn…nuff said…(one of the 4,218 artists I listened that year).

    And to link everything together, allow me this tribute song of Jorn to the one and only Ronnie James Dio 🤘

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    1. Well, what can I say Nick except DITTO! Obviously, along with Deb, we are in our element; we’ll get Pete’s opinion soon, I’m sure.

      I agree completely with everything you wrote but I would also like to add two more voices to this group of amazing singers …. Ian Gillan (Deep Purple) and Graham Bonnet (Rainbow, Alcatraz). Can you imagine a concert with these guys singing and the guitarists I mentioned in my reply to Deb? What a show that would be and I’d pay a pretty penny to be there!

      There was no one quite like the late Ronnie James … a small bulldog-of-a man with a huge voice that went on and on! Jørn sounds like Dio (to an extent) and this song, which I’ve heard countless times, even reminds me of Dio’s “Rainbow In The Dark”.

      I could talk about this for hours but our people would get bored with me very quickly! Thank you for an exceptional comment and a fantastic vid!

      Here’s a taste of Dio doing “Rainbow In The Dark”:

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      1. Oh, definitely Ian and Graham are top of the top…was talking strictly heavy metal , although genres, boundaries are not my thing😉

        Well, I sure can imagine that concert…as a matter of fact ( as my usual joke goes) that is the reason I have booked a place in hell!🤣

        A woman after my own heart…a Dio mention and video??❤🤘

        I hereby make a public, official request:
        Please, at a time of your own choosing , write a post about Ronnie. I would but I am too attached to his music to even string words together as he deserves.

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  3. Ok, I liked Jorn the best, but primarily because this song reminds me of Joe Satriani’s Surfing With The Aliens, who has to be my favourite best rock guitarist. I’m sticking the link here, but I’m not sure if it will work

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    1. Deb, having Joe and Jorn at the same sentence of your comment just makes me veeeery happy!
      Satriani is a megalith rock guitarist ( and teacher of some shredders to follow😉)

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    2. Excellent vid, Deb! That was some incredible guitar playing, right up there with the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ritchie Blackmore, Tony Iommi, Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Vai, just to name a few.

      Joe has long been one of my favorites, someone I would go back to time and time again. The guy is so cool, he didn’t even break a sweat … and this was hot!

      Thanks for the fab vid!

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