The History of Heavy Podcast

Fela Kuti recorded more than 60 albums, is regarded as the principal innovator of the Afrobeat genre, was an outspoken political voice for the oppressed people of Nigeria and one of the most important figures in the history of world music. But how does he fit into our chronology of heavy? Mike & Dave break it down.      Recommended Listening, Watching & Reading   Miriam Makeba https://open.spotify...

The proto-punk/garage rock band Death (not the Florida Death metallers) formed in 1971, released one independent single in 1976, broke up in 1977 and then were essentially completely forgotten about. That is until record collectors, seeking rare artifacts began to unearth the 500 copies of that record in the early 2000s. It eventually made its way to Drag City Records who released Death's first fu...

1975 saw the last of six consecutive, nearly perfect studio albums from the classic lineup of Osbourne, Iommi, Butler and Ward.  Sabotage continued the cocaine fueled, high energy experimentation of Vol 4. and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath while adding a new found rage to the formula, brought on by the embittered legal dispute that they were in at the time with their former manager. The resulting intensi...

RCA Records had to halt distribution of Metal Machine Music just weeks after its release in 1975, due to customer complaints about its cacophonous, atonal noise . It was so widely derided that it damaged Reed's reputation for years to come and it still sits firmly on many Worst Albums of All-Time lists. However, now with decades of hindsight and hundreds of experimental musicians inspired by his f...

Miles Davis is one of the most important and influential musicians in music history. He was an extremely talented trumpeter, bandleader and composer. He was at the forefront of the bebop, cool jazz, modal jazz, avant-garde jazz and fusion movements. He helped discover and develop massive talents including John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter. But what were Miles' contributio...

Are Rush an incredibly talented, highly influential, prog-rock institution with decades of infectious adult-contemporary hard rock pop hits under their belts or self-indulgent, unlistenable obnoxious nerds? Yes.    -    RIP Neil Peart   -   Recommended Listening, Watching & Reading   -   "Anthem" live (but actually lip-synched)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oEQuzHp5I0     "Oh Canada!" playlist...

UK Space Rock pioneers, Hawkwind formed in 1969 and as of April 2025 have released 37 studio albums. Most significant to this podcast are the three released from 1972-1975 ( Dorm Fasol Latido, Hall of the Mountain Grill and  Warrior on the Edge of Time ) in that they all include one Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister on bass. Lemmy was kicked out of the band for amphetamine-fuled "erratic behavior" in 1975 but...

AC/DC are undeniable. Their high-energy boogie-pub-rock sound is so infectious that it transcends genre. Owing a significant debt to both the blues and Chuck Berry, but somehow wholly unique, they brought a hard-nosed, working-class sensibility, along with a wry sense of humor, to a hard-partying sound made them one of a kind and cemented them as the greatest hard rock band of all time. If you don...

Perhaps no band better exemplifies the 1970's than the "velvet thunder" of Foghat. Their first three albums, released between 1973 and 1975, along with their 1977 Live album are perfect time capsules of the era and are preserved in sonic ember as representations of the sound that would become known as 70's Arena Rock. Sadly the developing sounds of heavy metal and punk would largely designate Fogh...

The History of Heavy  EP50: KISS - "Watchin' You"   In addition to being a global merchandising corporation, KISS occasionally found time to write and record some songs. The heavier among them were mostly written by co-founder, bassist and all around douchey guy Gene Simmons. This one comes from their second LP, Hotter Than Hell and in spite all of the pyrotechnics, greasepaint and silly costumes,...

The youth in West Germany circa the early 1970's had significantly more reason to be pissed off than the British or American punks of the late seventies. They were lacking direction and inspiration in a country that was still in the shadow of its Nazi-led government barely two decades removed. They had no interest in the dominant traditions of German folk or American pop and sought to create somet...

You could make the case that this is Sabbath's best album. They were battle tested, coke fueled and at the peak of their creative powers. But is it our favorite Sabbath album?  Maybe...   HHP Spotify Playlist   https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2qkURdYib8hLz8s20D9yTC?si=1526168526854a62   HHP on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@the.history.of.hea?_t=ZP-8z7me40bcbu&_r=1   HHP Instagram https://instag...

Betty Davis was well ahead of her time. She was a  wildly flamboyant funk diva who combined the gritty emotional realism of  Tina Turner , the futurist fashion sense of  David Bowie , and the trendsetting flair of Miles Davis. Her debut LP was released in 1973 going on to influence dozens of powerful, independent female icons to follow, including  Donna Summer, Patty Smith, Debbie Harry, The Runaw...

After 45 episodes of The History of Heavy, covering everyone from Iron Butterfly to Black Sabbath and "The Payback" might be the most authentically heavy song we've discussed to date. Let us explain...   HHP Spotify Playlist   https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2qkURdYib8hLz8s20D9yTC?si=1526168526854a62   HHP on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@the.history.of.hea?_t=ZP-8z7me40bcbu&_r=1   HHP Instagra...

Necromandus were managed by Tony Iommi, signed to Vertigo Records, supported Sabbath on the VOl 4 tour and recorded their debut album in 1973.  So why hadn't we ever heard of them until a few weeks ago?    HHP Spotify Playlist   https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2qkURdYib8hLz8s20D9yTC?si=1526168526854a62   HHP on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@the.history.of.hea?_t=ZP-8z7me40bcbu&_r=1   HHP Instag...

During their hard/shock rocking heyday which spanned four excellent albums beginning with 1971's Love It to Death, Alice Cooper was more than a man, they were a band. And while leader singer Vincent Furnier would adopt his famous stage name and alter-ego early on, the remaining four members of the Alice Cooper Group brought deft songwriting and killer chops to the increasingly chaotic notorious li...

Another year in the bag and if we're honest, 2025 largely sucked. It sucked on a global level, it sucked on a national level, it sucked on a local level and honestly it sucked on a personal level, But what didn't suck was the music of 2025. Great new artists emerged, great albums were released and dozens of old bands, records and songs were discovered. We discuss it all. Here's to a better 2026. H...

Sabbath's first three albums invented stoner metal and "Sweet Leaf" from 1971's Master of Reality was the coughing exclamation point on the genre.  Vol 4 would begin the band's three album cocaine cycle. Not only did Snowblind directly address the drugs hold on the band at the time but the entire record's energy, pace and production all somehow benefit from the speedy haze that misers Osbourne, Io...

Edgar Winter is a freak. A multi-instrumental virtuoso who led his chart topping band as singer-songwriter while also serving as a session musician on dozens of chart topping hits by the likes of Meatloaf, Tina Turner and David Lee Roth. His music spans southern rock, the blues, fusion and blue-eyed soul and on The Edgar Winter Group's debut album, its lone instrumental track "Frankenstein" he pro...

Formed in 1972 in Lima Peru, Tarkus released their self-titled debut LP that same year and then promptly broke up, lasting for less than 9 months before reforming for a second record in 2007 (Tarkus 2) and then promptly breaking up again, this time for good. They are one of thousands of bands that sprouted up in various pockets of the world making great and interesting heavy music that might have...

Their third studio LP is arguably Black Sabbath's masterpiece. Eight classic songs in less than thrity five minutes that would collectively spark not only the inspiration of hundreds of aspiring musicians but also launch a multitude of hard rock and heavy metal genres to come, including: stoner rock/metal, doom metal, sludge metal, grunge, progressive metal and groove/southern metal. From Tony Iom...

Budgie has aptly been described as the love child of Black Sabbath and Rush. While many of their early 70's peers continued to comfortably play variations of the popular hard rock of the day, Budgie were are early example of a band that was definitively playing a new style of music now known as Heavy Metal.  "Guts,"  the first track off of their 1971 debut album is a prime example.    HHP Spotify...

Alice Coltrane was a lot of things; she was a musician, a composer, an activist and a spiritual leader. She was also a genius who almost single handedly introduced the harp to jazz while making some of the most transcendent music of the late sixties and early seventies. Her influence can be felt across many heavy genres including drone, stoner metal, sludge, post rock and experimental metal. We co...

There is no denying that there was a real heaviness to the 1970's funk of Funkadelic but nothing compares to how heavy they would get when they stripped away George Clinton's vocals, Bootsy's bass, Tikii Fulwood's drums and any ancillary horns to let Eddie Hazel solo for 10 minutes. "Maggot Brain" is pure, jaw dropping, brain melting, emotional heaviness and an important touch stone in our chronol...

The Who are one of rock's most restless innovators. From spearheading the Mod youth explosion in Britain in the 60's to turning smashed guitars and drums into an art form, they constantly redefined what a heavy rock band could be. They practically invented the rock opera with  Tommy  and  Quadrophenia , set the gold standard for the live concert experience and wrote some of the greatest songs in r...