What since the 2nd half of the 90s has been constructed as a music genre, the NWOBHM, is actually a very complex and diverse potpourri. On the one hand, you have bands like MOTÖRHEAD, IRON MAIDEN or JUDAS PRIEST: They were among the firestarters of the NWOBHM but never actually part of the underground phenomenon. Musically, these bands were innovative (and I think that JUDAS PRIEST pretty much laid down the “modern” Heavy Metal recipe with “Point of Entry” and “British Steel”), whereas some of the underground bands of the 80s were actually rather conservative. THE HANDSOME BEASTS were one of the bands to emulate a totally unique sound, blending in bits and pieces of various genres.
Actually, you could call THE HANDSOME BEASTS a Blues Metal Punk band. It’s not Blues Rock, it’s too raunchy for that. You’ll hear plenty of THIN LIZZY in these two songs, and I actually think the riff of “Mark of the Beast” is nothing but Punk, but it’s more than that, it’s the riotous aura this babe breathes. Both songs are super great. And the single cover is one of my fave NWOBHM record sleeves. Yes, this 7″ is one of the highlights of the early 80s NWOBHM!
The band released two more 7″s and one LP (famous for its really dirty cover!) until 1981. The got back together in the 90s and released some more material, but I must say I never heard any of that. All early 7″s are must-haves, and the 2nd 7″ is a nice little oddity with one of these funny 2-songs-in-one a-sides (you know, two spirals running parallel). In 2006, the band’s famous and very popular singer Garry “Flabbie” Dalloway died unexpectedly.
The official band website can and should be found here.
All Riot now.mp3
The Mark of the Beast.mp3
19 Comments
wow this is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just said it elsewhere and I say it again: this blog rules!
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yet another metal band i’ve never heard of. thank you!
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These guys always seemed to have a hilarious aesthetic. Check the guy on the far left of the cover with handlebars as horns (not to mention the cover of their first LP!)
Your rip sounds a lot beefier than I’ve ever heard them sound, which is great.
The writing is great, as usual, but I thought Maiden were part of the underground phenomenon until the early 80s? At least since they did the DIY thing and participated in the Soundhouse?
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Not bad…
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Ahhh! The band with the Pig cover. Great!
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I don’t like all of those old NWOBHM records that you post but it’s sure great to look into this (to me!) hitherto totally unknown part of music history. Guys like these paved the way for the well-known bands. Thanks for your great work.
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Cool to see you guys are digging this. I was afraid Icould be the only one, haha.
WTT: Maiden’s first album, released in 1980, came out on a major label, with quite a bit of pr-power in the back. When the “Soundhouse Tapes” were released in 1978, there wasn’t much of what was to be called NWOBHM around. I don’t know how you see it, but I’d say the NWOBHM movement didn’t take off until 1980.
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Hey, I’m Thomas #2 and I’m diggin’, although I didn’t really get into that band – seems that I can’t get any emotional contact to bands I haven’t listened to back in the times when I was young and the NWOBHM fresh
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Ah, I see your point now. I was assuming that the Soundhouse scene was active before Maiden’s demo, and that they named it after that.
But this early history is all very confusing to me…remember Neal Kay in that NWOBHM documentary talking about how he “despises the term ‘Heavy Metal’ while wearing a shirt that says “Heavy Metal Soundhouse” on it (which he named himself?)
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I find it to be confusing too, WTT. As it shows, we’re definitely lacking theoretical tools for this kind of analysis. Dammit, somebody really should sit down and day and start re-working things ….
Oh, btw: Are you famliar with the two LEGEND Lps from 1981 and 1982 (“Death in the Nursery”)? If not, one of the two is going to be my next post. You’ll love it!!
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oh awesome i was wondering when you were gonna post another metal lp. that sounds great. and yes it’s very confusing.
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Hahaha, the drummer’s really flipping out on the choruses of “The Mark of the Beast”.
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True, true, somebody needs to write that book!
I’ve heard many good things about this Legend band, but never got around to listening to them, so I’m glad I will finally hear them! Also, this will be the first trio of metal posts you’ve done in a long time. Let’s hope the hardline punks don’t run away.
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Hey erich i had a question for you, do you have contact info outside this site?
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You can reach me at admin at goodbadmusic. com, if that’s what you meant.
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This is the sort of thing that you know you’re going to love 15 seconds in! Thanks as usual…
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Great to see people are still insprired by theses two tracks. Thanks for the comments, I am the actural guy with the handlebars, and yes I was flipping out on the drumming to mark of the Beast. Unfortunatally I left the band in 1984 having formed the band in the early 70s with a guy called dave young. My son founnd your site and I must say the best description ‘blues metal punk’ which I believed described us spot on.
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Thanks for stopping by (and the music, of course)!
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Actually, the very best thing about this blog is the people chiming in who really played in the bands who get their music posted here or were there when it happened. This is the best, most humbling music lesson I can think of. The music itself ain’t bad either, though. Another great afternoon thanks to goodbadmusic.
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