The New Wave of British Heavy Metal – NWOBHM
This time on Now Spinning Magazine, we’re looking at heavy metal — specifically, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal — and my own story within it. It’s a small part of that story, but it is a part, and the time feels right to finally share it.
I’ve been wanting to create this series for quite a while. It won’t be linear — some videos will be long, some short — because I’m approaching this as a personal journey, following the threads wherever they lead.
One of the prompts for doing this now is that I’ve been making more tribute videos than ever. Those take an emotional toll on me, as many of you can probably tell. And while for years those tributes tended to be for musicians a decade or more older than me… that has started to change.
People from my era — from the NWOBHM movement itself — are also now passing away. When those losses happen, you suddenly realise: I’m in the drop zone too. There’s more time behind me than ahead. That’s not morbid — it’s perspective. And it’s part of why I want to capture these stories now, while I can.
Two of the bands I was in — Tantrum and The Handsome Beasts — have already lost key members. Paul Cook from Tantrum, the same age as me, has gone. Gary “Flabby” Dalloway from The Handsome Beasts passed away quite some time ago. And all of this made me want to revisit what it was like being in bands back then… and also what it was like just being a music fan at that time.
I’ve been interviewed for loads of books over the years, but the main one I’ll be referencing is Denim and Leather: The Rise and Fall of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal by Michael Hann. I’m quoted in several parts of that book, and I’ll use those moments as jumping-off points — zooming off in all directions, telling the stories behind the snippets.
Some will be hilarious. Some are pure Spinal Tap. They’ll all be honest.
The New Wave of British Heavy Metal – What It Wasn’t
When we talk about NWOBHM, it’s important to recognise something:
It wasn’t punk.
Punk emerged from specific pubs and scenes.
Grunge came from Seattle.
But the NWOBHM didn’t start in one place at all.
Some people point to the Soundhouse, but that’s not the birthplace — that was a hub, a gathering point, not the origin story.
The term “New Wave of British Heavy Metal” was coined by journalists like Geoff Barton, probably because Sounds magazine saw what was happening in the late ’70s and realised that rock fans weren’t done at all — not by a long shot.
I used to buy Sounds, NME and Melody Maker. At one time, the NME treated bands like Emerson, Lake & Palmer or Deep Purple with the same enthusiasm as anything new. But once punk arrived in ’76/’77, the NME jumped ship. Suddenly, anyone with long hair was a dinosaur — and I was 16, only just discovering rock music!
Sounds, on the other hand, saw that there was still fuel in the tank for heavy metal and began championing the new guard: Iron Maiden, Samson, Def Leppard, Saxon…
But here’s the thing most people forget:
None of those bands were truly “new.”
Samson had been a blues rock band for years.
Saxon had been going forever.
You don’t grow long hair overnight — it takes commitment, time, and identity.
Rock wasn’t finished in 1977. Not by a mile.
The World I Came From
I left school in 1975. I’d seen Deep Purple in ’74. I was playing guitar. I was listening to UFO, Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin, Budgie — Physical Graffiti was the album that saw me out of school. I was completely consumed by rock music.
My first job was in a factory surrounded by drop-forging machines and hammers. I hated it. I was bullied. I’d come home in tears. Music was my escape, my friend, my lifeline.
For kids like me — in Birmingham, the home of Sabbath and Priest — heavy metal wasn’t a trend. It was identity. It was a way out.
So when punk came along and the media tried to tell us that rock was dead, it didn’t line up with reality. Rock was everywhere. American bands were still coming through. Black Sabbath released Never Say Die. And then, in 1978, Van Halen dropped their first album — a seismic event for any guitarist.
But punk did give us something important:
DIY energy.
You didn’t need to be virtuoso. You didn’t need a major label. You could press your own record. That DIY spirit gave birth to labels like Heavy Metal Records, Neat Records, Ebony Records — and that opened the door for countless metal bands who wouldn’t have stood a chance under the old system.
Suddenly, the big record companies wanted back in. Heavy metal was creeping into the charts. Compilation albums like Metallurgy and Metal for Muthas started appearing.
Heavy metal never went away. It evolves — but it never dies.
My Part in the Story
I was signed to Heavy Metal Records with The Handsome Beasts.
I played the Soundhouse.
I watched this whole movement unfold first-hand.
We were all part of something — even before it had a name.
Air guitar? Oh yes. We invented it. I was a master of the tennis racket guitar. I even played Down Down by Status Quo in 1974 on a Wilson racket that never went out of tune.
Rock pubs became sanctuaries. Clubs became tribes. Birmingham became my world. These were our people.
And suddenly the look began to change. Out went denim and flares. In came black and red, animal print, bullet belts, spandex, leather — a whole aesthetic that Judas Priest grabbed and ran with. That image shaped the ’80s, helped define glam metal… and perhaps helped undo it too when grunge stripped everything back.
Why I’m Doing This Series
We live in a world now where everything is photographed and filmed, but back then we didn’t have that luxury. I’ve been digging through my own archives — old photos, flyers, even a few live tapes from The Handsome Beasts.
I’m even trying to track down one of my old guitars — it’s in America somewhere. That’s a story in itself.
This series is about preserving these memories — the gigs, the bands we supported, the clubs we played, what it felt like when certain albums landed, and what it meant to be part of something bigger than yourself.
It’s also about community.
About how heavy metal becomes part of your DNA.
If you want behind-the-scenes stories — the ones the world might not be ready for — become a Patron or YouTube Member. You’ll get access to our private WhatsApp and Facebook groups, and to our virtual pub, The Now Spinning Arms.
This is just the beginning.
Turn it up.
Make life loud.
And I’ll talk to you very, very soon.
— Phil
Phil Aston | Now Spinning Magazine
