Michael Earl Saunders (born May 1952), also known as Metal Mike, is an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

critic and the singer of the Californian

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band

Angry Samoans The Angry Samoans is an American punk rock band from the first wave of American punk, formed in August 1978 in Los Angeles, California, by early 1970s rock writer "Metal" Mike Saunders, his sibling lead guitarist Bonze BlaykBad Trip Records ...

. He is credited with coining the music genre label " heavy metal" in a record review for Humble Pie's '' As Safe as Yesterday Is'' in the November 12, 1970 issue of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

.'' (The original text is shown in the

VH1 Classic MTV Classic (formerly VH1 Smooth, VH1 Classic Rock, and VH1 Classic) is an American pay television network owned by Paramount Media Networks. It was originally launched in 1998 as VH1 Smooth, an adult contemporary and smooth jazz channel. It w ...

documentary '' Heavy: The Story of Metal'' from 2007.) Six months later in 1971, he used the phrase again while reviewing

Sir Lord Baltimore Sir Lord Baltimore was an American heavy metal band from Brooklyn, New York City, formed in 1968 by lead vocalist and drummer John Garner, guitarist Louis Dambra, and bassist Gary Justin. Some have cited the 1971 review of their debut record, ...

's first album, '' Kingdom Come'', in the pages of ''

Creem ''Creem'' (often stylized in all caps) is a monthly American music magazine, based in Detroit, whose main print run lasted from 1969 to 1989. It was first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor Tony Reay. Influential crit ...

'' magazine.

Biography

Saunders was born and grew up in

Little Rock, Arkansas ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1973 with a degree in statistics; eventually he received another bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Saunders kept his day job as an accountant throughout his years as lead singer and guitarist for the Angry Samoans. Saunders'

political incorrectness ''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...

and personal attacks in his lyrics earned him (and the Angry Samoans) significant notoriety in the early 1980s, especially due to their song "Get Off the Air", an ''ad hominem'' attack upon well-known KROQ-FM DJ

Rodney Bingenheimer Rodney Bingenheimer (born December 15, 1946) is an American radio disc jockey who is best known as the host of ''Rodney on the ROQ'', a radio program that ran on the Los Angeles rock station KROQ from 1976 to 2017. In the early 1970s, he also m ...

. Saunders played drums in these bands: * VOM – Los Angeles, 1977–78 (with

Richard Meltzer Richard Meltzer (born May 10, 1945) is an American rock critic, performer, writer and songwriter. He is considered by some rock historians to be the first to write real analysis of rock and roll and is credited with inventing "rock criticism". B ...

and future Angry Samoan Gregg Turner) *Fried Abortions – San Francisco, 1980–82 (changed two members and their name to Lennonburger) *Lennonburger – San Francisco, 1983–84 (with

Maximumrocknroll ''Maximumrocknroll'', often written as ''Maximum Rocknroll'' and usually abbreviated as ''MRR'', is a not-for-profit monthly zine of punk subculture. Based in San Francisco, ''MRR'' focuses on punk rock and hardcore music, and primarily featu ...

's Jeff Bale on lead vocals) *Electric Koels – San Francisco, 1985–88 (1960s retro-garage band with five original songs and 55 cover tunes) Saunders also drummed on all the "Metal Mike" CDs usually missing from Angry Samoans discographies. Although he maintains that "drums are my best instrument", Saunders has written over 1,000 rock songs in his lifetime, all methodically recorded to mono on oldfashioned Sony portable kitchen-table cassette recorders.Blayk, bonze Anne Rose
"How Angry Was My Samoa..."ANGRY SAMOANS
official website, June 1998. Retrieved 2010-09-14.

Discography

As Metal Mike, he recorded: *''Plays the Hits of the 90's'' (CD EP, 1991) *''Ted Nugent Is Not My Dad'' (CD EP, 1992) *''My Girlfriend Is a Rock'' (CD EP, 1993) *''Next Stop Nowhere'' (CD 22-song compilation, 1994) *''Surf City or Bust'' (CD, 1999; features 20 tracks including the previously unreleased 1969 The Rockin' Blewz album ''I'm a Roadrunner Motherfucka'') *A cover of "I Remember You" on '' Gabba Gabba Hey: A Tribute to the Ramones'' (CD, 1991)

References

External links

*
Angry Samoans home page
by Metal Mike Saunders archived at ''Rock's Back Pages'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Mike 1952 births Living people American punk rock singers American punk rock guitarists Musicians from Little Rock, Arkansas American music critics University of Texas at Austin alumni University of Arkansas at Little Rock alumni Singers from Arkansas Guitarists from Arkansas 20th-century American guitarists