Heavy Metal Kids are a British rock band.

History

Early years (1973–1985)

Heavy Metal Kids were formed in 1972 by the merger of two previous bands:

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and Biggles. They took their name from a gang of street kids, featured in the novel ''

Nova Express ''Nova Express'' is a 1964 novel by American author William S. Burroughs. It was written using the 'fold-in' method, a version of the cut-up method, developed by Burroughs with Brion Gysin, of enfolding snippets of different texts into the nove ...

'' by

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...

. The initial, pre-recording line-up consisted of

Mickey Waller Michael Waller (6 September 1941 – 29 April 2008) was an English drummer, who played with many of the biggest names on the UK rock and blues scene, after he became a professional musician in 1960. In addition to being a member, albeit sometim ...

(guitar), Ronnie Thomas (bass, backing vocals),

Gary Holton Gary Frederick Holton (22 September 1953 – 25 October 1985) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and actor from London. He was the frontman of the band Heavy Metal Kids (1972–1977), worked with Casino Steel (1981–1984), and played ...

(lead vocals), Keith Boyce (drums) and Cosmo (guitar). They were the first signing by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

' new London offices, having been spotted by their A&R man,

Dave Dee David John Harman, known professionally as Dave Dee (17 December 1941 – 9 January 2009), was an English singer-songwriter, musician, A&R manager, fundraiser and businessman. He was the frontman for the 1960s pop band Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, M ...

. In 1973, they were joined by keyboard player

Danny Peyronel Danny Peyronel (born Daniel Augusto Peyronel, 17 March 1953) is an Argentine-born English rock singer, songwriter, keyboard player and producer, best known for his work in rock groups such as the Heavy Metal Kids and UFO. He had an English publ ...

. In January 1974, they recorded their first, self-titled

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, produced by Dave Dee and engineered by Phil Chapman. Waller left the band shortly before they went in to Island Studios, to record the follow-up album ''Anvil Chorus'', in January 1975, which was produced by

Andy Johns Jeremy Andrew "Andy" Johns (20 May 1950 – 7 April 2013) was a British sound engineer and record producer who worked on several well-known rock albums, including the Rolling Stones' '' Exile on Main St.'' (1972), Television's '' Marquee Moon'' ...

. At this point Danny Peyronel left to join

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

and was replaced by John Sinclair. Shortly after, Cosmo was replaced by Barry Paul, and the band moved to

Mickie Most Michael Peter Hayes (20 June 1938 – 30 May 2003), known as Mickie Most, was an English record producer behind scores of hit singles for acts such as the Animals, Herman's Hermits, the Nashville Teens, Donovan, Lulu, Suzi Quatro, Hot Chocolate ...

's RAK Records where they recorded ''Kitsch'', which was produced by Most. John Sinclair left to join Uriah Heep and was replaced by Jay Williams. Keith Boyce left and was replaced by Ricky Squires, previously of the dEAd ENd KIdS.

Reunion (2002–present)

After Holton's death in 1985, the band went into a long hiatus until, in 2002, they recorded a new album, ''Hit the Right Button'', released in 2003 and featuring Peyronel, now on lead vocals and keyboards, Ronnie Thomas, Keith Boyce, Marco Barusso (guitars, backing vocals) and Marco Guarnerio (guitars, backing vocals). The album was produced by Barusso. ''Hit The Right Button'' enjoyed critical success. The 'twentieth century' Heavy Metal Kids embarked on a series of tours of the UK and Europe. In early 2008, a 'special edition' of the album was released by Angel Air Records. Under the name ''Hit The Right Button Plus'', the CD featured four of their songs performed live in London and Milan between 2003 and 2005 as bonus tracks, as well as fully re-designed artwork. In October 2008, and now featuring Matteo Salvadori replacing Guarnerio, Heavy Metal Kids went into Massive Arts Studio in Milan, where initial recordings were made. Barusso worked for nearly two years with Salvadori and Peyronel trying to finish the album but it was never completed. On 8 August 2010, Peyronel left the band and shortly after this, the

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

John Altman was unveiled as the new lead singer. Altman was a friend of the original frontman, Holton, and he appeared with him in ''

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''. In October 2010, Heavy Metal Kids embarked on a tour with the new line-up featuring John Altman (lead vocals), Ronnie Thomas (bass, backing vocals), Cosmo (guitar), Keith Boyce (drums) and Justin McConville (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals). They have been working on their album to be titled 'Uncontrollable!'. A single of the same title has been released. In early 2011, John Altman announced he was leaving the band to focus on his other commitments.

L.A. Guns L.A. Guns is an American glam metal band from Los Angeles, formed in 1983. The lineup currently consists of Tracii Guns (lead guitar), Phil Lewis (lead vocals), Ace Von Johnson (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Johnny Martin (bass, backing vo ...

frontman Phil Lewis joined the band for a couple of gigs and would return to the band for some performances later in the year. The band then performed as a four-piece with Justin McConville taking on lead vocal duties. In October 2011, Ronnie Thomas appeared in the

Identity Parade A police lineup (in American English) or identity parade (in British English) is a process by which a crime victim or witness's putative identification of a suspect is confirmed to a level that can count as evidence at trial. The suspect, alo ...

round of ''

Never Mind the Buzzcocks ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first hoste ...

'', preceded by video clip of the ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' recording of "She's No Angel". In 2012, Thomas left the band and was replaced by Ronnie Garrity until August 2015 when PJ Phillips was recruited for bass and backing vocal duties.

Discography

*''Heavy Metal Kids'' (1974) *''Anvil Chorus'' (1975) *''Kitsch'' (1976) *''Chelsea Kids'' (1987) *''Live and Loud !!'' (1988) *''Hit the Right Button'' (2003) *''By Appointment... Best of the Old Bollocks'' (2004) *''Delirious, Classic Kids Capers'' (DVD) 2006 *''Heavy Metal Kids with Phil Lewis Live at Camden Underworld'' (DVD) 2011

Members

File:MickeyWaller74.png, Mickey Waller File:GaryHolton1974.jpg, Gary Holton File:DannyPeyronel HMK 1974.png, Danny Peyronel File:MickeyWaller and RonnieThomas1974.png, Mickey Waller & Ronnie Thomas

Current members

* Simon Gordon — lead vocals (2022—present) * Cosimo "Cosmo" Verrico — guitar (1974–1975, 2010-present) * Andy Fuller — keyboards (2022-present) * PJ Phillips — bass guitar, backing vocals (2015–2019, 2021-present) * Keith Boyce — drums (1973–1978, 1982–1985, 2002-present)

Former members

— lead vocals (1972–1978, 1983–1985; died 1985) *

– guitars (1972–1974; died 2012) * Ronnie Thomas – bass guitar, backing vocals (1972–1978, 1983–1985, 2002–2011) *

– keyboards, backing vocals, lead vocals (1973–1975, 2002–2010) * Barry Paul – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1975–1978, 1983–1985) * John Sinclair – keyboards, backing vocals (1975–1976) * Jay Williams – lead guitar (1976–1978, 1983–1985) * Ricky Squires – drums (1983–1985) * Marco Guarnerio — rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2002–2010) * Marco Barusso – lead guitar, backing vocals (2002–2010) * John Altman — lead vocals (2010) * Phil Lewis — lead vocals (2010–2011) * Ronnie Garrity — bass guitar, backing vocals (2012–2015) * Justin McConville — rhythm guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals (2010–2019) * Paul Manzi — lead vocals (2015–2016, 2020–2021)

Timeline

References

Bibliography

*York, W, (1982). ''Who's Who In Rock'', Arthur Barker, Ltd. *Jasper, T & Oliver, D, (1983). ''The International Encyclopedia of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal'', Sidgwick and Jackson, Ltd. *Van den Heuvel, J A, (1990). ''Hard Rock and Heavy Metal Encyclopedia'', Arcana Editrice, Srl. *Popoff, M, (2005). ''UFO Shoot Out The Lights'', Metal Blade, Inc.

External links

Official website
{{Authority control English rock music groups English glam rock groups Musical groups established in 1972 Rak Records artists