The Metal Files

So back in 1995/1996 I was still married to my now ex-wife.  She was a voracious reader and during our brief marriage inspired me to do some reading.  Most of the time it was band/musician biographies.  Sometimes it was just catching up on John Saul books (all of which suck anymore).  One day I went to the library and was just thumbing through the reference books and came across “Headbangers – The Worldwide MegaBook of Heavy Metal Bands” by Mark Hale.  I cracked it open and just started freaking out.  This book had just about everyone in it that was a metal band.  It spans from the late 60s to about 1990 and does a wonderful job of cross-referencing bands, listing albums and catalog numbers.  There’s an index in the back of musicians, band names, countries of origin and record labels with catalog numbers.  It’s a pretty extensive hardcover book.  This book blows away any of that Martin Popoff crap.

Hale gives descriptions of the bands and does his best not to inject bias.  It’s 540+ pages of heavy metal goodness.

My ex and I split up in late 1996 and by early 1997 I had started my own CD sales business.  I was mostly doing it by word of mouth between friends, eBay and had started an online music store, Acacia Music (defunct).  I check the book out from the library several times and finally called the publisher to see if they still had any copies.  Luckily they did.  Having a business license and tax ID number, they sold me the book for $75.  One of the best investments that I have ever made.

The book has 2 editions.  The first edition had a run of 250 copies and the second run of the first edition had 500 copies.  That’s it!

Somewhere along the line I decided to get it signed by bands that were in it.  If I remember correctly the first signatures were by Warrell Dane/Jim Shepherd (Sanctuary) and Jon Shafer (Purgatory 60 aka Iced Earth) when Nevermore and Iced Earth were touring together in 1999.

From there and if it was convenient, I would get bands to sign it.  If it meant having to lug the 5lb book around all day or night, I wouldn’t bother with it.

Over the years I’ve met a lot of bands who are in it and some of the encounters were pretty random.  I think in the coming months I’ll start writing about the signatures and how I obtained them.  Many of them had some good stories attached to them.  Typically I get the same reaction, “What the hell is this and where the hell did you get it?”

I’ve owned 5 copies of this so far.  I try to find them for cheap online and typically give them to close friends as a gift.  Recently I sold one to a new friend during the SxSW festival for the same price that I paid for it.

If you’re a fan of metal, especially the pre-1990 stuff, this book is a must have.  They typically don’t come cheaply but you can generally find some on Amazon.com.  Most of the copies there are ex-library copies.

Here’s the current list of signatures updated 5/5/12):

Agony Column – Stuart Laurence
At War – Paul Arnold, Shawn Helsel
Battlezone – Paul Di’Anno
Black N Blue – Pete Holmes
Dark Angel – Gene Hoglan
Deceased – King Fowley
Devastation – Rodney Dunsmore
Dirty Looks – Paul Lidel
English Dogs – Graham Butt (one of the funniest inscriptions ever…you had to be there)
Faster Pussycat – Taime Down, Brent Muscat, 2 non-original members
Forbidden – Tim Calvert
Raven/Pentagram – Joe Hasselvander
Helstar – James Rivera
Lizzy Borden – Alex Nelson (RIP), Lizzy Borden, Joesy Scott Harges
Megadeth – Dave Mustaine
Militia – Mike Soliz, Rob Willingham, Phil Achee, Tony Smith, Jesse Villegas
MSG – Michael Schenker
Mystic Force – Keith Menser
Nuclear Assault – Dan Lilker, John Connelly
Obituary – James Murphy
Ozzy – Tommy Aldridge
Pretty Boy Floyd – Steve Summers, 2 non-original members
Iced Earth/Purgatory 60 – John Schafer
Raven – John Gallagher, Mark Gallagher
Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force – Yngwie Malmsteen, Anders Johansson
Scorpions – Uli Roth
Sabbat – Martin Walkyier, Andy Sneap, Simon Negus, Simon Jones
Sadus – Steve DiGiorgio
Sanctuary – Warrel Dane, Jim Sheppard
Slayer – Dave Lombardo
S.A. Slayer – Bob Catlin
Takashi – Danny Stanton
Tesla – Troy Lucketta, Tommy Skeoch, Brian Wheat, Frank Hannon, Jeff Keith
Testament – Chuck Billy, Alex Skolnick, Greg Christian, Eric Peterson
Thin Lizzy – John Sykes, Scott Gorham
Triumph – Rik Emmett
Turbin – Doug Morrison
Vendetta (Chicago) – Klyph Black
Watchtower – Jason McMaster, Ron Jarzombek, Billy White, Rick Colaluca
Forte’ – Rev Jones (band not in the book)
Enuff Z’Nuff – Chip Znuff, 3 non-original members
Ace Frehley – Anton Fig
SOD – Billy Milano
Hirax – Katon W. DePena
Deliverance – Glenn Rogers
DRI – Felix Griffin
DIO – Rowan Robertson
Odin – Sean, Jeff and Matt Duncan, Randy O., Aaron Samson
Rotting Corpse – John Perez
Exodus – Gary Holt, Tom Hunting
Celtic Frost – Tom G Warrior
Assalant – Mike Botello
Pentagram – Bobby Liebling, Victor Griffin
Riot – Don Van Stavern, Bobby Jarzombek
Motorhead – Lemmy Kilmister
King Diamond – Mikkey Dee
Fates Warning – Frank Aresti, John Arch, Jim Matheos, Victor Arduini, Steve Zimmerman
The Rods – Carl Canedy, David Feinstein, Garry Bordonaro
Salty Dog – Michael Hannon
Armored Saint – Joey Vera
Metal Blade Records – Brian Slagel