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Ethel the Frog was a heavy metal band formed in 1976 in Hull, England. They are notable for being a part of the new wave of British heavy metal movement. The band's unusual name was taken from a Monty Python sketch about the "Piranha Brothers". [1]
The original line-up was:
After building a local following, they released a heavy version of The Beatles song "Eleanor Rigby" in 1978. Ethel the Frog also contributed the song "Fight Back" to one of Neal Kay's Metal for Muthas compilations. [1] In 1979, they signed a recording contract with EMI, which re-released the "Eleanor Rigby" single with "Fight Back" as the B-side. [2]
Their self-titled debut album was released in 1980. [1] A CD release on a small record label, British Steel, appeared in 1997.
Hopkinson, probably one of the very few early new wave metal bassists to play a six string Fender bass guitar became a lecturer at the University of Leicester School of Archaeology. [3]
Tognola and Conyers went on to join a band called Salem, releasing one single called "Reach for Eternity/Cold as Steel" in 1982. [1] That band split in 1983, then reformed in 2009.
Doug Sheppard continued to play in cover bands, but then formed the band No Messiahs which has since dissolved. He continues to play guitar in the Netherlands and has several original songs issued on Reverbnation. [4]
"Piranha Brothers" is a Monty Python sketch that was first seen in the first episode of the second series of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Originally broadcast on television on 15 September 1970, the premise is a BBC current affairs documentary programme, inexplicably titled Ethel the Frog, retrospectively covering the exploits of the brothers Doug and Dinsdale Piranha. The sociopathic criminals employed a combination of "violence and sarcasm" to intimidate the London underworld and bring the city to its knees. Dinsdale is also described as being afraid of "Spiny Norman", a gigantic imaginary hedgehog whose reported size varied based on Dinsdale's mood. The threat of Norman affected Dinsdale so severely that it led him to launch a nuclear weapon attack on an airplane hangar at Luton International Airport on 22 February 1966. During the end of the sketch, which also ends the episode, the creature is apparently revealed as real and appearing beside various English landmarks as the credits roll.
Iron Maiden is the debut studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 14 April 1980 by EMI Records in the UK and Harvest and Capitol Records in the US. The North American version included the song "Sanctuary", released in the UK as a non-album single. In 1998, along with the rest of the band's pre-1995 releases, Iron Maiden was remastered with "Sanctuary" added in all territories. However, 2014 vinyl reissues, 2015 digital releases and 2018 CD reissues use the original track listing across the globe. It is the band's only album to feature guitarist Dennis Stratton.
Paul Andrews, better known by his stage name Paul Di'Anno, is an English heavy metal singer who was the lead vocalist for Iron Maiden from 1978 to 1981. In his post-Maiden career, Di'Anno has issued numerous albums over the years, as both a solo artist and as a member of such bands as Gogmagog, Di'Anno's Battlezone, Killers, Rockfellas, and more recently, Paul Di'Anno's Warhorse. Together with fellow Iron Maiden member Dennis Stratton, he joined Praying Mantis for the recording of their 1990 live album Live at Last.
Holocaust are a Scottish heavy metal band founded in 1977 and based in Edinburgh.
Graham David Fellows is an English actor and musician, best known for releasing the 1978 single "Jilted John", which reached #4 on the UK Singles Chart, and creating the comedic character John Shuttleworth in 1986.
Angel Witch are a British heavy metal band which formed in London in 1976 as part of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) movement.
Eric Goulden, known as Wreckless Eric, is an English rock and new wave singer-songwriter, best known for his 1977 single "Whole Wide World" on Stiff Records. More than two decades after its release, the song was included in Mojo magazine's list of the best punk rock singles of all time. It was also acclaimed as one of the "top 40 singles of the alternative era 1975–2000".
Neal Kay is a former London-based disc jockey, who was an important factor in the rise of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM), along with Tommy Vance, in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
"Running Free" is the debut single by Iron Maiden, released on 8 February 1980 on the 7" 45 rpm vinyl record format. It was written by Steve Harris and Paul Di'Anno. The song appears as the third track on the band's debut album Iron Maiden. In 1985, a live version of the song was released as the first single from Live After Death. In 1990, the original single was reissued on CD and 12" vinyl as part of The First Ten Years box, in which it was combined with the band's next single, "Sanctuary". The 1985 live single was also released as part of this box set, combined with 1985's "Run to the Hills".
Barry Graham Purkis, more commonly known as Thunderstick, is an English drummer who wore various masks and used to perform on-stage closed in a cage. He was in the cult-band Samson, with whom his name is most associated.
Geordie are a British rock band from Newcastle upon Tyne, most notably active in the 1970s. With notable songs, "Don't Do That", "All Because Of You", "Can You Do It", "Electric Lady" and "Goodbye Love".
Metal for Muthas is the name given to a series of heavy metal compilations made during the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM).
"Sanctuary" is the second single released by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. The single was released on 23 May 1980. Although originally issued as a non-album single, the song was added to the later US release of their debut studio record, Iron Maiden (1980). When the album was re-released in 1998, the song was added in all territories. In 1990, it was reissued on CD and 12" vinyl in The First Ten Years box set, in which it was combined with their first single, "Running Free".
White Spirit were an English heavy metal band from Hartlepool, best remembered for guitarist Janick Gers who went on to play with Ian Gillan, Bruce Dickinson, and ultimately, Iron Maiden. Other original members of the band were Bruce Ruff (vocals), Malcolm Pearson (keyboards), Phil Brady (bass) and Graeme Crallan (drums), with a later lineup including Brian Howe (vocals), Mick Tucker (guitars) and Toby Sadler (bass). Pearson and Tucker revived the band in 2022.
Praying Mantis are an English heavy metal band. Although a part of the new wave of British heavy metal scene, they pursued a musical direction more melodic and AOR-sounding than their contemporaries Iron Maiden and Saxon (band).
"Virus" is a single from Iron Maiden, released in 1996. It is the first single since 1980's "Women in Uniform" that does not appear on any official Iron Maiden studio album. It was, however, featured as a brand new track on the band's first ever career retrospective – 1996's double-disc Best of the Beast. It is the only Iron Maiden song to be credited to both of the band's guitarists. It has never been performed live by Iron Maiden, but Blaze Bayley performed it several times in his solo career. Lyrically, the song warns of rising business and government corruption in an increasingly Internet-dependent world.
This is a timeline documenting the events of heavy metal in the year 1980.
Jameson Raid are a British heavy metal band. They are usually considered to be part of the new wave of British heavy metal, following their inclusion on EMI's album Metal For Muthas II, although they were established on the Birmingham circuit as a hard rock band several years before this.
Trespass are a British heavy metal band from Sudbury, Suffolk, England. They were part of the new wave of British heavy metal at the beginning of the 1980s. The band reformed in 2015.
Salem UK is a hard rock/heavy metal band from Hull, England. It was formed following the split of the new wave of British heavy metal band Ethel the Frog. Salem recorded three demos and a single in the early 1980s; a compilation album of these recordings was released in 2010.
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