Mike Whitbread (ARC, Red Hunter): The Arc of Time

ARC from Stourport-on-Severn were one of those bands which lasted for a few years and released just a pair of singles but gained cult status among the fans of hard rock and early heavy metal. Their second single “War of the Ring” was based on J. R. R. Tolkien books and came out waaaay before this fantasy theme spread like a plague in power metal. I tried so hard to find anyone from this band but it seemed the guys were rare guests on Facebook so I almost gave up when David Towers came to rescue. He was a member of Red Hunter together with the Whitbread brothers in 2000’s and agreed to conduct the interview with Mike Whitbread and transcript it for the blog!  

Guy Titley (ex-Virgin Star): "We were just doing something we enjoyed"

Worcestershire’s Virgin Star isn’t the band that comes first to your mind when you think of NWOBHM. The band released a bunch of demos and one single before calling it a day. Oh, yes, they managed to make it in the “Armed & Ready” section of “Kerrang!”. But basically that’s it. The Simon brothers later went on to play in Ipanema Katz and are now in the great band 3Sixty but I decided to get in touch with the bass player Guy Titley (thanks to his brother Ralph) who was in Virgin Star in the early days and here is what he had to say.

Mark Venables (ex-Lone Wolf/Di'Anno): Fish, chips and Rock'n'Roll

After his departure from Iron Maiden Paul Di'Anno has had very eventful but also very chaotic career. The albums he recorded with Maiden still sound awesome and sum up what NWOBHM is about. I guess many people expected something raw and brutal on his first solo album and were quite surprised when the record finally hit the record stores. It was softer and more radio friendly type of music but to my taste the album is great anyway. Mark Venables who was the keyboard player on that album, recalls what it was like to play in that band. 

Mendes Prey: The Mists Of Time

Mendes Prey… Do I need to say more to introduce this band to all the NWOBHM lovers? I believe that everyone who digs this music a bit deeper than a few articles in the Classic Rock Magazine is familiar with this awesome act. The band always delivered the goods and recorded some of the songs with that U.F.O./M.S.G. feel which are pure NWOBHM classics now. Mark Sutcliffe, the guitarist of Mendes Prey from 1982 to 1986 (not to confuse with the leader of Trespass), did such a good job offering a lot of information and reflections about the story of the band.  

Wolf: Howling from the edge of the world

Carlisle natives Wolf were one of the most promising bands of NWOBHM. They had everything a band needs to be successful: great songs, awesome musicians, a deal with a major. But sometimes it just doesn’t work. Unfortunately that was the case of Wolf — after just one album and tour with Scorpions the band lost the deal and dissolved in eternity. Bill Keir, the guitarist of Wolf, shared his memories about his time with the band.

Gordon Sinclair (Medusa Touch): "I want to play metal for as long as i can"

Scotland’s Medusa Touch is another NWOBHM band I wasn’t aware of until recently. But Internet can be a big help in terms of discovering new names and thanks to Strappado’s Heavy Metal Rarities Forum I finally got a chance to listen to the band’s music. So I contacted Gordon “Gogsy” Sinclair and here we are talking about what it was like to be a heavy metal band in Edinburgh in the late 70’s — mid 80’s.

Andy Makin (ex-Psycho Motel): "What we did was pretty different for 1997!"

Well, I know that Psycho Motel isn't NWOBHM, but it's still good and interesting music and  the band has some connection to the movement due to Adrian Smith. Adrian has been my favorite person from Iron Maiden and I was always interested in what he did during his solo career. And thanks to Andy Makin who kindly agreed to answer my questions we have a chance to give the album "Welcome To The World" another spin and learn more about it.