It's Sunday night. My family are rotting their brains watching the X-Factor so I'm rockin' my brains listening to heavy rock in the other room! Above, my rockin' friends, is the iconic album cover to Never Turn Your Back on a Friend [I'll shorten it to NTYBOAF hereon in] by those ace welsh rockers Budgie. The cover art, on a beautiful gatefold LP sleeve, was by Roger Dean in his fantastic style made famous on Yes albums like Tales from Topographic Oceans and Relayer. Made in 1973 NTYBOAF was quite simply a heavy metal milestone from a band at the height of their powers, but who never received the fame they so richly deserved. I adored Budgie as a youngster from about the age of 12 and tried my best to look like the long-haired lead singer/bassist Burke Shelley for years, which I probably succeeded with around 1976 when I was in the 'fifth year': all long hair, velvet jacket, flared jeans and desert boots! Yes, back then we could wear what we wanted in the final year of secondary comprehensive education! Us 'hairies' would congregate in the hall at lunchtime to listen to Budgie, Rush, Free, Montrose, Purple, Sabbath and Quo. Lively discussions ensued such as who was the best rock drummer in the world, Neil Peart [Rush], Pete Boot [Budgie on In for the Kill] or Simon Kirke [Free]. Like any sub-culture worth it's salt we had our own secret lingo: 'mighty' was only ever conferred on the greatest of riffs, tracks or albums and 'soft' described only the heaviest or hardest! Many other words have faded from memory but I can clearly recollect the feeling of being part of something larger and infinitely more interesting than other music styles like Disco or Soul [well we would think so wouldn't we!]. Oddly enough I think Heavy Rock was absorbed into Punk Rock as this mid-Seventies upstart laid waste to all before it and obliterated 'Prog' for two decades!
Should you wish to sample the fineries of Budgie and NTYBOAF here's my favourite track, Parents, one which would become very important in my life. If you like it then listen to the rest and support Budgie in their dotage by buying the album, one of many in their masterly back catalogue!
Very nice track, so laid back with thoughful lyrics. Of course the rockin' track 'Breadfan' is a favourite of mine. I have a distant memory headbanging to that at the floral hall rock nights in Southport during the seventies.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing Budgie support Ozzy Osbourne at the Glasgow Apollo (1982) and what a night that was! I was there with my wife to be, best mate & his brother and we all said we'd not go to crazy in order to save ourselves for the main event.....Budgie had other ideas! (shattered by the time we got home) oh and what about one of my Budgie favorities 'Panzer Division Destroyed'? and on the subject of drummers what about Cozy Powell? mind you as a Quo fan of long standing I must put in a word for John Coghlan...Rock On Guys!
ReplyDeleteFloral Hall Rock nights and Glasgow Apollo! All sounds rockin good! I saw Budgie around 1974 at lancaster University. They headlined and were supported by Hustler, who played a stormin' set and blew us away with 'Out Out Out O' My House'. But Budgie ruled the waves that night and I headbanged so much I lost my concert programme [drat] and my glasses! I found the spex but not the programme! Alas, I stopped listening to the Welsh wonders around the time of Bandolier or Brittania - can't remember which. Panzer Division Destroyed wasn't even written then I don't think and I hate to say I've never heard it, something I shall address immediately via You Tube! I think the next LP I would have got had I continued buying was Impeccable. Maybe I'll treat myself and get hot as a docker's armpit!
ReplyDeletenever mess with a giant budgie they have big time attatudes
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