'80s Metal History (April 12th)

April 12, 1988: Iron Maiden released their 7th album "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son" in North America (one day earlier in the UK) featuring singles "Can I Play With Madness", "The Evil That Men Do" and "The Clairvoyant". "I wrote 'The Clairvoyant' and then went to Bruce with it and basically he said, 'Yeah, it’s a great idea!' I started then having an idea for a song, 'Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son', because supposedly if you were born the seventh son of a seventh son you had the powers of a clairvoyant. So I had those two ideas and Bruce went, 'You know what? We should do a concept album about this…'" -Steve Harris Read More

Iron Maiden "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son" release date source: [US] Billboard Magazine - April 2, 1988; [UK] Kerrang! - April 9, 1988.

April 12, 1986: Ozzy Osbourne brought "The Ultimate Sin" Tour to Johnstown, Pennsylvania with special guest Metallica. "They were heavy as shit. They were angry, there was nothing polished or pretty about them. I thought that was awesome." -Jake E. Lee

April 12, 1984: W.A.S.P. were about to go worldwide after signing with Capitol Records and they celebrated with their fans at the Troubadour in Los Angeles with $1 admission.

April 12, 1980: With their debut album "On Through The Night" in UK record shops for about a month, Def Leppard were touring their home country with shows nearly everyday including "Heavy Metal Night" at New Cornish Riviera Lido in St. Austell, England.

April 1993: Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil released "Sister Of Pain" in North America as the lead single from his debut solo album "Exposed". Another song on the LP "You're Invited (But Your Friend Can't Come)" was issued a year earlier as a single from the "Encino Man" movie soundtrack. Release information source: [US] The Hard Report radio trade publication ad - April 9, 1993.

Happy Birthday to Overkill founding member, bassist and songwriter D.D. Verni (April 12, 1961).

April 12, 1990: Metal Church played London's Hammersmith Odeon, strangely with no original members (guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof was gone and singer David Wayne started new band Reverend)... "Thankfully though that buzzsaw guitar and incessant rhythm at the core of Metal Church's heart remains unchanged." -Kerrang!

The concert that was meant for 1988's "Nö Sleep At All", but went missing for some years, was released as "Motörhead - Live At Brixton '87" in 1994, and without the permission of the band until its reissue in 2005.

April 12, 1984: "Accept ran into problems when they found they were more successful in the States than they'd thought, and the tiny clubs they were headlining between opening stints on the Saxon tour were getting well oversold, including a show in Costa Mesa, California where local police surrounded the small club where the band was playing, barged in during the fourth song and pulled the plug on them." -Kerrang!

April 12, 1986: Less than three months before seeing the release of their debut album "Doomsday For The Deceiver", Flotsam and Jetsam performed at the Mason Jar in Phoenix with special guest Sacred Reich.

April 12, 1986: With opener Kix, KISS ended the "Asylum" Tour in Pittsburgh. This was a makeup date as the originally scheduled show for April 3rd was canceled two hours before when a transformer blew out the lights.

Van Halen's third studio album "Women And Children First" was a worldwide hit, including the UK, where it peaked at No. 15 this week in 1980. Record Mirror ad - April 19, 1980

April 12, 2000: Metallica filed a lawsuit against Napster, Yale University, The University of Southern California and Indiana University for copyright infringement. “We take our craft — whether it be the music, the lyrics, or the photos and artwork — very seriously, as do most artists. It is therefore sickening to know that our art is being traded like a commodity rather than the art that it is.” -Lars Ulrich

April 1984: Megaforce was becoming a force in US thrash metal [Metallica, Anthrax, Exciter], Danish metal from Mercyful Fate and the power metal of Manowar.

April 1986: "Public Enemy No. 1!" Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P. "Hell-Bent On Rock!" was on the cover of Faces Magazine. Inside was a warning from Dee Snider "Twisted Sister's No Joke".