'80s Metal History (November 30th)

November 30, 1984: San Antonio Slayer vs. Los Angeles Slayer. Two bands enter, one band leaves... To become thrash metal superstars. Care to guess which one? Read More

Bob Catlin & Tom Araya hanging out between sets - Slayer vs Slayer November 30, 1984 - Villa Fontana, San Antonio, Texas.

The San Antonio Slayer onstage at the Villa Fortuna during the ‘Slayer vs Slayer’ show (Image credit: Don Van Stavern)

November 30, 1983: Ozzy Osbourne played the second of four nights at London's Hammersmith Odeon. "Was this the night when Ozzy joined Waysted on staged wearing a dress and a pair of wellies?" -Pete Way, Waysted (Kerrang!).

November 1984: After parting ways with singer Neil Turbin, Anthrax were about to record their new album "Spread It" with new frontman Matt Fallon, but that lasted only a minute before Joey Belladonna joined the band. -Kerrang!

November 30, 1982: Bassist Ron McGovney played his last gig with Metallica at San Francisco's Mabuhay Gardens. He ultimately quit on Dec. 10, 1982 and was replaced by Cliff Burton. "The only thing that I remember about my last show is that the house turned the power out on us during our last song. Dave and I rushed to the guy at the mixing board ready to beat his ass. He slithered away. That's how we rolled in those days." -Ron McGovney

November 30, 1984: With Dokken opening, DIO brought "The Last In Line" Tour to Oakland, California. Four songs from the new album were in the setlist. Dokken opened with "Without Warning/Tooth and Nail".

November 30, 1984: Three years before the release of their debut album, Frehley's Comet featuring former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley, performed for the first time. They played eight songs, opening with "Rip It Out".

Happy Birthday to Deep Purple and former Rainbow bassist Roger Glover (November 30, 1945).

Remembering Loudness drummer Munetaka Higuchi, who died November 30, 2008 at age 50. R.I.P.

November 30, 1985: With Japan getting the new album first, Dokken launched the "Under Lock And Key" Tour with three shows at Shibuya Koukaidou in Tokyo.

Watchtower released their debut album "Energetic Disassembly" in 1985. The band featured vocalist Jason McMaster, who left after this release to form Dangerous Toys.

November 30, 1984: Metallica brought the "Ride The Lightning" Tour (aka "Bang That Head That Doesn't Bang" Tour) to Zurich with special guest Tank. The 14 song set included two encores... "Creeping Death" and "Metal Militia"... "Am I Evil?" and "Motorbreath".

November 30, 2019: 38 years after forming, Slayer performed for the final time 😏 at The Forum in Los Angeles. The last song they played on "The Farewell" Tour was "Angel Of Death".

November 30, 1993: Guns N' Roses released "Live Era '87 - '93", featuring recordings from the '91-'93 "Use Your Illusion" Tour. Release date source: [US] CMJ New Music Report - November 29, 1999.

November 30, 1991: Six days after his death, the funeral for KISS drummer Eric Carr was held in Middletown, New York. Although it was not publicized at the time, Carr's death was considered controversial amongst his family and KISS. Both Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons were labeled the "bad guys" by Carr for booting him out of the band and not supporting him in his time of need. The two were not made aware of this until they attended his funeral and were treated with hostility by Carr's family and friends. Stanley wrote in his autobiography that, at the time, he believed the allegation of mistreating Carr was simply untrue and that he did what he thought was right to support him. However, during Carr's service, Stanley admitted to "sobbing uncontrollably" and came to regret how he had treated Carr during his illness.

Black Sabbath released their fifth studio album "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" in the UK the last week of November 1973 (January 1974 in North America) featuring the title track. "The outro to 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' is the heaviest shit I have ever heard in my life. To this day, I haven't heard anything as heavy that has as much soul." -Slash, Guns 'N Roses. Release information source: Record Mirror - November 24, 1973; UK Official Charts debut - December 8, 1973.

November 1984: Lemmy was the "Official Metal Poster Boy" for the radio promotion of Motörhead's new single "Killed By Death" in North America. 38 years later, METAL SHOP still donates to this cause weekly 🤘