'80s Metal History (December 15th)

December 15, 1987: After playing his first gig with Ozzy Osbourne six months earlier at a London prison, Zakk Wylde was officially introduced as Ozzy's new guitarist at a press conference at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City. Ozzy commented: "I knew Zakk passed the test after suitably impressing all the murderers in the audience." -Kerrang (January 16, 1988)

December 15, 1983: Kerrang! reported that Megaforce founder Johnny Z had formed a second record label called "Avalanche" that would specialise in heavy bands with a wider appeal... The first releases coming from T.T. Quick, Eric Steel and Metal Church.

Guitarist Jake E. Lee told Kerrang! this month in 1991 "the album's basically written," but band turmoil shelved Badlands' third LP until "Dusk" was issued in 1998.

Recorded between 1987 and 1990, Savatage released live album "Ghost In The Ruins – A Tribute To Criss Oliva" in 1995. Along with his brother Jon, Criss co-founded Savatage. He was killed by a drunk driver in Florida in 1993. R.I.P.

Happy birthday to former Ozzy, King Kobra and Blue Murder drummer Carmine Appice (December 15, 1946).

Happy birthday to former Stryper bassist [1983-2017] Tim Gaines (December 15, 1962).

Happy birthday to former Agent Steel and Holy Terror guitarist Kurt Kilfelt (December 15, 1960).

December 15, 2008: Metallica released "All Nightmare Long" from the album "Death Magnetic", "an attempt to get back to the H.P. Lovecraft mythos with The Thing That Should Not Be, The Call Of Ktulu... This was about the Hounds of Tindalos." –James Hetfield. Release date source: Blabbermouth.net - November 14, 2008.

December 15, 1984: Motörhead demolished the Big Apple a night earlier with a show at New York City's Beacon Theatre where Lemmy and the boys were joined by Wendy O. Williams.

December 15, 1990: AC/DC played the first of two nights at Long Beach Arena in Southern California. Fan Memory from the AC/DC website: "I was there, center stage 10 rows back, loudest concert I've ever been too, period! Every time the opening band "Love and Hate" drummer hit the bass pedal my hair flew back, AC/DC, so loud my ears rang for days!! Loved every minute of it!!" -Casacs, Yorba Linda

December 15, 1991: Nearing the end of a five month trek of Europe and Japan on the "No Fucking Frills Tour", Skid Row with special guests L.A. Guns played the second of six German dates in Hanover.

December 1984: Recorded August 25th in Philadelphia on the "The Last In Line" Tour, DIO released "A Special From The Spectrum" on home video in North America. "The hydraulics controlled 3 headed cobra, the miniature replicas of the sphinxes, and the pyramid construction of the stage all tie in heavily with the largeness of the album... And of course, the performance backs up all of the fancy stage props." -hells_unicorn

December 1984: With the music videos for "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock" blowing up on MTV in the US, Twisted Sister struck while the iron was hot with the release of the "Stay Hungry" videos on VHS.

December 15, 1990: Their latest album "No Prayer For The Dying" was just released in October, but that was enough time to determine that Iron Maiden were "The Most Successful Metal Band Of 1990" in Europe and the next single from the LP was due on Christmas Eve. Music & Media ad - December 15, 1990

December 15, 1984: Mötley Crüe's (inverted) star was on the rise and the band got the cover of Britain's Kerrang! Magazine... "We believe in the theory of good and evil but, as for Satan and black magic and that kind of stuff, we really don't see any validity in it. That's not what we're about." -Nikki Sixx. "We're more into just raisin' hell and having a good time..." -Vince Neil

METAL SHOP is playing only two Christmas songs... You're welcome. But if you need more or just want to see how it feels just for a second, then check out the METAL SHOP Xmas Playlist on Spotify