Did You Bang Your Head at the Soundhouse?

For those who may recall or perhaps are just curious, The Soundhouse was the headquarters for listening to and promoting the New Wave of British Heavy Metal music. It was a venue in London that provided a place for devotees to listen to the best in hard rock and emerging bands and sounds.

The Soundhouse was located in several different pubs through its history, but began in the Prince of Wales pub in London in the mid 1970s. The popularity of the Soundhouse really took off when Neal Kay was hired to be the DJ at the popular night spot. Kay had a dynamic style of showmanship, which he used to promote the bands and sounds of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal.

If you wanted to hear the latest NWOBHM band, you drank beer and played air guitar at the Soundhouse. Neal Kay was the Soundhouse's DJ for early shows of such British metal greats as Angel Witch, Praying Mantis, and Iron Maiden. More established heavy metal bands such as Judas Priest and Motorhead performed at the Soundhouse as well.

Eventually Neal Kay's style and promotion expertise caused the Soundhouse experience to spread outside of its Kingsbury, London neighborhood. The "Heavy Metal Crusade" tour was formed, and featured bands like Iron Maiden and Saxon in many different venues in London, spreading the sound of NWOBHM around London to gain more fans. Unfortunately, the Soundhouse had a disagreement with its main venue's brewery. This led the Soundhouse to move to several new homes, namely the Headstone, the Queen Ann Arms, the Clay Pigeon, and the Royal Standard, all of which were pubs.

The last official night of Soundhouse was in 1992 at the pub the Clay Pigeon in Eastcote, England. Revivals of Soundhouse nights began, led by Neal Kay, and were held in the Raynor pub. These performances began in 2000 and continued until 2006, when Soundhouse once again lost its place to perform.

For more on the new wave of British heavy metal including news and reviews on NWOBHM and other classic rock, please visit the blog at http://www.newwaveofbritishheavymetal.com



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