I still bought a few Punk singles that year, and also in February 1979, bought the last Stranglers album that really interested me;- 'Live X-Cert', which captured the essence of their early punk era. But their studio album 'The Raven', released in September of that year was something of a disappointment to me. In hindsight, it's still a good album, but it was a transitional period that showed leanings towards the smoother, more commercial road which they would travel down throughout the 1980s.
My short-lived love affair with TRB would also end early that year with the release of their second and final album in March 1979, which was also softer and distinctly lacking the energy and ferocity of 'Power in the Darkness'. The band themselves would split soon afterwards, but as the rock charisma of Led Zeppelin seduced me, I barely noticed, and along with the Stranglers and punk/new wave in general, they would be forgotten by the end of the year.
When I left school in June '79, my record collection began the grow rapidly and became album, rather single focussed, when I began to earn a modest wage of my own in my first job. Whereas previously, albums were reserved for only particular favourites, now, through the medium of second-hand record stores, I could afford to experiment and try albums out by a host of different bands, and this would soon develop into me going to my first rock concerts in the latter part of the year.
But the domination of my musical tastes by heavy rock, was spearheaded by Led Zeppelin. On February 2nd 1979 one of the their Radio 1 sessions from way back in1969, which included a live concert; which, as my parents had brought me a music centre of my own the previous christmas; I had recorded on cassette, and played it constantly; well before I got around to buying any of their albums.
The raw emotional power of those early Led Zep recordings always stayed with me. To this day, I prefer them to most of their studio output; much as I would grow to love their albums over the next year or so.
Ironically, like Rock 'n' Roll before them, Led Zeppelin were a band who had been around for a long time before I discovered them, and it was to my lament at the time that I would miss my only opportunity to see them live, as plans for a full UK tour never came to fruition because they disbanded after the tragic death of John Bonham the following year. On the plus side, there was a back-catalogue of albums to discover, and it was somehow fitting then, that my first Led Zep albums were their first one, followed by their live album, which both reflected my love of those early Radio 1 sessions.
That year, I had made a new friend who was also into heavy rock and particularly Led Zeppelin, via his aunt had bought their first album back in 1969. He brought it round to my house to listen to, and that was how I first heard their first album. We became firm friends, and soon afterwards, we found out that the Led Zeppelin film of the live album; 'The Song Remains the Same', was showing at the Derby Playhouse. We went to see the film, and I was totally swept away; and 'The Song Remains the Same' became my second Led Zep album.
I think Led Zeppelin were the first band where I truly appreciated the musicianship of all four members of the band. But it has to be said that it was Robert Plant's soaring vocals, mirrored by Jimmy Page's seemingly magical guitar playing that had a particularly big effect on me; Especially seeing it all encapsulated in a live performance on the big screen. It was almost overwhelming; There was so much to take in.
In Jimmy Page, I had never seen anyone play so fast; But with so much fire and intensity between him and Robert Plant, who between them seemed to express such an intense, emotional feeling; from the searing blues performances of 'I Can't Quit You Babe' and 'Since I've Been Loving You', to the epic, mind-boggling virtuosity of 'Dazed and Confused'.
The combined powerhouse effect of the whole band; the sheer totality of Led Zeppelin, was so devastatingly massive, that once again, everything else I had listened to before, seemed to have been rendered impotent and irrelevant. It also had a catalytic effect on my desire to play the guitar. Jump-starting a schoolboy's daydreams, and taking them to the beginnings of an actual reality; with a little help and inspiration from certain local band called 'Savage', in the year to come.....
But in the meantime, as the Zeppelin flew, and my record collection grew, I went to my first live rock concerts in the latter half of the year.
As previously mentioned, I regretted turning down the chance to see Led Zeppelin live that year, at the Knebworth rock festival, because of the expectation of the forthcoming UK tour. But there was another band, secondary in importance only to Led Zep, that I had discovered that year, and who were the hosts for my first ever live rock concert by a big name band. And that band was the Canadian rock band; 'Rush'.
'Rush', along with Led Zeppelin, Motorhead, Hawkwind, and others, were another 'Friday Rock Show' discovery, and I bought two albums by them in that year; namely 'Hemispheres' and '212', that would ultimately prove influential in my fledgling musical career; primarily through Geddy Lee's bass playing which stood out prominently on those albums.
That year, Rush took their 'Hemispheres' tour to the UK, and I saw them play at the Bingley Hall in Stafford. It was such a brilliant, memorable, and exciting experience. They replicated the records that I had, so expertly, and the whole live concert phenomenon became very important to me. To the point where I went to several other concerts that year, including Blue Oyster Cult, AC/DC (on their 'Highway To Hell' tour), and also the one of the triad of the three most important rock bands of my life; MOTORHEAD.
'Blue Oyster Cult' were something of an experiment in that I only had just one their records beforehand, (the single: 'Don't Fear the Reaper'), and it was a disappointing experience. They were a band I never really got to like. But I knew AC/DC from their live album 'If You Want Blood, You've Got It', and that year's album; 'Highway To Hell'. The latter live album being a particular favourite at the time, which introduced Angus Young into my pantheon of rock guitar heroes.
Needless to say, it was a fantastic concert, and certainly one the loudest and outright rocking concerts that I've ever been to. Yet less than a week later, it was surpassed on that level by an utterly storming Motorhead concert. I knew Motorhead in a small way from the previous year's 'Louie Louie' single, but I noticed them in a much bigger way after hearing tracks from their 1979 album; 'Overkill' on the Friday Rock Show, and in the fullness of time, I went on to buy all the albums of the classic 'Lemmy/Eddie/Phil' line-up.
For the moment, Led Zeppelin was still the big thing, but Motorhead had made their mark on me, and it would become more significant in the next year or so. Especially through Lemmy, whose hard rocking image and gutsy, unconventional, and impressively powerful bass playing would influence me hugely in a relatively short time to come.....
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