Kicking off at 9pm with Heavy Metal Britannia followed by the obligatory …Britannia at the BBC supplement and an Iron Maiden concert from 2008.

A repeat of the Rock n Roll Family Trees programme covering Black Sabbath (midnight) is going to be the highlight for me. I remember watching it first time round when I didn’t appreciate Sabbath as much as I do now. Even then it was a great rags to riches tale. This is what the BBC do well and puts some of the low rent unauthorised Sabbath bio DVDs I have been getting from Central Library recently in their place. Required viewing for anyone interested in the Home of Metal project.

And remember – the iplayer goes to 11.

Saturday 13^th February saw the 40^th Anniversary of the UK release of Black Sabbath, the first album by Black Sabbath. And yes, you will be pleased to hear that February 13^th 1970 fell on a Friday.

The common consensus is that the record, particularly the opening track represent some kind of year zero for heavy metal. Articles on this blog have already eloquently described the opening bars so I have saved myself a job and linked to them for you to remind yourselves once more. My only contribution at the time of this 40^th anniversary is to ponder just how many bedrooms those opening bells have tolled in? It may have sold XX million, but how many times has it cast its spell?

Chris Ayres, co author of the I Am Ozzy biography goes into more detail about the recording itself and the band’s situation at the time in a recently published piece here. It’s clear from the recollections of the band that they had no idea they were creating rock history at the time. The 12 hour session at Regent Studio, Tottenham Court Road, London where they laid down the 7 tracks on the record was simply something they fitted in on a mid November day in 1969 enroute to Europe.

So, how did you mark this anniversary? I’m pleased to report that I attended a packed out sweaty gig in a room above a pub just up the road from the location of Henry’s Blues House. Earlier in the evening I had enjoyed telling the visiting support band about the history the pub just down the road and what was going down there 40 or so years ago. As is all too often the  case when I relay the story of Henry’s and its roll call of patrons (Plant, all of Sabbath, Halford et al)  to people from other cities they had no idea about the club and its importance in the development of an enduring global music phenomena.

And later that evening as I watched a Sabbath inspired band rock out I reflected on that earlier conversation and the potential for the Home of Metal project to ensure that in future when people visit Birmingham, or think of Birmingham, they will be doing so with a fuller knowledge of  places such as Henry’s and its importance as part of the jigsaw that 40 years ago began to take shape as metal.

Rob Halford and Scott Travis, backstage at the 52nd Grammy Awards. (Photo: Michael Buckner/Wireimage.com)

Local Metal Legends Judas Priest have been awarded with a Grammy for ‘Best Metal Performance’ at the 52nd Annual Award Ceremony, held on January 31.

The award was in recognition of the track ‘Dissident Aggressor’ from the album ‘Touch Of Evil – Live’. Vocalist Rob Halford and drummer Scott Travis were on hand to pick up their gongs from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

For this, their first Grammy, Priest had to fight off strong competition from Lamb Of God, Megadeth, Slayer and Ministry.

How is that for a bit of news? First of all let me explain something about the band name “Black Country”, the Black Country is an area in the West Midlands in England near Birmingham, I know because I was born and lived there for 27 years. The Black Country was so called because by the late 19th century it was an industrial area with Coal Mines and Iron Foundries and Steel Mills that used the local coal to fire their furnaces, produced a level of air pollution. However, according to Wikipedia, historians suggest that it is more likely that the name existed even before the Industrial Revolution; outcroppings of black coal scarred the surface of the local heath, and the presence of coal so near the surface rendered the local soil very black.

So, now you know a little about the Black Country you are probably wondering why on earth Joe Bonamassa, born in New York, is in a band about a small are of England. Well, Jason Bonham as you should know is the son of the legendary Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham who was actually born in Redditch but spent a lot of time in the Black Country seeing as Robert Plant was born in West Bromwich which definitely IS in the Black Country. Jason himself was apparently born in Dudley, not sure if that is true but that is about 5 miles from where I grew up and the back cover of Led Zeppelin IV actually shows a pretty bleak shot of some 60’s tower blocks in Dudley which were recently demolished.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE from http://www.guitarnoize.com

You’ll find the facebook group here and the article that alerted me to the campaign here.

If you have sold your soul for rock n roll – Metal Hammer want you to make it offical.

In an interesting article (including input from his Dad, Sister and Brother), he talks about his early days with Priest, his love of Walsall and how one day he’d like to play a hometown gig!

To read the story in full, click on the link:

http://www.expressandstar.com/2010/01/09/why-metal-god-will-never-forget-his-roots/

He has sent 500 promo album samplers of his lastest solo release, ‘Winter Songs’ to the leather museum in Walsall (where else!?) to be given away to both fans and visitors passing through their doors.

To grab a free copy of the festive Halford sampler, simply pop along to the Leather Museum in Littleton Street, Walsall (while stocks last).

Check out the link to read more:

http://www.walsall.gov.uk/news/leather_museum_in_metal_god_giveaway.htm

After initially booking bands such as Led Zeppelin and Yes in the Lafayette in Wolverhampton, Maurice will be more more well know for co-promoting the historic Live Aid concert in 1985.

His true legacy however, will be the Monsters Of Rock festival which he created at Castle Donington in 1980. Many of his peers have already stated that without his enthusiasm and foresight for the Rock/Metal genre, festivals (such as Ozzfest) would not be what they are today.

He really was a true ’behind the scenes’ legend from the Home of Metal!

Check out the link to read more:

http://www.musicweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=1039170&c=3