Axe

Hailing from the small town of Tyneside, in the heavily industrialized Northeast of England, hard rockers Axe officially formed in April 1978, but they'd actually evolved from an earlier outfit called Warbeck, which had been quietly toiling away in local clubs since the mid-'70s. Vocalist/guitarist Keith Satchfield, guitarist Dave Irwin, bassist Dave Durey and drummer Harry "Hiroshima" Hill recorded their first single (an energetic little number called "S.S. Gyro" which later gained fame as part of 1990s Lars Ulrich-compiled New Wave of British Heavy Metal '79 Revisited CD) shortly after adopting their new name; but, by mid-'79, they'd decided to throw in the towel, blaming, among other things, the thriving punk rock scene for marginalizing any band trying to play hard rock or heavy metal. They reversed track once again by year's end, however, and after changing their name to Fist and welcoming new bassist John Wylie, the revamped group would go on to enjoy a minor league career during the boom years of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia