Ian Dick from Soldier was recently interviewed by Mark Gregory (@ 'No Sleep Til Saltburn' - Mark Gregory's Rock Pages).

Now for sure, it's likely to be a closely fought battle and it is still way off into the future of course. Maybe it's possibly even a touch unfair to begin predicting. However, my vote thus far for the - 'Silver Woman Moment' at 2014's BroFest#2, is currently swinging the way of - SOLDIER!

If a packed Northumbria University hall ain't howling in rabid unison for 'Sheralee', then I'll be willing to chew on my 'Infantrycide' baseball cap! You see that original classic, the track I always used to reflect on as a kind of 'NWOBHM version of Freebird', now of course over three decades old, is about to be unleashed once more as a bonus track on the brand new release from the all-new SOLDIER - "Dogs Of War"! Time then, to hunt down the only surviving 'platoon member' - Ian Dick.

A gig you don't want to miss! Soldier play the Kingbilly in Northampton on the 28th June 2013 and best of all entry is FREE!

The band will be performing with very special guests 'Midnight Messiah'

Be sure to stay up date with all of the latest news from the Soldier camp over on the bands official  Facebook Page.

And look out for a new album coming soon! We can't wait!

Mark your calendars: the Pistoleros are playing at The Boston Arms in London on Saturday 9th of February 2013 from 7:00pm. They'll be taking to the stage alongside Silver Silver, Dead Pinups and Release the Bats.

The Royal Oak venue is at 175 Felixstowe Road, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP3 8EB.

More gigs are planned in addition to the ones already listed on the HMR site; visit the official Gypsy Pistoleros web site and official Facebook page for details as they're confirmed.

The Pistoleros will also play a unique DOUBLE HEADLINE set at Scruffy Murphy's alongside Lovebite, with support from Shyne, on Saturday the 24th of November -- mark that date in your diary Brummie fans.

Part four of our Heavy Metal America spotlight introduces Razor Baby...

Razor Baby was a studio project put together by Bob and Richie Steffan in Los Angeles  which featured a number of  rock and metal celebrities contributing to the album released on Heavy Metal America in 1988.  This personnel included:

Kevin Dubrow (Quiet Riot)
Jonathan Valen (Les Diamond)
Brent Young (Original Queensryche singer)
Henry Small (Prism/John Entwhistles The Rock)
Mark Adams (John Entwhistles The Rock)
Pat Torpey (Ted Nugent/Mr Big)

A Razor Baby band bio from the HMRchives (By Leggy/Larchmont in 1988)  details the following:

Razor Baby is Bob Steffan's vision. Finally, after years of playing with, and compromising unto other people's music, Bob Steffan has taken the bull by its hard rocking horns, and the result is his first album, 'Too Hot To Handle'.

Bob Steffan was the founder member of the highly respected, pioneer L.A rock group Satyr - which included Mott The Hopple singer Nigel Limey and future Quiet Riot and Guiffria bass player Chuck Wright - then he took over from legend Randy Rhoades when Randy left Quiet Riot to join Ozzy.

All the songs  and all the guitars in Razor Baby are the work of Steffan and his human stick-insect brother Richard. The stellar cast of muscians and singers on 'Too Hot To Handle' includes Henry Small, the singer with Who veteran 'John Entwhistles The Rock', and the former Mr Quiet Riot himself - Kevin Dubrow.

Rather like the San Fernando Valley, California, where Razor Baby comes from - their music is hot. And sleazy.

'Too Hot To Handle' was produced by Chris Minto (Ted Nugent/Armoured Saint) and Allen McDougall (Spencer Davis Group). And from that album we have a nice little catchy tune called'Danger'. Just listen to that very 80s chorus!

P.S If you have any HMR memorabilia of your own that you'd like to share with us, then we'd love to see it!

Gypsy Pistoleros (L-R) Kenny K. Doll (Bass), Jeff Pistolero (Drums), Dani Pistolero (Vocals) and Iggie Pistolero (Guitars)

Kicking off this Saturday (14th July) the Gypsy Pistoleros  commence their 'Forever Wild, Beautiful And Damned Tour'  and debut show with new frontman Dani Pistolero, opening for Tyla J Pallas from Dogs D'Amour at The Slade Rooms in Wolverhampton. Doors are at 7PM. For more details and to purchase tickets check out the Wolves Civic Website.

The Pistoleros will continue their UK Tour in the coming months which includes appearances at Basementfest and Kidderminster Rocks. Be sure to have a gander at the tour poster below and keep an eye out for the Gypsy Pistoleros coming soon to a town near you! \m/

In this weeks Spotlight we are bringing you a "double dose" of Heavy Metal America featuring Lost Generation and Kublai Khan.

Lost Generation 

Formed in Connecticut in 1981, Crossover Thrash, Punky and Funktastic, Lost Generation, generated quite some controversy with their graphic artwork with their album cover for 'Midnight Meat Train', initially released in 1989 by Anthrax Records with artwork showing a naked woman covered in blood...(COOL!) Heavy Metal America's re-release of the album was a little tamer, though those masked faces don't look too friendly!

The 1980's was the most prolific time for the band where they opened for numerous touring acts such as Circle Jerks, The Damned, Dead Kennedy's, X, Public Image and the U.K Subs in the USA and Canada in 1989.

And the 'Thrashtastic' title track 'Midnight Meat Train' can be played below. Volume up to 11 guys!

Kublai Khan

Formed in Minnesota, these American Thrashers/Speed Metal-ers are famous for their links to the "Big Four"'s Megadeth as  Kublai Khan Guitarist and Co-Founder Greg Handevidt was a member of Megadeth in 1983! According to the mighty "Wiki", Handevidt lived under the apartment of none other than Mr Dave Mustaine and formed the band (Megadeth) with Mustaine along with Dave Ellefson! His time in Megadeth was relatively short, and so in 1985 Kublai Khan came along!

The band released just one LP album titled 'Annihilation' (Released on the Heavy Metal America label in 1987) which was met with rave reviews and allowed the band to enjoy touring with local and international bands including the likes of King Diamond, Kreator, Voivod and Metal Church. However, despite these success, the band disbanded in 1988 due to internal conflicts. A real shame considering how awesome their music was. Just listen to this one... (!!!)

Funhouse -No not the famous 90s kids wacky-warehouse gameshow – the hair metal, imaged obsessed Funk Rockers from Hollywood!

Metal/Heavy Pop/Funkthrashers, Funhouse were bold, colourful and vibrant and stood out like sore thumb in Glam-ridden LA. They were even armed with their very own Mascot, Alfee The Clown (Move aside Eddie!) who was apparently so cool that even Dangerous Toys stole the clown logo and passed it off as their own (Tut-Tut!). Alfee's appearence changed with the bands sound - when they were Glam Punk, Alfie had tight jeans and a leather jacket, and when frontman Chris Hazard started dressing like a clown, Alfee got some dreads and a stripey outfit to match.

Funhouse formed in 1986 after growing up in LA  during the "KISS years" . Consequently they were  heavily influenced by the early LA metal scene at this time with the likes of Motley Crue, W.A.S.P and Guns N' Roses quickly carving houeshold names for themselves. The band were in their own words "raised on a diet of both English and American Punk, Batcave Goth, Rockabilly, some early Metallica and a bit of Finnish Glam." This resulted in a band who recognised that both image and sound needed to be highly charged, progressive and heavy.

Local promoters helped the band to carve themselves a niche to differentiate the band from other 'strip' bands.

The band graced stages with big name bands including Suicidal Tendancies, Slayer, Soundgarden, Guns N' Roses, White Zombie, Motorhead, Megadeth, The Nymphs, L.A Guns, The Damned, NOFX, Danzig and Jane's Addiction!

Heavy Metal America released the bands debut album 'Generation Generator' in 1990 to rave reviews and numerous column inches in all the big magazines of the day - Metal Hammer, Metal Forces, Raw Magazine and Kerrang! Magazine - check out some of the press clippings we found in the great HMR Archive!

Unfortunately, after this release the band disappeared... and that was the sadly the end of Funhouse. Former Funhouse lead guitar player Marc Vachon now designs very rock apparell for numerous rockstars including Slash, Scott Weiland, Alice In Chains, Papa Roach and Buckcherry! You can check out Marc's designs at the following location.

Music-wise, Funhouse have been decribed as a mix of Motley Crue meets Red Hot Chilli Peppers, but you can be the judge for yourself by watching the video below. We're sure that you'll agree that Funhouse had a very striking and unique image!

Welcome to part one of our Heavy Metal America Spotlight! Today we are showing some love to Huntington Beach Power Metallers, Leatherwolf! Over the coming weeks we will be posting about various bands who have previously gaced the Heavy Metal America, Heavy Metal Records Canada and Heavy Metal Worldwide labels, so stay tuned for the next part!

Nicknamed the 'Triple Axe Attack' for their pioneering use of a three guitar line-up within Heavy Metal Music, Leatherwolf formed in 1981 in California.