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<\/a>If you\u2019re one of those eagerly awaiting the chance to spaff a hundred dollars plus over the prospect of Motley Crue getting back in the ring and touring any time soon, then I would implore you to take some time out of your reckless abandon to spare a thought for Crue\u2019s one-time US touring cohorts, Scottish hard rockers Heavy Pettin, who are just about to re-release three of their albums in expanded CD format.<\/p>\nFormed in Glasgow in 1981 guitarist Gordon Bonnar, drummer Gary Moat, bassist Brian Waugh, vocalist Steve \u2018Hamie\u2019 Hayman and lead guitarist Punky Mendoza immediately set their sights on hitting the big time just like their heroes UFO (hence the name) releasing their debut single \u2018Roll the Dice\u2019 in 1982 on Neat Records. This almost immediacy lead to them inking a multiple album deal with Polydor and with Warner\/Chappell Publishing before working with Queen guitarist Brian May and producer Reinhold Mack on their classic 1983 debut LP \u2018Lettin\u2019 Loose\u2019 and touring with the likes of KISS, Ozzy and Whitesnake.<\/p>\n
Now that\u2019s what you call an impressive two year career path if ever there was one, eh!<\/p>\n
With 1985\u2019s \u2018Rock Ain\u2019t Dead\u2019 this saw the band looking to take on the world via deals with concert bookers ITB and ICM, but with the hard rock world changing (and hence the reason for my introduction) by the time the band resurfaced with their failed stab at Eurovision glory in 1987 you could almost sense the vultures starting to circle as the UK press was basically working for the Yankee dollar by the time of its release, and Pettin finally called it a day in 1988.<\/p>\n
FM Revolver posthumously released the band\u2019s last album for Polydor, the prophetically sounding (and much more AOR tinged) \u2018Big Bang\u2019 in 1989 but by then even the classic rock bands Pettin had supported back in their early days had morphed into near mirror images of the Saints of Los Angeles and only the die-hard Pettin fans like yours truly were left to pick up the hand full of copies that eventually did make it into UK record shops.<\/p>\n
With the exception of a couple of semi-official reissues in the early noughties these albums have long since been the treasured finds of hard rock collecting eBayers and crate diggers alike\u2026until now that is. And with singer Hamie and guitarist Gordon Bonnar once again touring under the Pettin banner its actually their old drumming pal Gary Moat (who is currently busy fronting his own band Burnt Out Wreck) who we have to thank for these for these three CDs (complete with a handful of bonus tracks) licensing the trio for a late November release via his Burnt Out Wreckords label with distribution through Cherry Red Records.<\/p>\n
The big question I suppose though is what will it be like listening to these records again over 30 years on, as the emotional tourism of nostalgia can sometimes cloud the judgement, I\u2019m sure you will agree.<\/p>\n
So with this in mind I\u2019d always wondered with such an upwards career trajectory and such big money backing why \u2018Rock Ain\u2019t Dead\u2019 didn\u2019t thrust Heavy Pettin into the arena circuit worldwide? They seemingly had the songs to follow up their superb debut, they slightly tweaked their image to fit with the times and through extensive touring had all the confidence and stage craft to take on all comers. Polydor put an eager young producer like Mark Dearnley (AC\/DC) behind the desk for the record, and yet I still get the feeling listening to this album all these years later that the band themselves simply wanted more.<\/p>\n Of the ten tracks that went on to make up \u2018Rock Ain\u2019t Dead\u2019 its much easier for me to look behind the hype and for me one of the factors that may have dented this album\u2019s credibility is that all of the sudden for record number two instead of seeing Def Leppard as a peer they suddenly seemingly just wanted to be them. I mean just listen to the bass rhythm of \u2018Soul Survivor\u2019 or the \u2018Rock Of Ages\u2019 lite of \u2018China Boy\u2019 and tell me I\u2019m wrong. Don\u2019t get me wrong they are still decent songs, its just I feel that when Pettin should have been developing and pushing their own sound they actually (perhaps unintentionally) took a sideways step and why oh why anyone thought that Hamie\u2019s upwards inflection shriek at the end of a lot of his vocal lines was a good idea is still beyond me. I do note he has recently dropped these shrieks live during the recent reformation shows, so perhaps I might be onto something here too. It\u2019s only really \u2018Heart Attack\u2019 which creeps up just past the half way mark of the album which is in keeping with the adrenalin rush spirit of Pettin\u2019s debut, and the rest, whilst still a very decent record (CD bonus track \u2018Crazy\u2019 also being cut of the same striped spandex cloth), actually now strikes me as the sound of a band musically treading water.<\/p>\n<\/a>Released the same year as Def Leppard\u2019s \u2018Pyromania\u2019 1983\u2019s \u2018Lettin Loose\u2019 has lost none of its youthful charm, and the May\/Mack production which at the time I felt was a little lightweight now adds an almost timeless charm to the album\u2019s nine original tracks. It\u2019s the fact that songs like opener \u2018In And Out Of Love\u2019 plus the hit single that should have been \u2018Love Times Love\u2019 can still stand shoulder to shoulder with anything off Leppard\u2019s multi-Platinum seller that really stands out most for me. There isn\u2019t a bad song on this underrated classic of a debut and after all these years it\u2019s only now that I hear just how much in common Hamie had with one Biff Byford, especially on the rifftastic \u2018Victims of The Night\u2019, a song guaranteed to still give you a bit of HBN (that\u2019s headbangers neck) after just one listen. Bolstered by both sides of the band\u2019s debut 7\u201d single on Neat Records (giving the CD a total of eleven tracks) \u2018Lettin Loose\u2019 is still a fantastic slab of twin guitar driven melodic hard rock, and is a record that promised so many great things for a band who were by the time of the release of its follow up selling out UK venues like London\u2019s Astoria under their own steam and looking to really take on the big boys.<\/p>\n