Theatrics: The Heavy Metal Kids

The story of the Heavy Metal Kids is really just the show biz tale of Gary Holton, who made it everywhere – theater stage, concert stage, television. Being a child actor might have imbued the cockney accent toting performer with a few issues to deal with, but those problems wouldn’t really come to a head until a bit later in his career. The theatric background that Holton had, though, served to inform the stage presence of the Heavy Metal Kids to the extent that more than a few punk icons recall the band’s shows pretty distinctly even at this late date.

The band really did move between weird, lilly mod pop and glam, both of which could be figured as two of the many tributaries that eventually flowed into punk. And at more than a few points on the group’s 1974 eponymous debut, the music comes off as an early period piece of Bowie – “It's The Same” being the most blatant example of that. But in that comparison is really the summation of Brit rock from the early portion of the decade that would result in punk and to a lesser extent post-punk. Lookin at all of this, there is a pretty clear line. It seems, though, that the theater is as much a part of it all as anything else.

Holton – and definitely Bowie and Marc Bolan, who all enjoyed a fair share of make up – came up with music that really could have easily been a part of any rock opera. Oddly enough, the singer was even cast in Quadrophenia as well. But everything from costumes to make up seemed to come from Holton’s formative time as an actor, not as a rock singer or from some other portion of his past. This would all be replicatedto different affect with punk bands, though.

Brian James, from the Damed, even figured that the Heavy Metal Kids “were ahead of their time.” The guitarist enjoyed the work of Holton so much that in ’78 the Kids front man stood in with the Damned on a short tour when vocalist Dave Vanian was unable to perform. It isn’t even these confluences that mark Holton as an intermediary. He wasn’t. The Heavy Metal Kids really weren’t too different from Mott the Hoople or whoever else was pulling in all strata of kids to their shows.

For whatever reason, though, the Heavy Metal Kids never made a huge impact on the charts even as their contemporaries made a few bucks. But there are still fans today – and apparently their catalog has recently been reissued as well. Do yourself a favor, though, and pick up a copy of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and then take a listen to one of these records from the Brits. There’s really no way that Richard O'Brien, the play’s and film’s writer and composer, was unaware of these folks. And even if that’s scant payment for the band’s inability to become millionaires, it’s better than nothing. It’s certainly better than oblivion.