All human actions revolve around reproduction and the search for food.
Food is not only material but also mental, emotional, and spiritual.
Covering his basic needs for survival, he seeks emotional coverage, mental stimuli, and later, a certain spirituality.
Just as defined by Abraham Harold Maslow’s “theory of prioritization of needs“.
According to Maslow, there is a natural order in which people perceive each of the needs.
Maslow, of course, did not mean that any need could be completely met.
Instead, he believed that a need should be met to a minimum to meet the individual with the highest level of needs.
Once the person reaches this point, he begins to experiment with new types of behavior in order to satisfy his new need.
And Metal was born…
In the ‘nothing‘ decade, as reported by music critics of the 80s, something new was coming to the foreground.
Metal music!
Leaving its infancy, it insisted on taking its place on the world music scene.
Despite being targeted by conservative circles worldwide, thanks to its fans, it did not give up the…Guitars.
New bands sprang up in all countries, along with new genres.
But in post-junta Greece, how could one learn about new releases or bands?
The press around music is almost non-existent, with the only source being the magazine “Pop & Rock“.
This magazine, in fact, “buried” a few masterpieces of some names, which were well-known, but in other countries.
The cause was not the deceit, but the “record critics“, made by irrelevant people who did not have the slightest idea about Metal.
The addition of Stathis Panagiotopoulos to the editorial team improved the situation somewhat.
In the middle of the decade “Heavy Metal” appears, later “Metal Hammer“, essentially the first music guide in these difficult years.
But for a thirsty metalhead, even that was not enough for his musical pursuits.
So, he created several ways to find a new diamond or even to discover an old one.
Let’s look at some of the ways in which he chose to buy an album in the metal-poor Greek market.
Import from abroad …
If you had relatives abroad then you could somehow get a metal record.
For example, either when you visit them in West Germany, basically, or as an order.
If, of course, the relatives hadn’t freaked out about the cover of an album!
Metal vinyl records were basically imported!
This meant that they were also expensive, usually 2-3 times more expensive than those of Greek companies.
Companies that, as expected for the time, did not choose hard music.
So, the few record stores which had albums that introduced metal music were overpriced.
For some of us, that automatically meant two weeks’ worth of money.
If you wanted to listen before you bought, there was no way, because all the imports were in closed packages.
So, you were sitting next to older people to secretly listen to their views.
Foreign Press and Magazines
Some bookstores had “Foreign Press“, where sometimes you could find magazines for music, but none for metal.
Especially the German 15-day Bravo, from time to time had some references to the new releases.
Through the German words, you could tell some English titles.
With the appearance of “Heavy Metal” magazine, the first ads for exchanging cassettes began to appear.
It was essentially the safest and most honest way to exchange musical views and search for new genres that sprouted like mushrooms.
The production of course was from bad to miserable, but it was enough for us!
Record stores…
Later, some record stores had demo tapes, usually of local bands, but also copies by foreign bands.
The over-priced tape was like playing a “teased” lottery at a festival.
The odds of finding something worthwhile were 1 in 10, however, there were diamonds like that of Deceptor.
Record critics …
The record critics were also crown-letters, as the field of music writing was almost … quaint!
I still regret the 5000 drachmas I gave for a record of Mentor’s, unique representatives, and kings of Porn Metal.
Suspicions of bribery by some editors have always hovered over our heads. And I’m still wondering…
T-shirts…
As the stimuli were few, we tried to discover new bands in “everything”.
Even observing the T-shirts of our idols.
The Misfits, for example, became famous thanks to the T-shirt worn by James Hetfield of Metallica.
Many more names were discovered from t-shirts worn by members of other bands.
Exchange of ideas…
The exchange of ideas among other metalheads was the main source of knowledge, mainly of peers.
The older ones were not very available for a musical discussion with the younger ones.
Certainly, in some other countries, things were even more difficult.
***
Some may see a romance through this reminder.
However, things were quite difficult for the miners of that time, as they were “collectors” of any stereotypical prejudice.
Unfortunately, a situation that is perpetuated and remains stable in pseudo-conservative societies.
On the other hand, young people cannot even imagine what music search was like without the internet and music platforms.
But the story is here to remind us of the most romantic aspects of our musical quests …
