Joe Geesin at Record Col­lector Magazine wrote a fea­ture art­icle on Eloy for the magazines May 2012 Issue. A small snip­pet of the art­icle can be read here with the full art­icle avail­able online for sub­scribers of the magazine. The Magazine hits the streets today (26th April 2012)

An extract below fea­tures an inter­view with Heavy Metal Records and Revolver Records Man­aging Dir­ector, Paul Birch who talks about how the HMR deal with Eloy came about!

Paul Birch (FM Revolver)

The deal came through MIDEM in Cannes, France, the bands man­ager at the time was Wolfgang Rott – he came to our stand at the MIDEM around 1982. We had already signed Accept from Dieter Dirks in Cologne so we were known to the music industry there. Birgit Wir­itz from EMI Elec­trola was in touch with me, I flew out to Cologne and watched them per­form at a gig. I had an idea about how the band could be intro­duced here. I signed them for Plan­ets, Time to Turn,Per­form­ance and Met­ro­mania. I would have done earlier albums but some­how the moment passed.

I was work­ing with Rod­ney on other albums sleeves, he had done Pred­ator for me by Bitches Sin, Dia­mond Head’s Am I Evil, I felt he was exactly the right artist to work on Eloy and the band com­mis­sioned him dir­ectly to work on Met­ro­mania. There new man­ager after Wolfgang was Jür­gen (Yogi) Dramm, who ended up run­ning our Ger­man office.

Met­ro­mania was a CD release as well as LP and cas­sette. The LP releases were all spe­cially grained by Delga Press in Brom­ley, who still do our print today. The one thing I felt about their exist­ing art­work was that it let them down. They were a com­plex group and there album art needed to reflect that.

I loved the band then, still do. I am dis­ap­poin­ted they didn’t come back to the label fol­low­ing Met­ro­mania but Frank and the band knew their own mind and prob­ably had oppor­tun­it­ies that came along as a con­sequence of the new mar­kets they were now reaching.

EMI Elec­trola were about to drop the band when we signed them. EMI con­tin­ued with them until Per­form­ance when the band moved to SPV. Manfred’s label was loc­ated in Han­nover, it was on the rise at that point and it was likely by then that the rela­tion­ship at EMI would have come to a nat­ural end.

Many thanks to Joe for this! Be sure to pick up a copy  of Record Col­lector Magazine to see the full fea­ture on Eloy and much more.

www.recordcollectormag.com
www.joegeesin.com

‘When  it’s time to party we will party hard’!

HMR new boys GYPSY PISTOLEROS are celebrating in true rock ‘n’ roll style with their single and album launch on the 23^rd March 2012 at the FIXXION WAREHOUSE PROJECT in Wolverhampton at 7PM. Tickets for the launch are £8 and can be reserved via Arc Management at the following location; https://www.facebook.com/events/224323317664632/

The party will give fans a preview of the Pistoleros upcoming album release ‘FOREVER WILD, BEAUTIFUL AND DAMNED – THE GREATEST HITS VOL. 1’  with support from LOVEBITES and DRAGSTRIP JUNKIES and special guest appearances from legendary names in the rock world this is event is certainly not to be missed by Rock fans in the Midlands!

A spectacular London launch show is also in the works – stay tuned for more details. You can also catch the Pistoleros in Nottingham on the 6^th April 2012 at the WILDSIDE CLUB and U.S fans can go insane at the stroke of midnight on the AEG Hard Rock Stage at ROCKLAHOMA festival on the 26^th May 2012!

To keep up to date with the latest news and details of all things GYPSY PISTOLEROS and HEAVY METAL RECORDS be sure to keep an eye on www.gypsypistoleros.com and www.heavymetalrecords.com

Heavy Metal Records’ recent signing, GYPSY PISTOLEROS, have been added to the line-up of Rocklahoma Festival which takes place from the 25th-27th May 2012. The annual hard rock music festival held in Pryor, Oklahoma showcases a wide range of bands from current stars to 1980s era classic rock acts over a three day period.  This year marks the sixth consecutive year that the PISTOLEROS will perform at the festival. They will appear alongside a host of acts from various genres of the rock and metal world including; Rob Zombie, Megadeth, Slash, Queensryche, Hellyeah, Trivium, Art Of Dying, Volbeat and many, many more. Check the poster below for a complete list of bands performing at Rocklahoma 2012 – you don’t want to miss this!

Towards the tail end of 2011, HMR announced the signing of the flamenco laced glam rocksters, Gypsy Pistoleros. The Pistoleros will release ‘Forever Wild, Beautiful And Damned! Greatest Hits Volume 1′ in March 2012. As a taster of things to come the Pistoleros will release their first single on the HMR label, a stellar cover of the 90s chart-topping hit, Ricky Martin’s ‘Livin’ La Vida Loca’. The English translation meaning ‘Living The Crazy Life’ perfectly personifies the bands unique blend of latin rock.

In celebration of the release, a single launch and album preview will take place on the 23rd March at the Fixxon Warehouse Project in Wolverhampton, a party certainly not to be missed!

As another year ends and a new one begins, it’s time to look back on our favourite albums from the 12 months. Here at Revolver/Heavy Metal Towers it’s no secret that we have a very diverse music taste encompassing the entire musical spectrum (for better or for worse). So, we decided to let the team pick their Top 5 albums from 2011 and the albums they’re eagerly awaiting in 2012…

Chris (Label Stuff, and yes he’s a massive KT fan)

KT Tunstall – Tiger Suit
KT Tunstall – Scarlet Tulip (EP)
Brian Brushwood – Night Attack!
Radiohead – King Of Limbs
Icicle – Under the Ice

Hot Picks for 2012:
Silversun Pickups -  “3″ (Spring, final title TBC)

Kial (Music Techy things, all things Digital Media)

Metronomy – The English Riviera
The Strokes – Angles
White Lies – Ritual
The Vaccines – What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?
M83 – Hurry Up, We’re  Dreaming

Hot Picks For 2012:
Lana Del Ray – Born To Die
Tototally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs

Emma (Management/Publishing/A&R)

Rise Against – Endgame
Beans On Toast – Trying To Tell The Truth
The Vaccines – What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?
Skindred – Union Black
The Black Keys – El Camino

Hot Pick For 2012:
Jamie T – TBC

Claire (PR, incumbent Most Hardcore Metalhead & HMRchives curator)

Machine Head – Unto the Locust
Sixx:AM – This is Gonna Hurt
Rhapsody Of Fire – From Chaos to Eternity
Trivium – In Waves
Five Finger Death Punch – Amerian Capitalist

Hot Picks for 2012:
Lamb Of God – Resolution, Caliban – I Am Nemesis,
Epica – Requiem For The Indifferent, Kamelot – TBC

… Now, what will yours be?

HMR’s Hellfighter who released their debut album ‘Damnations Wings’  back in February of 2011 were named as one of Rockchoice’s Top 20 Hard Rock and Metal albums of 2011. 

The band had a cracking 2011, rounded off by performing at Hard Rock Hell Festival, the popular Prestatyn Metal weekend, where they appeared  alongside Black Stone Cherry, Michael Monroe, Quireboys and Orange Goblin.

GetYourRockOut.com and Metal Gods TV caught up with the guys at Hard Rock Hell. See below for Video Interviews:

Some of you may be aware that over the past few months we have slowly been archiving our press collection that covers all of the FM Revolver and Heavy Metal Records (+ associated labels) solo artists and bands.

The finds have been very interesting – particuarly comparing how processes of CD Artwork and Album Covers have changed from the laminated and glued on designs, to fully digitally designed entities in their own right. And of course, handling old Kerrang! and Metal Hammer Magazines and noting changes in house styles and their K! Rating system! It has also been fun to see how the fashions have changed from the 80s hair metal scene as seen in the style of Bitches Brue and Wrathchild to the modern day rock’n'roll look.

In due course, we will be sharing some of the best press and promotional items from our achives from some of the bands who have graced our label since the 1980s. We hope you enjoy viewing the pictures and articles as much as we here at Revolver Records HQ have.

Below is a brief taster of just a few of the thousands of scans we have done thus far – Check out the YOUNG Lemmy with Lisa Dominique! We still have many, many more to get through, so stay tuned for new updates from our history! We will definitely be sharing more of this great collection. You can ‘Like’ us over on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to keep more up to date with all things HMR and Revolver!

Lisa Dominique with LEMMY!

Wrathchild UK

Marshall Law

Paul Birch (Revolver Records) with Dan Callow at Compton Hospice

The re-opening of Wolverhampton’s Compton Hospice is set to strike a chord with supporters after the release of a song to celebrate the redevelopment.

The reflective pop song One Life has been jointly written by Wolverhampton musician Dan Callow and city school teacher David Anderson. The track features Dan on lead vocals backed by the Compton Hospice choir.

The song was first performed at the re-opening of the main patient unit at the hospice in August, following a £3.5m refurbishment.

The year-long building work involved the creation of 18 single, en suite patient rooms, offering improved dignity and privacy for patients, as well as the re-development of the day unit and therapy facilities.

Wolverhampton’s Revolver Records have released the track; all proceeds will go to the hospice’s Raise the Roof appeal.

Dan Callow, from Bilbrook who is a volunteer in the chaplaincy team at the hospice, said: “We wanted to mark this historic development for Compton Hospice in song. The track is a real celebration of the life and love of Compton Hospice.”

Katie Love, from the Compton Hospice fundraising team, said: “Dan got a great response from the crowd when he performed the song at the re-opening of the hospice. We hope One Life will enable more people to take part in and enjoy this major landmark for the hospice.”

Paul Birch, managing director of Revolver Records, said: “It’s a great track for a really good cause. We’re just really pleased to able to help two Wolverhampton musicians with their charity track for such a fabulous local organisation as Compton Hospice.”

The track costs 79p to download and is available at www.revolverrecords.com or on iTunes.

We have always supported community charities and organisations. Compton Hospice does outstanding work in supporting people with life limiting illnesses and their families throughout the West Midlands. Some of us at Revolver have had friends blighted by terminal illness who have been supported by hospices, so we speak from the heart when we say that hospices play a critical – and largely unsung – role in recuperative and palleative care.

Compton is one of many hospices around the UK supporting those suffering from illness who cannot receive the care they require through the mainstream NHS. We’re helping with their Grand Re-opening today (the 5th of August) by releasing their charity single – “One Life” – performed by Dan Callow. Proceeds from single sales go to Compton Hospice, so please – even in these difficult times – consider pledging just a little (less than £1) to help the Hospice continue its invaluable work helping those who are suffering.

Who knows, perhaps someone you know or love may be helped by Compton Hospice one day!

You can buy the “One Life” single right now:
just head over to iTunes to get your copy.
On behalf of ourselves and Compton Hospice, thank you for your support!