K.K. Downing - Heavy Duty: Days and Nights in Judas Priest (Book Review)
In 1979, I was just discovering Heavy Metal in a big way. Usually, this involved one of my friends lending me their latest discovery (I was still at school and always short of cash). So The Scorpions, Van Halen, Aerosmith and Judas Priest circa ‘Killing Machine/British Steel’ were never far from my Ferguson Music Centre. Said stereo might not have been up to the hi-fi spec of today but if you turned it up loud enough... Priest had at this point in time developed the knack of penning hit singles so they’d turn up on BBC TV via Top of the Pops which was essential viewing back in the day, it was so cool to actually see Metal bands on TV. By 1983 I was lucky enough to catch a stunning show as Priest played the Hammersmith Odeon. This scenario would be repeated in the late 80’s with another great show and more great memories. My tastes might have changed over the years but I’ll still happily reach for a Priest album on occasion, with ‘Screaming’ probably my favourite, so I was very keen to read what K.K. Downing had to say about his ‘Heavy Duty’ time in the band.
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