Metallica is today one of the great representatives of heavy metal worldwide, and it all started in the 80s, and a Saxon t-shirt may have helped with its beginning.
During an interview with The Metal Voice , Brian Slagel , founder of Metal Blade Records , told a curious story that would explain the connection between the English band's t-shirt and the beginning of Metallica's career.
“The Michael Schenker Group played at a venue called Country Club in Reseda (which was a suburb of Los Angeles, California) in December 1980. We later found out that everyone from Metallica, Armored Saint Metal Massacre compilation , released by Metal Blade] were at that show, even though nobody knew each other,” he began recounting (via Ultimate Guitar ).
“So, I was there with my good friend John Kornarens , who was basically the other guy helping me with the fanzine and also with the compilation. After the show, he was in the parking lot and saw a kid wearing a Saxon t-shirt. In 1980, nobody in Los Angeles knew who Saxon was, much less would anyone be wearing one of their t-shirts. So, John ran up to the kid and said, ‘Where did you get that shirt?’ He replied, ‘Oh my God, do you know who Saxon is?’ And [John] replied, ‘Yes,’ and the kid said, ‘I just moved here from Denmark, like two weeks ago. I thought nobody knew who Saxon was.’”
Brian was referring to Lars Ulrich , the drummer for Metallica. After meeting him that day, they became great friends—Lars, Brian, and John. “A few days later, Lars, John, and I got together and started going crazy about the New Wave of British Heavy Metal because Lars, you know, when he moved here from Denmark, thought he didn't know anyone, [that he] wouldn't find any friends who knew what was going on with the scene. So, we all quickly became friends because of that,” Brian added.
The friendship grew stronger and stronger, and when Metallica finally formed, the group ended up participating in the label's 1982 compilation album, Metal Massacre, with "Hit The Lights." This was the group's first studio recording. However, it almost didn't happen.
“And then they brought me a cassette tape at the last minute – typical Lars thing – and they almost didn’t make it onto the record because he was probably about an hour away, not getting there in time, because we had everything ready. So they brought a cassette and we didn’t have $50 to turn the cassette into a quarter-inch tape. And none of us had the money. Luckily, John Kornarens had the cash, so he paid the $50 and Metallica ended up on the record.”
And the rest is history.
