Thunderstick is the mad, masked drummer you might have heard of from his time with NWOBHM rockers Samson (with a pre-Iron Maiden Bruce Dickinson) during the late 1970’s/early 1980’s.  Coincidently, Thunderstick also had brief stint as drummer for Iron Maiden in the late 1970’s, although no officially released recordings exist. 

Thunderstick the band formed circa 1982.  Dressed like corpse paint wearing rock n’ roll vampire Goths, they mixed theatrics with heavy rock music, a blend which appears to have polarized critical opinion at the time.  The band is perhaps mostly remembered today for their image and antics (such as Kidnapping a Kerrang! Journalists), and for their drummers links to Samson and Maiden, than for their music.

A four song EP entitled “Feel Like Rock n’ Roll” was released on 12” vinyl circa 1983, and is reviewed by Sleazegrinder elsewhere on this site.  In his review, Sleaze mentions how good the cover is…here’s a quote from his review:

“First of all, it must be said, this is the coolest record cover I’ve ever seen. I used to stare at this album in the bins of every metal shop I haunted for years and think, “Well, goddamn. That’s the way a rock record oughta look.” I mean, there he is- Mr. fuckin’ Crazy himself, peering through the darkness in his studded S&M mask. He’s got an executioner’s hood on, and he’s wearing plastic vampire fangs. This cat is obviously capable of just about anything. “Feel Like Rock and Roll?” Well, yeah, Thunderstick, I do. All the goddamn time. Flip the back, and there’s a zombie-girl and some black leather ghouls-with-guitars waiting for you. How the fuck could you resist? The reality mighta been a bit different, but the cover and the title absolutely nailed the gonzo-rock aesthetic.” 

And here is a pic of the front cover…..cool.

However, awesome as it is, I’m going to be controversial here and suggest that the ‘Feel Like Rock n’ Roll’ artwork is surpassed by the cover for the full length album ‘Beauty and The beasts’ which was released the following year.  Is this not one of the best Flash Metal album covers that you have ever seen?

 Yes, it’s the band (supposedly looking like ‘a beauty and some beasts’, I guess), stood around some gothic looking building with Thunderstick driving a wooden steak into the heart of the lead singer.

And, like the ‘Feel Like Rock n’ Roll’ EP, the back cover also included the Thunderstick ‘haunted castle’ logo and photos of the face paint wearing hammer-horror imaged band.

 

Bass player Ben K. Reeve wears what looks like some sort of customized rock n’ roll SS uniform, Thunderstick has his mask and executioners hood, the guitarists appear to be a 16^th century Dandy sea-farer and an extra from a vampire movie, meanwhile big haired rock chick singer Jodee Valentine pouts to the camera, flashing a bit of leg, with one hand on her hip.

Another thing that is cool with both the ‘Feel Like Rock n’ Roll’ EP and the ‘Beauty & The Beasts’ album is that they don’t have side A and side B. Thunderstick were way too metal for that. On ‘Feel Like Rock & Roll’ They have ‘Side Day’ and ‘Side Night’, whilst on ‘Beauty & The Beasts’ it’s ‘Side Thunder’ and ‘Side Lightning’.

And the back cover of the album includes the following message “The album was recorded on Thunderstick Nuclear Power mix-down equipment…..PLAY LOUD!”.  Awesome.

So what does it sound like?

Errr….a bit pub rock, a bit nwobhm, and a bit…well….weird.  Chick fronted rock-lite, some guitar solos, and Thunderstick's love of progressive/experimental studio trickery  appear to be the key ingredients here.  I prefer the songs on the ‘Feel Like Rock n’ Roll’ EP, but this album was worth every penny I paid for it on Ebay, for the sleeve alone.

For some interesting reading and pictures see the following weblinks:

Interview with Thunderstick (http://www.bookofhours.net/samson/)

Official website http://www.thunderstick.co.uk/

Thunderstick on Sleazegrinder http://www.sleazegrinder.com/teensleazethunderstick.htm

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- Alex Erupstick

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