Budgie

Budgie were a Welsh heavy metal band from Cardiff. The band formed in 1967, and the following year recorded a demo; in 1971, their first album (of blues-oriented hard rock), produced by Rodger Bain, was released by MCA. The band, a classic power trio with the occasional keyboard player, released ten albums, with MCA, A&M, and RCS, between 1971 and 1982, attracting a fair number of fans and achieving modest commercial success. Budgie were one of the earliest heavy metal bands, and according to Garry Sharpe-Young they were a seminal influence on many acts of that scene, particularly the so-called new wave of British heavy metal, and later acts such as Metallica. The band has been noted as "among the heaviest metal of its day." History Budgie formed in 1967 in Cardiff, Wales under the name Hills Contemporary Grass. Their original line-up consisted of Burke Shelley on vocals and bass, Tony Bourge on guitar and vocals, and Ray Phillips on drums. After performing several gigs in 1968, the band changed their name to Budgie the following year and recorded their first demo. The band had initially considered going under the name "Six Ton Budgie", but decided the shorter single word variant was preferable. Burke Shelley has said that the band's name came from the fact that he, "loved the idea of playing noisy, heavy rock, but calling ourselves after something diametrically opposed to that". Their debut album of strong, blues-oriented hard rock was recorded at Rockfield Studios with Black Sabbath producer Rodger Bain and released in 1971, followed by Squawk in 1972. The third album, Never Turn Your Back on a Friend (1973), contained "Breadfan", which was covered by Metallica in 1987. Metallica had covered another Budgie song, "Crash Course in Brain Surgery", earlier in their career. Ray Phillips left the band before the fourth album In for the Kill! was recorded. He was replaced by Pete Boot.