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History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff

What did you do during hair metal?

·34 min·3 clips
Martin Popoff reveals how bands like Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden navigated the hair metal years without changing their sound.
The episode begins with host Martin Popoff introducing the theme: exploring how bands navigated the hair metal period from 1983 to 1991. He explains that this episode builds on previous discussions about AOR but focuses specifically on hair metal reactions. Popoff structures the analysis into five categories, each illustrated with a song clip. The first category is 'Ignored It,' featuring Black Sabbath's 'Call of the Wild' from 1989, where bands like Black Sabbath, thrash metal groups (Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer), and others maintained their sound without adopting hair metal elements. The second category is bands that 'didn't have to change too much,' exemplified by Scorpions' 'Hit Between the Eyes' from 1990, as they were already aligned with melodic arena rock. Other examples include Van Halen, AC/DC, Aerosmith, and Foreigner, which retained their core identities. The third category is 'Did Something Bizarre,' with Queen's 'Pain is So Close to Pleasure' from 1986, highlighting bands like Queen, Rush, Blue Öyster Cult, and Robert Plant that experimented with unconventional styles instead of hair metal. The fourth category is 'went all in,' using Kiss's 'Good Girl Gone Bad' from 1987 to discuss bands like Kiss, Y&T, Def Leppard, Whitesnake, and Judas Priest that fully embraced hair metal aesthetics and music. The final category is 'missed it by breaking up or sitting it out,' with Styx's 'Rock Six Times' from 1978, covering bands like Styx, Angel, and Journey that could have been hair metal stars but disbanded or paused during the era. Throughout, Popoff references specific albums, band members, and stylistic details, such as Tony Iommi's eyeliner or Angus Young's poofy hair. The episode ends with thanks to patrons and promotions for Popoff's publications and artwork, emphasizing the analytical approach to rock history.

As heard by us

A discography-minded survey of how established rock bands navigated the hair metal years.

Martin Popov uses the 1983-91 hair metal years to sort how older rock bands handled a changing hard-rock market. His categories separate groups that leaned in, barely shifted, or wandered into stranger territory.

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Why you'd press play

Want a guided detour through what Foreigner, Queen, Rush, and Blue Oyster Cult did while hair metal ruled 1983-91?

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →
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