Budgie

Budgie came out of Cardiff in 1967, cut a demo a year later, and set about making some of the heaviest racket Britain had heard yet. The band has always revolved around Burke Shelley, singing lead in a high, sharp wail while pummeling the bass, with drummer Steve Williams his only fellow permanent fixture from 1974 on; before that, Ray Phillips was behind the kit. Guitarists came and went like buses, with Tony Bourge, Rob Kendrick, John Thomas and Craig Goldy all taking a turn.

Their 1971 debut, produced by Rodger Bain and released by MCA, was hard rock with the blues still in its bones, but each record after it got meaner and louder. Never Turn Your Back on a Friend, from 1973, carries "Breadfan", a riff that hurtles like a runaway lorry, and it's the classic power-trio blueprint: just bass, guitar and drums, with a keyboard sneaking in now and then. Between 1971 and 1982 they made ten albums for MCA, A&M and RCA, winning a decent following and modest sales.

History has been kinder than the charts were. They count as one of heavy metal's earliest bands, and according to Garry Sharpe-Young their influence ran through the new wave of British heavy metal and on to Metallica. The band carried on until 2010.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.