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Whitley Bay, NWOBHM, 1978

Tygers of Pan Tang

Tygers of Pan Tang formed in Whitley Bay, on the coast north of Newcastle, in 1978 and became part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Robb Weir played guitar, Rocky Laws bass, Brian Dick drums and Jess Cox sang. The name comes from Michael Moorcock's Elric stories, where the wizards of Pan Tang keep tigers as pets. They started on Newcastle's Neat Records, signed to MCA, and their debut album reached No. 18 in Britain in 1980. John Sykes joined on guitar, Jon Deverill replaced Cox, and when Sykes left to audition for Ozzy Osbourne, Fred Purser learned the set in two days. In 1982 they split over MCA's push to record covers. Weir revived the band after playing with Cox at Wacken in 1999, and Italian singer Jacopo Meille has fronted it since 2004.

Deeves Hall, Hertfordshire, 1968

Deep Purple

Deep Purple came together in 1968 in a rented country house, Deeves Hall in South Mimms, where the first line-up lived and rehearsed: Rod Evans, Ritchie Blackmore, Nick Simper, Jon Lord and Ian Paice. Ian Gillan and Roger Glover replaced Evans and Simper in 1969, and that year the band played Lord's Concerto for Group and Orchestra with the Royal Philharmonic at the Royal Albert Hall. Machine Head topped the British chart in 1972, and the live Made in Japan went platinum in five countries. The Guinness Book of Records called them the loudest band in the world after a 1972 show at the Rainbow. David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes came in during 1973. The band split in 1976, reformed in 1984, entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016 and is still playing.

London, 1975

Motörhead

Lemmy Kilmister formed Motörhead in London in 1975, months after Hawkwind fired him. The best-known line-up had "Fast" Eddie Clarke on guitar and Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor on drums, playing as fast and loud as they could. They moved from Chiswick to Bronze, and the live album No Sleep 'til Hammersmith went to No. 1 in Britain in June 1981. Clarke left in 1982 to form Fastway, and Brian Robertson of Thin Lizzy was in the band for a year. From 1984 Phil Campbell and Würzel played guitar, and Mikkey Dee drummed from 1992 to 2015. Their last album, Bad Magic, came out in August 2015 for the band's fortieth anniversary. Lemmy died that December, and Dee and Campbell ended Motörhead within days.

Los Angeles, 1983

Megadeth

Dave Mustaine started Megadeth in Los Angeles in 1983, after Metallica fired him in April that year before they made their first album. David Ellefson was his bassist for most of the band's life, and their skeletal mascot, Vic Rattlehead, first appeared on the 1985 debut. Capitol signed them in 1986, and the line-up with Marty Friedman on guitar and Nick Menza on drums sold millions in the early 1990s. They became one of thrash metal's Big Four with Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax. In 2002 a nerve injury in Mustaine's left arm stopped him playing and he broke up the band, then re-formed it in 2004. They were nominated for Grammys twelve times and finally won one in 2017. Their self-titled final album in January 2026 was their first No. 1 in America.

The Collection