School friends Brian Tatler and Duncan Scott first started writing music together in early 1976 with Brian on cheap fuzz guitar and Duncan on Biscuit tins. Brian had a poster of an album by Phil Manzanera called Diamond Head that was released in 1975 and he thought "that would be a good name for the band", but they needed a singer and auditioned several school chums until someone mentioned they had heard Sean Harris singing Be Bop a Lu La on a coach and so Brian asked Sean to try out and after one song he was asked to join. Colin Kimberley, an friend of Brian's from junior school completed the line up.
The first demo tape was cut in 1978 in a studio in Kidderminster. This was used to get gigs, and a copy was sent to Geoff Barton at Sounds, who was suitably impressed and put them on his play list, and arranged an interview. Continual gigging set them in good stead. This saw them opening for the likes of ACDC and Iron Maiden.
At the beginning of 1980, the band formed 'Diamond Head Music' as a means to putting out their own self financed material. Their first single was 'Shoot Out The Lights' backed with 'Helpless' on Happy Face Music.
They then recorded what was to become their first album release. Like Led Zeppelin's fourth album it had no official title and has been referred to as the 'White Album', or 'Lightning To The Nations'. There were initially 1000 copies pressed, which were in a plain white cover. Every copy was signed by one member of the band. This was available only at gigs or by mail order for £3.50 A further pressing of 1000 were done, which had the track listing on it. This contained 7 classic tracks including 'Am I Evil?', 'The Prince' and 'Sucking My Love'.
This album was heralded a classic and became one of the most influential records of the period. Both Megadeth and Metallica cite Diamond Head as a major influence, with the latter covering five DH tracks over their career. Occasionally a copy will surface on ebay which can earn it's owner a tidy sum.
The album helped to secure a deal with MCA Records with whom they recorded the 'Borrowed Time' and 'Canterbury' albums.
In 1991 Brian and Sean were joined by Karl Wilcox (drums) and Eddie Mooham (Bass), and they began recording their fourth studio album. The album was released in 1993 with guest spots from Megadeth's Dave Mustaine, and Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath who also co-wrote one of the tracks; Starcrossed (Lovers of the Night).
Prior to its release, the band opened a show at Milton Keynes Bowl featuring Megadeth and Metallica on 5th June 1993. The album sold more than 50,000 copies to their ever loyal fan base. The band then lay dormant for several years. In late 2000, Brian and Sean started working on an acoustic project, reworking some of their back catalogue in an acoustic style and writing new songs. A self finance Acoustic EP was released.
2004 heralded a landmark in Diamond Head history as they embarked on a new phase with new singer Nick Tart. The year saw them rehearse and write new material as a revitalised band, and record a new album with Nick, 'All Will Be Revealed'. The end of the year saw them perform their first gig infront of an invitation only crowd at JBs in Dudley. Harking back to the early days and the 'do it yourself' attitude, 1000 self financed copies of their new album were pressed. These quickly sold out at gigs and via their website.
In February 2005, Diamond Head embarked on a massive European tour supporting Megadeth which turned out to be a massive success for the band, impressing long standing fans and picking up younger ones along the way.
2005 proved to be a succesful year for the band. Cargo Records picked up All Will Be Revealed and gave the album a full commercial release allowing a much greater audience than the lucky few who had managed to get a hold of the pre release copies. The year culminated with another short tour and Diamond Head headlining a 25th Anniversary of the NWOBHM at London Astoria in November. The Astoria show was professionally recorded which resulted in a live album, 'It's Electric' and Diamond Head's first ever official DVD. The DVD was released in August 2006 and features bonus material of interviews and in the studio recording All Will Be Revealed.
2007 sees Diamond Head complete a new studio album with engineer Dave 'Shirt' Nicholls. One of their strongest pieces of work to date, the album is due to be released later this year. In the meantime, the band have just embarked on an exciting European Tour that sees them taking the new material throughout the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Holland, Germany & Italy
!
Brian Tatler's autobiography is now available and can only be ordered online from the diamond head website.
If you would like the book to be signed by Brian please state what you would like inscribed in the 'other information' box at the paypal checkout.
For more details and to order, visit www.diamond-head-net
Finally there’s Am I Evil?, guitarist Brian Tatler’s telling of the Diamond Head story. No, it’s not an album. But it’s just been published, and is worth reading. In his book Tatler recalls the story in a surprisingly honest fashion, it really does give a fascinating glimpse into the life, times, triumphs and failures of the band many of us believe should have been a world power. Get it from www.diamond-head.net.
– Malcolm Dome
