In the late 1980’s, Heavy Metal genres such as Speed Metal, Thrash Metal, Death Metal and Grind-Core were all still well alive and thriving. It was a great time to be alive! The Thunderous and Eclectic Style of Music had derived from the Rock Origins of The Beatles, the energy of Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry, the melodic madness of the Baroque and Romantic Classical Music era mixed with the fusion of Punk Rock anger and speed. There was more than a decade of non-stop great musical sounds coming out in the late 1960’s into the 1970’s coming from the likes of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Jimi Hendrix, Queen, The Who, The Doors, Elvis Presley, Pink Floyd, Judas Priest, Motorhead, Iron Maiden, Angel Witch and Diamond Head to name a few, and the heavier bands of all this lot being Venom, Judas Priest, Motorhead, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Diamond Head etc., would go on to form the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal sound, which would soon find it’s way across shores to other foreign lands in the form of tape trading and compilation albums initially.
In the early 1980’s, the vibrant sounds and energy from the late 1970’s were flowing all around from groups such as Van Halen, Aerosmith, Twisted Sister, KISS, WASP, Motley Crue, Lita Ford, AC/DC, Radio Birdman, The Ramones, The Sex Pistols to the more underground Hard-Core Punk bands like The Exploited, GBH, The Misfits, Dead Kennedys that were all catching on in a more Underground sense. There was also your more general heavy Metal Acts like OZZY, DIO, DANZIG, Yngwie Malmsteen, Whitesnake, Lita Ford, Quiet Riot, Warlock and so on. As well as this, the Mainstream Rock, Pop, Disco Music Scenes were overall pretty great in general in those times, and these styles formed a basis of musical rhythm, melody, energy and vibe for Heavy Metal to expand into many various song and vocal styles, ranging from Glam to Neo-Classical to the more extreme Death Metal and Black Metal progressing in the early-mid 1980’s. Bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, Death Angel, Exodus, Annihilator, Vio-Lence, Flotsam & Jetsam and Sacred Reich began the Thrash Scene, which would go on to evolve into heavier outfits, such as Death, Possessed, Celtic Frost, Sodom, Coroner, VoiVod, Destruction, Kreator, Sepultura, Dark Angel, Entombed, Bathory, Exhorder, Carcass and Morbid Angel to cover just a few. There was also a more Punk influenced type of Hardcore Metal Scene happening with Suicidal Tendencies, DRI, SOD, MOD, Prong, Agnostic Front and many other great bands with this style in tow.
With so much great music to choose from then, time went by fast, and it wasn’t long before a new scene developed around 1991, the Seattle Grunge Scene came to the fore, introducing a more Grunge Sound with often melodic vocal styles. Some of the bands from this scene were Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, Screaming Trees and Pearl Jam. Just prior to this scene coming to the fore, there was a huge success break for bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Pantera, Sepultura, Motley Crue, Skid Row, Living Colour, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Faith No More. Although at the time, being into these new bands with the Grunge Scene Sound, as well as still being fully into all the previous lot, it wasn’t known so much at the time that this would be a whole new direction change in Heavy Metal and Heavy Rock Music. Metallica had phenomenal success with the Black Album in 1991, and the music was fast becoming more and more popular and accepted around the globe. With the breakthrough and success of this period for Heavy Music, bands started receiving bigger label help and support and more commercial success. Heavy Metal was now becoming a household thing, as opposed to the sure pathway to failure and the Devil, as feared by Parents, Christian and Religious Societies in the 1970’s and 1980’s. To be fair, there was a certain amount of Juvenile Delinquency involved, as an outlet for both the bands and fans, but that was also a part of the attraction and belonging that came with Heavy Metal and Punk Music at that time. Some of that fear still exists for some groups, though Heavy Metal is now so Mainstream and successful that it’s beyond their ability to do anything worthwhile to change it, as nobody will really listen anyways. Some people even found the Metal they feared became something they would later really love, and that it wasn’t something so scary after all, though in saying that, there is always something or some form of Extreme Music forming, set out to cause this fear, such as the Norwegian Black Metal Scene, though a lot of this stuff is fairly polished these days as far as studio recordings go, though there is a wish to keep the intent of the message real.
Over time, newer Heavy Bands like Rammstein, Korn, Nine Inch Nails, KYUSS, Rob Zombie, Type O Negative, Ministry, Fear Factory, Queens Of The Stone Age would form and bring their more ‘Festival-Crowd Friendly’ and more ‘Accessible Heavy Music’ sounds, and a lot of Alternative Bands like Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, Garbage also started using a Heavy Sound with their Bizarre Rock Styles and Musical Arrangements. This was sort of the period where Nu Metal & Screamo had formed, from the likes of Korn and Slipknot and in-between and so on. I think at the time no one really saw that the Metal Styles and Sounds from the 1980’s would change so dramatically to now in the Internet Age, where Heavy Metal has become so commercialized and successful in many ways. The real and true raw energy and aggression from the hunger and the struggle to prove a point or blow your mind musically, seemed to be missing somewhat, or though the emotions are still there (in some new form), it was more becoming Generalized Heavy Music, not necessarily the intricate, complicated riffing, soloing, theoretical neo-classical knowledge and time changes of the yesteryears. The older guitar styles in general, involved a lot more personal practice time, theoretical knowledge and passion as a player, were really missing as well as a lot of the complicated tempos and time changes. There’s still a tonne of great guitarists, drummers, bassists and vocalists out there, though overall the music just doesn’t seem to come out onto the albums the way it used to, even with Generic Rock Music. Old School Metalheads and Punk Fans will know this all too well. It’s that crossover line, where new Metallica fans don’t quite understand why old fans became disgruntled, bored and quite off them to how they used to be. In the old days Metallica was a NWOBHM influenced band with all the aggression, power, time changes and supreme pioneering skills with their rhythms and melodies, where they became so successful, that they seemed to lose that hunger that had got them to that place in the first place. It didn’t help that Cliff Burton was killed in a bus crash while the band was on tour in Europe in 1986, but their new image and musical direction in the late 1990’s after the Black Album period (1991) seemed confusing for the original fans. What had happened to their hero’s, the Pioneer Metal Gods? It seemed without any real direction, like they were experimenting with Generic Rock and Country Music for certain reasons, while still trying to keep some form of Heavy Sound with strange new songs and poor production ideas. This was true in part as shown in the 2004 film documentary ‘Some Kind Of Monster’. Upon again listening to their first four albums, and the original $5.98 Garage Days Revisited EP, one is quickly reminded how amazing they once were. Judas Priest are a perfect example of a band doing what they have always done and staying true to their form, and they’re still going today in 2023.
In those old days, Heavy Metal had a very attractive appeal to Lost Souls or The Disgruntled Outsider who didn’t fit in to Societies’ Norms. It also seemed to have an appeal to those from Broken or Dysfunctional Families, or where there was Forced Religion. Some were fans, and others were enticed to become musicians, some had natural talent, some had the wild persona, and there was so much competition from one Heavy Metal Musician to another, all trying to outplay each other, whether that be guitar, drums, bass or vocals, and in some cases keyboard skills, more than likely influenced by the Classical Era to The Doors, Rainbow and Deep Purple. Keyboards are still used with bands like Nine Inch Nails to Cradle Of Filth etc.,
Aside from the music itself, the first memories of seeing the Medieval Vampiric Warrior looking Celtic Frost on the back cover of ‘Emperor’s Return’ and ‘To Mega Therion’ were an Epic Fantasy Escape from all the bullshit in the everyday real world. The Evil Warrior photo of Jeff Becerra on the rear cover of Possessed ‘Seven Churches’ was Extremely Ballsy at that time with Religious Groups and The PMRC ready to pounce on anything they didn’t like on this Earth. That picture of Jeff Becerra with the large Inverted Cross, standing insmoke-fog, blood dripping from the mouthis reminiscent of the Vampires from Salem’s Lot (1979) directed by Tobe Hooper, a modern-day set Vampire Film based on the novel by Stephen King. The way Jeff Becerra was situated in some strange unknown place, bought about such wonders and thoughts, like ‘Wow, who is this Vampiric Sorcerer!?’ ‘Crazy and Scary, but Rocks like Hell!’ ‘He plays Bass and also does Vocals!‘. ‘This dude rules!’. It was the Shock Factor that was so appealing. Years later, Morbid Angel and Deicide would have had many parents closing the curtains early, sleeping with the lights on!
Some of the progressive music coming from Metallica, Megadeth, Sodom, Coroner and guitar wiz Chuck Schuldiner (RIP) from Death, had many fans in awe, inspiring fans and the like to take up a musical instrument, and copy those Mad Riffs and Pounding Beats. It was in the blood. It was a lifestyle. A place of belonging. A place to release emotion and stress. A place to find some identity. A place to go to a music club, a disco or a concert and bang the head. The Metalhead, The Headbanger!
As many years rolled on and life took on a different journey, some good, some not so good, some bad, some very hard and some very sad and painful, it became increasingly obvious that something awful had happened to music in the Digital Age. Gone were the days when you could listen to general mainstream radio and there would be a constant flow of good songs coming out providing a background soundtrack to life. That’s not to say that everyone loved that music, but in general music was creative and progressive, talented and catchy, whether that be from The Cars, Dire Straits, David Bowie, Elton John, Bon Jovi, The Rolling Stones, Queen, Roxy Music, Blondie, Kim Wilde, The Police, Cheap Trick or The Beach Boys, or even some of the good oldchoice of Classic Australian Rock n Roll Sounds, from The Angels, AC/DC, Rose Tattoo and Radio Birdman, to Baby Animals, Australian Crawl and INXS. Life was good! Music was Alive and Healthy!
Diggy’s Records was born from an idea that stemmed from many a thought as to why life didn’t feel the same as it used to, and it took a fair bit of soul searching, some huge losses, interruptions and major life changes to bring the idea of Diggy’s Records to maybe becoming a possible thing. Some of the Soul Searching took going back and revisiting childhood and teenage memories, and remembering what made life seem happier then, and it all seemed to come down to doing something in life that holds true purpose. It didn’t help that a lot of old Great Old Music Venues that used to exist in Brisbane and Gold Coast were shut down and demolished for no real good reason aside from Ridiculous Council Decisions. The ending of Festival Hall, The Playroom, Metropolis and The Roxy were very big losses for music fans and musicians alike. Those were heartbreaking losses and changed things for the not so better.
With an ever-growing vinyl collection, and having collected cassette tapes, cd’s and albums since the prior to the Teens, it seemed fitting to go down the path of Vinyl Records for a new Small Business Venture, as it became apparent through Online Vinyl Purchasing during the Covid 19 Lockdown that everyone seemed to be chasing the same Hard To Get Vinyl or Rare Vinyl, so in that period where people were stuck at home in Lockdowns there was an Online Vinyl Resurgence happening. That wasn’t necessarily ‘Big Dollars for a Small Business’, but more of a continual purpose to suit. Turntables or ‘Modern Vinyl Players’ in some instances were becoming being manufactured to suit the Digital Age, to be able to be used in conjunction with PC’s, Laptops and Blue Tooth Speakers, but most serious Vinyl Enthusiasts would no doubt still prefer Traditional HiFi Systems & Speakers, and Old School Analogue Turntables & Stylus Needles.
Trying to source all the Vinyl Records for the Collection, it dawned on Diggy’s Records to bring all these sourced Vinyl Records from 70 different worldwide stores into the one store for these ‘certain genres’ and ‘Niche Old School’ angle of Diggy’s Records, whether that be New Vinyl or VGC Vinyl Copies to Mint Copies of Used Vinyl as a Strict Business Standard. Because of this reason, some of the Used Vinyl Copies will be the Hard to Source Vinyls or Rare Vinyls, and some of these will be quite expensive, though the persons seeking these Vinyl Records will understand the reasons why. As a Niche Small Business, it will be hard to be over compete price wise, but albums will be priced accordingly to Market Value, Shipping Costs involved with Inventory Purchasing. The products will hold their own value.
Diggy’s Records also happens to be based on a now 10.5 Years-Young Labrador, named ‘Digga’ who was born 05 January 2014, and Digga (Diggy), is also the face of the Brand ‘Diggy’s Records’.
Please enjoy your experience at Diggy’s Records, as this is also a place to hang out and watch Music Video Concerts and Occasional Interviews when relevant material is sourced. There will also be Blogs, Quiz’s and Competitions as the ball gets rolling with Diggy’s Records. Feel free to hang out and chill and watch Videos or read Blogs in Media.
If you decide you would like to make a purchase, for instance a Factory Sealed New Vinyl, let Diggy’s Records know if you would like the Vinyl to be opened and inspected for any possible Factory Defect, as depending on Demand and Inventory Stock Levels, certain albums may take a few weeks or so to replace if Sourced Internationally. This may also save excess Shipping Costs to both the Customer, and Diggy’s Records. Genuine Defect Items can be Returned, Replaced or Refunded. Please Choose Items Carefully, as there will be – No Refunds or Exchanges for Change of Mind.
Please see the T&C’s, Shipping and Returns Policies on the Website for Further Information and Diggy’s Records Website Terms of Use.
Lastly, the purpose of this website was that it was designed for those who very much miss the old school feels, and wish to retain those memories in these Modern Times where that feeling and vibe is very missing now, indeed very missed by many Old School Music Fans who lived through those great times .
Cheers!
Diggy’s Records
