Growing up in 70s and 80s, what did you call heavy rock music?
This question is for those who were teenagers around the 70’s and 80’s. What did you call heavy rock music of the time like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, KISS, Judas Priest, Motörhead, AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Van Halen, Twisted Sister, Nazareth, Guns N’ Roses, etc.? Did you call it “hard rock” or “heavy metal,” or did it depend on the band? (for example Dio, Scorpions and Quiet Riot might be “heavy metal” but Aerosmith, Meat Loaf and Ted Nugent are just “hard rock.”)
My dad said growing up he and his friends never really used the word “heavy metal,” not even for music like Ozzy Osborne which I feel like everyone calls metal now. He said that kind of music was always “hard rock.”
On the other hand, I have an older uncle who will call bands like Uriah Heep that he grew up on “heavy metal.” Which is funny because almost no one I know calls them metal anymore, but I guess they did.
So what did you call it back then?
| Hard Rock | 3 | |
| Heavy Metal | 0 | |
| both interchangeably | 0 | |
| both depending on the band | 5 | |
| other | 0 |