Scottish, heavy rock legends Heavy Pettin have released the live video from their electrifying performance at Leyendas del Rock! Signed with Music Gallery International, Heavy Pettin is managed by Shawn Barusch and Lee Langton.
"Hey guys it’s Hamie coming attacha live! Hope u like our new video... taken from the Heavy Pettin European tour 22. This show was in Spain August 5th at the famous Leyendas del Rock Festival. A hot 'n' sweaty rockin' night. Hope you like it! Can’t wait for u guys to hear the new single and slbum this sSummer. Till then take it lite." - Hamie
When they first burst out of Glasgow in 1981, they were vibrant, priapic, anthemic and focused. As they showed on a 3-tarck demo, and on the subsequent debut single for independent label Neat ("Roll The Dice" b/w "Love Xs Love"), they were much much more than mere Def Leppard slaves. In fact, the Pettin had an international sound that owed something to AC/DC, UFO, Thin Lizzy and Foreigner, but also had its own raging momentum. Not that the band found the road forward straightforward. But, thanks to a work ethic that took them around the country, plus a valuable session for Radio 1’s prestigious ‘Friday Rock Show’, the band eventually landed a crucial deal with the major Polydor Records. Moreover, their 1983 debut album (Lettin’ Loose) was co-produced by the creative Mack… together with Queen guitarist Brian May. Now, that’s pedigree.
Amazingly, that album has survived more than 25 years of high-speed, hi-tech developments intact. While other, more celebrated records have dated badly, Lettin’ Loose re-affirms the belief back then that the Pettin would plunge to big time stature. What went wrong at the time has little to do with band, or lack of ambition/talent. In America, where they should have broken big, long before Bon Jovi gave Love A Bad Name, they were held back by the label’s insistence on an anaemic re-mix (as well as a title change to ‘Heavy Pettin’, which caused more confusion than anything else). If the band’s essential, vital British brio had been left as conceived in the first place, who knows what might have been achieved.
Still, a slot on the bill for the 1983 Reading Festival, the day that Black Sabbath infamously headlined when fronted by Ian Gillan, did them no harm. And touring with both KISS and Ozzy helped the quintet’s progress.
Two years later, the Pettin return to the studio, this time with producer Mark Dearnley (who’d worked with AC/DC and Krokus). The result? Rock Ain’t Dead, which surprised many with a slicker yet conversely tougher approach. The lads really had progressed, although ironically if things had gone to plan, this would have been produced by Lance Quinn, of Bon Jovi and Lita Fordfame. However, just hours before the band were due to fly to Philadelphia, to work with Quinn at his Warehouse Studios, the decision was taken by PolyGram (to whom both Heavy Pettin and Bon Jovi were signed in the US) that, instead, he should start work immediately on what was to be Jovi’s second record, 7800 Degrees Fahrenheit.
Perhaps then, it should have been obvious that record company politics were to scupper Pettin.. A third album, The Big Bang, was released by FM Revolver in 1989 – and still proved this lot were way ahead of so many others who were selling truckloads of ‘units’ and getting acclaim from the media But, as the 1980s faded into memory, so too did Heavy Pettin.
However, what has happened over the past two decades is that every so often, people will dust down those Pettin recordings, scratch their heads in confusion and wonder what went wrong. Well, recriminations never help; they only serve to fuel frustrations. But now the band are back ! – not for nostalgic reasons, not re- capture a long past youth. Not to right past wrongs. But to make music. So, here we are, not looking backwards to those years, when this lot were ready to take on the world and toured with Motley Crue and Ratt. No, this is about the 21st Century. Driven by a desire, passion, and a capacity simply to invoke the simple magic and rapport of what this band once stood for. Since stepping back out in 2017 the new line up fronted by frontman Stephen “Hamie” Hayman, the band have been going about the business of reclaiming their reputation as a “tour de force” live. 2018 saw them on tour in the UK with American legends Angel. 2019 a headline set at HRH hellfollowed by another headline appearance this time in Germany at the Headbangers festival, rounding off the year with another tour around the UK with Rockgoddess. 2020 promised to be the best yet, starting off with the amazing Monsters of Rock Cruise X followed by another headline festival appearance at the Brofest festival in Newcastle. Then of course Covid happened! In August 2022 after which felt like an eternity the band went out on a run of shows that would see them play in 5 deferent countries across Europe. Kicking off with a headline slot at the Legends of Rock Festivalfollowed by a triumphant return to their hometown of Glasgow as “Special guests” to the legend that is Michael Schenker! The band have their eyes set firmly on 2023. This will be the 40th anniversary of the debut album Letting Loose. To mark the occasion a new remastered version of the Brian May produced original is slated for a March release followed by a run of shows. The plan is to record these shows for a 40th anniversary Live release later in the year. During the lock down period a new album was written, which is high on the agenda to round off 2023. With a new management deal and solid line up in place the future looks bright. Rock ain’t Dead!
