SWEDISH METAL AID - Reportage i Kobra (SVT) 

13 july 1985 !

Exactley 20 years ago the world was drowning in charity songs made by rock and pop artists, although it began in 1984 with the english "band aid" and the song "do they know it's christmas?". But 1985 was THE year of charity of them all in the rock scene; We had the american "USA for Africa" with the song "We are the world" called "nach den wind" in Germany; In Canada with (i couldn't hear what he said) and the large Live Aid performance in the summer. Also here in Sweden the swedish rock and pop elite gathered and wrote the song "Berg är till för att flyttas" (Mountains are made to be moved) But it's easy to forget that the swedish metal heads made a song before that. They created something called "swedish metal aid" with the song called "Give a helping hand" Cuts to the song Narrator: What we're watching right now is a clip from SVT's Saturday investment "Nöjesmassakern" (The humor massacre) from October 1985. 140 so called "hair rockers" (hair/glam metal) gathered in the same TV studio. It might be hard not to laugh when you see theese images today, but back then it was dead serious. In the middle of the happy 80's we where shocked by the images of the famine in Ethiopia. 1985 became a year of charity, the year when we learned the english expression "aid". Band aid had made an imortal classic in the previous year with "Do they know it's christmas?" And the attendance of world stars in Live Aid attracted TV viewers in the billions that summer. "Brittish newspapers can see a new trend today, it's hip to be nice and friendly." On August 28th the same year in Solna (north of Stockholm) another project was launched "Swedish metal aid". The swedish heavy metal elite with Europe, Easy Action, Bedlam, Treat and 220 Volt in the first line came together to make the world slightly better and a young Joey Tempest would see his first hit with the song "Give a helping hand". Guy 1 interviewed: No one else did anything, and it triggered me and i felt that we have the conditions to go through with this, swedish heavy metal is on the rise, Europe was just lurking below the surface and i thought "let's do this!" Guy 2 interviewed: The swedish musical elite had long been speaking about making a charity single for Ethiopia, but nothing much really happend untill the swedish metal heads made action and gathered here in the big studio Sound Trade in Solna; 140 metal heads right here at the same time, there was hardly any air to breathe in the instances when you could breathe in the smell of sweat, hairspray and spandex pants. If you'd detonated a bomb here, the entire swedish metal scene would have been erased in an instance. Joey Tempest: Reporter: You where in an issue of Okej in 1985 -Yep! The boys. -Does it feel strange to see theese pictures today? -I'm getting used to it, we did look a bit corny. In the middle of the 1980's Europe set the trend, you where gonna be a hair rocker, wich it wasn't really called back then. It was all about the large haircuts, and songs with heavy refrains and thick keyboard carpets and from that the largest rectification ever in swedish music all bands was doing melodious heavy metal. Narrator: During this time Europe hadn't yet had their breakthrough with "The final countdown" but still filled stadiums in Sweden, and the initiator of Swedish Metal Aid, Stefan Johansson, only had one superstar in mind as a composer to the project. Joey Tempest: Stefan called me too and asked if i would be intrested in writing something, and i listened to the song and it was almost finished, but it needed some other words, it needed to be anchored so you could obtain a message and really help this thing out and i added the last piece "give a helping hand" the so called post chorus, and when it was added i though it became a nice thing in the end. As soon as we got a few bands, other bands started to join in and it made rings in the water, it was THE thing back then. Narrator: During the autumn of 1985 the Give a helping hand single sold gold and made 600.000 Swedish Kronor. The money was deposited to the swedish metal aid trust fond and Stefan Johansson got to go to London and shake hands with the initiatior of both Band Aid and Live Aid, Bob Geldof during ceremonial forms. Swedish metal aid wasn't a given succsess, since none of those bands hadn't really sold any albums except for Europe, who was starting to become great and was pretty big, they had sold gold, and nobody could ever belive that the single would sell 50.000 copies. Narrator: Swedish metal aid is considered to be a milestone in swedish musical history, and maybe it was there in Solna back in 1985 that the respectable and threatful attitude of heavy metal died before Grunge made it dangerous to play guitars again. But one thing is certain, during no other occation, neither previous or after, has so many similar haircuts gathered under the same roof.

thanks for the translation!

@@Ducesweden thank you for your kindness.

Bahahahahaha!!!!!! WTF indeed.