• Track: Heavy Metal
• Artist: Sammy Hagar
• Album: Heavy Metal Soundtrack
• Year: 1981

Lyrics:

Headbangers in leather
Sparks fly in the dead of the night
It all comes together
When they shoot out the lights

Tight pants and lipstick
She’s riding on razor’s edge
She holds her own against the boys
Yeah, cuts through the crowd just like a wedge

Fifty thousand watts of power
And it’s pushin’ overload
The beast is ready to devour
All the metal they can hold
Reachin’ overload
Start to explode

It’s your one-way ticket to midnight
Call it heavy metal
Higher than high, feelin’ just right
Call it heavy metal
Desperation on a red line
Call it heavy metal noise

Tight pants and lipstick
She’s riding on razor’s edge
She holds her own against the boys
Yeah, cuts through the crowd just like a wedge

Ohh, can you feel the static?
So many contacts being made
We’ve got up front fanatics
Tearing down the barricade
To reach the stage
Can you feel the rage?

It’s your one-way ticket to midnight
Call it heavy metal
Higher than high, feelin’ just right
Call it heavy metal
Desperation on a red line
Call it heavy metal noise

Get It:

Sammy Hagar’s title track, Heavy Metal, is available on the eponymous soundtrack:

Heavy Metal also appears on one of the best rock albums produced in the 1980s, Sammy Hagar’s Standing Hampton:

And because we’re completists here at Dances with Bass Radio, here is the official movie poster for Heavy Metal:

If you’re a movie buff and a music fan, then you know that the right soundtrack can really enhance the cinematic experience and make it so much more memorable. I’m sure we have all seen a flick that had such a remarkable soundtrack that we went out and bought the album as soon as it dropped in record stores. For me, some of those soundtracks include The Big Chill, Good Morning Vietnam, and Guardians of the Galaxy.

But sometimes a movie’s soundtrack is such an integral part of the film that the music becomes a character unto itself (see Easy Rider and This is Spinal Tap). For me, a soundtrack from my youth stands out in the crowd. No, not Saturday Night Fever, Mr. Kughen, although that’s a decent soundtrack in its own right. I’m talking about the one and only, first of its kind, never before seen, feature-length, R-rated, animated movie, Heavy Metal! The 1981 film, inspired by the magazine of the same name, is a futuristic, sci-fi compilation of several short stories produced by the legendary Ivan Reitman, and it starred the voices of heavy-hitters like John Candy, Harold Ramis, and Eugene Levy.

The most noteworthy aspect of the movie (aside from the gratuitous cartoon nudity) was, of course, its renowned soundtrack. This song selection friggin’ (yes, I said friggin’) rocks! Check out the track listing:

• Radar Rider – Riggs
• Veteran of the Psychic Wars – Blue Öyster Cult
• True Companion – Donald Fagan
• Heartbeat – Riggs
• Blue Lamp – Stevie Nicks
• Open Arms – Journey
• Taking a Ride (on Heavy Metal) – Don Felder
• Queen Bee – Grand Funk Railroad
• I Must Be Dreamin’ – Cheap Trick
• Crazy – Nazareth
• All of You – Don Felder
• Heavy Metal – Sammy Hagar
• Prefabricated – Trust
• The Mob Rules – Black Sabbath
• Through Being Cool – Devo
• Working in the Coal Mine – Devo

Video:

There is no official video for the track Heavy Metal, so I’ve included a live performance from 1983 at the now demolished Checkerdome in St. Louis and a studio (audio only) version.

Here is the studio version:

Former Eagles ax-man, Don Felder’s, Heavy Metal (Takin’ a Ride) is my favorite track from the movie. To give you a feel for the film’s vibe, this is an unsanctioned video a fan-created using various scenes (Warning: NSFW.)

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