# Origins of "Heavy Metal" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 19, 2001, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-heavy-metal/50912 "2001-01-19T20:41:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-heavy-metal/50912/1 "2001-01-19T20:41:42Z")
Mrs. Hometownboy & I were discussing various things last night when the term “heavy metal” came up. She was curious about the origins both of the name and the phenomenon. Reaching back into the dusty recesses of the mental file drawer, I came up with two possibly significant tidbits. First, the magazine called Heavy Metal that apperared in the 70s(?) which featured “underground” style comic strips by folks such as moebius and was patterened after a French publication which I vaguely recall was “Metal Hurlant”, loosely translated as Screaming Metal. Second, there is a line in Steppenwolf’s 1968 hit, Born to be Wild that runs something like: I like smoke and night wind Heavy metal thunder Racing with the wind And the feeling that I’m under Even though I qualify solidly as a boomer generation member, I don’t recall paying too much attention to this particular genesis. So the Mrs. says “Why don’t you post it on that BBS you enjoy so much? They probably know the answers.” Excellent idea on her part, so here it is. Do either of the above have even the slightest connection to the subject? ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-heavy-metal/50912/2 "2001-01-19T20:46:25Z")
The term was first used by William S. Burroughs in one of his books (can’t remember which one), I believe it was a type of S&M. As far as I know, the Steppenwolf song was the first connection of the term with music. ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-heavy-metal/50912/3 "2001-01-19T20:49:21Z")
I can remember talking of Heavy Metal before I left high school- class of 68. Steppenwolf seems a likely source. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-heavy-metal/50912/4 "2001-01-19T21:08:45Z")
William Burroughs used the term in _Nova Express_ in 1964. > [@](#): > > At this point we got a real break in the form of a defector from The Nova Mob: Uranian Willy The Heavy Metal Kid. It’s actually the first reference given in the OED for Heavy Metal as a type of music, though I have no idea if Burroughs was referring to music. The term “heavy metal” goes back to the 1800s referring to specific elements in chemistry as well as large cannons. I doubt there is a direct connection to the music sense, thought the chemistry usage may have been familiar enough to people. I am also guessing that Steppenwolf’s reference was to a motorcyle (“heavy metal thunder”), which is the second citation in the OED entry. This first definite reference to Heavy Metal music in the OED is from 1973 in the magazine _Crawdaddy_: > [@](#): > > They find no comfort in glitter or Heavy Metal - Black Sabbath, Black Oak Arkansas and their ilk. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-heavy-metal/50912/5 "2001-01-19T21:44:17Z")
We’ve been here before, reaching about the same conclusions: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=15891](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=15891) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-heavy-metal/50912/6 "2001-01-19T22:40:35Z")
I’m presuming that the title of this thread was meant to be Origins of “heavy metal” so I’m editing it to reflect that. **Hometownboy** , if you’d prefer something else, let myself or **manhattan** know, and we’ll change it. [mode=ATMB]If you put part of your title in “double quotes” and then preview the thread, vBulletin will eat the portion within quotes without a trace. There’s three possible solutions: First, don’t preview. Secondly, use ‘single quotes’ instead of “double quotes”. Thirdly, preview, but then hit “back” to go back to your original reply page before submitting.[/mode] ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-heavy-metal/50912/7 "2001-01-19T23:57:01Z")
Thanks, **Chronos** Chalk it up to newbie ineptness. Also thanks to **yabob** for the thread which I missed last April. I did do a search on the SD archives before posting, but I’m not sure if there’s a way to search the threads first… ## In any event, the Mrs. and I are most grateful An idea isn’t responsible for the people who believe in it. — Don Marquis ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2001, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-heavy-metal/50912/8 "2001-01-20T00:25:43Z")
> [@](#): > > I did do a search on the SD archives before posting, but I’m not sure if there’s a way to search the threads first… Ask and you shall receive. On any page associated with the Message Boards (main page, thread listings in the forum, and individual threads), there’s a group of icons up in the upper-right corner, including one that says “search”. Be sure that you set the range of the search long enough: The default is “since five days ago”, but in this case, you’d probably want to select “any date”. It also occasionally has trouble with short or common words as search terms, but that shouldn’t be an issue here. ---
**Author:** ![Grok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/96bed5/32.png) [@Grok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grok)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2001, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-heavy-metal/50912/9 "2001-01-20T03:48:27Z")
According to a PBS documentary on Rock & Roll that I have, the term was first used in a newspaper review of Jimi Hendrix. The writer said his music was like “heavy metal falling from the sky.” They said that was the first use of the term in that context.