The Story Behind Steppenwolf’s Born to Be Wild: The First Heavy Metal Anthem
Professor of Rock · Gamut Podcast Network
December 25, 202320m 12s
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Show Notes
Up next the story of One of the first hard rock songs to light up the charts… Some even call it the first Heavy Metal song…and you’ll understand why next… The story of Born To Be Wild by Steppenwolf. The demo came after singer and writer John Kay test-drove a car… the music in his head dictated it would be a cruising song. But at first, it was written as a slow ballad but the second it was sped up it became one of the coolest rock songs ever. … then the band got the iconic title Born to be Wild from a slogan off of a billboard After it was recorded the band was very confident in it and they were anxious to get it out to radio. But the label was pushing for another song to get the coveted A side. So they compromised… They would put both songs on the record. one on each side and whatever the DJ played that was the song… Well, it just so happens that all the DJs chose this hard rock B-side and it flew to the top of the charts...then it became the voice of a new generation when it was used in one of the first indie movies called Easy Rider that blew up the box office. a great story is coming up next.
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