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On this day, 24 June 1980, Welsh rockers Budgie, played Cardiff’s Top Rank on their If Swallowed, Do Not Induce Vomiting Tour.
Budgie formed in 1967 in Cardiff, Wales under the name Hills Contemporary Grass. Their original line-up consisted of Burke Shelley on vocals and bass, Tony Bourge on guitar and vocals, and Ray Phillips on drums.
After performing several gigs in 1968, the band changed their name to Budgie the following year and recorded their first demo.
The band had initially considered going under the name "Six Ton Budgie", but decided the shorter single word variant was preferable.
Burke Shelley has said that the band's name came from the fact that he, "loved the idea of playing noisy, heavy rock, but calling ourselves after something diametrically opposed to that".
Budgie's music was described in the All-Music Guide as a cross between Rush and Black Sabbath.
Burke Shelley's vocals have been compared to Geddy Lee due to his similar approach of high-pitched banshee wails (coincidentally, Shelley and Lee are also the bass players in their respective power-trio bands).
Although Budgie remained fairly obscure during their early career, many future stars of hard rock/metal have cited them as an important influence and covered their songs, including Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, Van Halen, Melvins,Queens of the Stone Age, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden.
Budgie were about to release their eighth studio album in October 1980 on Active Records, a sublabel of RCA Records (which was the distributor of A&M Records — Budgie's previous label — at the time).
This is the first album without original guitarist Tony Bourge, who left the band in 1978 after the album Impeckable.
