Sweden Rock Magazine is a still very much active Metal Magazine from Sweden, written in Swedish. But here is an interview translated to English.
SAXON (UK)
BY DAVID NOAKSSON
Hardly had "Wheels of Steel" been released before Saxon began recording "Strong Arm of the Law". The record company considered the band a fad, says Biff Byford, who here publishes the lyrics for this classic album from 1980.
HEAVY METAL THUNDER
- We wrote "Strong Arm of the Law" inside a friend's barn in Norfolk, says singer Biff Byford. We had a four-channel Revox reel-to-reel tape recorder to help us. We wrote, recorded, listened, rewrote, recorded again and so on. My suggestion to name the album "Heavy Metal Thunder" was voted down by the record company. In their ears, "Strong Arm of the Law" was the given single. Therefore, the album should also be called that, they argued. Now that song never became a big hit.
They should have listened to you. "Heavy Metal Thunder" is one of the strongest opening songs ever.
- Yes, and that's also the idea of the song. We wanted to open with something idiotically fast. In fact, we scrapped the first take because we didn't think it was fast enough. The final version is three or four bpm faster. That's not an insignificant difference. There's not much to say about the melody. It's simple but conveys the message effectively. We wrote the song based on our experiences as the opening act on the Motörhead tour in 1979. Our task was to get people on their feet and raise the motivation of the audience. Which we also succeeded in.
Paying tribute to the heavy metal culture and your own place in it is something of a parade branch for Saxon.
- Yes, "Heavy metal thunder" and "Denim and leather" are the crowd songs above all others. The lyrics give voice to an entire generation. The chorus is extremely strong. "Fill your heads with heavy metal thunder" and so on.
Did you get the title from Steppenwolf's "Born to be wild"?
- I don't know if that's where the phrase was coined, but it's possible. Something tells me I'd also come across it in a book about the American Civil War, in a poem of sorts.
TO HELL AND BACK AGAIN
- The opening is a bit reminiscent of "747 (Strangers in the Night)" from "Wheels of Steel". You're thrown right into the song and the theme riff. An unusual beginning. We had some weird things going for us then. Like "747 (Strangers in the Night)" kicking off with a guitar solo. "To hell and back again" is definitely about a prisoner awaiting his death sentence.
It's worth noting that this is two years before Iron Maiden's "Hallowed be thy name".
- That's what happens when you listen to each other. We ourselves were into Judas Priest and Wishbone Ash and were certainly colored by it. The story in "To hell and back again" is based on a letter we received from an American prisoner who wanted to tell us how much he liked the "Wheels of steel" album. It got my thoughts going. I tried to imagine what it would be like to be innocently sentenced to death.
You sing "to hell and back again". How should that be interpreted?
- I imagine a scenario where the person is taken from their cell and taken to the execution room, but at the last moment they are told that the sentence will be reconsidered. Many in the American prison system are in that situation and would probably prefer to just get it over with.
STRONG ARM OF THE LAW
"Stop, get out/We are the strong arm of the law" - where were you stopped?
- In the middle of London Bridge. The police winked at us. Just sliding around in an American was suspicious in their eyes. A common trick at the time was to sneak a pillbox or something like that into the door pocket and then pretend to find it: "Well, look at you, what have we got here then?" The purpose of the charade was to provoke a confession. A dirty trick that didn't work on us. By the way, we had nothing to seize. We weren't dealing in any harder drugs than weed. We left that part to the pros in Motörhead.
The police thought you were easy prey?
- Yes, that's what they thought about everyone with long hair and jeans. We fit their image of a thug. At the police station they probably had a profile of a perpetrator who looked like me or Steve Dawson (bassist in Saxon 1977-1986). It certainly didn't look like Joe Elliott (Def Leppard). In the 70s we had police checks here and there.
Have you received comments about the song from professional traffic police officers over the years?
- Yes, actually. We have a lot of fans in the police force and that particular song is especially loved there. It's almost considered an anthem in their circles.
TAKING YOUR CHANCES
- Our least played song from the album, you say? Yes, but we've ripped it off as part of a medley. The lyrics are about throwing things away and trying your luck. A theme that recurs in many Saxon songs. I don't think it's about any specific person. As is often the case, it is a mixture of autobiography and fiction.
I like the clean, reverb-drenched plucked guitar in the chorus the best, which creates depth effects.
- It's certainly lovely. We were experimenting quite a bit with guitar sounds around that time. For "Strong Arm of the Law" we had both more time and resources to test our ideas.
But having said that, you started recording the album the month after "Wheels of Steel" was released in April 1980.
- I think the record company and management saw us as a fad with a lifetime on a single album. The consensus was that we should squeeze out another album before people forgot about us. Talk about narrow-minded. Nothing wrong with a high production rate, but we should have toured harder for "Wheels of Steel", in the US but also in other parts of the world. If we had done that, the album would have had a greater impact globally. Both albums were recorded in the Who studio Ramport over a three-week period. Maybe even three and a half weeks for "Strong arm of the law".
20,000 FT
Here we have a song where the tempo really matches the theme.
- Yes, the fact is that I attach great importance to that aspect, that riff and lyrics go hand in hand. If I'm going to write about a fighter pilot in a wild flight, I need something fast-paced. Supersonic even. In the US I had read a newspaper article about a certain pilot who took LSD up in a fighter plane. Or a former pilot, if I remember correctly. Probably a war veteran who wanted to have some fun. The story was so fascinating that I wrote lyrics about it.
Did you read "Biggles" as a child?
- I certainly did. "Biggles" was great as a cigarette. I also liked black and white war films. The Korean War was exciting because it was largely fought with early jet aircraft models. They were also stylish, with decorative thunderbolts on the sides I think. Nigel Glockler (drums) is actually a bigger aviation fan than I am. He has been up in such planes at least a couple of times. For me, "20,000 ft" is mostly a cheesy story.
Yes, because you compare breaking the sound barrier to having sex.
- Yes, exactly. There was something about sitting high up in the sky in his little hole. In the song he is 20,000 feet above the ground instead of the more reasonable 30,000 and that's because it simply sounds better. I don't know why. Another example is "747" which sounds better than "737".
Have you always had an ear for words and their different denominations and phonetic qualities?
- Absolutely. In a song lyrics, words and syllables are everything. If I hear a melody in my head, I immediately start figuring out how to put it into lyrics. What kind of words fit into the structure and so on. As a rule, it is a crucial part of the process.
HUNGRY YEARS
- Here I am singing about ourselves. The band that comes from the north down to London to try their luck. Although it could really be about any band. It is a classic rock'n'roll story about going to a minor, getting scammed out of money and encountering one boring thing after another.
Although it ends happily with the lines "they've left the hungry years". When did you turn that corner with Saxon?
- Yes, it was around that time. If we really left it behind us. I'm not so sure. After all, it's just a lyric. Both "Wheels of steel" and "Strong arm of the law" were great albums by all accounts. They gave us a lot of credit in terms of songwriting.
You guys dusted off the song for the "Thunderbolt" tour that started in 2018, right?
- Yes, it's one of those songs that we pretty much never play but that really gets people going. "To hell and back again" also falls into that category. In terms of the number of plays and downloads, it's a fan favorite, but it's far from always the case that we manage to fit it into the set.
I haven't thought about it before, but the guitar loop that appears halfway into the song feels like it could have been the model for Metallica's "For whom the bell tolls".
- Absolutely. There's a lot of Saxon in Metallica. Stealing? Not at all, they're just influenced by us. Take "Seek and destroy" for example. The riff is Saxon to the core. But that's how influences work.
SIXTH FORM GIRLS
Now we're stepping down into the rarities room.
- Yes, this song had been around for a while before we put it on tape. A rascally boyish story about how 17-18-year-old schoolgirls sneak out of a dormitory window to have fun with the working-class sons in town. The inspiration comes partly from the film series "St Trinian's". It's bush humor of the same brand as the "Carry on" series. If it even passes as humor today. It's not very good.
Both musically and lyrically it deviates from the Saxon formula.
- Yes, but it has a punk energy. The closest reference is the band Heavy Metal Kids, if you're familiar with them? Their music was characterized by a cheeky and punk attitude but at the same time had pop qualities. We actually toured together in the 70s during the Son Of A Bitch years. "Sixth form girls" is a direct result of that.
DALLAS 1 PM
- The assassination of John F Kennedy was a monumental event in the 60s and I remember the impression it made on my young teenage self. I had never seen anything like it before. Not that there was much moving image of the actual assassination. The FBI was very secretive. In "Dallas 1 PM" we get on the conspiracy trail with three shots fired. What really happened we will probably never know, but it is common knowledge that FBI Director J Edgar Hoover and Kennedy hated each other. We actually visited the assassination site during the US tour for "Wheels of steel".
To be Saxon at this time it is an uncharacteristically epic song. Almost two minutes pass before the vocals enter.
- It's a massive build, yes. With two riffs played in each speaker. I know that Kiss are big Saxon fans and that the bassist, what's his name again?
Uh, Gene Simmons?
- That's right, yes. He's produced quite a bit in his day and I happen to know that he often plays "Dallas 1 PM" for his protégés as an example of successful songwriting. That it's possible to have two riffs going at the same time.