U.S. METAL WARRIORS VOL. 20: KAMIKAZE - Kamikaze LP + OBI (Pre-Order)

In the summer of 1981, two teenage best friends started a heavy metal band in the last place anyone expected one - Santa Cruz. Dick Smothers Jr. on bass and vocals, Jay Wilson on drums, Simon Phillips on guitar. No connections, no plan. Just noise and nerve.

They played backyards and living rooms until they earned a real stage - their third-ever show was the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. For four years they clawed into Bay Area and Monterey clubs, opening for DOKKEN and ANVIL CHORUS, while Santa Cruz's own nightclubs refused to book them. So they played the fairs and halls instead, and the crowds still came. When a Record Factory manager financed their Banzai Rock cassette, it became the store's top-selling metal release for weeks - proof the town had been wrong.

In 1985, Dick made the hard call: Santa Cruz would never be big enough. He rebuilt the band in the Bay Area, and for four more years Kamikaze was one of the most beloved headliners at The Stone and The Omni, played nightly on the popular metal radio station KVHS.

Then it almost happened. An Atlantic Records exec saw them live and asked to bring his whole team back. Before that second show could happen, their attorney had a heart attack - and by the time he recovered, Atlantic had moved on.

Kamikaze played their last show in 1989. They never got signed. But for eight years, they were somebody's favorite band.

- Remastered Sound by Nasos Nomikos at VU-Productions studio