Enter Night_ A Biography of Metallica - Mick Wall [94]
One of the highlights for Lars was meeting another of his NWOBHM heroes, former Tygers of Pan Tang vocalist Jess Cox, who supported the band at the first Marquee date. Cox recalls, ‘I was touring with Heavy Pettin’ who pulled out [of the Marquee] at the last moment so I was going to headline and then [my agents] ITB said “Oh, there’s a new band coming over and you’ve got to support them.” I was like, “What band’s this?” and they said, “They’re called Metallica.” I said, “I’ve never heard of them.” They said “Well, you will, so don’t worry about it.”’ He was amazed to discover the drummer making such a fuss over meeting him – ‘I remember signing Lars’ drumsticks’ – blissfully unaware that Metallica had, in fact, once entertained the idea of recruiting him as their singer: ‘The guys have never said this to me personally. I only found out later.’
Music for Nations had rented a flat in Cadogan Gardens in Kensington for the band to stay in; another home from home to follow Jonny and Marsha’s house in Old Bridge and Mark Whitaker’s garage in El Cerrito. Recalls MFN label manager Gem Howard, who became Metallica tour manager throughout their UK and European dates that year, ‘It was just a shit-hole. Getting them a flat was much cheaper than a hotel and they could invite people back and be much freer with it. But of course they had no sort of ability to clean up. I remember walking into this flat and there was a table lying on its side with food over it, someone had left a half a pound of butter on the floor and trodden on it. Loads of empty bottles and cigarette ends and God knows what…Made Tracey Emin’s bed look neat and tidy.’
Xavier Russell became a regular drinking pal during their time in London. Lars and James came back to his Notting Hill Gate flat one night where ‘we played Blue Öyster Cult till about three in the morning’. Xavier recalls handing out squash rackets and the three of them miming guitar on them to Molly Hatchet’s ‘Boogie No More’: ‘The neighbours would be banging on the ceiling. Then they would put Thin Lizzy on – anything you could play along to on the squash racket. I remember we had a [Kentucky Fried Chicken] and we chucked up in the bucket!’ Another time, he went to see them rehearse in Shepherd’s Bush: ‘Afterwards we went out drinking and I remember James was so pissed he was standing on top of the roof of this cinema in the Tottenham Court Road going mad; it was brilliant!’ he laughs. James later recalled the occasion, too: ‘I got arrested for destruction of property…kicking the lights down on people. It was just one of those things we had to do when we were drunk.’
Xavier also spent time with Cliff and Kirk, but ‘that was different. Cliff was really into his own little world. He had a totally different mindset, really, and that shows in his playing. And he’d always have a Lynyrd Skynyrd T-shirt on. He liked a lot of the bands I liked so we had a lot in common. While Kirk was quite funny, he’d always talk about comics. Lars was just Lars. He was the leader, in a way. And Hetfield back then just liked boozing and having fun, really. So they were all quite different characters but they all got on quite well. You could have a chat with each of them on totally different subjects. I remember [a couple of years later] going to see Blue Velvet with Lars when it came out, at the Gate cinema in Notting Hill Gate. We saw it twice. He was like, “Hey, we’re gonna write a song about it.”’
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