Neal Kay

Neal Kay is a former London-based disc jockey, born on 10th February 1950, who was an important factor in the rise of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM), along with Tommy Vance, in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Neal Kay has always been a DJ. He started out in the local youth club in the mid-sixties, and by the end of the 60s was a well established London-based night club DJ, working fully 6 nights a week. In 1969. he went to West Berlin with his future first wife, a dancer, to guest DJ in two clubs a night from dusk until dawn. His main club in Berlin was the Playboy Club. He also guested from time to time with the British Army.

In the period between 1975 and 1980, he managed a rock club called The Bandwagon Heavy Metal Soundhouse, originally resident in the back-room of the Prince of Wales public house in Kingsbury, North London; this back-room venue was known as 'The Bandwagon'. With great help from the music papers of the day, Sounds and Melody Maker, he went on to establish this venue as the place for new upcoming bands and like minded fans of the heavy metal genre. Demo tapes started to arrive in their hundreds shortly after a two page centre spread in Sounds, penned by journalist Geoff Barton. Kay had one of the biggest club sound systems ever seen at the time, being an 8000 watt PA, comprising mainly JBL/Martin speakers and coach built JPS associates amps. In fact it was a touring style band system that he used to play his large collection of classic rock vinyl on. The PA was so loud that the mixing desk was "flown" on chains, suspended from the roof to help avoid feedback from the record decks.

All this attention in the media raised his profile, and he was often seen at large gigs such as the Rainbow Theatre and Hammersmith Odeon, eventually going on to touring with some of the top acts of the day, including Black Sabbath (with Ronnie James Dio), Rush, AC/DC, Judas Priest and many more. He was the first high level touring rock DJ of his time. In fact, early on, he also arranged personal appearances at the Wagon with such internationally famous rock legends as Ted Nugent, members of Rainbow, Judas Priest and Motörhead. All this helped to raise the profile of both the club and Kay even higher.

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