Monday, July 10: Tygers of Pan Tang, “Gangland”
With “Gangland”, the Tygers of Pan Tang briskly solidified their place near the top of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal hierarchy, as it took Spellbound’s opening track all of three minutes to sum up everything that was going on in British metal circa 1981. And while the Tygers had already endeared themselves to NWOBHM fans a year earlier with their debut Wild Cat, this song took things to another level, showing off a more dynamic aggression thanks to Chris Tsangerides’ quickly developing production skills as well as the crucial arrival of both Jon Deverill and John Sykes. The soon-to-be legendary Sykes didn’t really get a chance to shred here, but Deverill’s swaggering vocals gave “Gangland” added presence and attitude, and quickly made everyone forget that he was replacing the more limited Jess Cox. The tune was pure NWOBHM: fast, energetic, catchy and fun, it not only set the Tygers on a path to near-stardom, it became a crucial part of their legacy.
