My interest in Metal would possibly have to be started by Motorhead. Once I heard "Ace of Spades," I was hooked for life. Being one of the so called outcasts in "Small Dot" MI, US, I caught their name in '81 after reading about No Sleep Till Hammersmith being a huge #1 album in The UK (yes, I was a Library kid who read Billboard from cover to cover!) and thinking I had to hear them as hardly anyone else in my area did, and I was glad I did once I was lucky enough to hear a song by them. Although I knew of their popularity in other areas of the world, where I was it was almost like discovering a great secret. Liking Motorhead and even Iron Maiden (who were not that popular in Small Dot at the time either) as well as some Prog bands like King Crimson connected me with the more serious music listeners in my area.
Maybe I can mention Rainbow, who's killer live performance of "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" was aired on a syndicated (US) TV show called Rock World around the same time. It was possibly the same show that introduced me to Motorhead.
My parents would possibly say Kiss in my childhood, but once I started to really get into music, they lacked the flavor of the classic Alive! by that time with Dynasty, although a friend's copy of Music From The Elder, for all of it's faults, made me think twice about them and thankfully Creatures of the Night was their next move. Still, I say that my Pre-Motorhead Heavy Rock Alliance was more with Deep Purple.
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