\Original Metallica business card. The phone number was the one I had in my bedroom in 1979. I moved to our rental house two doors down in 1981 and took the number with me. That house was where Metallica started. I lived in a condo 1983-1987 and had that same number. pic.twitter.com/0pvaZVxEtp
— Ron McGovney (@RonMcGovney) January 17, 2021
Former METALLICA bassist Ron McGovney has shared a photo of the business card he used to promote the band during his time with the influential metal legends.
On Sunday (January 17), McGovney tweeted out the picture featuring the classic METALLICA logo along with the phrase "Power Metal" and what was apparently Ron's then-phone number, and he wrote in an accompanying message: "Original METALLICA business card. The phone number was the one I had in my bedroom in 1979. I moved to our rental house two doors down in 1981 and took the number with me. That house was where METALLICA started. I lived in a condo 1983-1987 and had that same number."
A couple of decades ago, McGovney told Shockwaves that he made the original METALLICA business card "to send to the club promoters along with our demo. The card was supposed to just have the METALLICA logo and a contact number," he explained. "But I thought it looked too plain and decided it should say something under the logo. I didn't want to put 'hard rock' or 'heavy metal,' so I coined the term power metal. I thought it had a nice ring to it. No band had used that term before as far as I knew. I remember bringing the business cards to the band, and Lars [Ulrich, METALLICA drummer] got so pissed off at me. He said, 'What did you do? What the hell is power metal? I can't believe you did such a stupid thing. We can't use these cards with the words power metal on it.'"
McGovney was a member of METALLICA during 1982 and appeared on the band's early demos. Tension between McGovney and then-METALLICA guitarist Dave Mustaine led to the bassist quitting the band and being replaced by Cliff Burton. He later told "Talk Is Jericho" that his exit from METALLICA wasn't upsetting to him because he was less into the band's thrash style, plus he was interested in being a motorcycle mechanic.
In a 2004 interview with AllMetallica.com, McGovney stated about his time with METALLICA: "All of the songs that are found on [METALLICA's debut album] 'Kill 'Em All' were written in my garage and we played all of them when I was in the band. We also did DIAMOND HEAD covers: 'The Prince', 'Sucking My Love', 'Am I Evil', and 'Helpless'. We covered 'Blitzkrieg' by BLITZKRIEG, 'Let It Loose' by SAVAGE and 'Killing Time' by SWEET SAVAGE. All of those songs can be found on bootlegs, but I have a practice tape of us doing some of those songs. I did do some arranging of the songs, but I was never credited with anything. I played at least 28 gigs with the band in the first year."
During the aforementioned "Talk Is Jericho" interview, McGovney said that Burton was always "really respectful of me for my tenure in the band" in the years after Ron left METALLICA.
"I remember at that Palladium show in '84, I had a pass but it was just like a sticker pass," McGovney shared. "And I wanted to go in the back and talk to them but [security] wouldn't let me in. Cliff saw me [and] he gave me his laminate. I walked back there and their tour manager said, 'Why did you give him that?' And Cliff said, 'He was the first bass player for METALLICA.'"
