The Meteors is a group of British psychobilly from London, England formed in 1980. He is often cited for giving the characteristic sound of this kind of music. Although the origins of psychobilly are questionable, The Meteors considers itself the first and only group of psychobilly. Fans of the band are known to use the slogan "Only the Meteors are pure psychobilly" (often shortened by OTMAPP) as a rallying cry>. The Meteors began playing in 1980 with P. Paul Fenech (guitar and vocals), Nigel Lewis (double bass), and Mark Robertson (drums) >. Fenech and Lewis played in a rockabilly band, but left their original band, Raw Deal, to experiment with a new kind of music that mixed horrific lyrics and inspired by science fiction with a mix of punk rock and rockabilly. Later, this kind is called psychobilly>. The Meteors played for the first time during Rockabilly Night at Sparrow Hawk, a venue in North London, but after being harassed because of their punk clothing style, they decided to start playing only in rockabilly concerts. They created a loyal audience called The Crazie who invented their own dance style called Going Mental, a mix of dance and mosh. This one is later renamed wrecking, and will remain, since then, anchored in the psychobilly scene. Coupled with P. Paul Fenech's ritual of spitting blood during concerts, most clubs thought the band was dangerous and refused to let them perform. The Meteors then began playing in punk rock clubs alongside punk bands such as Anti-Nowhere League and UK Subs. However, unlike punk bands, they insisted that their shows be " a place without politics or religion " in order to have a good time rather than provoke fights between fans. As a result, there is almost no political theme in psychobilly>. Because of the cult surrounding them, The Meteors produced a film called Meteor Madness in the late 1980s with actor Keith Allen. It came out in the same package as the ska movie Two-Tone. The film includes four songs, which are released on the band's first vinyl. In August 1981, the band signed on Island Records and recorded their first album, In Heaven>.
