Portrait of the band Metallica at the Poplar Creek Music Theater in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, August 6, 1989.
(Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images)
These days it’s hard to imagine getting anything done without the power of the internet. So you can imagine, though many of us remember these days, where promoting your band wasn’t as easy as signing up for Instagram. Back then you had to hand out fliers and demos at shows, mail press kits to prospective labels, and in Metallica’s case, hand out your business cards.
While business cards are not entirely dead, even today, the prospect of a young James Hetfield handing out Metallica cards is a little silly.
Original bassist for the Metal supergroup, Ron McGovney, shared this treasure to his Twitter over the weekend, noting that the number on the card was in fact his personal home number.
“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,” McGovney tweeted.
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
Below the now-famous logo reads “Power metal,” which McGovney took credit for including on the card.
McCovney also tweeted out a ticket stub from Metallica playing MTV’s Day On The Green at a sold-out Oakland Coliseum in 1985. The band played alongside Scorpions, RATT, Y&T, Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force, and Victory, whose names can be seen scrawled on McGovney’s ticket.
— Ron McGovney (@RonMcGovney) January 17, 2021