Note: This post is part of a collection of analyses based on the compilation New Wave of British Heavy Metal ’79 Revisited, an album put together by Lars Ulrich and Geoff Barton that is not only a significant account of a particularly important period in the history of heavy metal by two people who helped shape that scene, but may also be a revealing window into the influences and musical raw materials that Ulrich drew from when he founded what became the most successful metal band in history, Metallica.
Jaguar’s song “Back Street Woman” was first released as a single in 1981, with a song called “Chasing the Dragon” as a B-side. Jaguar had released a couple of demos in the preceding year, but the recording of “Back Street Woman” that appears on NWOBHM ’79 Revisited is definitely from the ’81 single, and no earlier recording of the same song appears to exist. Interestingly enough, of the songs I’ve transcribed so far from this compilation, most seem to be from 1980 or 1981, not 1979. In other words, the title “’79 Revisited” is a bit of a white lie.