1980 - Metal Rendez-Vous

With an extremely low budget of 20,000 Swiss Francs, KROKUS record their follow up to 1978's "Painkiller" at Platinum One Studios in Switzerland. The album "Metal Rendez-Vous" is produced by Martin Pearson & KROKUS. With Marc Storace as their new lead singer, this recording was pivotal in establishing an International identity for the band and instant recognition with the powerful vocals of Marc “the voice” Storace.

The three rock classics, “Bedside Radio”, “Heatstrokes” and “Tokyo Nights” open up the doors to Great Britain and the USA. “Heatstrokes” charts number one in the British Heavy Metal charts.

The band tours with Nazareth, Ted Nugent and Rainbow throughout Europe, where Chris Von Rohr on percussion and drummer Freddy Steady showcase for the first time their drums/percussion battle, which they brought back during their magic reunion concert in August of 2008. Visit our GLOBE CLUB "Multimedia" page, click on "KROKUS VIDEOS" and then on "1982 - Brooklyn Zoo NY" to witness this incredible part of the show.

May 1980 KROKUS tour the UK with Girlschool, More and Angel Witch. "Heatstrokes" shoots up to #1 in "Sound Magazine", while another two tracks from this album are in the top 20. KROKUS films a video clip of "Heatstrokes" while "Bedside Radio" gains popularity and becomes their greatest hit in Europe.

"Metal Rendez-Vous" sells alone in Switzerland over 150'000 copies, which translates to a "Triple Platinum Record Award".

Beginning of July KROKUS head for the first time (and as the first Swiss band ever) to the USA. They start out in support of Sammy Hagar on the West-Coast and soon thereafter, as they grow fast in popularity, KROKUS headlines a club tour with Quiet Riot as their suppport

Not only in Europe, but also in the US "Heatstrokes" becomes their first US hit. Coincidently this is all happening during a heat wave across the country. The band rounds out their first US tour as supporting act for AC/DC and Cheap Trick before returning to the United Kingdom. End of August they headline Friday's ticket at the legendary Reading Festival.

Back in their native Solothurn, KROKUS receive the very prestigeous "Kulturpreis Für Besonderes Schaffen" (Cultural Award For Outstanding Creativity) in recognition of their outstanding accomplishments around the world.