History & Biography Scottish hard rockers Heavy Pettin' were formed from the ashes of Glasgow's Weeper in 1981 after taking their name from a UFO album called No Heavy Petting of 1976. A three-song demo appeared in 1981. The band was mentioned in Kerrang's fifth issue. The sound was more Def Leppard than Venom; nevertheless Neat Records issued the single Roll The Dice/Love x Love by the band. This single was self-financed. Consequently, the band signed a major recording contract with Polydor and a publishing contract with Warner with help from its manager one Ronnie Fowler. The act even appeared on the BBC Radio One's Friday Rock Show. Lettin' Loose appeared in 1983. This record was self-titled in Canada. The label also issued a single for the band for the song In And Out Of Love. The album was produced by Queen guitarist Brian May and Queen's soundman Mack and sold well. The debut was recorded and mixed in England and Germany. A tour supporting Ozzy soon followed, as well as an appearance at the Reading festival in 1983. The group also opened for Whitesnake. The band and label seemed to have high hopes for Rock Ain't Dead, which was produced by Mark Dearnley, but a lack of publicity and negative reaction as a result of the entry of the song Romeo into the decidedly pedestrian Eurovision contest for Scotland stalled Heavy Pettin'. The consensus was that the band had gone too commercial. The label did issue a full-length video for Heavy Pettin' in 1986. The band was soon dropped even though Polydor had already financed a third album.
Heavy Pettin' split up in 1988, but managed to get Big Bang released in 1989 through FM Records. Hamie reappeared on the scene in the '90s with his Chyld and would even reassemble the act for another round of heavy petting. An independent CD called Demos '98 was issued in 1998, albeit with a completely revamped line-up. The band's new line-up recorded a song for a Mötley Crüe covers’ album. A live album was also released in 2000. Majestic Rock re-released the band's first two albums in 2003.
Punky Mendoza had two bands under the name Wild. One was a Kiss cover band for fun. The second was put together with a Chris Thomas.
2006 brought the band’s reformation and the gang signed to Majestic Rock. The band began working on new material, but a collection of unreleased material called Prodigal Songs would surface. A collection called Pettology was out in late 2006. It contained the band's first two albums Lettin Loose and Rock Ain't Dead. It also contained the band's live gig at The Astoria in London (DVD) and the live CD of the show. For 2011 Gary Moat and Gordon Bonnar of Heavy Pettin’ had a new band called Mothers Ruin. Gary was now on vocals. The band had a demo and was searching for a deal. The band was gigging in the UK. Heavy Pettin’, The Quireboys, Syteria and Rock Goddess (which cancelled0 were added to 2017 line-up of WinterStorm in Troon, Scotland happening in November. The bands joined the likes of Dare, Praying Mantis and Tygers Of Pan Tang. Glasgow rockers Heavy Pettin' announced UK tour dates in October 2018 with Punky Meadows & Frank Dimino of Angel - on their first ever UK tour. Heavy Pettin' was also doing extra Headline Shows in Glasgow and Milton Keynes.
Lettin Loose, Rock Ain’t Dead and The Big Bang were re-issued on Burnt Out Wreckords in 2019. The same label issued The Best Of in 2020.
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