Foundations Forum

Foundations Forum was the first exclusively heavy metal music industry convention, held annually from 1988 to 1997 in Los Angeles. The convention was set up by Concrete Marketing who had in January 1988 created the first industry trade magazine for the heavy metal world – Foundations. Realizing there was little or no attention or focus on this growing market, and having seen the far reaching distribution of the trade magazine, they decided to put together an annual meeting, bringing together key industry personnel, vendors and artists offering advice on surviving the industry, discussing the changing climate of the scene and business, and allowing people to network.
Executive Director Bob Chiappardi summed up the purpose of the Forum:

"The way heavy metal is growing, we want to be careful not to have it blow out. By sitting down and talking about the genre, the good and the bad points, having the indies interacting with the majors, it makes for a healthy industry in general."

The forums usually invited a keynote speaker who would open the event and touch on important themes for the weekend ahead. There would be panels and workshops made up of industry personnel particular to the theme who would discuss contemporary issues and answer questions.
There were also plenty of performances all weekend of the best signed and unsigned talent the heavy metal world had to offer, over the years including bands like Judas Priest, Pantera, Alice in Chains, Extreme, Ozzy Osbourne and Prong.
CD samplers of signed and unsigned artists were distributed to each forum attendee.

Foundations Forum '88

On September 30 – October 1 at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Los Angeles, Concrete Marketing, Metal Blade Records and RIP Magazine joined forces to create the first annual Foundations Forum convention.
The theme of FF88 was the credibility and respectability of metal within the music industry as a whole.
Attendance, etc.
The Keynote speaker for the event was Sharon Osbourne and it incorporated parties in honor of RIP Magazine's second anniversary and Concrete's fourth.
Panels & Moderators

Panel	Moderator
Metal Marketing	Bob Chiappardi
Press & Publicity	Lonn Friend
Artist Development	Diarmuid Quinn
Retail & Distribution	Bill Berger
Metal Video	John Cannelli
Managers & Lawyers	Walter O'Brien
Metal Radio	Derek Simon
Record Producers	Mike Bone
Credibility & Respectability	Jim Cardillo
Record Company Forum	Brian Slagel
Clubs, Booking & Touring	Haoui Montaug Jennifer Perry
A&R in Heavy Metal	Ron Laffitte
Selling Metal: Retail, Touring & Press	Janie Hoffman Andy Somers
Artist Panel	Penelope Spheeris

A two-disc compilation CD was available free of charge to those attending the event, showcasing bands that Concrete was working with.
Disc 1:

Artist	Song	Label
Keith Richards	Take It So Hard	Virgin
Winger	Hungry	Atlantic
Helloween	I Want Out	RCA
Bullet Boys	Smooth Up	Warner Bros. Records
Anvil	Blood On The Ice	Metal Blade
Queensrÿche	Revolution Calling	EMI-Manhattan
Warrant	32 Pennies	Columbia
Drive	Kamikaze	Rampage/Rhino
S.A.D.O.	On The Races	Noise
Roughhouse	Tonight	Columbia
Alien	I've Been Waiting	Virgin
The Stand	If You See Kay	Pak'er/Carlyle

Disc 2

Artist	Song	Label
House of Lords	I Wanna Be Loved	Simmons/RCA
Majesty	Fortune In Lies	Mechanic
Kix	Cold Blood	Atlantic
Jetboy	Feel The Shake	MCA
Suicidal Tendencies	Surf & Slam	Epic
Dead End	Junk	Metal Blade
Hexx	Racial Slaughter	–
Devias	Desperate	–
Wild	Hot For Love	Columbia
Mallet-Head	Fight	Frontier
Washed	Alone	–

Foundations Forum '89

Foundations Forum 89 took place from September 21–23 at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Los Angeles. This was a week when three metal albums dominated Billboard's Top Pop Albums chart.
The focus of this convention was shifted more towards the development of new artists within the metal scene, emphasizing the growth and nurturing of the style.
The convention's attendance more than doubled this year to accommodate more than 2500 people, around a quarter of which were musicians.
The Keynote speaker for the event was Kiss bassist Gene Simmons.
Panels & Moderators

Panel	Moderator
Metal Workshop	Jim Cardillo
Understanding Music Publishing	Andy Gould
Pay To Play – Controversy In The Clubs	Kenny Kerner
Retail	Lou Mann
Merchandising: Your Name Here	Walter O'Brien
Producers/A&R	Terry Lippman
Radio	Ray Gmeiner
Sponsorships – Is Metal Going To Madison Avenue?	John Brodie
Road Management: Don't Leave Home Without It	Ron Laffitte
International: The World, She Shrinks	Stephan Galfas
Video: $$$ Well Spent or Spend It Elsewhere?	Rick Krim
Press: Exposing Yourself	Ben Leimer
A Star Is Born: The Development Of a Career	Cliff O'Sullivan
Touring: Getting From The Clubs To The Arenas	Gary Bongiovanni
Geraldo Goes Metal: All Access, No B.S.	Marko Babineau
Equipment Endorsements	Paul Sackman
Metal Corps: The Sultans of Speed	Chris Williamson
Marketing	Bob Chiappardi
Artist Management: Can't Live Without 'Em & Can't Shoot 'Em	Mike Bone
Artist Panel	Lonn Friend

The artist panel this year featured King Diamond, Robert Sweet, Robin McAuley, Steve Jones, Lita Ford, Vicki Peterson, Scott Ian, Taime Downe and Anthony Kiedis.
A double cassette named 'The Shape of Things to Come' featuring unsigned artists was given out this year along with the double disc compilation 'CD From Hell'. In a special issue of Metal Hammer, interviews were run with all the unsigned bands featured on the compilation.
CD From Hell – Disc 1

Artist	Song	Label
D.A.D.	Rim of Hell	Warner Bros. Records
Cats In Boots	Shot Gun Sally	EMI Records
Toy Roz	Sexy Lil' Devil	BG Records
The Front	Pain	Columbia Records
Lord Tracy	She's a Bitch	UNI/MCA Records
Brighton Rock	Can't Stop The Earth From Shakin'	–
Defcon	Cold Hearted	DKP Productions
Alien	Tears Don't Put Out The Fire	Virgin Records
Babylon A.D.	Hammer Swings Down	Arista Records
Fates Warning	Through Different Eyes	Enigma Entertainment
Savatage	Gutter Ballet	–
Bad Brains	With the Quickness	Caroline Records
Sleeze Beez	Screwed, Blued 'N Tattooed	Sanctuary Music
Joy Thunder	Hard Love	–
The Stand	Love Is the Reason	Pak'er Carlyle Records
Potential Threat	Rich Bitch	–

CD From Hell – Disc 2

Artist	Song	Label
Faith No More	Falling to Pieces	Slash Records/Warner Bros. Records
Shotgun Messiah	Shout it Out	Relativity Records
MSG	Save Yourself	Capitol Records
King Diamond	Sleepless Nights	Roadracer Records
Damn Cheetah	Damn Cheetah	Total Music Management
Loudness	You Shook Me	Atco Records
Suicidal Tendencies	Master of No Mercy	Epic Records
Stage Dolls	Wings of Steel	Chrysalis Records
Faster Pussycat	Poison Ivy	Elektra Records
Rude Awakening	Live Life	Rude Awakening
Metal Church	Of Unsound Mind	Elektra Records
Mordred	State of Mind	Noise Records
Powermad	Nice Dreams	Warner Bros. Records
Dirty Blonde	Passion	Outpost Entertainment
Cherri Rokkett	Lonely	Cherri Rokkett

Foundations Forum '90

Foundations Forum 90 took place at the Sheraton Plaza La Reina Hotel in Los Angeles from September 13–15, 1990. This was the first year the event was open to the public and there were over 4,000 registrants.
The theme of this year's event was based loosely around metal's emerging social consciousness and responsibility :

Responsibility on the part of the industry to nurture new talent, the responsibility of the metal community to cultivate our increasing credibility within the industry, and the responsibility of us all to react to charges that our music is potentially or intrinsically dangerous with something other than mere hostility.

Tying in with this theme, a big topic of conversation at the forum was censorship and the keynote speaker for the event was Judas Priest frontman, Rob Halford. At the time, Judas Priest had just been involved in a civil action whereby it was alleged they were responsible for the suicide of one youth from Nevada and the attempted suicide of his best friend via subliminal messages placed on one of the songs from their album, 'Stained Class'.
Although the case had eventually been thrown out of court, it was not the first of its kind and the metal world was having to defend itself against an ever-increasing number of censors.
Ozzy Osbourne, who had also been to court following the death of a teenager who listened to his music, joined his wife Sharon Osbourne and former California Governor Jerry Brown on one of the forum's panels to discuss the issue of censorship, which was a popular topic; a theme which spilled into several other panels over the weekend.
1990's forum was self-contained within the hotel and featured listening parties from Slayer, Motörhead, Scorpions, Iron Maiden and Deep Purple. Not only was there major news/press coverage of the forum, but there were broadcasts directly from the convention by MTV, KNAC, Z-Rock and others, with some being syndicated all across the country. Many will have come to cover the 18 signed bands which played at night including Judas Priest, Pantera, Exodus, Extreme, Alice In Chains and the London Quireboys. Also, during the day, there were 18 unsigned bands performing including Radar, a New York band featuring lead singer Pamela Moore who sang the part of Sister Mary on Queensrÿche's Operation: Mindcrime album.
Two commercial video cassettes of FF90 highlights were released through Strand/VCI, although these were never to be released domestically.
Panels & Moderators

Panel	Moderator
Metal Workshop	Jim Pitulski
International Panel	Derek Oliver
Music Contracts Panel	Joseph Lloyd Serling
Video Panel	Juliana Roberts
Publishing Panel	Jim Cardillo
Radio Panel	Kid Leo
A&R Panel	Jim Lewis
Endorsement Panel	Joe Bosso
Music From The Underground	Howie Abrams
Touring Panel	Jim Guerinot
Marketing Panel	Jay Krugman
Merchandising Panel	Steve Gertsman
Censorship Panel	Chris Morris
Biology of a Record Company	Brian Slagel
ASCAP Metal Songwriter Workshop	Andy Gould
Press Panel	Hanna Bolte
Sexism/Racism Panel	Mike Bone
Retail Panel	Fran Aliberte
Management Panel	Bill Elson
Artist Panel	Lonn Friend Riki Rachtman

The Artist Panel included Jani Lane & Joey Allen, KK Downing & Glen Tipton, Vito Bratta, Dave Mustaine and Joe Leste.
As well as a cassette featuring unsigned bands, a 3CD sampler was given out at this Foundations Forum.
Foundations Forum '90 CD Sampler – Disc 1

Artist	Song	Label
Extreme	Get The Funk Out	A&M Records
Queensrÿche	Empire	EMI
Warrant	Uncle Tom's Cabin	Columbia
Vio-lence	Officer Nice	Megaforce/Atlantic
Cry Wolf	Face Down The Wishing Well	Grand Slamm
Every Mother's Nightmare	Listen Up	Arista
House Of Lords	Shoot	Simmons/RCA
Nevada Beach	Waiting for an Angel	Metal Blade
Black Sabbath	Anno Mundi	IRS Records
Two Bit Thief	Hard Times	Combat
Ministry	Thieves
Devious	Carried Away	–
Washed	Turn It Around	–

Foundations Forum '90 CD Sampler – Disc 2

Artist	Song	Label
Megadeth	Holy Wars/Punishment Due	Capitol
Pantera	Primal Concrete Sledge	ATCO
24-7 Spyz	Heaven or Hell	In-Effect
Vixen	Wrecking Ball	EMI
Trouble Tribe	Tattoo	Chrysalis
Sacred Reich	Who's To Blame	Enigma
Rhino Bucket	Blood On The Cross	Reprise
Uzi	Away From My Heart	–
Jet Boy	Stomp It	MCA
Valentine	Running On Luck Again	Giant
Mystic Force	Shipwrecked With The Wicked	–
Harlet	Individual We Stand	–
Antix	Jaw Dropping Beauty	–
Dorian Grey	South Side Man	–

Foundations Forum '90 CD Sampler – Disc 3

Artist	Song	Label
Anthrax	In My World	Megaforce/Island
Exodus	The Lunatic Parade	Capitol
Reverend	Scattered Wits	Charisma
Precious Metal	Downhill Dreamer	Chameleon
King of The Hill	Freak Show	SBK Records
Child's Play	Rat Race	Chrysalis
Disaster Area	This Claw	–
The Beautiful	Fine Science of Chaos	Giant Records
Scarecrow	Waiting	Cariola Records
Destruction	Cracked Brain	Noise Records
Randy Coven	Strange Cat	Guitar Recordings
David La Duke	Right From Wrong	SB Records
Joy Thunder	No Place To Skate	–
Tamer Lane	More Than A Miracle	–