Neal Kay (born 10 February 1950) is a former London-based disc jockey, who was an important factor in the rise of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM), along with Tommy Vance, in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
[2] With great help from the music papers of the day, Sounds and Melody Maker, he went on to establish this venue as the place for new upcoming bands and like minded fans of the heavy metal genre.
Kay had one of the biggest club sound systems ever seen at the time, being an 8000 watt PA, comprising mainly JBL/Martin speakers and coach built JPS associates amps.
All this attention in the media raised his profile, and he was often seen at large gigs such as the Rainbow Theatre and Hammersmith Odeon, eventually going on to touring with some of the top acts of the day, including Black Sabbath (with Ronnie James Dio), Rush, AC/DC, Judas Priest and many more.
In fact, early on, he also arranged personal appearances at the Wagon with such internationally famous rock legends as Ted Nugent, members of Rainbow, Judas Priest and Motörhead.
Whilst there he arranged with Japanese label Pony Canyon to record in London a new compilation LP called, "Metal For Muthas 92", which was released in 1993 in Japan and Far Eastern territories.
It was released to the Portuguese speaking world in 1996 and to this day, Kay still enjoys producing, arranging and even occasionally orchestrating some of the band's work, now 25 years on from when they first met each other.