Today we take a trip back to 1982 for a classic by German metallers Accept from their fourth album “Restless and Wild” for the track “Fast As A Shark.”
The song which begins with a crackly old children’s recording of a traditional German tune titled “Ein Heller und ein Batzen” (A Farthing and a Penny) ended up causing the band some controversy as the song had been a popular marching song during the Nazi era, which the band was unaware of at the time. The song is ranked at #33 in Martin Popoff’s book, The Top 500 Heavy Metal Songs Of All Time.
The album lineup includes: Udo Dirkschneider – vocals, Wolf Hoffmann – all guitars, Stefan Kaufmann – drums, Peter Baltes – bass and Herman Frank – guitar (although credited he didn’t actually perform) and the song is often credited as one of the first speed metal songs.
Accept took a few hiatuses but are still touring today with former TT Quick vocalist Mark Tornillo after original singer Udo had announced in 2009, that he would not return to the band. Currently guitarist Wolf Hoffman is the only remaining original member of the band and Accept recently appeared at this year’s 70000 Tons of Metal cruise.
ACCEPT – FAST AS A SHARK
The Metal Wire 