Cloven Hoof was originally formed in the heart of the West Midlands,
England in 1979. The group went through various line up changes until
spring 1982 when the band line up consisted of Lee Payne bass guitar,
David Potter vocals, Steve Rounds Lead guitar and Kevin Poutney drums.

The first demo tape the band did together was given the thumbs up from
no lesser stars than Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin) who took a copy of the
tape into national radio one, and Rob Halford (Judas Priest) who got it
played on a radio station in Phoenix Arizona. The station was bombarded
with heavy metal callers who wanted to know more about the band. Soon
afterwards the group were taken under the wing of ex, Judas Priest
manager David Hemmings.

The Opening Ritual a four track mini album was released in the July of
1982,and the EP stayed in the Sounds and Kerrang heavy metal charts for
six weeks peaking at number 18. Articles in Kerrang and Noise magazine
followed byGeoff Barton tipping the band for the top in his prestigious
"Breaking through in 82 feature," And play list.

Over in America unbeknownst to us Rob Stradansky was championing the
bands cause in his Metal Rendezvous magazine, and college radio
stations were airing it on there play lists. A worldwide buzz was
growing and international stardom seemed a formality. However bad
contract advice and publishing in fighting put paid to a huge recording deal. The untimely
death of David Hemmings (the bands manager) was another terrible blow.
An independent label was the only alternative for Cloven Hoof to once
again gather momentum without the support of a major label at the helm.

Undeterred the groups The Opening ritual attained air play on numerous
radio stations worldwide, but it was not until Tommy Vance and Geoff
Barton played tracks off the Ep on radio one in the UK that the Cloven
ones carrier really began to break into a gallop.

1983 saw Cloven Hoof touring throughout the length and breadth of the
United kingdom, earning themselves a sizable underground cult
following. In the summer of that year the band recorded a four track
session for Tommy Vance's Friday rock show on Radio One and a similar
session for Beacon radio for DJMike Davies.

On the strength of the bands popularity Neat records signed the outfit
to record the album "Cloven Hoof." The opus notched up sales figures of
24,000 units in 1884 alone, and it became apparent that the bands
gigging activities would have to stretch further a field due to success
of sales overseas.

A European tour was organized that year culminating in the Shockwave
festival in Genk Belgium. The Dynamo club in Eindhoven Holland was
another highlight of the gigs abroad. These venues provided some of the
most enthusiastic heavy metal fans the band had experienced. The
applause at the end of these sets was astounding.

The next album was a live album featuring a whole set of new songs
called "Fighting Back", this was a very ambitious undertaking, with Rob
Kendrick (ex Trapeze and Budge) replacing David Potter on vocals. The
reviews for the albums were generally very good. Dave Ling of Metal
hammer and Mike Davies of Brum Beat were particularly enamoured.
Unfortunately after this record, contractual and internal problems
forced the band to split apart, leaving only founder member Lee Payne
to soldier on.

"Dominator" a Sci-Fi concept album was released in 1988 on FM Revolver,
produced by Guy Bidmead who worked with Motorhead, Cozy Powel and
Whitesnake.

This line up played many blistering concerts throughout the UK. Andy
and Russ (both ex Tredegar) re-energized the band with there experience
and enthusiasm. Lee and Jon provided a rock solid bass and drum
onslaught that surpassed all previous line ups. So much so that many
big name bands refused to give the band a support slot for fear of
being upstaged or blown away.

"A Sultans Ransom" the last album release from this period was
considered one of the best British heavy metal releases of the year by
Metal Hammer magazine. Chris Welch the editor no less gave the album an
illustrious 4 star review and labelled it "A flagon of mystical metal."

The same year a further four track session was recorded for the Tommy
Vance show consisting of... Night Riders on the Astral Plain, And Fox
on the Run. Lee Jones another ex member of the band Tredger was added
to the line up on duel lead guitar and his powerful rhythm work is
heard along with Andy on this session.

Andy Scott the guitarist from Sweet who originally recorded was
scheduled to play with the band at Media vale during Cloven Hoof's
cover of the song, but an car accident prevented it.MIn 1990 however
the band decided to shelve it's activities due to contractual reasons
once again.

Cloven Hoof was sadly for all intense and purposes in a process of
suspended animation... But one day the beast would rise again!