Cobra was a band that had a minor hit in the early days of MTV with their driving anthem “Blood On Your Money” from their one and only album, 1983’s First Strike. The band was notable because their lineup included former Krokus guitarist Mandy Meyer and velvet-voiced singer Jimi Jamison, who, only a year later, would go on to become the lead singer of the 80’s mega hit-machine Survivor. (Jamison also wrote and sang the theme song of the cheesy 90’s TV show Baywatch.)

First Strike is a classic of melodic metal and is sadly underrated. Jimi Jamison left this world after suffering a heart attack just last month at the age of 63. This Massive Metal Monday is dedicated to his memory.

When I was growing up in rural Indiana in the early ’80s, there was very limited access to heavy music. These were the days before MTV blew up with the whole hair metal, Headbangers Ball phenomenon. But on Sunday nights, there was a two-hour radio show that came from WOXY, the radio station of Miami University of Ohio, just across the state line in Oxford, Ohio. It was called Massive Metal for the Masses and I would wait all week for it to air. It was through this show that I was introduced to bands like Venom, Bathory, WASP, Michael Schenker Group, Slayer, and countless others. This Monday weekly column is my tip of the hat to that show. I call it Massive Metal Monday. Every week, I will pay tribute to defining moments by the artists that laid the groundwork for heavy metal to become the worldwide cultural bond for all of us metal heads.