On April 11, 1983, "Metallica" members said no more! And decided to fire guitarist Dave Mustaine.
(Photo: Rockandrollgarage.com)
On the morning of April 10th, 1983, Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, and Cliff Burton woke Dave Mustaine up, and informed him that he was fired from the band. What the band members did not tell Mustaine, was that they had already hired a new guitarist - Kirk Hammett, who ten days earlier, on April 1st, was invited for an Audition By Phone Call, while sitting in the toilet.
The dismissal came to Mustaine as a complete surprise. Just a few hours earlier he was standing on a stage with his three friends performing at the "L'Amour Club" in Brooklyn, New York and a day later he found out that the band was kicking him out. When Dave asked his friends when are they flying back to California, he was told he was not flying. His bandmates bought him a bus ticket for a four-day ride to California, and the bus was leaving from Manhattan Central Station in one hour. The stunned and confused Dave packed his bag took his guitar and got into the car along with Hetfield who drove him to the bus station.
Needless to say, Mustaine was just furious and the ride home was very difficult. Not only was Mustaine kicked out of the band, not only was he shamelessly sent back home on a four-day bus ride, but he knew his bandmates were about to enter the studio to record their debut album "Kill 'Em All", and that some of the material he wrote was going to be played by another guitarist.
Mustaine wasted no time and during the long drive home began writing songs. One of the sentences he wrote on the back of a bill had one word that would later become the name of his majestic band. And so he wrote: "The arsenal of megadeath can not be rid".
Mustaine bore the insult of his dismissal years later, even after the great success of his own band "Megadeth". But if we want to advocate his fellow "Metallica" members, the writing was on the wall, but Mustaine refused to read it.
Mustaine had a severe alcohol problem. It was not that the others would not drink, but Mustaine would just become violent whenever he got drunk. His bandmates tried to come to terms with his extreme behavior, but eventually, they said enough.
This was not the first time Dave was fired from the band. One day Mustaine brought his dog to the rehearsal room and the dog started destroying bassist Ron McGovney's car. After James Hetfield yelled at the dog to get out of McGovney's car, Mustaine got upset and physically and verbally attacked his two bandmates. He was fired after the incident but begged for his return.
In another incident, Mustaine got drunk and poured beer over McGovney and his bass guitar, causing it damage and nearly electrocuting McGovney. He asked Mustaine to leave his house and left the band.
Before leaving "Metallica", Mustaine managed to record the demo tape "No Life 'Til Leather" from 1982. In 2015 Lars Ulrich announced that the mythological tape would be released soon, but due to legal issues, it was not officially released to this day.
Despite Dave's dismissal from "Metallica", he received credit as a songwriter on the albums "Kill 'Em All" and "Ride The Lightning". Mustaine said he asked his friends not to record his songs, but they did not pay attention.
After being fired from "Metallica" Dave worked in telemarketing. At the same time, he set up a band called "Fallen Angels" that did not last long. After quite a few unsuccessful auditions, Dave decided to take on the role of singer, changing the band's name to "Megadeth" and the rest history.
"Megadeth" will soon become one of the biggest and most influential bands in the thrash metal genre. Mustaine's revenge for his dismissal from "Metallica" will be the fuel that will propel his engines as a lyricist and a writer and launch his band's career to compete head to head with his former band, for the title "the biggest band in thrash metal".