Mike Saunders

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Mike Saunders, better known as "Metal" Mike Saunders, is a rock critic and the singer of the Californian punk band Angry Samoans. He is credited with coining the music genre label "heavy metal" in a record review for Sir Lord Baltimore's first album, Kingdom Come, published in Creem magazine in 1971.^[1]

Saunders was born in Little Rock, Arkansas in May 1952 and grew up in Little Rock. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Statistics; eventually he received another bachelor's degree in Accounting from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and kept his day job as an accountant throughout his years as a lead singer and guitarist for the Angry Samoans from 1978-present.

Saunders' political incorrectness and personal attacks in his lyrics got him and the Angry Samoans a lot of attention in the early 80's, especially due to their song "Get Off the Air." "Get Off the Air" was an ad hominem attack upon well-known KROQ DJ Rodney Bingenheimer.