Ian Christe is king of the metalheads. We know it's hard to hear, headbangers, and we're sure your record collection is appropriately trv, but this guy wrote the book. Literally. His book Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal, first published in 2003, contains over 400 pages of hard-rocking history and has been translated into German, Czech, Finnish, French, Japanese, and Spanish, among others (more on that later).

Ian has since translated his incredible knowledge of all things heavy into the popular Sirius Satellite Radio show Bloody Roots, where every week he "preaches a lesson in heavy metal heritage, with inside stories and tons of rare music from all of metal's many subspecies," and Bazillion Points Books, which published Swedish Sensationsfilms earlier this year (read our interview with author Daniel Ekerothhere).

But enough of our chatter, let's get to the good parts!

Christe skinterview 2Skin Central: What's the first nude scene you remember seeing, and under what circumstances did you see it?

Ian Christe: I lived in New Mexico in the 1970s, where X-rated drive-ins weren’t uncommon. I remember a screen that visible from the highway when driving around certain mountain curves, it was very near an entire town of cult Christians surrounded by barbed wire. Perfect, right? And beautiful under those crimson Southwestern sunsets. We had lots to talk about during recess in our elementary school.

Plus, HBO launched around 1978 so at least one kid on the block had Disco Beaver From Outer Space and Harper Valley PTA on tap. There was nudity in everything, really, we never stood a chance at decency. I can’t think of a ‘70s actress that I don’t love due to her overly exposed approach to the role: Debra Winger,Margot Kidder, Brooke Shields, Cybill Shepherd,Angie Dickinson, and Faye Dunaway. Thank you all.

SC: So what’s your all-time favorite movie nude scene- or at least one that sticks in your mind?

IC:Annette Bening paying the rent in The Grifters (1990)wow. The fat greasy landlord’s patience has Christe skinterview 3expired, he follows her into her bungalow, and she’s waiting splayed out flawlessly in her masterful conwoman’s web, more boldly naked than any actress before. BangI like a bold come-on. I hope she has a giant painting of a freeze frame of that scene hanging up in her house.

SC: Who are the three sexiest actresses of all time, in your estimation?

Starting from Lillian Gish days? Okay, Clara Bow of Brooklyn was spunky and unbridled and had a reputation for being sex-starved. Then for the next 75 years, maybe Laura Gemser? She deserves more attention for her liberated international sexuality campaign in dozens of Emanuelle films (so does Christina Lindberg, who wrote the foreword to our Swedish Sensationsfilms book). But Emanuelle was surely the greatest journalist of the 20th Century. Today it’s Charlize Theron, not only because her last name looks like a Swedish death metal band. She has swagger and a great body and brains that keep you guessing. Monster (2003) yeah!

SC: What’s the most outrageous nude scene you’ve ever seen?

Christe skinterview 4New York City used to have a thing called 42nd Street, and they sold any kind of sex tapes you can imagine. The funniest thing I took home from those bad old days was a $2.99 VHS tape called Girls with 6” Nipples. Everything about that was funny, from the set-ups to the good-natured sex itself. I’m disappointed that there are not more prosthesis in sex moviesunless you count breast implants and David Cronenberg. I would sit through a NC-17 [version of] Avatar 3D just to try something new. [You can actually see this now, thanks to the 3D porn parody This Ain't Avatar XXX -SC]

SC: What is, in your opinion, the sexiest movie genre?

IC: Anything made in the 1970s or in Italy, in either case sex is the only thing that matters, valued way more than plot or other useless things.

SC: Heavy metal is definitely a lifestyle- heavy metal cooking especially seems to be a phenomenon (like Bazillion Points’ ownHellbent for Cooking). Besides the obvious fashion cues, what makes something that ISN’T music “metal”?

IC: Going for it! The thing that gets lost in today’s image-obsessed world is that heavy metal isn’t leather armbands, tattoos, and guitar solos. The true essence of heavy metal is energy and maximum dedication, just taking everything to the extreme limit. Metal is better, more complex music than most other styles, so naturally headbangers tend to cultivate lavish tastes in drink, food, clothes, and mating partners!

SC: Several of Bazillion Points’ books[Including Sound of the Beast, seen at right in its Japanese incarnation- SC]have been translated into multiple languages. Was this part of the plan from the beginning, or did it happen organically?

IC: Finding people in foreign countries willing to spend a year or more translating a 400-page book about heavy metal definitely happened organically. But it was always important to me that Sound of the Beast get out to all the far-reaching corners where metal lives. I think 2% of the population of every town in the world listens to heavy metal. 90% if you’re talking about Scandinavia.

SC: What’s Bazillion Points got coming down the pipeline?

IC: We’ve just released DIRTY DEEDS: My Life Inside/Outside AC/DC, by Mark Evans, who played bass in the band throughout most of the Bon Scott years. He reprints a letter from Bon to a female fan that no modern-day band lawyer would allow- what a dirty old man! Our thrash metal photo book MURDER IN THE FRONT ROW: Shots From the Bay Area Thrash Metal Epicenter, by Harald Oimoen and Brian Lew, captures the most sweaty and alcoholic days of Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Exodus. And next year we have the LA hardcore photo collection WE GOT POWER coming, followed by HEAVY METAL MOVIES. Basically, we’re going down the line publishing books about all the music and movies that people actually care about. And I admit that sometimes, I do work in the nude.

We can personally attest to the high level of quality, care, and all-around awesomeness Bazillion Points brings to every one of their releases, so head on down to their site and have yourself a Heavy Metal Christmas, Skin fans!