Metallica was formed by Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield in the fall of 1981. Ulrich (who originally went to the US to play tennis) had, during that summer, met Brian Slagel of Metal Blade Records and had secured an appearance on an upcoming compilation called Metal Massacre but had no band. He quickly found Hetfield, who was playing in Leather Charm at the time, and one day in December of 1981, they recorded the rhythm tracks to a remake of a Leather Charm song, "Hit the Lights." Hetfield tracked all guitars and bass on this recording, except for one of the solos which was performed by guitarist Lloyd Grant in January 1982, and the song appeared on Metal Massacre in February.
Permanent guitarist Dave Mustaine (Megadeth) was brought in in February of 1982.
