IRON MAIDEN YOUR MUTHA WOULDN'T LIKE IT "Strange how a matter of a mere three months can change a band from being virtual unknowns to national celebrities, isn't? Back then, the lads were cult heroes on the London metal scene, yet had still to make an impact on the rest of the country. After all, their only vinyl product was a three-track, self-financed EP, the 'Soundhouse Tapes,' which was being distributed completely by mail order. But now look at 'em, and what do you see? Five talented men who are, without any shadow of doubt, the numero uno outfit to have emerged from the first wave of resurrected metal and a band surely with only a couple of shorts steps away from knocking Judas Priest off their pedestal as the champions of British HM. On record, they have a couple of numbers on the impressive 'Metal For Muthas' compilation LP, their 'Soundhouse EP' has become a much-prized collectors' item and, of course, the first Maiden voyage into the singles chart with EMI ('Running Free') only came to a halt once the Top 40 fortress had been successfully cracked. Not bad, eh? All that doesn't take into account the phenomenal achievement of the band's debut album, eight tracks of wundermetal mayhem which somehow relays the individual spirit of the Maiden stage act into the living-room with very little loss of quality. From the opening fury of 'Prowler' through such fave raves as 'Phantom Of The Opera' and 'Transylvania' to the closing might of the eponymous title track, 'Iron Maiden' never gives anything but total enjoyment and is, undoubtedly, the finest debut effort on the hard rock front since Van Halen's opening shots. Whilst we're talking about the album, it seems like a good moment to call in vocalist Paul Di'Anno. Was he astounded with the final outcome? 'Well, yeah, a little bit, but I don't wanna say that the band were entirely happy with it because if you react that way to anything you do then there is a good chance of laziness and complacency creeping in, which we don't want to happen. What really stunned us about the album has been the way it's selling. We expected it to enter the charts at something like number 18 to 20 and it genuinely surprised us when we heard that it had gone straight in at number four.'
So far, about 50,000 units have been shifted – irrefutable statistical evidence of Maiden's burgeoning popularity nationwide. -- RECORD MIRROR 24/5/80 "Perhaps EMI's most convincing new band is Iron Maiden, already hailed as one of the most exciting heavy metal bands of the year, with a long way yet to go. Line-up consists of Steve Harris (bass, vocals), Paul Di'Anno (lead vocals), Dave Murray (guitar) Clive Burr (drums) and Dennis Stratton (guitar), all from the East End and other suburbs of London. The group formed in 1977 in direct opposition to the prevailing Pink climate. Despite industry pressures on them to go 'New Wave' they stuck to their guns and long hair and as a result have found themselves suddenly fashionable." -- MUSICIANS ONLY 26/4/80 "One of the hottest singles to date from the NWOBHM, Thatcher's throat cut and the wiry Maiden mutant escapes into the night on a chariot of fire powered by a nifty riff and a quicksilver fast thunderous song body. Not only is the song as powerful as the hulk on angel dust (copyright, Chris Collingwood - nicked from G. Bushell 'Big Daddy on angel dust' - 28/7/79) but it's got a nifty hookline and an iron-cast chorus to boot, plus clashing guitars that slash the mutant's face like marsh winds as he desperately searches for sanctuary from the law. Top twenty, no trubs. B-side features a couple of piledriver live anthems." -- SOUNDS 24/05/80 IRON MAIDEN Marquee, London "SO WHAT do you want first, the good news or the bad news? Well, the good news is that Iron Maiden played an absolute blinder. An hour-plus of solid, pure gold metal at the best. And the bad news? Simply that they won't be playing the smaller circuit much longer." -- RECORD MIRROR 22/4/80
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STEVE HARRIS: Bass – Born Leytonstone, 12th March '57. Soccer or should we say West Ham fanatic. Had trials with the Hammers as schoolboy. Originally formed the band and writes most of the material. Totally dedicated to HM, especially Priest and The Scorpions. When asked about New Wave, said 'I couldn't have formed a punk group ….. that would have been against my religion'. Used to be draughtsman and designed and compose the sleeve and label for 'The Soundhouse Tapes'. Eats steak and chips in Indian Restaurants, loves McDonalds and Japanese girls – drinks Guinness. PAUL DI'ANNO: Vocals- Born in Chingford, 17th May '59. Described as possessing 'the roughly hewn charm of a romantic noves stable lad' – In other words a 'lout! '. Another Hammers fan and sportsman – Essex Junior Squash champion – and an excellent swimmer. Also a dab hand at Karate which saves money on bodyguards. Has wide musical interests and has been known to wear a 2-tone suit – with leather studded arm-bands. Very average pool player. Drinks lager and a funny green liquid. Gives pints of wine to rival rock bands. DAVE MURRAY: Lead Guitar – Born in Clapton, 23rd December '58. Also known as 'Murph', but at the gigs the fans call him 'God'. Basic interests, beer and women. Although not into sports like the rest, this keeps him in peak condition. Gets regular threatening letters from boyfriends of girls he meets on the road. Used to be a store-man so that he could sleep all day to recover. Thinks the most important film ever made was 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'. Recently achieved the lowest known score on 'Space Invaders'. CLIVE BURR: Drums. Vocals – Born in East Ham, 8th March '57. Was pulled out of his seat behind the drums at a pub gig in the East End on Boxing Day by Maiden to join the band. Had nine jobs last year in his wait to find a good Heavy Rock band, including meat buyers at Smithfield Market and encyclopaedia salesman. Loves fast cars and tequila sunrise but can't afford either yet. Another sportsman and Hammers fan – has won cups for shooting clay pigeons. Only smoke in the band after Paul and Dave gave it up. Very good pool player, but not so hot at Clue do. Only plays Heavy Metal and Zappa. DENNIS STRATTON: Lead Guitar, vocals – Born in Canning Town, 9th November '54. When Maiden advertised for guitarists asking applicants to send tape, photo and details, Dennis just sent a letter and got the job without an audition. Yet another (yawn) sportsman and Hammers fanatic – another school boy trialist. Has also won cups at table tennis. Lives on curry and cheap wine. Plays a mean game of pool. Harvest Canada Press Kit Mick Wall's Commentary for the 1998 Remastered release: For those of us who had only read about them in Sounds, the arrival of the first eponymously titled Iron Maiden album came as an almighty shock. Yes, we had heard of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM), and yes we were aware that Maiden was rightly regarded as being at the forefront of the new metal scene. But no-one – not even the band – could quite believe it when their first album rocketed straight into the UK charts at No.4 in its first week of release! "We knew it was gonna go in the charts, because we'd really built up a following by then with all the touring," smiles bassist and founding member, Steve Harris. "But to go in at No.4 – I mean, at first, I thought they were joking, or someone had made a mistake, I made them go and check twice and even then I still couldn't quite believe it." Clearly, this was no ordinary rock band. But then, this was no ordinary time for rock music, either. The NWOBHM encapsulated an era in British music when, seemingly from out of nowhere, a new generation of heavy rock artists began to emerge. Leaner, meaner, more streetwise than their hoary Seventies antecedents, the NWOBHM was a post-punk phenomenon unlike any that could have been predicted. Using the mechanics of punk – independently released records, fanzines, pub tours – while at the same time railing against its conformities – short hair, anti-intellectual, fashion-led – the NWOBHM bands were the true black sheep of rock. Some, like London's Iron Maiden and Sheffield's Def Leppard would go on to become the biggest stars of the Eighties rock firmament, while others, like Diamond Head, Praying Mantis, Samson, Angel Witch and the Tygers Of Pan Tang were destined to become mere footnotes in the NWOBHM story. Who would eventually come out on top had still to be decided, though, when Maiden's first album hit the streets, in April 1980. But the signs were already there. Maiden's very first release, the three-track EP, The Soundhouse Tapes, in November 1979, had been a limited edition 7-inch vinyl pressing of 5,000 on their own Rock Hard Records label. You couldn't buy it in the stores; you had to mail off for it. Nevertheless, all 5,000 copies had been sold in less than three weeks! When major record-chains Virgin and HMV both then tried to persuade the band to press up a further 20,000 copies, Maiden showed their true NWOBHM colours and flatly refused. As Steve recalls: "We knew we could have made a bit of dough – and it's not like we didn't need it, none of us had money in those days – but we said, bollocks to that! The Soundhouse Tapes was done for the real hardcore Maiden fans – the ones who followed us when no-one else had even heard of us. We weren't gonna sell them down the river just so we could line our pockets. No way! Maiden's never been like that..." The Soundhouse Tapes featured three of the four tracks the band had originally recorded as a demo at Spaceward Studios, in Cambridge, on New Year's Eve 1978. The title of the EP came from the name of the venue where Maiden first became famous. Situated at the side of a pub in Kingsbury Circle, London, the Bandwagon Heavy Metal Soundhouse, as it was known, and its resident DJ-spokesman,
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Neal Kay, had brought Maiden to national attention for the first time via the club's own Heavy Metal Soundhouse Charts, which ran every week in Sounds. Based on requests made to Kay on Bandwagon nights, the band had given the DJ a copy of their Spaceward demo and it had become an instant hit with the regulars. Enthralled by the brutal, rifling power of 'Prowler', the epic storytelling of 'Invasion', and the frantic, scatter-gun explosion of the band's street anthem, 'Iron Maiden', soon all three were in the Heavy Metal Soundhouse Top 5. When 'Prowler' then went to No.1 and stayed there for most of the summer of '79, it was the turning point for a band that had struggled for recognition since the days Steve Harris put the very first line-up of Maiden together in his nan's front room. That had been in 1975, when Steve still wanted to call the band Influence. Since then, one name change and several line-up alterations had resulted in the fiery five-piece that eventually came to record the Iron Maiden album together. All five members – Steve Harris (bass), Dave Murray (guitar), Paul Di'Anno (vocals), Dennis Stratton (guitar) and Clive Burr (drums) – had come from the same deprived areas of East London that they would later eulogise in early Maiden anthems like 'Running Free', 'Charlotte The Harlot' and 'Wrathchild'. There was no doubting the musical prowess of gifted players like Murray and Burr, and there was an epic quality to Harris's songwriting which forced you to sit up and listen, while Di'Anno, with his short punk hair and tattoos, emanated barrow-boy charm and street-hoodlum menace in equal portions. Together, as you can hear from tracks like the still brilliant first single, 'Running Free' or the quasi-operatic 'Phantom Of The Opera', Maiden had an edge to them which made most of their NWOBHM contemporaries sound positively slack. Never more evident than on the groundbreaking Metal For Muthas Tour of the UK, at the start of 1980, as future Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson, then plying his trade in London rivals Samson, recall: "Compared to all the other NWOBHM bands, Maiden were on a completely different plane. There was Maiden – and then there was the rest of us..." Metal For Muthas had been an EMI compilation album which featured two Maiden tracks, 'Wrathchild' and 'Sanctuary', plus one track each from several other NWOBHM-related acts like Samson, Sledgehammer, Angel Witch and (gulp!) Ethel The Frog. But real proof of the band's heightened powers arrived with the release of Iron Maiden. Recorded at Kingsway Studios, West London, in February 1980, its eight tracks drawn almost entirely from the band's existing live set, Iron Maiden is regarded by many long-standing Maiden fans one of the finest albums any line-up of the band would ever make. Nearly 20 years on, however, Maiden themselves are divided on the subject. Steve still bemoans the lack of interest journeyman producer Will Malone showed for the project, which resulted, "in us basically producing the first album ourselves," he says, pointing to the second Maiden album, Killers, as the definitive Di'Anno-era recording. While Paul himself says that for him, "The first Maiden album was easily the best thing we ever did. People go on about the production, I don't know what they're talking about. I think it sounds brilliant! That's what we were then – rough and raw." Indeed, from the revved-up and revamped from the Spaceward demo 'Prowler' and the gloriously catchy 'Running Free', to the freakishly frenetic 'Transylvania', the archly lewd 'Charlotte The Harlot' and the maniacally bone-cracking title track itself, 'Iron Maiden', the image that springs to mind is that of a band running riot, treating the studio like a stage and putting on the performance of their lives to an imaginary crowd of millions. There were more reflective moments too, like the unusually questioning Di'Anno lyrics to 'Remember Tomorrow', or the dreamily romantic 'Strange World'. But perhaps the first sign of the Maiden-to-come was in the album's most grandiose moment, 'Phantom Of The Opera'. The first of many Steve Harris epics now regarded as the cornerstone of the Maiden oeuvre, 'Phantom Of The Opera' contained all the elements that later characterised the quintessential Maiden sound: lengthy, momentous riffing thrown into unexpectedly angular shape by courageous time-changes and mock-operatic choruses; coupled to lyrics that journeyed far beyond the rock'n'roll norm. Unrepentantly uncommercial and utterly compelling, it is only natural justice, perhaps, that it was this very quality of uncompromising individuality that would later help Maiden shift albums by the millions. Released as the band's first single, on February 15, 1980, Running Free also became their first Top 40 hit, selling over 10,000 copies in its first week of release. As a result, the band were offered an appearance on Top Of The Pops, the biggest pop show on British TV. Most bands would have given anything for such an opportunity, but again Maiden showed that they weren't like most bands and insisted they would only appear on the show if they could do 'Running Free' live – unheard of in those days! "I just had it in my head that I didn't want us to mime," says Steve. "I wanted to make the point that we weren't like the usual groups you got on Top Of The Pops – that Maiden was a real rock band that knew how to play live." At first, the BBC refused but later relented when it became clear the band would not back down, and the following week, Iron Maiden became the first band to play live on Top Of The Pops since The Who tore into '5.15' in 1972. The other most talked-about feature of Maiden's first single and album was the appearance of a character who would also have a huge impact on the band's future. His name was Eddie and one look at him and you knew he meant business. The fantastical graphic creation of an art-school drop-out named Derek Riggs, it would be Eddie's ghastly visage that would grace the cover of damn near every Maiden single and album for the next 15 years. Taking his name from the smoke-billowing face-mask with the flashing eyes that used to adorn the backdrop at all Maiden's earliest pub gigs (Eddie as in Eddie the 'Ead), Eddie would soon go on the become an important part of the live Iron Maiden experience. First in the form of a leather jacketed individual in a
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fright-night head-mask that would run on stage and start head banging furiously during 'Iron Maiden' (usually Rod Smallwood, the band's ebullient manager, or one of their tour managers). But as the band exploded and the shows got bigger and more theatrical, so, too, did Eddie, until at one point, during their most recent Virtual XI Tour, the legendary fiend actually cradled the band in his giant claw-like hands! But such adventures were still the stuff of daydream back in 1980. In March, they had toured the UK as 'special guests' on a Judas Priest tour, playing to thousands at the sort of prestige venues they had not long before been queuing for tickets at as fans themselves – not least, London's Hammersmith Odeon, where they opened for Priest on March 15. "For us, it was unbelievable," says Dave Murray. "We'd all been to the Hammersmith Odeon loads of times – but only ever as fans. I always used to wonder what it would be like, actually being on stage there. I never actually thought I'd get a chance to find out..." But there were still greater heights for Maiden to explore and no sooner had the band's tour with Judas Priest ended that they found themselves returning to the very same venues – only this time as headliners! The tour started at the Drill Hole, in Lincoln, on May 15, and culminated in the band's first appearance as 'special guests' at the Reading Festival, on August 23. EMI released a new single, on May 16, to coincide with dates: a re-recording of the stage-favourite, 'Sanctuary', which had originally appeared on Metal For Muthas. Constructed around Dave's police-siren guitar riff and Paul Di'Anno's cackling vocals, as Steve, who wrote the bulk of it, says: "It was miles better than the version of Metal For Muthas and we didn't want to release another track from Iron Maiden as a single, so we thought 'Sanctuary' would be perfect." It was, crashing into the UK charts at No. 33, then on the following week to No. 29. It might have gone even higher had Maiden made another appearance on Top Of The Pops but strike action had resulted in the show being off the air at the time. Interestingly, Eddie is depicted on the Sanctuary sleeve apparently in the act of 'seeing off' the then Conservative Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. Even with her eyes blacked out, it still caused a furore in the national press. The Daily Mirror ran the uncensored version under the headline: 'IT'S MURDER! Maggie Gets Rock Mugging!'. The idea for the sleeve was actually a joke based on the fact that Thatcher was then starting to become known as the Iron Maiden. The band merely wanted to make it clear they weren't named after her. Hilariously, the Mirror took it all very seriously, though, and quoted a Tory spokesman as saying: "This is not the way we'd like her portrayed!" But by then, Iron Maiden was on its way to winning the band its first silver disc (for over 60,000 sales in the UK) and their future seemed assured. Fittingly, they were relaxing over a pub lunch when they first heard the news that the album had gone into the charts at No.4. "We all went completely bonkers and started running into the street!" Dave recalls. Racing back to their record company, they were greeted by exultant EMI staff shouting at them from the windows: "You've gone to No.4! You've gone to No.4!" Like the song said, Iron Maiden was gonna get you. And how...
Prowler (Album Version) 3:54 Written by Steve Harris Produced & Mixed by Will Malone Engineered by Martin Levan at Morgan Studios, London, England Recorded at Kingsway Studios, London, England, February 13 – 29, 1980 Original Release Date: April 6, 1980 Appears on: Iron Maiden, Prowler 7" Version (Japan), Sanctuary 12" Version (Holland), Live!!+One (Greece), Iron Maiden (Part of The Story So Far Boxset), Iron Maiden (Part of Eddie's Head Boxset), Iron Maiden (Part of the Picture Disc Collection), Iron Maiden (Part of the 180g Black Vinyl Collection), Iron Maiden (Mastered For iTunes), Iron Maiden (Mastered for Onkyo Music) Commentaries A song that Steve Harris wrote circa 1976 serves as the powerful opener of the debut album. It contains great melodic leads, a strong rhythm, memorable vocals from Paul & lyrics that talk about a degenerate who goes around stalking and flashing city girls… Pretty deep huh? "This is a wonderful song. I include it as one of my favourites because it's the first Iron Maiden track I ever heard. When I first got the tape, which was from Basement Studio - and which eventually became The Soundhouse Tapes - it was via a rugby mate of mine who was working with Steve Harris at the time and I was given it to listen to along the lines of: 'Rod. A mate at work has a band. Do you wanna hear the demos?' I took it home, put the tape in the deck and the first song that came up was 'Prowler'. Being a heavy rock fan in the middle of the punk rock era (I grew up listening to Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, The Who, etc...) it was very refreshing to hear something with so much manic energy. The Tapes went on to be the #1 requested music at The Soundhouse, a legendary rock club in London run by a DJ called Neal Kay. So it's always going to be a memorable song in my life as it alerted me to Iron Maiden and how very different they sounded to everything else going on at that time." (Rod Smallwood for BraveWords – BraveWords Webpage - June 18, 2012)
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Prowler (Live at The Bridgehouse) 5:49 Written by Steve Harris Recorded at The Bridgehouse, London, England, May 19, 1977 Unreleased The earliest version of the song publicly known. It is amazing to hear that this song almost didn't change since the band started playing it. Prowler (Live at The Unity Hall) 4:16 Written by Steve Harris Recorded at The Unity Hall, Wakefield, England, February 7, 1980 Unreleased As Paul was having throat problems, the vocals were split between Paul & Steve. Prowler (Live at The Festival Hall) 4:39 Written by Steve Harris Recorded at The Festival Hall, Osaka, Japan, May 22, 1981 Unreleased The last solo is quite energetic and quite different to what they play in other versions. Prowler (Live at The Theatro Tenda) 4:12 Written by Steve Harris Recorded at The Theatro Tenda, Firenze, Italy, October 28, 1981 Unreleased Not only is this version recorded during Bruce's Warm Up Tour but also, for an unknown reason, only Davey started playing the riff. "I'd already been playing gigs with my band Samson, but this was a lot different! The analogy I've always used is that it was like a football player going from Wycombe Wanderers to Manchester United. Suddenly you're in the Premier League – or at least that's what it felt like. With Samson, we never played outside the UK I'd hardly been abroad myself, really. I went on a couple of school trips and a package skiing holiday with a girlfriend when I was at uni, but that was it. So all of a sudden going on a five-date trip with Maiden was huge! It took forever to get there, because we drove in a tour bus, which didn't seem terrible reliable, but it was exciting to me because I'd never been on a tour bus before. After about 18 hours it did get a bit old, but I thought, 'I'd better get used to this.' At one point, the carpet down the middle of the bus started to levitate. I thought, 'This is odd…' and it turned out there was a hatch in the floor that went into the open road that wasn't bolted down! I don't think I actually opened my eyes for the first four songs of the gig..." (Bruce Dickinson for Nick Ruskell – Kerrang No. 1713 – March 17, 2018) Prowler (Live at St. George's Hall) 4:19 Written by Steve Harris Recorded at St. George's Hall, Bradford, USA, March 1, 1982 Unreleased For an unknown reason Davey is the only guitar player playing the song which makes it sound very different. Prowler (Live at The Palasport) 4:09 Written by Steve Harris Recorded at The Palasport, Turin, Italy, April 27, 1993 Unreleased Due to an unpleasant incident Bruce stops singing in the middle of the song & Steve fills the vocals for just a moment before giving up, therefore, most of the song is played as an instrumental.
Remember Tomorrow (Album Version) 5:29 Written by Steve Harris & Paul Di'Anno Produced & Mixed by Will Malone Engineered by Martin Levan at Morgan Studios, London, England Recorded at Kingsway Studios, London, England, February 13 – 29, 1980 Original Release Date: April 6, 1980
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Trivia Maiden's first single. 'Running Free' was one of the songs played at Clive's & Bruce's audition. Adrian's first public appearance with the band was a studio "performance" for a German TV music show named Rock and Pop miming to 'Running Free' & 'Remember Tomorrow' - Broadcasted on November 8, 1980. Killer World Tour – March 15 & March 22, 1981 - Trust (at the time featuring one Nicko McBrain on drums) came on stage and played 'Running Free' with Maiden. Eddie Rips Up The World - June 16, 2005 - The song was dedicated to Manu Da Silva, a long time close friend of the band & former manager of Eddie's Bar in Santa Barbara de Nexe in Portugal, who had lost his battle with Cancer. Maiden England World Tour – September 13, 2013 – Bruce does a bit of the "Yo yo yo" routine that the band used to do in the early days while performing 'Drifter'. The 10th most played song by the band. One of the only five songs to be sung by all 3 official Maiden singers (Paul Di'Anno, Bruce Dickinson & Blaze Bayley). 'Running Free' has been covered by bands such as Arkellian, Coppelius, Genocide, Grave Digger, Iron Savior, Luxtorpeda, Rusty Eye, Man.Machine.Industry, Mucky Pup, Nightstalker, Silence Oath, Stone Sour, Superchrist, Tea, Towel, Vulv & Year Long Disaster. Running Free (Single Version) 3:19 Written by Steve Harris & Paul Di'Anno Produced & Mixed by Will Malone Engineered by Martin Levan at Morgan Studios, London, England Recorded at Kingsway Studios, London, England, January 19 & 20, 1980 Original Release Date: February 8, 1980 Appears on: Running Free, Prowler 7" Version (Japan), Running Free/Sanctuary (Part of The First Ten Years Boxset), Running Free 7" Version (2014 Reissue) "According to my diary notes, Maiden recorded the single 'Running Free' at Morgan Studio's on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20, January 1980, at least four weeks before the rest of the album." (Loopy for Alex Eruptor at sleazegrinderforever.com) Running Free (Demo) 3:03 Written by Steve Harris & Paul Di'Anno Produced by Gary Edwards Recorded at Wessex Studios, London, England, November 25 & 26, 1979 Original Release Date: October 2, 1980 Appears on: Axe Attack Compilation – Volume 1, Running Free (Germany & France) 1st Pressing. "The curse of Eddie strikes again. Eddie, the mysterious character who has become part of the Iron Maiden story, is being held responsible for the circumstances which have led to a demo version of Running Free appearing on the K-Tel album, Axe Attack. The first 30,000 copies of the album featured the demo which was recorded by an embryonic Maiden line up prior to signing their EMI deal. The demo was thought to have been locked safety away in the EMI Vaults but the Curse of Eddie has struck again. However, Maiden are sufficiently chuffed that an old demo was thought to have been of good enough quality to have been included on the album. All is now well, and, the correct version of the song is featured on the LP." (Original Press Note Published in UK Papers – October 1980) This version of 'Running Free' was recorded at the same session from which 'Burning Ambition' came and, as you can read below, was tried to be improved by Andy Scott but to no avail, so they ended up recording it all over again. "Oh yeah, a long time ago. Well, the first thing that was, I suppose fairly successful, was a thing called 'Running Free'. And they had a demo of it with the original drummer [see 'Running Free' (Early Demo Version)]. And Clive Burr had just joined the group and it was only Paul Di'Anno's 2nd song or something. So they came to me with an idea of just re-recording the drums, cause the drums didn't sound very good." (Andy Scott interview – The Iron Maiden Scandinavia FC Webpage - 1991) Interesting in how Dave gets some extra guitar flourishes in the first break and there's no guitar in the second break. Also no background vocals on the final chorus refrain. Running Free (Live at The Kosei Nenkin Hall) 3:10 Written by Steve Harris & Paul Di'Anno Produced & Mixed by Doug Hall & Iron Maiden
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Running Free (Live at The Estadio Nacional of Santiago - Chile) 7:58 Written by Steve Harris & Paul Di'Anno Produced & Mixed by Kevin Shirley/Co-produced by Steve Harris Mixed at The Cave, Malibu, California, USA Mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound, New York, USA Recorded at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago, Chile, April 10, 2011 Original Release Date: February 2, 2012 Appears on: En Vivo! (EU - Double CD Watermarked Promo), En Vivo!, En Vivo! DVD, En Vivo! Blu-ray, En Vivo! (Part II of the 180g Black Vinyl Collection) Running Free (Live at The National Exhibition Centre) 5:34 Written by Steve Harris & Paul Di'Anno Produced & Engineered by Kevin Shirley Mastered by Ted Jensen & Leon Zervos Recorded at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, England, November 27 & 28, 1988 Original Release Date: March 25, 2013 Appears on: Maiden England '88, Maiden England '88 DVD Running Free (Live at The Music Machine) 3:36 Written by Steve Harris & Paul Di'Anno Recorded at The Music Machine, Camden Town, England, September 10, 1979 Unreleased A great early version played by Maiden as a four piece (Harris, Murray, Sampson & Di'Anno). Running Free (Early Demo Version) 3:05 Written by Steve Harris & Paul Di'Anno Recorded at Hollywood Studios, London, England, October 8-11, 1979 Unreleased The first demo recorded by Maiden (Harris, Murray, Sampson & Di'Anno). Running Free (Live at The Unity Hall) 3:39 Written by Steve Harris & Paul Di'Anno Recorded at The Unity Hall, Wakefield, England, February 7, 1980 Unreleased As Paul was having throat problems Steve assumes vocals. Besides that, it comes from the day before the release of the Running Free single.
Phantom Of The Opera (Album Version) 7:21 Written by Steve Harris Produced & Mixed by Will Malone Engineered by Martin Levan at Morgan Studios, London, England Recorded at Kingsway Studios, London, England, February 13 – 29, 1980 Original Release Date: April 6, 1980 Appears on: Iron Maiden (UK), Iron Maiden (Part of The Story So Far Boxset), Iron Maiden (Mastered For iTunes), Iron Maiden (Mastered for Onkyo Music) Commentaries "I wrote [it] in the back room at me grandmother's house. I was living with her at the time. Lucky enough for me I had me own little room there because the uncles and aunts all left home. I remember thinking at the time I thought I had something pretty good." (Steve Harris for Freddy Villano – Bass Player Webpage - December 4, 2015) Phantom was inspired by the movie of the same title which is based on the 1910 classic novel of the same name by French author Gaston Leroux (1868–1927). Each verse of the song is from one of the principle character's of the book points of view: the first from the phantom, the second from Christine, and the third from Raoul. "The first song I'd written that was a bit more proggy. It had a lot of time changes in it and different movements and moods. It was indicative of where I wanted to take things with the band. And looking back on it now, I can see it was really a pivotal point in the direction of our music. I've always felt you shouldn't
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"I think it was a punk song, which we had a long time before. They had this song even before I joined Iron Maiden. We just creamed out for a little bit more and got that one together." (Paul Di'Anno for Wikimetal – September 26, 2002) Solos 1:11 Dennis Stratton / Adrian Smith '81-'88 / Janick Gers '90-'98 / Adrian Smith '99-'12 1:30 Dave Murray Live History Early UK Concerts 1977 to 1979 (3); Metal For Muthas Tour (1st Leg) (2); Judas Priest – British Steel Tour (1); Europe 80 (1); Metal For Muthas Tour (2nd Leg) (1); Reading Festival ‘80 (1); Kiss Unmasked Tour (1); Women In Uniform – Autumn Tour (1); Live At The Rainbow (1); Killer World Tour – UK, Europe & Japan (3); Judas Priest – Worldwide Blitz Tour – USA (2); Killer World Tour – North America (1); Judas Priest – Worldwide Blitz Tour – USA (2nd Leg) (1); UFO – The Wild, The Willing & The Innocent Tour – USA (1); Killer World Tour – Europe (2nd Leg) (1); Bruce Dickinson Warm Up Tour (1); Iron Maiden As Genghis Khan Concert (1); The Beast On The Road – UK, Europe, Australia & Japan (15); Scorpions – Blackout Tour – Europe (1); The Beast On The Road – North America (13); Scorpions – Blackout Tour – North America (Some venues) (1); Chicago Fest V (13); Reading Festival ’82 (13); World Piece Tour – UK & Europe (15); World Piece Tour – North America & Europe (2nd Leg) (2); World Slavery Tour 1984 – Europe (15); World Slavery Tour 1984 – UK (16 or 17); World Slavery Tour 1984 – North America (14); World Slavery Tour 1984 – North America (December 15) (17); World Slavery Tour 1984 – North America (Last 3 Dates) (14); World Slavery Tour 1985 – North America (13 or 14); Rock In Rio 1985 (13); World Slavery Tour 1985 – Japan (13, 14 or 15); World Slavery Tour 1985 – Australia & North America (Last Leg) (13); Somewhere On Tour 1986 – Europe (Belgrade, Ljubljana & Budapest) & UK (First 14 Dates) (16); Somewhere On Tour 1986 – Europe (Graz) (15); Somewhere On Tour 1986 – UK & Europe (2nd Leg) (15); Charlotte & The Harlots Concert – Europe (18); Charlotte & The Harlots Concert – North America (17); Seventh Tour Of A Seventh Tour – North America (18); Charlotte & The Harlots – UK (19); Donington ‘88 (19); Seventh Tour Of A Seventh Tour – Europe (19); Seventh Tour Of A Seventh Tour (From September 18 to October 5) (17); Seventh Tour Of A Seventh Tour – UK (18); The Holy Smokers Concert (18); Intercity Express Tour (19); No Prayer On The Road – Europe 1990 & Japan 1991 (19); No Prayer On The Road 1991 – North America (2nd & 3rd Gig) (18); No Prayer On The Road 1991 – North America (17); Roskilde ‘91 (18); No Prayer On The Road 1991 – Europe (Last 3 Dates) (18); The Nodding Donkeys Concert (3); Fear Of The Dark Tour – North America (17); Fear Of The Dark Tour – South America & Europe (20); Donington ‘92 (19); Fear Of The Dark Tour – Central America & Mexico (19); Fear Of The Dark Tour – Australia & Japan (17); Real Live Tour – Europe (First 5 Dates) (22); Real Live Tour – Europe, UK & Russia (20); Raising Hell (15); The X Factour 1996 – Europe (Some venues) & South America (12); The Angels And The Gamblers (19); Virtual XI World Tour – Europe, UK & North America (20); Virtual XI World Tour – North America (August 2) & Mexico (18); Virtual XI World Tour – Europe (September 5 & 12) (20); Virtual XI World Tour – Europe (Budapest, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Germany & France) (19); Virtual XI World Tour – UK (18); Virtual XI World Tour – Japan (19); Virtual XI World Tour – South America (17); Brave New World Tour (17); Eddie Rips Up The World Tour (17); Ozzfest 2005 (Supporting Act) (10); Ozzfest 2005 (Headlining Performance) (14); Clive Burr Ms Trust Fund 2005 (17); Somewhere Back In Time World Tour ’09 (16) & Maiden England World Tour 2014 (17). It has also been featured as part of the set list on many of Paul Di'Anno's tours. Trivia 'Sanctuary' was actually penned by Bob Angelo but he was persuaded to sell the rights to the tune for mere £30 [some say £3,000 others £300]. In any case, in 1980, Angelo told Sounds magazine: "I'm flattered that a song I wrote in my bedroom six years ago has got into the Top 30. I got a good stereo out of the royalties, I don't consider I was ripped off". "Rob Angelo, once penned a song called 'Sanctuary' which would no doubt have been a Mantis mayhem hit had Iron Maiden's manager, Rod Smallwood, not purchased it fore miserly sum and used it to further his boys' careers. However, the band accepted the blow with a philosophical smile just as they have accepted other failures." (Sounds – Robbi Millar - March 14, 1981) First time Maiden played the song was at a private function at the Golden Lion on December 19, 1976 (Bob Angelo first gig with Maiden). On the Metal For Muthas compilation album the song is only credited to Steve.
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May 15, 1980 - Sanctuary promo single was sent to London circle radio. It was one of the songs performed at Bruce's first audition. The seventh most played song by Maiden. Things that have been done and played during the middle break of the song: Killer World Tour – May 22, 1981 – The band plays the 'Oriental/Asian Riff' Seventh Tour Of A Seventh Tour – August 20, 1988 – Bruce sings a small part of 'Never Gonna Give You Up' and calls it a piece of sh*t! Seventh Tour Of A Seventh Tour – September 4, 1988 – Bruce sings a small part of 'Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)'. No Prayer On The Road – December 21, 1990 – The band plays & Bruce sings a bit of Beethoven's 'Ode To Joy' in german. No Prayer On The Road – December 22, 1990 - The band plays & Bruce sings a bit of 'Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee' in german. No Prayer On The Road – March 6, 1991 - Bruce mouthes noises to the tune of 'William Tell Overture'. Virtual XI World Tour – May 9, 1998 - The band plays a bit of 'Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee'. Brave New World Tour – June 5, 2000 – Band & thirteen thousand fans sang Happy Birthday to Nicko 2 times. Maiden England World Tour 2014 – May 7, 2014 – The band plays a bit of 'If I Only Had A Brain'. 'Sanctuary' was not played although it was part of the regular set list on three different occasions: Somewhere On Tour - October 16, 1986 - Bruce was too ill! Brave New World Tour - July 8, 2000 – Janick fell from the stage during 'The Number Of The Beast' and after he was rescued, they redid TNOB, played 'Hallowed Be Thy Name' but not 'Sanctuary'. "That was during 'Number Of The Beast' and we decided to carry on and do that song again and then do 'Hallowed...' and then we didn't bother to do 'Sanctuary'. And it felt weird, I must admit, doing them. But with 14,000 people in the audience, we thought we couldn't just stop. I suppose, because it was old stuff we were playing in the encores, we could get by doing it with the two guitar players, but that's why we had to pull the other three shows - Essen, Sofia and Athens - because he plays a lot of key parts on the new material and there's no way we could have done it with two guitars." (Steve Harris for Valerie Potter – Iron Maiden Official Webpage - July 28, 2000) Virtual XI World Tour - December 2, 1998 – They didn't play the encore. Steve wrote a note in the official webpage stating that the crowd wasn't loud enough. Blaze says in his book (Blaze Bayley - At The End Of The Day) that he was ready to go back on, but the other members had left. This also means they didn't play 'The Number Of The Beast', 'The Trooper' & 'Sanctuary'. The band's second single. One of the only five songs to be sung by all 3 official Maiden singers (Paul Di'Anno, Bruce Dickinson & Blaze Bayley). The song has been covered by bands such as Abattoir, Convixion, Mystic Prophecy & Streetwalkin' Cheetahs. Sanctuary (Metal for Muthas Version) 3:34 Written by Steve Harris, Dave Murray & Paul Di'Anno Produced & Mixed by Neal Harrison Recorded at EMI Manchester Square, London, England, October 24, 1979 Original Release Date: February 15, 1980 Appears on: Metal for Muthas, Virus CD Version - Part II, Virus (Italy) A slightly rawer & slower version than the one released as a single. It was the very first official release of a recording made by the Di'Anno-Harris-Murray-Parson & Sampson line-up.
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The Ides Of March (Album Version) 1:45 Written by Steve Harris Produced & Engineered by Martin Birch Recorded at Battery Studios, London, England, December 16, 1980 - January 1981 Original Release Date: February 2, 1981 Appears on: Killers, Live At The Rainbow, Killers (Part of The Story So Far Boxset), Killers (Part of Eddie's Head Boxset), Killers (Part of the Picture Disc Collection), Killers (Part of the 180g Black Vinyl Collection), Killers (Mastered For iTunes), Killers (Mastered for Onkyo Music) Commentaries
Maiden's shortest track, second instrumental & an absolutely brilliant way to open their second album!
"I came up with a drum pattern that did that constant rolling. I would have ideas and Steve would then transpose that, because I don't play guitar. It was the same with Samson... I'm unable to pick a guitar up and show my idea, I have to sit there and go "du-du du-du du, no that's the wrong note" and we'd go through it like that. So that's how it came about. And I had a drum pattern and I was trying to explain the chords to go down on the drum pattern cause the whole thing goes around the drum pattern. I think we played it a couple of times with Iron Maiden as an opening track. Just an intro, it was a throwaway thing, not really a track. The story behind that was that after we'd recorded Head On and they'd recorded Killers Clive Burr went round to Paul's house to listen to the new Samson album and in turn took the new Killers album with him. So Paul put on side one and they were "Yeah, it's great stuff", turned it over and up came 'Thunderburst' and Clive nearly fell of his seat and went "Fuck, that's 'The Ides of March'". Paul was like "What the hell is he talking about?" So anyway, long story short, I got summoned to EMI and there was Rod Smallwood and Steve Harris sitting there and a lawyer, solicitor, and an EMI representative and just me sitting there. So what was decided in the end was that Steve Harris would share 50-50 the publishing rights on the Samson version of it, but I never got Sweet F.A. on the Iron Maiden version..." (Barry Purkins for www.bookofhours.net about the reasons why 'Thunderburst' from the album Head On by Samson sounds almost exactly as 'The Ides Of March' – May 8, 2005)
"Thunderstick was with the band for about 6 months and had some rehearsal tapes so he can learn the numbers and that number we just used to call it 'intro' and he took it to them and said that he had written it." (Steve Harris talks about the "similarities" between 'Thunderburst' and 'The Ides Of March' – Radio Interview June 12, 1981)
"I mean, how can you come up with the idea of a song which you never written, and claim that it's yours? It was not - it was Steve Harris', and I'll defend him until the death on that one. There's no bloody way, that's just total bullshit or fantasy. That's no 'The Ides Of March,' which sounds nothing like any other Samson track - so how you would even come up with something like that is so alien. And to come out with that bullshit, I'm sorry, I just thought it was a load of crap. I get angry at that - it really makes me angry, because that's Steve's song. My boys also play that [live], to give me a breather. [Laughs]" (Paul Di'Anno for Greg Prato - Iron Maiden: '80 '81' 2015) Solos 0:40 Adrian Smith "I like that little solo there, that was the first thing I ever did on record. I guess that's kind of special." (Adrian Smith for Eric - The Bruce Dickinson and then some page – April 29, 1999)
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0:59 Dave Murray Live History The song got introduced as the opening song in 1978 and was played constantly until October 1979, when the band recorded it and started playing it through the PA as the intro tape until the end of the Killer World Tour. The song is usually played live before Paul Di'Anno starts his concerts. It was also used to open the shows in the Eddie Rips Up The World Tour. Trivia The title phrase is the name of the 15th day of March in the Roman calendar. The word "Ides" is derived from the Latin word "Idus", which, in turn, derived from the Etruscan language and means "division". The Ides of March is best known as the date on which Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC. Caesar was stabbed to death at a meeting of the senate. According to Plutarch, a seer had warned Caesar that harm would come to him no later than the Ides of March. On his way to the Theatre of Pompey, where he would be assassinated, Caesar passed the seer and joked, "The ides of March have come," meaning to say that the prophecy had not been fulfilled, to which the seer replied "Aye, Caesar; but not gone." This meeting is famously dramatised in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar (believed to have been written in 1599), when Caesar is warned by the soothsayer to "beware the Ides of March." 'The Ides Of March' has been covered by bands such as Arch Enemy, Blood Sucker, Disharmonic Fields, Elder Gods, Katechon, Steel Prophet & Metal Alliance. The Ides Of March (Pre-Killers Version) 1:43 Written by Steve Harris Probably recorded at Hollywood Studios, London, England, October 8-11, 1979 – other sources claim it was recorded at a rehearsal at the Ruskin Arms, London, April 1979 Unreleased The band wanted to use 'The Ides Of March' as an intro tape for their concerts so they recorded themselves and later on took the tape to be "cleaned" during the sessions for the Running Free single (January 19 & 20, 1980). From then on this version was used as the intro tape until they recorded the version that ended up in the Killers album. The Ides Of March (Live at The Ruskin) 2:01 Written by Steve Harris Recorded at the Ruskin Arms, London, October 5, 1979 Unreleased Besides the fact that is played by Dave Murray & Tony Parsons, there's no rolling drums & the guitar solos are less toppy than the Killers version.
Wrathchild (Album Version) 2:54 Written by Steve Harris Produced & Engineered by Martin Birch Recorded at Battery Studios, London, England, December 16, 1980 - January 1981 Original Release Date: February 2, 1981 Appears on: Killers, Wrathchild (Japan), Twilight Zone, Women In Uniform/Twilight Zone (Part of The First Ten Years Boxset), Killers (Part of The Story So Far Boxset), Virus (USA – Promo CD), Best Of The Beast (4xLP), Best Of The Beast (2xCD), Maiden Hell (UK – Promo CD), Killers (Part of Eddie's Head Boxset), Ed Hunter (Demo), Ed Hunter, 17 Numbers Of The Beast, The Essential Iron Maiden (USA), Killers (Part of the Picture Disc Collection), Killers (Part of the 180g Black Vinyl Collection), Twilight Zone 7" Version (2014 Reissue), Killers (Mastered For iTunes), Killers (Mastered for Onkyo Music) Commentaries "A lot of people asked us why we didn't put it on the first album but we felt, because it was on Metal for Muthas, we didn't want to put it on the first album. By the time we did Killers we weren't happy with that version so we went to record it properly. The guitar frills around the vocals were from Adrian. Originally they weren't there but, when Adrian joined the band, he decided to put them in." (Steve Harris for John Stix – Guitar For The Practicing Musician – February 1984) "Steve asked me to learn a few of the songs, one of which I remember being 'Wrathchild'. I immediately thought 'this is different and quite unique' and that songs were right up my street!" (Dave Murray for Valerie Potter – FC Magazine No. 90)
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Trivia A boogie version of what later become 'Innocent Exile' made its live debut with Smiler at the Cart & Horses. 'Innocent Exile' has been covered by Coppelius, Eternal Elysium & Midnite Hellion. Innocent Exile (Live at The Kosei Nenkin Hall) 4:02 Written by Steve Harris Produced & Mixed by Doug Hall & Iron Maiden Recorded at the Kosei Nenkin Hall, Nagoya, Japan, May 23, 1981 Original Release Date: September 14, 1981 Appears on: Maiden Japan, Live!!+One (Greece), Purgatory/Maiden Japan (Part of The First Ten Years Boxset) This is the only officially released live recording of 'Innocent Exile', so it is worth checking out. Innocent Exile (Live at The Music Machine) 3:42 Written by Steve Harris Recorded at The Music Machine, Camden Town, England, September 10, 1979 Unreleased Not only is this version played at a slower pace (by Doug Sampson) but also the guitar parts in the middle are a bit different. Innocent Exile (Live at Wheel Pop Festival) 7:59 Written by Steve Harris Recorded at the Wheel Pop Festival, Kortrijk, Belgium, April 5, 1980 Unreleased At some parts, the song is played quite differently than the version that ended up on Killers.
Killers (Album Version) 5:01 Written by Steve Harris & Paul Di'Anno Produced & Engineered by Martin Birch Recorded at Battery Studios, London, England, December 16, 1980 - January 1981 Original Release Date: February 2, 1981 Appears on: Killers, Killers (Part of The Story So Far Boxset), Best Of The Beast (4xLP), Killers (Part of Eddie's Head Boxset), Ed Hunter, The Essential Iron Maiden (USA), Killers (Part of the Picture Disc Collection), Killers (Part of the 180g Black Vinyl Collection), Killers (Mastered For iTunes), Killers (Mastered for Onkyo Music) Commentaries The song that gives the title to the album and what a song it is! The bass intro full of dynamics, the screams of Paul at the beginning and how the song explodes into heavy rock make this track a classic in his own right. "It was during this rehearsal period that Steve had two ideas that he kept playing over and over again. Dave would join in where he thought he should and it sounded fine. Then Paul would add a scream over the top and what you ended up with was the intro to 'Killers'. The bit after the intro (when it goes into the main song), was the second piece that Harris had been working on. I suggested he put the two parts together and 'Killers' was born." (Steve 'Loopy' Newhouse – Loopyworld - http://www.metaltalk.net) "The song 'Killers' was written from different perspectives. Paul told me that, at the beginning, it's in third person, and as the song progresses, it goes to the first person –the killer himself. And at the end of the song, another little twist, 'God help me, what have I done?' He loves to kill but he's regretting it." (Jimmy Kay for Martin Popoff – Iron Maiden: Album by Album – 2018) "In fact, the lyrics of the title-song talk about people who get attacked and stabbed in the back. This is why we chose this painting. The scene is supposed to be set in the East End of London, where we're from, and, if you look closely, you'll discover many details that you might have missed the first time. You can see the Ruskin Arms, Charlotte The Harlot behind a window, the black cat, etc. All these details make the painting even more interesting and many fans spend hours trying to find them all." (Steve Harris for Philippe Lageat & Olivier Rouhet – Hard Rock Magazine (France) No. 17 – October 1986) Solos 2:59 Dave Murray 3:21 Adrian Smith / Janick Gers '93 / Adrian Smith '99
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Prodigal Son (Album Version) 6:11 Written by Steve Harris & Paul Di'Anno Produced & Engineered by Martin Birch Recorded at Battery Studios, London, England, December 16, 1980 - January 1981 Original Release Date: February 2, 1981 Appears on: Killers, Killers (Part of The Story So Far Boxset), Killers (Part of Eddie's Head Boxset), Killers (Part of the Picture Disc Collection), Killers (Part of the 180g Black Vinyl Collection), Killers (Mastered For iTunes), Killers (Mastered for Onkyo Music) Commentaries The only semi-acoustic song Maiden had done until 'Journeyman'. "The only two songs I didn't write on bass guitar are 'Strange World' from the first album and 'Prodigal Son' on the second album; I wrote them on acoustic guitar." (Steve Harris - Guitar Player - November 1983) "'Prodigal Son' because it turned out exactly how I wanted to" (Adrian Smith after being asked what was his most memorable solo on record – Kerrang No. 13 – April 8, 1982) Solos 3:04 Adrian Smith 3:44 Dave Murray Live History The song was played on the last Wilcock's gigs and was also played live during the first Di'Anno shows. Paul Di'Anno assured in an interview with Metal Thunder Radio that during the early days the song had been played live at least a couple of times at the Ruskin Arms. Loopy assures that the song was played at Ruskin Arms on March 10, 1979. Thanks to an early recording of a gig played in The Bridgehouse in early 1978 it is known that the song was the 6th song in the set list. Trivia It was written late '77/early '78. "I honestly thought they were gone forever, having not heard of them for a whole year, and then I was handed this cutting, 'Prodigal Sons Return'. I was absolutely flabbergasted!! The Ruskin's had never really done anything but covers bands, but it had a good stage. I walked in, and there was the regular singer, Dennis, all fired up. The band went on stage, a few different members, but... wait? Dennis headed for the mixing desk to join old boy Vic on mixing duties. Cue the whippersnapper Di'Anno from the wings to do the vocals. Who the hell was this? Young short haired punk grinning inanely. Quite a surprise, but he was good. The band were splendid, speeding up the songs they had always done at blues pace, which was a bit strange. Most of Di'Anno's screams, however, were a direct copy of Den's, I suppose, until Di'Anno developed his own style later. Blimey. And so Maiden would be back in my life, forever. Saw maybe 20 Ruskin's gigs, and a few others around London, still never thinking they would get anywhere, and always surprised when they did... Get everywhere." (George Farrell Gig Diary at http://www.oocities.org/georgianesther/gigs70.html) Dennis Wilcock claims he wrote the lyrics. The song was rehearsed to be played on The Early Days Tour. "'Prodigal Son' will be rehearsed prior to the summer tour and if it sounds good enough, it may be included in the group's setlist. " (Nicko McBrain for Batterie Magazine (France) No. 14 - May 2005) 'Prodigal Son' was covered by the band Blood Sucker.
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worked well, it's merely boringly repetitive and trite…" (Iron Maiden at Leeds University by Lesley Stones – Record Mirror – November 29, 1980) Trivia Women In Uniform has gone down in history as being the one AND only song not composed by the band to be an A-Side. It was also the band's first video, Dennis Stratton last recording with the band & Maiden's only song never to appear on an (original) album because, frankly, the band didn't really like it. The song has been played live by Maiden a couple of times (on the opening dates of the band's 1981 autumn tour) and most notably on BBC's Top Of The Pops in 1980. The band's third single and their last recorded work to feature guitarist Dennis Stratton. Women In Uniform (German Remix or 2014 Version) 3:12 Written by Greg Macainish Produced by Tony Platt Originally recorded at Battery Studios, London, England, October 16-18, 1980 Additional vocals & guitars recorded at Battery Studios, London, England, January 1981 Original Release Date: October 13, 2004 Appears on: Women In Uniform 7" Version (2014 Reissue) Paul's vocals are a complete different take and Adrian's guitar and backing vocals have been added. This version is kind of a mistery. It could well be the so called "German Remix" which according to Loppy on a letter, was recorded in January 1981. Women In Uniform (Top Of The Pops Version) 3:14 Written by Greg Macainish Recorded at BBC TV Centre, London, England, November 13, 1980 Original Release Date: November 8, 2004 Appears on: The History Of Iron Maiden Part 1: The Early Days - Disc 2 The whole experience of playing 'Women In Uniform' live in Top Of The Pops resulted so bad that the band didn't play in the show again until 1995 when they performed 'Man On The Edge'. "They did get offered Top Of The Pops again, and again did it live, but this time the tactic totally backfired. The union guy with the decibel meter never turned up to check the volume levels in the afternoon, but he did turn up about thirty seconds before they started playing and insisted that either the band turned down or it'd be all out. Needless to say the take was a disaster. The Beeb also prevented Eddie from taking part in the broadcast, arguing that the show was for a family audience and that the merry monster might give Gran sleepless nights or wet dreams or something." (Garry Bushell – Running Free: The Official Story Of Iron Maiden – First Edition – 1984) "We were rehearsing and this bloke comes over and says, 'look, could you please turn it down?' It was ridiculous, we're a live band and there's no way that we'd ever go out with a tape behind us. We sounded awful, I'd like to apologise for that performance. I've got two minds about ever doing that show again." (Paul Di'Anno for Simon Fowler – Record Mirror – December 12, 1980) Trivia After playing 'Women In Uniform' in Top Of The Pops, the band didn't play in the show until 1995 when they played 'Man On The Edge'.
"LOOK OUT, I'M COMING FOR YOU! HAHAHAHA"
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As a result, when The Number Of The Beast was released in Britain on March 22, 1982 – just two days after their latest UK tour had ended at London's Hammersmith Odeon – it shot straight into the charts at No. 1! Indeed, the album became a major Top 10 hit almost everywhere the band went that year, eventually selling more than a million copies worldwide. Half of those sales were in America alone, where the title of the album – featuring a particularly abominable Eddie on the sleeve, locked in mortal combat with what appears to be Beelzebub himself – had caused a storm of protest from the then emerging so-called 'moral majority': a right-wing pressure group, who had ludicrously accused Maiden of being Devil-worshippers and called for censorship stickers to be attached to their albums, or better still, not stocked by record stores at all! As Steve says, "They obviously hadn't read the lyrics." Nevertheless, the resulting publicity did put the name Iron Maiden on the front pages in America for the first time and their shows began to sell-out. But then – what a show! By now, Eddie was over 8-feet tall, and with the new Dickinson-Harris-Murray-Smith-Burr line-up firing on all cylinders for the first time, Maiden was no longer regarded as some NWOBHM curiosity and more like the internationally-renowned rock band of legend they were about to become. Appropriately, the Beast On The Road World Tour was Maiden's biggest and most successful yet: 180 shows in 18 countries stretched over 10 months of non-stop ramalama – the band picking up Gold Records in both Britain and America for the first time, as well as Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Sweden and Belgium. But the best was yet to come.
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'The Prisoner' written by Steve & Adrian with a BIG moral contribution from Bruce, is inspired by the 17episode British TV cult-series of the same name that was first broadcast in the United Kingdom from September 29, 1967 to February 1, 1968 starring Patrick McGoohan (1928 – 2009) who, by the way, owned the rights to the audio clip that is used at the beginning of the song. "You're a prisoner of yourself your entire life! You're always trying to escape from every new situation into another one – which you think is better, but which, in fact, is simply the same, and which used to happen to this guy in every single episode. It was the brainchild of a chap called Patrick McGoohan …" (Bruce Dickinson for Gueneviere circa Autumn of 1984 – Taken from http://www.metal-rules.com) "Obviously we wanted to be really sort of dramatic with the intro so we thought, 'Well, maybe we can snip the intro off The Prisoner TV series.' Steve Harris added, it was quite funny because we had to get permission from Patrick McGoohan for in intro to 'Prisoner' and we didn't actually realise at the time he owned the rights to it all. So Rod, our manager, had to actually get on to him personally about it.'" (Bruce Dickinson & Steve Harris for Jake Brown – Iron Maiden in the Studio: The Stories Behind Every Album - 2011) "Adrian and Bruce had a song called 'The Prisoner' which is based on 'The Prisoner' series with Patrick McGoohan, and they wanted to use a part of the actual Prisoner series, at the beginning when he says, "What's my number? Number One", you know, up to number nine. We wanted to use that so we went to EMI, to get them to get permission. We got permission from the people, the film people, but we needed Patrick's personal permission. So, I had to get his phone number and ring up. So, I'm ringing Patrick McGoohan, and all the band are in the office, right? And ah, you deal with all these rock stars and stuff like that, but not including them, of course, but then a real, real good actor, right, a Hollywood star and all this. I'm ringing Patrick McGoohan and I'm terrified, saying, 'Hello?' Hehe, and, scramble, scramble, 'Can we use your song?' and all this. I explained the situation. And he goes, 'What you said is the name of the band again?' I said, 'Iron Maiden' There was a silence, and very McGoohan-ish, he says, 'Ok, do it!'" (Rod Smallwood on 12 Wasted Years Documentary) "Is all about conditioning a person so trapped by what other people say and convention that he can't break out." (Bruce Dickinson for Robin Smith – Record Mirror – February 27, 1982) "I love that track. It's just a wild song to play. It's got a great groove to it." (Nicko McBrain for Charlie Steffens, aka Gnarly Charlie September 9, 2013) Solos 4:19 Adrian Smith/Janick Gers '91/Adrian Smith '12 4:37 Dave Murray Live History It was incorporated into the set when Maiden played as Genghis Khan at the Ruskin Arms (8) and from then on it has been played on: The Beast On The Road – UK & Europe (11); Scorpions – Blackout Tour – Europe (6); The Beast On The Road – North America (9); Scorpions – Blackout Tour – North America (Some venues) (6); Chicago Fest V (9); Reading Festival ’82 (8); The Beast On The Road – Australia & Japan (10); Charlotte & The Harlots Concerts (3); Seventh Tour Of A Seventh Tour (3); Donington ‘88 (3); No Prayer On The Road 1991 – Europe (Some venues) (7) & Maiden England World Tour 2013 & 2014 (3). During the support tour for the Skunkworks album 'The Prisoner' was incorporated into the set list, making it the first time, since becoming a full solo artist, that Bruce included a song from Maiden. Later on, he would also perform the song during the Accident Of Birth Tour & the Air Raid Over Europe Tour. "I love Clive's drumming, I'm a big, big Clive Burr fan. And he's a huge Deep Purple fan. I mean the drumming on 'The Prisoner' which is the Maiden song we're doing tonight, is a straight Tommy Bolin Deep Purple-era type drum beat. And it's about the only Maiden tune that we thought we could do, because it doesn't really sound that much like Maiden. And when we started listening to it, learning it and playing it, everybody was like, "Fucking hell, solo section is straight Deep Purple" And I went like, "Yea, yea, yea, yea, yea, yea, right" (laughter). Cause all the guys are huge Purple fans." (Bruce Dickinson for Gino - www.bookofhours.net – June 28, 1996) Trivia The opening narration heard on the song is an edited version of a dialogue from the opening sequence from The Prisoner series. The band got the opening narration from Tommy Vance. To promote the release of the Beast Over Hammersmith VHS (1983), there were plans to release 'The Prisoner' as a single, but as the plans for the video were cancelled so were the plans for the single. The song, along with 'The Trooper', 'Iron Maiden' & 'Children Of The Damned' was played at Janick's audition.
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Total Eclipse (Live '82) 3:58 Written by Steve Harris, Dave Murray & Clive Burr Produced, Engineered & Mixed by Martin Birch at Battery Studios, London. Recorded at Hammersmith Odeon, London, England, March 20, 1982 Original Release Date: March 11, 2002 Appears on: Run To The Hills 7" Version (2002), Run To The Hills CD Version – Part II (2002) There's no Bruce introduction to the song while on the other versions there is. Total Eclipse (Live at The Hammersmith) (New Video Version) 4:05 Written by Steve Harris, Dave Murray & Clive Burr Co-produced by Doug Hall & Steve Harris Engineered & Mixed by Doug Hall Mastered by Nick Watson for Sanctuary Mastering at the Townhouse, London, England Recorded at Hammersmith Odeon, London, England, March 20, 1982 Original Release Date: November 8, 2004 Appears on: The History Of Iron Maiden Part 1: The Early Days Bruce's introduction of the song is a bit longer than on the other versions.
"THE ONE FOR YOU AND ME"
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