The Number of The Beast PDF

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Stjepan Juras
THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST
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Printed in Croatia
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STJEPAN JURAS
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HAMMERSMITH
EDITION
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CUTTING EDGE OF HEAVY METAL 9
TO HELL AND BACK 20
1982 32
AIR RAID SIREN 52
WHAT'S THE TRUTH? 56
THE LAST BATTERY 62
PLACE WHERE WE ALL GO 70
DEREK'S ROAD TO HELL 74
HUMAN NUMBER (NUMBER ONE) 86
DEVIL'S BAND 100
THE BEAST ON THE ROAD 114
GOOD LUCK MATE 128
THE NUMBER OF THE MERCH 138
LEGACY OF THE BEAST 160
HALLOWED BE THY NAME 170
DAWN OF THE CLASSIC ERA 230
MAIDENCROATIA BOOKS 242
PHOTO CREDITS 254
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 255
WARNING!
Fantastic Iron Maiden fan websites such as Ironmaidencommentary,
Maidencroatia, Maidenlive, Maidenfans, Maidenrevelations, Ironmaiden-bg,
ironmaiden666, Maidenthebeast, MaidenSpainFC various other fan websites
and all their contributors deserve utmost hats down for all they did to
preserve the great legacy of Iron Maiden for all future generations. Iron
Maiden would have NEVER been so massive if there were no loyal fans
willing to spend months and years exploring all aspects of this amazing
band's history. As an author, they ALL have my immense gratitude for
making it quite easy for me to find certain facts, old interviews, lost
photographs and other bits and pieces all of which helped to make this
book. However, 'The Number of the Beast' is not, nor was it initially
intended to become an official printed document which would unite all of
this trivia and priceless knowledge. If that was the case, I could not nor
would I want to call this book my original piece. This book is a series of
exclusive observations, cross-references and brave speculations while
delving into the most hidden secrets and motives behind Maiden's album
'The Number of the Beast', thoroughly discussed from all points of view,
considering all the selected segments that could have affected the creation
of the album. Given that more than thirty six years have passed since 'The
Number of the Beast' came out, I tried to give it a cool-headed evaluation it
clearly deserved, while taking into consideration both its strengths and
weaknesses. Here you will find a large number of new theses and speculations
never heard before, sometimes even shocking conclusions, while some old
puzzles will be uncovered for the very first time. I am convinced that this
piece will be the harbinger of discussion and controversy, quite possibly
dismissing some of the statements given in this book, but my answer to that
is simple. I'm a fan, and this book is the content of my direct observations of
the album. This is my tribute to it, for it introduced me to the epic world of
Iron Maiden, a world without which my life would surely be dramatically
different. So here's to a happy thirty-sixth birthday 'Number of the Beast'!
STJEPAN JURAS
BETWEEN THE LINES
When it comes to bands and performers, various book authors try hard to
make their audience believe that while they aren't in possession of the official
product, they are buying something equally legit. The use of misleading PR is
common, trying to lure people into thinking they are actually paying for some
of the exclusive and never before seen materials seeping with deep insider
info about to shake the foundation of everything they believed they knew
about their favorite band or performer.
In this case, this is not necessary, because this ‘official’ adjective is what
makes a document seem more one-sided and devoid of all possible critique
or quality debate which enables us to learn from our own mistakes. When
Iron Maiden announced in 1981 that the album ‘Killers’ is ‘cutting edge of
Heavy Metal’ might just be a few people, they knew that the cutting edge
would just happen a year later. No one outside of the narrow Maiden team
could dream of what would suddenly and permanently change the heavy
metal we knew so far. ‘The Number of the Beast’ album is abc book of heavy
metal music and this book is the first and only insight of this kind into the
most hidden secrets of this epic album. From the initial, biblical ‘Woe to you,
oh Earth and Sea’, to the diabolic scream, which was supposed to be a
homage to the scream in the song ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ by the Who, the
album’s title song symbolically shows us all the strength of the blow This
album has been challenged by the music market...
We heard a lot about this album throughout the years, but so far, nobody
bothered to scratch beneath the surface. That is why I’m proud to
conclude: this is not an official book, nor is it intended to act as such, it
does not feature insider info, and neither is it trying to pile up all of the
available Wiki articles and Maiden-related fan sites info. It was not
written encyclopedically, factually, statistically, it’s not trying to create a
timeline of all the shows, bootlegs, various album editions, awards,
interviews and everything else. This book is a piece of my soul, a story of
an album a lot greater and more magnificent than even the accolades depict
it; the beast that's still the leader of the pack..
To the fans by a fan
CUTTING EDGE OF HEAVY METAL
My colleagues from Rolling Stone, to which I gave an interview some time
ago, won’t hold it against me if the pages of ‘The Number of the Beast’
contain a fairly long quote of their review, published on June 24, 1982, 36
years ago, and written by journalist J.D. Considine. My extensive experience
in music journalism and writing tells me he was both well versed in music
and well-read, not lacking in a musical education or culture, otherwise he
would never have worked for the famed Rolling Stone Magazine. The man
knew both the substance and form of what he wrote about and was a skilled
wordsmith, but in spite of this, he lacked one trait, rare in most people; the
visionary power of foresight, the power to recognise something so ahead of
its time. Considering that the review was published well after the album’s
release, with the band already touring, its entirely missed point can’t be
seen as fear of heaping radical praise on the album before feeling the
collective audience pulse; by now it was dawning on everyone that
something big was happening. An alternative interpretation, more easily
believable, is bowing (in kid gloves) before the extremist church circles in
the USA as much as to the mainstream audience, or deliberate contrariness in
the face of the entire music media of the day, greeting the album with knives
out and teeth bared. Because everyone gave praise while Rolling Stone threw
mud, had the album done badly, they would have hailed themselves as
visionaries and taken full prophetic credit for its failure. In equal measure, the
review can be seen as a flexing of the journalistic muscles in the general
direction of the rest of the music media, to show them who’s boss and who
holds the fates of all musicians in their pages, especially at a time when the
band needed the most support in the USA, having just begun their US tour.
In his review, the author didn’t condescend to give even a partial insight into the
album itself, its song structures, themes, messages, concepts or power. Spouting
mere rhetoric, two thirds of the review mention neither the album, nor name
the band which recorded it. The band’s path to the very top, however, wasn’t in
the least derailed by this negative review. In fact, they were even aided by it, as
in later years Iron Maiden came to be known as a band who had succeeded
despite being ignored and even hampered by the mainstream media.
Rock & roll may be here to stay, as Danny and the Juniors once declared, but
few styles in rock have endured like heavy metal. Long after such progenitors
as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Grand Funk Railroad have passed into
history, eager young longhairs around the globe still crowd into arenas
clamouring for yet another dose of high-decibel distortion, fret-board
virtuosity and vocal belligerence.
Still, for all its devotion to form, heavy metal hasn't just lumbered on
heedless of the times; in fact, many younger bands even insist that the
term heavy metal describes the music of another generation. If that claim
seems slightly ludicrous in the wake of acts as wilfully revolutionary as the
Ramones or Public Image Ltd., it seems less so when the current crop of
heavy-rock groups is compared to its forebears. Not only are the younger
bands harder, faster and wilder, they've also managed to pull heavy rock
away from the blues-based, quasi-classical flourishes of the Deep Purple era
and toward a visceral directness that prefers punch over flash.
No band quite exemplifies these changes as does Motörhead. This British trio
plays with a brutish intensity that makes AC/DC seem like Air Supply.
Granted, rock & roll as sonic shrapnel is a rather limited perspective, but
Motörhead offsets the music's relentlessness with surprisingly astute lyrics
and exhilarating bursts of manic guitar. This is music for the thinking
headbanger. Motörhead may actually be too intense for most American
ears, but for the sheer adrenal rush of rock & roll, there's no one this side of
the Clash who can touch them.
The Scorpions' Blackout, on the other hand, is better suited to the heavy-rock
fan who likes nasty noises and isn't particularly concerned if they've been
done better elsewhere. Guitarist Matthias Jabs may borrow liberally from
Eddie Van Halen's arsenal of guitar tricks, and singer Klaus Meine does
bellow like Judas Priest's Rob Halford, but the overall effect is so audaciously
over-the-top that it works anyway. Part of the credit goes to producer Dieter
Dierks, who provides the band with a dense but meticulously detailed sound
that keeps the music from bogging down. Mostly, though, it's just a matter
of good ensemble playing fronted by a singer who knows how to wring the
last ounce of impact from each song.
Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow has gone through some shallow incarnations, but
the latest line-up tops them all. Joe Lynn Turner's vocals on Straight between
the Eyes are so faceless and predictable they could almost be sold as generic
hard-rock singing, while keyboardist David Rosenthal turns in solos that are
even more witlessly overplayed than Deep Purple's Jon Lord at his most banal.
Even Blackmore succumbs, offering solos redolent of Van Halen and songs
suggestive of Led Zeppelin ("Eyes of Fire" is an obvious rewrite of Zep's
"Kashmir"). Straight between the Eyes lacks both the fire of good heavy rock
and the melodic savvy of hard pop. As such, the album makes for dull listening.
Although Iron Maiden's The Number of the Beast isn't as dreadfully bland as
the Rainbow LP, it comes uncomfortably close. Unlike the band's previous
efforts, which retained much of the bluesy kick of early heavy metal, The
Number pursues a slicker, more up-to-date sound with mixed results.
Regrettably, the focus has shifted away from Dave Murray and Adrian Smith's
lead guitars, and much of the album is in the hands of the rhythm section and
newly acquired singer Bruce Dickinson. Despite an occasional flash of
inspiration, like the driving riff that fuels "Run to the Hills," The Number of the
Beast blusters along aimlessly, proving again that bad music is hell. (RS 372)
Ironic as it sounds in all of this, I firmly believe that any magazine should
stand by its journalists’ opinions throughout its run, and by extension the
stance of the editors who allowed something like this to be written. Had this
been the case, this self-same magazine wouldn’t have ranked ‘The Number
of the Beast’ fourth in their ‘100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time’ list,
published in 2017, with these words:
By the time Iron Maiden hit the studio with veteran producer Martin Birch to
record their third LP in 1982, the English quintet had already clawed its way
to the forefront of the so-called New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Having
replaced gruff lead vocalist Paul Di'Anno with Bruce Dickinson, a charismatic
performer with operatic pipes, the stage was set for a creative
breakthrough. There was just one problem: The band had exhausted its
backlog of tunes. "They'd used up all the good stuff they'd had and they'd
been on the road ever since," Dickinson told biographer Mick Wall. "So it was
quite good, in that way, because I wasn't going to be asked to sing words
that had already been written by Paul or songs Steve [Harris, bassist and
chief songwriter] had written with him in mind. … We had time to think
about the songs first." Harris and his mates (including Dickinson, uncredited
for contractual reasons) rose to the occasion, producing complex songs and
heady lyrics that ideally suited the new singer's dramatic range. The resulting
LP, recorded and mixed in just five weeks, is one of metal's all-time milestones:
Galloping single "Run to the Hills" charted practically everywhere but in the
U.S., where the video nonetheless became an early MTV staple; the title track
remains a set-list fixture; and the closer, "Hallowed Be Thy Name," was the
first of Iron Maiden's signature epics – and among the most durable. S.S.
I don’t know what you call this kind of removing their foot from their mouth
in your various countries, my dear readers, but where I come from we call it
“eating shit”, and this is a perfect moment for the term to shine in all its
glory. It is always easy to choose the best and the most cult-like with
decades of hindsight, but those who had strength and courage, as well as
vision enough to see it then are the only ones with any credibility to choose
now. The reaction from readers to the 2 star review of this album were
hilarious. In fact, readers gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars, and one ironic but sadly
true fan reaction on their website states:
“God, it’s funny to see that Rolling Stone only gave this album two stars. Talk
about having to put your foot in your mouth. Run to the Hills, 22 Acacia
Avenue, Number of the Beast, Hallowed Be Thy Name, these songs are some
of the greatest metal songs ever recorded. Maybe they should have had
someone who actually listens to metal review the album. But hey, maybe I'm
wrong. I mean I thought the Paris Hilton album was crap, but apparently
Rolling Stone thought it was a 3 star album.”
An even more bizarre situation occurred in 1982 in a country which no longer

exists, the country of my birth. Its name was Yugoslavia. Namely, as this
country was much more open than any other ruled by a communist regime,
acting as a tampon zone of sorts between the real 'Behind the Iron Curtain'
countries and what we call “the West”, concerts were more frequent. In long-
ago 1981, Iron Maiden played their first concert here, as special guests of an
extremely popular band from the region, Bijelo Dugme (White Button). Their
success with the audience was immediate and the Irons’ popularity rose
rapidly, with an immediate booking of a new concert for 1982, proof of which
can be seen on the t-shirts printed before the start of the 'The Beast of the
Road' tour. The performance, however, never took place… Guess why?
'Svi marš na ples' festival 1981 in Yugoslavia. Ticket.
As news of Paul Di’Anno’s departure spread, the interest of the Yugoslav

public for another Iron Maiden concert fell. His styling, rebellion and singing
were a perfect match of the ‘New Wave’ prototype – not of British Heavy
Metal, however, but a new wave as the term was redefined and used in the
countries of former Yugoslavia, uniting an entire spectrum of rebellious rock,
punk, ska and other alternative bands springing up in those days like
mushrooms in the rain. Bands of that era who cultivated a sound which was
closer to old school rock were forced to modernize and adapt that sound to
bring it closer to the new wave, even the greatest of them all, the
aforementioned Bijelo Dugme. Iron Maiden, with their angry, punkish
expression and a rebellious-natured singer, were the ideal young up-and-
coming band, but the coming of Dickinson and their transition into full
blooded heavy metal was met with disapproval, disinterest, and low ticket
sales. Following their successful 1981 debut, the 1982 concert ultimately had
to be cancelled. The t-shirts printed in advance bear the only witness of an
absurdity – that people at the time were unable and unwilling to believe that
Dickinson’s addition to the band heralded a change which would forever
change the music we knew in its very foundation. Even today, when I am
older, I’m not surprised that the countries in this region have never recognised
an opportune moment in the geopolitical sense, when their individual peoples
are unable to clearly see the future standing directly in front of them.
First prints of Iron Maiden tour t-shirts 1982 with Yugoslavia on back side.
Despite having recorded just two albums with Iron Maiden, Paul Di’Anno’s is
a distinctive voice which has its own colour, as well as a strength and raw
quality which clearly showed where Iron Maiden were coming from and
what they hoped to achieve. Sadly, he failed to see that there was no room
for him in these hopes, even a long time before he officially left the band. As
small as Paul Di’Anno’s musical legacy is (at least the Iron Maiden years), he
carries it well to this day, regardless of his own career choices and life’s
path. Any fan will tell you, from a strictly musical standpoint, that while
Dickinson’s performance of Di’Anno era songs is technically perfect, even
great, he will never achieve their original atmosphere and punkish rawness,
because that lifestyle simply isn’t part of his personality.
With time, it has become clear that the Irons are a group of very atypical
individuals: well educated, sports fans, multitaskers with varying interests and
almost completely sober, making the wild days of ‘sex, drugs and rock’n’roll’ –
a lifestyle associated with Di’Anno (at least according to public statements and
interviews) suddenly more than a little incompatible with Iron Maiden. From
this would stem that, when Di’Anno’s sands of time with the band ran out, this
was why he left – or was kicked out. Looking at Di’Anno’s current situation in
life, it would be hard to claim that he lives a healthy lifestyle even now.
However, while there is certainly a noticeable difference in comparing his
general state and physical shape with that of Iron Maiden’s current line-up, I
believe that back then, in 1981, his rock’n’roll lifestyle was only a secondary
reason for his having to leave the band. Alleged multiple-day parties, the loss
of his voice and concert cancellations due to his poor psychological and
emotional state were just a good excuse to do what had already been
decided. Reading various interviews and statements, his lifestyle did bother
the band, mostly Harris and manager Rod Smallwood, who certainly had a
much stronger mutual relationship – closer than Harris’ with any other
member of the band – something that seems to still hold true today. These
two saw no possibility of further progress for the band in the potential
decision to keep Di’Anno, and cuts were necessary, because that progress and
success in the near future had been more or less planned out.
The number of concerts played grew rapidly, chances of acceptance from the
US market were high, and Iron Maiden didn’t want to risk the possibility of
having a singer who wouldn’t be able to handle all the obligations. Just as
much, they were becoming less and less sure that Di’Anno was the right
frontman for what they wished to achieve. They needed something different,
something more intense, something more theatrical and bigger, something
they had been watching for a long time – in Bruce Dickinson. Di’Anno’s
departure, whether he left the band or was dismissed, didn’t come as a
surprise that left them in trouble, at a loss to find a new singer. They had
everything set up, planned and agreed before Di’Anno finally left, and were
only waiting for the right time to make the transfer.
This was proved as, with Di’Anno barely gone, Bruce Dickinson took his place
at light speed, the band subsequently taking an unbelievably short time to
rehearse their old song, play some warm up gigs with new material, as well as
to write, record and release the new album. The sequence of events
happened so fast that it is almost impossible today not to assume that many
things happened well before they were officially announced. Di’Anno was, on
the other hand, aware that his lifestyle would (to an extent) prevent him from
being part of this band, but he himself didn’t know if he really wanted to
become what Iron Maiden were turning into – a precision machine, with very
serious and demanding management, one of the most influential in the
history of the music industry. Di’Anno wasn’t impressed by the tight concert
schedule and an imposed routine of tasks. He couldn’t see himself in that
picture, clearly stating “I didn’t get into rock’n’roll to keep to schedules and
have meetings and make sure I get my eight hours’ beauty sleep every night.”
In addition believing their attitude no longer bore any resemblance to the
rock 'n' roll (or heavy metal, if you will) way of life, Di’Anno also felt that Iron
Maiden were following new musical paths which he didn’t see as good for
the band, something they had already begun with several songs on their
second album, ‘Killers’. Indeed, there are still many fans of this ‘early days’
sound, and from today’s standpoint it’s difficult to say what would have
happened if Iron Maiden had stayed with Di’Anno’s vision of them, but
seeing what they actually became, the majority of the fans welcomed the
change with open arms. Moreover, new fans, who weren’t there in the early
days, flocked to the band, and the rise of the Irons was almost palpable.
The fire with which Iron Maiden performed their first songs in the seventies,
and the fact that some five or six years later they released these songs on their
first two albums, speaks volumes about Steve Harris’ goal, one he was
determined to achieve. It means that the musicians who remained in the band
with him, or joined it, were those who were ready to share his vision – and
those he was able to find under the circumstances, and not necessarily who
he would have wanted for their vocal abilities. I’m afraid that the only person
able to keep up with his ambitions in that moment was manager Rod
Smallwood who, despite his own progressive personality, became a mentor of
sorts to Harris. Because I doubt he would have taken Bruce aside for the first
time at the 1981 Reading Festival to discuss the possibility of his transfer to
IroMaiden of his own accord. There would have been dozens of talks and
discussions with Harris before that little adventure, there was the perfect
moment to be judged in which to do it properly, since the Irons couldn’t take
the risk of any negotiations becoming public before they were ready. Both
Harris and Smallwood were firmly of the opinion that Bruce had stumbled into
the wrong band, and that he was precisely the vocalist with whim they could
‘conquer’ the whole world. Even he wasn’t aware of the role and responsibility
they had in mind for him. Many years later, even Di’Anno couldn’t deny that
Bruce was the best thing that ever happened to Iron Maiden. While he has been
quite mischievous through the years, and we’ve heard him say a lot of different
things about Bruce, but in that one, he was absolutely right.
In his 2017 book, ‘What Does This Button Do’, Dickinson recalls that Reading
Festival and the entire conversation that 19th of August 1981, when the first
thing he asked Smallwood was what would happen to Paul in case he decided
to join Iron Maiden, and whether he even knew about the plan. He didn’t feel
entirely comfortable leaping into the saddle by callously ousting someone
else, but at the end of the day, Iron Maiden were no more than a great new
opportunity, and he didn’t hesitate to accept. It’s difficult to have or even
pretend to have a moral dilemma, or feign distress at taking someone’s place
since Bruce’s defection to Maiden didn’t only permanently slam the band’s
door in Paul Di’Anno’s face, he also did the same to himself with his former
band. They may not have had the same perspective as Iron Maiden, but they
certainly might have had a chance in the limelight in the future. For However,
watching their Reading 1981 performance, especially the song ‘Riding With
the Angels’, it’s plain to see that Bruce had already mastered the art of
communicating with the audience, while the rest of the band’s stage presence
was no more than average, a state of affairs that no longer satisfied Bruce’s
appetites. This made leaving Samson to begin his Iron adventure all the easier.
If you closely watch band members’ departures after the first album, as well
as new member arrivals and the return of former members, you’ll notice that
Iron Maiden have never had a problem with replacements, even with Blaze
Bailey, Harris’ first choice for vocals (although a pro forma audition was held,
for show). Adrian Smith was already waiting in the wings when Dennis
Stratton left, Bruce jumped in immediately following Di’Anno’s departure,
Nicko McBrain had appeared in an Iron Maiden video even before Clive Burr
quit, and as Smith was leaving, Bruce’s former guitarist Janick Gers just
happened to be in the right place at the right time. Why on Earth would
anyone believe that Di’Anno’s departure happened according to the “common
knowledge” version of events according to Iron Maiden’s history books?
It’s true is that Bruce was a long-time item on both Harris’ and Smallwood’s
wishlist, it’s true that Paul Di’Anno had been a ‘dead man walking’ for a
while, but they had to wait for the right moment to perform the transfer.
Under no circumstances would Iron Maiden have taken the risk of firing
Di’Anno first, then looking for a suitable replacement. Everything was long
settled by the time Di’Anno left, I would even dare to claim that most of the
new album had been written, already tailored to Dickinson’s vocal abilities.
In discussing Iron Maiden, it’s important to mention that they had no period
of stagnation between the release of their first and the recording of their
third album. Moreover, both their debut album and sophomore effort got
great reviews and remain relevant as some of the best known and best
entrances into the rock world of all time. With their first album, Iron Maiden
conquered the local UK fan base and parts of Europe, with their second
album bringing Europe to its knees along with Japan, whose appreciation
was immediately such that they established an official fan club there. Their
second album introduced them to the North American market, and it was a
mere matter of making the right moves with their next. There was no room
for mistakes because even with Di’Anno Iron Maiden were moving up in the
world, and it remains a mystery to this day whether ‘Killers’ would have been
their absolute maximum had they stayed faithful to the previous line-up.
Bruce, then, wasn’t there to save the day – the Irons were on an upward climb
even without him – but he was there to raise them to a higher level. I’m
personally convinced that Harris noticed Dickinso musically as far back as the
‘Metal for Muthas’ tour, and stopped seriously considering Di’Anno as a part
of the new Maiden’s future around the same time. I’m under the impression
that he then decided to complete the previously agreed upon ‘Killers’, at the
same time scouting, keeping a weather eye on Dickinson’s progress, bringing
him into band at the opportune moment. Say what you want, but an objective
assessment shows that ‘Gangland’ and ‘Invaders are the only songs on ‘The
Number of the Beast’ which sound like Di’Anno could sing the vocal line, while
the rest sound like they were already written for Dickinson, as if it was a done
deal that he would soon be in Iron Maiden, unbeknown to both him and the
other members of the band. This supports the theory that the majority of the
album was written well before biographies and history videos suggest, and it
seems that the Irons had a lot more time for their creation than they’ve allowed
us room to ponder them and stand in awe of their speed and productivity.
While this theory – or the gut feeling of a single fan, myself – will be difficult to
prove, I’ll present you with several facts in this book, some independent
opinions, statements, numbers to support what I’m saying. In my opinion, ‘The
Number of the Beast’ isn’t an accidental output of the band’s passing hyper-
creativity, which appeared with Dickinson’s arrival, but an incredibly carefully
planned project only a chosen few were aware of. And when advertising their
previous album ‘Killers’ with the proclamation that Maiden were the ‘cutting
edge of Heavy Metal’, the PR team knew exactly what they were talking about.
Stjepan Juras - The Number of the Beast
20
TO HELL AND BACK

As I started to explain in the previous chapter, ‘The Number of the Beast’ isn’t
just an accidental gem of an album that suddenly became one of the most
legendary albums in the history of rock, nor is it by extension the product of a
band’s rapid creativity and productivity. Its roots are planted deep in the
band’s history, and it is likely that it was carefully prepared in advance. At the
end of the day, I’m not sure anyone is completely convinced that the concepts
of Iron Maiden’s albums were created by them exclusively. In most cases, liner
notes on their album covers state that credit for ideas of that kind was
deserved not only by illustrator Derek Riggs but also manager Rod Smallwood.
What kind of band would Iron Maiden be without Eddie, their mascot, can we
even imagine them like that? Iron Maiden are neither the first nor the last band
to have used a particular mascot in their career, but they are definitely the first
to have used him so consistently and directly, on the cover of every last album
and the covers of nearly all their singles, with just one or two exceptions. For the
first time in the history of rock, a mascot was used so persistently and intently
that it allowed fans to decipher songs and their meanings just from his
appearance on the cover and the environment in which he was placed.
Sometimes fans more anxiously anticipated new single releases to find out what
Eddie’s newest incarnation would be than for the music. It wasn’t like there was
ever a chance that Iron Maiden would disappoint with the music itself.
When he was getting the band together, did Steve Harris have a vision of what
they would look like in the future? Of course not, not even remotely, but what
he did have was a very progressive, intelligent and exceptionally skilful
manager in the person of Rod Smallwood. It would be Smallwood who would
care and manage the creative aspect of the band, while Andy Taylor, that
experienced old cat, was already a successful financial manager and a man
known for making unerring business decisions in the world of music and
finance. Rod’s mind was never at rest – if he saw a chance to make something
happen he took it, and in the case of Iron Maiden, there were opportunities
aplenty. We need only recall the story of how Eddie really entered the Iron
Maiden story. According to available information, Rod Smallwood was visiting
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the offices of EMI Records one day and, noticing the cover of the Alvin Lee
Band album ‘RX5’, he immediately asked the staff if they knew who the author
of the illustration was, and more importantly, if they could put him in touch
with whoever it was. This is how, the story is told, Rod encountered Derek
Riggs. The concept is marred only by the fact that Alvin Lee Band’s album
wasn’t released until 1981, almost a year after Eddie was introduced to the
public on ‘Iron Maiden’. Of course, we can allow for the possibility that the
illustration was at EMI’s offices earlier for some reason or other, before it was
used for the cover. The guitar playing cyborg, reminiscent in some aspects of a
later version of Eddie on the ‘Somewhere in Time’ album, was reportedly the
trigger which encouraged Rod to start thinking about a mascot and the
concept of a permanent visual representation of a band who would, at the
end of the day, become as famous for its mascot as it is for its music.
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I’m finding it hard to imagine what those conversations between Rod and
Derek would have looked like: “Hey, Derek, we need you to do something for
the ‘Sanctuary’ single”, and Derek’s answer “Hm, I’ve got this cool idea,
Margaret Thatcher lying dead with Eddie bending over her holding a knife”.
Rod says “Excellent, SOLD!” A year later, Smallwood: “Hm, you know, Derek,
we need new cover art for ‘Woman in Uniform’ but we can’t go with Maggie,
we’ve used her already… What are we gonna do now?” Derek replies “No
problem, mate, if Eddie’s a zombie, she can be too. I’ll just paint her lying in wait
for him with a gun.” “Brilliant idea!” says Rod and goes home a happy man.
Of course, this is exaggeration, but you understand what I’m trying to say.
Derek is an excellent illustrator, the best Iron Maiden have had or will have
for the rest of their career, and when illustrating he comes up with fantastic
concepts which have become part and parcel of the Iron Maiden
iconography, including tiny, tiny details, usually meaningful and
interconnected if you pay closer attention to his work. It is however
pointless to imagine that he was given full creative control or total freedom
of expression in the process of illustrating key themes and deciding what
would be on the covers. While he depicted Margaret Thatcher as deceased
on single covers, she was still very much alive and in office, and she would
certainly have recognised herself in his illustrations. It was Iron Maiden’s
decision and willingness to provoke the public and win the approval of the
younger British audience in such a way, therefore the impetus couldn’t come
from him. It needed to be a precisely thought out campaign developed by
their management – who were authorized to decide the risk was worth it.
You could easily be mistaken if you believe the same is not true of ‘Killers’ and
even more specifically with ‘The Number of the Beast’. On the ‘Killers’ cover,
Eddie still hadn’t moved out of the suburbs of London, an environment that
would have been “very familiar” to fans at the time. Metal music of the time
was still the music of the angry working class rather than elite collectors (with
some exceptions, of course) who pay insane amounts of money for something
they will later probably sell for even more insane amounts of money. Iron
Maiden’s album ‘Killers’ is a relic of its time and reflects exactly the period in
which the Irons grew to adulthood. However, in order to achieve world
domination, they needed something more. In line with the new image of the
music they would bring to the people, they needed to descend straight to hell
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and set the world on fire, led by a new lightbringer – remember the back
cover of the album and Dickinson holding the torch he used to set hell on fire.
The lightbringer, “Lucifer” in Latin, was very much a deliberate PR move.
Bruce Dickinson lit hell on fire with a torch in 1982.
The story making the rounds about the cover of ‘The Number of the Beast’ is
that Derek initially painted the illustration that became the famous album
cover for the single ‘Purgatory’, but the band’s management decided not to
release it, feeling that it was too rich in detail and too good to be only a
single cover. Riggs later painted a new cover for ‘Purgatory’. You can agree
with this claim or not, but allow me to draw your attention to a few facts…
On the next page, you can see the cover art for ‘Killers’. This was the album with
which Iron Maiden would confirm the great success of their UK debut was not a
fluke. This time, with the backing of famous producer Martin Birch, they decided
to cement their position as the new starts of the UK metal scene, then move on
to bigger and better things. And what could better help them make the giant
leap than getting to grips with a topic which is eternally controversial in music:
Satan, hell, occult themes? They never lose their huge marketing potential.
24
Iron Maiden - 'Killers' (1981)
Now, do you see anything strange on the cover of ‘Killers’, anything that
might be linked to the upcoming album, ‘The Number of the Beast’? A hint,
an announcement? No, there are no secret symbols and prophecies, the
house numbers are random, there’s the odd black cat, some storefront signs
and human silhouettes visible through windows. Maybe you should take a
closer look, but I think you’ll notice it only if you own the original record and
poster from 1981. Sadly, all later releases were sloppily made, not scanned
from the original illustration but from already printed records, so what
we’re looking for is blurry, though still visible.
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Can you spot a small silhouette between the letters I and D on the Iron
Maiden logo, just below the left side of the D? Again, please try to look for it
only on original 1981 editions as it looks blurry and with no visible outlines.
If you do happen to won the original edition, you will see a winged creature
with horns on its head, similar to those worn by the devil on the cover of
‘The Number of the Beast’, formed in smoke and lightning. If you weren’t
aware of this tiny picture, I’m sure it will come as a surprise. The ‘Killers’
cover shows a devil which truly begins to show itself with that album’s final
single, ‘Purgatory’, later to appear on both the cover of ‘The Number of the
Beast’ and its two single releases.
26
I’ll leave it to you to decide if this is only a coincidence or not. If you believe this
drawing is just a weird stain or caused by the deterioration of the album cover,
feel free to compare it with a friend’s. Riggs is famous for including interesting
details to his cover art for reasons known only to himself, and fans have spent
years unsuccessfully studying and analysing what really needs no analysis.
However, if we look at this (so called) coincidence in the context of the timeline
which led to Di’Anno’s departure, Dickinson’s arrival and the recording of ‘The
Number of the Beast’, this train of thought starts making a lot more sense.
In short: Harris noticed Bruce as far back as the ‘Metal for Muthas’ tour and
kept an eye on him from there, mentioning him to his manager. With ‘Killers’
long since recorded and ready for a final assault on the UK market, plans were
made for a new record which would introduce Bruce to Iron Maiden, once a
suitable opportunity appeared to remove Di’Anno. During this time, Harris is
considering new songs, a change from Di’Anno’s limits, and he begins writing
songs for a vocalist of Bruce’s range despite Dickinson not being even
remotely close to joining Iron Maiden. He and Smallwood discuss the concept
of the new album, as ‘Killers’ was completed and mainly comprised old and
often played Iron Maiden songs, with just a couple of new entries. When
Dennis Stratton left, Adrian Smith was very new and hadn’t yet made any
significant writing input, while Clive Burr and Dave Murray rarely contributed
to the songwriting process anyway. The only other potential co-author was
Paul Di’Anno himself, and he was involved in the creative process on the title
track, ‘Killers’. The rest of the songs on the album were written by Harris
alone. Strangely enough, Iron Maiden chose not to release the title track as a
27
single, nor did they pick ‘Wrathchild’, a future classic, for the most part
probably because the song draws heavily on their late seventies roots. They
went with a single release of ‘Twilight Zone’, a song which isn’t even included
on ‘Killers’. As all of Iron Maiden’s older songs, played live for years, slowly lost
their original shine, and almost none were left for a future new album release,
Smallwood’s concept probably provided for flirting with the devil in at least
one song with which a young, up and coming and ever more successful band
would ‘tread on the tail’ of the church, with the potential storm surrounding
this escalating and taking the band to undreamed of – for them – heights.
While still in the planning stages and giving guidelines for ‘Killers’, Rod felt
the need to embellish the finished cover illustration with an additional and
almost unnoticeable detail – the coming devil, not caring if anyone would
notice him… Preparations had begun for “the coming of the beast”, and
while Paul Di’Anno still unaware that he’d been written off, he soon started
to notice that the relationships within the band had begun to change. When
you’re on the way out, you somehow feel it, no one has to tell you explicitly;
moreover, the very recently departed Dennis Stratton had experienced a
similar distancing between himself and the rest of Iron Maiden, so Paul
Di’Anno could feel from experience that the same thing was on the books
for him, and soon. After the release of an atypical lead single ‘Twilight’, a
second one followed, just as unusual and very significant. As I wrote earlier,
the official story making the rounds is that when the single cover illustration
was ordered, Derek submitted what would become the cover of ‘The
Number of the Beast’, which was then saved for the album and he was
asked to create something new for ‘Purgatory’. Personally, I don’t really
believe this story, but let’s say for a moment that this is really what
happened. Rod Smallwood said this of the cover: "We said, 'No, that's much
too good,' so we kept it for the album. We had the artwork months before
we had the music." If we accept this as true, knowing that the single’s
release date of 15/06/1981, this would mean that Derek submitted the
cover in May 1981 at the latest, if he was to have time to paint an entirely
new cover following the original’s rejection. It would also mean that he
would have to have been commissioned for the cover much earlier, in April
at the latest – and the moment in which it was decided that ‘Purgatory’
would be the second single. According to accepted rules of the business –
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and fitting in with this timeline, this would be between February and April
1981. Considering that ‘Killers‘ was released at the start of February 1981
and the promotional tour began less than two weeks later, all this implies is
that all plans were in place well in advance. Many have wondered why
‘Purgatory’ was selected for a single, especially over songs like ‘Wrathchild’,
‘Killers’, or ‘Murders in the Rue Morgue’. Not only did it become Iron
Maiden’s least successful single of all time, not managing to reach even the
top 50 in the charts, but the Irons truly had better options at their disposal.
According to drummer Nicko McBrain, the track is a remake of one of the
band's earlier songs, entitled 'Floating', of which 'Purgatory' is a faster re-
arrangement. Rod Smallwood states that this was because "it wasn't really a
single, it was just lifted off the album which the fans already had.“ Really,
only one possibility remains: ‘Purgatory’ was an excellent intro to what was
still to come, especially because of its title. It is widely believed that after
dying, the soul doesn’t go straight to heaven or hell, but to purgatory… and
in Iron Maiden’s case, purgatory would take them straight to hell, something
made very clear by the single’s cover illustration.
29
The cover illustration of ‘Purgatory’ – supposedly a substitute for what

ended up as the album cover – depicts an unusual devil (illustrator Derek
Riggs later commented that his inspiration for the face was legendary artist
Salvador Dali), his face rotting away to shot that what lies beneath is the
face of Eddie, Iron Maiden’s mascot. Apart from giving the suggestion of an
eternity in purgatory, the cover also sends a message that there will be no
reprieve, and with the bad (the devil), it can only get worse (Eddie). This
illustration not only hints at the album to come, but also harks back to what
we’d already seen in Iron Maiden’s work. On the cover for the single release
of ‘Running Free’, we see a silhouette of Eddie as he would appear on the
cover of Iron Maiden’s debut album, while here we see management working
with a tried and tested formula… Iron Maiden would use similar trickery again
for the release of ‘Somewhere in Time’, using a mirrored image of future
Eddie’s head on top of a time machine, and several more times on later
albums. One of the oldest tricks in the marketing book was sold twice within
two years to the same people: bravo, Iron Maiden management.
As I wondered why Derek would submit the illustration that ultimately became
the cover of ‘Beast’ for this song, I took the time to read its lyrics – considerably
short and repetitive. I concluded that there is no connection, nothing that could
have spurred him to create that illustration based on this song – even if he had
only the name of the song to work with, the ‘Beast’ cover makes no sense since
it depicts an actual “hell”, not purgatory. Be that as it may, Rod’s statements at
least gave hints of what was to come and what I’m claiming here, that the entire
concept of ‘Beast’ was ready months before its release, possibly even before the
release of its predecessor ‘Killers’. That, at least, is my assessment and the
reason why I claim that the devil on the ‘Killers’ cover was a last minute addition
30
before his appearance on ‘Purgatory’ as an allusion to the next record. With the
illustrations for the next three releases – two singles and the album itself – we
were treated to a classical three act drama: battle with the devil (‘Run to the
Hills’), victory over the beast who still rules over humanity (cover of ‘Beast’, the
album itself), and ultimately the death of the devil and Eddie’s ascent from the
flames, carrying the devil’s cut off head to finally announce to the world who
truly rules the netherworld (cover of the ‘Beast’ single). It might all sound funny
and childish, but these gimmicks are exactly what Maiden have sold to the world
and what made them millionaires. Of course, the music itself, which is after all
the most important aspect, is a spectacular product and their opus is a work of
art, this cannot be called into question. Everything came together perfectly for
Maiden, which is why, both as a fan and the author of this book, I’m deeply
convinced that the timeline I’ve suggested is the true one. I understand that it
might be weird for them, and perhaps a little embarrassing to admit that this is
show business, emphasis on the business, and that everything they do is done
for love of the music, for the artistic expression, but also for the money.
I don’t believe a single fan would begrudge them this. In our next chapter,
we’ll take a look at the year in which the album was recorded and the
circumstances which led to it becoming what it is, and then I’ll continue my
musings and present some facts clarifying the timeline of writing tracks on
‘The Number of the Beast’, as well as who wrote them. Many things point to
my being correct in my thinking, but I’ll leave it to you, dear fans, readers, to
judge for yourselves whether ‘The Number of the Beast’ was planned,
announced and created much earlier, specifically for Bruce
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32
1982
The year that saw the dawn of ‘The Number of the Beast’, was a fairly
harrowing in a geopolitical sense, with some events later directly affecting
the art world, especially in music. Readers of my earlier Iron Maiden books
know very well why this time capsule chapter is important. It gives readers
who weren’t born or were too young to remember information about the
period and the world, provides an overview of the music released parallel to
the corresponding Iron Maiden album and serves as a reminder of historical
events which not only influenced geopolitics, but the whole world and even
individuals – even if they did not notice anything.
Rock in Rio 1985 - Crowd. Taken fom their official website.
For example, how many fans think Iron Maiden’s live releases ‘Rock in Rio’
or ‘En Vivo’ are important, or the ‘Flight 666’ documentary? How important
is the Latin American market of the time for Iron Maiden’s successful
career? I am of the opinion that it was one of the crucial locations, not only
because of sales figures for both records and merchandise bought by the
local population, but also because of the size and massive numbers of
33
concert goers which the Irons could – and did – use photos and videos from,
to show the world, cementing their legendary status and raising it to a
higher level through their PR channels. Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay,
Peru, Venezuela, Paraguay, Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia… all countries of
fanatic fans who don’t ask questions when it comes to Iron Maiden. As an
author of books about the Irons, I’ve experienced this first hand. However, if
it hadn’t been for the 1982 Falklands War, happening at the time of the
release of ‘The Number of the Beast’, it’s questionable whether any of the
fanaticism would still exist today. How, you ask? Let me explain.
ARA General Belgrano sinking. Courtesy of Martin Sgut.
Let’s start with the fact that, 16 years later, Iron Maiden’s ‘Virtual XI’ album
contained a song named ‘Como Estais Amigos’, inspired by the Falklands
War between Great Britain and Argentina, which took place in 1982.
Although overshadowed at the time by the Cold War, and later ignored
because of ‘political correctness’, the Falklands War is one of the most
important conflicts of the latter half of the 20th century. Considering that it
was one of the rare military conflicts of the modern era in which both sides
were relatively evenly matched in strength and equipment, one fought with
34
exclusively conventional means, the Falklands War has held the attention of
military analysts for decades as it holds a whole series of object lessons
applicable to potential future similar conflicts. The political ramifications of
the war itself were far more important than the answer to the question of
sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.
The beaten and shamed Argentine army lost all authority in their homeland,
and in 1983, following a series of protests in which Falklands veterans were
on the front lines, it was forced to stand down in favour of democratically
elected representatives of the people. With this, Argentina became an
example to a number of other Latin American states which saw military
dictatorships overthrown and replaced with democratic government during
the 1980s and 1990s. It was during this time that Iron Maiden used their
near mythical performance at the gigantic ‘Rock in Rio’ festival in 1985 to
forge a path to the far away, unknown, unexplored yet incredibly interesting
Brazilian market, and some years later, after all the other countries saw
changes to their regimes, the Irons conquered the market so thoroughly as
to be considered almost godlike today. Without the Falklands War which, to
people from Europe, the USA etc, looks like an unimportant item, a
secondary three month fight for some tiny islands in the middle of the Atlantic
Ocean (with almost 900 casualties), Iron Maiden may never have reached as
many people in the region, nor perhaps have become the behemoth of the
band they are today. Of course, without getting mixed up in the territorial
disputes between countries or taking sides (who am I to even have the right to
take a side), this single example is a clear indicator of how – even when we
think they don’t – geopolitical events influence the lives of us all.
On the other side, Great Britain’s victory in the Falklands gave them back
their national self-confidence and marked the return of the country to its
role of a great power. A year on, Margaret Thatcher and her Conservative
Party – seen before the war as certain losers – beat the opposition Labour
Party into the ground at the General Election, enabling them to enact their
program of neoliberal capitalist reforms which are today’s standard in most
of the world’s developed industrial nations. Of course, I’ve already written
about the history of the feud between Iron Maiden and Margaret Thatcher,
but there’s more to come in my future books where we deal with their first
two albums. It’s interesting to note with hindsight that, after 1982 and with
35
Thatcher’s new found consolidated and higher approval rating, even the
Irons didn’t mock her quite as much as before.
But let’s go back to 1982. As early as 07/01 that year, Las Vegas played host to
the unveiling of the Commodore 64, an 8-bit home computer which quickly
reached unprecedented levels of popularity. It became so extreme that the
computer was the first ever non-human to be named Man of the Year by
legendary Time magazine, a somewhat controversial decision even accounting
for their concealed political correctness and the wish to be cool and up to date.
If a prize is called “Man of the Year”, then it should stay “Man of the Year”,
otherwise it can be a smartphone or a CD player or and MP3… Pointless.
Commodore 64. Courtesy of Bill Beltram.
Apart from a general consensus that the worst causes of climate change
have occurred in the last few years, few remember the real elemental
disasters of the time, as they stand in the shadows of today’s clickbait media
as though they had never happened. On 11/01, the USA was hit by brutally
36
low temperatures, and massive rainfall caused mudslides and destroyed

bridges in Nagasaki, Japan, killing 229 people.
1982 saw the most airplane disasters in history, as well as other

catastrophes with high numbers of casualties. Air Florida flight 90 crashed
into the Potomac River on 13/01, taking 78 people into death. A new crash,
this time of a military plane, happened only a week later in Nevada, and just
a month on, a Japan Airlines plane fell into the Tokyo Bay. WASP Flight 168 –
a Boeing 727 – fell into the Fortaleza rainforest and killed 137 passengers,
while PanAm flight A759 crashed in Louisiana killing 146 passengers and 8
people on the ground. France saw its biggest traffic pileup in history, the
accident on the A6 motorway costing 53 lives, of which 46 were children, to
make it more tragic. The oil platform Ocean Ranger sank in a storm close to
the Newfoundland s coast, with 84 workers on board, and towards the end
of the year, 66 visitors were killed during a UEFA Cup match between FC
Spartak and HFC Haarlem at the Luznicki Stadium (then called the Central
Lenin Stadium) in Moscow. Throughout this, Iron Maiden were mostly
touring, racking up an enviable number of concert performances, something
other bands could hardly hope to match. 188 concerts in 289 days –
specifically 101 days off and 188 working days on one tour is something
we’ll never see again.
Planet Earth’s rapidly growing population was confirmed in facts coming

from China, which passed one billion citizens – the first nation in the world
to reach the number. Thirty six years later, despite its one child policy,
already counts 1 413 345 520 inhabitants as I type this, and India is in close
second with 1 349 466 428 at time of writing. Unemployment in the UK,
where Iron Maiden come from, has seen a record rise with 3 070 661 people
out of a job.
Leading to Time magazine’s unprecedented (and the only one of its kind to
date) decision to award the ‘Man of the Year’ or ‘Woman of the Year’
accolade to the ‘Machine of the Year’ in 1982, the dawn of the information
age arrived bringing with it a massive boom in the technological revolution.
It also brought one of the first computer viruses, Elk Cloner, created early in
1982 by Rich Skrent, a 15 year old kid who used floppy disks to infect Apple
37
II computers. 1982 was also the year in which emoticons saw wider use,
though they weren’t as popular globally as they are today. Adobe Systems,
known in recent years for a series of software programs without which the
modern world becomes unimaginable, like Photoshop, was founded in early
1982, which was also the release year of the video game ‘Pitfall’, made for
the Atari 2600 and reaching record sales – over 4 million copies – confirming
the role of platform games as the dominant genre in the gaming industry for
a long time to come. The musical revolution was still to come, but the first
compact discs, known as CDs, were produced in Germany, Sony releasing
their first ever CD player, the model CDP-101. Back in 1982, no one could
imagine the turnarounds the music industry would see in as little as ten
years, and that Eddie, then battling the devil for ascendance, would be
breaking vinyl and crushing cassette tapes beneath his feet in 1992 while
introducing the CD as the thing of the future. With the advent of the CD
swarm, the vinyl record, the indestructible queen simply vanished, and has
only experienced a collector’s revival in the last couple of years.
Compact Disc. Taken from www.livelaw.in
38
It is also important to note that 61 year old retired dentist Barney Clark
became the first patient to receive an artificial heart transplant, helped a
little by scientists at the University of Utah – although he only lived with the
model ‘Jarvik-7’ for a further 112 days. 1982 was also the year in which the
heartbeats started of several people who are already considered legends
today, like the Brazilian football player Kaká, Croatian skiing heroine Janica
Kostelić, American actress Kirsten Dunst, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge,
as well as the greatest UFC fighter of all time, Stipe Miočić.
On the other hand, the heart of one of the most mourned guitarists of all time
stopped. Randy Rhoads truly died too young, aged 25, and is still considered
to be one of the most important guitar players both in metal and in popular
music in general. Legendary German composer Carl Orff, best known for the
Carmina Burana, died on almost the release date of ‘The Number of the
Beast’. His works have heavily influenced the entire heavmetal scene, and he
himself was often described as the last classical composer worthy of his greatest
predecessors in classical music. Carmina Burana was even performed at the
renowned Wacken Open Air festival, to a tumultuous reception from fans.
39
Actors Alan Webb, Henry Fonda, Ingrid Bergman and Grace Kelly also left us.
The unusual death of the beautiful actress who had become Princess of Monaco
gave rise at the time to a multitude of controversies and conspiracy theories and
was, until Princess Diana’s death, one of the biggest deaths covered by the
media. Leon Brezhnev, leader of the Soviet Union, also died in November 1982.
Going through news articles from 1982, I realised that I could take the
geopolitical news, terrorist attacks, wars and bigotry of the time and easily
transplant them into any other year with little difference. The Hama Massacre
hit Syria, president Hafez al-Assad ordering the army to clear the city of Harran
of members of the Muslim Brotherhood movement. Days later, the USA
imposes an embargo on Libyan oil exports, accusing Libya of aiding terrorist
factions, a month later Israel completed its retreat from the Sinai Peninsula in
accordance with the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty. The Lebanon War began
with an invasion of southern Lebanon by Israeli military forces under the
leadership of defence minister Ariel Sharon, code named ‘Operation Peace for
the Galilee’. During this time, bombings in London’s Hyde Park and Regent’s
Park killed 8 people, 7 horses and injured 47 civilians. About a month later, the
United Nations Security Council voted to censure Israel for refusing to
withdraw their forces from Lebanon, whose president Bachir Gemayel was
almost immediately assassinated in a bomb attack in Beirut. Four days later,
the Lebanese Christian Militia, nicknamed ‘The Phalange’, killed thousands of
Palestinians in the Sahra and Shatila refugee camps in western Beirut in
retaliation for the killing of their president. Sometime later, Beirut was the
scene of the first so called ‘Tyre headquarters’ bombing, in which between 89
and 102 people died. The United Nations announced the first ever
International Day of Peace, Helmut Kohl became the new Chancellor of West
Germany, and former head of the KGP Yuri Andropov was elected General
Secretary of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist party, inheriting
the position from the late Leon Brezhnev. For anyone not actually from the
countries mentioned here or don’t know all of the names, any of these stories
could have happened ten years ago, five, three or two, even today…
In the same year in which Gabriel García Márquez received the Nobel Prize
for Literature, Spanish priest Juan María Fernández y Krohn attempted to
assassinate Pope John Paul II by stabbing his with a bayonet during a
pilgrimage to Fátima, shortly after which the Pope became the first
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incumbent pope to visit the United Kingdom. From the US came ‘ET’, one of
the greatest films of all time, directed by Steven Spielberg, which left an
impression on many a childhood, and the prestigious Indianapolis 500 race
saw one of the most spectacular finishes ever, when the 1973 winner
Gorson Johncock beat his rival, Rick Mears, winner of the 1979 race, by only
16 milliseconds, a record close finish which is still unbeaten on the
Indianapolis track today. It was Johncock’s second victory and the event was
instantly hailed as the greatest moment in the history of the race.
Just a month later, Italy celebrated victory over West Germany in the final of
the FIFA Football World Cup. Planet Earth and the universe treated us to an
event called the ‘Syzygy’, where just before Steve Harris’ 26 th birthday; all
eight planets were on the same side of the Sun at the same time. How this
phenomenon influenced the album ‘The Number of the Beast’ will be
explained in a later chapter.
E.T. – Part of official poster. Courtesy of Universal Picture.
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Let’s have a look at popular music in 1982. It was the year of the release of
Michael Jackson’s album ‘Thriller’, its general theme at least visually quite
similar to what Iron Maiden would begin eight months later. When an album
like that becomes the biggest selling record of all time, its sales record still
unbeaten to this day (more copies of it have been sold than of all of Iron
Maiden’s albums together), it is hard to release anything that isn’t left in its
shadow, especially with the horrors and zombies depicted in the video
accompanying the titular song. But let’s go in order of appearance. Early in
the year, Ozzy Osbourne caused a never before seen scandal, biting the
head off a live bat during a performance in Des Moines, Iowa, later claiming
he’d believed it was a rubber toy. This event is still interesting today, to
journalists and fans alike. Just a month after the bat biting, Ozzy was
involved in a new scandal after urinating at the famous historic landmark,
The Alamo in San Antonio, when he was arrested. Just a few days before the
release of ‘The Number of the Beast’, Ozzy’s guitarist Randy Rhoads, still
mourned today, was killed in a plane crash. Interestingly, a similar situation
occurred in 1986 when Metallica’s Cliff Burton died days before Iron
Maiden’s release of ‘Somewhere in Time’, turning heavy metal media focus
away from the album and towards the tragic event affecting another band.
The same thing happened to 'The Number of the Beast’.
42
In 1982, BB King donated his personal collection of more than 7000 rare
vinyl blues albums to the University of Mississippi’s Centre for the Study of
Southern Culture, and someone stole the 136kg tombstone of Ronnie Van
Zant, late singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd, from the Orange Park Cemetery in
Florida. The Mamas and the Papas began their reunion tour, and the
legendary Blues Brother John Belushi died from an overdose. Many
musicians had drug problems that year, with several of them proving fatal.
For example, David Crosby had a lot of trouble both with drugs and the
authorities, several of them in a short period of time.
During 1982, Liverpool streets were named for all four members of The
Beatles, Ronnie James Dio played his final concert with Black Sabbath (not to
return until 1992), and after a mischievous start to the year, Ozzy Osbourne
married his manager Sharon Adel in a July wedding in Hawaii. Joe Strummer
suddenly disappeared without trace, causing The Clash to postpone their UK
tour. He was discovered three weeks later in Paris, accompanied by his
girlfriend, two days after running the Paris marathon.
At the first ‘Prince's Trust’ gig, a charity concert organised in Birmingham by

Charles, Prince of Wales, Status Quo became the first modern musicians to
perform for the British peerage. Later, at a concert in London’s Dominion
Theatre, they were joined by Pete Townshend, Robert Plant, Madness, Phil
Collins, Joan Armatrading and Kate Bush. It was in 1982 that one of the
longest-running musicals in the world, performed 7485 times, premiered on
Broadway, where it remains the longest-running musical, and The Who
began their first farewell tour (the only one to be called this). Madonna, the
Queen of Pop, began her incredible career in 1982, while Blondie officially
announced their split. Two more bands fell apart in 1982: The Jam’s final
appearance was on Channel 4’s show ‘The Tube’, and the super-group Abba
released their final single ‘Under Attack’, never to perform together again as
an active band although their split was never publically confirmed. Their last
public appearance was on British TV show ‘The Late Breakfast Show’.
Pink Floyd reminded us of one of the most magnificent albums ever

recorded with their release of the film ‘The Wall’, followed by a spectacular
world tour. Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstatd and James
Taylor threw their lot in with the anti-establishment and anti-war
43
movement, preforming for a crowd of more than 750 000 people at ‘The
Nuclear Disarmament Rally’ held in New York’s Central Park, the event
essentially a demonstration against the spread of nuclear armaments. An
international convocation at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine featured
prominent peace activists from around the world and afterward participants
marched on Fifth Avenue to Central Park for the rally.
44
According to RIAA statistics for 1982, 2360 albums were released on vinyl that
year in the US alone, 2710 were released on cassette, with 2285 single
releases – a real indicator of the productivity of the musicians and the power
of the music industry. In 1982, the stage was set for the music industry to
experience the breaking of some unbelievable records. It was also marked by
one of the most famous riffs and most recognisable intros to a song –
Survivor’s ‘Eye of the Tiger’, made more popular with its inclusion on the
soundtrack of the film ‘Rocky’. Australian band Men at Work spent a long time
at the top with ‘Down Under’, and another song which became timeless,
spanning decades, was ‘I Love Rock’n’Roll’ by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.
With an effort, Iron Maiden fans might hear a borrowed riff in Paul McCartney
and Stevie Wonder’s ‘Ebony and Ivory’ – it makes an appearance in the
Maiden song ‘Caught Somewhere in Time’. To see how hard it was to make an
impact back then with a good song, just take a look at the list of hits which
seemed to be coming straight off a production line: ‘Africa’ – Toto, ‘Blue Eyes’
– Elton John, ‘Physical’ – Olivia Newton John, ‘Don’t You Want Me’ – The
Human League, ‘Iron Fist’ – Motörhead, ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’ – The
Clash, ‘White Wedding’ and ‘Hot in the City’ – Billy Idol, ‘You’ve Got Another
Thing Comin’’ – Judas Priest, ‘Gloria’ – Laura Branigan, ‘Under Pressure’ –
Queen and David Bowie, and I won’t even try with Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’.
I’ll cover heavy metal and hard rock releases separately, but other noteworthy
albums released in 1982 certainly deserve a mention. I’ve selected them not just
based on their commercial success but also for their later significance and the
impact they had on both the music scene and the artists who released them:
Bad Religion – ‘How Could Hell Be Any Worse’, Lou Reed – ‘The Blue Mask’, Van
Morrison – ‘Beautiful Vision’, Mike Oldfield – ‘Five Miles Out’, Willie Nelson –
‘Always on My Mind’, King Crimson – ‘Beat’, Fleetwood Mac – ‘Mirage’, The
Alan Parsons Project – ‘Eye in the Sky’, Rush – ‘Signals’, Kate Bush – ‘The
Dreaming’, Dire Straits – ‘Love Over Gold’, Bruce Springsteen – ‘Nebraska’,
Queen – ‘Hot Space’, The Cure – ‘Pornography’, The Clash – ‘Combat Rock’, Toto
– ‘Toto IV’, Jethro Tull – ‘Broadsword and the Beast’, Elton John – ‘Jump Up’,
Survivor – ‘Eye of the Tiger’, Billy Idol – ‘Billy Idol’, Aretha Franklin – ‘Jump to It’,
Golden Earning – ‘Cut’, The Who – ‘It’s Hard’, Prince – ‘1999’, Hawkwind –
‘Choose Your Masques’, Phil Collins – ‘Hello, I must be going’, Dead Kennedys –
‘Plastic Surgery Disaster’, Anti-Nowhere League – ‘We Are...The League’, The
Exploited – ‘Troops of Tomorrow’, Midnight Oil – ‘10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1’…
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The Beatles - Reel Music (1982), album cover.
Special mention on the list must go to The Beatles and their album ‘Reel
Music’, a compilation of all the songs from their movies. It’s not a
particularly special album, but what caught my eye was the release date
22/03/2018, the same day as the release of ‘The Number of the Beast’. As
though driven by the Devil himself, I tried to find some other link, however
tenuous, between Iron Maiden and The Beatles. Although anyone would say
at first glance that they are worlds apart, what I discovered was quite a
shock – more on this in the chapter ‘Devil’s Band’.
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Judas Priest – Screaming for Veganence (1982), album cover.
As a heavy metal year, 1982 can definitely be classified as a revolutionary

year for the genre just for the fact that it’s the year in which Iron Maiden
released ‘The Number of the Beast’, but let’s note Motörhead’s ‘Iron Fist’,
Venom’s ‘Black Metal’, Judas Priest’s ‘Screaming for Vengeance’, Accept’s
‘Restless and Wild’, Van Halen’s ‘Diver Down' and Twisted Sister’s ‘Under
the Blade’ and the conclusion is easy made. Heavy metal in was in it’s
developmental stage in the early 80s, with many things still to come. While
the pioneers of the sound were primarily hard rock acts who flirted with
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heavy metal, like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Van Halen,
Aerosmith, KISS, Alice Cooper, AC/DC, Whitesnake, UFO and others, a
younger generation began to emerge, led by acts such as Judas Priest,
Scorpions, Thin Lizzy, Rainbow. A third, even newer wave consisting of Iron
Maiden, Metallica, Saxon, WASP, Kreator, Megadeth, Slayer and many more,
clearly signalled that the mid-eighties would see something big. The feeling
was almost palpable.
Many of the metal bands who began their careers in 1982 are still holding
their own – Armored Saint, Artillery, Carnivore, Death Angel, Destruction,
Dio, D.R.I., Kreator, Possessed, Spinal Tap, Steve Vai, Voivod, Warlock,
Warriors, W.A.S.P., and X, later renamed to X Japan, contributed a great deal
in later shaping the scene and the subgenres of metal.
Interesting hard and heavy album releases this year came from these
notable artists: Aerosmith – ‘Rock in a Hard Place’, Alice Cooper – ‘Zipper
Catches Skin’, Anvil – ‘Metal on Metal’, April Wine – ‘Power Play’, Black
Sabbath – ‘Live Evil’, Blue Öyster Cult – ‘Extraterrestrial Live’, Budgie –
‘Deliver Us From Evil’, Diamond Head – ‘Borrowed Time’, Dokken – ‘Breaking
Chains’ (original album mix), Gary Moore – ‘Corridors of Power’, Gillan –
‘Magic’, Girlschool – ‘Screaming Blue Murder’, Sammy Hagar – ‘Three Lock
Box’, Hanoi Rocks – ‘Oriental Beat’, Kiss – ‘Creatures of the Night’, Krokus –
‘One Vice at a Time’, Led Zeppelin – ‘Coda’, Loudness – ‘Devil Soldier’,
Magnum – ‘Chase the Dragon’, Manilla – ‘Road Metal’, Manowar – ‘Battle
Hymns’, Mercyful Fate – ‘Nuns Have No Fun’ EP, Michael Schenker Group –
‘Assault Attack’, Scorpions – ‘Blackout’, Ted Nugent – ‘Nugent’, Rainbow –
‘Straight Between the Eyes’, Raven – ‘Crash Bang Wallop’ EP, Rose Tattoo –
‘Scarred for Life’, Rush – ‘Signals’, Samson – ‘Before the Storm’, Saxon – ‘The
Eagle Has Landed’, Trust – ‘Savage’, Tygers Of Pan Tang – ‘The Cage’, UFO –
‘Mechanix’, Uriah Heep – ‘Abominog’, Virgin Steele – ‘Virgin Steele’,
Whitesnake – ‘Saints & Sinners’, Y&T – ‘Black Tiger'…
Having spent a considerable number of weeks studying various bands’ tour

schedules, bands weren’t taking much time out between concerts in 1982,
sometimes performing day in and day out, and it can be said that this was a
very successful touring year.
48
49
A significant moment for the trash metal scene came when Metallica moved
from LA to the San Francisco Bay Area, and the release of the compilation
album ‘Metal Massacre’, while the hard rock scene saw something almost
unbelievable: after a night of hard drinking, former Deep Purple singer Ian
Gillan joined Black Sabbath, recording the album ‘Born Again’ with them a
the following year. A terrible tragedy hit Ozzy Osbourne’s camp with the air
crash death of his favourite, never forgotten and forever mourned guitarist
Randy Rhoads. Guitarist Alice Frehley left KISS and was replaced by Vinnie
Vincent, and this is just the tip of the line-up change iceberg. Guitar player
‘Fast’ Eddie Clarke, who sadly passed away in early 2018, left Motörhead, his
place filled by ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson. Many hard rock fans
were disappointed that Queen’s new album saw them leave their rock roots
behind, ‘Hot Spice’ falling square into the funk and disco genres.
Judas Priest sailed for slightly more mainstream waters with their 1982
single ‘You've Got Another Thing Comin’’, resulting in its becoming their best
sold single of all time. Iron Maiden, until then Judas Priest’s support act,
decoded to go in a different direction, correctly assuming that heavy would
shortly become the dominant metal genre, closing in on the mainstream
borne on the wings of MTV’s management at the time. While Iron Maiden
and Judas Priest have at various points in their careers been bigger than the
other, they have never again in their careers been special guests of the
other band. 1982 was truly a year of challenges and everyone at the musical
table ‘showing their hand’ – in a way, it saw the birth modern heavy metal in
all its glory.
Even now, more than 30 years later, it’s difficult to decide which was the
‘most metal’ year: 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990 or 1992, but it’s
interesting that they were all even numbered years, and generally brought
us incredible new albums like ‘British Steel’, ‘The Number of the Beast’,
‘1984’, ‘Master of Puppets’, ‘Operation: Mindcrime’, ‘Seasons in the Abyss’,
‘Vulgar Display of Power’… I doubt we’ll see their likes again
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51
52
AIR RAID SIREN

In long-ago 1982, legions of fans worldwide who purchased the new album ‘The
Number of the Beast’ were surprised by Bruce’s new nickname in the liner
notes. The British public had accepted him and he was already making press
headlines, but many people today are unaware of just how he came by the
unusual moniker. In a video interview years later, Dickinson told the origin story:
"Oh, yeah, it was like an early... I mean obviously, we didn't get trolled like
you get trolled now, like on a professional basis but in websites and things,
‘cause there weren't any. But you did get letters of complaint, which was the
equivalent to a troll, and so this guy saw me doing a show at the Rainbow
Theatre when I first joined Maiden and we did five warm up shows,
culminating in one in London. And he wrote a letter saying 'I hate this new
singer! It's like listening to all my favourite songs being played through an
air-raid siren!' And so Rod went 'BRILLIANT! THE HUMAN AIR RAID SIREN!'
and that was how he invented the name."
Bruce Dickinson’s original stage name with Samson was the idiotic (to put is
mildly) ‘Bruce Bruce’, and Rod Smallwood was determined to replace it as
quickly as possible, with practically anything else, even his actual birth
name. The problem? His real full name is Paul Bruce Dickinson. Replacing
one Paul with another would cause unnecessary confusion, so Rod – the
alpha and omega in these decisions – suggested he simply drop the first
name, using just Bruce Dickinson.
So what kind of asset was Bruce to Maiden? In addition to being an excellent

author and better showman, Bruce’s vocal performance gave them a whole
new level of perception – they suddenly had a much wider scope for
composing and arranging vocal parts, songs of increasing complexity. In short,
Iron Maiden became exactly what they’d wanted to become and were
empowered to write and record material that would have been out of their
league without Bruce. Very quickly, Bruce imposed his personality on the
shows, his writing skills dangerously rivalling Harris’ own, and once he teamed
53
up with Adrian Smith, songs like the cult ‘Revelations’ and the single ‘Flight of
Icarus’ began coming in hard and fast. Not long after, a new album would
carry the title of Bruce’s song ‘Powerslave’, the tour visually following, and his
‘Two Minutes to Midnight’ became a more played hit than even ‘Aces High’.
This song and though it was never released as a single, ‘Powerslave’, became
cult classics that overshadowed even Steve’s masterpiece of music ‘Rime of
the Ancient Mariner’, long the favourite among fans (both have since been
replaced with ‘Empire of the Clouds’, by – you guessed it – Bruce).
During the preproduction of ‘Somewhere in Time’, Bruce and his ideas for the
band’s future were largely ignored and he wasn’t given much chance to
express himself, accused of having ‘snapped’ and burned out from their
recently ended long and exhausting tour. His companion Adrian Smith took a
chance in a flash of brilliance, his two hit singles a crucial contribution to the
band’s most successful US release. Sadly, ‘Somewhere in Time’ has been
aggressively and unfairly ignored in live performances and ‘history’
compilations. After ‘Seventh Son of a Seventh Son’, when everyone
collaborated and successfully regained the UK number one spot, losing the US
audience’s attention somewhere along the way, Bruce pulled a ‘back to the
roots’ move and once more doing what Steve Harris had been trying for a long
time: he wrote another number one hit! Dickinson later commented on his own
ambition and desire to prove himself within the band: “It was Steve’s band, but I
had my own ideas. And I did warn everybody about it before I joined.”
Bluntly, Bruce wasn’t just a set of new, raw and powerful vocal chords, he
broke Steve’s earlier monopoly, bringing them polarity and balance,
allowing Maiden to rise to the top, surpassing all other heavy metal acts.
Fans began to perceive Maiden as five individuals, of whom each is
important to the band in his own right – something that is still visible today.
Many bands have a single person running the show, on whom everything
depends; think of Whitesnake, Scorpions, Alice Cooper or W.A.S.P. Almost
any member could be replaced today by a different musician, and while it
would carry weight with a small number of fans, most wouldn’t care as long
as the frontman remains, as happened with Sabaton some years ago. Iron
Maiden are instead seen as a bunch of excellent individuals – and parts of a
whole, and the idea of them replacing a single member, even the long-
contested and disliked Jannick Gers, or losing someone like Murray or McBrain
54
is unthinkable! Smith’s and Dickinson’s departures in the early 90s is a prime

example: despite some great music, neither managed god knows what in their
solo careers, and without them the Irons were equally unable to draw more
than a few thousand fans except at one or two gigs. Harris stayed with his
passion and continued to push his vision, refusing to fall into the trap of
commercialism ‘at any cost’ and events where they simply didn’t belong, like
Metallica did during the 90s. He was content to be patient, work hard and play
for crowds of 1000 people the same way he’d played for 100 000.
But this is a book about the beginning of Iron Maiden’s adventure with Bruce
Dickinson, so I’ll try to clarify a couple of things and respond to some questions
never before answered – and some not even asked. It all began much earlier
than the official biographies claim. Steve Harris has stated that, although he
recorded two full albums with Iron Maiden, from day one Paul Di’Anno’s voice
was never what he’d had in mind. In his imagination, Harris was looking for a
Gillan-like vocal, but was simply unable to find him. Samson, Bruce’s band at the
time, headlined a single concert with Iron Maiden at the Music Machine in
London. Bruce was aware that Maiden had a horde of fans and he went to see
the performance for himself, see this band who would be on stage before him.
“I got goose-bumps watching them. It gave me the same feeling I got as a kid
listening to ‘Deep Purple in Rock’. I remember thinking, “Wow, this is like Purple
for the 80s”. I was looking at Paul, thinking I should be up there.” said Dickinson
later, unaware that the same kind of attention was on him that same day. Says
Harris, “I’d never been much into Samson, but I’d always thought their singer
was good. I thought, “Yeah, the bloke’s got a really good voice, and he knows
how to work a crowd”. I thought he sounded a bit like Ian Gillan, actually. When
the shit really hit the fan with Paul, he was one of the first people I thought of.”
Manager Rod really wasn’t a fan, stating: “I hadn’t even met Bruce, but I didn’t
really like him. I thought ‘Bruce Bruce’ was a stupid name, I thought the white
thing he used to wear on stage looked really naff, and also Samson had messed
about with Maiden before I got involved; I do bear grudges.“ But Steve didn’t
care for any of that, he still thought this guy had an excellent voice. “I said, “Stuff
that, I want him”. And so we arranged to go to Reading to have a look and see if
he was interested.” Whether he realised it or not, in that moment in 1980 Steve
made the momentous decision that made him a global rock star, millionaire and
legend, as it did the other band members. The patient wait for Rod to pop the
fateful question would prove to be entirely worth it.
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56
WHAT'S THE TRUTH

Throughout the years, Paul Di’Anno has battled his own demons and vices,
and sadly with his health. I Was able to see him live on one occasion, and
took the opportunity to interview him at the time. Surprisingly, although
he’s known for saying things that should be taken with more than a pinch of
salt, in his interview with me he appeared to be honest in his statements,
and every answer he gave me not only made sense but was also easy to
verify. I have come to believe that the legitimacy of his statements and
claims varies depending on the journalists asking the questions, since not
everyone knows how to conduct an interview, so when they try to dig into
Maiden stories which have been chewed up, swallowed and spit out so
many times before, hoping to find more dust under the carpet or skeletons
in the closet, Di’Anno simply fires off a volley so unbelievable that even a
child can see through it. So when he once claimed that he had rehearsed
some of the material from ‘The Number of the Beast’ with the band, the
statement was widely rejected as ‘fake news’ – and yet… I decided to ask
whether there could be even the smallest bit of truth to the claims, could
some of the songs from this album have existed while Paul was still a
member of Iron Maiden – and were they being written for a new singer
despite this, effectively making Di’Anno the already-ex-vocalist?
We all know the story of Rod Smallwood’s visit to the Reading Festival and
how he dragged Bruce aside for a chat while Steve watched from afar. We
also know the first thing that Bruce said to Rod after hearing his offer: “Well
when I get the job, which I will, don’t expect that it’ll be the same as with the
guy you’ve got at the moment". I thought it was probably best to go in there
with all guns blazing.” Or do we? Maybe not – according to his first official
biography, Bruce’s first words were somewhat differently recorded. There’s
not a band member in any band in the world that doesn’t do this- it’s so
easy to notice how their official statements change over time, making it
hard for journalists and fans alike to work out what really happened and
what didn’t, what was actually said and what wasn’t – what’s the truth? In
any case, the end result was that Maiden and Bruce reached an agreement
and his first performance with them was on a mini tour of Italy, at the
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Bologna Palasport on 26/10/1981. Considering that Di’Anno’s final concert

with Iron Maiden was in Denmark on 10/09/1981, this gave them a mere 45
days to rehearse with the new guy. And yet, according to them, this was all
just a trial tour to see how the audiences would welcome Bruce, and none
of the new material had been recorded.
Following their five day tour of Italy and a successful introduction, the time
came for Iron Maiden to present themselves to their local fan base with a
concert at London’s Rainbow Theatre, held two weeks later. This gave them
some time to practice before playing for the home crowd, following which
they immediately went into seclusion in East London to write the songs for
their upcoming album, booking sessions at the ‘Battery’ studio in northwest
London for the purpose.
Discussing the production process for this album and the pressure they were
under to have everything done quickly, Steve Harris has said: “There was a
lot of pressure. Not only did we have a new singer, we had no material. The
first album was like a ‘best of’ of the songs we’d been playing during the first
four years of the band. The second album was mainly early stuff as well,
apart from maybe four songs. When we got to the third album we had
nothing. We had to write from scratch. Pressure helps to make you come up
with the goods. But you have to go through hell to get there.”
If we look at Iron Maiden’s 1981 tour schedule, they were fully booked from
17/02 until 10/09, their only breaks the long-haul flights to and from the
USA, but even then lasting only a few days. They were still touring when Rod
intercepted Bruce at Reading – in fact they were on tour with the band
‘Trust’, where they were first introduced to Nicko McBrain. It’s interesting to
note that in the early days the band was unused to playing without Rod
present at a single gig. Coincidentally, with his Bruce-hunting departure
lasting several days the band relaxed to the point where Dave Murray and
Paul Di’Anno had an impromptu jam session during two of their songs. This
closer relationship between band members carried over into closer contact
with Trust, and a friendship developed with McBrain which would ultimately
lead to his joining the Irons. All in all, none of the official autobiographies or
documentaries about Iron Maiden make any mention of any work on new
material during the summer and even as late as autumn 1981. This would all
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point to the truth of the claim that they only started working on new
material after their Rainbow Theatre concert in London, 15/11/1981…
Except for one small detail: at that concert, Iron Maiden played new songs
from the upcoming album, and Bruce had told Italian fans its title two weeks
earlier, which brings us back to the fact that they must have had at least a
couple of songs ready prior to the tour.
Without giving dates, Adrian Smith has said this about the song ‘The
Number of the Beast’: “I remember going around to Steve’s place – I think he
still lived with his gran at the time – and he was playing me the idea for ‘The
Number of the Beast’. I thought: “Wow. That’s amazing. That’s really
different”.” Producer Martin Birch remembers this about the transition
period: “When Bruce joined, it opened up the possibilities for the new album
tremendously. I simply didn’t think Paul was capable of handling vocals on
some of the quite complicated directions I knew Steve wanted to explore.”
Although Adrian has never mentioned the dates on which he visited Steve at
his grandmother’s, and I haven’t researched exactly when this was, unless it
was in the exact period between Paul’s last and Bruce’s first Iron Maiden
concerts, between, 10/09/1981 and 26/10/1981, the only other period it
could have been in is before February 1981. I am firmly convinced that it
would have taken much rehearsing and daily practice for Bruce to be ready
for five already booked Italian dates and the Rainbow Theatre concert in
London, so Iron Maiden didn’t have much time to ease their new singer into
the band as well as write new material, especially since, at the end of the
day, they had no idea whether everything would work out on the day. The
arrangements and production on the first new songs, played live in mid-
November and again at the end of 1981 at a secret gig at the Ruskin Arms,
were too polished to have been hastily written and learned for live
performances, and I believe they needed to be well rehearsed and firmly
decided on for the new album so the band could “unveil them” and
announce this news at the gig. Did they write them in the mere two weeks
between Italy and in preparation for Bruce’s first London concert (which was
important to the rest of the band)? It’s difficult to tell – it’s possible in
theory, but unrealistic. This is why I turn again to Martin Birch’s statement
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on the previous page, in which he says that he didn’t believe that Paul’s
vocal ability was capable of handling the complicated direction Steve had in
mind. If this is correct, when exactly did Martin have the time for the
thought? Certainly not in 1982 when Maiden booked him for the new album
and Bruce was already old hat, and it’s not like they saw Martin Birch on a
daily basis. He did his thing for ‘Killer’, the Irons went off on tour and they
wouldn’t have seen him until late 1981 at the earliest.
I’m not writing all this because I desperately want to prove or come up with
conspiracy theories on whether Paul had the opportunities to sing the new
songs. In addition to the fact that Paul didn’t have time to rehearse new
stuff once the tour started, Harris no longer saw him as the future of the
band. Nevertheless, considering the aforementioned hints about the
upcoming album ‘The Number of the Beast’, and the other things that
happened, I’m prepared to believe that some songs made it from Harris’
head to a riff and a tape recorder in some hotel room well before the
finished versions. I also believe that they were written with no one but
Bruce in mind despite the fact that he wasn’t even close to joining them yet.
New ideas were created and old ones upgraded after Bruce finally arrived,
while Adrian Smith also arrived with his own early work and things just fell
into place. Bruce noted it in this statement: “It was quite good, in that way,
because I wasn’t going to be asked to sing words that had already been
written by Paul, or songs Steve had written with him in mind. It was all fresh.“
At the time, Bruce probably had no idea how long he’d been on Steve’s
radar and how long Harris had been imagining song with his voice. On the
other hand, Adrian smith has always been circumspect and somewhat shy,
and if Steve hadn’t taken the initiative to practically drag the idea for ‘22
Acacia Avenue’ out of him – something we’ll cover in a later chapter, we
may never have got the opportunity to hear that Iron Maiden classic. Equally
bizarre was the creative process for Adrian’s other song, ‘The Prisoner ’,
which came about almost by accident in the rehearsal room after drummer
Clive Burr went outside for a break and a cuppa. Bruce sat down at the drum
kit and, not really knowing how to play the drums, started to bang out a
simple rhythm (one of the trademarks of ‘The Prisoner ’), and Adrian joined
him with a riff on the guitar. “Harry came in and went: “Wow, what a great
riff!”. And then we just started.” says Dickinson, proof again that a song can
60
really come about in the simplest and most extraordinary ways. Adrian
Smith later clarified that it was all down to a set of lucky circumstances and
that he was happy with how it turned out:
“I was pretty shy about showing the band my songs. It’s painful to sit in front
of your bandmates and go: “This is my idea”, and have them just stare at
you. But I thought that if I wanted to stay in the band I’d get pretty
frustrated if I didn’t contribute ideas. And, fortunately, with ‘The
Prisoner’ Steve liked what he heard.“
Since we’re on the topic of ‘The Prisoner’, a song inspired by the classic
British TV series of the same name and starring Patrick McGoohan, the
spoken dialogue intro to every episode has also reached a cult following.
Iron Maiden used only a snippet of the dialogue for their song, so for those
who don’t know it, here’s the original:
Where am I? In The Village.

What do you want? Information.
Which side are you on? That would be telling.
We want information... information... information...

You won't get it. By hook or by crook we will.
Who are you? The new number two.
Who is number one? You are number six.
I am not a number! I am a free man!
Many things are unclear about the creation of ‘The Number of the Beast’,
and when comparing interviews, live performances and tour timelines from
then with the interviews and timelines as they were presented later on, it’s
difficult to connect the dots into a consistent whole. What everything points
to, however, is that Paul Di’Anno didn’t sing any of the new songs, whether
because he couldn’t’, or didn’t get the opportunity, or because Harris
wouldn’t let him sing them. What is questionable and hard to call “truth” is
the idea that the songs were written on such a tight schedule as Iron Maiden
have stated. As I listen to a recording of ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ made
during a 1981 sound check, I cannot help but think that there’s a lot more
we don’t know about the making of this album.
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62
THE LAST BATTERY

In the introduction to his interview with Clive Burr on 09/07/1982, ‘Georgia
Straight’ journalist Steve Newton wrote: “Their latest album, ‘The Number of
the Beast’ was released in March of this year and was the number one
record on the British charts for two weeks. The album had originally been
scheduled for an earlier release, but had to be delayed because of mysterious
malfunctions of equipment in the studio and the unusual difficulties the band
had in laying down the title track. It seems that, as soon as the band began
recording it, equipment which had proved totally reliable on an eight-month
world tour started to misbehave. Bassist Steve Harris’ amplifier stack blew up
and guitarist Dave Murray’s kept cutting out at irregular intervals. Then, as
producer Martin Birch finally got ready to mix the song, he was involved in a
car crash on his way home from the studio. When the bill for repairs arrived a
few days later, the fee was 666 pounds. Not a particularly good omen.”
Many magazines, TV and radio stations and newspapers were on the receiving
end of these kinds of Iron Maiden stories during 1982, adding to the hype that
this album might be something special, and superstition that evil forces had a
hand in its making… Producer Martin Birch wasn’t just good at his job in the
studio, he was also an experienced sea dog on the media seas, and knew just
how to handle curious journalists, fuelling the fire of speculation:
“On the Sunday we were working on the track ‘The Number of the Beast’, it
was a rainy night and I hit this van. I looked in the back of the van and it’s
got about half-a-dozen nuns in the back. And then this guy starts praying to
me. A couple of days later I took my Range Rover in to be repaired, and when
they give me the bill it was 666 pounds.” Steve Harris added: “People don’t
believe this, but he changed it to 667.” More details on these strange goings
on reported by everyone from the band members themselves to their
producer, manager and even some crew members – this one is reserved for
the development and studio recording of the album.
Talking to the ‘Georgia Straight’ interviewer, Clive Burr tried to explain the
differences between Europe and the USA in the attitude towards
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‘popularity’, and how it important it was in the USA for a song to get airplay
on the radio because that was all it took to make a band popular there. In
part of his explanation, he said: “…So perhaps we start off with a different
attitude. When we’re first getting into it, we don’t need to make anything so
they’ll play it on the radio. We’re just given the freedom to style things the
way we want. From the very outset, when you’re just starting to play your
instruments, you’re not thinking all the time about hit singles which will get
you radio play. You’re just thinking about writing songs.”
This attitude perfectly explains everything that later occurred with ‘The
Number of the Beast’, since there’s no better way to demonstrate what
happens when a band has complete freedom and trust in their
management, and are unburdened and able to create whatever they want.
Everyone in Maiden agrees that Birch is an even better psychologist than he
is a producer – and he’s a world class producer – acted as the wind beneath
their wings during recording sessions, getting exactly what he wanted from
them without their even realizing it.
Dave Murray, whose influences were Jimi Hendrix and Richie Blackmore, has
a completely different approach to guitar playing than Adrian Smith, who
preferred Gary Moore. Then there was Bruce who liked Rainbow, Steve was
a fan of UFO and Todd Rundgren, Yes, early Genesis and even Judas Priest,
while Clive’s deity of choice was Frank Zappa and his music. With that set of
preferences coming together, they had a multitude of different
opportunities and directions in which to take the next album.
The music they intended to present to the fans had to be full of energy and,
as Clive mentioned, it’s had to get that kind of energy going without an
audience – if it’s not coming straight from the heart, fuelled by the emotions
that arise from interaction with the public, if all comes off fake – and can be
heard on the recording. For the Maiden line-up that year, however, it was
the interaction between the band members themselves that generated so
much energy that sparks flew, while Martin Birch was perfectly placed to
capture the moment – to capture both what he expected of them and what
they hadn’t even known had been simmering in them. Just think back to
Black Sabbath’s albums before 1980 ‘Heaven and Hell’ and after – Birch had
made their existing sound so magnificent that he dragged it kicking and
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screaming into the new decade, rebranding them as a modern and relevant
act. Even before the album was released, Birch knew it would be legendary,
just as he’d known it about Deep Purple’s ‘Machine Head’ and the epic ‘Smoke
on the Water’ years earlier. He describes his gut feeling about ‘Number of the
Beast’ thus: “I had the same feeling on ‘The Number of the Beast’ as when we
did the Deep Purple album ‘Machine Head’ It was the same kind of atmosphere,
the same kind of feeling, like, something really good is happening here..”
‘Children of the Damned’ - movie poster.
Since Birch was the producer and “the man behind the sound” of Sabbath’s
‘Heaven and Hell’, it’s interesting to compare their song ‘Children of the Sea’
with Iron Maiden’s ‘Children of the Damned’. Although the two songs couldn’t
be more different in a musical sense or lyrical, given that ‘Children of the
Damned’ was based on the 1963 movie of the same name and its thematic
prequel ‘Village of the Damned’, Bruce has said that the song is a response of
sorts to ‘Children of the Sea’, with some sources claiming that he actually said
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it about ‘Children of the Grave’, that the lyrics of that song were going through
his mind while he was recording ‘Children of the Damned’. In a way, its sad
lyrics about the sinister future of the human race and the powerful message at
the end correspond with the theme of Iron Maiden’s song:
Show the world that love is still alive - you must be brave
Or you children of today are - Children of the Grave, Yeah!
Both ‘Children of the Sea’ and ‘Children of the Damned’ begin gently, with an
emphasis on the dramatic vocal line. In keeping with the film’s plot, the song
‘Children of the Damned’ is about a group of six children from various parts of
the world, who all possess special powers and a surprisingly above average
level of intelligence. UN scientists gather the children and move them to a
London facility in order to monitor them more closely, but after they begin
infighting about the children’s future, the army seizes the opportunity and
tries to experiment on them to find a way to exploit their powers for their
own purposes. The children rebel and try to take matters into their own
hands, leading to their deaths. The song describes the final moments and
death of the last child as he confronts the humans who have decided to burn
him at the stake, and Bruce sings it with special feeling, perfectly conveying
the beginning in a quiet, emotional and sad tone, all the way to the hurricane
of an ending with a beautiful solo that evokes the sobs of a child faced with a
cruel world. Just try listening to the final lines which realistically and painfully
describes the child’s fiery death. Dickinson’s angry singing coupled with the
ominous melody and a nervous sounding rhythm section hint that the story
doesn’t end well, and spread the message in keeping with the brilliant film,
telling the story of these powerfully psychic children who are simply forced
into a fight for survive in the face of the inferior human species.
As an author Bruce was frustrated that he was unable to contribute more

because of the constraints of his still-valid contract with Samson, he had a
lot of fun while recording, seeing Martin Birch as a guru of sorts, someone
who taught him many things and pushed him to explore what new things he
could do with his voice. The most obvious example is the recording of the
intro to ‘The Number of the Beast’ which Bruce repeated for hours until he
achieved that unique scream and forever carved it into the annals of
modern music. In a way, the guiding light for the scream was The Who’s old
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hit ‘We Won’t Get Fooled Again’, to quote Birch himself: “I remember we
spent ages getting the vocal intro to the title track right. We did it over and
over and over until Bruce said: ‘My head is splitting. Can’t we move on and
do something else and come back to this?’ But I wouldn’t let him do anything
else until he’d got it perfect. It drove him crazy.”
Bruce still has vivid memories of Martin telling him how Ronnie James Dio
had the same problem while recording the track ‘Heaven and Hell’: “My
head, which ached, and my eyes, which ached, started to pay close
attention.” Martin then told him that Ronnie had come in with the same
attitude as him “Let’s bash this one out”, to which Birch replied “No. You
have to sum up your entire life in the first line.”
These words were enough to make Bruce realise what was actually required
of him. “Dimly, I started to see the difference between singing a line and living
it. It was like Martin was a can-opener, and I was the can of beans. I thought
I’d invented theatre of the mind, but Martin Birch had been doing it for years.”
‘Run to the Hills’, which Steve Harris says also came about almost by
accident when he started playing random riffs everyone seemed to like so
they spontaneously started working with them, made it to #7 on the UK
Chart, becoming their first ever UK Top Ten single. Where Dennis Stratton
had tried to push Maiden in a different direction with numerous melodic
harmonies woven into the songs, in the vein of AOR bands, Bruce
Dickinson’s vocal harmonies – especially on this track – forged a wide path
towards what’s recognised today as their trademark of sorts. He was aided
wholeheartedly in this by Adrian Smith, who loves these kinds of vocals as
would soon become clear from their new single ‘Flight of Icarus’, a writing
collaboration between the two of them. Bruce’s comments on ‘Run to the
Hills’ were: “The layered harmony vocals was such a colossal change for the
Maiden sound. Our jaws dropped as we heard the rough mixes. There are
some songs that you can feel in your bones will be huge.”
With generous partaking of ‘Ruddles’ beer, the atmosphere in the studio

was becoming more and more electrified on every new track, something
was in the air. Dickinson felt that this album was a great risk and as he later
put it, either the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning – luckily,
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we know how it ended (better yet, continues to this day). “I felt at home
straight away.” Bruce described the atmosphere in the band, Harris adding:
“When Bruce joined, his enthusiasm was incredible; it was what we needed
so bad because the morale of the band was so low.”
Iron Maiden apparently had the whole album recorded and mixed in the
space of just five weeks, punctuated with a visionary statement from Martin
Birch at the very end: “I remember saying to them when it was finished: ‘This
is gonna be a big, big album. This is gonna transform your career’. It just had
all the magical ingredients: feel, ideas, energy, and execution. And I think the
response I got was: ‘Oh, really?’”
Let’s summarize those few brief months. Before he joined the band,
immediately after Rod Smallwood’s first invitation, Bruce consulted several
friends, unsure of what the future could hold for him if he walked out on
Samson, with whom he’d more or less made a name for himself. Bill
Liesegang, a friend and former colleague in an even earlier band called Shots,
told him to accept without hesitation, while former Iron Maiden guitarist
Dennis Stratton told him the same and added that if he joined them, Iron
Maiden would also make it big in the USA. This was enough to assure Bruce
and convince him that joining the Irons was the right thing to do. He recorded
the demos and sent in one of the best audition tapes in the history of rock,
which you can still hear today in YouTube, and later did a great job at the live
audition in the Hackney rehearsal room and studio demo sessions.
At the concerts in Italy and soon after in the UK, it became obvious that
Bruce had things to say, but his great enthusiasm and boldness didn’t sit too
well with Harris, who began to feel a little threatened in his own band. Bruce
demonstrated exactly who he believed should be taking centre-stage and,
like it or not, it was something Steve had to make his own peace with. As
early as their seventeenth concert together, at Newcastle City Hall on
16/03/1982, with less than a week left to the album’s release, Rod
Smallwood had to physically separate Bruce from Harris in the band’s
dressing room, as the latter maniacally roared “He's got to fucking go!” This
time, however, Smallwood failed to back Steve up, despite having always
done it in the past. Dickinson knew well that he had nothing to lose – with
the album in the can and just days from release, with the world tour fully
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booked there was no possible way for them to kick him out, no matter how
much worse things might get – and Rod knew it too. This is why he tried to
settle the tension, despite not really liking Bruce even before he joined Iron
Maiden. Yet Bruce had joined, and immediately branded himself as a vocal
master. If he’d tried for a second to sound like one of the clichéd vocalists of
the 80s, David Lee Roth for example, we wouldn’t have got Maiden as we
know them today – and it’s debatable whether we would have got to know
them at all. Bruce came and imposed himself on the centre stage as a new
vocal hero, and he did it with the very first song on the album. As
controversial as the album was, the UK press gave Iron Maiden a chance and
they snapped it up with both hands.
One anecdote from the recording sessions, described by Mick Wall in 2001 in his
official Iron Maiden biography ‘Run to the Hills’, shows even tough guy Rod
Smallw in an unusual light. Namely, the band needed permission from actor
Patrick McGoohan to use the intro dialogue from his TV series ‘The Prisoner’ on
the track with the same name, and it fell to Rod to make the phone call one
evening from the studio. Steve Harris recalled their usually unfaltering manager
suddenly becoming star-struck as he nervously dialled the actor’s number: "Oh,
bloody 'ell," Rod moaned later. "It's alright dealing with these arsehole rock
stars, but he's a real bona fide superstar actor. I was fucking terrified!"
The lads from the band were almost dying with laughter as Rod clumsily tried
to explain everything to McGoohan, first, who was calling, then what he was
asking and for what band, having to repeat their name to him several times
and trying to convince him to allow them to use the recording, whose original
track had already been brought to them by DJ Tommy Vance. Patrick – or
simply “Number Six” as we better know him – listened to this from his home
in LA, before finally answering “A rock band, you say? Do it!” and hanging up.
This was the final album recorded at London’s Battery studio. Iron Maiden
flew to the Bahamas to record their next, and returned there several more
ties, because the real money started pouring in after the release of ‘The
Number of the Beast’, and UK tax laws weren’t exactly favourable for them.
Leaving behind the Battery studio, Iron Maiden in a way also left behind the
slightly dark and hard sound of the ‘New Wave of the British Heavy Metal’,
with bigger and better things to come with every new release.
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70
PLACE WHERE WE ALL GO

A long time ago, I was in London to see Maiden live, and stayed at the Acacia
hostel in Kensington, jokingly saying to a friend “just imagine if they give us
room 22”. To our astonishment, this is exactly what happened and my friend
exclaimed “it’s a sign!” A sign of what? Not important, probably nothing, but
in that moment it was truly cool to link it with ‘22 Acacia Avenue’, the second
song from the saga of the prostitute Charlotte from Iron Maiden’s first album.
Fans are in agreement about the number of times Charlotte appears in
Maiden songs – three: ‘Charlotte the Harlot’, ‘22 Acacia Avenue’ and 'From
Here to Eternity’, while a part of ‘Hooks in You’ references Charlotte’s story.
Either way, the sleeve notes from ‘The Number of the Beast’ clearly state that
at least ’22 Acacia Avenue’ is a direct sequel to ‘Charlotte the Harlot’.
There are two other songs in existence with the same title and written
before Iron Maiden’s time. One is sung to the tune of ‘Sweet Betsy of Pike’,
and the other to ‘Tarpaulin Jacket’. You can find the lyrics of both on the gift
DVD included with this book, and a search of uncensored sailors’ songs will
find you both online. After Maiden, the band Macc Lads also wrote a song
about Charlotte, only her name as the title. As far as the Iron Maiden song is
concerned, everything surrounding her is strange and somehow mystical.
Sleeve notes credit the writing of ‘Charlotte’ to Dave Murray, their erstwhile
guitarist who rarely pens any of the band’s songs, but he claims that he has
no recollection of it, citing his age and too many years of touring and beer. On
the other hand, Steve Harris has said that he wishes he had written the songs
and enjoys playing it live as it’s totally different from his usual writing style.
There is a famous historical folksong by this name that was popular among the
Cowpokes, back in the late 1800s. The chorus went "Charlotte the Harlot, the
gal we adore, the Pride of the Prairie, the Cowpuncher's Whore." In the Iron
Maiden song ‘22 Acacia Avenue’ the author tries to describe the pain and
emotions of someone who is in love with a prostitute. To set fans’ imagination
on fire and add to the mythology of the song, Paul Di’Anno joined in on the
fun despite not having a writing credit, saying: “She was a slut named High Hill
Lil, everyone knew her. She'd take anyone 15 and up. Well, actually she was
more of a slut, ha ha! I mean, if you turned up to her house with some booze
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or some speed you were more or less guaranteed a lay. She was a legend in
Walthamstow, everyone knew her... She was about 45 but a real rock out
bitch... She’d take any guy from 15 upwards, ha ha! The song says that she
lived on Acacia Avenue but it's actually Markhouse Road, just before you go
into Leyton ‘cause that's the area where I lived." Published by Shan Siva on
battlehelm.com, Paul’s words have to be taken with a grain of salt,
considering how many times his claims have been shown to be untrustworthy.
The street name ‘Acacia Avenue’ was later featured on an Iron Maiden album
cover (‘Somewhere in Time’), in the ‘Ed Hunter’ game, as an street sign on the
set built for the 2005 ‘Eddie Rips Up’ tour and several other places. The Irons
even renamed themselves to ‘Charlotte and the Harlots’ for two secret warm-
up concerts before a tour. According to Wikipedia, Acacia Avenue is one of the
most common street names in Great Britain, so much that it became a
metaphor for an average middle-class suburban street. According to them
there are at least 60 Acacia Avenues in Great Britain.
‘22 Acacia Avenue’ is a non-standard song for Iron Maiden at that time,
quite complex and consisting of several very different pieces, both music
and lyric-wise. The main credit for this belongs to Adrian Smith for whom
this album marked an emergence into the Maiden spotlight. Adrian had
already shown himself to be a competent songwriter with his previous band
Urchin, and it’s no surprise that in his move to Iron Maiden he also brought
some ideas for a new song (based on an old Urchin song, ‘Countdown’)
which he reshaped into the form of what we know today as ’22 Acacia
Avenue’. Even today, ‘22 Acacia Avenue’ sounds fresh and creative, and it
has been covered with varying levels of success by many different bands.
Today, it’s counted among the Maiden classics, and is one of the better
songs from Adrian Smith’s opus. This time around, Steve Harris is credited as
the author of the lyrics, his collaboration with Smith giving a taste of what
Iron Maiden might have been in the future. Ultimately, however, Smith was
oriented more towards working with Bruce Dickinson.
Adrian Smith claims that the song known today as ’22 Acacia Avenue’, in its
original form, is one of the first he ever wrote as a young man, and that he
performed it frequently with Urchin, whose singer he was. As Iron Maiden
were throwing out ideas for the track list on ‘The Number of the Beast,
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Smith states that Steve Harris turned to him at one point and asked the
name of that one song he’d played with Urchin, humming the lyrical melody.
Now, Mick Wall’s 2001 book ‘Run to the Hills’, an authorized Maiden
biography, tells the above story as gospel and it is published as a direct
quote from Adrian Smith, but I’m under the impression that Mick made a
small error and that Adrian was probably telling him about Urchin’s
‘Countdown’, which only became ’22 Acacia Avenue after he’d joined Iron
Maiden. In the quote to Mick, Adrian says: “I wrote that when I was 18, but I
ended up working on it over a period of years with various different line-ups I
had of the band. But it was weird how it came to end up as a Maiden song.
Urchin did a gig in the local park and we played ‘22 Acacia Avenue’, and it
probably sounded completely different than the version we would later do in
Maiden, but the weird thing was, Steve Harris was at the gig. I didn't even
know him then, but he remembered it when I joined the band, years later.”
After Harris had mumbled his way through the song, despite the changes Smith
had already made to it, he was flabbergasted at the fact that Steve remembered
any of it so many years later, especially as he recalled thinking that Urchin had
played rather badly on the night in question, and all the members were ‘down’
following the gig, even though they had given their all to show fans a good time.
In the end, he was pleased that someone in the audience had paid enough
attention to remember the song later. “That's why it always pays off to do your
best. Even if it feels like a dismal disaster at the time, you always come away
with something from it.” he finished telling the story to Mick.
The song was altered some more so it would fit Iron Maiden’s overall style,
and as for the myths surrounding Charlotte, whether she exists or not,
whether the band knew her or not, is she still alive and working as a
prostitute… They’re still a hot topic among fans, in some cases leading to
serious arguments! Steve Harris’ great lyrics soon outshone the raw and
slightly basic original text of the first song in the trilogy. The first part of the
song informs the listener about Charlotte and suggest they visit her when
they’re next in the East End and feeling lonely – even allowing them to name
him as an acquaintance as they might get a ‘free ride’ In the second section,
the author remonstrates with Charlotte and tries to turn her away from the
life she loves, promising to try and save her from the hell of prostitution,
while in the third, he tells us that she readily consents to abuse. At the very
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end, he tries a final time to convert her away from prostitution, ultimately
taking a radical step and removes her from her hell almost by force, and
with a commanding voice. It’s a truly difficult song text to read, and
especially with Bruce’s suggestive, almost sobbing voice, it turned this song
into an instant classic – and its story into an urban myth.
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DEREK'S ROAD TO HELL

Immediately after ‘Killers’ and in the midst of frantic preparations for the
upcoming ‘The Number of the Beast’, Iron Maiden decided to retain artist
Derek Riggs, offering him an exclusive contract for the foreseeable future,
where he would work only for them. In order to afford someone’s exclusivity,
especially for an undetermined but extended period of time, the buyer must
have a considerable amount of money at his disposal. Although it was never
stated outright, the agreement was probably signed for a period of 10 years, a
logical conclusion drawn by looking at the 1982 start date and the gradual
ending of the collaboration with Derek sometime around the release of ‘Fear
of the Dark’. Incidentally, Iron Maiden signed the same exclusive collaboration
contract with producer Martin Birch. While Derek was someone who became
famous because of the Iron Maiden connection, and not in a position to
demand high sums of money, Martin Birch certainly wasn’t – not only was he
an excellent producer even then, he is today considered to be a legend, with
many calling him the best heavy metal and hard rock producer of all time.
In the era immediately following Bruce Dickinson’s arrival in the band,

Derek’s first task was to design the cover of the single ‘Run to the Hills’, and
the concept was clear. Iron Maiden had already announced a descent into
Hell with ‘Purgatory’, therefore the first single to herald the upcoming
album ‘The Number of the Beast’ simply had to depict Hell itself and the
battle for supremacy between Eddie and Hell’s top protagonist, Satan. The
illustration showing this fight to be ‘top dog’ was fantastic, perfectly
capturing the moment, and I dare to claim that ‘Run to the Hills’ is one of
Iron Maiden’s most beautifully illustrated singles when compared to the
rest. Eddie and Satan are shown almost like characters from the classic
Mortal Kombat video game, surrounded by various monstrous denizens of
Hell as they do battle on a raised outcrop of rock. Ominous spiral clouds
with a light at the end form a tunnel or portal showing where you fall into
Hell, from which there can be no return, while tongues of flame burn both
humans and the creatures and lesser demons of Hell, suggesting that, just
maybe, it’s not the cool place someone might imagine. Derek has said that
he really wanted to take his time to get every detail of this illustration right,
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rather than rushing and delivering a half-assed effort he wasn’t completely

satisfied with. This insistence is why the end result is so detailed. When shown
the illustration, Rod Smallwood naturally loved it so much that he purchased it
then and there, making just one small suggestion for a change Riggs was
happy to make. Namely, Rod asked Derek to add some feathers to Eddie’s axe,
itself a continuation of the ‘Killers’ cover, in order to make it more reminiscent
of an Indian tomahawk, thereby giving an even stronger visual connection to
the theme of the song. In addition to the axe, if you take a slightly closer look
at the cover, Eddie is shown on this single wearing the very same t-shirt and
jeans that appear on the cover of the previous album, ‘Killers’..
Cover illustration for the single 'Run to the Hills', 1982.
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Next in line was the big one: illustrating the album cover itself. By now everyone
knows the story of how the cover of ‘The Number of the Beast’ supposedly
came about – I’ve covered it here several times and from different aspects.
Namely, only manager Rod Smallwood tended to communicate with Derek
Riggs directly, without much input or interference from the members of the
band. It was Rod who commissioned the artwork, provided instructions and
guidelines, and assessed the finished work. Derek has speculated that this was
probably because the band was constantly touring in those years, but I’ve
always been under the impression that, while the band members were welcome
to make the occasional comment or suggestion, Rod Smallwood was the man
with the plan, who always knew exactly what he wanted, several steps ahead of
everyone else with a set concept already in his head. Naturally, he would then
be the best person to communicate these ideas to Derek, who always paid
attention and accepted Rod’s good taste, often emphasising that Rod knew how
to recognise a good illustration. Rod’s story about the development of the
sleeve art for 0The Number of the Beast’ goes as follows, in his own words:
“The Number of the Beast cover art was going to be the one executed for a
single called Purgatory, where the idea was, you know, who is pulling whose
strings? You've got the devil with Eddie as a puppet and the devil as a
puppet. And Derek did a great job, that whole sort of Bosch-type feel to it,
and it looked just way too good for a single, so we scrapped the idea of using
that for a single, and used the Eddie head crossed with the devil as the single
sleeve instead, and saved 'The Number Of The Beast' artwork for the album.
And then when Steve actually did the song called 'The Number of the Beast',
it all clicked. So sometimes we got lucky like that."
As Maiden fan, I’ve asked in this book and wondered out loud how it was
possible for a commissioned illustration to look so much like something that one
might interpret as ‘The Number of the Beast’ well before Harris had a moment
of inspiration and wrote a song called exactly that… But OK, let’s say that
anything’s possible… But then it also turns out, according to Rod, Derek just
happened to design a single cover in 12 inch format, so as though working on an
album cover, since of course, the Irons’ singles were also 12 inch records.
But what does the man himself have to say about it? As we know, the album
cover shows a gigantic Eddie holding the Devil by marionette strings and
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controlling his actions, while at the same time, the Devil is holding and
controlling a marionette of Eddie – or a random human heavy metal fan, it
must be offered as an alternative interpretation. In his book, ‘Run for Cover’,
Derek writes that he wasn’t given as much time to complete this illustration
the way he’d envisaged it, so he populated Hell mainly with silhouettes of
humans and various monsters. “That was just airbrush and silhouettes and a
bit of airbrush and silhouettes again. I didn't really have time to do much
interesting. I was going to do a lot of figures, like Margaret Thatcher and
stuff, in the flames, but there just wasn't time. The album artwork was done
for the single. It was another weekend job. Phoned me up Thursday, wanted
it Monday morning. So I did that over that time without sleep...“
'The Number of the Beast' devil as Sakvaore Dali. (detail)
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Derek was pretty displeased with the incompleteness of the cover, explaining
that it’s obvious at first glance. For example, Satan’s wings, intended to be
composed of black smoke and lightning, almost melt into the background and
don’t stand out the way they were supposed to. They simply disappear into
the background because they aren’t fully finished. In his book, Derek
continues the list of things he isn’t satisfied with: “The figure is not quite right,
because he started off... it started out I was going to do this really distorted
figure for the devil, and I just didn't have time, to work out all the distortions I
wanted in it. And so I didn't have time to paint it. So after a few sketches, I just
started painting, and I ended up with a human figure that looks a bit wrong“.
He wanted the Devil to look like legendary artist Salvador Dali, whose
extravagant appearance Derek felt would have been a nice touch, but when
he turned the illustration in to Iron Maiden, nobody really connected the dots.
Derek jokes that this was probably because he wasn’t panted well enough.
At the time, Rod gushed about the collaboration with Derek, saying it was
perfect because the band always got even more than what they’d requested.
Every briefing was a great success, Maiden always coming to Derek with a
completely formed idea of what they wanted. He was never put in the
situation where they would say “Here’s the title of the song and the theme, do
what you want with it”. On the other hand, Derek never got feedback from
the band about fan reactions to his illustrations, were they popular, were the
singles selling well. His job was to do what they asked and deliver on time, and
Maiden’s part in the collaboration was to pay – and there, they were more
than fair. Derek’s had absolutely no issues with the financial side of things.
Anyway, let’s get back to the illustration for ‘The Number of the Beast’,
which Rod claims was done for the cover of the ‘Purgatory’ single, although
I’m under the impression that it was created much later. Derek has tried to
explain what’s wrong with the artwork in his opinion, and why he thinks he
could have done a better job painting it, if he’d been given more time: “It
was an unfortunate pose, because if you lean forward with a T-shirt, it tends
to hang like that; it tends to hang forward. But it looks like he's just fat. But
lot of them, they weren't printed right and the colours came out wrong and
they lost all the subtlety. Something to do with the red. Because the red was
so dense in the devil, to get the molding... there's quite a lot of figurative
molding in the devil, which nearly always got lost. Because to get that red,
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they had to practically blodge it. It was just this big red blob that had little
bits of molding on it. So to bring the molding out, they took the red back.
When they took the red back, it disappeared in the rest of the painting. So
that's why the painting went almost black and white.“
In Derek’s opinion, the best compromise was reached in the USA, where the
printer emphasised the blue pigments in the picture until it was strong
enough to bring the red back to some semblance of life, but never close
enough to the original painting. Fortunately, today’s technology has
advanced and gives us many new possibilities, so newer editions of the
album, new posters and other merchandise finally show the original
illustration: one which had a black sky rather than blue, and which is much
darker in tone than the bluish first original release.
The passage of time is a very interesting topic when discussing this illustration
in the context of its intended use as the cover of ‘Purgatory’. Even if done in a
hurry at the time, the single was released on 15/06/1981, meaning that Derek
must have had at least six months to get the illustration as perfect as he
wanted it with all the little details – Margaret Thatcher burning in hell,
improved artwork on the wings etc. – yet he didn’t do it. Doesn’t that sound
strange, to say the least? And then there’s this statement to top it all off:
"I did the cover and took it down, thinking it was only a single cover, and Rod
looked at it and said, 'Oh, no, we'll have that for the album,' and put it in a
cupboard and locked the cupboard. And he said 'Do another one for the
single,' so I did that one with Eddie in flames."
Judging from this statement, the truth might be halfway between the official
story and the questions: Derek believed that he was illustrating a single sleeve,
but for ‘The Number of the Beast’, which was released about a month after the
album. This sets a new tone for the story and confirms the theory that
‘Purgatory’ was created with the intent of announcing ‘Beast’ (the album this
time!) and the subsequent trilogy of Eddie’s duels with the Devil from which
Eddie emerges victorious, the true ruler of Hell, to be used to fuel the PR engine
branding Iron Maiden before a rapidly growing international fan base. On a side
note, the Devil’s left hoof is clearly visible on the original painting, but this part
of the illustration was cut and has never appeared on album covers or posters.
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'The Number of the Beast' - single cover (1982)
At the start of this chapter, you can see the cover picture: Eddie with a guitar
on his back, its head shaped like an axe – a throwback to the ‘Killer’ days and
one of Ed’s signature weapons. Eddie is depicted in some sort of formal suit
jacket although he wears a football scarf underneath, as a permanent
reminder of there he – and the Irons – belong. This illustration was used
during the US tour in order to remind local fans of Uncle Sam – the slogan
‘Your country needs you’ replaced with variations on the theme of ‘Iron
Maiden want you!’ Later incarnations of Eddie during Iron Maiden’s career
also paid homage to Uncle Sam, while Derek Riggs joked about this particular
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illustration, saying Eddie had hair like Farrah Fawcett. For those of you too
young to know what she looked like, here’s a side by side comparison…
Derek created this watercolour illustration relatively quickly, propping it on

an easel and adding: “If you get it wet, it'll come off (laughs). There's a bit of
a smudge on it as it is. You can't seal a watercolour. Because anything you
put on it will wash it off. So there's not a lot you can do with it. Tape the
edge up to stop it from getting battered and pray (laughs)."
Aside from the idea to make Satan resemble Salvador Dali, Derek describes
the thought process behind the dead and decapitated Devil on ‘The Number
of the Beast’. Eddie walking out of an inferno stands in approximately the
same pose as on the controversial cover art of the Venezuelan release of
‘Maiden Japan’, the main difference being that, instead of Paul Di’Anno’s
severed head, he holds Satan’s. "I just added bits, I had to make a monster
but it had to look human. I started off with a portrait of Salvador Dali again,
with googly eyes, and kind of gave him a lizard's tongue and stuck lizard
frills.” For anyone who’s not sure what lizard frills look like, you can have a
look on the next picture. This frill detail greatly contributed to the Riggs
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Devil’s unique appearance, and he has remained an important character

when promoting the ‘Legacy of the Beast’.
Another illustration of Eddie marked him as crucial to Iron Maiden’s future,

and a contemplative new era: who (or what) is Eddie? Where does he come
from, where’s he going, does he have something to say? What’s his
background, with what intent, what’s his philosophy of life (death)? This is a
truly complex issue, one which both Derek Riggs and Rod Smallwood have
both chimed in about him, but so have Maiden fans from around the world.
Either way, I’m planning to write a whole book dedicated just to Eddie, from
his first appearance on the very first album cover, stalking the London
streets, to ‘Killers’ still in his East London surroundings but slowly preparing
for a descent into Hell through ‘Purgatory’, where everything changed.
Eddie’s unbelievable and meteoric rise in popularity sent him on a journey
to all kinds of places and ‘event shirt’ appearances. On the New York t-shirts,
Eddie is the size of the Empire State building, and the already gigantic King
Kong is no more than a toy to him. T-shirts intended for the West Coast
depict Eddie using the back of a shark as a surfboard, on another he’s
tearing down the Capitol Records building, and so on. No one was surprised,
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then, by an illustration in which Eddie, suddenly appearing larger than

planet Earth itself, stabbing the surface of the world with a flagpole flying a
Union Jack. It was a message saying that the Irons were finally taking over
the world, transmitted loud and clear.
Both Derek and Iron Maiden were

aware that Eddie was a magnificent
creation, one that would last for
decades to come, becoming almost
as important as the band and its
music. When they realised that
they could utilise Eddie anywhere,
in any situation, make him fight
anyone they wanted him to, Eddie
slowly began to transform from the
ultimate evil into a good guy of
sorts. He began addressing fans “as
himself” in the editorials of tour
magazines and FC newsletters, his
grin could be seen on Iron Maiden
Christmas cards, they went so far
as to copyright the signature with
which Eddie “signed” each of his
epistles to the fans.
‘Derek's Road to Hell' is the title of this chapter for second reason, this one
no fun at all. Namely, from the outset, with ‘The Number of the Beast’,
Derek’s health began to fail. Tragicomically, he notes that he was destroyed
by the same thing that made him famous – heavy metal. At the same time
that Derek was helping shape the history of heavy metal, heavy metals in his
system were beginning to slowly kill him – he’s survived to this day by pure
luck. Derek came down with fatigue syndrome with occasional bouts of
affective disorder, caused by mercury in his teeth (and partly by toxic
materials in the paints he worked with). A great number of amalgam tooth
fillings at the time contained mercury – and as Derek put is, his mouth was
full of the stuff. The mercury poisoning resulted in long periods of sleep,
sometimes lasting as long as 48 hours. The mercury ate away at him slowly,
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and as it later transpired, his body was highly sensitive to its effects. On top
of classic heavy metal poisoning, he then also got pesticide poisoning, which
threatened to finish the job – all of it had such an adverse effect on his
organism that at one point he was happy just to be alive – and what’s worse,
it took him a long time to even realize what was destroying him.
The pesticide he poisoned himself with was produced by a company that

made pesticides from a military grade nerve gas. At the time, Derek was living
in a cockroach-infested London flat, and a friend of his, employed at the
company, smuggled a quantity of the pesticide out of the lab and brought it to
him without telling him what it actually was. Clueless, he sprayed it all over
the floor of his flat, immediately becoming even sicker – the pesticide was bad
enough on its own, but in combination with the mercury poisoning and his
paints, the tools of the trade, it almost proved fatal.
Chronic fatigue syndrome, or the so-called “yuppie flu” had been destroying
his body for ten years before he discovered the real cause of the problem.
The end of this period was 1992, fitting almost perfectly with the lessening
frequency with which he worked for the band, and later a long-term pause
in their collaboration. Derek has confirmed that, thanks to his poor health,
he was unable to create more than a few illustrations per year, so the
exclusive contract with Iron Maiden suited him perfectly: they paid well and
on time, and his health wouldn’t allow for more clients in any case. He has
also said that, had he been completely healthy, he never would have signed
on to an exclusive deal for such a long period. In the early 90s, when he
finally realised what had led to his difficult state of health, he undertook
what he had to in order to mitigate the effects, including making the difficult
decision to move away from painting with chemical colours and go into
digital illustration, with the occasional pencil sketch for good measure.
Derek created six key works for ‘The Number of the Beast’, and several
interesting additional drawings and sketches for various side publications,
adverts, shirts, radio stations, the FC and tour magazines. All of them are still
relevant today, always selling well when found on merchandise or even as
tattoo designs. In the same manner in which Iron Maiden set sail across new
musical seas, this album allowed Derek to give Eddie a completely new lease
on life, making him one of rock’s icons.
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HUMAN NUMBER (number one)

Being number one in the UK is no easy feat, but Iron Maiden gave us a
glimpse of this very thing happening sooner or later with their self-titled
debut in 1980. And it did happen, after exactly two years – April 1982 to be
specific. Their first record got them to #4 on the charts, an amazing success,
with their singles also doing great. Still, the following year was slightly
disappointing for the band, especially considering they embarked on a
conquest of American soil. The mediocre success of their singles – only #12
on the charts (compared to #4 the year before) gave them a red alert. Truth
be told, the album reached #76 in a massive country compared to their
previous attempt which didn't come close to charting, so camp Maiden was
well aware of the risk and the need for caution...
Looking at the UK charts, it's safe to say that fans didn't like the new producer
Martin Birch, nor the new direction of the sound which leaned towards
modern metal. It’s also possible that they weren’t great fans of Paul Di'Anno.
On the other hand, they enjoyed the raw production of Will Malone and the
punk-metal vibe Iron Maiden had unleashed at the start, together with more
"street-themed" lyrics, so maybe that wasn't the main issue after all.
Reaching #76 in the United States is honestly pretty good for a young, up-and-
coming British band. They were now wrapping their heads around the big
questions – is Martin Birch doing a good job, is Paul Di'Anno really the man for
the job, do people actually like the new path Iron Maiden is on and how can
we make everyone happy, the UK, the USA and Canada alike? At that time,
everything below the US border was science fiction. Iron Maiden visited Japan
in '81 and got some points there, creating a new fan base which would remain
loyal for years to come. They had to figure it out – was dropping Will Malone a
bad decision or was Di'Anno the weakest link all along? Something had to be
done as soon as possible. The band was constantly on tour with minor stops
solely for album recording purposes, so making decisions on the fly was their
only option. Still, it was going to take more than that for a #1.
That moment didn't come abruptly or by accident as I already elaborated,

nor did the album have any pre-release hype to help launch it directly to #1.
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It actually took as long as three weeks after the release. It's clear that the
stars aligned for the band in that moment, since objectively, there was no
real competition for their new record.
It's hard to debate about how truly surprised the band was with their #1 album,
but I for one believe that it was the logical outcome of long-term planning. It’s
well known that the band played more than 20 gigs all over the UK prior to
releasing the album – meaning that a huge number of fans – some old, some
new – got a taste of their new stuff from seeing the m live and on TV, just
enough to grab the record as soon as it hit the shelves, carrying them straight to
the top. 'Strike while the iron is hot' is exactly what they were doing, so Iron
Maiden were on the road in France – building there on the brilliant idea of those
20 concerts – when they heard the news of their Number One. Both France and
Germany put a huge mark on this tour, together with the UK and the US – a
massive number of concerts. On the day they hit #1, Iron Maiden were just
starting to get their first wind – but not everyone was aware of it.
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For those of you in search of some clear statistics on the matter of the Irons’
first #1 on the UK Charts, the table below holds some interesting additional
data, proving that their position at the top wasn’t a mere lucky strike that
just happened by accident – not by a long shot.
According to the 'Official Charts' website, Iron Maiden spent 2 weeks at #1, 9
weeks in the Top 10, 13 weeks in the Top 20, 18 weeks in the Top 40, 28 in the
Top 75 and as many as 35 weeks in the Top 100 – meaning they did extremely
well for three straight quarters, or to be more precise, they were highly
ranked for almost an entire year before their next album was released.
Reaching the top is one thing - staying on top – that's a completely different
beast. Be that as it may, Iron Maiden's strong live performances (together
with Bruce's stage presence – still an enigma following his transfer from
Samson) made it all look easy. But let’s start from the beginning and take a
look at how Iron Maiden managed to make everyone happy between the
release of their single and the end of their tour. More than a month before
the album’s release, on 12/02, the Irons released ‘Run to the Hills’ – the first
single from ‘The Number of the Beast’ and their 6th overall. The song was
written by Steve Harris, and although there are clear indications that Bruce
also had a hand in it, his contract with Samson made it impossible for him to
be credited for anything outside the band. That's the official version,
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anyway, since even Bruce has stated he made a ‘moral contribution’ to the
song, as well as to ‘Children of the Damned’ and ‘The Prisoner’ on the same
album. While speaking at the IBM Smarter Business conference in
Stockholm on 10 October 2012, Dickinson revealed that parts of the song
are based on the ‘rising sixth’ interval within a scale, inspired by a
documentary he watched which explored why ‘My Way’ was one of the
most popular recorded songs.
‘Run to the Hills’ remains one of Maiden's most popular songs to this day,
and a classic fan favourite at most gigs. The song was later released as a live
single from ‘Live After Death’ in 1985, and was also featured as a reissued
single with a different cover in 2002, with all proceeds from this edition
donated Clive Burr's MS trust fund, helping their friend and drummer in his
fight with multiple sclerosis. Two variations were issued, the original studio
version and a live version taken from the Rock in Rio concert, with different
B-sides. The single was also released as part of the ‘The First Ten Years’ box
set, with the live single from 1985 finding new life as on both a CD and a 12"
vinyl.
As we all know, the song is about the conflict between the European
conquerors of the ‘New World’ and the Native American tribes during the
period of colonization and westward expansion in the USA – told from two
perspectives. The first verse kicks off from the Native American point of
view, then switches to the Europeans’, staying with them as the song
reaches its finale. The song is pretty politically correct, stirring up no
controversy, and ready to enter the American market unchallenged – racial
issues would have been a bigger problem by far than religious ones. I’ll talk
about the illustrations in more detail in a later chapter, but according to
illustrator Derek Riggs, the idea behind the original ‘Run to the Hills’ cover
was based around the idea of a ‘power struggle in hell’, in which the band's
mascot, Eddie, battles Satan with a tomahawk (referencing the song's
subject matter).
The B-side featured the track ‘Total Eclipse’ which wasn't released on the
original album (except on the Japanese version), but was added to all later
reissues. Forced to choose between ‘Gangland’ and ‘Total Eclipse’, the band
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went with ‘Gangland’ for the album and left ‘Total Eclipse’ for the single
despite not being confident in their choice. Steve Harris explained: "We
chose the wrong track as the B-side. I think if ‘Total Eclipse’ had been on the
album instead of ‘Gangland’, it would have been far better."
‘Run to the Hills’ was composed so its rhythm would imitate a horse's gallop
– and the listener can tell that it's a war-themed tune even without any
knowledge of English. The rhythm simply carrier you off you and doesn't let
go, all the way to the spectacular ending of this short but monumental track.
This galloping rhythm became their trademark, finding its way onto their
next album ‘Piece of Mind’ – proving its worth on their new hit single ‘The
Trooper’. Most importantly, Iron Maiden successfully galloped onto
American soil with this single and conquered the USA was conquered once
again, as their ancestors had before them. This single was Maiden's ticket to
US stardom, their rise inevitable.
Iron Maiden have done their best to remain as politically correct as possible,
which was particularly difficult considering all the potentially 'dangerous'
themes they touched on in the early days of their career. While they were
never 'banned' for their material, it must be said that they were never
praised by the critics, either - something you’ll remember from our first
chapter. Had Rolling Stone magazine printed some kinder words about the
band, maybe they could have reached #1 in the States as well, something
they’ve still not managed. They debuted with a promising #33, then soaring
to #14 with their follow-up album and finally landing at #11 in 1986 – Iron
Maiden's biggest success in the 80's.
A catchy tune, a comic video showing Iron Maiden playing live intercut with
an old black and white motion picture depicting Native Americans was
probably a stunt to avoid any ‘serious’ questions and controversies. Before I
go on with the story of the management's plans to get to the top and stay
there, I feel the need to include a short story which was already covered in
my book about Steve Harris ‘The Clairvoyant’, but it's fitting for the next few
pages here as well, just to show how a random Iron Maiden fan is born.
Moreover, my guest is one of the most famous Maiden fans in the world, so
it's interesting to hear how ‘Run to the Hills’ influenced his life.
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Marty Moore, known on the IMOC as ‘Maiden Mantioba’, is a distinct

individual among Maiden fans at their concerts. I had the opportunity to
meet him a couple of times at Maiden concerts but in the year 2010 in
Budapest, at the Sziget festival, I had enough time to sit down for drinks
with him, Dave Murray, Janick Gers, Bruce Dickinson and other members of
the Maiden crew in the hotel lobby where they were staying and to get to
know him a bit better. That same night, together with a friend – Vlaho
Bogoje, who I travelled with on Maiden’s summer tour, I had the chance to
order two rounds of drinks for all three legendary Maiden members who
were sitting with us and spent the entire night chit-chatting. Marty, who is a
Canadian Native, a full-blooded Cree, described very emotionally what
Harris’ song 'Run to the Hills' meant to him. His story is so interesting that I
just couldn’t leave it out.
“'Run to the Hills' – what a song from a great band. Being asked to do a little
write up on this song was both a pleasure and an honour. 'Run to the Hills'
has been a part of my life from the first day I heard it. What a song. Thinking
about it stirs up lots of memories for me. First I should start off by saying a
few words about me. My name is Marty Moore and I am from Canada, and
live in the province of Manitoba on a little reservation called Opaskwayak
Cree Nation. I first heard of Iron Maiden from my older brother in 1982, I was
10 years old at the time. I was hanging out with him and his friends in his
room and they all chipped in for a tape of a band called Iron Maiden,
Number of the Beast. They started playing it on the ghetto blaster. I was
blown away. The drums, guitars, bass and singing were something we had
never heard before. I was amazed. I finally had my turn with the booklet that
came with a tape and just starred at the picture of Eddie and the Devil. What
a cover, I must have stared at it for 5 minutes, taking all the fine detail in
while the tape was attacking my virgin ears. Wow!
I thought every track was amazing, but then 'Run to the Hills' came on. I was
looking at the song titles just minutes before and really didn’t think much of
the name of the song, but when the song came on I liked it right away. The
drums were so cool, as well as when the guitar kicks in. I had never heard
such music before. Come to think of it, I think Twisted Sister was the only real
metal I was exposed to at the time. Anyways, when Bruce started singing the
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opening lyrics, I said to myself, Hey! What are they singing about? I was very
surprised and happy that a song was talking about my culture and my
nation! I am a full-blooded Cree and to hear a band singing about my
culture, my history, and my past made me very happy! I told my mom about
this song since I had never heard of any band singing about Natives. She was
quite surprised of the song as we played it for her and about a quarter of the
way through it she actually asked to rewind the tape and asked if there were
lyrics with the tape. We gave it to her and started the song again. We were
rocking out as my mother listened and read. As it ended my mom stopped
the tape and sat us down at the dinner table, it was family meeting time. Oh
no. My mom is open-mined and well-educated as well. So she started off by
telling us that we were getting older and that we could listen to any kind of
music we want to and she noticed that we were getting into "this heavy
metal" music. She contented by telling us to be careful with the music out
there and that she really didn't care much about the picture on the tape my
brother and his friends bought. She started talking about this song and she
said she was surprised about the song and also surprised that a heavy metal
band would be singing about Natives and our past. She continued on and
said that these lyrics are special and not to be taken lightly, that they are
historically correct to an extent, but that there is a lot more to our history
from what is being sung about. My mother continued and said that she was
happy that this band, Iron Maiden, was bringing awareness to our history to
the younger people through music. She told us to be proud of this song and
not to be ashamed and that this is our history. Even my mom has a good
taste in music!
As I continued through elementary school, middle school and then on to high

school, I was asked by many people if this song pissed me off or why I would
listen to it? “It’s so horrible", they used to say. I agree that this song does
have some very negative lyrics and dark meaning. However, the only people
that asked me these questions where none-native people, which I found
quite strange. I started wondering about this and really understanding the
impact of this song. Every native person in my community who has listened
to this song loves it! This song is not only a great metal song but it also talks
about my culture and race, which is pretty amazing and makes me proud to
be from the Cree Nation. For me, the song is very special and I have enjoyed
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listening to it ever since I was that little boy back in the early eighties. Whole
my story is unbelievable, unbelievable!
Martin Moore and Steve Harris. Courtesy of Marty Moore
I have now been into Maiden for almost thirty years and Maiden have been
in my life since then. I have seen Maiden live on every tour ever since 1988 in
Winnipeg. I missed a couple of tours due to Maiden not going to Winnipeg
and not having enough funds to travel while in high school and university.
Since graduating from University of Brandon with my Education Degree and
after I have begun teaching, I finally have the funds to travel to see Maiden,
which I thought would never happen, not even in my wildest dreams!
Anyways, on my travels I had the privilege to meet Mr. Steve Harris while in
Florida in 2009 for a brief moment, but it was enough to take a photo and
get an autograph, and again in Budapest in 2010, as I was lucky enough to
be staying in the same hotel as Maiden! In Budapest, I actually got the
privilege to speak to Steve and say hello. I remembered what I was going to
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say to him in Florida, but was too star-struck to say anything. I got to thank
him personally for writing 'Run to the Hills'. I told him I was a full-blooded
Cree Indian from Canada and that the song is very special to me and that I
felt honored that he took the time to learn about my culture and history and
for having written a song about it. Steve said, “You are welcome.” I think I
may have surprised him a bit. I don't know if any Natives ever come up and
thank him for writing that song or not. Steve was very nice and charming
and again, asked for a picture. I headed back to my seat, very happy and
overwhelmed with emotions. I was all in tears after it sank in. It was a
conversation I had in my mind for many years and to actually say it to one of
my heroes was overwhelming. Thinking about that moment still brings tears
to my eyes as I am writing this, looking out my window, in the middle of
winter, living on this reservation, thinking about my life on it. I have grown
from a little boy to a grown man but I’m still listening to Maiden. Maiden is a
part of my life as this reservation is and I will continue to live here and listen
to Maiden. There are two things I am very proud of – being a Cree and an
Iron Maiden fan. Up the Irons!“
Steve Harris and Marty Moore. Courtesy of Marty Moore
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Paving the way to the top of the charts is tiresome work, as we’ve
mentioned in previous chapters – especially for a pure blooded heavy metal
band. Back in the day, the number one spot was basically reserved for the
hard rock bands, leaning towards the more commercial side of the genre.
For example, Iron Maiden were succeeded by Status Quo with their album
‘1982’, which stayed on top for a week before dropping off the radar. Iron
Maiden stayed on top for a couple of weeks, then fell to the Top 10. By the
time ‘Run to the Hills’ started to lose steam, the Irons already had a new ace
up their sleeve – ‘The Number of the Beast’ was ready to be unleashed in
the early summer.
Trying to describe Iron Maiden's video for their ‘best Maiden music videos of
all time’ list, www.tamrock.com has this to say: “Maiden made an art form
out of performance videos intercut with footage from old movies, but this
one takes a left turn with ballroom dancers and a hilarious joke shop
monster head. Great movies too: ‘Godzilla’, ‘Nosferatu’, ‘Crimson Ghost’,
and the ‘Goat of Mendes’ scene from the Hammer classic 'The Devil Rides
Out'. The appearance of Eddie at the video’s end had to be edited out when
some fragile MTV viewers complained it was “too scary”.
‘The Number of the Beast’ was definitely intended to look scary, but with a
dose of comedy carefully woven throughout. Iron Maiden were never a
band to take themselves too seriously and always managed to sneak a pinch
of comedy into their music videos, even those that at first glance seemed
rather ‘serious’. This album was no exception: ‘Run to the Hills’ was merged
with comic scenes from ‘The Uncovered Wagon’, a 1923 black and white
film about the conflict with the native tribes, and with a handful of different
horror classics thrown in in addition to ‘The Crimson Glory’ and ‘Godzilla’.
‘Godzilla’ clearly had to find a way into the video, considering that Japanese
fans' fascination with this myth was more than the western world could
easily grasp. It was an amazing marketing stunt, greatly contributing to the
band's success in Japan. The skull from ‘The Crimson Glory’ is also clearly
visible in the music video. If you feel like you've seen it somewhere before –
it's the same one the band Misfits use for their logo and not many people
even know its origins go way back to this movie...
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This is the full list of movies used in this music video, in chronological order.
- Nosferatu (1922)
- One Million B.C. (1940)
- The Wolf Man (1941)
- Return of the Vampire (1944)
- The Crimson Ghost (1946)
- I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957)
- How To Make a Monster (1958)
- The Screaming Skull (1958)
- War of the Colossal Beast (1958)
- The Angry Red Planet (1960)
- Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)
- The Devil Rides Out (1968)
Unrelated to this album, in one of his later works Derek Riggs paid a homage
to the 1933 science fiction horror movie 'The Invisible Man'. It's his
illustration of Eddie playing a gig in Pandemonium, Hell’s capital city. There,
you can spot the titular character in the front row, having a smoke and
wearing sunglasses. This is just one tiny detail from Derek's magnum opus –
one day, it will be interesting to write a book just about these artistic bits
that Derek scattered all across his works.
According to Steve, the song ‘The Number

of the Beast’ was born out of a nightmare
he had after watching the 1978 movie
'Omen 2' – that inspired him to write it
down. This classic didn't make the plethora
of movies used in the video, probably
because it was relatively new and it was
virtually impossible to buy the rights to
include it. On the other hand, the scene
from ‘The Devil Rides Out’, showing the
Goat of Mendes, is still commonly used at
all Maiden gigs as they perform 'The
Number of the Beast'.
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The Goat used in film and on the Iron Maiden stage.
It's impossible to imagine it nowadays, but pulling a stunt such as this back
in 1982, putting out something so visually provocative caused a borderline
incident – literally ‘living on the edge’. It's safe to assume that if it happened
today, MTV could easily request to have the final scenes cut because Eddie’s
appearance in the video is ‘inappropriate content’ and unsuitable for
younger viewers.
Still, every ban, every protest, every bit of censorship and every burned
album only contributed to the growth of the fan base, sparking even the
public interest. History has taught us that this could even be considered a
rule of sorts. This is where the question emerges – how much of this was the
band's deliberate effort to provoke a heated reaction and how much was
just a coincidence? The only thing we're sure of is that even prior to
recording the album they were well aware that the very title of the album
was potentially provocative, and still they decided to go for it. The ominous
reading of biblical verses, one of the most memorable screams in music
history, mention of victims, dark rituals, macabre scenes and horrific threats
nearing the final seconds of the track were a recipe for success. Martin Birch
joining the team (more precisely continuing the collaboration begun with
the ‘Killers’ album) turned out to be a terrific move because Martin defined
the very Iron Maiden sound we know today.
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This collage features a full list of movies used in the video accompanying
‘The Number of the Beast’. Compared to their new video for ‘Speed of
Light’, a retrospective chronology of videogame evolution throughout
history as a key trend of the new millennium – ‘The Number of the Beast’
was possibly their very first retrospective, time-travelling through the
history of both horror and science fiction motion pictures, something of
huge importance for Iron Maiden and the entire metal genre.
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DEVIL'S BAND
Following on from our previous chapter, I have to note that Iron Maiden’s
history really is very interesting, complex and detailed – to the point where
things they did entirely by accident can easily be mistaken for puzzle pieces
of some great masterplan. It's easy to get lost within the maze of facts and
fiction, hidden truths and conspiracy theories, but it's this very aura of
mystery surrounding the band that enticed fans further into the whole story,
inspiring them to dig deeper and have lots of fun doing so. My series of
books is no exception, and you'll be able to spot numerous witty
observations, parallels and unknown facts you might have otherwise missed
– including some that were misinterpreted even in the official biographies.
Even this last comparison of two very different videos pertaining to two
completely different sets of lyrics can be nothing more than pure speculation.
‘The Number of the Beast’ speaks of ceremonies, sacrifices and the occult, and
Steve Harris can deny that it’s about Devil worship until he’s blue in the face – as
fans, we know enough about the band members’ lives to understand they’ve
never dabbled in the occult, but try explaining that to a casual listener, especially
to a more radically religious person or member of a particular religious
community. Even fans find the story of his drawing inspiration exclusively from a
nightmare following a viewing of 1979’s ‘Omen 2’ hard to swallow, it sounds
that much like a cliché. There being no Internet in those days, new films had to
be watched at the cinema and then you’d have to wait for them to be shown on
TV. This means he could only have seen it sometime in the early 80s, had the
nightmare soon after, then written the track while it was still fresh in his mind.
Who's going to write songs about a nightmare they had several years ago? True,
he probably really did have a nightmare after watching the film, (remember,
Dave Lights has confirmed that Steve frightens easily for 'The Clairvoyant’, he’s
apparently truly terrified of darkness and ghosts) which made his fingers itch for
new material. Seeing it when it came out, on the other hand, would confirm the
theory that the song was written long before the album release. This was a song
written with clear intent, as apart from describing a nightmare, it’s clearly a
'pamphlet' style song… Just look at some of the lyrics:
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Six six six the number of the Beast

Hell and fire was spawned to be released
~
Six six six the number of the beast
Sacrifice is going on tonight
~
Six six six the one for you and me
The lyrical structure is quite catchy and easy to remember, with the simplest
possible rhyming form, characteristic of pop artists trying to reach the top of
the charts:
Night was black - Holding back

Had to see - Watching me
In the mist - Move and twist
Start to cry - To the sky
In the night - Burning bright
Has begun - Work is done
Will return - Make you burn
Can we help but wonder, then, if all this is just a figment of our imagination, or
is everything in the Iron Maiden story truly interconnected? Aside from paying
homage to old horror and fantasy films, their 1982 video being a retrospective
of sorts, they also wanted to showcase the present and future of the horror
genre, done well in my opinion, when a gigantic Eddie joins the band on stage
at the end of the video. Eddie's presence (later censored as “disturbing
imagery” – he was just that realistic) immediately surpassed all other
monsters, becoming an instant hero for generations old and new, especially
the Maiden fans among them. Their famous 'Speed of Light' video features
Eddie reincarnating in various places throughout the Irons’ career, in sync with
the evolution of videogames. There, Eddie once more shows the fans (any
anyone else) that he will forever remain Iron Maiden’s main protagonist,
regardless of his various deaths along the way (‘Powerslave’, for instance).
Even after his death, Eddie is shown traveling through space to live 'another
life’, in a virtual reality this time – becoming a new life form who will carry Iron
Maiden’s torch for future generations, long after the Irons are no more.
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But let's get back on topic. How and why, what happened to make Iron Maiden
go from being known as London's rock rebels to being the ‘devil's band’ – all for
coming out with a single song about the Devil? Did it come as a surprise for
them also, or was it something they'd been planning all along, something they
skilfully “provoked” into happening? Let's take a peek back at 1966…
That's the year in which the late John Lennon of The Beatles told UK
journalists that they’d become more popular than Jesus in the UK – it stirred
no controversies in the British media, but five months later in the USA – all
hell broke loose. Here's an excerpt from Wikipedia: The statement originates
from an interview conducted by journalist Maureen Cleave, who included it
in a March 1966 article for the London newspaper the Evening Standard.
When Datebook, a US teen magazine, quoted Lennon's comments five
months later in August, extensive protests broke out in the Southern United
States. Some radio stations stopped playing Beatles songs, their records
were publicly burned, press conferences were cancelled, and threats were
made. The controversy coincided with the group's US tour in August 1966,
and Lennon and Brian Epstein attempted to quell the dispute at a series of
press conferences. Some tour events experienced disruption and
intimidation, including a picketing by the Ku Klux Klan. Shortly after the
controversy broke, Lennon reluctantly apologized for the comment, saying "if
I had said television was more popular than Jesus, I might have got away
with it". He stressed that he was simply remarking on how other people
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viewed and popularized the band. The events contributed to the Beatles' lack
of interest in public live performances, and the US tour was the last they
undertook, after which they became a studio-only band.
The controversy quickly spread beyond the borders of the US. In Mexico City
there were demonstrations against the group, and a number of countries,
including South Africa and Spain, made the decision to ban the Beatles'
music on national radio stations. The Vatican issued a public denouncement
of Lennon's comment. The Ku Klux Klan nailed a Beatles album to a wooden
cross, vowing "vengeance", with conservative groups staging further public
burnings of Beatles records. In the end, Lennon was murdered on 8
December 1980 by Mark David Chapman, who had become a born-again
Christian in 1970 and was incensed by Lennon's "more popular than Jesus"
remark, calling it blasphemy
Newspaper clipping showing burning of The Beatles’ vinyl
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Let's not forget though – The Beatles’ album ‘The Revolver’ was at #1 in
both the UK and the US in 1966, selling over 5 million copies in the US alone
and more than 600 000 in the UK. They released their legendary ‘Sgt.
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band’ just a year after this scandal and saw
sales reach 5 million copies on their home turf and over 11 million in the
USA, with 17 platinum records. On the UK charts, the album was at #1 for 27
consecutive weeks, 15 weeks in the USA. The album also won The Beatles
four Grammy Awards including 'The Album of the Year' – becoming the first
rock album in history to earn this honour. It’s not hard to see the obvious
link between this immense success and the previous summer’s controversy,
on top of (to give credit where due) their amazing musicianship, innovative
production, conceptual approach and a brilliantly illustrated sleeve – proving
how visual art can contribute to music, elevating it to new heights and even
giving museum exhibits a run for their money.
So, what happened 16 years later? Iron Maiden kicked off their “adventure”
named ‘The Number of the Beast’, well aware of the public reaction it would
incite but willing to risk it, they were a heavy metal band when all’s said and
done, and it was to be expected that they would pull a Beatles-like stunt.
There have been other album burnings throughout history, Rolling Stones,
AC/DC and Black Sabbath all got a piece of the cake, but never before had it
garnered the massive amounts of media coverage that had been bestowed
on The Beatles. Iron Maiden had the perfect chance to create something
new, different and never before seen. Comparing popularity levels with
Jesus or claiming that rock would outlast Christianity just didn't cut it
anymore, so Maiden management came up with a completely opposite
marketing approach: what if the Irons claimed that they were ‘bigger than
the Devil himself’? Their feud with Satan had begun as early as the
‘Purgatory’ single sleeve, continued on ‘Run to the Hills’, the album cover
had Eddie playing puppet master with a marionette of the Dark One, with
the big finish on the titular single of ‘The Number of the Beast’ – Eddie deep
in Hell, carrying the Devil’s severed head – and not in a ‘good triumphing
over evil’ way, but showing the ultimate victory of the greater evil. It was
this backwards, almost subliminal marketing that finally managed to push
Iron Maiden over the edge, making them the first band in a long time to
wake up the old ghosts of protests, bans and public record burnings.
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In ‘Run to the Hills’, his official biography of the band, Iron Maiden's
biographer Mick Wall mentions how the title in itself served to provoke
huge protests in the United States, all the negativity coming of course from
the supposed “moral majority”, right-wing politicians trying to pressure the
band, accusing it of devil worship and labelling them as extremely harmful
for children. Steve’s comment? "It was mad. They completely got the wrong
end of the stick. They obviously hadn't read the lyrics. They just wanted to
believe all that rubbish about us being Satanists."
Iron Maiden was still too small and unimportant a name in the States for
these protests to escalate into anything bigger and more serious the way it
had escalated all those years ago with The Beatles, which is why all these
events only helped to build their popularity, they were the top news in every
city they arrived, whether as a headliner or support act. Every kid wanted to
personally see the band their parents found so horrifying and Maiden played
that card perfectly.
Apart from the movie 'Omen 2', which Steve credits as his main inspiration
for the existence of this song, in the documentary detailing the creation of
this album, he mentions that he also took some ideas from Robert Burns'
famous poem 'Tam O' Shanter'. According to www.robertburns.org this is:
“a wonderful, epic poem in which Burns paints a vivid picture of the drinking
classes in the old Scotch town of Ayr in the late 18th century. The tale
includes humour, pathos, horror, social comment and some of the most
beautiful lines that Burns ever penned.” Let us illustrate this matter further
by quoting some of the poem:
A winnock-bunker in the east

There sat auld Nick, in shape o' beast;
A towzie tyke, black, grim, and large,
To gie them music was his charge:
He scre'd the pipes and gart them skirl,
Till roof and rafters a' did dirl.--
Coffins stood round, like open presses,
That shaw'd the dead in their last dresses
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With all the violent, dark, war related, and deeply introspective personal
themes dominating the record, it's no wonder that ‘The Number of the
Beast’ proved to be just the trigger to fuel the flames of controversy and
devil worship accusations. As if that wasn't enough, Iron Maiden added fuel
to the fire themselves, spreading more drama with supposed rumours and
questionable stories about the making of the album. One story told was
about countless 'twilight zone'-like moments from the recording sessions –
lights turning off and on by themselves, weird noises and sound
disturbances etc. During 1982, Steve made additional comments as if to
confirm these stories in interviews, but he was always careful not to cross a
line: "It was nothing to do with the 666 thing; that was exaggerated. We had
loads of things going wrong. We had to get a completely different tape
machine because it wasn't recording the stuff properly as it was going down.
But, I mean, those sort of things can happen. It's just that we had more of it
this time than any other time..."
There was even a story about Martin Birch’s involvement in a traffic

accident at the very end of the recording process, supposedly crashing into a
minivan full of nuns. The story goes on to say that the mechanic’s repair bill
turned out to be 666 pounds. Steve was wily when talking about this one,
too: "People don't believe this, but he changed it to 667 pounds. I mean that
was only the one song we did, but he's done a lot of work with Black
Sabbath, and apparently, they're into that sort of thing. So, I don't know,
maybe there's something to it..."
At their concert at the New York Palladium in 1982, Bruce Dickinson decided
to share his two cents right from the stage:
“While we're on the subject of strange goings on, a few of you might know
we had a few weird things happen on the album right, that one or two
people have attributed to be the work of Satan or the Devil or this kind of
nonsense, right? Just want to say to all the people who play records
backwards and burn albums out in the streets, they can go and get... stick
their heads up their arse or something like that 'cause... we ain't interested. “
Of course, anyone with sense enough to think for themselves understands

that this was all just brilliant PR to further mystify the whole 'dark' aura
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surrounding the album – because their management realized that bad

publicity was going to do more good than harm – and they were right.
Satanism was popular indeed during the 80's, it was a 'youth' thing while
their elders despised it – and the whole thing later escalated into a full
blown war with the mighty PMRC. Various religious leaders started rumours
that Iron Maiden were unable to control, but even those worked wonders,
increasing the band’s fan base. Both sides had their own calculations and
their own business – and war was good for everyone’s business, just like it is
today for those in power in the world.
And yet… one seemingly sporadic event made me wonder just how much of
our lives is pure coincidence and how much is something bigger that we're
unable to understand. On 22/03/2018, the 36th anniversary of the release of
‘The Number of the Beast’, I logged on to my Instagram account to publish the
happy news about this book’s completion – and was so shocked by my new
number of followers that I just had to share this screenshot with you.
The number of my followers on 22/03/2018 – the very day of wrapping up

my book 'The Number of the Beast'.
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From the start, the song 'The Number of the Beast' was special, with the
biblical verse Revelation 13:18 recited in the opening speech. Well, this is a
partial truth: only the last part of the intro is from Revelation 13:18 while
the rest can be found in Revelation 12:12 – in accordance with that
translation, a reprinted edition of the Bible was used here. If you're curious
about what the spoken text looks like in its actual place, here is the original:
Rejoice then, O heaven and you that dwell therein! But woe to you, O earth
and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he
knows that his time is short!
Revelations 12:12
This calls for wisdom: let him who has understanding reckon he number of
the beast, for it is a human number, its number is six hundred and sixty-six.
Revelations 13:18
For our casual readers, Maverick, my colleague from ironmaidencommentary,

was able to explain the meaning of these verses and how they got altered to
fit the song – he uses few words but the meaning is perfectly clear: “The first
sentence corresponds to the description of Satan's eviction from Heaven after
a battle with the archangel Gabriel and his legions (the legend states that
Satan used to be also an archangel), whereas the last sentence actually refers
to the second Beast of Saint John's Apocalypse and not to the Devil himself,
which is probably why the verse was modified into "the Devil sends the Beast
with wrath" in order to give some cohesion to the whole quote.”
These brilliantly recited passages from the Bible were intended for
legendary actor Vincent Price. Many movie companies had used his voice,
indeed, it’s the hallmark of many horror movies, whether Vincent starred in
them or provided a voiceover for the trailer only. It’s not surprising in the
least that Iron Maiden didn’t hesitate for a second when deciding on the
right man for the job. Not only was his voice perfect to immortalize these
lyrics, the mere mention of his name would be good marketing. Alas, it was
not to be: Bruce Dickinson has revealed that Price refused to work with
them for anything less than 25 000 pounds, later humorously mimicking the
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tone of the response – frequently heard from the rich and famous when
naming their price: “Mr Price doesn’t get out of bed for less than $10 000.”
Their attention was then turned on the person who read ghost stories on
London’s Capital Radio Station, and did so in an amazing, suitably frightening
fashion. Barry Clayton, who ultimately got the job meant for Vincent Price,
was a theatre actor, wholly unconnected to the band and not even a fan of
their music. He knew exactly what they wanted when asked to do it in “the
manner of Vincent Price” and gave them his best impression. Today, many
agree that even the great Vincent himself would have a hard time matching
this memorable performance. Clayton, so it’s known, was paid $300.
Barry Clayton was born in 1931 in Islington, London, England. He was an

actor and director, known for Weekend World (1972), They Came to
Wales (1970) and Odeon Cavalcade (1973). He died on December 29, 2011
in Islington. Beside 'TNOTB connection' he Produced the first black daily
radio programme for the BBC between 1974 and 1988.
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Maiden-mania wasn’t restricted only to Europe and the USA – it soon

arrived in Japan, local media even using the term “neo-Beatlesque
enthusiasm” to describe it. The band quickly became headline news. Even
with Di’Anno the previous year, they had sold out three Tokyo concerts
more quickly than any band before them except Led Zeppelin. Interest for
the ‘The Beast on the Road’ tour exploded after their release of the live EP
‘Maiden Japan’, and all they had to do was turn up and reap what they'd
sown. This is how Steve Harris tried to describe the 'neo-Beatlesque
enthusiasm’ to Shelly Harris for ‘Night Rock News’ in 1982:
"Everywhere we travelled, there were loads and loads of screaming girls. I mean,
it was unbelievable, just screamin'! Guys, as well, would run right down the road
and and start bangin' on the windows... It was absolutely ridiculous! At one point
we stuck a tape recorder out a window to capture a bit of the delirium, because
we doubted people back home would believe it. "I didn't think that sort of thing
went on anymore. It's just the way they are; totally crazy!"
But not everything was so idyllic, especially when the massive protests and
demonstrations kicked off. Steve touched on this subject as well: “We’ve had
some maniacs, we've had some religious nuts," relating one incident in the
South where "some idiot was shouting, 'Rot in Hell! Rot in Hell!'" as the band
were coming off the stage. As the tour drew to a close, his interviews began to
sound almost defensive, often apologetically commenting: “Basically, this
song is about a dream. It is not about devil worship. We're definitely not
Satanists! Well, sometimes we do like to run around and raise Hell (ha, ha).”
Iron Maiden continued to maintain this attitude in future interviews, because

it played to their advantage, but whenever an opportunity presented itself
they also knew how to heat things up. In the next chapter, I'm going to explain
exactly how Iron Maiden's plans lined up perfectly with both their current tour
and the great 'Reading Rock' festival in the summer of 1982, because it took
more than good music to get the band to the very top. A lot of improvisation,
clever PR stunts and good touring strategies were all crucial factors. Despite
becoming even more famous, and despite some monumental later albums, at
least as good as ‘The Number of the Beast’ – if not even better – Iron Maiden
would hit the coveted UK #1 spot only once more in the 1980s. Maybe the
Devil really did have his fingers in their pie, haha...
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Getting back to The Beatles, it’s worth noting that in 1997, during Oasis’
“golden days”, Noel Gallagher claimed “We’re bigger than God” – and not
only did the press not bite, they almost rolled their eyes. The fact is,
sometimes you just have to be in the right place at the right time. The
Beatles did what they did, Iron Maiden pulled the same thing in reverse with
their 'bigger than the Devil' masterplan to get them where they are. But is
this where all the similarities between the two bands fade away? Not only
were they signed to the same record label (EMI), the release day of ‘The
Number of the Beast’ also saw a compilation called ‘Reel Music’ hit the
shops – movie music by The Beatles. Nothing special, until you take a look at
the booklets of both albums – and things suddenly become clearer….
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While there are many possible explanations, you’ve got to admit it's weird at
the very least for two releases from two such massive musical acts, on the
very same day, with the very same record label, to share a concept like this
one? Same design team? According to the booklet information – no. A
hidden agenda of EMI itself, one we’re unable to fathom? Possibly. As far as
The Beatles are concerned, the sleeve visuals make complete sense –
they’re in keeping with the title of their album and movie score concept –
while record companies were using this design a lot in those days, it’s hardly
random. Wherever the truth may lie, it's still another famous reason for
speculation and conspiracy theories, ‘cause whether we want to admit it or
not – as fans, we love the Irons for this kind of stuff.
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THE BEAST ON THE ROAD

I'm sure you can list all of Iron Maiden's #1 albums – you can do it using the
fingers on just one hand, since that's how many there were, hehe. Joking
aside though, only five Iron Maiden albums in their 42 year career have
reached the top of the UK album chart: ‘The Number of the Beast’ and
‘Seventh Son of a Seventh Son’ in the 80s, ‘Fear of the Dark’ in the 90s, and
two albums after 2010, ‘Final Frontier’ and their last release to date, ‘Book
of Souls’. In the US, another important market – even more so than the UK,
Iron Maiden have never, even in their biggest heyday, reached #1, they
haven’t even come close. In fact, the closest they’ve been to the top are two
#4 places – with their last two albums. Considering that everything they do
is done by design, looking ahead and planning in these final stages of their
career, it won’t be much of a surprise if their next studio release finally
reaches the coveted #1 in both countries simultaneously. It would be a
fitting end to their career, and it’s a scenario that is not at all impossible –
here’s hoping we’ll witness it in 2019…
With the rest of their opus being as good and certainly no less popular, why
have only five been #1? ‘Powerslave’, for example, or ‘Brave New World’,
which saw former members return to Iron Maiden, their regrouping causing
a considerable amount of hype, not to mention that – let’s be honest –
many people today consider it to be the best in their career, or at least the
best since they became a six man band.
It’s an important question. What did Iron Maiden do that made these
specific five albums reach #1, and why did only these five achieve it? Why
did ‘Piece of Mind’, ‘Powerslave’, ‘Somewhere in Time miss out, is it possible
that ‘Fear of the Dark’ is that much more superior? If we take the time,
however, to compare the events leading up to the release of the five #1
albums, we’ll see a similar, if not identical modus operandi to that
developed and premiered for the release of ‘The Number of the Beast’,
modified according to their needs for 1988, 1992, 2010 and 2016. Crucial to
every high-charting album was a promotional tour and a big summer festival
in the UK. I can explain the PR principle quite simply by looking at the
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example of our current subject, ‘The Number of the Beast’ and the 1982
tour, which went into full swing after 22/03/2018. The band had previously
played several dates in Italy to allow Bruce to ease into his role as frontman,
then returned for a few UK concerts to premiere the set list from ‘The Beast
on the Road’ although the album hadn’t yet come out.
Specifically, Bruce had five warm up concerts in Italy in late October 1981,
then two more UK dates in November and December 1981. The band then
decided to start playing some songs from the upcoming album live, with
their first public performance on 15/11/1981 – some two months before
they even entered the studio to record them for the new album. In early
1982, with the album recorded and ready for release, Maiden went on a UK
tour consisting of 20 sates, lasting from 25/02/1982 to 20/03/1982 in the
following towns and cities: Dunstable, Huddersfield, Wolverhampton,
Hanley, Bradford, Liverpool, Manchester, Leicester, Birmingham,
Portsmouth, Oxford, Derby, Bristol, Bracknell, Glasgow, Edinburgh,
Newcastle, Sheffield, Ipswich and, finally, London.
Although demand was much higher, especially in London, and the concert
venues proved too small to hold the number of people who wanted to be
inside, Iron Maiden’s management knew exactly what they were doing and
why. This mini-tour was no more than a small demonstration of Bruce’s
capabilities all over the UK, showing audiences what the new album might
sound like. There was no Internet back then, no live streams and fans
couldn’t get sneak peeks of future album releases and new songs unless
they came to the concerts to hear them live. In fact, the UK public had no
inkling of that was about to happen, and how massive Iron Maiden would
soon become. In a way, although these concerts were a part of the ‘The
Beast on the Road’ tour, they have to be viewed as slightly separate from it.
The band celebrated the birthdays of Adrian Smith, Clive Burr and Steve
Harris playing live (Dave Murray’s was marked at a London concert on
23/12/1981), while Bruce would pass his own August birthday on stage in
Toledo, Ohio. No rest for the wicked…
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Now, it’s significant to mention one thing: the last concert on this “pre-tour” of
the UK was held in London, on 20/02/1982 at the Hammersmith Odeon.
Captured on Video, it was later released in shortened form (the band’s
complaint was that they weren’t satisfied with the light quality of the video),
titled ‘Beast Over Hammersmith’. The Irons then left the UK and their next
concert was in Rheims, France, on 22/03/1982, the very release date of ‘The
Number of the Beast’. Simply put, in a calculated and fully thought out
move, Iron Maiden completely disappeared – almost escaped – the UK a day
before the release of their album, thus evading any potential controversies
and questions from the media. In the pre-Internet age, with no means of
getting news quickly, journalists had the option of following them on tour
across Europe and later the USA, Australia, Japan… Or content themselves
with receiving telegrams from Iron Maiden’s management, who would
throw the occasional carefully selected and bombastic bone – exceptional
sales figures, positive reactions, fan hysteria, religious controversy, and so
on. Everything the media published was strictly controlled by the band’s PR
or label, who decided what to send to the newsrooms. Not only this, the
Irons have always had their own high rollers in the media, journalists who
were sympathetic to the band and helped perpetuate the positive hype. Iron
Maiden were effectively unavailable to the UK media from the end of
February 1982, weaving hype and mystification of the entire tour… and then
the Reading Rock Festival – one of the biggest UK festivals and definitely the
oldest – got in on the act. The organisers at the time booked the band sight
unseen, showing enough foresight and sheer chutzpah to take the risk –
later to be proved right when Maiden became one of the most important
musical acts of all time.
Many fans are unaware of this, but booking a band to play at a festival,
especially a headline act, isn’t something that happens a day or two before
the announcement is made to the public. Booking is a process which begins
well before the event, involving planning promotional strategy, including the
timing of the announcement – it’s part of a huge machine. In other words,
the fact that Iron Maiden would headline Reading was known well before
anyone was aware of how big they would soon become. The decision at the
time was based on conjecture and guesswork, and of course involving
considerable risk – in hindsight, booking Iron Maiden can truly be seen as a
historically visionary move. When the festival propaganda machine joined
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the Iron Maiden story and album promotion – with an exclusive contract for
this to be their only UK summer date – it was time for a hype explosion,
taking it to a new, much higher level.
It is for this reason precisely that I mentioned the #1 albums from 1988,
1992, 2010 and 2016. Recall if you will how the 1988 tour began: the band
played two secret concerts in Germany, then set sail for the USA and
Canada, returning for a single, small and secret warm-up concert, then burst
onto the stage of the humongous ‘Monsters of Rock’ festival, where they
played for a record crowd of 107 000 people. ‘Seventh Son of a Seventh Son’
couldn’t not hit the top spot, with its excellent singles and the occult
themes, this time covered in a much more adult and serious manner. In
1982, Iron Maiden did the same thing: they returned only days before
Reading, to play just two secret gigs in Chippenham and Poole.
The story was repeated in 1992: following a first concert, again played in near
secret in Norwich, the band travelled to Iceland, then to the US, Canada, Central
and South America, returning to Europe and the UK just before 22/08. Taking
the stage again as the headline act at ‘Monsters of Rock’, they were attempting
to join Metallica, AC/DC, Guns’N’Roses and all the others who had entered the
90s in a furious storm. Eighteen years later, the same scenario was replayed
with a world tour kicking off in Dallas, Texas, and the band practically ignoring
the UK, not returning until the big ‘Sonishphere’ festival at Knebworth in August.
The world tour for ‘Book of Souls’ again began in the USA in the winter of 2016,
with the huge ‘Download’ festival in the UK to look forward to in the summer.
Of course, many things have changed over the years, and Iron Maiden’s last two
albums in succession have reached #1 in the UK. I daresay this isn’t necessarily
because the albums themselves are their number one work, but because today
the band have achieved the status of legends. They have a veritable army of
fans (I count myself among them) who really do pre-order new releases or buy
them as soon as they come out, which cannot be said of many of today’s
consumers of popular music. I know well that in my home country, Croatia, Iron
Maiden used to have many more fans and better album sales in prior years,
especially while their releases were licenced to our regional record label
Jugoton. Even today, however, with significantly fewer copes (7500) sold of their
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new album, not only were they certified gold, reaching the #1 spot here, they
ended up as the best-selling artist of the year. It’s for this reason, I don’t worry
whether Iron Maiden will retire one day as a top selling band, and why I dare to
predict that they’ll have a #1 US album yet: global sales are falling, but Iron
Maiden’s faithful fan base – those who buy the records on release day – has not
only stayed the same, it’s growing.
I believe that ‘The Beast on the Road’ was a pioneering attempt to get to #1,
which in Iron Maiden’s case paid off – something they truly needed at the time.
In 1982, they intended to mark their expanding fan base, their growth, to herald
the coming of the ‘Beast’ that would conquer the world’s heavy metal market.
In 1988, Iron Maiden wanted to prove themselves, flex their muscles to show
the UK and the world that they were the biggest heavy metal act in existence. In
1992, they needed to prove that they were still relevant, holding their own
alongside so many new forces from the new decade! In their later years, they
needed a #1 album to cement their legendary status, that of a band which has
never disappointed the fans, which has never been a ‘nostalgia act’. This is why
their ‘A Matter of Life and Death Tour’ set list consisted of the new album in its
entirety, with a couple of classics thrown in for good measure, to show their
continuing relevance.
'The Beast on the Road' tour made 1982 a year of milestones for Iron Maiden in
many ways. It was the final time they would be the support act to a bigger
player, their popularity growing in such leaps and bounds that they were
headlining even in the US by the end of the tour. Iron Maiden were the opening
act for Judas Priest, Scorpions, Rainbow, UFO, Foreigner and 38 Special, while
their support bands were The Rods, Trust, Blackfoot, Girlschool, Heaven,
BulletBoys and Tachycardia. Since ‘Run to the Hills’ was released as a radio
single, concert going fans already knew it by heart and it became an instant live
hit. Regardless of actual vocal ability, Bruce Dickinson did something Di’Anno
never had: he gave himself into theatrical performances, showing impressive
gymnastic ability. Accordingly, the necessity for a much more elaborate stage
performance came as a completely natural progression as the tour progressed.
The New York Palladium concert was their first ever headline gig, broadcast live
on US Radio. To this day, Iron Maiden bootleggers with long memories claim
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that this particular recording of a Maiden performance remains the most

bootlegged performance in the entire span of their career.
The set list on this tour was interesting, to say the least and included an unusual
rendition of ZZ Top’s ‘Tush’ as part of the band’s encore at the Reading Festival,
where they were joined on stage by Rick Medlocke from the band Blackfoot.
Fans were also treated to an intro (UFO’s ‘Doctor, Doctor’, Iron Maiden’s
standard concert intro for many years) – one that was used as early as Bruce’s
warm-up gigs in Italy in 1981, as bootlegged recordings attest. Here’s a list of the
songs that usually made the set list while the Beast was on the road:
Intro
Murders in the Rue Morgue
Wratchild
Run to the Hills
Children of the Damned
The Number of the Beast
Another Life
Killers
22 Acacia Avenue
Total Eclipse
(drum solo)
Transylvania
(guitar solo)
The Prisoner
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Phantom of the Opera
Iron Maiden
Sanctuary
Drifter
Runing Free
Prowler
I've got the fire (played less)
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Support from groups of fanatical headbangers, earthdogs, hell-rats and

rivetheads, to whom the Irons even dedicated the album (in the
acknowledgements in the liner notes) quickly lifted Iron Maiden to the
position of unofficial leaders of the NWOBHM – New Wave Of British Heavy
Metal. The band soon became heroes to every British metal kid, even as
press appreciation was slow to come. Until the release of ‘The Number of
the Beast’, most people were cautious in their predictions.
Steve Harris has commented on the start of his collaboration with manager
Rod Smallwood, who asked him very early on for an answer – where in the
band could he see things going downhill at some point: “I’ve got to be
honest. There may be a problem with Paul, because sometimes his attitude is
a bit weird”, he replied. On the other side, Di’Anno’s justification was that
he felt the band’s new music was no longer honest. “By the time of Killers
the band was getting a bit more technical. I didn’t think the songs had the
same attack, and I started losing interest. I felt that I might be letting people
down by voicing my doubts, so I said nothing. But then it built up to the point
where I was rubbing Steve up the wrong way.”
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Rod Smallwood’s opinion about Paul’s behaviour at the time was as follows:
“Paul started to get a bit into the whole ‘lifestyle’ aspect of being a rock star.
And I was like, well you better fucking control it, I’m gonna be watching you.
I knew the only thing that could fuck up Maiden was themselves. But Paul
was so over-the- top. He started having vocal problems, he smoked like a
chimney, he drank brandy, now he’s doing a bit of coke and speed too, and
he was missing gigs.” Although he’d never experimented with drugs and
lived an athletic life, Steve Harris felt that he could tolerate Paul’s behaviour
up to a point, as long as it didn’t jeopardize the band’s careers, but alarm
bells sounded when the behaviour started to reflect badly on the quality of
Maiden’s performances. In later years, Di’Anno himself commented on the
situation with the words: “When you’re fucked up on drugs and alcohol you
turn into a complete prick. But I did feel relief when I played that last gig.”
“That last gig” happened, as I wrote earlier, in Copenhagen on 10/09/1981 –

it might interest you to know that one of the witnesses of the gig was a
then-unknown Lars Ulrich, the future drummer of a not yet born Metallica.
In all honesty, while it’s true that there were incidents at gigs they played
with Paul as their days together drew to a close, he was still able to deliver
that Iron Maiden were known for at the time – unbridled energy and
honesty. It was precisely this that made the new tour a challenge for the
Irons. Everyone knows two things that have been clear throughout the
band’s history. First, Steve Harris has the first and final word about
everything that concerns the band, and second, he and Rod Smallwood are
closer to each other than any other band member. Rod has had Steve’s back
from day one, and vice versa – so as refreshing and ‘fitting’ as Bruce
Dickinson was, his potential influence on the dynamic of existing
relationships within the band was very much scrutinised by Steve. There
were moments of power play, where Steve tried to lay down the law and
assert his role as the “boss” of the band, but Bruce, temperamental as he is,
wasn’t easily cowed or manipulated, leading to conflicts from the very
beginning, and almost to Bruce’s ejection from the band less than a month
after he joined! Bruce has confirmed this, saying “Steve and myself always
used to clash. He wanted to fire me after the first month of ‘The Number of
the Beast’ tour.”
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And while Rod Smallwood was diplomatic about it, “There was a bit of argy-
bargy between them on stage”, Steve Harris gave a much more direct
response: “At first I thought I was imagining it. But there were nights on
stage during the early part of that tour when Bruce used to, like, try and
jostle me on stage. It was all done in fun... only you could tell it was a bit
more than that sometimes.”
Back then, Iron Maiden weren’t close to the behemoth they are today, for a
start neither the equipment and available stage sizes, nor the later theatrical
flourishes allowed them to be as active on stage as they were with
Dickinson’s arrival. Since Paul Di’Anno had been more like the prototype
punk singer who had accidentally stumbled into a metal band, it was Steve
Harris who became the frontman of sorts with his bass acrobatics, a role he
rather enjoyed, and still continues to perform today. Bruce, however, wasn’t
having any of that: “You had basically a very passive band, except for Steve,
who was right up front in the middle. And when I was watching them from
the front I was like: “Hmm, I don’t like the look of that, that’s wrong. The
singer should be standing there”. So the first thing I did was move my little
monitors into the middle, which got in his way. I’d be singing along, getting
into the groove, and I’d feel this thump, and he’d be there, elbowing me out
of the way.”
Harris recalls those days with a grin: “It was like an ego thing. And it did
make me wonder if he was right for the band. I don’t know if he thought he
had to sort of stamp out his territory or whatever, but he didn’t need to.”
Dickinson explains the situation more simply with hindsight: “We were
young and we were all chucked into this huge shit-storm of success and we
dealt with it in different ways. To a certain extent you make a Faustian deal
when you join a successful band. There is a price that gets exacted upon
you, and there’s very little you can do about that except hope to come out
the other end of it right-side up.”
In addition to filming the Hammersmith Odeon video during the UK leg of

the tour, Iron Maiden recorded the live footage for ‘Run to the Hills’ at
Newcastle City Hall, playing there on 16/03. After leaving the UK to play in
France, they played their first three Spanish shows ever, continuing their
European tour in Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands.
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Bruce recalls the incredible manner in which news that they were #1 in the
UK reached them while they were passing through Switzerland. “We were
on tour in Winterthur, Switzerland when we got the news about the album.
We got a telegram on the Sunday morning going: “Your album is number
one!” And we went: “Fantastic!” But at the time, we were pushing a 30-seat
coach to jump start it, because the driver had let the battery go flat.” Steve
Harris continues: “We knew that we’d made a strong album, but sometimes
that’s not enough. For it go like that, with Top 10 singles and a number one
album, was incredible.”
Iron Maiden’s tour of the US and Canada was the second time the rest of the
band had “crossed the pond”, but for Bruce, it was a baptism on fire. Today,
it’s hard to even imagine playing more than 100 concerts on an almost daily
performance schedule, but that’s what they did. Their long-term roadie and
crew member, Bill Barclay, briefly commented on the strange situation they
found themselves in the summer of 1982. Bill Barclay [guitar tech]: “The
schedules were hefty. We did the Coliseum in El Paso (Texas), flew to
England and did the Reading Festival, and the next show was in California. It
was pretty heavy going.”
Bruce Dickinson clarified for posterity just how tiring it all way, and how
much less romantic than people imagine the lives of up and coming young
rock stars: “We toured in station wagons, driving around hallucinating with
tiredness. Rod said we couldn’t afford a bus, until the tour manager was so
exhausted one night that he fell asleep on his feet and sleepwalked off the
end of the stage. At that point we got a tour bus. Which then became the
subject of all manner of shenanigans. The experience of that first US tour
was like taking a very powerful drug every night. A bunch of 24-year-olds
from England let loose in America, pre-Aids, with endless supplies of drink
and party material and willing young girls? We weren’t vicars, but at the
same time we’re not daft.”
Take Adrian Smith, for example. Always perceived as the calm and
circumspect one, who rarely discussed the party aspect of their tours,
perfectly summed up his tour memories, experiences and musings in the
song ‘Wasted Years’. The song, released as a single in 1986, describes what
it’s like to be a rock star – for Adrian Smith, at least. Of their 1982 tour, he’s
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said: “We all liked a drink. And we did overindulge. Part of it was adjusting to
the whole thing. I went from being in a pub-circuit band to being in a band
that could sell out big venues. It did take a bit of getting used to that
pressure. Was there a period when anyone considered stimulants harder
than drink? I don’t think we should go there in a family magazine. It was
mainly booze, let’s leave it at that.”
As the tour drew to a close, the band was close to the end of their tether,
but happy that they’d successfully completed all they’d set out to do,
opening new doors to even bigger success and better things. Bruce recalls
Japan and the last days of the tour: “I remember being pissed, crawling on
my hands and knees down a hotel corridor in Tokyo, looking for bread rolls
from the room service trays because I was so hungry. I caught a glimpse of
myself in a mirror looking like a feral critter and I thought: “What a state
you’re in. Look at you!” I thought I’d better sort this out, because I could
already see that 10-month world tours were going to be my life for the
foreseeable future.”
Iron Maiden’s only Dutch concert during ‘The Beast on the Road’ was held in
Amsterdam. It’s also their only European concert with the ‘Scorpions’, who
were on their ‘Blackout’ tour. The gig was played on 01/05/1982, and was
their last European date before setting off to conquer the Americas, and is
also significant because it marks the last time that the Irons would ever take
the stage as someone else’s special guests and not in their own right. And
while they’d become big enough on the ‘Old Continent’ that they no longer
needed to advertise themselves in this way, in the USA they mostly still
deferred to older, better known and more experienced colleagues, so they
were special guests on Rainbow’s ‘Straight Between the Eyes’ tour on their
first 13 dates. Many fans don’t know this, but it was Richie Blackmore, a
man of few words and usually stingy in his praises, who was impressed with
Iron Maiden, to the point that he sent producer Martin Birch their way. The
rest, as they say, is history, Birch’s new musical direction was a renaissance
for the band and soon became their trademark sound. Richie, then the alpha
and omega of Deep Purple, knew very well the man he’d worked with in his
heyday, and he took the trouble of selling Birch on the idea that Iron Maiden
were the new band he’d been looking for, the one which would conquer the
world, and that he should stick with them. More on that in my book ‘Killers’,
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to be released in 2019 – back to the tour. Iron Maiden’s next hosts also
performed at three of the first 13 concerts – 38 Special was a band who
played music heavily influenced by Southern rock, and Maiden were their
special guests on the next US 13 dates. While 38 Special didn’t leave their
mark on history as a big, recognisable name, they nevertheless had several
number one Billboard hits in the 1980, and when Iron Maiden supported
their tour, the flavour of the day was their #1 hit ‘Caught up in You’. When
one of the members of 38 Special happened to have a birthday during this
leg of the tour, Iron Maiden surprised him by having their Walking Eddie
appear on stage while they performed – Eddie’s appearances on stage with
other bands being a rare occurrence in Maiden’s career.
There followed five solo concerts in Canada, and the band’s first two
headline concerts in New York – the first of which, at the Palladium, was
broadcast on the radio with a 15 minute delay. They played a further 24
concerts with the Scorpions and Girlschool, again as special guests of the
former. On this leg of the tour, Iron Maiden played three US festivals:
'Superrock', two sets at 'Day on the Green', and a solo free concert on a day
off from the Scorpions, when they played the Cominsky Baseball Park in
Chicago. They returned to the Scorpions for another 10 dates, then took the
aforementioned trip back to the UK and tow warm-up gigs followed by the
big Reading Festival performance where they were the headline act. After
an express return to the US for another 8 concerts with the Scorpions, they
had just one day to rest and travel from Portland to Saint Louis, to join yet
another caravan, this time as special guests of Judas Priest on their
‘Screaming for Vengeance US Tour'. They played 30 more concerts with
Judas Priest before flying to far-off Australia to headline a 10 date tour with
supporting bands Heaven and Boys.
Their grandiose venture, never again attempted by a band, ended with a

triumphant final leg of 10 concert dates in Japan. Sadly, the triumph wasn’t
shared by drummer Clive Burr, who played his final concert with Iron
Maiden in Niigata. His departure wasn’t a serious blow and failed to derail
the thundering engine of the band as, true to form, they had a replacement
lined up well in advance. In some ways, as Clive was leaving, Nicko McBrain
had already become a member of Iron Maiden.
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Iron Maiden promo flyer. Melbourne 1982.
When writing about this tour in particular, it would be crazy not to give credit to
each and every member of Iron Maiden’s ‘Killer Krew’, management and band
members, for the almost superhuman endurance with which they managed to
play close to a whopping two hundred concerts in 10 months and across four
continents, with almost all their ‘days off’ spent traveling from the previous
location to the next. Even in today’s ultra-modern conditions, with the best tour
buses and private jets that money can buy, something like this is virtually
impossible, yet this young band, full of life, energy and the need to prove
themselves, succeeded with almost no damage to the band. There have been
more grandiose tours, spanning more countries and more continents – ‘The
Book of Souls Tour’, for one – but none has come close to the intensity of ‘The
Beast on the Road’, nor is that likely to happen in the future. Iron Maiden’s light
technician Dave Light, who spoke to me for my book ‘The Clairvoyant’ is the
man responsible for giving the stage set on this tour the first contours of what
Iron Maiden’s performances would soon become. His visionary approach to
spectacularly lit ramps and the set design as a whole brought Iron Maiden the
very ingredient they’d been missing in order to transform into a world-class
attraction. Let’s face it – very few bands would dare go on a tour in the
conditions it was undertaken by Iron Maiden – then again, maybe it wasn’t all
them, maybe they had a helping hand from ‘The Beast on the Road’ himself!
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GOOD LUCK MATE

It was close to Christmas, on 23/12/2006, and I was at the Earl's Court Arena,
invited by Rod Smallwood to join after-party and birthday celebrations
following a triumphant end the first leg of Maiden’s 'Matter of Life and Death'
tour. The tour was special in that the set list was basically the titular album in
its entirety, with only a few old fan favourite hits thrown in. Absolutely
everyone was at this party: after all, Iron Maiden had just played the final two
consecutive concerts of the tour at the legendary venue, in their home town,
and they were surrounded by friends and family, from far off relatives to
business associates. Moreover, it was Christmas, and Dave Murray was
celebrating his 50th birthday. As I walked around with a friend, mingling with
the hundred or so party goers, from a distance I saw someone who sat slightly
apart from everyone else, largely unnoticed in his wheelchair, being fussed
over by a lovely woman. Everyone else frantically rushed around taking photo
after photo, drinking gallons of beer, while this one person sat somehow alone
even in the crowd. I must admit it took even me some 5-6 seconds to realise
that there, sitting just ten metres from me, was Clive Burr, someone I’d
believed I would never have the chance to meet. By then, it was well known
that Clive was battling multiple sclerosis and had retired from public life which
meant that the only people he saw were his friends and family. I gathered up
my courage and walked over, speaking first to the wonderful lady who was
looking after him and who turned out to be his long term partner Mimi. She
was happy to make the introduction, and despite the situation he found
himself in, Clive agreed to take a photo with us, showing at the same time that
he still retained his old sense of humour. Over the next five years, we
somehow became friends and I was privileged to visit his home several times,
interviewing him extensively for a biography I plan to write of him. Mimi and
Clive showed me all the certified records in their collection and opened their
photo albums, showing me photos of the band that have never before been
made public. I was devastated when news of his death reached me in 2013,
and filled with confusion and melancholy when Mimi took us to visit Clive’s
final resting place in 2017, together with my wife and Rasmus, another old
friend. I am firmly of the opinion that this world doesn’t know nearly enough
about Clive Burr, and I intend to be the one to change that.
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Back in 1982, when ‘The Number of the Beast’ broke all barriers and Iron
Maiden had staked their claim on the heavy metal world, Rod Smallwood told
a simple truth: “It was the record for the time. There was a lot of interest in
metal worldwide, and this was the album that focused everybody. Before ‘The
Number of the Beast’ we were part of the ‘New Wave of British Heavy Metal’.
After ‘The Number of the Beast’, Maiden was a worldwide major act.”
Many thought once the album was released that everything had finally
fallen into place and that Bruce Dickinson’s arrival in Iron Maiden had made
that happen. Few realised, however, that some chess pieces still needed to
be rearranged. Clive Burr was on the way out, his replacement, of course,
known even before Japan, where he played his final concert with ‘The Beast
on the Road’. As the unofficial leader of the band, Steve Harris was placing
the last few pieces of the puzzle he saw as the ideal band for the future.
Considering the contradictory statements by the remaining band members

over the years, the reasons given for Clive’s departure aren’t completely
transparent. Sure, Clive Burr liked a drink or three and they say he was using
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other opiates, but his concert work, at least from the various bootleg
recordings, was flawless. At the time, Clive was had reached the peak of his
career, he was in full health and anyone who listens to a bootleg copy of one
of his ‘The Beast on the Road’ performances will come to a similar, if not the
same conclusion. Any claim that Clive’s removal came about because of the
immaturity of his performance and the demands of the music Maiden were
playing are simply untrue, and justification must be sought elsewhere. Then
again, Clive Burr remained a sympathetic personality to fans, myself included,
while his illness and subsequent death gave the story an even more tragic and
romantic undertone, so it is rare to hear something negative about him from
any source. One man stands out in his opposite view: in his interesting book
'Iron Maiden Years', former Iron Maiden roadie and insider Steve ‘Loopy’
Newhouse didn’t mince words and, in spite of his passing, he painted a
different and much less romantic picture of Clive, one that not all fans were
ready to see. In Loopy’s book, we meet a different and difficult Clive, full of
excesses and someone who practically made Loopy distance himself from the
band for some time. Whether this was Clive’s attitude towards the rest of the
band and crew and are they staying silent on the subject today because as the
saying has it, don’t speak ill of the dead? I believe that this is the key question
surrounding Clive’s departure from IMaiden. The rest of the band members
have never said a bad word about him, moreover, during Bruce Dickinson’s
hiatus from Iron Maiden, he clearly stated that Clive was their best drummer
ever. Bruce’s statement must be looked at in context though, since his
position as a former member allowed him greater freedom to express himself,
and it can also be interpreted as ‘payback’ for Nicko McBrain’s heedless and
angry comments about Bruce’s decision to leave Iron Maiden in 1993.
Reading various statements and interviews, it seems like the fans are in a
situation where they can easily believe that the cooling of relations between
Burr and Harris was almost deliberately orchestrated by Harris himself, all
because Harris, planning ahead, already wanted Nicko McBrain to replace
him. Overreactions to irrelevant spats and small cracks in interpersonal
relationships were made bigger, post-gig backstage tensions rose, and
musically, Clive was being pushed to new, nigh-impossible (and unnecessary)
heights he was finding it harder and harder to reach, resulting in his slow sidle
towards the door marked “Iron Maiden exit”. Bruce Dickinsom painted a clear
picture saying: “Clive’s luggage was an issue – Clive got more luggages. Steve
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jumped on the drum riser, telling him to play faster – Clive slowed down.”
Read between the lines, all this meant was that Nicko was on his way in, and it
was necessary to find a way for Clive to drive himself out so they wouldn’t
have to fire him. Burr held on like a burr, to the end of the tour, and was still
willing to remain in Iron Maiden. This has been confirmed by McBrain himself,
who says Clive phoned him while on tour and mentioned that he was aware of
the band’s interest in him, and that they would soon ask him to be their new
drummer. Nicko McBrain is another reason why the justification that Clive’s
departure was caused by his excessive partying and alcoholic tendencies is more
than a little ridiculous – McBrain was everything that Clive was, and a bigger and
‘worse’ party animal, even ending up in a sobriety rehabilitation program at one
stage. So two reasons named in numerous interviews simply don’t hold water.
Nicko met the Irons in 1982 while still a member of their support act, Trust,
impressing them as much with his positive insanity and playful nature as
with his playing. In addition to being an excellent drummer, he was also a
great showman, capturing audience attention – and a ‘nutter’ at the drum
kit was exactly what Steve wanted for the band. If you recall, Steve was and
remains to this day a huge fan of The Who, and he wanted a new Keith
Moon, a madman playing the drums who would be more than just a
drummer, who would shake up the new generations, and more pompously,
shake up the world. His surname McBrain was later used as a concept for
the visual identity of ‘Piece of Mind’ and only made the media presentation
more effective. When Steve and Rod met Nicko, bells rang, something
clicked and they knew: this was it. Clive’s foundations within the band had
been stable enough, but now the ground began to slide out from under him
and it’s an ugly way to put it, he was practically bullied, forced to leave the
band because, although the decision had been made elsewhere, Steve didn’t
want to be the bad guy in public, and it was easier to blame Clive for his
vices. We cannot fault Steve for his vision, however – in the band’s early
history, there was a change in their line-up every year between 1975 and
1983, resulting in the now “classic” group which lasted together for the next
seven years to release four studio albums and a live recording. They found it
easy to introduce Bruce to the public, pointing to his vocal ability and a
range which Di’Anno wouldn’t have been able to match, not to mention his
immeasurably better stage presence. Removing Clive, on the other hand,
was a risk – not only was he at the top of his game and an excellent
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drummer who is still praised today, he was also a favourite with the female
fans – and the critics. His popularity with the gentler sex may have been an
important contributing factor in his dismissal, because Iron Maiden never
wanted to be seen as an act that gains support using their looks. What they
wanted – and ultimately achieved for the duration of their career – was to
remain true to the purest form of heavy metal. In a technical drumming
sense, there was nothing innovative that McBrain could bring to the table,
making his acquisition and replying Clive imperative. What he brought was
dependability: with Harris losing more and more confidence in Clive, he
wanted an assurance that his drummer could be counted on should the
band go on to even greater levels of success. From day one, Harris had
learned that he had to be a hardworking man, and he expected no less from
everyone around him – but he had to wise up to the fact that, while Iron
Maiden was his “toy”, or his “brainchild”, the others, Clive Burr among
them, were high on the success of the moment and wanted to enjoy their
new found fame. Not everyone had the same perception of the band as
Harris, and he evidently didn’t approve. Dickinson’s comment tends to
confirm the theory: “It wasn’t about partying, or girls, because everybody
was guilty of that at some time or another. ‘Artistic differences’ would be to
overstate his creative input. The breakdown of the relationship between a
drummer and a bass player is pretty fundamental, especially if the bass
player also happens to be the principal songwriter and band leader.”
Although Steve has claimed that the band wasn’t functioning well – with
Clive already living under the shadow of the axe – as early as their US tour,
having listened to what bootlegs are available I can’t say I see it. Truth be
told, there are fewer bootlegs by far than those gigs which were never
recorded, and other band members have confirmed that Clive received
several warnings which served to calm him down for a while, but he would
always go back to his wild ways. More than anything, Iron Maiden wanted a
drummer who would last the entire tour, even if he was technically inferior
– something Nicko certainly isn’t, but his style is the complete opposite of
the sound that Clive gave the band to make them stand out. Nicko was in an
unenviable position, having to create and enforce his own style of
drumming, but even more importantly, he had to justify the burgeoning
trust Harris had transferred over to him from Clive. Knowing why his
predecessor was leaving the band, he was well aware that he couldn’t
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behave in a similar way. The irreconcilable differences between Clive and

Steve began slowly, but they grew like the cracks on the Usher house (E. A.
Poe – ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’), becoming destructive to the band as
a whole and too risky to consider fixing. Something had to give.
Having met Nicko at a party in New York, Rod Smallwood’s opinion of him
after he joined Iron Maiden was unchanged: he was still crazy, maybe even
more so, and a brilliant drummer. Steve hadn’t just found his Keith Moon, a
nutcase genius who played transparent drums filled with water and swimming
goldfish, in his own words, the band had found peace in knowing that, no
matter what, Nicko would always be ready. They joked that he “always carries
an extra bag of energy” and praised the dedication that meant nothing in the
world was more important to him than the responsibility to perfectly play the
drums. His style gave the band a playful element, the guitars and vocal had
more room in the foreground – giving them the opportunity to create more
complex melodies and experiment. That said, it was difficult to match the
intensity and groove of Clive’s beats, something many fans agree on today –
Maiden gained a lot with Nicko, but they also lost. Some say they lost their soul,
the soul of the ‘New Wave of British Heavy Metal’ and the hunger of the streets
of London. Even so, what they got was an open door into a new world, and
without Nicko’s approach to drumming, they would be a totally different band!
Adrian Smith says that Nicko has always had an excellent sense for the feel
and technical side of things, but not until Maiden did he finally explode and
evolve into what the world knows today, with many songs written after his
arrival based on his style and the “busy patterns he does, displaying
tremendous technique,” It’s difficult to speculate what could had been but
McBrain’s drumming and showmanship contributed something Steve may
have foreseen regardless of his desire to be rid of Clive. At the end of the
day, Iron Maiden’s successful career and McBrain’s 36 years of contributing
give their weight to this theory. Sadly, Clive didn’t find his future career as
rewarding, which could also be seen as significant.
Nicko had hung out with Maiden even before his stint in their support act, Trust.
Many fans are unaware that he actually appears in their video for ‘The Number
of the Beast’, dressed as the Devil himself. It seems that Clive’s days in the band
were numbered even then, with ‘The Beast on the Road’ still in its early stages…
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Nicko McBrain, appearing masked in ‘The Number of the Beast’
An interesting bit of trivia is that Nicko’s first public appearance with Iron
Maiden was on a Belgian TV show – where he was masked again, this time
as Eddie, because the band still hadn’t made Clive’s departure public. This
was repeated a third time in their video for the song ‘Flight of Icarus’. Nicko
McBrain is listed as a member of the Iron Maiden line-up in the booklet of
their next album, ‘Piece of Mind’, which also holds a unique mention of – Clive
Burr – an acknowledgment and thanks with an added “good luck mate”. It is
unique because if you look closely, no other departure of a band member in
the years after the first album – Dennis Stratton, Paul Di’Anno, Adrian Smith,
Bruce Dickinson, and Blaze Bayley – warranted this sort of dedication – nor
any other. Dennis is never spoken of, as though he doesn’t exist, Di’Anno and
Dickinson have been killed by Eddie on the cover art of two singles (the
Venezuelan edition of ‘Maiden Japan’ and ‘Hallowed be Thy Name’,
respectively), Blaze Bayley disappears without trace following Bruce’s return
despite having done no wrong, leaving the band only because Bruce
expressed the desire to return alongside Smith, making him surplus. Why
wasn’t he mentioned in thanks and acknowledgments? Can this message to
Clive, written in the sleeve notes, be a sign of Steve Harris’ conscience
burdening him just a little for not having more patience with an old comrade
from the pre-band days and for running him out of the band? Clive Burr never
really backed the official story n my many conversations with him – from the
moment his mate Dennis Stratton informed him that the Irons were in the
market for a drummer, from the moment Rod and Steve came to see him live
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at the small pub he was playing in, later meeting with him alone and for a
single rehearsal, Clive was living his dream. From an early age, he’d wanted to
be a drummer and joining Iron Maiden made that dream a reality – and now it
had been taken away because of the ambition of others.
Through a natural progression from hard rock with hints of punk, and with no
special instructions on an exact sound they needed to achieve, Iron Maiden
became a full-blooded heavy metal act, and Clive role in this was significant.
From tour bus to hotel to venue, back to the bus, it was a crazy rhythm without
a single day’s rest… It was a challenge these young people suddenly faced… “We
didn't really have time to stop and think about what was happening. Everything
was going so fast, it was a crazy schedule: hotel, gig, hotel, gig... When we
arrived at a venue, everything was already set, all we had to do was get on
stage...“ Clive told France’s Hard Rock magazine, trying to stress that he’s just
another band member with no real influence on big decisions. He saw
everything that was happening as the band’s natural evolution, reminding that
even the contributions of both Dickinson and Smith had no effect on their
ultimately needing to leave the band, with no other option available to them.
In the final interview he would ever give, Clive put it like this: “My departure
from the band wasn’t my will or my desire, and I believe the rest of the band
felt the same. But when the bosses – Steve Harris in this case, with their
manager’s heartfelt support, and especially in this early stage of the band’s
career – then they better keep quiet. At the end of the day, what they’re
seeing is what could easily happen to them if they fail to toe the line or stick
out in any way other than the perfect dream that someone has. Never mind
other people’s dreams, Iron Maiden’s been Harris’ band since day one and
anyone who joined had to be very aware of this. I never left Maiden and I
wouldn’t have left them, because the band was my dream come true. But
when the decision was made known to me, I accepted it without a fight and
walked away. I knew they (he) didn’t want me anymore, and any further
effort would be a waste of time, I’d never be good enough.”
“All these years,” Clive carried on “from the day I left until the moment they
held the fundraising concert for my medical bills, I’ve been afraid in a way, I’ve
wondered what fans today think of Maiden’s early days, do they even know
who I am or am I just some second-rate drummer who used to drum for the
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Irons. I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised, many fans have never
forgotten me, and when I took the stage in my wheelchair, they welcomed me
with open arms and open hearts. I’ll treasure that memory forever.
Shortly after this interview, Clive Burr passed away – by eerie coincidence,
(according to the press and Wikipedia – while his partner Mimi claims the
information is false), on 12/03/2013, the birthday of none other than Steve
Harris, as though to remind him that ‘there’s a time to live and a time to die’….
Harris said farewell to Clive in a message on the official Iron Maiden website
with these words: "This is terribly sad news. Clive was a very old friend of all of
us. He was a wonderful person and an amazing drummer who made a
valuable contribution to Maiden in the early days when we were starting out.
This is a sad day for everyone in the band and those around him and our
thoughts and condolences are with his partner Mimi and family at this time.”
Clive will be remembered as the co-author of the songs ‘Gangland’ and ‘Total
Eclipse’, while anyone who wants to see his white drum kit can visit the Hard
Rock Café in London, where they were donated for display. Looking at the tree
planted on his grave on that overcast day in October 2017, all that was going
through my head were the last notes of the last song Clive ever recorded with
Maiden… ‘Hallowed be Thy Name’. So RIP, mate, good luck wasn’t yours to find.
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THE NUMBER OF THE MERCH

Iron Maiden soon became aware on that the fans had accepted Eddie as an
integral part of the band, and that their further success would in part be based
off the iconography of Eddie and their cover illustrations. Their initial
merchandise output was fairly modest, but as early as 1982 they realised that
would become their most lucrative product apart from the music. Today, in
fact, they earn more from merchandise sales than from actual music sales.
Often, record companies created their own promo materials independently

of Iron Maiden, some of them even more imaginative. Moreover, although
great things were expected of ‘The Number of the Beast’, the album’s cult
status didn’t come until much later, so most of the merchandise, like this
mug, is much newer…
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Today, you won’t have a problem finding Iron Maiden Vans trainers, Zippo
lighters and many of the other items presented here. Indeed, most Iron
Maiden merchandise available today is sold through licencing agreements
and sponsorships, giving them maybe the biggest part of their profits…
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Mind you, new fans can get a little lost in this hyper-production of licenced
merchandise, leading to somewhat of an aversion to it all. The market is
saturated with licenced clothing, shoes, pretty much anything that can host
a logo or an old illustration. Then there’s the plague of UNlicenced
merchandise, where the logos and illustrations are slapped on without
permission, and which can be found in plenty on eBay, AliExpress and similar
places were this kind of stuff can be purchased. I sometimes feel like the
band has lost the battle to the mass of “Made in China” products
shamelessly sold everywhere. I understand when someone releases – even
unofficially – a piece of merch that doesn’t use the logo or an illustration but
references Iron Maiden in some other original way, but selling a product
which would normally cost only a couple of $ or € and multiplying its price
with an appliqued illustration and logo is really theft.
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Newer interesting releases that can still be found in some internet stores
and auctions include Eddie dolls and figurines. Pictured: Neca Head Knockers
and Art Asylum 18“ NOTB figures.
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Various supporting characters have appeared on album and single covers

throughout Iron Maiden’s history; The Devil on ‘The Number of the Beast’, the
gravedigger on ‘No Prayer for the Dying’, the boy on the ‘Virtual XI’ cover, the
skeleton soldiers on ‘A Matter of Life and Death’ to name a few. Despite quite a
lot of fan interest, the Irons have never shown much will to market them
commercially. Of the above, the Devil has been used occasionally, but even then
not nearly as much as he could have been. However, as you can see by the
preceding photos, he was part of the doll assortment, and a mask of him was
also sold at one point. An illustration of him was also used for branding and
promoting the game ‘Ed Hunter’ as well as ‘Legacy of the Beast'. The Devil is
really the only supporting character who appears on multiple singles – three (as
well as ‘Hallowed be Thy Name, where he takes a different form), one studio
release and one compilation, the comic book, on tour posters, t-shirts etc.
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As mentioned earlier, various masks have become a staple of any serious

collection, and the market has quite a selection of both official masks, licenced
merch and unofficial products, some of which are even better quality than the
official ones. ‘The Number of the Beast’ doesn’t have one of Eddie’s more
recognisable faces, so those who had to come up with merchandising ideas
must have felt that even the Devil was more interesting to turn into a mask.
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Equally valuable today are vinyl records – once an everyday thing. Namely, in
the early eighties, nearly all the Spanish speaking countries in South and
Central America had their own album editions, with the liner text regularly
translated to Spanish – from the album name to the song titles and lyrics. This
went to such extremes that EMI was forced to ship official finished covers with
already translated covers – album title font and all – included… Have a look at
a few examples:
00000000000
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Fans are happy to own several different editions of a record or video, the
differences being in small details – listing them all would take up an entire
book of its own. If you want to see all the different releases of ‘The Number
of the Beast’, I suggest you visit http://maidenargus.blogspot.com and I
have no doubt you’ll be surprised at the sheer numbers. On the next few
pages, you can see just a small part of the audio cassette collection, pay the
link above a visit for the rest.
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The previous page contains images of cassette covers from the Japan, Egypt,
Thailand, Chile, Bulgaria and Canada releases, while this page shows the
editions from Korea, Italy, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, New Zealand
and Brazil. A mistake is visible on the third cover (Thailand) – Paul Di’Anno was
listed as a member of the band instead of Bruce Dickinson! On the next page,
you can see the covers released in China, Spain, Uruguay, India, Germany,
Argentina, Australia, Greece and Indonesia
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As ever, my friend Rasmus Stavnsborg has been kind enough to share

photos of his own extensive collection, which will be the images on the
several following pages. They represent a mere fraction of Rasmus’
collection and I’ll be focusing on items which are now quite hard to find on
sale, and even in some collectors’ archives.
Johny Lighting ‘The Number of the Beast’ truck is very rare item.
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Iron Maiden ‘The Number of the Beast lunch box and termo bottle.
Iron Maiden ‘The Number of the Beast’ watch, signed by Derek Riggs.
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Part of the original sketch for Iron Maiden’s stage backdrop
This is a very special bit of memorabilia – unique, in fact: the printing plates
with the offset of the CD release of ‘The Number of the Beast’.
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'The Number of the Beast' figure and original shop display.
'The Number of the Beast' Mousemat.
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‘The Number of the Beast’ special edition rhomboid poster and the
certificate of authenticity for the limited edition of printed covers, signed by
Derek Riggs
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The biggest collector of Iron Maiden t-shirts, with a specialty for the period
spanning their early days through 1993, is Matthew Ward of Australia. As
always, he has sent us photos of a great number of shirts from his collection,
so fans who aren’t aware of his collection can see some gorgeous specimens.
He has a whopping sixty four shirts from ‘The Number of the Beast’ and we’re
sure he’ll soon hit the symbolic number 66. This ‘The Prisoner’ shirt is the
most special, since it is the only 1980s shirt which doesn’t display the band’s
name, or logo, or even Eddie. The shirt is, of course, official, and was available
through the Iron Maiden fan club in 1983-84. As with my earlier books, the
next few pages will be filled with photos of some of the most beautiful shirts
from Matthew’s still growing collection. If you ever find yourself buying or
selling a shirt online, and you’re not sure of the price, or whether the item is
an original or a fake, you can always contact Matthew – he’s on Facebook with
his real name, and he will always be happy to assist.
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LEGACY OF THE BEAST

Considering the technological development of the modern world, it was to
be expected that Iron Maiden would sooner or later venture into the world
of video games – and it happened sooner rather than later. Pompous
announcements as early as the mid-Nineties heralded the game ‘Melt’,
which almost saw a release, with official Iron Maiden news channels and
even FC magazine publishing potential release dates. Ultimately, it never
saw the light of day due to the poor quality of the final product.
Sometime later, at the close of the millennium, the first Iron Maiden related
game was announced and finally released. ‘Ed Hunter’ came alongside a
compilation CD and tour of the same name, with Adrian Smith and Bruce
Dickinson re-joining the band. In spite of a strong marketing campaign and
the fans’ easy acceptance, the game quickly fell into obscurity, a lack of
adequate tech support and upgrades, it became obsolete. We had to wait
another eighteen years for Iron Maiden to make an announcement for a
new game, this time a free mobile game called ‘Legacy of the Beast’. Many
fans saw the name as ominous, possibly heralding a final Iron Maiden tour,
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after which they would retire from the scene, but members of the band put
these dark thoughts to rest, announcing at least one more studio album.
Many of Iron Maiden’s fans have listened to them for decades and have
children of their own, who play games on their PCs, tablets or smartphones,
buy plush toys of the games’ characters in stores – Pokémon, Angry Birds
etc. Did these old school fans and parents ever hope to see this kind of
picture leaping out at them from the front page of the Iron Maiden website
as “breaking news”?
“Eddie the Bird lands in 'Legacy of the Beast!” screamed the title in large
type, and parents simply had to make their peace with the fact that a new
age has come, and that Iron Maiden want to go out in style, passing their
legacy to a new generation in the process… Because the old fans will always
love them and follow their every new live release, compilation, remaster
and whatever comes once the Irons retire, while new fans, who never got a
chance to see them live, will fall in love with Eddie from a young age,
through games like we did through album covers on vinyl and cassette.
Quite a good, forward-thinking marketing strategy – because if you thought
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the game and action figures sold with it were designed and intended for
existing fans, you’re barking up the wrong tree. Only true Iron Maiden
collectors (of whom there’s a good number still) are buying these, but I
know many fans who downloaded the ‘Legacy of the Beast’ game, tried
playing it and gave up after a few days.
Never mind that now – we’re not here for the game, but for something else
entirely. Following the release of their album ‘The Number of the Beast’ and
the corresponding ‘The Beast on the Road’ tour, Iron Maiden recorded and
released a live album: ‘Beast over Hammersmith’. This was only the start of
their use and branding of anything and everything connected to the words
and concept of the Beast, the Devil, 666, hell etc. Just remember the first
audio compilation from the late 90sm, named ‘The Best of the Beast’, the
video release ‘Visions of the Beast’ and later still the semi-anniversary tour
‘A Matter of the Beast’. A new title – ‘Legacy of the Beast’ – emerged with
fanfares in 2017 and 2018, a triple name for the mobile phone game, the
2018 tour, and the latest Iron Maiden project – a comic book!
And that’s not all (as the popular TV adverts teach us)! If you buy that, you’ll
also receive the compilation album ‘Maiden Hell’, the ‘Rising Hell’ video,
‘Flight 666’ film and compilation, and the ‘Trooper 666’ beer!
‘The Beast’ – through the years, the name has slowly but surely become a
synonym for Iron Maiden and vice versa, something they’re profited from at
every step and have no intention of dropping now. This is exactly how the
significance of the album ‘The Number of the Beast’ should be viewed, with
the careful consideration Iron maiden gave to how they would take their
place in the then-growing heavy metal world stage, and the rock market in
general. Long before 1982, various bands courted controversy with songs
and albums with religions and spiritual themes, examples being The Rolling
Stones, identified within the context of ‘Sympathy for the Devil’. Then came
Meat Loaf with his ‘Bat Out of Hell’, AC/DC with ‘Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to
Be’, ‘Highway to Hell’ and ‘Hell’s Bells’, Black Sabbath with 'Heaven and
Hell', Judas Priest – ‘Hell Bent for Leather’, ‘Saints in Hell’ and ‘Devil's Child’,
Alice Cooper and ‘Devil's Food’, The Misfits’ ‘All Hell Breaks Loose’… Many
songs throughout history have contained the words ‘hell’ and ‘devil’, but
always used outside the aforementioned context, but when I tried to find
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even a remotely world famous song using the word ‘beast’ or even the
phrase ‘number of the beast’, finding anything recorded and released earlier
than 1979 was a mission impossible – meaning that Iron Maiden hit the
target squarely in the middle, taking up their position for all time: The
Beast? Iron Maiden. Number of the Beast? Iron Maiden. 666 = Iron Maiden.
Investing in ‘The Beast’ brand paid off for Iron Maiden, and speaking from a
marketing perspective, they are today ideally placed: in addition to the giant
music industry, even the film world and the other entertainment industries
have no other adequate product with the same name, at least not one
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which could leap out in a significant way to disrupt Iron Maiden’s brand and
separate them from the concept in a way that would siphon merchandizing
and revenue generation away from them. You think there won’t be any new
products referencing the ‘beast’, ‘hell’ and ‘666’? I’m convinced there will be
more of them than we can imagine.
Step by step, as time passed, the song ‘The Number of the Beast’ has had its
share of cover versions by various bands and artists, with the most interesting
take being recorded by Djal Zwan, which found its way onto the soundtrack of
the cult movie ‘Spun’. The song has also been featured in video games like
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‘Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4’, ‘Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock’ and as
downloadable content in ‘Rock Band’ (originally offered as a cover version, the
original master recording complete with spoken introduction was also
uploaded along with ‘Run to the Hills’ and a live performance version of
‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’). You might have also heard it in the film ‘Murder by
Numbers’ and the British TV series ‘Sherlock’, but all this is tip of the iceberg of
its use, more and more frequent and in ever more mainstream projects. For
example, when Iron Maiden t-shirts were given a wide release in so called
‘high street’ fashion, the very first design used by all the well-known retailers
was – ‘The Number of the Beast’. Did they accidentally want that one design?
Highly unlikely – it is more probable that this was the design which was
approved and offered to them. Visit a store like H&M, Zara, Pull & Bear,
Bershka, Topshop and many others, and you’ll see mainly designs featuring
‘The Number of the Beast’, and occasionally ‘Killers’ and ‘Fear of the Dark’.
Pull & Bear webshop - Screenshot. H&M on the next page.
At the time of writing, numerous websites offer sale prices and discounts for
licenced Iron Maiden shirts. At H&M for example, a licenced ‘The Number of
the Beast’ t-shirt can be yours for less than 4 pounds – and is generally of a
better quality than the so-called originals.
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This brings us to question how far this has all gone, and have loyal fans have
become in reality an unimportant factor in all this consumerist and
marketing madness? In fact, if we look at the discount price on this page,
and consider the fact that many shirts offered there are of better, or at least
equal quality to those on offer in the band’s official shops, it would appear
that the loyal fans are also the stupidest (including me), for somehow
believing that our loyalty and devotion are doing something holy, helping
our favourite band. Those are good night stories for small children. ‘Legacy
of the Beast’? Yes, this is the legacy of the beast, whether we like it or not.
Iron Maiden will, someday, retire from music, and all that’s happening and
changing is a sign of what’s to come.
Their limited edition beer, for example, ‘Trooper 666’ did not pass the taste
test with many fans, even for an average grade – which didn’t stop them
from buying it by the gallon, in the hope that they’ll be able to sell it for a
good price one day. This is what it comes down to today.
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This is from the Pinterest profile of a

Masha Sedgwick: a photograph of
the model Carla Brigando with the
following caption: ‘Carla saved to
wardrobe fantasies New York Fashion
Week. Wearing a red Chloe bag, an
Iron Maiden shirt from Topshop and
blue blazer from Joseph. Street style.’
Naturally, I’ve got nothing against

beautiful young ladies wearing Iron
Maiden t-shirts under any
circumstances, nor should any other
fan but… We need to be realistic and
aware that fans’ expectations of their
idols are no more than a romantic
illusion of both the music industry
and the band as an institution. The
differences are minimal in how far a
band will let itself go, how much
“shit-eating” is required to get as much cash as possible. Some will go further
than others, same as for the lengths at which they allow the degradation of
the band name and everything their members have sworn to stand by in
interviews. Be that as it may, Iron Maiden are still walking the fine line.
Ultimately, whatever the legacy of the beast, we helped them create it, and
we have to live with the consequences. ‘The Number of the Beast’ brand
within a brand opened many doors for them, and it’s natural that they will use
this for as long as they can. And of course, it has absolutely no bearing on
things like Nicko McBrain’s ‘born again’ Christian declarations. Faith is one
thing, Mammon is another. It will be fall to us, the fans, however, to spread
the biggest legacy, (second only to the timeless music, naturally), which is
community, a brotherhood and sisterhood of tens of millions of people from
all parts of the world, of all ages and statuses. When it comes to Iron Maiden,
nearly all differences and impediments disappear, borders and language
barriers are erased. If there’s anything negative in the legacy of the beast, I
can’t see it
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HALLOWED BE THY NAME

‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ is surely the best song in the history of heavy metal.
Can I claim something like this without so much as blinking an eye? Well, yes, I
can and here I do. The history of heavy metal is neither brief nor shallow: for
five decades, it has been crammed with songs of such calibre that making this
kind of claim in books intended for posterity carries great responsibility. Think
of just a few other bands and songs, from hit singles through hymns and cult
epics: everyone will find a favourite, and everyone will be at least partially
right. For how do you choose between songs like ‘Master of Puppets’, ‘Heaven
and Hell’, ‘Painkiller’, ‘The Price’, ‘The Bard’s Song’, ‘Walk‘, ‘Raining Blood‘,
‘Holy Diver‘, ‘Crazy Train‘, ‘Holy War… The Punishment Due‘, ‘Hells Bells‘,
‘Cosmic Sea‘, ‘Mother North‘, ‘Keeper of the Seven Keys‘ and many others?
But if you make the effort and trawl the internet for a while, you’ll see that
‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ ranks in the top three, at worst in the top five on
almost all the lists of the best heavy metal songs in the world. And if you
compare the infinite number of similar lists, statistically, this song is far ahead of
its closest rival. Even on www.gibson.com, a website you’d expect to prefer
more guitar-oriented songs, this song is in the number one spot, described thus:
“Iron Maiden are the kings of the end-of-the-album-side, eight-minute epic

and – with apologies to 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner', 'Fear of the Dark' and a
few others – they’ve never done it better than on this ‘Number of the Beast’
monster. From the initial bell tolling to the rush of the full-band entrance
around the one-minute mark and the enthralling riff that follows, the song
never ceases to build. Just as the lyrical character’s anticipation and terror
escalates on his walk to the gallows, so builds the power of the track. By the
end of the song, as Bruce Dickinson belts “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Hallowed Be Thy
Name!” the listener is in full-out headbanging frenzy. With winding, weaving,
harmonizing twin solos from Adrian Smith and Dave Murray, and thunderous
backing from bestial bassist Steve Harris and drummer Clive Burr, the song is,
perhaps, the perfect distillation of the unmatchable Iron Maiden formula.”
To find out what people think of this song, I’ve truly spent many hours
researching these various charts, places where there are frequent
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differences of opinion, even outright fights between fans of different bands,

yet no one seems to object to this song. One fan thus states: “What is the
weak part of this song? Lyrics is epic, guitar and drum in the very beginning
are exquisite and the vocal is legendary. This is the only song that has got 10
on 10 on every single field. The absolute song, complete under every point of
view! I honestly don't even consider it a simple heavy metal song, for me it's
something more! No-one could ever recreate a masterpiece like this one. It's
this ecstatic kind of angelic feeling that wins my heart and taking it to the
spot of the greatest song ever.”
Many others agree with this claim: “This song defines metal. If someone asks
you to show him/her what metal is with only one song, this is definitely the
right tune. Starting in a slow way like a man's depression and resignation
then get a fast conclusion, like don't be afraid of death, really the greatest
metal song ever! This has the darkest, heaviest, most poetic, deepest and
meaningful lyrics ever produced in a song. This is a masterpiece.”
‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ is a song that, in its structure, theme and execution
represents all the subgenres of heavy metal as is the embodiment of heavy
metal and of Iron Maiden. And Iron Maiden are a prime example of all that
heavy metal really is. Strangely enough, the construction of this song is
unique even for an Iron Maiden signature epic, the exceptions being
‘Phantom of the Opera’, composed on an entirely different basis, and 'To
Tame a Land', whose concept can be considered a copy/paste of 'Hallowed
Be Thy Name'. All of Iron Maiden’s other better known epic songs tend to
follow a standard development structure for such a song and its chorus,
'Rime of the Ancient Mariner', 'Alexander the Great', 'Seventh Son of a
Seventh Son', ‘Fear of the Dark', 'Sign of the Cross', 'The Clansman', 'Blood
Brothers' to name but a few. ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ is an atypical epic in
which the final line of the song, itself the song title, assumes the role of the
otherwise non-existent chorus, at the same time putting a stamp of
authenticity on everything that Iron Maiden truly are. Can any other song
claim to be a better ending to a heavy metal album? An even more specific
question, can you imagine a stranger and less typical ending to an album
named ‘The Number of the Beast’ than a song called ‘Hallowed Be Thy
Name’ ending on the very lyric that makes up the title of the song itself?
'Hallowed Be Thy Name', for those of us not as well versed in Christianity, or
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religion in general, is a phrase taken straight from Christianity’s most famous

prayer, spoken (according to lore) by Jesus himself as he taught his disciples
to pray on the Mount of Olives. The first part of the prayer reads:
Our Father, who art in heaven,

Hallowed be Thy Name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven
Sermon on mount. Screenshoot from Ben Hur film.
In this case, however, the cries of “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah – Hallowed Be Thy
Name” at the end of the song sound more like the ironic and darkly
humorous observation of a man condemned to soon be hanged, spending
the last moments before his execution examining himself and his life. With
his life about to be extinguished, he questions the meaning of everything
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and wonders what awaits us all after death, touching on the frequently
taboo subject of the fear of death itself. In the song, we see that the
condemned man no longer cares for the words of the priest and the last
rites being read to him in his cell. Instead, he spends his final moments
contemplating the last rays of light coming in from the ‘world outside’,
through the bars on the window. In the lines that follow, the author of the
song hints that the prisoner awaiting execution is not really guilty of the
crime he has been convicted of (perhaps the Murders in the Rue Morgue –
at least the version of the story told in Iron Maiden’s preceding album and
based on the original tale by Edgar Allan Poe). Here, the protagonist himself
wonders if all his suffering in this moment is a mistake, he questions this
moment and whether it is really the end of his journey or some insane
dream. Of course, with shades of panic and the fear of death in his tone, he
merely begs someone to wake him up and tell him it was all an ugly dream.
He doesn’t hide the fact that he finds it difficult to stay calm and collected in
these moments, especially for an innocent man. And through this agony –
fear, panic, anxiety, longing – through his tears of terror at the thought of
dying, he has a sudden thought: “Why I'm crying, alter all I am not afraid of
dying, don't I believe that there never is an end?”
These precise words have marked Steve Harris’s lyrical opus throughout Iron
Maiden’s career. Contemplation of the afterlife is emphasised here for the
first time in the band’s career, later becoming almost omnipresent, featured
in almost every important Iron Maiden song written by Steve Harris. While a
culmination of sorts comes about on the 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son'
album, Steve Harris’s texts also frequently wonder about the meaning of life
and the existence of a god. In fact, as of the time of this publication (2018),
in none of the songs do we hear even the hint of an outright opinion or
answer, with Harris preferring to remain ambiguous and providing fairly
incomplete answers which end on a question more often than not.
‘Hallowed’ itself contains an example in the following lyrics:
As the guards march me out to the courtyard

Somebody cries from a cell "God be with you"
If there's a God then why has he let me go?
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In accordance with its first person singular storytelling form (another crucial
characteristics of all of Steve Harris’s texts), this song certainly needed to
contain a sense of development, of progress, culminating in a meaningful
ending. Nothing else would have given it weight and significance, nor would a
legendary cult have sprung up around it and remained throughout history. In
order to achieve this, the beginning of the song, even heard for the first time,
needed to convey to the listener a sense that something had to happen.
OK, so a man sits in a prison cell, contemplating the life he has lived and his
impending death by hanging, the sand in the top of the hourglass of his life
is running out. Heavy bells toll in the belfry; at five o’clock the man must
face the gallows. The priest reads him the last rites; distracted, he does not
hear them, staring at the last light from the outside world. What should
follow this scene but the very process of execution? The time has come, the
prisoner is led outside, someone in the cell calls out “God be with you”… and
he wonders, “what god, the one who has abandoned me and fucked me
over now, when I am in most need of help, although I believed in him and in
life after death?” All sorts of thoughts come unbidden in that moment,
minutes from certain, inescapable death, even if you were once a man of
faith. The sudden, unenviable position of knowing you are about to die, not
some day, but now, immediately, changes everything in a split second.
Though you believed for your entire life, or maybe only “believed” that
death was not the end, right now, facing that end you begin to manically
wonder and sceptically conclude “but what if all of this, everything I’ve
believed in my whole life, was an ordinary lie?” Now, in the song Harris asks,
“If there's a God then why has he let me go?” – a thought likely to occur to
any normal, rational human being; if religion is really a well contrived
falsehood, man simply has no way of countering the words of those who
preach it. They will always tell you that God himself in the person of Jesus
also had human and sinful questions, that he himself doubted for a moment
and said “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” How, they will
then ask, how can you expect an ordinary man from saying something
similar? It’s an age old response, used by all manner of preachers to shut the
sceptical mouth and leave the asker wordless and ashamed. Hence, if all this
is an invention, it is a perfect invention, intended to prove to man how
fragile his “faith” is, to show him that he has spent his life merely professing
his faith, rather than living it. Nevertheless, the question remains… Are there
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enough of the true faithful? When Death comes for its own, many masks will
fall and many people intensely wonder what awaits them. On the other hand
(and again according to the homilies), if religion is not a masterfully executed
construct, it is something no one has ever been or will be able to confirm. Only
faith can bring us there: if you believe, you’re bound for Heaven, if you doubt
then woe unto you – so what’s a normal man to do? Death is feared by all,
especially when it slowly creeps towards you, and it’s tough to stay dedicated
to your faith before that final departure. This is also what makes the eternal
dilemma in Harris’s songs truly interesting to listeners, everyone is free to
come up with their own answer. Since he leaves the questions unanswered
and ambiguous, he is able to tell and sell the same story with variations on the
theme, year in, year out, from album to album. Of course, make no mistake
here: Harris writes about plenty of other subjects, but this one dominates. The
last lines of the song, (according to the sleeve lyrics), are:
As I walk all my life drifts before me

And though the end is near I'm not sorry
Here, we see the continuation of the plot. The man is led to the gallows
themselves while putting together a mosaic of his past, and just before he is
executed, he realises that he is no, in fact, sorry for anything. From a man
almost literally frightened to death and unable to resign himself to
everything that is happening to him, he suddenly has the entirely opposite
thought – no regrets? Regrets over what? A life, well lived and enjoyed, the
way it ended, acts he may have committed but ever repented? What regret?
This is a tough one to answer, because in this song, incomplete in a lyrical

sense, Steve Harris’s train of thought is suddenly cut short at a key moment,
leaving the listener wondering and confused. Do you know the seagull’s cry
of “Tekeli-Li”, in the famous and only novel written by legendary American
author Edgar Allan Poe? The situation at the end of this song reminds me of
exactly that: “Tekeli-Li” was the last thing heard by Arthur Gordon Pym and
his friend Peters, just before they spotted the great white creature in the sky
upon entering the North Pole. The novel abruptly ends here, at the climax of
the tale, and dying shortly after, Poe took the secret of a possible
continuation – and any hidden message in the work – to his grave (although
Jules Verne did his best in a sequel to the story as he envisaged it). Similarly,
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Steve Harris ends his own narration and finishes the song with lyrics by a
1970s band named Beckett. This act precipitated serious complications
more than thirty-five years later, with copyright problems looming over the
song much as the shadow of the gallows looms over its protagonist. With all
these new findings (which I’ll detail later in the text), one question begs to
be asked: did Steve Harris write the song and use someone else’s lyrics to
end it in the best way possible (unable to finish what he’d started in an
effective way)? Or did he perhaps have these lines on his mind before he
even started writing the song and, knowing the ending of the story in
advance, did he lead his lyrics to the point where the existing lines would
simply become their continuation?
Namely, following these lines:
As I walk all my life drifts before me

And though the end is near I'm not sorry
Harris continues with “Catch my soul 'cause it's willing to fly away”. Nothing
especially strange there, you’d say… the protagonist of our story moves
beyond panic and fear into a peaceful state and completely gives himself over
(to God? Satan?), realising that he regrets nothing and releases his soul, which
is ready to fly away. Where to is not specifically stated. This line is taken from
the song ‘Rainbow's Gold’ by the aforementioned band Beckett.
In the heat of the morning

When your day is still dawning
And your bird, she's singing
Catch your soul, he's willing to fly away
Packed your bags in a hurry

Because your mind's in a worry
Mark my words, you're gonna be sorry if you ever fly away
Let me be clear as daylight as I explain the whole situation pertaining to the

copyright problems that have cropped up a full thirty-five years after the
song’s release. It is true that Iron Maiden’s manager Rod Smallwood also
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managed Beckett during the 1970s. It is also true that Steve Harris was and
remains a fan of Beckett, and finally… Yes, it’s true that some members of
Beckett continued to socialise with the Irons, even after ‘Hallowed Be Thy
Name’ was released. So how can this “borrowing” of lyrics be interpreted?
1. Catch my soul 'cause it's willing to fly away (Iron Maiden)

2. Catch your soul, he's willing to fly away (Beckett)
The first line, from Iron Maiden’s song, is obviously not completely identical to
Beckett’s, but we cannot escape the impression that it is the same line, used
yet slightly changed, perhaps deliberately so, to avoid possible future troubles
over copyright. To make things even more interesting, a mere year later Iron
Maiden released a cover of the whole song ‘Rainbow’s Gold’, source of the
lyric, as a B-side of one of their singles, fully crediting Beckett, of course. Not
only did this give Beckett’s cash flow a much-needed injection, the cover
generated fresh interest for the now-defunct band, and the attention of
hundreds of thousands of possible fans from a new generation. In short, a
win-win situation. Was the B-side release simply Iron Maiden’s – and more
likely Steve’s – burning desire as a fan to record and release a song paying
tribute to a band he loved, or a compromise of sorts with Beckett? We’ll never
know. In any case, this one line is not disputed as much as the song’s grand
finale, specifically six lines whose presence eventually led to ‘Hallowed Be Thy
Name’ to the courtroom in 2017, and an injunction imposed prohibiting the
performance of the song until the resolution of the lawsuit.
Mark my words believe my soul lives on

Don't worry now that I have gone
I've gone beyond to seek the truth
When you know that your time is close at hand

Maybe then you'll begin to understand
Life down there is just a strange illusion
If we connect this to the earlier analysis of the text, from the start of the
song until this point, we note that the protagonist, having come to his place
of execution, finds himself in a strange situation where he finally feels peace
and surrender, without regrets. The song is in reality one in which we follow a
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man’s final walk to his own death and, written as it is in the first person
singular, the only “right” ending, and one that most listeners would expect, is
for the protagonist of the story to lead us directly into the act of his dying. In
his mid-twenties, still a relatively young man, Steve Harris may not have been
mature enough to do this in the way he may have envisaged, and the lyrics
quoted hear earlier, from the song ‘Life’s Shadow’, also by Beckett, offered
nothing short than salvation. They give us a glimmer of hope in the soul’s
continued life after death and passing beyond something to a place where the
protagonist will finally reach full comprehension of the truth. In the final verse,
he even directly addresses his audience in an attempt to give them advice on
what to do and how to behave when, one day, regardless of when, death
comes for them, too. Certainly an effective and striking resolution, one which
leaves no bitter aftertaste despite the execution we know follows, yet still,
even with this dying revelation, Harris ends the song on a neutral, unclear
note. Yes, OK, the soul continues to live after death, the truth is on the other
side and the protagonist will finally see it: is there a god or is there not, is the
devil real, is there anything, something else… No attempt is made to give an
explanation, bar the conclusion that life itself is one giant illusion.
These last 6 lines were modified so that each line was slightly changed from
the original (more on this later in the book). At first glance, the text seems to
be identical to Beckett’s original, but in reality it is very different. What does
this tell us? If a fan of any band, with a band of his own, decided to include a
line or two from his favourite band into his own song, it’s somehow logical
that he would credit the authors of the lyrics in question. In this case,
however, at least on the album cover, Harris is listed as the sole author, and
there is no mention nor trace of Beckett. Moreover, the lyrics have been
changed in just such a way to be the same, yet different enough through
certain word changes to not be quite identical and to avoid becoming
grounds for a lawsuit. And what does that tell us? M< personal opinion is
that someone – Steve Harris in this case – made a deliberate choice to move
forward: this is not a tribute, nor is it the accidental, unintentional use of
lyrics which “just happened to pop into his head”, as it were. In fact, I’m
partial to the hypothesis that, as suggested several pages ago, Harris’s entire
text of ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ was in fact written in just such a way as to
blend seamlessly into these last lines.
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Copyright regulation during the Eighties possibly wasn’t quite as strict as it is

today and it may have been possible for such minimally altered lyrics to pass
“under the radar”, but thirty years later, in 2017, the rules have changed –
and let’s be honest, the band is more of a golden goose today, and their
earnings represent a more lucrative challenge.
It is interesting to note that 'Hallowed Be Thy Name' was never a particular

favourite in the history of Iron Maiden, and it was not until after Bruce
Dickinson’s departure from the band in 1993 that it was given its own video
and “visualisation”. Even then, upon its release that year in single format – as
a live recording – the focus was more on Bruce’s departure than on the plot of
the song itself. The advertisements published in papers and magazines in
1982, songs such as ‘Run To the Hills’, ‘The Number of the Beast’, ‘22 Acacia
Avenue’, ‘Children of the Damned’, ‘Prisoner’… ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’
merits a mention in barely a couple of adverts and little attention was given it
as a standalone effort. Deliberately or not, neither the media, nor Iron Maiden
or their management made any special attempt at marketing the song, and
didn’t seem to see any potential in it, even as a third single – and in spite of all
this, not only has ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name become the best song in Iron
Maiden’s career, it has gained recognition as one of the heavy metal genre’s
finest. Strange, isn’t it, that a good thing finds its way to people’s hearts
regardless of the lack of media exposure and promotion.
I’ll get into the discussion which has resulted in a lawsuit over this song later
in the chapter, but to avoid everything boiling down to these final few lyrics,
which are hardly the most important factor in its cult status and evergreen
success, it’s important to talk about the music itself.
Regardless of the fact that some consider that heavy metal’s beginning lie as
far back as ‘You Really Got Me’, The Kinks’ big hit of 1964, or even with the
more contemporary Steppenwolf’s ‘Born to be Wild’, released in 1969 and
featuring the line “Heavy Metal Thunder”, the truth is that everyone is well
aware of where heavy metal was born and first introduced to the world: it
was in a cold February in Birmingham, 1970. February 13th, in fact (also a
Friday the Thirteenth, believe it or not – coincidence or not), was the release
date of Black Sabbath’s self-titled debut album. At the very start of the album,
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in the opening of the song ‘Black Sabbath’, we hear the sounds of a storm,
rainfall and the tolling of heavy bells. A much parodied and worn cliché in the
present day, at the time it defined what would come to be known as heavy
metal! Black Sabbath were the first to use the sound of bells in recorded metal
music, and in such a dark and sinister manner. A day long Internet search
today yields more than a thousand relatively well known songs which utilise
some kind of sound resembling church bells: to name but a few, metal and
hard rock fans will quickly think of AC/DC and their ‘Hell’s Bells’ from 1980,
‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ (Metallica) from 1984, and ‘Touch of Evil’ (Judas
Priest) from 1990. Speaking of the Nineties, although they’re not heavy metal,
Pink Floyd left an indelible trace on music history with their hit ‘High Hopes’,
while in the 2000s, Amy Winehouse rang bells in her song ‘Back to Black’.
Black Sabbath – 'Black Sabbath' album cover. One of the most recognizibile in metal.
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Iron Maiden certainly didn’t want to be the exception to an established rule,

especially knowing the effect tolling bells have on the listener, so the
inclusion of ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ and its bells on the very first album
featuring the voice of Bruce Dickinson was the most logical thing to expect
from their musical development. It’s interesting to note that most fans
consider this to be their best and most cult song, while their only other song
featuring bells, ‘Bring Your Daughter… to the Slaughter’ remains the groups
only Number One single to date. Ah, those bells.
Joking aside… In a musical sense, this song grows slowly, starting with
sinister bells and the suggestive storytelling manner of Bruce’s singing,
describing the protagonist’s thoughts as he spends the last night of his life in
a cell, awaiting his execution on the morrow. As the song goes on,
Dickinson’s vocal register increases, and the melody turns into Iron Maiden’s
signature epic mid-tempo sound, the musical figure known as triola.
‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ is the first song by Iron Maiden structured so that
the band simply stops playing at some point in the beginning of the song
while Dickinson continues to sing, only for the rhythm section to burst back
into the song after a few bars. This approach to the song’s structure is
perfectly understandable considering that Bruce was new to the band and
had to be introduced to the public in every way possible: the figurehead, the
frontman, a man with an attitude and most importantly, a man of
exceptional vocal ability. The scream in the song ‘The Number of the Beast’,
followed by the incredibly demanding chorus and ending of ‘Run To the
Hills’ were two of the ways in which he was introduced to the public.
Equally, ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ was intended to showcase his vocal range
and lung capacity (“running loooooooow”), as well as the sheer strength and
penetrative power of his voice. The way they chose, described above, was
the perfect musical format to emphasise all of this. The format was so
successful that they in fact copied themselves just a year later on the album
‘Piece of Mind’, with the song ‘The Trooper’, which remains one of Iron
Maiden’s top three most popular, or at the very least their most recognisable
songs, alongside ‘Fear of the Dark’ and ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’. Anyone who
claims anything different is simply mistaken. With this song, Steve Harris was
successful in his intentions, presenting Dickinson at his best, cementing his
position on the throne of heavy metal’s best vocalists. To this day, however
one looks at it, Dickinson continues to hold his own alongside a few other
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names at the top of the genre, and there’s no point in a discussion on which
one of them is better by degrees than the rest, or if degrees exist at all.
With this song, Steve Harris also excels in the preciseness and playfulness of
the melodies and sharp tone which simply does not allow you to catch a
breath until the final note, while the guitar playing duo of Dave Murray and
Adrian Smith, both in their dual melodies and individual solos, show what
heavy metal really is and what it should be. This is a textbook example and
lesson which holds true to this day, remaining relevant and fresh even after
thirty five years. In preparation for this chapter, I spent a lot of time
researching and listening to many varying opinions, going so far as to watch
the phenomenally popular “Kids React” video which is exactly that: children
reacting to hearing Iron Maiden songs for the first time. In the video, one
very young girl said something which won me over instantly, and I simply
had to include her statement here:
“Whoever plays the drum for this song, is really good.” Clive Burr has sadly
passed beyond to see the truth but what I am about to write is least inspired
by the fact that he is no longer with us…
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His drumming is atypical and fantastic, and year in, year out more and more
people realise just how important Clive was in Iron Maiden's meteoric rose
in the early Eighties. His drumming wasn’t your typical following of the
rhythm section; he literally took the part of another guitar, his work
rounding out the sound. Yes, you read that right: listening to Clive, you had
the impression of hearing additional riffs rather than drums. This song
showcases it perfectly, and when something like this is noticed by a little girl
and she feels the need to comment on it, you know the drumming here is
something special. Regarding Clive, it’s enough to visit his Wikipedia page
and see what other musicians had to say about his work:
With Clive Burr in Earls Court, London 2006.
Burr's style was influential on many metal drummers. Dave Lombardo,

known for his work with Slayer, Grip Inc. and Fantômas, stated that "his style
was inspiring and the albums he recorded with Iron Maiden are touchstones
of my music education". Charlie Benante of Anthrax said: "the drumming on
’Killers’ inspired me to kick it up a notch and I did.” According to Dave
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McClain, drummer for Machine Head, who considers Burr a huge influence,
he "brought punk rock drumming into heavy metal".
Paul Bostaph (Slayer, Exodus, Testament), Stefan Schwarzmann (Helloween,

Krokus, Accept), Chris Reifert (Death, Autopsy), Steve Asheim (Deicide), Jan Axel
Blomberg (Mayhem), Jason Bittner (Shadows Fall) and Richard Christy (Iced
Earth, Charred Walls of the Damned) also cited Burr as an influence. Jeff Waters,
guitarist and leader of Annihilator, regards his drumming as an inspiration on
the drum parts he writes for his band. Bruce Dickinson considered him to be
"...the best drummer the band ever had. That's not taking anything away from
Nicko. Technically, Nicko's probably a far more competent drummer than Clive.
It's just that Clive had this incredible feel, and you can't learn that, and I regret
that he wasn't given more time to try and sort himself out.”
In all its aspects, from instrumental through vocal and lyrical, this song was a
perfect and harmonious hit, and it’s no wonder at all that it remains so
highly ranked on all the relevant lists charting heavy metal’s best songs of all
time. All the musicians who took part in recording it, expertly guided by
their smart producer Martin Birch and manager Rod Smallwood, were at the
top of their game. If we try to separate the music from the lyrics, we can
easily conclude that the music itself carries a larger part of the song’s
general popularity. It would be unfair, however, especially in light of the
ongoing lawsuit, to claim that the lyrics didn’t play their part here also. Fans
have always preferred Harris’s first-person storytelling manner of writing
the texts: they found themselves in the lyrics, were more easily able to
identify with them and remember them. At concerts, therefore, their
participation was wholehearted as they sang “I'm waiting in my cold cell”
etc. The real question, however, is exactly how much those last six lines –
the final two verses – helped the song, influenced its hit status (they are the
key part of the song, according to the plaintiff’s attorney)? Hypothetically, if
Harris now decided to insert new lyrics in the place of those being contested,
would this defile the song and how much, would it become worthless – or
would the fans not care? In theory, this isn’t an impossible scenario, but I
believe that such a change would be a stain on the brilliant career of one of
the greatest bands of all time. Nonetheless, the financial stakes are high, and
the lawyers’ knives are out and sharpened, ready to risk everything – to either
win the case in full or fail in shame. Let’s not forget Francis Malofiy, the lawyer
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who brought the copyright suit against Led Zeppelin over claims that ‘Stairway
to Heaven was plagiarised’. Not only did he lose that case, he was also
suspended from the legal profession for a time and fined USD 28 000.
Before we dive deeper into the lawsuit, it is important to note several things
related to the construction and the meaning of the song. An interesting
observation found its way to an unofficial YouTube channel, drawing
hundreds of other comments. This fan’s comment stood out:
“Even though this song is mostly instrumental I can pinpoint every moment
where the prisoner goes through the 5 phases of death: 1:35-2:12 Denial
3:10-3:45 Anger 4:05 Pleading 4:50-6:15 Depression 6:25 Acceptance.”
The consensus is that the fan is actually discussing a variant of the Kübler-
Ross model - otherwise known as the five stages of grief. From Wikipedia,
the model “postulates a progression of emotional states experienced by
both terminally ill patients after diagnosis and by loved-ones after a death.
The five stages are chronologically: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and
acceptance. First introduced by Swiss psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in
her 1969 book ‘On Death and Dying’, the model was inspired by her work
with terminally ill patients. Motivated by the lack of instruction in medical
schools on the subject of death and dying, Kübler-Ross examined death and
those faced with it at the University of Chicago medical school. Kübler-Ross'
project evolved into a series of seminars which, along with patient
interviews and previous research, became the foundation for her book.
Kübler-Ross noted later in life that the stages are not a linear and
predictable progression and that she regretted writing them in a way that
was misunderstood.”
Although this model has been widely criticised by experts, it has become somewhat
ingrained in the public consciousness, widely quoted and accepted. Careful reading
of the lyrics to ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’, one can see how the song somehow
progresses through the stages as they are described:
Denial – The first reaction is denial. In this stage, individuals believe the
diagnosis is somehow mistaken, and cling to a false, preferable reality.
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Anger – When the individual recognizes that denial cannot continue, they
become frustrated, especially at proximate individuals. Certain psychological
responses of a person undergoing this phase would be: "Why me? It's not fair!";
"How can this happen to me?"; "Who is to blame?"; "Why would this happen?"
Bargaining – The third stage involves the hope that the individual can avoid
a cause of grief. Usually, the negotiation for an extended life is made in
exchange for a reformed lifestyle. People facing less serious trauma can
bargain or seek compromise. For instance: "I'd give anything to have him
back." Or: "If only he'd come back to life, I'd promise to be a better person!"
Depression - "I'm so sad, why bother with anything?"; "I'm going to die
soon, so what's the point?"; "I miss my loved one, why go on?" During the
fourth stage, the individual despairs at the recognition of their mortality. In
this state, the individual may become silent, refuse visitors and spend much
of the time mournful and sullen.
Acceptance - "It's going to be okay."; "I can't fight it; I may as well prepare for
it." In this last stage, individuals embrace mortality or the inevitable future,
theirs or that of a loved one, or other tragic event. People who are dying may
precede the survivors in this state, which typically comes with a calm,
retrospective view for the individual, and a stable condition of emotions.
***
An important and noticeable problem with this analysis presents itself, however.
The most frequent fan question is “when does the protagonist of the song
actually die?” Does the moment of death follow the line “Catch my soul 'cause
it's willing to fly away”, or is it immediately following the first part and “Life
down there is just a strange illusion”, where the song’s rhythm and structure
change? Is it perhaps at the very end of the song, while we listen to “Yeah, yeah,
yeah - Hallowed Be Thy Name”? The theory is acceptable if death happens in the
final part of the song and what would be the final “chorus”, but a simple analysis
shows – and majority opinion agrees – that the moment of death is marked in
the song by the change in rhythm at the end of its second part. After the “final”
lines – the very ones over which Iron Maiden are embattled today, there follows
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a bridge section which, if a video for the song had existed and in keeping with
dramatic conventions in music, would have been the perfect place to show the
sentence of hanging carried out. The moment in which Iron Maiden step up a
gear and immediately move into the fantastic solo, a textbook example of Smith
and Murray’s future instrumental collaborations, is where the listener can
clearly perceive the leap into death. If you’ve never looked at it in this way, I
invite you to do so now: listen to the song again, and set the moment of hanging
at the 3:43 mark, followed by the final throes, the twitches and spasms before
the final moment of death. Actual death happens at the moment Dave begins
his solo, soon to be joined by Adrian in sending the protagonist into a spiralling
fall into “the other side” that ends at the moment of the final guitar duel (at the
gates of heaven, hell, somewhere else or even nowhere? unimportant) and the
final verse, itself the name of the song. Seeing the story in this light changes the
“Yeah, yeah, yeah - Hallowed Be Thy Name” from what would have been the
final stage of the Kübler-Ross model (acceptance), becoming quite the ironic
conclusion or thought of the newly dead hero of our story, left floating behind
following his execution. It becomes something more like a mocking acceptance
of someone or something you know has been false, has filled your head full of
lies, where you wearily say “yeah, yeah, yeah”, in this case also adding
“Hallowed Be Thy Name”. Seen this way, the song takes on a new dimension
and those who expected a more normal ending, now encounter an even bigger
unknown, have to face an even stronger sensation of the futility of life.
With all the different interpretations of the song available to fans, we should
equally consider one more: that Harris was in his mid-twenties when he wrote
the song, that he probably wrote it off the cuff, spontaneously… In short, that all
other analysis is unnecessary – and yet this song garners so much discussion and
variance of opinion is testament to how special it is and confirmation of its cult
status, in spite of the band’s perception of it as more of an afterthought.
Now that we’ve reminded ourselves of the song’s greatness and

importance, which could easily fill up more pages, let’s get down to brass
tacks and discuss the circumstances which led to the song’s exclusion from
Iron Maiden’s concert set list in 2017, or on the live album released the
same year. Of course, at the end of this chapter, I’ll also reveal whether we
will ever see the Irons perform the song live again.
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Brian Queen at his motor house. Courtesy of Brian Queen.
Brian Quinn, aka Ingham, has come forward claiming to be the co-author of
Beckett’s song 'Life's Shadow', which I’ve mentioned earlier. He is being
assisted by representative/manager Barry McKay and is seeking past
royalties for the song, which Brian would be entitled to if he proves that his
lyrics, or more precisely part of his lyrics were used to write ‘Hallowed Be
Thy Name’. Following the legal claim, Iron Maiden’s publisher representative
Alan Edwards publicly stated:
"Iron Maiden management are aware of the claim made against Steve
Harris and Dave Murray, by Barry McKay and Brian Quinn. The dispute
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concerns the song 'Life's Shadow', a song originally written in the early
1970s, credited to Robert Barton and Brian Ingham, and recorded by the
band Beckett. Steve Harris was a fan of Beckett and some six lines from
'Life's Shadow' were referenced in Steve's song 'Hallowed Be Thy Name',
which was recorded by Iron Maiden and appeared on the album 'The
Number Of The Beast' which was released in 1982 As far as Steve is
concerned, this matter was settled some years ago by agreement with
Robert Barton, but it turns out there is a dispute between the two original
writers as to their respective shares in 'Life's Shadow'. Mr Barton maintains
he was the writer of the lyrics of 'Life's Shadow' and said: 'I wrote the lyrics
of 'Life's Shadow' and am happy with how Iron Maiden have, and are,
dealing with this matter'. Iron Maiden management will consider carefully
any evidence presented by Mr Quinn and Mr McKay."
A former manager with four decades of experience in the music business,

Barry McKay has taken an aggressive and dominant approach to this case,
both to gain a psychological advantage and to give the impression that he is
in total control of the situation. In order to achieve this, he has been using
the media with abandon, giving frequent statements and sending press
releases. In one of his first statements he said:
"What Steve Harris of Iron Maiden has done, in stealing half of the lyrics
from 'Life's Shadow' to use in his most successful song, 'Hallowed Be Thy
Name', and passing these lyrics off as his own work has not only deprived the
actual writers of a credit and a fair share of the income from the circa twenty
million total record sales and public performances but has also deceived the
Iron Maiden fans. This case may well create a precedent for the music
publishing industry because unusually for a copyright infringement action,
this claim goes back to 1982. The claim is estimated to be valued at between
£2m and £3m. I am always on the side of musicians who have been unfairly
treated and that has been the case since 1975.”
Barry McKay has gone public and it’s not impossible that it was he who
passed information to the UK tabloid The Sun and prompted them to a bank
holiday release of the story – one that had until then seemed completely
unbelievable, something a tabloid might invent, but soon seemed to be all
too true. Of course, the release did not come as a surprise to the better-
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informed fans so much as the fact that all this hadn’t happened much
sooner. The main motivation for releasing the story was to let it gain its own
momentum, as the proverb says, “a lie told often enough becomes the
truth”, except in this case, it isn’t a complete lie. Steve really did use and
modify the lyrics, but as the story goes on, you’ll see it’s possible to question
what rights (if any) Brian has to this song, as well as why McKay is trying to
reach fans and the media through his public performances. Unluckily for
him, while most media publishers did convey his words, the impression is
that both they and a majority of fans have made up their minds and chosen
to stand with Iron Maiden. McKay with more statements:
"'Hallowed Be Thy Name' isn't just an Iron Maiden song. It's the song that
has defined the band and put them on the map in 1982. It's the band's
favourite song and their fans' favourite song. 'Hallowed...' is heavily
influenced by 'Life's Shadow' but in particular one important entire verse and
the entire chorus from 'Life's Shadow' has been lifted word for word (along
with a line from another Beckett song) by Steve Harris. Brian Quinn was first
cheated by Robert Barton who made himself a co-writer a year or so after
first hearing Brian Quinn's original song by changing a few words and adding
three irrelevant lines of lyrics to the previously completed song. Harris and
Murray secretly settled with Barton at some point since 2011 without
reference to Brian Quinn and then kept that arrangement very quiet. Brian
Quinn knew nothing about that secret deal until very recently."
McKay has stated that he entered into a publishing agreement with Brian
Quinn on 29/03/2017, only two days before they filed their claim. According
to Quinn, his Beckett colleague and co-author of “Life’s Shadow” Bob Barton
had told him about the issue as far back as 2011, thirty years after the song’s
release. At the time, Quinn alleges that Barton suggested a lawsuit of which
Quinn wanted no part, and that was the last he heard of the matter. Brian
and Barton did not communicate again for a long time, until a friend’s
suggestion made Quinn realize that Barton and Iron Maiden had come to an
agreement and that Barton had received compensation. Quinn claims that
he felt humiliated and cheated upon finding out, and that the lawsuit was
the only logical and right thing to do. He claims he feels cheated by Bob
Barton as well as by Steve Harris and Dave Murray, having never received a
penny from any of them in royalties. This does beg the question: if Harris
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and Murray were unaware of the song’s authorship, and have believed all
this time that the matter was fully settled with the person who they rightly
believed they should (specifically, a representative of Beckett claiming sole
authorship), how can they be considered to have cheated anyone? At the
end of the day, even the original vinyl release of Beckett’s album shows the
author using the pseudonym Ingham – can Steve and Dave be expected to
be aware of the author’s real identity, especially if he was not a part of the
band and if Bob Barton subsequently told them he was the sole holder of all
rights to the song. Was this really the casse.
Beckett – 1974 vinyl record listing songs and their respective authors
In case anyone is wondering why Iron Maiden guitarist Dave Murray is a co-
respondent in this case, we should point out that Brian Quinn, assisted by Barry
McKay, is also suing Iron Maiden for a second issue. They believe that the song
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‘Life’s Shadow’ contains an instrumental section which Iron Maiden copied in

their 2000 song ‘The Nomad’, whose authors are listed as Steve Harris and Dave
Murray. With a resolution expected in court sometime in 2018, Quinn and
McKay are probably hoping to reach a licencing agreement allowing the Irons to
perform the song live again. Iron Maiden are hoping for the same kind of
resolution achieved by Led Zeppelin, and have kept their statements and media
responses short. Before they departed on tour again, they gave us just this:
"As previously announced, for the current second leg of the Book of Souls
tour a couple of changes to the setlist were due to be made. The first was
including a different track from the new album and having been made aware
of a legal claim, the second change was to replace 'Hallowed Be Thy Name'.”
Meanwhile, McKay made an exclusive and slightly sarcastic statement to

Metaltalk.net that the media was quick to jump on, about how confused
Steve Harris must be, and wondering out loud why he did not credit Brian on
the record as far back as ’82 when he was clearly listed as the author of
‘Life’s Shadow’. In his many statements, he has frequently boasted of the
numerous amicable settlements he has allegedly won outside of the
courtroom, although he refuses to name any examples, ostensibly due to
their confidential nature. In his appearances, he comes across as a little
overly talkative, as well as easily confused by the Irons’ management’s
actions, as he constantly questions their reasons for doing certain things,
pretending to naiveté. Of course, the card he is playing is to try to drive a
wedge between the band’s management and their fans, perhaps not
realising that it’s a mission impossible. In one of his addresses, he asserts:
"Often the public performance societies, i.e. the PRS, will allow compositions
to be performed while there is a dispute, but they will freeze the royalty
payments until the dispute is determined or settled. There was no need for
Iron Maiden to withdraw the song from their set.”
At the same time he “wonders” why Iron Maiden have taken the steps they
have, and why they don’t simply sit down with him for a few minutes and
hash out a licencing agreement in order to start performing it again…
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Here’s what we need to know in brief in order to understand what’s really

happening around this song: Barry McKay, the man representing Brian Quinn,
has submitted a statement to both the court and the media. It is a declaration in
which he clearly (well, in his own eyes) explains what the problem with
‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ is and why the case has ended up in the High Court.
As we know, Iron Maiden independently decided to drop ‘Hallowed Be Thy

Name’ from the setlist of the final leg of their “Book of Souls” tour, although
they have played it regularly and often in the years before this legal
complication. ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ has always been an Iron Maiden
concert favourite among fans and is their third most performed song of all
time. It gained cult status immediately upon the release of the album ‘The
Number of the Beast’, in spite of Iron Maiden treating it shabbily in some ways
– consciously or not, in light of what has since happened, their reasons for this
attitude might be rooted in this. ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ is a song that starts
out dramatically, with a theatrical beginning and an excellent progression as
the song develops towards its conclusion. It allowed Bruce Dickinson to create
an entire performance routine on stage. Seated at the very beginning, Nicko
and his bell taking the spotlight, only to move to a raised platform above the
rest of the band for close to the entire remainder of the song, allowing them
to have fun among themselves with their two-way (and later three-way) guitar
acrobatics. At the very end of the song, during the most beautiful guitar
melody, played in unison as they wait for the final words of the song, Bruce
rushes back down to the stage and begins the “slow rise” gestures which he
has made a part of his brand, bringing the audience to ecstasy. In the world of
heavy metal and hard rock, the whole routine and scenario have become as
eponymous as the lowering of the great bell when AC/DC play ‘Hell’s Bells’, or
seeing Alice Cooper guillotined as he performs ‘Killer’.
‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ has become more than a song, it’s an institution
that has grown constantly since it exploded onto the scene in 1982,
becoming a better vintage every year. Drummer Nicko McBrain has even
stated that it’s his favourite song and threatened that if you ever notice it
missing from the setlist, you’d notice him missing from the band. Of course,
the song went missing in summer 2017, Nicko is thankfully still with us.
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In order to focus properly on the court proceedings regarding this song, I’ll
try to explain the situation and follow this up with full statements from both
the person suing Harris and Murray and his representative, then the
statement released by Maiden management. Then I’ll share my own
thoughts, written a long time ago, as well as an interview with former
member of Beckett Keith Fisher, who spoke to me long ago in 2010 when
the potential issue with ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ had only been shyly
discussed on forums and unofficial fan websites. My first Maiden book,
‘Steve Harris - The Clairvoyant’, released in early 2011, was literally the first
written document where the topic was raised.
Bruce Dickinson performs 'Hallowed be Thy Name' back in 1984.
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A RESPONSE FROM BARRY McKAY
It’s such a shame that Brian Quinn and Steve Harris couldn’t just meet. They
are both fantastic musicians and really into their music. Steve is on record as
saying he’s happy to write with anyone. Brian Quinn’s Life’s Shadow is one of
four songs he wrote around a similar theme and they are all terrific. If Steve
Harris was to collaborate in future with Brian Quinn, they might yet go out
on another platinum album.”
Brian’s music written when he was a teenager inspired a teenage Steve

Harris at the start of his career. Brian could do it again with Steve and he’s
such a great guy. It upsets me when music business people get in the way of
the music. There’s no way I will be the one to get in the way, which is why
Steve and Dave should over-rule their management if their management are
advising them to go to trial against me. I will fight for Brian Quinn if have to
but I would much rather see Steve and Brian meet and shake hands after
acknowledging each other’s contributions to two great Iron Maiden heavy
metal epics. It is ironic that I am almost always on the side of musicians
against big business but in this case I am on the side of a totally honest
musician against other musicians and I don’t like to be in this position.
Perhaps Iron Maiden’s manager, Rod Smallwood is used to being just a little
too heavy. That does not work with me.
I don’t want to stop fans hearing their favourite Maiden song, written by
Steve Harris and Brian Quinn, and in any event, new 12″ LP’s, CD’s, DVD’s,
video games, downloads and streaming all containing ‘Hallowed Be Thy
Name’ are all still available worldwide. And this coming week Parlaphone
release the vinyl version of Brave New World which includes The Nomad.
This will all have to be be straightened out in court, if not before.”
I really don’t know what is going on with Steve Harris, or is it that he is being
poorly advised by his management? Surely Steve Harris is not so greedy that
he would rather deprive his fans of enjoying seeing Iron Maiden perform
their best and most popular song than pay the actual co-writer of that song
his entitlement to publishing from a performance of a joint copyright?
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Do Phantom Management prefer to deprive Brian Quinn from earning a few

hundred pounds per live arena performance of ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’
rather than have Iron Maiden perform the song he co-wrote on the rest of
their tour? I don’t know. Why not ask Phantom Management? Rod
Smallwood always has a lot to say. Now it’s my turn and I speak for the man
who actually wrote one of Steve’s favourite songs, Life’s Shadow. Brian
Quinn has never earned a penny from writing ‘Life’s Shadow’, the song that
clearly inspired Steve Harris to write ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ and earn a
fortune in the process. Brian’s lyrics and music were taken and used by Steve
Harris and Dave Murray without Brian being even credited. Brian Quinn lives
in a mobile home in Canada while the profits from Brian’s work would have
helped Dave and Steve pay for their wonderful lifestyle and for their various
homes including those in the Bahamas and Hawaii.”
Often the public performance societies, i.e. the PRS, will allow compositions
to be performed while there is a dispute, but they will freeze the royalty
payments until the dispute is determined or settled. There was no need for
Iron Maiden to withdraw Hallowed Be Thy Name from their set.
But if they wish to do the right thing, they are welcome to contact either
myself or my lawyers and reach a simple agreement to happily perform
‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ during the rest of their 2017 World Tour. After all,
Steve Harris’ Iron Maiden have been performing ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’
without crediting Brian Quinn or Bob Barton as co-writers for thirty-five
years. Why disappoint the fans? I don’t want to.
This can and should be resolved. Or is Steve Harris’s management that

stubborn and upset at the secret deal with Robert Barton a few years ago
now being exposed, that they are willing to disappoint fans just weeks after
Iron Maiden fans again voted ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ Iron Maiden’s all-
time best song?
They know where to contact me and where to contact my lawyers and an

arrangement, on a without prejudice basis, could easily be reached between
Steve Harris and I so as not to disappoint the fans.
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‘Life’s Shadow’ was written and completed, both the music and lyrics, by Brian
Quinn and later Robert Barton made some irrelevant changes to it some three
years later and also changed the title from ‘Lying In My Shadow’. They are
both credited on the copyright. This happened because Barton loved Brian’s
song and when he got a job as Beckett’s guitarist, he wanted to record it. In
order to get himself a share of the publishing, he added three rubbish lines to
the end of the song and then he claimed half of the publishing. Brian had by
then emigrated to Canada, where he still resides, and did not know about this.
This is how they are both credited on the copyright. Brian was credited as Brian
Ingham being his then professional name.
Then, in 2011, when Barton found out, as a result of online chat on Iron
Maiden forum sites (which also involved Keith Fisher who was Beckett’s
drummer) that Steve had used music and lyrics from Life’s Shadow for
Hallowed and The Nomad, Barton claimed he wrote 75% of Life’s Shadow,
taking in all of Brian’s lyrics and the section of music that was used in The
Nomad. Sadly, Barton was desperate for money at the time and desperate
people can do terrible things. The reason for Iron Maiden and Barton
agreeing a secret deal may well have been because they hoped Brian Quinn
would never find out and therefore never be paid for his work.
When Barton therefore decided to bring a claim against two members of

Iron Maiden in 2011 after managing to get a Newcastle law firm to act for
him on a no-win/no-fee basis, he did so because, as his emails at the time
make clear, he was desperate for money. He then asked Brian Quinn to join
him because he realised that he needed to involve him. He invited Brian
Quinn to give up his share of the copyright but Brian refused point blank.
What then happened is that Barton then lied to Iron Maiden by saying that
he was the sole author of the relevant lyrics to Hallowed Be Thy Name.
It is remarkable that Iron Maiden were willing to believe what Barton told
them without even making contact with Brian Quinn. Barton could probably
not believe his luck. As soon as he realised that Iron Maiden were willing to
believe that he was the sole author he immediately ended all further
communication with Brian Quinn and proceeded to agree a secret deal.
Brian Quinn had no idea Barton had been secretly paid off until September
2016.
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What was Phantom Management thinking of? They certainly wouldn’t have
been generous in settling Barton’s claim because they’d have known that a
further claim by Brian Quinn may turn up at any time. All they really did back
in 2012 was get rid of Barton and hope Brian Quinn would never appear.
Brian Quinn has been repeatedly ripped off by not only by his former friend
Robert Barton but also by two members of Iron Maiden.
Now Iron Maiden admit they ‘referenced’ lyrics from Life’s Shadow. Did Steve
Harris and Dave Murray also ‘reference’ that somewhat complex and lengthy
section of music that was also taken from Life’s Shadow almost note for note
and used in The Nomad on the Brave New World CD in 2000? “Referenced” is
the act of referring to something. If Steve Harris intended to ‘reference’ Life’s
Shadow, given he was indeed a fan of Beckett, he should also have also
referenced the writers of that song by crediting them on Iron Maiden’s 1982
top selling LP The Number of the Beast which was a landmark release for
Iron Maiden—becoming their first album to reach No. 1 in the UK Album
charts and be certified platinum in the USA. Instead Steve Harris used Brian
Quinn’s lyrics and took the full credit (and earnings from Hallowed Be Thy
Name) for himself and his managers, without even giving the writers of Life’s
Shadow a writer’s credit.
It is obfuscating the true situation for Phantom Management to simply

claim, “There now appears to be a dispute between the two original writers
as to their respective shares in Life’s Shadow”. When settling his claim in
2012 Barton knew very well that Brian Quinn maintained his claim to Life’s
Shadow and always had done. Iron Maiden should have known that too but
they never bothered to enquire (or perhaps they didn’t want to know).
‘The dispute’ is primarily between myself (on behalf of Brian Quinn) and
Steve Harris and Dave Murray (as well as Imagen Music and Robert Barton)
who five years ago entered into a secret agreement (which Brian Quinn and I
did not know about) with Mr Barton purporting to settle this damages claim,
however, like it or not, there are two writers of Life’s Shadow and in order to
settle this claim Harris and Murray needed to settle with both writers. They
can’t just reach a secret agreement with one of them and then hope the
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other writer would not find out about it. In settling with 1 of 2 copyright
owners, they took a calculated risk that has clearly backfired.
As regards Mr Barton, I am indeed Barton’s music publisher and I signed him

to a publishing contract back in 1976 when I also released a record for him
and my company is credited as Barton’s publisher on that record label and
sleeve. I am also suing Robert Barton on behalf of Brian Quinn. However, as
Barton later only added 10% of the final content to the Life’s Shadow song as
recorded with Beckett, my interest in this legal action as Mr Barton’s
publisher would in any event be very small in comparison to Brian Quinn’s
interest as original writer of that song.
The legal papers correctly claim that it was Brian Quinn who originally
composed Life’s Shadow music and lyrics. The legal papers state that all
Barton later did was add three lines to the end of Brian Quinn’s finished song
some three years on, when Barton wanted to record the track for his new
band’s first and only LP (and the lines added by Barton were rubbish lines). In
so doing, I now realise that Barton took a 50% writer’s credit at that time
without Brian Quinn’s knowledge or agreement. Furthermore, the legal papers
correctly allege that on discovering in 2011 that Iron Maiden had used lyrics
and music from Brian Quinn’s original song, Barton then secretly informed Iron
Maiden that he had written 75% of the song. This is matter of record with The
Performing Rights Society who have provided this information.
This is Brian Quinn’s statement : ‘Brian Quinn insisted today that all of the
lyrics copied by Steve Harris for Hallowed Be Thy Name and all of the music
copied by Steve Harris and Dave Murray for The Nomad were written and
composed by him and that none of it was composed by Robert Barton.”
I am personally in no doubt that Brian Quinn is being 100% honest.
If Steve Harris and Dave Murray think they have settled the claim for taking
lyrics and music from Life’s Shadow by having secretly paid off Robert Barton,
they are sadly mistaken. They may as well have paid off Mickey Mouse.
This entire statement has been cleared by my lawyers, EVERSHEDS

SUTHERLAND (INTERNATIONAL) LLP and I take full responsibility for it. That
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is the reason I am taking Barton, along with Steve Harris, Dave Murray and
Imagen Music, London Ltd to the High Court in London. I am fed up with
Phantom Management and their expensive publicists putting out misleading
information. Hence this statement.
The final two verses of Brian Quinn’s ‘Life’s Shadow’:
Mark my words my soul lives on

Please don’t worry, coz I’ve gone
I’ve gone beyond to see the truth
While I consider my new youth.
When your time is close at hand
Maybe then you’ll understand
Life down there is just a strange illusion.
The final two verses of Iron Maiden’s ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’:
Mark my words believe my soul lives on

Please don’t worry now that I’ve gone
I’ve gone beyond to seek the truth.
When you know that your time is close at hand
Maybe then you’ll begin to understand
Life down here is just a strange illusion.
***
Iron Maiden’s management didn’t waste too much time on a response. In
their usual self-assured manner of discussing any topic – this one was curt and
not overly aggressive – legally speaking it was very precisely written and
measured. Barry McKay, Brian Quinn’s representative in the litigation against
Steve Harris and Dave Murray, has received the response, and we will soon
know the conclusion of this unbelievable story, a case that is more than thirty
five years old. What Iron Maiden had to say on the subject was brief
“The dispute concerns the song ‘Life’s Shadow’, a song originally written in
the early 1970s, credited to Robert Barton and Brian Ingham, and recorded
by the band Beckett. Steve Harris was a fan of Beckett and some six lines
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from ‘Life’s Shadow’ were referenced in Steve’s song, ‘Hallowed Be Thy

Name’, which was recorded by Iron Maiden and appeared on the album The
Number of the Beast which was released in 1982.
As far as Steve is concerned, this matter was settled some years ago by
agreement with Robert Barton, but there now appears to be a dispute
between the two original writers as to their respective shares in ‘Life’s
Shadow’. Further, an individual called Barry McKay in taking this action now
claims to publish Robert Barton’s interest in ‘Life’s Shadow’, despite so far
being unable to come up with a publishing agreement and showing little or
no evidence in his claim of any interest in Mr Barton’s songs in
approximately 40 years. Mr. McKay also states that he entered into a
publishing agreement with Brian Quinn (aka Ingham) on March 29th, 2017,
two days before the claim was served.
Mr. Barton maintains he was the writer of the lyrics of Life’s Shadow and
recently said: ‘I wrote the lyrics of Life’s Shadow and am happy with how
Iron Maiden have, and are, dealing with this matter.’
Any evidence presented by Mr. McKay will be looked at very closely and a
Defence at court will be submitted in due course.”
***
But what about the other author of the song – as it’s claimed, its primary
author – Brian Quinn? What does he have to say? We’ve heard from McKay,
yes, and from Iron Maiden, as well as Barton.
That Quinn, having shown not even the slightest interest in ‘Hallowed Be
Thy Name’ in the past, suddenly finds himself in the position of a man
demanding his rights at this late stage, is strange to say the least. Quinn
claims to have written a great many songs in his life, of which only one got a
break and was actually recorded – none other than ‘Life’s Shadow’.
Interesting! He claims that he was lying in bed one day when he was
surprised by a phone call from an old friend, many years after they had been
in contact. This friend passed on the news that his music and lyrics had
helped Iron Maiden become successful. He names no names in his
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statement, only saying “an old pal”, while elsewhere he has claimed that the
call came from Bob Barton himself. However, the court will closely examine
every piece of evidence, no matter how small, and any small untruth will
serve as an indicator of which side is dealing from under the table and to
what purpose. In that light, it was hard for me to miss a comment from
Beckett’s drummer, Keith Fisher, whom I later interviewed. He wrote this on
10/03/2010 on the Maidenfans.com forum:
„One thing I can absolutely assure you all about is that no-one in the Beckett
camp even knew about this situation until I alerted them, let alone made
deals behind my back. No, the strange fact is that this has been quietly
slipped under the wire until now. As I stated in my initial missive, discussions
are now taking place with Bob and Kenny and myself as to the proper
approach to the issue; the general consensus of opinion out in the world (and
I am grateful to this forum for its valuable balanced input) is that a case
exists and must be answered by Steve and Rod; we are cogitating.“
At that time, Bob Barton hadn’t yet contacted Iron Maiden, Brian Quinn
knew nothing, and the Irons themselves were just finishing their ‘Final
Frontier Wold Tour’ before their big ‘Maiden England’ tour of 2012. It is
significant that ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ was left off the setlist on that tour
for the first time in the band’s existence, but this was justified by Steve
Harris in an interview with FC Magazine with the fact that they wanted to
spare Dickinson from having to sing too many songs in a high register, so
they removed it to give him a break. Of course, the song later made it back
on the setlist, but if one looks at the timeline, taking into account Iron
Maiden’s subsequent contact Barton and arranging compensation, the
reasons for the song’s removal from live performances for a period of time
become clearer. As the case never made it to court that time, it was kept
out of the press. Interestingly enough, even with no media attention, it was
a hot topic for fan discussion as far back as 2009-2010.
Quinn claims that he isn’t even a fan of Iron Maiden, that he has never
heard one of their songs, and that the he listened to one for the first time in
his life after Barton alerted him to a possible copyright problem. He claims
he listened to the song several times and clearly determined that two verses
are his work for which he has never received a penny in royalties. He also
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states that he was never paid for ‘Life’s Shadow’, which he alleges to have
written in 1969 with the original title ‘Lying in My Shadow’, during a thirteen
hour ferry crossing to Sweden when he had nothing to do and so spent his
time reminiscing about his father’s death while Quinn was young, which in
some way shaped him and pointed him in a musical direction. He says he
wrote the lyrics to the song on the back of a letter from his mother, which
he had with him. According to Quinn, the original song consists of just three
chords and has a very dark guitar sound and a simple melody.
Quinn says that a year later he showed the song to his friend Bob Barton who
liked it very much. The pair were working together at the time in a
watchmaker’s and jeweller’s shop, and it was their love of music that
influenced their friendship. Several years later, when Barton became a
member of Beckett, Quinn says he called to ask if he could record his song, but
with some alterations. Quinn agreed to this, requesting only a songwriting
credit, which Barton complied with, crediting him as Brian Ingham.
On the Maidenfans forum, one of the first places where this discussion began to
develop, a fan nicknamed Black Abyss Baby has posted the following comment:
“I suspect that there is more to the story than we've been told so far, and
that's why Maiden are insisting on having their day in court. I also suspect
that McKay is aware of this and that's why he is trying emotional blackmail
on Steve, trying to get him to capitulate before it goes that far. Look at the
words McKay is using: "... so greedy that he would rather deprive his fans of
enjoying seeing Iron Maiden perform their best and most popular song ..."
The message he wants Steve to read between the lines here is 'you are not
being fair to your fans, who you say are so important'. He may also be trying
to shake Steve's confidence in Rod ("is it that he is being poorly advised by
his management?") He also seems to be suggesting that Maiden had
achieved nothing prior to Hallowed, and that everything they have achieved
since has been founded on that one particular song (the bit about Steve's
and Dave's lifestyles). I don't think this argument holds up to much scrutiny.”
The same user has studied some of Quinn’s other statements and quoted
him, wondering the same thing I have been asking myself:
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***
"I learned only a few months ago that my so-called friend Bob Barton, on
discovering from fan websites that Iron Maiden had used my composition
and lyrics, had dishonestly registered 'Life's Shadow' with the Performing
Right Society back in 2011 with a 75/25 split in his favour despite the bulk of
it, around 90%, being my sole efforts and his additional lyrics not benefitting
the song in any way." So, Bob registered the rights of the song in 2011. But:
1. Those songs must have been registered before, since they were released
in the 70s. How could Bob re-register them without the agreement of the
other author? Or wasn't Brian credited on the album?
2. If Bob re-registered the songs in 2011, that still doesn't tell us for sure
when the deal with Maiden was made, right? I just wonder if it was made
before or after The Nomad.”
***
As can be seen from questions posted by forum members and fans, many
issues are unclear – well, either that or someone is playing silly buggers and
waiting for their day in court. The fact is that Iron Maiden were offered an
out-of-court settlement, McKay making multiple public offers while
addressing them in his media statements. That can only mean one thing:
McKay is desperate to settle this so it never sees the inside of a courtroom,
because he knows that Iron Maiden will have some kind of evidence giving
them the upper hand. His media appearances are probably intended to
muddy the waters and provoke Iron Maiden into making an offer to settle
things once for all, just to make the embarrassingly loud representative go
away and let them get on with damage control. By damage, I mean to their
reputation with the fans and media, because money isn’t the only important
factor in play here – and McKay knows it. Harris certainly wouldn’t want to
retire with a cloud of alleged plagiarism hanging over him, especially not
over just one song. On the other hand, McKay has gone on record saying
that this one song is the most important song of their entire career, the one
that made everything else happen, brought them platinum sales, made
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them famous. McKay’s gamble has gone too far, and he’s aware that he has
overreached and now he has to see it through to the end.
As I wrote earlier, ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ is a cult song, and to many it is

the best heavy metal song ever written, but it did not “make” Iron Maiden –
they were an established band with several hits and a great reputation in
their early career, nor did it make them the world famous phenomenon they
are – this was achieved with songs such as ‘Run to the Hills’, ‘The Number of
the Beast’, ‘The Trooper’, ‘Flight of Icarus’, ‘Aces High’, ‘2 Minutes to
Midnight’, ‘Wasted Years', ‘Stanger in a Strange Land’, ‘Can I Play with
Madness’, ‘Bring Your Daughter… to the Slaughter’, ‘Fear of the Dark’ and
countless others. Their platinum sales came from the successes of these
singles, the band’s massive productivity and prolific touring, while songs
such as ‘Phantom of the Opera’, ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’, ‘To Tame a Land’,
‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’, ‘Alexander the Great’ and others like them
were in reality poorly promoted: almost none of them got a video, none
merited a t-shirt or an illustration until much later, and for live singles. Aside
from ‘Alexander the Great’ which has never been played live, these songs
earned their cult status on the strength of masterful live performances. They
were excellently composed and remain relevant and superior to many songs
by other artists written before them, but they were never the impact pins of
Iron Maiden’s breakthrough on the world stage.
Brian Quinn states that the whole case began when he found out that his so-
called friend, Bob Barton, had come by the information that Iron Maiden
were using Beckett’s music and lyric. This had apparently happened while
Barton was surfing fan made websites and chatting with fans who brought it
to his attention (in reality it was Fisher who did it first, presenting Bob
Barton with what he’d found). I remember that period clearly, as I was
writing my book ‘Steve Harris – The Clairvoyant’ at the time and I came
across the same information while researching. I later wrote about this,
going a step further and interviewing Keith Fisher. YouTube went live only
on 14/02/2005 and it took a few years for the now-famous website to
establish its dominance on a global level, with hundreds of thousands of
uploaded videos. Before this, many fans had lived in relative ignorance and
isolation, they weren’t connected online, and the story of ‘Life’s Shadow’
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simply did not gain much traction. Fans began showing attention to Beckett
in larger numbers when, just a couple of years after ‘Hallowed Be Thy
Name’, Iron Maiden released ‘Rainbow’s Gold’ as the B-side of their single ‘2
Minutes to Midnight’. Iron Maiden have known their fans since the
beginning, and they’re well aware that they’ll dig up everything, the least
important bit of trivia, which means something only to them – it would have
been insane to expect that something like this would go unnoticed. The
similarities between the songs have been discussed before 2010, of course,
before the emergence of the Internet itself, but at the time no one really
cared, it wasn’t something newsworthy. The story spread by word of mouth
and between those fans who’d had the opportunity to hear Beckett’s album,
an obscure, hard to obtain vinyl release. Few people therefore had the
chance to hear it until someone uploaded it to YouTube eight years ago – on
29/11/2009. Uploaded by a user going by the nickname Daveqr, the song
currently has 154000 views and some 500 comments.
It’s interesting to note a few important things at this stage. If Iron Maiden
had never recorded a cover of ‘Rainbow’s Gold’, it can be said with near
100% certainty that absolutely no one would have known about an obscure
band with one album released in 1974, nor would they connect their lyrics
and music with Iron Maiden. Also, if not for Iron Maiden fans, the members
of Beckett likely never would have found out that parts of their song were
used in the writing of two Iron Maiden songs. It was the fans, therefore, who
led to the current situation, something to applaud in a way – it’s always
good to bring things like this to light and resolve them fairly. It does beg the
question, however... why the B-side Beckett cover on an Iron Maiden single
in the first place? Simple: if Steve Harris had felt he had anything to hide, he
would hardly have chosen that one band, proclaiming Beckett’s very
existence to both the fans and the media from the metaphorical rooftop. On
the other hand, it appears too childish to insist that Steve was such a big
Beckett fan that he simply had to pay some sort of tribute to them, so he
used their lyrics and part of the music on ‘The Nomad’. As all Iron Maiden
fans are aware, the band UFO has meant a lot more to Steve Harris over the
years and he was a much bigger fan of theirs than Beckett’s, yet he has
never referenced them in a single Maiden song in his entire career, and it
wasn’t until the late 1990s that a UFO cover was released as the B side of
one of their singles, Blaze Bailey on vocals.
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This is what baffles many people – why did he even decide to cover
Beckett’s ‘Rainbow’s Gold’? Was it some sort of compromise, even that far
back, with them or himself (salving his conscience)? It’s hard to tell this late
in the game, but what makes it even stranger is the later decision to use the
same song while composing ‘The Nomad’. Even though both Harris and
Murray are listed as that song’s authors, and both are named in the current
lawsuit, it will be interesting to finally know who really claims to have
composed the disputed section of the song. Stranger yet (yes, more
strangeness) is that Iron Maiden’s manager Rod Smallwood, one of the
legends of the music management world today, managed Beckett prior to
taking on the Irons – he must have known the song ‘Life’s Shadow’, it’s not
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like they had too many releases to remember them all. Even if he hadn’t
recognised the lyrics in ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’, it’s nigh-impossible to think
that he could have missed the similarity on ‘The Nomad’ in 2000. It’s self-
evident that everything to do with the song had his seal of approval. On the
other hand, as we’ve noted, it’s also a fact that Iron Maiden’s management
have pushed this case all the way to the courtroom, so it’s safe to assume
that they have their reasons for doing so. While we wait, let’s return to the
Barton-Quinn relationship.
Quinn has complained that he found out that in 2011, Barton registered
‘Life’s Shadow’ with the Performing Rights Society, splitting the authorship
rights 75%-25% in his favour over Quinn. Quinn states that he should in fact
own 90% of the rights to the song, that Barton contributed only a small,
unimportant segment of the song. He claims that his original song, ‘Lying in
my Shadow’, later revamped and renamed by Beckett to ‘Life’s Shadow’,
was wholly written by him, and he lays claim to 100% of the rights to the
music and at least 80% of the text, including all the sections he’s suing Iron
Maiden for. Quinn says that he’s “not a greedy man” and would not have
grudged anything if Barton had offered him a 50-50 deal, since it was Barton
who introduced his song to Beckett after all. According to Quinn, however,
Bob Barton has told both the PRS agency and all others involved that he,
Barton, wrote all the lyrics, rather than admit to tacking on a mere three
lines while recording with Beckett. Later, Barton told the PRS that he had
written half of the music as well, something Quinn believes he did only after
he found out that Iron Maiden had used some of the musical riffs as well as
the lyrics in ‘The Nomad’, wanting to make a profit there, too. Quinn is now
sighing to the press that yes, Barton has generously offered him a 50% credit
on the music, but of course, for the other 50%, not the part used in ‘The
Nomad’ and for which Bob signed a secret royalties deal with Harris and
Murray, setting himself up for some very handsome income.
To completely uncover the story behind ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ in this book,
I have to take you back in time – 2010, in fact, when I interviewed Beckett’s
former drummer, Keith Fisher, for my book ‘Steve Harris - The Clairvoyant’
(which Steve has read cover to cover, incidentally, and still signs for fans who
bring it to him), and asked him about this topic. In fact, that was the first
interview of its kind, and the first time the case was mentioned on paper.
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The text, graphics and photos on the next five pages came into being in
November 2010, published in March 2011 in my book ‘Steve Harris - The
Clairvoyant’, reprinted in 2016 – both editions are now sold out. It’s
important to read this even if you already own my original book – it serves
as a reminder of how the subject was perceived and covered in 2010, when
no one entertained the slightest idea that the issue of this song would
escalate the way it has. At the time, the discussion on the unofficial Iron
Maiden forums and messageboards had gained momentum and grown so
big that, as a journalist, especially one researching a book about Steve
Harris, I felt compelled to react in a timely manner and contact the man who
had opened the Internet can of worms – Keith Fisher – to ask him a few
questions regardless of the fact that he had horse in this race – he’s never
claimed authorship. So, read on:
Keith Fisher (Beckett)
There is certainly a connection between the bands Iron Maiden and

Beckett, and it's even multi-layered. A casual observer might think that the
only thing in common the two bands have is “Rainbow’s Gold”, a Beckett
cover that Maiden used as a B-side on the ‘2 Minutes to Midnight’ single,
but the connection is much deeper than most fans ever noticed. As the
information surfaced that certain parts of ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ and
‘The Nomad’ were copied, almost word by word, or note-for-note, from
Beckett’s ‘Life’s Shadow’, the bells started ringing in my head and I had to
check it out. The band’s drummer, Keith Fisher, who posted this
information on the Maidenfans.com forums, and whom I contacted using
the same forum, was a big help.
Let us start from the beginning. The following (in italics) was Fisher’s first
post on the Maidenfans forum:
I was the drummer in Beckett back in 73/4 when Steve and Adrian were
coming to watch the band on a regular basis. They liked the band a lot and
cited us as a major influence. Nicko played with a band called Streetwalkers,
and its singer, Roger Chapman from Family, introduced him to the Beckett
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album, which he had produced for us. Nicko liked my drumming on

Rainbow's Gold, and suggested to Maiden that they cover it. Nicko and
Adrian were also involved with Kenny Mountain and Terry Slesser (both from
Beckett) in an outfit called The Entire Population of Hackney; although Steve
and Bruce invariably ended up on stage with them at their gigs. I have lived
in Los Angeles for a long time and was unaware of any Maiden/Beckett
connections until I posted the Old Grey Whistle Test video on Youtube, then I
began to discover the unaccredited and unrewarded use of our song Life's
Shadow in The Nomad and Hallowed be Thy Name. So to put the record
straight: we were not informed of their use of our material, nor were we paid
any fees. I love what they have done with all our material; I love Nicko's
drumming on Rainbow's Gold, and I consider it a compliment that they
should use our material and bring it to the attention of the world and out
from obscurity where it had resided for a long time. However... the matter is
now under discussion amongst the principle members of Beckett; in
particular Bob Barton who wrote Life's Shadow. Further developments at our
end will be posted here for your edification.
Beckett, if you hadn’t heard about the band yet, was a progressive rock
band from the UK, which issued just a single album, also called Beckett, in
1974. It contained, among others, the song ‘Life’s Shadow’, which contains
certain lyrical sections almost identical to those used in Iron Maiden’s
‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ from the 1982 album ‘The Number of the Beast’.
Furthermore, Maiden’s song ‘The Nomad’ from the 2000 album ‘Brave New
World’ contains an instrumental section which is likewise almost identical to
an instrumental part from ‘Life’s Shadow’. Apart from all of this, there are
even more incredible connections regarding the two bands. Before Adrian
Smith joined Iron Maiden, the band he had played in, Evil Ways, used to play
Beckett’s song ‘Rainclouds’. Steve Gadd (RIP), Maiden’s tour manager and
former drum tech, used to play in the band Charlie together with Beckett’s
singer Terry Slesser. Slesser was also one of the people asked to audition for
the singing job in Iron Maiden after Paul Di’Anno left the band, but
obviously didn’t get it. Finally, Rod Smallwood, the band’s manager, was
Beckett’s agent and tour manager. Quite a number of interesting
connections between the bands, wouldn’t you say? Mr. Fisher was also kind
enough to give me some photos of the band members from both bands
taken in 2006.
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Who knows, maybe Steve is short of money
Keith Fisher was glad to talk to me – as soon as he had read my e-mail, he

replied that he was ready for any further conversation about this topic.
Please keep in mind that it has been a while since the interview was done
and the book published; I am not sure if their claims and legal actions have
come to a close or if the entire issue is still ongoing. Looking at the lyrics,
they are similar, as is the music in ‘The Nomad’, but I would like to say that,
regardless of the similarities, legally speaking, neither the music nor the
lyrics are completely identical because they do contain some subtle changes
and variations, so, in my opinion, everything about this case could come to a
close at this point. If nothing else, it was satisfying for the fans to see where
Steve Harris had gotten the inspiration for the two songs, one of which has
become a timeless classic and is regarded as the best Iron Maiden song ever.
Here’s what Mr. Keith Fisher had to say.
Bob Barton has complete rights to ‘Life's Shadow’ Brian Ingham, an old
friend of ours, contributed a very small percentage, but has given up the
rights to Bob. Steve Harris did not ask Bob for permission to use his words
and music, never. Bob is very unhappy about the situation, and Kenny
Mountain is very surprised that Steve has not credited Bob. I don't know
what Terry Slesser thinks, but he probably doesn't care, as it's not his song
or his money. I was with Bob when he was crafting that song – we used to
share a house together back then – so it feels like a piece of personal
history. To be clear, the Beckett parts of ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ and ‘The
Nomad’ are not his tribute to Beckett; although, obviously, imitation is the
highest form of flattery. ‘Rainbow's Gold’ is a tribute, in my opinion. I am
very flattered that Nicko liked my drumming so much that he got the Irons
to cover the song. They recorded a very good version of it. I understand
Nicko heard the track when he was working with Roger Chapman, who
produced the Beckett album, then discovered that Steve was also a fan of
Beckett when he joined Iron Maiden, so they covered the song, but they
gave Kenny and Terry full credit and a lot of money.
We did not contact Steve about this issue, because Bob is consulting an
industry legal specialist in Los Angeles who is a friend of the family. I asked
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the lawyer to look at everything I said for your book to make sure I wasn't
saying anything wrong, and he said there’s no problem. I have never met
Steve in person, but Kenny Mountain tells me he is a very good person. He
told me that he has never in all his years in the music business met such an
exceptionally friendly bunch of players as The Irons; and watching Steve on
Flight 666, I have to agree. I am also surprised he has not given Bob his
credits. Who knows, maybe Steve is short of money.
No one goes to see Iron Maiden lately, except for Terry Slesser, and only if
they play in Newcastle. Kenny is still good friends with the band, but he does
not see them; his health is not good, so he does not travel much. I have
never met any of the band members; I left the country and went to Australia
after Beckett split up, then lived in Sicily, I married a Mafia Princess, and
until recently, I lived in Los Angeles, so I have just begun to understand the
Iron Maiden/Beckett connection, now that I am back in Newcastle.
One thing I can absolutely assure you all about is that no-one in the Beckett
camp even knew about this situation until I alerted them, let alone made
deals behind my back. No, the strange fact is that this has been quietly
slipped under the wire until now. As I stated in my initial missive, discussions
are now taking place between Bob, Kenny and me as to the proper approach
to the issue; the general consensus of opinion out in the world is that a case
exists and must be answered by Steve and Rod; we are cogitating. (This last
paragraph was copied from the Maidenfans forum where Mr. Fisher was
further explaining the situation.)
Lyrics comparison between “Hallowed Be Thy Name” and “Life’s Shadow”
When one compares the lyrics of the two songs listed below (the Harris
version is on the right), one sees that they are pretty much alike, but not
completely identical. The “Catch my soul…” line actually isn’t part of “Life’s
Shadow” but, interestingly, it’s from “Rainbow’s Gold”, another Beckett
song covered and properly credited by Maiden, as Mr. Fisher had said
himself. All of the lines are somewhat different, apart from “I’ve gone
beyond to see the truth”.
213
“Life’s Shadow” “Hallowed Be Thy Name”
Catch my soul 'cause it's willing to fly away (Iron Maiden)

Catch your soul, he's willing to fly away (Beckett)
Mark my words, Mark my words

my soul lives on believe my soul lives on
Please don't worry Don't worry
'cause I have gone now that I have gone
I've gone beyond to see the truth I've gone beyond to see the truth
When your time When you know that your time

is close at hand is close at hand
Maybe then Maybe then
you'll understand you'll begin to understand
Life down there is just a strange illusion Life down here is just a strange illusion
Beckett lineup with Keith Fisher – Bob, Ian, Terry, Keith and Kenny.
Courtesy of www.readysteadygone.co.uk
214
215
In case you missed the bolded parts of the text while reading this excerpt
from my book ‘Steve Harris – The Clairvoyant’, I’ll lay them out here for you.
1. Brian Ingham, an old friend of ours, contributed a very small

percentage, but has given up the rights to Bob.
2. I was with Bob when he was crafting that song – we used to share
a house together back then – so it feels like a piece of personal
history.
3. We did not contact Steve about this issue, because Bob is
consulting an industry legal specialist in Los Angeles who is a
friend of the family. I asked the lawyer to look at everything I said
for your book to make sure I wasn't saying anything wrong, and
he said there’s no problem
In order to assure you that these words are neither fabricated nor edited by
me in any way, perhaps to emphasise the drama in this book and the whole
case, let me also present screenshots from a lengthy email exchange backing
up these claims. Furthermore, as a conscientious fan who wishes to assist
Iron Maiden with their case, I have passed all three screenshots on to them,
offering at the same time to forward the original 2010 email exchange. It
would make me very happy if it comes in useful as evidence backing up their
response to the lawsuit, and I am convinced that it would.
216
If what Keith Fisher claimed in my 2010 interview with him is true, Brian Quinn
and his new-found “manager” Barry McKay don’t have a leg to stand on. Today,
Quinn claims that Barton contacted him through lawyers after the fact, offering
to buy out his share of the rights to ‘Life's Shadow’ (for an unspecified amount
of money), which he refused, while Ketih Fisher said eight years ago that Quinn
had, in fact, sold his rights already – well before he knew that there was
anything to connect his song to Iron Maiden, and before he (in his own words)
was asked to sign them over. Does this mean that Quinn possibly fell for a classic
trick, where Barton, already aware of the Maiden connection, offered to buy his
rights to the song and Quinn sold them thinking he had nothing to lose given
Beckett’s then-obscure status with little likelihood of future income? Then later,
when he found out that Iron Maiden had used the song, it was too late. In his
statements, printed earlier in this chapter, Quinn says that he got a phone call
one day, from a friend who informed him of the Maiden case, but at no point
has he claimed or hinted that the friend was Barton. If it really wasn’t Barton,
this version of the story makes a lot of sense – having signed the deal with Iron
Maiden, it wouldn’t have been in Barton’s interest for Quinn to find out.
Moreover, the deal itself was covered by a veil of secrecy, hidden from both the
fans and the media – begging the question of who exactly alerted Quinn that it
had been signed? Quinn says that, after his alleged refusal to part with his
portion of the rights, he never again heard from Barton, which made him
suspicious, but it seems likelier that Quinn or a friend stumbled upon the
wonders of YouTube some years later and realised that, unaware of what was
cooking in the background, he had sold his rights and been left outside while the
money was divided. How could he rectify this? Realistically, he could not. The
only open course of action was to retain a loudmouth representative to take pot
shots at Steve’s credibility in front of journalists, painting him as a plagiarist in
the twilight years of his career. This is why the McKay camp releases abhorrent
statements like: “If Steve Harris was to collaborate in future with Brian Quinn,
they might yet go out on another platinum album.” – suggesting that Steve and
the band are incapable of platinum sales unless Quinn is involved – a notorious
untruth considering that Iron Maiden’s first US platinum record was
‘Somewhere in Time’, achieved immediately upon the album’s release but many
years after ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’. As expected, McKay follows every such
salve of ugliness (the abovementioned dig, or the claim that Steve has been
dishonest towards the fans) with a conciliatory statement along the lines of: “I
217
will fight for Brian Quinn if have to but I would much rather see Steve and Brian
meet and shake hands after acknowledging each other’s contributions to two
great Iron Maiden heavy metal epics.”
This approach smacks of only one thing: the plan is to verbally damage the
band in the press as much as possible, until they have no choice but to sit
down and hash out a deal – whether licencing or compensation – in order to
close this embarrassing chapter in their careers. However, the plan seems to
be backfiring in that Iron Maiden’s management doesn’t like being held
ransom (they don’t seem to realise they’re messing with Rod Smallwood,
Andy Taylor and their legal team), and have decided to go all the way and
have their day in court. I sincerely hope that my findings and screenshots
from long ago will be of some help in this.
To return to the analysis of the significant parts of that email. In late 2010,
Keith Fisher stated that Quinn had already parted with his rights to the song
‘Life’s Shadow’, and that his actual contribution to the songwriting process
had been minimal in the first place. He made this statement at a time when no
contention between Quinn and Barton was even remotely on the horizon –
and since Fisher had no contributing role in the making of the song, he also
had no particular reason to lie. He also says that he was with Bob at the time
of the song’s creation, since they were roommates at the time, and he
personally witnessed the entire process – no Quinn in the story. The third
important statement was that before allowing the interview to be published in
my book, he had requested his lawyer to read through his responses and
approve them – something that gives the entire email additional weight.
Some months later, my Brazilian colleague Ricardo Lira also contacted Keith,
specifically to enquire about a possible Beckett reunion. This was the
response he received:
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But the tensions visible today between the members of Beckett are in reality
old news. They were present from the band’s very beginnings – despite
good managers, excellent contracts and their path to glory and riches almost
guaranteed… for some reason, it never happened, at least not in the way
they had planned. In these cases, frustration years down the line is par for
the course, another possible source of answers for the current escalation of
hostilities. Of course, it doesn’t absolve Steve Harris for not crediting the
original author – but Iron Maiden did ultimately compensate the author in
the original deal, which was cool of them.
Following a tour with Slade in 1974, and plagued with vicious infighting, the
Beckett break happened when members Bob and Keith walked out on the
band. At the time, they felt that it was the only right decision, really their
only option. They left the band aware that they may have blown off their
one and only chance at becoming established and famous musicians. Some
thirty years later, remembering, Keith stated a very painful truth.
“Bob and I walked away from the only chance we would ever get of becoming
rich and famous. We left everything behind, because, in our minds, Beckett
was only the beginning, and untold opportunities must obviously be just
around the corner. We left all of the equipment that was part of the Beckett
package, all of the local fame we had acquired, all of the respect that comes
with success, and all of the belief that our friends and family had in our sanity.“
„In later years I realised that any form of unity which could have been
developed in an attempt to keep the band together would have been a
better option – but at the time, I honestly thought that none would be
possible. The animosity between various members was extremely corrosive
and had eaten into the fabric of the unit until there was scant harmony to be
found. Losing Frankie had been a major blow to the structure, being a sole
voice of reason, uncorrupted by the divisive factions that put Kenny and me
on opposite sides. Ian, bless him, could only struggle along as best he could,
and, I suspect, pray that sanity and salvation might descend upon this world
of ‘almost there!’. Because we were almost there. The music press had, that
year, voted Beckett and Queen as the two bands most likely to make the big
time in 1974.”
219
Robert (Bob) Barton, the musician who signed a deal with Iron Maiden for
their use of parts of ‘Life’s Shadow’ in two of their songs: 'Hallowed Be Thy
Name' and 'The Nomad'. Courtesy of Robert Barton.
220
To show the importance of ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ on the heavy metal

scene, it is enough to note the numerous cover versions of the song in
existence today – I’ll name but a few of the biggest names to stress the
esteem in which Iron Maiden are held by their colleagues from other bands.
Dream Theater made an excellent cover – in fact, they were so impressed by
‘The Number of the Beast’ that they recorded a cover of the entire album.
Other well-known bands who have also covered ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’
are Machine Head, who happen to be great friends with Iron Maiden, Iced
Earth, and Cradle of Filth who released an unusual death metal version of
the song.
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To finish this chapter, let’s go back to the lawsuit about the song. Who will
win, I hear you asking? Without a doubt, I can state that Iron Maiden will
come out on top here – Brian Quinn made an interesting statement to
journalists, at the time he claimed that Barton and his lawyers had offered to
buy his rights from him and, when he refused, invited him to sue Iron Maiden
with them. He claims he turned them down because he did not trust them.
"I've heard nothing from either of them since. Now I hear that Barton has
settled the entire 'Life's Shadow' claim with Iron Maiden's Steve Harris and
Dave Murray for an undisclosed sum. He did this without notifying me and I
did not know about this until very recently.”
Many are asking, and rightly, how Quinn came by the information that
Barton had settled the issue with Iron Maiden, if the deal was supposedly so
secret – unless he was stabbing in the dark? The most likely version of the
story is his own: Quinn signed over his rights but was hoodwinked, and
seeing the lyrics and music discussed online lit up a light bulb in his brain –
too late. There’s also the question of how it is possible that two authors
simply spent thirty five years completely disregarding their own song, the
music and the possibility of making some money from both? It would be
understandable if Iron Maiden were a band they’d never had any
association with, but considering the Irons released a legitimate cover of
another Beckett song, I find it exceedingly strange that they never, at any
point, heard ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’, even in passing. Maybe because it
was never released as a single, so they didn’t have much chance to hear it
played on the radio or see a video?
Another interesting thing to note is in the manager’s press release: at one

point, he attempts to discredit Bob Barton by saying
“In order to get himself a share of the publishing, he added three rubbish lines
to the end of the song and then he claimed half of the publishing.”
Repeating himself later in the text:
(and the lines added by Barton were rubbish lines).
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Regardless of whether this is true or not, whether Bob Barton added only
three lines of lyrics, McKay should be the first to mind his manners – acting
according to a code of honour, his own character and as etiquette demands.
Forty years ago, this self-same Barry McKay was, in fact, Bob Barton’s
manager, so apparently Bob was good enough for him then, at least in the
music and lyrics he wrote and performed at the time, presumably including
‘Life’s Shadow’. Today, he calls them “rubbish” despite no legal ruling of
who wrote which parts of the song. Very inappropriate behaviour.
Ultimately, it all comes down to this: Barton claims to own 75% of the rights
to ‘Life's Shadow’ (including the lyrics and music Iron Maiden used in their
own song, and which belong to Brian Quinn according to McKay). McKay
claims that Barton was desperate for money in those days, and desperate
people do desperate and terrible things. According to him, this is why Barton
came to a secret agreement with Iron Maiden, a deal Quinn was unaware of
until September 2016. In McKay’s words, both Barton and Iron Maiden’s team
hoped that Quinn would never find out – and never have to be paid.
On the other hand, Barton had hired his own Newcastle based legal team, to
represent him on a no-win/no-fee principle, and according to Quinn’s
representative he initially invited Quinn to join him in the endeavour,
believing it to be the right thing to do – and Quinn admits that he turned
down the opportunity. McKay adds that Iron Maiden decided to believe
Barton without making so much as a cursory attempt to contact Quinn.
Quinn has fairly admitted in the past that since he had used a pseudonym in
his songwriting Iron Maiden really had no way of knowing the true identity
of Brian Ingham unless someone from Beckett disclosed it, so the idea that
they should or even could have independently contacted him doesn’t hold
water. And yet, McKay persists:
“When settling his claim in 2012 Barton knew very well that Brian Quinn
maintained his claim to Life’s Shadow and Iron Maiden should have known
that too but they never bothered to enquire (or perhaps they didn’t want to
know). They can’t just reach a secret agreement with one of them and then
hope the other writer would not find out about it. In settling with 1 of 2
copyright owners, they took a calculated risk that has clearly backfired”
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Let’s put it this way: from all this bickering, we’ve learned that Barton has,
according to the people who are suing Iron Maiden rather than him, taken it
upon himself to arbitrarily change the sizes of the shares in authorship of
the song ‘Life's Shadow’. I’m not sure how that can even be done – if anyone
else knows, please get in touch, as I’m curious to learn. Namely, as a band
manager and co-author of several songs, I’m fairly well-versed in both local
Croatian copyright agencies and those like the UK’s PRS, and many from the
US. Moreover, I was recently involved in the copyright discussions for the
song ‘Missing You’, by Zele, an author and guitarist popular in the south-
eastern region of Europe. One of the co-authorship credits on the song is a
special guest by the name of Tony Martin – ex-Black Sabbath. When we filed
the copyright paperwork, it was precisely stated who wrote what and in
exact amounts – and in the event of any confusion later on, ALL the listed
authors have to give their consent to any proposed changes. With this in
mind, I honestly don’t understand how someone can have such changes
enacted independently of the other credited author? A verdict in the court
case is expected no later than the summer of 2018, at which time we will all
be a lot wiser on the matter.
‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ is a song that has certainly left its mark on Iron
Maiden’s entire discography, and with this lawsuit and its omission from the
set list of the final part of their ‘Book of Souls’ tour, it’s also marked the year
2017. Although the press release from McKay’s camp has been analysed to
death, Iron Maiden’s PR machine has so far been both smarter and more
creative. Realising that the lawsuit was generating a lot of new publicity for
the song, their ‘Trooper’ beer’s next release was named – ‘Hallowed’. At
6.0% ABV in 330ml bottle, 'Hallowed' is the first Belgian style beer in the
'Trooper' ranks and one of the first beers to be brewed by Robinsons that
uses Belgian style yeast. ‘Hallowed’'s innovative bottle label pays tribute to
Belgian beer, representing Iron Maiden's iconic mascot Eddie robed in
traditional monk's clothing: a nod to the Trappist monastic brewing tradition
in Belgium.
‘Hallowed’ beer was an instant and massive success, becoming a fan

favourite both for its taste and its innovative label design. With the
introduction of this beer, Iron Maiden also hinted at a future announcement
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of their next tour, ‘Legacy of the Beast 2018’, whose visuals so far tie in with
the label design, sending a perfectly subtle message to their opponents in
court: ‘Hallowed’ belongs to us! It wouldn’t be the first time that they’ve
used their PR in a spectacularly hilarious fashion.
Many fans have described ‘Hallowed’ beer as the best effort so far from the
‘Trooper’ beer family. Sadly, ‘Hallowed’ is a limited edition beer, presented for
the first time in 2017.
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Sales of ‘The Number of the Beast’ will continue, singles like ‘Run to the
Hills’ and ‘The Number of the Beast’ will continue to get airplay, but the
song ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’, Iron Maiden’s eternal dark horse, will remain
synonymous with the band and their entire musical opus, both with fans of
heavy metal and with true musical connoisseurs. Because it is a song that
connects all the things that are characteristic of Iron Maiden’s sound:
memorable, slow intro, vocal exhibitionism, an emphasis on Bruce’s vocal
abilities, pauses in the first part, mid-tempos and triolas and harmonies,
dizzyingly fast instrumental segments in the second part of the song, guitar
duels, epicness, non-standard song length, and dark, thoughtful lyrics full of
dilemmas and questions, with unfinished thoughts that leave the listener in
wonder long after the song’s conclusion.
As well as the aforementioned Cradle of Filth, Machine Head, Dream Theater

and Iced Earth, even Metallica have been known to perform ‘Hallowed Be Thy
Name’ live, a fact that attests to the respect with which other musicians
regard the song. Because… Some songs change heavy metal, make history,
help break sales records and capture attention with their controversy; others
carry an entire genre of music on their shoulders, taking on the role of a
sturdy pillar and holding the whole homogenous mass together. ‘Hallowed Be
Thy Name’ is one of only a few that fall into this second category.
This song is the very essence of heavy metal music and everything that you
can and want to find in metal. If you’ve heard ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’, you’ve
heard everything. Not only has it taken the number one spot on many top-lists
naming it as the best heavy metal song of all time, it’s also been selected as
the best album closer of all time, despite the fact that just Iron Maiden’s
discography presents it with multiple rivals (‘To Tame a Land’, ‘Rime of the
Ancient Mariner’, ‘Alexander the Great’, ‘Fear of the Dark’, ‘Empire of the
Clouds’ etc, most of them also written by Harris), never mind the rest.
There you have it – my personal opinion as the author of this book is that,
despite my favourite Iron Maiden song – NOT ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’! – if
humanity ever decides to create a time capsule whose goal is to teach far off
future generations about all aspects of humanity’s history, including music,
‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ is the song that has to represent heavy metal.
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227
***
Resolution, March 2018
This entire chapter was written some months ago, but today, on 12/03/2018
– Steve Harris’ birthday, incidentally – it was announced that despite their
initial intent of going to court, Iron Maiden have decided to reach a
settlement with Quinn and McKay and to close the matter once and for all.
In another brief yet pointed statement to Blabbermouth, the band’s
representatives have said (emphasis mine):
“We do not believe that Brian Quinn was the one who wrote these six lines
in question over 40 years ago as was claimed by Barry McKay. However,
due to escalating legal fees and the potential huge costs of a court case, it
was pragmatic to reluctantly settle this action with McKay for £100,000
[approximately $139,000], a fraction of what he brought the action for. A
serial litigant like Mr. McKay would have foreseen this.”
McKay has been quick to respond via Loudwire, with another vitriolic
statement and further threats:
“I do not believe that Steve Harris writes all of his own songs for which he
claims sole credit. Far from it.
Taking lyrics and music from the Barton/Quinn song ‘Life’s Shadow’ has
definitely ended up costing Harris and Dave Murray £900,000
[approximately $1.25 million] in combined damages and costs, paid to
Barton and to Quinn and to their respective lawyers.
That should be a lesson for them. Next time, and there is going to be another
claim, they need to be more reasonable and fair. I find it sickening to have to
take very wealthy musicians to court for plagiarizing the musical works of
musicians who are not at all wealthy and who cannot afford to take on the
might of Iron Maiden.
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If Andy Taylor and Rod Smallwood (managers of Harris/Murray/Iron

Maiden) had provided accurate earnings figures for the two Maiden songs
that infringed the ‘Life’s Shadow’ copyright at the very start of the claim
(which they did not) and then offered Brian Quinn a fair settlement of
around £250,000, Steve Harris and Dave Murray could have saved
themselves around £600,000 in legal costs.
Instead they wanted a fight and so they got one. Had they not settled, I would
have taken this case to trial when Steve Harris and Dave Murray would have
been cross-examined under oath in the witness box before a judge.
The last time I was in court for a music case, when a record
production/management company sued me, after I had been asked to assist
one of their recording artistes to break out of a contract with them, their
case collapsed after they were exposed for lying under oath. The defense
papers served by Harris and Murray contained unsatisfactory statements,
which they would have been questioned on in court had this case not settled.
Brian Quinn did not settle for ‘a fraction’ of his claim. Our claim form lodged
with the High Court stated that we were claiming a minimum figure of
£200,000. Instead Harris/Murray instructed expensive lawyers (Simkins and
a QC) to fight Brian Quinn who went on to cost them £300,000, as well as
having to pay for every penny of my legal costs with Eversheds Sutherland,
which were £285,000. On top of that, their plagiarism of ‘Life’s Shadow’ had
already £220,000 in damages and costs when they secretly settled with the
other co-writer of ‘Life’s Shadow’ Bob Barton.
To call me a ‘serial litigant’ is sour grapes. Harris and Murray and their
managers appear to me to be bad losers. However, I am now representing
three other songwriters who also allege that Steve Harris and Dave Murray
have also profiteered from lyrics that they wrote. If that makes me a ‘serial
litigant’ so be it.”
The man’s verbal gymnastics are fascinating considering that he was earlier
talking about amounts in the millions of pounds, yet McKay and Quinn have
still received less than half of what he now claims was asked for (£250,000).
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What seems to be the fact is that the Irons simply became tired of the back
and forth, and they have clearly stated that they stand by their belief that
Brian Quinn did not write the disputed lyrics. As for calling him a ‘serial
litigant’, in light of his alleged previous and confidential settlements,
coupled with a rather public one in which he sued a UK real estate agency
for selling his former home to someone he didn’t like – only to call the press
after a murder had occurred at the house, with a tearful statement to the
effect of how shocked he was – five years after he’d moved out and it no
longer had anything to do with him! – it does speak volumes about how far
he’s willing to go to get back into the public eye. I can’t help thinking that, if
he was a lawyer, Barry McKay would likely be of the ambulance-chasing
kind. It will be entertaining to see what he’ll come up with next.
All in all, while I’m not altogether pleased with the outcome of the case,
simply because I felt that the Irons would have won had it gone to court, I
feel free to claim that I was mostly right in my summary of the relevant
points and the way I “argued” the case based on what was available at the
time. McKay and Quinn have admitted that “Mr. Barton failed to disclose”
that anyone else had been involved in the writing process, and it is
perfidious of McKay to now insist on painting exclusively Iron Maiden as the
villains of the piece – if anything, they would have felt that the matter was
closed years ago and are guilty of nothing other than not doing their
research – due diligence.
A fan on ultimate-guitar.com going by the nickname dark-void summed it up

very well in the comments (emphasis mine):
“There are two very important points that are being overlooked here. Firstly,
McKay is making out like it's a David and Goliath thing - victory for the little
guy. But of course this all happened nearly 40 years ago, Maiden were the
little guy at the time. They weren't using their stature to rip off a lesser
artist, they were paying homage to someone they admired. It wasn't such a
litigious society back then - you could get away with things like this.
Secondly, they fully admitted they did it. They never denied it in any way and
they came to an agreement with the song's writer years ago. Bob Barton
claimed to be the sole writer and they paid him a substantial amount of
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money for using his lyrics. It's only now that Brian Quinn has 'remembered'
that it was actually him who wrote the lyrics so set out to sue, completely
ignoring the fact that Maiden have already paid to use the lyrics. Maiden
still fully believe that Barton is the sole writer, but they paid Quinn just to
make him go away.”
A second fan, Duncan Smith, was more sarcastic on Blabbermouth, writing

simply: “I didn't know you could copyright Em C D B”
In the end, the most important thing is that the legacy of ‘Hallowed Be Thy
Name’ remains as it ever was, and we can hope that Iron Maiden will again
perform it live when they get back on the road. Bring on the ‘Legacy of the
Beast”!
Rddie's collection (from 1982) is ready for new heads.
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THE DAWN OF THE CLASSIC ERA

In the final chapter of this book, we have room enough for a few conclusions. As
early at the release of their single ‘Purgatory’ and the mysterious
announcement of what was to follow, the Iron Maiden team were aware that
they would have to be well prepared for the great “attack” about to happen. As
you can see from the photo on the previous page, Iron Maiden laid the
groundwork in order to be in total control in the event of any unexpected surges
in popularity on an international level. Success, however, wasn’t an overnight
thing, because everything that comes too easily is short-lived and ends just as
easily. Their climb to the top was never completely vertical, but it was a gradual
and constant uphill struggle for a full 12 years: from 1975 to the end of 1987.
Jonathan Kis-Lev's famous 'club 27' grafitti art in Tel-Aviv.
Let’s take a step back now and remember the musical greats who are part of
the famous ’27 Club’. Recall the achievements of Brian Jones, Jim Morrison,
Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Amy Winehouse, and their musical
legacy to the world. I’m 42 years old as I type this, 15 years older than they
were when they left this world and I’ve asked myself many times: what sort
of life did they live, how much of themselves did they give and how fast they
burned out to have such a plentiful and brilliant legacy by the age of 27? If
we do the math for a moment, all the members of Iron Maiden were
younger than 27 at the time of ‘The Number of the Beast’-s release and
promotional tour. What would have happened if they had disappeared
following the release of the album, had it been Iron Maiden’s final album
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ever recorded? Would it have earned today’s cult status, would Iron Maiden
be equally or even a little relevant 35 years down the line? Alternatively,
would they have ended their careers in obscurity or a middling sort of
industry exposure, as did some of the once promising bands from the early
‘New Wave of British Heavy Metal’ – bands who never quite delivered on
their promise and are today just a footnote on the pages of music history?
‘The Number of the Beast’ is not an album that succeeded by accident and
birthed a few mega-hit songs: everything that can be quantified and graded is
well done. Martin Birch’s fantastic production work, building on ‘Killers’ and at
the same time clearer, sharper, more precise. Then there’s Derek Riggs’
detailed album cover, full of symbolism and carrying a message, at the same
time announcing Riggs’ future artistic concept: illustrating both the front and
back cover, both sides of the vinyl itself, conceptual alignment of single covers
with the album cover in order to tell a visual story in several parts.
Hard Rock of the 60s and 70s saw the introduction of several high range
vocalists: Gillan, Hughes, Plant, Coverdale, but no one, really, no one ever sang
quite like Bruce Dickinson in Iron Maiden – not even Bruce Dickinson in Samson,
the band he sang for prior to joining the Irons. The clarity, fullness and strength
of his voice mixed with and aggression, decisiveness and sharpness that was
powered by Martin Birch’s ready intent to extract from Bruce what even he
didn’t realise he possessed, the end result an achievement which still causes
goose bumps in listeners today. Because how can one forget the famous scream
at the breaking point of ‘The Number of the Beast’, or the big finish of ‘Run to
the Hills’? And how can you forget the emotion in his voice while he sings
‘Children of the Damned’ or the final part of ‘22 Acacia Avenue’?
Clive? I’ve said everything about him already. A man who played the drums
as though they were a guitar, who wouldn’t accept the idea that they were
“only drums”, who left an indelible legacy and influenced many of today’s
legendary drummers, I firmly believe that even in death, he could and
should have received better accolades than even he deserved. Of course, we
shouldn’t get too pompous and claim he deserves all the credit in the world,
but Clive was certainly the prototype of the heavy metal drummer, stripped
of all vestiges of hard rock and punk. To female fans, Clive was the most
attractive member of the band – though Iron Maiden never were a band
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who relied on sex appeal for promotion; he was also a wild drummer with
an excellent feel for his instrument, and sadly the only one who stood out
with his vice-filled lifestyle, which ultimately cost him his place in the band.
Adrian Smith and Dave Murray took what Glenn Tipton and KK Downing of
Judas Priest began and raised it to a whole new level, where the play of
melodies and solos gets almost out of control, where fans at concert sang
along with the solos as though they were vocal sections. Their styles of play,
so different from one another yet perfectly complementing the songs
themselves, quickly made them the best known duo of guitarists – and not
only in heavy metal, but with a wider audience. They’ve maintained the
deadly explosiveness of their melodies to this day, but ‘The Number of the
Beast’ was where they initially developed and branded the phenomenon, as
on ‘Killers’, Adrian was but a newcomer, unable to exert much influence on
songs and melodies the Irons had been playing for years.
And what can I say about Steve Harris, whose bass guitar literally changed the
history of heavy metal bass playing? Voted in and chosen as the best bass player
of the year or of all time on countless occasions, his playing style – Its
dominance recognised and pushed for by the producer – changed the way
people today consider the instrument. This is obvious from the very first notes
and throughout the rest of the album. Whether you call them a rhythm section
straight from hell or straight from heaven, call them what you want, but Clive
and Steve breathed life and soul into the band, becoming its backbone.
The aforementioned artist, Derek Riggs is an illustrator who is as important

to Maiden as any member of the band itself, and even today, although he no
longer works with them, his opus is a major source of their income. As I’ve
noted, on this album he illustrated both the front cover and the back, both
sides of the vinyl record and, in keeping with the theme of the album,
illustrated the singles. Linking them together in a single story, he moved
them off the streets of London and descended straight into hell. The
superbly put together concept of the cover engendered many comments,
everyone interpreting it in a different way – but there was only one real
truth. As explained in more detail in an earlier chapter, in every segment this
album marked Iron Maiden’s transition to what they would soon become,
what they are now famous for, and what we will remember them by.
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Last but not least – in fact, most important – music and lyrics… ‘The Number
of the Beast’ is, according to many, a special album; the first two albums
were collections of songs and spent themes that members of Iron Maiden
had written long ago, in some cases as teenagers, songs they had played live
many times before recording them. Remember, Iron Maiden played an
immense number of concerts in the period 1976-1980. ‘The Number of the
Beast’ marks a turning point, because not only were the band members
barely out of their teens in that long-ago 1976, with a completely different
worldview, the dominant music of the time was totally different. Back then,
Iron Maiden had been caught between what they liked listening to, what
they were technically capable of performing and, ultimately, what they
wanted to and were allowed to play in order to gain acceptance.
For precisely this reason, the music of their early days is so raw, honest, and
reminiscent of punk, in line with Eddie’s punkish costume on the cover of
their first album. There was so much material that Iron Maiden were able to
fill not one but two complete albums with those early songs. Indeed, from
what we can see and hear, loose ends from these old song constructions are
obvious even on ‘The Number of the Beast’. Not only do the lyrics of
‘Invaders’ lean on and continue the theme of the older ‘Invasion’, its whole
construction: the intro riff, vocal line and atmosphere are a throwback to
other songs from ‘Killers’. So much so, in fact, that it is easy to imagine Paul
Di’Anno performing the song. Now I think about it, both fans and critics see
two songs from ‘The Number of the Beast’ as the weakest: ‘Invaders’ and
‘Gangland’, and both are songs which really could be a call-back to the old
Iron Maiden. All things considered, I’m even capable of giving a little
credence to Di’Anno’s claims that at some stage he rehearsed certain songs
from ‘The Number of the Beast’. If what he says can possibly be true, these
two songs would be the ones he rehearsed – though most people tend to
reject his claims out of hand, accepting the theory that Paul Di’Anno is
telling untruths as he so often does.
The rest of the songs are leaps and bounds away from anything before
written by Iron Maiden, both in terms of song structure and vocal lines, with
Adrian Smith’s and Bruce Dickinson’s influence palpable on every one,
although they weren’t completely credited for every song, as mentioned in
earlier chapters of this book.
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Lyrically, this album is again at the crossroads between what Iron Maiden
had done before and what was still to come in their career. If nothing else,
its themes were diverse so, alongside the titular ‘The Number of the Beast’
which is self-explanatory, we got to hear a sequel to the story of prostitute
Charlotte – this time in the form of a moralistic lecture Steve Harris decided
to throw at her; then came ‘Run to the Hills’, a take on the Native American
exodus written from two opposing points of view. ‘Invasion’ continued
talking about the Vikings whom Iron Maiden had previously mentioned, and
from beginning to end, ‘Hallowed be Thy Name’ tackles the theme of
accepting the inevitability of one’s own death and whatever is (or isn’t)
waiting beyond. The song ‘Children of the Damned’ draws inspiration from
the movies ‘Village of the Damned’ and ‘Children of the Damned’, which in
their turn were adaptations of John Wyndham’s novel, while ‘Prisoner’ was
inspired by the British TV series of the same name. ‘Gangland’ talks about
th
the fear sown by gangs at the beginning and middle of the 20 century, and
‘Total Eclipse’ is about a judgement day caused by ecological catastrophe.
With the exception of the song ‘Killers’, on which Paul Di’Anno is listed as
co-author, all songwriting credits on the previous album belong to Steve
Harris. This time, there is a palpable freshness thanks in part to a diverse set
of influences and contributions from the band’s other musicians. The
chamber-music effect of the previous album is replaced by the motto
“there’s something for everyone” – which ultimately paid off. Iron Maiden
courted controversy with the direct – and previously unused in this manner
– album title, which they knew would garner a lot of attention, while at the
same time serving up a smorgasbord of “a bit of this and that”, with the
smallest serving of what was expected, and what had previously been found
between the lines in the music of Black Sabbath and later bands like Slayer.
In Steve Harris’s lyric writing, as it evolved more and more with each new
album, we can clearly see the progress, use of the sentence format and
rhymes which Harris would successfully reuse and recycle, for want of a
better word, in many of his future songs and hits.
You'd better get away

To fight another day
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We get so near yet so far away

We won't live to fight another day
When all this is considered with the aforementioned ’27 Club’ in mind,
asking the question of whether Iron Maiden would have been remembered
in the same way had their total output been three albums (and this one
being their best and last), like Janis Joplin or Jimi Hendrix, even
Nirvana…Well, I’d have to answer that I’m not entirely sure.
Iron Maiden are certainly known for their songs and lyrics, but they’re just as
well known, maybe even more so, for Eddie, their magnificent album art,
intense concerts with their interesting stage sets, complete visuals, merchandise
which is always welcome among metal fans and their tradition – even when the
tradition goes somewhat against their best interests (like the use of almost
obsolete backdrops in the form of painted canvas rather than LED walls etc.).
This is exactly the context in which ‘The Number of the Beast’ must be
considered. Derek Riggs was just preparing what would follow on
‘Powerslave’, ‘Live After Death’, ‘Somewhere in Time’, ‘Seventh Son of a
Seventh Son’ and singles like ‘The Trooper’, ‘2 Minutes to Midnight’, ‘Stranger
in a Strange Land’, ‘Can I Play with Madness’, ‘Bring Your Daughter… to the
Slaughter’ etc. Producer Martin Birch wouldn’t begin to move away from his
early days sound from London’s Battery Studio until the trio of albums
beginning with ‘Powerslave’. Moreover, Iron Maiden still hadn’t begun to
develop a visual style and set designs resembling anything close to their now-
famous backdrop canvases and giant mechanical Eddie at the end of the song
‘Iron Maiden, with the so called “walking Eddie”, introduced during this tour,
only later became part of the standard concert offer. Their stage construction
during the ‘The Beast on the Road’ tour was only a hint of what the Irons were
to become famous for, with Eddie in the background was an early design. The
lighting rig was still in diapers on this tour, the band still performing mostly as
a support band or special guests, with little opportunity to use their own
design, and a significant investment in videos to support single releases did
not happen until ‘Flight of Icarus’, released on the ‘Piece of Mind’ album –
prior to this, their videos were almost criminally uninventive. Pyrotechnics at
the time were barely used, again coming much later, and to conclude, it wasn’t
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until the ‘Piece of Mind’ years that Iron Maiden scratched the surface of real
popularity, and went on a world tour where they were no longer the support act
or special guests, as headliners in their own right – another level entirely.
Walking Eddie. Taken from www.maidenthebeast.com
‘The Number of the Beast’ definitely IS an album whose sales figures TODAY
are higher than those of all the other albums, but it definitely WASN’T their
most successful album at the time of its release, in the 80s. Iron Maiden grew
steadily until 1986, and with a certain push they climbed back to the top in the
UK in 1988. While ‘The Number of the Beast’ was certainly a groundbreaking
effort even at the time, and a giant leap forward for Iron Maiden, but if it had
been their last, it wouldn’t come close to having the cult status it holds today.
YES, it was controversial, YES, it drew the ire of the church and
establishment, YES, it resulted in prohibitions and record burnings, and NO,
none of this was spontaneous but a masterful manipulation from the
management, one I salute them for. YES, it dragged heavy metal kicking and
screaming into a new era, YES, it re-established our faith in British rock and
metal, YES, it encouraged youthful rebellion and made all measures taken to
prohibit it counterproductive and, as you can see on the poster on the next
page, it freed the beast to become what we all recognise it for today!
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This is what makes ‘The Number of the Beast’ a game changer, although at
the time it may not have been the most perfect, recognised for the
significance it would have for the future of heavy metal – something not
everyone understood in the given moment. In that sense, I somewhat
understand the ‘unlucky’ Rolling Stone journalist from the start of this book,
as well as his editorial team in 1982 – at least the editor who allowed that
review to be printed. Simply, even the biggest among us sometimes can’t
predict what will or won’t be a game changer – something Iron Maiden
certainly were with ‘The Number of the Beast’.
Clive’s departure, as bad as this sounds for both his sound and his legacy,
marked just the beginning of Iron Maiden’s classic era, while they became
the band who would not only define the heavy metal genre, but become a
synonym of it, gathering about them the best team in existence at the time.
Rod Smallwood, Andy Taylor, Joe Jackson, Ross Halfin, Derek Riggs, Dave
Lights, Doug Hall, Kiler Krew… With this machinery behind them, no one was
so foolish to doubt again that Iron Maiden would become the biggest!
“The New Beatles” of heavy metal (clarified in earlier chapters) never hesitated
to use or upgrade good marketing strategies of other bands or even non-musical
brands in order to gain attention and reactions. Iron Maiden were never a band
who drew mainstream attention, nor were their efforts turned in that direction,
so any form of intelligent, almost guerrilla-like marketing was a must – and
taken to the next level on their follow-up album, ‘Piece of Mind’
As you can see on page 233 of this book, the 1982 Reading Rock Festival
played a significant role, as did ‘Monsters of Rock’ in 1988, in getting Iron
Maiden to number 1 in the UK, earning them a reputation as up and coming
stars and new festival headliners. In fact, the Reading Rock Festival was the
first UK and generally the first major festival to feature Iron Maiden as
headliners, giving them the chance to show what they could do, prove they
deserved the number 1. It’s the oldest and most respected rock festival, and
beside Iron Maiden, since its inception in 1961 it has hosted bands like The
Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Nirvana, AC/DC, The Police, Black
Sabbath, The Who, Judas Priest, Alice Cooper, Genesis, Cream, Red Hot Chilli
Peppers, Metallica, Guns N' Roses, The Jam, The Kinks, Fleetwood Mac,
Radiohead, Green Day, Foo Fighters, Oasis, Iggy Pop, Blur, Pulp, Muse, The
242
Cure, Status Quo, The Pogues, Eminem, Arctic Monkeys and many more, a
list which is representative of the size and breadth of the festival. At the
time, they were wise enough to book Iron Maiden to headline the festival,
while the Irons in turn made the most of the opportunity and in my book,
that moment was the beginning of their classic era, and the accession of 80s
heavy metal as a new sub-mainstream sound.
'The Number of the Beast' rear cover of vinyl - detail.

Six six six the one for you and me
Even today, these lines are relevant, enticing all the new, rebellious and coming
generations, and Iron Maiden have, through the years, unofficially been
nicknamed ‘The Beast’. The people behind the scenes were prescient and the
photo on the back cover of the ‘The Number of the Beast’ was a perfect
description of what was to come: Bruce, the new lightbringer, had come here
with Iron Maiden to set fire to hell and the whole world.

Hell and fire was spawned to be released
243
IRON MAIDEN ALBUM COLLECTION

make their audience believe that while they aren't in possession of the
official product, they are buying something equally legit. The use of
misleading PR is common, trying to lure people into thinking they are
actually paying for some of the exclusive and never before seen materials
seeping with deep insider info about to shake the foundation of everything
they believed they knew about their favorite band or performer.
'Climb like a monkey', the phrase that Bruce Dickinson used in the song 'Death
or Glory' from the album 'Book of Souls', had never in the history of the group
Iron Maiden been more appropriate to describe their surging growth and
expansion than during 1984 and 1985, when following the release of the
album 'Powerslave' the band left for their gigantic 'World Slavery Tour' and
made their unstoppable march into immortality. Ancient Egypt, mummies, the
Sphinx, Anubis, the pyramids, the curse of the Pharaohs, Valley of the Kings,
scarabs and enigmatic hieroglyphics served as a mysterious invitation for the
fans to step into the unknown and explore the arcane frontiers, joining Eddie
from the 'Powerslave' cover in making a mark for all times.
Even though at first glance this album doesn't hold a connection to AC/DC's
'Powerage' record from 1978 besides the similar name construction, it is
officially their fifth studio one (including the Australian editions), followed by a
live album after which came the commercial success and finally the pinnacle of
their career - also marking the end of the classic era. Doesn't that path sound
familiar? 'Silly' trivia such as this one can't find its place in 'serious' books. That is
why I’m proud to conclude: no, this is not an official book, nor is it intended to
act as such, it does not feature any exclusive insider info, and neither is it trying
to pile up all of the available Wikipedia articles and maiden-related fan sites info.
It wasn't written encyclopedically, factually, statistically, it’s not trying to create
a timeline of all the shows, bootlegs, various album editions, awards,
interviews and everything else. This book is a piece of my soul, a story of an
album which truly is a legit 'Powerage' moment, marking its moment in history
as the era of Maiden rapidly building up their power and unrelenting glory!
244
245
246

This is in fact a book about an album, yes - an album, which opened a new
dimension of space and imagination as far as thirty years ago, taking a ten
year old boy to a neverending journey. This is also a story of a renegade
album, a black sheep, a bastard child, who their creators never gave the
credit it deserved. I have waited for so many years, eagerly awaiting a
Maiden 'history' tour but today, thirty years after the album release, my
hopes slowly started to fade away, accepting that it will never be
appropriately presented to the public that waited decades for its missing
acclaim. This is why this book is actually a cry for Iron Maiden to remember
the jewel they've left in the dust, allowing their own vanity to submerge it
into oblivion.
Dear Iron Maiden, you may have forgotten the album 'Somewhere In Time'
but there are several millions of us who have not. Millions of us who bought
it, worshipped it, collected all available merch, and listed numerous
petitions asking for a live performance of the album's long forgotten songs.
That is why I’m proud to conclude: no, this is not an official book, nor is it
intended to act as such, it does not feature any exclusive insider info, and
neither is it trying to pile up all of the available Wikipedia articles and
maiden-related fan sites info. It wasn't written encyclopedically, factually,
statistically, it’s not trying to create a timeline of all the shows, bootlegs,
various album editions, music awards, interviews and everything else I’m
sure you already know about. This book is a piece of my soul, my scream to
Iron Maiden… Get your copy of my first 'album related book' and fulfill your
collection. Order on www.maidencroatia.com/somewhere-in-time-book
247

This is a book about an album which represents not only the very pinnacle of
British heavy metal, but also whose release marked the last huge impact of
British rock and metal on the scene worldwide. 'Seventh on of a Seventh son'
is the last triumphant march of British rock towards the throne with the royal
attitude similar to their predecessors such as The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The
Who, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Queen, Pink Floyd, Genesis,
Police, The Kinks and others respectively. British rock music has had its
moments later on, mostly heavily supported by the media trying to find new
Beatles among bands such as Oasis or the Arctic Monkeys, but the saga about
British rock dominating the worldwide scene ended with this amazing story.
When I look at the youth in today's world, as well as the music available to
them during that time, I can't help but feel extremely happy for growing up in
a time where I had the chance to eagerly wait in front of a record store to get
my first 'new' Maiden album as a twelve year old boy, knowing that the album
in question was exactly 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son'. That is why I’m proud
to conclude: no, this is not an official book, nor is it intended to act as such, it
does not feature any exclusive insider info, and neither is it trying to pile up all of
the available Wikip articles and maiden-related fan sites info. It wasn't written
encyclopedically, factually, statistically, it’s not trying to create a timeline of all
the shows, bootlegs, various album editions, awards, interviews and everything
else I’m sure you already know about. This book is a piece of my soul, a story
of an album which marked the end of my childhood while introducing me to the
grown up world forever, maybe even too soon. Sweet imaginations of a child
got replaced by a cruel war. But more of that in the next book!
248
249
250

make their audience believe that while they aren't in possession of the official
product, they are buying something equally legit. The use of misleading PR is
common, trying to lure people into thinking they are actually paying for some
of the exclusive and never before seen materials seeping with deep insider
info about to shake the foundation of everything they believed they knew
about their favorite band or performer.
But what if the book is written by a fan (14), whose life at the time was such that
he actually lived this album? Could this kid truly understand what his favorite
band was singing about, the messages they were trying to send? 'No Prayer’
may not have lived up to the fan’s expectations, but honestly, which of the
previous Maiden albums - apart from the debut one - was ever anything like the
fans expected it to be? But in this case, the expectations were reversed: Riggs’s
imaginative visuals replaced by a solution so simple he never even bothered to
sign it; the extravagant melodic epics Maiden was famous for, replaced by short
songs of largely social, political and cynical nature; Smith replaced by Janick
Gers, all the lavish concert scenery replaced by walls of Marshall stacks. Was this
the way Maiden regarded metal music of the nineties? Did they think that only
by stripping themselves raw they would be able to compete with the upcoming
Nirvana, Metallica, G’n’R, Pantera and all the other ordeals that were to follow?
The band could never lose until they started looking back and had they
not done so, they would have been invincible. Their fans could feel their
fear. That is why I'm proud to conclude: this is not an official book, nor is
it intended to act as such, it does not feature insider info, and neither is
it trying to pile up all of the available Wiki articles and Maiden-related
fan sites info. It was not written encyclopedically, factually, statistically,
it's not trying to create a timeline of all the shows, bootlegs, various
album editions, awards, interviews and everything else. This book is a
piece of my soul, a story of an album underestimated by so many, liked
by even less… And yet in my opinion, the album that is perhaps the most
responsible for Maiden being as great as it is today. Allow me to explain!
251
ADRIAN SMITH BOOK - STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND
This is the story of Adrian Smith, the guitar player and IRON
MAIDEN's (H)eart and (S)oul of rock, told from memories and
numerous anecdotes of friends, associates, family members and
fans. The man who gave metal music some of its finest melodies
and most touching lyrics will be presented in this book for the first
time. A stranger in a strange land, untouchable somewhere in his
time, in a book he deserved to get a long time ago.
FIND ADRIAN SMITH BOOK AT

WWW.MAIDENCROATIA.COM
252
STEVE HARRIS BOOK - THE CLAIRVOYANT
This is a warm and intriguing story about Steve Harris and speaks
about one of the most important people in the history of metal,
and of rock in general. It comes from the mouths of his friends,
music and business associates, family members and faithful fans.
All of them shared their tales, memories, feelings and anecdotes
from their encounters with Steve Harris in order to make this book,
and to give him recognition he truly deserves.
BUY STEVE HARRIS BOOK AT

WWW.MAIDENCROATIA.COM
253
PHOTO AND LYRICS CREDITS
I have received some of the private photos (from shows, etc.) from the
interviewees via e-mail, or have been given permission to download them
from their Facebook pages and use them in this book. Although I have
always insisted on getting the author's name, sometimes it was unclear who
took the photo during a show or other occasion. In such cases, I have
credited the owner of the photo in good faith, to the best extent of my
knowledge. I always aimed in this book to respect the author's intellectual
proprety and state a photo's true author.
Most of the images used in the book are from my private collection or
courtesy of the people I’ve interviewed. All of them gave me permission to
use some of the images originally posted on their personal Facebook or
Twitter profiles or from their websites. I have asked for permission to use
each of them and if the author should be mentioned. Also, most of the
images are more of private than public character. Those which don’t have
captions are explained in this list, sorted by page number:
Page 56 - Iron Maiden ad for Italian tour 1981

Page 62 - 'Iron Maide in Battery Studio. Author is unknown to me
Page 86 – Iron Maiden in Popular 1 Magazine, Spain
Page 100 – Bruce ickinson. Taken from Pintaest, authour is unknown to me
Page 110 - Barry Clayton, taken from Wikipedia
Page 128 – Clive Burr, his private collection
Page 227 – Hallowed Be Thy Name, by Dan Mumford
Page 236 – Reading Festival 1982, poster
Page 241 – Iron Maiden, Australian poster 1982
Large number of PR Photos together with press releases and press clippings
for this book I received from Iron Maiden fans and collectors and my
collaborators with their permission to use. Huge thank you to all of them.
Posters, illustrations, visuals, postards, tour programmes, ad design, t-shirt
and merchandise design courtesy of Iron Maiden.
Fragments of Iron Maiden Lyrics - courtesy of Zomba Music Publishig Ltd.
254
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book wouldn’t have seen the light of day, hadn’t it been for the
immense and complete support from the members of both the Croatian Iron
Maiden fan club and the Iron Maiden online club. I have created this book
thanks in part to their advice, questions, suggestions and guidelines and I
hope the final product will please them all.
I would like to thank every person whom I’ve interviewed, including those
who decided not to extend me that courtesy. Thanks to my parents and my
brother for their patience, Ana Marija Abramović for translating this book
into English. A very special thank you to Fani Plosnić for huge 'last minute
help' and sleepless nights. Thanks to Christian Sorkalla, Alex Yakovlev,
Matthew Ward for all thoughts and advices and also thanks to Anastasio
Guerero, Heiko Rödl and Rasmus Stawnsborg for their contribution with
Maiden memorabilia pictures. I also owe my gratitude to Violeta Juras for
her unbeliveable creative contribution in book design, layout job and
packing. She is also my good spirit behind all orders and shipping activities.
Thank you (last, but not least) to ITG stuff for for their very important help.
Finally, a big thank you to every member of Iron Maiden, past and present,
and every person who ever worked for the band. Keep doing the greatest
job in the world. We, the fans, will always support you!
255
Croatian Iron Maiden fan club; www.maidencroatia.com
256

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OVO JE STRANICA BROJ NULA

OVI LAVOVI NA IDUĆOJ STRANICI (BROJ 1) TREBAJU BITI S DESNE STRANE

Confirming this information with my signature:

Translation, adaptation and proof-reading

Copyright © Stjepan Juras 2018

No part of this publication (pictures, photos illustrations and graphics are

Research Library of Zadar in Croatia Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

For information on all Stjepan Juras publications please

Zadar, March 2018

An even more bizarre situation occurred in 1982 in a country which no longer

'Svi marš na ples' festival 1981 in Yugoslavia. Ticket.

As news of Paul Di’Anno’s departure spread, the interest of the Yugoslav

TO HELL AND BACK

Bruce Dickinson lit hell on fire with a torch in 1982.

Iron Maiden - 'Killers' (1981)

The cover illustration of ‘Purgatory’ – supposedly a substitute for what

Rock in Rio 1985 - Crowd. Taken fom their official website.

ARA General Belgrano sinking. Courtesy of Martin Sgut.

Commodore 64. Courtesy of Bill Beltram.

low temperatures, and massive rainfall caused mudslides and destroyed

1982 saw the most airplane disasters in history, as well as other

Planet Earth’s rapidly growing population was confirmed in facts coming

Compact Disc. Taken from www.livelaw.in

E.T. – Part of official poster. Courtesy of Universal Picture.

At the first ‘Prince's Trust’ gig, a charity concert organised in Birmingham by

Pink Floyd reminded us of one of the most magnificent albums ever

The Beatles - Reel Music (1982), album cover.

Judas Priest – Screaming for Veganence (1982), album cover.

As a heavy metal year, 1982 can definitely be classified as a revolutionary

Having spent a considerable number of weeks studying various bands’ tour

AIR RAID SIREN

So what kind of asset was Bruce to Maiden? In addition to being an excellent

is unthinkable! Smith’s and Dickinson’s departures in the early 90s is a prime

WHAT'S THE TRUTH

Bologna Palasport on 26/10/1981. Considering that Di’Anno’s final concert

Where am I? In The Village.

We want information... information... information...

THE LAST BATTERY

‘Children of the Damned’ - movie poster.

As an author Bruce was frustrated that he was unable to contribute more

With generous partaking of ‘Ruddles’ beer, the atmosphere in the studio

PLACE WHERE WE ALL GO

DEREK'S ROAD TO HELL

In the era immediately following Bruce Dickinson’s arrival in the band,

rather than rushing and delivering a half-assed effort he wasn’t completely

Cover illustration for the single 'Run to the Hills', 1982.

'The Number of the Beast' devil as Sakvaore Dali. (detail)

'The Number of the Beast' - single cover (1982)

Derek created this watercolour illustration relatively quickly, propping it on

Devil’s unique appearance, and he has remained an important character

Another illustration of Eddie marked him as crucial to Iron Maiden’s future,

then, by an illustration in which Eddie, suddenly appearing larger than

Both Derek and Iron Maiden were

The pesticide he poisoned himself with was produced by a company that

HUMAN NUMBER (number one)

That moment didn't come abruptly or by accident as I already elaborated,

Marty Moore, known on the IMOC as ‘Maiden Mantioba’, is a distinct

As I continued through elementary school, middle school and then on to high

Martin Moore and Steve Harris. Courtesy of Marty Moore

Steve Harris and Marty Moore. Courtesy of Marty Moore

According to Steve, the song ‘The Number

The Goat used in film and on the Iron Maiden stage.

Six six six the number of the Beast