Iron Maiden
Won’t you come into my room, I wanna show you all my wares.
I just want to see your blood, I just want to stand and stare.
See the blood begin to now as it falls upon the floor.
Iron Maiden can’t be faught, Iron Maiden can’t be sought.
Oh Well, wherever, wherever you are,
Iron Maiden’s gonna get you, no matter how far.
See the blood flow watching it shed up above my head.
Iron Maiden wants you for dead.
Won’t you come into my room. I wanna show you all my wares.
I just want to see your blood. I just want to stand and stare.
See the blood begin to flow as it falls upon the floor.
Iron Maiden can’t be fought. Iron Maiden can’t be sought.
These words of the famous song iron maiden the world throughout in the early 1980 (extract from the album IRON MAIDEN).
Iron Maiden is an English heavy metal band from Leyton an the East End of London. The band was formed in 1975 by bassist Steve Harris, formerly a member of Gypsy’s Kiss and Smiler. Iron Maiden is one of the most successful and influential bands in the heavy metal genre, having sold over 100 million albums worldwide. The band won many awards such as Ivor Novello Awards for International Achievement in 2002 and was inducted in into the Hollywood Rock Walk during their tour in the United States in 2005.
The band have headlined several major events in their career, notably Rock in Rio, Ozzfest alongside Black Sabbath, Donington’s Monsters of Rock and Download Festivals, Graspop Festival, and the Reading and Leeds Festivals. They are also scheduled to headlining the Wacken Open Air this year. But if we rewind history then we would see that it was an absolute chance that took them through a journey of fame.
A chance meeting at the-Red Lion pub in Leytonstone evolved into a successful audition for vocalist Paul Di’Anno. Steve Harris has stated, “There’s sort of a quality in Paul’s voice, a raspiness in his voice, or whatever you want to call it, that just gave it this great edge.”
Iron Maiden had been playing for three years, but had never recorded any of their music. On New Year’s Eve 1978, the band recorded a demo, The Soundhouse Tapes. Featuring only three songs the band sold all five thousand copies within weeks. One track found on the demo, Prowler, went to number one on Neal Kay’s-Heavy Metal Soundhouse charts in Sounds magazine.
Their first appearance on an album was on the compilation Metal for Muthas (released on 15 February 1980) with two early versions of Sanctuary and Wrathchild.
From late 1977 to 1978, Murray was the sole guitarist in the band until Paul Caims joined in 1979. Shortly before going into the studio, Cairns left the band. Several other guitarists were temporarily hired until the band finally settled on Dennis Stratton.
Initially, the band wanted to hire Dave Murray’s childhood friend Adrian Smith, but Smith was busy with his own band, Urchin. Drummer Doug Sampson was also replaced by Clive Burr (who was brought into the band by Stratton). In December 1979, the band landed a major record deal with EMI.
