| The birth of Iron Maiden 21:49 - Jan 2 with 2241 views | SparkfilmsTV |
I have been present at four births. The first three were my daughters who first saw daylight at Colchester Maternity Hospital in Lexden Road, Colchester.
When the second one was about to be born l was running up and down the stairs as Graham Gooch was closing in on a hundred and l was following the match on my car radio. The nurses give you a rough idea of an ETA so l felt confident l could witness both events. I had about four trips down to the car and thankfully Goochie struck a boundary to bring up his century. It was a quarter final in the B&H l think.
When l returned to the bedside the head was about half way out but there was no midwife to be seen.
I began to panic. I ran along to a side room where a baby's head was even further out and the bedside was surrounded by nursing staff.
I managed to recruit one of them and we rushed back to the bedside with seconds to spare. It's quite a relief when they slither out in a swimming motion especially with eyes open, and although they cannot speak they seem to say hello in their own way.
I have just returned from the Essex coast where this particular baby now resides.
So the fourth birth l was to witness was a little different.
Although l got to name all my children l didn't get to put a title to this golden child.
This was the work of Stephen Percy Harris..
Iron Maiden was the name and he registered the birth which was a very sensible move as another child of the same name was already up and walking in the Basildon area.
I didn't actually meet the new baby until it was crawling around an art studio in Rathbone Place, London W.1.
The baby already had ambition. It dreamed of a recording contract.
It was attending nursery in East End of London public houses where it was getting noticed and had soon made lots of friends.
[Post edited 3 Jan 17:27]
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| The birth of Iron Maiden on 22:19 - Jan 2 with 2225 views | SparkfilmsTV |
The baby needed to be dressed appropriately as it was venturing out into new territories to the East and to the North.
So we made it some clothes. We cast it's name in a type font that had authority.
It got a recording contract. It toured the U.K., Europe was next. Then the World.
It's name emblazoned the skies on a jetliner as it leapt through the hemispheres, through times zones, and made millions of friends across land mass and ocean.
Mine was a very small part in the baby's journey.
But we are forever connected. | | | |
| The birth of Iron Maiden on 21:35 - Jan 6 with 2125 views | SparkfilmsTV |
These days some aspects of the baby's appearance are the work of the most fantastic artist - Mark Wilkinson who lives just north of Colchester.
Mark has been involved in the design, development and illustrations that adorn recent Maiden releases.
These are some of the most intricate and detailed works ever undertaken in sleeve design and packaging.
Going back in time to the spring of 1977 l recall how some of the lyrics evolved that appeared on Maiden's debut album. Suffice to say, not all of the lyrics on that album were credited to the correct writer.
I discussed this with the person who signed them to EMI last summer.
Things happened so quickly when the first album was released that errors occured with the credits.
The band member who wrote them was the person l worked with on the logo, early promo posters, flyers and advertising throughout '77.
I discussed the origination of these works with Mark Wilkinson just over a year ago. He was unaware of the full story behind this.
Several music authors and film makers are now in possession of this information and l have written about 7,000 words for an overview. [Post edited 6 Jan 21:37]
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| The birth of Iron Maiden on 12:49 - Jan 11 with 2021 views | SparkfilmsTV |
With Maiden up and running l had a change of work location from Rathbone Place, W1 to Brewer Street in the heart of Soho.
We were above La Perla Restaurant which was in the centre of everything film, theatre, music and arts related. We soon learned to reserve a table for lunch at 12.30 from Monday to Friday....no lunch time drinking for me back then and that remains to this day.
We had table 3 and hunched around table 4 were five individuals with Northern accents who gave the impression they may have been carpenters, electricians and plasterers...which in the weeks before their excursion to London they had been.
We exchanged pleasantries and shared the ketchup over a few lunches. By Friday we were engaged in conversation for their reason for being down South - they were recording their debut album and it was their final day in the studio.
This almost represented another birth as such as the guys were hoping to redesign their lives from the apprenticeships they had taken in the building trade to being a fully fledged metal band ( something l had more than a passing interest in ).
The band were Saxon and the album was the incredible 'Wheels of Steel'....these guys were mild mannered and softly spoken....many years later they played in Colchester at The Hippodrome ( the High Street club sponsored Colchester United and their logo was on the shirts at the time ). | | | |
| The birth of Iron Maiden on 14:48 - Jan 11 with 2008 views | noah4x4 |
In a similar nostalgic vein, as a sixth form schoolboy, I once walked into Sounds Around (a record shop) in Kidderminster and found myself in conversation with Robert Plant and another West Midland rock icon, Roy Wood. Within a few weeks, Led Zeppelin were the biggest band on the planet, but at the time, neither were recognised as being notably famous. Our then local heroes were Cliff Ward & the Cruisers, later, becoming solo artist , Clifford T Ward being a one hit wonder artiste with Gaye.
Around the same time, I attended the dance night at the unremarkable Hartlebury Parish Hall on three consecutive weekends. I saw Edison Lighthouse, White Plains and Brotherhood of Man. What was really odd, each had exactly the same lead singer, Tony Burrows, a session singer ultimately to pursue an astonishing career comprising of an association with many other one hit wonder bands, including First Class, Pipkins and The Flowerpot Men. Within a few weeks, Edison Lighthouse, White Plains and Pipkins simultaneously charted and the BBC booked them for Top of the Pops. Tony Burrows then appeared three times on the same show with three different bands, a most unlikely scenario.
In each instance, I saw these in the month before they became famous, each charting at #1, before slipping back into one hit wonder oblivion (except Zeppelin/Wood). It’s worth reading a biography of Tony Burrows, as I guarantee you will recall at least a dozen of his hits, yet until now, you have probably never heard of him!
EDIT
Burrows claimed in his autobiography that he appeared with three different bands on a single edition of TOTP. The BBC dispute this and say it was merely two (Edison Lighthouse and Brotherhood of Man). My guess is both responses might be true as regards date, as I believe Pipkins charted at #1 with “Gimme that ding” in the following week, but I suspect that might have been recorded on the same day as the others given the mix of live, mime and recordings of that era. However, I definitely saw him on three consecutive weekends, and I am beginning to wonder if it was actually four! [Post edited 11 Jan 15:10]
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| The birth of Iron Maiden on 17:55 - Jan 11 with 1971 views | SparkfilmsTV |
Robert Plant made several trips to Colchester United matches over the years.....being an ardent follower of Wolverhampton Wanderers.....which in turn leads me back to Colchester United shirt sponsorship.
In our first season in The Conference the Wolverhampton based 'Holimarine' had their logo on the shirts. Holimarine went into liquidation with The Hippodrome branding next to appear on the shirts.
The guys at The Hippodrome were innovative and introduced live coverage of some of our evening matches in our first season in The Conference. These were quite incredible events in '90 / '91 and from memory were about 100 all seater audiences in The Gods at the top of that fabulous building.
And especially for Phil ( Noah ) l think the away match at Kidderminster may have been the first ( or second ) fixture screened. I recall a match at Telford too.
With the death of Holimarine came the birth of 'UK Holidays in The Sun' and this bought about The Sun being on the front of the shirts for the FA Trophy Final at Wembley.
'UK Holidays in The Sun' was the brainchild of Colchester United fan Peter Sakal who owns GFM and is still going strong after more than 30 years.
Peter and l met the editor of The Sun, the one and only Kelvin McKenzie at News International when they were based in Wapping and Kelvin saw the potential in Peter's idea within a few minutes. [Post edited 11 Jan 17:57]
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| The birth of Iron Maiden on 18:21 - Jan 11 with 1961 views | SparkfilmsTV |
In respect of the above post ....it seems incredible now looking back on all of this as the owners of the Colchester United at the time - Jonathan and later James effectively gave us a free a hand to develop funds and sponsorship.
Add to this the Marie Partner factor we had a great relationship with the club that will always be cherished and never forgotten.
The timing was perfect to work in this way back then. | | | |
| The birth of Iron Maiden on 11:42 - Mar 19 with 1491 views | SparkfilmsTV |
There are some interesting dots joining up here somehow.
So Frank Turner who now lives in the Colchester area and has given the local music scene quite a boost ( Meffs! ) once had an Iron Maiden poster on his wall and 'Killers' was his first album purchase, and a motivational feature in his career.
I love hearing things like this.
Music links people in the most extraordinary way.
I was out on a fact finding mission last night in Colchester, ambushing people in subways and turning up on doorsteps. Those that l ran into know how l like to be kept informed of what is going on around here.
There are some great things happening in these parts just recently and the hope is that our football team might get lifted by the vibe. [Post edited 19 Mar 11:43]
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| The birth of Iron Maiden on 06:59 - Mar 21 with 1425 views | SparkfilmsTV |
Iron Maiden have a super fan - Benjamin Mistri who is researching their history in the most incredible detail.
I gave him information relating to the logo and graphics that we worked on through 1977. He has been back to the building in Rathbone Place ( just North of Oxford Street ) and recorded images of the building. He is tracking the history of this period in a forensic way and l have not seen anyone work so thoroughly on such a project.
The irony of this is that even Steve Harris is unable to recall much of this activity from the vaults of '77. Books and films have been produced about Maiden's history but no one has researched this in such depth as Ben.
He has spent hours in The British Library and uncovered information that has effectively been dormant since 1977.
All of the members of Maiden are aware of this project and amazed by the level of research.
And on a local level, l recall Frank Turner winning Celebrity Mastermind with his specialist subject being Iron Maiden. [Post edited 21 Mar 7:01]
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| The birth of Iron Maiden on 12:23 - Mar 21 with 1411 views | SparkfilmsTV |
Ben should have been an investigating detective - he has even found images of London landmarks circa '77 that we would frequent while Maiden was evolving.
On Friday lunchtimes Dennis Wilcock ( vocals ) myself and Boris ( not him ) would trek down to Cheapo Cheapo's in Berwick Street to buy vinyl records to play back at the studio.
CBS Records, then in Soho Square would put 100's of promo's into Cheapo's and we were buying them for between £1 and £1.50 each!
Den was a big fan of Kiss, but l can still recall the day when he purchased a Foreigner album and we played it for days ...'Cold as Ice' etc.
Boris was a Ramones fanatic and l was into Curved Air, Keef Hartley, Van Der Graaf Generator, Audience, East of Eden and keyboard driven prog ( and l still am ).
Incredible as it may seem in 2024 l still get people contacting me about 'The Birth of Iron Maiden' from different parts of the world - including United States, Germany and Argentina. Ben is in the UK.
One of the questions l answered today referred to who may have been present when we presented the artwork for the Iron Maiden lettering / logo - l recall Dennis Wilcock, Steve Harris and myself and possibly three others which may have included Dave 'Lights'.
Another question related to who did an illustration of the 'Bloody Lips' graphic and l seem to think that an artist in our studio called 'Reg' may have done that.
Ben has even asked what type of camera we prepared the artwork on in our rooftop darkroom that was known as The Crow's Nest ( or The Crowe's Nest as the studio was set up by Alan Crowe ).
It was an Agfa.
I am also in touch with an American film producer who is making a film about Paul Dianno who replaced Dennis in Maiden during '78.
The mode of communication is quite often just a q&a session by email and perhaps a phone call or two but often very detailed.
Ben Mistri has met up with Bruce Dickinson, Nicko McBrain and Steve Harris recently and Maiden really is a family as such - but like all families, sometimes there are fall outs on a heavy scale.
I'm not sure if the management ( Rod Smallwood in particular ) were comfortable with the communication we had last summer that refers to who wrote what and when. It amounts to in excess of £3 million and ruffled a few feathers.
This issue got passed around but they did respond.
It's still a story to be told but with Den and l on our pension these days we might be floating off to Heaven soon ( with any luck ).
Ben's Facebook page 'The Legend of the Beast' is quite something!
🦮🦮😊😊 [Post edited 21 Mar 12:46]
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| The birth of Iron Maiden on 00:51 - Mar 26 with 1333 views | SparkfilmsTV |
As l have mentioned on the 'Tigers' thread l had the longest conversation with Dennis Willcock ( Maiden vocalist 76 - 78 ) in over 40 years today - the content of which has many strands.
Some of this centred on song writing credits on Iron Maiden's debut album.
This was subject of a court case in 2018 that evaporated for various reasons.
I know that Dennis wrote or co wrote five songs and was never credited with this and has therefore not received royalties or a 'private payout'.
I also know that the value of these tracks runs at between £250,000 and £750,000 each. The claim in 2018 was for £2.6 million and was being spearheaded by Barry McKay ( former Manager of Lindisfarne ). Barry McKay had been successful in another case against Maiden relating to lyrics that were lifted from a track by a Newcastle based band - Becket.
There was an out of court payment of possibly as much as £875,000 ( we think ) in respect of the Becket track.
I am also in touch with former Maiden members who reached agreement over songwriting credits and they were paid an agreed amount at the material time.
Sometimes in life we are quite prepared to let go of stuff, but when your grandkids start asking questions it can rekindle the need to search for the truth.
That is true for Den and it is true for me.
My mission for the past few years was to get recognition that Dennis master minded so much of what Maiden became but was never properly credited for this. | | | |
| The birth of Iron Maiden on 18:06 - Mar 27 with 1290 views | SparkfilmsTV |
We have located an artist who did some of the earliest illustration work for Maiden. Possibly the earliest major piece.
I feel like I'm floating around on a satellite up in cyberspace and zooming into people's living rooms from above.
When they hear a voice on the phone from someone who they may have been thought died some years ago it seems to take them by surprise. 😊😊🦮🦮 | | | |
| The birth of Iron Maiden on 11:56 - Oct 22 with 404 views | SparkfilmsTV |
R.I.P. Paul Di'Anno.
Paul joined Maiden to replace my colleague and friend Dennis Willcock.
Paul was superb on the first two albums ( many of the tracks on which were co - written by Dennis and never credited ). | | | |
| The birth of Iron Maiden on 09:34 - Oct 23 with 334 views | SparkfilmsTV |
Had a close friend of Paul Di'Anno visit yesterday.
He was very upset.
Paul was a larger than life character and while away from the stage showed considerable kindness and compassion to people. | | | |
| The birth of Iron Maiden on 11:31 - Nov 11 with 154 views | SparkfilmsTV |
There is a film being made about the beginnings of Maiden. I hadn't heard too much in the past few months but quite a bit of progress has been made behind the scenes.
It looks like we will be filming some of this next February.
The Maiden logo and graphics are central to the project which has been thoroughly researched by the producers.
I always wondered why my memory of the summer of '77 would continue to be so vivid, because at the time none of us knew that it would go anywhere. | | | |
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