HISTORY OF IRON MAIDEN: EARLY DAYS (1975–1979)

1975–1979: Early days – underground

The group's existence dates back to December 25, 1975, when the former bassist of Smiler and Gypsy's Kiss (1971–1975) - Steve Harris - implemented his plan to found his own band. Harris borrowed the name Iron Maiden, from the title of the film The Man in the Iron Mask. In addition to the founder, the band was complemented by vocalist Paul Day, drummer Ron Matthews and guitarists Terry Rance and Dave Sullivan. The group's debut performance was on May 1, 1976 in St. Nicks Hall, in Poplar, after which the band began a concert residency in the Stratford district (London), in the Cart & Horses pub, officially known as the Birthplace of Iron Maiden.

In September 1976, new vocalist Dennis Wilcock joined the band, replacing Day. From that moment on, Iron Maiden experienced numerous personnel changes. The group played a few more shows before Dave Sullivan was replaced by Dave Murray. The second guitarist, Terry Rance, also left the band. His place was taken by Bob Sawyer, who led to antagonism between Dave Murray and Dennis Wilcock, which ultimately convinced Harris to get rid of both guitarists from the band (Wilcock remained in the lineup). Murray was removed after the first performance in 1977, and Sawyer was removed after playing most of the scheduled concerts. They were replaced by Terry Wapram and keyboardist Tony Moore. At the same time, drummer Barry Graham (better known by his nickname Thunderstick ) also joined Iron Maiden. With this line-up, the group gave only one concert - in the club "The Bridge House", the musicians remembered it as a terrible performance. Steve Harris then decided to fire all members and build the team from scratch. So Dave Murray returned to Iron Maiden and a new drummer, Doug Sampson, was hired . The band was constantly looking for a vocalist, which resulted in the employment of Paul Di'Anno, who had punk rock inclinations.

Between 1976 and June 1979, the group gave hundreds of club concerts in England. Steve Harris was responsible for organizing individual stages of the tours, and also prepared the first graphics and posters promoting the band's performances. This was not a problem because the bassist was a draftsman. The musicians were on their own, and in the reality of show business promoting the fashion for punk rock, they could not count on support from influential representatives of record labels or promoters. In mid-1979, Iron Maiden started working with manager Rod Smallwood. Over the next four years, Iron Maiden gave a total of several hundred concerts, mainly in London clubs (including The Cart And Horses, The Ruskin Arms, The Marquee and The Soundhouse), but they did not manage to record any albums. The first opportunity to do so came on December 31, 1978. On New Year's Eve, the band recorded a demo with four songs, which was later published as The Soundhouse Tapes, but without the composition "Strange World" because it was considered that the quality of the recording was too poor. It cost the musicians £200 to register the demo. All 5,000 copies sold out in a few weeks. EP was sold only by mail order.

Also at the then underground stage, musicians attached importance to their stage image. Starting with frontman Dennis Wilcock swallowing swords and spitting fake blood, through the installation of a specially illuminated board with the group's logo, and ending with amateur pyrotechnic and lighting effects. 

In 1979, the idea of ​​a spooky mascot, Eddie the Head, was also created, and since then it has been a constant companion of the group, taking various forms. The originator of Eddie's image was the artist Derek Riggs, who for a long time had been trying to interest music publishers and managers in his works.

At that time, a local DJ Neal Kay played a significant role in promoting the band, organizing heavy metal evenings at the rock club Heavy Metal Soundhouse, presenting recordings of young, debuting bands to the gathered audience. When he introduced Iron Maiden songs from The Soundhouse Tapes demo to the audience, interest in the group's activities increased significantly. The song "Prowler" was at the top of the list of the most popular heavy rock hits, periodically printed in the weekly "Sounds Magazine". The composition was extremely popular, remaining on the chart for three consecutive months. It was the first significant success in the group's career.

In 1979, the group of guitarists was joined by Paul Cairns, Paul Todd and Dave Mac, as well as Tony Parsons, who was a member of the band for as short a time as the three above-mentioned musicians, but it was with his participation that the group participated in the recording of the Metal for Muthas compilation. During the concert at the Marquee Club on October 13, 1979 in London, the following people were present: John Darnley, agent of publishing tycoon EMI. In December 1979, the four-piece band, assisted by Rod Smallwood, signed a contract with EMI Rec for five studio albums and an advance payment of 50,000 pounds. From that moment on, the band's professional stage career began.