What do you get when you cross a Golfer, a Bird Watcher, a Business Man, a Man On A Boat, a Keys supremo, a Red Wine Drinker and oh yes a VOLE!
Answer?
One of the most Iconic rock bands of the 70’s and a band that is held in great reverence in the hearts of the Iron Maiden family.
Formed in 1974 by David Smith & Steve Harris the legendary Iron Maiden bass player. Gypsy’s Kiss was part of the catalyst that later became the world famous, mighty IRON MAIDEN.
With tracks such as “Heat Crazed Vole” etched into the memories of the Maiden devotees, the band was reformed for a special one-off performance which led to the complete reforming of the band to deliver the old classics plus brand new material. Having recently played to a sell-out crowd at the world famous Cart & Horses in the east end of London, the birthplace of Iron Maiden the band are currently working hard on recording a brand new album to launch in March next year.
Debut Single and EP to arrive in August so keep your eyes peeled for that news.
Gypsy’s Kiss are :- David Smith (Vocals), Fraser Marr (Guitars), Jonathan Morley (Guitars), Stuart Emms (Drums), Ross Hunter (Keyboards) and finally Robin Gatcum (Bass).
New single announcement in the next week!
]]>On the 4th of May, 2019, Gypsy’s Kiss gave a rare live performance at the ‘Cart & Horses’ pub in Stratford, North East London. This was the very first band with which a teenage boy called Steve Harris played, back in 1972, before then joining Smiler. After Smiler, Harris then formed Iron Maiden and it was at the ‘Cart & Horses’ that Iron Maiden played their first gigs, in December 1975 and all through 1976. The rest, as they say, is history.
This month’s concert was a testament to the unique status of Iron Maiden as an institution where fans, ex-band members and associates are very much like an extended family of the band. Sharing the bill with Gypsy’s Kiss were Buffalo Fish and Airforce. Buffalo Fish feature guitarist Terry Wapram, who played with Iron Maiden in 1977. Airforce, who headlined the show, feature drummer Doug Sampson, who played in the first official recordings of Iron Maiden, besides also playing with Smiler before that.
Within the audience at the ‘Cart & Horses’ were ex-crew members of Iron Maiden, family members of Harris as well as the widow of Clive Burr, the drummer we can hear in Iron Maiden’s first 3 albums. The venue itself is a permanent shrine to Iron Maiden, as evidenced by its décor, the music played there and, most obviously, a sign above its entrance that boasts “The birthplace of Iron Maiden”.
(Also present in the audience was Steve ‘Loopy’ Newhouse, who recently published his memoirs as Iron Maiden’s roadie.)
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GYPSY’S KISS
So, who really were Gypsy’s Kiss? The band was co-formed by vocalist/guitarist Dave Smith, who told me how the band came to be:
“Steve Harris and I lived a short distance from each other but more importantly we went to the same School (Leyton County High School for Boys). I’m 18 months older than Steve (as is Paull Sears), so he was in a year below me but I knew him very well. We became close friends when we left school (1973), we both loved music and went to loads of gigs together and we decided to form a band and I helped him choose his first bass (a Fender Telecaster Bass copy and then a Danelectron Bass – like the bassist in Golden Earring). There were only two of us but we were still determined to form a rock band, we found and played with a number of drummers before finding the fantastic Paull Sears (who was a friend of a bloke I worked with). Bob Verschoyle was a friend of Steve. I was also the singer (as I am now) but developed a sore throat before a gig and asked Bob to help out – and he stayed with us.”
At the aforementioned ‘Cart & Horses’ gig, the set-list of Gypsy’s Kiss included both originals and covers, songs that the band used to play in the 1970s or that were of significant influence on Gypsy’s Kiss. Smith offered us some insight into Gypsy’s Kiss transition from Influence and described the band’s set-lists back then:
“We formed Influence in the winter of 1973 and rehearsed (famously in the living room of Steve’s grandma and Allan Gordon Studios in Leyton, NE London) and played to family for a few months before a gig/talent contest in Poplar. Our first paying gig was in the Cart and Horses (I think late April 1974). Influence became Gypsy’s Kiss in mid-1974 – it was essentially the same band playing the same material although we added Tim Nash as a second guitarist for GK (we had ditched a few second guitarists before finding Tim).
We had about 9 paying gigs mostly at the Bridge House, in Canning Town (London) and the Cart and Horses. GK came to its natural end in the middle of 1975, although we remained close friends for a good while after (Bob, Paull and I remain good friends to this day).
Our setlist from that first gig at the Cart (45 years ago) was something like this:
Original songs (written by David Smith and played at the 4th May gig):
.
I asked Dave if he is still in contact with Steve Harris after all these years:
“Steve and I have, of course, met up since but are not close friends now as we once were. I’m still good friends with his sister (Linda) who I also see from time to time. I last saw Steve at the IM gig at the O2 Arena last summer. But in December 2013, he came to a Front Cover’s gig (one of my other current bands) in Gidea Park, Essex (and Bob and Paull were there too).”
Gypsy’s Kiss had reunited for Burrfest of March 2018. The festival was inspired by the late Clive Burr and features bands somehow linked with Iron Maiden. Bob Verschoyle was the singer of Gypsy’s Kiss at that event. Encouraged by the warm reception to that performance, Gypsy’s Kiss did a further 2 gigs later that year, both in London. Now, with a different line-up and with Dave Smith taking over lead vocal duties besides still playing guitar, the band is even working on an album, as Smith reveals:
“We are currently recording an album of original material (our first) which will include the 4 songs from 1974 and we hope that this will be out in August.”
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The hereunder footage is being made available exclusively for The Power of Metal Webzine. It contains excerpts from Gypsy’s Kiss’ gig at the ‘Cart & Horses’ on 4th May, 2019 (the gig I described in this article). Of course the audio-visual qualities are far from perfect and in fact I would advise to keep volume controls close at hand. But this is as close as Iron Maiden fans might get to reliving the birth of their idols. And the same fans might even discover that this Gypsy’s Kiss has great material of its own. Gypsy’s Kiss is going to get you, wherever you are….
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“In a time when dinosaurs walked the earth…” goes the opening verse of ‘Quest for Fire’ from Iron Maiden‘s “Piece Of Mind” album. Well the truth is that dinosaurs didn’t always walk the Earth (‘dinosaurs’ here being a metaphor for globally admired bands like Iron Maiden).
Indeed Iron Maiden had very humble beginnings playing to small venues, particularly in the North East of London. Paul Mario Day was the 1st singer of that band, fronting Iron Maiden at their very first gig and for approximately the first year of the band’s existence. He also sang with several other notable bands. In the video-interview linked below, Paul speaks about all that, and much more.
This is one of the most intriguing interviews I’ve ever had the pleasure of doing. I hope you have a similar reaction watching it.
]]>Then, you have the bands that are still going strong – those aging rockers with their instruments who still get on stage and give it all that they’ve got. This article is an ode to those bands: the ones that never stopped rocking. So, let’s take a look at who’s still left standing.
Judas Priest
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Although Judas Priest actually formed towards the end of the 60s, they had to compete for attention with Black Sabbath. Within just a few years, though, everyone knew their name. In fact, in their own way, they helped define the very genre of metal to many of their fans. Now, that isn’t to say that the band didn’t have their own setbacks. They were thrown into slight disarray over the departure of Rob Halford, with Tim Owens taking over the reins. Also, more recently, the band had to deal with K.K. Downing taking a final bow as well. Despite these tumultuous times, the band kept performing and touring. In fact, at the moment, they have tour dates lined up for 2019 as well.
Deep Purple
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There are some that might argue that Deep Purple isn’t a real metal band. This argument does have some merit considering that the ensemble has changed up their style and sound over the years. However, the band did influence the genre quite a bit. For that reason alone, Deep Purple deserves a spot on the list. Of course, considering that they started in the tail end of the 60s, this band had its fair share of bumps in the roads. For instance, they lost their guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and had to replace Ian Gillan with David Coverdale. They even took a hiatus in the 70s. However, they can still be found touring to this day, with Gillan going so far to say that the band still has a few more years left in them.
Iron Maiden
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Founded in the mid-70s, it isn’t surprising to learn that this band has been around for over 40 years. After all, what would the heavy metal genre even be without them? The band hit a turbulent spot with the departure of the frontman Bruce Dickinson but bounced back soon enough. Not only has the band kept creating music and albums, but they have also continued to tour. The latest tour of “Legacy of the Beast” continues in 2018.
Metallica
source = https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Metallica_at_The_O2_Arena_London_2008.jpg
Last but certainly not least, there is Metallica. This band is probably a large part of why every generation spawns a whole new metal audience. The innovation and versatility of Metallica mean that they have infiltrated almost every genre of rock and perhaps music, in general. This is definitely not a band that is afraid to switch it up. Of course, this is why they have continued to remain relevant all those years after they first began playing. In fact, you will still find Metallica headlining popular venues and shows all around the world.
These bands go to show that true metal never dies – it lives on in every way possible. Each year, there are more people being drawn in by this truly spectacular category of rock music.
]]>Let me take you back to a time when internet, streaming or anything of the sort was science fiction. CD’s were still relatively new, but the little silver discs with the tiny covers were quickly gaining momentum. We first and foremost had vinyl. We also had cassette tapes, not because they were trendy, but because they were the norm and affordable, and we copied vinyls onto those cassette tapes like mad.
The year is 1988. Yours faithfully is 15 years old and in the middle of a period of time, which would define my musical taste forever. From a life were comic books and badminton were my two main interests, I’d move into a state were music and metal music in particular would be the interest to rule them all.
Ram it down, ram it down, straight through the heart of this town
I recently realised that 2018 marks my 30th anniversary as a full-blown metal fan. It was the year when I finally bought my first albums and KNEW in my 15/16-year-old bones that metal music would be the soundtrack of my life.
It all started two or three years before, when some of my class mates started listening to Iron Maiden, Beastie Boys, Accept, Slayer and Manowar. I didn’t like it much in the beginning, mainly because I would always tend to be a bit oppositional to what the others did and liked. Eventually, I’d admit even to myself that I was completely in love with the energy of this music and exactly that rebellious nature of the whole genre. It was primarily the TV programme ‘Monsters of Rock’ on Sky Channel that taught me more and more about this rebellious genre of music, which had so more power than the rock and pop music I was listening to at the time (e.g. Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, David Bowie, The Beatles).
The legendary Mick Wall from Monsters of Rock introduced me to Judas Priest and their cover of ‘Johnny B. Goode’. I was completely in awe. What had they DONE to that classic rock song? I had to own it. Immediately. There’s was no single, so I had to buy the album, Ram It Down, and as much as I thought it was a bit over the top to buy an entire album I didn’t know beforehand, I didn’t regret it. I loved the album, and I do to this day. This was towards the end of May 1988.
Here’s a clip from Monsters of Rock:
Justice is lost, justice is raped, justice is gone
Ram It Down started an avalanche of purchases. From then on, all of my pocket money went into the till of the local record store owner and the ditto second-hand store. I believe Testament’s Live at Eindhoven (1987) was next (I bought that on a trip to Germany), then Anthrax’s Spreading the Disease (1986), a Nazareth maxi (Cinema) (1981) and very soon, one of my mates sold me Master Of Puppets (1986). After that, I bought The Number of the Beast, Live After Death and Powerslave. The foundation of a collection was made!
Suddenly, I also discovered that these bands played live concerts. The first one I went to was Denmark’s own Artillery sometime during the autumn of 1988. The venue was tiny and there were probably 30 of us tops, but, hell, the energy was crazy. Banging your head in front of a real, live band was just something completely different. Then and there, it became an addiction to see more.
To this day, I don’t understand where I found the money. I was both picking up the back catalogue of the bands I discovered and at the same time, I’d get the new releases. And looking back, 1988 was a gargantuan year in terms of metal music.
Yours truly…aged 15, with parts of the growing collection:
At this point, I would like to write something like ‘the one release that outshines them all is this one’ or ‘unequalled among all of these albums was…’, but I hesitate. The number of gargantuan metal releases throughout 1988 was ridiculously huge. Examples? Well, let’s begin with Metallica.
My mum went to London on a business trip for some days in September, and crammed into her suitcase, she brought home with her the double LP …And Justice For All, which had been released the week before. Even though Master had blown my mind, Justice would turn out to be the Metallica album for me and certainly also one of my all-time favourite releases. I didn’t mind the thin sound and the infamous absence of bass, the songs very simply astonished the 16-year-old Thomas Nielsen. It’s still my favourite Metallica album.
That was by the way not all my mum’s generous suitcase contained; she also picked up the new Anthrax album, State of Euphoria, on cassette. I loved it. It was so much better than Spreading, and since I didn’t know Among the Living yet, State was truly the dog’s bollocks. Anthrax did mean a lot to me, and they would eventually also be the first international band I saw live in concert. This happened one year later, when they played in Copenhagen.
Silently screaming as I bang my head ‘gainst the wall
The support band for that same concert was Suicidal Tendencies who also found a big place in my heart. This was due to one of my mates from upper secondary level school. He introduced me to ST, and in 1988, they released the brilliant How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can’t Even Smile Today, which was so different from the other thrash metal I knew. Mike Muir’s lyrics as well as his delivery was something else and the flow of the music was unique.
Thrash or be Trashed
And thrash certainly was gigantic in 1988, although the genre was actually already at this point wearing out. Other thrash grenades to emerge during the year included Death Angel’s Frolic Through the Park, the outstanding No Place For The Disgrace by Flotsam & Jetsam, Atrophy’s Socialized Hate, Realm’s Endless Wars, Forbidden’s power house debut Forbidden Evil, Helstar‘s A Distant Thunder, Australians Hobb’s Angel of Death’s eponymously entitled debut album, Swedish Midas Touch‘s (sadly!) only album, Presage of Disaster, Rigor Mortis‘ self-entitled debut album, Robb Flynn’s pre-Machine Head combo Vio-lence’s Eternal Nightmare, Toxik’s excellent techno-thrash album World Circus, Sanctuary’s Dave Mustaine-produced debut Refuge Denied, where the world of metal for the first time noticed the uncanny voice of the now sadly departed Warrel Dane, the debut offering Suffering Hour by tech-prog-trashers Anacrusis, and in Germany, beer-drinking maniacs Tankard released The Morning After, Sodom unleashed the live album Mortal Way of Live, Vendetta put out the fabulous Brain Damage and Blind Guardian’s debut release, Battalions of Fear also saw the light of day.
The greatest speed/power/thrash album to come out of Germany that year, though, would be Helloween’s Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part 2, an album which, along with the rest of the pumpkin heads’ early albums, would influence an entire metal genre.
A very serious young man, doing his best to keep his cool during a family vacation to Greece. Very metal.
The root of all evil is the heart of the black soul
More of the greatest bands within the subgenre made an impact: Former Metallica guitarist Dave Mustaine would release the third Megadeth album, So Far, So Good… So What! The blistering cover of ‘Anarchy in the U.K.’ was phenomenal, as were ‘Set the World on Fire’, ‘Mary Jane’ and ‘In My Darkest Hour’. Well, it was just an amazing album, basically.
The last of the Big Four, Slayer, would also release one of their, in my humble opinion, best albums in 1988. South Of Heaven saw Slayer taking down the tempo a notch or two compared to Reign In Blood, but for me, it was a more nuanced album with lots more atmosphere than its predecessor. It remains one of my favourite albums to this day.
Another thrash band we need to mention are Testament, again one of my all-time favourite bands, who released their second album, The New Order, in 1988. It was less no ferocious than the debut, but no less popular with me. I liked how the Bay Area thrashers had everything under more control with this release, although they hadn’t lost the heaviness.
On the East coast, New Jersey’s finest also released one of the biggest albums of my youth: Overkill put out Under the Influence, which totally overwhelmed me with its mixture of thrash, punk and a thick, dark atmosphere. From the moment I heard that album, I immediately decided to get hold of everything they’d done before – and buy all their future albums. Which I did.
In Overkill’s neighbourhood, the crossover movement had been thriving with S.O.D. and Nuclear Assault, and the latter-mentioned released the scourging Survive album in 1988 – as well as the magnificent Good Times, Bad Times EP, which was running more or less non-stop on my record player. Also the S.O.D., Anthrax and Nuclear Assualt related band M.O.D. with Billy Milano in his prime released the hilarious Surfin’ M.O.D. It was a great laugh! Another New Jersey band took it even further in terms of extremity: Old Lady Drivers (OLD). This was grindcore with a theme, and a weird one to boot. I loved it.
The ceiling in my room towards the end of 1988…I was DESPERATE to find room for all those posters and magazine clippings!
I’ve got two faces
Further up north, in the French-speaking part of Canada, sci-fi-thrash metallers Voivod released Dimension Hatröss, a studio in oddness and inaccessible music…and yet, the song ‘Tribal Convictions’ caught my ears through the video that was aired on the Monsters of Rock show. ‘Tribal Convictions’ remains a song I keep returning to every now and then.
Some bands had begun to take things into an even more extreme direction than Slayer and the other thrash bands. Chuck Schuldiner and Death had already given name to a new brand of metal, namely death metal, and with Leprosy, they were perfecting the formula and in so doing amazed my mates and myself. In the Netherlands, Pestilence would soon give Death competition to the finish line. Their Malleus Maleficarum was also a masterpiece of extremity, although their expression and sound was different.
To consume all things material
In the UK, there were also extreme things going on. I was introduced to goregrinders Carcass sometime in 1989 and was utterly blown away by the brutally of Symphonies of Sickness from that year, and did the retrospective search in my local record store on the band’s debut from 1988, Reek of Putrefaction. Reek… was no less brutal, but perhaps less structured and therefore not quite as easy to digest as Symphonies. The cover, mind you, was over the top controversial and therefore hard not to love.
Bill Steer’s former playground of extremity, Napalm Death from Birmingham, England, released the scorching From Enslavement To Obliteration with later Cathedral front man Lee Dorrian as spoke person against injustice. Dorrian came from Coventry just like the death metal juggernaut Bolt Thrower, who also released their debut album in 1988. Not their best work, admittedly, but as we all know, they went on to produce some of the most crushing death metal there is.
Also in the UK, a band that would have a massive impact on me a year or so later, namely Sabbat, released their debut on Noise Records. History of a Time to Come was a raw and rather shrill offering, partly due to the production, partly due to Martin Walkyier’s vocal, but there were good songs on there, there was no doubt about that. However, in 1989, they blew all my proverbial speakers with their Dreamweaver, based on Brian Bates’ novel The Way of Wyrd about a young Christian munk who is sent into the pagan lands of Britain. It’s a sublime concept album, no less.
Twist of Cain inside my bleeding heart, yeah
The US scene was not only about the being faster and more extreme in 1988. Manowar released the mighty Kings of Metal album, which spoke to the quest for adventure and the heroic in all of us boys. Guns N’Roses were riding on the success of Appetite for Destruction (1987) and put out GN’R Lies, which was a sort of whilst-we’re-waiting-for-a-proper-album release, but it showed a different side of the band with the fine acoustic tunes.
Glenn Danzig, the former Misfits and Samhain singer, took many by surprise by making a curve between metal and blues. Danzig was and is to this day a fantastic album, and in particular the song ‘Mother’ became an anthem for the tormented souls who followed Evil Elvis. My mom loved it!
On the melodic power metal front, Armored Saint gave the world Saints Will Conquer, a fine live documentary, which was my first encounter with the Saint, this wonderful and talented band fronted by John Bush. I saw Armored Saint in Berlin a couple of years later, at the oddly billed Rock Hard Festival (Obituary, Morgoth, Sepultura, Blind Guardian and the Saint). The atmosphere during the Saint concert wasn’t great, to be honest, which I found weird. The band never made it big commercially, but have been appropriately praised in later years after their return to the metal scene. Riot released Thundersteel, a great melodic power metal album that enjoyed many spins on my records player when I finally picked it up a year or so after its release.
By 1988, Ozzy had long since expatriated himself (or maybe Sharon decided that) to the States, and the band around the Ozzman certainly were Americans. Most notably his new, young guitarist, Zak Wylde, holds the blame for the No Rest for the Wicked being the most impressive of Ozzy’s solo albums. I am well aware that other fans might disagree wildly, but the artificial harmonies and sound of that album simply went straight to my head.
Kill Mary?
On the proggier side of life, Seattle’s Queensrÿche made their magnus opus in 1988: Operation: Mindcrime set new standards for concept albums and the quality of compositions in metal. This was the perfect album. The story, the vocals, the sound, everything. Queensrÿche never managed to top this album, although they made solid attempts throughout the years.
Not too far from the style of earlier Queensrÿche efforts were Crimson Glory. Their Transcendence album also offered fans of prog induced metal a more than decent alternative to the increasingly extreme direction the business was moving into.
Other less hard-hitting, but still superb offerings came from Impelliteri with Stand In Line, a vinyl that is still one of treasures of my collection. Also Sweden’s megalomaniac number one, Yngwie J. Malmsteen graced the ears of metal fans with his classical inspired music in 1988. Although it had nothing to do with thrash or death metal, the sheer strength of Malmsteen’s playing convinced greatly, and Odyssey continued the red line drawn up by Rising Force, Marching Out and Trilogy.
A snapshot of my 1988 memorabilia – most of the vinyls have been traded away for CD’s, but there are still a few left…
For All Those Who Died
Another Swedish artist offered a very different and definitely harder take on the metal genre the same year. In fact, this artist defined a sub-genre in its own right. With Blood Fire Death, Quorthon and Bathory began the transformation from being a prototype black metal meets Motörhead act to setting sails towards Viking shores. It was raw and brutal, yet, curiously epic in nature. As we all know, Quorthon would move on to explore this with great success on the next two albums, Hammerheart and Twilight of the Gods, in my view two milestones of metal music.
Another Swedish band set new standards in 1988: Candlemass released an epic lesson in doom metal when Ancient Dreams hit the shelves. With eight monstrously heavy tunes and Messiah Marcolin’s characteristic vocal, I was convinced from the second I laid ears to this. Black Sabbath was a clear influence, but Metallica was also a part of the brew. Amazing album.
Now that we’re touching northern shores, Danish Kim Bendix Pedersen, better known by the name King Diamond, the former Mercyful Fate singer, released his third solo album, “Them”, during the summer of 1988. “Them” was the first part of the tale of young King, his grandmother and the house, Amon, which was to be concluded with Conspiracy in 1989. These two albums were huge in my world. Fine storytelling, lots of melody, lots of heavy riffs from the hands of Andy LaRocque and King himself.
Moving the pointer further south again, more traditional heavy metal was still massive in Germany. Running Wild were riding the waves of success for kraut metal and put out no less than two releases during 1988, and these Germans saturated one’s hunger for pirate adventures. Ready For Boarding came out in February, and Port Royal, the band’s fourth effort and their last album for Noise Records, came out during the Autumn.
In Switzerland, Celtic Frost, many thought, had lost it completely. Tom G. Warrior took the Frost into a completely new and unexpected direction with Cold Lake. The album was an attempt at glam rock and heavy metal, and had thus very little to do with the avant-garde mix of death, black and goth, which had formed the first albums. This was definitely not the high-point of Celtic Frost’s career.
On the periphery of metal, the 1988 releases that would eventually catch my attention were AC/DC’s Blow Up Your Video (although I never really got into AC/DC in any big way), King’s X‘s eminent debut Out of the Silent Planet and the funky heaviness of Living Colour on Vivid.
Seven deadly sins, seven ways to win…
So, as you can see, 1988 was in all respects a year to be reckoned with. The list of majestic releases seems to go on and on. But, hang on, one is missing! That’s right, the heavy metal band that stands above them all also released one of their master pieces in 1988; Iron Maiden gave birth to Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. If I were to point to one album that defines metal music, well, music in general, for me, this would be it. This was the album that had the right sound at the right time for me. It had the story, the tale that encompassed hope, fear, love, darkness, madness, everything. It was nothing like the other two great concept albums of that year, Operation:Mindcrime and “Them”. To me, the Brits quite simply killed the competition.
If you were there, you’ll probably know what kind of a monster 1988 was. If you weren’t, I suggest you check out some of the albums I’ve mentioned above. They’re worth it. For me, they still define the nature of metal music.
Below is a bunch of videos so you can check out some tunes from what is probably my best stab at a top ten of 1988 albums. You can also listen to our 1988 Spotify playlist right here.
Number 1
Iron Maiden
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Song: The Clairvoyant
Number 2:
Metallica
…And Justice For All
Song: …And Justice For All
Number 3
Slayer
South of Heaven
Song: Silent Scream
Number 4
Queensrÿche
Operation: Mindcrime
Song: Operation: Mindcrime
Number 5
Judas Priest
Ram It Down
Song: Johnny B. Goode
Number 6
Anthrax
State of Euphoria
Song: Who Cares Wins
Number 7
Flotsam and Jetsam
No Place For Disgrace
Song: No Place For Disgrace
Number 8
Overkill
Under the Influence
Song: Hello from the Gutter
Number 9
Death
Leprosy
Song: Pull the Plug
Number 10
Danzig
Danzig
Song: Mother
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Airforce were formed in 1989, by guitarist Chop Pitman, Doug Sampson ex-drummer of Iron Maiden, Doug’s brother Sam on vocals and bassist Tony Hatton. Over the years the band vacillated between periods of frenetic activity and subdued existence while passing through numerous line-up changes. The current incarnation of the band features ¾ of the original line-up in addition to singer Ivan Giannini.
I sat down with all 4 members to discuss all things Airforce and to get to know more about the close links they share with Iron Maiden. Co-incidentally the interview took place at the ‘Cart & Horses’ – in the North East of London – where Iron Maiden did their very first gigs back in 1976 and where Sampson and Steve Harris played with Smiler before Iron Maiden even came into existence. Here is in fact where Airforce are scheduled to perform right after chatting with me.
All this makes the interview quite a special one. So I thought it would be appropriate to start by asking about the memories the place brings for my interviewees…..
Chop: It brings back good memories for me…I was here for the very first Iron Maiden gig. I was good friends with Steve Harris [Iron Maiden founder/bassist] and he had phoned me up and invited me to come and see him play and give his new band a little bit of support. Of course this was before he was known and at the time he used to borrow my gear to play live – although I’m a guitarist and he’s a bass player, he used to use my amps to play.
You and Doug have also played with Steve together, right?
Chop: Yes. Of course Doug played with Steve in Iron Maiden….
Doug: And in Smiler before that…
Chop: And I had jammed with Steve Harris in the studio….me, Doug and Steve.
When was this?
Doug: 1977.
I see. So this was between the formation of Iron Maiden and the formation of Airforce.
Doug, you mentioned Smiler…what do you remember about being asked to audition for Smiler and about the gigs you did with that band?
Doug: Well I was looking for a band at the time….previously I had just played with some mates from school. I saw an ad in a music magazine and they wanted a Rock drummer. I rung up, got an audition and when I turned up for the audition, the bass player was Steve Harris…he had joined them previously. So I did the audition and got the job. Then we auditioned for a singer…when we got a singer, that’s when we then started gigging.
Our first gig with Smiler was here at the ‘Cart & Horses’ where we virtually had a residency…we played most Saturdays and Sundays.
LISTEN TO DOUG SAMPSON TALK ABOUT HIS TIME WITH SMILER:
A couple of years later, you joined Iron Maiden and so reunited with Steve Harris. What were the songs Iron Maiden used to play when you were with the band?
Doug: Basically everything that ended up on the first album. That was the set I was playing on.
So I suppose that by the time you came to record “The Soundhouse Tapes” demo, you knew those songs inside out.
Doug: To be honest I think “The Soundhouse Tapes” came before the gigs. So we put “The Soundhouse Tapes” down and then started gigging. So that recording was done quite early in the day.
Did you ever have any regrets about leaving Iron Maiden?
Doug: Oh yes, of course, but the situation was that my health wasn’t standing up to it and I had no real choice but to leave. I mean who wouldn’t have regrets about having to leaving a band like Iron Maiden? But that’s how things were at the time. And that was it. That was also the time that I met up with Chop and we formed Airforce.
And that was also when Tony Hatton entered the picture, right?
Tony: Me and Chop were previously playing together in a band called EL34. We lost our drummer from there and then disbanded, due also to singer problems. We decided to form a new band and Doug was introduced to Chop by Steve Harris, who knew we were looking for a drummer.
On to something else….Airforce has just returned from a U.S.A. mini-tour….how did that go?
Chop: We were going to do the U.S.A. tour but then decided to do it later next year. However we already had this gig booked up in North Carolina so what we did was honour that one gig. We just flew over, did the gig, had some breakfast and flew back again to England.
Tony: 23 an’ a half hours was how long we were in the States.
Wow, that’s dedication.
Chop: We just didn’t want to let anyone down.
“Judgement Day”, the debut album from Airforce, was released in 2016 but the recording of its songs were done over the period of several years. Why didn’t you record that album with the line-up you had in 2016?
Doug: Well it was more or less a catalogue of our past…it was like a history of Airforce. So we put that out in that way to let people know that we hadn’t just formed Airforce but we’ve been going for many years. We had many line-up changes during those years….different singers.
Airforce was even a 3-piece at one point, right?
Chop: Yes, that’s right.
Doug: Chop was doing Airforce without me and Tony for a while…a couple of songs from that era were also put in the album. Anyway, so that’s why we didn’t re-record them all for the album.
Chop: It was like a ‘Best of…’ release. If we did re-record them, they wouldn’t have been from their respective time.
Then you did the “Black Box” recordings. Why did you split them up into 2 EPs rather than release another album?
Chop: The reason we had done that was because there was quite a demand for us to release something quickly. To do an album, it would have taken us over a year. So we just released the first “Black Box” EP to give people a taste of us.
Were those songs taken from the Airforce ‘archives’ or were they written by the band at the time of recording?
Chop: Not entirely.
Tony: ‘Heroes’ was an archives song but the other two, ‘Fight’ and ‘Life Turns To Dust’, were new songs, written in the last couple of years.
The EPs were produced by Peter Franklin, guitarist/vocalist of Chariot, right?
Tony: He produced the 2nd EP, “Black Box 2”, not the 1st.
As I mentioned earlier, you played as a 3-piece band until not very long ago. What led to Freddie Ball, who was doing both bass and lead vocals, to be replaced by Dilian Arnaudov on vocals and Tony on bass?
Chop: What went on with the band back then was that me, Doug and Tony had parted ways and I carried on Airforce with different musicians. At one time I even had a female singer. But then we decided to go ahead with Freddie Ball playing bass and singing and Kevin Hawkes playing drums. So we did that for a few years and when the album, “Judgement Day”, came out it kind of relit their fire and wanted to return to the band. So that line-up disbanded and Doug and Tony returned.
Tony: Fred was doing other things as well.
Chop: He had his fingers in too many pies. So in the end it kind of all worked out for the better. This is how it should have been in the first place because it’s a better formula with Doug and Tony in the band.
LISTEN TO CHOP PITMAN DISCUSS THE LINE-UP CHANGES OF AIRFORCE:
Would you ever consider drafting in a second guitarist as well in order to beef up your songs’ melodies?
Chop: To be honest we have toyed with the idea.
Doug: It’s all down to finding the right person.
Chop: It’s all about finding the right person who has no ego
Doug: And who’ll fit in with us.
An interviewee recently told me that in terms of importance, 50% is the skill of the band member as a musician and 50% is the character of that person.
Doug: That’s right. Correct.
Chop: Yep.
Ivan, you’ve been with Airforce for barely a month. So can you introduce yourself to fans, say something about yourself?
Chop: I’ll tell you how we crossed paths with him. I came down to see Ivan sing in an Iron Maiden tribute band and they were playing here, in the ‘Cart & Horses’. We had to go to U.S.A. but Dilian couldn’t go….he had visa problems. So when I met Ivan I asked him: “Can you play in America?” And he said “Yes.”
Ivan: I thought he was drunk when he asked me that.
[Everyone laughs]
So Ivan Giannini, about yourself….what singers do you look up to?
Ivan: Well I was playing Iron Maiden songs because I am a big fan of Bruce Dickinson. In fact the early years of my career were largely spent playing Iron Maiden songs. Of course I also tried to develop my own style. I used to sing in many Heavy Metal bands in Italy.
I was also part of “The Voice” [sort of Italy’s version of “X-Factor”] in 2015. I had taken part in 3 episodes after which they fired me.
[After a quick online search, I discovered one of the bands Ivan used to sing with was the Power Metal band Derdian, whose albums I remember reviewing in the past.]
In the first “Black Box” EP, Paul Di’Anno sings on the song ‘Sniper’ and also appears in the video of that song. How did Di’Anno involvement with Airforce come about?
Chop: Well, we’ve all known Paul for many years.
Doug: Of course me and Paul played together in Iron Maiden many years ago. And when we were writing these songs someone remarked “Wouldn’t it be great if we could get Paul to come and sing a song with us.” So Chop got in touch with him and he told us he was well up for it.
Would Paul Di’Anno’s involvement with Airforce something you’d consider again, both with regards recordings and live performances?
Doug: You know, we’d love to but Paul’s got a few issues at the moment. He’s waiting to have an operation on his leg. But fingers crossed he’ll be able to work again with us in future.
Chop: If Paul does get well, as we hope he will, we’ll definitely be looking to have him make a guest appearance with us.
[The sound technician approaches us – there are some technical issues to sort out so Chop leaves us for a few moments. Ivan and myself take advantage to chat about the Metal scene of Italy.]
Tony: What we didn’t mention earlier is that Ivan had already come to U.S.A. with us last April, when he did 5 shows with us.
So you’ve already been to the States twice?
Tony: We did a small tour in April and because that was successful, we were planning to do a 2nd U.S.A. for around this time. But then a lot of things got in the way of that, the Hills Of Rock festival came up, amongst other things. So we thought the sensible thing to do was put it off until next year, around April 2019. But before we made that decision, we had this one show that was already booked so we decided to honour it anyway.
Can you tell me more about the gigs you have planned for next year in U.S.A.?
Tony: We’ll be starting off in New York, in Long Island. Then we’ll be moving up to play a show in Maine. Then we’re playing the Hard Rock in Boston. Then we’ve got a show in Cleveland, Kenton. And then we’ve got a show booked in Indiana. We’re still negotiating for other shows so more might be added.
About those videos we were talking about earlier, the second one was ‘Finest Hour’, released only last week. In it I spotted a lot of connections with Iron Maiden. There’s the very place we are in right now, the ‘Cart & Horses’, there’s the mascot which has a strong resemblance to Eddie, the Maiden shirts you’re wearing, and even the music itself. In fact the song sort of reminds me of ‘Aces High’, the Iron Maiden song about the dog-fights of WW1. Rather than build a distinct entity, it seems Airforce has embraced its historical links with Iron Maiden.
What are your views on these observations?
[Chop then re-joins us but it’s Doug who’s first to offer his views….]
Doug: From the early days I thought that music was brilliant. Iron Maiden progressed on of course and changed somewhat but there was no-one who seemed to be trying to go for that style from that NWOBHM era. So we’ve just resurrected it and are doing the music style from that era. It’s what we really love.
Tony: We were already doing it in the ’80 when we started out and now we’re doing it again.
Doug: I must mention that we don’t just sit down and try to do that music….it just comes naturally to us.
LISTEN TO DOUG SAMPSON AND TONY HATTON DISCUSS THE MUSIC OF IRON MAIDEN AND AIRFORCE:
And after all, I suppose, both you Chop, and Doug, share the same roots of Steve Harris so it’s inevitable that the music of Airforce has some similarities with Iron Maiden.
Chop and Doug: Yes, that’s right.
We talked about the existing releases of Airforce but what about new songs….is Airforce writing new material for another album?
Chop: Yes, we are. In fact we’ve got another album coming out in Spring. So yeah, we’ve got new ideas and are writing new songs.
Tony: We’ll be playing a new song tonight…it’s called ‘The Reaper’. Actually we performed it for the first time in North Carolina last month so tonight will be the second time ever that we’ll be playing it.
Doug, there’s one last thing I’d like to ask you. Before joining Iron Maiden you had seen the band play live in various incarnations, right?
Doug: Yes.
So what were your impressions of Ron Rebel and Thunderstick, the drummers that had preceded you in Iron Maiden? How different were they as drummers?
Doug: They were great drummers. I mean Ron’s a good friend of mine. They both brought out an angle of the band that was good at that time. As for Thunderstick, he just went off and did his own thing….he’s a legend by himself. Brilliant drummer. As you might know, after Iron Maiden he went with Samson.
[Of course Samson were the band Bruce Dickinson was with before he joined Iron Maiden.]
Now Thunderstick has resurrected his own band…
Doug: Yes, that’s right.
Chop: The good thing is that me, Terry Rance and Dave Sullivan, the very first guitarists of Iron Maiden [when Ron Rebel was drummer], are good friends anyway. The last time Airforce played here we had them come up on stage with us as guests to play about 4 songs.
Well, those were the questions I had prepared. Is there anything else you’d like to mention that we haven’t already mentioned?
Chop: On the 24th of November we’ve got a gig in London with Satan as headliners and with Toledo Steel and Primitai also on the bill. However, through the Winter months and up to March 2019, we’re not going to do many gigs so that we can concentrate on the album.
Tony: We’ve actually been very busy this year
Basically you hope to have the album ready before you return to North America, right?
Tony and Chop: Yes, that’s the idea.
Guys, it’s been a pleasure and an honour speaking with all of you.
[Interview & live photography: Chris Galea]
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Opener ‘Exodus’ immediately catches my attention, especially because of the emotional bit theatrical singing part at the start. A nice riff, lots of melody, strong singing and a steady bass carry this song. The music reminds me of a mix of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and some power metal influences. These influences return in several other songs later on. Next up is ‘Age Of Machines’, an uptempo track with influences of Judas Priest, the singing style of mr. Rasmussen is at times a bit similar to Halford. His voice has a kind of raw edge, sounds emotional and at times rather theatrical. ‘The Hunter’ starts a bit like Helloween in their ‘Keeper’ period and Gamma Ray influences in the singing style aren’t far away either.
The songs on Abandon Earth have a real high standard, you hear some great song writing skills, only killers no fillers. ‘Time Traveller starts as a ballad and then turns into a real epic track, building up in speed and getting heavier minute after minute ending in galloping style. Guitar tandem Jacob and Simon do magic, playing strong solos/leads song after song. ‘Behind the Veil’ is an emotional ballad with Troels vocals in the leading role, the raw edge reminds me of the band Lefay (who still knows them?).
Uptempo classic heavy metal song ‘Fourth Dimension’ follows, again mixing Maiden, Helloween and Priest. After an intro ‘Fall Of Icarus’ appears to be an emotional track with strong riffs and emotional vocals. The band Nevermore enters my mind because of the singing. ‘Event Horizon’ has been out as a single for some time and is the shortest and fastest track. Below you can listen and look at this track. With ‘Savage’ the emotional atmosphere of Nevermore returns at the start after which some real power metal riffs take over and make it a perfect music mix of Helloween, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden again. Final song ‘Welcome To Hell’ is the perfect end of a perfect album. Underlining that real melodic heavy (power) metal has still a future.
This must be good enough to gain a lot of new fans and also trigger some German festivals!
]]>Night Demon is a power trio out of Ventura, California with a serious NWOBHM vibe. Jarvis Leatherby handles vocals and bass along with new guitarist Armand John Anthony and drummer Dusty Squires. Opening track ‘Welcome to the Night’ is a definite indication of their roots with its driving riffs and galloping drums. They also might possibly be into Iron Maiden. Between the song ‘Maiden Hell,’ complete with lyrics consisting of nothing but Maiden song titles, and the wannabe Eddie on the cover, it’s pretty obvious. However, for all the love Night Demon has for Maiden, for me they are not the most notable influence. Songs like ‘Stranger in the Room’ and ‘Life on the Run’ have more of a Saxon flavor, while ‘Black Widow’ feels kind of like Dio era Sabbath. Then there’s ‘On Your Own,’ which could be a long lost Armored Saint track. However, for all these comparisons, each track still has its own Night Demon flair. For instance, the instrumental ‘Flight of the Manticore’ reminds me of a lighter version of something Revocation would do more than anything from the NWOBHM days.
Night Demon are some of the finest practitioners of “traditional” heavy metal. They celebrate everything that was good about the NWOBHM movement and their fellow Americans that followed suit. I appreciate bands like Night Demon. With all the originators only getting older and/or passing on, it’s good to still have groups to keep the traditional heavy metal flag flying high. So get out your battle vests and bullet belts, and put the final touches on that cardboard air guitar. Night Demon is bringing it old school with Darkness Remains, and you’re gonna want to be ready!
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