Listen with Nicko! Part IV

What ho sed de ting!

I'm back, nyaaah! You thought you got away with it, didn't you? But you didn't. No, not on your fourth little box set of 'Run To The Hills', 'Total Eclipse', 'Number Of The Beast' and 'Remember Tomorrow' live. Aaah! Box number four. Do you like it so far? What a great set of singles and all that good stuff ... original art work and all that good stuff! Well, you are again the proud owner of number four, Run To The Hills / Total Eclipse, released the 12th of February 1982. And welcome once again to "Not a lot of... not a lot of people know that" Hahah, oh dear, it's getting worse isn't it? Well I have been in here for two or three days and they won't let me out! No. They've left me stuck in this here studio and what can I do but mumble on and jumble on and get the words back to front and front to back and all that good stuff.

Run To The Hills, chart position number seven, got there. Released 12th of February 1982. If I said that already, too f'king bad! Ah, it was first released, as I said, whenever it was, featuring Bruce on vocals. Now Bruce had joined the band in September '81, and if you think about it it's almost to the day a year after Adrian joined, September 1980. Hmm. It was the band's first single, as it happens, to reach the top ten. Great! Well, what can you say about that? Thank you guys and fans and girls... guys and girls... all the people out there that bought that, I mean phuuhh, got it to number seven. And also it was one of the favourites of you guys the fans, when we play it it's great, we start off and Bruce introduces the song and everyone's right there with us to know the words and sing along like you do with a lot of our songs, but I think that definitely because it was such a popular first top ten single as well such a popular song. Also the video for 'Run To The Hills' was .... the out takes... remember the bit with the indians there, and he's sitting on a penny farthing, you know and they're all getting shot with a bow and the guy in the back with about six million arrows hanging out of his hat... And the guy goes and he gets scalped, and the geezer goes up behind the indian, oh no, the indian goes up behind the guy right. Oh yeah, I got it right that time. And he scalps him! And he pulls his hair off, and he's got a bloody toupee on his... he's got no hair! He's got a bald head! And the guy... whew, I think they're really great. Well it's a Buster Keaton movie actually, but Buster they couldn't show him because he'd have got... they'd have got copyright problems and all that. And it was also fun enough, a big MTV favourite. Now, music television was released over in the United States before we got it on cable or satellite which is now happening in England. And uh, this was in the days when they had some serious, you know, they had some good taste, these guys. I mean, they were playing rock'n'roll and there was heavy metal. Now, they're they're just like what's that, that other lot, the Bleedin Bojack Company! You know, I'll find an abbreviation for the MTV mob, don't you worry have no friggin' fear! I shall get there! There you go, brilliant success, great story.

Now moving on to the other single in the set, you've got Number Of The Beast, haven't ya? Well if you haven't there's a mistake. Get onto EMI and have a word... ...slap'em around the back of the head like that for an opener, or a punch in the chops would be good. You know. 'Number Of The Beast', 'Arry Harris composition again, 'Remember Tomorrow' live, 'Arryis..'Arry 'Arrisssizzzz and Paul Duh..Duh..Duh..Di'Anno. Chart position 18 it got to, that was released on 26th of April 1982. And it was off of the album of the same name, Number – Of – The – Beast! Alright? Got that? Alright. You know what I said earlier on as well, I think it was not a lot of people know that part three, or it might have even been part two, I don't know. I can't really remember, it was too many days ago... remember I told you they kept me in here for a few weeks... few days. Um, it was released off of the album of the same name. When they were recording the album, which was at Battery Studio in London, Mr. Martin Birch had a car crash, and all the old equipment in the studio kept breaking down. All this kind of things were going on. But after he got the bill presented to him, through the accident that he'd had, his car....the damage bill was six hundred and sixty six quid, sixty six p! No on my life, I am not pulling the dinger! I am telling ya, this is god's honest truth. Well after the release of the album, the band were branded as satanists only to boot! What a bunch of prats! I mean these people have no idea, and they've got their noses stuck up, you know, probably up each others bum, you know. Or whatever. Anyway, it's all about Steve having a nightmare, I mean he has them pretty often... poor guy, you know, I mean I pity the wife... "God Steve, whats the matter?!" "uh oh uh oh uh oh uh! oh god, it's coming for me! oh, Eddie! Eddie! Get away!" Hahahaha! Poor old Lor, never mind. Anyway... it's horrible though..no, you can't make fun of nightmares. No they're not very nice things, but Steve had a nightmare what could actually happen if he got involved with all this sort of satanist stuff, and all that mumbo jumbo and all that mean gear. Well you know, here you go. So basically that was his inspiration to the song, and out of that came NOB, and outta NOB came the album. Hahahaha. Wonder what the wife looked like? Hahaha, Jesus. I don't know, it's my sense of humour, you probably don't understand, I don't care anyway.

Anyway, by the way, the video was shot at the Newcastle city hall. And Rod and the boys asked the local radio station, or asked the ballroom dancers to come up and feature in the video. They did. Phuuh, pretty good, weren't it? By the way, it was my uhh...I was still with Trust at that time, and um, we actually did a ten or twelve date...I think it was ten dates of European tour with Maiden on the Number Of The Beast tour when they were in Europe. And, just..after this, a couple of months after this period of time on the tour, the band did a Belgian TV show, and in fact this was my very very very first performance with Iron Maiden... not a lot of people know that... and we played 'Number Of The Beast', I guess it was, I think it was 'Killers' and 'Run To The Hills', something like that. I might have been wrong, and then again too bad if I am! So what you gonna do about it! Take that! So! Hahahaha, sorry Dave. Oh gosh, oh my microphone!

Anyway, ah! 'Remember Tomorrow'. Well, this was recorded in Italy... well you can remember tomorrow if you like, I can't even remember yesterday or even today, so it's up to you. Hahaha. Heh. Anyway, 'Remember Tomorrow' was recorded in Italy during Bruce's very first live dates with Maiden. And they went out there to do some gigs with Bruce and break him in, so to speak. He fell... he fell into a vat of starch the night before. Hahahaha! Dear! Oh god! And he did a few dates before the small U.K. tour at the end of 1981, and that's uh, that's where 'Remember Tomorrow' was recorded. That's why hence it's 'Remember Tomorrow' live. And I say, it got to chart position 18, released 26th of April. Good stuff! Anyway, by the way I've gotta go, so look, if I don't see you in the spring which ain't too far away right, I'll see you in a mattress! Hahahahaha! Toodle-do! Bye.