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PS BTW, Bruce Dickinson's 45th b-day is August 7th - right in between
our two shows. This man is my personal hero: an incredible singer
(everybody agrees that today he sounds better than ever), a familly
man (been married for 13 years, three kids), a commercial airline
pilot in his days off (flies a Boeing 737 from London to Reykjavik,
Iceland), a DJ for BBC (two weekly shows), an author (two books of
satire), a world-class fencer, has a college degree in history, and
is quite literate if not outright intellectual (for example, had a
solo album where the lyrics were about and inspired by the British
poet/artist William Blake). My God, who does all this?? It's
absolutely amazing. And he doesn't need the money, he does it
because he loves it. Sorry for the gushing, I'm just really
impressed by people like this.
===>Heh heh...yeah, Iron Maiden and Bruce Dickinson certainly
don't fall into the "Spinal Tap" stereotype. They're FAR more literate
and musically talented than 99% of their colleagues. I think only
Queensryche comes close...perhaps Blue Oyster Cult, too.
The bassist and "leader" (not to mention founder) of Maiden, Steve
Harris, is also quite the brainiac. He pens the majority of Maiden's
songs, and is rather well-read. I mean, who else (and what other metal
band) would base a song on literay subjects ranging from
Greek and Egyptian mythology to the poetry of Samuel Taylor Coleridge
to the works of 20th century writers such as Alistair MacLean, Frank
Herbert, and Heinlein...not to mention historical subjects such as
the plight of the American Indians, the Crimean Wars, WWII, and
Alexander the Great? I don't think there's a single song in the catalog
about girls and fast cars (except, perhaps, "Charlotte the Harlot," which
seems to be an ANTI-prostitution song). I could always listen to Iron
Maiden as a teen back in the 1980s in front of my parents, and not
worry about having them be offended by music with obscene lyrics and
other degenerate stuff.
Oh well. But I've really gotta check out those "surf" versions you mentioned.
I had actually sampled the chorus of "Heaven Can Wait" (the "Whoa oh OH!
Whoa oh oh oh oooooohhh...." part), and interpolated it with the bass line
from The Orb's "UFOrb," and threw some rockabilly guitar over it.
UP THE IRONS! ;-)
Vincent (sorry for the off-topic post)
