New IM Bio Will Feature Special Intro for Finland
WSOY, a Finnish book publisher, has confirmed that it will release a translated version of Run To The Hills biography in September. As an extra, the book will contain a special prologue for Finns fans written by Steve Harris.Finnish name: Run To The Hills, Elämäkerta - Iron Maiden
Publisher and year: WSOY 2004
ISBN: 9510291145
Release date: September 23rd
Aditionnaly, IronMaiden.com already advertises for the new edition of the official bio, claiming it will be updated to include the Dance of Death period. Here are a few excerpts:
"The idea of turning the original Eddie the ’Ead that had adorned the backdrop of every Maiden gig for the last three years into the recognisable face of Riggs’ Eddie was a fairly obvious one. Smoke still billowed from its mouth during the usual ‘Iron Maiden’ finale, only now the ghastly, staring mask had acquired not just long, spiky hair but also a long, spiky personality to match. But the real masterstroke was when they eventually hit on the idea of having a three-dimensional Eddie that didn’t just stare from the back of the stage but actually ran about it, terrorising both the band and the astonished audience. Rod credits Rupert Perry, former EMI managing director in the ’80s, for the original suggestion that Eddie might become more than just a useful merchandising icon, that he might somehow become an active part of the show.
“Rupert was at a show with us one night,” says Rod, “and he just said, ‘Smallwood, why don’t you get this guy onstage?’ And I thought, ‘Yeah, he’s right. That would be great.’ At first, it was just me with an Eddie mask on. I’d just go bounding around the stage like a lunatic during the intro to get the audience worked up, and the place would go mad, so we started doing it every night. Once, in Detroit, a guy from the record company came up when I had the mask on and asked me if I’d seen Rod. I just growled! Then various tour managers did it. One tour manager we had, Tony Wiggins, absolutely refused to do it, so he would always wear cord trousers to the show, because he knew we’d never let Eddie go onstage in cords! It had to be a leather jacket and jeans. So Tony never did Eddie.”
“I can’t actually take all the credit,” insists Rupert Perry. “It’s true that it was me who first said to Rod, you know, ‘What if the Eddie character could move?’ but I was thinking more along the lines of something that would happen at the start of the show, perhaps before the band even came on. But Rod, in his genius, took that and turned it into something much more exciting. And now, of course, Eddie is a very big and important part of every Iron Maiden show. It would be hard to imagine them without him. He’s become like the sixth member.”
Originally, Eddie’s brief but blustery appearances took the form of a leather-jacketed man (usually Rod, he admits, or one of their tour managers) in a specially designed mask. But as the band’s international career took off around the world and the arenas they filled grew larger and larger, so too did Eddie. Bigger and more berserk with each new album that rolled around, by 1984’s Powerslave he was over 14 feet tall and able to launch thunderbolts with the wave of one giant, bandaged hand. Clearly, this was no mere man in a frightmask.
Dave Lights remembers how the idea arose. “I had taken my family to see Jack And The Beanstalk in pantomime the previous Christmas,” he says, “and I remember how impressed all the kids had been every time the giant walked onstage. It was basically a bloke on stilts but dressed up to look about ten feet tall. It was just such a simple, marvellous effect that I mentioned it to the band and said, ‘You know, maybe we could have Eddie as some sort of giant when he comes onstage.’ I think, the first time we did it, on the Number Of The Beast world tour, the Eddie we had was about eight feet tall, but he ended up about 14 feet in the end, I think. He just kept growing, getting bigger and more ridiculous with each tour we did, and it’s kind of become the best part of the show. It’s always right at the end, during ‘Iron Maiden’, and it’s just turned into this big, mad celebration. Just when you think you’ve seen all the effects there are, had all the best lights and heard all the best numbers, suddenly here comes Eddie and it just sends everybody right over the top.”
The band’s current tour manager, Dickie Bell, who has worked with Maiden since 1981, says, “The kids fucking love Eddie more than they love the band. And you can see why. It’s ’cause he’s one of them. In their minds, he’s like the Maiden fan from hell! And when he gets up onstage, it’s like one of their own getting up there and doing it for them. It’s like Eddie is the ultimate headbanger!”"
Sources: Suomalainen Kirjakauppa, IronMaiden.com
6 Comments
Not sure I want to put this as news already. Would be better to compile all the news about this "new" book when more info becomes available.
If Harris does a special intro for Finns, it could be that any country edition would have a special intro...
I'd wait for more info, but thanks MS? !
Cheers
QUOTE(The Saint @ Aug 12 2004, 04:25 PM)
Not sure I want to put this as news already. Would be better to compile all the news about this "new" book when more info becomes available.
If Harris does a special intro for Finns, it could be that any country edition would have a special intro...
If Harris does a special intro for Finns, it could be that any country edition would have a special intro...
I don't know, if there is more 'different language/country' versions coming. This book has been planned since January 2004 or so. There has been a lot of different release dates for this book in Finland, but it's finally coming. There will be special intro for Finns from Steve Harris. It has been confirmed from publisher. My friend called to WSOY (Finnish publisher) today.
Moved to news.
Cheers
Run To The Hills Biography ha? Nice.. I'm From finland So i'm Gonna buy That's for sure! 
Thanks Bravewords
Cheers
i picked this book up at my local HMV yesterday for £4.99