INTO THE FIRE

Becoming a band's new singer is never easy. But when he saw Maiden play, Bruce Dickinson knew they were the band he needed to be in - and that he was the singer they needed.

- Paul Elliott

In 1981, Bruce Dickinson became the fourth singer to front Iron Maiden, after Paul Mario Day, Dennis Wilcock and Paul Di'Anno. Prior to joining Maiden, Dickinson spent two years as lead vocalist with Samson, another band that rose from the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal.

What were you doing before you joined Samson?

I was singing in college bands. It was semipro, gigging in pubs. We did a gig at the Prince Of Wales in Gravesend, and that's when the guys from Samson came along to check me out. When they offered me the job, sometime in 1979, I was doing my last few months in college. I was still doing exams then, my history finals.

Do you have fond memories of those early days you spent in Samson?

Completely! Totally! I didn't have a home to go to for most of that time. I remember there were plenty of groupies around, but it was a benevolent scene, everybody looked after each other. I slept in a squat in the Isle of Dogs [in London]. That was where Maiden shot the video for [1984 single] 2 Minutes To Midnight. They wanted this grim location for the shoot, and I said: "Hey, I used to live there!"

Samson's leader was guitarist Paul Samson, but there was another big personality in the band when you joined – drummer Barry Purkis, aka Thunderstick, who spooked audiences by wearing a balaclava on stage.

I heard that he [Thunderstick] worked as a grave digger before he was in Samson. He liked the theatrics of bands like The Residents and Kiss. Paul was more serious about it, but I was like a prankster on stage back then. What I was doing was almost like street theatre.

Did you believe at the time that Samson could make it big?