Fact #109934
When:
Short story:
Iron Maiden sign a contract with EMI Records in London, UK, to record tracks to appear on the compilation LP Metal For Muthas.
Full article:
Ashley Goodall (A+R Man, EMI Records) : The idea emerged of doing a compilation album (Metal For Muthas) of this new wave of British heavy metal that was going on. I'd seen Iron Maiden, Praying Mantis and Angel Witch, so there was definitely some kind of movement happening. There were a lot of these bands at the starting gate but you couldn't tell who would emerge as the winner.
I thought it would be a really good way to sum up what was going on. I had a demo studio at EMI's Manchester Square HQ which was available, so I brought in the bands to do some tracks. (October 1979) I think the company thought that spending a few hundred quid on that was a good way to find out which way the wind was blowing.
It was not a big financial risk for them, but it enabled me to do something I believed in, and get some experience. It felt right.
Incorporating Maiden into the Metal For Muthas album gave me a relationship with them that other record companies didn't yet have.
Maiden was the only band to get an advance for that album, because their manager, Rod Smallwood, insisted on it.
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I thought it would be a really good way to sum up what was going on. I had a demo studio at EMI's Manchester Square HQ which was available, so I brought in the bands to do some tracks. (October 1979) I think the company thought that spending a few hundred quid on that was a good way to find out which way the wind was blowing.
It was not a big financial risk for them, but it enabled me to do something I believed in, and get some experience. It felt right.
Incorporating Maiden into the Metal For Muthas album gave me a relationship with them that other record companies didn't yet have.
Maiden was the only band to get an advance for that album, because their manager, Rod Smallwood, insisted on it.