IRON MAIDEN ... THE SPACEWARD DEMO STORY

THE BACKGROUND

Recorded over New Year's Eve in 1978, the famous Spaceward Demo was Iron Maiden's first recording session. It cost the band £200 to record four songs at Spaceward Studios in Cambridge. Its underground popularity ignited the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and paved the way for their debut EP.

THE SESSION
In late 1978, finding gigs difficult to book outside East London, the band decided to invest in a professional demo. To save money, bassist Steve Harris booked an overnight weekend session at Spaceward Studios over New Year's Eve (December 30–31).

The official story is that the 4-piece lineup of Steve Harris, singer Paul Di'Anno, guitarist Dave Murray, and drummer Doug Sampson recorded four songs: "Prowler", "Invasion", "Iron Maiden", and "Strange World". 

Iron Maiden outside The Clarendon Arms, December 31st 1978, right next to
Spaceward Studios were The Soundhouse Tapes were recorded.
From left to right: Paul Di’Anno, Paul Cairns (with his dog, Nelson), Dave
Murray, Steve Harris and Doug Sampson. Photo: Spaceward Studios

Other information suggest that it isn’t really so. The credits for The Soundhouse Tapes tells you that the now infamous demo, Iron Maiden’s very debut as recording artists, was recorded by the personnel Steve Harris, Dave Murray, Paul Di’Anno and Doug Sampson. As it happens, several sources are now claiming that there was a fifth person involved in the recordings, Paul Cairns.

According to former Iron Maiden roadie Steve “Loopy” Newhouse the band toured as a four-piece for several months in 1978, but Steve Harris decided that they needed to go back to the original configuration with a two guitar line-up so they could pull of the harmonies. Subsequently an add was placed in Melody Maker and auditions were held.

Paul Cairns was chosen, a guy with both the skills and the looks. Newhouse remembers the ordeal in his blog:

“Then suddenly, just when things were about to wrap up for the evening a guy called Paul Cairns turned up with his dog, Nelson.

If I could describe his look, Paul, not the dog, the shaggy hair style and opened shirt, I would say that Jon Bon Jovi stole Paul Cairns’ look, without even knowing it. Even though Bon Jovi came along a few years after Maiden and musically was of a different genre, they went on to become a huge selling act and, after my stint with Iron Maiden, I worked for them a couple of times. But that’s another story.

Paul slotted in quite well during the initial audition. He had everything. Musically, he was what the band wanted, and he looked the part too. But that was where it ended as far as I was concerned.”

In a later blog post, Newhouse details the events in Cambridge and points to several factors that suggests that Cairns actually was involved in the recordings too:

– The photo of Paul Cairns with the rest of the band, standing outside the pub next to the studio was not doctored in any way. Nelson, Paul’s dog taking center stage, was a clue. I actually remember Paul saying he had slept in his van, and Nelson had kept him warm. I have no idea what triggered this memory, but I’m stuck with it now.

And then there is Paul’s account of his part in the recording of the Demo, according to Stjepan Juras‘ book, The Clairvoyant.

– Paul’s very detailed account of the part he played on each track was enough to get me thinking that the only way he would know this stuff was if he was actually there.

If it is the case that Paul Cairns was involved in the recordings, why is he not credited for his effort on the EP? One possible explanation was that he was booted from the band before the the demo was printed as The Soundhouse Tapes and thus the band didn’t want to profile themselves with a member that was no longer in the band.

(The Paul Cairns story is from maidenrevelations.com)

THE LOST MASTER
The band returned to Cambridge a week later to mix the tracks but needed an additional £50 to do so. While they scrambled to raise the cash, the studio owner accidentally deleted the original master tapes. As a result, the demo was released in its rough, unmixed form.

Another version of this event comes from Mike Kemp:

"There have been some cruel comments by IRON MAIDEN that "they went back to get the multi-tracks some weeks after the sessions (because they couldn't afford them at the time) but the nasty studio had wiped them". My side of the story has never been heard - i.e. that we were as poor as they were and couldn't afford to keep £60 multitrack tapes for every band either! (A session cost about that I recall) We did our best - I think for £5 a week we would hold them until either they were paid for or the band decided not to keep them any longer, e.g. after a remix. Presumably they did not take that option."

THE SOUNDHOUSE TAPES
The band made copies of the tape and handed them to DJs, most notably Neal Kay. Kay played the tracks at his heavy metal club in London, prompting "Prowler" to hit #1 on the club's charts. To satisfy fans asking to buy the music, the band self-released three of the tracks in November 1979 as the The Soundhouse Tapes EP. The three tracks - "Prowler",

"Invasion" and "Iron Maiden" - appear in rougher form than they would later be heard on the first album and subsequent singles. The tracks are played a bit slower and therefore more groovy as they appeared later on their debut. "Invasion" was not used until 1980, when it was released as a b-side to the "Women In Uniform" single. The fourth song from the demo - "Strange World" - would also be re-recorded for 'Iron Maiden'. The song was not included in 'The Soundhouse Tapes' because the band was not happy with the recording quality.

THE LEGACY
Only 5,000 copies of the original EP were printed. The overwhelming demand from fans and the buzz created by the Spaceward Demo caught the attention of manager Rod Smallwood, ultimately securing the band a major record deal with EMI in 1980.

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