Unquestionably, the most popular and enduring “metal mascot” has been Iron Maiden’s Eddie, especially when you consider how many bits of merchandise have been sold since the ’80s that sported some variation of the quite beastly character. Additional proof being how many other metal bands felt it was necessary to also have a mascot in the wake of Eddie: Megadeth’s Vic Rattlehead, Y&T’s Rock, Dio’s Murray, and others.
It seems like Eddie’s creation was not courtesy of a member of Maiden but rather by two people outside the band. Number one: the chap in charge of their concert lighting, Dave “Lights” Beazley, who attached a mask of a face to an early stage backdrop for the band, of which smoke would pour out of its mouth. Referred to as the ‘ed [short for “head”], it eventually was referred to as “Eddie.”
Number two: artist Derek Riggs, who created a doodle entitled “Electric Matthew Says Hello,” which, for all intents and purposes, was the same Eddie drawing that would adjourn their self-titled debut. Except, the bloke featured in the original image had shorter “punk hair,” as Riggs had figured it would be used for a punk band’s LP cover.
But once Maiden manager Rod Smallwood discovered Riggs’ artwork, and in particular the “Electric Matthew” art, it was deemed acceptable after more length was added to Eddie’s mane. Soon after, Riggs was hired by the band to handle all of their artwork, right up until about 1992, when other artists began being utilized.
In my 2015 book, “Iron Maiden: ’80 ’81,” the subject of Eddie and how important he was to the subsequent popularity of Maiden was discussed by some of metal’s most renowned names. And it seemed like they were all in agreement about his importance.
“Maiden was so masterful at the way that they were able to really market themselves — right from the get-go — with the album covers and the imaging of Eddie and all that,” explained radio host Eddie Trunk. “You’ve got to remember, I was a kid at the time. Most of us were kids. And that is a very powerful thing, to see something like that — this drawing of this monster. It starts to conjure up stuff in your head, like, ‘Hey, what’s the story with these guys? What are these guys about?’ There was just a great imagery there.'”
Trunk also touched upon another aspect of Maiden’s mascot that took it to a whole other level: when a larger-than-life Eddie would make a special appearance on stage during the band’s performances.
“And then of course, this thing came out [on stage] with the mask on and became more elaborate over time,” added Trunk. “I think that as great as the music is on the record, that’s a big part of the Iron Maiden story, that you can’t brush under the carpet – there was almost this imagery about the band, right from the get-go, driven by the fact that this character, this mascot, was on the cover of every one of their records.”
Anthrax’s Scott Ian shared his thoughts on Eddie in the book, as well, explaining how it instantly grabbed the attention of the guitarist, who would have been 16 years old when he first spotted the now-iconic album cover of Maiden’s self-titled debut.
“Initially, I would have to think quite a few people had the same experience I did — I’m sure they looked at that cover and bought it strictly based on the cover. Because look, in 1980, nobody knew who Iron Maiden was in New York or in the United States for that matter, or probably most of the world – outside of London. I would say certainly those first two records [1980’s ‘Iron Maiden’ and 1981’s ‘Killers’], it definitely played a huge role, because the artwork was fucking fantastic.”
“It kind of tapped into what every thirteen to eighteen-year-old was into at the time,” added Ian. “Whether it was heavy metal, horror, comic books. In the same way that Kiss was able to tap that vein a few years earlier, this kind of did the same thing, but just in a different way. You looked at this album cover, and it just grabbed you by the balls. You didn’t even have to hear it — you knew it was going to be great.”
Ian’s bandmate in Anthrax, drummer Charlie Benante, offered his thoughts as well, comparing Maiden’s album cover imagery to another legendary and highly theatrical rock band.
“I think that visual helped sell that band. Because you didn’t even really have to know what they looked like — you just had to have that cover. And it was kind of like back in the day with Kiss, I used to always joke about — ‘Kiss could just put out an album cover with nothing inside, and people would still buy it.’ And that’s the way I felt about Maiden. The visual – and especially from a merchandising standpoint – they were so far ahead of everybody else, just because of that artwork.”
Lastly, former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo admitted that Eddie may have inspired a popular image that would later adjourn t-shirts by his band. Plus, many other bands that came in Maiden’s wake.
“I believe that’s how Slayer used the ‘Slaytanic Wehrmacht’ head [t-shirt design], and of course, Megadeth used one of those characters, as well. So his artwork definitely gave the band an image and something that the people could connect with immediately. You look at that character — I’m looking at all the album covers now — and you see that they definitely captured something special with that character. It was a big part of the band’s image, and not only its name and the music, but then there was Eddie. So I think it’s awesome. A definitely big influence on the bands that came after.”
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