It’s back into the Iron Maiden singles and today it’s time to bid farewell to the Paul Di’Anno era. We’ll do so in style, as we have what constitutes a “double A-side” single, including one of the most iconic songs from the early years.

As with a lot of Iron Maiden artwork, the cover is a great piece that also generated some controversy. A woman is holding the death tarot card while a ghostly visage of Eddie stands behind her. Some dull-witted people took it to mean that Eddie was stalking the woman and about to commit violence against her, while in fact Eddie in this art is dead and is in the room with his still-living lover. The picture on the side is signed to Charlotte from Eddie, so the attack angle was (probably) unwarranted.

There is another possible bit of trivia here, though it might be coincidence – the woman’s name is Charlotte, the famous subject of the song Charlotte The Harlot from the debut album. Charlotte would appear in a handful of other Maiden songs, with her saga apparently ending in a future entry of this singles series. Twilight Zone the song is not part of the Charlotte saga so I don’t know if this woman on the cover is the infamous Charlotte of the other songs, but maybe she is.

There are several pressings for this single in multiple formats but in the end the content is the same, same cover and same songs. Mine is a German pressing, probably easy to spot with the text in German on the back cover. And, in typical Maiden fashion, here is the official YouTube offering with both sides of the single in one convenient video.

Twilight Zone

The first A-side is a short but sweet tune that appeared on Killers … well, sort of. The US and Canada got Twilight Zone and Japan got it as a bonus track (they always do get bonus tracks), but the UK did not get this song on the album, so the single became another collectible.

The song packs a nice punch, it has a groovy riff and pounds along in typical early Maiden fashion, with Paul Di’Anno showcasing his vocal talents in a song that is lyrically wordy for being so short. The subject matter is in line with the cover art, as the narrator is dead and longing for his still-living lover.

And for one other little bit of trivia – Twilight Zone is Iron Maiden’s shortest song with lyrics. It beats out Invaders and Burning Ambition by a few seconds. I found this out in a YouTube comment so my source is totally unofficial, but it sounds right.

Wrathchild

The “other” A-side was an album track for all territories and is most likely the best-known song from the Killers album. This is Maiden firing on all cylinders and pounding through a tale of vengeance – a child was abandoned by his father, the child then grows up and seeks to find and end his deadbeat dad.

Wrathchild has been a staple of Maiden live sets. According to Setlist.fm the song is their 8^th most played live. Even when factoring in a margin of error, I’m sure that’s an accurate figure.

The odd story of Wratchild being considered an A-side is really just a business decision. Steve Harris relayed that the band could not afford to cut a video for Twilight Zone and they already had live footage for Wrathchild filmed, so they deemed Wrathchild a “single” so that they could offer it up with video if needed.

The single did pretty decent as far as singles go, hitting number 31 in both the UK and US, as well as 27 on the French charts. The band were spreading their wings and getting to be a known quantity.

And, as stated in the start, this is the point in the series where we bid Paul Di’Anno farewell. His tenure in Iron Maiden was brief but includes two well-regarded albums. Di’Anno would go on to front a variety of projects over the years before health concerns limited his activities, though he is having another go at a small tour schedule this year. I’ve always enjoyed his Maiden run and the pretty unique sound he had coupled with the band’s then-strange blend of metal and punk.

That does mean we’re getting to the next era of the band and the glory years of Iron Maiden. But hey, that’s for next week.

The Iron Maiden Singles Series

Live! + One

Running Free

Sanctuary

Women In Uniform

Maiden Japan

Purgatory

Twilight Zone/Wrathchild (you are here)

Run To The Hills

The Number Of The Beast

Flight Of Icarus

The Trooper

2 Minutes To Midnight

Aces High

Run To The Hills (live)

Running Free (live)

Stranger In A Strange Land

Wasted Years

The Clairvoyant

Infinite Dreams

Bring Your Daughter … To The Slaughter

Holy Smoke

Be Quick Or Be Dead

From Here To Eternity

Virus

Out Of The Silent Planet

Rainmaker

Different World

The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg

Empire Of The Clouds