Cosmiceddie
Back From The Edge
Recently I was emailing Derek Riggs to ask him a question as for the famous alternative painting he did for the 'Maiden Japan' EP(the one with Eddie holding Paul DiAnno's severed head in the air).
With his approval you can now read his side of the story behind this amazing painting!
[!--QuoteBegin--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]I do not know if you are familiar with the story behind it. I will tell you
anyway. you may have heard some version of it, this is what really happened.
This is a long-lost painting
as you rightly said, it was for "Maiden Japan"
Maiden's manager asked me to do the cover for this. With the title and the
location it seemed obvious to me to do a picture of Eddie holding up the
lead singer's severed head.
All quite straightforward you may think. but at that time Paul Dianno's
voice was having a hard time coping with the rigours of Maiden's touring
scedule. Maiden were actually auditioning new singers but they were trying
to keep it secret from Paul, who would have freaked out entirely if he had
found out. and Maiden were right in the middle of a tour at the time. Paul
however, was getting the idea that something was afoot, as they say. So the
situation was getting very touchy.
I did not know about any of this.
then I did that picture, I took it to the record company who printed up
250,000 of them.
then they sent a copy to the manager for approval. the manager of course
freaked and had the entire 250,000 copies burnt. He said that heads would
roll if any copies ever came to light.
obviously some of them did survive, I knew that some would. I actually said
the one of the guys in the office to grab a few for himself because they
would be worth money in a few years. so I guess that he must have done that.
I have no idea what became of the original.
The painting was done over one weekend, from thursday to monday. most of the
maiden covers were done this quickly. that's why the quality gets a bit
dodgy sometimes.
the second version was done overnight, it had to be done this quickly
because of deadline restrictions.
I think that's about everything for now.
thanks again for the scan, I thought that picture was long lost in the mists
of time.
have fun
all the best
D[/quote]
With his approval you can now read his side of the story behind this amazing painting!
[!--QuoteBegin--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]I do not know if you are familiar with the story behind it. I will tell you
anyway. you may have heard some version of it, this is what really happened.
This is a long-lost painting
as you rightly said, it was for "Maiden Japan"
Maiden's manager asked me to do the cover for this. With the title and the
location it seemed obvious to me to do a picture of Eddie holding up the
lead singer's severed head.
All quite straightforward you may think. but at that time Paul Dianno's
voice was having a hard time coping with the rigours of Maiden's touring
scedule. Maiden were actually auditioning new singers but they were trying
to keep it secret from Paul, who would have freaked out entirely if he had
found out. and Maiden were right in the middle of a tour at the time. Paul
however, was getting the idea that something was afoot, as they say. So the
situation was getting very touchy.
I did not know about any of this.
then I did that picture, I took it to the record company who printed up
250,000 of them.
then they sent a copy to the manager for approval. the manager of course
freaked and had the entire 250,000 copies burnt. He said that heads would
roll if any copies ever came to light.
obviously some of them did survive, I knew that some would. I actually said
the one of the guys in the office to grab a few for himself because they
would be worth money in a few years. so I guess that he must have done that.
I have no idea what became of the original.
The painting was done over one weekend, from thursday to monday. most of the
maiden covers were done this quickly. that's why the quality gets a bit
dodgy sometimes.
the second version was done overnight, it had to be done this quickly
because of deadline restrictions.
I think that's about everything for now.
thanks again for the scan, I thought that picture was long lost in the mists
of time.
have fun
all the best
D[/quote]