The_7th_one
Ancient Mariner
I think it was when COVID lockdown when he made some interesting interviews and he chatted with Carmine Appice …
Iron Maiden News, Links, and Interviews
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GhostofCain
Ancient Mariner
I did not find them funny when I first listened to them, so I dread to think what my opinion might be more than 30 years later. I might be brave enough and give it a go at some point.
CA Bryers
Ancient Mariner
If you didn't like them when you were younger and probably had a less refined sense of humor, I probably wouldn't bother trying again nowadays. I used to think they were funny, now it's a little grating with the constant Monty Python-speak and cringey jokes.
TaaviMaiden
Educated Fool
I've always found Nicko funny. Why do you think his jokes were cringey? I'm not disagreeing with you. I've just never listened to the podcast and I can't imagine what we said that was off-colour?
Helmuth Von Moltke
Educated Fool
I loved the Listen With Nicko series when I was 13 or 14, and I still remember them very fondly.
However, little know fact: I had to complain loudly on the official Maiden Forum about the racialised aspects of Nicko's humour after a drum show he delivered in Shepherds Bush sometime around 2010 (or maybe a bit earlier or later, I forget now).
I love Nicko, and I complained in the private official forum so someone in management could privately tell him. And so Nicko didn't fall into a worse trap of being cancelled publicly. But as a young adult at that point (and as a non white Brit), I was actually shocked to hear him still do caricature impressions of people of certain backgrounds, and making their incomprehension etc the butt of jokes.
I don't think Nicko did it out of malice, but his Jim Davidson humour which he learned in a different era (as Ghost mentioned) had not survived contact with the modern world. And the irony of him mocking people of Afro-Caribbean backgrounds while standing in Shepherds Bush, a neighbourhood that is very much 'black British' was also a cause for my concern on that day.
Pleased to report I never heard Nicko (even on YouTube) fall back on that part of his humour ever again after that moment. I may not have been the only person who complained. Rod would have been horrified, I expect, with the brand in mind.
Not being critical of Nicko by the way, he just slipped up. And he didn't do any of this at his Wembley drum show at a record fair I saw in 2005. Might have been a one off. God bless that man.
However, little know fact: I had to complain loudly on the official Maiden Forum about the racialised aspects of Nicko's humour after a drum show he delivered in Shepherds Bush sometime around 2010 (or maybe a bit earlier or later, I forget now).
I love Nicko, and I complained in the private official forum so someone in management could privately tell him. And so Nicko didn't fall into a worse trap of being cancelled publicly. But as a young adult at that point (and as a non white Brit), I was actually shocked to hear him still do caricature impressions of people of certain backgrounds, and making their incomprehension etc the butt of jokes.
I don't think Nicko did it out of malice, but his Jim Davidson humour which he learned in a different era (as Ghost mentioned) had not survived contact with the modern world. And the irony of him mocking people of Afro-Caribbean backgrounds while standing in Shepherds Bush, a neighbourhood that is very much 'black British' was also a cause for my concern on that day.
Pleased to report I never heard Nicko (even on YouTube) fall back on that part of his humour ever again after that moment. I may not have been the only person who complained. Rod would have been horrified, I expect, with the brand in mind.
Not being critical of Nicko by the way, he just slipped up. And he didn't do any of this at his Wembley drum show at a record fair I saw in 2005. Might have been a one off. God bless that man.
CA Bryers
Ancient Mariner
As @Helmuth Von Moltke said above, his Listen With Nicko stuff from the First Ten Years box set (and after, apparently) leans heavily on humor that doesn't fly these days. A handful of gay jokes, over-the-top stereotypical accents, etc. I get that he comes from a very old school era when nothing was off-limits, but listening to it these days with a modicum of empathy for the people who were butt of those jokes...yeah, it's cringey.
Glad to hear he's dropped the more offensive elements from his wacky persona of late, and yeah, I haven't had to cringe at anything he's said in interviews for a good many years.
dickinson1978
Ancient Mariner
I didnt listen to that one. Just videos in documentaries
GhostofCain
Ancient Mariner
I remember those discussions on the official forum. Some FC members were pretty nasty with you following your criticism.
I asked about that same topic here some years ago and provided some links to other places were people were outraged:
Poto
Ancient Mariner
What can you do, it's a cult.
GhostofCain
Ancient Mariner
That's one of the reasons I left. I imagine things have not changed since.
Helmuth Von Moltke
Educated Fool
Yes I got a lot of stick. It is the only time I felt alienated from the 'maiden are gods and can do no wrong' fan mentality. Which I bought into uncritically when I was younger, so it was strange be on the other side of that.I remember those discussions on the official forum. Some FC members were pretty nasty with you following your criticism.
I asked about that same topic here some years ago and provided some links to other places were people were outraged:
The thing that clearly went wrong for Nicko at that 2011 drum clinic was it was 'his' show. He wasn't someone's guest or at a big event, so he scripted / improvised the whole thing himself. Thankfully he course corrected after that, and he's even fine when he talks to Al Murray these days!
Poto
Ancient Mariner
Probably not. I tread very carefully these days.
I met a FC member on tour two years ago, and when he asked who I was I was unsure whether to show my profile or not. I did, and to my surprise he recognised it and said he liked me. He also added that one of the moderators did not like me. I can live with that.
Vaenyr
Ancient Mariner
For whatever reason my brain parsed this as Artificial Intelligence Dave Murray, which is an equally hilarious and horrifying mental image!
Starblind
Educated Fool
The old official forum was very good back in the day... But for a very long time it's like the new Twitter after Elon Musk. And it's so complicated, it's so hard to find anything follow anything... Maidenfans Forum is simple and much better in many ways.
About Nicko: Well he is the most handsome and most whacky one I guess. I didn't bother with his old fashioned jokes you mentioned because he was also and mostly making fun of himself. He had is up's and down's through the years. Being a "reborn", the stroke, also I remember he got into a traffic accident with someone wounded... If I'm not mistaken. Within these big celebrities, these huge artist ego's, we have to evaluate people with their pros and cons, plusses and minuses, dark and light sides. Imho.
About Nicko: Well he is the most handsome and most whacky one I guess. I didn't bother with his old fashioned jokes you mentioned because he was also and mostly making fun of himself. He had is up's and down's through the years. Being a "reborn", the stroke, also I remember he got into a traffic accident with someone wounded... If I'm not mistaken. Within these big celebrities, these huge artist ego's, we have to evaluate people with their pros and cons, plusses and minuses, dark and light sides. Imho.
GhostofCain
Ancient Mariner
That's one way of putting it!
Iron Maiden drummer arrested
Iron Maiden drummer Michael "Nicko" McBrain is facing an assault charge after allegedly hitting a parking attendant with his Jaguar.
www.standard.co.uk
IRON MAIDEN Drummer Arrested After Hitting Man With Car
Jennifer Sinco Kelleher of Newsday is reporting that IRON MAIDEN drummer Nicko McBrain was arrested and charged with assault yesterday (July 26) after intentionally hitting a parking attendant with his car before a concert at the Tommy Hilfiger at Jones Beach Theater, state park police said...
blabbermouth.net
Helmuth Von Moltke
Educated Fool
Went back and read your old thread. The 1982 NME interview is amazing, I'd never seen it before. I found it archived here (links in the old thread are dead).I asked about that same topic here some years ago and provided some links to other places were people were outraged:
I guess my family were among Steve's 'darkies' living in East London in the 1980s? Wow.
Not to rehash the old thread, these attitudes were everywhere in London back then, as well as horrible attitudes to the Irish and others.
Precisely why my parents faced some serious racism when they moved to the UK in the 70s, one reason why we left East London in the late 80s. It was especially bad in the areas Maiden are originally from (I was born in the same area).
Steve's and Nicko's attitudes from then were of their generation, social class, and geography (East London was really poor then, parts still are). Credit to Rod for hiding and downplaying this in Maiden's image over the years. No credit to the cretinous NME interviewer.
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GhostofCain
Ancient Mariner
Excellent find my friend. Still a shocking read, even more than 40 years after it was published.
If anyone is interested in reading it/downloading the files, you can find them here:
Starblind
Educated Fool
obviously some word choices of bruce and steve are not clever. but everybody knows, nme. they hated metal. metal was their enemy. just like rolling stone. you can see that the interviewer is pushing steve and bruce to make a mistake. it's 1982, bruce was only 24 years old. so i think they dealt fine with these absurd questions. that priest / halford part was interesting, bruce gave some spoilers 
) overall, thanks for sharing. (i couldnt find the third page btw)
) overall, thanks for sharing. (i couldnt find the third page btw)
GhostofCain
Ancient Mariner
obviously some word choices of bruce and steve are not clever. but everybody knows, nme. they hated metal. metal was their enemy. just like rolling stone. you can see that the interviewer is pushing steve and bruce to make a mistake. it's 1982, bruce was only 24 years old. so i think they dealt fine with these absurd questions. that priest / halford part was interesting, bruce gave some spoilers
NME might have been against heavy metal, but the one who presented himself as a racist with very little external help was Steve...
You can find the whole interview in the link I shared. Here are the different pages for your enjoyment:
Vaenyr
Ancient Mariner
Steve responding to "are you a racist?" with "Erm, well it depends... maybe?" is all kinds of insane lol. He manages to make some sensible points, but then doubles down on the bad stuff undoing the good stuff he pointed out.
As is the "metal isn't sexist, women prefer disco to find sexual partners" segment, what a wild thing to say. I suppose it does show how things have changed in half a century.
With this context it's not really suprising that he'd go on to write Age Of Innocence 30 years later.
Also, was/is it a common thing for printed interviews to type out the dialect like that or was that NME being petty and finding another avenue to antagonize metal musicians? Not too familiar with British press.
As is the "metal isn't sexist, women prefer disco to find sexual partners" segment, what a wild thing to say. I suppose it does show how things have changed in half a century.
With this context it's not really suprising that he'd go on to write Age Of Innocence 30 years later.
Also, was/is it a common thing for printed interviews to type out the dialect like that or was that NME being petty and finding another avenue to antagonize metal musicians? Not too familiar with British press.
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