Phatoor?

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That's CP32-5109, EMI/Toshiba original Piece Of Mind pressing.

Piece%20of%20Mind%20CP32-3.jpg


Notice something?
"Phatoor" is Nicko's reversed Idi Amin impression thingie from Still Life separated into track of it's own.

I've seen that Phatoor just recently, while i was listening to FLAC rip of that Japanese pressing (those are called Black Triangle - praised for it's quality because they contain original transfer from master tapes. No CD mastering or bullshit). Nicko's thing came up, and my notifier goes "Playing : Iron Maiden - Phatoor". WTF?

Google search reveals only two things - references to this pressing and downloads of that rip, and one site where it says that Phatoor is apricot in Kashmiri.
From those references we can deduce that this is the original, no doubt. One Japanese site with metal reviews has a section describing "Phatoor~Still Life". Other site has a PDF with tracklisting of some radio station, also mentions "Phatoor~Still Life". And there is a site of some CD collectionist, again same.

So...what's a fucking phatoor?!?
 
jesus christ... i would sell a kidney for a complete set of those black triangle iron maiden cd's... been looking for them for the longest time.
 
Cool find!  :ok:

I think it's the (Japanese?) interpretaton of the first word Nicko says (which is in fact the last he says, but then in reverse).

I always hear this as: Whathooww or What hoo.

It sounds like a typical Nicko word, which he also said on most of/all his own speaking contributions on The First Ten Years singles? (part I-X). You know, when he starts those monologues.

(edit: More here)
 
Possible meaning....

Phatic adj. (of speech etc.) used to convey general sociability rather than to communicate a specific meaning, e.g. 'nice morning, isn't it?' [Gk phatos spoken f. phemi phan- speak]

Or so says my dictionary.



It could be derived from the Greek word phatos - spoken.
 
Yes, he says What hoo, but those "Listen With Nicko" tracks were recorded a lot later.

Have in mind that this CD was released in 1986.
Between 1983 and 1986 there were several EMI releases of PoM, on vinyl and on cassette.

Perhaps there were 10 master tapes after recording, because that Nicko part was recorded separately. But 1983 vinyls have 9 tracks. So do cassettes.
It's quite possible that Japanese just recorded the tapes in sequence onto the CD. That would explain the separate track. But where does name come from?

In any case, i don't believe that this was a simple mistake. CDs were new tech in 1986 and i don't think that EMI would put out something on the market without checking it first.

Edit : nice find Albie. It does make sense. Greek word with English suffix equaling "speaker" for the spoken track.
 
Zare said:
Yes, he says What hoo, but those "Listen With Nicko" tracks were recorded a lot later.

I still think it's the same word, and Nicko probably used it for ages.

Can anyone post a transcription of this speech? Thanks in advance.
 
Zare said:
Edit : nice find Albie. It does make sense. Greek word with English suffix equaling "speaker" for the spoken track.
I've been trying to see if I can find a track listing for Venom's "Welcome to Hell" as In League with Satan has a very similar opening (i.e a spoken message recorded backwards) and if it too has Phatoor, then it is very likely to be that.  As yet, I am out of luck - the search may be totally futile anyway.
 
Ah indeed, I was correct after all. Just like he did about 7 years later with his The First Ten Years contributions: At the beginning of Still Life, Nicko does say:

"What ho said the t'ing with the three "bonce", do not meddle with things you don't understand..."

So that's what inspired the Phatoor title, imo.

I know that Phatoor could come from "Phatic" which has a meaning, but the word combination "What ho" has the same (kind of) sound and the same meaning (or purpose), namely what Albie said:

"...used to convey general sociability rather than to communicate a specific meaning..."

Mystery solved!
 
It ain't solved yet  :D

There is a slim connection between "What ho" and "Phatoor", but i'm more interested is why this particular pressing has that track separated.

@Albie, i don't think you're going to find that. I googled "Phatoor" and the results were either about this release, or that Kashmiri word (but 90% or results are of Maiden).
 
Zare said:
It ain't solved yet  :D

There is a slim connection between "What ho" and "Phatoor", but i'm more interested is why this particular pressing has that track separated.

A choice by an anonymous, unimportant person.

In later remasters someone thought he had to connect the intro of Powerslave to the end of Back in the Village track, and I also remember the choice of such a person doing this with two tracks on Priest's Sin After Sin album.

The difference in this case, is that this was created into a new track. The track is separated because the same or another anonymous, unimportant person gave a name to this part.

A new name -> a new track
 
Ok, a sound technician separated the track. Do you think that kind of person really has privileges to name tracks that'll get printed on the release, and that nobody checks the prototype before it goes into mass burning?
 
In Japan I expect something can happen like that, yes.

Earlier examples:

How the Japanese handled the release of Maiden Japan, explained by Nicko, from 4:55-5:18

And I thought that the title Iron Maiden Live + one was a mistake:

Live_plus_One.jpg


But I can't find the explanation yet.
 
In the Japanese edition, there are three live tracks: Sanctuary, Phantom of the Opera and Drifter plus the one which is the studio version of Women in Uniform.

That about explains it, right? At least in my head. :D
 
Yes, that might be it. I think this info shouldn't have been literally in the title. I vaguely remember that Nicko told it was some miscommunication. Maybe I'm mixing it up with some other release, but this could be it.
 
I know this thread's been dead for 7 years and a half, and I don't know if this has already been clarified or not, so I'll just drop this here:


About 2 minutes in, you'll see images of the Piece of Mind master tapes with each side's track listing written on them (just like the one on the video's thumbnail). At precisely 2:01, there's a shot of side B's track listing. Track #2 is listed as "(Phatoor)". So there you go, mystery solved! :D

As a side note, it's also fun to notice (in the same shot) how "To Tame a Land" is referred to as its original title, "Dune".
 
If "phatoor" is a name that was being used in the studio then the explanation that it has something to do with "what ho" doesn't hold water. Or at least the part of it being a japanese misinterpretation, it may be a misinterpretation by the mastering engineer.

I think it possible has some jokey significance, it may be an anagram of troopah?
 
Yes, that might be it. I think this info shouldn't have been literally in the title. I vaguely remember that Nicko told it was some miscommunication. Maybe I'm mixing it up with some other release, but this could be it.

Maybe you're mixing up with the instruction on the back to "Pray Roud"?
 
It ain't over yet, @Forostar !

:D

Looks like my original hypothesis was correct, someone at Toshiba just transferred master tapes to CDs without any intervention on the tracking part.
Which leaves us in a dead alley really, the word "Phatoor" came from Maiden or studio affiliates so it could be an internal joke which we will never deduce.

Next time there's an Q&A or interview, and someone from this board participates, they should really pop the question. It's a very, very obscure piece of Maiden trivia.
 
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