EDDIE THE HEAD

'Eddie', whose full name is 'Eddie the 'Ead' or 'Edward the Head' also known as 'Edward the Great' (see below), is the mascot for the British heavy metal band, Iron Maiden. He is a perennial fixture in the often violent album cover art, as well as ever present in their live shows. Eddie also featured in a first-person shooter video game, ''Ed Hunter'' and as an unlockable character in ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4''.

Contents

Background

Melvyn Grant

Trivia

Appearances - Album and single covers

As a Zombie

As other

Ambiguous

Notes

References

Video games

See also

External links

Background

The original Eddie was just a theatrical mask. It can be seen in the band photos on the first album and on the "Running Free" single picture sleeve. It was a face right next to the band's logo. It was connected to a pump that would eject various kinds of liquids, from food dye to paint, and would drool over Doug Sampson who was the drummer at the time. Fans would also try to throw things into the mouth at gigs.
Eddie's full name is ''Edward The Head'' (''Edward T.H––'' the remainder of his surname is hidden by a clump of soil on the ''Live After Death'' cover.) Other plays on Eddie's name can be seen in the Video Game (based on him) Ed Hunter. The name originates from the following old joke:

''Eddie the head was born with no body, no arms and no legs. All he had was a head. But despite this major birth defect his parents still loved him very much. So on his sixteenth birthday his parents found a doctor that could surgically give Eddie a body. When the parents got home they couldn't wait to tell him that he could finally have a body and be like other normal people. They go home really excited and say "Have we got a surprise for you. It's the best present ever!" and Eddie says "Oh no, not another fucking hat!"''

The above story is also told by the band's drummer, Nicko McBrain on the CD, found in the first package of "The First Ten Years" singles collection. Here's how it's told by Nicko:

"Eddie was very unfortunate. He was born without a body. So nevertheless his parents loved him dearly, and took him home, and placed him on a mantlepiece one day. Well, his family gave him lots of love and attention, and he always got loads of presents on his birthday, kind of...
★ augh
★ ...blowing things and, an axe and all that kind of stuff.

★ Weaugh
★ , I mean...anyway, one year he was about sixteen, and the hospital contacted his parents and they said to them..um..they said 'look..uh, due to modern technology and all those good things that we can do with, you'now, all this stuff nowadays, we're now.. we're now able to build Eddie a body'. So, with this his parents, they were so excited, they couldn't believe it. And they couldn't wait to tell Eddie, I mean this is it you know, 'Eddie's gonna have a body'
★ weehaa
★ .
However, as it..as it was..um.. close to his birthday, they decided to tell the doctors to go ahead and build his body. And then they would surprise him, and, you know, it weren't far from his birthday
★ whispering
★ ,
★ good birthday present
★ . Two weeks later, THE BIG DAY ARRIVED!!. YES, Eddie's birthday, so his parents goes up to 'im, and they kinda walk up to the mantlepiece, " 'ello Eddie, how ya doin' "."This year is gonna be the best birthday yet"."Have we got something for you, such a wonderful present". And his Mom's goin' all, "Oh goodness Eddie, we're so pleased". And Eddie's Goin' "
★ Augh
★ Oh no", said Eddie, "Not another fucking hat!!!".
(
★ Hahahahaha
★ , Oh, the whole thing's so funny, it is it's pretty good i'nt it.) "

Iron Maiden gave the name "Eddie" to that mask. The character Eddie was created by Derek Riggs. In the artwork to the single "Running Free", a silhouette of a large, skinny zombie-like creature can be seen. When the band was looking through potential artwork for their first album, they came across the artwork by Derek Riggs that would eventually become the artwork for the self-titled album. The band liked it, and felt that it was what the silhouette actually looked like.
The artwork for the second album, ''Killers'', was also an original Riggs painting before he started creating bespoke album covers from ''The Number of the Beast'' onwards. Derek Riggs claimed - in the Maiden documentary ''12 Wasted Years'' - that the design for Eddie the cartoon was based on (what was supposedly) a Japanese head he saw on a television documentary, hanging on the side of a burned out Japanese tank from the Battle of Guadalcanal, (Matanikau River engagement), October 24, 1942.
It has been hypothesised that Eddie is an alias of Benjamin Breeg, featured in the song "The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg"[1] from the latest album, ''A Matter of Life and Death''.

Melvyn Grant

Melvyn Grant first drew Eddie for the sleeve of ''Fear of the Dark'', the first time anyone other than Riggs had designed a sleeve for Iron Maiden in which Eddie was pictured. Grant also worked on the ''Virtual XI'' and ''Death on the Road's covers.

Trivia

Roman Turek - a former NHL goalie with the Calgary Flames - who now plays in the Czech Republic, used Eddie as the main theme in all his masks from the different NHL teams he played with (Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues and Calgary Flames) which created some very distinctive and interesting masks.
The cult hit television show Aqua Teen Hunger Force, among its numerous references to rock and roll and metal music, has made reference to Eddie in the episode "Super Sir Loin". After being tricked once again by subliminal messages in the music of his favorite rapper, MC Pee Pants, the character of Meatwad converts from rap to heavy metal and mentions Eddie in the following exchange with another character, Frylock.
:'Meatwad:' Boy I feel like a fool. I ain't never again gonna do what no stupid rap musician gonna tell me what to do.
:'Frylock:' That's a good idea, Meatwad.
:'Meatwad:' From now on, it's only heavy metal bands that gonna boss me around. Them people speak the truth. They got this six-story skeleton named Eddie, and he like opens his mouth all crazy fang-like... He's crazy as hell.
An Item in the MMORPG ''RuneScape'' called Edward the Cranium is a reference to Eddie, whose full name is Eddie the Head.

Appearances - Album and single covers

As a Zombie

★ '''Iron Maiden''', simple frontal shot with Eddie's mouth wide open.

★ '''Phantom of the Opera''', as a celestial organist on the cover of this single.

★ '''Killers''', Eddie wielding a bloody axe (the victim still gripping his shirt).

★ '''Sanctuary''' crouching, still axe in hand, over his bloodied victim, now revealed to have been none else than then-conservative prime minister of England Margaret Thatcher.

★ '''Women in Uniform''' about to be ambushed by an SMG-wielding caricature of Margaret Thatcher dressed in commando fatigues, waiting for him behind a corner while he's walking in company of two girls, one dressed as a nurse, one as a hostess.

★ '''The Number of the Beast''', the devil appears to have an Eddie as a puppet, but in fact the devil is shown to be Eddie's puppet.

★ '''Piece of Mind''', displays Eddie in a straight-jacket and screaming as a result of lobotomy. This is the first album cover where Eddie has no hair.

★ '''Live After Death''', Eddie is being struck by lightning and is rising from the dead.

★ '''No Prayer for the Dying''', Eddie bursts from his grave and grabs the gravedigger by the neck (removed in the 1998 re-release) - similar to ''Live After Death''.

★ '''A Real Dead One''' and '''A Real Live One''' - Eddie is a zombie rocker though now very stylised. On the cover of ''A Real Dead One'', Eddie is wearing an Iron Maiden ''Killers'' T-shirt.

★ '''The X Factor''', Eddie in the process of being horribly mutilated through surgery.

★ '''Be Quick or Be Dead'''- on the cover of that single we can see Eddie, squeezing Robert Maxwell's head

As other

★ Pharaoh, with a monument erected in his image on the cover of '''Powerslave''' (often depicted as a mummy in related artwork, retaining his zombie look).

★ Fighter pilot, on the cover of '"Aces High"'. He staring through the gunsight of a Supermarine Spitfire wearing a flying helmet and goggles as he participates in the Battle of Britain.

★ Cyborg, on the cover of '''Somewhere in Time''' and all associated artwork.

★ Tree monster, on the cover of '''Fear of the Dark'''.

★ King, on the cover of the '''Edward The Great''' compilation album.

★ The Grim Reaper, on the cover of '''Dance of Death'''. He appears similarly on the cover of '''Death on the Road'''.

★ Soldier, on the cover of '''A Matter of Life and Death'''. He is standing on top of a tank wearing a leather helmet with aviator goggles and holding a Thompson submachine gun. On the cover of '''The Trooper''' Eddie is wearing uniform from XIX century, he is holding sabre and British flag with broken flag-staff as he participates in the Crimean War.

Ambiguous

★ '''Seventh Son of a Seventh Son''', a sliced Eddie floats above a psychedelic arctic scene holding a womb (suggested to be his own), with his head cracked open and in flames. Also showing are some of his cybernetic parts (right eye and throat) from the previous cover, also the snow-figures (at the back-cover) all represent Eddies of previous covers. Also ground has cracks, and fissures under ground which make it look like ice. On the other hand there is some liquid dripping from Eddie, which make ground splash, and look like water.

★ '''Virtual XI''', the head, shoulders and left hand of a gruesome looking Eddie are set against a desolate, red background with the sole exception of the bottom left-corner that shows a green football field, against a blue sky, and a boy with a virtual headset.

★ '''Brave New World''', Eddie's face is formed in the clouds above what appears to be a futuristic representation of London. Theme re-used for accompanying '''Rock in Rio''' cover.

Notes

★ Eddie is frequently remembered for his distinctive evil grin, which first debuted on the cover of ''Killers''. Other common expressions are to have Eddie screaming or snarling, but occasionally with his mouth entirely shut, making his appearance more meditative.

★ Most of the early incarnations of Eddie are seen in the video for the single, "Wasted Years".

★ The 80s Maiden covers ''Piece of Mind'' - ''Seventh Son'' seemed to have a continuity of their own. Most noticeably traces of his lobotomy from ''Piece'' are featured in every cover from this period. Eddie's cyborg eye (from the ''Powerslave''-era single "2 Minutes to Midnight") also appeared on the covers of ''Somewhere in Time'', ''Raising Hell'' and ''Seventh Son''. Some of his cybernetic parts from ''Somewhere in Time'' remain on ''Seventh Son'' but obviously Eddie's somewhat odd decomposition makes this link less clear. This continuity ceased for unknown reasons after ''No Prayer'' (though Eddie's non-zombie appearance on ''Fear of the Dark'' may have been a reason for the change) and has since been largely abandoned. Regardless, traces of the lobotomy still appeared in some artwork associated with the album. Indeed, the cover for ''The X Factor'' and associated artwork is about the operation that caused this change to Eddie.

★ Hugh Syme made the Eddie puppet seen on the cover of ''The X Factor''. Since the puppet actually exists in physical form it produces a more realistic and gruesome image than the previous covers which had all been oil-paintings.

★ Another recurring character in Maiden cover artwork in the early 80s was Riggs' depiction of the Devil, who premiered on the single "Purgatory". Eddie battles him on the single cover of "Run to the Hills" and displays his decapitated head on the cover of "The Number of the Beast" single.

★ The CGI Eddie, featured in the late 90s music video "The Angel and the Gambler" as well as in the ''Ed Hunter'' computer game appears to be based on the Eddie from ''Piece of Mind'', being bald, showing signs of lobotomy and having the neck-brace with a broken piece of chain hanging from it. This Eddie also has a strange scar on his chest and appears slightly more muscular than other previous Eddies.

★ Eddie's image from the "The Trooper" single cover is depicted in several Ulster Loyalist murals across Northern Ireland. His battleworn Union jack is used to represent that the Loyalist people will never give up in their fight.

References

Video games

Eddie can be unlocked as a playable character in ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4''.
Iron Maiden made a video game called ''Ed Hunter'' in which familiar places like "22 Acacia Avenue" are visited. Accompanied with this are a few CDs holding Iron Maiden's top 20 hits.
Eddie is reference in the game by Cousin Ed in a conversation with Lazlo, who replaced Cousin Ed for his job at V-Rock. As Cousin Ed talks about how he is marginally better than Lazlo for V-Rock, he states, "Do you know who the mascot of Iron Maiden is?" Lazlo replies, "It's a puppy." And Cousin Ed replies, "It's Eddie. Get it? Eddie? Cousin Ed?"
Lord Raptor of ''Darkstalkers'' bears a striking resemblance to 'Eddie'. He bears the Union Jack on his pant leg, which may in fact be a nod at the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Furthermore, Lord Raptor was a "god of metal" in his mortal life, and having been dead for twenty years prior to his resurrection in 1994, places his active career at approximately 1969–1974, the beginning of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and just one year prior to Iron Maiden.

See also

★ Derek Riggs

★ Melvyn Grant

★ Iron Maiden

★ Vic Rattlehead

★ Snaggletooth

External links

★ SpongeEd - SpongeBob as Eddie