when I was young, I was fascinated by the dark side and the occult.
Brought up by Roman Catholic folks, made to attend church, had choral music pumped out of the (admittedly good) family stereo every weekend day by parents who were brought up to be God-fearing Christians.

My brother rebelled first, by stopping going to church (even after we'd gone through the shadow moves of saying 'Oh, I went to the 07:30 mass' (which was shorter as there was no sermon), or 'I went to the Sunday 17:30 one (different town but you know how these quasi-social organisations interknit and make contact and recognise people and will say to your parents if you didn't show up).

I eventually followed my brother's example and stopped going at about age 16. Ooooh, rebel rebel etc. but my brother took it to the next level. He started listening to heavy metal and wearing Iron Maiden T-shirts, and while I understand that Eddy the 'ead is not so much satan incarnate, El Diabolo did put in an appearence on the the cover of Number Of The Beast, with its' '666' theme and so forth, not to mention the backward introduction to the Still Life track on 'Piece Of Mind' album, which was nothing more intelligent than Nicko McBrain's patois impersonations when played the right way around (double backwards backwarsd).

As I heard these tracks more and more I liked listening to the musical stylings of The Iron Maiden and picked up my brothers' bass guitar, played along and really got into them. Played along, got the t-shirts, went to the concerts. METAL!

This was at the height of me working on a paper round ad getting my wages paid after my Saturday round, then walking out of the newsagents with £6 (1984-ish) and past all the comics. 2000ad jumped out at me. The demeanour, the attitude, the artwork... oh, and it also does other strips than Dredd.

Engrossed in the publication, while listening to Iron Maiden play 'Number Of the Beast'(chorus lyrics include "666, the number of the beast, hell and fire are sure to be released"), my stern Catholic mum caught me reading 2000AD, the page being Nemesis the Warlock (his subtitle being "I am the deathbringer") where he had a baby son Thoth (Egyptian god of knowledge, so heretical to a Catholic) who was referred to as a homunculus (alchemical, therefore magickal, therefore paganic, therefore un-christian, therefore BURN THE WITCH etc.)

Which is why my mum ironed my Nemesis the Warlock tshirt and accidentally turned up the heat to FORCE PLASMA on the steam dial and melted his face. Gut reaction, I suppose, for a stern Catholic.

Me: "Aww mum, what happened to my t-shirt"? asked I.

Mum: Fidget. Twitch.

Mum: "...I accidentally burned it while ironing it. I'll give you the money for a new t-shirt if you want".

Me: "Oh. OK. It was £6".

Mum: "Here's £6 out of my purse"

Me: "Thanks. OK, I'm off to buy the same t-shirt again" said I.

Mum: "NO YOU CAN'T!"

......

Mum: "....because I don't like it....it's EVIL."

Me: "OK.... can I get another t-shirt instead?"

Mum: "Just no more satanic image worship t-shirts"

Totally got a Live after Death t-shirt instead.

1.bp.blogspot.com/_CvAgMMGRTbE/S9ENUy0COAI/AAAAAAAAAF0/VxOoIt3q9lo/s1600/Live+After+Death-P.jpg

Oddly enough she didn't rate that t-shirt highly highly worthy in the 'Jesus will personally welcome you into the afterlife if you are wearing this at the pearly gates' league table either.
( Rotating Wobbly Hat That's not a banana. THIS is a banana., Mon 16 Jul 2012, 1:17, 8 replies)

Iron Maiden are fucking terrible.

Hope this helps x
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 16 Jul 2012, 8:52, closed)

You're ruining b3ta with this horrible bullying.
How dare you express an opinion?
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Mon 16 Jul 2012, 9:28, closed)

regardless of your opinion NOW,,*were
groundbreaking 25 years ago.

Where's my 15 minutes of Rush?
( Rotating Wobbly Hat That's not a banana. THIS is a banana., Wed 18 Jul 2012, 1:06, closed)

If your story is "I'm going to hell because I wore a t-shirt"
you should probably try harder.
(Spleep Shit, or get off the internet., Mon 16 Jul 2012, 9:55, closed)

Not so much 'I thought I was'
as my mum thought I might.
( Rotating Wobbly Hat That's not a banana. THIS is a banana., Mon 16 Jul 2012, 13:07, closed)

You should have got a Cradle of Filth Shirt
The one that read "Jesus is a Cunt"
However, I think that they with drew it after being sued.
My personal view though is that early Maiden is much better than late Maiden. Once they got to Powerslave, I lost interest.

Clicky for NWBHM!
( Rev. Jayneflakes Buy my book, I need the cash for drugs and hookers, Mon 16 Jul 2012, 11:37, closed)

Iron Maiden?
*does a face*
(dozers, do fuck off ur a nob m8, Mon 16 Jul 2012, 12:15, closed)

Nemesis the Warlock is a pussy
compared to Peter Warlock.
(ChaRleyTroniC is invincible with his chips and cheese, Mon 16 Jul 2012, 13:33, closed)