Part 19: The Rules (IRON MAIDEN – The First Ten Years box set gallery!)

RECORD STORE TALES Part 19:  The Rules

After a few years had gone by, there were too many damn rules to follow.  There were so many, we literally had books full of them, with new rules being added regularly.  It was pure insanity, because you had to remember some rule that was made (for example) 26 months ago.  Not to mention if you dug far enough back, you could find rules that contradicted each other.  It was like telling a dog to sit and come at the same time, you can’t do it.

One rule that stood firm was:  “Thou Shalt Not Buy Product From a Sister Store“.

We had a complex structure of locations, but under no circumstances could a staff member buy product from a store that had a different owner.  Their product was for their customers and not for us to pillage.  But, when one of those owners who was a friend, sees the Iron Maiden First Ten Years box set come in, they call you to tell you.  The rules meant nothing at that point.  There were greater goals at hand.

This ultra-rare box was issued in 1990, as 10 discs, all sold separately.  You could also get them on vinyl.  I recall seeing a few of them, on 12″ vinyl, at my local Sam The Record Man (run by the near-legendary Al King) during one of my many teenage record store excursions.

IMG_20140427_101356CDs are my preferred format today.  Collect all ten of the Maiden singles, and you could send away for the box that contains them.  Obviously, a complete set is a rare find.  This set came in complete, as is.  I still have the receipt.  I paid $135.99 on Oct 7, 2003.  (With taxes, $156.39.)

It was worth every penny, but it was also worth the shit I caught for buying it from another owner.  And did I get in shit for it!

At best, I was bending the rules.  At best!  I paid full price (no discount!), the owner himself rang it in, and he was happily on board with making a quick buck.  He even personally delivered it to Kitchener.  He could have simply said, “No”.  He didn’t.  Now, I take responsibility for my actions, but an owner has a lot more say in things than I do.  I didn’t deserve what happened next.

A higher-up stormed into my store, pulled me into the office, slammed the door, and yelled.   And yelled.  And pointed a lot, and yelled some more.

It was a weird feeling.  Here I was getting screamed at so much that the dogs could hear it 4 miles away, but also elated about my Iron Maiden find at the exact same time.  It was like I didn’t know if I should be happy or pissed off!  It’s like any time you see someone trying so hard not to smile.

I pulled it off.  I also owned the fucking Iron Maiden First Ten Years box set!

Their big argument was “It’s a bad example to the employees”.  But really, that wasn’t an issue.  No employees knew about it — not one! — until they made a big show of it by yelling at me in store!   The one that said I was a bad example, was the one who let the cat out of the bag.

I walked out of the office, head hanging, but then when out of sight, grinning ear to ear.  Of course the two people who overheard the whole thing asked about it afterwards.  Dandy Douche asked, “Do you think it was worth it?  Would you do it again?”  I said, “Absolutely.  But next time I’m wearing a beard and a moustache, the whole disguise, and buying it in person!”

Unfortunately I never had the chance to do that.  The Iron Maiden box set was one of the last big big items from my “holy grail list.” that came in.

Each disc contains two singles, plus an unreleased 10 minute interview with Nicko.  One on every disc.  They are called “Listen With Nicko!” parts I through X.  Well worth the money, Nicko is friggin’ hilarious.

FIRST TEN_0002All singles included are complete (except Maiden Japan), plus a “Listen With Nicko!” bonus track.  And again, you had to buy these all separately!   On import!  And according to the terms on the mail-in card, only UK residents could order the boxes to house the discs.  Another thing I found interesting was that you had to mail in all ten slips in order to get the box.  Whoever owned my box previously still has nine of his ten slips!  (I am missing #9, “Can I Play With Madness” / “The Evil That Men Do”.)  This can only make my box set rarer and more desirable to collectors.

DISC 1 – Running Free / Sanctuary

DISC 2 – Women In Uniform / Twilight Zone

DISC 3 – Purgatory / Maiden Japan

DISC 4 – Run to the Hills / The Number of the Beast

DISC 5 – Flight Of Icarus / The Trooper

DISC 6 – 2 Minutes to Midnight / Aces High

DISC 7 – Running Free (Live) / Run to the Hills (Live)

DISC 8 – Wasted Years / Stranger in a Strange Land

DISC 9 – Can I Play With Madness / The Evil That Men Do

DISC 10 – The Clairvoyant (Live) / Infinite Dreams (Live)

Click below to embiggen the brand new photo gallery!

 

And the old Nokia pics below:

40 comments

  2. Yes it was a once in a lifetime type find for sure. Incidentally Nicko also released a single called “Rhythms of the Beast” with Dave Murray on guitar, and the B-side of that was called “McBrain Damage”, and it was another 10 minute type story with Nicko. Very funny but hard to find. I only own it on a bootleg CD.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Got a signed 7″ of this (and a signed white Nicko T-Shirt) from the Drum Clinic Nicko did in Manchester on he tour he did to promote this and his instructional drum video from the time. Got great memories from the night where he showed us his Seventh Son era kit and soloed on it and told us stories and then made sure we all got to shake his hand at the end. I’ll not forget sitting about 3 metres from his kit as he laid in to some of his trademark “fast-foot” action. Great stuff.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

        1. Thanks man, Nicko is a delight to his fans and generally very good with “the people”, unlike some of the other chaps in Maiden who seem to shrink away from public life in that capacity. That said, I was lucky enough to get a few minutes with Bruce Dickinson with my family (the missus was a very happy bunny that day!) a couple of months back at a book signing and he came across as a nice guy, albeit a nice guy with obviously 50,000 concurrent thoughts going on in his head at any one time!

          Liked by 1 person

        2. I know a guy who worked at an HMV in London during a summer job. Bruce happened to come in one day. He approached Bruce, who was cool about it, he just asked that he keep it quiet that he was there. Bruce was shopping with his son.

          Liked by 1 person

  3. The Listen With Nicko tracks are absolute comedy gold! Me and my mates used to listen to these constantly. Mission From ‘Arry is another hilarious track on here. Definitely worth the bollocking you got!

    I’ve still got my copy but I lost the lid… :(

    Like

    Reply

  5. Wow! I’ve never seen a complete box anywhere else since but I’ve seen the occasional copy of the individual 12inches. I’ve got the CD box, I picked it up 2nd-hand in the mid 90s at an excellently named shop, Valhalla. I think it set me back about £40! It’s quite a find. A lot of the stuff is available on the Eddie’s Box set now but you don’t get the Listen With Nickos on that!

    Like

    Reply

  6. I have the Eddie’s Archive as well, and you’re right — there are a lot of great live B-sides that weren’t on there. “Women In Uniform” isn’t on Eddie’s Archive either.

    Like

    Reply

  7. Where can I find RSS feeds for posts and comments? I like reading your blog but really need RSS feeds. Please email me since I doubt I will find a reply here—I’m still wondering how I got to this comment box.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Hey Phillip, I have to be honest with you — I have no idea! Maybe that’s something I need to look into. I’ve never used RSS feeds myself so I’ve never even considered it before. Maybe one of my fellow bloggers can help me out with that question. Anyway I thank you for reading, I’ll definitely look into this and see what I can learn. Cheers, Mike

      philliphelbig commented: “Where can I find RSS feeds for posts and comments? I like reading your blog but really need RSS feeds. Please email me since I doubt I will find a reply here—I’m still wondering how I got to this comment box.”

      Like

      Reply

    1. Tough call as to what it’s worth complete with box…somebody on eBay is asking $350 for the complete CD version but I’ve never seen a complete vinyl for sale.

      Like

      Reply

  11. Cool set Mike…real cool thanks for sharing…..
    I had yrs ago bought the Infinite Dreams single on vinyl and that’s it but man it’s cool to see all of this….
    Great collection!

    Like

    Reply

    1. Thanks Deke! It’s truly a great collection. Even if you buy all the Maiden 2-CD deluxe editions that I have, you won’t get all the B-sides that this set contains. You also won’t get the special Listen With Nicko segments.

      I didn’t question that price for a minute when it was offered to me.

      Like

      Reply

    1. But they did!

      I have the two box sets, Singles 82-88 and Singles 89-95. That’s everything from those periods — 100% complete. It even has the Market Square Heroes EP.

      Like

      Reply

        3. It is. I thought I had reviewed them both already, but I have not. I was doing research this morning for my upcoming Seasons End review and I was surprised I hadn’t reviewed those singles box sets. They are really great. All tracks from all formats are included. Marillion were doing that thing that bands do more commonly day — different tracks on 7″, 12″, CD, etc.

          Like

      1. Thanks man! Yes it is purdy indeed. This was sort of the last bit of photo housekeeping I wanted to do. I keep getting hits on this article (rarity!) but I felt the pics could have been better.

        Like

        Reply

  14. I bought the CD of Purgatory/Maiden Japan for an official CD version of Maiden Japan.
    Unfortunately, despite being a Japanese Edition, it’s still missing Wratchild. But it was still worth it.

    Like

    Reply

  15. Also, there’s a Listen with Nicko XI which can apparently be found on the US edition of No Prayer for the Dying.

    Like

    Reply

  16. Listen with Nicko is hilarious and if you listen now, it’s made oddly more funny by the fact that it’s (in this day and age) seemingly quite politically incorrect. Still, that set was big news back in the day and did set the precedent for Bomber and Rod to rerelease singles we’d all bought before.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I missed out on most of the early singles. My single collection started with Run to the Hills. For me this was the perfect way to finally get them all! The Maiden 1995 deluxe editions didn’t have all the B-sides.

      Like

      Reply

    1. Yes it sure did. I didn’t know that was the official title. But I have it on the Fear of the Dark 2 CD edition. It’s there unlisted as part of Space Station No. 5. Sadly I know just about every word of “Bayswater Ain’t a Bad Place To Be”.

      He’s right though. Nobody writes songs about golf. They would have cornered the market.

      Like

      Reply

      1. Not sure if those ever came out in UK. Is that correct? I missed that and got the 1998 remasters in the UK. Here I am wearing my silk, bloody satin, whatever the bloody ‘ell it is without that edition on the shelf at home or in meeeee Raaaaaaange Rooover!

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        1. Actually they did. I got UK imports. UK and Japan had them for sure, and Japan’s version of Killers had all of Maiden Japan on the bonus CD.

          Do you know who I am? It’s on me number plate!

          Like

  18. Let’s face it, nobody’s bothered about the music Steeeeeve… Only you and the fans.

    (This could run and run… Until we run out of “lyrics” or we start on The Sheriff of Huddersfield.)

    Like

    Reply

Rock a Reply