"Women in Uniform" is a 1978 song originally recorded by the Australian band Skyhooks; it was written by the band's bass player, Greg Macainsh. It appeared on their fourth album, Guilty Until Proven Insane, and was a top 10 single in Australia.
Iron Maiden's cover of the song was the band's third single and their last recorded work to feature guitarist Dennis Stratton. It was released on 27 October 1980 in order to promote the second British leg of their Iron Maiden Tour. The song was also included on the Australian edition of their second album Killers, as it was originally a number eight hit in Australia for Skyhooks in 1978. In 1990, the 12" version was reissued on CD and 12" vinyl as part of The First Ten Years box set, in which it was combined with their following single, "Twilight Zone".
The idea to cover the song was suggested by the band's publishing company, Zomba, who set them up with studio time at Battery Studios with AC/DC producer Tony Platt. Although sceptical at first about recording a song that was so different from the band's style, bassist Steve Harris conceded when Platt was hired, surmising that "as he worked with AC/DC and that, I thought, 'Oh, you know, fine. He's not gonna pull us in any commercial direction.'" After trying to create their own "heavy" version of the song, to Harris' dismay he found out that Platt, with help from Stratton, had been tampering with the song's mix as he had been briefed by Zomba to "Try and get a hit single." As a result, Platt was dismissed and Harris remixed the track himself.
Although the intended mix was restored, the band have routinely mentioned their dislike of the single, with Harris vowing "never, ever, ever to allow anyone outside to fuck around with our music again." As a result, its only appearance on CD is as part of The First Ten Years series and a rare 1995 2CD issue of Killers, meaning that the song does not appear remastered. However its B-Side, "Invasion" appears remastered on the Best of the 'B' Sides compilation.
In spite of this, "Women in Uniform" would also be the basis of the band's first music-video, directed by Doug Smith and filmed at the Rainbow Theatre. Considered an unusual project for a band to undertake in the years preceding MTV, the filming would mark Dennis Stratton's last contribution for the band.
The single cover features an image of Margaret Thatcher with a Sterling submachine gun, preparing to attack the group's mascot, Eddie, as he walks the streets with two young women. According to the band, the cover was a joke which was meant to ask whether her motive was through jealousy or revenge (following the infamous "Sanctuary" artwork that featured Eddie killing Thatcher), which managed to cause further controversy as, according to the Liverpool Daily Post, a group of "screaming, chanting, banner-carrying feminists" led a demonstration during Iron Maiden's show at Leeds University on 22 November, 1980.
The song is one of only four Iron Maiden songs to fade out, the others being "Stranger in a Strange Land" from Somewhere in Time, "The Prophecy" from Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, and "Kill Me Ce Soir", a cover of a Golden Earring song that was released as the B-side to the Holy Smoke single in 1990. The German 12" release of the single featured a live version of "Drifter" (from the "Sanctuary" single) instead of "Invasion" and had a different cover, a cropped version of the band's debut album artwork.
"Twilight Zone" was the fourth single by Iron Maiden, released on 2 March 1981 and is the lead single to the 1981 LP Killers. The song did not appear in the original album in February, but was included in the U.S. release in June and the international 1998 remaster. At the time of its release, it was the band's second-most successful single, peaking at No. 31 in the UK Singles Chart. It is the band's first single to feature guitarist Adrian Smith. In the 1990 box set, The First Ten Years, it is on the same CD and 12" vinyl as the previous single, "Women in Uniform".
"Twilight Zone" was a non-album single in the UK, but it did appear on the US and Canadian versions of the Killers album and as a bonus track on the Japanese version, although mistakenly entitled "Details of Twilight Zone". This came about because the band also sent a telex explaining the song to their Japanese colleagues, headlined "Details of Twilight Zone", which they mistook to be the name of the song itself. It was released a month after the album, in the middle of the band's UK tour. The song was originally intended to be the B-side of Wrathchild, but the band felt it was so strong that it deserved to be the A-side instead. The single's other song, "Wrathchild", was also given 'A-side' status because, according to Steve Harris, "we had a live version of us doing 'Wrathchild' at the Rainbow, before Christmas, on video that we could use. We couldn't afford to pay for another video for 'Twilight Zone', so we did a double A-side, because we knew we were gonna be off touring a lot and, if by any chance they wanted us on Top of the Pops again, at least we'd got a video for 'Wrathchild' we could give them."
Like their two previous single covers, the artwork for "Twilight Zone" was subject to criticism in the press, where it was interpreted as "gratuitous sexism." The media were offended by what appeared to be the band's mascot, Eddie, spying on a young girl in her bedroom.
Garry Bushell points out that the critics were mistaken, as the song lyrics and picture on the girl's dressing table insinuate that Eddie is dead and contacting his lover ("Charlotte") from beyond the grave, thus making it the band's first love song.
Part 2 of the The First Ten Years EP re-issues.
Includes a numbered voucher which (after collecting the other 9 of the series) could be sent by mail to receive a special limited edition illustrated box.
Tracks 1-3 taken from the single "Women in Uniform".
Tracks 4-5 taken from the single "Twilight Zone".
The writing credit for Greg Macainsh on the release is incorrectly spelled as Macainah.
Recording information:
Track 3 recorded live on July 4th, 1980 at the Marquee in London, United Kingdom.
Track 4 produced by Iron Maiden.
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