Thunderstick is the mad, masked drummer you have heard of from NWOBHM rockers Samson , firstly when they were a three piece, then later, with a pre-Iron Maiden Bruce Dickinson upfront on vocals. Thunderstick also plied his craziness as drummer for Iron Maiden in the late 1970’s, prior to joining Samson, although no officially released recordings exist.
It is also somewhat ironic that Clive Burr was Samson`s first drummer and that , he and Thunderstick `swapped bands`. Thunderstick gigging for SAMSON with `IRON MAIDEN `still stencilled across his drum cases ,and Clive doing the same in reverse. All of this prior to Bruce Dickinson setting foot in a plane let alone flying one,and SLIPKNOT.....probably still all at highschool !!!!.NOW READ ON...
Thunderstick ...the band, formed circa 1982. Dressed like corpse paint wearing rock n’ roll vampire Goths, they mixed theatrics with heavy rock music, a blend which appears to have polarized critical opinion at the time. The band is perhaps mostly remembered today for their image and antics (such as Kidnapping a Kerrang! Journalists), and for their drummers links to Samson and Maiden, than for their music.
A four song EP entitled “Feel Like Rock n’ Roll” was released on 12” vinyl circa 1983, and is reviewed by Sleazegrinder elsewhere on his site. In his review, Sleaze mentions how good the cover is…here’s a quote from his review:
“First of all, it must be said, this is the coolest record cover I’ve ever seen. I used to stare at this album in the bins of every metal shop I haunted for years and think, “Well, goddamn. That’s the way a rock record oughta look.” I mean, there he is- Mr. fuckin’ Crazy himself, peering through the darkness in his studded S&M mask. He’s got an executioner’s hood on, and he’s wearing plastic vampire fangs. This cat is obviously capable of just about anything. “Feel Like Rock and Roll?” Well, yeah, Thunderstick, I do. All the goddamn time. Flip the back, and there’s a zombie-girl and some black leather ghouls-with-guitars waiting for you. How the fuck could you resist? The reality mighta been a bit different, but the cover and the title absolutely nailed the gonzo-rock aesthetic.”
However, awesome as it is, I’m going to be controversial here and suggest that the ‘Feel Like Rock n’ Roll’ artwork is surpassed by the cover for the full length album ‘Beauty and The beasts’ which was released the following year. Is this not one of the best Flash Metal album covers that you have ever seen?
Yes, it’s the band (supposedly looking like ‘a beauty and some beasts’, I guess), stood around some gothic looking building with Thunderstick driving a wooden steak into the heart of the lead singer.
And, like the ‘Feel Like Rock n’ Roll’ EP, the back cover also included the Thunderstick ‘haunted castle’ logo and photos of the face paint wearing hammer-horror imaged band.
Bass player Ben K. Reeve wears what looks like some sort of customized rock n’ roll SS uniform, Thunderstick has his mask and executioners hood, the guitarists appear to be a 16th century Dandy sea-farer and an extra from a vampire movie, meanwhile big haired rock chick singer Jodee Valentine pouts to the camera, flashing a bit of leg, with one hand on her hip.
Another thing that is cool with both the ‘Feel Like Rock n’ Roll’ EP and the ‘Beauty & The Beasts’ album is that they don’t have side A and side B. Thunderstick were way too metal for that. On ‘Feel Like Rock & Roll’ They have ‘Side Day’ and ‘Side Night’, whilst on ‘Beauty & The Beasts’ it’s ‘Side Thunder’ and ‘Side Lightning’ And the back cover of the album includes the following message
“The album was recorded on Thunderstick Nuclear Power mix-down equipment…..PLAY LOUD!”. Awesome.
So what does it sound like?
Errr….a bit rock, a bit nwobhm, and a bit…well….weird. Chick fronted rock-lite, some guitar solos, and Thunderstick's love of progressive/experimental studio trickery appear to be the key ingredients here. I prefer the songs on the ‘Feel Like Rock n’ Roll’ EP, but this album was worth every penny I paid for it, even for the sleeve alone.
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Sounds Like
Another day, Another Cage.......
Thunderstick bringing his cage down on Paul Samson
Tokyo 1st August 1999
Samson featuring Thunderstick
Take it like a Man
Birmingham Odeon 07/02/1980
Samson - Biceps of Steel. Filmed at Londons Rainbow Theatre in 1980, it featured the line up of Thunderstick, Paul Samson, Bruce Dickinson and Chris Aylmer. This is the full length version, not the edited version on Bruces anthology.
For all of you spotters out there, the part of the Roadie is actually played by Barry (Thunderstick) Graham wearing a dodgy wig and false moustache ! Thanks to www.myspace.com/mrrockandrollsrg
THUNDERSTICK was recently interviewed by Alex Eruptor at Sleazegrinder.com, click HERE to see it.
THUNDERSTICK wishes to thank everybody involved with KIT 12, and appreciated his
chance to once again come out of the shadows and into the spotlight.
To all present, wasn't it just how we imagined that it would be?
LOUD! VOLATILE!
Thank you to all concerned.
The show will soon be released on DVD, see
HERE for a preview.
THUNDERSTICK has recently been interviewed by Joe Geesin for getreadytorock.com, about his past, and his current activities. see HERE for the interview.
THUNDERSTICK is also featured on the just-released dvd "IRON MAIDEN AND THE NEW WAVE OF BRITISH HEAVY METAL" (sexy intellectual).
He talks about his time in Iron Maiden and Samson, and about whole NWOBHM period, along with Dennis Stratton, Paul Dianno, and others.
THUNDERSTICK- THE STORY SO FAR
Quote courtesy of wikipedia:-
"THUNDERSTICK (aka Barry Graham or Barry Purkis) was a drummer for the english heavy metal band IRON MAIDEN briefly in the late 70..s. He was later in the band Samson. He wore a mask onstage,played inside a cage,terrorised audiences and poured copious amounts of alcohol over himself at each show. His stint in Maiden was left notoriously short due to him being incapable of playing properly whilst intoxicated (at one show he actually fell asleep during a song)". That was and is....... THUNDERSTICK
NOW in the year 2009, Thunderstick, not unlike Jason from Friday 13th, is alive and well and still slashing albeit with a pair of drumsticks.It will see the cd release of his band..s previously unissued second album, "Don't Touch, I'll Scream", along with some live tracks, outtakes and general madness that the Thundermeister is currently preparing.
CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED........
THE FACTS YOU WANT TO KNOW::::Thunderstick replaced Clive Burr in Samson during 1979. His unique drumming style, as well as his visual, songwriting and production ideas ensured that Samson were at the forefront of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal.
The first album "Survivors", and the next two, "Head On" and "Shock Tactics" (both featuring Bruce Dickinson) all received top reviews, and the live shows were always spectacular, not only because of the music and pyrotechnics, but mainly Thunderstick's unpredictable stage antics. His steel cage was often, not only broken out of ,but invariably pulled down from the drum riser onto either the other members of the band or, front few rows of a petrified audience.
In 1981, Samson and Thunderstick parted company, and the band Thunderstick was formed, featuring a female vocalist, an idea ahead of its time for the rock/metal idiom of the period. An album called "Beauty and the Beasts" was released in 1984, and the band played several tours. The project was put on hold in 1988 when Thunderstick returned to the "Mothership" of Samson, recording and playing shows in the U.S, England, Europe and Japan. In between times, Thunderstick..s creator Barry Graham has been a little more ..sensible.. being more down to earth with production, sound engineering, duties for various acts and studios.
The new John McCoy anthology "Unreal" (Angelair sjpcd195) features a previously unreleased track featuring Thunderstick. The band "McCoy,Torme,Thunderstick" was an offshoot of Gillan and Samson, and the track, "Hard Times" (not the Samson song) was recorded in 1979 at Kingsway Recorders. Another track from the session, "Come Tomorrow" will appear as a bonus track on the reissued Gillan cd "Glory Road" later this year on Demon. I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4
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