Former Iron Maiden singer Paul Di’Anno passed away this week. The two Maiden albums he sang on, their self-titled 1980 debut and 1981’s Killers, were packed full of classic songs, not least Running Free, the song that would become Maiden’s first single. In April 2024, Di’Anno told Metal Hammer about the song that launched one of metal’s greatest bands.
The term New Wave Of British Heavy Metal was coined by Sounds magazine in April 1979, but it took almost a year before this blossoming movement got its first great anthem. Kicking off with a sped-up glam rock drumbeat, Iron Maiden’s exhilarating debut single fused the energy of punk to metal’s outlaw spirit. ‘I’m running wild, I’m running free’, howled 21-year-old Paul Di’Anno, offering a glorious escape from the dole queue hell of turn-of-the-80s Britain. The single bovver-booted its way into the UK Top 40 on its release in early 1980, though its influence spread much further – a Danish teenager named Lars Ulrich was just one of countless young rock fans paying attention. One of metal’s all-time-great bands were off to the races. Di’Anno reflects on the song that started it all…
What do you remember about writing Running Free?
“Me and Steve [Harris, Maiden founder/bassist] had the idea. We wrote it at the place where we used to rehearse, Hollywood Studio in Clapton [East London], which was owned by a guy behind this kids’ TV show, Metal Mickey. I liked punk and T. Rex and Slade, so I bought all that into it. I had this idea for a glam rock drumbeat, we put the bassline down, and we had it done in about 20 minutes.”
That’s quick.
Well, I am a genuis, haha.
What inspired the lyrics?
“It’s about freedom, not giving a toss. Especially when it comes to the Old Bill. I haven’t got a very good relationship with ’em, never have done. Football and an association with the Hells Angels, that’ll do it. At 16, you think you’re the centre of the world, nothing can stop you, all that stuff. What was I like at 16? I was a little cunt! Ha ha ha! I still am. I’ve got no better.”
What can you remember about recording it?
“I was terrified. I had never been in a proper recording studio before. But the producer, Wil Malone, what a fucking plonker. Terrible. I say to this day that some of the songs on the first Maiden album are absolutely the best they did, not just the ones they did with me. But if it had a better production, who knows where it would have gone. Mind you, it did pretty well as it was.”
When did it become obvious that Running Free was a big deal?
“It was obvious pretty early on that it was going to be a big song. It’s got this chanty chorus, people could sing along to it. I remember playing it on Top Of The Pops – we were the first band to play live since The Who. Mind you, the sound was fucking awful – I’ve had my telly on louder than that. I do remember [new romantic dandies] Spandau Ballet watching us across the studio, though. They looked fucking terrified.”
In the lyrics, you sing: ‘Spent the night in an LA jail’. Did you really get arrested?
“Not in LA! Ha ha ha! I did get arrested the first night I played live with Iron Maiden, at The Swan in Hammersmith. I used to work in this place that reconditioned oil drums, and you needed a knife to get the caps off. I’d gone to the gig straight from work, and I had the knife in my bag. We went to the pub, and the Old Bill decided they were going to raid the place. They found this knife and did me for having an offensive weapon. Someone said to [Maiden manager] Rod Smallwood, ‘Hey, your singer’s been carted down the nick.’ Steve ended up singing most of the gig. I made it back in time for the last song.”
Running Free helped put the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal on the map. Did you feel part of something bigger?
“Nah, we felt like we were out on our own. They couldn’t pigeonhole us – we were a heavy metal band, but we played fast like a punk band but with all these complicated riffs. They didn’t know how to label us, so they called us New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. Next thing you know, every fucking band is jumping on that one.”
Does Running Free feel like an important song?
“Nah, it was just a laugh. But people can’t get enough of it. If I didn’t play it at my gigs, I’d get strung up. You play it in South America and it feels like you’re in the middle of a fucking earthquake.”
Originally published in Metal Hammer issue 388
