Douglas William Sampson (born 30 June 1957) is a British musician. He was the drummer for

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

from 1978 to 1979.

Biography

Prior to joining Iron Maiden, Sampson was a member of one of Steve Harris' previous groups, Smiler, along with Dennis Wilcock, Mick Clee (born 1949) and Tony Clee (b. 1949) in 1975, after which he was asked to join Iron Maiden at their inception in the same year. He declined to join at the time as he was "a bit fed up with the whole rock band thing" because he was "completely skint," but accepted a further invitation from Steve Harris at Dennis Willcock's last gig to replace Barry Purkis in 1978 after he had taken up drumming again in a Southern Rock group called Janski. Following a year of rehearsing the band began playing small pubs with the band, during which they gained a large following, a highlight being a gig at London's famous Marquee club. Doug participated in the recording of Iron Maiden's demo, later released as ''

The Soundhouse Tapes ''The Soundhouse Tapes'' is the debut EP by Iron Maiden, and features the first recordings by the band. Released on 9 November 1979, it features three songs taken from the demo tape recorded at Spaceward Studios on 30 and 31 December 1978. The t ...

'', on 31 December 1978, Prowler and other tracks from it appeared in the charts of

Neal Kay Neal Kay (born 10 February 1950) is a former London-based disc jockey, who was an important factor in the rise of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM), along with Tommy Vance, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Career Neal Kay has alwa ...

's Heavy Metal Soundhouse club, published weekly in ''

Sounds In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

''. Iron Maiden eventually signed to

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

in 1979, following up by recording further demos, one song from these sessions ("Burning Ambition") was included on the B-Side of "

Running Free Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

". Sampson also played on Iron Maiden's BBC Archives released in November 2002 as part of the ''

Eddie's Archive ''Eddie's Archive'' is a box set by British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 16 November 2002. The box, an embossed metal casket featuring the face of mascot Eddie, contains three double CDs, the Iron Maiden family tree and a shot gl ...

'' box set. It is a collection of songs from three live shows and one live radio broadcast, recorded by the BBC between 1979 and 1988. Sampson can be found on the BBC Radio 1 ''

Friday Rock Show The ''Friday Rock Show'' was a radio show in the United Kingdom that was broadcast on BBC Radio 1 from 10pm to midnight on Friday nights, from 17 November 1978 until 2 April 1993. For most of its existence, it was hosted by Tommy Vance. Vance ...

'', 14 November 1979 disc. Sampson eventually left the band on 22 December 1979, following health issues brought about by the band's extensive touring schedule driving up and down the country in vans at night in a hectic schedule freezing half to death in the van and a lack of sleep contributing to fatigue and illness. Although he calls leaving Maiden "a blow," he states that "After leaving Iron Maiden he had a jam with Chop Pitman and Tony Hatton from EL34 and they formed a new band Airforce when joined by Sam Sampson, Doug's brother who was the vocalist from local legends Sam's Apple Pie. Airforce played heavily in the London circuit including nights including the Ruskin Arms and the Marque supporting Shy." In 2015, Sampson was invited to be a guest at The Legacy Projects charity fund raising gig supported many former members of Iron Maiden. Sampson brought down his Smiler drum kit that he also used in Iron Maiden and was swamped for autographs and photos, Sampson's old band, Airforce performed a set and had also contributed a track ("War Games") to the ''Origins of Iron'' compilation, which featured nine tracks by former members of Iron Maiden. After seeing the response from fans, in 2016, Sampson rejoined Airforce after a 20-year absence. He recorded three new tracks with the band and released their career-retrospective album, ''Judgement Day'' on 15 July 2016 via WatchOut Records. Sampson finally returned to the stage, in April 2017. At just his second show back with Airforce, the band headlined the inaugural "Burr Fest" event, at The Lounge, in London. The event raised money for the MS Action Fund, in memory of Sampson's Iron Maiden successor,

Clive Burr Clive Ronald Burr (8 March 1957 – 13 March 2013) was an English drummer. He was a member of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1979 to 1982. Career Previously a member of Samson, Burr joined Iron Maiden in 1979. Auditioning and joining ...

. Airforce have recorded a new EP ''The Black Box Recordings: Volume 1'', which was released on 21 July 2017. The EP was the first material to feature the reunited trio of Chop Pitman, Tony Hatton, and Doug Sampson, with new vocalist Dilian Arnaudov. The band then recorded ''The Black Box Recordings: Volume 2'', a Special Soundhouse Edition of the EP featuring a rough mix and featuring Sampson's old Iron Maiden bandmate

Paul Di'Anno Paul Andrews (born 17 May 1958), better known by his stage name Paul Di'Anno, is a British/Brazilian heavy metal singer who was the lead vocalist for Iron Maiden from 1978 to 1981. In his post-Maiden career, Di'Anno has issued numerous albu ...

, as a special guest vocalist on the track "Sniper" got its first public airing at the Born Again Heavy Metal Sound House event on 22 December in London. Sampson and Airforce will be recording an as yet untitled album in 2018 and can be found performing home and abroad in 2018.

Discography

;Iron Maiden * ''

'' (1979) * Axe Attack (first press) (1980) – "Running Free" * ''

Metal For Muthas ''Metal for Muthas'' is the name given to a series of heavy metal compilations made during the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM). The original compilation was ''Metal for Muthas'', released in February 1980. The compilation was a sampl ...

'' (1980) * "

" (1980) – "Burning Ambition" only * ''

BBC Archives BBC Archives are collections documenting the BBC's broadcasting history, including copies of television and radio broadcasts, internal documents, photographs, online content, sheet music, commercially available music, BBC products (including ...

'' (2002) (Friday Rock Show Session from 1979) ;Airforce *
Origins of Iron
' (2015) - "War Games" only * ''Judgement Day'' (2016) * ''The Black Box Recordings: Volume 1 EP'' (2016) * ''The Black Box Recordings: Volume 2 EP The Soundhouse Edition'' (2017) * ''The Black Box Recordings: Volume 2 EP'' (2018)

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sampson, Doug 1957 births Living people Iron Maiden members English heavy metal drummers English rock drummers People from Hackney Central