The Entire Population of Hackney is the name used for a project featuring members of

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 ...

, FM and Urchin that played two concerts in 1985. It is also the name used for a

bootleg recording A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. Making and distributing such recordings is known as ''bootlegging''. Recordings may be copied and traded ...

of the first show. It is most notable for being the spark that would lead to

Adrian Smith Adrian Frederick "H" Smith (born 27 February 1957) is an English guitarist best known as a member of heavy metal band Iron Maiden, for whom he also writes songs and performs backing vocals both live and in the studio. Smith grew up in London ...

forming his ASAP project later on and ultimately his split with Iron Maiden in 1990 (He returned in 1999 and has since remained a member of the band, although he has pursued other projects). It is also notable for leading to the first Iron Maiden recording without the current lead singer on lead vocals.

Background

At the end of the 1985

World Slavery Tour The World Slavery Tour was a concert tour by the heavy metal band Iron Maiden in support of their fifth album, ''Powerslave'', beginning in Warsaw, Poland on 9 August 1984 and ending in Irvine, California on 5 July 1985. Background The tour w ...

, Iron Maiden took six months off, when

Nicko McBrain Michael Henry "Nicko" McBrain (born 5 June 1952) is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden since 1982. Having played in small pub bands since 1966 from the age of 14, McBrain paid his bills after grad ...

's frustration of not playing after winding down from an extensive Iron Maiden tour and looking at a six-month break, drove him to rent a rehearsal studio and invite

along to jam. The two invited more friends including:

Dave Colwell David "Dave Bucket" Colwell (born 1 August 1964) is a rock guitarist from the United Kingdom and has been a member of Bad Company, Samson, ASAP, The Eastenders, The Entire Population of Hackney, 720, The Torpedos, Angel Street, Roger Chapman's ...

(the one who wrote "Reach Out"), Visage guitarist Andy Barnett as well as Martin Connoly, a friend of McBrain's who also played in Marshall Fury. Colwell and Barnett were both members of an early line-up of the band FM at the time "That Girl" was written in 1984 by Barnett with bassist Merv Goldsworthy and drummer

Pete Jupp FM are a British rock band (referred to as FM UK in North America to avoid confusion with the Canadian progressive rock band FM). They have released thirteen studio albums to date. Three of those, '' Indiscreet'', '' Tough It Out'' and 2015's ...

. It was this early version of the song which was performed by The Entire Population of Hackney and later covered by Iron Maiden, whilst FM re-wrote parts of their song for inclusion on their 1986 debut album '' Indiscreet''. McBrain arranged two gigs, one under the name The Entire Population of Hackney and the other under the name The Sherman Tankers. The audience recording called ''The Entire Population of Hackney'' was taken from the first show;

Bruce Dickinson Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer who has been the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1981 to 1993 and 1999–present. He is known for his wide-ranging operatic vocal style and energetic stage ...

, Dave Murray and Steve Harris joined the band on stage only for the encores. Their set includes songs from all the members and some covers from

Bob Seger Robert Clark Seger ( ; born May 6, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and The Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s, break ...

and

ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, they comprised vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature sound ...

. The result of this short break from Iron Maiden was that three of the songs featured in the setlist would be later used on two Iron Maiden singles. "Reach Out" featured on "

Wasted Years "Wasted Years" is a song by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It is the band's fourteenth single released and the first from their sixth studio album, '' Somewhere in Time'' (1986). It is the only song on the album that features no synthes ...

" and "Juanita" and "That Girl" featured on "

Stranger in a Strange Land ''Stranger in a Strange Land'' is a 1961 science fiction novel by American author Robert A. Heinlein. It tells the story of Valentine Michael Smith, a human who comes to Earth in early adulthood after being born on the planet Mars and raised by ...

".The Iron Maiden Commentary
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Set list (first show)

;Track List

Credits (first show)

(On the bootleg, included beneath each member is a list of bands that each were in that had songs played at this concert.) *

– lead vocals (tracks 1-6, 8, 10 and 11), lead & rhythm guitars (tracks 1-15) ** Urchin,

and ASAP, *

- lead vocals (tracks 13-15) **

*Andy Barnett – lead vocals (tracks 7 and 9),lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals (tracks 1-6, 8, 10 and 11) ** Urchin, Marshall Fury, FM and ASAP *

– lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals (tracks 1-11) ** 720, FM and ASAP. * Dave Murray - lead & rhythm guitars (tracks 12-15) ** Urchin and

*Martin Connoly – bass (tracks 1-11) ** Marshall Fury * Steve Harris - bass (tracks 12-15) **

- drums (tracks 1-15) **

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Entire Population of Hackney, The Iron Maiden (band) 1985 in music