Released: 20th June 1983

1. The Trooper (Harris)
2. Cross-Eyed Mary (Anderson)

It can be argued that 'The Trooper' is the definitive song from Iron Maiden's golden era, with the single reaching number twelve in the U.K. The sleeve picture is also one of the classic Eddie pictures, which can also be found on many Maiden memorabilia from that era.

While we're on the subject of this impressive picture that all Maiden fans are familiar with, it is quite interesting to point out that it may have been inspired by an illustration that can be found on a Confederate flag whose historical origin remains unclear. Is it just a coincidence or did Riggs knowingly base his battle-hardened Eddie on the original drawing of some kind of skeleton apparently fighting for the South? In any case, Riggs's illustration is far superior to the Confederate one, as you can judge from the pictures below:

Rod Smallwood's comments are taken from the Best Of The B'Sides album booklet included in the Eddie's Archive box.

 The Trooper (Harris)
This is the same version as on the Piece Of Mind album.

Cross-Eyed Mary (Anderson)
Jethro Tull Official Website This song was originally recorded on Jethro Tull's 1971 album Aqualung. I'm not very knowledgeable about Tull, but 'Cross-Eyed Mary' appears to be a song that champions the cause of the poor, although the exact message of the song seems somewhat obscure. It describes the difficult life of a certain Mary, who struggles to survive and remain honest.

The music itself is alright, but doesn't really rise above the common B-side standard. Ironically, this Maiden version received a significant amount of radio airplay in the United States more than most of Maiden's A-side singles!

This shows Steve and Bruce's great love of Jethro Tull. Both are big Tull fans and this is a tribute to them. Interesting enough it picked up airplay in America without any attempt at airplay from us or our label. The label were asking me to let them go to radio with it properly but I wouldn't let them. As a B-side it wasn't representative of what we did, it wasn't used on the album funnily enough it was one of the only things we ever had played on American radio, and it was "just" a B-side.

Released 11th April 1983

1. Flight Of Icarus (Smith, Dickinson)
2. I've Got The Fire (Montrose)

Flight Of Icarus was the first Iron Maiden single to be released in the United States, where traditionally American record companies do not release singles unless they are virtually guaranteed to become hits. It also was the only Maiden single ever to receive much airplay in America, and rose as high as number twelve in the 1983 Rock Radio charts. Unsurprisingly the single was also a success in Britain, reaching number eleven on the U.K. charts.

Like the Run To The Hills single, the cover picture for Flight Of Icarus is set in the same "hell" location as The Number Of The Beast album cover, complete with the omiously spiralling clouds and leaping flames. However, unlike the Greek myth where Icarus flew too close to the sun, this ill-fated Icarus has instead flown too close to a flamethrower-wielding Eddie.

Rod Smallwood's comments are taken from the Best Of The B'Sides album booklet included in the Eddie's Archive box

Flight Of Icarus (Smith, Dickinson)
This is the same version as on the Piece Of Mind album.

I've Got The Fire (Montrose)
Montrose Paper Money 'I've Got The Fire' is a Ronnie Montrose song from his 1974 album Paper Money, which was first recorded with Sammy Hagar (who also wrote the lyrics to the song, but who wasn't credited for some obscure reason).

This is actually the second time that 'I've Got The Fire' has appeared as a Maiden B-side (it first appeared as a B-side on the Sanctuary single in 1980). However, the first version was recorded live with the first Iron Maiden line-up (Di'Anno-Murray-Stratton-Harris-Burr), while this is a proper studio version of the song featuring what is nowadays known as the classic Maiden line-up (i.e., Dickinson-Murray-Smith-Harris-McBrain). In his comment below, Rod seems to confuse the two versions.

Great live cover. We were all great Montrose fans at the time a classic B-side. This was from the second Montrose album 'Paper Money'.

Rod Smallwood