Rod Smallwood

In summer 1978 Rod Smallwood joined Maiden and the part he has played in the success of the band over the years cannot be overstated.  Before Maiden he had been with bands such as Judas Priest and Mott The Hoople for a booking agency called MAM.

Smallwood knew how the industry worked and had the contacts but was well and truly fed up with the whole music industry and so decided to go back to university at Cambridge, as he had dropped out a few years previous.  You are probably wondering how he came across Maiden.  Well, a friend of his called Andy Waller had worked with Steve Harris and had a copy of the Spacewood Demo (later known as The Soundhouse Tapes).  Rod had a listen and was really impressed.  Instead of jumping in straight away Smallwood decided to call up Harris and book two gigs so that he could see the band live.

The first gig was in north London at a venue called the Windsor Castle Pub.  The owner decided that he wanted  the band to play earlier than agreed.  Even when Harris explained that the fans from East End London had not arrived yet, the owner refused to compromise.  Harris, not pleased at all, told the owner where to go and the show never actually took place.  Most bands would have given in and swallowed their pride due to someone from the music industry coming but not Maiden.  Rod was actually impressed, making him even more eager to see the band live.

The second gig was in Hammersmith at The Swan.  Strangely enough Smallwood would again fail to see Maiden perform properly.  The police had decided to have a random search of everyone outside the pub.  Paul Di'Anno was in possession of a flick knife and was arrested just before the gig.

Maiden performed that night without the singer, playing a mostly instrumental set with Harris doing the vocals every so often. Di'Anno made it back for the last three songs.

Rod began to try and get Maiden gigs all over the UK, even as far as Scotland.  This is where the famous Green Goddess became part of Maiden's history.  It was used as transport and storage for the band whilst they toured.

The Marquee in London was the bands next move, which would hopefully gain the band some media attention and get them a record deal.  Maiden made this performance a bit special by using their own backdrop.  Other bands liked having the Marquee curtain behind them as it was very prestigious but not Maiden – they covered the thing up!  Some record labels were invited to the gig but failed to even show up.

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