Paul Di'Anno was the first vocalist to enter the studio with Iron Maiden , on the classic albums Iron Maiden (1980) and Killers (1981). Before accepting Steve Harris to take over the vocals for the group, however, the singer laughed at the band.
In 2002, Di'Anno recalled his first impression of Iron Maiden in an interview with Louder Sound . When the journalist asked if he thought the band was "a joke" when he first saw them perform, the musician confirmed it.
“Yes, sorry about that. I went to see them play at the Cart and Horses in London, and the former singer had a silly sword and fake blood dripping from his mouth, and my friend and I were laughing our heads off. When I was introduced to Steve Harris, I couldn’t keep a straight face,” he confessed. “And when he talked about me going to an audition, I thought, ‘Holy shit, I don’t like walking around with a sword,’ and I really didn’t want to know. But when we started playing together, it seemed like it had solidified.”.
Despite that initial negative impression, the partnership worked while it lasted. “[Those years] were brilliant. The first shows were crazy. After playing small pubs in East London with my band, I went to Scotland or somewhere with Maiden and discovered we had fans all over the country,” he recounted. “It was totally disconcerting for me. I went back to work and annoyed people by talking about it all day. But I was able to recover when things started to take off after the release of The Soundhouse Tapes and that's when the real fun began.”