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Sheriff Of Huddersfield (Iron Maiden) |
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At the time this song was written, Iron Maiden's long-time manager Rod Smallwood had decided
that it would be a good idea to move to Los Angeles and had bought a house in the Hollywood hills.
However he was having some difficulty adjusting to life in L.A, missing his rugby and football and,
of course, real English beer. Apparently, he often complained about it to the guys in the band.
So this song was basically written as a joke on Rod and was kept secret from him by the boys and
by the guys at EMI until the single was released. A fairly detailed account of the
whole story is narrated by Nicko on the
'Listen
With Nicko, Part VIII' of the infamous series of rants that can be found on the
CDs of the First Ten Years re-release of Iron Maiden's singles of the 1980-90 period.
It's a hilariously silly song, but with some quite funny vocals by Bruce including a running denial in
Rod's Yorkshire accent throughout the song.
The Derek Riggs sketch appears on the back cover of the 12" vinyl Wasted Years single
and highlights how much fun everyone must have had playing this joke on Rod and setting up
this little "conspiracy".
It should be noted that Rod took it rather well and didn't fire anyone!
The music was partly taken from an old Urchin track 'Life in the City' which had
slightly different lyrics! Obviously the lyrics are totally untrue and unjust and still
pending a major legal action for yours truly. It must be said though that Huddersfield
is a wonderful place. 
Rod Smallwood
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So, what does it all mean? Perhaps the side panel pictures are references to Iron Maiden's
"wasted years". But what is the purpose of the time machine? This is obviously
a reference to the album's title, but are they really searching for those wasted years?
And what is the relevancy of the year of origin and target year? Anyway, the funny little
"cable-car thing" out in the wormhole is a
