Description

2021 pressed picture disc single in a Japanese looking cover sleeve. Limited 200 copies

Sanctuary was included in the US release of their debut album Iron Maiden but it was not included in the UK/European release. However, when the album was re-released in 1998 the song was added to the UK release. The cover art shows the band’s mascot, Eddie having just murdered former Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. This image, though intended as a lighthearted play on her nickname as the “Iron Lady”, managed to cause a minor stir in local newspapers (though this was nothing compared with the reaction to one of their future albums). On most copies of the original single, Thatcher’s eyes were covered by a black box because the image was considered offensive. When Derek Riggs was asked about the artwork he said that he’d originally drawn the cover featuring Eddie murdering another woman, inspired by the line in the song -I never killed a woman before but I know how it feels-, but when he took the art to the band they asked him to change it to include Margaret Thatcher. Of the incident, he said, ‘they wanted me to make it look like Margaret Thatcher, because she was called the Iron Maiden, but I didn’t even have a photograph of the woman!’ He wound up having to contact Margaret Thatcher’s Public Relations people, who then sent him a photo of her. This picture disc re-issue comes with two early versions of Transylvania and Sanctuary from the Friday Rock radio show at the BBC Radio 1 that was taped back in November of 1979.

Track list:
1. Sanctuary
2. Transylvania-BBC 1 Friday Rock Show 14th of November 1979
3. Sanctuary-BBC 1 Friday Rock Show 14th of November 1979