Samson were one of the NWOBHM stalwarts for a while sometimes threatening to break out without getting the breaks. Fronted by guitarist Paul Samson the band is best remembered for including a pre-Iron Maiden Bruce Dickinson and a masked drummer who played in a cage – Thunderstick.
Indeed there is a further Maiden connection as Clive Burr had a brief ten sure on the Samson drum stool before going the way of Dickinson.
Samson came about in 1976/1977 from the ashes of other bands with early bassist Chris Aylmer proposing the name of Samson and that was that. Burr left towards the end of 1978 and a large number of drummers were auditioned before Thunderstick (a.k.a. Barry Purkis) got the gig. A fairly low key debut album subsequently appeared entitled ‘Survivors”.
A follow-up, Head On, came out in 1980 and saw some chart success making a minor dent in the top 30. The promotional tour was not so successful best by the perennial ‘legal issues’ which would dog the band though not enough to stop a re-issue of Survivors. After the tour Samson went in to the studio to cut their third album which would be called Shock Tactics which would be Dickinson’s swansong with his last appearance with Samson being their performance at the 1981 Reading Festival.
They struggled on through many line-up changes and more legal stuff before an abortive comeback in the early 1990s which never really went anywhere.
Another reforming of the almost “classic” line-up of Samson, Aylmer, Thunderstick with Nicky Moore on vocals saw them perform some concerts notably including the 25th Anniversary of NWOBHM bash at the London Astoria on 26 May 2000 which was released as a live album.
The end of the road finally came with Paul Samson’s untimely early death from cancer. Here’s a video of Hard Times with Bruce Dickinson on vocals.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzp5GdvZRE0[/youtube]
My own recollections of Samson from the good old days of NWOBHM are quite limited. I think I caught them a time or two as support to some of the “bigger” bands who came through Sheffield at the time though they never really floated my boat considering them energetic but average. Just my opinion of course.
If you have fonder memories or are just curious to give your ears a workout to discover some NWOBHM then your choices are somewhat limited. You’ll find some stuff on Amazon (below). If you do check it out……………….enjoy!