Iron Maiden were formed on Christmas Day 1975, by bassist Steve Harris, shortly after he left his previous group, Smiler. Harris attributes the band name to a movie adaptation of The Man in the Iron Mask from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, and starring Patrick McGoohan (who also starred in the 1960s series The Prisoner) which he saw around that time, and so the group was christened after the purported torture device.[5]
Steve Harris and guitarist Dave Murray remain the longest-surviving members of Iron Maiden. Original vocalist Paul Day was fired as he lacked "energy or charisma onstage".[6] He was replaced by Dennis Wilcock, a Kiss fan who utilised fire, make-up and fake blood during live performances. Wilcock's friend, Dave Murray, was invited to join, to the frustration of guitarists Dave Sullivan and Terry Rance.[7] This fueled Harris to temporarily split the band in 1976,[7] though the group reformed soon after with Murray as the sole guitarist.
Iron Maiden recruited another guitarist in 1977, Bob Sawyer, who caused a rift between Murray and Wilcock, prompting Harris to fire both Murray and Sawyer.[8] A poor gig at the Bridgehouse in November 1977, with a makeshift line-up including Tony Moore on keyboards, Terry Wapram on guitar, and drummer Barry Purkis resulted in Harris firing the entire band.[9] Dave Murray was reinstated and Doug Sampson was hired as drummer.
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