Missing People, which works to find and safeguard missing people and support their loved ones, wants firms to show their support by sponsoring a phone for £10,000. It has 12 lines available for sponsorship.

The event was hosted by vice-patron Sir Trevor McDonald, at the charity’s headquarters in South-west London and was attended by the charity’s corporate and celebrity supporters and ambassadors.

Sir Trevor McDonald said: “I am delighted to formally launch Missing People’s Sponsor A Phone Campaign.

“Each of these phones really is a life-saving piece of equipment, providing support to some of society’s most vulnerable people.

“By sponsoring a Missing People phone for £10,000, companies and individuals can help to ensure that vulnerable people can access crucial support 24 hours a day every day in 2010.”

Guest of honour was Kerry Grist, the mother of Ben Needham who disappeared more than 20 years ago from the Greek island of Kos.

Kerry said: “Without the charity Missing People, there are families like mine across the country who simply would have nowhere to turn. To me they are a godsend.”

During the evening tributes were also paid to Stephen Gately who died on Saturday. Stephen had been an ambassador for Missing People for more than four years, calling the helpline services “a vital resource”.

Martin Houghton-Brown, chief executive at Missing People, said: “Missing People has launched the Sponsor A Phone Campaign to offer individuals and companies a unique opportunity to provide a life-saving piece of equipment.

“Missing People’s helplines are the conduits through which our staff and volunteers help runaway children and young people into a place of safety, or set up a three way call which could reunite a broken family. Via this sponsorship we can ensure that we answer every desperate cry for help in 2010.”

Missing People provides support for missing children, vulnerable adults and families left in limbo. We offer families of the missing specialist advice and practical support as well as searching and securing publicity.

To make a donation to Missing People call freefone 0800 2987858 or visit www.missingpeople.org.uk/donate.

To find out more about the Sponsor A Phone Campaign visit www.missingpeople.org.uk/sponsoraphone or call 020 8392 4510.

Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/stars-urge-firms-to-sponsor-missing-people-phone-line-14530981.html#ixzz0UQom8oRn

How did you get involved with Bruce?

I worked with an Irish band called Kerbdog that had the same management company, Sanctuary. Bruce liked their record, so one day he just called me up.

What were the initial conversations around how they wanted to sound etc…?

Bruce wanted to try to get away from the Maiden sound. He is a big fan of more modern rock stuff and still keeps his ear to the ground. He knew about lots of the other bands I had worked with besides Kerbdog, and he told me he wanted to make a modern-sounding rock record, but still heavy as hell. I said, “I can do that.” This sounded to me like a great challenge.

Did you like or follow Bruce’s work prior to SkunkWorks?

No, although my wife dug up her copy of Tattooed Millionaire for me to listen to. I was an early Maiden fan though, but I lost touch with them after Piece of Mind.

What was it like working with Bruce and the rest of the band?

They were professional, it was a lot of hard work but a pretty good time. They were still writing songs when I started working with them, and they invited me to give my opinions. I wound up having a lot of input on the song arrangements, which is one of my strong points, though I didn’t contribute any actual musical ideas or lyrics. I pretty much watched this new band come into existence right before my eyes.

Were there disagreements between Bruce and the rest of the band? If so what were they and did you help resolve them?

Everyone got along personally just fine. Differences were “artistic”. The band guys had this idea that they didn’t want to get too conventionally “metal”, even though they were in a band with Bruce Dickinson! Bruce had a few ideas himself which, if fleshed out, would have been sort of Sabbath-y, which I wouldn’t have minded. But the band guys had another direction they wanted to go, a more modern take on heavy rock. I had to steer a middle course somehow. Bruce wanted it to be a “band” and was not interested in being a dictator, and I’m not that way either

What are your favorite songs from those sessions?

“Strange Death,” of course. “Meltdown,” cause we used the “Back in Black” snare drum; Nicko owned it. “Space Race” is great, though I don’t like the mix now. Then there’s “God’s Not Coming Back”: at one point I was getting annoyed cause the band (not Bruce) just refused to play anything “too basic” so I threw down the gauntlet and dared them to write a fast 3-chord rocker with a one-note guitar solo. Only 3 chords, no more! So they did… they didn’t take it too seriously but it’s one of my faves from the whole session!
Bruce decided we would make it a sacrilegious sort of “Christmas song”, just to compound the lunacy… note the lyrics. I think it became a B-side. There’s others I could mention, in fact there’s really not a bad song on there, I just can’t remember the others at the moment.

What studio stories do you recall? Favorite & least favorite memories.

Favorite? Bruce bringing his complete set of “The Prisoner” for me to watch while we were staying at Great Linford Manor, which was itself pretty cool for a studio. Walking around the surrounding countryside in the mornings… there’s an old railroad bed that’s been converted to a walking path, it goes along an old canal, goes for miles out there. Some of the goofy humor of the band and Bruce. Least favorite memory was trying to mix it and getting a horrible cold. First few mixes were great, then they started getting worse and worse as my whole head and chest clogged up. I went home and then Bruce let me come back and try mixing it again, cause he had seen the mixes go from good to horrible as I tried my best. Sometimes you just have bad luck. I went back and got it right.

Did you know that this lineup would not be around after recording SkunkWorks? Was there talk of doing a second album with you?

No talk, but Bruce was imagining that this was his new band and his new sound, and he was ready to take it totally seriously, if people (the fans) accepted it. But… I knew by the time I finished the record that the band would not stay together very long. Why? I had been dealing with those “creative differences” between the band guys and Bruce, probably more than Bruce even knew. I could see that the band guys didn’t really have their hearts in it. That’s why the record was hard to make. Good songs, good playing, good singing, good recordings, good conditions. But the band was not really a band in the natural organic sense; they were hired guns. I managed to make them play and sound like a band though, that was the trick.

How much creative license did you have during the recording?

Lots of input, but mostly arranging ideas (song structures, keeping things moving) and lyrical criticism… we made a rule for Bruce, no dragons or wheels or monsters. “Nothing Dio would sing.” He took it to heart actually, and went with it. It forced him to try some new lyric ideas. In fact I think I got him to try several
things he had never done before on a record, stylistically. Our whole plan was not to sound like anyone else, and being so into the history of heavy rock myself, I could sound the alarm whenever anyone was approaching “rock cliche” territory, either with the riffs or the words. The whole thing was a big experiment for Bruce, and he was enjoying it.

Bruce mentioned that you said it was like stitching Frankenstein together because of there musical differences. Please explain. How difficult was it to work with them?

Frustrating at times. Keeping them focused on the goal was hard. At the same time, it was a talented band, the whole lot of them. All great rock players, great influences, and each one of us a virtual living rock encyclopedia, so the in-jokes were flying pretty thick. Everyone did share an admiration for vintage Deep Purple, for instance, but also for Spinal Tap. But while Bruce takes his heavy rock quite seriously (after all it’s made him a rich man), it became apparent to me that the other guys didn’t really. In fact, they don’t take much of anything seriously, as you can tell by the admittedly brilliant Sack Trick stuff they were already writing together while were making Skunkworks. I know how ridiculous heavy rock is in the grand scheme of things, yet I know you have to get serious long enough to make it work. Suspending your disbelief is how you create all art. I didn’t get that “we’re in this together, all for one and one for all” feeling after spending two months with this band, so I knew it probably wouldn’t last too long, though I couldn’t say that to Bruce, cause saying that might be self-fulfilling, and I’m not omniscient. I could have been wrong, and hoped I would be. But a couple years later, after it fell apart, I saw Bruce in LA, and that was when I made my Frankenstein remark, as I had some time to reflect on the experience. He understood me exactly, and joked that the monster did at least open its eyes and maybe even sat up, which is exactly how I felt while making the record, like I can’t believe I’m making this work, but it’s working. What a totally mad record. I just concentrated on making the best record possible, and getting everyone to play their asses off. I think we made a very good record. It was pretty much exactly the record Bruce wanted to make. Instead of a Bruce “solo” record, it sounds like a band, with a very strong identity of its own. It sure doesn’t sound like Maiden, or anyone else for that matter. Too bad, that’s why the fans didn’t go for it at the time! It didn’t help that the record label (Castle) seemed to be having difficulties right when the record was released. I don’t know a single person in Seattle who has ever seen or heard it. And I don’t think the cover art was very strong either.

Do you keep in touch with any of them?

Yep… I’m on the Sack Trick mailing list, and am eagerly awaiting their Kiss tribute record.

Why is Oggi Skinner given producing credits on the B-Sides in stead of you?

I did produce some of ‘em… there were three or four we did, including Gods Not Coming Back, Rescue Day and Armchair Hero. If a song sounds like Skunkworks then I did it. They did another session of B-Sides between my trips to the UK, with Oggi, the house engineer at Mayfair studio. I think that’s where Italian Drummer came from and there may have been two more. Italian Drummer is really, in a way, the very first Sack Trick song, and is the guys revealing their future direction! I might have even remixed one of those, later, I don’t remember.

What, if anything, would you have changed looking back 8 years later?

Hmmm…. I wish we had full ProTools capability and that I had known how to use it the way I do now. It would have saved us a lot of time. On the other hand, it wouldn’t have sounded like it does… 100% analog.

Any thoughts on Bruce’s post Skunkworks solo work or Maiden?

Yes… after Skunkworks, which was explicitly supposed to NOT sound like Maiden, his next solo records sounded exactly like Maiden again, though even better if I say so myself! (Maiden at the time was not sounding so good.) Especially with Adrian back in the band. Chemical Wedding seemed like a good disc. So he went back to a Maiden sound, and now he’s back in Maiden, so I guess I got to make his only record that ventures outside that sound.

What are some of the latest projects that you have completed or are working on now?

Just finished a Zeke record for Relapse, and a record for a UK band called Winnebago Deal, which slays. Also a soft-rock band called Going South featuring singer Katy Cornell, sister of Chris actually… she has a voice as killer as you would expect. Her husband Gene also sings for a band called Buzz Factor, and I just finished their record too… in fact, oddly enough, it sounds a little like Skunkworks, a little Soundgardeny too, huge Seattle riffs and good playing, but Gene doesn’t sound like a Cornell or a Dickinson, he’s got his own sound and singing style. A punk band from Portland named Lopez… a brilliant Seattle band called Upwell…a Swiss band called Zamarro… the Feederz reunion record… Kultur Shock… Harkonen… Camarosmith… and two days ago just finished a new record for the Makers, for the Kill Rock Stars label. And I’ve got a solo record that is finally done after too many years, at least I think so (…)

Special Thanks to Jack for taking the time do answer these questions. You can get more information on Jack Endino at ENDINO.COM

Font: http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/5619/interviews/jack_endino.html

Titled Flight 666, it is also the name of Maiden’s specially-converted Boeing 757, which flies them between gigs.

The plane is flown by the band’s singer Bruce Dickinson, who is also a qualified commercial pilot.

Iron Maiden say the film, set for release on 21 April, gives unprecedented access to the band.

They regard their Somewhere Back In Time World Tour, in February and March of 2008, as one of their most ambitious.

They played 23 sold-out stadium and arena shows in 45 days, travelling nearly 44,000 miles and performing to almost half a million fans in 13 countries.

Their customised plane carried the crew and 12 tons of music and stage equipment.

The band were followed by an award-winning documentary team from Canada, behind films like Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey and Global Metal.

There has been a spate of metal documentaries in recent years, starting with Metallica’s Some Kind of Monster in 2004 to last year’s The Story of Anvil.

Iron Maiden have also been nominated for a best live act at this year’s Brit Awards, to be held at London’s Earls Court on 18 February.

Loaded up with a full complement of band, crew and twelve tons of stage set and equipment, the band’s customised Boeing 757, christened Ed Force One by the fans and flown again by Astraeus Airlines Captain and Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson, will once again be circumnavigating 80,000km around the planet for concerts in 19 cities in eleven countries, making it a staggering 37 countries in total visited on this tour, playing to almost two million fans.

Taking off in early February Maiden will make their first appearances in New Zealand for 16 years via Dubai and Bangalore followed by the long haul journey for a return to Mexico in some even larger venues and then finishing with an extended run through Central and South America to include countries and cities they have not visited before. The dates are as follows –

February 2009:-
Fri 13th - UAE - Dubai Media City Amphitheatre
Sun 15th - India - Bangalore Royal Challenge Rock In India
Fri 20th - New Zealand - Auckland.  Mount Smart Stadium
Sat 21st - New Zealand - Christchurch. AMI Stadium
Wed 25th - Mexico - Monterrey Estadio Technologico.
Thurs 26th - Mexico - Guadalajara Arena VFG Jalisco.
Sat 28th - Mexico - Mexico City Fero Sol Stadium Complex

1st - 29th March 2009 - South and Central America.
Details to be advised soon.
The ‘SOMEWHERE BACK IN TIME’ tour revisits the band’s history by focusing almost entirely on the 80’s in both choice of songs played and the stage set, which is based around the legendary Egyptian Production of the 1984-85 ‘Powerslave Tour’ which was featured on the recent DVD “Live after Death”. This is arguably  the most elaborate and spectacular show the band have ever presented, and will include some key elements of their Somewhere In Time tour of 1986/7, such as the Cyborg Eddie.

Comments Bruce Dickinson, “This unique way of touring earlier this year with everyone and all our gear onboard the plane helped to make 2008 easily one of the most successful, exciting and fun years in the band’s career. Taking Ed Force One around the planet and playing to our fans in so many different countries was an incredible experience for all of us.  For me personally, flying and performing was one of the most challenging and satisfying things I’ve ever attempted despite the rigours and all the logistical difficulties we encountered.

In fact it was so much fun we decided to do it again as a final leg of this tour All in all this will be a fantastic way to round off  a tremendous year for the band before we take a bit of time off and then start work on a new studio album.”

Says Steve Harris, “We will once again be loading onto the plane as much of the production and stage set as we can ram in, along with arranging plenty of pyro for all the shows!!  We will also be changing round the set list and replacing some of the songs, mainly with songs from the first four albums as the Early Days tour a few years back didn’t visit any of these places so we thought the fans would like to hear some of that even earlier material. This tour is likely to be the last time we play many of these songs live so we really will be giving it everything we have got!”

The Iron Maiden plane Ed Force One has been back in regular airline service since the end of the first leg in March this year and has been used for the ‘Bruce Air’ fan club flying trips during the European leg of the tour, as well as Bruce flying various missions to bring troops back home from tours of duty in Afghanistan and collecting stranded British tourists in the recent major airline closures. However the Boeing 757 will be taken back into the hanger soon to be completely refitted and its Maiden livery restored, this having been removed due to fears of evil ju-ju spirits– Eddie! -  inhabiting the plane from worried passengers on its summer route from Central Africa!

Iron Maiden have made arrangements with the local promoters to facilitate a special first ticket pre-sale to members of their fan club, which will mean they will be guaranteed to get a ticket, and be able buy the best seats where applicable.

Through this special pre-sale fan club members will also be able to buy the appropriate tickets which would then allow them to enter the exclusive fan club draw  to have special privileged early access to the stage barrier. More info below:

Dubai
On sale dates and details will be announced soon, but registration for more information on how to buy a ticket is now open from www.aegliveme.com

Bangalore
The special fan club pre-sale will be open to the fan club members via www.dnanetworks.com on the 15th December with tickets going on sale to the public and at retail outlets on the 26th January.

New Zealand
The special first ticket pre-sale will be available exclusively to members of the Iron Maiden Fan Club on Monday 17th and Tuesday 18th November, before tickets go on sale to the general public 28th November.

Mexico
The first ticket pre-sale available to Iron Maiden fan club members will run Monday 24th and Tuesday 25th November, before going on sale to the public Wednesday 26th November.

South and Central America — full details to be announced very soon

The group’s setlist was as follows:

01. Pictures Of Home
02. Strange Kind Of Woman
03. Hush (with Jon Lord)
04. Wring That Neck (with Jon Lord)
05. Mary Long
06. Highway Star
07. Contact Lost
08. Steve Morse Solo
09. Well Dressed Guitar
10. Smoke On The Water (with Jon Lord and Bruce Dickinson)
11. Black Night (with Jon Lord and Bruce Dickinson)
12. Lucille (with Jon Lord and Bruce Dickinson)

The Sunflower Jam is an evening of rock ‘n’ roll unlike any other. Artists such as Robert Plant, Margot Buchanan, Paul Weller, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice have all come together in the past to support The Sam Buxton Sunflower Healing Trust. The Sam Buxton Sunflower Healing Trust is an exciting new charity that aims to provide integrated, supportive care for cancer patients in the UK. The charity was created in 2006 and since then has supported thousands of cancer patients and their families.

RAF pilots flown home courtesy of Iron Maiden

Bruce Dickinson, the singer with heavy metal outfit Iron Maiden, has in the past performed for British troops in Iraq. On Sunday, he did his bit for our boys in Afghanistan.

Dickinson, a qualified pilot for British airline Astraeus, was behind the controls of a Boeing 747 that the Ministry of Defence had chartered to transport a group of RAF pilots back home.

“A lot of them recognised him because they are Maiden fans, but he was there in his professional capacity as a pilot,” says an RAF spokesman. “He gave out lots of signatures to the guys.”
And from The Mirror:

Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson takes the pilot’s seat of a Boeing 757

Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson, 50, shocked 106 members of the RAF returning from Afghanistan, when he took control of a Boeing 757 and flew them from Cyprus to RAF Wittering, Cambs, on Sunday.

But don’t panic, he’s a trained pilot.

Bruce hosts his party in a familiar role as DJ.

DJ Bruce

Bruce slices his birthday cake for fans and other attendees.

Bruce Slicing his Cake

Some Videos:

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Episode 4

Episode 5

As you may have noticed, Janick Gers, Andy Carr and Dick Fliszar also appear in the videos!

“Six Foot Under” from Survivors (re-recorded)
“Earth Mother” from Shock Tactics

The it was time for the breakthrough. Bruce was recruited for Iron Maiden. With The Number Of The Beast, Piece Of Mind and Powerslave, the five piece build the foundation for becoming one of the best known Metal bands of all time. A highly regarded Live album would follow, and four more studio albums until 1993 Dickinson left the band.
Iron Maiden “22 Acacia Avenue” from The Number Of The Beast
And formed his own posse. After his solo debut in 1990, he now focussed his concentration on his solo career. Ball To Picasso and Skunkworks were as different from his former musical tradition as one could have imagined, but suddenly he returned to the old style with Accident Of Birth, having recruited Adrian Smith to his band. Many regard this album as the best Iron Maiden style album that does not bear the band’s name.

Bruce Dickinson “Solar Confinement” from Skunkworks
“The Road To Hell” from Accident Of Birth

In 2000, he helped out Arjen Lucassen, mastermind of Ayreon, on his Universal Migrator Part II epos. Not only is the song the best on the whole album, his singing is a spowerful as ever.
Ayreon “Into The Black Hole” from Universal Migrator Part II
Time for a reunion? Yes, it was. Iron Maiden was not too successful without Bruce, and his return to the old style after having tried to expand his musical boundaries only to find that what he did before he did best, and obviously enjoyed, too, freed the way for another Iron Maiden album with all the old members, plus one additional guitar player. Brave New World marked a mighty return for the Maidens.

Iron Maiden “Brave New World” from Brave New World

A Best of Album was inevitable, and Bruce releases a double album with two unreleased tracks and lots of obscure versions, quite fitting for the legacy. But the solo discography was far from finished. In 2005, he returned with Tyranny Of Souls.

Bruce Dickinson “Silver Wings” from Best Of Bruce Dickinson

“Power Of The Sun” from Tyranny Of Souls

The latest release from Iron Maiden, again and still with Bruce at the microphone, is called A Matter Of Life And Death. It is the most progressive of all Iron Maiden albums, but the original style is ever present.
Iron Maiden “For The Greater Good Of God” from A Matter Of Life And Death

The lastest sign of life is a recording with British band Pig Iron, done for his own BBC 6 radio show that he hosts. The band and Dickinson played a nice version of Deep Purple’s “Space Truckin’”. Enjoy! Bruce Dickinson and Pig Iron “Space Truckin’”

taken from Metal Express Raio