Talk:Nicko McBrain

Rhythms of the Beast

No mention of his drum instruction video and single (featuring Dave Murray)released in 1991? (As shown here.[1]) GarethTaker (talk) 20:34, 14 July 2012 (UTC)

Pilot?

Isn't Nicko also a private pilot? Seems like I remember reading that Bruce picked up the hobby from him? --Jkonrath 21:09, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

Nicko can fly planes, yep.... he doesn't charter jets like bruce tho --PopUpPirate 22:45, August 31, 2005 (UTC)

1952 or 1954?

Which is the correct year of birth? 1952 or 1954? Google doesn't aids in this (Sorry for my english...) --Sbisolo 09:15, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

IMDb ([2]) reckons, as I do, that it is 1952 - not 1954, as is currently stated in the article. Any takers ?!

Derek R Bullamore 00:04, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

i too am confused. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.225.25.37 (talk) 22:06, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

It's definitely 1952. The band's official biography states this, and it's even in online birth records from June 1952. --MikeMetaled (talk) 00:30, 21 September 2009 (UTC)

Sources differ, even when coming from official material. In the "Authorized Biography" by Mick Wall, it's 1952, whereas on the "family tree", included in the Eddie's Archive box set, it's 1954. --Voxem (talk) 13:35, 8 July 2011 (UTC)

Religion?

It says that he converted to Christianity - so what was he before? Buddhist, Jewish, Pastafarian, Shiite or Siitake?

Very good question. Considering the fact that he is British (protestant or catholic, it doesn't matter), how can he convert to something he already is? I mean, one may not believe, but still have a certain background. Oh, I forgot, after "Number..." it was clear that all members of Maiden were Satanists...;-)--80.133.202.208 15:30, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

Non religious/agnostic/atheist? --Mark ^{(Talk | Contribs | Email)} 13:51, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

There is an article about Nicko and Christianity here and you can look at his church website here. --E tac 07:38, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

I'd say he was probably an agnostic or at least non-religious. IronCrow 19:35, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

In common language (at least here in the US), any person who becomes a Christian is generally described as having "converted to Christianity", regardless of their previous religious background (or lack thereof). He therefore did not necessarily have to have held any particular "philosophy", religous or otherwise, in order for it to accurately be said that he converted. -Grammaticus Repairo 02:48, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

I'd like to raise this issue once more. In most European countries, for the most part of 20th century, huge majority (in many cases over 90%) of the people belonged to various Protestant "national churches" (like the Church of England in this case) or various "national" dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church. Even if you were in no way religious or never attended any religious services, you would still have wedding at the church and you would baptize your children because that was how things were done. Everyone who had once been baptized and hadn't explicitly stated that they were an atheist were considered Christian, even if not "religious Christian". Only outspoken atheists and freethinkers would bother to officially resign from the church and refuse to baptize their children, instead registering them in the magistrate's office of some kind. Of course, there were some people with immigrant backgrounds who were Muslim, Hindu, Jewish or whatever and some who belonged to the various American-style "independent churches", but they were few and far between.

For example, consider you were living in 1970s Great Britain and you had a close co-worker who was clearly not of recent immigrant background. If were you to ask him/her "Are you a Christian?" he/she would have been baffled. "What a silly question! Of course I am a Christian! Aren't you? I've been baptized, I went to the Sunday school, my wedding was at the church! Do I look like a Hindu?" If, however, you were to ask him/her "Are you religious?" he/she would have answered "Well, not really. I've been baptized but the last time I went to church was at my wedding/last Christmas/whatever. I'm not sure if I believe in God either."

Only people following a completely different religion could have been "converted" to Christianity. Even if a former atheist who had nonetheless been baptized in his childhood wanted to rejoin the church, he was not "converting" to the Christian religion. Instead, he had just became "estranged" from it, had "had his doubts" or something like that. Therefore, I'm 95% certain that all Iron Maiden musicians were baptized either into the Church of England or the Roman Catholic Church in England and about 80% certain that they (apart from Nicko McBrain) are still card-carrying members of their respective churches. Most likely they (again, apart from Nicko McBrain) are not very "religious", rarely attend religious services (if at all) and do not place huge importance on religious matters in their daily lives. But by European definition, they are still Christians. The current wording for this article therefore suggests to the average European reader that mr. McBrain was previously a Jew, a Zoroastrian, a Taoist or something like that, or that he had been a fervent atheist and non-member of any religious organization through his whole life, both of which are increasingly unlikely options. A better way to put these things would be to say that he had a "religious experience" and soon after became a member of Presbyterian church called Spanish River Church in Boca Raton, Florida. In that way, we wouldn't speculate with his earlier religious background of which we can't have any certainty. JJohannes (talk) 22:58, 10 May 2018 (UTC)

Cleanup

Also this article looks like it could use some work. --E tac 07:39, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

I agree, too much in the passive voice, not terribly well written overall, and what's with the grainy video capture picture? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.69.230.27 (talk) 16:33, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Altercation with a parking attendant in 2003.

Is this relevant at all? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 190.22.34.221 (talk) 19:10, 3 February 2011 (UTC)

Drumming on The X Factor and Virtual XI

There have been controversial claims made in recent years that Nicko was absent during the recording of the two Blaze Bayley era albums, X Factor and Virtual XI. Some say this is proved by the complete lack of drum fills on these albums, and the general drum grooves, which lack any recognisable Nicko characteristics. However these claims have generally been dismissed by the band, and Nicko himself - Blaze Bayley in particular has labelled the claims as "bollocks".

I knew this would come up sooner or later, and here it is. It's safe to say all these claims are ungrounded...in numerous interviews he has stated he relaxed the drumming to allow more room for the guitars and bass. Just taking a different approach to his playing. Some people can't understand that musicians deviate and develop and experiment with new things. Anyway, I digress. It would be nice if someone could come with a proper citation for Nicko denying this...the best I could find was a forum post written by someone who met with Blaze Bayley, who denied it totally. ([3]) --Mark ^{(Talk | Contribs | Email)} 21:03, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

I would like to add that we are perhaps not looking at these claims in the correct manner. I would not agree that Nicko's playing is 'relaxed', but I would agree with claims that the drumming on these recordings is unrecognisable. If there were a few less drum-fills etc, then the 'relaxed' claim would hold water. However, there are absolutely NO drum-fills on Virtual XI of any kind! I think it is absolutely incredible that this has not been addressed properly. The drums sound like chopped up loops of a very average drummer. Nicko has finesse and style and is instantly recognisable. These recognisable attributes are completely absent on Virtual XI. It would be very interesting to know the truth. Sincerely, Simon Harrison. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 81.159.232.15 (talk • contribs) 06:28, 8 January 2007 (UTC).

But what about McBrain's claims that the drumming on Sign of the Cross is the most difficult song to perform live? You'd think if a lesser drummer played it on the album, it would not be something Nicko woukd consider difficult. --E tac 12:15, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Both valid points. I do, however, know for a fact that Nicko has denied this in one or more interviews. He said it was because he wanted to take a new angle on the music and keep it spartan to leave plenty of room for the other instruments. It would be really nice if we could get a link to such an interview, or even a citation from a book. In the meantime, I'm going to get hunting... (some wikibreak this is turning out to be!) --Mark ^{(Talk | Contribs | Email)} 19:42, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

I removed the paragraph, as there is no source information for it.--E tac 23:41, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, probably the best action to take. --Mark ^(Talk) 12:50, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

Nicko said that the Sign of the Cross is the most difficult song to perform live because of the time changes that span the song (He said this on Rock in Rio, by the way). Regardless of technical aptitude, time changes can be hit and miss - especially in a song where it changes four or five times. GotB (talk) 00:43, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

Name!

Nicko's name is actually Michael McBain. Because he was joining Iron Maiden at the recording of "Piece of Mind" they thought it would be fun to change his last name to McBrain. It has since stuck. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Pendragyn (talk • contribs) 16:13, 4 May 2007.

I was wondering if someone would bring that up. That was in just about every interview he did back around the Piece of Mind era. I tried to find a reference for it in an "archived interview" web source but haven't dug one up yet. 156.34.142.110 16:32, 4 May 2007 (UTC)

Incorrect, check out : http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1066003/bio — Prodigenous Zee - 04:20, 5 May 2007 (UTC)

Sorry, IMDB is incorrect here. Nicko was born Michael McBain and changed his name when he joined Iron Maiden. http://born-on-this-day.com/cgi-bin/sql_search3botd.cgi?boolean=phrase&database=all&field=all&frank=all&keyword=-Jun+5- (Line 124) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Pendragyn (talk • contribs) 17:18, 7 May 2007 (UTC).

IMDB is not a verifiable source since... essentially... it's just a variation of a 'wiki'. Anyone who signs up as a member can edit/alter it's trivia/personal data... etc. 156.34.142.110 17:36, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

I see. fix it then! — Prodigenous Zee - 08:46, 12 May 2007 (UTC)

Isn't he credited as "McBain" on "Piece of Mind"? At least on the original editions from the early eighties? I seem to recall that that was the case, and that would be a verifiable source. -Duribald (talk) 18:47, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

Apparently I was wrong... -Duribald (talk) 19:39, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

Where Eagles Dare

Didn't he use a double bass for "Where Eagles Dare"? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.102.53.184 (talk) 21:23, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

No, there was only one song (when playing for Maiden) that he has used a double bass pedal on: "Face in the Sand"

He's not a big fan of them and considers them (his word) "un-drummerish"

RobertMfromLI | User Talk 08:06, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

Rolling Stone 100 greatest drummer list?

Where is this list? I couldn't find it online. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.72.71.136 (talk) 12:17, 12 August 2009 (UTC)

That's because it doesn't exist. Some person or persons made it up and put the magazine's name on it. Several people have been fooled. I suspect this because it tells classic rock fans what they want to hear. Namely, that with one interloper, Peart, Bonham and Moon are the three best ever, and that almost all drummers that became popular before 1967 or are funk and soul drummers can be ignored. Anyone who believes it is authentic should specify which issue of Rolling Stone it appeared in. 24.187.214.210 (talk) 16:27, 23 April 2010 (UTC)

Notes

"^ “”. "Sooty and Sweep Versus Nicko McBrain of Maiden". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtd2rGbCEdk. Retrieved 2010-11-09." Anyone mind swapping it for this? "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnE_8oeDj88" It's a more complete version.--Joelthefrog1 (talk) 10:43, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

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Small issues with American perspective

Nothing wrong with an American perspective, though in the case of the article (and to be pedantic) there’s a couple of small issues... firstly we don’t "graduate from school" in the UK. Of course we take exams, which help in life and generally are used to get into tertiary education like University or to gain employment, but there’s no “graduation”. That comes later at tertiary education like university.

So we would say “after he left school” or something like that. We just leave. It’s quite odd for people in the UK to hear American people say "I didn't graduate from school so I went back to gain a certificate" or similar, as it's an alien concept to us. For example, in the UK one could get zero qualifications at school (for various reasons, socio-economic, for example), but still later go into tertiary education as a mature student and study for a degree.

Secondly, nothing against McBrain, but Southgate Technical College doesn't really award "degrees". The engineering qualification he received was a no doubt a diploma of some sort. The college presently does a 2-year "foundation degree" in business management, but this "foundation degree" terminology wasn't around in the 70s. It's a relatively new thing, and is the equivalent to two-thirds of an honours bachelor's degree.

A degree in the UK is really a three-year course, and it sounds like McBrain quite swiftly became a rock n roller, so one imagines he took an engineering diploma of some sort. Charliepenandink (talk) 15:58, 30 April 2023 (UTC)