Thunderstick
| Thunderstick | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Barry Graham Purkis |
| Also known as | Barry Graham Thunderstick |
| Born |
7 December 1954 England |
| Genres | Heavy metal |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
| Instruments | Drums |
| Years active | 1974 - present |
| Labels | Heaven and Hell Records |
| Associated acts |
Iron Maiden Samson The Primitives Thunderstick (band) |
Barry Graham Purkis, more commonly known as Thunderstick (born 7 December 1954), is an English drummer who wore various masks and used to perform on-stage closed in a cage. He was in the popular cult-band Samson, with whom his name is most associated.
In 1979 he developed his persona modelled on horror icons such as The Rocky Horror Show, Dr. Phibes and the old Hammer horror films, alternatively wearing black and white make-up, an old man/schoolteacher mask, a black cotton mask and his trademarked rhinestone covered mirrorball mask.. He played inside a cage, including during a brief Samson reunion in 2000. With Samson he enjoyed a certain degree of success, especially when their album Head On was released in 1980 and reached No. 34 in the UK charts. The following single Riding With The Angels, from the album Shock Tactics, charted in the UK at No. 54.
In a rare occurrence his face was seen when he performed the main-role in the b-movie Biceps of Steel, featuring his band at the time Samson. In the film his then brother-in-law Ben K. Reeves performed as Thunderstick in his stead, only for the shots where Purkis and Thunderstick were set to appear at the same time.
In the June 2005 issue of Classic Rock Magazine, Thunderstick was listed as no. 36 in the "50 Greatest Drummers in Rock" feature.
Purkis started playing drums on a semi-professional level when joining the highly successful English-born band The Primitives (also known as "Mal Ryder & The Primitives" - not to be confused with the eighties UK band) in 1974. They extensively toured south-Italy.
Then he became a drummer for the English band Iron Maiden briefly in 1977, long time before he would create his masked persona. A lot of fantastic stories about the behaviour of Purkis during his tenure in Iron Maiden exist, one of which was that during a gig he fell asleep whilst on stage. During his early Samson tenure, Purkis was also asked to rejoin Iron Maiden in 1980 after the band had been touring with Samson but declined in favour of staying with Samson. This was mainly because his bizarre theatrical image had gained recognition, and he was then seen to be "the face of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal". His Samson predecessor Clive Burr eventually took the Maiden position.
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Wikipedia