Why didn’t Vincent Price make the intro for ‘Number of The Beast’

In 1982, Iron Maiden had already released two praised albums with Paul Di’Anno on vocals but they decided it was time to move on with another singer. The group recruited the ex-Samson Bruce Dickinson and started to write “The Number of The Beast”, which would become their best-selling album.

One of the high points of that album is certainly the title-track which has an incredible intro. A strong and spooky voice says: “Woe to you, oh, earth and sea. For the Devil sends the beast with wrath. Because he knows the time is short. Let him who hath understanding. Reckon the number of the beast. For it is a human number. Its number is six hundred and sixty six”.

Initially the band wanted the legendary American actor Vincent Price, famous for starring countless horror movies, to record the intro. However, things didn’t work out and they ended up hiring a cheaper actor who had a similar voice.

Why didn’t Vincent Price make the intro for ‘Number of The Beast?

As the Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson recalled in an interview with Eddie Trunk back in 2017 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage), the reason why Vincent Price ended up not recording the intro was quite simple: the price (laughs). “‘Mr. Price doesn’t get out of bed for less than 10.000 dollars’ (that was the response). (A lot of people think it was him), I mean. (Barry Clayton) it’s an actor who used to read the ghost story on the radio station in London.”

“I said ‘Well, why don’t we use this guy? He sounds kind of like Vincent Price and he (charged) like 300 bucks, you know. It’s brilliant, the guy came in and I was there while he was doing and he did like 10 takes. Every single one was gold and Martin (Birch – producer) just said: ‘That’s it, here is the 300 buck, see ya’ (laughs),” Bruce Dickinson said.

During one of the dates of his spoken word tour in 2023, Bruce Dickinson joked about Vincent Price not doing the voice. He said: “(Barry Clayton) did about 20 takes and they were all brilliant. Now he is part of history on the record and Vincent Price isn’t (laughs)”.

That intro is a seven-line excerpt from the passages of 12:12 and 13:18 from the Book of Revelations. Barry Clayton was born in 1931 in Islington, London, England and passed away in 2011 at the age of 80. He was radio announcer and voiceover artist for many movie trailers. One of his longest jobs was as the producer of the radio show “Black Londoners”, which was a daily program for the BCC. It aired from 1974 to 1988 when he left and joined Capital Radio.

Price ended up working with Michael Jackson and Alice Cooper

Curiously, a few months after Iron Maiden demonstrated the interest for including Price’s voice on their song, he ended up working with Michael Jackson. Maiden’s album was recorded in the beginning of 1982 and the best-selling Jackson album “Thriller” from April to November that year. Price’s voice and evil laugh in the title-track adds a really incredible touch which makes the song even better.

It wasn’t the first time Price did something in music. He had also appeared on the first Alice Cooper solo album: “Welcome To My Nightmare”, released in 1975. One of the most famous horror actors of all time, Vincent passed away back in 1993 at the age of 82.