Red Hearings Records
01. Hell and Back
02. For the Crown
03. Need Your Lovin'
04. Streetwize
IRON GYPSY was formed in Hamilton, Ontario 1983. The members then were myself on guitar, Ed 'Breaker' Zern on drums, and Glenn Harder on bass and vocals. I met these two fine musicians while I was living in Edmonton, Alberta. I played in a bar band called X-STATIC with them. Domestic issues around general survival dissolved that line-up, while in Hamilton. Neither of us had studio experience at that time, but we did have plenty of 'live'. I moved back to Edmonton, their home, to re-form, but both were committed to other projects, so I continued on to Vancouver, a city with more to offer, so I thought. I set myself up with a job... bought a Teac 4 track recording machine, and proceeded to get the songs out of my head.
When it came time to realize them in a studio, I called Ed (one of the only double bass drummers I knew at the time) and invited him to do the session. Glenn could not come out, so I did the bass guitar myself. Later a bass player was found - Jay 'The Pope' Van Riff who was from Seattle, and IRON GYPSY began rehearsing a 'live' show. Jay and I moved to Edmonton for Ed's sake, and an ease of rehearsals. This was 1984.
That line-up was problematic, with Jay's over involvement in black magic and dysfunctional habits, let alone unreliability to getting the work done during rehearsals... Ed was weirded out by him and his behaviour, and left to join an established local act called WINTERKILL. Jay and I went back to Vancouver, and parted ways professionally.
Glenn reconsidered to re-joined, after I decided to moved back to Edmonton. We recruited an ex-drummer friend from the X-STATIC days, and a live band was established. We played a lot of underground clubs in Alberta, where the punk scene was being accepted. We gained a small following, by giging and air play on radio stations at this time, including main stream FM stations that had 'special' time slots for bands like us. The drummer then was Rick Picard (a mechanically sound double bass drummer). Rick soon left because the metal life was incongruent to his married one. That was 1985.
Next, and probably the best line-up the band ever had, but sadly never played live, was Glenn, myself and a guy named Ken Jones.
I wish this line-up had stayed together long enough to play live and record because we sounded Great then! After this short incarnation, which attracted management... world-wide distribution with Jem Distribution out of New Jersey, USA... an opening slot on a touring heavy metal festival with SAXON and ACCEPT and other such bands of the day, at that time... the frustration of Ken leaving to join a 'well paying' Country and Western band, IRON GYPSY was folded again.
Biography written by Jim``Wickley``Mark
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http://rapidshare.com/files/26210783/IRON_GYPSY_-_Iron_Gypsy_Mini_LP__1984_Canada_.rar
Not bad, but nothing to write home about either. 'Streetwize' I found rather annoying, almost a sleaze-glam sort of structure to it. Was nice to finally hear it though, thanks 'kit! At least Dan won't have to compete with me for the next copy on ebay (he'd win anyway, but I might have run the price up on him 
j/k )