Princess of the Night

Last updated

For the flower colloquially known as "Princess of the Night", see Epiphyllum oxypetalum.

Contents

"Princess of the Night"
Single by Saxon
from the album Denim and Leather
Released23 October 1981
Recorded1981
Genre Heavy metal
Length4:01
Label Capitol
Songwriter(s) Saxon
Producer(s) Nigel Thomas
Saxon singles chronology
"Never Surrender"
(1981)		"Princess of the Night"
(1981)		"Power and the Glory"
(1983)

"Princess of the Night" is a single by British heavy metal band Saxon, featured as the opening track and single from their 1981 album Denim and Leather ; the song was written as a group production of all five members of the band at the time: Peter "Biff" Byford, Steve Dawson, Pete Gill, Graham Oliver, and Paul Quinn. The lyrics of the song deal with the narrator's affinity of a steam locomotive of the LMS Princess Royal Class. [1]

The single itself peaked in its popularity at 57 on the UK Singles Chart.

Background

Saxon are from Barnsley, an industrial town in north-central England with several railways. According to singer Biff Byford, Barnsley is famous for "bus scrapyards". In 1981, Byford said, "Princess of the Night is a song about a steam train that ends up on the scrapyard." [2]

Later in 1981, Byford added, "Some time ago we used to park our van at Barry Island in Glamorgan. There's a huge compound there where they keep all the old steam trains that they don't use anymore. They're just left to rot and I suppose that upset us because they really were magnificent machines. Well you can't beat the days of steam can you? [3]

"Anyway, late at night if I couldn't sleep I used to look out at those ghostly engines and imagine them painted up and back in their glory. It's my romantic side coming out again." [3]

Personnel

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saxon (band)</span> British heavy metal band

Saxon are an English heavy metal band formed in Barnsley in 1975. As leaders of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM), they had eight UK Top 40 albums during the 1980s including four UK Top 10 albums and two Top 5 albums. They had numerous hit singles on the UK Singles Chart and experienced success all over Europe and Japan, as well as in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biff Byford</span> English rock vocalist (born 1951)

Peter Rodney "Biff" Byford is an English singer best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Saxon.

<i>Wheels of Steel</i> 1980 studio album by Saxon

Wheels of Steel is the second studio album by English heavy metal band Saxon. Released in 1980 by Carrere Records, it was their first album to enter the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number 5, and is their highest-charting album in the UK Albums Chart to date. The album eventually went on to achieve gold status in the UK.

<i>Strong Arm of the Law</i> 1980 studio album by Saxon

Strong Arm of The Law is the third studio album by English heavy metal band Saxon. It was released in 1980, seven months after Wheels of Steel, and debuted on the UK chart at #11.

<i>Denim and Leather</i> 1981 studio album by Saxon

Denim and Leather is the fourth studio album by English heavy metal band Saxon released in 1981. The album was certified Gold status in the U.K. This was the last album with the classic line up of Saxon, as drummer Pete Gill would leave the band due to a hand injury, later joining Motörhead; this was also seen as the last of their trilogy of classic albums.

<i>BBC Sessions</i> (Saxon album) 1998 live album by Saxon

BBC Sessions / Live at Reading Festival '86 is a live compilation album by the British heavy metal band Saxon. It was recorded live in studio by the BBC's Tony Wilson for the BBC Radio 1 shows of the early 1980s and at the 1986 Reading Festival, where Saxon were the headliners.

<i>Saxon</i> (album) 1979 studio album by Saxon

Saxon is the debut studio album by English heavy metal band Saxon, released in 1979.

<i>Live Innocence!</i> 1986 video by Saxon

Live Innocence! is the second video album by the British heavy metal band Saxon, released in VHS and Laserdisc at the beginning of 1986. The tape contains footage of a concert held in Madrid, Spain in June 1985 during the Live Innocence Tour and two video clips used for the promotion of the studio album Innocence Is No Excuse.<

<i>Crusader</i> (Saxon album) 1984 studio album by Saxon

Crusader is the sixth studio album by English heavy metal band Saxon, released on 30 January 1984 by Carrere Records.

<i>Power & the Glory</i> 1983 studio album by Saxon

Power & the Glory is the fifth studio album by English heavy metal band Saxon, released in March 1983 by Carrere Records. This is the first Saxon studio album with new drummer Nigel Glockler and was recorded in Atlanta, Georgia in the fall of 1982.

<i>Innocence Is No Excuse</i> 1985 studio album by Saxon

Innocence Is No Excuse is the seventh studio album by English heavy metal band Saxon, released in September 1985. It was the band's first album for EMI after a falling-out with their previous label, Carrere Records, and their last with original bassist Steve Dawson.

<i>Solid Ball of Rock</i> 1991 studio album by Saxon

Solid Ball of Rock is the tenth studio album by heavy metal band Saxon released in 1991 on Virgin Records. Five of its 11 tracks were written by new bassist Nibbs Carter, who co-wrote another three songs.

<i>Rock the Nations</i> 1986 studio album by Saxon

Rock the Nations is the eighth studio album by English heavy metal band Saxon, released in August 1986.

<i>Live</i> (Saxon album) 1983 video by Saxon

Live is the first video album by the British heavy metal band Saxon. It was released in VHS and Laserdisc in 1983 by PolyGram Videos. The video has not been released on DVD so far. Even so, it is available in full on YouTube and bootleg format/pro-shot. The video still brings some video clips recorded for the release of the Power and Glory disc, as the title track, "Suzy Hold On" and "Nightmare".

<i>The Eagle Has Landed</i> (album) 1982 live album by Saxon

The Eagle Has Landed is the first live album by heavy metal band Saxon and the first album featuring their long time drummer Nigel Glockler. It was recorded during the European leg of the world tour supporting the album Denim and Leather and released in 1982. The album reached #5 in the UK charts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graham Oliver</span> English guitarist

Graham Oliver is an English guitarist who was born in Mexborough, South Yorkshire. He was a founding member in the heavy metal band Saxon from 1976 to 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Dawson</span> English bassist

Steven "Dobby" Dawson is an English bass guitarist and a founder of the heavy metal band Saxon.

<i>Donnington: The Live Tracks</i> 1997 live album by Saxon

Donnington: The Live Tracks [sic] is a semi-official live album by Saxon, being a legal release but not sanctioned by the band. The recording was made at the first Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington on 16 August 1980 but was not released until fifteen years later. It was re-released as Live at Donnington 1980 in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oliver/Dawson Saxon</span> English heavy metal band

Oliver/Dawson Saxon was an English heavy metal band formed in 1995 by former members of Saxon, guitarist Graham Oliver and bassist Steve Dawson.

"And the Bands Played On" is a single by heavy metal band Saxon from their 1981 album Denim and Leather. It peaked at number 12 on the UK Singles Chart and is Saxon's most successful single to date. The album version has a cold ending at 2:48, but the single version continues slightly longer to 2:53 and has a fade ending. The 7" single version has yet to appear on CD.

References

  1. ↑ Facebook chat question to Saxon, 11 Jun 2015
  2. ↑ "Saxon — the Barnsley Connection". Kerrang! . London: Sounds. June 1981. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  3. 1 2 "The Eagle Has Landed: Saxon Spread Their Wings". Kerrang! . London: Sounds. November 1981. Retrieved 20 May 2023.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.