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Dennis Stratton
Dennis during his Praying Mantis era, in a t-shirt with an artwork from Forever in Time
Background information
Also known as	Den
Born	9 November 1954 (1954-11-09) (age 55)
Origin	London England
Genres	Heavy metal, hard rock
Instruments	Guitar, vocals
Years active	1980 - present
Associated acts	Iron Maiden Praying Mantis Lionheart
Notable instruments
Caparison Guitars

Dennis Stratton (b. 9 November 1954 in Canning Town, East London, England) is a guitar player who is best known as a former member of the British band Iron Maiden from October 1979 to October 1980.

Dennis Stratton was invited to join Iron Maiden as a second lead guitarist and backing vocalist by Steve Harris (Iron Maiden's founder and bassist) after Harris had seen him in local gigs with Remus Down Boulevard. One of Stratton's earliest filmed appearances with Iron Maiden was in a concert at London's Marquee Club in October 1979. Dennis Stratton participated in the recording and production of the group's first album, Iron Maiden in December 1979. He has also appeared in the home video recording Live At The Ruskin in early 1980 (released in 2004 as part of an Iron Maiden DVD set), Iron Maiden's first video "Women in uniform," the Women in Uniform EP, some subsequent singles, as well as in the band's first appearance on British TV ("Running Free" performed live on Top of the Pops) and the Live!! +one live album. Stratton was also a member of Iron Maiden during their very successful European Kiss tour. Dennis Stratton left Iron Maiden in October 1980. Though there are different reasons for his departure flying around, Dennis has mentioned that he left due to conflicts with the manager. It is also known that musical differences contributed towards his departure.

Since his departure from Iron Maiden, Stratton has played with bands such as Lionheart and, more recently, Praying Mantis. In 1995 Stratton had a project with former Iron Maiden singer Paul Di'Anno called "The Original Iron Men" in which both of them sang the songs. They released three albums.

Since the recording of the band's first album, Stratton has been the only member of the band not to have contributed to the writing of songs. This was due, in part, to the fact that Iron Maiden's debut album featured material already written during the preceding 3–4 years and by the band's second release, Stratton was no longer in the band. Stratton's replacement, Adrian Smith became a part of Iron Maiden's classic lineup from 1981 to 1990 and was deemed a huge contributor as a songwriter as much as he was a performer with the band. It has been heard direct from Stratton, that he left Praying Mantis in 2005, reasons are so far unknown but a grave hand injury suffered in the previous year may have been a factor.

Stratton can still be seen playing in pubs around the East London area, especially The Prince Albert on New Plaistow Road, Plaistow, Newham, London. He also plays regularly at The Victory in Saffron Walden, Essex along with guitarist Dave Edwards, covering a variety of songs from Santana to Billy Idol.

Stratton is also endorsed by Caparison Guitars, from his days with Praying Mantis. Live he uses a Marshall 2 speaker Valvestate combo and a Boss unit that he uses for switching amp channels and turning effects on/off.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Remus Down Boulevard

• Live - A Week at the Bridge E16 (1978) (Sampler including two RDB-songs)
• Live EP at the Bridge E16, 12" (2002) (Sampler including two RDB-songs)
• The Bridge House - Book Launch & Reunion, DVD (2007) (RDB & Chris Thompson live)

[edit] Iron Maiden

• Iron Maiden (1980)

[edit] Lionheart

• Hot Tonight (1984)

[edit] Praying Mantis

• Live at Last (live) (1990)
• Predator in Disguise (1991)
• A Cry for the New World (1993)
• Only the Children Cry (EP) (1993)
• Play in the East (live) (1994)
• To the Power of Ten (1995)
• Captured Alive in Tokyo City (live) (1996)
• Forever in Time (1998)
• Nowhere to Hide (2000)
• The Journey Goes On (2003)
• Captured alive in Tokyo City (Live-DVD)
• The Best of Praying Mantis (2004) (Best-of Compilation)

[edit] Paul Di'Anno & Dennis Stratton

• The Original Iron Men (1995)
• The Original Iron Men 2 (1996)
• As Hard As Iron (1996)

[edit] Collaborations

• Kaizoku (1989) - Various Authors
• All Stars (1990) - Various Authors
• Trapped (1990) - Lea Hart
• Start 'em Young (1992) - English Steel
• Ready to rumble (1992) - True Brits

[edit] External links

• Interview With Dennis Stratton (2003), Accessed 10 July 2005.
• Dennis Stratton Discography, Accessed 10 July 2005.
• Praying Mantis fan site