Who Did It Better? - Skyhooks vs Iron Maiden - Women In Uniform Comparison 

RIP Shirley really miss you guys thanks for all the fun times. Peace out.

no competition.. SYYHOOKS slayed it!

Yeah, as an Australian, we have listened to this for over fourty years, and ive only heard Maidens version a few times, so I'll stick to Skyhooks thanks.

Women in Uniform" is a 1978 song by the Australian band Skyhooks; it was written by the band's bass guitar player, Greg Macainsh By far the best version by the original artists

Thank you for the reaction. Skyhooks are my preference.

Skyhooks were the quintessential Aussie band!! I grew up with them in the 70s. I was given a hand-me-down stretchy yellow T-shirt, as per the norm in the seventies with an Iron-on Skyhooks plastic transfer on the front. I miss that T-shirt. I was told to leave it behind by my parents when we moved from Melbourne to Canberra.

I'm going Iron Maiden. It was good to see Paul Di'Anno on vox and Clive Burr on drums. I have lots of experience with women in uniform, being a Royal Navy veteran.

Skyhooks for me r.i.p Shirley Straun

I liked both but the Skyhooks version is more interesting. There wasn’t a lot of variety musically in the Ironmaden version but I didn’t hate it.

Skyhooks!!!! I first heard them through Elvira and Dr Demento and finding some of their albums in a used record store in LA felt like finding gold. Just a great band with a clever songs. No comment on the other band.

I remember Skyhooks' version/original being a hit in Australia, and having it blast out of my panel van at Bondi Beach. I'm going for Skyhooks version because I enjoy it more. I have known both versions for well over forty years, and even though I can appreciate the musicianship, heaviness and the headbanging quality of Maiden's, I just have more fun with Skyhooks version. The band's humour and character are all over the track, while Maiden simply sound like Maiden. And I was an Iron Maiden fan from the first album with Paul Di'Anno. Maiden can do a cover of ''Time Warp'' and make it sound great, but I'll still be going back to the original by The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

I didn't know that ironmaiden had covered this, definitely skyhooks

I'm going for Skyhooks.

I was thinking, the Beatles doing Elenore Rigby vs Zoot. (Zoot was an early Australian band with Beep Birtles from Little River Band, Darryl Cotton who went on to have a solo career and Rick Springfield who moved to the US and had a massive hit with Jessie's Girl).

Skyhooks version all the way. I gave Iron Maiden's a try with an open mind, and though they are clearly good at what they do, I just never enjoyed it. There's a wink of irony that a camp and clever band would do a song like this. It was also Shirley Strachan's sayonara as Skyhooks' frontman. They never really recovered after his departure. 'Jukebox In Siberia' doesn't count.

I agree, Sky hooks.

Both versions make me wish they had eachother's quality. Skyhooks feels a lot more original and varied in comparison to the straight-forward version by Iron Maiden. Maiden do have the chops and the advantage of a higher production, but also present something that I have heard before. If Skyhooks had Iron Maiden's production, the song would be amazing because what Skyhooks delivers is very good. Skyhooks presents something that I feel is their own thing, and I do enjoy the conviction of the singer. I read Skyhooks' wikipage and I see that ''Women In Uniform'' was their only UK chart entry. I heard their other songs on this channel and on my own, and they sound like a quality band. I will be listening more to this group. Being detached from both bands and not being affected by the old devil called bias, my vote is for Skyhooks. I just like what these boys did. Iron Maiden are good, but they're a bit meh to me.

Love Skyhooks, my favorite songs are.; This is my city, Smartarse song writers, Love on the radio all original great songs.

Skyhooks for me. Iron Maiden are good at what they do, but I just like Skyhooks as a band.

Ooooh, was nervous coming into this. My favorite Aussie local band I grew up with. Sorry, the mighty Hooks win by a mile. Iron Maiden are good but their version lacks the cheeky humor, former carpenter, Shirl (RIP) brought to The Hooks. Glad you liked it.

Paul Dianno was replace by Dickinson for the Third LP. This was a 7" from before he joined.

There's film footage of American producer Eddie Leonetti working with Skyhooks (and it's on RU-vid). He comes off as domineering with the front of an ''expert'', and seems keen to take Skyhooks to the ''next'' level. Well, if he really wanted to do that, he should have brought the guitars forward in the mix during the chorus. It's like somebody was afraid that ''Women In Uniform'' would turn into a punk song. But as Cynthia said, the song seems like it wants to be harder and I agree. It really should have been harder. Shirley had the voice to carry it to an explosive level and Freddie is not bad on the kit. FFS, the band even had Bob Spencer on guitar and he was no wuss. I think somebody was thinking about the radio play when they mixed this. I have no opinion on Iron Maiden's take, because it just didn't surprise me. Skyhooks win.

Explaining Skyhooks to Iron Maiden fans or anybody else for that matter is like explaining Slade to Quiet Riot fans or anybody else for that matter. Some people just don't get Skyhooks the same way some people will never get Slade. I prefer Skyhooks' 'Women In Uniform' a lot more, because I get to hear Graeme 'Shirl The Curl' Strachan's voice and the group's unique sound and approach to rock*. However, ''Women In Uniform'' is a bit of an anomaly in Skyhook' catalogue. The band usually made commentary on social issues and conditions, and often approached subjects with tongue firmly in cheek. They never took themselves seriously and their shows were seriously good fun. This song is a little different in the sense that the topic (female admiration - uniform or not) is a standard in rock. It's like Greg Macainsh wasn't writing for Skyhooks, but was writing something that could suit millions of rock groups.. This could be a KISS or Motley Crew song. Knowing Iron Maiden's work, I can say that this isn't even typical for them. But I am sticking to Skyhooks. I've always liked and understood them as a band. Iron Maiden are also unique and have their approach to rock.. not taking anything away from Iron Maiden.*

Skyhooks every day of the week! 🇦🇺

Another thing I am amazed to see is that there is no blur over the screen! Now that's a win! I was really expecting a blur over the Skyhooks video since the band have pulled down so many of their clips on RU-vid. This Is My City and Million Dollar Riff clips on the Internet Archive site are worth a view too.

Skyhooks all the way ! RIP Shirley Strahan

I think that at this moment in time we are so close to a world war. This colours my suggestion for a comparison. The song is Space Captain the acts are Joe Cocker and The Black Crowes.

Skyhooks by far the better

No contest here. The Hooks hands down

There's more going on with Skyhooks' version. Maiden's sounds like the run of the mill of New Wave Of British Metal. They play well, but so what. All the interesting shit is happening with the Skyhooks one.

I prefer the Skyhooks version, in this case it's hard to improve on the original.

Skyhooks for me, by a country mile

Always the Hooks. Skyhooks did some great heavier material. Bbboogie - party to end all parties - revolution.

The singer is Paul Diannio, Bruce Dickinson came a year or so later than this.

Skyhooks for me.

Well now you have to do Joe Jackson’s Got The Time vs Anthrax’s cover version.

I love Iron Maiden and they did a great job, but can't beat Skyhooks

The lead singer for the Iron Maiden and Killers albums was Paul Di'anno

I love that Maiden did a version of this both versions are good

Hey guys, hold back on doing Stevie Wright's ''Evie''. I've spent a bit of time working on old footage of Stevie Wright performing at the Sydney Opera House. I'll be uploading it now, and will pass on the link. Just don't do the song today. Thanx.

The winner for me is the original, 'Skyhooks', the cover by 'Iron Maiden' is good but doesn't have the same energy, yes, that was Bruce on this track. This was Iron Maiden's 3rd single release. Did you see my comment on your recent reaction to 'Velvet Underground', I made some suggestions for songs with days of the week in the title?

Clive Burr, the drummer, is the guy who made Run to the hills, sound fantastic. If you don't know that song, it's an absolute must

Evenin.

Skyhooks!

At one of the three Cure shows I attended last year both Robert & Simon were sporting Iron Maiden 👕 so they get my vote 🗳 narrowly.

Iron Maiden is my favourite band, along with AC/DC, and it’s a great cover but I would give it to Skyhooks.

Iron maiden for me

Just a thought, i wonder how Maidens version would have sounded with Dickinson singing it?

Definitely Skyhooks.

''Women In Uniform'' wasn't the best representation of Iron Maiden, and it wasn't a typical Skyhooks tune either. But out of the two, Skyhooks is the most enjoyable.

The original is quite good depending on the time it were made, Maidens weren't doing cover for a bad one for sure. Usually I'm with the originals, but this one is questionable for me.

No contest, I dont even need to look at it as I know both songs. Skyhooks by a mile and I am also an Iron Maiden fan since about 1980.Wasn't anywhere near Maidens best song.

NO JOKE! On an official Skyhooks RU-vid channel someone posted to PLEASE NOT write how much better Maiden's cover version is! (It hurts the bands feelings!)

Both are very similar in parts - the chorus in particular, but i think Maiden edge it.

Iron who? I'm kidding. I never considered this to be Skyhook' finest moment, although I do like the performance and the tension that builds in the song. I'm just not into Maiden. Skyhooks for me.

Iron Maiden put a lot into the song and still make it boring to my ears. Skyhooks are not boring.

Gidday, not only is Skyhooks infinitely better but the other version is lame. Cheers.

I am not a biased listener. If I hear better, then I'll go with what is better... So, here are my thoughts on it. Iron Maiden nail it as far as performance and production goes. They give the song oomph. Skyhooks have plenty of oomph too, but the production/mixing has always felt a little thin to me. However, Iron Maiden's version begins to get a little monotonous at the end (the ''women in uniform'' refrain), while in Skyhooks original the ending/coda feels like a climax. I enjoy Skyhooks version more but I do wish they had the meat that Maiden puts into it. I also think the song is a better fit for Maiden. Skyhooks almost makes the song sound scary with Shirley's high pitch singing. They'd make an amazing version of The Dead Kennedy's ''Kill The Poor''. This video was made by Chris Lofven, who also made Daddy Cool's ''Eagle Rock'', Split Enz ''I Got You'' and Mondo Rock's ''Summer Of 81''.

Paul dianno

Interesting. It looks like Skyhooks are another of those "big in Australia" bands the rest of the world didn't want. I can't understand why Iron Maiden covered this catchy but fairly average song, but I find most of Iron Maiden's covers unconvincing, so I guess I have to shade it to Skyhooks. But I don't need to hear either version again.

Up the Irons. Iron Maiden wins. C’mon man, Paul Dianno was Maiden singer on first two albums.

Paul Di'Anno is fronting Iron Maiden here and was vocalist with them for first two albums. Not the greatest Maiden song, but I preferred it to the original version by Skyhooks.

''Women In Uniform'' was Skyhooks only UK chart entry. It reached 73 on the UK charts in 1978. It was also Skyhooks' last hit with Shirley as the singer.

Nice try Iron Maiden, good, but lacks the subtlety and cheekiness of the original.

I was never really into Skyhooks or Iron Maiden but if you do a cover of someone elses song and it sounds pretty much the same then for me the points have to go with the original artists....For a cover to be considered better than the original it needs the artist to put their own spin on it like Kasey Chambers did with Lose Yourself. In Australia the Skyhooks version was well known, not sure I ever heard the Iron Maiden do it but as i said i wouldnt have run out to buy either of them anyhow.

One day you should check out Let There Be Rock by AC/DC and then covered by Henry Rollins and the Hard Ons. Really love both versions which is rare for someone to do an AC/DC song justice.

I didn't know Skyhooks had done this. Nice to hear Original Maiden being played. The Iron Maiden version is definitely better.

Iron Maiden was formed on December 25th 1975 I think skyhook copied this

I really appreciate both. However, I'm going with Iron Maiden

Maiden version is much better...

Certainly not Dickinson and it shows too. Vocals nowhere near as good. Like the guitar work on the Iron Maiden version but vocals lack what Skyhooks created. About the only Skyhooks song I really like and probably because the quirkiness that usually was their thing is pushed aside just to do a genuinely good rock n roll track. Btw, am I blind or is there no Red Symons in that Skyhooks song?

Imo , maiden win it because they only sung and didn't write it , the song stinks, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 happy healthy peace ✌️