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NOTE: This is news. Talk to Joanna for the latest rumours.

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If you have any news, please send them to the news crew

April 22
More about the live album and live video and one more Sydney date
Highway Star reader John Newman found a flyer at the merchandise counters at the Dee Purple show in Sydney. The flyer had the following info:
"This (Video and CD) will be the first official live release since 1993 & only the second full length uncut concert footage in the bands 30 year career.
Deep Purple captured live across Australia with concert material, interviews and candid footage of the band.
Due release date 1 June 1999, for orders or more information:
Thompson Music Management
GPO BOX 409
Moonee Ponds Victoria, Australia, 3039
Fax: 61 2 3 9370-2546
OR the Deep Purple online store, www.deep-purple.com."
And at the end of the concert it was also announced that there will be a 2nd Sydney concert on Sunday 25th April 1999. This is being promoted as a "Execlusive Club Concert" at "Selina's" which is a large Pub venue in the beach side suburb of Coogee, bookings through Ticketek.

April 18
Australian show to be recorded for live album and live video
One Australian show will be recorded in both audio/video mediums for release following the Australian tour. Recording will take place primarily at the Melbourne Park show on 20 April 99, and DP engineer Darren Schneider is flying in to co-ordinate the project, under the direct control of Bruce Payne/Thames Talent.
This is a major undertaking, the result hopefully being every DP fan's dream with the video pack incorporating documentary footage, TV performances, interviews and lots of material representative of the entire Australian leg of the Abandon tour.
The recording process itself will encompass the utilization of the Metropol's OB4 van complete with dual 48 track machines for the audio recording, and a 13 camera shoot of the Deep Purple performance in front of a 12,000+ audience.
There is even the possibility of the release of the show on DVD.
In appreciation of the support given to the band by the official home page (www.deep-purple.com), Deep Purple manager Mr. Bruce Payne is putting in place arrangements for the release of the CD and video initially only to online fans through the cyberstore, prior to general release.
Both packages will also be available some time at the merchandise booths at all Deep Purple performances.

April 18
Even more Deep Purple media appearances in Australia
Deep Purple will be on "The Late Report" on Channel 7 on April 20.

April 13
European release dates for the Mk.I remasters and WDWTWA
These are the latest Mk.I remasters and WDWTWA release dates from EMI Holland:
Shades of Deep Purple - May 31, 1999
The Book of Taliesyn - September 1999
Who Do We Think We Are - September 25, 1999
Deep Purple (3rd album) - January 2000
Thanks to Rob Wolleswinkel for the info.

April 13
Deep Purple featured in Guitar World magazine
Deep Purple will be featured in the May issue of Guitar World. http://www.guitarworld.com/0499.htmls/0499_deep.html
Thanks to Benny Holmstrom for the info.

April 13
More Deep Purple in Australian media
It looks like the Australian media is giving Deep Purple more media coverage than the band has had all over the world the last ten years! First it was the MTV Australia Headbanger's Ball special last week featuring rare never before seen footage from the 1998 concert at the House of Blues in Los Angeles and on April 11 Peter Miller posted this in alt.music.deep-purple:
"There will be 'something' on channel 10's 'E' news this week at 8pm Wednesday the 14th of April. Also 'Hey Hey its Saturday' are supposed to have them 'live' in the studio Saturday the 17th April. Lets hope its not a 'Molly Meldrum' interview!!"
Also on April 11 Mark O'Neill posted this in our message boards:
"On my radio program 'Classic Rock USA' on 3-WAY FM, from Warrnambool [Say what?! - Ed.], Victoria, Australia 100.9 FM I have been pushing the Australian tour BIG-TIME! I also have just learned that Purple will appear on the TV show 'Hey Hey Its Saturday' on the 17th. I also appeared on Ray Jennings 'Rock n Blues' program which airs on 51 radio stations in Australia. Every Saturday night. I pushed the Tour, album, and TV appearence. Contact 3WAY FM and tell them that you would love to hear them broadcast over the net. My e-mail is classicrockusa@hotmail.com. Keep on Rockin'!"
That should keep the audio and video collectors busy for a while!

April 6
California Jam anniversary celebrations in Stockholm
On April 6, 1974 Deep Purple Mk. III played the festival "California Jam". The radio show "Prog-o-rama" on Stockholm's college radio will celebrate the 25th anniversary of this classic event by showing the classic video of Deep Purple's California Jam show. The event will be at the bar "K" (next to "Hannas Deli") on Skånegatan 59 in Stockholm, Sweden.
Read the press release (in Swedish).
Thanks to Mats Rydström & Magnus Engvall for the info.

April 1
Chile date moved
The Deep Purple show in Santiago, Chile that was supposed to take place on March 30 was moved to March 31 and another venue due to security reasons. Deep Purple was scheduled to play the "Centro Cultural Mapocho", a venue with a capacity of 5.000 people. With 7.000 tickets sold and the 1996 disaster in Chile in mind the authorities moved the concert to the 15.000 capacity venue "Velodromo". Look out for reviews of the concert in our reviews section.
Thanks to Ricardo Henríquez for the info.

March 28
Deep Purple on Australian radio and TV
There will be a special MTV Australia Deep Purple presentation on Wednesday April 7 at 11PM (90 min) with rare/unseen footage of the Morse era. This show will be replayed Saturday April 10 at 1AM. There will also be a Deep Purple special on JJJ radio April 9 on Friday's 3 hours of power.

March 27
Deep Purple concert on Russian TV
Deep Purple's Moscow concert from November 21, 1998 will be broadcast on TV in Russia by RTR (Russian Tele-Radio Company) on April 1 at 23.20 Moscow time.
Thanks to Andrei Gusenkov and Konstantin Gorlov for the info.

March 12
Remastered Mk.I albums delayed again
The remastered "Shades of Deep Purple" will be released in July and the next two albums will follow later in the year.
Thanks to Johan Hellström for the info.

March 11
Work on "Who Do We Think We Are!" remaster finished
Roger Glover reports that his work on the long-awaited "Who Do We Think We Are!"-remaster is now finished. What remains now, is for EMI to give the final word as to what will be included. It looks set to be a 1CD set, with outtakes, remixes and humourous bits thrown in in addition to some reputedly excellent remasters of the well-known album from 1973. Stay tuned to The Highway Star for more info on the contents of the set, which naturally will be published as soon as we get it. Roger Glover hopes the set will be out this summer.
Thanks to Roger Glover for the info.

March 9
Charity auction featuring original Gillan lyrics
Interactive Collector is auctioning over 170 original song lyrics (many signed) online between 15th and 29th March 1999. The auction is for charity, in aid of Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy and Norwood Ravenswood, and one of the lots is a set of twelve (count 'em - twelve!) sets of lyrics for various songs including 'Seventh Heaven', 'Don't Make Me Happy' and 'Watching The Sky', all in black ink, signed by Gillan. In addition, there are many other items for auction, from The Rolling Stones to Peter Gabriel to Leo Sayer!
Go to http://www.icollector.com/live/hits.htm where you can view a full list of items, and from the 15th March will be able to review bids which have already been placed and make bids yourself.
(Thanks to John Hopkins and Ian Westbrook.)

March 3
Deep Purple and related bands on UK Channel 4 Saturday 6th March
Chrysalis Television, on the back of the success of two previous documentaries "The Glam Top 10" (1995) and "The Disco Top 10" (1997) have been commissioned by Channel 4 (UK) to produce a whole series celebrating other musical genres. The first one of the series, to be broadcast on Saturday, 6 March 1999 at 9pm (a great slot) is "The Heavy Metal Top 10". Based loosely on British chart success, this will be a major celebration of hard rock acts, including, of course, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Whitesnake etc. Sally Blower at Chrysalis Television told us: "We have interviewed Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Graham Bonnett, Ronnie Dio, Micky Moody, Bernie Marsden, Joe Lynn Turner, David Coverdale and therefore hope to give a well-rounded portrait of the band's history and stories. However, please be warned that this 90 minute documentary has to cover an awful lot of ground - and 10 bands - so each band is somewhat limited to about 7 minutes."
Thanks to Sally Blower at Chrysalis Television for the info.

March 1
Rhino box set available for pre order
We've got your first look at "Shades 1968-1998", the first box set retrospective of the band. Click here to see for a sneak peak or to pre order it from the DP Online Store.