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Let’s see the accounts
Here’s a “preview” of the second part of John McCoy’s interview with Rock Daydream Nation. Mind you, the complete first part, of which we also featured just a preview, clocked at an hour and 14 minutes. Here John continues lamenting the many wrongs that happened during the run of the Gillan band.
Thanks to Steve for the heads-up.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
OMFG 🙄 – John McCoy was in his late 20s and not a child when he met Ian Gillan and got the offer from him to become a co-shareholder in GILLAN as an enterprise with uncertain prospects – that is essentially what he was. You don’t need a master 🧑🎓 in business studies to realize that profit is what is left over from the turnover/revenue after costs/expenses, debts, interest & taxes have been deducted.
Most businesses work that way, even the convenience store around the corner. Yet John McCoy is telling us he did not think of asking the question(s):
“How will the start-up costs be financed? I don’t have the money to contribute anything. If you pitch in for all of us, Ian, then thank you, but how long will take for us to repay those loans and eventually generate profits for us to share?”
There are limits to how naïve you can allow yourself to be – even as a rock musician. And if John didn’t understand what he was doing, then perhaps he should have lost some weight, grown his hair back and knock at Ritchie’s or DC’s door to ask whether he could work for them on a steady wage. Because that is what you do when you don’t want to participate in losses and wait for a venture to turn profitable.
I’m pretty darn sure that IG never saw even a fraction of the money he spent to keep GILLAN running as a return on his investment. And John McCoy’s post-GILLAN career indicates to me that he never got any better in basic math either.
I also wonder how “coincidentally” all these lamentations by him are raised anew in lengthy interviews just at the time a comprehensive GILLAN release has seen the light of day. No doubt, John fears missing out yet again on a stream of hundreds of thousands of GBP if not more. The proceeds from Denmark alone where – as we have learned here – GILLAN was incredibly popular should see him become a wealthy man.
Hopefully, his wife doesn’t let him take decisions regarding her antiques business. 😑
Even big men can whine.
July 9th, 2025 at 04:57@1
I see it a bit different Uwe!
John is hurt very very much. As far as I can tell he thought Ian to be numero uno, in all aspects.
And when Ian turned away, John felt betrayed.
Often when people feel betrayed they find minor complaints and blow them out of proportion to justify the sad feelings.
John seems to be a stand up guy, and the only logical explanation is that he misses Ian so much.
And to add spite to the situation, Ian rejoined Purple and got old friends back there.
Not to diminish John in any way, I am really really not!, but you see the same with kids that are feeling left out and still haven’t found a way to tackle those hostile feelings.
I don’t know Ian personally but I guess he is a lot of fun to be around, and people like him shines and brings happiness to the people around them, which makes it even harder to miss.
Well, a little outlook on life from Denmark and a very nice cup of coffee 😃
July 9th, 2025 at 09:11John is allowed to have his say, just like anyone else. He obviously wasn’t into all that business shite back then, he was into having a good time rocking and rolling. He was a dedicated musician and human being. John is not the only one this has happened to. However, he is the only one bringing it to light though, in regard to that band, so be it. He has been burnt, that hurts. Some people can deal with it better than others. As that cursed saying goes, ‘winners are grinners’ etc etc. The losers, well many just say ‘tough shit, deal with it’. It ain’t that simple for the many who have been on the wrong end of negative shite. Better to get it off your chest than to take it with you. Cheers.
July 9th, 2025 at 10:12I think Uwe and Karin are both right. As an adult, John had a responsibility to consider the potential risks and rewards of becoming a partner in the business. Equally, he was clearly heartbroken at the sudden demise of Gillan, followed by Ian’s equally swift departure to Sabbath and Purple. One suspects that there has been little or no contact between Ian and John since then, with no opportunity for a reconciliation that may have allowed the latter to move on.
July 9th, 2025 at 11:51I’ve said this before …the truth obviously lies somewhere in between the middle of them …yes, I’m certain there was money missing and they were a little bit short changed ….and yes, I’m certain Gillan ( obviously funded it ) …and was thoroughly pissed off at the end with all the moaning and bitching …and couldn’t wait to get out of it .
I don’t think we should blame John for moaning about it ….he is only answering the interviewers questions…and his answers seem sincere .
It’s just a shame that they were such a brilliant and important band …and, it all ended like that !
July 9th, 2025 at 13:11You know, if GILLAN had been this wildly successful band and Ian had rowed John out to have a larger share, I’d get his bitterness. But we’ve established long ago that GILLAN weren’t nearly as successful as Rainbow or Whitesnake, that they never had a single gold record anywhere, that they refused to do the hard work and open for other bands, that they did not tour the US and that the UK market – while Pop Music-culturally extremely relevant – is too small to support a band unless you have a really significant status there – for which a few TV appearances as the token hard rock act of the longhaired former DP singer that gets invited for novelty value are simply not enough.
John totally overestimated Ian’s drawing power (which – let’s face it – has never been that great outside of Purple) and mistook him as this eternal cornucopia of fame, success and money earning potential that would keep on giving. He witnessed six GILLAN albums being recorded of which only two were moderately successful in one single market. Did he really think touring clubs and small halls in, say, Germany, generally a happy hunting ground for anything related to Purple, was evidence for the band advancing to becoming a major act while a band like Judas Priest were touring stadiums in the US as openers for KISS on the latter’s Dynasty Tour?
And did he expect this to last forever? It is ironic that John holds against Ian that the latter cut his losses and in 1983 decided to become an employee of the Black Sabbath organization rather than continue to hold a share in a failed business venture, something John should have perhaps considered a tad bit earlier for himself as well.
I don’t doubt for a minute that as GILLAN’s financial situation became more and more untenable, transparency from Ian (himself not a likely recipient for a Nobel Prize in economics or he would have perhaps thought twice about Ritchie’s offer to join Rainbow a few years earlier) wasn’t great and a few white lies were told, after all its highly embarrassing if you can no longer support something to the extent you used to (and people have grown to expect from you). But this pet conspiracy theory of John that Ian secretively purloined proceeds from the band’s operations via shadowy accounting is bullshit. If GILLAN was so great in making money (from where doing what?), why oh why disband it and become an employee of Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler? It makes no sense.
July 9th, 2025 at 14:30basta Mc Coy ya cansas,,,,te crees q ibas a tener la mediocre carrera q tuviste si no hubieras tocado en Gillan? Agradecé q te conocemos x eso,,,fin
July 9th, 2025 at 15:30@4
Thank you Chas, and then I forgot all about Ian’s fun year with BS!
I guess this is a good reminder to us all about saying goodbye gently..
July 9th, 2025 at 15:51John ripped off fans with his truly awful, scrape the bottom of the barrel Gillan releases, so I don’t think he’s in a position to preach. Ian went bankrupt, lost his house, everything running that band. John was also known for using his fists, punching Ian’s manager Phil Banfield, so Ian was never going to continue working with him if the band continued. Without Ian, John might have been yet another obscure musician, not ever achieving any recognition. Ian has always been somewhat naive about financial matters, but I find it difficult to believe that he knowingly ripped off the rest of the band. It’s been nearly 43 years John, please just stop whinging.
July 9th, 2025 at 17:51