![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/glover3.jpg)
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Rarely trod the conventional path
Louder Sound has a recent (conducted in November 2024) interview with Ian Gillan about his Gillan the band years. Big Ian seems frank, not avoiding unpleasant topics, and does not mince words much.
Gillan the band’s forerunners the Ian Gillan Band had come to an end when keyboard player Colin Towns brought in a song called Fighting Man that was ridiculed by the rest of the group.
The end of the Ian Gillan Band had been coming. Things weren’t right, but it was so difficult because I was working with my heroes. I idolised Gus [bassist Johnny Gustafson, ex-The Merseybeats, Roxy Music] for being so talented. We needed to get back on track, but Ray Fenwick [guitar] and Mark Nauseef [drums] were happy with that jazzier type of rock, though I wanted to play rock’n’roll. Fighting Man was a catalyst. It was a simple song but it had a certain profundity, and when those two took the mickey out of it, that was it for me.
So you sacked yourself from your own band?
Yeah. I just left.
In forming Gillan, Colin Towns had to be there.
Colin was pivotal to it all. Rock’n’roll is good, but you also need a simple platform for virtuosity to shine. Colin kept that gravitas. He added texture and dynamics along with all of those musical elements.
Bernie Tormé was such a great guitarist.
Exactly. We had five guys that played equally well but Bernie was the one that stood out. I had spotted him some time earlier. He was amazing, and I marked him down for the future.
Shaven-headed man-mountain bassist John McCoy was almost a cartoonish character.
John was great. He made a big impact, just what we needed. He offset Bernie on the other side [of the stage].
Continue reading in Louder Sound.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
The venerable righteous Lord MacGregor dug this out first: @9 in the appropriately titled Honeysuckle thread, see there also for comments. No doubt his hand was guided/forced by the Wicked Witch of West Jylland (which musical buffs will know was actually a very nice and caring person).
https://youtu.be/4qfS4MsnDEc
But it‘s an interview of revelatory nature indeed.
March 11th, 2025 at 02:48The venerable righteous Lord MacGregor dug this out first: @9 in the appropriately titled Honeysuckle thread, see there also for comments. No doubt his hand was guided/forced by the Wicked Witch of West Jylland (who musical buffs will know was actually a very nice and caring person).
https://youtu.be/4qfS4MsnDEc
But it‘s an interview of revelatory nature indeed.
March 11th, 2025 at 02:49Most revealing interview he’s done on the subject. More so than his book.
March 11th, 2025 at 06:43This interview is a very interesting read!
I have read several times in here, that Ian remakes history as it fits in his narrative!
I don’t know about that, I guess journalists can colour their articles if the interviews aren’t word to word like this.
But this:
“Here’s a random memory: on the Magic tour in 1982, McCoy learned over the barrier to slap an astonished audience member in the front row who had dared to boo his bass solo.
I don’t know about that incident. But I did learn that John was prone to violence, and I had to put a stop to that.”
– made me sad 😞
I hadn’t seen John like that, not at all. And how did John McC make trouble for Phil B? (Was it the money-question all over again?)
But very exciting to learn that Gillan’s first songs were released in Japan only! I wasn’t aware of that, but it makes sense because I heard Gillan (the band) from friends who actually had lived in Japan in that period of time. (I guess I spread the news about this magnificent band 😇 in Denmark) (noooo I did not 🤣) (well I did my best ☺️😉)
Very nice to read (again) that Ian and Blackmore actually did talk, apparently on friendly terms! Even though there ‘were things that we disagreed on’!
And then ‘to me, rock’n’roll..is about an attitude’ – that’s true! Then let other people decide the definitions!
‘Categories are irrelevant to me’ – EXACTLY !
I wonder what the ‘I’m not quite so sure about Spandauer Ballet’ is all about?
Do any of you gentlemen in here know the story behind that?
And then I find it very amusing that Ian acknowledges only ONE (1!) song being about Ritchie!!!
Well, he wrote the lyrics, he should know who he wrote it about !
Thanks for the link to the interview 💜
Sadly I haven’t received the box-set yet.
March 11th, 2025 at 06:45On FB lots of people are happily sharing their thoughts about the box-set they have received 😊☺️
Can I bribe anyone?! 🙃
@4 Check the ‘Japanese Album’ by Gillan if you haven’t done it yet. It is like a beta version of ‘Mr. Universe’ of sorts, yet in many respects is superior to it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1be4EzIgUA&pp=ygUVZ2lsbGFuIGphcGFuZXNlIGFsYnVt
Speaking of John McCoy, Ian has some really harsh words for him. If it is about money, I’m with Ian’s former bandmates rather than with him, though. Ian might have proven his point in court or so he says, but for John, Bernie, Mick and Colin it still hurt a lot. I can imagine what it was like being in a Top 5 UK band and yet living hand to mouth, literally.
Violence is another matter. Violence, consumption of illegal substances and molestation of minors have been all parts of rock’n’roll lifestyle (some still are). Some musicians would have been locked up forever had they done these days something they did back in the 1970-80s.
March 11th, 2025 at 08:02Karin – the only connection I can think of is that Spandau Ballet had a dig at Rainbow with their song, True. The line in question was: “Listening to more than All Night Long”. In the song’s video, a rainbow passes across the faces of band members to coincide with the reference.
Mind you, that’s something that would have resonated more with Blackmore than Gillan.
March 11th, 2025 at 10:52nice interview. I love Gillan’s style ♡
March 11th, 2025 at 13:36It’s RnR!!
@6
Thanks Chas 😊 I had no idea!
And then I will apologise for me fiddling with the name!
Indeed it is Spandau Ballet, and not as I wrote ‘Spandauer Ballet’, as a Spandauer is a very yummy and very fattening danish pastry 😄
But you know, What the heart is full of runs over the mouth 🤩
I do love though that Ian was rather friendly with Boy George ☺️
March 11th, 2025 at 13:52@5
Georgivs, sadly I don’t know the details but if we look at Ian as most of the people he has worked with do – and did, I really don’t think Ian was to blame.
I’m not biased here, just looking at both sides.
All other people (MAAAAAYBE except RB 😉) have nothing but praise for our troubadour!
And I really can’t see Ian would steal money from his band mates!
In his autobiography there is explained how he willingly lend money and gave money to people.
March 11th, 2025 at 13:59IF he was so cunning to keep all the surplus for himself, he would have shown that character flaw much earlier.
@1 and 2
“the Wicked Witch of West Jylland (who musical buffs will know was actually a very nice and caring person).”
Ohhh, this can’t be me 😃
Because:
1) I live in Jylland, yes, but on the east coast (north of Randers to be precise)
2) “was” – sadly for you I’m still alive (and kicking someone 😄)
3) ‘a very nice and caring person’, well we all know that is not how you see me! My mum did, Renè does, so do Anton (he loves me because I feed him every day) (same goes for René I guess 🧐)
So, a conclusion:
Who is the Wicked Witch of West Jylland? I would love to meet her 😍
March 11th, 2025 at 14:05interview that once again highlights Ian’s love/hate relationship with former Gillan band members who turned against him.
It’s also stupid to ask him if he can ever forgive them, regardless of who is right, when you end up in court, afterwards you hardly forgive the other person.
It is clear that Ian will take the hatchet (the one he used with Ritchie and then with the Gillans) to the grave.
about Culture Club I have always considered them brilliant, excellent musicians, excellent arrangements and harmonies.
about his idol Cliff Bennett I had read this story by Ian:
March 11th, 2025 at 14:10“I had this idea in my head that if I had the same instruments as my idols I would sing just like them. Guitarists often have this problem too, I don’t know if you’ve noticed. Anyway, my idol as a singer at the time was a guy called Cliff Bennett, a very, very good singer. So I got it into my head that if I could get the same microphone as Cliff Bennett I could sing as good as him. I found out his address and went to his door one Saturday morning. His wife answered the door and told me to go fuck myself, but in a much less polite way. I explained to her that I had taken a very long bus ride to come to their house and then Cliff himself arrived. I asked him if he had any old microphones that he didn’t need any more and he said he had heard of me. So he got out all his old instruments, microphones, cables, amplifiers. He filled three boxes with them and I gave him £8. Now I had three big boxes to load onto the bus. It took me forever to get them home – and I’ve certainly never sung like Cliff Bennett! But it came full circle because I got Cliff Bennett to sing on Can I Get a Witness. For me, that was incredible.”
He didn’t actually hit anyone but I remember seeing IGB in a very small venue and after someone at the front opened a can of drink, some of which must have sprayed onto the stage, McCoy went backstage, took a swig of drink and came back to the front of the stage and spat it over the audience – I suppose in the direction of the original ‘offender’ but I doubt he was they only one to suffer.
March 11th, 2025 at 15:18Incidentally, I’ve had tinnitus ever since that gig – the volume was absolutely phenomenal!
DID
SPANDAU BALLET
REALLY
MOCK
RAINBOW?
[w a r n i n g: myth buster supreme UH taketh no prisoners…]
As I am typing here while listening to Gary Kemp’s (erstwhile Spandau Ballet songwriter and guitarist, currently musical director of Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets) recent very pleasant solo album,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFSyudAkSy0
I feel honor-bound to defend the man:
“True” is a love song about trying to write a love song to someone you have a crush on, but you don’t really know her much nor does she know that you have a crush on her. The female in question was Fräulein Clare Grogan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vAiESu5wrA
The incriminating line Detective Chas Malkin 🕵️♂️, Department of DP Counter-Insurgency, has dug out is:
“Listening to Marvin (all night long)
[which Detective Malkin has forgivably misheard in his commendable investigative zest beyond the call of duty as “listening to more than All Night Long” 🤣]
This is the sound of my soul
This is the sound
Always slipping from my hands
Sand’s a time of its own”
“Marvin”, in case you wonder, is the “Marvin” they also sing about here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrkEDe6Ljqs
The one who was shot by his father and is generally regarded – not only by David Coverdale, who is a fan of his – as one of the greatest love & making out songwriters ever:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vAiESu5wrA
A hero of Gary Kemp too who has a penchant for soul as most people who have ever heard Spandau Ballet have probably guessed. All he did “all night long” was listen to Marvin/’more than’ Gaye to gain some inspiration for writing the song for Clare!
Gary doesn’t have an anti-Gillan or anti-Ritchie fiber in his body, in 2020 he stated:
“Live albums were such a key part of my 70s rock collection – whether it was Humble Pie’s Rockin’ the Fillmore, Bowie’s David Live, Deep Purple’s Made in Japan or Frampton Comes Alive. Th hear the interaction between band, music and crowd was always thrilling.”
The man has (together with Guy Pratt in their podcast “Rockonteurs”) repeatedly interviewed DP family luminaries such as GH, DC & Bernie Marsden, asking knowledgeable questions. Check out those great podcasts on YT.
Not that the inanity of Rainbow’s “All Night Long” did not deserve all the ridicule it could get, but when SB’s True was released in spring 1983, Rainbow’s unromantic, unerotic and mindless bonking song was more than three years old, thankfully forgotten (if hardly forgiven, at least not by me).
Why Ian Gillan should have issues with Spandau Ballet -superficialties like they were smart dressers and spawned haircuts?
https://lastfm.freetls.fastly.net/i/u/ar0/de10d2990cd72cd002130da33c67afaa.jpg –
I don’t know, er erzählt viel, wenn der Tag lang ist, they certainly can’t be of musical nature as this stark naked (for once not Ian!) unplugged performance shows:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mRV4yA9xKk
Gary’s version (he wrote that number too):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsaW5LlwHpM
**************************************************************************
[Internal administrative memo of the Department of DP Counter-Insurgency dated March 11, 2025:
“While public outrage about this incident eventually dies down (as it most certainly will), it is herewith recommended to second Detective Malkin, his salary and promotional prospects within the Department otherwise unaffected, to back office duties/Innendienst – archives? – for a while to keep him out of the limelight. To be reviewed within six months.”
Signed: Bureau of Internal Affairs]
March 11th, 2025 at 17:02The line is actually,”Listening to Marvin(all night long). Marvin being Marvin Gaye. Great soul singer.
March 11th, 2025 at 19:49Who knows what went down between band members and management. Ironic though because ten years earlier didn’t Ian Gillian get shafted by DP management when he went to ask for some money to buy new shoes, something along those lines wasn’t it. The arrogant and angry reply from management, ‘I knew you would be trouble Gillan’. That story is according to Ian Gillan and as we all know there are two sides to every story. Ten years later and how things have changed. It is a fine line with what we read of management and or agent issues with rock musicians. Gillan apparently or ‘allegedly’ supported the band financially as he was the cashed up individual and of course it was his band. Royalties can also come into it but who knows what was written down on paper in those arrangements. Gillan will ‘protect’ the manager as the manager will also ‘protect’ him, as much as possible. McCoy was involved and listed as a co songwriter on certain songs, quite a lot from my memory. Same with Colin Towns, even more so and he came over with Ian Gillan from the IGB. Were they receiving anything at all? Time to get the popcorn out again. Regarding the Uriah Heep scenario Uwe, a similar scenario there me thinks by the mid to late 70’s. Their manager was taking 50% from what I read. Hensley would have been getting extra for royalties and rightly so. It also depends on who is paying for all the flights and accommodation etc while touring and recording studios. Is that coming from the management or a part of what is left for the band members? Someone has to pay for all this. However some of the other members of UH did waste a lot of theirs being silly hedonists from what we have read. If someone else still has some left over to flaunt, the old jealously and resentment emotion rides to the fore. Images I have seen of David Byron flaunting his debonair ways are another example I think of. Nothing wrong with that if he was doing ok and liked to show off a little, many ‘rock stars’ do that. Some band members just waste their opportunities in certain instances. Some keep their heads on their shoulders a little more. Some others sign their life away and get burned far too much. Cheers.
March 11th, 2025 at 21:45The Spandau Ballet comment I would think would be a comparison, meaning we are not anything like that. Nothing more and nothing less. Many artists say things like that. Most just say it as a, ‘well, we were definitely not like ……’ That reminds me of the Bachman Turner Overdrive ‘Not Fragile’ album name. Apparently when prompted in an interview of sorts about their new album, they said it as a response to say ‘well, it is definitely Not Fragile, the successful Yes album of that name. The complete opposite. Cheers.
https://www.loudersound.com/reviews/bachman-turner-overdrive-not-fragile-album-of-the-week-club-review
March 11th, 2025 at 23:54I’m rushing to the defense of my bass brethren, you don’t boo a bass solo like that:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIrVT-9lw-M
Harder slaps for lesser causes have been given.
March 12th, 2025 at 01:58I think that the Ian Gillan Band is a fascinating case study in how talent alone doesn’t guarantee success in music. The band was composed of top-tier musicians: Mark Nauseef, John Gustafson, and Ray Fenwick. The band apparently had all the ingredients for greatness. Yet, the jazz-rock fusion failed to resonate with fans. This was a mismatch! Sometimes less is more; staying true to the artistic core that gels.
March 12th, 2025 at 02:16gillan offers Blackmore a cup of tea
https://youtu.be/scbcQYlIihY?si=cHXQ5oOrm9ZpP2ik
March 12th, 2025 at 06:13Thanks Uwe for the induction into the House of Lord’s, much appreciated. I have to ask, does that entitle me to any special privileges, access to the secret mens club, the opportunity of using the secret handshake etc etc. Maybe I should just become a politician and be done with it. Even if it only lasts as long as this Ian Gillan segment, it is better than nothing at all. Come to think of it, THS is a bit like the House of Lord’s isn’t it? Many different people gathering to debate, argue, discuss and carry on with all sorts of different comments. Venting their frustrations, being biased, raising hell at times, getting booed and hissed at, receiving applause at times with added cheering from the gallery. People throwing things at each other etc, etc. Maybe there are quite a few here that could become budding politicians, interesting times do lay ahead. Could Ian Gillan become a politician, it is never too late it seems, looking around the world at present situations. He is only 79, a little similar in age to Donald. Cheers.
March 12th, 2025 at 07:42Yeah 😍😍
Got my box-set today!
With Ian’s signature and everything 🤩
Have a lovely day everybody 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗
March 12th, 2025 at 08:36@6 Chas, I think you’ll find the actual lyric is “listening to Marvin all night long”. So, a reference to Marvin Gaye rather than Rainbow.
March 12th, 2025 at 09:36@6 I think you’ll find the lyric is “Listening to Marvin All Night Long” – Marvin Gaye presumably.
March 12th, 2025 at 11:05Members of the rock band Riblja Čorba (Fish Soup) one of the 3-4 best of all time RnR band in Yugoslavia (John McCoy produced three of their best albums released in 1981, 1982, 1985, the three albums sold about a million copies, which is fantastic for the then market of 24 million inhabitants.) say that John was an honest professional, and as a man, the Good-Natured Grizzlies .. they got a trusted friend for life in him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYQunoYQUO8
John was probably hurt by the breakup of the band and money was at stake. When John replaced John Gustafson in the Ian Gillan Band, he was the most persistent in persuading Big Ian to return from jazz rock fusion, back to Rock and Roll. He felt cheated, just like Mick.
March 12th, 2025 at 11:34Interestingly, Gillan, Rainbow, Whitesnake .. after excellent albums and then the biggest global hits “New Orleans, “Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll” ,”Here I Go Again” .. were left without important creators of sound, bands .. Bernie Tormé , Ronnie James Dio, Bernie Marsden. While Ritchie and Coverdale found solutions in AOR and glam -hair metal rock .. Gillan continued briefly and Big Ian found salvation by joining Black Sabbath. To me as a DP fan, 1983 yers sounded like a betrayal. As if Kenny Dalglish from Liverpool had moved to Arsenal or MU .. or Kevin McHale had gone to LA, to Lakers. 🙂
1984 came quickly and great news
Gillan with Blackmore 1978
March 12th, 2025 at 12:42https://youtu.be/DBlS7sh9QiA?si=-SDA52EjYUp_smsV
@5. I’m sure the source of the discontent was money. JM has often said (and I’m paraphrasing) “we had a number one album but we weren’t making any money” but if you read Richard Branson’s autobiography he says something like “I went into the Virgin records office and told them that even though we had a top 10 album it only sold 65,000 copies so we haven’t made any money” again I’m paraphrasing but if my memory serves me right he was talking about Future Shock. In others words Gillan were successful, but only really in the UK and even then weren’t making much money.
March 12th, 2025 at 16:27@24 You say Corba, I say Majke! Go Bare!
March 12th, 2025 at 18:29Correction of the Bureau of Internal Affairs of the Department of DP Counter-Insurgency @13:
Gary Kemp did not have a crush on Marvin Gaye (he just liked his music), he had it on Clare Grogan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfqPJp7Q7qE
***************************************************************************
“I’m not biased here, just looking at both sides.”
Of course you aren’t, Karin, who would dare assume such a thing?
😇G😇I😇L😇L😇A😇N😇
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/jesuschristsuperstar/images/5/5d/IanGillanJCSPromoAd.jpeg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/250?cb=20220217184013
You are the source of mercilessly neutral, yet fair reporting on Ian here!
But as we all know: devotion is free, facts are sacred.
That said, I don’t believe that Ian cheated the members of GILLAN either, rather he gravely mismanaged expectations. That Tormé and McCoy assumed that the (laughable) scarcity of two silver albums in the UK only (meaning sales of 50.000 each only, in Germany a silver disc would have required 125.000 sales) would pay them handsomely shows a total absence of record sales economic understanding. Likewise sold out club and small hall tours in the UK circuit don’t earn you any money, not if you’re touring like GILLAN did.
But no member of GILLAN had previously been with a band that actually saw any money, joining up with an ex-DP millionaire raised expectations with them. I believe Ian and his manager Phil Banfield were simply intransparent about how much brisk business GILLAN would need to do to even break even.
Ian treated GILLAN like an expensive hobby – he could afford to do that (for a while at least), the others could not -, and his decisions (not recording in state-of-the-art studios to which his own Kingsway Recorders did not belong anymore, not wanting to pay good outside producers, not touring America, too vain to be an opening act for other bands on tours) exacerbated the situation.
I actually even believe that for a time he basically financed/subsidized GILLAN as a venture (neither Dio era Rainbow nor pre-1987 Whitesnake made net profits for either Ritchie or DC, and both bands were infinitely more commercially successful than cottage industry GILLAN) until even his money from Purple royalties ran out. He then did a knee jerk reaction – perhaps being disappointed at how the others reacted – and jettisoned the whole band to “look the other way” and – finally – “make hay” with Sabbath.
I have yet to read from Towns, Tormé, Gers, McCoy or Underwood a single word that Ian and Phil handled the finances well and/or were transparent on why they disbanded GILLAN in late 1982. And Ian has a tendency to skip the subject or make light of it: When asked by Martin Popoff (a GILLAN fan) only recently whether it wasn’t time for a GILLAN biography he (Martin) would like to write (with everyone involved), Ian was immediately dismissive of the idea and said he would in no way cooperate. Martin took that as a clear indication that even after all these years Ian doesn’t want too much light shed on GILLAN’s demise – too hurtful, long memory etc.
March 12th, 2025 at 20:26@ 9 – Karin it is a business and anything goes. Who knows what the finer details were in their business arrangements. It happens unfortunately, anywhere at anytime when there is the filthy lucre involved. Cheers.
March 12th, 2025 at 20:56@28
Ok, I’m laughing myself in an early grave here 🤣😆🤣😆🤣😆🤣😆
(And again: thanks for the extra trimming of my stomach muscles 😆)
HOW COME sweetie when ever I am pro Ian (no matter the subject) then automatically I’m a worshipper of the altar of Ian?
But when you agree, like this:
“That said, I don’t believe that Ian cheated the members of GILLAN either”, then everything is calm and collected and you are not a stupid devoted (oh how did you put it?.?) well I forgot your name calling but it wasn’t nice 😁😂
Can’t you see we are actually on the same side?!
Remember the name of this place, the Highway Star, and I know it’s a wild guess, but I do believe this site is named after a song co-written by Ian!
So – why is it that I’m degraded to groupie material every single time I very silently say something in favour of Ian?
I don’t know Ian privately, do you?
Do you know every single thought or notion he had concerning Gillan?
Because you do act as if you are his twin brother (please ignore the age diff ☺️😉) and you have this weird connection only twins have, where you share thoughts, though far apart!
And if that is what is going on, then you have my sincerest apologies because then you certainly are very well informed, and actually you ought to write his next autobiography! (I don’t doubt for a sec that an autobiography written by you would be extremely accurate and of course a bestseller!😌)
When I very cautious air my thoughts and theories, then I’m just suggesting some viewpoints! Never stating facts!
In @17 I read you sanctioned John McC’s action against someone who booed at his solo – I presume you were making a joke?! But am I allowed to call you the same nicknames as you call me?
I do wonder how you would react had I been against Ian, his marvellous voice and had I thrown garbage at everything he has done, and instead have praised the vocalist of Whitesnake!
March 12th, 2025 at 23:24Would you then have acknowledged me?
@29
March 12th, 2025 at 23:26Yes MacGregor, exactly 😊
Who do indeed know all the details (except Uwe 😄)
Let’s do some math children:
Silver record in the UK in the early 80s = 50.000 sales/items shipped. Let’s assume they sold for 5 quid each (rather high) = 250.000 quid. If GILLAN had an extremely favorable record deal with Virgin for themselves (I doubt it), then they had a gross share in that turnover of 1/5 or 20% (more likely they had something like 10%), i.e. we’re back to 50.000 quid. Now we have five members, let’s assume it was a fair five-way split among them (unlikely, writers get more, but still): that is 10.000 quid for each one of them from sales of an album in a, say, 12 month period = 834 quid for each one of them per month. Not exactly stinking filthy rich I’d say, even in 1980/81.
However those less than 834 quid per month were gross, not net, which means:
– no deductions by the record company for pre-recording loans for studio time and affiliated costs have yet been made,
– not a single person from their touring, promotion and management entourage has yet been paid,
– no UK tax has been deducted.
So Bernie Tormé and John McCoy believing that they must be making good money because Glory Road or Future Shock went silver is simply delusional and bad math (something musicians are prone to be/do). They could have made a better living selling hot dogs in Hyde Park in the summer. Truth is that most touring musicians have a very poor grasp of everyday life costs: While on tour, everything is taken care of for them: travel, food, lodging & they even get a small allowance to spend freely. However, all that costs and someone is paying for it – there is no free lunch.
Economics of scale: GILLAN – except in the Kingdom of Denmark, where they would have needed something like 5.000 to 10.000 sales for a silver disc which they never achieved even there – never operated in realms that could have made them profitable. That is what you get for not putting in the hard work to fill sports stadiums in the US and if it means opening for Foghat or REO.
A comparison: Dire Straits’ Brothers in Arms (the album) sold something like close to 4 million copies (CD, tape & vinyl) just in the 80s in the UK alone (!), that’s 80x as much.
Perhaps, if Ian and his manager Phil Banfield would have taken an afternoon off to explain this to the other band members they’d be still on talking terms with them today, just sayin’. 😑
It also explains why GILLAN consisted of no-name musicians only – with the exception of IG. No musician having seen considerable commercial success before would have been affordable for Ian as an employee or, alternatively, accepted a profit & cost-sharing deal in an unknown entity without a record deal.
March 12th, 2025 at 23:44@32 Dear Uwe, music is business and I get the business logic. Per the same logic:
1) Bernie states he was paid 30 quid a week and then it went up to 45 per week. That makes 1,560 to 2,340 per annum per person. Not a lot.
https://www.loudersound.com/news/bernie-torme-s-debt-to-ian-gillan
2) The royalties data are unknown but it would be reasonable to assume the musicians could claim some of it as performers and songwriters. Most likely, there were issues with the payments.
3) Ian and Phil may have been completely honest about the situation but they did not convey the right message to their employees.
My simple conclusion would be: it was Ian’s enterprise to bankroll and it was his duty to pay whatever he owed his employees. If he failed to do that, it was his fault. It was his business model that was not bringing profit and the resulting debt was on him, not on them. Then, if they were duly paid as agreed but had unrealistic expectations, Ian had something to do with it, too. He didn’t manage the expectations and he wasn’t being transparent, which would be a good business practice.
As I was typing this, I recalled my Tormé moment. I was working for a IT company on the conditions of a modest basic salary and result based bonuses. The latter were paid with much delay. I got so fed up one day that I just stood up from my desk and walked out the door without telling the boss. I returned in a few weeks only to pick my papers and settle the phone bill, which I incurred on them talking to my then gf. Like Bernie, I should have arranged it differently, but walking out was ultimately the right thing to do.
March 13th, 2025 at 07:57Liebe Karin,
I’ve been following Big Ian’s life for the last 50 years or so. During that time, I saw, heard or read no indications that he was a mean or ruthless man. But I also learned that Big Ian has very little business savvy – he has repeatedly admitted so himself (and pointed to Little Ian as being on the other side of the spectrum, with a certain amount of grudging admiration). Ian’s business and career decisions were generally bad, I could not detect a sensible master plan with either IGB or GILLAN to really achieve anything close to what his status as the former singer and front man of DP warranted. Whenever he’s outside of Purple, his career dips to cottage industry levels and quality control on his – often charming -solo output is wobbly at best: Frankly, I do not see why someone like him would have to record an album with only a cheapskate synth bass emulating (badly) a real bass (Naked Thunder) or using drum machines (Dreamcatcher). That is something you generally should have left behind you (unless for demoing a song) if you come from the DP stable, unless the music absolutely demands it (which wasn’t the case on either of those releases, IG was not daringly moving into synth pop).
Like you, I generally like IG’s demeanor, poise and witty outlook on life. I consider him the best lyricist of all DP line-ups, he’s idiosyncratic in creating melodies (and sometimes also very lazy when he simply sang Blackmore riffs in unison). But that doesn’t mean that Rod Evans, David Coverdale, Glenn Hughes and Joe Lynn Turner (the last three generally avoiding to sing Blackmore riffs in unison) were shite as singers.
Your comments about DC otoh …
[a man I poke fun at a lot and who has treated people in questionable ways – Mel Galley – plus wears a larger than life public face obscuring what is behind, yet who seldom made outright dumb career moves and is the only ex-DP with a really noteworthy solo career that at one point at least really achieved, if not eclipsed the mothership’s status]
… are very often dismissive (to the point of being insulting) and not really backed up by knowledge of the man’s career, background or music. When DC curates his past work in expansive fashion it’s bad for you and a reason for ridicule/contempt, when IG is sloppy in liner notes of re-released albums, ignores past work completely (IGB) or disowns it (Black Sabbath) plus releases solo albums beneath his stature in sonic quality it’s miraculously all ok and sacrosanct.
Ian is also not the most coherent holder of views. He character-assassinated a former manager of his in Money Lender (on IGB’s CAT) only to regret it as misguided years later. Out of a whimsical, contrarian stance (inter alia based on the Boris Johnson invention/lie of the EU implementing rules and regulations on the curvature of a banana, nothing of the sort ever existed) he was for BREXIT (a man who, mind you, became wealthy touring the world and spends most of his time in Portugal) and now regrets it seeing what it does to smaller UK bands wishing to tour the continent – duh! Now that was unexpected, he couldn’t have known, not him with 60 years of international touring experience. 😑
You – and anybody else here – can of course call me as many names as you like. I can take as good (or even better) as I give and thoroughly enjoy a good spat about pretty much anything, playful mocking and jabs included. Exchange of argument is enlightenment and the elexir of intellectual life. And I find people who take themselves serious all the time quite hilarious. But even in criticism of an artist/artists I attempt to be evenhanded, Led Zeppelin should feel indebted. I find it difficult to describe your approach to DC or RJD evenhanded.
For the avoidance of doubt, sigh: I do not condone physical violence against people who dislike bass solos, even though that is really stretching the freedom of speech/expression aspect if you ask me!!! 😂
That said, I’ve been in physical altercations in rehearsal rooms myself, emotions can flare.
***************************************************************************
Georgivs, I don’t really disagree with anything you wrote @33. I believe that Ian was in over his head with GILLAN. Given his status as an ex-DP member and where the other guys came from, he of course bore a special responsibility for the band which bore his name (unless you hold Ayn Rand’ish libertarian views). And doing a five-way-split “from anything that is left over” doesn’t really work seamlessly if one guy has considerable income from other sources and the others don’t, that was asking for trouble. With Rainbow you at least knew you were an employee – Bob Daisley could rely on the fact that Bruce Payne would put a cheque in his hands month for month, no matter how well Rainbow were doing commercially (and in 1977/78 Rainbow were not doing well at all and eating into Ritchie’s wealth from DP) as could Jon Lord in Whitesnake. So you could argue that the GILLAN financial arrangement was make-believe right from the start and obscured the real power structures within the band. That isn’t fraud, but it’s inept and shunning financial responsibility to a degree.
I can pretty much imagine how things went with GILLAN: Big Ian probably pumped money into the band initially on a loan basis. Then when some money was made, he likely wanted some of those loans repaid without communicating that fact too much, let’s not rock the boat when the other guys are skint – such loan repayments eating into what could be distributed to the others who had either conveniently forgotten or not known (transparency!) about Ian’s prior investment or about the fact how they had bought into the “we share all profits AND (!) costs”-scheme early on. Ritchie Blackmore, somewhat more financially astute than Ian, would have probably quipped: “I could have told Ian how that wouldn’t work!” 😈
March 13th, 2025 at 11:04“Who does indeed know all the details (except Uwe 😄)”
Uwe doesn’t know all the details either, but after 35 years as a lawyer regularly confronted with business deals that went awry due to varying expectations of the parties involved and lack of transparency is in somewhat of a position to make reasonable assumptions. In some ways, being a partner in a law firm is not that much different from being a member in a successful band.
I’ve seen perfectly healthy businesses go under because the two main shareholders preferred to butt heads, each one thinking he/she was more vital than the other to the success of the company. And then it all ending with each one having to him-/herself less than what they would have each had with 50% of the proceeds of the original venture. Similarities to Ritchie’s repeated attempts to break free from Deep Purple and eclipse their success are coincidental of course.
People tend to be surprisingly alike across the board.
March 13th, 2025 at 12:2227@
Yeees
Majke & Goran Bare (rocker-poet) Croatian national value
Be proud
High, high
Above you and me
There is hope
Towards us
Wants to go
Both you and I feel sadness
From our tears
We make a rainbow
We hold in our hands
A part of hell, a part of heaven
We don’t want eternity
We want it until the end
Be proud
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_VogcqO5BI
March 13th, 2025 at 13:51Sorry I start from the rear end ☺️
@35
“I’ve seen perfectly healthy businesses go under because the two main shareholders preferred to butt heads, each one thinking he/she was more vital than the other to the success of the company.”
I get that Uwe! And I also believe that Ian himself has stated as a fact, that his head is not made for economics!
He is an artist (and a pretty good one!) and most artists don’t have a grasp of economics!
But of course one can expect a manager to take control.
Btw: how much control does a typical manager have?
“Uwe doesn’t know all the details either,” – ohhh yes you do! 😍
Don’t sell yourself short here ☺️
In the midst of this longer post, I hope most of the readers in here have fallen asleep, so I use this opportunity to reveal a very serious situation here:
Today, I had 30 minutes getting ready (you know hair, makeup etc), and as always I listen to music.
I thought to myself that I ought to give DC a fair shot, so I fired up René’s VERY potent loudspeakers in the livingroom, (the walls was shivering 😂) and played YouTube, you know the tunes I have heard lately in random orders.
I have listened to DC’s “is this love”, the link you send, so I knew it would come at any moment.
And it did!
And I listened!
And because I was some rooms away from the music (normally I listen to all the links I’m presented in my ear-thingies or my very good over-ear-headphones, where every little detail is blown out of proportion 😄)(and that’s ok when Ian is singing, because as you know he is singing like a beautiful dream 😍) I have to admit (willingly, not forced in any way) that DC does have a pretty decent voice! (And Uwe, if you use this against me, I’ll never talk to you again 😄) ( and if you think that is a win-win situation, well that’s ok, but I will feel a bit hurt!) ( I really will 🥺)
And then it dawned on me why he has been so popular! – or still is!
I do have to say though that too close up (in my ears) his breathing is sounding dangerous, but listening like I did this morning, I was merely surprised!
(Did they really put him on slimming pils? And he was cross eyed? Well in my book that would have been rather charming! ☺️)
So there it is! 😊☺️ (please be gentle with me, I do actually show some vulnerability here!)
And of course I agree with you regarding Ian’s personality! And he is indeed the very best lyricist!
Is DC writing any lyrics? Himself I mean! Compared to other Purple songs, DC’s lyrics is more ordinary, touching and heartwarming yes, but Ian and Roger have been really good at pinpointing the absurdities in life 😄
“You – and anybody else here – can of course call me as many names as you like.” Ok, do you have other names than Uwe? Well I keep on calling you Uwe!
“I’ve been following Big Ian’s life for the last 50 years or so.” That’s impressive! I have known about our troubadour and his backing band (sorry that was not nice 😁) in many years too, but I have to admit it has been for the music alone, no hot details came my way!
As I’ve told you before, in Denmark there wasn’t any music magazines, so I ordered Bravo! And we had one (1) channel on the TV when I grew up, and even though I loved Purple with all my heart, somehow DR (the Danish radio- and television monopoly (when I was in my teens, finally another TV station came along) didn’t favourise music like Purple.
“During that time, I saw, heard or read no indications that he was a mean or ruthless man.” – anyone who have read his autobiography may agree! I do!
I do also believe (maybe very naïve) that a person who has this effect on other people, can’t be a bad person!
He is charming and seem so incredible friendly, i.e he meets up with fans, not those who have paid a lot of money to meet&greet the band, but those he randomly meets! That is nice, don’t you think?
In Denmark, which you know is a minuscule country, some bands act like full blown divas! (Not naming anyone, but I can assure you DAD are not amongst them 😄) but a world famous singer like Ian is reaching out to the ‘ordinary’ people.
Maybe you have detected I am not a royalist,I simply can’t wrap my head around anyone should have so many privileges just because he/she is born into the right family!
Just like that, I have a hard time dealing with divas of any sex, so Ian does strike me as an ok bloke!
“For the avoidance of doubt, sigh: I do not condone physical violence against people who dislike bass solos, “ – phew!
“plus wears a larger than life public face “ – what does ‘larger than life’ mean?
“using drum machines (Dreamcatcher)” – ohh no he did?
Well there you have my ability to interpret music (or rather the lack of it) I had no idea!
I love several songs on Dreamcatcher 😃
Thank you for the very interesting post! 🤗
March 13th, 2025 at 16:09I watched Ian Gillan play football in Thatcham.
March 13th, 2025 at 17:37Liebste Karin:
– Yes, DC was overweight when he joined DP (he battled with that during his Purple years, he was never skinny like, say, Blackmore, and his hair metal physique of the 80s
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/proxy/_gG-Jxv_UkY614AcL1CLXM_E2b3NgfffRrIIJMTsVBxskaVYeEMb0gRAkPoes-X6omPTKkQd5Y6AaW4nzK92xxIZ40NrvzmSZPbZCHLxeqtJV3CVh56eFWiYy1isO33Zst328oZ0n-5ugHdvqgWVHBBxRLdVV0qA2wY
was the hard-earned product of many hours in the gym daily plus lots of tanning and peroxide), had crossed eyes and a poor complexion with acne issues to boot (“from eating too much fish & chips”, as the Purple management riled, alluding to David growing up in a family that had a working men’s club/pub in Northern England). Actually, his initial lack of handsomeness
https://deeppurplepodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/govt-onstage.jpg
(yup, that’s him in the middle with pencil mustache, would you have hung him against the wall in your bedroom as an – I assume -innocent teenage girl?)
was the Purple management’s greatest concern when he joined, Ian Gillan having had the image of a beautiful man with JCS allure which always helps. Early teen mag reports on Mk III murmured that the new singer “wasn’t exactly handsome”, turning to young Glenn Hughes’ then deemed better rock star looks in desperation.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTa7OpPVlcRB8WM9-7ElEL3dWdHw8oMUNf8DZb5koTFVXPD4RbLeWQ4S7PxoDrxzte1Tkw&usqp=CAU
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK9Og0EBK0POOEuQuRxkYTpVltIGfZ4zo8iPmHQBpa1pCEqIOuOI0gFFXzskNwdE8NPj4YnGGaC7wbDHA8usEZvDtEAX3DLCcZCqp-FBNFpJnrBRJssunoIKEU-ybWAX297xXoEUX5m73k/s1600/Glenn+Hughes.Deep+Purple.promoGHFB.0419-17.jpg
Blackmore, always concerned about how people looked, was also at DC all the time because of his weight. On those first Mk III promo shots from Clearwell Castle
https://preview.redd.it/deep-purple-mark-iii-is-a-v0-rybfd51aidie1.jpeg?auto=webp&s=083f6d3caab2ebea3e9a81d9224e7c9f26bc04a2
you can still see DC having to wear medical glasses from “having his eyes fixed”. Look at his upper thighs, he was the unskinniest one of them all. And according to Jon Lord, the amphetamines which they force-fed him to slim him down rapidly (simultaneously putting him on a diet “with proper food”, as the management put it) made him susceptible to sudden mood swings initially. David also liked to have more than a sip of Whiskey, not a low-calorie beverage.
– I like “Is This Love” too. It was made for the 80s charts (and it did enter them as planned). Initially written to become a Tina Turner number, it was bassist Neil Murray who said that WS should perhaps hang on to it as they eventually did.
– DC always wrote his own lyrics. They are broadly segmented in five general themes (i) luv, (ii) sex, (iii) broken heart & being rejected/jealousy/’mistreated’, (iv) raising hell/hedonism & “lonesome cowboy”-mythology brought into the 20th century. That covers 95% of his oeuvre, feminist arsonists posing a danger to public safety (“Burn”) and strange weather phenomena (“Stormbringer”) are exceptions to the rule.
– If you wanted to know about Deep Purple in the first half of the 70s, BRAVO (and it’s more upmarket competitor POP) was the place to go, nothing wrong with that. That is where I picked up a lot of stuff too. As regards Germany, DP are heavily indebted to BRAVO and Did Zill (the BRAVO house photographer) for feeding a steady stream of pictures and stories to the teenage public on a weekly basis.
https://bravo-archiv.de/nmimage.php?z=mittelposter/1971-14%20Deep%20Purple.jpg&width=800&height=522&title=Deep%20Purple
And much more than Led Zep (in Germany at least) or Black Sabbath, DP had real teenage appeal, people would scoff at my school (10th grade) that “Sweet & Slade –> Status Quo –> Deep Purple” was a natural progression you went through until you reached, say, 16 (after which you were to move on to something more serious like YES, Genesis, Pink Floyd, ELP, Jethro Tull or Gentle Giant – I just never did!).
– “Larger than life” is a phrase of life for a person attracting special attention because of unusual and flamboyant appearance or behavior, “he was a larger-than-life character on and off the pitch”, you could also use “grandiose”. Coverdale has that in spades, the way he talks and lost his Northern accent, the way he has made his speech voice sound deeper and more resonant over the decades, the way he dresses and moves on stage, his hair, DC is a singer AND an actor (and he enjoys being both). I’m not knocking that, people love him for it … he’s also a shameless flirt and a 24/7, albeit harmless mock-Lothario as you can witness here with a horde of mature cougars:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPCoBNRvE2o
That’s just DC in full mode! 😂 It’s ok, he’s not hurting anyone with it, it’s basically tongue-in-cheek (or wherever it eventually goes) male/female courtship, a bit on the cheesy side sometimes, but I don’t think that any of the “Loose Women” hostesses felt overlooked by him. 🤩
– “Dreamcatcher” is an album with real charm in places, but it wouldn’t have hurt if Ian had taken the time and money to rerecord with real drums some of the demos Steve Morris sent him featuring a drum machine … That is him being his usual lackadaisical self as regards the recording quality of his music. I know it’s substance over form and not the other way around, but if you can afford it, a little form doesn’t do no harm to substance.
March 13th, 2025 at 19:43Karin
March 13th, 2025 at 20:21You must remember Uwe now makes an excellent living around his local pubs …..When it comes to drinking up time, the landlords employ him to go around their local pubs ….as soon as he enters …all the patrons drink up immediately and leave !…otherwise they know , Uwe will take the stage and bore them to death and start talking about himself!!🤣🤣🤣
Steve, (i) I don’t go to pubs (I’m not a social drinker), never did much even as a young man, I find it boring there (I’m quickly bored), (ii) I am notorious and often get berated by my wife for not communicating much at all in public or in greater groups, I just sit and listen. My ideal of a recreational evening is a dinner at home with one or two couples (hetero or otherwise) as guests who hold different views than I do on most things and we engage in a lively discussion about politics, religion, history, psychology, movies, music and sex. There isn’t much else that interests me, especially not sports.
I’d love to have Gene Simmons as a dinner guest. A very perceptive man.
March 13th, 2025 at 22:40Jaffa, I’ve seen Big Ian play soccer/football too. He’s very active and engaged in it (or at least was when he was roughly 30 years younger), but – just like me 🙄 – not very good. 😂 Not a stealthy goal-getter like Ritchie who surveys a football field like a vulture monitoring the savanna for the carcass of a dead zebra to grab his chance.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/eb/c2/fd/ebc2fd89c20bf564032db7c6eaece0be.gif
March 13th, 2025 at 22:49@39
What!!!?!
And I thought women were the only ones being catty to each other!
That poor guy! And Blackmore, arrh come on, as if he was something I would ever look twice at 😆
Did DC recover from the amphetamine abuse?
I know Bravo was a decent read, but I wasn’t very good at understanding it all, because even though I had an ok grasp of your beautiful language (started my life in the southern part of Sjælland, where we could see all kinds of German television, even though I was captivated by the commercials) (you know we had none of that in the Danish tv.) (especially the commercials with small figures, cartoon-like, they all wore pointy hats, and I loved watching them 😃😄)
“Sweet & Slade –> Status Quo –> Deep Purple” was a natural progression you went through until you reached, say, 16 (after which you were to move on to something more serious like YES, Genesis, Pink Floyd, ELP, Jethro Tull or Gentle Giant – I just never did!).”
Ohhhh nooooo 😄😂😂 please Uwe NOONE in their right mind could ever prefer Genesis over Purple! (Not to mention the other bands!)
Purple always had and have it ALL! (And I actually like Genesis, especially this one)
https://youtu.be/epOBenUjIHw?si=1C3PhCq01qXXXg7u
Ok thank you! So that’s what ‘larger than life’ means 😊
Somehow I had the notion that it meant a person looking down on the rest of us!
“That is him being his usual lackadaisical self as regards the recording quality of his music. I know it’s substance over form and not the other way around, but if you can afford it, a little form doesn’t do no harm to substance.”
Yeah, I know what you mean, but that attitude is actually what I really appreciate. I do though prefer real life drums 😃
But you know, in a world where most is attitude and facades, I get a little sick over that (I don’t mind beautiful people, not at all, only if their beauty is the most important for them, then they can take a hike (and stay away!)😂😂
So DC was a womanizer! Well ok, did Blackmore appreciate that?
It’s rather funny because I have always thought the main problem between Ian and Ritchie was the fact that Ian always was waaaay more charming than Ritchie! But maybe that wasn’t so?
Between women there can be real life problems if a certain member of the species gets more attention from the guys! Ohh boy women can be mean and downright nasty 😞 but ok so can men I guess! Always thought men were more clever than that 😄
Ok now I have admitted that DC is indeed an ok singer, can you please explain the breathing?
March 13th, 2025 at 23:49@40
Say WHAT Steve 🤣🤣🤣
Uwe, is that the truth?😄
March 13th, 2025 at 23:51#33 Georgivs
I totally agree with your words!
#34 Uwe
you’re right, the fake bass of Naked thunder is embarrassing, while dreamcatcher has the worst production of all the Purple family discography, the sound is simply obscene!
#37 Karin
about David…you can prefer Ian for a number of reasons (and I also prefer Gillan), just as my ex-bassist has always preferred Mr. Mistreated,
but David was a great singer, if Ritchie chose him he was a great singer!
and then he wrote great songs, his first part of his career was very creative, he played hard blues, but he was never boring like many other hard blues bands…..he had a great command of the stage and his play with the microphone stand has gone down in rock history as much as his “baibeeee baibeeee baibeeee baibeeeeeeeeee”
even his second part of his career, the Hair metal AoR one, deserves respect, because he wrote cornerstones of the genre, which sold millions of copies, even if then maybe the historical fans of WS prefer the first period of his career.
but David worked hard and with passion, a lot of blues passion all his life to get the success he had and become a legend.
the biggest regret I have about him was the third part of his solo career, the one in which he could have returned to his roots with a more relaxed sound, and instead he wanted to force it with a bunch of metal session musicians who served as blacksmiths, zero feeling and his voice that is gone forever.
all for the easy tour money, and to not accept getting old.
a bitter taste in the mouth for anyone who truly knows David’s story, and perhaps a bitter taste for himself too.
For us fans, the history of the Purple Family bands is full of bitter tastes.
March 14th, 2025 at 00:22my biggest is for the house of Blue light and the end of MKII bis.
the other bitter taste in my mouth was that piece of junk of a memorial concert by Jon Lord at the Royal Albert Hall, to be precise the second part of the concert, the one where Deep Purple played, totally useless crap.
@39
Sorry forgot this:
March 14th, 2025 at 07:19“https://deeppurplepodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/govt-onstage.jpg
(yup, that’s him in the middle with pencil mustache, would you have hung him against the wall in your bedroom as an – I assume -innocent teenage girl“
Indeed I would not 😄
But I didn’t have any posters of Purple or Ian either!
Maybe (MAAAYBE) that had something to do with there wasn’t any available 🫣
I did have a few of ELO, otherwise I was more interested in the nature 👩🏼🌾
I wouldn’t say DC was a womanizer, he’s a flirt and generally adores women + enjoys their company more than men’s. But three marriages as a rock star, the third one lasting the longest (since 1997) and still lasting isn’t womanizing to me (more “relationship-conservative” 😁). Someone like Eric Clapton certainly had more significant others. With DC I’m only aware of four serious relationships since 1974, three of them married wives. He has a daughter (Jessica) from his first marriage and a son (Jasper) from his third.
https://www.deepest-purple.de/index.php/Attachment/2423-jessica2018-jpg/?thumbnail=1&s=ccd893639ca01cd1976fa29e4a446ee6a907ac23
Jessica von Stauffenberg – she married into German nobility, yup the family of the Hitler would-be-assassin – with her father-in-law, her son (= DC’s grandson) & her husband
https://www.famillerock.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/COVERDALE-FAMILY-.jpg
David, wife Cindy & Jasper
Trust me for all yellow press/tabloid news here! 😂
March 14th, 2025 at 09:13@42
Jaffa and Uwe, sorry I but in here, but I remember I read when Purple members played football together, it was VERY important to Ritchie to be on the winning team!
So if he was about to lose, he swiftly changed players at his team, and took the better ones, so he actually could win 😆
I am just so very mush impressed no one kicked him and demander him to grow up!
March 14th, 2025 at 11:27@41
“I just sit and listen.“ – awww sweetie, are you somehow related to René?
He is exactly like that too 😊
Normally we have few guests over, eating, talking and laughing a lot, but if we are too many my sweetheart acts like the hermit.
I always make sure we’re only few people, I would hate it if René wasn’t comfortable.
To be honest I don’t like big crowds either, it’s difficult to have interesting talks when there are many people gathered.
“I’d love to have Gene Simmons as a dinner guest. A very perceptive man.” Uwe, this is a great idea you got there 😃
Who would you invite to a dinner party, living and dead people?
Hmm…. I would love these amazing people at my dinner table:
March 14th, 2025 at 11:48• Ian Gillan (yeah ok that was pretty obvious wasn’t it?! 🤭)
• Marilyn Monroe (she was so extraordinary beautiful, inside and out)
• Rembrandt (because anyone who can paint like he did, must be sparkling inside)
• Ludvig van Beethoven – he must have been wonderful 😊
• Elizabeth l, the Virgin Queen of England – would so much love to learn how it was to be a woman in that day and age as the Supreme of a country. And I would really like to know the truth between her and Mary. Was there animosity, or are the historians making things up. Finally her father, Henry 8th, was he a monster or was he a victim of his time.
• the rest of Purple, so they could play after the dinner and we would have a ball 😍😍😍😍😍😍
@45
“but David was a great singer” – yes Fla76, indeed he was,
I have to say it is way better listening to him without my earphones!
When listening through those, all details are blown out of proportion and every single flaw is magnified.
From now on I will listen to the links I get in here, both in earphones but also via the loudspeakers.
“even his second part of his career, the Hair metal AoR one, deserves respect” – I’m not familiar with this part. If I should be eased into it, can you suggest songs that will be of a ‘teaching nature’ 😊
“For us fans, the history of the Purple Family bands is full of bitter tastes.
March 14th, 2025 at 12:42my biggest is for the house of Blue light “ – ohh you don’t like THOBL?
Well, ok, tastes are subjective, but I have to say I love this album very much.
There are some songs in there I have fixed in my playlist:
Bad Attitude, Hard Lovin’ Woman, Call of the Wild, Strangeways and of course The Spanish Archer 🥰
I enjoy immensely the energy in these songs, I adore Ian’s voice, but of course the whole band are amazing 🤩
I am always in a very good mood after listening to those songs. They are cheeky, ‘in your face’, fun and beautiful 😍
#50 Karin
all in all I like THOBL, but after Perfect Strangers that should have been another masterpiece, and then fundamental was the beginning of the (brief) end of the MK II bis unfortunately.
about the songs from the Hair metal period of WS there are only 2 albums, 1987 and sleep of the tongue, you have to listen to them all.
I personally prefer Restless Heart from the 90s, David had returned a bit to the honest sound of Slide It in, but the two most metal albums still represent an important historical period, and some songs are timeless.
March 14th, 2025 at 15:59“it was VERY important to Ritchie to be on the winning team”
Ritchie, especially as a young man and deep into his middle-aged years, was very competitive – to the point of bending the rules a little where necessary. He has claimed (but that doesn’t mean it’s true) and there is also this lore in the Purple camp that he would bribe the sound technicians at Purple gigs to make sure he’s more prominent in the mix than Jon.
Assumed that is even true, I’m pretty sure that Roger, the two Ians and even Jon would have simply shaken their heads at it and laughed it away as a sign of Ritchie’s inherent insecurity (always a driver in him) rather than make any bones about it. And really, if true, it is a little pathetic, but nothing to get worked up about.
***************************************************************************
There is nothing to explain about DC’s pronounced breathing into the mic, it’s just a mannerism of his (which at any given time has always annoyed some people). I don’t believe it’s a lack of breathing technique, but something he flaunted to sound sexually alluring, authentic and more like some of his black role models.
Fla76 is right: DC had at all times a high worth ethic and a perfectionist approach to the commercial empire he built around himself. More so than Ian Gillan. I believe it has to do with their respective backgrounds:
– Ian came from what I would call perhaps lower, but still secure middle class, from the greater London urban area and traveled early on in his life (as a student across the US on a Greyhound bus), with Episode Six to Continental Europe and the Middle East. That shapes you.
– With DC otoh, I’m not sure he had ever even left the UK before DP hired him as a singer. He came from humble beginnings in a decidedly working class family, his dad out of work at times, his mother providing support (DC is a mama’s boy) and from a region in Northern England ridden with economic challenges and generally perceived as fallen behind and somewhat backward. His three main bands, Vintage 67, The Government and The Fabulosa Brothers, toured only the circuit of northern venues between 1966 and 1973. As he himself has said: “The only area in London I knew was King’s Road because of all the clothing stores there.” (DC worked as a saleman in a men’s boutique in Redcar.)
If pressed to state an opinion, I would dare say that IG has the more idiosyncratic and one-of-a-kind voice to DC. I can’t really think of someone in the hard to heavy rock world that sounded/sounds like Ian (David Byron of Uriah Heep was likely closest, but way more operatic – in any case he emulated IG and not vice versa; Bruce Dickinson is of a different generation and has never tried to hide the fact that IG was a huge influence on him), in that way (Karin will want to hit me for that 😘) Ian’s debt to Elvis sets him part, there is something smooth to his voice (especially in his early days with Purple unless he switched on the screaming falsetto) that I think you can trace back – – du milde himmel!, can I really write this? 😮 – to the so-called ‘butter tenor’.
Mind you, DC has an immediately recognizable voice too, but it falls more into the Paul Rodgers, Joe Cocker, David Clayton-Thomas, John Lawton, Steve Marriott and Jess Roden mold
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uir5yFjzerw
(Roden actually sent an audition tape to DP in 1973, but I don’t know if they ever rehearsed with him),
i.e. white singers who were obviously very much influenced by black blues singers. Ian has dabbled with Blues at times, but he’s not really a Blues singer (at one point, much to the chagrin of Blackmore, who wanted a different type of singer with just that influence).
***************************************************************************
BRAVO at one point even graced DP with the honor of a “Superposter”, portrait shots of the band members you had to collect individually over several issues before pasting them together:
https://bravo-archiv.de/nmimage.php?z=superposter/1972-42%20Deep%20Purple.jpg&width=900&height=438&title=Deep%20Purple
https://bravo-archiv.de/nmimage.php?z=superposter/1972-42%20Deep%20Purple%20Info1.jpg&width=688&height=478&title=Deep%20Purple
https://bravo-archiv.de/nmimage.php?z=superposter/1972-42%20Deep%20Purple%20Info2.jpg&width=768&height=456&title=Deep%20Purple
That was an honor otherwise bestowed only on extremely popular mega-bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, the Bee Gees or CCR or BRAVO readership-specific teenybopper fodder like The Monkees, Middle of the Road, Les Humphries Singers and Sweet.
It’s the kind of exposure for a band you couldn’t buy for money. It was the time when DP were on the verge of becoming a household item in Deutschland.
***************************************************************************
Unrelated, liebe Karin, did you incidentally know that Danes bear the greatest DNA commonality with – gulp – Norddeutsche/pølsetysker? 😣 More so than with Swedes (who have a greater Baltic/East European DNA traits share than you). The Scandinavian country closest to you in DNA composition is actually Norway. And if you go south-west, then – unsurprisingly, I always had a hunch about that – the Dutch are closest to you in their DNA characteristics.
March 14th, 2025 at 19:13I am afraid Karin there is NO easing into hair metal. It is all or nothing with that charade. For me it is nothing and what a lovely thing that is. Unfortunately even I was exposed to all that back in the 1980’s. It was almost impossible not to be ‘infected’ by it all. It was like some sort of plague that swept up all and sundry. Somehow I survived, only just though as it was a close run thing. Good luck, you have been warned…………….Cheers.
March 14th, 2025 at 20:18@ 47 – Uwe, have you forgotten about groupies???????????? Surely not! Or are you only pertaining to the ‘family’ image and all that fakery that goes on with ‘stars’ when they are at home and pretending to be doo gooders. Cheers.
March 14th, 2025 at 20:30Karin, THOBL is my favorite studio album of the last phase of Ritchie era DP. Followed by Perfect Strangers, Slaves & Masters (shock, gasp, horror!, but think of it that way: is there a better album imaginable featuring JoLT and the Purple instrumentalists?) and at the very end TBRO. When THOBL came out, my immediate thought was “Finally, the reunion has proven worthwhile and is more than just a nostalgia fest of Made in Japan plus two new good songs.”
I like the album because it is is varied, clever, not overshadowed by Blackmore (similar to Stormbringer) and off-the-wall experimental (in so far comparable to Fireball). It’s a lot less safe than Perfect Strangers and thus of course laid once again the ground for the soon returning Blackmore vs Gillan schism of tried & trusted vs innovation/daring to be different. Perfect Strangers was basically Big Ian not wishing to rock Ritchie’s boat scheduled for the harbor of commercial success. But leopards don’t change their spots either.
March 14th, 2025 at 20:41Aber Herr MacGregor, groupies and one-night-stands don’t count, that is like blowing your nose, only marriage is pneumonia!
Seriously, I don’t judge the quality of decades-lasting relationships by one of the partners (I don’t care whether male or female) taking a sidestep. That is a reason for the other partner to throw a fit and demand some answers + letting the spouse sleep on the sofa for a while for educational purposes, it is NOT a reason to dissolve an otherwise good and working marriage (with all its ups and downs). People need to grow up. Yes, sex is important and good fun, but it’s not the friggin’ most important thing between two people. It’s been blown out of all proportion as relationship-defining since the Romantic Age in the early 19th century.
I know, people don’t like to hear that, but that is what I believe. The death-knell for a relationship is not who fucks whom when and where how often, but stopping to care for each other.
And coming back to the groupies, my personal judgement is that DC would even treat a one-night-stand courteously (and had done so in the past). He’s not the “women are dirt”/misogynist type at all, he’s just a fan and, alas!, (to quote him) “a victim of circumstance”. 😎
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bbMu_rWZI8
March 15th, 2025 at 00:51Dear Chums
Thanks for the enlightenment. I‘ve been mishearing the Spamdau Ballet lyrics all my life. Nevertheless, the appearance of rainbows in the video has to be a reference to All Night Long.
March 15th, 2025 at 06:45@52
“I don’t believe it’s a lack of breathing technique, but something he flaunted to sound sexually alluring, authentic and more like some of his black role models.” – 😆😆😆😆😆🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Ohhh man 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I am imagining things, situations here: in an intimate moment listening to that breathing, personally I would be alarmed and worried, more than turned on 😂😂😂😂
Immediately I would call the paramedics 🤭🤣
“If pressed to state an opinion, I would dare say that IG has the more idiosyncratic and one-of-a-kind voice to DC.” – and Ian’s breathing sounds a lot more healthy, what a luck for his girlfriends 😂😂 (sorry still having that ambulance sirens in my ears, with pictures of a rather confused DC! 🤣)
Ian does have, did have, the greatest voice I have ever heard!
“Karin will want to hit me for that 😘” – nooooo I won’t! I’m actually quite nice, EVEN THOUGH other people have funny ideas and notions! I do believe in the free speech thing 😄
“Ian’s debt to Elvis sets him part, there is something smooth to his voice (especially in his early days with Purple unless he switched on the screaming falsetto) that I think you can trace back – – du milde himmel!, can I really write this? 😮 – to the so-called ‘butter tenor’.”
I LOVE THIS 😍😍😍😍 thank you so very much Uwe 🤗🤗🤗😘
(For the ‘du milde himmel’ and ‘butter tenor’ expressions 🤩)
I just wonder if you detect the same smoothness in his voice when he was with Episode Six. I’ve listened a lot to that band lately, and I find Ian’s voice young (well that is obvious isn’t it 😉) but so clear and pure, and unrelated to any kind of butter tenor what so ever!
(Have you ever listened to the Danish smør tenor Gustav Winkler, he was a product of Elvis if anyone ever was! Please listen to this:
https://youtu.be/a6NVgynCG0Y?si=sMtM2rxC5v-P7I59
And this:
https://youtu.be/y3LspcjEpnw?si=9nDn2FjixqZiZa2o
Yeah yeah I know the age thing here, but GW was extremely popular with the older generation (my mum’s) and my generation couldn’t stand him (or I couldn’t 🙁)
March 15th, 2025 at 08:38@52
“BRAVO at one point even graced DP with the honor of a “Superposter”, portrait shots of the band members you had to collect individually over several issues before pasting them together:”
Ok, now it dawns on me, you are 7 years older than me, so when Purple appeared in Bravo, you were at an age of receiving it properly! I was a bit too young for that.
When I started to buy Bravo, Ian was gone (at that moment) and there was more of a disco fever-thing going on! I honestly can’t remember Purple ever being mentioned at that period.
ELO was, and a lot of other pop bands. But not the more rock influenced bands.
“Unrelated, liebe Karin, did you incidentally know that Danes bear the greatest DNA commonality with – gulp – Norddeutsche/pølsetysker?”
YES! And I’m proud of it!
Actually my parents were born in Fyn and Langeland, and I know I have relatives in Germany! (What an amazing coincidence if I found out you’re are the son, or any relative, of my cousin Madeleine 🥰🥰)
“The Scandinavian country closest to you in DNA composition is actually Norway.” – and do you know dear cousin (😄) that our languages (in Norway and Denmark) are very similar?
Yesterday a friend of mine mailed me an article from a Norwegian newspaper, I could read it fluently! But whenever I have to read articles regarding homeopathy in Swedish (I’m from the Swedish school you know) I have a hard time understanding it properly, and often I chose to read it in English.
“the Dutch are closest to you in their DNA characteristics” – sweetie how do you know this?
March 15th, 2025 at 09:23Well some people find that the Danish and the Dutch language are very similar in the sound!
Apparently we have the main part of the sounds in our throat! I don’t know. I’ve always thought we sound like German when talking.
Funny thing: the way you name the numbers: i.e 31 – ‘einunddreißig’, we har saying ‘enogtredive’, whereas in English it’s ‘thirty-one’.
I’m mentioning this insanely interesting phenomenon because in Denmark some Pädagogen are blaming that way of describing numbers as the main cause why Danish children are so lousy at mathematics 😂😂😂
@53
Ohh too bad MacGregor 🙂 and thanks for the warning 😄
@54
Macgregor, I have never understood the ‘groupie’ thing!
Is it only girls who are groupies, or do we have equality between the sexes in that area too?
I cannot begin to apprehend why anyone would be a groupie to begin with! There can’t be any REAL warm feelings involved?
So what drives these young girls? Is it exciting to be exploited by famous men? I guess young girls (or does this also involve more mature women (ohhh what horror )😱) would never offer their bodies to, well for arguments sake, say a sanitation worker or an unemployed grown up man still living with his mum!
Well I guess I never could understand this. And I can only imagine what long term effects this is having on their self esteem and their confidence, not to mention how hard it will be for them ever to trust anyone again.
I know I’m not thinking of why grown up men, or younger men, are exploiting these girls, because I can never imagine anything else than pure lust from the guys!
Growing up with 4 brothers who were VERY handsome in their youth (I tell you the girls were camping outside our house 😂) I saw girls behaving rather foolishly, and they didn’t mind being nothing more than the next number in line, (actually my brothers did behave, sort of (😁) but still I can’t imagine how the male mind is working.
And here I haven’t even mentioned the mutual exploitation, because the girls must have felt some kind of reward! You know: “oh I am the flavour of the month?, week?, day? hour?, what are you”?
And finally, healthy young girls, women, will never feel any satisfaction (no pun intended) to be tossed aside when the next skirt comes along.
Finally, I am not a hard core feminist 😊 I just love treating all people kindly and fairly.
March 15th, 2025 at 10:32Uwe and Russ, sorry guys can’t find the right thread, but is this
https://youtu.be/c4IKx_FaD1g?si=jPdvhZDtjc9taCVm
also a ‘stomper”?
Remember Cheap Trick for taking over playing the intro to ‘That 70s show” 😊
March 15th, 2025 at 10:34@56
“The death-knell for a relationship is not who fucks whom when and where how often, but stopping to care for each other.” – ok, I might be very old fashioned here, but isn’t being true to each other a very loving and caring way to show how much your sweetheart means to you?
If René had the tendency to sleep around and coming home the next day claiming that it didn’t mean anything, he would not sleep at the sofa! He would never sleep anywhere near me again!
And vice versa!
Not that I never would forgive him (of course I would, but man it would take me looooong time to ever trust in him again!)
How can you claim you respect your loved one if you aren’t true to him/her?
March 15th, 2025 at 12:39#52 Uwe
In the Bravo poster with the Purple data Ritchie is 1.68m tall, Little Ian 1.75m, is this reliable?
this data seems wrong to me however, I have seen thousands of photos of Purple and I have never had the idea that Little Ian was taller than Ritchie, vice versa instead.
going back to Ian’s voice, besides David Byron, you can find similarities with singers of musicals, when Ian sang in that style (JCS, Concerto, Butterfly, etc)
I’ve sometimes noticed similarities with Eddie Hardin, Meat Loaf , Brian Connolly
also something in Miller Anderson reminds me of Gillan
I think that in a 70’s musical/concept style singing genre we can find other similarities with Gillan’s voice both on the UK and American side
March 15th, 2025 at 13:20Lots of things, let’s get on with it:
– DNA: I read that somewhere by coincidence and found it interesting. My son in law is tall, blond, blue-eyed and Jewish-Dutch, even Scandinavians think he is one of them and always approach him in their languages. He takes is as a compliment. 🤣
– Language: Both Dutch and Danish/Swedish/Norwegian are Germanic languages at heart, but none of them sound as harsh as German when spoken (unless it is a German dialect). Dutch and Scandinavian languages are much more “sung” – I hear it all the time when Edith has her Danish online lessons -, without wishing to be patronizing: to German ears they all sound ‘cute’. That is better than always being the längwich of ze fffilläins as Deutsch is in Hollywood movies!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1oFnWHDPg0
Interestingly enough, the way German is spoken has changed since, say, the 80s: It’s the influence of all the people with migratory backgrounds from the Balkans, Turkey, North Africa and the Middle East. Even when they speak Hochdeutsch flawlessly as many of them do it they enunciate it softer, not as harsh and cutting. You notice it in current German language music where the sung German sounds completely different to the way it would have sounded in a, say, 60s Schlager.
– Numbers: German as a language is full of idiotic idiosyncracies like saying to the number 123 in literal translation: ‘one-hundred-three-and-twenty’. 😵
And don’t get me started on the German habit of putting the all-decisive verb at the end of long sentences so you have to read several lines until you find out whether the cute little girl in the park on sunny Sunday morning has (i) peed in her tights, (ii) killed her parents, or (iii) fed the ducks on the pond. 😂
– Size matters: “In the Bravo poster with the Purple data Ritchie is 1.68m tall, Little Ian 1.75m, is this reliable?”
Touché, Fla76!!! 🤣😂😁😆 Little Ian must have been wearing platform soles and Ritchie forgotten his at home. Seriously, in Mk 2 “Big” Ian was naturally tallest at 1,88 m, Jon not far behind at – let’s be a little generous – 1,86 m, Roger and Ritchie about the same, namely 1,79 m and 1,80 m respectively (not really small for Britons born in wartime and raised as children in post-wartime, food-rationed England where protein wasn’t exactly plentiful)) and “Little” Ian is this hobbit-like creature with only 1,70 m. 😂 Surprising to me, DC is only 1,79 m too, on DP pics from the 70s he only looks so towering tall because he always wore the highest platforms among them:
https://patch.com/img/cdn/users/3314517/stock/raw/20150755b7cfbdad46f.jpg
And Glenn Hughes only looks about the same height as Little Ian in that pic because – at the recommendation of then-housemate David Bowie – he had stopped wearing platform soles altogether as unfashionable by then while Little Ian still wore them.
– ‘She was still an innocent little girl …’: Yup, by the time you started reading and marveling at the Dr Sommer-sex education pictorials in BRAVO, liebe Karin,
https://bravo-archiv.de/nmimage.php?z=aufklaerung/drsommerteam-1.jpg&width=799&height=532&title=Aufklaerung
DP no longer existed/had yet not reunified.
– Cheap Trick: No, that is not a stomper, it doesn’t have that thud. I’m not a great fan of them in any case, I find Rick Nielsen’s jokey lead guitar playing very quickly tiresome and he is one of those culprits who – horror of horrors – likes to improvise in minor scales over major chords – ouch! I hate that.
These here are stompers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21ixwIaN7qw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDEVVSzGZdE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMYg_Ra4cr8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-6v4H4BtWI
(The guitarist/singer in that vid is Russ Ballard, the man who wrote ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’)
Oh, I almost forgot, an ultimate stomper (also written by Russ Ballard):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Uhx9c1g1Sc
– Ian Gillan’s & Miller Anderson’s voices similar?: You really think, Fla76? I’m not so sure, Miller Anderson is much more bluesy and gravelly, everybody knows how beautifully he sang Jon’s ‘Pictured Within’, HERE IS IAN DOING IT, it sounds quite different, but also beautiful in its own way:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Uhx9c1g1Sc
[Sister Karin – I’m vividly envisaging this – will now publicly offer to cleanse my feet and then dry them with her hair – true Mary Magdalene style –
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTGdrsuHdUa_05r0VYvlvB4QPuPbVx4nGwj0xsfGd2aN3WsehPOZNFCQHmih4kW2p1TUGM&usqp=CAU )
for posting this! 😎]
– Mary Magdalene asks: When did Ian/Jesus still sound a little like the butter tenor in Episode Six days? Here (that’s is not just ripping off The Beach Boys, but also Elvis – right down to the 50s echo they slapped on his voice):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSyWw5fmO_8
But that said, Ian had developed his own style already pre-Episode Six, here with Wainwright’s Gentlemen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBakKSLS26k
Yet as “Mighty Morris 10” amply shows, he could still “pull out Elvis” if needed.
March 15th, 2025 at 22:22@56 – without going into ‘details’ Uwe, your PR for ‘Saint David’ is, well blatantly bias, but hey that is what a good PR person does isn’t it? Both of us have no insight as to what he could have behaved like while out and about on the road, as an ego tripping out of control at times ‘rock star’. However most of the public have a fair idea what more than likely takes place in most of those instances, however we could be totally wrong though. Saint David, yes that has a certain quality about it doesn’t it, although, word has it that even the ‘Saints’ let the devil get the better of their male desires. Don’t ever take up marriage guidance or counselling, you would fail miserably, unless the bias one sided scenario was enough to convince the other half that all is ok. A take on the most common setting for a male ‘star’ returning home after a while on the ‘road’. Rock Star : “Hi honey, I’m home and look what I have got for you, a present, lots of presents in fact.” Partner: “oh darling you shouldn’t have, however what ‘other’ presents have you brought home with you, that is what I am more than worried about. In fact stay away from me for a while, if you know what I mean”. ‘Rock Star’: but babe, you know I love you and all that rubbish and look what I have given you, materially that is, are you not contented with all that? Oh by the way, there is a clinic down the road, just use a pseudonym would you and definitely don’t give this address, make one up”. Partner: ‘Why don’t you visit that clinic before we touch each other, that sounds much more positive for my health. Rock Star: ‘Oh honey bun, don’t be like that, I keep telling you that I love you, what more do you want?” Pathetic as it seems, but very realistic and not good for the ladies potential ongoing health issues at all, but hey, that is ‘stardom’ for you. Well at least being involved with a male who is ‘famous’ and loaded, (sorry for the crass pun). Cheers.
March 15th, 2025 at 23:17DC ain’t saintly at all, he could take heartless decisions like kicking Mel Galley out of WS “for looking like a spastic” after the complicated break of his arm and the necessary leather harness. If you compare that to how Def Leppard coped with a one-armed drummer …
I just don’t consider DC to be a longhaired Andrew Tate, that is all I’m saying. With all his sexist views, lothario’esque longings & double entendres he’s more the type who puts women on a pedestal. You know how the saying goes: It’s ok to get an appetite elsewhere as long as you eat at home. 😎
Darn, Karin, I messed up another link, the track in #64 that should have induced you to dry my feet with your hair in biblical tradition was of course not Hello’s New York Groove, but this version of Jon Lord’s Pictures Within which I assume you have not heard yet, your hero sings it here:
https://youtu.be/69emuJqmqGg
Will you now thank me profusely? 😇
March 16th, 2025 at 01:45This version of Bluesy Blue Sea is as heavy as all f..k. From the live at Anaheim DVD that everyone knows about except me. Not to worry, a good version and ole Gillan does pretty good on it. It is much heavier (two guitars) than the original, in a good way. I also watched the version of Wasted Sunsets, a tad flat but still not too bad. Mind you I only know the original studio version from 40 year ago. I have to be careful, all this Gillan music is starting to become time consuming and almost life altering. I don’t want to end up ‘possessed’. Cheers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x634gVUwtG0
March 16th, 2025 at 06:53Talking of Ian Gillan as a lyricist, what does Uwe think of his IGB lyrics. It was at the same time as his comments on that radio interview regarding different ‘human’ life forms in the future out in space etc. Does Uwe label some of the IGB lyrics as ‘esoteric spiritual hogwash’ or whatever he calls certain lyrics from other writers.. Let’s have a look and yes I have been spending a lazy Sunday looking around online, why not? I don’t mind the lyrics at all and as I don’t know the IGB songs enough for my memory to remember them, I had to look them up. Cheers
Clear Air Turbulence song lyrics:
Get up, get right up
Get it up, up in the sky
White knuckles and blank staring faces
Get a leg up head for them spaces
Panic and confusion
Electric voices creating morbid delusions
White knuckles and blank staring faces
Get a leg up head for them spaces
Ten thousand astral explorers
Head for the lights
Ace cosmic tours caught up in slow races
Motionless jets in turbulent spaces
Smooth blue sky feeling high
Turn back the page peaceful as a bygone age
Chariot to the sun Safe as a gun
Get in to Duluth
I’ve got it now I’m learning
A million souls helplessly returning
To blue dawn before the beginning
Ancient bells are ringing.
Another song from the same album.
Five Moons Lyrics:
Skies going through another change
Bright yellow skies looking so strange
We’re never going home
A million souls alone with
Five moons in the sky
Maybe we can have another chance
Starting again, a new circumstance
We’ve got some air to breathe
And no desire to leave
Five moons in the sky
I don’t lie to my people
I don’t pray for their sins
We’ve gone away, we’ve gone away
We’re going to live another way
Give me green fields
Laughing and then maybe
Skies going through another change
To our surprise it’s starting to rain
The clouds begin to cry
March 16th, 2025 at 08:00And we can only see
Four moons in the sky
I don’t cry in the summer rain
It don’t show anyway
@ 62
Karin,
I’m really tired as I’m writing this… I hope my words make some kind of sense.
I’m not sticking up for Uwe; he’s more or less a grown adult (unlike myself who will forever think he’s still 16 years old) but when he said “The death-knell for a relationship is not who fucks whom when and where how often, but stopping to care for each other.” he was absolutely right. Caring for one another is the fundamental most important thing in a relationship. I’ve been in monogamous relationships and so called “open” relationships and my feelings for my other half and vice versa (’cause that’s what it is, two people that compliment\complete each other and become as one) have been just as strong and unwavering until, for some reason or another they weren’t anymore. If it’s not healthy anymore and can’t be fixed; (both parties have to be committed to fixing what has gone wrong) its time to call it a day.
The one time I tried to “cheat”… well, let’s just say I couldn’t rise to the occasion. I’m not saying that I’m god’s gift to women; besides who would want an old goat like me anyway https://www.cnmineral.com/Untitled-1.png nor do I believe that I’m an expert on relationships. That’s just how I see things and how I feel about this subject.
Re: “being true to each other a very loving and caring way to show how much your sweetheart means to you.” Good for you and René. I take my hat of to the both of you and I wish you both many years of happiness together.
Besides if Chrissie Hynde ever showed any interest… See, I’m just a groupie too 🙂
March 16th, 2025 at 08:09@64
“to German ears they all sound ‘cute” – well we are indeed cute!
We have English friends, and they find our language hard and unfriendly! But I guess the German language is that too.
What I also love about your language is the grammar, it’s so logical.
“Numbers: German as a language is full of idiotic idiosyncracies like saying to the number 123 in literal translation: ‘one-hundred-three-and-twenty’. 😵” – exactly! Just like in Denmark 😊
“Dr Sommer” – wasn’t in the Bravo I read ☺️🤭
“Cheap Trick: No, that is not a stomper, it doesn’t have that thud” – arrrh man, I never learn to recognise a stomper then!
“New York Groove”, actually Sweet and Kiss have made this too!
I have tried to listen to Elvis, not in my earphones but just like I did with DC.
March 16th, 2025 at 08:19I found out what it is I can’t stand 😥 it reminds me of a sad periode, no need to go into details, but it does, and I guess had it been otherwise I might have felt differently!
So for now, I really can’t stand the buttertenor! Ok? Ok! 😊☺️
#64 Uwe
Mr. Uwe I need to make a necessary clarification:
March 16th, 2025 at 15:55Ian Gillan’s voice and Miller Anderson’s voice in old age are similar when BigIan goes into interpretative depth.
I feel some points of contact.
@64
“Sister Karin – I’m vividly envisaging this – will now publicly offer to cleanse my feet and then dry them with her hair – true Mary Magdalene style –“ well yes of course sweetie! Anytime 😉
( are you serious? 😅😅)
“But that said, Ian had developed his own style already pre-Episode Six, here with Wainwright’s Gentlemen:” – WHY can’t I hear Ian in this? Are you taunting me again?
@66
March 16th, 2025 at 18:50Awwww Uwe, PicturesWithin, my chubby cheeks are wet from the tears I cry listening to this 💧 ohhh man it is BEAUTIFUL 🥹 thanks dear friend 🤗🤗 (how can I thank you more?)
@69
Thanks Russ 🙌🏼
“I take my hat of to the both of you and I wish you both many years of happiness together.“ – thank you so much 😊
This April we have been married for 30 years! And of course it’s hard work to keep a happy marriage, but with the right spouse I love working hard for it 🥰
“Besides if Chrissie Hynde ever showed any interest… See, I’m just a groupie too 🙂“ – 😂
Did you know that ms Hynde once was in a relationship whit this amazing singer:
https://youtu.be/7vhhTvcLoRw?si=Dxag_x_J9spo-YoO
March 16th, 2025 at 19:04@66
“DC ain’t saintly at all, he could take heartless decisions like kicking Mel Galley out of WS “for looking like a spastic” after the complicated break of his arm and the necessary leather harness. If you compare that to how Def Leppard coped with a one-armed drummer …”
March 16th, 2025 at 20:17😰 how could he be so cold hearted?
@66
March 16th, 2025 at 20:23Uwe, how do you understand some of the last words: ‘Kith and kin – pictures within’. It’s ‘Kith and Kin’ I’m thinking of 😊
Fla76, yes I agree with that, Gillan’s voice has become Miller’esquer in age.
Karin, I find Danish sounds very friendly. Upper class English OTOH can sound very unforgiving.
On groupies: I think it’s a search for excitement, self-validation and getting a little bit of the shine of fame that drives these women and girls (enjoying recreational sex helps too, nothing wrong with that). But in the great majority of cases it is just a phase they go through. There are a lot of happy and lasting rock star marriages that began with a star & groupie relationships just like there are former sex workers who become loving wives and mothers (or, for that matter, actually continue their line of work while being good people). I don’t judge people on that and I have a real distaste for those who are more accepting of it with men rather than women acting in that way. That’s hypocrisy.
I don’t advocate cheating in a relationship – I never have, but that doesn’t turn me into a saint. I also firmly believe that some people are more lured by temptation than others – that doesn’t make them any worse people, they’re born that way as Lady Gaga would put it. All I’m saying is: If it does happen, don’t throw everything overboard without thinking, cancer of one partner can hit a relationship much harder. Now that is a nice philosophical exercise: What is more important to you, that your partner stays cancer-free or that he never cheats on you? And what does the answer reveal about you?
Herr MacGregor: I knew you were gonna dig out Five Moons one day and hold it against me! 🤣 The answer is: I love that lyric )and the song), it is very poetic and intelligent, I don’t mind well-written SciFi at all, Asimov, Heinlein, Herbert, Clarke and Bradbury, bring them on! My favorite SciFi story is likely Clarke’s Childhood’s End.
https://youtu.be/-V7GBs0Cp94
When IG writes about stuff like that, it’s artful. The difference between him doing it and Dio’s fantasy lyrics is heaven & hell, day & night, erotic art & porn.
March 16th, 2025 at 21:10#66 Uwe:
pictures within is an absolute masterpiece, at the Royal Albert Hall there were tears on my face.
Ian sings it really well, he’s clever because he doesn’t sing it the same as Millen, but he rearranges it with different cadences and also an even sweeter tone.
I would say that it is a song that Ian could have recorded directly and it makes me regret another Purple, because this song really represents John Lord, and Purple could have always performed it in concert to remember the Maestro, instead of doing those two pseudo-prog songs (Above & Beyond & Uncommon Man) that have nothing to do with the person and style of Lord!
March 17th, 2025 at 00:17If Cherie Curie had let me be her ‘grouper’, man I wouldn’t have hesitated either!
https://youtu.be/_EBvXpjudf8
Sin is a good man’s brother and virtuous resistance can only go that far, let’s not be silly about it. 🥸
It’s a bit like that old misogynistic accusation of “women sleeping themselves to the top”, whenever I heard that I would say: “Whatdayyamean, if men could do that, we’d all be queuing up for it!” And it’s damn true.
Yeah, it’s “kith & kin” (= friends & relatives), the song Pictured Within and the whole Jon Lord solo album is about the loss of dear ones, Jon had lost both his parents preceding the album.
I hear the young IG quite prominently on that Wainwright’s Gentlemen track, he’s showing a bit of an RnB influence there. But he didn’t stay long with that band.
March 17th, 2025 at 01:08@73
got stuff to say… I’ll get back to ya soon… Really, really, really tired at this particular moment.
Oops… That link I put in my earlier rant won’t work… As if anyone is interested… just in case, here is one that works: https://www.cnmineral.com/other%20pages/Old%20Goat.htm
March 17th, 2025 at 08:07Given your occupation and labor of love, shouldn’t that be a Stones T-Shirt, Russ? 🙃
March 17th, 2025 at 14:14@76
“What is more important to you, that your partner stays cancer-free or that he never cheats on you? And what does the answer reveal about you?” -🤣🤣🤣
Well, first of all, if René got cancer I’ll take care of that!
And if he cheats on me, then I’ll take care of that too 😂
No, no joking, if he cheats on me, then I would have some hard questions to myself actually 🥺 of course also to him.
As I see it, a marriage is two people who have the opportunity to make this either the best time or they can chose to make it the worst time.
And then I just think: if you’re involved with another person, why not make the very best of it?
Of course when a person cheats, you’re absolutely right, no need to throw everything away, but you also have to agree with me that it will take a long time before the trust is complete again, if it ever can be that.
My dear mum once said to me: “never cheat at your husband, never scream at him, yelling hurtful and rude words, because a very beautiful marriage is like this beautiful vase, and if you cheat or treat him horribly, it’s like dropping the vase on the floor and it breaks in several pieces.
You can glue the pieces back together, but it will never be like it was before, and the same with the marriage, once the intimacy and trust is gone, you can get it back, but it will never be like it was before.
So what does this say about me? Am I a hopeless romantic? 😆
March 17th, 2025 at 14:33@78
Oh ok so a male groupie is a grouper!
“Yeah, it’s “kith & kin” (= friends & relatives), the song Pictured Within and the whole Jon Lord solo album is about the loss of dear ones, Jon had lost both his parents preceding the album.” – ooohhhh that is why I’m completely heartbroken when I hear this beautiful song.
It’s like driving by an accident with several cars, you really don’t wanna look, but driving by you turn your eyes so much to the side, without turning your head, where the accident happened so you can see a bit without revealing yourself 😞
I have listened to ‘Pictures within’ several times now, but have to stop, or I’ll dry out like a raisin 😰😰😰😰
Never the less Uwe, thank you so very much for drawing my attention to this beautiful song 🤗😘
‘If I sing softly’ otoh is COMPLETELY adorable! And here I can stand the pain in his voice.
March 17th, 2025 at 14:44I guess this song is so longing that I feel like Ian has ripped my heart out, thrown it to the floor and is dancing cancan on it ☺️
@79
Alright Russ, looking forward (or am I?) to whatever you have to say 😊
And thank you for the link 😊
Sadly I can’t present any photos of me in here, but I guess you can see me if you’re at FB or YT, or Instagram 😊
March 17th, 2025 at 14:46It’s interesting to note that Jon Lord personally preferred gravelly-voiced bluesy singers like Tony Ashton, DC, Miller Anderson, Elmer Gantry (two tracks on Before I Forget) and Jimmy Barnes, but was steadfast in his opinion that within the context of DP such voices were not optimal and that Ian Gillan’s pipes were the best fit for and “the voice of Deep Purple”. He saw that different to Ritchie who – though he would return to IG again and again in recognition of the latter’s very original voice and its commercial appeal – would seek out bluesy voices for DP. Even Joe Lynn Turner had a bluesier/more soulish voice than Ian.
https://youtu.be/44_1P43JT04
Yeah, I know, the wig … (for which he cannot be blamed) and his Putin fan boy political views (for which he can), but the man surely can sing!
March 17th, 2025 at 16:43“Am I a hopeless romantic? 😆”
Nothing wrong with romance at all, Karin!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAPpDQj6Cj0
Contrary to all the naysayers on social media: An absolutely brilliant and touching as well as really deep movie.
March 17th, 2025 at 21:20@ 77 Fla76 – Pictured Within is a melancholic, reflective sad song. Playing that with a rock band wouldn’t be a wise move at a rock concert. As we know a rock music concert is about momentum etc, Deep Purple attempting that song every night, no thanks. Above and Beyond and also Uncommon Man are rock songs per se. They are all good songs, the three mentioned, however it is a matter of the setting, a situation that suits the feel and ambience of the music. Cheers.
March 17th, 2025 at 21:54Very much appreciate Svante and Nick trying to keep things musical here at times. I have been responsible for non musical posts and in hindsight I do usually regret most of that. I am not pointing the finger at any individual. However from now on, I myself will be trying my hardest to stick to the music. THS is or was all the better for avoiding all that other talk. The links to comedy are for anyone who is in on that, so be it. A good example is the pie throwing etc and other things that sort of relate to the musicians or the music, even in a roundabout way. I knew I shouldn’t have responded to the comments on ‘marriage’ etc. One sided comments (that can and does happen at times with any subject). Enough. The music is what I am here for and conversation of other matters if undertaken by myself with other people I know, they are never online. Face to face in a relaxed setting somewhere, yes indeed, depending on the positivity of the subject matter of course. I do try in ‘real’ life to avoid certain subject matters and to not give them any oxygen, for want of a different description. Negativity is not good, in any form. I have just re adjusted the ‘halo’ above my head, or is that a noose? Now back to the ‘pro’ Gillan lyric comments from Uwe, where was that, hmmmmmmmm. Thanks to THS for keeping the faith. Cheers.
March 17th, 2025 at 22:49this is exactly my 2014 Pictured Within video at Royal Alberto hall (long since defunct YouTube account)
https://youtu.be/FDsYv4Vhd1A?si=wz6BA8JG8v5ZClDe
I never published the rest of the first part of the concert, I don’t even remember if I made other videos….I certainly didn’t make videos of the second part of the concert, I felt like leaving early when Purple came on!
good listening
March 17th, 2025 at 22:51I go out of my way not to avoid any subjects. 😌
March 18th, 2025 at 00:39What was so horrible for you about Purple that night, Flavius? I was there too and don’t remember the DP part of the concert as shoddy. The short set was a little tame – fitting the occasion and the fact that the orchestra played along -, but I enjoyed it. My memory, however, is dim. I remember Glenn Hughes taking the roof off with Burn and being genuinely surprised about Paul Weller doing Artwoods songs very well (his form of silent protest: “I’m sure as hell not gonna do anything Purple, but Artwoods is right up my Modfather alley!” 😁). The PAL songs were nice too. Rick Wakeman had slight difficulties getting the Arabic Bouree riff right, it didn’t flow properly (probably underrehearsed, typically Wakeman, the lazy bum!).
Why neither DC nor RB showed up, I’ll never understand. Glenn did, but I guess his former girlfriend (= Jon’s widow) invited him. Without Glenn she would have probably never met Jon.
March 18th, 2025 at 05:24@87
“Very much appreciate Svante and Nick trying to keep things musical here at times.” – ooohhhh sorry, but MacGregor, but you know when ‘someone’* is provoking you and are insinuating you don’t know what you’re talking about, I do need to answer 😝
And to be fair, most of my posts in here are about our fantastic troubadour 🥰
*not naming names 😆
March 18th, 2025 at 05:27#90 Uwe
March 18th, 2025 at 07:53well, what did Deep Purple do that night?
the usual normal concert set list with the most obvious songs they could do!
obviously HS and Burn with Lord’s solos were great, but they missed the chance to do the other songs where Lord was more the protagonist.
then I repeat, first part of concert absolutely unforgettable!
@77 Agreed, Fla76. I was lucky enough to see Pictured Within played in the RAH and I was in tears too. And I think Above and Beyond and Uncommon Man cannot hold a candle next to Pictured Within.
March 18th, 2025 at 08:31Above and Beyond and Uncommon Man are both progish songs while Pictured Within is an elegy. You can’t compare them.
Ok, I get it now, Fla76, you thought the unadventurous DP set list didn’t meet the occasion! You have a point there. It wasn’t badly or perfunctorily played though.
March 18th, 2025 at 16:05@94
I have never been touched so deeply by a song as I have been with “Pictures Within” 🥺😥
Amazing what the right songs can do!
I wonder if the composers and lyricists know what they are doing while they are making their music?
March 19th, 2025 at 13:13Or is it a matter of a message from heart to heart?
@94
Uwe, this is just in the news:
Germany is now advising people to stock up on cheese and sausages.
This is called Wurst Käse scenario 🤭
March 19th, 2025 at 20:04#94 Uwe
no, it wasn’t played badly at all,
March 19th, 2025 at 22:39but that night wasn’t a concert like all the other nights, and for me Purple had to do a setlist representative of Lord, with the songs where he was most prominent (Wring That Neck, Mandrake Root, Hard lovin man, Highway, Lazy, Rat Bat Blue, Strangeways and anything from Perfect Strangers… having the courage to remove the usual Smoke, Hush, Black night etc.
Well from my personal experience, Wurst & Käse are just two more foodstuffs our Northern neighbors grapple with getting right, det er sørgelig … vi ønsker at bevare håbet om!
March 20th, 2025 at 22:13Fla76 @ 97, I wouldn’t have removed Hush from that setlist. That was pivotal in the initial DP initiation into popular music. Jon Lord’s keyboard work is one of the reasons it was such a stand out song. Cheers.
March 20th, 2025 at 22:37@ 99 Spot on.
And while I could do without Black Night or SOTW most people want the boys to play them. Plus: On an.occasion like this every one knows them, everyone can join in… not much rehearsal meeded …and so on. I thought it was a nice farewell to the Maestro.
March 21st, 2025 at 08:00I’m really surprised this thread is still alive. If so, here’s another blurb from me. I’ve been mindlessly browsing the Web recently and stumbled upon an old Carl Palmer interview. He mentioned that when he was leaving Chris Farlowe’s band, Chris asked him to help with a replacement. Carl came up with a guy named John Bonham. John was glad to accept as Chris was paying 40 quid a week.
Now go compare. Chris was paying 40 quid a week to his musician back in circa 1968, and Ian was paying his musician 30 quid a week in 1979. Now compare Chris’s fame and fortune in 1968 with Ian’s in 1979, factor in inflation and tell me if something doesn’t stink here.
March 21st, 2025 at 08:47I agree with you, Georgivs, but for different reasons! I believe that in 1968 Chris Farlowe was much more established, had more record company support and was deemed more current than IG in 1979! I will be hung, drawn & quartered for saying this here, but in 1979 – and I was there! – IG was perceived as the washed-up has-been singer of a band that had peaked much earlier in the decade and after several line-up changes had disappeared somewhat ignominiously years ago. No one (except the Purple devoted like me) was waiting for him, no one had bothered with IGB which had been underneath the radar of most record buyers and rock listeners, Ian was broke and couldn‘t get arrested, much less a proper record deal.
I used to think that the more democratic set-up of both IGB and GILLAN mirrored Ian‘s more community-oriented instincts & views as opposed to the one-man-shows Rainbow and WS more or less were. But of course the less romantic perspective is that Ian in 1979 simply couldn‘t afford – unlike Blackmore or Coverdale – to pay people decently & continuously – with no strong record company support, his personal wealth depleted and his career in commercial hibernation/limbo since 1973. So what he could only offer was to split future profits from the venture, a bet on future success. And that became increasingly less likely as GILLAN recorded album after album without much commercial impact in the then two largest album sales markets of the world, namely US + Germany (Japan came in third, but still ahead of the UK).
I believe that Rainbow and WS (before 1987) barely broke even, but IGB and GILLAN were merely costly hobbies Ian could afford on the basis of his royalties stream from DP days. And in late 1982 he probably said to himself: “I used to be the singer of one of the most – in 1972/73 – popular bands in the world and haven’t earned money in the music business for the last 10 years or so, something has to change …”. And that is when – in the absence of an immediate DP reunion – Sabbath came into the picture.
I’m happy that the DP reunion took place in 1984, it was the right thing to do and bore lasting fruits we can still enjoy today, but it was 90% about money. Blackers and Roger were struggling with Rainbow and frankly too old already to still be perceived as a fresh new AOR band in the US (which they wanted to be), Gillan was a glorified hired hand in Sabbath as was Jon in WS and Little Ian a minority shareholder in the Gary Moore venture headed by a frontman somewhat erratic in what he wanted to be (Gary oscillated between fusion, hard rock/heavy metal, Irish folk, singer/songwriter, AOR and blues throughout his career and never cracked the US either).
March 21st, 2025 at 14:39#99 MacGregor
you’re right, Hush could have been in the set list due to its historical importance, but the other banalities absolutely not!
#101 Georgivs
interesting comparison, it makes us smile ironically
#102 Uwe
March 21st, 2025 at 23:50your vision is very cold, especially about Gillan the mercenary and fallen singer, I would say that by the insiders and journalists he was absolutely not seen like that, while by the public he was simply out of fashion and people preferred to buy records of more mainstream bands (AOR, FM), or more fashionable (Punk, dark, new wave)
Fla76, IG certainly wasn’t a mercenary (though Meatloaf regarded him as such, “Rock’n’Roll Mercenaries”’ is about DP), he tried to make ends meet after GILLAN, nothing in the least wrong with that. The guy was in economic woes and rightfully realized that he had been underselling his talent commercially. He had to make amends.
Am I cold in my perception of DP? Unsentimental perhaps. My loyalty has been unwavering over the decades, but I’ve always seen them – right from the start – as a business enterprise (as rock bands by necessity are). Nothing wrong with that, but it puts some things into perspective.
Like any group of people or organisation, DP has flaws and has made mistakes. But my interest in them has always been of benevolent nature. I did definitely think though that public and media perception of DP during the years of the split from 1976-84 was very cool and mostly derisive. Ritchie really fell out of favor and his personal quirks were no longer seen as part of his mystique, but as plain annoying, diva’esque and the butt of jokes. Big Ian’s musical endeavors were viewed as valiant, but also as the desperate swimming against the tide by a yesterday’s hero. DC at least had an image of vigor and it seems that he received credit for the fact that he took WS from even more humble beginnings than GILLAN to gradual (and ultimately spectacular) success, but his larger than life stage persona and interview demeanor of course invited all sorts of ridicule. I died a thousand deaths when his comment to Nena’s 99 Luftballons in a blind listening test was along the dirty old man lines of: “Oh, I really love her voice! Who is it? Nena you say? Never heard of her (Uwe: She was indeed still relatively unknown at the time, certainly internationally.), but I think I’m in love already … Say, is she well-stacked, yes?!” 😳🙄 (Which Nena, pretty as she is and much as I liked her voice too, never was, rather to the contrary actually.)
March 22nd, 2025 at 16:18@104
“public and media perception of DP during the years of the split from 1976-84 was very cool and mostly derisive.”
I wonder why Uwe, because as far as I understand Purple have always been popular at their public appearances 😊
Re the comments on Nena: he placed women on a pedestal?
March 23rd, 2025 at 19:16In the years of the split, many to most comments on DP were vitriolic, they epitomized flared trousers and platform soles 70s rock with too long solos – even by the drums! Neither Rainbow, IGB, Whitesnake nor GILLAN were ever viewed as trendy or meeting the Zeitgeist from 1976 onward. In America, how good a live-performing band DP had been, had mostly been forgotten, the Yanks were genuinely surprised when the band returned as a concert force in 1984.
Yes, DC placed women on pedestals, liebe Karin, even those who due to their physique were in danger of tipping over forward (so-called Barbie-Doll-Rule, a real woman with the measurements of a Barbie Doll would not be able to stand by herself, but fall over), to ensure better view most likely. 😂
To his defense: Of his three wives, neither Julia nor Tawny nor Cindy were in any way naturally equipped (nor aftermarket-augmented I hasten to add) to warrant their inclusion in nuclear disarmament treaty talks – I believe a formerly often used term was “voluptuous” – or make them ideal for Russ Meyer movie
https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2011/3/18/1300445544966/Russ-Meyers-Faster-Pussyc-007.jpg?width=620&dpr=2&s=none&crop=none
casting lists.
Just to keep you abreast of things. Not that it matters. “More than a mouthful is a waste”, as my good friend Mark F from Idaho, himself a member of the Latter-Day-Saints
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKkLV1zE8M0,
back in 1974/75, we were in 9th grade, used to helpfully enlighten me. I’ve never forgotten it either.
March 24th, 2025 at 06:46@102 Dear Uwe, nice defense of IG. You sound like a good lawyer.)) You make Gillan in 1979-1982 look like a case study to prove it is not possible to make money off music unless you are a multi-platinum selling act. Well, it is possible and many people do, and many did before. You can make money off records, tickets, merch, TV appearances etc. Granted, the economics of show business today are different from what they used to be. Back then, record sales were making money more than tickets sales, unlike today, when tickets cost a fortune and records pretty much stopped selling because of streaming etc. And yet even back then, people could make their living just playing clubs and small venues even without a label contract. I guess the key to making profit was to keep the lifestyle and associated costs in check. That probably was the losing part of Gillan’s budget.
March 24th, 2025 at 08:19@106
“so-called Barbie-Doll-Rule, a real woman with the measurements of a Barbie Doll would not be able to stand by herself, but fall over” – and even worse, their necks would break because of the very thin neck and rather big head 🤭
“I believe a formerly often used term was “voluptuous” – but isn’t that most men’s favorite forms? I know my sweetheart thinks that (🙄) even though I again & again try to explain he would be bored to an early grave with these talking sweaters 😆
“More than a mouthful is a waste” – well ok I’m pretty sure I really don’t wanna hear the answer (knowing your sense of humour 😉) but a mouthful of what exactly?
Uwe, did you come across this one?
https://youtu.be/6fPM9JrbL18?si=cq5F5sABzITKH2ax
Even I can hear this isn’t Purple, but man “Ian’s” voice can fool me.
I have a legal question for you my favourite lawyer:
– Is it legal to make these AI-frauds and make innocent people (like myself) believe Purple has made new stuff?
– Is it dependable of which country it’s produced, or is there some kind of universal law against this sneaking kind of nonsense?
– And if it isn’t legal to make, why isn’t Purple’s lawyers (and in a broader sense all artists) banning this?
Really looking forward to your answer ☺️😊
March 24th, 2025 at 10:53Now that is interesting, Karin! Never heard that before. Thanks for the link. Of course we can hear it’s not Purple ( the ‘drums’…) but the casual dude not to familiar with them…? Spooky it is.
March 24th, 2025 at 16:27@109
You’re welcome 😊
Actually I got the news from YouTube, don’t know why! Maybe some bot has discovered I’m pretty much into Purple! Even though this isn’t Purple ☺️
I look forward to our lawyer’s responses to whether this is legal or not.
March 24th, 2025 at 17:26I’m afraid it is legal, and we can be fooled forever 😣
“… but a mouthful of what exactly?”
Yes, if I only remembered what Mark meant exactly with that figure of speech, but I can’t! That udderly sucks, I know.
I did hear that AI product “Time To Go”, rather than emulating Ritchie/Rainbow they this time went for a Morse era sound and didn’t capture it badly, that solo part was a real caricature of what Steve might have done. 😂
Re your questions, Karin, I’m no intellectual property specialist, but here we go:
– Is it legal to make these AI-frauds and make innocent people (like myself) believe Purple has made new stuff?
Copying the sound of someone isn’t verboten. “Time To Go” is not actually an existing Purple song. And they don’t claim that it is. Matching IG’s voice tone isn’t unlawful either, not in a piece of music at least, but personal rights can be affected when an AI voice of some chat product is uncannily made to resemble Scarlett Johansson’s voice in the movie Her.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJTU48_yghs
– Is it dependable of which country it’s produced, or is there some kind of universal law against this sneaking kind of nonsense?
IP laws vary from country to country (unless there is some alignment between them like in the EU) in principle and/or detail, a good example was Japan’s more lax stance re bootlegs of renowned acts which made them legal to sell there in the past, but pretty much nowhere else.
[A while ago I read an interesting theory according to which the West’s technological advancement over the Islamic World (which prior to the industrial/machine revolution was the more developed society) is down to the fact that Islamic Law failed to implement defenses for the protection of intellectual property. As a result, creation and further development of intellectual property was not commercially encouraged – there was no money in it and any technological advantage would soon be copied by competitors without any repercussions, so why even devote resources to it?]
– And if it isn’t legal to make, why isn’t Purple’s lawyers (and in a broader sense all artists) banning this?
It often depends on how much money is made with stuff like that. DP essentially earns money via touring, that is why they care how large Glenn Hughes prints “DEEP PURPLE” on his tour posters and tickets. An AI fake like “Time To Go”, even if it was verboten, wouldn’t have them lose any sleep though. Don’t think whether Don Henley would be quite as relaxed though – the Eagles as an organisation are notorious in scorching earth to protect their IP rights even where their reaction is totally disproportionate. Doesn’t win them many friends, but Don Henley obviously prefers being feared rather than liked.
Purple would certainly react where someone would claim that his AI product is legit DP material and try to make a buck off it by selling it as such.
The legal environment will likely change and develop in the near future as AI becomes even better in quality and permeates everyday life more and more. I would imagine that very soon we will also have computer programs aimed at detecting whether something is of AI or “natural” origin.
Georgivs 🤣, you won’t believe how often I have heard that “you sound like a lawyer”, inter alia from my various wives! I guess it must be true then. 😐 You’re right, even on GILLAN’s scale, money could have still been earned if one had toured economically. Except that one didn’t – with the exception of WS in the early days, the DP post-split bands toured as Blackmore and IG had been accustomed to during DP halcyon days. That lighting rig rainbow contraption alone which was costly to develop, costly to transport, time-consuming to erect and dismantle plus prone to defects and to boot even background noise-creating for the amplification (especially Ritchie’s guitar)! 🙄 (It looked great though, I admit it!)
I read only a few days ago that 80% (!) of the band artists appearing in Wacken hold day jobs (often in the music industry) to make ends meet. Comparatively few bands are a touring machine & enterprise like Iron Maiden. And it was also noteworthy to read only recently that prior to his admission to Purple, the Simon McBride trio would tour Europe with him and the other musicians serving as their own road crew! That sure is a way to keep costs down, but it is far cry from 70s/80s style rock star touring. I’ll never forget a newspaper article from 1975 on a concert of Ike & Tina Turner and, inter alia, Wishbone Ash
(no doubt one of those chance encounters that led decades later to WA guitarist Laurie Wisefield becoming the mainstay guitarist in Tina’s backing band
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW2TnwbL3wI – he’s the dark-haired guitarist on the left)
which began with the noteworthy sentence: “Only the ancient Pharaos travelled with more extravagance and expenditure than modern rock bands …” before mentioning how many truckloads of equipment where needed for the one-off performance.
PS (NOT for Herr MacGregor, contains musings about sexual attraction!): “I believe a formerly often used term was ‘voluptuous'” – but isn’t that most men’s favorite forms?, Karin queried …
Answer: I’ve read that we as men are biologically attracted to it as it indicates fertility and therefore serves – always high on our selfless agenda – the preservation of the species. But since you asked: At my present age, I don’t mind curvaceous women (they weren’t really my type when I was much younger), the ones that look like a muscle car/Corvette 😂 or Pamela Anderson, but I can find someone outright androgynous-looking like Tilda Swinton or Patti Smith and not graced with the most female primal features just as alluring if not more so. Edith always says she finds that extremely worrisome and – coupled with my preference for Judas Priest – a clear indication that I’m closet-gay after all. 🤣 Of the two models on GILLAN’s Double Trouble sleeve, I certainly preferred the one on the left in the red patent leather mini skirt
https://media1.jpc.de/image/w3200/front/0/5014797895133.jpg
who doesn’t really qualify for the description “voluptuous” if I may rather flatly state so myself. But she’s rock chick hot.
March 24th, 2025 at 20:53C’mon Uwe… you’re not fooling anyone; we know that you know what it means. 😉
March 25th, 2025 at 05:54@111
“That udderly sucks, I know” – arhhh come on 😝 I should have known this!
“The legal environment will likely change and develop in the near future as AI becomes even better in quality and permeates everyday life more and more.” – ok, so for now it is indeed legal, but laws will change when AI develops and gets even more realistic.
And as long as the persons using AI to impersonate artists (amongst others) don’t claim to be those people it’s ok, but the sec they claim to be, Purple in this example, it’s not legal.
Thank you 😊
March 25th, 2025 at 05:58