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Deep Purple in Concerts
A new book is coming out in Japan on March 18, 2026, via publishing house Shinko Music. It is titles Deep Purple in Concerts and details live performances of the band throughout its history.
JohnJon Lord’s 85th birthday is coming up! And the 60th anniversary of the Deep Purple is just around the corner!
An inspiring rock history book that is on par with “Rainbow on stages” (published by Shinko Music in 2021), a rock history book loved by Rainbow fans!The authors of the popular “Rainbow on Stages” have created a Deep Purple bible of 512 pages that depicts the real scenes of Deep Purple’s live performances.
From the first live of Mark I, which began in 1968, to the 2025 performance of Mark XI, which is the latest history at this point, this book analyzes the performances by meticulously reviewing existing sound sources, photos, literature, and video materials, including the set list, the sources of classical melodies inserted before and during the song, the content of the MC, and other notable occurrences.
In addition, never-seen stage shots from the Mark II and Mark IV in Japan will be generously released!
CONTENTS
Introduction
Historic Photo Collection MkⅠ~Ⅺ
The transition and inheritance of Deep Purple from photos of each periodComprehensive Live Data and Commentary
Detailed explanation of history of Deep Purple’s live performances
MkⅠ（1968/4/20~1969/7/4）
MkⅡ（1969/7/10~1973/6/29）
MkⅢ（1973/8~1975/4/7）
MkⅣ（1975/6~1976/3/15）
MkⅤ（1984/5~1989/4）
MkⅥ（1989/10~1992/8）
MkⅦ（1992/8~1993/11/17）
MkⅧ（1993/12/2~1994/7/6）
MkⅨ（1994~2002）
MkⅩ（2002/3~2022/7/30）
MkXI ( 2022/9/16~Present )Historic Photo Collection 1976〜1984
featuring Ian Gillan & David Coverdale
The activities of the years that Deep Purple was not in actionColumn: Ritchie’s and Tommy’s Live Gear in Tours
Summary of Ritchie’s and Tommy’s gear from all tours Mark I to VII.
Many thanks to Akemi Ono for the info and help with translating the blurb.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
So this is Mark XI – thank you for clearing that up 😃
And maybe I just can’t read, but will it be translated to Danish? Or at least English ☺️😉
March 12th, 2026 at 05:38John Lord! Oh dear. Draw a veil
March 12th, 2026 at 06:26John Lord’s 85th birthday is coming up!
When was Jon’s gone missing “h” reinstated? It’s not even on his gravestone.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRdmwa4uxk8snpwwB5AQKSCKDrlTXKTxrMPCQ&s
March 12th, 2026 at 11:42LostResurged in translation?Interesting looking book, and would go very nicely with my copy of Rainbow on Stages…
I assume, like Rainbow on Stages, it is (apart from set lists and dates) completely in Japanese?
Also, is this available to buy from Amazon UK somehow, or is it Amazon Japan only? The shipping from there for it is more expensive than the book!
March 12th, 2026 at 14:24@1 I personally never agreed on this way of counting. The current line-up is Mk VIII, from my perspective, as Satriani was a replacement to finish off the tour and doesn’t really count as a member. There’s got to be some music recorded, some new footprint for a member beeing a member; but there wasn’t even a live-album with Satch. Otherwise we could also count Randy California, Nick Fyffe, Adam Wakeman and who else in…
March 13th, 2026 at 07:51And of course the 84-89 and 92-93 periods are Mk II for me.
@5
Thank you Tilly, and now I’m all confused again 🤭
“Satriani was a replacement to finish off the tour and doesn’t really count as a member” – well, I was so relieved when he stepped in for the long gone and bad-tempered Ritchie (and I really like the genius, but not so much the way he abandoned Purple and his mistreatment of Ian, which I’m sure came down to good old envy, but that is a completely different discussion, and it doesn’t take away his geniality ☺️)
But of course you’re right that he wasn’t a “proper” member since he didn’t participated in any productions, however in my humble opinion (and all that ☺️) Purple would have been in deep troubles hadn’t anyone stepped in instead of RB.
And it must have been nerve wrecking to fill those shoes! So I will be forever grateful for Joe’s courage 😊 (did he btw feel like Steve? I mean that there were no shoes to fill since Ritchie took the shoes with him?)
Funny you mention it, because I also thought of the reunions as Mark ll, but I know of people in here, who are of a completely different opinion 😊
March 13th, 2026 at 09:34@6 Yes, nothing against Satriani. I like his playing with Purple and would absolutely love to hear what new songs written with him would have sounded like. I even went to see him live in 2023… He’s an interesting player and really can play a two hour set without any vocals, but still making it very enjoyable and diverse…
March 13th, 2026 at 10:38“Destruction of the universal nomenclature is my one and only crime …”
(taken from the diary of a young Black Sabbath fan)
Tilly, son, it is of course the privilege of a young man like you to question everything and tear the world down in the process, but the current line-up is still Mk IX, not VIII!
It is true that Joe Satriani never recorded in the studio with DP, but relegating him to the ranks of one-off- or short-stint-replacements does his role and, more importantly, the history of DP a disservice. Joe had a permanent job offer from DP (but preferred his solo career with its many commitments), and had the two substantial touring legs he did in Japan and Europe in 1993/94 (roughly 30 gigs all in all)
https://bdeeppurplefanforum.runboard.com/t12079
not worked out, then I think that would have been the end of DP right then and there. He paved the way for the Morse era and gave DP a new lease of life. (Incidentally, Steve learned the DP set from Satriani, not Blackmore live tapes when he joined).
I think it’s highly lamentable that no official live recording with him exists (it likely has to do with rights), but if you’re looking for something than the St. Gallen Open Air radio show has excellent quality and was an inspired performance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa4Ex6_SscA
And Karin: The various Mk II eras (original + two reunions) are referred to as Mk 2.1, Mk 2.2 and Mk 2.3 – the Stuttgart performancew you so much like is therefore Mk 2.3.
March 13th, 2026 at 14:32I’d argue that the Bayreuth set (also soundboard) is better. Joe’s last ever Purple gig and he really gives it some welly. Lazy and Speed King are amazing.
March 13th, 2026 at 16:18@7
Joe is formidable, no doubt about it.
But his solo work is a bit like what my dear mum said about opera: “uh I looove it, if just they didn’t sing so much” 😄
And sorry, sadly I feel a bit the same way here with JS. His guitar playing is beautiful but for it me it’s a bit too…something.
But this track:
https://youtu.be/XdoUtn07zig?is=fmrcMG4OlIehCFN2
Oh it’s funky, sweet and in-your-face kind of provoking 😊
And of course this put my words above to shame:
https://youtu.be/Dj7MVn3Wagg?is=G5_Pl0-MvQXHjueo
He plays out of this world here! I just like some vocals no and then 😊
And again, will forever be grateful for his humble and almost worshipping approach to my favourite band!
But now we’re talking about guitarists, what do you think about this guy:
https://youtu.be/y5-SZi2uqKM?is=2NY-9k57OCCkoPm-
I think of course of the formidable Nuno Bettencourt!
And here he goes all Prince:
https://youtu.be/6N3aZmUcbQ0?is=wiQbBDsKf4ruuKyv
Here he is with his buddies in Extreme:
https://youtu.be/qKyJ5vWuQBw?is=WEZplphI5JjrUZ-B
I think he has that something extra. Wonder if Simon McB went on paternal leave, they would invite Nuno in for some month 😄 (afraid he would blow them away 😇)
March 13th, 2026 at 16:33@8
“not worked out, then I think that would have been the end of DP right then and there.“ – my sentiments exactly Uwe 😭
“Incidentally, Steve learned the DP set from Satriani, not Blackmore live tapes when he joined“ – very interesting!
And thank you Uwe for adding to my confusion! I like that a lot…A LOT!
Well, no matter what numbers we use, can we agree that Purple in all their Marks were out of this world?
March 13th, 2026 at 16:39No one have ever been able to do what they have done for so many years, and are still sublime doing it 😍💜
Yes, I like them very much, and should I ever get a poster up on my walls, it will be of Purple! (But I guess turning 59 soon, that ship has sailed, that train has been wrecked….. never mind!)😁😃
@8
Sorry, forgot:
Yes I like the Stuttgart ‘93 concert very much!
Sadly I wasn’t there but Max mentioned it, and I bought the cd, and found the whole concert on YouTube! It is indeed something else 😍
Would have been nice had that concert been the recorded one 😊 but of course then Ritchie would have gotten mad at the cameras and thrown water all over the place…. (I wonder what kind of kid he was when he was a toddler…. Somehow I imagine he threw himself on the floor, banging his head against the floor whenever he couldn’t get his way 😁)
I remember you told in here that you were at the concert in Mannheim the day before? Or some days before? Ritchie was not in a good mood.. but he seemed to be in ecstatic and excellent mood in Stuttgart 😊
No, excuse me if I already have mentioned this, (🤭) but I am going to see my heroes in Denmark in October and in Hamburg in November 😃
Could I bring one thing back, it would be Ritchie, but a well behaved edition of the brilliant genius!
However I just look so much forward to see and hear them 🥰
Uwe, now and then someone mentions that maybe Ian can’t go on that much longer (sigh…😞) so which vocalist would you like to take over the mike?
I think of this guy:
https://youtu.be/FIIZnZ-pgDI?is=pPl2j6ejT2mhmPCw
Or maybe this fine gentleman:
https://youtu.be/jqpUkTmDpIM?is=S5G-R1Vqifv8YCMr
(At least his temper reminds a bit of the former guitarist 😁)
What about Gary:
https://youtu.be/R-tx9vI_3VQ?is=J8lV3VygRprCahBu
Could you hear him singing Smoke on the Water?
Or this bloke:
https://youtu.be/SBjQ9tuuTJQ?is=yHQxEO1Z9T_wNFzm
……. Nah… there will never in my little heart be anyone who can take over Ian’s sublime singing.
March 13th, 2026 at 17:43@ 8- “then I think that would have been the end of DP right then and there”. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, oh the comedy never ends does it? Joe to planet earth, “I hear that a certain dinosaur band down there needs another replacement guitarist, I had better get back down there otherwise it will be a capitulation of sorts for them. They will NEVER, EVER seek out another one, they (guitarists) are simply not around like they use to be” Joe surfs back down from the outer cosmos where he was enjoying his time and musical adventure. Thank God for Joe, surfing with the aliens and all, Joe saves the day once again, hooray. Joe on completion of his heroic adventure saving the band from complete doom and gloom and self annihilation no doubt, then surfs back to the outer cosmos, a job well done. Thanks Joe, “you’re our hero’, we hear emanating from all the ancient dinosaur bands followers. Well maybe not all of them………..Meanwhile back on planet Earth, poor ole Steve Morse is still looking for a day job, something to pay the bills……………………
March 13th, 2026 at 21:29@3: thanks, Uwe, for Jon’s gravestone, which was new to me. Sorry if we’ve been through this before, but does anyone know what the tune inscribed on it is? I don’t recognize it (and one of the bars looks incomplete unless there’s a dot I can’t make out). Where’s Paul Mann when you need him?
March 14th, 2026 at 00:49Karin, in my view there shall be no Mk X – when Big Ian calls it a day (or Roger or Little Ian), DP should stop. Alles hat ein Ende, nur die Wurst hat zwei.
And let’s noit get carried away: Neither of the Gallagher Bros has the range he would need to sing hard or heavy rock.
Herr MacGregor, I think you’re underestimating DP’s plight and worries when Ritchie jilted them in 1993, it was touch & go whether they would be able to continue. Look at what the disheartening experience with Tommy Bolin did to them in 1975/76. And Blackmore wasted no time reactivating Rainbow, incorporating lots of Purple songs in the live act right from the start – something he had not done when he left for the first time in 1975. He was certainly after the DP audience.
It was therefore by no means a sure thinmg that DP without Ritchie would work and find acceptance among the fans. Satriani had a reputation that any allegations that he was an inferior instrumentalist to Ritchie were ruled out. I think they all breathed a sigh of relief when the Japan and European tours with Satch seemed to have worked out.
March 14th, 2026 at 03:38Karin while you are talking about Ritchie throwing water everywhere. Deep Purple played a concert in Denmark three days after that Birmingham incident. We all do occasionally miss some of our favourite bands in concert sometimes, when they are closer to home. According to this site and whether the site is accurate or not, who knows?
https://www.purple.de/dirk/purple/mark9.php#1994
12 November 1993- Copenhagen, Valby Hallen – DENMARK + Royal Tramps.
June 4th 1994 with our alien surfing guitarist Joe Satriani at this festival. Esbjerg, Gl. Vardevej, “Esbjerg Rock Festival” – DENMARK
+ Status Quo, Electric Light Orchestra II, Steve Harley, Smokie, Suzi Quatro .
And then on ahead with Steve Morse on guitar –
30 May 1996- Esbjerg, Multihouse Club – DENMARK … secret gig
31 May 1996 – Esbjerg, Festpladsen, “Esbjerg Rock Festival” – DENMARK
+ Shu-Bi-Dua, Suzi Quatro, Shot Gone
1 October 1998 – Copenhagen, K.B. Hallen – DENMARK
13 June 1999 – Copenhagen, Amager Strandpark, 5-øren – DENMARK
+ Pretty Maids, Led Zeppelin Jam
As you can see that is only appearances from late 1993 to 1999. Cheers.
March 14th, 2026 at 06:26@13 😆 I wasn’t born in time to witness ’93, but this is how things must have gone down
March 14th, 2026 at 11:40Andrew, I can’t read music myself, but apparently it is a melody line from some classical composer (not one of the real famous ones), NOT anything Jon wrote himself. I used to know who it was but I forgot – we have people here that play piano, someone will know.
I thought the appearance of Jon’s grave is widely known here (of all places), not so?
https://youtu.be/MhjPNqUGko8 (if you’re in a rush, fast forward all the way to the end of the vid)
Some of you will likely be surprised how withered away the headstone already looks, but given that it was initially white and placed in a very rainy area even for southern England, the decay of the stone can hardly be a surprise. Maybe it was a conscious decision by Jon and/or his family to use a material that decays quickly and naturally. Certainly, no one seems to have wanted a monument erected to last through the ages and withstand nature’s forces, but that was Jon’s and his family’s choice. For some families/descendants keeping a grave site trim bears huge relevance in the mourning and remembrance process, others cannot even bear to go there ever. I’m personally fond of strolling on cemeteries and the like, I find it contemplative, not depressive. Tempus fugit.
March 14th, 2026 at 17:32Uwe, thanks for the video, also unknown to me, which took me back to the rural England of my youth! The gravestone is indeed surprisingly decayed, but there is a clear dot on one of the notes that was invisible in the photo you linked to, and that completes the bar that contains it. I think it has to have been added later, by way of correction. I’m guessing the composer of the tune is one of those English composers who was still alive when Jon was a teenager, like Vaughn-Williams.
March 15th, 2026 at 01:56The headstone of Jon’s looks grand to me, befitting his humble nature. Nice and quiet there too, a lovely resting place. I too have a fondness for older cemeteries, they have a story to tell, plenty to think about while meandering about reading headstones etc. Mind you over here they are only about 200 years old at best, I have never strolled through a much older one, that would be even more ‘interesting’. Especially at night. Cheers.
March 15th, 2026 at 02:31@15
“Alles hat ein Ende, nur die Wurst hat zwei.“
– so do rain worms 😃
“Let’s not get carried away”!
I seem to adore Noel’s and Liam’s voices… of course they are no way near Ian, not even considering they’re respectively 22 and 28 years younger than Ian.
HOWEVER! (And see me get carried away here 🤓) they both have sentiments, feelings Uwe!, they sing their hearts out…
Just like this fine lady did once:
https://youtu.be/deRF9oEbRso?is=wSqTnwgmnAIGHyRe
Of course she is no Elaine Paige that’s for sure, but you can hear the hardship, disappointments, the longing in her voice..
Just like the Gallagher bros, no they don’t reach Ian to his sock holders, should he wear such items, but man they are giving all they have.
Noel:
https://youtu.be/XBIyFiGzWZs?is=Wdddevjhfwu9OYUY
Liam:
https://youtu.be/yRKts_yhFzI?is=NCmwfqcctO7H1Odx
But ok I asked the question to provoke a bit 😊
So you honestly think that should Ian not be able to go through with the concerts this year, they would stop!?
March 15th, 2026 at 05:54Well he possesses all the charms and knowledge that are blurting out of every single syllable, and I cannot think of one singer who would be able to step in.
@16
And now you’re telling me! 😄
I mean, I never knew they were coming to Denmark in advance.
Still, water or no water: I would have loved to see the Mark 2,’something’
Didn’t AC/DC once opened for Purple? Seem to remember someone in here have mentioned that.
Because I found this funny thing at YouTube:
https://youtube.com/shorts/1S8a-1un_3w?is=e3dncuPOzUzOzYt8
A poor man’s Led Zep 😤
And this to add to my fury:
https://youtube.com/shorts/pPFCX0lT4ig?is=0SQ1dp0zU8vmuFnu
But ok, it was because Purple are so above them 😁 that makes sense….
But had they opened for Purple, it must have been horrible for the guitarist!
March 15th, 2026 at 06:04Angus Young is an unbearable twat (and always has been). His guitar skills on a good day put him in the league of being Ritchie’s guitar tech at the most – if Ritchie’s feeling kind that is.
I’ve always – since 1976 – said he would go nowhere and wasn’t I proven right?!
March 15th, 2026 at 17:24Karin, all I know is that ACDC did open for Whitesnake here in Germany. After the DP reunion in 1984 I would think they already were too big to open for DP. But I was too lazy to do research. Just like you. 😘
March 15th, 2026 at 21:21Max isn’t getting any younger (or is too young still), memory is a feeble thing, It was the other way around …
https://d2j6dbq0eux0bg.cloudfront.net/images/103869067/4367138036.jpg
Tsk, tsk, tsk, what a howler —-> Ostfront!
AC/DC opened in Germany for Rainbow (in 1976) and for Ian Gillan Band (at the Easter Rock Festivals in 1977, Sabbath was top of the bill, IGB second), they then became successful very quickly. By the time Whitesnake got on its feet (ok: more like scaly underbelly), the Aussies were already selling out midsize halls and had bands like Judas Priest as openers. By 1980, they were selling out the largest halls in Germany with their strangely popular Maschinenschlosser-Rock.
Even in 1985, DP’s concert drawing power in Germany could not compete with AC/DC, the latter rivaled U2, Bruce Springsteen & the Rolling Stones. I don’t know what drives people to them but they have been consistently hugely popular in Germany for more than 45 years now.
I believe on their first tour of Germany, Whitesnake opened for Nazareth who were old friends from DP days. By their second tour they were headlining large clubs and small halls in the boondocks, only around 1981 could they fill midsize halls
https://www.postertreasures.com/images/product_images/original_images/whitesnak81C.jpg
but not to the extent and with the speed AC/DC could, and larger halls still remained well out of their reach. So the decision to tour as an opener of AC/DC in late 1980 made sense for them from a heightened exposure viewpoint as the Aussies had by then already moved on to arena size halls.
Of course, opening for AC/DC in 1980 then led to this – ouch!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/368810379831804/posts/25327147803571383/
DC overshot on one of his famous air-kicks and tore his tendons/ligaments. I think they continued to open for AC/DC, with David using crutches.
March 16th, 2026 at 03:47@24
🤣 lazy! Well you’re right of course 😁
But please remember: with all the coffee I need to make and drink, and all the music I love to listen to, there surely isn’t much time to do research 😄
I seem to remember you Max wrote in here that you were about to break up with a girl, had you guys been an item, because of ELO!
Well, you must be relieved then that you weren’t at a concert with Purple in Vejlby-Risskov hall in Aarhus February 3th 1973! (And yes! That I googled to be sure the date was correct 😇)
And now I wanna link to a very energetic and intelligent tune by Noel Gallagher, before he forgave his kid bro and made their mum very happy to family Sunday dinners 😃
I love this song, I can hear some Roxy Music’s “Let’s stick together” in the beginning and Plastic Bertrand’s “Ca plane pour moi” – the way Noel is spitting out the words! (And the little guy look pretty cool too 😎)
https://youtu.be/lcsOURZOp7g?is=ipHZFd9tGp2KoU9t
Man I wanna dance to that 🤩😍
(And here is Plastic Bertrand to a comparison:)
March 16th, 2026 at 06:02https://youtu.be/02UGPApkeO0?is=5HxGYCO0Kk7L0qZd
Ricky Martin seems also to be among those Noel thought of making this song.
@23
Uwe 😅 you dear German ex-lawyer and superior in the English language, even compared to proper very well-educated English people 😄, according to Google’s ai department around 1.6 million attendees to AC/DC’s concert in Moscow in 1991
(Guck mal Max! Ich habe gelernt zu recherchieren 🤩😃)
So Uwe, according to the same standards you use when you try (and fail 😄) to convince me ms Taylor is any good (you know based on numbers in people at her concerts, sold records, boyfriends she has publicly embarrassed etc..) AC/DC must be very good and the little guitarist in particular 😇
And he sure has done some very nice riffs during time, I mention in passing:
https://youtu.be/n_GFN3a0yj0?is=9FY3TgJA3lJyXqbG
https://youtu.be/gEPmA3USJdI?is=MQwzt2Sw6duLIMJR
And I could go on for a long time, but as some of the very nice people in here mention now and then, this is a site for Purple and branches, and no matter how AC/DC performs, they surely are not in the Purple family!
“I’ve always – since 1976 – said he would go nowhere and wasn’t I proven right?!”
March 16th, 2026 at 07:05– ja Uwe, du bist das Orakel Von Delphi! 😃
I tend to look for a certain elegance in music, a light touch where necessary, that is where AC/DC fails me completely and I cannot get over that. AC/DC are unelegant and hamfisted.
Now people will say: “But Uwe, how come you like Status Quo then, aren’t they similar?” And I will answer “No, because Quo, for all their one-trick-ponyness in their public image, were still a lot more variable, for starters they had three different singers and writers covering folk, pop and rock. They always had a strong pop sentiment running in their veins (I was raised on The Beatles!) and were not afraid to be gentle and playful, even whimsical in their music:
https://youtu.be/9IRVxBmf8vk
https://youtu.be/JAh1QILBWjg
https://youtu.be/eM8z8BOl_L0
You don’t hear that kind of subtlety with AC/DC, it’s always “voll auf die Zwölf”. And that bores me quickly.
March 16th, 2026 at 20:17@28
Oh Uwe, I get your drift!
AC/DC is sans élégance, completely.
But now and then I do like to kick off my shoes, lay back in my sofa with a bottle of, well for the easily offended people (which I’m sure do not enter these magnificent halls), water and listen to this:
https://youtu.be/whQQpwwvSh4?is=eb9Mea7NKzQT9QxP
Ohhh and this:
https://youtu.be/3f2g4RMfhS0?is=O9cT8gJ-D14aZnjl
But that’s enough and I am happy and well fed, musically speaking.
Oh Status Quo are much more refined of course.
I have never heard the songs you linked to. They seem some sad.
Really looking forward to meet Francis Rossi in April. I wonder if he will be more talking than singing 😊
March 17th, 2026 at 14:17I wouldn’t call Quo “refined” 😂, but there is a certain English songwriting craftsmanship evident with them.
Let There Be Rock is actually a fun AC/DC number, it’s not like they haven’t written a couple of tunes even I like/appreciate. I could probably compile a ten-song-list from their oeuvre and would rate both Highway To Hell (the album) and Back In Black as their peak albums. But pretty much like with Nickelback, I regularly have enough after about three songs.
March 18th, 2026 at 01:01@30
😄
I meant refined compared to AC/DC!
Woah it is easy to be misunderstood in here! 😁
Nickelback 😝 ohhh no, I do not like that band! Ew ew ew !
March 18th, 2026 at 10:24And when I think about how you bitch about Rainbow’s All night long, you really should be even more harsh re Nickelback, man they are degrading women big time ⛔️
The Nickelback lyrics are inane.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQKqLGcoZmE
March 19th, 2026 at 03:15@32: https://youtu.be/MxmKc0OhsnU
March 19th, 2026 at 06:54@32
EXACTLY!
So gross 😝
They lack completely the finesse, elegance and charm like the lyrics from my favourite duo Gillan/Glover 😃
Certain things need to be kept private! Just sayin’…
March 19th, 2026 at 07:33Nickelback are of course everyone’s favorite punching bag – sort of what Grand Funk Railroad used to be in the first half of the 70s, no matter what they did, a lot of people hated them. Musically, I don’t think that amount of derisison is warranted – they are neither terrible nor great as a band, just ok -, but they certainly deserve to be called out for some of their lyrics. If you’re gonna be sexist, at least have some style and wit to it, Nickelback’s lyrics are totally charmless.
March 19th, 2026 at 15:23@35
Uwe, what was wrong with Grand Funk Railroad?
Didn’t know them beforehand, but this is cute:
https://youtu.be/TLi_snVfRqI?is=GXPo2z9I7OKzX299
(If it’s the lyrics I do find DC’s lyrics actually is a bit “worse” 😃)
Why didn’t people like them?
I don’t like the lyrics from Nickelback, mostly because of their view on women. But one day I listened to a tune of theirs, without knowing it was them, and it was really good. Well, ok, didn’t listen to the lyrics. But they can play rock.
However the vocalist is too much for my taste! But I guess a lot of people like them 😊 (and I’m completely ok with that 😄)
Hey, this is nice too:
March 22nd, 2026 at 11:05https://youtu.be/9F69etVKuUs?is=pxRY085NIZKYeiEK
How come I never have heard them before? Well, I don’t know either!😁
Grand Funk Railroad were very much an America-only phenomenon in the first half of the 70s, they didn‘t tour much outside of North America, but there they even gave Led Zeppelin a run for their money reliably selling out stadiums. I grew up with them simply because I went to an American school at the time. I liked the band too.
While popular with the masses, GFR were a preferred target for critics and lovers of more sophisticated rock music. Their crowd-pleasing antics, their sheer physicality: Mark Farner singing and playing guitar with a bare chest (and tight pants for his shapely butt), Farner’s high-pitched and overly dramatic vocals (We’re an American Band is sung by the drummer, Don Brewer; in Some Kind Of Wonderful, a soul cover, Don Brewer does the first verse and Farner the second one before they join together to great effect in the third verse/coda)
https://youtu.be/JsWaVQu7iTQ ,
the Michigan auto worker blue collar image, their overt patriotism (though initially the band were sold as part of the 60s counterculture movement), the way their ruthless manager/Svengali Terry Knight pushed them aggressively as a people’s band, all that rubbed some people the wrong way.
What was lost in the criticism was how tight, organic and groove-oriented a band they were and how black Motown music had left quite a mark on them even though their music was heavy. (They were all from Flint, a mid-sized auto worker city in the Greater Detroit Area.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhFyr7b1EPc
https://youtu.be/lQI2rXbqS_g (That Farmer-penned song is essentially a Motown number, it became popular among Guns & Roses fans because Axel would often do it live on piano.)
March 22nd, 2026 at 16:55@36
“How come I never have heard them before?”
You should hear this then:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68LKEm2iuj4
March 22nd, 2026 at 20:59@38
And here I thought Rus, that no one outside Europe knew about black licorice!
It is not that healthy for the blood pressure and all 😊☺️
March 23rd, 2026 at 08:02But thanks for the link. A very interesting tune 😊
@37
“While popular with the masses, GFR were a preferred target for critics and lovers of more sophisticated rock music.”
– you know what Uwe, my mum may have been guilty in not doing everything right when she was busy bringing up 5 children, but one thing I always will be so grateful for is that she taught us to think for ourselves!
Thank God I don’t have to take whatever some journalists or critics think about this and that 😃
Thank you for the link to ‘Some kind of wonderful’, love the rythm so much, the drums and of course in the beginning the bass, it is beautiful in my head 😍
Oh and the other kind: footstumpin’ alright 😊
‘Bad Time’ – oh I have heard this with another band…. Can’t remember which one, and apparently AI knows absolutely nothing!
March 23rd, 2026 at 08:14But I remember this tune from my youth, some guy sang it to me 😃 oh yes, those were the days….☺️
@ 38- thanks for that great funk buster GFR rocker Russ. I was introduced to GFR at the same time as DP, Sabbath, Heep, Zep etc in ’73/74, as these albums were in my older cousins record collection. American Band, Mark,Don and Mel and the stupendous live album. And while I am commenting on this almost forgotten band in many ways, boy didn’t they influence a lot of the American bands 15 to 20 years later. RHCP, Faith No More and even Primus I can hear in this tune. Way ahead of their time were GFR. Cheers.
March 23rd, 2026 at 09:24No one called it that back then, but from today’s vantage point, Grand Funk Railroad played a very Michigan mix of soul and rock, closer to what a band like Mother’s Finest would do years later than emulating the Holy British Trinity of Sabbath/Purple/Zeppelin. The tempos, the bubbling rhythms, the attitude of that music are all really RnBish/soulish.
I think in Europe, Grand Funk Railroad’s most popular song – perhaps along with Some Kind of Wonderful – was their cover of Little Eva’s early 60s novelty dance hit Locomotion (resurrected by Kylie Minogue in the 80s).
https://youtu.be/sSQOeQakExU
Tellingly, that was a soul number too:
https://youtu.be/eKpVQm41f8Y
As was by the way Some Kind of Wonderful:
https://youtu.be/51LHNriPZf4
You rub your eyes today that during their heyday GFR were perceived by their critics as only these white bread Midwestern stadium rockers devoid of any originality, oafish and hamfisted.
That they were ambassadors of maybe something else altogether went under the radar.
March 23rd, 2026 at 10:50Isn’t Denmark the spiritual home of black licorice and Copenhagen its undeniable capital?
https://lakridsbybulow.com/
March 23rd, 2026 at 17:23@42
“GFR were perceived by their critics as only these white bread Midwestern stadium rockers devoid of any originality, oafish and hamfisted… That they were ambassadors of maybe something else altogether went under the radar.”
Those guys oozed Funk… funny (in a odd way) that most of my white-skinned peers at that time who liked GFR wouldn’t be caught dead listening to bands like Sly & The Family Stone, P-Funk, Kool & the Gang, etc… even though GFR had as much in common with those bands as they did with “traditional” rock bands. As MacGregor put it “Way ahead of their time were GFR.” I wonder how much of an influence they had on bands like RHCP.
And then there were these guys who at the same time were peddling a more mainstream type of funk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tulDN0-L4tc
March 24th, 2026 at 08:02@43
Uwe, you know about Bülow?
He makes the most appealing and delicious licorice.
However one’s blood pressure does not benefit from that.
In licorice there is glycyrrhizinacid, and it can be quite heavy for the body to get rid off.
Not many years ago a woman in Denmark was hospitalised with extremely high blood pressure, docs didn’t know anything. Until a snifty nurse asked her if she enjoyed candy! “Ohhh noo, but I drink licorice tea every day”!
That was enough.
Happily she lived on to tell the story.
However Bülow – he is my guilty pleasure.
March 24th, 2026 at 08:14But only once in a full moon when I am done dancing in the woods like all the other witches and gypsies are 😄
Russ: I was thinking of mentioning Rare Earth as the other white band comparable to GFR! I loved their live album. My pet theory is that being one of the few white rock acts signed to the Motown label they kind of had “protected status” with many rock critics and thus did not serve as much as a punching ball. You weren’t gonna put down a white band signed to the US’ most successful black-owned label playing black music if you didn’t want to be lumped in with the wrong kind of people and keep bad company.
Of course they came from Detroit too. A lot of white acts from that region shared that influence, Mitch Ryder, even early Ted Nugent (he had that James Brown frenzy in his music).
Before Mark Farner and Don Brewer became Grand Funk Railroad they did stuff like this:
https://youtu.be/NIgXsIBioLI ,
the cover of another RnB classic:
https://youtu.be/6bZyk5mixXk
Karin: Sure I know Bülow, what do you think Edith brings with her from her Denmark forays? I like the taste of licorice (Edith hates it like anything bitter) and Bülow is the best you can get! No worries, I know that licorice is a poison of sorts and I only eat it sparingly. In stuff like HARIBO licorice it is in any case only contained in homeopathic doses, you’re mostly munching on bee’s wax.
March 24th, 2026 at 15:23@46
Edith must be a true dream wife!
She brings you candy she doesn’t even like herself 🤩
Btw: I have always thought Haribo was a Danish invention, so imagine the shock I got when I discovered it was Hans Riegel from Bonn who was the inventor ☺️
March 24th, 2026 at 19:10One more thing we owe our German neighbors thanks for!
HA(ns)RI(egel)BO(nn)!!!
But compared to the licorice you guys eat, the Haribo licorice is mild kiddie stuff. It’s like heroin compares to pot – with Denmark taking the role of Afghanistan! 😂
If it wasn’t a traditional bitter sweet already, but introduced today, no European or North American food safety authority would even allow it now. 😎
March 25th, 2026 at 05:22“Edith must be a true dream wife!” Remember Karin that Edith has had to put up with Uwe for a long long time, an award of sorts is in order for Edith, a Noble Peace prize for starters and a few others we all could think of……….any suggestions are most welcome.
March 25th, 2026 at 09:17“She brings you candy she doesn’t even like herself “🤩 Usually one has to be extremely careful as to what one consumes in that situation with a partner, friend or even an enemy. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, it is a wonder Uwe is still with us. Or perhaps he isn’t, are we all dealing with his doppelgänger? Perish that thought. Cheers.
My Dutch friend always said the Dutch liquorice was the bees knees of liquorice, but she may be being ‘patriotic’ or something. Personally I have never tasted anything more gross than liquorice, The devil must have made it or perhaps the good lord, either way they devised something that really annoyed me and it still does. Another technicolour yawn coming up. Cheers.
March 25th, 2026 at 09:25@48
Uwe, we are Vikings! We eat proper licorice…. That make all your cells crumble 😄
March 25th, 2026 at 09:38While we listen to proper music:
https://youtu.be/ODF4ScLBiuA?is=4UADqMB4uqgnyU59
I know, during the Viking period men even had red beards and all that.
How the hell did licorice get to Denmark in the first place? Isn’t it something that had its origins in Tibet? Now don’t tell me that Viking navigation was so bad your ancestors got lost there too?!
https://preview.redd.it/lost-at-sea-hagar-the-horrible-v0-6pgi1cvpj25e1.png?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=ab36846cefd116c7b4d51337ff934bd14452273a
March 25th, 2026 at 19:31Ha ha ha ha ha, Hagar the Horrible, classic cartoons. I was looking at many of those a few weeks ago. That probably sums it up in many ways Uwe, well done. Cheers.
March 26th, 2026 at 09:31@52
Originally it came from Deutschland und Vereinigtes Königreich, as medication (according to AI, but who knows if that’s true..)
But I guess a lot of Danes have serious issues re finding our ways…
But this guy explains it well:
https://youtu.be/_6u9wZ83mkE?is=45mpGjL_U3Ll3GYB
And this is interesting:
https://youtube.com/shorts/F7xZJ7t-PhI?is=0HTfa-6yHyNYbptf
A warning:
https://youtu.be/Eu_9GGdsu8w?is=lfZRMxu9z8YcR28H
However coffee:
https://youtube.com/shorts/suXrTmeAZCE?is=RhLIXAbLrg01UqlN
https://youtu.be/x0ap4amK_Xs?is=FGB3OjJpuZSOhwbU
And my mum always said: the steam of cold coffee makes you beautiful, which is proven here:
https://youtu.be/Ervg_Fa530s?is=IaTuvr1uq4DiPdtg
And this man drinks coffee too, need I say more: (0:20)
March 26th, 2026 at 10:18https://youtu.be/WgBbrzPizoU?is=y9pZX_-TKGI9llJS
@39
“And here I thought Russ, that no one outside Europe knew about black licorice!”
I don’t care for the confection but I like the kind he’s singing about. 🥵
March 27th, 2026 at 20:47Russ always sexualizes everything. He’s a corrosive influence here with his one-track-mind. ☝️😑
https://youtu.be/7I7MFrbDchs
March 28th, 2026 at 12:52@49
MacGregor 😃 yes, you’re right:
“Remember Karin that Edith has had to put up with Uwe for a long long time, an award of sorts is in order for Edith, a Noble Peace prize for starters and a few others we all could think of”
– an Oscar for best leading role in his life, and yes, you’re right: a Nobel’s peace prize for keeping up with him…. She is a brave woman!
I look forward to the day where I see and hear this woman speaking almost perfect Danish and then ask her politely: “Madam, are you by any chance married to this lawyer who haunts us at HS”?
And then after several cups of coffee and shared suffering, we agree to keep in touch to support one another 😃
“are we all dealing with his doppelgänger”
March 29th, 2026 at 05:43– no! There can only be one Uwe, don’t you think? 🤔 😁
@56
“…always sexualizes everything.”
Well… if that isn’t a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
March 29th, 2026 at 09:47