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Speakeasy 1974
Ritchie Blackmore’s official YT channel presents Jon Lord, Ozzy Osbourne, and Ian Hunter in conversation with Chip Monck in 1974.
Ritchie Blackmore has opened up his tape archive and found a great interview following Deep Purple’s triumphant California Jam show in April 1974.
Chip Monck hosted the 1974 rock talk show Speakeasy, which featured an episode with Deep Purple’s Jon Lord, Ian Hunter, and Ozzy Osbourne. The episode aired in April 1974 following the California Jam festival, featuring conversation and insights into the music business.
Guests: Jon Lord (Deep Purple), Ian Hunter (Mott the Hoople), and Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath).
Thanks to Orhun, Gary, steve4422, Karl, Simon, and Uwe for the heads-up.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Poor Ozzy, not the most exuberant orator there has been in rock music circles. Not to worry at least he isn’t off his face. He is a funny guy in later day appearances, although that is when he is much more in his comfort zone with his old band mates etc. Jon Lord seems a bit out of place too, in fact they all do. A strange setup in many ways. Thanks for posting. Cheers.
March 31st, 2026 at 08:46Ian Hunter funny as He$$, and definitely high as a kite on something. 🤣
March 31st, 2026 at 12:01Thanx,I espescially appreciated Wendy Waldman.
I was just a kid and not into musivc in 74.
NOTHING suggested within 3 years it d click and make me addicted forever.
OZZY looks young and healthy, always thought they were already deep into drugs, booze , whatever before that interview?
So he drove cars, wrecked them and only decades later did pass for a license?
I recall, maybe my memory is wrong here.
An anecdote in which Ian Hunter, derogatory,once Blackmore peaked and had the bossy image,thought it was funny to tell about days gone by in which they treated Ritchie as the little kid sending him out for cigarettes.
This poodle imho never got on the same level or set the world on fire.
The bastard is still here and smoking though.
Did I tell ya I loath that behaviour?
Never understood why people d want it, to becoming a dominating chimney of dirt oozing over others.
DNA is a bitch.
Some survive anything, others get crippled and or die young, because of these drugs.
Think Dio, Lord.
What a waste of talent.
I hoped for many more soloalbums by Lordy, a collaboration with RB,1 cd with blues stuff,the other filled with instrumentals , think Anthem etc
Dio and Powell should ve been in that Rainbow reunion band not these inferiors of everyone else.
But time went on, accidents happened and RB kept hanging in BN mode, which he still does,oughta have changed after 3 years of indulging there, let it explode like Paicey suggested.
March 31st, 2026 at 13:22The first 1 or 2 minutes of the interview seems like 4 aliens incidentally met inside a TV station in a Cold War country. It was sleepy up until Ian Hunter made the 1st little joke (scintillating) and everyone else responded. After that the interview started flowing albeit slowly
Honestly I was kinda scared at that first 2 minutes, I was like did Blackmore tried to prank us with this bizarre interview? (Like saying “Hey folks, I’m not the only boring person in this world, look at those men”). Fortunately not. Not a great interview but not a bad one either. A gem of classic rock history, three British men talking about their experience performing in America.
I don’t really think question about how one feels performing in front of big audience should be the straight 1st question in that kind of interview. But while Monck the interviewer, started rather moderately, I admire his patience and calmness, plus the nice hospitality he show to all the three throughout the interview. Later I read he ever confronted a Hells Angels member in that infamous 1969 Altamont show for stealing something.
And our dear Jon Lord looked visibly dead serious (or bored?), up until the tale of Deep Purple’s Guinness Book of Records clicked him. Ian Hunter was cheerful, and young Ozzy was talkative and healthy.
March 31st, 2026 at 16:49@2 Havn’t watched it yet but looking forward to it. As far as I know Ian Hunter always said he never did any drugs apart from ciggies. He has tons of wit that’s for sure. Very sarcastic lyrics he writes. ‘I am what I hated when I was young’😄
March 31st, 2026 at 19:21The setup reads promising, but disappoints. The only guy who’s lively is a youthful and still charmingly alert Ozzy, Hunter comes off as especially blasé, “been here, done that”, which was of course his shtick as the then still Mott Tthe Hoople frontman (he left them that same year, together with Mick Ronson who had just joined them), he is even older (born ’39) than Jon, maybe that is why he’s already sounding so worldweary? And Jon? Must have been tired or on qualudes, he’s not really bubbling with his charming stammer as he would in later years.
I’m actually a great fan of Ian Hunter, seen him a couple of times (he never tours Germany where Mott the Hoople meant nothing, so you always have to either see him in the UK or in Scandinavia where he has a faithful audience among all those Anglophiles), not the greatest singer technically (has perfected the art of always sounding a little flat), but a great songwriter, his ode (together with Ronno) to post-WW II American cultural impact is lovely:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X67Scbwrdn4
This is a guy after all who still remembers the Luftwaffe flying over London or the V-1/V-2 rockets coming in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEJ9HrZq7Ro
His lyrics are great, like this one about his inability to keep up a conversation with his father (“we only read you when you write“):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EPH0mOJ7eM
A song that struck a chord in unexpected places!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FMkSgMfQ1I
(Yeah, I like Barry Manilow, hit me with your ire! 😂)
Hunter certainly knew Ritchie from his Hamburg days, he has written a wonderful song about the Hamburg/Star-Club scene in the 60s too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1B-oHjTiI0
He once said about Ritchie: “Ritchie is a cynic like me which is just as well in a business where the best lack all conviction and the worst are filled with passionate intensity.” And Ian Hunter’s Overnight Angels were the first haven for Jimmy Bain after he got fired by Ritchie, but he didn’t stay there long either.
March 31st, 2026 at 20:01I watched more of this program with interest and enjoyed the musician Wendy Waldman, who I cannot recall ever hearing of before. A prolific artist and an even more prolific songwriter and producer. Regarding this interview chit chat elephant talk program. Could this be a precursor of sorts for today and dare I say it, that cursed word ‘celebrity’ tv entertainment scenario. When artists of certain genres sit around talking and there being a little ‘live’ music entertainment here end there to break up the monotony of the celebrity and the host waffling on. This 1974 set up was very laid back and quiet and pleasant, which of course is the total opposite of today’s garbage. Full on and hyped up with advertising, sponsorship and all the loud mouths you can imagine. Anyway, time doesn’t stand still does it? Cheers.
March 31st, 2026 at 21:29@3 It sounds like you’re on drugs – or failed spelling and grammar class. Jon Lord didn’t die from drugs nor Dio: what an ignorant thing to say. You implicated two guys who shunned drugs; at least, post-1960s.
Rock, put down the Mary Jane and booze and get a life.
March 31st, 2026 at 22:12Great interview, and you can actually understand Ozzy!
April 1st, 2026 at 03:31I think the whole talkshow suffers from the host’s inability/stiffness to really moderate a joint discussion and his unfortunate habit of impromptu veering from one subject to another as if he has some list of topics whose boxes need to be ticked. That said, Ozzy is really charming and cute throughout. (He was more coherent back then than as a later middle-aged and older man, mind you!)
Ian Hunter’s hair is of course great, but a good man kows when he’s beaten and when it comes down to curls, Ms Wendy Waldman does take the crown!!!
I had never heard of her before, but I like her slightly off-the-wall music performances – Joni Mitchell and Laura Nyro influences are obvious. And I wonder if Alanis Morissette did hear some of Wendy’s music in turn.
She remained a songwriter btw and did well for herself, I guess quite a few of us have heard/know this lush ballad, she co-wrote it decades later for a former Miss America (and first black woman to gain that title):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EdmHSTwmWY
It headed the US Billboard Hot 100 as #1 for five weeks on end in 1992, receiving multiple Grammy Award nominations. Skillfully done number too.
April 1st, 2026 at 06:47@6
“Yeah, I like Barry Manilow”
Uwe, you do?
Do you then also like this:
https://youtu.be/0Gl2QnHNpkA?is=ihlXHUngHkggIYFX
Because in my ears it’s almost the same ☺️
April 1st, 2026 at 07:58“Lord didn’t die from drugs”
Not directly, James, but pancreatic cancer is very often an alcohol consumption derived affliction. Let’s put it this way: I’ve never heard of a teetotaller suffering from it, but it has wreaked havoc among rock musicians who have had a drinking lifestyle for parts of their career (eg John Wetton, Trevor Bolder, Aretha Franklin, Wilko Johnson). There was a time in the 70s when Jon’s steady alcohol consumption raised eybrows – the Courvoisier especially was tempting apparently. And I lost someone from my circle of friends to the (basically still incurable) disease ony a few years ago (only 59 years old) and, yes, she wasn’t exactly a “dry” person either. We’re not necessarily talking alcoholism, but steady social drinking.
April 1st, 2026 at 08:05@8 I guess critizising someone’s spelling who”s writing in a foreign language isn’t very polite. Everyone’s invited to do better in someone else’s native tongue.
I think it wasn”t just about illegal drugs but also drinks and tobacco. Both Jon and Dio were drinking and smoking. Plus I remember Jon Lord being open about using cocaine for some time and he sure was no stranger to cannabis.
April 1st, 2026 at 13:18I actually saw this when it appeared on tv back in 74. I remember it was on a PBS station channel 13 in New York. I was 16 at the time and the next day I asked around to see if anyone else saw this and the answer was “I didn’t know anything about it” I just happened to stumble upon it and I never saw it again. I looked on you tube several times throughout the years but could never find it. If Ritchie’s the one responsible for releasing this so we can see it now all I can say is thank you Ritchie and anything else you have keep it coming.
April 1st, 2026 at 13:34I don’t see much commonality between an old style crooner like Barry Manilow and a boy band like the Backstreet Boys, not that they really rub me the wrong way. But if Hellboy/Ron Perlman can like Manilow, so can I! ☝️😈
https://youtu.be/f6KJdsgPz24
https://youtu.be/hB4w8EVh-2E
Never had issues with what you might call butter-tenor singers, whether their first names are Elvis, Tom, Engelbert, Neil or Barry! A little bit of Schmelz oder Schmalz in der Stimme goes a long way with me.
https://youtu.be/Z8fhciUojQ0
PS: Rock’s “stream of consciousness”-posts are fine with me. Everyone here has a personal story to tell how DP & Family affected him first.
April 1st, 2026 at 15:59@8 & @13
Have to speak too!
It’s not cool to be so condescending.
English is not my first language either and oh boy I make a lot of mistakes, spelling and grammar.
I like this place because there is room for everyone, please remember that!
Thank you Max for speaking up 🤗🙏🏼
April 1st, 2026 at 16:18Young humble Ozzy (26 years old) in the company of middle-aged rock gentlemen Ian (35) and Jon (33) haha
April 1974 .. Sabbath in crisis with managers, Purple with new young singers, Ian with Mott The Hoople new album, new guitarist, (older founded super group BC) on an American tour, supported by MTH is a young group ,called Queen .
Ozzy and Jon will go through many more successful years .. Ian also … more about Ian Hunter (good vocals, a beautiful hair) so underestimated in the world of rock, primarily an excellent songwriter and guru (glam rock and punk rock)
For me, his most memorable period is from the late seventies and early eighties.
.1979 he gathered around him excellent musicians like John Cale and the musicians of the E Street Band (Tallent and Weinberg) primarily on guitar the best guitarist of classic rock at that time Mick Ronson
.1979, the album (for me one of the best titles in the history of Rn R) (You’re Never Alone with a Schizophrenic…songs “Ships”, “Cleveland Rocks”, “Just Another Night” and my favorite song “Bastard” (part of the groove we have in the later Billy Idol Flesh For Fantasy..At the end of 1978. Hunter produced the second LP Generation X, “Valley of the Dolls”).
This was followed by a double live album, the great “Welcome to the Club ” i think 1980 …
.In those years, along with the live album The Kinks (One for the Road), I listened to two great tandems, classic rock…. Davids brothers and Ronson and Hunter
.The incredible fact is than Hunter and Mott The Hoople or Mick Ronson is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame yet ??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNOD17bBrSg&t=22s
April 2nd, 2026 at 05:48@12
Hello Uwe,
I lost my grandmother to this horrible cancer – she never drank and smoked in her whole life, but she was not the one you would call “slim”. She was of that “post-WWII-eating much – generation” (sorry I can’t describe it better in english) and I think severe obesity damages the pancreas.
Do you remember Jon in the 70ies? There was a transformation from a slim “hippie” to a – as we in Germany say – “Schrank”. That took his toll, too. (Yes, I know alcohol has many calories, but I think was a connoisseur, too.)
And I lost an old friend 2024 to pancreatic cancer, too. She was always smoking and drinking. Her husband died a year later – literally of a broken heart. It’s hard to loose friends that way.
Someone here said “DNA is a beast” – sad but true.
April 2nd, 2026 at 09:00@15
“But if Hellboy/Ron Perlman can like Manilow, so can I! ☝️😈”
– alright Uwe 😁
I know your taste in music is extensive and, oh dare I say it? rather flamboyant too 😊
That’s nice! 🙏🏼
I still struggle accepting Bach….. but I am not a quitter 😃
However! I don’t mind butter tenors, only EP, which there is a perfectly legit reason for, but never mind – I appreciate so many like him.
Oh – his wife (ex-wife? widow?) was in Randers the other day. People were so fascinated by her and her appearance 😊
Of butter tenors I guess this guy is among my favourites:
April 2nd, 2026 at 09:10https://youtu.be/2t4nq2KkT0I?is=Ii_-LLkk-NpJNnl6
Yes I am aware of the rumours but in my ears he sounds so genuine 😊
“Have to speak too!”
Yes, we foolhardy allowed that once and now you do it all the time, liebe Karin! 🤣
And how are we getting along with our concentrated IGB listening exercises, Frau Verndal? My set arrived yesterday and although I had ordered a signed one the good people of Townsend Music deemed it fit to send me an unsigned one, albeit with an empty autograph card! 🤗😂 Or maybe Big Ian just signed it with magic ink …
Not fully through yet, but the remaster of the debut album has led to an audible improvement.
April 2nd, 2026 at 11:33@20
“Yes, we foolhardy allowed that once and now you do it all the time, liebe Karin! 🤣”
– well, that’ll teach you Uwe 😁
I have not received the boxset yet.
Allow me to explain!
In Denmark we had, since 1624, a state postal service, that sadly ended the 1st of January 2026.
Another company took over, with horrendous results 😟
So if I am very lucky I might get the IGB boxset next year, or maybe not…
But if or when I get it, I will listen carefully and take notes, and then I’m pretty sure you will feel so honoured to send me that Ian Paice drumstick, that might also get lost 😭
How is the postal situation in Germany? I might move there so at least I can get some mail 😊
The new company has big problems, f.i. I needed a new VISA and the bank sent me one, which also got lost.
Hopefully they’ll learn how to deliver post one day 😊
I need a little song to console me, what about this lovely band:
https://youtu.be/SRg_1i1SFuM?is=0vXViAQJLzvRQ0zU
Or this:
April 2nd, 2026 at 16:57https://youtu.be/RtRaMhVQfhU?is=TXN-qsu4-YjSHLJb
Since you were in that cover band et all 😁
Ivica, SHAME ON YOU!!! 😂 Mentioning Mick Ralphs and Mick Ronson (who was in MTH like for three seconds) as Mott he Hopple guitarists, but not Luther Grosvenor (later of Widowmaker together with Bob Daisley)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTd2OQWg-yc
aka Ariel Bender? Sacrilege!!!!!!!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvFpX98EOPo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd77xVCMkE8
Ritual Rock’n’Roll Suicide had to be committed for lesser crimes! 😎
Mick Ralphs left MTH because neither he himself nor Ian Hunter could sing the songs he wrote, but Paul Rodgers could. And he had gotten to know Paul Rodgers when the latter had opened for Mott the Hoople with his then outfit Peace (featuring Mick Underwood on drums).
But Mick Ralphs was no doubt the guitarist Hunter valued most in MTH, he once said that Ariel Bender looked and played great live, but that he missed Mick Ralphs’ creativity in the studio in the studio. Ronson otoh wasn’t welcomed by the other Mott members, they were wary of getting someone in who was used to David Bowie stardom. Hunter grew impatient about that and decided to leave, taking Ronno with him.
The others continued as “Mott” with a new singer and a new guitarist, but they didn’t have the songs to ensure Mott’s survival:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jFloi9MBJE
Mötley Crüe fans (there must be some in hiding here) will probably appreciate the fact that Mott’s singer Nigel Benjamin later on moved to LA to form a band claeed London with a bassist called Nikki Sixx …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT0FXeMHwCQ
How did we get here? 🤣
April 2nd, 2026 at 17:08Karin it is probably on the high seas floating around in a bottle, slowly making it’s way to Denmark. You might have to get use to receiving postal items that way now. Of course out here in no man’s land we have been use to that for many many years. However as I said, my IGB arrived last Monday in the shop. I sincerely hope it isn’t something else sinister that is at play with your cd’s. Have you asked Anton? Cheers.
April 2nd, 2026 at 21:51Sigh, privatisation doesn’t always lead to improved results, Karin! Daseinsfürsorge should stay in the hands of the state. German postal services are by and large reliable, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t mess up once in a while.
April 2nd, 2026 at 23:01@22
Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKzVWhK1KiM
April 3rd, 2026 at 04:05@23
“it is probably on the high seas floating around in a bottle, slowly making it’s way to Denmark.”
– oh I hope so MacGregor!
If it’s lost I will never hear the end of it by you-know-who 😄 he will make up stories about how I “accidentally “ lost the IGB boxset just so I didn’t have to listen to it 😁
There has just been an election in Denmark and some of the election cards were never delivered and others were delivered to the wrong people – sigh….
And on top of that, the manager of the company said on national tv that he would like to strangle the responsible person 😱
Maybe not the most clever thing to say.
However – I hope I soon can listen to the best rock voice in the world 😃
Anton is waiting just as patiently as me 😃 and I’m pretty sure he would never do any harm to any cd by IG!
I mean: look at this little cute face:
April 3rd, 2026 at 09:49https://youtube.com/shorts/rFBEp1RqZmM?is=bsSan3yj3U1OXFCs
@24
“Sigh, privatisation doesn’t always lead to improved results, Karin!”
– you’re complete right there Uwe!
But I hope the new company will be like the little train that could:
https://youtu.be/Yx9xO98kcBU?is=gqGmfLy387SXLPRc
Or maybe Ian could help out:
April 3rd, 2026 at 09:57https://youtu.be/jm7w6YQswsE?is=DvGfwXKBsQ6Dt1Kp
😃
@ 26- yes I am beginning to worry about my Jon Lord book now. No sign of it arriving here from the UK as yet. I will give it another week or two then make some enquiries, I sincerely hope it doesn’t come to that. I am sure your IGB set will arrive too. Just keep an eye on Anton if you notice the post delivery person leaving and Anton running back into the house with a muddy nose and two front paws. We know how doggies like to bury things for keepsake. Seriously, it does sound like a fiasco over there in regard to the ‘new’ mailing system. We live in a chaotic world at times, certain things seem to be not as simple as they use to be. Cheers.
April 3rd, 2026 at 22:08@28
Hopefully the book will arrive safe to you! 😊
It does not only sound like a fiasco, it is a fiasco!
Furthermore they deliver all letters and packets at night 😳
I have more than once being ‘treasure-hunting’ when I in the morning got a notification that a packet had been delivered, but were not in the place where they usually place them.
Found packets all over the place here 😄
Well I’m patient and never yell at anyone. So I’ve chosen GLS or DHL instead whenever that is possible.
Anton you say? Yeah he sometimes comes in with muddy paws…..
April 4th, 2026 at 04:59Maybe I should do some digging 😃
Waaaw!
So that’s the real Chip Munck! Finally!
And seeing the great Wendy Waldman… that’s just fantastic!
Thx to Richard von Blechmoor.. cheers mate.
April 4th, 2026 at 10:53MacGregor, my Jon Lord book arrived in the US on April 3. I’m sure yours will come soon if it isn’t there already. It’s certainly worth the wait – terrific detail on Jon’s keyboards/equipment through the years. A great addition to the books on Jon!
April 6th, 2026 at 00:05@ 31- thanks George for that information. Good to hear and that places mine in that delivery time frame hopefully. Ovais has kindly replied to my email query yesterday, saying Australian deliveries were dispatched around the middle of March. He is going to check the tracking for me after Easter, which probably has slowed mail deliveries a little no doubt. Cheers.
April 6th, 2026 at 08:19Appearantly I am not the only one wondering where his JON LORD BEFORE WE FORGET, sic, edition is/remains.
Its funny, I know English isnt my first language and often it just flows out of me, being associative, but its not often I get hammered for it.
Indeed, both Ronnie and Jon drank and smoked.
Regarding RJ Dio it was a surprise to read.
Always thinking it was THE reason Gillan lost his Godlike voice quite early. Yeah, he sometimes returned with a vengeance.
I dont drink these days, stopped wine early 24, again, to fall back now and then. DONT ASK ME WHY!
I was 20 reinventing myself into a healthfreak, throwing out bad food, alcohol.
I already never smoked but life/shit happened so after years I was lured in psychopharmacy.
Anti depressants and related are really harddrugs, so thats a bummer for someone who was pure, clean et all in 2006.
I sometimes think its ironic that in USA my local pharmacy is called a drugstore.
Ok, yesterday I was exited about Trump seemingly losing it, and thought of Iran nuking the harbours of Rotterdam
I already had fallen back 1 week earlier, just because…… and now I bought again a bottle of wine and some junkfood for the end of everything.
They re procastrinating.
Which is also 1 of my bad traits.
The difference is,maybe I oughtta relax, this worldwar thing ll be a totally different animal compaired to me, a boring old fart, going silently into the night.
Am I really streaming? I thought that was you, Uwe?
April 8th, 2026 at 13:08You mean I’m a DP influencer, RV? Aren’t we all here? The golden rule is: If you want three opinions on DP, ask two DP fans, they’ll likely never agree on anything! ☝️😂
I’ll only be a true influencer once I have gotten that Randers chick to confess her eternal love for and devotion to IGB!
My next project will be getting Beate to do something about Steve’s dress sense. The best age widower needs a woman’s hand on the subject. People in Mittelhessen dress better than that from my memory.
April 8th, 2026 at 19:58@34
🤣 well Uwe, the Randers chick actually got the boxset the other day…
And I have been listening, ohh boy have I been listening!
The positive first:
Ian’s voice is amazing! Well, don’t I always find his voice of something extraordinary? Yes, yes I do.
I mean, listen to this:
https://youtu.be/HQN3BG1504s?is=6s84bjEsnX2Hfa8x
And then I have to quote my dear mum:
“Sweetheart, always remember: if you don’t have anything nice to say, then do not say anything at all”
She told me that over and over.
And now being a mature woman, I have found my moxie, and am not ashamed of having an opinion of my own.
A friend told me how to dive into it, and I did, but if there is one thing I’m proud of in my life, it is that I always tell the truth (and nothing but…) I may not always tell everything, but the things I do reveal are always true.
I would love to get the Ian P drumstick, but would it be worth anything if I got it while lying? No, no it wouldn’t… (should you however find pity in me NOT having that coveted drumstick, and at the same time being impressed that I am not a liar, well then feel free to rob your kids from their inheritance 🤓)
Uwe, I really really do not like it
I love rock, I do! So very very much. And IGB is nothing of the sort..
Please call me an ignorant, call me a redneck, call me what ever you feel like. But rock, and some pop (PSB) and a lot of classical music (still not completely into JS Bach, but I’m trying) are in my bloodstream 😍
It gives me energy, hope, happiness, moxie (woah, how many times can a person use that word in a post?), courage and a solid lust for life!
I G B steal away the will to live.
When I listened really hard to Child in Time, I had this picture:
CiT sounds like someone – not mentioning any names – were pretty drunk and thought to himself: ‘let’s annoy Ritchie’ and then found someone who volunteered to take a pic of him the first time he heard it 😁 (I would love to see that photo)
This is, however my kind of music:
https://youtu.be/85WQU-xLPhI?is=NPRsdfqd2xgH5Pnp
Funny story: yesterday the chimney sweeper came by, a young bloke who is playing in two bands (metal-rock) and he was at Jesper’s birthday last year, together with the rest of DAD.
I apparently made some sound when he mentioned Jesper, and he said: oh did you say ‘yum’, and I didn’t 😄 but I might have expressed my appreciation for the beautiful music they are making! Well never mind, but he told me very funny stuff about my favourite Danish band.
And Uwe, yes Stig is something else!
Another band I adore, for their rock sound are these gentlemen:
https://youtu.be/IOBR1P1nNFw?is=fyI-zYGoxEXZLzAa
Oh and this band:
https://youtu.be/-q9kuejj1xA?is=HPBjcjci859TZUgz
Some in here might find it plain and without any substance. And that’s fine by me.
I guess not all of you eat cuisine raffinée every day! Some days I bet burgers are to be found at your menu!
Or oatmeal… or instant coffee…
8 months ago a 5 meter tree fell on me. That hurt! A LOT! and I still suffer from excruciating headaches because of that. Luckily I found that rock, and loud, helps me big time.
IGB adds to the headache 🤕
Btw, this band is also something else, and very important to me:
https://youtu.be/EogO3SxXDFw?is=-a9f5fzwnZ_oHube
Sadly Dan left, and I don’t know how he is doing these days, but oh man he could rock 😃
And please notice 1:12, almost Stevie RV worthy guitar replacement 😊
Well, to make a way too long explanation short (too late I know):
I LOVE Purple with all my heart, I really really REALLY do! …and Gillan, and Whitesnake, and Thunder, Mr. Big, Extreme, Georgia Satellites, Black Sabbath, some of Led Zep’s songs, DAD, and other bands that bring a big smile on my face.
Somehow I cannot imagine in which situation I would enjoy IGB, maybe going completely deaf? No, because I would still have the haunting memories of CiT.
Feel I need to say sorry to those of you who enjoy IGB. Please believe me, it was hard for me to write this, because I don’t wanna make you mad at me.
But how in all that is yummy and with a splash of milk, rock nerds as yourselves dig IGB will forever puzzle me a lot 😃
P.S. Steve’s dress sense is cute! Believe me, it is 😊
April 9th, 2026 at 08:26Have you yet heard songs like Five Moons & Let It Slide (prog ballads), Down the Road, Twin Exhausted & Mercury High (pop), Good Hand Liza (Arabic influence) and Angel Manchenio (Latin American influence)? These are all stunningly well-written and -performed songs!
I can understand if IGB’s fusion elements on Money Lender, CAT (the song) and Over The Hill are a bit too jazzy and cerebral for someone from a jazz-averse background, but IGB is so much more than just fusion.
You’ll have to do better, Frau Verndal. Die deutsche Kommandantur ordnet an: Take your time and report again in due course. I can’t fathom anyone not liking Five Moons, especially an Ian Gillan devotee like you.
You immediately jumped to CIT because that is what you knew! That version has always been divisive because to many people the original is sacrosanct with its lengthy Jon Lord intro and Ritchie’s fast solo shuffle in the middle. IGB went a different route, they discarded the intro (which Jon by his own admission had lifted off a violin intro by It’s A Beautiful Day)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTkN0CFW04c
and did away with the very early 70s middle shuffle, rather letting Ray Fenwick solo over the verse harmonies. And what a solo – somewhere between Carlos Santana and David Gilmour – it is!
April 9th, 2026 at 14:21@34
How could I!?
HOW COULD I – forget these two wonderful bands….
Guess that is a perfect example of my poor head being all confused after hours and hours listening to IGB.
Well, gladly I can make yet another post, and name them here in all their glory:
https://youtu.be/F98K7Cl3mT0?is=dFb5xjN1j_D4tKXE
Connoisseurs of Ian and his latest companionship with this fine rock band can recognise their powerful and very lively tunes!
And of course these two English brothers, who are very dear to my musical heart:
https://youtu.be/4THREp9iTEo?is=sfraB39a8B7LwLoA
Thank you ladies and gentlemen 🤩
April 9th, 2026 at 16:24@36
You don’t think I’m a lost cause then….?
Oh ok, I’ll try once more ☺️
Acta, non verba 😉
April 9th, 2026 at 21:35No wonder Karin has been quiet these last few days, ha ha ha, I was wondering if she was being bamboozled by the IGB. Don’t worry Karin, that band does that as a few others have over the years. There are some good songs here and there and it does take some getting used to. Hell, it has taken me four decades to get ‘into’ some of it, (i do hope you have that long). The musicianship is fine, it is just Ian’s take on the vocals, it is as if he doesn’t know what to or how to sing along with the music, or get into the music. That is fair enough, he is a singer and writer of lyrics to fit an arrangement with ‘pop’ sensibilities and melodies. Pretty hard to do that if the chemistry between musicians is a tad different and they’re not gelling as such. My big question is of course, what did Anton think of it? Cheers.
April 9th, 2026 at 21:47Dear All: Update.
April 9th, 2026 at 22:00We printed Before We Forget in the UK (Gomer Press in Wales) and have distributed via Combined Books Services (CBS) in the UK and also via a hub in Germany.
Batched fulfilment was as follows: 1. UK 2. Germany 3. US & Canada 4. Rest of World and 5. Rest of Europe (ex-Germany).
We have despatched 277/300 orders and of these, around 260/277 have arrived with pre-order customers, including various Canadian orders as of yesterday. Of the balance of 20 or so very late orders, we’ll get to these coming days for despatch.
I am fully personally available at the email we’ve messaged from and we & I reply to everyone who connects – I mean everyone 24/7. The cluster of late deliveries has been specific countries, even by my own analysis, including CAN, AUS and NL. Please note global events have not helped, since there is clear evidence of impact to logistics and supply-chains, various cargo related also. This is all air shipment, but some delays noted through that channel also. In some cases, we can see customs are somewhat slower in some markets.
We are close to complete and again, message me and I’ll have Sarah @CBS send a tracker. Even pre-Easter queries are now being resolved with units with people this week. I appreciate the only warm reactions to date from customers. That means a lot. It’s been tremendous to hear what this means to everyone. With best wishes.
@39
MacGregor, I was listening in awe to IGB….
Anton? Well he has been overly protective of his momma 😃
No I don’t think I have 4 decades to get into IGB, turning 60 next year 😄
But who knows, I am a brilliant homeopath, so maybe I can pull on!
So funny you mention Ian’s singing, because I had the same feeling: he did not get into the songs like he does when it is Purple or Gillan.
And I’m not just talking about his magnificent roar and screams, no not at all.. but he sounded a bit like: “what have I gotten myself into here” 😁
And: “where are Purple when I need them”!
Well, he did leave IGB and formed the formidable Gillan, didn’t he?
They talk my ‘language’ much more than IGB do.
Well, I am not a quitter! When I start something I usually finish until the bitter end (but I have given up on the Ian P’s drumstick 😓)
Have a lovely weekend dear Purple-people 🤗
April 10th, 2026 at 05:03Today the weather forecasts promise us snow….. oh 😝
That drum stick is still on offer, your docile and fervent participation in Dr Uwe’s IGB brainwashing sessions assumed …
https://media0.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTZjMDliOTUydGZ1eWFpbDZhOXhweG42dDY0NzVjdGd0dzlxYTNrbnZpczdzbWJuayZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/UtkJymPFT6LyE/giphy.gif
I assure you, liebe Ms Verndal, your contribution and sacrifice for the furtherance of science will be greatly appreciated and not left unrewarded!
https://gbaike-image.cdn.bcebos.com/50da81cb39dbb6fd3d8c8e370724ab18962b37cf/50da81cb39dbb6fd3d8c8e370724ab18962b37cf_url?x-bce-process=image/format,f_auto/resize,m_lfit,w_400,limit_1
I like it when Ian is a little out of his depth and has to develop more outlandish vocal melodies. He had to do that with IGB first (and sometimes also with GILLAN), then again with Black Sabbath and was also confronted with it in the Morse era of DP. So to me there is a connection between how Ian sang with IGB, the Sabs and the Florida hay farmer with a pilot’s license.
Of course Ian can belt out a no-brainer vocal melody like GILLAN’s Vengeance 24 hours a day, but I like him challenged. It brings out his idiosyncrasies.
April 10th, 2026 at 08:26@4
Science! Really 😄
Well, never call me a quitter! 🙃
Ok, Ian’s voice was overworked in the BRILLIANT BS album, I get that. Afterwards it was pretty worn out, but still amazing.
In IGB however, well, I think of another singer, I just cannot remember the name at all….
Hmmm, this other singer also felt a bit out of place, just like Ian did in IGB.
– he is American…. Ohh shoot I cannot remember his name, nor the band!
I have put aside the whole weekend for intense IGB listening.
April 10th, 2026 at 12:37You’ll hear more Monday-ish 😊
@ 36 I’m one not really liking Five Moons. Always thought it was kind of the stinker on an otherwise excellent album.
April 10th, 2026 at 13:43Let me have an appointment with your dad then (–> Elterngespräch), we need to seriously talk about you!
The way the whole band enters @01:58 (Rockfield Mix) ie @01:59 (Kingsway Mix) is blissful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=266BLUY1hjQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWImYEISgeI
The song is nothing short of artful (with a nod to The Beatles in places). And the drumming alone is sheer music. How to play a ballad and not be dumb or boring about it.
Let’s not even talk about the introspective sax solo.
And the way Ian and John Gustafson’s voices melt together …
And it’s even a nice sci-fi lyric. About a new world.
April 10th, 2026 at 21:23Well… I was like 13, just having discovered DP as the love of my life – when it comes to music that is – and lying on my bed in a dark room, listening to the radio. They played Five Moons from that just to be released album of the IGB. It sounded like music from another world to me. Nothing like MiJ or Rising…the albums I already knew (way before I learned about Stormbringer or Private Eyes or…) but very special in a way. Really moved me.
April 10th, 2026 at 21:51CAT & Scarabus two masterpieces that never tire me, the attention always remains high for all the thousands of nuances and embellishments that the band puts into the arrangements.
I love how BigIan put himself out there in those years singing things he had never done before, making a clear change from the MKII production.
I think there is a bit of a comparison between Ian Gillan Band and the last Purple albums with Morse, but the difference is that Ian Gillan Band was full of fresh ideas, while the last Purple albums with Morse had too many recycled or narcoleptic ideas.
April 11th, 2026 at 00:04Listen to your dad, Tilly! ☝️🧐
April 11th, 2026 at 17:11