![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/morse5.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/airey.jpg)
And they went their own merry ways
Back from the loo, Ritchie Blackmore continues his 2026 birthday livestream at (apparently) 4 o’clock in the morning.
Previously on this livestream: part 1, part 2.
Once again, thanks to Candice for making this happen, to Igor’s Rock Universe for posting it, and to Uwe for bringing it to your attention.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
What is it in the US drinking water that seems to lead to a severe degradation of the knowledge of world geography? Istanbul might have been Constantinople once
https://youtu.be/0XlO39kCQ-8
but neither were ever in Bulgaria last I heard (as Ritchie seems to assume and Candice leaves uncorrected). Not sure how Bulgarian or Turkish Ritchie-fans might take this … 🤣
Alas!, let’s not be too harsh on marginal issues from Gutfeld to geography and focus on the positive! Ritchie forgivably mis-associates the question re “Fandango” (unclear whether the New Jersey outfit or Nick Simper’s erstwhile studio project, likely the former though) because he thought of the great band CARMEN’s dazzling 1973 debut Fandangos in Space.
https://youtu.be/6KQQ2da_5lY
https://youtu.be/NkdcHE02gMM
CARMEN was a visionary mix of Prog/Art/Glam Rock, tricky meters, Iberian ethno influence, a shit-hot bassist (John Glascock), a beautiful female singer/keyboarderess (Angela Allen, btw John’s significant other at the time, bassists tend to mesmerize wimmin, I know this from experience) and her red nail polish brother/guitarist/songwriter/frontman (David Allen as mentioned by Ritchie) plus of course – Herr MacGregor might be reading this – a drummer (Paul Fenton) who played on a song we’ve all hummed at one time or another:
https://youtu.be/aqUYPgYcgDQ
If this perks your interest, here is more background on them:
https://youtu.be/x3SueGq36nM
If it wasn’t for Ritchie’s astute musical taste, I would have never heard of or searched for CARMEN. I learned of them first in a 1978 lengthy guitar mag interview where Blackers sang their praises and said he would have liked to have played with them (and not just attempt to steal their bassist for Rainbow, but Glascock preferred a job with Jethro Tull). So thank you lieber Ritchie, you turned me into a CARMEN aficionado (a word of caution: if complex music with an eclectic range of influences like, say, IGB is nothing for you, you might find CARMEN’s oeuvre quite a test too, no excuse to not try though Karin!), thus giving me the chance to now document to all that I’m not against all music with a strong Spaneeeesh accent. ☝️😎
If truth be told, when I saw the first pics of Ritchie and Candice as Blackmore’s Night in 1997, my immediate thought was oh, so Ritchie is now going all CARMEN, exchanging the flamenco influence with a Renaissance one, but of course BN’s very mainstream and tame music had nothing of the overt flamboyance and Zorro-dash of CARMEN. If only!
Excuse me digressing, it is something I always try to avoid >i>wie der Teufel das Weihwasser, but the flesh is weak. Best Fandango (Garden State version) song then? Of course this here from their debut:
https://youtu.be/IXQ7___4chE
In fact, it has strong parallels to some of the stuff RJD did with Elf which I am also a sucker for. It’s American music in its most beautiful form, I love the vocal and guitar harmonies as well as the piano!!! 🥰
April 20th, 2026 at 18:15It’s not the drinking water over here in the USA, Uwe, but in the ale.
April 20th, 2026 at 23:25Thanks, Uwe, for the link to “Yellow River,” which I don’t think I’ve heard since 1970!
April 21st, 2026 at 00:34@1
Ehh what?
“you might find CARMEN’s oeuvre quite a test too, no excuse to not try though Karin!),”
– I love the opera Carmen. This album is worn out:
https://youtu.be/gkWxnm-UBl4?is=xwTxQlRTtImeY3s8
But I guess it’s not the opera you’re thinking about 😁
Excuse me while I try to wake up…. It’s 6.30 (in the morning!)
April 21st, 2026 at 04:30God bless you, Ritchie!
April 21st, 2026 at 09:41I think Yellow River is an early 70s classic and infuriatingly catchy, Andrew, here’s a better sound version of it, albeit not featuring Paul Fenton on drums:
https://youtu.be/qJ5-FoiBuVc
But he’s featured here, in Christie’s “other” hit:
https://youtu.be/rw4n1cD6NkU
It was a bit of a CCR sound they were emulating, wasn’t it? That was hugely popular in the early 70s and they weren’t the only ones who rode that train for a while:
https://youtu.be/DH11CPDXzr4
I once saw The Hollies live, 1977/78, classic Clarke/Hicks/Sylvester line-up. Their vocal harmonies were soaring and live their many hits were delivered considerably more rocky. Great gig – never forget that their drummer Bobby Elliott was a role model for a young Ian Paice. Long Cool Woman was the crowd-rousing encore.
April 21st, 2026 at 10:23@ 1- thanks Uwe for the interesting doco on CARMEN. A unique and talented bunch of musicians indeed. I cannot imagine John Glascock playing bass in Rainbow at all. Ritchie and his poaching ways eh. What a tragedy for Glascock to die so young. Ian Anderson calls him ‘brittle dick’ on that live Tull album Bursting Out, when introducing the band members, ha ha ha. That song Yellow River, yes indeed a hit song back in the day, still like it today. Have to admire that presenter for his down to earth humour, passion and dedication to presenting documentaries. A Tull fan too. Do you have that CARMEN box set Uwe? Cheers.
April 21st, 2026 at 12:15Ja, das Fachblatt-Interview, Uwe! There wasn’t much of a chance to find a decent interview with the man in black nack then – so we all learned that one by heart. ‘Ich bin der Bulldozer unter den Gitarristen.”
Took me til the 90’s til I could get my hands on that Carmen stuff. Just listened to it again the other day
April 21st, 2026 at 13:26That later Hollies maybe Uwe, but surely they were around a lot earlier, even before CCR. They did adapt to change though as the times rolled by, like many other artists. Cheers
April 21st, 2026 at 22:06I had all the Angel Air rereleases from the noughties and a couple of Japanese CDs of CARMEN, but wasn’t even aware of the box set’s existence until now, Herr MacGregor! I’ve made amends with Ms Lauren Sanchez’ hubby’s cottage industry mail order mom & pop store. Will report on the quality here, but from what I’ve heard the 2024 remasters are quite an improvement over Angel Air’s original remaster work which always sounded a bit blurry.
Ritchie and bassists! It’s always the same thing, he expresses admiration for busy players like Jack Bruce or John Glascock, but when he has someone like that (—> Bob Daisley) he relegates them to playing the bare minimum. Daisley has observed that Ritchie in essence wants a bassist that can do everything he can one octave lower, but then expects him to stay in the background with root notes. I mean just listen to the bass on LLRnR (the album) which except for three songs (KTK, STL and GOB) is all Blackmore – the bass is played faultlessly on those tracks, but also without any expression, a computer might have done the same job.
Max, you are a closet CARMENite?! 🥰 Didn’t you say you disliked Prog Rock? ☝️😎 Yes, Fachblatt, though I believe it was only the German translation from a lengthy interview Ritchie had done with Guitarist or some similar mag in the later Dio era of Rainbow.
April 21st, 2026 at 22:59I didn‘t mean to indicate that The Hollies patterned themselves after CCR in general (they didn‘t), just for that one single of Long Cool Woman released at the height of CCR dominating the singles charts. It was an untypical song for them (and they never followed it with another one in that vein).
I think The Hollies were masters at creating individual singles, their versions of He Ain’t Heavy
https://youtu.be/Jl5vi9ir49g ,
Albert Hammond‘s The Air That I Breathe
https://youtu.be/7duPNQCp-w4 ,
and Springsteen‘s Sandy
https://youtu.be/daGwvn7YXic
are yardsticks/benchmarks on how to do these songs justice. And they could reproduce them on stage, their harmony vocals courtesy of Clarke/Hicks/Sylvester were awesome live. Goes to show that they are still the top band to come from Manchester, not that bar chords pushin’ garage outfit with the two Irish origin brothers Karin always fawns over. 😈
April 22nd, 2026 at 10:08Well I may have exaggerated my dislike of prog rock a tiny bit to spice things up a little. It’s kinda deformaton professionelle so to say – being a copy writer.
April 22nd, 2026 at 12:20And I didn’t really consider Carmen prog rock. It has this flamenco thing, it’s lifely…not 30 min + semiclassical synth solo in theatralic garb … No Bedeutungshuberei or pseudo intellectual attitude here. Just an interesting blend of styles. For me that’s more like world music. Btw: same goes for Tull…most of it not really prog but a mix of folk, blues and rock with a lot of Ian Anderson.
I get what you mean, Max, while CARMEN have Prog elements (and huge Ethno/World Music ones of course), they are in a more stylized vein like Roxy Music (in the 70s) or Bowie when he went complex. The term for that was Art Rock if you are looking for a compartment.
Ian Anderson would agree with you that he never intended Tull to be Prog – he today blames it on his musicians in the 70s going off the rails! 😂
That said, CARMEN apparently fared a lot better opening for YES than for Jethro Tull, but then Tull audiences were feared as notoriously difficult for opening acts.
April 22nd, 2026 at 14:19Long Cool Woman is definitely Creedence in so many ways. The Hollies had those harmonies though as you say Uwe. That old difference again, one vocal or a diversity of vocal. The latter mixes it up much better most of the time to my ears, especially after a while. Cheers.
April 22nd, 2026 at 15:24Thank you, Ritchie for acknowledging other marvellous guitar players like Jan Akkerman. All the kind words towards other guitar players, and the many regrets you have had in your long life.
April 22nd, 2026 at 23:24@11 – Uwe, the Hollies did occasionally try to recapture that “Long Cool Woman” lightning in a bottle.
“Curly Billy” is one notable example.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tR_2AwNQe4
Seem to recall another a little later, maybe on their “Russian Roulette” record?
Fantastic group. Agree that they are the top Manchester band.
From their exciting early hits like “Look Through Any Window”, “I Can’t Let Go” and “I’m Alive”, with Bobby Elliott’s explosive drumming… To their slick but warm 1970s balladeering… They always sounded good, whatever they did.
The Smiths would be my runners-up, though, or maybe the Buzzcocks. Or even Magazine, despite Howard Devoto’s speak-singing being an acquired taste. All light years ahead of Oasis artistically!
April 22nd, 2026 at 23:58@ 11
I’m glad you mentioned The Hollies
One of the leading British groups of the 1960s. For us behind the Iron Curtain, those were the times when we would search for this music on Radio Luxembourg.
rare recordings…when they were playing in my town. Maybe the last gig of Graham Nash with The Hollies before he joined Crosby, Stills & Nash
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4v8llifTkc
April 23rd, 2026 at 10:19I know Ritchie’s favorite beer is German beer, which is mine also. And i believe it is Spaten Octoberfest he mentioned once before.
April 23rd, 2026 at 11:55After having my belated tendency to drink wine I thought beer was less harmful .
But a now distant friend told me of his gout decades ago.
I know as any other experienced person old habits are hard to break.
One needs compensation to kill the frustration ones brain gives you for not giving it some kinda drug anymore.
The compensation often is a switch to another addiction, sports and sex were once my alternative.
And its often said to stop smoking at high age might hurt people more than prolonging it.
Herman Brood, our favourite junkiemusician overhere, was really drugged but it didnt give him the thing anymore so he decided to go off it.
I think that killed him before he jumped from a roof.
I tried to kick off meds and got wrecked.
I , a diabolical dilemma early 21, restarted 2/3 of what I had weaned off the wrong way, hoping it d stabilise/heal me, but it never really did.
I m now an “older” person so warned weaning off now again might not do it, even kill me.
April 23rd, 2026 at 12:24Herman Brood … just lovely …
https://youtu.be/lOwVbYMNRj0
April 23rd, 2026 at 21:35Right near the end, RB says he never heard of Micky Jones, nor his group Man. (“The Welsh Grateful Dead.”)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaPq4mO8X9g&list=RDIaPq4mO8X9g&start_radio=1
Perhaps because they were more associated with the psychedelic Hawkwind / Nektar scene, and the pub rock / Dave Edmunds milieu, rather than hard rock like DP?
Supposedly Zappa rated his playing highly.
Jones was an excellent improvisor, heard to great advantage in the expanded “Live at the Padget Rooms, Penarth”.
April 24th, 2026 at 23:20https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3SK5UFWAmY
Herr MacGregor, the 2024 remaster clamshell box of CARMEN’s three albums (by Esoteric Records, Cherry Red’s Prog sublabel) has meanwhile been delivered by the Sanchez-Bezos family business and I’ve listened to it all. Compared to the 2006/2007 Angel Air remasters which were – brickwalling? – a bit shrill in places (especially vocals and high synth lines), the new remasters are warmer yet clearer and more balanced + gentler on the ears. Definitely an improvement.
This is really fascinating music. How many rock albums do you know where a great deal of the percussion is actually the foot taps of Flamenco dancers as an integral part of the band sound? Viva Mi Sevilla which starts off the second album is a great example for this:
https://youtu.be/2jFX80bcl9Q
The clamshell box isn’t pricey, so worth an investment. Paul Fenton’s drumming is impressive and oozes panache.
April 25th, 2026 at 02:54@ 22- I sincerely hope you are not going to recommend CARMEN to Karin at all Uwe. After all the IGB stress she has been put under, this could surely send her around the twist. Karin, I implore you to NOT click on this link. And if you inadvertently do, you can blame me and give Uwe a break from being the benevolent one around here. Sorry perhaps that should be the malevolent one. Seriously though, thanks for that Uwe. I am going to have to listen a little more to CARMEN. I haven’t really ever listened to them a lot and I only ever knew of them from you mentioning John Glascock a few years ago. They certainly mix it up a fair bit with many influences from different genres. Cheers.
April 25th, 2026 at 09:42I’m sure Ritchie knew and knows MAN, Skippy, it’s close to impossible to have listened to music in the 70s in Europe and not come across them. I think he misunderstood/misheard the question and didn’t associate Jones with MAN. The fact that Candice was totally oblivious to the background too (not a knock for someone born in the 70s and growing up on Long Island, I’m sure she knows Styx, Loverboy and The Cars a whole lot better than MAN) didn’t help. I believe that in that other episode she didn’t get the difference between Alvin and Albert Lee either, never forget that she is two generations (in sociological terms) removed from Ritchie.
Given how Ritchie always ridiculed The Grateful Dead (which perhaps says more about him than about them),
https://i.imgur.com/e8dBLl7.jpg
I have severe doubts though that MAN were ever his cup of tea, he really doesn’t like that sort of ambling transcendental improvisation.
https://youtu.be/knNAStZ9Qfw
April 25th, 2026 at 13:20@23
MacGregor, if it’s the Viva Mi Sevilla you are warning me against, I actually like it 😃
It’s fiercely enough for my taste 😁
It sounds both very old and very temporary and I really like it 😊
However, nothing much can compare with the real Carmen, ohh I mean take a listen to this beautiful song:
April 25th, 2026 at 18:55https://youtu.be/gkWxnm-UBl4?is=Yt0JLdQB565hPOsg
It’s quite warming up in the cold northern country I live in 😃
@25- I suppose if it had been Ian Gillan attempting to sing on it, my quest may have been successful Karin, he he he. Uwe Hornung has succeeded brilliantly in rattling your cage, so to speak. By sending you the IGB box set, well done Uwe. What a nasty man he is, he he he he. Seriously, I did listen to that Carmen link that you sent a little earlier, the same one as here. Yes it is the ‘real deal’ in that sense. I will give CARMEN the ‘rock’ band a fair bit of credit too. They have gone out on a limb in many aspects, mixing certain genres and cranking it up in a rock setting. That very thing is probably why they were not successful at all in the mainstream music business. Still, at least they did what they wanted to do, good on them. Cheers
April 26th, 2026 at 22:58@26
Oh MacGregor, buying that boxset is my own doing – and should I never get into this fusion jazz thing, at least I now have my second Ian-autograph 😁
Yes I’ve been listening to the rock band Carmen too.
I might never buy anything with them, but they have a certain feisty energy I really like.
How weird I’ve never heard of them before..
I blame YouTube because of their algorithms! You know, have you played some bands and their kind of music, all YT suggest is more of the same.
So I have to have names to put into their search engine to find new material 😃
Actually I often wonder: the young people’s music is often made in a way to disturb the older people’s inner calm 😄 so maybe George Bizet were a “danger” for the young people and therefore also for the parent generation, when it was freshly made?
And I get it completely, because a lot of the “horrible and awful” music made today often unsettles me! Some of it I really love, but f.i ‘gangsta-rap’ is excruciating for me to listen to.
April 27th, 2026 at 10:57I always enjoy the lyrics, and well, that kind of lyrics don’t make me feel alive and happy.
And yes I know gangsta-rap has been around for some time, but I hope you know what I mean!
Beatles is very innocent and very old school today, but I have talked with people who explained how dangerously it felt when they started to play.
‘I wanna hold your hand’ was an invitation to so much more than just holding hands – and the beautiful tune ‘Don’t let me down’, I remember Paul McC said in an interview that they knew very well they were the first band with that kind of lyrics:
“ And from the first time that she really done me
Ooh, she done me
She, done me good
I guess nobody ever really done me
Ooh, she done me
She, done me good”
– which has this double meaning I have read so often about in here 😇😄
“Feisty energy” is a very good way to describe CARMEN, Frau Verndal!
https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qgZq!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1c363852-c4f5-49e4-b356-db796f39c5b4_498x222.gif
And how are we progressing with the search for four more favorite songs from the IGB oeuvre if I may inquisitively ask? 😈
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1GAQBoNv6l0
April 27th, 2026 at 13:17@ 27- Karin I am appalled, blaming the innocent HS forum for your ‘initiation’ into double entendres. “which has this double meaning I have read so often about in here 😇😄” Of which I am totally innocent of course, however that other guy, hmmmmmmm, not so sure. Seriously though, now you have a second Ian Gillan autograph, surely Anton can have one, after all that he has been through and still will be subject to in future listening experiences. In regard to dangerous music and it’s ‘bad habits’ or leading people astray, yes I agree. Every generation has had that for some time we could imagine. Indeed some of today’s so called ‘music’ is, well not really music is it? A vehicle for certain lyrics perhaps, good or bad. Cheers.
April 27th, 2026 at 21:52@28
“And how are we progressing with the search for four more favorite songs from the IGB oeuvre if I may inquisitively ask? 😈”
– Uwe, you’re allowed to ask all you want, but as long as you send me 13 (!) links in one post, how in all that is fair and pretty in the world do you think I also have time to listen to Ian’s beautiful voice with IGB?!
But I am progressing 🤓
April 28th, 2026 at 07:23@29
Well MacGregor I started in here completely innocent and without any thoughts of a non-innocent matter….
But then I got to know, well Uwe, yourself, Max, Russ…. Do I need to go further?😄
Today I am a shadow of my former self, but that’s ok 😁
I can tell you Anton is not getting any of my two autographs!
Each generation has their own rebellion lifestyle, which also is the music they prefer to listen to.
April 28th, 2026 at 11:27And that’s ok I guess. We all need to find our own legs, so to speak.
But ohh man I am happy I landed with Purple 😍
No, I really feel guilty now, Herr MacGregor, even shattered, we took an innocent & unassuming
countrydune girl from Randers and vilely turned her into this …https://youtu.be/etPIweqziyE
We’ll never be able to wash our hands from it.
April 28th, 2026 at 12:08@32
Uwe I wash your hands alright, I wash them gooood 🤣
Queen of the silver dollar!
I remember we have been around this song before. And still I’m not amused 😝
And I can tell you I’m on the verge of liking yet another song from IGB! 😁
But until I’m sure about that, feast your ears (and eyes) on this lovely and clean song 😃:
https://youtu.be/jzQ7FmdaL_I?is=4BdUtvmJ7z4EDMA-
I really enjoy his singing when he was a youngster. It’s not Ian Gillan glorified but woah it’s soulful and pretty in its own right 😊
April 28th, 2026 at 16:49so it is mission accomplished then guys. The lady of the north is finally at our beck and call……………..oh, well perhaps not. But we can dream can’t we. Cheers.
April 28th, 2026 at 22:16@34
People can always dream MacGregor 😁
I am on no one’s beck and call! I am my own woman, and woah I am good at it 😍
MacGregor, you never told me which song with IGB you prefer?
April 29th, 2026 at 11:07Coverdale had incredible warmth and authority as a young and youngish man. I often wonder how much farther he could have gone in mainstream popularity had he not opted for hard rock, but done something like Mick Hucknall did with Simply Red.
https://youtu.be/BII0SlL23oo
Maybe then he wouldn’t have sung his voice to shreds yelling over metal guitarists and could now enjoy a Tom Jones elder statesman type career.
BTW, I’m worried about him, I truly am. I think his radical departure from music – even if in a studio environment only – and the curtailing of any type of social media presence (after milking the media continuously before) are ill omens for maybe something serious being afoot. I hope I’m wrong, but he’s been on my mind repeatedly in the last year or so. For all the showbiz and larger than life grandeur, Coverdale has always been a deeply private man, he’s not the type to go public with a threatening health issue. Again, I hope I’m imagining things, but his total disappearance is out of character. 😑
April 29th, 2026 at 13:38The lady of the north is finally at our beck and call…
I truly admire the way you think, Herr MacGregor, you should definitely have your own podcast!
https://youtu.be/yBdKMv9_vPE
Torrid Tips from Tasmania …
April 29th, 2026 at 19:45@ 35 – songs Karin, songs. CAT is a rather strong album, so there are plenty there for starters. I am not familiar enough with the three albums to remember the names of songs as yet. However it is a lot more than just one song. This is how I escaped the wrath of Uwe. you should try it, he he he. Cheers.
April 29th, 2026 at 23:06I had those thoughts and worries about DC too, Uwe. But then again…he is a business man, running his business for many years like noone from the DP family has…full steam social media activities et al. He really made every penny out of it…the box sets…the constant advertising. Maybe he just maye a clean cut now and wants to.stay private, enjoy Malibu, the grandkids, some travelling? I sure hope so.
But I have to admit… I miss his postings, the silly jokes, the good natured messages he spread… And I.wish he had recorded more of the stuff his voice really was made for.
April 30th, 2026 at 06:13@36
WHAT IS HAPPENING IN HERE?
It’s the second time in the same days I am agreeing with you Uwe
I do not like this at all, not at all….😆
Well, to establish we might not be far from each other in opinions (I’m not thinking of intelligence here…) I agree completely renDC’s voice.
What a pity he ruined it singing so out of his natural voice.
And that’s why I in the beginning only could hear his ruined voice.
But when he was young it was beautiful.
I know I have linked to this before, but please listen – it’s so smooth and elegant:
https://youtu.be/PisYnh1oAV4?is=0UsOHFgTsODDecHE
The song is below par, but the voice is so lovely 😍
Later on I do hear the soulful voice, but a ruined voice compared to his youth.
Re his health – when I google all it says is he has had problems with hernia.
To quote this nice singer, my heart for Rock’n’Roll is still beating(nd’)
April 30th, 2026 at 10:23https://youtu.be/M7JVlpm0eRs?is=G_kfE6ejJq-DoNjp
@38
MacGregor thanks so much for the very good advice!
A bit late to help me, I have to say….
This one:
https://youtu.be/iaRKC2qT4bU?is=ud4K9f51NY-CzgPl
Ohhh I like it very very much.
This is the second song that really has done something for me!
Ian’s voice is verrrrrry nice, but I like the overall feel. Maybe because there is no collaboration between the rock I expected and the jazz that rubs me the wrong way 😁
Did you hear Uwe? Now I like two songs…….
April 30th, 2026 at 10:28@11
“Goes to show that they are still the top band to come from Manchester, not that bar chords pushin’ garage outfit with the two Irish origin brothers Karin always fawns over. 😈”
– your words would be of much more substance hadn’t I known you have their music in your music library 😄
Yes I like Oasis very much!
Yes I have all their albums
Yes I’ll be at the concert should they ever return to Denmark
– and finally: I do not feel they are below the standard for the music I enjoy to listen to 😃
Of course I can hear the big difference between Ian’s voice and the brothers voices, but they make very nice music in their own right 😊
April 30th, 2026 at 13:33You know Uwe, sometimes it’s nice to acknowledge other bands without one’s nose being so stuck up that you risk drowning if you walk outside in the rain 😁 (of course not thinking of you here – oh holy holder of the drumstick that are made of all my dreams 😇)
My Baby Loves Me is from the IGB debut which in truth was closer to 10cc and Pink Floyd than anything Fusion or Jazz Rock, that only came later with CAT and Scarabus. MBLM is more of a busy funk number.
But even on later albuns, NOT EVERYTHING WAS FUSION!!! There is nothing Fusion about this track at all
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_envLsRVplA
not the tempo, not the energy, not the chords, not the verse and chorus melodies – it’s pure English Power Pop, albeit with a very busy (but expertly played) bass courtesy of John Gustafson. It’s really not that far away from what Gustafson wrote for Status Quo a few years later:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEg0xs-KxQ4
Now that’s hardly Jazz Rock, is it? 🤣
April 30th, 2026 at 18:13Me stuck up? 🤗
Is there a band that is more “stuck up” about what they believe to be than Oasis? 😂 The Gallaghers made arrogance part of their business model and relied on everybody finding it oh so entertaining and chic due to their blue collar background. But as is often the case, their arrogance was in large parts based on ignorance.
If you strip away the bluster, Oasis are an ok, moderately gifted band, nothing more and nothing less. Musically limited (as many bands are) with an occasional good song across their largely nondescript oeuvre. I‘d rate their musical ability on par with, say, KISS – with the major difference that KISS never pretended to be more culturally relevant than they actually were.
May 1st, 2026 at 13:16@42
I saw Oasis’ tour stop at Buenos Aires River Plate stadium last year and it was excellent, with Liam singing really, really well.
In my mind the first two Oasis albums are as essential to the British canon as In Rock, Machine Head or Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures and Closer (another Manchester band) just to mention great albums from different eras.
Was the Oasis performance better than, say, Whitesnake live in 2005 and 2009? YES
Was it better than the extraordinary Glenn Hughes club show with Doug Aldrich on guitar a few years back? NO!
Of course, it is all just a matter of personal opinion 🙂
Cheers, J.-
May 1st, 2026 at 15:41@44
Uwe isn’t arrogance some kind of ignorance?
If a person dares to believe he is far better than others and his belief system and his “class” are superior – isn’t that always ignorance?
Yes Oasis, especially Liam, plays the role of a stupid bull, but take that aside, I still like their style in music 😊
This song gives me always a good vibe and a big smile:
May 1st, 2026 at 23:50https://youtu.be/wu4kINshE6w?is=2ygB45nBCm3DyuGF
Far Away J, those gigs Glenn did with Doug Aldrich were indeed also the high point of what I ever saw of Glenn, Maybe that is why I was so happy when he joined The Dead Daisies.
Liam’s voice isn’t shot like DC’s, I actually think that Liam today is a stronger singer than he was in the 90s. My favorite Oasis album is Heathen Chemistry – by a stretch, I think Noel matured as a songwriter, Liam blossomed and the other guys were allowed to write a little too, making the band sound less samey on that record. The first two Oasis albums sometimes sound to me like three or four songs on permanent rotation. But of course they have co-written British rock history.
May 2nd, 2026 at 01:03@45
J, I really like Oasis, but I won’t go so far to compare their albums to any of Deep Purple’s 😃
And yes you’re right: it’s all a matter of our individual personal opinions, isn’t it?!
As Uwe wrote the other day: find another fan of Purple and you have three different opinions 😁
(Wasn’t it something like that Uwe?)
But for me Oasis is the essence of cute arrogance and two brilliant brothers who apparently didn’t mind p*ssing everybody off 😃
And compared to all these overly sweet (sickening sweet I might add) bands, this has been quite refreshing 😍 like a lovely cup of warm coffee on a hot summer day!
Are Oasis as good as Purple? No, not in my head. Not even the Mark l experience. And yes, I dare name Mark l an experiment because for me Purple really came off when they started to play proper rock 😊
Are Oasis as good as Whitesnake? No, I don’t think so either.
But in my humble opinion I find Oasis better than Beatles, in some aspects.
Yes I know Beatles happened first, but I honestly find Oasis went a bit further.
Beatles didn’t develop their music that much, and yes I know they blamed the screaming fans at their concerts, but I don’t buy it!
Either you have the talent – and the ability to turn up the loudspeakers – or you don’t!
I guess they gave it all they have in the beginning, and sadly soon ran out of inspiration.
And no, I don’t blame Yoko 😆
Individually in Beatles they were very good musicians and very good singers too, and together they didn’t excel, it somehow faded out and they did not use their momentum, did they?
(Uwe, please don’t correct me, I’m so proud of using the word ‘momentum’ 😁)
Whereas Purple – well ohh my 😍
I mean OHHH MY 😍😍💜💜💜💜💜
Each member of Purple (and by that I mean: Ian G, Ian P, Glover, Lord/Airey, Blackmore/Morse/McBride) were and are excellent musicians and for Ian’s part the most gifted singer I’ve ever heard, and each did and do still amazing things separately, and together the five of them (no matter how the constellation was, for my part Blackmore is THE best guitarist, but as I have pointed out over and over, I love Morse and McBride too) were better than if you put the five of them together in an equation!
You know: Purple: 1+1+1+1+1=5000000000000!
Whereas Beatles: 1+1+1+1=2,1!
(I might exaggerate a tiny bit, but it’s for the purpose only to make my statement more clear and relevant 😆)
May 2nd, 2026 at 06:54The comparison of Oasis with DP is heavily flawed, the Mancunians are a songwriting vehicle where the role of the instrumental execution plays second fiddle, what Oasis do to play their songs live hardly ever goes beyond what bands like The Ramones, AC/DC, Motörhead or Status Quo do. There has been little to no development in their sound (which their fans don‘t mind because they only listen to their first two albums anyway —> pure nostalgia act).
Deep Purple on the other hand is an ensemble of instrumental virtuosos with a singer adding some vocal flourishes here and there. I honestly don‘t think that DP are the greatest songwriters on Earth (nor do they – and that includes Ritchie who has always been frank about his own self-doubts as a songwriter), but they are so good as players they can elevate pretty much anything they get their hands on in a live setting, very much like Jazzers in that way. Purple‘s music isn’t complex (in fact the standard Oasis song has more chords than the standard DP one, DP at their core still have a Blues Rock foundation with the chordal minimalism that comes with it), but it‘s very tasking to play it to their standards. (Except for them of course!)
As for The Beatles “>i>not developing their music that much”, what can I say? I know no other band that developed from this
https://youtu.be/Jbt8oH5Lxto
to this
https://youtu.be/wXTJBr9tt8Q
to this
https://youtu.be/2Q_ZzBGPdqE
to this
https://youtu.be/S-rB0pHI9fU
to this
https://youtu.be/Og-yjQGzIS8
to this
https://youtu.be/yDP3dwpoVTo
to this
https://youtu.be/45cYwDMibGo
in the course of eight years. Certainly not Oasis. The Beatles not only revo- and evolutionized their own style(s), but music as a whole.
And for people not even born when The Fab Four played Shea Stadium, I recommend they listen to this, take a look at the size of the venue and the size of the fledgling “PA system” and then reconsider whether they really disbelieve that the band could not hear themselves when playing live. 😑
https://youtu.be/jInxwU27G30
In addition, where doubts that Paul McCartney can perform live are not dispelled, some time with The Wings’ live footage perhaps be spent:
https://youtu.be/mh-TC7w8vrU
Momentum? The momentum those four Scousers left behind still propels music today, 56 years later.
Nuff said.
May 2nd, 2026 at 14:30@47
Agreed, Heathen was also really good!
@48
No, no, dear Mrs K, I did not mean they are a better band! (The travesty!!)
I was just comparing single performances I personally attended and expressing an opinion that despite *not* being on the same level of musicianship and proficiency of the DP family, the brothers still wrote themselves into British song history AND put on a great reunion show, and more power to ’em for that.
Whereas I saw David soldier on with misfortune and a cracked voice 30 years into his career, Liam did really well at a similar point into his. Of course on a less demanding vocal range and not fighting metal guitars and drums.
Glenn…well, a freak of nature!
I agree with you, I think that the brothers expanded upo the Fab 4 influences and made it their own. But enough about those quarreling hooligans!
Best, J.-
May 2nd, 2026 at 14:36@49
[DP Paragraphs]
100% agreed!
My bad for comparing apples with oranges 🙂
Cheers!
May 2nd, 2026 at 18:48@47
How it amuses me whenever certain people write in here what I said from the beginning, and I remember some people were almost at my throat for saying something like this:
“Liam’s voice isn’t shot like DC’s” – alright then!
I vaguely remember how I was hunted, haunted, ridiculed and yelled at for quite innocently pointing out that DC’s voice was – well let’s call it like it is – ruined in his later years?
Well I certainly don’t hold a grudge 😁
When he was younger he sang lovely! No doubt about that.
Yes Liam’s voice is still very good. Actually I find it better today compared to his youth where he overdid his rather charming dialect.
Today he sounds like a grown man and not that annoying brat he really was.
‘Heathen chemistry’ is very very good, this:
https://youtu.be/0ixUTmjjkGU?is=5V_tkZbUU0KTD_3-
And this:
https://youtu.be/6oAxecruvxc?is=vuAsFpJCfHS0D59z
They are not perfect compared to, well for arguments sake let’s take Purple 🥰, but compared to other of their songs, these two songs are good!
May 3rd, 2026 at 04:37“You’ll never change what’s been and gone” – no that’s true!
@49
So that woke you up 😁
I’m not saying Beatles didn’t start a lot, because it is indisputable they re- and evolutionized the popular music!
John Lennon did mention the problems with the loud fans, and listening to this, I get it why they felt a bit overwhelmed 😄
https://youtu.be/M6DfG7sml-Q?is=54eVGuSIBASMx0Eu
And Paul:
https://youtu.be/gtCepJBMOww?is=eQs6Xl0uDi745A7L
https://youtu.be/jz0paKk7j2w?is=6KWftBvd1P9njGPn
(From 2:11…)
I did not say they weren’t good! But I do find Beatles a bit overrated. But because they were the first band to play like they did, everyone were in awe.
But try to imagine Beatles happening today! Would a lot of people scream the roof of? Nah, I don’t think so.
They were first, and by that they were something else.
But I honestly believe they weren’t as exciting as Purple… or even Oasis.
Now you can say of course, because I remember you did, that no other band would have happened hadn’t Beatles lit up the roads, but I don’t buy that statement.
Beatles were the first, true, but Purple could have done the same had they emerged sooner, because Purple took their inspiration from all kinds of music.
Ian says it so nice:
https://youtube.com/shorts/1BL7mzdkiFw?is=oEk_tEqWD76yRMnr
This:
https://youtu.be/mFvr8jTGCs0?is=XpY0OFrlfcQoIdRZ
(2:36 – they weren’t chasing what was popular, they were inventing something new!)
(3:41 – they were no longer a band searching for identity, they were defining one)
(3:50 – the classical influence…)
(5:37 – improvisational brilliance 😍)
But please listen to this in its whole 😊
And what I get out of this is that Purple, with Gillan/Glover, developed more than anyone could have expected or imagined.
I’m not ignoring Beatles and their influence, not at all, but I believe Purple would have happened if Beatles never had happened.
And I guess that’s why we still see – and hear – Purple today, older gentlemen yes, but so very much alive 😍
And I dare to say that Purple have inspired many more bands than most others (and yes I read this somewhere but cannot find it. And don’t have the time now because Anton has made it very clear he needs to go peeing 😄)
To be continued…. 😁
May 3rd, 2026 at 06:46@50
Thank you J for clearing that up 😄
May 3rd, 2026 at 10:53But Karin, we never had anything against your opinions per se, it was just because they were coming from a woman we couldn’t let them stand here!
☝️🧐 😎😈
If you let wimmin infiltrate, the next thing you know they are taking away your Ian Paice drum sticks, you can’t have that! 🤣
Saying that DP and, especially/of all bands, Oasis would have come into existence without the ground work of The Beatles is like saying we would have had the atomic bomb without Oppenheimer; the Third Reich tried that and you saw how that went (luckily so).
Seriously, without The Beatles, Jon would have stayed with The Artwoods and their rather conservative RnB and Ritchie would have never left the confines of Joe Meek’s studio because The Beatles were not only creators, but also disruptors, bringing a commercial end to early 60s type English music epitomized by acts such as The Artwoods and Joe Meek’s recording empire. Ritchie himself once said that The Beatles changed everything in music (though he loathed that initially because they were so vocal-harmonies-drenched and he couldn’t sing) and that he could feel that happening especially living in Hamburg.
I was born 1960 and three years old when I first heard I Want To Hold Your Hand/Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand on German radio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jenWdylTtzs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOG2S7zGnyc
both my mom and my nine years older brother loved The Beatles, we were a Beatles household. I witnessed first hand how they changed music and how for a long time every new song from them on the radio tread new ground, sounded different and nothing like you had heard before. I guess you had to be there to understand what a major and eye- + ear-opening development going from basically an Everly Borthers pastiche like I Want To Hold Your Hand to this within three-and-a-half-years was:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5ZymdrwVOU
May 3rd, 2026 at 15:37@54
Yes yes, dear lady, my days in amd-p taught me some valuable life lessons, one of them is to be VERY clear in your concepts on a forum full of passionate music fans 😁
On the pets topic, my daughter’s Holland Lop rabbit headbanged to DP’s music yesterday! Well, that definitely does NOT happen with brit-pop bands!
Cheers, J.-
[Now Playing – Gillan Live at the BBC 79/80]
May 3rd, 2026 at 17:53@55
Uwe!
I never said Beatles wasn’t of importance!
Actually in my post, @53, I wrote:
“I’m not saying Beatles didn’t start a lot, because it is indisputable they re- and evolutionized the popular music!“
And a few lines down:
“I did not say they weren’t good! But I do find Beatles a bit overrated. But because they were the first band to play like they did, everyone were in awe.”
I get that your brilliant lawyer mind is used to twist and turn your poor opponents words, but that does not work with me Sir 😁 (not when I have slept well and have been drinking a lot of coffee…)
I acknowledge Beatles for their start!
But in the same post (@53!) I also wrote:
“But try to imagine Beatles happening today! Would a lot of people scream the roof of? Nah, I don’t think so.”
So of course I see what they did! In my home of birth we were also Beatles enthusiasts, or some of us were.
But the burning question is: did Beatles have the talent, and maybe most important, interest in keep going on?
No! And I guess what later on happened to Beatles answers my question!
However, and now I’m quoting myself again!:
Purple are, as long as Ian is singing, a very talented and brilliant band, and yes they have had their difficulties but they are still very much alive.
Their talents and interest in making new music and very important: touring, have kept them in our minds, even now when no one would disputes that they have deserved their Ruhestand!
And could Purple have begun without Beatles? Yes, I honestly think so.
Ok? Ok!
Beatles played well, their music was of interest because they were the first who did what they were capable of doing, but I find a lot of other rock bands of much more interest.
And talking about Beatles and Oasis, yes Liam is an enthusiastic fan of John Lennon, and I do see they had something in common!
John was as much a brat as Liam is (was – he is behaving a bit kinder now)
Paul was hardworking, like Noel – and not to neglect the last two, George and Ringo, but did they play a bigger role than Bonehead and the drummer ( well they had even Zak, son of Ringo, to play the drums at one point .)
When all is said and done, yes Oasis worship at the alter of Beatles, but I find Oasis of much more interest.
And then you write:
“But Karin, we never had anything against your opinions per se, it was just because they were coming from a woman we couldn’t let them stand here!”
For that I have one answer only, a very mature answer:
😝
And this:
“Ritchie himself once said that The Beatles changed everything in music (though he loathed that initially because they were so vocal-harmonies-drenched and he couldn’t sing) and that he could feel that happening especially living in Hamburg.”
– Ritchie couldn’t sing? I guess he couldn’t, which is weird, because his speaking voice is very delicate actually.
Ok, I have a feeling I forgot something, but never mind 😃
May 4th, 2026 at 09:14I think we can all agree that as group harmony vocals go and excluding the Coverdale/Hughes tandem for a moment, there are more gifted bands than DP! Roger’s “eyes of the world” interjection in the song of the same name was so appallingly badly off key every darn time he sang it, he gave up on it during the Down To Earth tour.
The Moody/Marsden backing vox in early Whitesnake were a strong trait of the band and Ian and John Gustafson singing together in IGB sounded nice too as did the harmony vocals of Joe Lynn Turner’s Fandango. But other than that, the DP family is pretty much harmony vocals desert land. It’s where Uriah Heep creamed them into the ground.
https://youtu.be/75tvdg-GpkM
May 4th, 2026 at 17:53@58
“there are more gifted bands than DP”
– not according to, well, me!
Purple – they have everything !
Re UH: that moustache troubles me….
May 9th, 2026 at 12:24