A rather interesting interview with Ian Paice appeared almost a year ago in a watchmaking blog Quill & Pad, of all places. It was prompted by a Swiss watchmaker Corum releasing a limited edition of their Bubble model co-branded with another Swiss company — Paiste.

Sometime around Baselworld 2015, an employee of Corum – who also happens to be a drummer – saw an ad for a Paiste cymbal in a music magazine. The ad compared the precision of the Swiss-made music instrument to the precision of a Swiss-made watch movement, and a light bulb went off in his head: wouldn’t a cymbal look great as a dial on a Corum watch?

This idea born of passion became a reality when both the watch company’s upper management and Erik Paiste, owner of the century-old cymbal maker based near Lucerne, concurred.

The connection with Paicey is actually a rather tedious one — he’s been using Paiste cymbals exclusively since 1971, and ended up being the recipient of one of the 350-piece limited watches:

However, the first two editions of this tempo-loving wristwatch went to two very special people: Erik Paiste (naturally) and Ian Paice, the iconic drummer of Deep Purple.

But we got an interesting interview out of it, so we shan’t complain. And kudos to Quill & Pad for doing a better job than some of the music publications we know (and which shall remain nameless to protect the guilty).

I try and find a swing in everything. To do that, you have to understand some of the technical aspects of drumming: it’s no good just going one, two, three, four and thinking that’s all there is to it. So I would watch the very best guys from that style of music and I would listen and I would watch their hands and find out what they were doing. If I’d had a teacher, it would have been easier. But there was nobody there teaching drums and obviously within 12 to 15 months [since picking it up] I was the best drummer in the area, so there was nobody to go to.

A drum kit is sort of impersonal, so if you can impart your personality in what you play and the sounds you create, then that’s much more difficult. And if you can do that, people remember you and not just ‘the drummer.’ I’ve always found that the luck of learning to play drums from a totally different point of view from most other rock and roll drummers has been a great benefit to my career.

Read more in Quill & Pad.

Thanks to Yvonne for the info.

Glenn Hughes will appear on Get Ready To Rock radio today, October 30, at 22:00 GMT. The show in question is called Assume The Position and will be repeated on Monday, October 31, and Friday, November 4, at the same time. Get Ready To Rock is broadcasting live worldwide over the internet, just follow ‘LISTEN LIVE!’ link on their website (flash plugin required). Later on the show might also be available on mixcloud.

Thanks to Yvonne for the info.

Ever since Ritchie Blackmore speculated about doing a couple of RAINBOW shows in 2016, hopes and expectations have lead to very emotional disucssions between fans. To the disappointment of those hoping for one of the former lineups to reunite for the gig, Blackmore didn’t go the easy way and – as often – assembled a new team of musicians to accompany him on this adventure.

The band finally announced consisted of current BLACKMORE’S NIGHT drummer David Keith, former BLACKMORE’S NIGHT bass player Bob Nouveau, BLACKMORE’S NIGHT contributor Jens Johansson and LORDS OF BLACK singer Ronnie Romero, which lead to even more discussions between fans and even former RAINBOW members with Joe Lynn Turner claiming the planned lineup will be “a Ritchie Blackmore band, but certainly not Rainbow” overlooking the fact that RAINBOW has always been what Ritchie Blackmore wanted it to be.

Three shows took place, two open air shows in Germany at Loreley and Bietigheim while the third show was staged at the Genting Arena in Birmingham, UK. While the two German shows were recorded on audio and video for a later (November 18, 2016) release, the UK show wasn’t recorded, which is unfortunate as it did not only feature the most consistent band performance of all three evenings but also was the only show featuring “Soldier Of Fortune” and “Burn”.

Sadly, the CD booklet doesn’t explain which song has been taken from from Loreley and which song has been taken from Bietigheim which is odd as the second CD contains some bonus tracks from the “alternative night” (which one?) and introductions like “You wanna sing with me, Loreley?” are still included.

Despite all the discussions about the musicians on stage, the setlist had been the major point of criticism, including way too many DEEP PURPLE songs while leaving out a bunch of RAINBOW classics. I won’t repeat details about the performance which have been already covered in my review of the Loreley show, but one of the major surprises on the CD is Jens Johansson which – now being clearly audible – does a far better job than my memories of the show suggested. For a current release, the CD offers an enjoyable sound with clear dynamics and a well-balanced mix between each instrument.

Is “Memories in Rock – Live In Germany” an album worth buying? That’s a question hard to answer. It’s a good live album, but for a band as RAINBOW, good just isn’t good enough. There are more impressive live versions of almost every song out there which leaves the group of potential buyers to completists, people being curious how RAINBOW sound in 2016 and those who attended at one of the shows now being offered a perfect souvenir.

Five Gillan band albums reissued on vinyl, and the clarity and dynamics of these 180 gram vinyls knock spots off the original pressings.

Hear the sound of firing, it’s politics expiring.

Are you God, are you man, do you live in fear
Are we trash in your can, a bubble in your beer

As we slipped through Spokane you said something profane
And I shifted up into Nirvana

Whoa said the judge to the hooker with a nudge
I’m gonna fine you all your pleasure
But with the pervs and the kinks and the queer rinky dinks
Are you sure you only do it for the treasure?

A few choice examples of Ian Gillan’s lyrical output between 1978 and 1982. What he and his mad band of rock’n’rollers accomplished in those four hectic years was recklessly frantic even then, never mind when viewed by today’s standards. Five strong studio albums, a plethora of hit singles (always featuring unreleased b-sides) and endless amounts of touring.

Gillan’s level of creativity and energy has rarely been rivaled since, and now the core of their musical legacy is being reissued by Demon Records.
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After the furious discussion of the latest Blackers’ offering, let us check upon the rest of the big family.

Glenn Hughes keeps churning out previews from Resonate. This time it’s a track called Long Time Gone:
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The record company posted another preview track for Rainbow Memories in Rock. And despite the consensus among fans being that playing Purple numbers was not, ahem, the band’s strongest point, the powers to be, in their infinite wisdom, chose Perfect Strangers:
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Metallica did a cover of When a Blind Man Cries while performing yesterday, October 22, at the Bridge School Benefit in Mountain View, California.
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Another preview track from Glenn Hughes new album Resonate — Let It Shine
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Whitesnake’s Here I Go Again, as so ever expertly crafted by Messrs Coverdale and Marsden, could be recently seen on TV on both sides of the Atlantic.
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Wymer has sent us a formal press release and some promo pictures for upcoming Jerry Bloom’s book For One Night Only. Since our first mention the book has obtained a more or less firm publication date — December 9.
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