A guitar and (presumably, several) drum heads signed by Glenn Hughes, among many other people, are up for a charity auction to raise money for the Rock Against Multiple Sclerosis foundation.

Guitar auction will close in the evening of Jun 23 (Pacific Time), while drum head auction will run until the supplies last. They also have (unsigned) t-shirts from the Rock Against MS benefit show held in Los Angeles on March 27.

Thanks to BraveWords for the info.

Sunflower Jam has announced that the date for their special event to celebrate late Jon Lord has been set at April 4, 2014. It will take place at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Artists confirmed so far include Ian Paice, Roger Glover, Don Airey and Steve Morse. Iron Maiden frontman and long-time supporter of The Sunflower Jam, Bruce Dickinson, will also be performing along with Rick Wakeman, Joe Brown and Alfie Boe. The evening will be compered by Bob Harris.

They are also preparing for release The Best of The Sunflower Jam SUPERJAMS Live at The Royal Albert Hall DVD with highlights of the 2011 and 2012 events, which is “in the final stages of production”.

Apparently the music we all love will still be around in the 31st century. Highway Star (the original album version) was featured in a new episode of Futurama — 2-D Blacktop — that had its premiere yesterday, June 19. In the episode, Professor Farnsworth takes to street racing and beats another two crews to the immortal tune in a race that culminates going through a tunnel, against traffic, with Hammond arpeggios as a sonic backdrop.

Watch episode highlights, including the racing scene, on ComedyCentral.com

Watch Ian Gillan and Roger Glover being treated like royalty on a Georgian TV show. Their segment starts at around 21 minutes into the episode and runs for a good half an hour: Continue Reading »

David Coverdale gave an interview to TeamRock Radio’s Classic Rock Magazine Show (to be broadcast next Wednesday, June 19) and said he wants to put his feud with Robert Plant to an end. The two exchanged bitter comments back in 1993, at the time of Coverdale/Page album, and have never spoken to each other since then.

My last words to Jimmy in London were: ‘I’d love to buy Robert a drink.’ I said: ‘When you speak to him, offer my sincere regrets for any negative things I’ve ever said, which were mostly defensive.’

I hold him [Plant] in the highest esteem as a human being, as an artist, and I really would like to, you know, sit down, buy him a drink, shake hands and say: ‘I’m really sorry, you know, can we be friends again?’

[Out of] my love and respect for Jimmy, I know he’ll pass that on to Robert – and Robert might go and tell him to **** himself, who knows, but I don’t hold any animosity, just disappointment in myself that I took the bait and ran with some ugly things. Because it’s not appropriate for somebody I respect so much.

Thanks to Classic Rock for the info.

What makes a great rhythm section?

MusicRadar has a preview of the Greatest Ever Rhythm section feature to appear in July issue of the Rhythm magazine.

Roger Glover:

A great drummer. When I first played with Paicey my first impression was that he was just fluid and effortless. Most drummers back then were metronomic, they were there to just keep time, where as Paicey wasn’t like that. Not only did he keep time but the way he played was as much of the music as bass, guitar and keyboards. Very early on, it might have even been the first time that we played together, he had a word in my ear. He said, “By the way, I don’t follow, I lead.’ I said, ‘Ah, got it.’ I learnt very quickly to just tuck in with him. His feel is like no other drummer I’ve ever known.

Ian Paice:

An understanding, understanding each other’s feel and there being a dominant and non-dominant partner. With Roger and I, Roger is happy to give me extra space, he might give me 20 percent so he has 30 percent and I have 70 percent. When I played with Glenn Hughes, he took us 50 percent and then some more because that’s the way he plays and there’s nothing wrong with that.

July issue of the magazine can be purchased online for £6.99 including worldwide delivery (£4.99 UK / £5.99 Europe).

Thanks to Andrey Gusenkov for the info.

Message from Roger Glover:

Firstly, thank you for all the kind words you sent. I’ve been knocked sideways by the great reaction to Now What?! I kind of knew it was good but you never really know until people get to hear it and are interested enough to send feedback. I raise a glass to you.

I’m now back home after a memorable festival tour with DP in Morocco, Bulgaria, Georgia and Romania, where yet again I’m reminded of the power of music and how it connects all of us. Listening to music is one of my favourite occupations. I was randomly investigating my music library the other night when I came across a song that called forth a memory.

Continue reading on RogerGlover.com.

Kamloops Daily News in British Columbia reports:

She was going to a mining town
Way up north to do her show
I said ‘It must be cold up there’
She said, ‘It depends on who you know’
— Lyrics from Mitzi Dupree
by Deep Purple

They’re calling it the end of an era, the last strip show in Kamloops.

The Duchess, formerly the Village bar, will reportedly host the final revue Saturday. Those with a sociological bent say men have come to understand that watching women undress in public is inappropriate.

Maybe, but at one time exotic dancing was more popular here than hockey.

Some will remember Mitzy Dupree and her show at Bailey’s on Eighth Street in the ’80s involving ping-pong balls. I never saw her show (honest), but I remember the spirited competition among male reporters for the assignment of “covering” the story.

Her Kamloops engagement made Dupree so famous the rock band Deep Purple wrote a song about her for their 1987 album House of Blue Light. You can now get it as a ring tone for your cell.

Thanks to Herb Alpert for the info.

On this tour Deep Purple have played two more countries they’ve never played before — Morocco and Georgia. Here are a few tidbits from the visit to Tbilisi.

DFWatch has reports of band’s arrival and the gig:

Next was the Subways, an indie rock band from England, followed by long-awaited Deep Purple, which played more than an hour and then came on for two encores. The band played well-known hits, and some newer song. During their set, Georgians were also given a rendition of their national anthem by Don Airey, which was met by wild applause and cheering from the crowd.

It seemed that many of the audience had come to listen to Deep Purple, because many left after their performance.

Press conference before the show:

Roger and Big Ian being mobbed while making exit from a local TV station:

Visiting Georgian President Saakashvili:

Thanks to Yvonne Osthausen for the info.

Vincent Price has won Classic Rock Track of the Week spot, and by a landslide: it got 67.53% of the total votes. Tracii Guns’ League Of Gentlemen came in second place with 5.4%, Megadeth third with 2.88%, and David Bowie fourth with 2.82%.

Never underestimate the power of lingerie clad pole dancing nuns 😉

Thanks to Classic Rock for the info.