We’ve already mentioned on these pages that there’s a new book out that might be of interest to our readership. It is called Deep Purple From 1984: every album, every song, written by Phil Kafcaloudes, and published by SonicBond.

The book is pretty much what it says on the cover — it is every post-reunion album from Perfect Strangers to =1 reviewed track-by-track, with a brief introduction on the state the band found themselves at the time, the recording process, and the artwork. Selected live releases are included along with the complete studio discography. Each track is reviewed for the music, the performance, and the lyrics. Contemporary quotes from the people involved are sprinkled throughout. Being a collection of reviews, it is necessarily heavy on opinion, while the reference value of the book is, ahem, questionable, as documented in the previous review. One can argue if the author’s interpretation of the lyrics — that often differs significantly from the intended meaning — is as valid. But that’s how the vast majority of listeners would approach it — develop their own understanding of the lyrics. Only a few hardcore fans would go scour the web in the hope to get insight from the horse’s mouth.

That being said, I have found the book an engaging read — Phil certainly knows his way with the words and how to make his point evocative. Yes, it may raise an eyebrow here and there. It may also make you go “hmm, that’s not quite how I remember it”, and put on an album you haven’t listened to in years. Whether this collection of eloquently written opinions is worth £17, it is for you to decide.

What: Deep Purple from 1984: Every Album, Every Song
Author: Phil Kafcaloudes
Published by: Sonicbond Publishing
Format: softcover, A5 (148mm × 210mm)
Pages: 176
Colour pictures: 41
ISBN: 9781789523546
Publication date, UK: February 28, 2025
Publication date, USA and ROW: April 25, 2025
Suggested retail price: £16.99 / $22.95

Thanks to SonicBond for providing a copy for the review and to Phil Kafcaloudes for arranging it.

Blackmore’s official channel has posted an interview done in December 1975 by one named ‘Ronnie Die’ in the description, and who sounds suspiciously like Ronnie James Dio. Continue Reading »

Issue 49 of the Rock Candy magazine (the one with Black Sabbath’s Sabotage on the cover) has a page-spread interview with Don Airey. It is short, and sweet, and rather interesting. Don reveals that he is fond of travelling on tour buses, and even sometimes forgoes the Purple’s executive jet just to join the roadies on the bus. His most favourite session work is also quite unexpected — it is a series of McDonald’s ads he did in the 1990s — reinterpreting their jingle in the style of Mozart, Prokofiev, Ravel, etc. with a 50-piece orchestra.

The issue can be purchased from the publisher.

Thanks to Reinhard Lackner for the info.

On April 2 this year, Don Airey appeared on the Mick Wall’s LIVE POD podcast to talk about his newly released solo album Pushed To The Edge, among other things.

The other things included a compendium of amusing stories regarding the who-is-who of rock luminaries Don has worked with: queueing at the US embassy, reading a little music, reading a little more music, an unscheduled keyboard solo, underrated bass players, men and mice, planes catching fire, putting up with Dolly, false moustache with glasses. Wait, that’s not all — also, a weekend in Scandinavia, C and B-flat, mortified Ritchie, smell of meat curry, and missing the limousine.

Pour yourself a tasty beverage and enjoy!

Thanks to Anton Glaving for the heads-up.

Drummer Les Binks has passed away at the age of 73. He played on Roger Glover’s Butterfly Ball and Eddie Hardin’s Wizard’s Convention. Later on, he joined Judas Priest on Roger’s recommendation and appeared on two of their albums Stained Class and Killing Machine (a.k.a. Hell Bent For Leather), both released in 1978, and the live album Unleashed in the East (1979).

His last public performance was with Judas Priest at the 2022 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony.

Thanks to Blabbermouth for the heads-up, and to Uwe for correction of a brainfart.

In this interview with the Classic Album Review podcast, Candice Night tells a story, among others, how Rainbow album Stranger in Us All US release was sabotaged by sheer miscommunication. Continue Reading »

Guitar Player magazine celebrated Ritchie Blackmore’s 80th birthday by reprinting online a 1996 feature, including an extensive interview with him.

This interview originally appeared in the December 1996 issue of Guitar Player under the title “Mistreated: Will Ritchie Blackmore Ever Get His Due?”

Deep inside a German castle, Ritchie Blackmore sits at a long table, dressed in medieval garb and clutching a goblet of mead. A group of minstrels skips into the dining chamber, playing a motley assortment of Renaissance instruments — crumhorns, sackbuts, rackets, regals, and hurdy-gurdies.

Transfixed by the otherworldly music and 16th-century setting, the Rainbow and former Deep Purple guitarist — a legend to thousands of aspiring virtuosos — experiences a sudden epiphany.

“This is what I want to do! I don’t want to be plugged into a Marshall anymore!” he laughs, recalling the event later over a cold Beck’s at a plush Manhattan hotel. “I actually said to them, ‘Do you want a guitar player?’ They said, ‘No, we already have a lute player.’ I was crushed.”

Continue reading in Guitar Player.

In this latest instalment of Tales from the Tavern Ritchie Blackmore discusses the genius of Django Reinhardt and how to get thrown out of a hotel. Continue Reading »

Record Collector magazine has announced a special Deep Purple issue featuring foreword by Opeth’s frontman (and a card-carrying Purple fan) Mikael Åkerfeldt.

Join us on a 57-year odyssey through the chaotic career of Deep Purple, the original British heavy rock band. There will be deaths along the way. There will be arguments and near-fatal pranks. Guitars will be smashed. Amps will explode. Mountains of coke and lakes of wine will be consumed. Members will fall out and make up again at regular intervals… and yes, there will be smoke on water. Add a monster worldwide discography, over 100 rare records and a full rundown of all nine Purps line-ups, and RC Presents DP becomes a riff-packed bookazine to treasure.

The issue is going on sale April 17, 2025, for £9.95 plus shipping, with pre-orders available starting April 14.

Thanks to BraveWords for the info.

MetalTalk has a positively glowing review of Don Airey’s new album Pushed To The Edge:

For a bloke who is one of the most revered and reliable musicians in the business, Don Airey appears to take it all in his stride. Playing with global heavyweights like Ozzy Osbourne, Rainbow and Whitesnake and breathing life into timeless classics like Here I Go Again, Since You Been Gone, I Surrender, and Mr Crowley is just meat and potatoes and another day at the office for the Sunderland A.F.C. fanatic.

And for such a reluctant rock star, he knows how to fire up an album with copious amounts of shock and awe. This thing goes off like an alarm on a Scotsman’s wallet with the straight-to-the-vein rocker Tell Me.

Continue reading in MetalTalk.