February 1st has seen the launch of one of the most comprehensive Deep Purple online stores to date. In a partnership that sees for the first time all associate labels working together to promote the band, this new (and official) online store based in the UK is of interest not only for their extremely wide range of physical items such as CDs, DVDs, and other merchandise, but because they promise to have an emphasis on digital product releases including rare archival material such as interviews, live tracks and a range of new video tracks featuring never-before-seen content. As an example of this, we were made aware of 4 new video clips have been produced using this unreleased footage: Might Just Take Your Life, Woman from Tokyo, Child In Time, and Stormbringer. These are expected to be available shortly, but there is already a very extensive catalogue of digital audio tracks to peruse online.

We’ve also been informed that the store will focus on material right across the bands incredible history, and in the coming months there will also be a range of “mini stores” launched for all band members and their solo careers. It seems to be a major undertaking, and we have been assured that THS will be kept abreast of launch and major product release details as they come to hand.

Check out the new venture at http://www.deeppurplestore.com/

Due to “organizational reasons”, the Ian Paice & Tolo Marton February dates have been rescheduled to April.

Ian Paice & Tolo Marton Band new dates:

8th April – Gran Teatro – Padova – Italy
9th April – Muddy Waters Live Music Club – Calvari (Genova) – Italy

Thanks to Francesco from Deep Purple Italia for the info.

The other day we jumped on to Facebook, and now we’re on Twitter as well.

Updates to The Highway Star will from now on appear also on Twitter, and as a follower of us there, you will automatically be notified of THS news, blogs, etc.

Come join us at http://twitter.com/highwaystarcom!

The Highway Star has finally found its way onto Facebook. Arguably the world’s number one social media platform, you can now hook up with us there.

Updates to The Highway Star will from now on appear also on Facebook, and as a fan of us there, you will automatically be notified of THS news, blogs, etc.

Find us at Facebook.com/TheHighwayStar.

Back in 1970 Mike Thorne worked as an assistant at the De Lane Lea Studio in London. One day his sound recording experiment with an air conditioner became a part of Deep Purple lore:

Several massively expensive tube mics (a Neumann U67 now fetches maybe $5000 on the used market) were placed strategically in the grubby AC closet: about five, I remember. With a little plate reverb, not to mention fastidious mic placing refined by control room checks, I created what to my beginner’s ears was a most enveloping stereo machine sound. Forget all that fancy Stockhausen electronic music, the cutting edge of the sixties I’d been listening to: this was mine, and it sounded glorious. I turned the machine on, waited a little after it had climaxed to appreciate the full roar of its sostenuto, then turned it off (generating a familiar massive electrical click on the tape, another De Lane Lea feature). The machine wound down in its own classic fashion. As it did, the celebratory church bells from next door wafting down the air shaft gradually faded up. God in His heaven was smiling and obviously approved. I faded the recording, edited out the click with a razor blade, and put the master in a box with credit to the singular performance of the West Uzbekistan Percussion Ensemble. (It was just after the sixties had closed, please humor me.) The master went into the tape store, where it languished forgotten until an innovative client request.

Read the rest of the story at stereosociety.com.

Thanks to Andrey Gusenkov for spotting this.

A bunch of tourdates that we had listed for a while, as well as a couple of new ones, have just appeared on the official Deep Purple site and as so are now confirmed. That includes

• all the Australian dates
• Singapore and Hong Kong (but not Taiwan)
• Armenia
• two of the South African dates (but not Durban)
• two new dates right after South Africa — one in Croatia and a festival appearance in Switzerland
• one date in Czech Republic in October (but not the one in Poland)

On top of that, there is another unconfirmed new date — July 14 in Portugal — for which tickets are already on sale.

Full details in our calendar. Let us know if there are any additions, corrections, missing ticket info, etc.

Update (Jan 22): Polish promoters MetalMind has announced three dates in Poland: October 28 in Rzeszów (previously incorrectly listed by us as Oct 26), October 30 in Katowice, and October 31 in Wrocław. Tickets for all 3 go on sale on February 1 at 10 am.

Thanks to Jakub Stawiarz for the Polish tour info.

In a brand new interview for his website, Jon Lord talks about the background to his new album, “To Notice Such Things.”

The album is dedicated to the memory of Jon Lord’s dear friend Sir John Mortimer, and Jon explains how the album has grown out of the music he used to play onstage with Sir John Mortimer.

– John and I became friends about 12 years ago. A couple of years later he asked if I would be interested in playing the piano and writing a bit of music for him, for his theater shows – “Mortimer’s Miscellany” – during which he sat on the stage and, accompanied by two actresses, a pianist and a flute player, he read poetry and prose, told stories and jokes and related hilarious legal anecdotes, giving his wonderfully wise and witty take on life, love and the law.

– I realized that I had these three little pieces for flute and piano that I had written for the theater shows that I used to do with Sir John, and I thought that they might provide the basis for this ‘flute concerto’ and that I could write in his memory.

Read the full interview on JonLord.org.

You can help vote Jon Lord into Classic FM’s Hall Of Fame 2010.

Last year, Jon Lord’s “Durham Concerto” was the highest new entry in Classic FM’s Hall of Fame as it jumped in at no. 75. Jon Lord’s previous album, “Boom of the Tingling Strings” reached no. 198.

Vote for Jon Lord now
You can help secure Jon Lord’s position in this year’s Classic FM Hall Of Fame by voting for him online. It’s free and takes only a few seconds.

Simply enter ‘Lord, Jon‘ in the voting form and you can vote for “Durham Concerto”, “Boom of the Tingling String” and “Disguises”. You are allowed three votes.

Cast your votes now on classicfmhalloffame.co.uk.

Deadline for voting online is Sunday 31 January 2010 at 23:59.

Jon Lord is releasing his next album, “To Notice Such Things” at the end of March. Read more on JonLord.org.

French promoter Gerard Drouot Production has just announced a new Deep Purple tour in Belgium and France. The dates are:

• Nov 3, Marche-en-Famenne, Belgium
• Nov 5, Lyon, France
• Nov 6, Montpelier, France
• Nov 7, Bordeaux, France
• Nov 9, Rennes, France
• Nov 10, Paris, France

Further details in our Purple calendar. Feel free to email us any corrections and additional info, i.e. ticket sale dates and links. Note that none of those dates have been officially confirmed by the band’s management yet.

Thanks to Regis Lamoline for the info.

Good news for all you vinyl junkies out there. Apparently both Montreux 1996 and 2006 shows have been released on vinyl at the end of last year. They quietly came out on a UK label Rock Classics, each as a double LP with gatefold sleeve.

Order it from a store near you:

• Live at Montreux 1996
  
• Live at Montreux 2006
  

Thanks to Axel Dauer for the info.