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Simon says “it’s official”

Simon McBride; photo: © Ueli Frey

Many people assumed so, but it is only today, September 16, 2022, that Simon McBride became a permanent member of the band. A message to that effect was released today:

Following the news in July that Steve Morse will be stepping back from the band, after more than a quarter of a century, Deep Purple announce that, following an abundant Summer of touring, Simon McBride will join the band permanently.

Collectively, the band stated “We are thrilled that Simon has agreed to join. Simon’s playing is up there with the greats. Of course, Steve can’t be replaced, the same as Ritchie, and Steve has a long legacy with Deep Purple. In Simon we have not found a replacement, but an extraordinarily talented and exciting guitarist in his own right. The reception from audiences over the Summer has already been great and we are looking forward to the forthcoming dates in the UK and Europe across the rest of the year. It is clear that Simon also holds great respect for those before him. We are all excited for what the years to come hold for the band.”

Simon stated “I’m very happy to be asked to join the band, at the start of the pandemic if someone would have said to me that I was going to be the new guitarist in Deep Purple I would have just laughed, but here we are and it’s happening. Deep Purple has a history of great guitarists so I’m very honoured to be asked to be part of that. They are all amazing musicians and more importantly, I have become very good friends with the guys so I can’t wait to continue touring and even perhaps some writing and recording.”

Thanks to Mike Whiteley, AndreA, and Mad Hatter for the info, and to Wormdp for pointing out the typo.

Image credit: Ueli Frey

Heartbreaker

heartbreaker cd release artwork

A fairly obscure 1970s band called Heartbreaker recorded some demos at the Kingsway Studios run at the time by Ian Gillan, with the man himself and Colin Towns making guest appearances on several of the tracks. Said demos have now been issued as a limited edition CD album. The label blurb reads:

Heartbreaker was formed in 1973 by Steve Annetts (who later joined NWOBHM band After Dark), Ian Foster, Dave Sexton, Roger Lewis, Keith Scutter and Andy Hill on keyboards. The band seemed to be on the right track when Johnny Glover (ex-Free/Spooky Tooth manager) and Richard Griffiths (Island/Sony Music/Virgin/etc.) picked them up and a deal with EMI was secured. After 1976 there were a few line up changes (Tiff Turtle & Rob Snook on guitars). Glover was gone by 76 and Ian Gillan steps in recording several tracks in his studio with guest appearances on a few tracks of Colin Towns (Gillan’s Keyboard player) and Mr. Gillan himself. This partnership with Gillan marks the epitome of the band but a record deal didn’t materialise: times were changing, all major labels in the UK were after Punk bands) and the band demotivated and vanished for lack of support. For the first time ever, the Heartbreaker album made up of a collection of demos, sees the light of day, including some earlier 1974 recordings as bonus featuring the original band line-up. Presented in a 16-page booklet and carefully remastered, this is a true gem for all fans of classic British Rock.

The formal description of the release from the label’s online store provides further details:

Ian Gillan does backing vocals on Angel in Rags and plays percussion on Heartbreaker.

Colin Towns plays keyboards on Angel in Rags and Kingsway Reprise.

Thanks to Steve LaRocque for the heads up.

The ?! extras

now_what_extras 2022 artwork

There’s a new digital release of various bits and ends from the Now What?! sessions. It is called Extras: The NOW What?! B-Sides And Bonus Songs and can be ordered via this link.

Says the band:

The idea of this compilation started after sharing previously released ‘rare tracks’ on a private playlist. We believe it is a very interesting listen for all the fans that like to go deeper into the bands production process.

The record company supplied a blurb describing contents of the compilation as follows:

  1. Hell To Pay (Radio Edit): This edit was the first single released before the album came out. It was available as CD-Single and 7”, together with All The Time in The World. A great rock song, played live nearly every night during the NOW What?! and inFinite tours.
  2. It’ll Be Me: This cover version of a Jerry Lee Lewis classic was added as bonus track on many editions of the NOW What?! CD. Compared to other songs on this compilation it will be an easy one to find on physical formats.
  3. All The Time in the World (Radio Mix Edit): This version was a mix that became ready before the full album was finished. It is a little shorter than the album version and it features extra percussions and less guitar. The song obtained some radio airplay in various countries, paving the way for the album’s success. Listening back to it, we still believe that it is a Purple classic, and was played live occasionally during the NOW What?! tour. This version was released as B-Side on the Hell To Pay CD single and 7” vinyl.
  4. First Sign Of Madness: This studio song did not make it to the final album but it is a fantastic rock track; previously included on the Gold Edition of NOW What?! as well as the Vincent Price single on CD-Maxi and 7”.
  5. + 6. Uncommon Man & Above and Beyond – instrumentals: These two songs were inspired by the late, great Jon Lord, who sadly passed away during the recording of the album. While the lyrics are a very important part of both songs, these instrumental versions show the beauty and the finesse of the instrumental parts.
  6. + 8. Après Vous and Hell To Pay – instrumentals: Previously released only as digital downloads and B-Side of the Out of Hand 10” Vinyl single. The vinyl 10” is not an easy one to find and the songs are available to stream for the first time.
  7. Green Onions / Hush (Live in Gaevle): This great live version was mixed specifically to be released as B-Side of the Above and Beyond CD-single (also available as purple 7” vinyl, with a different B-Side). It shows the joy and energy that the band brought to the NOW What?! tour and gives a taste of the atmosphere on-stage and in the audience.

Thanks to BraveWords for the info.

Orchestra, orchestra, and lute

After Deep Purple wraps up their touring in November, Ian Gillan will do a short tour of Spain with an orchestra. It will be Prague Philharmonic that recently did a couple of similar gigs with JLT, once again conducted by Friedemann Riehle. Six dates are already on sale, with a possibility of more being added. Further details in our calendar.

Blackmore’s Night will do another three dates stateside — October 28 in Northampton, Mass., October 30 in NYC, and November 11 in Atlantic City.

Four performances of Jon Lord’s Concerto for Group and Orchestra have been announced for April 2023 in Brazil. Paul Mann will be conducting. Bruce Dickinson singing the lead, with the band comprised of John O’Hara (Jethro Tull) on keyboards, Tanya O’Callaghan (Whitesnake) on bass, Kaitner Z Doka (Jon Lord, Ian Paice) on guitar, Bernard Welz (Jon Lord , Don Airey) on drums and Mario Argandonia (Scorpions) on percussion. Details are below.

SAO PAULO
Date: Saturday, April 15, 2023
Venue: VIBRA SÃO PAULO
Address: Avenida das Nações Unidas, 17.955 – Vila Almeida
Doors opening time: 19:00
Show start time: 21:00
Caution: children under 18 years old allowed only with the authorization of the legal guardian.

Tickets: www.uhuu.com

CURITIBA
Date: Wednesday, April 19, 2023
Venue: TEATRO POSITIVO
Address: Rua Prof. Pedro Viriato Parigot de Souza, 5300 – Campo Comprido
Doors opening time: 20:00
Show start time: 21:00
Caution: children under 14 years old only accompanied by parents or legal guardian.

Tickets: www.diskingressos.com.br

RIO DE JANEIRO
Date: Friday, April 21, 2023
Venue: VIVO RIO
Address: Infante Dom Henrique, 85 – Flamengo Park
Doors opening time: 20:00
Show start time: 21:00
caution: children under 18 years old, entry is allowed only with the authorization of the legal guardian.

Tickets: www.showpass.com.br

PORTO ALEGRE
Date: Tuesday, April, 25, 2023
Venue: AUDITORIUM ARAÚJO VIANNA
Address: Osvaldo Aranha, 685 – Bairro Bom Fim
Doors opening time: 19:30
Show start time: 21:00
Caution: under 16 years old only accompanied by parents or legal guardian.

Tickets: bileto.sympla.com.br

Thanks to Monika Schwarz, Gary Poronovich, and Marcel Vinicius for the info.

Face Your Fear

The Dead Daisies have released another track from their upcoming albumFace Your Fear. The album, called Radiance, is going to be self-published and release date is set for September 30. Continue Reading »

Those elusive sales figures

For many years the band’s sales numbers have been a mystery — the record industry types like to keep their cards very close to their chests. The total worldwide sales number of 100 to 120 million records had been banged around at some time, without any supporting evidence.

An interesting article appeared on chartmasters.org in 2021 (the whole site is a bonanza for music lovers who happen to be numbers geeks). It gives both raw numbers for album sales and introduces the concept of Equivalent Album Sales. See a quick 2-minute intro video or read all the gory details.

This leads to some very interesting results. The raw numbers for album sales are as follows:

CSPC-Deep-Purple-album-sales-list

That leaves out a plethora of live releases, countless compilations, singles, offshoot bands, downloads, streaming, et cetera, et cetera. The Equivalent Album Sales (EAS) concept aims at addressing all that.

In short, 1 album = 1 full length music video (think Cal Jam) = 2 EPs = 3.33 physical singles = 6.67 digital singles = 1500 audio streams = 6,750 video streams. Yes, these coefficients are somewhat arbitrary, but they are what they are. You are invited refer to the original article and crunch the numbers with your favourite weights, if you’re inclined to do so.

Live albums and compilation sales are distributed to album sales proportional to how much each album contributes to the live album or compilation (e.g. streaming data suggests that Machine Head tracks account for 85% of Made in Japan listens, so 85% of MiJ numbers are counted towards MH album equivalent sales).

And the final result (drum roll):

CSPC-Deep-Purple-albums-and-songs-sales-cover

Machine Head gets the largest boost — in addition to 9 million album sales, the final adjusted number gets closer to 35.5 million. That includes EAS of 24 million from live and compilations, 1.3 million from singles, and 750 thousand from streaming. It ends up as the best selling album of 1972.

Other albums with significant EAS boost:

  • Shades of Deep Purple went from 1,625,000 purely album sales to 4,764,000 EAS;
  • In Rock from 5,775,000 to 12,192,000;
  • Burn from 4,060,000 to 7,921,000.

Once all is said and done, total worldwide for the whole career comes to 92.5 million equivalent album sales.

Notable records and achievements:

  • At 23,630,000 EAS, Smoke on the Water is the most successful song from 1972.
  • At 23,630,000 EAS, Smoke on the Water is one of the top 10 most successful songs from the 70s.
  • At 23,630,000 EAS, Smoke on the Water is one of the top 25 most successful songs of all-time.
  • At 8.6 million pure album sales, Deep Purple are among the best selling foreign artists of all-time in Japan.
  • Deep Purple are one of the rare foreign acts to sell over 500,000 with both a single/EP and an album in USSR.

This is just a summary of a quite a long article. Check the source for full details.

One big caveat thought: the article does not give any sources for the raw sales numbers, and they are the foundation for all results and conclusions, so take everything with a grain of salt.

Tracing undiscovered stars

Edel has posted another video from the Düsseldorf 2005 gig — title track from the just about going to be released Rapture of the Deep. Continue Reading »

Music always comes around

In this interview dated April 2022, Simon McBride demonstrates the right mix of cocky and humble, while talking about the differences between being a session man and playing under his own name, fanboying with Ian Gillan, hairspray rock, and other things. Continue Reading »

Danish treasures

Fan-filmed super8 footage has come to light from Deep Purple’s 1975 show in Copenhagen. Filmed at Brøndby Hallen on March 20, 1975 by Lars Kroman, the silent and fragmented film lasts nearly 10 minutes.

At first it shows the band filmed from the audience in front of the stage. Later and more interestingly, the camera has moved to an excellent vantage point behind the stage showing exciting views of Jon Lord and Ian Paice with the crowd in the background.

Now, we just need someone to sync it up to the bootleg from the show…

Belly of the Beast

jlt_belly_of_the_beast

Joe Lynn Turner’ s new album Belly of the Beast is coming out on October 28, 2022, via Mascot.

The promo pictures for the release feature JLT au naturel, finally owning up to how he is:

This chapter saw him make a crucial personal decision too. Diagnosed with alopecia at three-years-old, he began to wear a wig at 14-years-old, dealing with “emotional and psychological damage from cruel bullying in school.” So, he wore the hairpiece throughout his career until finally deciding to go without it. “In a way, it’s a blessing and a curse,” he admits. “I have nothing to prove, and I can wear a wig — or not. I am free to do what I want. I’m a grown man, and I’m getting to be an older man. Many men in this business eventually come to the decision to continue to ‘wear hair’ or shave their head which is very fashionable today. Either way, it takes a lot of personal courage. Assholes in high school trying to kick me around made me stronger and gave me the necessary motivation and strength to rise above the rest. Anger and pain are a great tool. If applied correctly, it could develop you to become the best version of yourself. Instead of running away, I was ‘hiding in plain sight.'”

joe lynn turner, promo photo for belly of the beast album

A lyric video for the title track has been posted to promote the album:

Thanks to Uwe Hornung and Blabbermouth for the info.

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