AN EDITOR REMEMBERS.........
Issue 22  July 1980

As I type this (April 2002), the picture of Mk 2 taken outside the Hanwell Community Centre stares out at me from the cover of Issue 22. 22 years ago I was working on the magazine, two hours ago I was rescanning the same image for the EMI 6CD box set booklet artwork. Back in July 1980 though, we'd no idea where the picture was taken - the glimpse of a stone column in the corner of the picture leading to speculation that it might have been taken outside one of our city halls. Issue 22 had a litho printed cover, but the rest of the magazine was still copied at the Rank Xerox bureau. I was continuing to use the 8 Herbert Road address for feedback and special offers (it was easier to walk round and pick the mail up than keep changing addresses), which for the first time included the chance to buy some original 10 by 8 photographic prints from my negatives. We were charging just 80p a print for these and I was still apologising in the magazine for the cost! A couple of shots were from ones I'd taken on the 1980 Rainbow tour, the others were from Whitesnake's rehearsals in London in 1978 which I'd been invited to. I'd also taken on a new job at printers in Bakewell, Derbyshire, which meant more early mornings to catch a local bus to take me across town to link up with one of the few buses from Sheffield which would get me out there in time. As it was a full time job, this left me less time to get the magazines together, but there was always the evenings!

WHITESNAKE had just finished a lengthy UK tour in superstar style, and we were indignant at their over the top antics, using a fleet of limos to drive the five hundred yards from the hotel to the venue (with police to hold back the crowd of eight fans). I was so cheesed off ranting about this I forgot to review the Sheffield gig! The Manchester show took ages to get moving, only reaching top form towards the end. Again the band refused to meet fans before or after the show, unlike the support - Gary Moore. We later heard from another fan (who'd been clouted by Whitesnake's road manager when he asked for autographs) that Coverdale was out to "kill me" after we'd printed "nasty things" about him and Blackmore in the magazine. Apart from the well documented bust up the pair had back-stage at a Rainbow gig in Europe (which was in all the papers anyway), we'd done nothing of the sort but we've been off his Christmas card list ever since!

GILLAN was signing a major deal with Virgin which was to boost the band enormously, and one of our members sent us a snap of himself, Ian and Ritchie backstage after the Rainbow Theatre gig. RAINBOW were going through a rocky patch; we reported disagreements between Blackmore and Bonnet, and between Powell and Blackmore. Powell was even signing sleeves as "Cozy Powell Ex Rainbow" in Germany. The big Donnington gig was announced and The Sun ran an infamous two pager on Blackmore, digging up what they could on his various ex-wives, and heading the story "He looks evil, even satanic." There was also a new fan club for Rainbow, set up by one of Blackmore's old roadies in Liverpool. This meant we could pass the frilly "I Love Graham" messages on to someone at last. They kindly met up with us in our grotty Chesterfield Road flat, and it seemed like there could be some real co-operation, though this didn't last too long sadly. Nor did the fan-club. Someone else with connections to Kingsway Recorders set up an official Gillan fan club too, but apart from a load of merchandise forms no more was heard. There was a Whitesnake club, run by Rosie, still going, though she was about to fall out with David, sell all her expensively amassed collection and throw her lot in with Barry Manilow (no, I'm not making this up!). Over in Sweden Mike Eriksson's DPFC which had been going some time came up against a glossy upstart called Stargazer, which nicked our name and our pictures. It lasted about a dozen issues or so. Mike's is still going...

I found time to complete the Jon Lord & The Classics story and ran a full page article on the two Mk 2 BBC In Concerts. I'd been told that there would never be another album of unissued Deep Purple material EVER unless we came up with some suggestions, so I bunged them this information and before the magazine was out they'd done a deal with the BBC to issue the material (and given me a "cover concept" credit on the single). Reunion rumours were getting stronger, and while a Mk 3 one was flatly denied, two goes to put Mk 2 together had more substance. In America Blackmore's manager Bruce Payne was pushing for a new album, and some US shows. He had another four years before it could happen! Rod Evans couldn't wait that long. On vinyl the goodies kept coming, mostly odds and ends of foreign releases, Marbles discoveries (with Bonnet), singles and bootlegs, with "Fool For Your Loving" getting good reviews, though I wasn't at all keen on the lameness of the "Ready An' Willing" album. "Deepest Purple" also appeared, it was no wonder I was pushing as hard as I could for those BBC shows to appear after this.

ISSUE 22: DIGEST & INDEX
RAINBOW
NEWS : Tour & Record News
WHITESNAKE
LIVE REVIEW : Manchester Apollo
WHITESNAKE
RECORD REVIEW : Fool For Your Loving (EP)
WHITESNAKE
RECORD REVIEW : Ready'n Willing
WHITESNAKE
RECORD REVIEW : Live At Hammersmith
GILLAN
NEWS : Touring & Recording
GILLAN
RECORD REVIEW : Sleeping On The Job (7")
DEEP PURPLE RECORD REVIEW : Deepest Purple
NICK SIMPER'S FANDANGO RECORD REVIEW : Slipstreaming

RAINBOW

Tour & Record News

Cozy has been speaking his mind about the band recently, hinting that he might not be with them much longer. He was also seen in Germany signing autographs "Cozy Powell, ex-Rainbow". Fully rested after the British tour, Rainbow left for a short tour of Japan in May. The dates were recorded for possible use. Quite a surprise was the announcement that the band will be doing a UK festival, on August 16th at Castle Donnington. 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow' was quoted as being the next single, and I could see it being a really massive hit, but I hope good sense prevails. Elsewhere, Roger Glover was also at the Gillan gig in March when Ritchie jammed, but he wouldn't go on.


WHITESNAKE

Manchester Apollo , 13th June 1980 - Live Review

After support act G Force (with Gary Moore) had ground to a halt, Whitesnake were on quite quickly, and without wasting any time went straight into 'Come On', followed by 'Sweet Talker'. Nothing bowled me over, (it was like a rerun of the 1979 tour only lacking in freshness), so I checked the band out (!). Jon Lord seemed in better form than last tour, Coverdale looked fitter than he's done since '74, and Micky was doing his usual cowboy impressions. Behind them all was the silver Ludwig, with the man himself in his pink 'Paice hat'. 'Mistreated' gave me my first shivers of the night, with a lovely new intro. During its finishing climax things suddenly quietened, and David launched into a virtually unaccompanied verse of 'Soldier of Fortune', a magical moment. The set rocked out with a dynamite version of 'Take Me With You', and as the audience seemed to bow their heads as one to headbang, we got our best view of the night!


Fool For Your Loving - EP / Promo Film Review

As a summing up of Whitesnake to date the EP makes a convenient package, one number from each lineup etc. The b-sides seem even weaker in comparison with the a-side. The combination of Paice and Murray is excellent, together with Jon Lord they power along. What it comes down to is Whitesnake finally starting off where they should have been on 'Trouble'.

Partly because it stands out as a classy track, and partly because of an excellent promotional film, 'Fool For Your Loving' enjoyed a lengthy stay in the top 30. The film was shot at the Rainbow Theatre during the soundcheck for the April 2nd show. According to Pierre Caeiro they went through it five times for the cameras, playing along with the single each time. Then during the actual show they filmed the audience. This was added to the mimed footage to give an authentic but very classy bit of film.


Ready'n Willing - Album Review

"A big improvement on the last two (wouldn't be hard), the change wrought by Ian Paice is quite phenomenal. 'Fool For Your Loving' has superb backing, especially Jon's foundations, and David puts real feel into the song. The title track is very disappointing however, grotty beat and poor lyrics, and vocals. 'Black & Blue' is a dire copy of the awful 'Rock & Roll Women' from the last album. Things pick up for the closer 'She's A Woman', and for once Jon isn't buried in the mix. I'm very suspicious of Mr.Birch these days, his work seems careless, burying the bits you want to hear, and yet he contributed so much to Deep Purple." David Billington

Must admit I think they could benefit from looking around producer wise, but then could anything have saved this album? Sure it all works out on stage, but albums used to be more than pale reflections of a band's live capabilities. Whitesnake have just completed what must be their most successful UK tour to date, though the warm-up at the Rainbow Theatre on April 2nd wasn't too good according to reports, with the PA ruined by Judas Priest the night before!


Live In Hammersmith - Album Review (Japanese Import)

"I feel it is important to remember that this was recorded before Ian Paice joined. It is still their best album to date, even if it is not up to current stage standards. It opens with 'Come On', a number I've always liked, and which sounds great at twice the speed of the studio version. I think 'Might Just Take Your Life' is better than the Burn version, maybe as David sings more on it - there is also a nice Jon Lord solo in there. I must admit I was apprehensive about buying this record, but I wasn't disappointed! There is a lyric sheet inside, they've even written out Coverdale's introductions." Alan Hutchinson


GILLAN

Touring & Recording

The record company problems mentioned last issue resulted in Gillan looking elsewhere, finally settling with Virgin Records. In March the band recorded a special session for Tommy Vance at BBC Radio, consisting of a new number from their short UK tour called 'If You Believe Me'. At the end of April they returned to the studios to work out on the new album, provisionally titled 'Glory Road'. They had five weeks booked, up until May 25th. An appearance at the Reading Festival has been set once more, they also did the Loch Lomond Festival on June 22nd. A full UK tour will follow, ending on October 25th.


Sleeping On The Job / Higher And Higher - Single Review

A re-recording of the Japanese album track, but isn't much better - the fault still being in the production, and the poor drum sound. Somewhere in the mix is a strong catchy tune struggling to get out. The b-side is very IGB like, with double tracked vocals,and isn't as good as the a-side. All the recent numbers seem to be based on a keyboard riff copied by a guitar, and repeated over and over. I'd like to hear Colin Towns use deeper or different tones occasionally - maybe a bit more Hammond - though I know he's conscious of trying to avoid sounding like Lordy. Overall not an auspicious start with Virgin.


DEEP PURPLE

Deepest Purple - Album Review

This compilation set, coming so soon after the last two efforts, is just bad news for Deep Purple fans. Let's clue you in on it and the accompanying single. Despite me telling them what I thought about the idea, EMI's TV promotions department had scheduled a TV-promoted album, and that was that. They went for 'Black Night' as the a-side of the single, despite it having been reissued only last year as a 12 inch, and despite the fact that the 7" version was still on catalogue. I asked for something new on the b-side and we eventually reached a compromise with 'Speed King' from the 1970 BBC In Concert, which would be new to most people.


NICK SIMPER'S FANDANGO

Slipstreaming - Album Review

"Sounds slagged the album into the ground, and then an understandably annoyed Simper wrote in defending himself and the band. The opener 'Candice Larene' I like a lot, Nick and guitarist Pete Parks have a knack for catchy country material. The sound is very clean,and the guys are obviously seasoned session men. The lyrics to this (and most of the album) are pretty duff. The title track sounds like a bad 'Highway Star'. The closing track 'Time Will Tell', is a real tearjerker: 'Nineteen hundred and sixty eight, find it hard to relate to the songs I'm singing so well, Nineteen hundred and sixty nine is the end of the line, only time will tell'. Nick denied writing it in his letter. The tune is catchy, but the lyrics are laughable. Overall it's a fairly pleasant effort which shines at times, but is ordinary or bad the rest of the time." Brian Bell

back to the top

also in the magazine..more record reviews...'Jon Lord & The Classics' story (Gemini Suite & Sarabande)...Deep Purple BBC In Concert Broadcasts 1970-72 feature....Deep Purple reunion rumours..
....Whitesnake 'Ready'n'Willing' UK Tour reviews....plus more.....


   
   

the magazine can now be purchased from the dpas online store

joining the DPAS