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AN
EDITOR REMEMBERS......... Issue
28 January 1984
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The
return of the spotted shirt, as we noticed that Blackmore
chose to wear a spotted shirt every decade, and were able
to illustrate this on the cover. Inside however I was apologising
for the delay. After years of student digs, living with parents
or in rented accommodation, I was thrown into the joys of
DIY for the first time, and began to wrestle with Yorkshire
Fittings and copper pipe, as the plumbing (and much else)
in the new house turned out to be falling apart.
We'd
upped the quality of the mag once more thanks to the printers,
with some decent quality photographs again. We used these
facilities to the full to cover Rainbows first UK tour in
two years; decent venues too although our backs were up after
we (and many others) arrived for the extra show in Nottingham
only to find that it had been pulled, and the group were rehearsing
in Liverpool instead! It's generally reckoned by the powers
that be that we rubbished everything Ritchie ever did after
Rising, but the reviews here give the lie to that myth and
we enjoyed much about the Liverpool shows we saw. The second
Nottingham show went ahead but was fraught with sound problems,
and Ritchie left half way through (a group of fans near us
started singing "Ritchie's thrown a wobbler" to the tune of
Hava Nagila, so you can tell that by now people were getting
used to Rainbow shows!). Whitesnake
decided to regain some lost ground by headlining the Donnington
festival in a blaze of publicity but personnel problems were
still present; Lord's future seemed uncertain and Micky Moody
walked. As for me, I had a huge dollop of nostalgia by catching
a special screening of the 1972 Copenhagen video which had
been rescued and was being held at former Deep Purple manager
Tony Edward's London office pending release as a video. We
were thrilled to see the footage, and though we felt commercial
release was unlikely because it was only monochrome and there
were still some contractural problems, we promised to badger
Tony to see what could be done.
If video
seemed unlikely, the vinyl flood continued, with five packed
pages of reviews, including Bent Out Of Shape, new singles
from Whitesnake, and Sabbath's LP finally out (we also covered
their first live dates, including a near riot at the show
in Spain). With some archive reprints (including a nice two
page spread from Rave magazine), and Glover's production list
for collectors, plenty to read in a 28 page issue - which
also made available once more reprints of the very first five
newsletters.
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ISSUE
28: DIGEST & INDEX
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RAINBOW
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NEWS
:Touring & Recording |
RAINBOW
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LIVE
REVIEW : Whitley Bay Ice Rink |
RAINBOW
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RECORD
REVIEW : Bent Out Of Shape |
RAINBOW
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RECORD
REVIEWS : Street Of Dreams & Can't Let You Go (7") |
WHITESNAKE
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LIVE
/ VIDEO REVIEW : 'Monsters Of Rock', Donnington |
WHITESNAKE
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NEWS
: Moody & Hodgkinson Depart |
WHITESNAKE
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RECORD
REVIEWS : Guilty Of Love & Give Me More Time (7") |
GARY
MOORE (with Ian Paice)
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RECORD
REVIEW : Rockin' Every Night |
BLACK
SABBATH (with Ian Gillan)
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LIVE
REVIEW: Drammenshallen, Oslo |
BLACK
SABBATH (with Ian Gillan)
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RECORD
REVIEW : Born Again |
RAINBOW
Touring
& Recording- News
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Manager
Bruce Payne says former Rainbow drummer Bobby Rondinelli wasn't
consistent during gigs, speeding up and slowing down. His replacement
is Chuck Burgi, a guy mainly active on the session front with
Hall & Oates etc. The band spent some time writing in a
chalet in Vermont; later at Sweet Silence Studios a lot of the
prepared material was dropped and new stuff composed. They did
a few live dates in Scandinavia to work in the new line-up,
initial feelings after these shows were that this was indeed
the one to break it in the USA - although we've been hearing
that since 1976 but still. The new album hit the streets on
the second night of the tour.
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Whitley
Bay Ice Rink, 8th September 1983 - Live Review
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"Whitley
Bay. What a lousy place. An ice rink covered in tarpaulin, wooden
boards and people, and more people. The cost of merchandise
astounds me. I gently work my way right to the front and the
show starts around 9.25. It's a blinder. Ritchie is in amazing
form. He controls the band with numerous gestures, obviously
all that American touring has tightened them up no end. Between
songs Turner is so loud that everything he says is lost apart
from exhortations to go out and buy the new album. Roger was
on fine form too but it was Ritchie's night. The whole show
lasted over two hours. It's almost impossible to pick out the
best bits as it was all so good, but the first part of 'Stargazer'
was welcome. For me the bluesy bit before Beethoven probably
topped the rest. It's the best I've seen them since 1977. When
he plays that way I can see why we put up with so much from
the studio and the long wait in between tours. For the first
time to me they looked like a band - Ritchie's band, but a band
nevertheless" Brian Jackson
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Bent
Out Of Shape - Album Review
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Whereas
Straight Between The Eyes provoked very few letters either strongly
for or against, Rainbow's latest certainly has. A roughly 50/50
balance between those who reckon it is terrible, to the rest
who rate it as the best thing they've done since Rainbow Rising.
"Firedance;
Wondrous; A contender for the best Rainbow track ever. Complex
rifting, inspired playing and singing. Notably this is the only
track Roger gets a credit for. Anybody There: what can I say
? When he plays like this I can forgive all previous transgressions.
Desperate Heart: Ritchie's playing saves what would other-wise
be an ordinary tune. Drinking With The Devil: ugh. What a disappointment.
Nothing truely offensive up until now. This horrible ditty really
lets the side down. Snowman: stunning!; Keyboards and guitar
blend to create an effective piece of music, making stuff like
the previous track even worse by comparison. Make Your Move:
is an ordinary AOR item punctuated once more with great guitar.
Verdict is a fine album with some of the best guitar in years
from Blackmore. The blend is now ideally suited for America,
though more in the vein of Firedance and Snowman would please
me. What a rotten cover though!" Mark Bulldeath
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Street
Of Dreams & Can't Let You Go - Single Reviews
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A/
Street Of Dreams B/ Anybody There. Polydor POSP 631 - UK - 7"-
p/s - August 1983
A/ Street Of Dreams B/ Power (live). Polydor POSPX 631 - UK
- 12" p/s
The
7" and 12" had different sleeves probably shot during
the making of the promo video. The half-baked live b-side is
from the Live Between The Eyes video soundtrack.
A/
Can't Let You Go B/ All Night Long (live). Polydor POSP 654
- UK - 7"- October 1983
A/ Can't Let You Go B/ All Night Long & Stranded (live).
Polydor POSPX 654 - UK - 12"-p/s
The
photo on the front of the cover was taken at Whitley Bay. It's
another stab at the charts. The live b-sides must be the most
powerful Rainbow ever recorded - so energetic I can't believe
it. Our guess is that they taped them at a soundcheck. It's
a pity Ritchie didn't put Stranded out as the a-side. Even All
Night Long sounds fairly good!
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WHITESNAKE
Castle
Donnington - Live Review
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"For
the first five numbers Whitesnake were marvellous. However (isn't
there always a however with this band?) after that the solo
spots began, and the momentum and excitement they'd generated
began to disappear. Moody began it all with 'that' solo in Lovehunter
which was mind-numbingly tedious despite the use of quad effects.
Next, Jon contributed a strangely lack-lustre five minute effort,
almost all of it at the piano. Very disappointing from the master,
but this monotony was easily topped by Cozy Powell. Second rate
pyrotechnics and hovering helicopters couldn't pull 655 and
1812 out of the mire. The majority of the crowd thought it was
superb. The overall verdict is that whilst Coverdale's voice
gets better, the band get worse. Moody needs pensioning off,
Lord should devote his talents to something worthwhile and Cozy
should stage his events on the Falklands. Furthermore if I hear
Ain't No Love one more time I'll scream. Unless the band get
their act together soon I don't see much future for them."
Mark Bulldeath.
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Castle
Donnington - Video Review
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"They
launch into Walking In The Shadow Of The Blues which is magic
with some good close-ups of Mr Powell. They then move straight
into Rough & Ready which is superb, especially Mr Powell's gatling
gun bit. The highlight is Mistreated and Soldier Of Fortune
which are pure magic and worth the price alone. The video finishes
with Fool For Your Loving and closes on a still shot of David
with the fireworks exploding in a strategic position. Don't
tell me it wasn't deliberate either!" Diana from Flixton
The
only tracks missing are encores, but there has been some editing
to cut down Coverdale's swearing. Lord's solo has also been
taken out which is a bugger, and Cozy's has been pruned so I'm
told.
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Micky
Moody & Colin Hodgkinson Leave - News
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After
Donnington Whitesnake also appeared at Basle, Switzerland and
at the German Monsters Of Rock festival in Dortmund. Micky Moody
then took a look at the band's workload for 1984 and decided
enough was enough. Rumours about Jon Lord's future in the group
also spread, his manager aims to retire him in 4-5 years for
him to move into the theme music area!
As
we go to press news reaches us that Neil Murray has rejoined
the band after his brief sojourn with Gary Moore's outfit.
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Guilty
Of Love & Give Me More Time - Single Reviews
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A/
Guilty Of Love B/ Gambler. Liberty BP420. UK - 7"- p/s
- August 1983
& - Liberty BPP420. UK - shaped pic disc
Sneak
preview of the album, which got put back after Coverdale collapsed
from exhaustion in the studio. He was also reportedly disappointed
with producer Eddie Kramer's work. Guilty Of Love isn't too
sparkling, with the crashing guitar chords dominating a rather
ordinary tune. Coverdale is too far down in the mix, while Jon
is there but you need your head inside the speakers to hear
him. The flip is more promising, organ rather than guitar based.
A/
Give Me More Time B/ Need Your Love So Bad - Liberty BP422.
UK - 7" & 12"- 3rd January 1984
Another
hefty wallop which hasn't anything really special to make it
a hit, but is a well crafted effort save for a limp guitar solo.
For the b-side he's chosen an old 1968 Fleetwood Mac blues single.
It's good to hear David deviating from the Whitesnake norm.
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IAN PAICE (with Gary Moore)
Rockin'
Every Night - Album Review
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Gatefold
sleeve has just a few nice Paicey shots on, while musically
it's reminiscent of the old 'Snake beat, due to Paice and Murray
laying it down the line, and very well too. Beyond that it doesn't
hold a lot of interest, they left off the drum solo which is
a drag, and the weakest point is the vocal area, totally lacking
in punch. I'm not a Moore fan and nothing here has altered that
opinion - he just seems to go from one end of the scale to the
other in the fastest possible time. Ah, White Knuckles. That's
what we kept hearing through the walls of the hall on that Whitesnake
tour ages back. Powerful beat but little else.
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IAN
GILLAN (with Black Sabbath)
Drammenshallen,
Norway, 18th August 1983 - Live Review
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"The
lights went out and hundreds of lighter flames lit the place.
It was great to see lan but I was very disappointed, the sound
was too dominated by the bass which was heavily distorted, and
lan seemed uncertain and incapable of getting through the wall
of sound. How fast he improved though. He raised his voice,
becoming the most.audible part of it all. He really stole the
show. They played tracks I remember from my youth, such as Iron
Man, Black Sabbath, and War Pigs. The rest of the group didn't
impress me much, apart from the drummer. The audience demanded
an encore, and yes - they came back on with Smoke On The Water
- undoubtably the most popular track of the evening - Paranoid
came as an anti climax after it. All in all a decent debut for
the new Sabbath and a great show from lan." Magne Granmar
On the 19th they played Stockholm, and on the 23rd the Olympen,
Lund, after which they hotfooted it over to headline at Reading
on the 27th. "Funny lot Sabbath fans, Gillan's screaming
in War Pigs annoyed them, and when Iommi played the Smoke..
riff my mates went mental, swearing and all. Overall I enjoyed
the show, though I've yet to find anyone else who did."
Kevin Dixon
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Born
Again - Album Review
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Judging by the press reaction to them at Reading this album
will get slagged too.
"Trashed is a good opener, more like Gillan than the Sabs
though. Zero The Hero is very Sabbath-like and as such it drags
on far too long. Digital Bitch is my favourite, nice heavy guitar
and first class singing from Ian. If only he'd sung like this
on the Magic material. I do miss Towns's keyboards but on the
whole that's compensated for by Ian's singing. There's nothing
that really blows me away, but it's better than a fair proportion
of the stuff the Gillan band put out." Mike Burnett
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back
to the top
also
in the magazine...Rainbow 1983 UK Tour Reviews....Whitesnake Monsters
of Rock reviews....
.... Deep Purple, Copenhagen 1972 Video Report (click here
to read it in full)....1976 interviews with Martin Birch, Glenn Hughes
& Rob Cooksey.....Deep Purple, Quadraphonic Machine Head Review....Rainbow
& Whitesnake bootleg reviews....Deep Purple, Live In Offenbach
bootleg review....Roger Glover production list.....Black Sabbath World
Tour reviews...Questions & Answers...and much more...
the magazine can
be purchased from the dpas
online store
joining
the DPAS
©
2002 DPAS/Darker Than Blue.
Not to be replicated, reproduced, stored and/or distributed in any
way without prior written permission
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