Newsletter One of what was then the RBAS, or Ritchie Blackmore Appreciation Society looks very primitive twenty five years on. It comprised a typed A4 intro sheet (complete with zillions of errors), backed with a couple of sides of news headed 'Over The Rainbow', including a review of the first album from Rainbow by Ernie Tull (who is still a DPAS member!) which mirrored our general disappointment with the LP.

So why did we do it? Well, there was a sort of Deep Purple newsletter based near London, Blackmore had just struck out on his own and I thought it would be a good way to keep in touch with fans, adding to my own knowledge and passing info on, as well as widening our collecting and trading scope. I'd already been doing some simple discography sheets and family trees for fans (and if Issue 1 looks primitive you should see these).

Plus there always was something about printing which fascinated me! At the time I was at Art College in Manchester (Ann was still stuck at home with her parents) and the newsletter was paid for out of my student grant with adverts for membership in Record Mirror, Sounds etc. I marvel now that so many people coughed up to subscribe.....