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AN
EDITOR REMEMBERS.........
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Issue
24 June 1981 |
23 pages this time, with the start of our exhaustive Mk 3
story taking up the cover and the first five inside pages,
including a look back at "Burn". This was part of a shift
in emphasis as, with fan-clubs now running for all the spin
off bands, most of which had more access to news than we did,
there was less reason to try and cover everyone in great detail.
So I was preparing to concentrate more on Deep Purple's history.
As for the big three, RAINBOW were now back as a five piece
with unknown (to) us Joe Lynn Turner fronting them and a lengthy
US tour co-headlining with Pat Travers getting a rave review,
with the promise of the first UK shows by the new line-up
in July. "Difficult To Cure" was now out but getting the thumbs
down in the reviews pages, even the sleeve was nicked from
one by Voyager. We did have a three page Glover interview
that covered a lot of ground and news that he was starting
work on his second solo album.
GILLAN
was catching up with the others in the charts, with some excellent
singles, particularly MAD. Very busy on the road, a handful
of UK shows seemed a little unfair, but were only a prelude
to a 43 date tour they were booking for the end of the year!
The band were also doing lots of radio and TV slots. WHITESNAKE
had been off the road again, this time after Coverdale broke
his leg. Some consolation shows in Britain got a mixed reaction.
A record six nights at the Hammersmith Odeon was a good move,
but elsewhere they followed Rainbow into the huge arenas,
and we had to brave the Queens Hall in Leeds, where leaking
oil from the gear trucks spread across the floor and ruined
everyone's shoes. It was a powerful show but they weren't
pushing themselves too hard.
As for
the vinyl, the foreign collectors items continued to appear
in ever greater numbers thanks to the success the bands were
having abroad. Rainbow turned up on the Castle Donnington
collection, albeit only a part of their set. If you wanted
the full gig the Japanese obliged with a double bootleg LP
audience recording of the show (with a jet plane ruining the
start of one song!). If you weren't careful, you risked getting
stung by a home made UK bootleg which appeared at the same
time, and which comprised the 25 minutes of the set aired
on UK TV, complete with the sound of the microphone being
moved in front of the TV speakers... Some interesting sessions
were turning up as well. Blackmore fans had a nice solo on
the Jack Green album, or could buy a new reissue of the Green
Bullfrog album (albeit with erroneous guests listed). Glenn
Hughes fans could also read about a newly discovered album
called "Four On The Floor", a rare outing for Glenn who was
still mired in Cocaine addiction. There was a good new Purple
bootleg about as well, "Bedlam In A Bed Sit", although a debate
about which show it came from took some time to sort out.
Still that's what the fan-club was all about.
We'd invested
in a new electric typewriter too, which gave a much cleaner
look. It's amazing to look back now and think that there was
no way of editing the text once we'd done it, other than to
start all over again and retype it. We were still resorting
to handwriting and tracing text to give us the headings for
many of the news items. Issue 24 was also the last Stargazer
for over a year. Shortly after it came out, we were approached
by an outside company called Concert Publishing (who did tour
merchandise) with an offer to co-produce a properly printed,
typeset magazine, with colour pictures. This was the very
first Darker Than Blue, but it was the start of a nightmare
which took us twelve months or more to break out of. !
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ISSUE
24: DIGEST & INDEX
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RAINBOW
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RECORD
REVIEW : Difficult To Cure |
RAINBOW
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RECORD
REVIEW : I Surrender (Single) |
RAINBOW
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LIVE
REVIEW : Tower Theatre, Boston |
GILLAN
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LIVE
REVIEW : The Fast Lane, Asbury Park |
GILLAN
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NEWS
:Touring & Appearing On TV! |
GILLAN
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RECORD
REVIEW : M.A.D. (Single) |
GILLAN
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RECORD
REVIEW : New Orleans (Single) |
GILLAN
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RECORD
REVIEW : Future Shock |
WHITESNAKE
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NEWS
: Touring & Recording |
WHITESNAKE
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RECORD
REVIEW : Don't Break My Heart.. (7") |
WHITESNAKE
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RECORD
REVIEW : Come An' Get It |
WHITESNAKE
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LIVE
REVIEW : Hammersmith Odeon, London |
RAINBOW
Difficult
To Cure - Album Review
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Joe
Lynn Turner was the singer in Fandango, a group people have
been confusing with Nick Simper's Fandango. It does look like
Graham Bonnet left, rather than being told to leave. He made
his mind up during the initial sessions for the new album....
What
makes it so difficult for me to say anything about the album
is the sheer quantity of out and out steals. From old Purple
tracks to old Rainbow tracks - from Bad Co. to Led Zeppelin.
A couple of solos cut it; that in 'Spotlight Kid' (one of the
best tracks apart from the lyrics) and the work in the title
track (which is otherwise terrible). Art directors dream of
a sleeve concept, but it's boring for most fans.
"A
bit disappointed in Blackmore's guitaristics; not many of those
slashing fretboard runs. 'I Surrender': love it, pity they didn't
write it. 'Spotlight Kid' uses 'Kill The King' solo ideas, nice
driving number. 'Can't Happen Here' blew me away when I first
heard it, 'Black Sheep..' feel to it. The title track has the
Taurus bass-pedals, some nice ad-lib soloing, controlled but
good, and Don Airey surfaces at last, too late my son, the boat's
gone!" Ernie Tull.
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I
Surrender - Single Review
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Was
there any doubt it would be a smash hit?! It didn't seem as
catchy at first, but a few radio plays soon put me right. Some
lovely guitar during the fade-out is the only notable feature,
unless you like the song itself. The B-side 'Maybe Next Time'
doesn't quite work the same magic on me that 'Weiss Heim' did,
though it is growing on me slowly.
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Tower
Theater, Philadelphia, May 9th 1981 -
Live Review
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The
world tour commenced in Canada on March 10th. Seven weeks of
US dates followed, then the European leg began on June 3rd.
The US dates were supported by Pat Travers, though on the tickets
the two were given equal billing. Lori Galloway had a chance
to see the band:
"Their
Tower shows were hot! Don't worry about hating the album, the
stuff they did from it live..phenomenal! Ritchie was galloping
around stage, I've never seen him so lively, even doing a half
minuet with himself, very strange! Joe is far superior to ol'
Graham Bonnet, no 'my shorts are in a knot' screaming. Bobby
is a good replacement for Cozy, I never missed him. They got
an encore naturally_ Ritchie started off with a 'Lazy' teaser,
then the 'Woman From Tokyo' riff, the band then kicked in for
a full 'Smoke On The Water'!"
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GILLAN
The
Fast Lane, Asbury Park, New Jersey. December 10th 1980 -
Live Review
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"The
Fast Lane is a small club, holds about 150 people when full,
but for Gillan there were maybe 50. It was midweek, under-publicised,
and they weren't due on until after midnight. The set was as
their recent UK shows, kicking off with 'Unchain You Brain',
'No Easy Way' including a piano solo from Colin (who looked
disinterested all night), as did Mick. Ian announced 'Trouble'
as their latest single - not here it isn't! Give Bernie a break
by the way, I can't tell from you maligning him in Stargazer
whether he has just improved a lot, or if you folks are just
wet! I'd like to hear the band again, once my ears have stopped
ringing!" Jeff Rinscheid
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Touring
& Appearing on TV! - News
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Ian's
merry men have been so active recently that it's been hard to
keep up with them!
The band did a short set for Scottish TV on Feb.5th just after
their return from America, before an invited audience in Edinburgh.
BBC's Rock Goes To College was filmed live at Oxford Poly on
Feb.18th. Ian wasn't in brilliant vocal form, but round about
'MAD' he pulled himself into overdrive and gave a good performance
of that and 'On The Rocks'. The band then celebrated the completion
of their album with a few UK dates. The Rainbow Theatre gig
on March 5th was taped, it ended with only Gillan and Underwood
on stage! McCoy trashed his gear, Bernie's too, and Towns just
walked off. Gillan was suffering with bronchitis, but didn't
want to cancel and disappoint people. In Liverpool Ian collapsed
backstage 40 minutes into the set. The band's schedule kicked
off again with a 14 date European tour in May/June.
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Mutually
Assured Destruction - Single Review
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Not
so much a picture sleeve as a free booklet. The cover drawing
is awful, but inside are the lyrics, a short CND type play,
and colour photos of the band on-stage.
It saw the record straight into the charts and Top of the Pops,
but dropped straight back out again. Me, I thought it was great,
mainly for the superb quiet vocals. And still I get letters
saying he can't sing like he used to. Everyone has off nights,
though I think I've seen Ian suffering from colds etc. on more
UK tours than anyone else!
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New
Orleans - Single Review
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This
oldie (originally by Gary US Bonds) was sufficiently catchy
to get the radio airplay, and became their most successful single
to date.
It's ok I guess, though I'd have been happier to see MAD make
it. The b-side ('Take A Hold Of Yourself') is nothing outstanding
either, though it has yet more vocal experiments midway.
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Future
Shock - Album Review
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The
outer sleeve is chronic, there are very few artists in the sci-fi
field doing anything decent, and Gillan used the best, Chris
Foss, for 'Clear Air Turbulence'. The album itself didn't live
up to expectations.
There seems to be a lack of musical ideas, reusing from previous
albums, which are wearing a bit thin. 'Ballad Of The Lucitania
Express' is the worst example. Much of the album sounds too
rushed, which is a pity because the enthusiasm is there - one
snatch of 'No Laughing In Heaven' shows that. Some of the tracks
sound like Ian was suffering when he recorded them; such as
on 'If I Sing Softly' and 'Don't Want The Truth', both of which
have a lot going for them. For my money the best cut of all
is the last; 'For Your Dreams'. It has a much more thought out
feel to it, and begins to bring together Colin's ideas and Ian's
vocal range successfully. Overall I feel Ian has let the album
run away with itself, and 'Glory Road' seems (especially the
American version with rearranged track order) much stronger.
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WHITESNAKE
Touring
And Recording - News
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As
mentioned last issue, Whitesnake had to pull out of a November
/ December 1980 German Tour when Coverdale sprained his leg(!),
so in April and early May the band returned to play more dates
in Germany. Prior to that they were putting their latest album
together & finishing it off. There was trouble in Copenhagen,
where the band were due to play on May 11th, but arrived to
find the PA couldn't be set up as the stage was old and in danger
of collapse! The band arranged a shortish UK jaunt in May, ending
it with a record (for any Purple band) six nights at the Hammersmith
Odeon. It does seem a long way from The Rafters Club in 1978!
The
show I caught at Leeds was much like last time, with less new
numbers than expected.
Regarding the recent live album, it has come out as a single
LP in both the USA and Japan. The American one has tracks from
both the 1978 & 1980 shows, the Japanese one must be all
1980. Ian Paice has done a session for Ken Hensley, while
Jon Lord will be featured on Graham Bonnet's solo album.
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Don't
Break My Heart Again - Single Review
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Another
romp in the steps of 'Fool For Your Loving', and although it
took a while to bite, it may well rate higher than that track
now. The lack of initial appeal has meant a slower climb up
the charts, and despite an immaculate promo video. Mindful of
last time, when the single proved to be the best album cut,
I have so far avoided buying the new LP, once bitten....
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Come
An' Get It - Album Review
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Time
to pick someone's review, though we've not had any really favourable
ones_" 'Don't Break My Heart Again' is excellent, and could
be a real treat live. 'Child of Babylon' starts off just like
'Ghost Story' by PAL, and could be ok live. 'Would I Lie To
You' is your normal tempo track and reminds me of half a dozen
others, but a nice slow bit in the middle. 'Girl' - excellent,
nice guitar riff. 'Hit An' Run' is adequate. Overall an ok album,
but nothing outstanding apart, perhaps, for the single. The
studio by the way, Tittenhurst Park, was the one owned by John
Lennon, and seen in the 'Imagine' promo film." Gary Critcher
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Hammersmith
Odeon, 29th May 1981- Live Review
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"They
only played the two singles ("Don't Break My Heart Again"
and "Would I Lie To You") and two others off the
new album, and were on stage for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Despite
the awful LPs they are very enjoyable to see live, which is
just as important. They opened with 'Walking In The Shadow Of
The Blues'. Coverdale put everything into it, which left him
a little breathless for the next few songs. During the opening
tracks, three cameras had been filming the band, but they soon
disappeared after Coverdale yelled "get these f*$@ing cameras
out of the way!" They were also taping the show, but I
doubt they'll get much out of it, as David kept missing the
words. Also, the mikes failed towards the end of the show. 'Belgian
Tom's Hatrick' was sandwiched between Lord and Paice's solos.
I loved the runs on electric piano, and at one point there was
just Lord, Paice and Murray playing, which was a good idea.
The band enjoyed themselves, and so did the crowd - probably
all fans as it was the first night to be announced." Keith
Dyce
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back
to the top
also
in the magazine...Deep Purple, The Mk3 Story, Part One....Questions
& Answers...Jack Green 'Humanesque' Blackmore Session....Green
Bullfrog, Ecy Street Reissue... Glenn Hughes 'Four On The Floor' Review..
Rainbow , Castle Donnington 1980 bootleg reviews....Deep Purple 'Bedlam
In a Bedsit' Bootleg Review....
DPAS Roger Glover Interview.... ....plus 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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