Month: March 2021

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Episode #102 – Jesus Christ Superstar (Part 5: The Movie)

Link to video on Cocoscope: https://www.cocoscope.com/watch?v=84472

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      • The Real Fielding Fowler, 03/07/2021- FIVE STARS!
      • Spike Approved!
      • With faces for radio, and voices for podcasts, Nate and John bring an awkward enthusiasm for Deep Purple and the extended Purple family. Their banter is genuine, and even when it goes off-topic, it remains entertaining and an easy listen. I will definitely remain a patron, at least until the pandemic ends and the strip clubs re-open. Raise your glass of coffee milk, cheers to Deep Purple and the Deep Purple Podcast! This review is approved by Spike the Rock Cat.
      • Chlll Gill, 20/03/2021, FIVE STARS!
      • Deep Purple Podcast #100
      • I’ve just been listening to these 2 great guys- Nathan and John- on this DP podcast for short while now and love their interaction as they really feed and bounce off each other
      • Gone back to start and onto episode #14 while keeping up with latest episodes
      • Perfect Strangers was that reincarnation Mk2 for me having been fan since original Mk2 in 1969
      • They have great knowledge DP and what I also like is the branching into what members of band past/ present / dead or alive got up to when not in DP
      • Highly recommend take a listen as easy to get hooked by the format and chat and fascinating pieces info pick up each episode Keep it up guys Gill in Wales UK

    A Note From Jeff Breis:

    • Hey Nate,
    • I just now finished listening to your 4 part series on Jesus Christ Superstar, an album that I only occasionally pulled out in the past four decades.
    • You guys did a wonderful job presenting this work.
    • As a Catholic up until 12th grade (38 years ago), I was inundated with these biblical stories, so I shied away from this album for many years.
    • I enjoyed the performances by everyone on it, but I didn’t really care about the subject matter much.
    • Well, you three guys brought a new light to an excellent piece of work, with Paul adding a lot to the story with his knowledge of the subject. Very well done.
    • Thanks for making me a fan of an album I didn’t know as well as all the other Deep Purple related music that I enjoy. I have been playing it all week.
    • One more thing, your friend Paul Hughes made me think of one of the voices inside the piano on Frank Zappa’s Lumpy Gravy album, and that’s a good thing.
    • All the best,
    • FOLLOW UP:
    • Because of your show, I ordered the JCSuperstar DVD. I have not seen it since I was a kid.
    • As for Paul, he sounds like the guy in the piano who seems like the leader, who tells the others about the ponies and pigs and the smoke, the big note.
    • Lumpy Gravy – Part One
    • Lumpy Gravy – Part Two (Paul’s vocal doppelganger starts up at the beginning of this one)
    • Check it out.

    Personal Memories:

    • Paul and John backstage on the 1993 Jesus Christ Superstar tour.
    John Mottola, Ted Neeley, Paul Hughes, unidentified backstage worker, and redacted.
    Paul Hughes, Carl Anderson, and John Mottola.
    John Mottola and Ted Neeley.
    Paul Hughes and Ted Neeley.

    Personnel

    • Reprising roles: Yvonna Elliman, Barry Dennen
    • Only Barry Dennen and Josh Mostel had ever been on camera before.
    • Dennen suggested to Norman Jewison that he should make a movie around this album.
    • Norman Jewison said he was very moved listening to the record.
    • Barry Dennen says that they were in Yugoslavia filming Fiddler on the Roof and he approached Barry Dennen about it after discovering the album.

    Cast:

    • Ted Neeley as Jesus Christ
      • Was playing the lead in Tommy.
      • He was wearing a false beard when he met Jewison to see how Jesus would look.
    • Carl Anderson as Judas Iscariot
      • Jewison says he had someone else in mind but ended up going with Carl Anderson.  He tested 4-5 other actors.
      • He was hesitant about casting Carl Anderson because he didn’t want it to come across that the black man was the traitor and the white man was the son of god.  Jewison eventually decided he couldn’t do that because it would be denying him the role because of being black.
      • Played Judas during pre-Broadway but wasn’t given the role.
      • Understudied for the role of Judas but wasn’t given part on Broadway under Ben Vereen as he had more star power.
      • Was on Stevie Wonder’s “Song in the Key of Life” album but is not credited.  Stevie performed two songs from the album at Anderson’s funeral.
    • Bob Bingham as Caiaphas
      • Was int he originally broadway version.
      • Mother passed away right before they were about to film then got sick with measles.
    • Larry Marshall as Simon Zealotes
      • He acted over the top at Jewison’s direction who thought he wasn’t being over the top enough.
    • Josh Mostel as King Herod
      • Talks about the Golan Heights and that they’d be shooting guns at them from a distance.
      • He’s wearing his high school basketball jersey when they get off the bus.
      • Talked abotu staying by pool and playing volleyball as he only had one scene.
    • Philip Toubus as Peter
      • Known as Paul Thomas.
      • Began acting in Hair.
      • Went on to a career as a porn star and moved to directing.

    Movie Tracks

    1. “Overture” – 5:26
    2. “Heaven on Their Minds” – 4:22
    3. “What’s the Buzz/Strange Thing Mystifying” – 4:26
    4. “Then We Are Decided” – 2:32
    5. “Everything’s Alright” – 3:36
    6. “This Jesus Must Die” – 3:45
    7. “Hosanna” – 2:32
    8. “Simon Zealotes/Poor Jerusalem” – 6:28
    9. “Pilate’s Dream” – 1:45
    10. “The Temple” – 5:26
    11. “Everything’s Alright (reprise)”/”I Don’t Know How to Love Him” – 3:55
    12. “Damned for All Time/Blood Money” – 4:37

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    1. “The Last Supper” – 7:12
    2. “Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say)” – 5:39
    3. “The Arrest” – 3:15
    4. “Peter’s Denial” – 1:26
    5. “Pilate and Christ”/”Hosanna (reprise)” – 2:57
    6. “King Herod’s Song” – 3:13
    7. “Could We Start Again Please?” – 2:44
    8. “Judas’ Death” – 4:38
    9. “Trial Before Pilate (Including the 39 Lashes)” – 6:47
    10. “Superstar” – 3:56
    11. “The Crucifixion” – 2:40
    12. “John 19:41” – 2:20

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    Episode #101 – Deep Purple – Perfect Strangers (Part 2)

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      • Kobaia2112, 2019-06-21
      • A great Purplecast
      • Always cool to hear other fans talking about a band you like. Great podcast with some good research and cool infos. Don’t miss it if you’re a fan of Deep Purple and its extended family.
    Visit my website https://vinyl-records.nl for complete album information and thousands of album cover photos

    Album Tracks:

    Side Two:

    1. Perfect Strangers (Gillan, Blackmore, Glover)
      • Released as a single with the B-side of “Son of Alerik” which would later be released as a bonus track in later releases.
      • Glover said this was one of the best tracks he’d ever been involved with either in writing, producing, or playing and it was his favorite track on the album.
    2. A Gypsy’s Kiss (Gillan, Blackmore, Glover)
    3. Wasted Sunsets (Gillan, Blackmore, Glover)
    4. Hungry Daze (Gillan, Blackmore, Glover)

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        • Copy of Elements with review on the cover “Mostly Mellow Jazz”
        • Hey guys, I thought this was funny so I had to share it. I picked up a copy of Elements on vinyl the other day. It’s a white label promo copy. The funny thing is that someone wrote “mostly mellow jazz” on the cover” it looks like someone also scratched “rock &” in between the words mellow and jazz. So it could have read as “ mostly mellow rock & jazz” if the “rock &” part had been in ink too. The picture doesn’t really show that though. I don’t think I would use those adjectives to describe this album, but okay… 
        • Now since this was a promo copy, it makes me wonder if the person who originally owned this received a lot of promo records and marked all of them this way by writing directly on the album cover? It seems like a barbaric way to catalog something and one that would only be employed if you received so many albums that you no longer cared about them. 
        • Anyway, I thought this was funny. It adds a bit of mystery to the ownership chain of the album if nothing else.
        • Picture attached. 
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    Reception and Review

    • After a few weeks of recording Ritchie and Roger flew to Hamburg to mix the album.
    • Ian Paice said in Tommy Vance interview that he hoped they could inject a little more thought and class into Rock and Roll.  Described what was going on with pop in the mid 80s as a “fashion show.”
    • Ian Paice: “It’s kind of annoying because all the exciting bands seem to be coming from America at the moment and that’s not the way that God intended it.”
    • The CD and cassette original release contained the extra track “Not Responsible.”
    • The CD re-release contained the bonus track “Son of Alerik” a solo Blackmore composition which was released as a B-side to the Perfect Strangers single.
    • The album was a huge success.  It reached #5 in the UK charts and #17 on the Billboard 200 in the US.
    • It was the second album to be certified platinum in the US after Machine Head.
    • The following tour was such a success that they had to add many additional dates as shows sold out very quickly.
    • Their 1985 tour was only out-grossed by Bruce Springsteen that year.
    • Roger Glover has said of this album, “A great moment in time, but, as an album it doesn’t quite hang together.”
    • Paice: “To me, it’s a natural progression from [the] earlier records, but with a ten-year growth period in between.  It was a revelation to capture the spirit of the Mark II Purple once again . . . very refreshing.”
    • Lord: “a perfect album. IT said everything about the band that needed to be said.  We weren’t trying to be a super new 1980s band, and at the same time we weren’t just a nostalgia band.”
    • Ritchie: “We put [Deep Purple] back together to annoy the press, basically.  Give them something to btch about. That really is our No. 1 priority — to upset the critics.”

    Reviews:

    • https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/perfect-strangers-194042/
    • Perfect Strangers
    • 2 Stars by Deborah Frost
      • The title track comes blasting out of nowhere, like an I’m-alive-and-well message from an old friend you’d given up for dead. With its steamy vocal and genuine, if uncharacteristic, touches of wit throbbing above Deep Purple’s heavy signature sound, “Perfect Strangers” sets the tone for this venerable band’s reunion album. Lead singer Ian Gillan — who’s never been in finer, and deeper, throat — sinuously glides into lyrics that suggest these veterans have something to say about where they’ve been in the last few years (“Can you remember, remember my name … I am the echo of your past”) and have lots more to offer in the future. For a moment, you almost wonder why Purple ever faded away in the first place. Until, that is, you hear the rest of the album.
      • Excepting the title cut and the rambunctious but less effective “Knocking at Your Back Door,” the material consists of hastily knocked-off jams that allow guitar demigod Ritchie Blackmore to whip out his finger exercises in public. The band spent about six to eight weeks recording this comeback. (The current lineup is actually neither the original nor the final Deep Purple but the most successful — of “Smoke on the Water” fame.) It doesn’t sound as if they spent much more time thinking about it, either.
      • Blackmore’s Strat has such a great roar that you’re willing to just let it reverberate in your eardrums for a bit. And it’s nice to hear Jon Lord’s unsynthesized organ squalls, Ian Paice’s meaty pounding, Gillan’s howls and whispers and Roger Glover’s solid bass lines once again. Eventually, though, it’s “enough of the sound check already — where are the songs?” Instead of Glover, an outside producer might have forced the band to tighten up its licks and arrangements. Then again, did Deep Purple ever have more than one or two really good, concise numbers on an album? Maybe they’re just making the kind of record they always did, the only kind they know how to make.
      • So why are they doing this? To cash in on the current heavy-metal craze, in which dozens of young upstarts are making fortunes playing Purple riffs? Following a recent meet-the-press shebang promoting the album and impending world tour, the band members (minus the temperamental Blackmore, who, true to his “enigmage,” didn’t show) insisted they don’t need the dough. Perhaps the answer lies in “Wasted Sunsets,” a portrait of an aging rock star who’s got “gold and silver for the blues” but nothing to do except drink the nights away. It’s nice that Perfect Strangers got the Purples out of their respective mansions; too bad they didn’t venture farther from home.
    • LA Times Interview
    • https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-01-27-ca-9632-story.html
      • http://www.deep-purple.net/DPASmags/dtb30.htm#perfect
      • The album hit the record stores here on October 29th, though most London stores held out for the official release date of November 2nd. The cover appalls me; looks like something a thirteen year old would carve into a school desk in a moment of boredom. The music; you know damn well that what went down at those rehearsals and in the studio must have been electric, yet the energy doesn’t always communicate itself to the listener, which is a shame. The temptation in reviewing it is to get carried away by the fact that they are back together, and rave about the goodies while playing down the more mediocre stuff. That would be wrong.
      • ‘Knocking At Your Back Door’ effortlessly crosses the gap between commercial and hard rock in a way Rainbow tried so long to achieve… lovely chugging strings at the intro, Paicey lays into it, the Hammond swirling about, and a very typical Blackmore riff. Polished performances all round and disgustingly catchy. ‘Nobody’s Home’ is a hard rocking steal from ‘Lay Down Stay Down’ amongst others. ‘Mean Streak’ doesn’t consist of much at all – pounding bass, hi-hat and what sounds like good organ work buried in a really muddy sound. I find it hard to say a lot about the title track. It is everything Purple ever were to me, if I had to justify the reunion to anyone this cut would suffice. Ian’s vocals charged with emotion, all set over a gorgeous piece of work from the band. It belongs up there with the best of everything they’ve done before. ‘Wasted Sunsets’ is nicely predictable. It could have made a blinder, I’d have liked a quiet start, taking it up gradually to increase the power. ‘Hungry Daze’ is a bit of a let down, the best bit being the middle part – Third Stone From The Sun revisited!
      • The Burn album is probably the closest point of reference in terms of how I feel about the album overall. That too was recorded quickly, and showed a marked change of style. This time we’ve been prepared somewhat with Rainbow, and the shadow of that band is fairly strong. More variety in the manner of Gillan’s output over the past few years wouldn’t go amiss.
    • Kerrang review by Geoff Barton
    • Melody Maker review by Barry McIlheney
    • Sounds review of the “Perfect Strangers” single
    • UK Review
    • http://www.deep-purple.net/reunion/deep-purple-reunion-2.html
      • “Leaden Grandads” Record Mirror; “Some things never change, and this is one of them.” Melody Maker; “Bland and sluggish” Bury Times; “Dated plodding heavy metal” Music Week; “Old gits” NME. Great reviews for what most fans still regard as one of the best tracks of the reunion to date.
    • After the album’s release the band would embark upon 

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    Episode #100 – Perfect Stranger (Part 1)

    Disclaimer: The video used on YouTube is a byproduct of producing our audio podcast. We post it merely as a convenience to those who prefer the YouTube format. Please subscribe using one of the links below if you’d prefer a superior audio experience.

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      • Welcome, Stuart!
      • Dear Nate and John, thanks so much to both of you for this brilliant pocast. As a huge fan of Purple and the extended family since 1995, I’ve been spending many a really enjoyable evening over the past couple of months firstly playing my vinyl of one of the albums you’ve covered, then listening to the episode to hear the record again along with you guys with a nice couple of large whiskeys. Your chat about each track is always hugely entertaining, with excellent insight into the history and making of the albums. Many thanks and really looking forward to more great episodes. Best wishes Stuart (Hove, UK)
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      • A journey through a man’s journey through depression, low self esteem and borderline alcoholism through to acceptance and forgiveness of himself. Using the music of Deep Purple as a reference point the book is a series of short stories explore such concepts as institutional abuse, violence, loyalty, betrayal, love, loss and death
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      • Spike is well versed in all genres, but for purposes of DPP, he will be known as the Rock Cat. Don’t get too excited though with the extra cash. Unless you start having scantily clad women on the show, that’s all you are going to get. Congrats on 100 episodes! 

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      • peanutbotticelli, 2019-12-01
      • smokin
      • a very well made podcast. the hosts are really funny.

    Lead up to the Album:

    • 1978 event planned?  Jerry Bloom’s Black Night, page 255.
    • For years there had been rumors of a Deep Purple Mk 2 reunion.  In late 1982 it had come very close to becoming a reality.
    • Gillan said in his book “Child in Time” that he’d been over to Ritchie’s to meet with Bruce Payne but says he got extremely drunk and probably spoiled any chance at an ‘82 reunion.
    • The ‘82 attempt was discussed by Roger in an interview in the LA Times shortly after the release of “Perfect Strangers”:
      • “Ian came over from England to talk to Ritchie and me about re-forming Deep Purple,” Glover recalled. “He had been singing in some bands, but none had been that big. He was just about to join Black Sabbath, but what he really wanted was a Deep Purple reunion.
      • “We had dinner in a restaurant and Ian got totally drunk by the end of the meal. Ritchie and I looked at each other and said: ‘Do we really want to deal with this?’ The answer was no. So Ian went back to England with a terrible hangover and no Deep Purple.” 
    • There was even a rumor of a 1982 reunion as David Coverdale was approached and reportedly turned it down. 
    • Things weren’t going great in Rainbow.  The US tour they embarked on in 1983 was one of their smallest ever.  There was even talk of canceled shows due to poor ticket sales.
    • Colin Hart writes in his book “A Hart Life” that Ritchie Blackmore was not a fun person to be around at this time.  The recent shows had included Blackmore including Deep Purple classics into the setlist to get more interest from fans.  Hart says these songs were a little outside of Joe’s wheelhouse.
    • Bruce Payne had seen the writing on the wall and had already been in contact with Gillan. 
    • Jon was playing with Whitesnake, Gillan with Gillan, Ritchie and Roger with Rainbow, and Ian Paice was with Gary Moore.  This was right around the time Gillan had suffered vocal nodes and for whatever reason the 1982 reunion never came together.
    • Ian Paice was back home and enjoying his time as a highly sought after session drummer.
    • The five members met up in April of 1984 in Kentucky for talks.  Blackmore called Jon Lord personally to ask him over.
    • The band members had mostly been in touch for the previous 9 years but the five of them had not been together since 1973.
    • In DPAS Issue 29 there was talk of a Swedish newspaper ran a story in 1983 that there was a Deep Purple reunion in the works with dates as the summer of 1984 pending Jon Lord’s agreement.  This seemed to be mostly dismissed as rumor but it turns out it may have been the case.
    • Gillan said that Blackmore and Payne were looking to get Blackmore 50% of the writing credits for the reunion and it was up to the rest of the band how the remaining 50% was split.
    • Gillan, not surprisingly, didn’t go for this and they agreed on a three way split between Blackmore, Glover, and Gillan.
    • Gillan admits to being foggy on the financial details and says he could have asked Ian Paice if he was more interested as he seemed to be very good with the numbers.
    • Bruce Payne represented everyone in the band but Ian who remained represented by Phil Banfield and still does to this day.
    • Gillan and Glover reportedly tried to get the five way split they had in the early days but Blackmore held firm and it remained a three way songwriting split of Gillan, Glover, Blackmore. It would remain that way until Blackmore left in 1993.
    • Tony Edwards and John Coletta were still around, the duo who had managed Deep Purple from 1968 to 1976.  They saw that Bruce Payne was in a position to take over and they were not happy with this turn of events.  There were a lot of legal battles that would be fought.
    • Gillan also owed Virgin Records one more album. 
    • On April 18, 1984, all five members met again at Thames Talent in New York and signed a contract to reform the band.
    • Colin Hart tells of picking them up and booking them separate rooms for the negotiations.  He said he was worried about what they would be like but he knew he’d be able to read the expressions of Ian and Ritchie.  He was worried that they’d be glum and the deal would be off but he said instead they were chatting like old school buddies.
    • The announcement of the reunion was made on April 27, 1984 in the Evening Standard as well as on BBC Radio One on the Tommy Vance programme.  Vance had gotten the scoop from Gillan the previous day.
    • Bruce Payne is said to have told Joe Lynn Turner that Rainbow wasn’t disbanding but merely being put on a hiatus of sorts.  It seems that he was likely hedging his bets, not sure of the longevity of the Deep Purple reunion.
    • Rainbow played one last gig at the Budokan in Tokyo with the band performing “Difficult to Cure” with an orchestra with the orchestrations written by David Rosenthal.
    • According to the DPAS magazine Tommy Vance teased it by saying he had news that a very big band from the 70s was about to reform.  He said, “I’m going to play four records which featured the members of this band before the group was formed.”  The first single was a Ritchie solo single and it became very clear what was happening.
    • Colin Hart was given instruction to find them a place in the Northeastern US to record.  He booked them a place in Massachusetts called Bass Lodge.  It was an ideal location but it was so isolated that they eventually decided the band would have nothing to do with their leisure time so they found a new location in Vermont which Hart was familiar with as Rainbow had rehearsed there previously.
    • Gillan said in his book that once they started playing together the magic was back and he couldn’t keep the smile off his face.
    • Gillan describes the band getting together, coming in one by one and him just sitting there with a smile on his face thinking that these were the best players he’d ever worked with.
    •  
    • The album was recorded at “Horizons” in Stowe, Vermont with Le Mobile Studio.
    • Le Mobile was unfortunately drew too much power so they had to have an electrician wire it directly to the electrical pole with extra breakers so they didn’t start a fire.
    •  
    • John Lord said in an interview with Tommy Vance that he arrived in Vermont with “bits and pieces” of ideas that he’d had in the back of his mind but that Ritchie arrived “bursting at the seams” with ideas and songs so Lord said he basically just threw all his stuff away.
    • Jon Lord also says “If it didn’t have Ritchie in it, it isn’t really Deep Purple.”
    •  
    • Gillan and Blackmore both said in interviews that they felt an enormous relief in not having to be the overall band leader, manager, etc.  They both seemed to really like the idea that they could settle back and be a lead guitarist or a lead singer with all the other stuff being handled by other people.
    • Gillan cites his experience in Black Sabbath as getting a taste of that and really enjoying it.
    •  

    Deep Purple Reunion Press Conference announcement 1984 – October, 1984

    Deep Purple 1984 Reunion announcement on USA TV.

    Personnel

    Technical:

    • Producer – Deep Purple, Roger Glover
      • Glover said from the beginning in the meetings that he didn’t want to be the producer.  He said he wanted this to be a representation of what the band was.  It turned out to go back to the old way with the band doing it.  After about a week Ritchie had been asking Roger for help and against his wishes he fell into the producer role. He said he didn’t want to be a scape goat either if things didn’t go quite right.
    • Engineer [Assistant] – Bernd Reiger
      • Only credit.
    • Engineer [Assistant] – Cliff Bonnell
      • Worked with Peter Frampton, Rufus & Chaka Khan on Stompin’ at the Savoy, Kansas.
    • Engineer [Assistant] – Drafi Deutscher
      • Worked with a lot of German acts going back to the 1960s and was a songwriter in his own right.
    • Engineer [Assistant] – Ronald David
      • Worked with a number of artists including Roy Orbison and Rod Stewart.
    • Engineer [Creatively] – Nick Blagona
      • Long time engineer with Deep Purple, Gillan, Glover.
      • Also worked with Crack the Sky.
    • Producer – Deep Purple, Roger Glover
      •  
    • Management – Bruce Payne
      • Long time manager or Rainbow, Cozy Powell
    • Mastered By – Greg Calbi
      •  
    Visit my website https://vinyl-records.nl for complete album information and thousands of album cover photos

    Album Art & Booklet Review

    • Ritchie Blackmore originally suggested that they title the album “At Last, the 1974 Album.”  Like most things with Ritchie it’s not clear how much of this was serious and how much was a joke.
    • A lot of fans were looking for the follow up to “Who Do We Think We Are” but Jon Lord wanted the album to sound like 1984 not 1974.
    • Art Direction – Bill Levy
      • Album covers for John Coltrane, Jesus Christ Superstar, Zzebra, and Cybil Shepard.
    • Design [Album] – George Corsillo
      • Did covers for Elvis, Stevie Wonder, the Grease Soundtrack, The Commodores, Bob Dylan
    • Design, Concept By [Logo] – Craig Sprovach
      • Only credit on Discogs.
    • Illustration [Logo] – Glenn Dean
      • Only other credit is The Allman Brothers – Brothers of the Road
    • Photography By – George Bodnar
      • Worked with Motorhead, UFO, Whitesnake.
    • Photography By – Mick Gregory
      • Worked with Gillan and Nightwing.
    Visit my website https://vinyl-records.nl for complete album information and thousands of album cover photos

    Thanks to Our Core Level Patrons:

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      • Fielding Fowler
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      • Duncan Leask (£2.50) — NEW PATRON ALERT!!
      • Stuart McCord (£2.50) — NEW PATRON ALERT!!
    Visit my website https://vinyl-records.nl for complete album information and thousands of album cover photos

    Album Tracks:

    Side One:

    1. Knocking at Your Back Door (Gillan, Blackmore, Glover)
    2. Under the Gun (Gillan, Blackmore, Glover)
      • When asked by Tommy Vance about what his favorite solo is that he ever recorded Ritchie said he couldn’t really say but added: “I’m quite pleased with the solo work I did on this new song, ‘Under the Gun.’ That wasn’t bad.”
    3. Nobody’s Home (Gillan, Paice, Lord, Blackmore, Glover)
    4. Mean Streak (Gillan, Blackmore, Glover)
    Visit my website https://vinyl-records.nl for complete album information and thousands of album cover photos

    Thanks To Our Foundation Level Patrons:

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    Thanks To Our Foundation Level Patrons:

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    For Further Information:

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    Posted on

    Episode #99 – Song Ratings Revisited

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      • FIVE STARS!
      • Electric_Mayhem!, 31/10/2020
      • One Of Rocks Best
      • DP as a band & their contribution is criminally underrated – this is a great podcast that shines light on the band, it’s members & their musical family tree. Great listen!
    • Thank you to all the listeners that we don’t hear from!

    The songs!

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    Posted on

    Episode #98 – Rainbow – Straight Between The Eyes

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      • Good stuff, fun to listen!
      • The most unlikely duo possible getting along too well and making really good things together. One of them is so quiet, an old soul (in fact as young as the most talking one) but full of catchy phrases and shows interesting knowledge of Deep Purple. Enjoying a lot, actually. Give a go!
    • Thank you to all the listeners that we don’t hear from!

    Lead up to the Album:

    • Don Airey decided he was going to join Ozzy full time to work on Bark at the Moon.
    • Ritchie said in interviews that Don was “best friends” with Cozy and when he found out Cozy was being replaced he became furious and left the band to tour with Ozzy.
    • Roger Glover quit the band to just do production but was convinced to rejoin on bass by Bruce Payne.
    • Rosenthal joined the band straight out of Music College.  He was asked to contribute with the songwriting but was told he would not get a full writing credit.  Rosenthal had the foresight to get a lawyer to deal with the contract.
    • Rumors are the Bruce Payne wanted Rainbow to attempt to make a go of it without a keyboard player but that Ritchie wasn’t having it.
    • The recording took place at Le Studio in Morin Heights, Canada.  The weather was exceptionally cold and snowy.  It was in a beautiful 10-12 bedroom lake house with the studio at the other side of the lake. The band had two sets of equipment, one at the house for them to write and practice, and another at the studio.
    • Ritchie, of course, played a prank on Rosenthal but moving all the furniture out of his room and putting it in the cold and snow.  The next morning Rosenthal was still freezing because he’d had to sleep in a freezing cold bed that he’d lugged back into the room himself.
    • Joe Lynn Turner said that Blackmore had warned him that moving more into this AOR direction was going to get him a lot of flak from the fans.  Blackmore told Turner that for every one Dio fan they lost they’d pick up two new fans.  Joe Lynn Turner said, “And that was the truck, literally.  For example they never had any women at the concerts.  So everyone loved that including the crew — it was thank God we have girls in teh audience now, we could compete . . .”
    • The first album with JLT where it was more cohesive, everything being done in one studio and together rather than the patchwork that was Difficult to Cure.
    • Ritchie admitted during this time he was more focused on song writing and was even struggling with solos.
    • Ritchie: “Unquestionably, we’ve turned in a more accessible direction on the last few albums.  A few years ago I would have insisted that selling records means nothing.  I realize now that a statement like that is made only by someone who it’s selling many records.”
    • Joe Lynn Turner says: “I’m an incredibly varied singer. I just grew up that way.  . . . I love blues; I love ard rock and heavy metal, love country music s well.  I listen to everything and just soaked it up; jazz and Etta James –I love that shit. I listen to sax players for vocal phrasings, just like guitarists do.”
    • JLT:  “Sometimes people are surprised that I can sing R&B. I mean I grew up in a gospel church, in a black Baptist church.  I’m a black man in a white man’s body –it’s unbelievable.  If I really turn it on and go to the R&B side, it would just be too black.  Glenn Hughes used to do that and do it real well, but he got killed for it.  They used to say he’s too funky, he’s too black.  You know what? He’s too gifted, so fuck you!”

    Personnel

    Additional Credits:

    • François Dompierre – orchestra conductor
    • Raymond Dessaint – orchestra lead

    Album Art & Booklet Review

    • Artwork – Jeff Cummings (2)
    • Artwork [Concept] – Mr. B (16)
      • Only credit on Discogs.  Can only assume this is Ritchie.
    • Ritchie says that the album title was from when he bumped into Jeff Beck at a bar in 1967 after he’d just seen Hendrix.  Jeff Beck told him that Hendrix’s playing hit him “straight between the eyes.”
    Visit my website https://vinyl-records.nl for complete album information and thousands of album cover photos

    Technical:

    Album Tracks:

    Side One:

    1. Death Alley Driver (Blackmore, Turner)
      • Written by Turner about route 109 in New Jersey and how it was so dangerous to drive down.
      • About a “drug run” in south Jersey where people would run massive amounts of cocaine and heroin.
      • In some interviews JLT says it’s about these drug runs, in other he says he was involved in one of the drug runs.  He claims that he was friends with a guy who was a doctor who was analysing the cocaine.  He tells the story of being caught up in this drug run unknowingly.
      • Video shot at a graveyard in Connecticut that was banned by MTV.
    2. Stone Cold (Blackmore, Glover, Turner)
      • Joe Lynn Turner says this was written in the studio.  He said he came up to Roger who was looking really depressed and when he asked Roger what was wrong he said, “She left me stone cold.”  He was going through a difficult divorce at the time.
      • JLT said he heard him say that and said, “Wow, there’s a great song title!”
      • The part at the end with the ad libs about a “Deep freeze” etc. were done in the moment as it was recorded during a blizzard.  JLT describes the mood created with giant icicles hanging in front of the windows as they looked out at the frozen lake.
      • Single released ahead of the album.
      • Reached #40 in the US and #34 in the UK.
      • Another video was made for this song.
    3. Bring On The Night (Dream Chaser) (Blackmore, Glover, Turner)
      • Joe Lynn Turner says that he and Roger both set to write lyrics for this one and both had very different lyrics.  They decided to combine the two into one song hence the parenthetical title.
      • Ritchie is on record as being a huge Abba fan.  He would say that he was writing Abba-style songs disguised as hard rock.
    4. Tite Squeeze (Blackmore, Glover, Turner)
      • A favorite of Roger Glover’s.
      • Turner says it wasn’t about any particular woman that he could remember.
    5. Tearin’ Out My Heart (Blackmore, Glover, Turner)
      • This was about a Canadian girl that Joe was in love with.
      • Joe says the girl was with him while he was writing it.

    Side Two:

    1. Power (Blackmore, Glover, Turner)
      • JLT wanted this to be a huge arena rock anthem.
      • JLT claims that they were criticized because this song was too commercial.
      • JLT says this was an autobiographical song which came from him realizing how much personal power he had.
    2. MISS Mistreated (Blackmore, Turner, Rosenthal)
      • Ritchie was talking about some girl he was interested in and Joe said, “She sounds like Miss Mistreated.”
      • Revolves around the question of in a breakup who really hurt who?
      • JLT says Ritchie told him to write it when he revealed the title and said he wanted to “shove it up Purple’s ass.”  He then said, “Let them suck on that for a while.”
    3. Rock Fever (Blackmore, Turner)
      • Turner says again he was aiming for an anthem.
      • Ritchie: “We’ve got to be more mainstream, Ritchie.  We can’t just keep writing about dragons.”
    4. Eyes Of Fire (Blackmore, Turner, Rondinelli)
      • Ritchie had wanted to do a track with an orchestra on it and tasked Rosenthal to write the orchestration.
      • Turner says he went to the bar one night and caught a glimpse of girl int he mirror behind the bar.  “… her eyes were just incredible–she had that bewitching siren look. This is absolutely true. It sounds kind of sappy, but it’s really not;it’s what dreams are made of.”
      • “Her name was Erica Varga; I’ll never forget this girl. She was just stunning, platinum blond hair and these incredible green eyes that would turn colours, almost like red to green to brown. It was very strange; I’ve never seen a person like this before.”
      • JLT goes on to say that this is one of his wife’s favorite songs.

    Reception and Review

    • In retrospect Blackmore says he remembers these albums as “fuzzy memories.”  He says his main criticism is that they were so focused on making them perfect with their production that they lost a little of the more improvisational quality they’d had in previous albums.
    • Roger Glover: “ This is an album that should appeal to everyone. What we’ve done on this album is strike a balance between the accessibility of the last few albums and the progressivism of the earlier ones.”
    • The tour included the support acts: Iron Maiden, UFO, Riot, Scorpions, Krokus, 38 Special, Saxon, and Girlschool.

    For Further Information:

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    Lurid

    Nasty

    Revolting

    Macabre

    Sickly

    Petrifying

    Traumatic

    Fearsome

    Pantasmal