From the Headoffice |
Hello everybody, The new Rainbow album will be released soon, the title is "Difficult To Cure" and we're very curious. This time not a double but a normal single issue. Gerrit, Wim, Hans & Hank. GRAHAM IS GONE! Quite unexpected we got late November the announcement from Copenhagen that Graham Bonnet is fired!!! From a reliable source we heard Graham was not be able to sing the songs of the new "Difficult To Cure" album to Blackmore's demands. Right away the 28 years old American JOE LYNN TURNER is recruited. Rainbow is his first real professional group. He's for some time a good friend of Ritchie. He from Long Island (New York), where Mr. RB also lives. Bonnet, who left for Los Angeles straight away, seems to prepare himself to release a solo-album. Joe Lynn Turner will do all the vocals on the new Rainbow-album. MORE SHORT NEWS * David Coverdale tried to get into contact with Ritchie, most likely to encourage a possible Deep Purple reunion. Ritchie kept the door shut tho. * Whitesnake did after an extended tour as a support for Jethro Tull an European tour as support for AC/DC but had to stop after the concert in Saarbrucken after Coverdale had a small accident. * Black Sabbath has released in England a 12 inch single with "Die Young" in a studio version with on the b-side a brilliant live-version of "Heaven and Hell", which takes over 13 minutes with a superb improvisation by Ronnie Dio. Unfortunately this won't be released overhere. * Ritchie is a guestmusician with Jack Green on his solo-LP "Humanesque" (RCA AFL 1-3639 American cataloguenumber). Ritchie Blackmore plays on "I Call No Answer". MR RITCHIE B I LISTEN TO ROCK AGAIN With a constant barrage of rumours flying around after the departure of Cozy Powell - an event that the media were convinced signalled the final trumpet for Rainbow - it was pleasing to know that the band are still in full flight. And since enlisting the powerful arms of Long Island unknown Bobby Rondinelli in only the last couple of months they are already working fast and furiously on their next studio album. I of course, had to check the situation out. And apart from scanning the story so far, there were obviously a few more questions to ask, what with the never ending saga of a Deep Purple reunion constantly being threatened in the music rags, a story was on the cards. So... The location for the new album is Copenhagen's Sweet Silence studios, discovered when the group decided to record a completely new track as a B-side for 'All Night Long', mid way through a tour of Denmark. The result was a haunting instrumental titled 'Weiss Him' (the name of Blackmore's Long Island abode, a monicker which translated from German means white house). It's the first place that Ritchie found he could get a good guitar sound within a matter of hours, rather than days. Apart from having every facility you could want from a studio, Sweet Silence also possesses every episode of 'Fealty Towers', making for excellent entertainment and proving irrefutably that the Danes have a good sense of sarcasm (and also some of the strongest bloody beer I've tasted). On reaching the studios we were greeted by the band (minus Graham Bonnet, who is back home in LA) and were informed that album's progress was ticking over nicely but a bit slower than expected. Graham went back as the group were still finishing off the backing tracks and still had to complete two more songs to make up the required eight tracks. They already have two possible singles, one a Russ Ballard tune entitled 'I Surrender' and the other written by a pal of Ritchie's called 'Magic'. The album isn't out until February but I can safely say that listening to some rough cuts this is going to be one of the heaviest Rainbow LP's yet, including a rip-snorting instrumental and a surprise ending - say no more! At the production helm we again have the more than capable knob twiddling pinkies of Roger Glover who will also be providing the bulk of lyrics. Blackmore was in a particularly good mood when we talked, and proving once again that he's not the heartless bastard everyone makes out he was pleased to announce the formation of a Rainbow fan club that he himself has personally endorsed and is run with the help of close friend Ian Broad. It's only recently that I've realised that Blackmore has such a clear, definite concept of Rainbow, in as much as exercising his ideas of how a group should be run to retain its freshness/vigour and prevent it from becoming like the countless other units that have become musical equivalents of clapped out old whores of the industry, victims of contractual commitments. From the outside looking in, with his constant chopping and changing, Ritchie comes over like some sort of musical Sweeney Todd wielding a chopping axe that senselessly severs the destiny of his fellow players at a regular rate almost as if the man gets some perverse pleasure from the process. This couldn't be further from the truth. Blackmore's general outlook towards Rainbow couldn't be more positive/logical: he definitely has a method to his madness and a total disregard of the cogs that make this business turn in a robotic, intentionally uncreative way. He possesses the attitude of the true musician which accounts for his extreme nature and makes Rainbow so damn good. We conducted our interview in the lobby of the hotel in the wee hours of the morning. It was accompanied by a backdrop of Blackmore's favourite toons blasting out of his portable cassette rig... This interview by Pete Makowski was published in Sounds October 1980.
RECORD TALK WHITESNAKE
After the release of "Ready an' Willing" the band toured England extensively. This meant the definite breakthrough. Now there a double-live-album of Whitesnake. "Live in the heart..." exists of two parts. Side 1 and 2 were recorded live this year in Hammersmith Odeon in London. Side 3 and 4 is the only released in Japan "Live at Hammersmith" recorded on 23 November 1978. This import album is still for sale in many record stores for a lot of money. Anyone who has bought this album will be disappointed. Now they have to buy an expensive double album. Why EMI? Anyone who didn't buy the Japanese import album, is lucky now. LIVE IN THE HEART OF THE CITY United Artists SNAKE I LIVE AT HAMMERSMITH Polydor MPF 1288 (Japan) On side 3 & 4 we hear Whitesnake with Dave Dowle on drums. We get the opener "Come on" (sounds too much like Purple). And then we get right away "Might just take your life", it's obvious Coverdale didn't let go of his Purple past at that moment. We also get "Lie down" (a bit like "Woman from Tokyo"), "Ain't no love in the heart of the city" and "Trouble". To end this record a ten minutes version of "Mistreated" without the striking Blackmore intro-riff. Without a real start we get a slow version like we know from "Made in Europe". The fierceness like we heard on "On Stage" is missing. The brilliant midpart of Ritchie is not present but we get a nice solo by Bernie Marsden. All and all it's not a great record. Then the first two sides. In the year 1980 Whitesnake sounds a lot mature. Ian Paice is now the drummer. Whitesnake has now a lot more song but again we start with "Come on". Twice the same song in nearly the same performance! But then we get better material like "Sweet Talker", "Walking in the shadow of the blues" and the eleven minutes long "Lovehunter". Micky Moody does an excellent slide solo. More recent songs like "Fool for your loving", "Ain't gonna cry no more" and "Ready an' willing" sound not much different than on their studio album. "Take me with you" is a good song to end the show. Whitesnake is a group that makes easy recognizable, singalong music. Sometimes it reminds me of Bad Company and The Free. Conclusion: a good first LP and a lot lesser quality on the 1978 LP. Gerrit BERNIE MARSDEN
The first solo-album of Whitesnake-guitarplayer Bernie Marsden is only released Japan. It came out some time ago but because there was no room for a review before we'll do it now.AND ABOUT TIME TOO Trash 2001 (Japanese release) "And about time too" must have been record around the time Cozy Powell record his "Over the top" album, the musicians are nearly the same. We hear Don Airey (keyboards), Jack Bruce (bass), Ian Paice (drums), Simon Philips (drums), Neil Murray (bass), Cozy Powell (drums), Jon Lord (keyboards) and a few others who do the backgroundvocals. The songs with vocals are written by Bernie en Bobby Dazzler, that last one is no one else than David Coverdale. David do not sing on this record tho. We hear that Bernie is influenced heavily by the Beatles. Especially in songs like "You're the one" and "Love made a fool of me". "Still the same" is a great song, like a dream. The instrumentals "Song for Fran" and "Brief Encounter" show another side of Bernie. Like Jeff Beck is standing in the doorway during the sessions. Great!! "Are you ready" is a song that would fit on a Whitesnake-album; boogie. "Here we go again" is a weak song but the highlight of the album is the next song, the instrumental "Head the ball", written by Bernie and Don Airey. Excellent guitar- and synthesizer-licks. It's a bit in the jazz-rock-style we also heard on Cozy's album. "Sad Clown" is the last, good, song of this album. Conclusion: "And about time too" is a fresh diverse album with pop to jazzrock music. Gerrit DEEP PURPLE
Since Purple has split up, we get more albums a year then when the band was still together. After a couple of compilation albums we now get finally a real interesting album (especially for people who do not have the bootleg albums). "In Concert" has 1 hour and 50 minutes of recordings of the (still existing) BBC radio show. On both record we hear the second line-up: Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord en Paice.IN CONCERT Harvest 1A 138-64156/7 EMI Holland The first LP has recordings from 1970, the second from 1972. It's very interesting to hear how the group developed itself in those two years. In 1970 there was a lot more room for improvisations, especially by Ritchie and Jon. In 1972 there was more structure in the songs, with the exception of "Space Truckin'" there's hardly room for long improvisations. Let's start with the 1970 recordings. We get on side one first "Speed king", this is the first time it's in a live version on an album. It sounds quite close to the "In Rock" version. "Wring that neck" was in those days a live audience favorite. This version sounds much better than we got on "Powerhouse". The improvisations are brilliant. In "Child in time" we hear Ian Gillan making a few mistakes, but Ritchie don't make any mistakes in his solo. "Mandrake Root" appears for the first time in a live-version official on a record, not sung by Rod Evans but by Ian Gillan. The singing part is short and we get another long improvisation by both Jon and Ritchie. These recordings from 1970 are real wants for Blackmore-Lord-freaks. Ian Paice and Roger Glover sound very tight while Ian Gillan's part in 1970 was very tiny. The recordings from 1972 are done about 2 months for the tour where "Made In Japan" was recorded. When I listened this the first time I couldn't discover hardly any differences. But after giving it a couple of more listenings I found it becoming more interesting. There was also in 1972 room for some improvisations. "Highway Star", "Strange Kind Of Woman", "Lazy" and "Space Truckin'" will sound familiar to everyone, still we hear some different solos in these songs. New are the live-versions of "Never Before" (then just out on single and not done too well) and the encore the Little Richard-success "Lucille", which is still be done by Gillan. Ritchie needs here a few minutes to tune his guitar after his tricks during "Space Truckin'". The cover is nice. There's a lot of original photo material from popmags that was collected by many people (including Marc Brans from the Belgian Deep Purple Fanclub). Conclusion: "In Concert" is a good record with unique recordings of Purple in their best days. The sound is not overall that good (the 1970-recordings sounds like they're mono), but the historical value is good enough to buy this album for every Blackmore/Lord/Gi11an/Glover/Paice-fans. 12 INCH M.S.G. SINGLE
Only released in England of the Michael Schenker Group (that is expected in March '81 to play live in Holland). The a-side is a track from their album, "Cry For The Nations", while we find on the b-side two live-songs, with Cozy Powell in his new band: "Armed and Ready" and "Into the Arena".Cozy Powell plays like we used to know him, maybe a lit bit less heavy like in Rainbow but it still is very powerfull. The voice of Gary Barden is very striking. He is a big talent. In "Into the Arena" it's Schenker who shows how good he can play the guitar. The live versions stay close to the studio ones, but are interesting enough to give a listen. Gerrit 5 FANS INTERVIEW RITCHIE "I tend not to do many interviews, as you know," Ritchie Blackmore said. "But one thing I'd really like to do is one with some fans. I think that would be very interesting ..." That was at the Holiday Inn in Baltimore. But when Rainbow returned to Britain for a tour earlier this year, I asked Blackmore if he was still interested. "Sure," he said. "If you can get some fans together, I'll go for it."
OLD-FANCLUB LEADERS IN CONVERSATION WITH DON AIREY After the Rainbow-concert in Rotterdam earlier this year the former fanclub leaders Bart Hekkelman ('71-'75) and René Veldhoen ('75-'79) had an interview in the Hilton Hotel with Don Airey. It's quite a while since it took place but there was no room in the last issues. So we publish it now after all. Can you tell me more about Cozy's solo album? DA: "The solo album of Cozy, yes I play on it, is a bit jazzy. there were not many overdubs used because we wanted to create a live feeling. We got together with a couple of musicians to play. It's basically a live album." Is that not different to Rainbow. This is what you really wanted I guess? D.A: "That's a difficult question. Cozy's LP was a relief. "Down to earth" was much more difficult because we didn't have a singer and bassplayer. On a certain moment we had someone but he wasn't good enough." Is there enough space for you in Rainbow? DA: "No, not yet, but my turn will come. Right away after we recorded the album we went on the road. There was no that much time to get a real good show together. Tonight wasn't the best gig we did. Brussels was better, in fact very good. The result depends for a large part on the audience. Rainbow is a 'demanding' band. The sound was lousy tonight, also on stage, it was just the hall." Are you not too good for Rainbow? I mean, you were in Colosseum. DA: "In fact I really wanted to be in this band because I like heavy music. When I was young, I was a huge Purple-fan. I was busy with classical music but Purple made me change my mind. Colosseum II was great but unfortunately we didn't do well. We played a lot though. Rainbow is totally different. This is one huge event. The next album will be something very special. People will be very surprised. You can expect a lot of fireworks." You already were with Cozy in Hammer? DA: "Hammer was a good popband. We had a few mini-hits. Bernie Marsden was also in the band. It's funny actually. In Whitesnake and Rainbow are members of Hammer." You don't write a lot of songs, I suppose? DA: "I'm still writing, but when I joined the group the songs for the album were already finished. I might do a solo-album when the time is right. I still have a solo~deal in England." Who is your favorite bassplayer? DA: "Jaco Pastorius is the best. There are only a few people who play as solid as Roger but Jaco is my real favorite musician. Ritchie is very concentrated, also in other things. But I'm mainly interested in playing music myself." Rainbow has changed quite a bit, especially the lyrics. In the old days they had a mystical shade. DA: "That's obvious. Ronnie then wrote them, nowadays Roger writes them." Rainbow is going very commercial with songs like "Since you been gone." DA: "I agree, but that will change soon. Who put together the songs for the liveshow? DA: "We all work on that. The show is every night different. Like last night in Brussels we did "Long live rock'n'roll" in a bluesversion as second encore. There's a lot happening we don't expect." How about Graham? DA: "Graham has a tough job. He sings very loud, he can't control himself. We often tell him: Graham, take it easy. We hardly can stop him. Graham is the most in-tune-singer I know. He's just incredible." When was your first show with the group? DA: "That was in the States. We did a four-month-tour. Sometimes it wasn't easy, especially the East Coast. We did a tour with Blue Oyster Cult as double-top-of-the-bill. We did the same set as we do overhere in Europe. There was no time to rehearse a new show. We were in the States till 18 December. We had some time off during Christmas and since January we're on the road in Europe. So we're doing now an American show. Rainbow has changed a lot. Ritchie wanted that. Ronnie was all of a sudden gone. On a way rainbow is a very democratic band, but you need a leader. Cozy thinks it's very easy to play in Rainbow." How did your predecessor, David Stone, left the band? DA: "He have had enough of it." What is you opinion on Deep Purple? DA: "I think Purple died when Roger left. Glenn Hughes was alright, but his personality didn't fit in the band. Just like David and Tommy. They got a lot of money and couldn't handle it. They were far too young then. It's very sad what happened to Glenn and Tommy, the drugs and everything. "Come taste the band" was a nice album. But you know, when I saw them play Wembley, one of their last shows, it was terrible. I couldn't believe it was Purple. Bolin was pretty bad. He didn't knew what he was doing. If you're not used to the life on the road, then it's gonna be difficult. Graham haven't been on stage for years. But he's doing surprisingly well." You also playing on the solo album of Bernie Marsden? DA: Bernie did do a nice solo-LP. About the same people are on it as on Cozy Powell's "Over the top". By the way we did a half an hour TV live show with Bernie, Cozy, Max Middleton and Jack Bruce." How about Jon Lord these days? DA: "I don't know why Jon is in Whitesnake. Why didn't he do more things like his "Sarabande" LP. That was brilliant." This is the end of our meeting with Don, who had a bad cold at the time but was very friendly to us. Bart and René Just a short note in between. We traced David Stone. He's now in the group BB Gabor. You also can hear him on Max Webster's "Universal Juveniles" (Phonogram) RONNIE DIO "I'M HAPPIER THAN EVER BEFORE" "Hey look, this is what someone just gave me." A tired, covered in sweat but still energetic Ronnie James Dio beckon me to watch the object. It's sort of a badge, most likely handmade, but designed with care by a fanatic fan. The background is white, on the foreground there's a cross upside down. On the left side are the numbers 666 (symbolize THE BEAST), on top is the name of the group and on the right stands... 714 714. "It represents the downers," Ronnie explain, "it's a number that ever was written on a Quaalude, a sort of Mandrax. You don't see them much anymore. There was a time that Black Sabbath was followed by downers and Black Magic-freaks, but things have changed. A lot of people still have this image of Sabbath in their minds." Yes, it true, folks. The Mighty Sabs posed once as "The Princes of Downer Rock" and in the States (just like The Who of which a lot people still think they only made "Tommy") it is not easy to change your image. Anyway the popularity of Sabbath is after the change in vocalists not decreased, on the contrary. It looks like Dio is fully accepted. Black Sabbath is an institution in the world of Heavy Metal. The fans know the group will always play the music they are expected to, because that's what they do best. Together with Purple and Zeppelin in their early years Black Sabbath remain to be the inventors of the Heavy Metal Riff. THE RIFF - that thunders merciless, without subtlety. That's why the Sabs needed a powerfull voice like the one Ronnie has. I always liked Ozzy Osbourne (believe me, he was for 70% the reason I went to see this band years ago) but Dio is without doubt the first real SINGER of the band. "When I met Tony Iommi for the first time and we started to write music, it was gorgeous. It reminded me at the beginning with Ritchie Blackmore. Tony, just like all other leadguitarplayers, has got an huge ego, but he's a normal guy. I got the feeling that we'll stay together for a long time. I think the group is happier than ever before. I know I am." I went to the States to watch the band with their tour together with Blue Oyster Cult (baptized as the "Black and Blue Tour"). "Heaven and Hell" is their most successful album since a long time. If you think about it, you can say Ronnie saved the band from a definite decline. After many failed attempts to continue with Ozzy and awful managements-deals the group was ready for their final goodbye. But two lost and disillusioned souls, those of Ronnie and Tony, met each other on the right moment. Dio ended up in a positions that he had to choose between leading a wellknown band (to get a step up the ladder) or starting his own solo-career, with all the risks. Since the release of "Heaven and Hell" the group is busy doing a worldtour. During the first part of the American tour drummer Bill Ward left the band because of personal problems. Ronnie: "Bill already left the band this year a few times. We felt sympathy for him, because he lost both his parents in a short while, but we could get him back every time. But in the end it became too much, for him but also for us. He couldn't handle the life on the road any longer, his dipsomania went out of control. We couldn't count on him for the full 100%. That's why we decide to separate our ways. Everyone in the band still loves Bill. We wish him the very best. I'll tell you something else: if Zeppelin ever decides to continue with a new drummer, then Bill is the man for the job." After Bill's departure Vinnie Appice (the legendary Carmine Appice's younger brother) arrived. After two days of rehearsals Black Sabbath was on the road again. Arrived at the Madison Square Gardens in New York I'm just in time to enjoy the last few impressing songs of Blue Oyster Cult. later I heard, that this band was close to it's end. The place was sold-out. Sabbath opened with "War Pigs", the beginning of an evening with moments of magic and excellent communication between group and audience. I don't know if it was a good or bad night for the band, but the audience made me speechless. The enthusiasm knocked me down. The group played a strong variation of both old and new songs. Vinnie proved himself to be a good replacement for Bill. He's got a huge sound in his drums. Ronnie leads the band in a professional way. He and Iommi are the frontmen on stage (just like in Rainbow, but not that good). Sabbath don't go all the way show concerning, still it depends how you react on a burning cross. Me? Well, this is showbusiness, or not? Oldies like "Iron man" still sounds very well. The new stuff was received if they were classics. A point at issue can be the long solos. They're boring and aimless. I don't think nobody in this group is that interesting they can entertain the audience for more than a few minutes on their own. But that's my personal taste. I think they should have done a few extra songs than a guitarsolo that lasts till eternity in my eyes. After the set the group had to return to do a couple of encores, including "Paranoid". On that moment I missed Ozzy - one way or the other he's irreplaceable. But that's also why Ronnie fits so well in the group, he's totally different and not a copy of Ozzy. I asked Ronnie how it felt to have such a return as a real hero in the place where he was born. "To tell you the truth, I've always dreamt to play the Gardens since I was a kid. I was more nervous than in England. I think people are more involved in the show in England. They just make more out of it. They also are more critically and that's why I have respect for them. I love to play overthere." The Sabs will do one more studio album and then they'll release a live album. At that time they'll have enough material to do a good selection of old and new songs. No doubt it'll exceed the horrible NEMS-live miscarriage. Just naming "LIVE AT LAST" is enough to reminds the band of this disgusting product. Ronnie: "The fact is this was the only live material that is available. So that's why the fans buy it. But the album is poor and cheap. With their new single "Die Young" (live version) and concerts in Europe early next year you can't miss the progression. Pete Makowski, Sounds FANCLAN POLL
Here it is! The results of our own poll over 1980. |
GROUP: 1. RAINBOW 2. Iron Maiden 3. DEEP PURPLE 4. Ted Nugent 5. Saxon 6. BLACK SABBATH 7. Van Halen 8. Doors 9. Led Zeppelin 10. Motorhead WHAT'S HAPPENED TO WHITESNAKE & GILLAN? LIVE GROUP: 1. RAINBOW 2. Iron Maiden 3. Scorpions 4. Judas Priest 5. Ted Nugent 6. Rory Gallagher 7. DEEP PURPLE (in 1980?) 8. BLACK SABBATH 9. Kansas 10. Rush WHAT'S HAPPENED TO WHITESNAKE & GILLAN? SINGER: 1. RONNIE JAMES DIO 2. GRAHAM BONNET 3. Ian Gillan 4. Klaus Meine 5. Rob Halford WHAT'S HAPPENED TO DAVID COVERDALE? FEMALE SINGER: 1. KATE BUSH 2. Pat Benatar 3. Girlschool 4. Inga Rumpf 5. Ellen Foley SINGLE: 1. ALL NIGHT LONG - RAINBOW 2. Neon Knights - Black Sabbath 3. WEISS HEIM - RAINBOW 4. Killer on the loose - Thin Lizzy 5. Peter Gunn - E.L.P ALBUM: 1. HEAVEN AND HELL - BLACK SABBATH 2. Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden 3. Stage Struck - Rory Gallagher 4. MONSTERS OF ROCK - Various 5. Wheels of steel - Saxon 8. Live in the heart of the city - Whitesnake WHERE IS "GLORY ROAD" OF GILLAN? |
COVER: 1. HEAVEN AND HELL - BLACK SABBATH 2. Blizzard of Ozz - Ozzy Osbourne 3. China Town - Thin Lizzy 4. Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden 5. Deepest Purple - Deep Purple PRODUCER: 1. MARTIN BIRCH 2. ROGER GLOVER 3. Bill Mallona 4. Kansas 5. Tom Allan GUITARPLAYER: 1. RITCHIE BLACKMORE 2. Rory Gallagher 3. Michael Schenker 4. Ted Nugent WHERE ARE MOODY, MARSDEN & TORME? BASSPLAYER: 1. ROGER GLOVER 2. Steve Harris 3. Jimmy Bain 4. Geezer Butler 5. Jack Bruce HOW ABOUT NEIL MURRAY & JOHN MCCOY? DRUMMER: 1. COZY POWELL 2. Ian Paice 3. John Bonham NOT SEEN: Mick Underwood KEYBOARDPLAYER: 1. JON LORD 2. DON AIREY 3. TONY CAREY 4. Vangelis 5. Colin Towns 7. DAVID STONE SONG: 1. STARGAZER - RAINBOW ("Monsters of Rock") 2. Heaven and hell - Black Sabbath 3. 747 Strangers in the night - Saxon |
NEW ALBUM RAINBOW DIFFICULT TO CURE STOP PRESS STOP PRESS STOP PRESS STOP PRESS
STOP PRESS STOP PRESS STOP PRESS Just before we got this issue printed we got the titles of the new Rainbow LP. This record will be released in February by Polydor. TITLE: DIFFICULT TO CURE SIDE 1: 1. Cannot Happen Here 2. Midtown Tunnel Vision 3. Freedom Fighter 4. Beethoven's Ninth SIDE 2: 1. Spotlight Kid 2. I Surrender (the new single) 3. Magic 4. No Release © Rainbow Fanclan 1979-1984
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