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Gillan talks to QPRnet
Some time in late May / early June 2011 Ian Gillan spoke to the Queen’s Park Rangers fan club, as he is an avid supporter of QPR himself for many years. he shared bits of anecdotage about his decision to say ‘yes’ to Purple reunion in 1984 (and how QPR was involved), and we also learn which team Don Airey is supporting.
Listen to the conversation on QPRnet (flash required).
Thanks to Yvonne Osthausen for the info.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
As much as I love listening to the boyz interviews, I have yet to attend a show that has an audience of an age group that averages 18 years as Big Ian constantly makes reference to. At least not here in the States. I’ve attended shows in 7 states and I’d have to say that the average age is more like 40 plus and rarely sold out either. That is a good reason why they play those other countries so much and avoid the US. Well Mr. Universe, you succeeded in your ‘underground’ level of being here in the US to the point that nobody under the age of 40 has a clue of DP. Too bad you guys didn’t try a little better marketing in the past as with ‘?!’. Oh well, at least this 56 year old is hangin’ in there with ya and looking forward to the new album and tour.
CheerZ?!
March 21st, 2013 at 14:08Learn which team Don Airey supports?! It’s well documented he’s a Sunderland fan (call yourself a fan site! ;-)) – he’s usually at their games when not on the road.
March 21st, 2013 at 16:32Perhaps I should listen, but I find it hard to believe he was asked to rejoin Purple in 1984, seems to me it was all his idea in the first place. It was actually, according to what he said in those days, that he called Jon and asked him this: “what do you think of getting Purple back together?” Jon replied and I quote: “Ritchie will never do it” and Ian replied: “I’ve already talked to Ritchie and he says he’s willing to do it now.”
March 21st, 2013 at 19:54No matter what I personally think of Gillans (sometimes) “motormouth”, I will say this. Back in the 80s I read an interview with Glover where he said that Rainbow was flying back from a tour in Japan(?), and Ritchie and Glover were talking. Blackmore said something like “people do seem to like Ians voice”, and Glover picked himself up from surprise. Blackmore considered that Rainbow had reached their potential, and he wanted Purple back together. And he wanted MKII back together! The first time around it didn’t work because of Gillans drinking habits and sense of humor at the time, but they managed to make it work the second time around. The ’84-ish reunion time was beyound amazing, and it’s sad that it ended the way it did :-/ Anyway, Purple are still around, they’re releasing a new record…. Who would’ve thought way back when??? Shoot, Gillan and Glover are turning 68 this year!!! I’m so happy for them since they’re doing what they love, and they don’t have to do it for money anymore. I do believe them when they say that they do it because they love music!! OK, a lot of money is involved, but I know “my guys”! They are the real deal!!!
March 21st, 2013 at 23:38@Tracy
March 22nd, 2013 at 01:00You re right about that age thing Tracy,I have been in a couple of shows a couple of years ago and I noticed I was one of the youngest me and my friends,and I’m 41 yo now,so with that being said I don’t know why Gillan in a couple of interviews always stating that.Maybe he is talking about Eastern Europe countries,like Russia and former Soviet Union republics or else,not even Europe I don’t think they have that young crowd anymore. Anyways,to continue about the Man in Black topic,you are right about the fact that Mr Blackmore has his pants and I think he is comfortable with what he is doing now and in complete control of touring and music,so as much as we fans, want see him to pick up that old Banjo of rock,he is not going to do it ! God Bless Him,but I’m not going to download or listen to that Lute or shoeshine music (that’s what Ritchie used to call Hughes/Covredale funk influence back in the old Stormbringer days )! lol .Hopefully,Deep Purple will be touring North America and come to Canada,where I reside now!
Cheers !
I seem to remember Ritchie stating to Jon Lord, that the only way he would do it was if it was the MK2 line-up. Gillan was involved with Sabbath at the time it all started. They contacted him after the fact I believe.
CheerZ?!
March 22nd, 2013 at 01:53@Black Sheep, nice mitigating with the smiley. 😉 You wouldn’t want to be taken seriously on that. lmao!
March 22nd, 2013 at 06:24@Tracy, been to a lot shows in far away places have ya… why on earth would he ever intend the US without saying? In other countries I have noticed kids very young, I’ve even seen some asleep in Canada, Mexico and OZ. lol When Ian looks into the crowds across the pond and beyond, that is what he sees, but I guess where he goes wrong is after the first ten rows where he really can’t tell.(he should not ass u me, I agree, what is it with that?!) But in the US, ha ha, not a chance it’s old fans, grey beards and pony tails, the lot of them. I just returned from a Wishbone Ash show and Andy Powell remarked something about how he notices it too, and even suspected some in this over 21 crowd had fake ID because they did look rather young, step thru the first few rows and that took a major dive into wheelchair land, big time. It was first class entertainment nonetheless. But myself, I like behaved crowds because I’m working and don’t appreciate drunken nonsense around me to the point where I can’t do what I’m there to do, so just about the older the better for me. Let the kids play in their own pen, they’re actually too brittle for jurrasic rock anyway, in more ways than one. All that aside, I do suspect it keeps them feeling charged to notice youth attending shows in whatever abundance it may be.
March 22nd, 2013 at 06:38Re #1
It’s too late to market DP music to youth audiences. THOBL was their last record with any noticeable presence in the U.S. charts. They missed the whole video era. While Maidens had their Eddie, ZZ had beards and hot rods, AC/DC had Angus’ stage antics, DP were just five guys doing solos on stage. Not enough to have the Beavises and Buttheads of the world buy their records. My advice to them, at least to big Ian, would be to quit his delusions and stick to adult audiences.
March 22nd, 2013 at 06:59@Tracy – there’s a big, wide world outside the US of A. Hard to comprehend I know! 😉 Maybe this is to what Ian’s referencing and the reason they won’t be TOO hung up that they’re previous marketing hasn’t been ‘better’.
March 22nd, 2013 at 07:07Ian Paice is a fan of Nottingham Forest! Confirmed by Ian Gillan.
March 22nd, 2013 at 07:37@ 1 Tracy, its slightly different here in the UK, the audience is made up of young and old alike. Averaging 17/18 to 60+ I would say…
Cheers
March 22nd, 2013 at 08:24Hey all, did you not read my mention of the suspicion that the audiences overseas were probably more suitable to be younger and that here in the US it ain’t so? Come on. READ! Geez…
So which is it Wildtrooper @12 ? I don’t understand your words….”Averaging 17/18 to 60+”.
That’s not an average. That’s a range. From 17 to 60 is a range. Average means the middle number. When taking the age of each individual and adding it all together and then dividing that total by the number of people.
CheerZ?!
March 23rd, 2013 at 02:20LRT @8,
Actually, the real number of Purple fans here in the States are the older fat rockers like myself and they are the ones whom wind up in the front due to jumping on board ASAP to get the good seats. The few kids that attend are casual attendee’s that either go because they are with some other people or just curious or just looking for something to do. The good thing is, generally no matter why they go, they are hooked after that. That’s how you spread the word through the generations. Unfortunately too few attend to make any difference and Purple weighs too heavy on those 30 year old or older songs and don’t push their newer material. Not bringing in the younger generations by staying current with proper promotion has built a huge void between who deep Purple Are against what people know of them. Smoke on the Water is all they know, and if you ask 100 18-20 year olds whose song it is, they won’t have clue. Hell, if you hum the riff, they might recognize it but can’t tell you the name of the song or the artist who played it. Much less anything since.
As for Wishbone Ash, they are in the same situation. Great band. Great old songs. Still making albums. Nobody knows about it…..
CheerZ?!
March 23rd, 2013 at 03:09@Black Sheep. I’m so tired of the cheap shots from Europeans who constantly bash the United States. Get over the jealousy trip, already. It’s like the clown who took a shot in another THS post a while back saying we thought the “Monkees were the next Beatles.” I don’t know what American who ever thought such nonsense. No, we don’t think the world revolves around us in the United States. No, most of us are nothing like what you see in the movies. Most of us are living paycheck-to-paycheck. No, we don’t think we’re superior to anyone (contrary to what some of the TV bozos say or the politicians). Yes, anyone over 40 here hates what passes as music nowadays. No, we can’t do anything about it. It’s called corporate greed.
March 23rd, 2013 at 13:339
Then again……
March 23rd, 2013 at 14:19In Waynes World we could clearly see (In the clip where they are singing Bohemian Rhapsody : )at the backbench a guy with a SLAVES AND MASTERS t shirt!!!
@ James Gemmell – Oh dear James, your first mistake is that I’m not European, I’m born and bred in the US, I just happen to be one of the minority of our citizens to have broadened their horizons by leaving these shores. I’m aware that as a nation we, as a majority do in fact think we’re far superior to not just anyone but everyone (your implication that Europeans should or would be on a ‘jealousy trip’ being testament to that! Jealous of what exactly?!) and it embarrasses me! All this whist being, in my opinion, far less culturally advanced, aware and refined.
The initial comment was actually only tongue in cheek anyway as Tracy is one of the few decent posters, whom I like reading, on this site.
March 23rd, 2013 at 23:37@7 It was tongue in cheek! 🙂 I like this site (apart from some of the posters) and think they do a great job! But it’s on his Wikipedia page for god’s sake!! 😉
March 23rd, 2013 at 23:3915
Wasn’t that Ian Gillan who said that? : )
March 24th, 2013 at 00:00@15 you re right man
March 24th, 2013 at 04:16I’m European descent myself too,lived in the States for 12 years until I moved in Canada a couple of years ago,my wife is Canadian,and I feel the same,the bottom line is that there are a-holes everywhere you go,and nice and educated and smart people in every country!It is a big country and diversity is part of it !That doesn’t mean that Ihav to agree and accept with everything that is b
being said but people with some brain in their head can tell the difference btw corporate world and bs and real world and people !
March 24th, 2013 at 04:18Ich feiere in diesem Jahr 50 Jahre Rockmusikfan. 1963 (ich war 9 Jahre alt) hörte ich “Twist & Shout” von den Beatles und von da an war es um mich geschehen. Deep Purple stellen nun einen extrem wichtigen Meilenstein auf diesem langen Weg dar. 1969 hörte ich “April”, das dritte Stück überhaupt vo DP und seitdem bin ich in deren Musik verliebt. Ich hoffe, “April”, das bisher nie live aufgeführt wurde, wird 2018 (Motto: 50 Jahre Deep Purple – 50 Jahre feinste Rockmusik) zusammen mit dem London Symphonie Orchestra unter der Leitung von Paul Mann doch einmal das Licht eines Live-Auftritts erblicken. Ich hoffe, dass die derzeitigen Mark-VIII-Mitglieder bis dahin und darüber hinaus gesund bleiben und ihre Lust an wunderbarer Rockmusik nicht verlieren. Ich habe Jon Lord und Ritchie Blackmore geliebt – platonisch, versteht sich – aber genauso liebe ich Steve Morse (vielleicht der beste zurzeit lebende Gitarrist) und Don Airey.
March 24th, 2013 at 18:09Weiter so
Hans-Jürgen
Uh oh, getting way off the mark… too serious and even worse, too political. But, anybody slamming the fact that the US of A is the best and actually holding the whole world together needs to check their tax rate (if you are paying taxes due to having a job). We are funding and contributing subsidy throughout the world with MY hard earned tax money that I would rather spend somewhere else. Those that receive it hate us. That means they hate ME and my money. That’s fine by me. Send me a fucking refund and we are all happy. I have funded more meals, water, shelter and security throughout the world on my hard earned tax dollar than those who receive it will ever earn on their own. GOD BLESS THIS NATION THAT HAS HELPED SO MANY. Whether they like it or not!
No Tongue and Cheek this time….It’s the Hard Truth. Most people can’t handle the truth. Oddly enough, most of them are spending MY MONEY. You’re Welcome!
CheerZ?!
March 25th, 2013 at 03:2323
I m intrigued by that major whip mayo we discussed.
March 26th, 2013 at 22:40can you sent me some? : )
@Black Sheep. Not one person in the United States uses the word “whilst”. We say “while”. That proves you’re not an American. And “while” I want to stay on the topic of the new Purple album, you continue to take cheap shots, proving it is you – a European – who is exemplifying a touch of “superiority” over this American. Incidentally, we still have snow on the ground in Michigan – just a touch- how about over there? Are you getting the winter from Hades, too, even though it’s technically “spring”? Hope it’s warm by the time the Purple album comes out. Incidentally, my friend, Ian Gillan, got the idea for the question mark/exclamation point in the title from an Email I sent him! Ha!
March 27th, 2013 at 14:28@25 Really Mr Gemmell?! You’re accusing me of lying about my nationality?! I’m an American and obviously say or at least write ‘whilst’. Maybe I’ve picked it up on my travels and my reading – broadening my horizons remember!
Not sure what your delusion that you’ve directly influenced the entire theme of the record and its marketing has to do with the topic at hand. We won’t get into our respective links to the band as I think I may just comfortably trump you, though this is an entirely pointless and childish argument.
March 27th, 2013 at 22:02Priest, I’ll gladly send you a jar. Have you checked for it? It should be right next to the Kraft Mayo on the same shelf. ‘Miracle Whip Dressing’. give me your address and it will be in the mail…..
CheerZ?!
March 28th, 2013 at 03:14Tracy, so many of us throughout the world are subsidising others (found out t’other day that our UK government just paid millions for roads in Portugal!). Anyhoo, you are right in the fact that we are getting far too serious here, so let’s leave out politics (and religion) as surely this should be about music.
March 28th, 2013 at 12:49Ok, drop the politics. Back to music. Here we’re only Purple fans.
March 29th, 2013 at 22:34Svante @29;
I couldn’t agree with you more (see #23). I answered and cut through the political jargon with a blatant fact. No politicizing. Pure fact. Surely the truth can be spoken here. The Truth Will Set You Free!
CheerZ?!
April 1st, 2013 at 01:07