Once The World's Loudest Band, They Now Like A Quiet Restaurant
The Age
Wednesday March 7, 2001
THEY have the dubious distinction of once being listed in The Guinness Book of Records as the loudest band in rock'n'roll. ``Actually it's not something that we're particularly proud of," says Roger Glover, bass player with the veteran British rock band Deep Purple. ``...Loudness itself is horrible. But if it's used in conjunction with dynamics, then it has a power to it."
Still it seems the capacity for loudness was at issue on an early 1970s tour that was ``dismal". Someone involved in promotion had assembled large boxes in Australia to the band's specifications to avoid the cost of shipping their oversize, state-of-the-art Marshall speakers. Glover says they had discovered at a first gig in Adelaide that each contained a single speaker, rather than the four expected.
``We started fluffing our feathers up and stamping our little feet, saying, `this is ridiculous'," Glover says. Their manager was dispatched to sort out the matter.
Someone from promotion ``came on stage ... and said in a very calm, matter-of-fact way, `either you play or you get your knees shot off'." The band played on.
Thirty years and 12 Australian top-10 albums since Glover says he was introduced to audiences here as ``the most famous bass player in the world - what's your name again?", the band known for hits such as Smoke on the Water, Black Night, Highway Star, Woman from Tokyo and Hush is back for its second Australian tour in two years.
From an era when they ruled the roost with hard-rock bands Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, Purple is held in high regard by successors.
``In the case of Metallica, I know that they are huge Deep Purple fans," Glover says. ``...And of course there are those people who say, `Oh you just did a gig with an orchestra. Are you copying Metallica?' It has happened with alarming frequency. I think we have to acknowledge the fact that we have been around for a long time."
Founding members Jon Lord on keyboards and drummer Ian Paice are among a five-piece Purple in Australia along with guitarist Steve Morse and vocalist Ian Gillan who, with Glover, joined the band a year after it was formed in 1968.
The son of publicans, Glover was born in Brecon, Wales, raised in London and caught up in the brief skiffle craze of the 1950s, a refreshing contrast to the then popular ``cloying, sentimental, crooning ... or novelty stuff about a pink toothbrush and a blue toothbrush and stuff like that". Within 18 months, rock'n'roll had ``happened". ``The first time you listen to Jailhouse Rock it's definitely got to be a highlight of your whole life."
Glover graduated to Deep Purple through bands called the Madisons, the Lightnings and Episode Six. ``When we started playing concerts the volume would go up and it would get pretty wild."
Rock shows were still fairly rudimentary. He and founding guitarist Ritchie Blackmore bought a first strobe light from a fellow in north London who had advertised in the music paper Melody Maker. ``It was a rare piece of equipment. It was very dramatic and allowed Ritchie to move. And that's when he started smashing his guitars ..."
Deep Purple has survived several line-up changes, even legal action by the rest of the band in the early 1980s to stop the original vocalist, Rod Evans, using its name.
Glover says he was forced to quit for a few years by Blackmore, who also invited him back into the band. ``The last night we played together, he said: `This is not personal. It's business'. (Those were) the only words he said to explain what's happening."
At 55, Glover remembers becoming blase in their heyday. ``I remember going to London airport and sitting in the first-class lounge on yet another American tour," he says. ``Yawn. Yawn. Because I've already been 10 times and the tour stretches out. ... Hotel after hotel and it actually does drive you nuts, the repetition of it. Relieved of course by the fact that there are copious amounts of alcohol, music and women around every night..."
This Purple touring party is more restrained. ``Age changed us a lot. The whole lifestyle thing went out the window overnight. ... We're all-but-one married. Instead of looking for loud music and all the girls in the rock clubs, we're more likely to find the nice, quiet restaurant."
Deep Purple plays at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne on Friday.
© 2001 The Age