Timeless

MAD 530, published in December 2014.

(Cover art by Mark Fredrickson)

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All You Need Is Love

And a bit of hard earned cash on the side… We have updated (extended) versions of the classic Beatles albums “1962-1966” and “1967-1970” coming up on November 10. These will sell like crazy, trust me on this. Fans will no doubt have opinions on if this is good or bad, adding stuff to old records, but in my opinion it just adds to the power. These releases certainly showcase how great this band was. Nothing wrong with highlighting the legacy. They also represent a pretty good starting point for those who want to dive into all this a little deeper, maybe buying something for the first time.

(Covers are from original platforms)

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Elvis In Our Hearts

Well there is some Elvis news worthy of note. First we have the classic “Back In Memphis” coming out on Red Vinyl (Limited Edition) in early December. I always liked that one. Then, in my neck of the woods (Sweden), we have the annual Elvis Festival coming up on November 4. This time in a town called Jönköping. Artists include Tone Norum (sister of Europe guitarist John Norum), Peter Jezewski, Edward C Johansson & The Hayriders and The Suspicious Minds. It is put together by the Swedish Fan Club.

(My shot of the Swedish flag, upcoming LP inserted)

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The Purple Album (Special Gold Edition)

The original release only happened a few years ago (2015), but the updated edition of Whitesnake´s “The Purple Album (Special Gold Edition)” still feels valid. There is a lot of good stuff on here, like glimpses of David Coverdale demos for the “Stormbringer” album, and maybe best of all, his 1972 recordings with his old group The Fabulosa Brothers that landed him the gig in Purple in 1973. Never ever thought I would live to hear that. For some reason I like these rerecorded classics more than I first did eight years ago. Maybe some more than others. But there is some power on display here, and it is a nice celebration of a career that started 50 years ago and that has continued to grow over the years. What you get is two CDs and one DVD jam-packed with Deep Purple songs from the last three studio albums of the 1970s. An era that has been largely ignored by the mothership ever since the 1984 reunion. I like the fact that both Coverdale and Glenn Hughes is showing this stuff some love. The material deserves to be remembered. David finishes his extensive notes in the booklet with the words “This album is dedicated with honour, love and respect to Ritchie Blackmore, Glenn Hughes and Ian Paice, & in loving memory of Jon Lord, Tommy Bolin & Martin Birch”.

(My shot of said CD/DVD edition, classic Purple MK4 poster with Fin Costello shots from Swedish POSTER magazine in the background)

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Gingerbread Christmas Project

Looks like a bit of fun. They have been going here in Sweden since 1929. You can spot the Royal sign of approval to the left on the box, meaning they get to deliver to the Royal Family. I like that. Lovely box art too, I like the look.

(My shot of said box)

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Japanese Promoter Seijiro Udo Is Gone

Legendary Japanese promoter Seijiro Udo, also widely known as Mr. Udo, has passed away. He begun his career in 1967, bringing acts to clubs and military bases, but in 1972 he moved up to bringing in international artists to major venues. His first band of note was Creedence Clearwater Revival and not long after them he managed the first tour with Deep Purple in Japan, which resulted in their classic live album “Made In Japan”. This opened the floodgates and it has been said that he promoted some 10,000 shows over the years, some big, some small. He could also take a chance on a band that still had to make a big impact and take them over, and many western acts could therefore go to Japan very early on. In other words, he cared about music and he loved to nurture artists. His name can be seen on countless live albums that has been recorded in Japan, and social media is full of accolades from artists as we speak. In the 2001 book “The Dirt” about American rockers Mötley Crue, Nikki Sixx writes about how Mr. Udo tried to talk him out of using drugs after having witnessed some really bad behaviour from the band that had led to arrests. He told Nikki, whom was a massive fan of Tommy Bolin, that he had tried to warn his friend, but that he had died. Here we had a world renowned promoter trying to save somebody from repeating what he had experienced before. It is a touching chapter that is being described in the book. I asked my friend George Murasaki (of Murasaki fame), whom was present when Deep Purple performed in Tokyo with Tommy Bolin in 1975 (see detailed interview archived on this blog on December 3 2021) to write a few words about Mr. Udo. This is what he sent in: “I met Mr. Udo a couple of times. I believe I met him for the first time when Deep Purple came and performed at the Budokan in December 1975. I asked him whether it was possible for him to have Deep Purple perform in Okinawa. He mentioned a couple of agents based on Okinawa whom he knew as agents who booked bands and other entertainers from the Philippines, etc. He said these agents had licenses to do this kind of business. However, some musicians in Okinawa told me these people had some shady connections with the local yakuza, so I never approached them. Anyway, I had Koh Sakai (former president of Burrn Corporation) and other acquaintances contact Mr. Udo for allowing me to go back stage and meet various musicians who came to Japan – not only Deep Purple members but also people like Ronnie James Dio, Cozy Powell, etc. who performed as members of Rainbow and also when Dio came to Japan as Deep Purple´s guest when they performed Jon Lord’s Concerto. I also got to see various other foreign bands including BTO, Yes, etc., thanks to Mr. Udo. He was a very good person who I believe understood musicians very well. May he Rest In Peace!”.

(My shot of the back cover of the Deep Purple live album “Last Concert In Japan”, note Mr.Udo being credited)

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Modesty Blaise Christmas Special

From Norway we have this lovely Modesty Blaise Annual just in time for Christmas, and it looks good. I will certainly add it to the old collection.

(Cover is from official platforms, art by Romero)

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Celebrating Purple (2)

There is an excellent eight page interview with Glenn Hughes about the making of Deep Purple´s classic album “Burn” in UK publication Rock Candy (issue) 40. He tells journalist Howard Johnson how he joined Purple and how it all went down. Some good pictures from those days as well. Nice. Other articles of note include Badlands, Ronnie James Dio, Paul Rodgers, Europe, Alice Cooper, Angel etc.

(My shot of first spread of the Hughes interview, Purple at Clearwell Castle in September 1973 – one of the very first images that was sent out to media at the time)

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Babymetal Ready For Hellfest 2024

The worlds biggest rock and metal festival is Hellfest in France, and they will have more than 200 bands performing between June 28-30 2024. Babymetal will appear, which means that we are probably looking at a number of festival dates across Europe and North America next summer (anything else would not make sense). They are also set to play at the Sick New World Festival in Las Vegas on April 27, which is also another indication of upcoming dates. Download in the UK and Rock Am Ring & Rock Im Park in Germany might well be announced before long in my humble opinion.

(First ad for Hellfest 2024 seen here, from official platforms)

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Babymetal Crush All Competition

A week ago I said that I would get back to you regarding the stats for the Babymetal (DVD review) and the Black Sabbath book posts (three of them) to see who was the biggest draw, and the results are in. And the truth is that Babymetal attracted 500% more views than Sabbath. And if you throw in the CREEM and Glenn Hughes posts (all shared on facebook as well during the last week), Babymetal still come out on top with over 300% (I drew the visitors from facebook and reddit). So yes, Babymetal has the power, no doubt about it.

(My shot of one of my 1989 photographs of Sabbath & the Babymetal DVD)

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