Gillan was an English
rock and
metal
A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typica ...
band formed in 1978 by
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Originally formed as ...
vocalist
Ian Gillan
Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945) is a British singer who is best known as the lead singer and lyricist for the rock band Deep Purple. He is known for his powerful and wide-ranging singing voice.
Initially influenced by Elvis Presley, Gillan ...
. Gillan was one of the
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest h ...
bands to make a significant impact and commercial success in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s, with five silver albums. They sold over 10 million LPs worldwide.
History
1978: The Ian Gillan new band
In July 1978 Ian Gillan had become dissatisfied with the
jazz fusion
Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and key ...
style of his band
Ian Gillan Band
The Ian Gillan Band were an English progressive jazz-rock band formed by singer Ian Gillan of Deep Purple in 1975.
History
After leaving Deep Purple in June 1973, Ian Gillan had retired from the music business to pursue other business ventures ...
and dissolved it, retaining only keyboard player
Colin Towns, and formed this new band entitled Gillan. He added Steve Byrd on guitar,
Liam Genockey on drums and
John McCoy on bass, and initially pursued a
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Initi ...
direction, releasing their eponymous debut in September 1978, although they could get a record deal only in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
,
Australia and
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country ...
. This recording has subsequently become more widely available as ''
The Japanese Album'' as a CD re-issue by RPM Records in 1994. However, the RPM CD issue replaces the original opening instrumental "Second Sight" with another instrumental, "Street Theatre". Genocky was unable to commit to the band beyond the recording of the album and the band's live debut at the
Reading Festival
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...
in 1978. He was replaced for the subsequent tour by
Pete Barnacle.
At Christmas 1978, Ian Gillan turned down an offer from
Ritchie Blackmore
Richard Hugh Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is an English guitarist and songwriter. He was a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968, playing jam-style hard rock music that mixed guitar riffs and organ sounds. He is prolific in creating guitar ...
to join
Rainbow
A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbo ...
, but Blackmore did make a guest appearance for Gillan at their Christmas show. It was the first time Ian Gillan and Blackmore had performed together since 1973.
1979–1981: The glory era
The album was sufficiently successful to attract more attention and in 1979 the band secured a European deal with Acrobat Records. Before a new album was recorded, Byrd was replaced by
Bernie Tormé
Bernie Tormé (born Bernard Joseph Tormey; 18 March 1952 – 17 March 2019) was an Irish rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, record label and recording studio owner. Tormé is best known for his work with Gillan, as well as his brief stints wi ...
and Barnacle by drummer
Mick Underwood, Ian Gillan's former colleague in
Episode Six. Torme's "screaming guitar" sound fundamentally altered the dynamics and Gillan took a more
heavy metal direction. This line-up's first album was released as ''
Mr. Universe'' and contained many re-worked songs from ''The Japanese Album''. The album went straight into the UK album charts but stalled as Acrobat Records went bankrupt. This led to a multi-album deal with
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), Tom Newman. It ...
.
Meanwhile, in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
,
Australia and
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country ...
a version of ''Mr. Universe'' was released with a different track selection to avoid repeating the ''Gillan'' tracks used on the ''Mr. Universe'' album. Several of the alternative tracks are included on the ''
Japanese Album'' release.
The band caught the rise of the
NWOBHM at just the right time and the group gained popularity in
Europe.
In 1980 Gillan reached the peak of their success, releasing the album ''
Glory Road'', with initial copies containing the free album ''For Gillan Fans Only''. However, the band remained unknown in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the C ...
and were unable to raise any interest there despite a long and difficult 1980 US tour.
By 1981 the band members had become disgruntled that their European and Japanese success was not translating into increased financial rewards, and after the ''
Future Shock
''Future Shock'' is a 1970 book by American futurist Alvin Toffler, written together with his spouse Adelaide Farrell, in which the authors define the term "future shock" as a certain psychological state of individuals and entire societies. The ...
'' album, whilst on tour in Germany, Torme left just before the band were due to fly back to the UK to appear on ''
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of ...
''.
1982: Struggles and final shows
Tormé was replaced by
White Spirit
White spirit (AU, UK & Ireland)Primarily in the United Kingdom and Australia. In New Zealand "white spirit" can also refer to Coleman fuel ( white gas). or mineral spirits (US, Canada), also known as mineral turpentine (AU/NZ), turpentine substit ...
guitarist
Janick Gers
Janick Robert Gers (; born 27 January 1957) is an English musician who is best known as one of the three guitarists in heavy metal band Iron Maiden. He initially joined to replace Adrian Smith, but remained in the band after Smith rejoined. ...
(who would later join
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harris ...
) and this line-up released the live/studio double album ''
Double Trouble'' at the end of 1981. In August 1982, the final album ''
Magic'' followed. By this time, tension over money had reached fever pitch and Ian Gillan needed time to have surgery as a result of damage to his vocal cords. After the ''Magic'' tour, the band performed a final show at the Wembley Arena on 17 December, and then Ian Gillan dissolved the group while he underwent surgery. He then accepted an offer to front
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped define ...
to the incredulity of the Gillan band members, particularly McCoy, and the acrimony remains to the present day.
McCoy subsequently released compilations of studio out-takes to which he had the rights, known as ''
The Gillan Tapes''. Bernie Tormé and John McCoy collaborated on the GMT band project, releasing two albums in 2006 and 2009.
Band members
*
Ian Gillan
Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945) is a British singer who is best known as the lead singer and lyricist for the rock band Deep Purple. He is known for his powerful and wide-ranging singing voice.
Initially influenced by Elvis Presley, Gillan ...
–
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
(1978–1982)
*
John McCoy –
bass (1978–1982)
*
Colin Towns –
keyboard
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Mus ...
s
(1978–1982)
*
Steve Byrd –
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
(1978–1979)
*
Liam Genockey –
drums (1978)
*
Pete Barnacle – drums
(1978–1979)
*
Mick Underwood – drums
(1979–1982)
*
Bernie Tormé
Bernie Tormé (born Bernard Joseph Tormey; 18 March 1952 – 17 March 2019) was an Irish rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, record label and recording studio owner. Tormé is best known for his work with Gillan, as well as his brief stints wi ...
– guitar
(1979–1981)
*
Janick Gers
Janick Robert Gers (; born 27 January 1957) is an English musician who is best known as one of the three guitarists in heavy metal band Iron Maiden. He initially joined to replace Adrian Smith, but remained in the band after Smith rejoined. ...
– guitar
(1981–1982)
Ian Gillan Band/Gillan timeline
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Discography
Studio albums
:* All Gillan albums recorded between 1979 and 1982 (excluding ''The Japanese Album'') have been re-released as remastered editions with bonus tracks in 2007
Live albums
* ''Live at Reading '80'' (1990), Raw Fruit
* ''The BBC Tapes Vol 1: Dead of Night 1979'' (1998), RPM
* ''The BBC Tapes Vol 2: Unchain Your Brain 1980'' (1998), RPM
* ''Live At The BBC - 79/80'' (1999),
Angel Air
* ''Live Tokyo Shinjuku Koseinenkin Hall'' (2001), Angel Air
* ''On The Rocks'' Live in Germany, June 1981 (2002), Angel Air
* ''Live Wembley 17 December 1982'' (2002), Angel Air
* ''Mutually Assured Destruction Glasgow 1982'' (2006), Angel Air
* ''Live At The Marquee 1978'' (2008), Angel Air
* ''No Easy Way'' CD:Live Hammersmith 1980, DVD:Live Edinburgh 1980 (2008), Angel Air
* ''Triple Trouble'' (2009) (Recorded live 1981/1982), Edsel
Compilation albums
* ''The Gillan Tapes Vol. 1'' (1997), Angel Air
* ''The Gillan Tapes Vol. 2'' (1999), Angel Air
* ''The Gillan Tapes Vol. 3'' (2000), Angel Air
* ''Unchain Your Brain: The Best Of Gillan'' (2007), Music Club
* ''The Gillan Singles Box Set'' (2007), Edsel
* ''The Vinyl Collection 1979-1982'' (2016)
DVDs
* ''Live Edinburgh 1980'' (2006), Angel Air
* ''
The Glory Years'' (2008) (Recorded live 1981), Eagle Rock
Singles
References
External links
Music Might biography
{{Authority control
Ian Gillan
English hard rock musical groups
Musical groups established in 1978
Musical groups disestablished in 1980
Musical groups reestablished in 1981
Musical groups disestablished in 1983
English heavy metal musical groups
Musical quintets
Virgin Records artists
RSO Records artists
New Wave of British Heavy Metal musical groups