Gillan was an English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

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 typicall ...

band formed in 1978 by Deep Purple 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 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 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 Colin William Towns (born 13 May 1948 in West Ham, London) is an English composer and keyboardist. He was noted for playing in bands formed by ex-Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan, and later worked extensively in composing soundtracks for film, telev ...

, and formed this new band entitled Gillan. He added Steve Byrd on guitar,

Liam Genockey Liam Genockey (born 12 August 1948) is an Irish musician, who is the drummer with British folk rock band Steeleye Span. Biography Genockey was born in Dublin, Ireland. During the 1960s he lived in Plymouth, Devon, U.K, playing in local semi- ...

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. In ...

direction, releasing their eponymous debut in September 1978, although they could get a record deal only in Japan, 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 count ...

. 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 guita ...

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. Rainbows c ...

, 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 Michael John Underwood (born 5 September 1945) is an English drummer. He first played drums at the age of 14 and was a professional musician by the time he left school. Underwood has collaborated with a number of notable musicians and groups, ...

, Ian Gillan's former colleague in

Episode Six Episode Six were an English rock band formed in Harrow, London in 1965. The band did not have commercial success in the UK, releasing nine singles that all failed to chart, but they did find minor success in Beirut at the time. Group members I ...

. 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, Australia and

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 The new wave of British heavy metal (commonly abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that started in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Journalist Geoff Barton coined the term ...

at just the right time and the group gained popularity in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. In 1980 Gillan reached the peak of their success, releasing the album ''

Glory Road ''Glory Road'' is a science fantasy novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, originally serialized in ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (July – September 1963) and published in hardcover the same year. It was nominated for ...

'', with initial copies containing the free album ''For Gillan Fans Only''. However, the band remained unknown in North America 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. Th ...

'' 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 o ...

''.

1982: Struggles and final shows

Tormé was replaced by White Spirit guitarist Janick Gers (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 Harri ...

) and this line-up released the live/studio double album '' Double Trouble'' at the end of 1981. In August 1982, the final album ''

Magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

'' 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 music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

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

–

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) *

–

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 * Musi ...

s (1978–1982) *

Steve Byrd Stephen John "Steve" Byrd (25 September 1955 – 2 October 2016) was an English guitarist and session musician who has worked with artists including Kim Wilde (from 1982–95), Ian Gillan of Deep Purple, ZZebra and many others. Initially a self-t ...

–

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 strin ...

(1978–1979) *

– drums (1978) * Pete Barnacle – drums (1978–1979) *

– drums (1979–1982) *

– guitar (1979–1981) * Janick Gers – guitar (1981–1982)

Ian Gillan Band/Gillan timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:25 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1975 till:01/12/1982 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1975 ScaleMinor = increment:2 start:1976 Colors = id:Band value:black legend:Band id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:Guitars value:green legend:Guitars id:Keyboards value:purple legend:Keyboards id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Lines value:black legend:Studio_releases LineData = at:11/07/1976 color:black layer:back at:15/04/1977 color:black layer:back at:17/10/1977 color:black layer:back at:11/09/1978 color:black layer:back at:19/10/1979 color:black layer:back at:10/10/1980 color:black layer:back at:06/04/1981 color:black layer:back at:15/10/1981 color:black layer:back at:12/10/1982 color:black layer:back BarData = bar:IGBand text:"Ian Gillan Band" bar:Gillan text:"Gillan" bar:IGillan text:"Ian Gillan" bar:Fenwick text:"Ray Fenwick" bar:Byrd text:"Steve Byrd" bar:Tormé text:"Bernie Tormé" bar:Gers text:"Janick Gers" bar:Moran text:"Mike Moran" bar:Soule text:"Micky Lee Soule" bar:Towns text:"Colin Towns" bar:Gustafson text:"John Gustafson" bar:McCoy text:"John McCoy" bar:Nauseef text:"Mark Nauseef" bar:Genockey text:"Liam Genockey" bar:Barnacle text:"Pete Barnacle" bar:Underwood text:"Mick Underwood" PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:IGBand from:start till:01/01/1978 color:Band bar:Gillan from:01/01/1978 till:end color:Band bar:IGillan from:start till:end color:Vocals bar:Fenwick from:start till:01/01/1978 color:Guitars bar:Byrd from:01/01/1978 till:01/07/1979 color:Guitars bar:Tormé from:01/07/1979 till:01/07/1981 color:Guitars bar:Gers from:01/07/1981 till:end color:Guitars bar:Moran from:start till:01/02/1976 color:Keyboards bar:Soule from:01/02/1976 till:01/10/1976 color:Keyboards bar:Towns from:01/10/1976 till:end color:Keyboards bar:Gustafson from:start till:01/01/1978 color:Bass bar:McCoy from:01/01/1978 till:end color:Bass bar:Nauseef from:start till:01/01/1978 color:Drums bar:Genockey from:01/01/1978 till:01/09/1978 color:Drums bar:Barnacle from:01/09/1978 till:01/07/1979 color:Drums bar:Underwood from:01/07/1979 till:end color:Drums

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 Angel Airlines, trading as Angel Air, was an airline based in Bangkok, Thailand, which was operational between 1998 and 2003. Destinations Over the years, Angel Airlines flew to the following destinations: Thailand * Bangkok — Don Mueang In ...

* ''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