“The Tokyo shows were full of contrast. The first night was short and hurried with no encore, but on the second night all the stops were pulled out, and Rainbow really rose, with excellent solos from Ritchie. Cozy’s solo seems to go down really well with all the crowds in Japan, and is becoming the highlight for many. David Stone went down better than Carey, for reasons beyond my comprehension, and half the audience were unaware of the change in bass player!” Rainbow Fan Club, Japan.

If you’re looking for an ecstatic review, you’d better skip this. I’m very disappointed. There is very little progression at all. The album appears tailored towards the USA. There is less guitar on here than on almost any album Ritchie’s appeared on, and what there is sounds uninspired and drowned in effects. This was laid down back in June 1977 when Sounds reported, “Blackmore looks pale, dazed, he’s spent hours playing, searching for ideas which don’t seem to gel”. (NB. ‘Gates of Babylon’ wasn't on the tape)

“'Hush' is good, with Gillan sounding like Elvis. Blackmore plays great rhythm, very tight work from Glover / Paice in support. On ‘Wring That Neck’ Blackmore and Lord work well together but show their nervousness. I’ve heard better bootleg versions. ‘Child In Time’ is as Simon said, very like the studio version. Perfect solo from Ritchie. Regarding the album as a whole - rotten title. And cover. And sleeve-notes!” Keith Stock.

Raspberries to him for the last bit.

The short October UK Tour was very last minute, Island were cutting their losses with very little publicity. ‘Scarabus’ was released on October 7th to tie in. After rehearsing from February 17th they played a single ‘farewell’ gig in Camden, then left to tour the USA on March 1st. They are scheduled for a return visit to Japan in September / October following the success of their visit there in 1977. A live album was recorded at the Tokyo Budo-Kan Hall, five numbers on a single album.

The set was similar to the one they did on the last tour. The group seemed more self-indulgent, once again playing more for themselves than the audience. It was up to Gillan to make contact with the audience – even if it meant staying on stage during instrumental passages and looking a bit silly. It wasn’t until the encore that things began to move, with the band beginning to rock and Gillan belting it out in style.

How did I miss this on ‘Scarabus’? It is a magnificent track; good rhythm, mad Gillan lyrics, a neat phased moog solo. Everything! I doubt it’ll receive enough airplay to make it a hit, a pic. sleeve might well have gained the initial sales boost it needed.

The Whitesnake debut tour was preceded with a single, ‘Breakdown’ on February 24th, and the album ‘Northwinds’ tied in with a March release date. Some things on it have been altered since we reviewed the advance tape in Issue 11. First though, a five star rating for the front cover, which looks superb. ‘Queen of Hearts’ is the first of two new tracks, quite a nice unexpected format. ‘Breakdown’ is the other, a nice heavy track with ELO-type classical riff in the middle. The vocals on ‘Time & Again’ have been re-done, the nervous sound of the demo version is gone.

We caught the group in action in a warehouse in London. They had no keyboard player; a friend was filling in for the purposes of rehearsing. They launched into ‘Lady Double Dealer’, which sounded okay, more honest than the 'Made In Europe' version, though I wasn’t too sure about the two guitars – they both seemed to be doing the same thing.

“Very much a solo effort, with Hughes playing many of the instruments, helped out by his old Trapeze mates. The Stevie Wonder influences are noticed on the initial hearing (with a lot of ‘Georgia On My Mind’ type singing), though the album is not altogether soul and funk. The best tracks are ‘I Found a Woman’ and ‘Soulution’. If you do get the album, give it a few listens as it grows on you in time.” Rob Davies.

Well, Ian didn’t get the job with Wings (big sigh of relief). Both he and Jon are holed up in Pinewood Studios with singer Maggie Bell, trying to get a band together, so rumour has it. They did try for Coverdale, both before they got Tony, and after he left. That was the start of the reunion rumours, because Jon and Ian wanted to call it Deep Purple.