DEEP PURPLE Bassist Defends The Group's Right To Rock

In a recent interview with The Daily Journal, DEEP PURPLE bassist Roger Glover spoke about the contributions of former PURPLE guitarist Ritchie Blackmore to the group's early sound and the changes brought about with the addition of Ritchie's permanent replacement, Steve Morse. "You know, it's strange with a group," he said. You think that someone who's crucial to the band can't leave. When Ritchie Blackmore was in the band it was generally perceived by the public that he was the guiding light of the band, and I think in the early days he was. His riffs more than anyone else's really set the tone of the band. ... So he was a towering figure of the band and I'm sure that many people thought that without him DEEP PURPLE would not exist. ... And then when Steve (Morse) joined as a permanent player and we started writing new stuff, the band just took on a whole new persona. And of course there are endless debates about, 'Oh, these songs aren't DEEP PURPLE,' and then other people going, 'Yes, but it is DEEP PURPLE and they're fresh.' So there's endless things for fans to talk about, and they do. But we in the band, all we care about is the fact that we're making music. We don't see ourselves as part of a history. We see ourselves as working, living, breathing musicians living in the present."

In other news, DEEP PURPLE will be appearing on "The Mike Bullard Show" on Canadian TV this Friday, February 27 at midnight. The five-nights-a-week talk show airs on the Global Television Network. The program will be taped in front of a studio audience at the Global Theatre at The Esplanade in Toronto. The guests are: Harvey Lowe, 84-year-old World YoYo Champion Jeff Seymour, comedian Gerry Dee, Debbie Harry of BLONDIE, and DEEP PURPLE.