Gillan

Biography

Gillan was an English rock band formed in 1978 by then-former Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan. Gillan was one of the hard rock bands to make a significant impact and achieve commercial success in the United Kingdom during the late 1970s and early 1980s, with five top 20 albums and six top 40 singles. The band split in late 1982 when Gillan joined Black Sabbath, before re-joining Deep Purple in 1984.

1978: Formation

In July 1978 Ian Gillan had become dissatisfied with the jazz fusion style of his band Ian Gillan Band 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 direction, releasing their eponymous debut in September 1978, although they could get a record deal only in Japan, Australia and New Zealand. 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×Second Sight19 April 2005 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 23 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11Fiji4:582Come Tomorrow3:013Restless3:084Second Sight2:065Men of War4:326Purple Sky3:387New Orleans2:558Time and Again5:009You're So Right2:5010Hadely Bop2:5511Running White Face City Boy3:1312I'll Rip Your Spine Out3:5913Thunderwood (live)1:46Disc 21Born to Kill (live)9:552(The Ballad of) The Lucitania Express5:513Unchain Your Brain (live)4:084The Festival of Spirit4:245So Low (live)3:086No Laughing in Heaven (live)3:587Bite the Bullet (live)5:118Black Night (live)4:279Helter Skelter (live)5:3810Child in Time (live)11:12" 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 in 1978. He was replaced for the subsequent tour by Pete Barnacle.
At Christmas 1978, Ian Gillan turned down an offer from Ritchie Blackmore to join Rainbow, 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 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×Mr. UniverseDecember 1979 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 16 tracks1Second Sight2:342Secret of the Dance2:563She Tears Me Down5:094Roller4:445Mr. Universe6:136Vengeance3:367Puget Sound4:238Dead of Night4:069Message in a Bottle3:1110Fighting Man7:2711On the Rocks (live)6:3212Bite the Bullet (live)5:2513Mr. Universe7:1414Vengeance4:2615Smoke on the Water (live)8:4616Lucille3:17 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.
Meanwhile, in Japan, Australia and New Zealand 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×Glory RoadAugust 1980 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracksA1Unchain Your Brain3:11A2Are You Sure4:06A3Time and Again5:06A4No Easy Way6:35A5Sleeping on the Job3:11B1On the Rocks6:41B2If You Believe Me7:33B3Running, White Face, City Boy3:13B4Nervous3:44, 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.
As with most of the post-Deep Purple bands, money remained very tight. By 1981 the band members were beginning to wonder why their European and Japanese success was not translating into increased financial rewards. Rumours also circulated that band funds were being diverted to pay for problems with Ian Gillan's failing hotel. Following the Future Shock 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.

1982: Struggles and final shows

Tormé was replaced by White Spirit guitarist Janick Gers (who would later join Iron Maiden) and this line-up released the live/studio double album Double Trouble×Double Trouble30 October 1981 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 15 tracks · 2 discsDisc 1A1I’ll Rip Your Spine Out4:28A2Restless3:19A3Men of War4:30A4Sunbeam4:10B1Nightmare3:14B2Hadely Bop Bop2:50B3Life Goes On5:12B4Born to Kill9:27Disc 2C1Intro2:18C2No Laughing in Heaven5:04C3No Easy Way9:40C4Trouble3:06D1Mutually Assured Destruction5:19D2If You Believe Me8:21D3New Orleans5:59 at the end of 1981. In August 1982, the final album Magic×MagicOctober 1982 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 18 tracks1What's the Matter3:312Bluesy Blue Sea4:533Caught in a Trap3:374Long Gone3:575Driving Me Wild3:016Demon Driver7:207Living a Lie4:278You're So Right2:579Living for the City4:2810Demon Driver (reprise)0:4511Breaking Chains3:2812Fiji5:2113Purple Sky3:2414South Africa4:0315John4:4416South Africa (12" extended version)7:1817Helter Skelter3:2618Smokestack Lightning4:07 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 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 (Guy McCoy Tormé) band project, releasing two albums in 2006 and 2008. Tormé died in 2019, Underwood in 2024.

Band members

Ian Gillan – vocals (1978–1982)
Colin Towns – keyboards (1978–1982)
Steve Byrd – guitar (1978–1979; died 2016)
Liam Genockey – drums (1978)
John McCoy – bass (1978–1982)
Pete Barnacle – drums (1978–1979)
Bernie Tormé – guitar (1979–1981; died 2019)
Mick Underwood – drums (1979–1982; died 2024)
Janick Gers – guitar (1981–1982)

Studio albums

All Gillan albums recorded between 1979 and 1982 (excluding The Japanese Album×The Japanese Album1 October 1978 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Street Theatre2:382Secret of the Dance1:483I'm Your Man4:244Dead of Night4:105Fighting Man7:356Message in a Bottle3:107Not Weird Enough3:498Bringing Joanna Back3:399Abbey of Thelema4:5710Back in the Game5:27) 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 - Live Hammersmith 1980 (CD), Live Edinburgh 1980 (DVD, 2008), Angel Air
Triple Trouble (2009) (recorded live 1981/1982), Edsel

Compilation albums

Trouble - The Best of Gillan (1991), Virgin
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

Works cited

Gillan, Ian; Cohen, David (1993). Child in Time : The Life Story of the Singer from Deep Purple. Smith Gryphon Limited. ISBN 1-85685-048-X.