Gillan (band)

History

In July 1978 Ian Gillan dissolved his previous band, the Ian Gillan Band, dissatisfied with its jazz fusion style, and retained only keyboard player Colin Towns. He formed a new band called Gillan, adding Steve Byrd on guitar, Liam Genockey on drums, and John McCoy on bass. The group initially pursued a progressive rock direction and released their eponymous debut album in September 1978, but secured a record deal only in Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. This recording later became more widely available as The Japanese Album on a CD re-issue by RPM Records in 1994, though that issue replaced the original opening instrumental "Second Sight" with another instrumental, "Street Theatre". Genockey could not commit beyond the album's recording and the band's live debut at the Reading Festival in 1978, and 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 made a guest appearance at Gillan's Christmas show, the first time the two had performed together since 1973. The debut album's success attracted more attention, and in 1979 the band secured a European deal with Acrobat Records. Before recording a new album, Byrd was replaced by Bernie Tormé and Barnacle by drummer Mick Underwood, a former colleague of Ian Gillan in Episode Six. Tormé's "screaming guitar" sound fundamentally altered the band's dynamics, and Gillan took a more heavy metal direction. This line-up's first album, Mr. Universe, contained many re-worked songs from The Japanese Album and entered the UK album charts, but stalled when Acrobat Records went bankrupt, leading to a multi-album deal with Virgin Records. 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 those alternative tracks are included on the Japanese Album release. The band caught the rise of the NWOBHM at the right time and gained popularity in Europe. In 1980 Gillan reached the peak of their success with the album Glory Road, initial copies of which contained the free album For Gillan Fans Only. However, the band remained unknown in North America and could not raise interest there despite a long and difficult 1980 US tour.