Hi I'm Patrick from Germany. You are doing a great job. You have an incredible amount of expertise in heavy metal and hard rock music. I'm glad I found your channel. Greetings from Germany . Keep it up .
Great great great ! to hear two Gillan fans talk about him and his band. The episode on the albums was nice and this one about the top song is even nicer. For reasons you mentioned, we were not much exposed to Gillan Band in America. I only had Glory Road back then and it is still my favorite GB album today. Having discovered the rest of GB albums much later I am not neutral, my top two tracks are 1) If You Believe Me and 2) Are You Sure .. you didn't mention any of those 😭😄
Pete you've done it again, highlighted one of my favourite bands ever, when nobody else bothers. Totally pleased with your output and views, bringing forgotten bands to the fore. Thank you.
Love Gillan Band so much! 1.Roller 2.Mr.Universe 3.Are You Sure 4.Mutually Assured Destruction 5.Running White Face Citiboy 6.On the Rocks 7.Nervous 8.For Your Dreams 9.Born to Kill 10.Secret of the Dance 11.No Laughing in Heaven I could keep going. There are so many good songs. RIP Bernie Torme
Great List! I'm too a huge Bernie Tormé fan. I was slightly disappointed that Bernie wasn't in the band anymore when I saw Gillan here in Finland march 1982. But still it was an awesome gig!
Man oh man I love Gillan. One of my favourite bands. I dont have the albums before Mr Universe. Mutually Assured Destruction was a single here in the UK and came with a booklet. I still have it. It's one of my favourite Gillan tunes.
Many great songs, love their versions of New Orleans and Trouble, and from Magic "South Africa" . and Living for the city the Stevie Wonder cover great song. And thanks for this and all the others shos you made
I remember Gillan at Redcar Coatham Bowl in 1978. I was right in front of Ian but I couldn't see a thing during Secret of The Dance because of the dry ice. It took a while before it cleared and I could see the band. Steve Byrd was fantastic on guitar. Great concert. Saw Gillan many times.
Great show! On the Rocks, Mutually assured Destruction , No easy way, Whats the matter, Restless, Demon Driver, No laughing in heaven, Sleeping on the job, Born to kill, Sunbeam
They were really big in the U.K., never understood why they made no impact in the U.S., what a loss. They even made it second on the bill at the 1982 Castle Donington " Monsters of Rock". Looking at their back catalogue, I can't see any bad tracks, and so many cracking ones. What a truly brilliant heavy rock band, and they had such an original guitarist in Bernie (R.I.P) Here's my top ten: 1. On the Rocks 2. Secret of the Dance 3. Mr. Universe 4. Future Shock 5. Sunbeam 6. Born to Kill 7. No Easy Way 8. Fighting Man 9. If I Sing Softly 10. Bluesy Blue Sea But there's so many others, most of them in fact. By the way, Martin Popoff is a bloody brilliant guest, get him back on as much as you can!
I think it was partly the record company letting them down in the U.S. and the fact that Gillan were perhaps a little too quirky for most American audiences, not a commercial sounding band at all (thank Christ!).
Wow, did I ever enjoy this! Interesting to see see that you both were on similar wavelengths. This made me break out the Gillan catalog and shake the house. Great job, guys!
Went to England in 86 and stumbled across the Gillan compilation album, What I Did On My Vacation. Had no idea what he had done after Deep Purple... And I’m a huge Blackmore fan who knew all things Rainbow.! Got back home to SoCal and started finding all the individual Gillan albums in the Import bins of my local record stores... What an awesome output of music he put out after Purple!! Ian can come up with a vocal pattern to anything, and great lyrics too... Great episode guys!! 🤘
That Gillan whole catalog is soooo good, always loved that band! Still got all those albums (in vinyl) and there's no bad songs at all. One great collection was the only finnish release "Gillan is Heavy-rock" (1981) which has a couple of cool non-albums songs too like "Take a Hold for Yourself", "Bad News" and "One for the Road". Cheers for Gillan!!
A big thank you Pete. I hope your video will invite your fans to discover this fantastic band. GILLAN. A fantastic chemistry between 5 genius. And the king of these 5 genius is, without no doubt, Mister Colin Towns. The best composer who ever worked with Ian Gillan.
Amazing episode, gentlemen! Martin's ESSENTIAL 1980s book absolutely got me into Gillan. I grew up as a Purple/Rainbow/Whitesnake fan, but I never heard the Gillan material. It has been fantastic to "discover" all of this brilliant material in recent years! You guys make a very entertaining duo. May I suggest a Sabbath list for a future episode? Cheers!!
Great show Pete, Martin, just to clear one thing up re. for Gillan fans only bonus disc, it came with the initial release of the album I went with some friends and we all bought it on it's release day it was a limited edition with Glory Road. Not a fan club record as far as I know unless they re-issued it at a later stage. Great live band.
Gillan not only had some incredible songs but had a great sense of humour.Can't be many bands who toured with topless dancers! Rolller is a fantastically heavy song.
GILLAN- Mr Universe - obviously just my opinion- @ stone cold classic 💯. The 4 songs in a row for me / songs 5-6-7-8 on that album Mr Universe - VENGEANCE- Puget Sound- Dead of Night - might be my favorite 4 songs in a row on any album /. Phenomenal! Love GILLAN! Again - PETE and Martin / unreal show.
I have fond memories of visiting the record shop every week and flipping through the import section hoping to find another Gillan 45. Enjoyed the discussion by Pete and Martin, especially because being in the US, there are very few people who who can speak of Gillan. I agree with Mr universe for #1, I would have included Your Mother Was Right on the list. But so much to choose from.
I am definitely going to check out Gillan's discography. Love Deep Purple but I really had no idea of how many albums there are from Gillan until recently when I saw the previous ranking of the albums that Pete did. If Martin and Pete recommend it, it has to be pretty damn good. Thank you both for this rankings. Pete you do a wonderful job every day providing us with information and insight to enrich our musical knowledge and Martin, I love your books man, extremely enjoyable and informative. All you both do allows me to enjoy my favorite hobby even more. Keep it up!!
Hey Pete Martin I own alot of Your books Rainbow Sabbath UFO great books Martin my top 10 Gillan Songs #10 No Laughing in Heaven #9 Mr. Universe #8 Don't Want The Truth #7 Sunbeam #6Message in a Bottle #5 Sleeping On The Job #4 Roller #3 Future Shock #2 Night Ride out of Phoenix #1 Dead of Night The members of Deep Purple top musicians great music keep rocking Pete and Martin you are the real Author on Hard Rock and Metal books
Great stuff, great band, especially the Bernie period! Thanks Pete and Martin. I'd include "Abbey Of Thelema", "Your Mother Was Right", "Are You Sure" and "Fight For Your Dreams". Colin's piano solo on "She Tears Me Down" deserves mention too! Bernie's whammy bar/feedback stylings were hugely impactful on my playing as a young lad. Not super technical but fiery and raw. I was good friends with Matt(son of Big John) McCoy back in the '90's. Great guy and had a ton of cool Gillan stories. Never got to meet Big John, sadly.
My first gig at Sheffield City Hall was ‘Gillan’ in 1979 on the Mr Universe tour. As I recall the support acts were ‘Samson’ and ‘Randy California’. Great show and could not take my eyes off John McCoy who was brilliant both menacing and comical. They started with ‘Secret of the Dance’. Went on to see them on the Glory Road Tour the year after which was just as good. Always a solid band live. It is only recently that I learned about the acrimonious split at the end and how Gillan disappeared leaving the band members wondering what happened to all the money. A sad ending. RIP Bernie Tormé.
Fighting Man is the same version on the Japanese Album and Mr Universe, hence Steve Byrd and Pete Barnacle are credited on the Mr Universe sleeve. Also, one of my favourite Gillan tracks is the studio version of Smoke On The Water, which was the b-side of the Vengeance single in the UK (a one-take throwaway with a super-dirty mix!) My ears are still ringing from seeing them at the Marquee in Soho on the Mr Universe tour, great memories!
Can't believe this episode passed me by. I am a huge Gillan fan. Just a minute or so in and had to pause just to comment on Martin's mention of "The Dictators". Almost unknown over here in the UK but I do have a 12" single of Search and destroy/Sleeping with the TV on. I found it in a bargain rack and bought it because the band members names were so spinal tap. I seem to remember handsome Rick Manitoba Ross the boss Friedman and Adny(sic) Shernoff and Scott top ten Kempner
I saw them live several times in the early 80s, and they kicked ass. My favourite show though was with Gers on guitar. Their only downfall was that their albums were not well produced.
Hey Pete. I'm late to the party, haven't been on UA-cam for a while for reasons I won't go into. You mentioned the bonus album For Gillan Fans Only. We got that free when we first bought Glory Road whether we were in the fan club or not. I think they titled it that way for a joke or something. Thanks to you and Mr Popoff for your top 10. I'm going have to catch up with your videos now, I'm sure it will be fun.
Here is my top 10 10-I'll rip your spine out 9-Dead of night 8-Born to kill 7-On the rocks 6-Fighting man 5-Don't want the truth 4-Bluesy blue sea 3-Mr.Universe 2-Are you sure 1-No laughing in heaven wish I can squeeze more in there. Love every single song by GILLAN.
As a huge Gillan fan I was so excited when I saw this post (and the Gillan history and ranking the Gillan studio albums). Thank you for raising the awareness of this hugely underrated band. I became a huge Ian Gillan fan in the mid to late 70s with Deep Purple MKII, and I'm sure this will be controversial, but if you put the 5 Gillan studio albums up against the 5 Deep Purple MKII albums (1969 to 1973) I have to say the Gillan albums are more consistent. Both Fireball and Who Do We Think We Are have great songs but also some filler material. Likewise, compare the 5 Gillan albums with the first 5 Rainbow and Whitesnake albums and the Gillan albums top them every day. You both mention the lack of writing credits for Janick Gers and I've noted that he is only credited with co-writing on three songs, but all of them feature in my list. I've really struggled to pick my top ten Gillan tracks, as I love so many, but here they are: 10: Mutually Assured Destruction - single 1981 (Tormé, Towns, Gillan, McCoy, Underwood) 9: Nervous - Glory Road 1980 (Towns, Gillan) 8: Secret Of The Dance - Mr. Universe 1979 (Towns, Gillan) 7: No Laughing In Heaven - Future Shock 1981 (Tormé, Towns, Gillan, McCoy, Underwood) 6: What's The Matter - Magic 1982 (Gillan, Gers, McCoy) 5: For Your Dreams - Future Shock 1981 (Towns, Gillan) 4: Men Of War - Double Trouble 1981 (Gillan, McCoy) 3: Bluesy Blue Sea - Magic 1982 (Gillan, Gers) 2: Mr. Universe - Mr. Universe 1979 (Towns, Gillan) 1: Sunbeam - Double Trouble 1981 (Gillan, Gers, McCoy, Underwood)
Really, anything off Mr Universe. It's one of those albums that just gets better and better each time I play it, ever since I dropped the needle on side 1 about 40 years ago!
I love the fact that there's such a fan of Gillan (the band), and that person has a lot of visibility, so I'm aware of this. I wish there were a Martin Popoff for all my favorite bands out there.
Ian Gillan toured Australia in 1991 and played his Toolbox album , and a few Deep Purple classics at a 500 capacity pub/club , Wow what a show , Toolbox great album
Ian Gillan didn't receive enough U.S. press during this period. I don't know his catalog, and I was right in the middle of a lot of listening mid to late teens.
Took me a while to get here... #1 Gillan song is definitely Mr Universe (fun fact Episode 6 also had a song called Mr Universe) #2-10 (in no particular order): Sacre Bleu, Nervous, Men of War, Demon Driver, In your Dreams, Running White Face City Boy, Bite the Bullet, I'll Rip your Spine Out, (The Ballad of) Lucitania Express. So many great songs to choose from. Excellent show!
This list could look completely different tomorrow. Too many good songs from this criminally underrated band. 10. Unchain Your Brain 9. No Easy Way 8. If You Believe Me 7. Don't Want the Truth 6. (The Ballad of) The Lucitania Express 5. Vengeance 4. Bluesy Blue Sea 3. Born to Kill 2. No Laughing in Heaven 1. Mr. Universe
A much overlooked band these days, I can remember when they toured the UK every year with around 40, yes 40!, gigs on a single tour (one with Budgie in support). It's almost as of they had two careers running simultaneously, the singles band (loads of TOTP footage on UA-cam) and the albums. Great memories.
I basically went well On the Rocks/Mr. Universe would be one and two but am not as familiar with the catalog as I was 30+ years ago. I would definitely have Running White Face City Boy in my top ten since that is the one song I heard on the radio(once) which led me to Glory Road, I believe the only album with an official US release - I know I had imports of all the others. Ironically, or maybe helps explain why, all of the Ian Gillan Band's albums were officially released here. I don't know if I've ever seen a non-promotional/cut-out version of any of them though. Looking at the first few comments I know No Laughing in Heaven & No Easy Way would be in my top ten.
Gillan what a great band thanks for giving them there dues and showing peple kust how great they really are ny top ten (if anyone cares) is: 1. Fighting man 2. On the rocks 3. If you believe me (live) 4. Mutuay assired destruction (live) 5. Whats the matter? 6. Running white face city boy 7. Mr universe 8. If i sing softly 9. Bite the Bullet 10. Sleeping on the job Honourable mentios living for the city, roller and I dont want the truth
Quick point. Being in the UK I can confirm that M.A.D was an A side. I bought it at the time as it wasn't originally an album song. Can't remember the B side. I don't know what my top 10 would be as I was really into this band at the time. Massive Bernie fan (I have a ton of his solo albums) and a Colin fan (check out his Blue Touch Paper Project) and Mick and John are both Rock legends. I'm going to throw in No Easy Way, The Reading version of Smoke on the Water, On the Rocks, Higher and Higher and Message in a Bottle (not the Police song). I have some bootlegs with Janick on guitar and although I'm Bernie biased he really could play and fitted into the band nicely. I was listening to Bite the Bullet the other day. I'm not sure if either of you mentioned this one but if anyone hasn't heard Bernie before get into this one. He is on fire. It's only been a year or two but I miss chatting to Bernie on Facebook. Such a genuine guy and deserved way more success.
By far the grestest band ever....I got fed up waiting for them to come to north america so in 82 I went and saw 5 shows, I was also give a soundboard recording of the Bristol show which no one has....great treatment to me from the band and roadies.
Space Truckin off Machine Head turned Gillan into my favorite hard rock singer as well. Imagine my delight to discover a re-released the Best of Gillan (which I had no idea existed) and to hear Mr. Universe on a stoned road trip to San Antonio. "Maybe we're going somewhere, if so we can find the end!" Love his obsession with Infinity.
This is so hard, Gillan were such a fantastic band, so many excellent songs I seen them in England 4 times each gig was awesome. 1, Mutually assured destruction , 2, Mr Universe , 3, On the rocks, 4, Secret of the dance, 5, Vengeance , 6, Sleeping on the job, 7, Abbey of Thelema , 8, Bite the bullet, 9,No laughing in heaven, 10, Roller, 11, No easy way, 12, Unchain your brain, 13, Born to kill, 14, Trouble, 15, New Orleans, 16, Night ride out of Phoenix, 17, For your dreams, 18,Future shock, 19, If you believe, 20, Running white face , city boy, My top 20 Gillan songs all of them are fantastic,
Hi Pete, hi Martin, hope you guys are doing great today. Here's my list -I'm Your Man (The Japanese Album) -Puget Sound (Mr. Universe) -Mr Universe -South Africa ( Magic -Bonus Track- ) -Night Ride Out Of Phoenix (Future Shock) -Sleeping On The Job (Live At The BBC 79/80) -For Your Dreams (Future Shock) -I'll Rip Your Spine Out (Double Trouble -She Tears Me Down (Mr. Universe) -Demon Driver (Magic)
Speaking of Janick, I saw his band White Spirit a few times in the late '70s and he was doing those Ritchie Blackmore guitar hero poses back then, as well. Might be nice to have a NWOBHM bands feature.
@@CB-xr1eg Yes and before their record contract, White Spirit were pretty much a Purple tribute band - more than half their set was Purple tunes. Janick could crank out Burn like nobody's business. They also did a cracking version of John Miles' Nice Man Jack.
Liam Genocky on drums for "Gillan". Pete Barnacle played live. Genocky, Byrd & McCoy were previously in Zzebra. McCoy produced & played on the first "official" NWOBHM recording... look it up. :)
Pictures Of Hell is from the solo album Toolbox not Gillan the band. CLEAR Air TURBULENCE is by The Ian Gillan Band, released before they became Gillan.
I read on the Hoffman forum that the Gillan Cd's suffer from poor sound quality. Anyone want to weigh in on whether i need to seek out the Virgin Atlantic original Cd's?
Excellent lists and honorable mentions! ( Due to overlap) Pardo & Popoff created a TOP 17 songs by GILLAN !!!! If I could add three more (to make a top 20).... 1. Are You Sure? (Glory Road) ...heavy bass, great feel. Amazing vocals! 2. Running, White Face, City Boy (Glory Road) ....perfect for a speeding ticket.hehe 3. Men of War (Double Trouble) ...epic! powerful! etc. My honorable mentions: No Easy Way....Lucitania Express...Mutually Assured Destruction
Dear Pete, Martin, It is very difficult to rank the Gillan songs. The music of the band is very nice, very atmospheric and homogeneous. There are plenty of underrated songs, even for the Gillan’s fans, like « Take a hold of yourself », « Back in the game », « Your mother was right ». It is very difficult to stop at 10 ! My ranking is often changing but today, this is : 1- Fighting man 2 : On the rocks 3 : Your mother was right 4 : If I sing softly 5 : Sunbeam 6 : Back in the game 7 : She tears me down 8 : Mr Universe 9 : Life goes on 10 : For your dreams But I forget « Bluesy blue sea », « Roller », « Bite the bullet », « Secret of the dance », « If you believe », « Nervous », « Are you sure », etc. This band has been for me the best band of all the ex Purple members. Incredibly and miserabily underrated. I always thought Colin Towns has been the musician who best understood what to compose for Ian Gillan’s voice. And I always regreted they never worked together again.
In no specific order for me. 1.Second Sight/ Secret Of The Dance 2. Are You Sure 3. Bite The Bullet 4.If I sing Softly 5. For Your Dreams 6. Sunbeam 7.Born To Kill 8. Driving Me Wild 9. No Easy Way 10.Your Mother Was Right
Thanks a lot Pete, I had Gillan Mr Universe in my cart on Amazon and about an hour after you and mr Popoff did your top ten song show it's no longer available. 😫
l saw Ian Gillan on the GILLAN TOOLBOX tour in a small pub in Melbourne, Australia in 1991 l think it was. Ian was pissed. The drummer was the bloke from Y & T.
John McCoy produced "Riblja Corba " ( one of greatest ex Yogoslav bands ) 1981 " Mrtva Priroda ( Dead Nature ) , Buvlja Pijaca ( Market Place ) and " Istina " ( Truth ) 1985 . He is our friend . Check out - intresting rock blues on foreign language .
1(The Ballad Of) The Lucitania Express 2Future Shock 3I'll Rip Your Spine Out 4No Laughing in Heaven 5If I Sing Softly 6Men of War 7What's the Matter 8Bluesy Blue Sea 9Running, White Face, City Boy 10Bite the Bullet Nothing to say of the bonus tracks on re-editions!!!
I couldn't but cheated in my favorite top 10 songs: 10. I'm Your Man 09. Demon Driver 08. She Tears Me Down 07. Nightmare 06. Secret Of the Dance 05. Fighting Man 04. Hadely Bop Pop 03. Night Ride Out Of Phoenix / Unchain Your Brain 02. Sleeping On the Job / Bluesy Blue Sea 01. Bite the Bullet / Mr. Universe
Glory Road is pretty much perfect. At least Running White Face, Are You Sure, On The Rocks and Unchain Your Brain, maybe also Your Mother was Right, Nervous and No Easy Way. Other great Gillan stuff: Mr Universe, Fighting Man (amazing... just amazing), Secret of Dance, Ballad of Lucitania Express, Sacre Bleu, Bite the Bullet, some others too escape my mind right now.
My favourite Deep Purple “spin off” band.Impossible to pick 10 favourites it changes daily.my personal preference is for the Bernie Torme era,but all great.
I love Rainbow but Gillan were my favourite Purple spin-off band. A shame they never went big in the US. Abbey of Thelema Men of War Second Sight/Secret of the Dance (Mr Universe version) Message in a Bottle (Japanese album version) Higher and Higher Bite the Bullet Don't Want the Truth For Your Dreams Dead of Night (Mr Universe version) Not Weird Enough
I, Secret of the dance (Mr Universe is such a great LP) II, Mr Universe III, Message in a bottle IV, Death of night V, Roller VI, Don't wan't the truth VII, (The ballad of) Lucitania express VIII, Running, white face city boy IX, if I sing softly X, sunbeam XI, demon driver ... and so on ...
Fighting man is a killer. The first album i bought after Ozzy left Sabbath was Mr Universe. Great band live. MAD was an A side single with a story book sleeve. I have the original Future Shock with the book and i have the later hard back book version.
No 1 Mr Universe cant disagree with that - other favourites - Fighting Man, Roller, No Easy Way, Abbey of Thelema, On the Rocks, Men of War, Born to Kill, Future Shock, Mutually Assured Destruction (had the single with the cover as mentioned below - the Maelstrom was the b side - however it was a real shame that while we got the live version on double trouble with the guitar solo blasting in after the drums brig it back for the instrumental apassage to end it, it was with Janick Gers and not Bernie Torme - a version of that was released a lot later, however I hazily recal them doing this on a tv show - it may be the one where they cut into No Easy way rather then go into the solo after M.A.D. where Bernie killed it and subsequently did a guitar smash up.) Honourable mentions for unchain your brain, are you sure, sleeping on the job (cacking on the yob), time and again, if I sing softly, i'll rip your spine out, bluesy blue sea - in fact there are only really a handful of songs I skip when lietening to Gillan - mainly If you believe me and No LAughing in heaven (funny the first few times a bit grating after a while though)
Me and the wife where sitting on a wall in Paris in 2014, Janick just appeared, look at each other in the face, points at my Disgorge shit, nodded at each other and he disappeared into the crowd.
"are you sure" ...'message in the bottle" ...LOVE THESE SONGS ! .
Hi I'm Patrick from Germany. You are doing a great job. You have an incredible amount of expertise in heavy metal and hard rock music. I'm glad I found your channel. Greetings from Germany . Keep it up .
Great great great ! to hear two Gillan fans talk about him and his band. The episode on the albums was nice and this one about the top song is even nicer.
For reasons you mentioned, we were not much exposed to Gillan Band in America. I only had Glory Road back then and it is still my favorite GB album today.
Having discovered the rest of GB albums much later I am not neutral, my top two tracks are 1) If You Believe Me and 2) Are You Sure .. you didn't mention any of those 😭😄
Pete you've done it again, highlighted one of my favourite bands ever, when nobody else bothers. Totally pleased with your output and views, bringing forgotten bands to the fore. Thank you.
I have Ian Gillian Band's CD Scarabus & Clear Air Turbulence - bit jazzy but rocks, I love it.
Scarubus, Mercury High, Money Lender Five Moons! 🥁
Love Gillan Band so much!
1.Roller
2.Mr.Universe
3.Are You Sure
4.Mutually Assured Destruction
5.Running White Face Citiboy
6.On the Rocks
7.Nervous
8.For Your Dreams
9.Born to Kill
10.Secret of the Dance
11.No Laughing in Heaven
I could keep going. There are so many good songs. RIP Bernie Torme
Great List! I'm too a huge Bernie Tormé fan. I was slightly disappointed that Bernie wasn't in the band anymore when I saw Gillan here in Finland march 1982. But still it was an awesome gig!
@SabuPtolemy I know Martin loves Trouble. Don't know if I've ever heard Pete mention them.
Man oh man I love Gillan. One of my favourite bands. I dont have the albums before Mr Universe. Mutually Assured Destruction was a single here in the UK and came with a booklet. I still have it. It's one of my favourite Gillan tunes.
Many great songs, love their versions of New Orleans and Trouble, and from Magic "South Africa" . and Living for the city the Stevie Wonder cover great song. And thanks for this and all the others shos you made
I remember Gillan at Redcar Coatham Bowl in 1978. I was right in front of Ian but I couldn't see a thing during Secret of The Dance because of the dry ice. It took a while before it cleared and I could see the band. Steve Byrd was fantastic on guitar. Great concert. Saw Gillan many times.
Great show! On the Rocks, Mutually assured Destruction , No easy way, Whats the matter, Restless, Demon Driver, No laughing in heaven, Sleeping on the job, Born to kill, Sunbeam
Thank you guys for your Top 10 Gillan songs.🎤🎸🎵🥁
They were really big in the U.K., never understood why they made no impact in the U.S., what a loss. They even made it second on the bill at the 1982 Castle Donington " Monsters of Rock". Looking at their back catalogue, I can't see any bad tracks, and so many cracking ones. What a truly brilliant heavy rock band, and they had such an original guitarist in Bernie (R.I.P)
Here's my top ten:
1. On the Rocks
2. Secret of the Dance
3. Mr. Universe
4. Future Shock
5. Sunbeam
6. Born to Kill
7. No Easy Way
8. Fighting Man
9. If I Sing Softly
10. Bluesy Blue Sea
But there's so many others, most of them in fact. By the way, Martin Popoff is a bloody brilliant guest, get him back on as much as you can!
According to some on this thread, 5 silver albums in a row isn't successful.
I think it was partly the record company letting them down in the U.S. and the fact that Gillan were perhaps a little too quirky for most American audiences, not a commercial sounding band at all (thank Christ!).
Martin Rules!!!
I bought all the reissues because the looked cool on Pete's shelf. Going to give them another listen. Love Gillans Inn
Wow, did I ever enjoy this! Interesting to see see that you both were on similar wavelengths. This made me break out the Gillan catalog and shake the house. Great job, guys!
Just finished watching the broadcast. I'm going to try to listen to some of this albums.
Entertaining show. Great subject, two knowlegeable hosts. Occasional disagreements make it all the more interesting.
Never listened to Gillan, but I do love these top 10 episodes. It gives me a chance to pause you guys and check out the songs on UA-cam
Gillan is worth it
I'll second that.
Went to England in 86 and stumbled across the Gillan compilation album, What I Did On My Vacation. Had no idea what he had done after Deep Purple... And I’m a huge Blackmore fan who knew all things Rainbow.! Got back home to SoCal and started finding all the individual Gillan albums in the Import bins of my local record stores... What an awesome output of music he put out after Purple!! Ian can come up with a vocal pattern to anything, and great lyrics too... Great episode guys!! 🤘
That Gillan whole catalog is soooo good, always loved that band! Still got all those albums (in vinyl) and there's no bad songs at all. One great collection was the only finnish release "Gillan is Heavy-rock" (1981) which has a couple of cool non-albums songs too like "Take a Hold for Yourself", "Bad News" and "One for the Road". Cheers for Gillan!!
I've never checked out Gillan before which is surprising since I love DP so much. But these 20 songs give me a great place to start!
As we say in the UK, I'm chuffed (pleased) with the fact that you and Martin are fans of Gillan.
A big thank you Pete. I hope your video will invite your fans to discover this fantastic band. GILLAN. A fantastic chemistry between 5 genius. And the king of these 5 genius is, without no doubt, Mister Colin Towns. The best composer who ever worked with Ian Gillan.
Amazing episode, gentlemen! Martin's ESSENTIAL 1980s book absolutely got me into Gillan. I grew up as a Purple/Rainbow/Whitesnake fan, but I never heard the Gillan material. It has been fantastic to "discover" all of this brilliant material in recent years! You guys make a very entertaining duo.
May I suggest a Sabbath list for a future episode? Cheers!!
Martin and Peter are must watch!
Great show Pete, Martin, just to clear one thing up re. for Gillan fans only bonus disc, it came with the initial release of the album I went with some friends and we all bought it on it's release day it was a limited edition with Glory Road. Not a fan club record as far as I know unless they re-issued it at a later stage. Great live band.
Yup, allegedly the first 10000 presses...
Gillan not only had some incredible songs but had a great sense of humour.Can't be many bands who toured with topless dancers! Rolller is a fantastically heavy song.
Great show Pete, you and Martin work so well together. Hope you can work in tandem again soon.
GILLAN- Mr Universe - obviously just my opinion- @ stone cold classic 💯. The 4 songs in a row for me / songs 5-6-7-8 on that album Mr Universe - VENGEANCE- Puget Sound- Dead of Night - might be my favorite 4 songs in a row on any album /. Phenomenal! Love GILLAN! Again - PETE and Martin / unreal show.
I have fond memories of visiting the record shop every week and flipping through the import section hoping to find another Gillan 45. Enjoyed the discussion by Pete and Martin, especially because being in the
US, there are very few people who who can speak of Gillan. I agree with Mr universe for #1, I would have included Your Mother Was Right on the list. But so much to choose from.
great stuff.i liked the Naked Thunder album. Ian is an amazing singer who has made my life a better thing.
I am definitely going to check out Gillan's discography. Love Deep Purple but I really had no idea of how many albums there are from Gillan until recently when I saw the previous ranking of the albums that Pete did. If Martin and Pete recommend it, it has to be pretty damn good. Thank you both for this rankings. Pete you do a wonderful job every day providing us with information and insight to enrich our musical knowledge and Martin, I love your books man, extremely enjoyable and informative. All you both do allows me to enjoy my favorite hobby even more. Keep it up!!
@SabuPtolemy perfect. I will!
My first concert, Gillan with Budgie opening. Talk about peeking early.
That was my second ever gig after priest/accept..Swansea top rank 81
Same here ! Birmingham Odeon 1981, Nightwing, Budgie and Gillan. The next band I saw was UFO, those were the days.
@@stewy62 happy days indeed. Next was motorhead in port Talbot on the day the Falklands war broke in 82 but gets fuzzy after that lol
@@stewy62 I saw them in Ipswich. Mind was a bit fuzzy, but I thought there was another band on the bill....now I know the name. 😎
My second concert ever was Gillan in Himanka, Finland in march 1982. What an experience, I was 15 then 😎
Hey Pete Martin I own alot of Your books Rainbow Sabbath UFO great books Martin my top 10 Gillan Songs #10 No Laughing in Heaven #9 Mr. Universe #8 Don't Want The Truth #7 Sunbeam #6Message in a Bottle #5 Sleeping On The Job #4 Roller #3 Future Shock #2 Night Ride out of Phoenix #1 Dead of Night The members of Deep Purple top musicians great music keep rocking Pete and Martin you are the real Author on Hard Rock and Metal books
Agreed!..Gillan were an absolutely fantastic band. Way, way ahead of their time.
Gillan is the man !
Great stuff, great band, especially the Bernie period! Thanks Pete and Martin. I'd include "Abbey Of Thelema", "Your Mother Was Right", "Are You Sure" and "Fight For Your Dreams". Colin's piano solo on "She Tears Me Down" deserves mention too! Bernie's whammy bar/feedback stylings were hugely impactful on my playing as a young lad. Not super technical but fiery and raw. I was good friends with Matt(son of Big John) McCoy back in the '90's. Great guy and had a ton of cool Gillan stories. Never got to meet Big John, sadly.
For Your Dreams*
Abbey Of Thelema is great. So atmospheric.
My first gig at Sheffield City Hall was ‘Gillan’ in 1979 on the Mr Universe tour. As I recall the support acts were ‘Samson’ and ‘Randy California’. Great show and could not take my eyes off John McCoy who was brilliant both menacing and comical. They started with ‘Secret of the Dance’. Went on to see them on the Glory Road Tour the year after which was just as good. Always a solid band live. It is only recently that I learned about the acrimonious split at the end and how Gillan disappeared leaving the band members wondering what happened to all the money. A sad ending. RIP Bernie Tormé.
I know there's not much love for the (somewhat) pedestrian blues song If You Believe Me but....that Torme solo is in my top ten. Facemelting!
The best Gillan song is definitely "No easy way".
Fighting Man is the same version on the Japanese Album and Mr Universe, hence Steve Byrd and Pete Barnacle are credited on the Mr Universe sleeve. Also, one of my favourite Gillan tracks is the studio version of Smoke On The Water, which was the b-side of the Vengeance single in the UK (a one-take throwaway with a super-dirty mix!) My ears are still ringing from seeing them at the Marquee in Soho on the Mr Universe tour, great memories!
Can't believe this episode passed me by. I am a huge Gillan fan. Just a minute or so in and had to pause just to comment on Martin's mention of "The Dictators". Almost unknown over here in the UK but I do have a 12" single of Search and destroy/Sleeping with the TV on. I found it in a bargain rack and bought it because the band members names were so spinal tap. I seem to remember handsome Rick Manitoba Ross the boss Friedman and Adny(sic) Shernoff and Scott top ten Kempner
I saw them live several times in the early 80s, and they kicked ass. My favourite show though was with Gers on guitar. Their only downfall was that their albums were not well produced.
Hey Pete. I'm late to the party, haven't been on UA-cam for a while for reasons I won't go into. You mentioned the bonus album For Gillan Fans Only. We got that free when we first bought Glory Road whether we were in the fan club or not. I think they titled it that way for a joke or something. Thanks to you and Mr Popoff for your top 10. I'm going have to catch up with your videos now, I'm sure it will be fun.
Here is my top 10
10-I'll rip your spine out
9-Dead of night
8-Born to kill
7-On the rocks
6-Fighting man
5-Don't want the truth
4-Bluesy blue sea
3-Mr.Universe
2-Are you sure
1-No laughing in heaven
wish I can squeeze more in there. Love every single song by GILLAN.
As a huge Gillan fan I was so excited when I saw this post (and the Gillan history and ranking the Gillan studio albums). Thank you for raising the awareness of this hugely underrated band. I became a huge Ian Gillan fan in the mid to late 70s with Deep Purple MKII, and I'm sure this will be controversial, but if you put the 5 Gillan studio albums up against the 5 Deep Purple MKII albums (1969 to 1973) I have to say the Gillan albums are more consistent. Both Fireball and Who Do We Think We Are have great songs but also some filler material. Likewise, compare the 5 Gillan albums with the first 5 Rainbow and Whitesnake albums and the Gillan albums top them every day.
You both mention the lack of writing credits for Janick Gers and I've noted that he is only credited with co-writing on three songs, but all of them feature in my list. I've really struggled to pick my top ten Gillan tracks, as I love so many, but here they are:
10: Mutually Assured Destruction - single 1981 (Tormé, Towns, Gillan, McCoy, Underwood)
9: Nervous - Glory Road 1980 (Towns, Gillan)
8: Secret Of The Dance - Mr. Universe 1979 (Towns, Gillan)
7: No Laughing In Heaven - Future Shock 1981 (Tormé, Towns, Gillan, McCoy, Underwood)
6: What's The Matter - Magic 1982 (Gillan, Gers, McCoy)
5: For Your Dreams - Future Shock 1981 (Towns, Gillan)
4: Men Of War - Double Trouble 1981 (Gillan, McCoy)
3: Bluesy Blue Sea - Magic 1982 (Gillan, Gers)
2: Mr. Universe - Mr. Universe 1979 (Towns, Gillan)
1: Sunbeam - Double Trouble 1981 (Gillan, Gers, McCoy, Underwood)
Really, anything off Mr Universe. It's one of those albums that just gets better and better each time I play it, ever since I dropped the needle on side 1 about 40 years ago!
Gillan very underrated band!
I love the fact that there's such a fan of Gillan (the band), and that person has a lot of visibility, so I'm aware of this. I wish there were a Martin Popoff for all my favorite bands out there.
Ian Gillan toured Australia in 1991 and played his Toolbox album , and a few Deep Purple classics at a 500 capacity pub/club , Wow what a show , Toolbox great album
Ian Gillan didn't receive enough U.S. press during this period. I don't know his catalog, and I was right in the middle of a lot of listening mid to late teens.
Check it out, it's fantastic!
You're missing out. Stellar NWOBHM-style rock n' roll.
Anybody remember McCoy's late-80s band Mammoth, with former Samson singer Nicky Moore. I liked them, very good songs on the more melodic side.
@@TheTVisions Literally NEVER heard of them. Sounds great tho 👊😎👊😎
Also, like someone alluded to in the video, the Gillan albums were never released in the US.
Took me a while to get here...
#1 Gillan song is definitely Mr Universe (fun fact Episode 6 also had a song called Mr Universe)
#2-10 (in no particular order): Sacre Bleu, Nervous, Men of War, Demon Driver, In your Dreams, Running White Face City Boy, Bite the Bullet, I'll Rip your Spine Out, (The Ballad of) Lucitania Express.
So many great songs to choose from. Excellent show!
This list could look completely different tomorrow. Too many good songs from this criminally underrated band.
10. Unchain Your Brain
9. No Easy Way
8. If You Believe Me
7. Don't Want the Truth
6. (The Ballad of) The Lucitania Express
5. Vengeance
4. Bluesy Blue Sea
3. Born to Kill
2. No Laughing in Heaven
1. Mr. Universe
No Laughing in Heaven is tops for me! Great underrated band!
I was shocked at how good Gillian was on the Sabbath / Born Again concert CD.
Tremendous ranting ! Very cool.
That was my first concert in 1983! 🥁
In the Japanese album, this is Liam Genockey who plays drums, not Pete Barnacle. Pete joined Gillan when the band began to tour.
A much overlooked band these days, I can remember when they toured the UK every year with around 40, yes 40!, gigs on a single tour (one with Budgie in support). It's almost as of they had two careers running simultaneously, the singles band (loads of TOTP footage on UA-cam) and the albums. Great memories.
I basically went well On the Rocks/Mr. Universe would be one and two but am not as familiar with the catalog as I was 30+ years ago. I would definitely have Running White Face City Boy in my top ten since that is the one song I heard on the radio(once) which led me to Glory Road, I believe the only album with an official US release - I know I had imports of all the others. Ironically, or maybe helps explain why, all of the Ian Gillan Band's albums were officially released here. I don't know if I've ever seen a non-promotional/cut-out version of any of them though. Looking at the first few comments I know No Laughing in Heaven & No Easy Way would be in my top ten.
I like all the songs on mr universe and glory road also was at the rainbow theatre when Ritchie Blackmore joined Gillan for the encore
'Roller' best song - blew me away when first heard it at Reading Festival
I love when Gillan sings softly also that’s why I would have the proggy For Your Dreams and If I Sing Softly in there.
The Gillan catalogue is fantastic. Favourite song for me has to be "If You Believe Me" from Glory Road
My fav as well 😍
Gillan what a great band thanks for giving them there dues and showing peple kust how great they really are ny top ten (if anyone cares) is:
1. Fighting man
2. On the rocks
3. If you believe me (live)
4. Mutuay assired destruction (live)
5. Whats the matter?
6. Running white face city boy
7. Mr universe
8. If i sing softly
9. Bite the Bullet
10. Sleeping on the job
Honourable mentios living for the city, roller and I dont want the truth
Quick point. Being in the UK I can confirm that M.A.D was an A side. I bought it at the time as it wasn't originally an album song. Can't remember the B side. I don't know what my top 10 would be as I was really into this band at the time. Massive Bernie fan (I have a ton of his solo albums) and a Colin fan (check out his Blue Touch Paper Project) and Mick and John are both Rock legends. I'm going to throw in No Easy Way, The Reading version of Smoke on the Water, On the Rocks, Higher and Higher and Message in a Bottle (not the Police song). I have some bootlegs with Janick on guitar and although I'm Bernie biased he really could play and fitted into the band nicely. I was listening to Bite the Bullet the other day. I'm not sure if either of you mentioned this one but if anyone hasn't heard Bernie before get into this one. He is on fire. It's only been a year or two but I miss chatting to Bernie on Facebook. Such a genuine guy and deserved way more success.
B side was Your sister's on my list. I've got that single
By far the grestest band ever....I got fed up waiting for them to come to north america so in 82 I went and saw 5 shows, I was also give a soundboard recording of the Bristol show which no one has....great treatment to me from the band and roadies.
Space Truckin off Machine Head turned Gillan into my favorite hard rock singer as well. Imagine my delight to discover a re-released the Best of Gillan (which I had no idea existed) and to hear Mr. Universe on a stoned road trip to San Antonio. "Maybe we're going somewhere, if so we can find the end!" Love his obsession with Infinity.
This is so hard, Gillan were such a fantastic band, so many excellent songs I seen them in England 4 times each gig was awesome.
1, Mutually assured destruction ,
2, Mr Universe ,
3, On the rocks,
4, Secret of the dance,
5, Vengeance ,
6, Sleeping on the job,
7, Abbey of Thelema ,
8, Bite the bullet,
9,No laughing in heaven,
10, Roller,
11, No easy way,
12, Unchain your brain,
13, Born to kill,
14, Trouble,
15, New Orleans,
16, Night ride out of Phoenix,
17, For your dreams,
18,Future shock,
19, If you believe,
20, Running white face , city boy, My top 20 Gillan songs all of them are fantastic,
I have a Best Of GILLAN cd, has a few songs you guys mentioned. im going to give it a spin!!!
Hi Pete, hi Martin, hope you guys are doing great today. Here's my list
-I'm Your Man (The Japanese Album)
-Puget Sound (Mr. Universe)
-Mr Universe
-South Africa ( Magic -Bonus Track- )
-Night Ride Out Of Phoenix (Future Shock)
-Sleeping On The Job (Live At The BBC 79/80)
-For Your Dreams (Future Shock)
-I'll Rip Your Spine Out (Double Trouble
-She Tears Me Down (Mr. Universe)
-Demon Driver (Magic)
Speaking of Janick, I saw his band White Spirit a few times in the late '70s and he was doing those Ritchie Blackmore guitar hero poses back then, as well. Might be nice to have a NWOBHM bands feature.
Janick was impersonating Ritchie before Yngwie.👍😁
@@CB-xr1eg Yes and before their record contract, White Spirit were pretty much a Purple tribute band - more than half their set was Purple tunes. Janick could crank out Burn like nobody's business. They also did a cracking version of John Miles' Nice Man Jack.
The man in red rather than the man in black.
White Spirit supported Gillan on the Glory Road Tour
Liam Genocky on drums for "Gillan". Pete Barnacle played live. Genocky, Byrd & McCoy were previously in Zzebra. McCoy produced & played on the first "official" NWOBHM recording... look it up. :)
All ten of my picks were covered by Pete and Martin in their lists. I agree with "Mr. Universe" being number one!
1 - Lucitania Express
2 - Nightride Out Of Phoenix
3 - For Your Dreams
4 - Pictures Of Hell
5 - Clean Air Turbulance
Pictures Of Hell is from the solo album Toolbox not Gillan the band. CLEAR Air TURBULENCE is by The Ian Gillan Band, released before they became Gillan.
1. Mr Universe 2. No Easy Way 3.Roller 4.Mutually Assured Destruction 5. Vengence 6.On the Rocks 7. Sleeping on the Job
I read on the Hoffman forum that the Gillan Cd's suffer from poor sound quality. Anyone want to weigh in on whether i need to seek out the Virgin Atlantic original Cd's?
Excellent lists and honorable mentions!
( Due to overlap) Pardo & Popoff created a TOP 17 songs by GILLAN !!!!
If I could add three more (to make a top 20)....
1. Are You Sure? (Glory Road) ...heavy bass, great feel. Amazing vocals!
2. Running, White Face, City Boy (Glory Road) ....perfect for a speeding ticket.hehe
3. Men of War (Double Trouble) ...epic! powerful! etc.
My honorable mentions: No Easy Way....Lucitania Express...Mutually Assured Destruction
Martin as I have said before many times, write that book. I have been waiting for over a decade.
Fighting man and Born to kill should be in any list. Two masterpieces.
Dear Pete, Martin,
It is very difficult to rank the Gillan songs. The music of the band is very nice, very atmospheric and homogeneous. There are plenty of underrated songs, even for the Gillan’s fans, like « Take a hold of yourself », « Back in the game », « Your mother was right ». It is very difficult to stop at 10 ! My ranking is often changing but today, this is :
1- Fighting man
2 : On the rocks
3 : Your mother was right
4 : If I sing softly
5 : Sunbeam
6 : Back in the game
7 : She tears me down
8 : Mr Universe
9 : Life goes on
10 : For your dreams
But I forget « Bluesy blue sea », « Roller », « Bite the bullet », « Secret of the dance », « If you believe », « Nervous », « Are you sure », etc.
This band has been for me the best band of all the ex Purple members. Incredibly and miserabily underrated. I always thought Colin Towns has been the musician who best understood what to compose for Ian Gillan’s voice. And I always regreted they never worked together again.
In no specific order for me.
1.Second Sight/ Secret Of The Dance
2. Are You Sure
3. Bite The Bullet
4.If I sing Softly
5. For Your Dreams
6. Sunbeam
7.Born To Kill
8. Driving Me Wild
9. No Easy Way
10.Your Mother Was Right
That's a nice top 10.All great songs.
Thanks a lot Pete, I had Gillan Mr Universe in my cart on Amazon and about an hour after you and mr Popoff did your top ten song show it's no longer available. 😫
M.A.D. and Born to kill are masterpieces
You need to get the 7” Mutually Assured Destruction with the booklet featuring the one act play explaining the song
Saw a documentary on UA-cam a few years ago where non of the ex-band members were very complimentary about Ian Gillan, where money was concerned.
cool!
l saw Ian Gillan on the GILLAN TOOLBOX tour in a small pub in Melbourne, Australia in 1991 l think it was. Ian was pissed. The drummer was the bloke from Y & T.
Mr. Universe ☺️
John McCoy produced "Riblja Corba " ( one of greatest ex Yogoslav bands ) 1981 " Mrtva Priroda ( Dead Nature ) , Buvlja Pijaca ( Market Place ) and " Istina " ( Truth ) 1985 .
He is our friend . Check out - intresting rock blues on foreign language .
M.A.D was released as a single in the UK with a great booklet cover with a post apocalyptic story by Ian Gillan.
Surprised that neither of you had "No Laughing In Heaven" in your top 10 or honourable mentions? I love that song.
1(The Ballad Of) The Lucitania Express
2Future Shock
3I'll Rip Your Spine Out
4No Laughing in Heaven
5If I Sing Softly
6Men of War
7What's the Matter
8Bluesy Blue Sea
9Running, White Face, City Boy
10Bite the Bullet
Nothing to say of the bonus tracks on re-editions!!!
I couldn't but cheated in my favorite top 10 songs:
10. I'm Your Man
09. Demon Driver
08. She Tears Me Down
07. Nightmare
06. Secret Of the Dance
05. Fighting Man
04. Hadely Bop Pop
03. Night Ride Out Of Phoenix / Unchain Your Brain
02. Sleeping On the Job / Bluesy Blue Sea
01. Bite the Bullet / Mr. Universe
Glory Road is pretty much perfect. At least Running White Face, Are You Sure, On The Rocks and Unchain Your Brain, maybe also Your Mother was Right, Nervous and No Easy Way. Other great Gillan stuff: Mr Universe, Fighting Man (amazing... just amazing), Secret of Dance, Ballad of Lucitania Express, Sacre Bleu, Bite the Bullet, some others too escape my mind right now.
Don't forget to give Martin a plug before signing off Pete!
My favourite Deep Purple “spin off” band.Impossible to pick 10 favourites it changes daily.my personal preference is for the Bernie Torme era,but all great.
I love Rainbow but Gillan were my favourite Purple spin-off band. A shame they never went big in the US.
Abbey of Thelema
Men of War
Second Sight/Secret of the Dance (Mr Universe version)
Message in a Bottle (Japanese album version)
Higher and Higher
Bite the Bullet
Don't Want the Truth
For Your Dreams
Dead of Night (Mr Universe version)
Not Weird Enough
Unchain Your Brain - Mr. Universe My top 2 !!!
I, Secret of the dance (Mr Universe is such a great LP)
II, Mr Universe
III, Message in a bottle
IV, Death of night
V, Roller
VI, Don't wan't the truth
VII, (The ballad of) Lucitania express
VIII, Running, white face city boy
IX, if I sing softly
X, sunbeam
XI, demon driver
... and so on ...
Fighting man is a killer. The first album i bought after Ozzy left Sabbath was Mr Universe. Great band live. MAD was an A side single with a story book sleeve. I have the original Future Shock with the book and i have the later hard back book version.
No 1 Mr Universe cant disagree with that - other favourites - Fighting Man, Roller, No Easy Way, Abbey of Thelema, On the Rocks, Men of War, Born to Kill, Future Shock, Mutually Assured Destruction (had the single with the cover as mentioned below - the Maelstrom was the b side - however it was a real shame that while we got the live version on double trouble with the guitar solo blasting in after the drums brig it back for the instrumental apassage to end it, it was with Janick Gers and not Bernie Torme - a version of that was released a lot later, however I hazily recal them doing this on a tv show - it may be the one where they cut into No Easy way rather then go into the solo after M.A.D. where Bernie killed it and subsequently did a guitar smash up.) Honourable mentions for unchain your brain, are you sure, sleeping on the job (cacking on the yob), time and again, if I sing softly, i'll rip your spine out, bluesy blue sea - in fact there are only really a handful of songs I skip when lietening to Gillan - mainly If you believe me and No LAughing in heaven (funny the first few times a bit grating after a while though)
Me and the wife where sitting on a wall in Paris in 2014, Janick just appeared, look at each other in the face, points at my Disgorge shit, nodded at each other and he disappeared into the crowd.