Deep Purple Frontman: Classic Rock Radio A 'Death Sentence For All Sorts Of Older Bands'

Originally formed in 1968, the proto-metal group Deep Purple have been available for two generations of ??heavy metal??. The group claims to have sold somewhere near 100 million records yet it ruffles frontman Ian Gillan's feathers after all these years radio stations primarily their 'classic' hits. "You have this thing called classic rock radio over here," says singer Ian Gillan . "It's been a death sentence for all sorts of older bands. They don't play anything of ours other than 'Smoke on the Water' and 'Highway Star'. "Currently, the group is wrapping up a two-year tour of 48 countries in support of its 2005 album ??Rapture Of The Deep?? (EMI). Gillan even addresses the problem with a song on ??Rapture of the Deep??, called MTV. The song was inspired by a real-life incident in Buffalo, N.Y.??In 2004, from left to right, Roger Glover, Ian Paice, Ian Gillan, Don Airey and Steve Morse??"I heard (Purple bassist) Roger Glover doing a radio interview, trying desperately to talk about a record we did in 2003 called ??Bananas??. I was listening to it and my jaw just dropped, as this deejay ranted on about 1973. She wasn't the slightest bit interested in what he had to say, or anything that had happened in the last 30 years," he says."FULL STORY HERE":CH[CH]http://www.azcentral.com/community/westvalley/articles/0815sur-purple0815.html