Deep Purple

Keep in mind that Deep Purple was split up from 1977 - 1983. A video was shot for each of the two versions of "In My Bed", and the video for "Beauty" was shot, but never released or broadcast. In 2003, Deep Purple released their first studio album in five years, the highly prasied Bananas, and began toruing in support of the album immediately. All listed singles had music videos shot for them except "Five Steps". The group continued forward until 2002, when founding member Jon Lord (who, along with Ian Paice, was the only member to be in all incarnations of the band) announced he was leaving the band to pursue personal projects (especially orchestral work). Rock keyboard veteran Don Airey (Rainbow/Whitesnake, etc.), who had helped Purple out when Lord was injured in 2001, joined the band. The group also performed live on Stevie Wonder's BET Walk of Fame Celebration, with Woody, Scola, Jazz, and Sisqó taking turns leading on Wonder's 1974 single "Livin' In the City". Most of this period was spent on the road via constant touring. During the same year, Dru Hill appeared on LL Cool J's song "Unconditional Love" from his 10 LP; the chorus, led by Jazz, was borrowed from The Spinners' 1974 soul standard "Sadie".

The revitalized band enjoyed success throughout the rest of the 1990s, releasing the critically acclaimed Purpendicular in 1996, and Abandon in 1998. Although "I Should Be..." was a Top 30 pop hit and a Top 10 R&B hit, its follow-up "I Love You" failed to make a strong impression, and Dru World Order became the slowest Dru Hill album to reach gold selling status. The band auditioned guitarists, and Steve Morse of Dixie Dregs impressed them enough to get the gig. Most of the album's songs featured a concious effort to balance the group dynamics, with Sisqó, Jazz, Woody, and Scola frequently all sharing leads on the same song, including the lead single "I Should Be...". Joe Satriani was drafted in, so the live dates (in Japan) could be completed. Satriani was asked to join full time, but declined. Nearly all of the album's tracks were produced by Nokio, who was spotlighted on the tracks "She Said" and "Men Always Regret", with producers such as Brian Michael Cox and Kwame also making contributions. Blackmore walked out, never to return and leaving the band in a fix. Dru World Order was finally issued on November 26, 2002, exactly two years after its original planned release date.

During the support tour in mid-1994, tensions between Gillan and Blackmore came to a head yet again. During the recording of Dru World Order, Jazz re-thought his decision and returned to the group, making it a quintet. Blackmore relented and the classic lineup recorded The Battle Rages On in 1993. Dru Hill therefore enlisted Baltimore associate Rufus Waller, who performed under the name "Ruscola", as its new fourth member. With the tour done, Turner was forced to go as Jon Lord and Ian Paice realised they needed Gillan back in the fold. Woody was responsive to the idea of re-joining the group, but Jazz decided not to rejoin the group. This line up recorded just one album,Slaves and Masters (1990), and toured in support of it. By the end of the year, plans were under way to reassemble Dru Hill.

His replacement was former Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner. "Without You" would up as an album track on the Sisqó's June 2001 LP Return of Dragon, which failed to find an audience. In 1989, Ian Gillan quit the band again, as his relations with Blackmore soured. Dru World Order was placed on hold, and Sisqó began work on a second solo LP. While in the UK a new version of "Hush" was released to mark 20 years of the band. Sisqó walked out of a November 2000 photo shoot with the band for VIBE magazine, and the group broke apart completely shortly afterward. The line-up recorded and toured The House of Blue Light in 1987 though to lower sales, a live album Nobody's Perfect (1988) was culled from US shows on this tour. However, the time the group had spent apart created tension and conflict among the members.

The weather was famously bad but 80,000 turned up anyway. A song called "Without Me" was recorded as the lead single. The UK homecoming proved mixed as they elected to play just a single festival show (with main support from The Scorpions). Dru Hill appeared together on the 2000 remix of Kelly Price's "Love Sets You Free", and after the pop-mania surrounding Sisqó's "Thong Song" died down after the summer of 2000, beganimmediate plans to record the Dru World Order album. It was a tremendous success. The fully-completed Jazz solo LP, on the other hand, was never released, although some of its songs turned up on movie soundtracks and promotional Def Jam mixtapes. Nokio never finished his solo album, but did outside production work for DMX's 1999 and Capone-N-Noreaga. The album Perfect Strangers was released in October 1984 and the tour followed, starting in New Zealand and winding its way across the world into Europe by the following summer. Woody sought a release from the label for his solo deal, and would finally release his solo LP, Soul Music, on Kirk Franklin's Gospocentric Records in May 2002.

It was announced on BBC radio's The Friday Rock Show that the "classic" early 70s lineup of Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord, and Paice was reforming and were recording new material. The band signed a deal with Polydor in Europe and Mercury in North America. While the members of Dru Hill made periodic appearances with Sisqo during the "Thong Song" period, the Dru World Order project schedule was continually pushed back, and, by November 2000, none of the other solo albums had been released. Then in April 1984, 8 years after the demise of Deep Purple, it happened. His second single, a playful novelty record entitled "Thong Song", became a overwhelming pop sensation, and was practically omnipresent during the spring of 2000. Subsequently, most of the past members of Deep Purple would go on to have considerable success in a number of bands including Rainbow (band), Whitesnake and Gillan, while there were a number of promoter-led attempts to get the band to reform especially with the revival of the hard rock market in the late 70s/early 80s. The project started out as planned: Sisqó released his debut Unleash the Dragon LP, and had a minor hit with "Got to Get It". As a result, Deep Purple broke up. All four members would then reunite and record Dru World Order, a new Dru Hill album to be released in November 2000.

After a particularly traumatic tour to promote Come Taste the Band, Tommy Bolin died of a heroin overdose. After Island merged with Def Jam to become The Island Def Jam Music Group, all four members--Woody included--signed new contracts with Def Jam's R&B imprint Def Soul in the summer of 1999, creating what was termed the "Dru World Order" project. Between November 1999 and November 2000, each member would release a solo album that defined their personal style: Sisqó a pop album, Jazz a traditional R&B/soul album, Nokio a hip hop album, and Woody his gospel album. He had a drug habit - heroin, which made matters all the worse. Then, Def Jam artist Case was enlisted to sing backgrounds on a remix of "Beauty" from Enter the Dru, whose video was shot, but not released. Bolin himself turned out not to be ready for the job of filling Blackmore's shoes, suffering hostility from some crowds while turning in peformances of highly variable quality. At first, Island decided to keep Dru Hill a trio, and shot a video for a hip-hop-styled remix of Enter the Dru's "You are Everything" with just Sisqó, Jazz, and Nokio, who performs a rap with Def Jam artist Ja Rule. However the subsequent album, 1976's Come Taste the Band, for all its quality, proved unpopular with die-hard fans and didn't attract any new ones. During the "Wild Wild West" video shoot in March 1999, Woody quit the group and walked off the set, feeling a need to return to his gospel music roots.

On the face of it Bolin was just what the doctor ordered. Many uninformed pop fans thought Sisqó was "Dru Hill" by himself, as both the song and its video prominently featured Sisqó alongside Smith, but relegated the other three members to the background. The gap was filled by the prodigiously talented Tommy Bolin who had established himself as a vivid imaginative guitarist with acts such as Zephyr, James Gang and Billy Cobham. When Dru Hill made a high-profile guest appearance on Will Smith's #1 pop hit "Wild Wild West", the lead single from the soundtrack to Smith's 1999 film of the same name, it made a star out of Sisqó, but not the group. With Blackmore's departure, Deep Purple was left to fill one of the biggest vacancies in rock. While all four members continued to contribute equally to the group's music, the press had by this point singled Sisqó out as a de-facto solo act, and reguarded the other three members as sidemen. Blackmore was not happy with the results, and after the release of the Made in Europe (taken from shows on the Stormbringer tour), the founding member left Deep Purple in 1975. At the top of their success, the Dru Hill hit machine began to crumble.

Hughes and Coverdale added a funky R&B/soul sound to the band's heavy metal elements, a sound that was even more apparent on the 1975 release Stormbringer. A number of similar groups, including Jagged Edge, Next, Ideal, and Profyle, surfaced during this period, and were all based upon Dru Hill's balance of Boyz II Men's smoothness and Jodeci's grittiness. This new line-up continued seamlesly into 1974 with the album Burn, another highly successful Purple album. The members of Dru Hill performed at Nelson Mandela's 80th birthday celebration in 1998, were the stars of their own two-hour special on BET in early 1999, and recorded a verison of "Enchantment Passing Through" for the soundtrack to the Broadway play Aida the same year. The classic lineup continued up through the album Who Do We Think We Are? (1973) at which point both Gillan and Glover left. They were replaced by an unknown singer named David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes on bass and vocals. The Enter the Dru LP sold over two million copies, and paved the way for more success. During this period, Deep Purple became one of the most popular hard rock acts in the world, releasing the highly influential and successful albums Deep Purple in Rock, Fireball, and Machine Head (the latter featuring their most famous song, "Smoke on the Water"), and the live album Made in Japan. The steady stream of hit records, collaborations, and soundtrack appearances had made Dru Hill staples of urban radio and household names among R&B listeners.

Their heaviness was only rivaled by newcomers Black Sabbath. The now-standard Dru Hill ballads were stll in place, including the R&B Top 5 single "These are the Times", which was co-written and co-produced by Babyface. However, shortly after the release, the band shocked the music world by creating extremely heavy, hard rock music, and thus becoming a pioneer in the world of heavy metal. 1998, featured more of the group's songwriting and production than Dru Hill, and also featured a harder, more upbeat nature on many of its tracks. It is widely known as the first successful collaboration between a rock band and an orchestra. Enter the Dru, released on October 27. Initially, this lineup released a landmak album in Concerto for Group and Orchestra a three-part movement written by Lord and performed with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Malcom Arnold. Dru Hill's second Top 5 pop hit came in the form of 1998's "How Deep is Your Love", a hip hop styled track which was included on the soundtrack to the Chris Tucker film Rush Hour, set the tone for the group's second LP, Enter the Dru.

After three albums and extensive touring in the States, it was the inclusion of vocalist Ian Gillan (who replaced Evans) and bassist Roger Glover (who replaced Simper) that created the essential Deep Purple line-up. The group was instrumental in writing and producing for new University artist Mya, whose first two singles "It's All About Me" and "Movin' On", where co-written by Sisqó, who also performs on "It's All About Me". The group had tremendous success in the US with its cover of Joe South's "Hush," taken from their acclaimed debut album Shades of Deep Purple In 1969, two more successful albums followed (The Book of Taleisyn and Deep Purple, the latter of which contained a symphony orchstra on some tracks). Dru Hill and rapper Foxy Brown recorded "Big Bad Mama", a remake of Carl Carlton's 1981 hit "She's a Bad Mama Jama (She's Built, She's Stacked)", which was the main single for the soundtrack to the 1998 Bill Bellamy film Def Jam's How to Be a Player. The new band was named Deep Purple. "We're Not Making Love No More" was written and produced by star producer Babyface. The two joined forces with vocalist Rod Evans, bassist Nick Simper and drummer Ian Paice. Between their first and second albums, Dru Hill contributed "We're Not Making Love No More", a #2 R&B hit, to the Soul Food soundtrack.

After only a month of rehearsals, Blackmore and Lord split from the group. The 1997 "Never Make a Promise" music video starred Michelle Thomas as Jazz's girlfriend, and was noted for its message against child molestation. In 1968, the group Roundabout formed, consisting of Ritchie Blackmore on guitar, Jon Lord on hammond organ, Chris Curtis on vocals, Dave Curtis on bass and Bobby Woodman on drums. The Sisqó-led "In My Bed" was the band's first Top 5 pop hit and first #1 R&B hit, and Jazz took the lead on the third single "Never Make a Promise", another #1 R&B hit. A year later, these bands formed the nucleus of the early and later lineups of Deep Purple, providing Nick Simper and Jon Lord as founding members and Ian Gillan and Roger Glover as later constants. Although all four members took turns singing lead, Sisqó made the bigget impression on audiences with his dynamic dancing style, David Ruffin-style emoting, and bleached-blond hair. It featured Tony Burrows, Neil Landon, Robin Shaw, and Pete Nelson on vocals, Ged Stone on guitar, Nick Simper on bass, Jon Lord on organ, and Carol Little on drums. Nokio also did some co-production, and would become the group's main producer by 1998.

The band's most popular song was "Let's Go To San Francisco." Some listeners assumed that the song was a parody of Scott McKenzie's "If You're Going to San Francisco," but the band have denied this. While Dru Hill's early work relied upon the talents of songwriters/producers such as Daryl Simmons and Keith Sweat, the members, particularly Nokio and Woody, did some of the writing on their first album, including the single "Five Steps". The new name was clearly derived from the children's show The Flowerpot Men, with the obvious psychedelic-era puns on flower power and "pot" (cannabis). Other major influences for the group included Stevie Wonder and 1980s boy band New Edition. Two years later, a band called The Flowerpot Men and their Garden was formed, formerly known as The Ivy League. It was concentrated on a trio of singers. Stylistically, Dru Hill was the middle-ground between the smooth and gentlemen-like Boyz II Men and the self-proclaimed "bad boys of R&B", Jodeci. Dru Hill received a lot of criticism from a number of people, including the members of Jodeci, for what was percieved was a direct rip-off of Jodeci's vocal and visual stylings, particularly frontman Sisqó's K-Ci Hailey-esque lead vocals. It featured Ian Gillan on vocals, Graham Dimmock on guitar, Roger Glover on bass, Tony Lander on guitar, Sheila Dimmock on keyboards, and Harvey Shields on the drums. The group's first single, "Tell Me", was featured on the soundtrack to the Whoopi Goldberg film Eddie, and was a Top 5 R&B hit in the United States.

In May 1965, a band called Episode Six became popular on the British music scene and became particularly popular in the mid-sixties. The self-titled Dru Hill was released on November 19, 1996, and went on to sell over 500,000 copies, attaining gold status. Some incarnations of Deep Purple have brought aspects of jazz to a rock context due to their frequent use of their songs as vehicles for extended and sophisticated solos. The group was signed to Island Records shortly afterward through a production deal with Islam's University music and immediately began recording their debut album. The group has frequently changed styles and lineups over the years, but has always included virtuoso players in its ranks and placed a high priority on musicianship. Dru Hill's big break came in 1996, when manager Haqq Islam arranged for them to perform at the Impact Convention in May. Despite their association with the sub-genre, Deep Purple has never been purely a heavy metal band, though many later heavy metal bands cite their influence. After the group switched to R&B, Woody's mother pulled him out of the act until the other three convinced her to allow him to remain.

They were one of the first and most famous hard rock bands, and are considered pioneers of heavy metal. Most of their early repitoire was made up of gospel music, as Woody came from a strict Christian family. Thus the title Deep Purple was ready for an ironic revival in 1968, by a British rock group. The quartet made a name for itself by getting jobs at a local fudge factory, where they sang to entertain guests while making the candy. The song remained a traditional pop favorite, recast in 1957 as a doo wop classic by The Dominoes with vocals by Eugene Mumford and was recorded in 1976 by Donny and Marie Osmond, with Marie intoning the balmy lyrics during the break. The group was named "Dru Hill" after Druid Hill Park, a section of Baltimore. The song is a sentimental air, not a jazz tune; it was a favorite with Babe Ruth, played at his big birthday parties by Peter de Rose for a decade. The trio added Larry "Jazz" Anthony, an opera student, to compelte their lineup.

Now it became a huge hit, reaching #1 on the charts. Ruffin, nicknamed "Nokio" (an alternate spelling of Nokia, the phone corporation) enlisted Andrews and Green (whose respective nicknames of "Sisqó" and "Woody" came from their early years) to form a singing group. and the Larry Clinton Orchestra recorded it, with a vocal by Bea Wain. Mark Andrews and James Green met each other in middle school, and both later became acquaintences of Tamir Ruffin when all three began persuing careers in the music industry. "Deep Purple" became so popular in sheet music sales that somewhat purple lyrics were provided for it in 1939 by Mitchell Parish:. All four original members of Dru Hill were natives of Baltimore. The following year, Paul Whiteman had it scored for his suave "big band" orchestra that was "making a lady out of jazz" in Whiteman's phrase. The group is currently part of the roster of Def Jam Records' Def Soul imprint, a result of the 1999 Island/Def Jam Merger.

"Deep Purple" was published in 1933 as a piano composition. In 2002, the group reunited and added fifth member Rufus "Scola" Waller to the lineup. "Deep Purple" was the biggest hit written by pianist Peter De Rose (1900—1953), who broadcast, 1923 to 1939, with May Singhi as "The Sweethearts of the Air" on the NBC radio network. Signing to Island Records through Haqq Islam's University Records imprint, Dru Hill released two successful LPs before seperating for a period from late 1999 to 2002, during which time Sisqó and Woody released solo albums. 1977 "New Live and Rare EP" #31 UK. Founded in Baltimore, Maryland in 1995, Dru Hill has recorded seven Top 40 hits, and are best known for the R&B #1 hits "In My Bed", "Never Make a Promise", and "How Deep is Your Love". Tamir "Nokio" Ruffin is the group's founder and leader; his bandmates include main lead singer Mark "Sisqó" Andrews, Larry "Jazz" Anthony', and James "Woody" Green. 1973 "Smoke on the Water" #21 UK (1977 release), #3 US. Dru Hill is an American singing group, most popular during the late 1990s, whose repitoire includes R&B, soul, and gospel music.

1972 "Never Before" #35 UK. Here and Now: This week on the music beat (http://static.highbeam.com/e/entertainmentweekly/january262001/hereandnowthisweekonthemusicbeatbriefarticle/). Entertainment Weekly. 1971 "Fireball" #15 UK. 26 2001). 1971 "Strange Kind of Woman" #8 UK. Willman, Chris (Jan. 1970 "Black Night" #2 UK. ISBN 031-228199-4.

1968 "Kentucky Woman" #38 US. Martin's Press. 1968 "Hush" #4 US. New York: St. Bananas, August 2003. Sisqo: The Man Behind the Thong. 30: Very Best of Deep Purple, October 1998; #39 UK. Furman, Leah (2001).

Abandon, May 1998. 2002: "I Love You" (US #77). Purpendicular, February 1996. 2002: "I Should Be..." (US #25). The Battle Rages on..., July 1993; #21 UK, #192 US. 1999: "Beauty [Remix]" (featuring Case) (US #89). Slaves & Masters, 1990; #87 US. 1999: "You Are Everything [Remix]" (featuring Ja Rule, original version included on Enter the Dru, remix later included on Sisqó's first solo LP, Unleash the Dragon) (US #84).

Nobody's Perfect (live), July 1988; #38 UK, #105 US. 1999: "Wild Wild West" (Will Smith featuring Dru Hill and Kool Moe Dee) (US #1). The House of Blue Light, January 1987; #10 UK, #34 US. 1999: "These Are The Times" (US #21, UK #4). Perfect Strangers, November 1984; #5 UK, #17 US. 1998: "How Deep is Your Love" (the Rush Hour soundtrack version feaures Redman) (US #3, UK #9). Deep Purple Live in London, (recorded in 1974) September 1982; #23 UK. 1998: "Big Bad Mama" (Foxy Brown featuring Dru Hill) (US #53).

Deep Purple In Concert, (recorded throughout 1970-1972) December 1980; #30 UK. 1997: "We're Not Making Love No More" (US #13). When We Rock, We Rock, and When We Roll, We Roll (compilation), 1980. 1997: "Five Steps". Deepest Purple: The Very Best of Deep Purple (compilation), July 1980; #1 UK, #148 US. 1997: "Never Make a Promise" (US #7). The Mark II Purple Singles (compilation), April 1979; #24 UK. 1996: "In My Bed" (a 1997 remix features Jermaine Dupri and Da Brat) (US #4).

Made in Europe, November 1976; #12 UK, #148 US. 1996: "Tell Me" (US #18). Come Taste the Band, October 1975; #19 UK, #43 US. 2002: Dru World Order. 24 Carat Purple (compilation), July 1975; #14 UK. 1998: Enter the Dru. Stormbringer, December 1974; #6 UK, #20 US. 1996: Dru Hill.

Burn, February 1974; #3 UK, #9 US. Rufus "Scola" Waller (2001- ). Who Do We Think We Are, February 1973; #4 UK, #15 US. Larry "Jazz" Anthony. Made in Japan, December 1972; #16 UK, #6 US. Mark "Sisqó" Andrews. Machine Head, March 1972; #1 UK, #7 US. James "Woody" Green.

Fireball, September 1971; #1 UK, #32 US. Tamir "Nokio" Ruffin. Deep Purple in Rock, June 1970; #4 UK, #143 US. Concerto for Group and Orchestra, December 1969; #26 UK, #149 US. Deep Purple, November 1969; #162 US.

The Book of Taliesyn, December 1968; #54 US. Shades of Deep Purple, September 1968; #24 US. Joe Lynn Turner - vocals (1990 - 1991). Glenn Hughes - bass + vocals (1974 - 1976).

Tommy Bolin - guitar (1975 -1976). David Coverdale - vocals (1974 - 1976). Jon Lord - keyboards (1968 - 2002). Ian Paice - drums (1968 - present).

Ritchie Blackmore - guitar (1968 - 1975, 1984 - 1994). Nick Simper - bass (1968-1969). Rod Evans - vocals (1968-1969). Ian Paice - drums (1968 - present).

Don Airey - keyboards (2002 - present). Roger Glover - bass (1969 - 1973, 1984 - present). Steve Morse - guitar (1994 - present). Ian Gillan - vocals (1969 - 1973, 1984 - 1989, 1992 - present).

Peter de Rose (http://nfo.net/cal/td2.html). Peter de Rose (http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/exhibit_bio.asp?exhibitId=257).