Ian Gillan July. As the band had only been rehearsing for a few weeks, they relied on older instrumentals such as "Wring That Neck" and "Mandrake Root" to fill in a set. Unsure of what to do, Gillan found a pair of congas onstage, and decided to play them during these instrumental sections. Deep Purple Mk.II continued rehearsing at Hanwell Community Centre. One of Gillan's first contributions to the band during these rehearsals was the vocal melody and lyrics to "Child in Time". At Hanwell, the band wrote what would eventually become most of "In Rock" during 1969, though were interrupted in
Ian Gillan and Barnacle were quickly replaced by Bernie Tormé and by former Episode Six bandmate Mick Underwood, after Gillan saw Torme playing with his punk trio. This band had a more high-powered hard rock sound, and the release of "Mr. Universe" in October 1979 saw Ian Gillan back in the UK charts, although the independent record company the album came out on – Acrobat Records – folded soon after the album was released, prompting a contract with Richard Branson's Virgin Records. In Christmas 1979, Gillan was visited by Blackmore, who offered him the position of lead vocalist in Rainbow. Gillan declined