Ian Gillan Purple. By 1969, after having released nine singles, none of which charted in the UK, and finding their style of music too restrictive for him, he decided to leave Episode Six. By spring 1969, Deep Purple had had a top 5 US hit with "Hush", but the band, particularly Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord and Ian Paice, decided their future lay in hard rock, rather than the psychedelic pop sound of the early band. In June 1969, Blackmore, Lord and Paice went to see Episode Six perform at a pub gig and subsequently offered Gillan the job as new lead singer,
Live at the Budokan (Ian Gillan Band album) Live at the Budokan (Ian Gillan Band album) Live at the Budokan is a live album by the Ian Gillan Band, recorded live on 22 September 1977 in Tokyo, Japan. Originally it was released in two volumes in Japan in late 1977 and early 1978 by EastWorld Records. In July 1983 it was re-issued as a double album in the UK by Virgin Records. CD editions followed in 1989 and 2007. The latter features the full setlist including "My Baby Loves Me", which had been omitted from the previous releases. All songs written by Ian Gillan, Ray Fenwick, John Gustafson,