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,
Fastlane (band) Fastlane (band) Fastlane were a British rock band, that emerged from the Surrey Rock scene in 1997. In 2002, the band reformed with a slightly different line-up: Benji singing, Matty and Biffen playing Guitar, Tom Marsden playing Bass, and Dan Ranson playing drums. During the summer of 2002, Fastlane self-released their debut EP ‘She Loves the Rock’ and was picked up by 20 Deck Records, where they were soon on the road touring and playing to audiences across the country. Another line-up change and an original member return, Ian Maynard picked up the bass as Tom left the band. Fastlane