h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Er... I'm confused by the years

it says mark IIb lasted from 1984-1998 then it jumps back to 1990 and finally mark VI goes from 1996-1999. Could it be that mark IIb was from 1984-1988?

Apart from that, an excellent and, at times, very entertaining article

PS. I thought they wrote Smoke on the Water after seeing a fire over Lake Geneva during a Frank Zappa concert. This isn't mentioned...

1989, actually, but yes, that would be a small misprint, I'll take it down <./>Feedback-Editorial</.> and get it changed.

Your origins of 'Smoke...' are sadly inaccurate. It is an autobiographical piece, referring to the making of Machine Head in a back corridor of the Grand Hotel, Montreaux, after the recording studio was burnt down before they could get in.

B

Fair enough - just something I heard on the radio once. You obviously are more in the know than me

That's fixed now.

B

More kudos for the correction than managing to work a BBCi link to Gardener's World from a Deep Purple entry, leastways.

B

Returning to the origins of Smoke on The Water...

I saw a program, 'The Bestest Albums Ever' or somesuch, featuring interviews with Gillan and Glover. They said that they wanted to record the album at the theatre that Zappa was about to appear at. However, during Frank's concert, a nutter in the crowd stood up, walked to the front and fired a flare gun into the wooden roof, with predictable consequences. Instead, they had to hire a mobile recording studio, the Stones' one I think, and actually record the songs in their hotel.

All in all, pretty much as the lyrics go really...

I think I said that in post 2.

I didn't want to devote too much Entry-space to 'Smoke'. It's a great song, sure, but it's written to death in the past. Balance was my aim.

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