thank you for covering this compilation album. The song selection is spot on for someone wanting an introduction to Deep Purple in the late 70's. I first heard '24 Carat' in 1980 and Deepest Purple was my first Deep Purple purchase. The artwork on When We Rock is evocative of the Bridge of the Starship Enterprise,Star Wars and Close Encounters doing the rounds in the Cinemas.. especially Space Trucking opening the album,it must have attracted the casual fan too. CD packaging was mostly basic and this didn't release didn't get the bonus tracks,attractive booklet with informed sleeve notes. The album is off its time,and I imagine it was seen in Supermarkets,Gas Stations and Newsagents. Keep up the good work!

I really enjoyed your post purple episodes on Glenn Hughes and David Coverdale. Glenn was singing well on Four On The Floor. Glenn could have had a decent career in Disco,if it wasn’t for his addictions. If Play Me Out,with a producer to reign in Glenn’s artistic exuberance and give it a commercial focus. I suppose Play Me Out is the sound of Glenn totally unshackling himself from the constraints imagined or otherwise of Deep Purple. I recently heard David Coverdale’s re-interpretation with Strings of ‘Time And Again’ a track from his Northwinds album. If his manager had put him with a string quartet in 1978, singing ‘Time And Again’, David could’ve been a mainstream pop artist many years before his worldwide breakthrough with the 1987 self titled Whitesnake album. To everything a time & season .. Simon Ford