Fireball (Deep Purple song)

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"Fireball"
Fireball single.jpg
Cover of the 1971 Sweden single
Single by Deep Purple
from the album Fireball
B-side
  • "Demon's Eye" (UK)
  • "I'm Alone" (US)
Released29 October 1971 [1]
RecordedLondon, March 1971
Genre
Length3:25
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Deep Purple
Deep Purple singles chronology
"Strange Kind of Woman"
(1971)
"Fireball"
(1971)
"Never Before"
(1972)

"Fireball" is a song by the English rock band Deep Purple, from the album of the same name. It was also released as the band's second single of 1971, and peaked at No. 15 on the UK Singles Chart. [3]

Contents

Background

The song is one of several based on Ian Gillan's real life experiences: "She was a complete mystery to me. This is another tale of unrequited love", he explained. [4]

The song begins with the sound of an air conditioner being switched on, recorded by assistant engineer Mike Thorne. Roger Glover suggested to engineer Martin Birch that the sound of a machine starting up would be a good way to begin both the song and the album, but Birch could not think of anything available that would fit the purpose. Thorne suggested the sound of an air conditioning unit, and duly recorded it, to the band's delight. At the time the members of Deep Purple claimed that the sound was produced by a "special" synthesizer. [5] A promo clip was made for the song, consisting of the band miming to the studio recording in front of a dancing audience.

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1971–72)Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report) [6] 58
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)22
Italy ( Musica e dischi ) [7] 22
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [8] 24
UK Singles (OCC) [3] 15
West Germany (Official German Charts) [8] 19

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    • Top 100 (Kent Music Report) singles and albums peaks to 26 June 1988: Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. p. 97. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
    • ARIA Chart singles and album peaks (top 50 from 26 June 1988; top 100 from January 1990) to December 2010: Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
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  8. 1 2 "Deep Purple – Fireball". hitparade.ch.