Top Ten Real Event Songs: Smoke on the Water (#8)

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After a pretty awful day dealing with a stomach bug and sinus pain (the former probably caused by the medicine to treat the latter), I'm feeling better and ready to take on the world! Okay, I'm ready to take on another song from my list of songs based on real events. I thought I should put a couple of obvious ones in here, and you can't get more obvious than this one. #8: Smoke on the Water - Deep Purple Music is subjective, and I'll never argue that (especially if you look at the lists I've done and see what I listen to!). Having said that, if you don't know this song, turn in your rock and roll fan card. And, you probably should know that this is based on a real event. What happened? Well, they all went out to Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline to make a record with a mobile..... Seriously, I can't get more descriptive than the lyrics of this song. It pretty much tells the story from beginning (Deep Purple rented the Rolling Stones' mobile recording unit to record the album that would become Machine Head in Montreux, getting access to the theater after it closed for the season on December 5, 1971) to end ("they burned down the gambling house," a fire started by "some stupid with a flare gun"). And, according to everyone (there's an interview with Zappa about the event on You Tube), that's exactly what happened: during Zappa's set someone shot off a flare gun and it started a fire. Now, we've seen what can happen when you mix fireworks and a concert (the Station Nightclub, for instance), but no one was killed despite the fact that the entire venue burned down. "Funky Claude" -- real name Claude Nobs -- was a volunteer fireman in addition to the founder of the Montreux Jazz Festival. He helped evacuate the facilities before the fire got out of hand. The "gambling house" -- Casino Barrière de Montreux -- was rebuilt in 1975 and the Montreux Jazz Festival continues. Zappa, Jon Lord, and Nobs have all passed away. And hard rock got one of its most enduring anthems. Smoke on the Water Written by Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice Recorded by Deep Purple From Machine Head, 1972 Based on a fire at the Montreux Casino, Montreux, Switzerland December 4, 1971 Duh duh duh, duh duh duh-duh.....