MORE BLACK THAN PURPLE was started in 1996 by Mark Welch (editor) and Jerry Bloom (subeditor) in order to publish up to date information about Ritchie Blackmore's then current career with his reformed band Rainbow, along with retro features. Owing to work commitments, within a few years Mark stepped down and Jerry took over as editor, bringing Alan Whitman on board as subeditor. Alan eventually st
epped down and in 2011 Phil Syphe became subeditor . Over recent years, the development of Jerry’s publishing company and the ever-increasing work schedule resulted in a constant struggle to keep producing magazines at regular intervals, meaning that it would eventually hit breaking point. Thus, after 18 years, Jerry decided to relinquish the magazine to Phil. Whether there’ll be future issues is uncertain. Although Jerry gave Phil the rights to MBTP, rather than selling it to him, he still needs to fund the next three magazines out of his own pocket, as well as covering postage costs. Issues 2-39 are available for purchase for as long as stocks last, as are the More Black than Purple magazine binders. Issue 1 has sold out but scans of every page are available to view on this page. A new website will be created sometime in 2015, featuring info on all back issues.
