Is the rock band Deep Purple still around?
—Mark Hillman, Sunnyside, Wash.
Yes. The British band that gave the world the durable hard-rock classic "Smoke on the Water" in 1972 still is touring and recording. Although the band has undergone numerous personnel changes, original member and drummer Ian Paice soldiers on, as do members Roger Glover and Ian Gillan, and they've just released a new album, Rapture of the Deep. "There is only one thing that would stop me from continuing what I'm doing—if I lost the physical ability to live up to my standards," says Paice, 57. "I wouldn't want to go out with a whimper."
