Heart" in November 1966. Due to financial difficulties, and lack of chart success, the band were forced to do a long Christmas season in Beirut (where they had topped the local chart with a cover of Tim Rose's "Morning Dew") through December and January. The group had by now built up an impressive repertoire of covers and originals and would vary their sets according to the audiences. They were also beginning to do sessions for the BBC. They did a mini tour of London parks (organised by the Greater London Council) in mid-June 1967, performing two 45-minute sets, and played for four weeks in Germany. On their return Shield left the group due to ill health, and was replaced by John Kerrison (born 1947), who had previously played in The Pirates with future Deep Purple member Nick Simper. The group got a new record deal with MGM Records and shortened their name to The Episode, releasing "Little One" in May 1968 (their only single under the new name). They did three UK TV shows to promote this and recorded dozens of tracks for radio sessions over the year, including the new Radio 1 Club. However they were not getting along with their new drummer (Gillan subsequently referred to him as "a character and a half"), who was eventually fired, replaced by ex-Outlaws drummer Mick Underwood. The group left MGM and signed with Chapter One records, releasing 'Lucky Sunday' in September 1968, which became their eighth single to fail to chart in the UK. Gillan hated the brass section on the record. "Mozart Vs The Rest" followed in February 1969. This was issued in response to hundreds of calls to BBC Radio 1 after the band performed it on air. Sadly this happened too late for it to chart. They also contributed "Gentlemen of the Park" to the soundtrack of the 1968 short film Les Bicyclettes de Belsize. The band decided they needed to update their musical style from the pop-rock they had been playing into a heavier sound, and made a start on a début album but it was never finished. In June 1969 Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord came to see Episode Six play live in London, and then offered Gillan a job in Deep Purple. Glover helped Deep Purple out on a studio session and was also asked to join them. The pair helped Episode Six fulfil existing