1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,240 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:06,880 --> 00:00:10,799 Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:14,120 Speaker 1: show that belts out the greatest hits of history one 4 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:17,760 Speaker 1: day at a time. I'm Gabe Bluesier, and in this 5 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:21,400 Speaker 1: episode we're talking about a fiery concert at a famous 6 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:24,880 Speaker 1: Swiss music hall, including how it sparked the creation of 7 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:27,960 Speaker 1: one of the best known tracks in rock and roll history. 8 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:38,200 Speaker 1: The day was December fourth, nineteen seventy one. The Montro 9 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:41,640 Speaker 1: Casino burned to the ground during a concert by Frank 10 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:45,479 Speaker 1: Zappa and The Mothers of Invention. No one was harmed 11 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:48,879 Speaker 1: in the fire. All of the performers, staff and concert 12 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:52,479 Speaker 1: goers were safely evacuated, but the loss of the historic 13 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:55,840 Speaker 1: casino was a major blow to music history and to 14 00:00:55,920 --> 00:01:00,280 Speaker 1: the nightlife of Montrouse, Switzerland. Built in eighteen eighty eighty 15 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:04,039 Speaker 1: one on the shoreline of Lake Geneva, the opulent victorian 16 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:07,800 Speaker 1: casino had hosted hundreds of musical acts in its famous 17 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:13,240 Speaker 1: hourglass auditorium. Everyone from symphony orchestras to jazz singers to 18 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 1: rock bands had performed there, and on December fourth, nineteen 19 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:20,600 Speaker 1: seventy one, it was the Mother's of Inventions turn The 20 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:23,400 Speaker 1: show started at two PM, and the band got to 21 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:26,399 Speaker 1: play for about ninety minutes before the whole place went 22 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 1: up in flames. They were in the middle of a 23 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:32,080 Speaker 1: song called King Kong from their nineteen sixty nine album 24 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:36,319 Speaker 1: Uncle Meat when the venue's low wooden ceiling suddenly caught fire. 25 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:41,200 Speaker 1: Accounts differ on how it all started. Some concertgoers blamed 26 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:44,360 Speaker 1: the fire on a teenage boy who was supposedly throwing 27 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 1: lit matches into the air. Others claimed it was caused 28 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,480 Speaker 1: by a short circuiting ceiling lamp, but the most widely 29 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:54,640 Speaker 1: accepted account is that someone in the audience shot a 30 00:01:54,680 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaker 1: flair gun at the bamboo ceiling during Don Preston's keyboard solo. Thankfully, 31 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:22,760 Speaker 1: The Mother's frontman, Frank Zappa, spotted the flames from the 32 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:26,440 Speaker 1: stage and immediately told the audience to calmly exit the building. 33 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: They were very organized, he later said in an interview, 34 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:32,600 Speaker 1: I was just lucky that many of the fans were 35 00:02:32,639 --> 00:02:35,240 Speaker 1: able to speak English, because I didn't know what to 36 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:39,080 Speaker 1: say to them in French. The evacuation hit a snag 37 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:41,960 Speaker 1: when the crowd reached the doors and found them all locked. 38 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:46,040 Speaker 1: According to Zappa, the organizers had chained the doors shut 39 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:49,359 Speaker 1: to prevent ticket list teenagers from sneaking into the sold 40 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:54,079 Speaker 1: out show. To make matters worse, the fire had swiftly 41 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:57,200 Speaker 1: spread to every corner of the room, trapping those who 42 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 1: were furthest from the exit. Luckily, some audience members were 43 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:04,000 Speaker 1: able to smash through the nearby windows and then jump 44 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 1: ten feet or so to the ground outside. Some firefighters 45 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:10,760 Speaker 1: were stationed at the venue already, and once they wrestled 46 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: open the doors, things went much more smoothly. The evacuation 47 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:19,519 Speaker 1: was also aided by legendary concert organizer Claude Knobs, who 48 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: reportedly ran in and out of the burning venue, dragging 49 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:26,480 Speaker 1: concertgoers to safety. There were between two thousand and four 50 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:29,920 Speaker 1: thousand people in the audience that day, Accounts differ on 51 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:32,799 Speaker 1: the exact number, and every single one of them made 52 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:35,240 Speaker 1: it out safely in just three and a half minutes. 53 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:39,600 Speaker 1: The person responsible for the fire, the one who supposedly 54 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:42,120 Speaker 1: shot a flare at the ceiling, is said to have 55 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: fled the scene during the chaos and was never apprehended 56 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:49,960 Speaker 1: by the Swiss police. All things considered, the Montro Casino 57 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 1: fire wasn't nearly as disastrous as it could have been. 58 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 1: With the only real casualty being the casino itself. There 59 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:00,680 Speaker 1: was even a silver lining to the venue's destruction, as 60 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:04,200 Speaker 1: it wound up inspiring a classic rock song, Smoke on 61 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:24,040 Speaker 1: the Water by Deep Purple. The English rock band happened 62 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:26,680 Speaker 1: to be in town that week to record their sixth album, 63 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:30,200 Speaker 1: machine Head. They had already laid down some initial tracks 64 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 1: in a mobile studio truck rented from the Rolling Stones, 65 00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:35,680 Speaker 1: and the plan was to record the rest of the 66 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 1: album in the casino later that week. The band's singer, 67 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:42,320 Speaker 1: Ian Gillen was actually in the audience when the fire 68 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:44,599 Speaker 1: broke out and the rest of the band had to 69 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 1: be evacuated from their rooms at the adjoining hotel. They 70 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 1: wound up watching the fire from a restaurant on the 71 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:53,800 Speaker 1: other side of the lake, and the site inspired bassist 72 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:56,560 Speaker 1: Roger Glover to come up with the title Smoke on 73 00:04:56,600 --> 00:05:01,000 Speaker 1: the Water. Most listeners would recognize the song iconic guitar 74 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:04,279 Speaker 1: riff and evocative chorus, but probably couldn't tell you what 75 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:07,280 Speaker 1: the song's actually about if you look at the lyrics, 76 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:10,320 Speaker 1: though it's pretty obvious as they lay out the story 77 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:13,800 Speaker 1: of the casino fire beat for beat. For example, the 78 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:17,120 Speaker 1: first verse reads, we all came to Montro on the 79 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:21,040 Speaker 1: Lake Geneva shoreline to make records with a mobile. Yeah, 80 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,040 Speaker 1: we didn't have much time. Now, Frank Zappa and the 81 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:27,359 Speaker 1: Mothers were at the best place around, but some stupid 82 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:30,000 Speaker 1: with a flare gun burned the place to the ground. 83 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:34,760 Speaker 1: Smoke on the Water a fire in the sky. The 84 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:38,600 Speaker 1: second verse even gives a shout out to Funky Clawed Knobs. 85 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:58,960 Speaker 1: Take a listen. Smoke on the Water was the last 86 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:02,120 Speaker 1: song Deep Purple recorded for Machine Head, and it ended 87 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:04,800 Speaker 1: up being one of their biggest hits, peaking at number 88 00:06:04,839 --> 00:06:08,400 Speaker 1: four on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart. As for the 89 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 1: Montro Casino, it was eventually rebuilt with a much higher, 90 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:18,040 Speaker 1: less flammable ceiling, and it still hosts concerts to this day. 91 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:23,080 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Lucier and hopefully you now know a little 92 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:27,039 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. If you 93 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 1: have a second and you're so inclined, consider keeping up 94 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:33,320 Speaker 1: with us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. You can find 95 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:37,640 Speaker 1: us at TDI HC. Show. You can also rate and 96 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:40,640 Speaker 1: review the show on Apple Podcasts, or you can reach 97 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:45,080 Speaker 1: out directly by writing to this day at iHeartMedia dot com. 98 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:48,400 Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thank 99 00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:51,360 Speaker 1: you for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow 100 00:06:51,520 --> 00:07:07,440 Speaker 1: for another day in history class.