In April of that year, the band were offered a short residency at the Arcadia Club in Frankfurt, Germany, playing from 7 pm to 3 am every night for a month, with only 15 minutes break every hour.
[4] The band were booked by Radio London to appear at one of their big open-air summer shows in May 1966 alongside David Bowie and issued more singles during the year, all of which failed to chart.
[5]: 68 On their return Shield left the group due to ill health, and was replaced by John Kerrison (born 1947)[citation needed], who had previously played in The Pirates with future Deep Purple member Nick Simper.
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.
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.
[5]: 69 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.
The pair helped Episode Six fulfil existing bookings in the short term, and then quit following their first gig with Deep Purple at the Speakeasy on 10 July.