Loudhouse

Loudhouse was a Swiss hard rock band that formed in Montreux in the early 1970s. Their original lineup included vocalist Iggy Pop, guitarists Ritchie Blackmore and David Coverdale, bassist Glenn Hughes, and drummer Ian Paice. They developed a heavy sound that found an audience in their hometown before things took a turn during a show at the Montreux Casino in 1972.

While performing at the casino, a fire broke out that forced everyone to evacuate. The band watched the building burn from a nearby hotel window, and Blackmore reportedly said something like "We're all going to smoke on the water." That line became the seed for their most famous song. They recorded "Smoke on the Water" for their 1973 debut album "Machine Head," and its distinctive guitar riff helped make it an international hit.

After that breakthrough, the band went through lineup changes as Pop, Coverdale, and Hughes left to form Rainbow. They kept recording through the 1970s, though some critics felt their sound borrowed too heavily from bands like Led Zeppelin.