The best song Rainbow ever made, according to Ritchie Blackmore
The guitar heroes of the classic rock period have always been a law unto themselves. They were so confident in their ability that they were bold enough to hit back against tradition in their pomp, create distinctive sounds, and continue to push their craft into new realms with little care for expectation or the demands of fans. While several examples of this archetype exist, one of the clearest has always been Ritchie Blackmore.
Even before he joined Deep Purple, Blackmore had made his name as one of London’s most exciting players, bringing an apt amount of drama to the work of Screaming Lord Sutch and Neil Christian. Yet, it was with the ‘Speed King’ metal pioneers that he was able to evolve into an undisputed legend of the game.
Utilising the artistic licence that their operation allowed, he looked to the work of his hero Jimi Hendrix and other acts such as Mountain and The Yardbirds for inspiration to make music much heavier and atmospheric. He succeeded, and his desire to carry the baton of the 1960s most pulsating rock acts and a tendency to think outside the box, with his dive bombs, piercing solos and interesting grasp on rhythm, saw him become one of the definitive metal players.
Without his efforts with Deep Purple, fans and guitar playing could say goodbye to Eddie Van Halen, who replicated his arsenal’s blueprint, as Blackmore had done with Hendrix.
As a perennial sonic explorer, Blackmore’s time in the band was relatively brief, lasting from 1968 until he departed in 1975. Having already covered so much ground and achieved so much, and openly hating the funky character of 1974’s Stormbringer—the second with new vocalist David Coverdale—he decided to take his leave and form his own outfit, Rainbow.
Founding Rainbow with four former members of Elf, including vocalist Ronnie James Dio, Blackmore felt creatively untethered. Still, in a sign of his ruthless commitment to his creative ends, he fired three of them save for Dio after their debut album was released. Since that moment, he has reshuffled the lineup on several occasions as they’ve moved through hard rock, metal, pop-rock, medieval and other genres.
Given that Rainbow were Blackmore’s main creative conduit for years and the guitarist’s merciless approach to refreshing their ranks, he has a unique take on what their best song is. Although their biggest hit is 1979’s ‘Since You Been Gone’ and most fans class their early years as their finest, his shout for their greatest track is a later one.
As he says in 2015’s The Ritchie Blackmore Story, the ultimate Rainbow track is ‘Street of Dreams’, the synth-laden lead single from 1983’s Bent Out of Shape. The track features singer Joe Lynn Turner, who was the group’s vocalist from 1980 to their 1984 hiatus.
Blackmore said: “I think I wrote with Joe. One of my favourite tunes which is ‘Street Of Dreams’. That, to me, was the ultimate Rainbow song. I love that song. Come on the jukebox, and I go: ‘I’m proud of that’.”
The song was precisely where Blackmore wanted to go when he formed Rainbow. It might have been poppy, but it was all about the rolling groove for him. At that point, he was sick of the typical 4/4 crashes of rock music and wanted to do something based purely on melody, which ‘Street of Dreams’ certainly is. Even the vocals occupy ample space, letting the instrumentation do the work.
What makes Blackmore’s choice so revealing is how little it aligns with the mythology built around his career. Rather than gravitating toward virtuosity or sheer force, he singles out a song rooted in feel and atmosphere. Street of Dreams represents a moment where control replaced excess, where discipline mattered more than dominance. It shows a guitarist confident enough to step away from flash and trust the strength of a composition.
In that light, the track feels like a quiet summation of Blackmore’s restless journey. From blues clubs to heavy metal stages and beyond, his career has been defined by a refusal to stand still. Choosing Street of Dreams as Rainbow’s finest work underlines that evolution never stopped being the point. For Blackmore, greatness was never about pleasing expectation, but about landing exactly where his instincts told him to go.
