The band Ritchie Blackmore wished didn’t exist: “That’s all I care about”
As the guitarist of Deep Purple, Ritchie Blackmore has earned more rights than most to comment on the work of others. After all, without him, the rock and metal genres would be different to the beasts we know today, and so would the skill of guitar playing.
On classic tracks such as ‘Smoke on the Water’, which features one of the most famous riffs of all time, Blackmore gave Deep Purple an edge and the sharp tip of the spear that saw them cement their place as a founding father of heavy metal. As a result of his brilliance, Deep Purple just wasn’t the same after he departed.
Arriving with his technically proficient and distinctive sound, which includes the heavy use of the whammy bar, Blackmore inspired many subsequent players, including Eddie Van Halen, who would take some of his essential characteristics and run off into the distance with them. After Van Halen’s death in 2020, the former Deep Purple man also revealed that he felt that Van Halen “reinvented the guitar”, which is high praise indeed.
While Blackmore is effusive about the artists he admires, on the other side of the coin, he isn’t afraid to throw barbs at those he doesn’t like. This was something one of the most divisive new wave bands, The Police, found out in 1987 when Blackmore sat down with Metal Hammer. Although Sting’s band had split up the year before, Blackmore outlined his unfettered “hate” for them.
Blackmore trashed The Police when he was asked if he had any doubts that Deep Purple’s 1984 reunion would work. In response, he recalled realising that his band were doing the right thing thanks to the ‘Roxanne’ group. He said: “I think it was on the first part of the tour, in Australia. I suddenly realised that there was a gap for this type of music because only ZZ Top were doing that aggressive stuff. Everyone was playing like The Police. And can I state here that I hate The Police?”
Being a hater is par for the course when it comes to being in a rock band. Nobody likes their guitar god to be completely complimentary of everything around them, and if they did, they would probably really enjoy Coldplay. No, it is only right that bands take shots at one another, but it does feel like one band that seemed to get hit more often than not was The Police.
Was it their name that caused unnecessary attention, or the fact that they seemed to ditch their early punk influence in the name of pop success? Probably a combination of the two. But it would seem like The Police had angered Ritchie Blackmore more than most people would have guessed.
“There just wasn’t a band playing that earthy kind of rock. Our music isn’t contrived, and there isn’t that sheen of gloss,” Ritchie Blackmore explained. He was then reminded of a remark by bassist Roger Glover that a band like Deep Purple will always exist as the world needs them. Replying, he reasserted his hatred for Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland.
“It’s quite a profound statement, and Roger doesn’t take drugs. Yeah, I suppose so. That’s the kind of promotional statement that the record company will love. As long as the world doesn’t need The Police, that’s all I care about,” Ritchie Blackmore concluded.
