ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, OCT. 23, 2012
By Steve Newton
Rush and Deep Purple garnered plenty of headlines in the music press earlier this month when they were among the 15 acts nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013. Fans of both legendary rock bands felt the selection was way overdue, ridiculously so. But apparently the nominees themselves haven’t been losing much sleep over the ongoing snub.
A few days back you had Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson describing the Hall of Fame as “a popularity contest” that never really mattered to him, and now former Purple axeman Ritchie Blackmore is sounding even less enthusiastic about the possible honour. After the nomination he told Billboard magazine that he “couldn’t care less” about it.
Since making that comment Blackmore was interviewed by Dave Basner for the VH1 Radio Network, where he elaborated on the subject.
“I was quoted as saying I couldn’t care less about it,” he said, “and, yes, I couldn’t care less. But at the same time, I don’t wish to throw it back in their faces. I mean, I wouldn’t turn up to any kind of such event. It’s not, to me, anything to do with music. Music is about playing and getting on the stage, not receiving awards. I’m pretty bad at receiving awards.
“No disrespect to the Hall Of Fame,” he added, “whatever that is. I really don’t keep up with it. I mean, there are so many Hall Of Fames and places that are honoring people and a lot of the time I see who they are honoring and it really has nothing to do with rock and roll —very strange people.”
Very strange indeed. For next year’s induction you’ve got killer bands like Rush and Deep Purple battling it out with the likes of Donna Summer and Randy Newman. That’s pretty screwed up.
And why the hell hasn’t Blackmore’s other band, Rainbow, gotten the nod yet? Christ on a cracker, hasn’t the RRHOF nominating committee ever heard “A Light in the Black”?