How the hell is Deep Purple not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
I'll go one step further: They have never even been nominated. That's right, not even once.
Before I digress into how Rush has also never been nominated, or how Kiss gets shunned every year, I want to focus on Deep Purple.
I'll start by losing focus and listing some of the many artists that ARE in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:
Beastie Boys - 2012
Red Hot Chili Peppers - 2012
Guns and Roses - 2012
ABBA - 2010
Metallica -2009
Run DMC - 2009
Madonna - 2008
John Melloncamp - 2008
Grand Master Flash -2007
REM - 2007
Patti Smith Group - 2007
Van Halen - 2007
Sex Pistols - 2006
Blondie - 2006
Lynyrd Skynyrd - 2006
Pretenders - 2005
U2 - 2005
Prince - 2004
AC/DC - 2003
The Clash - 2003
Tom Petty - 2002
Talking Heads - 2002
Ramones - 2002
Aerosmith - 2001
Queen - 2001
Michael Jackson - 2001
Earth Wind and Fire - 2000
and so on........
I mention the above artists for various reasons, some because they are technically not Rock and Roll of any kind, some because they were influenced by Deep Purple, some because they have no reason being in before Purple, but all because Deep Purple predates them...
Building a case:
Exhibit A: Smoke on the Water
Smoke on the water holds a Guinness World Record for the most guitarists playing at one time (or something like that) and has actually broken the record 3 times since setting it in 1994. The most recent was in 2009 in Wroclaw Poland, when 6,346 guitar players gathered to play the song together.
The song itself was a pretty basic 4 note blues riff that Ritchie Blackmore (writer - guitar player) has dissed as "too commercial". I guess the commercial appeal of the song speaks for itself.
Released on the bands LP, Machine Head in 1972, and as a single in 1973, the song reached # 4 in the States, #2 in Canada, #21 in the UK and #20 in Germany.... Not to shabby.
Exhibit B: Machine Head
One of the most beloved early metal/classic rock albums of all time, it reached # 7 in the Billboard LP Charts, and stayed in the top 200 for 118 weeks after it's release in 1972.
This gem features Smoke On the Water, Highway Star and Space Truckin'. 3 Staples of Rock music that define an era.
It is the 3rd album of the MK 2 version of the band, which could arguably be the version that gets into the House that Rock Built with no resistance.
Exhibit C: Eligibility
Exhibit D: Ritchie Blackmore
Oh yeah, he wrote the most Iconic rock riff of all time.
Blackmore led Purple to heights most bands never will see, including co-headlining the Cal Jam in 1974 to 400,000 fans.
Acts that performed at the '74 Cal Jam in order of appearance:
- Rare Earth
- Earth, Wind & Fire
- Eagles
- Seals & Crofts
- Black Oak Arkansas
- Black Sabbath
- Deep Purple
- Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Cal Jam may get it's own blog soon. I would love to find footage of Seals & Croft singing "Summer Breeze" to 1/2 million Sabbath fans.
If you find the YouTube bootleg footage of the GnR RnR HoF induction speech, Steven Adler actually calls out the Hall for not inducting Purple. That part of the speech was edited out of the HBO version. The executive producer was JannWenner. No surprise there, you elitist pig.
I would actually make the argument that Ritchie Blackmore could be in the Hall of Fame on his name alone.
The fact that this band has been ignored is stupid. Jann Warner, you are an asshole. Not only does Purple belong, they helped make Rock and Roll a respected art form. They brought classical music to Rock (with all due respect to Beatles producer George Martin's solo in "In My Life").
Just to recap..... Deep Purple is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. WHAT????
Until next blog.
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