The band Ritchie Blackmore knew “the world doesn’t need”
Ritchie Blackmore believed Deep Purple’s disagreements over musical direction had made his departure inevitable, but the band later reunited because he saw an audience for hard rock again. He also blamed the popularity of The Police for the shortage of the “earthy” rock music he wanted to play.
Blackmore said it was difficult to persuade the group to record “Soldier of Fortune”, which he wrote with David Coverdale; Jon Lord agreed, while Ian Paice and Glenn Hughes did not. Touring Australia in the mid-1980s, he thought only ZZ Top were playing similarly aggressive music. Roger Glover also felt hard rock was missing, prompting Blackmore to quip that the world could do without The Police.
- Blackmore thought hard rock had an opening in the mid-1980s.
- He cited The Police’s popularity as part of the problem.
- Disagreements over “Soldier of Fortune” reflected tensions in Deep Purple.
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Deep Purple are a British rock band formed in the late 1960s, known for loud, guitar-led music. Ritchie Blackmore was their guitarist and a songwriter; other members included singer David Coverdale, keyboard player Jon Lord, drummer Ian Paice and bassist Glenn Hughes.
The band’s members sometimes disagreed about what music to make. “Soldier of Fortune”, written by Blackmore and Coverdale, was one example of a song that divided them. In the 1980s, Blackmore and bassist Roger Glover felt hard rock had become less prominent, while The Police were among the popular bands of the period.
These disagreements help explain why Blackmore left and later returned to Deep Purple. They also reflect broader changes in popular music and the different styles the band’s members wanted to pursue.
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The case for
Blackmore’s frustration can be understood as a defence of a musical style he felt was being squeezed out: he and Glover saw room for forceful, earthy hard rock, and the dispute over “Soldier of Fortune” reflected genuine differences about the band’s direction. From this perspective, his quip about The Police expressed impatience with the popularity of a different sound, rather than a considered judgement that the band had no artistic worth.
The case against
The Police’s popularity need not have caused hard rock’s relative absence, and their success could be seen as evidence that audiences valued musical variety rather than a single dominant style. Deep Purple’s disagreements were also a creative difference within the band; the reluctance of some members to record one song does not by itself show that the group’s direction was wrong or that other music was crowding out rock.