“There are people around that give rock 'n'roll a bad name. I listen to the radio and sometimes hear things that are just awful.”
In March 1975, Deep Purple's Ritchie Blackmore was chosen as the first artist to be featured on the cover of the first issue of a brand new music magazine: International Musician and Recording World. “This is a magazine for professionals” ran the opening line of the magazine's first editorial, and the choice of Blackmore as its first cover star was presumably intended to illustrate to prospective readers that this was a serious publication distinct from the likes of NME, Sounds, Melody Maker, etc,. The quote above doubtless had the editorial team rubbing their hands with glee.
