“Some of the guys never wanted to do that song in the first place. ‘This is crap – too poppy!’ I thought it was great, but I had no idea that it would become the band’s signature tune”: The ’70s hit that reinvented a legendary rock band

Graham Bonnet.

In 1978, guitar hero Ritchie Blackmore reached a crossroads. It was time to revamp his band Rainbow – even if that meant losing one of the greatest rock singers ever to draw breath.

After quitting heavy rock pioneers Deep Purple in 1975, Blackmore had enlisted four members of American band Elf for the first line-up of Rainbow, with vocalist Ronnie James Dio his collaborator in chief.