Chapter 01 — Today in music
On a day like today April 14
1945
Ritchie Blackmore is born, the man behind the world's most famous riff
Ritchie Blackmore was born in Weston-super-Mare, guitarist of Deep Purple and Rainbow, author of the "Smoke on the Water" riff every beginner plays first. He fused Bach with the blues, invented half of neoclassical metal and ended up playing Renaissance music in a cape with a lute. Genius and caprice in equal doses.
Ritchie Blackmore
Deep Purple
1983
Pete Farndon dies, the second fatal blow for the Pretenders
Pete Farndon, founding bassist of the Pretenders, died of an overdose, barely ten months after heroin had also killed his bandmate James Honeyman-Scott. Chrissie Hynde rebuilt the band from the ruins. That brief, brilliant original lineup remains one of new wave's great losses. He had been thrown out of the band the year before.
Pete Farndon
The Pretenders
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