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Couldn’t get any weirder

A couple of letters addressed to our trainspotting department.

White Stripes were inducted to the infamous Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame this year, and in his acceptance speech, Jack White mentioned Rainbow among their inspirations:

Meg and I want to thank just a few of the bands and artists that inspired us and came before us, and also helped us along the way: The Gories, The Gun Club, Loretta Lynn, Fugazi, The Misfits, Emerson Lake And Palmer, Love And Arthur Lee, The Flat Duo Jets And Dexter Romweber, The Hentchmen, Dick Dale, Beck, Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, Tampa Red, The Sonics, Pavement, Jethro Tull, The Strokes, Black Flag, Sleater Kinney, Death, The Creation,The Breeders, The Cramps, Merle Haggard, The Hives, Them,The Damned, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Troggs, Minor Threat, The Rats and Captain Beefheart. To them we all say thank you.

Meanwhile in New Zealand, British comedian Bill Bailey appeared on a morning talk show and, among other things, shared an anecdote of him playing cowbells with Deep Purple (that happened at the Sunflower Jam 2011), with an inquisitive Prince Charles in attendance.

The Purple bit starts at 7:42:

Here’s a contemporary video account of the event:

Thanks to Georgius Novicianus and David Black for the heads-up.



17 Comments to “Couldn’t get any weirder”:

  1. 1
    MacGregor says:

    ELP, Ritchie and his Rainbow, Jethro Tull and a few others from the ‘old’ brigade. Hell yeah, maybe this guy does know a little about rock ‘n roll after all. Cheers.

  2. 2
    Buttocks says:

    That is a very diverse group of bands, artists.

  3. 3
    Uwe Hornung says:

    The cows want their bells back!

    https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cpi3JpSPmGo

  4. 4
    sidroman says:

    Jack has excellent taste. Rainbow, ELP and Tull are among my all time favorites as well.

  5. 5
    MacGregor says:

    A very interesting character is Jack White, nee Willis, he he he. Oh how I admire that switch eh? I will take her name in marriage, what a classic, hooray. Of course he started out as a drummer, so he has common sense. Alas, he then lowered himself to play guitar or even bass, woe are the drummers out there in this world. Seriously, he is an old school musican and an admirer of that by gone era, what’s not to like about him. A avant-garde individual and a rebel, whatever way we look at it, kudos to him for his creative outlook on life. And he doesn’t, at least up till 2025 have a cell phone, how refreshing is that. (I can see Uwe rolling his eyes and a comment or three heading this way). Anyway, hopefully he will not succumb, however word (if believed) says he may have one now (reluctantly). Don’t do it Jack, whatever you do, don’t go there, remember that album of your’s, ‘Get Behind me Satan”. Cheers.

    https://consequence.net/2019/06/jack-white-doesnt-own-a-cell-phone/

  6. 6
    Ivica says:

    That guitar (bass)riff in song “Seven Nation Army”…like SOTW from the seventies…in the 21st century for guitar beginners the real first song learned on the guitar

    Jack mentioned Ritchie .. and it’s not Led Zeppelin ??!!! someone here will be happy about that:)

  7. 7
    David Black says:

    @3 🤣

  8. 8
    Fla76 says:

    I saw that these two strange guys (of whom I only know one old song) are already 50 years old!

  9. 9
    Manic Miner says:

    I am not much into The White Stripes, I find them a bit monotonous. But I have to admit that “Seven Nation Army” is the most recent “important” riff I can account for. And by “important” I mean one that got extremely well integrated into public culture (you can hear it at chants in football stadiums etc).

    And it is original, which is also not common for the last many years. I do not mean it is unprecedented, there is (conscious? unconscious? by chance?) inspiration:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT3h2X64gwM

    Still, it is a very original and unique sounding riff. Ritchie has done this also with his inspirations, Black Night and Smoke are the 2 best examples.

  10. 10
    MacGregor says:

    Ritchie oh Ritchie, where art though.

    https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/the-gimmick-band-that-inspired-a-teenage-ritchie-blackmore-to-meld-rock-with-classical

  11. 11
    Uwe Hornung says:

    I would never hold against a young man on his thorny path to betterment that he at one point played the beastly and vile drums, Herr MacGregor, you must believe me! It is not in the least important from which depths of depravity a once erring soul has crawled, but where it is heading in its noble quest for salvation.

    Yes, Anton Bruckner, definitely. And if you add two chromatic halfnotes to the descending line, then you are not too far away from The Phantom of the Opera too …

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2zxzaWgVRA

  12. 12
    Uwe Hornung says:

    Herr MacGregor is right, a certain influence can hardly be denied …

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iz3al8VA6oE

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKWXisFJmQs

    I agree that it’s novelty music. Telstar beckons and that was after all Lady Maggie Thatcher’s (Defender of the Falklands) favorite “rock song”.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxyN3b1bs-w

    Old loves die hard, there is always a little Joe Meek in Ritchie trying to get out!

  13. 13
    Uwe Hornung says:

    Does Herr MacGregor still even hold his account here? It’s all in the news, non-adult residents of the Downunder-Kiwiland island chain are no longer allowed to participate in social media, surely this must – in an a fortiori sweep so to say – then also apply to all drummers?

    I’m deeply worried, holy crash bang . 😑

    https://media1.tenor.com/m/TUVW1rqaIUUAAAAC/gong-pink-floyd-gong.gif

    Like many drummers, his voice wasn’t always coherent, yet constantly audible. “There is neither speech nor language, yet his voice is heard among them …

    —> https://youtu.be/vDQEJ06QoRs

  14. 14
    Manic Miner says:

    @11 Uwe

    some people say that The Phantom of the Opera chromatic descending line reminds a lot of the one in Pink Floyd’s “Echoes” and they go as far as claiming that Webber “stole” it. I think it is just what it is, a chromatic descending line, there is also some resemblance on the rhythm, but nothing out of the ordinary…

    On a side note, my belief is similar for “Stairway to Heaven” and “Spirit” from Taurus, where Zeppelin had won the legal battle. It is just chords where the bass note descends… I sometimes, in my conspiracy theory mode, think that the Zeppelin foundation staged that whole trial, to take attention away from their other real thefts (“Dazed and confused”, “When the Levee Breaks”, “Babe i’m gonna leave you”, etc, etc)

  15. 15
    Al says:

    I don’t care about White Stripes, but it is nice of him mentioning all those bands. The Hall of Shame is just another joke, like a lot of these so-called awards and it is the Oscars of music: shameful, and ignorant.
    We, fans know their music and love them

  16. 16
    MacGregor says:

    @ 13- ha ha ha ha, That Planet of the Apes ‘Nuclear Bomb Worshippers’ clip and oh my, it has been a very long time since I have seen that. As one punter commented “This answers Cornelius’s question in Conquest… “Could it get any worse ?” Regarding our revered governments censorship of minors on the internet, I had no problem getting around that Uwe. After the government asked if I was a Bot, which I said No, they then asked me if I was an adult. Of course I said YES, and it worked. And here I am, they will have to try a lot harder than that to get rid of me. Cheers.

  17. 17
    Karin Verndal says:

    Ian and Urock 😍

    https://youtu.be/-KMkzTWWAPA

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