Just working my way through Bob Daisley's entertaining autobiography 'For Facts Sake' and was surprised to read this about the 1977 European tour:
'At the end of the shows where the audience had been particularly receptive and appreciative, which was nearly every night , Ritchie would sacrifice his Fender Stratocaster by dancing on it, ramming it into his amp and then smashing it to smithereens, while the band played on.
Once audiences had heard about it they not only wanted and expected it, he virtually demanded it. The only problem was, Ritchie was breaking up real Strats and that was getting expensive. Even though they were only new 1970's guitars, and relatively inexpensive by today's standards, making matchwood out of them almost every night was getting to be an extravagant luxury.
A truckload of brand-new Strats still in their boxes began to dwindle and then the problem was solved, the Japanese company Tokai brought out a Strat copy which looked, sounded and felt very similar to the real thing. During the last number of the encore, Ritchie would play a Tokai 'Strat' with the brand name removed, and break that up.
It kept the costs down and the audiences' hunger for destruction fed.'
Oh dear! I wonder how many people have gone to sell genuine Ritchie Blackmore smashed Fender Strats at an auction house and it has been turned down because of the 7=10 or 80 stamped on the fingerboard as it isn't a real strat! ;-)
'At the end of the shows where the audience had been particularly receptive and appreciative, which was nearly every night , Ritchie would sacrifice his Fender Stratocaster by dancing on it, ramming it into his amp and then smashing it to smithereens, while the band played on.
Once audiences had heard about it they not only wanted and expected it, he virtually demanded it. The only problem was, Ritchie was breaking up real Strats and that was getting expensive. Even though they were only new 1970's guitars, and relatively inexpensive by today's standards, making matchwood out of them almost every night was getting to be an extravagant luxury.
A truckload of brand-new Strats still in their boxes began to dwindle and then the problem was solved, the Japanese company Tokai brought out a Strat copy which looked, sounded and felt very similar to the real thing. During the last number of the encore, Ritchie would play a Tokai 'Strat' with the brand name removed, and break that up.
It kept the costs down and the audiences' hunger for destruction fed.'
Oh dear! I wonder how many people have gone to sell genuine Ritchie Blackmore smashed Fender Strats at an auction house and it has been turned down because of the 7=10 or 80 stamped on the fingerboard as it isn't a real strat! ;-)
