Doogie White feels Ritchie Blackmore gave careers to many people that maybe would never have had one

Doogie White feels Ritchie Blackmore gave careers to many people that maybe would never have had one

Former Rainbow and current Alcatrazz frontman Doogie White was recently interviewed by Vintage Rock Pod. White was promoting Alcatrazz‘s upcoming new album Take No Prisoners, which will be available on May 19, 2023.

White was asked about his time with Blackmore in Rainbow to which he indicated (as provided by Vintage Rock Pod): “Well, I always got on well with him. It’s not my name on the, on the board. It’s not me selling the tickets. It’s him selling the tickets. I was in a very lucky position he could have chosen any singer in the world to come and join him. But he chose me. And I’ll be eternally grateful for that because it gave me a springboard to do things, not so much with (Michael) Schenker but with Yngwie (Malmsteen) and Alcatrazz, and things. You know, it gave me a worldwide audience, and I’ve had a lot of  work come from that worldwide audience, and because of my collaboration with Ritchie, and to some extent, Yngwie as well. And so I’ll always be grateful to him for that.

We never really had any run-ins. We used to go to Blockbusters together when there was no football on. I used to go down to his house when we weren’t doing anything. Go round to his house and we’d sit and watch The Princess Bride, or you know, The Appointment. I mean, just rubbish movies, the two of us walking round going “what’s this one?” at Blockbusters. But we got on really well and then one day, he just went, and it was gone. And it was gone as quick as that.

And we played football the day before the last show in Esbjerg in Denmark, we played the show, nothing was wrong. And then within an hour of us coming off stage, it was all sort of… And I went home and just phoned him up and just handed in my resignation, said I don’t, you know, unless I hear from you in 24 hours, I’m not doing it, I’m not doing this anymore. And that was it and I’ve never spoken to him since.

But he’s always treated me fairly. I mean, I did contact him because I was owed some… We had a publishing agreement for the songs that I’d written and I provided his management with the evidence that I was due funds and they wouldn’t pay. So I just wrote to him directly and said, “Look man, you know” and he went “Okay, there you go” the cheque was in the post. So I’ve always had a great respect for him for that reason.

You know, he’s very good at bringing new people in and taking people, not necessarily off the streets, you know, but out of clothing shops, or out of being a coach builder or whatever, you know, and then he sets you free. He sucks you in, bleeds you dry and then sets you free and you can go off and if you can find your wings, you can fly. Some do, some don’t. You know, and that’s one of his great gifts to the world of rock and roll, is the amount of people who he has given careers to that you would maybe never have had of. And we’ve all got to be very grateful for that. I mean, David Coverdale could still be selling suits and Redcar. You know, Ronnie Dio could still be trying to get Elf to do something. You know, Graham Bonnet could still be crooning away in Australia. But, you know, I could still be sleeping on somebody’s floor in London but he gave us all this opportunity to go out there and make something of ourselves and if you grasped it you grasped it, and if you didn’t you didn’t.”

You can listen to the entire interview with Doogie White on the Vintage Rock Pod via Pod Follow and/or listen to an excerpt below: