Ritchie Blackmore's Syrup

Philly_Q

prowla said:

I think the 1st Rainbow album was the last time Blackmore’s real hair saw the light of day. 

He still had the combover look on Rainbow Rising:

ToneControl said:

I reckon ZZ top could blend in anywhere minus stage gear

Do you think the beards are false?  Or would they just tuck them down their jumpers?  But you're right, I have absolutely no idea what Billy Gibbons' hair looks like, if he has any.  And I didn't think I'd be able to find a recent picture of him without sunglasses, but there are some:

Kittyfrisk

I think Richie's rug wearing is the least of his quirks.

Devil#20

Philly_Q said:

Do you think the beards are false?  Or would they just tuck them down their jumpers?  But you're right, I have absolutely no idea what Billy Gibbons' hair looks like, if he has any.  And I didn't think I'd be able to find a recent picture of him without sunglasses, but there are some:

It's all relative you your nett worth and he's a rich bloke so I wonder how much he actually pays for his sunglasses. That's a terrible wig too. Met him once in a bar called The Flying Saucer in Fort Worth Texas when I lived out then when I was working for Lockheed Martin. I felt a bit stupid when I said after about 10 mins talking to him and being slightly pissed that with a beard like that he could stand in for Billy Gibbons cos they only lived up the road in Dallas. Even then he just laughed and said nothing. It was only later when I asked him what he did and he said he was a guitarist in a band from Dallas. 

jimification

Devil#20 said:

It's all relative you your nett worth and he's a rich bloke so I wonder how much he actually pays for his sunglasses. 

I believe they are...inexpensive

Moleman

Martin Turner (ex-Wishbone Ash) still has a full head of (admittedly grey) hair at 73.

HerrMetal

Extra marks for the chest wig too. Is there such a thing as a beard wig? I present to you Mr Joe Stump (age 60)

Philly_Q

HerrMetal said:

Extra marks for the chest wig too. Is there such a thing as a beard wig? I present to you Mr Joe Stump (age 60) 

Member of one of the two versions of Alcatrazz...

Philly_Q

Reminds me of Joachim Low Joe Lynn Turner.

Devil#20

Can anyone confirm Rick Parfitt did/didn't wear a wig. That was a good mop. 

Barquentine

My grandfather had so much hair he actually died of dandruff.

Devil#20

Barquentine said:

My grandfather had so much hair he actually died of dandruff.

You sure he didn't choke trying to dog up a hair ball?

Basher

Headphones said:

I recall reading in a Blackmore biography that he had quite a bit of "plug" work around the time of the "Rainbow On Stage" album, perhaps it's lasted better than Elton's.

Apparently several members of the band ribbed him mercilessly.

Rainbow changed its membership regularly.

Wonder why?

I've read that it was Cozy Powell that couldn't keep a straight face at the first post-transplant photoshoot. Makes sense as he never took any of Blackmore's "I am the dark lord" adolescent nonsense and would doubtless have chinned him had he tried any of that stuff on.

I think Richie was a very early adopter of the hair transplant and, like many on the bleeding edge of any new cosmetic procedure, has probably been stuck with a less than convincing results. Let's face it, if Elton John, with all his stupendous wealth, still looks like he's has a dead cat dropped on his head, what chance has anyone else got of achieving convincing results?

The Edge is another who is clearly troubled by his sparse pate. There are plenty of pictures of him sans beanie and you can clearly see the plugs giving that "dolls hair" effect that I seem to remember seeing on a snooker player in the '70s. Again, he has the economic power of a mid-sized African nation at his personal disposal, so if that's the best that science can manage then it would probably be better to leave it. The odd thing is that he actually looks fine (IMO) bald and it's how I've always imagined him under that "Benny hat". I read Gary Numan's biography a long time ago and he regretted his transplant for the same reason (visible plugs) as, being of the electro/alternative genre, a shaved head was almost de rigueur at the time.

I think that, rather like sexual preference, being bald is thankfully no longer considered something to be deeply ashamed of and hidden at all cost lest the sales figures recede with the hairline. 

As a callow youth I used to go to concerts by Rainbow and Jethro Tull (among many others) and it was the latter band that won my heart by openly embracing their ageing by making fun of it. (Better music too.) Modern musical types seem to have just shaved their noggin at the first sign of encroaching spam and got on with the general business of rock and for that I raise a tankard of foaming nutbrown ale in their general direction. 

AlexO

My wife's grandad has the most ridiculous thick head of brown hair and he's 84. Every time he goes in hospital they ask him to remove his wig... He always replies " You have a fackin go of getting it off then"

Philly_Q

Basher said:

I think Richie was a very early adopter of the hair transplant and, like many on the bleeding edge of any new cosmetic procedure, has probably been stuck with a less than convincing results. Let's face it, if Elton John, with all his stupendous wealth, still looks like he's has a dead cat dropped on his head, what chance has anyone else got of achieving convincing results?

I read an interview with Elton John recently where he said none of his hair transplants had worked so he gave up and now wears wigs.  Which is bleeding obvious really, but for decades I'd been under the impression he'd finally had a successful - albeit ridiculous-looking - hair transplant.

KKJale

I always thought Jerry Donahue sported a fine, verdant crop of rugs. 

The late Barney Kessel also surely deserves credit as a pioneer of the faux follicle. 

lewisanderson

Al Di Meola has a 'system' in place. 
Johnny Marr and Jeff Beck both dye, but have their own hair.

scrumhalf

Sky Arts have beem repeating the all-star Carl Perkins thing from the 80s. Now there's a man with some of Allied Carpets' finest atop his bonce. 

chillidoggy

I thought he got fired for waving his todger around on stage.

boogieman

Funkfingers said:

Google found some photographs from a 2016 tour in which Blackmore's rug isn't even on straight.

Devil#20 said:

Gene Simmons, if he doesn't wear a wig, then he should get his shaved off and go and buy one because it just looks like a mop of pubic hair stuck on his head. 

I reckon that is his prodigious chest hair, combed upwards and over.

Devil#20 said:

Who else does or who do we suspect wears a syrup in the guitar world?

Hank Marvin. Wig and glasses off, contact lenses in, he becomes Brian, free to go about his lawful business unencumbered by the ghastly public. 

•

Some famous guitarists are never seen in public bar t'at. Billy Gibbons, The Edge, Richard Thompson, for example.

There are pics around of Billy G without that shower mat thing he wears. He seems to still have plenty of hair, but it’s cut quite short. 

goldtop

ICBM said:

Headphones said:

I recall reading in a Blackmore biography that he had quite a bit of "plug" work around the time of the "Rainbow On Stage" album, perhaps it's lasted better than Elton's.

Apparently several members of the band ribbed him mercilessly.

Rainbow changed its membership regularly.

Wonder why?

Ironically, Graham Bonnet was fired for having short hair...

It was a bit of a shock when Rob Halford reappeared after getting shorn.