Deep Purple's Jon Lord dies at 71—out of respect, let's make "Smoke on the Water" cool again

by Tyler Munro

The BBC reports today that Deep Purple founder Jon Lord has died after a year long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 71.

Lord formed Deep Purple with Richie Blackmore back in 1968. In 1973, they released “Smoke on the Water,” which featured one of the most iconic riffs ever recorded. It went onto bug guitar store clerks for the next forty years.

Out of respect for Lord, we’d like to propose a moratorium on “Smoke on the Water,” which has been echoing through guitar stores since its release forty years ago. As a result, its inherent coolness has been all but drained. That’s why we think we owe it to Lord, and the rest of Deep Purple, to make the song cool again. Let’s stop playing it to tune our guitars. Let’s wait ten years. Better yet, let’s play it on the organ. We think it’s what he would have wanted.