Ronnie James Dio: C or D?(now RJD R.I.P.)

I saw dio live in the 'eighties, and it was shit. Worse than anvil or ratt even, though not worse than zodiac mindwarp, who probably was a kind of proto-darkness figure. 1/2 way through the gig i got so bored w/thee sluggardly feel, naff solos and general crapness that I left the auditorium and went to the bar where i eavesdropped on the roadie's conversations, which were teh funney.

rainbow - meh. nowt nor summat.

I could have been a dreamer
I could have been the one to fly
I always could have been a dreamer
Cause dreamers never die, no!

i like the first rainbow album. not all the way through, but there are a few decent tracks.

*His Majesty Rod "Whose Boots They Are Not Fit To Tie" Evans is another matter

yes. "the last in line" also classic. plus turning the DIO logo on the covers upside down to find that it spells DEVIL = CLASSIC

I just got Mob Rules! It's fucking awesome! Country Girl is a champagne jam! It's secretly a better album than Heaven and Hell, but don't tell anyone, it'll be our secret!

The town has a lot of Sicilian immigrants (his real last name is Pardovana). Apparently, Little Ronnie was the originator of the Devil Horns metal sign (that is, the thumb, index and pinkie finger) — or rather, his little Sicilian grandmother was, as she used it to ward off the evil eye. He learned it from her and the rest is history...

http://www.dimwhit.com/dio/mp3/index.html

I grew up just north of Cortland (in Syracuse). My dad gave Dio a few singing lessons many, many years back. I worked with a woman from Homer, which is a small town just outside of Cortland, and she was still pissed at Ronnie because when he got big he was going around telling people he was from Cortland when in fact he was from Homer. Funny shit. Maybe Homer should protest the naming of that street.

My fiance wants to know, QN: what's your family name?

Native, Homer is something like two/three miles away from Cortland. With modern strip mall sprawl, I'm sure one would never know when passing from one town to the other. But this woman was just so damn upset about Ronnie not giving Homer its due. We both worked at a fabric store in the early-90s.

The last name is Farrar, and like so many from that area my grandparents are from Italy.

This guy ain't afraid to admit he's from Homer. Cortland is given props for being a dairy community that bred a surprising number of big time rockers.

I'll side w/Cortland in the Cortland vs. Homer battle. My high school sweetheart went to SUNY Cortland.

-- Martin Skidmore

(I should mention this is me posting the above, not Martin!)

-- Ned at Martin's place

Aww Damn! I so wanted that to be martin.

haa six guitar solos, one after the other wtf

Uh, s/b VIV Campbell, of course. (Bonehead.)

I've heard that 1987's Dream Evil is supposed to be pretty good. It's odd, though, that Rhino Flashback reissued that, but not The Last In Line. I picked up a Rock Candy remaster of Holy Diver a few years ago with an interview with Dio. After Last In Line, I don't know if anything else is really worth getting.

never cared for Dream Evil as a kid, but i should give it a second listen.

i still think Sign of the Southern Cross is his career greatest moment. \m/

holy diver and his work with sabbath is classic as far as i'm concerned. also video for holy diver is so awesomely cheesy.

Ronnie James Dio has been diagnosed with stomach cancer, his wife has said.

Writing on his official website, Wendy Dio said the former Rainbow and Black Sabbath singer was in the early stages of the illness.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8380305.stm

:( He looked really healthy when I saw Heaven & Hell in August. I'm going to send him magic healing vibes.

This is too bad. The guy has been on a roll lately. Plus I've heard he's one of the good guys (never met him myself). Definitely hope he gets better.

major bummer - I wish him the best. totally sweet guy.

Sad news.

Stargazer >>>>>>>>>>> Kashmir. Honestly.

oh man...this sucks

yeah i saw him on the first heaven and hell tour and he looked and sounded fantastic, what a performer and a pro.

I've seen him twice...and his voice is still in incredible shape. Dickinson has lost a lot of power, Halford can still do it but you can see him really push to hit those notes now, but Ronnie seems to do it so effortlessly. And he's a consummate showman. Maybe cheesy now, but respectful to the crowd, friendly, will shake a fan's hand...just a really freaking nice dude.

I love Ronnie. It could be Rainbow Dio, Sabbath Dio, Holy Diver Dio...or the hilariously hippy stuff he did with Richie Blackmore on Butterfly Ball. If elves and goblins and men on silver mountains aren't your thing, I understand that...but come on, that VOICE? He can't be anything but classic. (excepting the synth-era Dio which I really try not to think too much about)

and I'm 100% bummed about the stomach cancer news. that really, really sucks.

I've seen Dio three times...once as a headliner at MSG in '86 or so, once supporting Iron Maiden at MSG 20 years later, and again a year or two ago on the Judas Priest/Heaven & Hell/Motörhead/Testament tour. The Heaven & Hell album is in my Top Ten of '09. And I got to interview him earlier this year (feature links here and here). Terrifically nice guy.

he's australian, doesn't even like metal

p sure he's trolling me

if he doesn't like metal his opinion on Dio or Saxon is not worth a tuppeny fart

lol I love you nv

I don't even let people in my house if they can't effortlessly sing the first verse of "Rainbow in the Dark" immediately after knocking.

I've been lonely for some time

<3

that's kind of my thing -- I literally cannot comprehend someone hearing Dio for the first time and not going HOLY SHIT THAT'S AWESOME

otm

5 years ago today

;_;

jump
jump
jump on the tiger

rocking "Holy Diver" LP tonight.

yes!!

so good

http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0003/515/MI0003515838.jpg

how amazing is this cover

totes amazing
i love the chain-whip

the splashes around the priest are super dramatic. you wouldn't get that with a photo or cgi. it looks like the Great Wave off Kanagawa in there! sideways horns. full moon. what time of day is it? it looks like night at the moon but also morning/dusk over the mountains. or is that the fires of hell? it almost looks like a collage. very surreal. amazing painting. i love the flow of it all, how the chain draws the eye towards a weightless and harmonized chaos, while perfectly matching the old Germanic-style D in DIO.

Oh dear.. Ronnie James Dio Hologram Debuts at German Metal Festival Wacken Open Air

http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7461829/ronnie-james-dio-hologram-wacken-open-air-germany-festival-2016

When do we get the all-hologram Rock n roll heaven supergroup tour

for real, is this just a passing fad or are we doomed to live in a rock n roll dystopia of holographic tribute acts at every bar and venue that ponies up for the projector setup

the ghost of Dio appears

http://www.stereogum.com/1892776/surprise-ronnie-james-dio-hologram-closes-german-metal-festival/news/

I just fucked up didn't I.

his power is invoked and proven

My eyes are bleeding!

YOU’VE GOT TO BLEED FOR THE DANCAHHH

RIDE THE TIGAH

JUMP
JUMP

fucking ten years today :(

;_;

if i was a baseball player my walk-on music would be “Time To Burn”

Joey Belladonna is doing a Dio tribute set tonight featuring Rainbow, Sabbath, and Dio songs. At this tiny like 200 capacity venue ten minutes from me.

Interested to see how it sounds as his voice is definitely different than Dio's but it'll be cool to see this in an intimate space

that sounds amazing! Joey’s voice is v different as you say, but he for sure has the range. (And I think a touch of Dio-esque sincerity)

In my head I can hear Joey doing a good version of “man on the silver mountain”

He used to do Neon Knights at Anthrax shows too

Oh shit they recorded it lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHh3Itmv15Y

ok that fucking rules

I have chills 30 minutes in

Set list report!

FULL REPORT WITH MINUTE TO MINUTE DETAILS INCLUDING KEY CHANGES

“Modulation” as they call it in the biz

Neon Kinights in G#

Not in order but

Neon Knights
We Rock
Man on the Silver Mountain
Don't Talk to Strangers
Holy Diver
Last in Line
Heaven and Hell
Children of the Sea
Lady Evil
Die Young
Mob Rules
Sign of the Southern Cross
Voodoo
We Rock

Oh shit

Children of the sea! Southern cross!

Die f’in Young lol

Yea Die Young is my favorite so

D’yer Yung

I bet it was a fun show. I’ve been on a Rainbow kick. New (old) thing I checked out was Rainbow Live in Germany 1976. That is really jammy and quite good sound quality. Listened to the 3 studio Rainbow albums a couple of times in the past 2 weeks too along with some Deep Purple.

Having a family get together in my head I kept coming back to “ Black Sheep of the Family” chorus.

joey doing signs of the southern cross woweeewow

is “rainbow in the dark” a commentary on rainbow?

*sign