Music Mondays
It’s inevitable working in a guitar shop that we end up having heated conversations about music.So we decided to take it to the web with Music Mondays. Every Monday someone from our staff is going to write a blog about music – specifically one particular album, artist or song. We’ll be covering anything, from the first albums that inspired us to become musicians to great hidden gems that we feel never got the recognition they deserved. Anyways, enjoy, and be sure to leave your comments and continue the discussion.
IN MEMORY OF RONNIE JAMES DIO
Ronnie James Dio, more commonly known as just “Dio” passed away Sunday morning at 7:45 A.M. after battling stomach cancer. Dio was the frontman of many bands, including Rainbow, Heaven and Hell, Black Sabbath, and, of course, Dio. He was probably most famous for inventing the “Devil Horns” metal sign.
Jason C. and I had the pleasure of seeing Dio last summer when Heaven and Hell was on tour with Testament, Motorhead, and Judas Priest. Even though Testament was the best band of the night, Dio himself killed it. You would’ve never thought a dude with a voice so powerful had stomach cancer.
One of my favorite and only Dio memories comes from an album entitled “Heaven and Hell” by Black Sabbath. After Ozzy left, a lot of people probably thought Sabbath was dead, but they did release a monster of a record with Dio singing on it. This record was given to me by my grandmother who had cleaned out her attic of her son’s records. I also was given some Kiss and Van Halen records. For a kid just entering high school, having some classics on vinyl was pretty damn cool.
My favorite track on this record was actually side A track 1, entitled Neon Knights. In the movie High Fidelity when they are giving their lists of best Side 1 Track 1 songs, this would definitely make my list.
From Wikipedia: Ronnie James Dio (July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010) was an American heavy metal vocalist and songwriter. He performed with Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, and his own band Dio. Other musical projects include the collective fundraiser Hear ‘n Aid. He was widely hailed as one of the most powerful singers in heavy metal,[1] renowned for his consistently powerful voice and for popularizing the “devil’s horns” hand gesture in metal culture. He was collaborating on a project with former Black Sabbath bandmates Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Vinny Appice, under the moniker Heaven & Hell, whose first and only studio album, The Devil You Know, was released on April 28, 2009.[2] He died of stomach cancer on May 16, 2010.[3][4]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronnie_James_Dio
