I must tell you that there was a little consternation on the part of some of the people who did not turn up, who were asked to take part in ‘Stars’, that the inclusion of those two people, or anyone from Spinal Tap, made this project a laughing stock. Hubbins and Derek Smalls of Spinal Tap enter the project.”ĭio: “Yeah that was a real special moment. Roberts: “I think that one of the great coups of Hear N’ Aid, and I think you’ll have to agree with me, was having David St. Hubbins and Derek Smalls of Spinal Tap appear on the track “Stars”, which Ronnie produced. Roberts interviewed Ronnie James Dio about the Hear N’ Aid project in 1986, he played it straight. How was I to know? A lot of media surrounding Spinal Tap took them seriously. I was only 13 years old, and I thought Spinal Tap were a real band. GETTING MORE TALE #832: This Is Spinal Tap Now we go on without Dio, yet no matter what…”WE ROCK”. Dio though…we’ve been following Ronnie James Dio’s career and music for most of our lives. After all, Hendrix was a spark, here and gone before anybody got to know the man. This is certainly one of the biggest losses the genre has ever experienced, and I am including Hendrix in that body count. I don’t know if metal has ever suffered a loss like this before. Like most of you, I have every album, every Sabbath album, every Rainbow album…I’ve known “Die Young” for 25 years. If you felt like crap because you were the only kid in school with a Black Sabbath T-shirt, Dio’s lyrics and message always said “It’s OK, because you’re onto something that they can’t see.” He wore his metal on his (wizard’s) sleeves and he made it OK for you to do the same. ![]() You knew he’d never sell out and he never did. If there was one constant in rock, it’s been Ronnie James Dio. Wherever you were rocking out to “Holy Diver” or “Rock and Roll Children” or “Neon Knights”, if you’re a Dio fan then you know what I’m talking about. ![]() Dio’s been at wedddings, funerals, on roadtrips, in basements and bedrooms all over the world. Nobody else can claim that they’ve done what Dio’s done.īut more than that, Dio has been there with us. Google the video, you’ll understand completely. There is a common denominator in the sounds of those albums and it is intrinsically Dio.Īnd who else can claim such a hardcore resume? Elf, Rainbow, Black frickin’ Sabbath, and Dio itself! Not to mention some of the totally unsung stuff he’s done, not least of which was Hear N’ Aid. Dio had his own sound, and he brought that sound to both Rainbow and Black Sabbath. Dio had a freakin’ dragon on his album cover in the year 2002! Who else did that? Not many and certainly nobody who got front racked a the local record stores like Dio did. None of these songs had any characters who ever took any bullshit.ĭio was like that. In a way that’s all Dio’s songs were ever about, from “The Last In Line” to “I” to “Stargazer”. I mean, killing dragons, stopping robots from taking over the earth, fools sailing away…but underneath it all, they had this hidden theme: Don’t take bullshit. When it came down it, his lyrics were pretty simple thematically. You only have to play it once, its impact was immediate, and suddenly you could have it playing non-stop in your head while bored to tears in class. Dio did it again, this time with Black Sabbath. I sit here listening to the live version of “I” from The Devil You Know album. ![]() As much as I hated my grade 8 teacher and classes, it was always OK because I constantly has this kick-ass song playing on repeat in my head. It was the only thing that made some days tolerable. I remember having it my head for an entire day in 8th grade. (See: “Queen of the Reich” by Queensryche and “Can U Deliver” by Armored Saint for two more videos of this genre from the exact same time period). They played the video for “Holy Diver”, and I was quite frankly into ANY metal video where the band and/or singer had a sword and was on some kind of mission. My exposure to Dio was initially due to MuchMusic. Reposted here for the first time unaltered. Written and posted on Facebook in 2010 after Ronnie’s death.
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