08.18
Ronnie James Dio (July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010) was a legendary heavy metal vocalist and songwriter for the bands Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, and, most importantly his own band Dio. Ronnie James Dio was well known for being one of the most powerful heavy metal singers of all time, and has been hailed as a god in the heavy metal scene. Which is where the name Dio came from, which means “God” in Italian.

He was born Ronald James Padavona in Portsmouth, N.H., and raised in New York. He started his career with local bands such as the Vegas Kings.
His career started in 1975 when he joined Rainbow. Dio had been playing with Elf, a band originally called the Electric Elves, which has members of Deep Purple.
Dio joined Black Sabbath when he replaced Ozzy Osbourne in 1979. His first album with Sabbath, “Heaven and Hell,” sold more than 1 million copies. 2 years later Dio left the band after the release of “Mob Rules” in 1981 to form Dio.
He returned to Black Sabbath briefly in the 1990s and more recently had formed Heaven & Hell, basically a version of the band without Osbourne.
Two of Dio’s most memorable songs are “Heaven and Hell” and “Holy Diver”
News of his diagnosis of stomach cancer shook the entire heavy metal community. Fans dutifully supported him in his plight. Including reaching out, via internet, starting groups on facebook like, “Get Better Dio” and many more similar tribute pages.
The entire metal community grieved The death of Ronnie James Dio. First spawning as an viral internet rumor, fans heatedly debated, and kept their fingers crossed for the better health of Ronnie James. On May 16, 2010 the metal scenes worst nightmare came true. Ronnie James Dio was pronounced dead at 7:45am from metastasized stomach cancer.
Ronnie James Dio was a very powerful heavy metal icon, and he will be sorely missed by all of his fans.
RIP DIO 1942-2010



That’s right, for just about a week now, British Mail has released a special set of 10 stamps featuring Coldplay, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, and other historical British bands and rockers. The process of choosing and producing these stamps was much more lengthy and complicated than one might think. Only about 12 stamp sets are released each year, and the albums had to be reproduced in pint size form to make tiny works of art. Many albums were rejected because they were indecipherable when shrunk; were too dark and therefore unable to be identifiable; or couldn’t be scanned in the British Mail systems . Additionally, the selection of artists and artwork to use on the stamps was a rigorous process. It required sifting through statistics, and speaking to many music journalists to pick the perfect set of artists and album covers.
Enough is enough already!
one hell of a ride. I don’t know how anyone could have an ounce of forgiveness in a situation like this. Tiger’s innocent children have also been thrown into this mess and are now falling victim to paparazzi photos and a possibly ugly custody battle.
HBO is running a wonderful program this week that is a special edited version of the The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary concert series held on October 29th and 30th, 2009 at
And some of the best moments come when you least expect them! There is a wonderful reunion of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel performing three of their most famous pieces: Sounds of Silence, The Boxer, and Bridge Over Troubled Waters. They never sounded better, and if you are my age, all you have to do is close your eyes and drift back in time when those songs were integral to all our lives! When you open them, you see two men who are clearly older than you remember them, but the sound is the same!
The Concert was a success because the producers were smart enough to bring all these artists together to compliment each other and perform each other’s music. Their jamming and sharing of all the songs that we all remember make this program one that I will save for a long time and watch over and over when I want to be uplifted by the great talents that have given us such inspiring music over the last 50 years.
Well the news isn’t verified, but it has been rumored!
Last night we had some friends over for dinner and started discussing music. Fern and Marty are our age (early 60s) and had some great stories to tell about their adventures when they were in their mid 20s. Apparently they had discovered a small ticket boutique in midtown Manhattan where they could go to get tickets to all the major concerts at the Felt Forum and find themselves sitting in the 12th row right in front of the artists! This little boutique had some sort or main line into the ticket universe and no one really knew about it except a select few. Consequently they spent those years in their mid 20s just going to concert after concert and literally were ‘spit upon’ by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and the Doors, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, The Allman Brothers, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, Springsteen and others.
Trent Reznor’s groundbreaking album “Pretty Hate Machine” celebrated its 20th Anniversary this past week–a truly innovative and influential album that was released on October 20th, 1989. Wow, has it really been that long?

Kanye West has made it onto our blog yet again…just when everyone thought (and certainly hoped) that we wouldn’t hear about Kanye West for a while, he has made news headlines. It has been rumored that he is traveling to India to gain some spiritual strength and focus. He cancelled his upcoming tour “Fame Kills” with Lady Gaga to travel to Hindu guru Sri Aurobindo’s ashram in Pondicherry, India.