A Day With Ronnie James Dio

It was 1984 and I was pretty early in my commercial radio career at WHJY in Providence, RI, having just come off a three-year stint in college radio at WUSM (University of Massachusetts Dartmouth). So Ronnie James Dio wasn't even part of my musical vocabulary. I was more of a fan and huge promoter of progressive bands like The Smiths, New Order, INXS, Depeche Mode. These bands were not anywhere near as commercial back then as they are today.

So I had to adapt to working at a radio station that at any given time during the day and night was blaring hard rock bands like The Scorpions, Led Zeppelin, Ratt, etc. I had to fake it, pretend I was into that kind of music.

But then something weird happened. I started to re-enjoy classic rock and not act so snooty over the new head-banging metal bands. After all, this was my new career and pretty much my new life. I had to live and breath the stuff, if I wanted to stick around. My college radio pals were probably scoffing at me whenever I came on between songs.

"That was Don Henley and BOYS OF SUMMER here at ninety-four FM, W-H-J-Y, the home of rock and roll," I said into the microphone with all of the enthusiasm I could muster. "And this one is by request, it's AC/DC and BACK IN BLACK."

Laugh all you want, my progressive rock friends, I was beginning to enjoy this.

Then one day I went into the station early to do some production. There was this short little guy with a mop of dark, kinky hair coming out of the main studio. Rick OB had just interviewed him. It was Ronnie James Dio, legendary frontman in a couple of bands you may have heard of--Black Sabbath and Rainbow. I wasn't a huge fan--remember, I'd become a music snob. Regardless, I stopped to say hello. After a little back and forth, he asked if I was going to his show at the Providence Civic Center that evening. I told him I wasn't sure if they had set aside tickets for me. Ronnie reaches into his pocket and pulls out an ALL ACCESS backstage pass and hands it to me.

"This should work," he said.

The record label rep he was with invited me to have dinner with Ronnie and him. Next thing you know, I'm in a car with Ronnie James Dio headed to the venue. And just like other rock stars I'd met up to that point, he was fascinated with new music and was actually into a lot of the bands I followed at the time. We got into a lengthy discussion about music and where it was headed, and we actually had very similar tastes.

The first place we stopped was at his hotel. There was a mob of fans outside that swarmed around Ronnie for autographs and photos the moment he stepped out of the car. I was stunned they knew and waited to find him there. I knew he was popular, but I never would have guessed this popular. We managed to break away from the fans and got into his hotel.

Later over drinks and dinner before the show, I learned that Dio also liked classical music and he collected cars. He lived in Los Angeles. And he was very smart.

At showtime, I stood off to the right of the stage. The lights went out and Bic lighters ignited all over the civic center. Then there was a huge explosion and flames onstage, out of which jumped this short guy (I'm 5'7" and he was shorter than me). The music was so loud and the light show intense. It was electrifying to see this guy, who hours earlier I could have cared less about, come to life and get thousands of hardcore fans onto their feet for almost two hours of non-stop, sweaty, ear-tickling, hard rock. It was one of the best concert-going experiences of my life. Theatrics, showmanship and really amazing guitars and drums.

Ronnie James Dio, the man himself, had turned me into a fan. Then off he went to repeat his kindness and professionalism and spread his music and message. I never saw him again but was quite sad when I heard news of his death in 2010. Thank you, and RIP Dio.

LOST AND FOUND: REM At The Living Room in Providence, RI

REM onstage at the Living Room, Providence RI
Photo by Laura Sylvester

I recently blogged about the first time I met the guys from REM. Within a day of posting, Laura Sylvester, an old friend and fellow WUSM disc jockey, reminded me of a couple of interesting things from that wonderful evening back in 1982.

Michael Stipe (r) and Mike Mills (l) of REM at
The Living Room in Providence, RI
Photo by Laura Sylvester

Firstly, she recalled that the band was so lacking in material that that night they actually played a couple of their songs twice. Probably Perfect Circle and Wolves Lower. In fact, the band likely had more material than the five songs from their debut IRS Records EP, "Chronic Town". But I'm guessing they just weren't used to playing all of their material in a concert setting at that point. Their full-length album, Murmur, would be released the following year, featuring Radio Free Europe, Pilgrimage, Perfect Circle, etc.

Then came the most shocking and pleasing news from Laura. She had taken photos of REM from that evening at the Living Room. However, she had misplaced the pictures and had forgotten about them for years until recently when she found them in some box.

These photos of Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills really put a smile on my face. This is how I remember them in the beginning. Look at how geeky Stipe looks.

Michael Stipe onstage at the Living Room
in Providence, RI 1982
Photo by Laura Sylvester

Back in the eighties, we didn't have cell phones and digital photos. I have lost so many amazing pictures over the years from my days in radio. I wish we'd had the technology of today back then. So I hope I will be getting more messages from my radio and music industry friends from back in the day that they have unearthed some amazing photo surprises from our eighties time capsule.

Lost and found.

That Time The Drummer From REM Told Me He Had a Dog Named Gerry

From the internet

Bill Berry, I learned early on, is a funny guy. It was October 4, 1982, the first time I met the four members of REM and watched them perform LIVE at what would become my all time favorite venue to catch cutting edge bands on the rise to super stardom. The Living Room in Providence, Rhode Island.

I was beyond excited to see REM perform, after being instantly hooked on their debut, six-song EP Chronic Town. Like most other fans, I was dying for more music than just those six songs.

That Time I Ended Up In The Ladies Room At Dancetaria With 3 Rock Stars

Dancetaria

It was the winter of 1983. I was in New York City with a few of my college radio compadres for the CMJ Radio Convention. CMJ as in College Media Journal - the folks who brought us the monthly CMJ New Music Report magazine, which followed and charted the new music of the day being played on college radio stations across the United States. I think they called the convention the CMJ Music Marathon.

We were having a blast attending panels that were focused on the drastically changing music scene of the early 1980s. My fellow DJs and I were meeting all of the new artists, like Cyndi Lauper (Girls Just Want To Have Fun had just been released), Richard Butler of Psychadelic Furs (they weren't a new band, but Love My Way was new, and the song was quickly moving up the charts and

DO YOU REMEMBER FACE TO FACE?

Debut album cover 1982

One of my all time favorite bands from the '80s was Face to Face. Laurie Sargent was the lead singer. Stuart Kimball played lead guitar and is actually the one who formed the band in the '70s in New Hampshire. Angelo Petraglia also played guitar and keyboards (he also produced a Kings of Leon record for which he won a Grammy in 2010). John Ryder was on bass, and Billy Beard on drums. I

Bigger Than Ratt: The Time I Had a Moment With Jon Bon Jovi

(1985) It was one of those slap me moments. Or grab a piece of my arm and twist. A "shut up!" moment. Sadly there were no cell phones at the time. No Facebook or Twitter. There were car phones, but they were like clunky army field radios with wires and boxes, and they were super expensive. I suppose I could have pulled over and pretended to my passenger that I needed to make an important pay phone call to the radio station where I worked for some bullshit reason and then really call my friends and tell them I was driving the back streets of Providence, making my way toward the Civic Center with Jon Bon Jovi riding shotgun in my beat-up AMC Spirit.

THAT TIME THE CLASH PLAYED ON OUR CAMPUS

The Clash onstage at SMU 1982.
Photo by Dave Warren

This is an amazing photo taken by my friend Dave Warren. We had the Clash play at our college (Southeastern Massachusetts University) in October 1982. Right after the program council booked them, Combat Rock was released. The day tickets went on sale, the campus center was overrun by fans who had traveled from across

Chrissie Hynde Was The First Rock Star I Ever Met

I had been doing college radio at Southeastern Massachusetts University's WUSM for almost one year when I met my first genuine rock star. Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders. The band played in our campus gymnasium on November 3, 1981. All of the members did radio spots for our station. We were playing the hell out of their records. MTV had launched only three months earlier and were already playing the band’s videos. I was just in awe of meeting and having the chance to speak with them and then watch them perform. Chrissie Hynde showing me for the first time that a woman could rock just as hard as a man.
Before the show, I was walking down the hallway toward the band's dressing room. I had

GERRY'S GIGOGRA'PHY - Every Concert I Ever Attended (Almost Every...)

This is the history of the '80s concerts I attened. I've included the first few concerts I ever attended in the late '70s. Those were the few shows that I paid for and are marked PAID.  Those where I was on the guest list are marked COMPED for complementary.  And if I met the band, I write Met Band. I've also added concerts attended in my post-radio days.

A Few of My Actual Ticket Stubs

1978 through 1979

Thin Lizzy & The Outlaws – Cape Cod Coliseum (September 3, 1978) - PAID

The Cars, Eddie Money, Bob Welch, Todd Rungren – Hartford, CT (Summer 1979) - PAID

The Kinks – Southeastern Massachusetts University (1979) - PAID

1980 through 1989

The Allman Brothers, Bonnie Raitt – UMass Amherst (Sat. May, 10, 1980) - PAID

The Pretenders – Southeastern Massachusetts University (Nov. 3, 1981) – COMPED – Met Band

U2 – Orpheum Theater, Boston, MA (November 14, 1981) – PAID

The Police w/ GoGos – Boston Garden, Boston, MA (Jan. 15, 1982) - PAID

Human Sexual Response – The Metro, Boston (April 21, 1982) - $7.50 – COMPED – Met Band

Best Interview With Madonna Ever - With Howard Stern?

Photo by Kevin Mazur

It's not like I'm obsessed with Madonna. I just happened to be a radio disc jockey in the '80s when her first record came out. Then I went to a couple of her shows over the years. Shook when I met her. Always loved her. Watched her lucky star rise beyond what any of us could ever have imagined.

Maybe I am obsessed with her.

One thing I have done over the years is read, watch and listen to interviews with Madonna. She doesn't do a lot of them. I thought I knew all there was to know about Madonna, but then came this astonishing interview. And I have to say the best interview I have ever heard with the self-proclaimed non-material girl, which was just this week, AND with Howard Stern. What began as a laid-back, chill interview turned into 10 THINGS WE DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT MADONNA. Like the fact that she was trying to say she is NOT materialistic in the song Material Girl and how no one got that. But one of the biggest bombshells was that she dated Tupac Shakur.

Take a listen to the interview, thirty years in the making according to Howard Stern. It's awsome:

HOWARD STERN MADONNA INTERVIEW