Chances are you've heard of Ronnie James Dio and don't like him. Or you've never heard of him. No, no, he's not a US past president. That would be Ronald Reagan. Dio was a metal rock firebrand; a champion and leading light in a rock music genre that's been variously labelled as medieval, classical, doom, suicidal, trash, dragon, gothic, demonic, you name it.
One look at some of his song titles and album covers and you know why: the devil you know, live evil, the temple of the king, kill the king, neon knights, killing the dragon, dream evil, heaven and hell. With Dio, it's kill, kill, kill. He died yesterday (Sunday) morning, 16 May 2010, succumbing to stomach cancer, at 67. Tributes from fellow doomers are still pouring in.
It's inevitable that Dio and his dark offerings have had an unfair share of bashings and brickbats. Much of what has levelled at Dio by the mindless music critics was nothing more than misguided diatribes. There's plenty of clarity, consistency and understated artistry in his musical direction. Unlike some of his metal brethren, he remained faithful to his roots till the end.
Admittedly his brand of beautiful noise won't please your average neighbours, but there's a steadfast and unwavering niche and cult following that would mourn his passing. I'm not ashamed to admit that I listen to Dio. I mean his music, not his satanic verses.
My first Dio experience was way back in 1975. Ritchie Blackmore, Deep Purple's vagabond frontman, had split to form a new act called Rainbow, and he roped in Dio to provide the vocals. You should listen to him screaming, wailing and rousing above Blackmore's catchy licks, with power and muscle far beyond his meagre body mass. 'The temple of the king' stormed the Malaysian music scene with its melodic and mellifluous strains that remained iconic until today. But my favourite is the more obscure 'Self Portrait', with Dio powering forth ".....Hey, hey, hey, there's only the devil to pay". Pure and sheer Dio!
Over the years my music taste has wandered a bit, mellowing and ageing towards the mainstream crowd (Boz Scaggs, hahaha), probably the brunt of long hours pandering to bosses of diverse leadership genres, from the easy-listening type to the head-banging variety. Dio and his vocals have since migrated to Black Sabbath and later to lesser-known collaborations. But it's doom and devil all the way. No mellowing, no middling for Dio. Before his death, he'd been busy with live gigs, fronting a brand new metal lineup. He named it 'Heaven and Hell'. Well, we wouldn't have expected him to name it the Singing Nuns.
My plan was to end my tribute here, but a casual reading of a Dio obituary and trivia left me pondering life's little quirks. The late singer actually studied pharmacy in early 60's . Good thing that he didn't graduate. You wouldn't want your hypertension medications dispensed by a devil-worshipper, would you? Dio actually did his pharmacy stint at a university in Buffalo (UB), New York. Nothing macabre about this except that I went to the same university twenty years later. We're both Buffalo alumni!
Oh I know Dio. The full name, in fact. Ronnie James and all. Though you, the blogger, is not that much younger than my father, I know Dio (other blog readers may now be wondering whether this is an all-family affair, but really, the blogger did write about his retirement in 2009). Oh yes, I know Dio. The name brings back memories of late nights/early mornings (depending on who you talk to) looking up the clear skies from the roof of the Big School.
ReplyDeleteJust that I didn't know he moved on. Thanks for the sharing of information. It would make it worth the effort now for me to dig through the pile of boxes and books and boxes of books and books on boxes to scour for the boxes of old cassette tape collection (whether I still have the tape deck to play them on is another matter, for now).
And we do have something in common - you, blogger and Dio and me(here goes the all-family affair thing again); whilst you, blogger went to the same U as Dio, I took the same course as Dio did - Pharmacy! (not at UB though). And...get this, we BOTH did not finish our Pharmacy degree. Thus, I must say I may have a case to say that I have TWO things in common with Dio(though they are both based on the same thing).
But I do have some issues unsettled since the days of Big School rooftop: is Dio pronounced as Dee-oh, or Die-oh?
Oh, and I do very much like your writing, blogger uncle (or uncle blogger) - funny, witty and thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to the end and very much so just after the start and right before the end and everything in between. Reminds me of Nuri Vittachi. Maybe skinheads are good writers? Or good writers are skinheads? One wonders...
Just back from Carrefour. All's fine and thanks except that this Nuri Vittachi rhymes with Nuri al Maliki. I read his stuff in Reader's Digest, he's clever, but right stuff in wrong place. Reader's Digest is good for weight-reduction scams. I think Dio is Dio. No fancy French sound. You both wanted to be pharmacists, wonder why would anyone WANT to be a pharmacist? I thought it's a default career, I mean you become a pharmacist only if you don't specify !
ReplyDeleteMy early encounter with Dio was in 1985. Yes, that would be the same era as Deep Purple and such. A few years back, it's been in the air succumbed by fellow youth in a tribal US mountainbiking video. They made a soundtrack out of it. "Holy Diver" is one of my favorite. It's just gets into your nerve with the gila-gila thing.
ReplyDeleteSince Dio is gone, now you should check this other band - Obituary X)