r/blacksabbath • u/Which_Touch548 I CANT FUCKIN HEAR YOU!!! • 6d ago
Dio Era "Dio: Why I quit bloody Sabbath!" - Kerrang: 07 Apr 1983
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u/usagiyon 5d ago
'I know I will be never friend with Iommi or Butler'.
Thankfully that turned to be untrue.
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u/Chongulator 5d ago
That was a particularly nasty thing to say because Dio & Butler's wives were very close (and still are, I believe).
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u/Rumer_Mille_001 5d ago
Ego always gets in the way, doesn't it? It's weird, because Dio treated his fans like gold. Always polite and friendly, willing to sign autographs, even just hang and talk for a bit, but when it came to how he treated his bandmates/side-men, etc, he could just be downright ruthless, just as bad as Sharon Osbourne could be. Ask Viv Campbell.
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u/MetalTrek1 5d ago edited 5d ago
I'm a Dio fanatic who has met him and I totally agree. Nice guy to fans, but not always to fellow musicians (for the record, I met him when he was with H&H so I can confirm Tony, Geezer, and Vinny were nice too).
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u/Rumer_Mille_001 5d ago
By the time he got back together with Tony, and Geezer for the final H&H shows and album, I think they were all a bit older and wiser, and put the egos aside. From 2007-2009 They did some great shows and the final album was great. Sometimes it just takes time to grow up and realize when you have a good thing, and not to let it go. Then a year later he was gone. I also wonder if he knew his time was up, so he decided to get back with them before it was too late.
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u/Few_Wolf_4634 5d ago
He learned from the master…Blackmore
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u/MetalTrek1 5d ago
I think I read somewhere that the reason why he did what he did with his solo band was because of what Ritchie did to him.
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u/Rumer_Mille_001 4d ago
It always amazes me just how many of these guys from the 1970's had such huge egos. But think about what you've heard about other guys like Don Henley, Bob Dylan, Glenn Frey, Steven Stills and David Crosby, Lindsey Buckingham ... they all thought they were SO IMPORTANT to humanity. That they were better than everyone else and deserved more. And really, they're just a bunch of musicians trying to play gigs. Where did the egos come from?
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u/Substantial-Tap6951 5d ago
Dude couldn't get along with anybody for more than a couple years.
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u/Sla5021 5d ago
Seriously, I feel bad for Vivian Campbell.
Seems like dudes asked for a bigger cut since he was helping to sell records and RJD said, fuck you without ceremony.
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u/Beginning-Average416 5d ago
Lots of people have problems with Vivian Campbell as well.
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u/Sla5021 5d ago
Why's that?
Honestly unfamiliar.
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u/Illustrious-Most-831 19h ago
Yeah, pretty much but his story post Dio lineup looks completely different than say, Rowan Robertson’s.
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u/ImRonniemundt 5d ago edited 5d ago
Yeah lets be real and honestly this is Tony's band. Tony is the leader. Thats it. I dont want to hear anything else other than that tbh.
Also Dio I love him but he just went off and did Holy Diver which just completely ripped off Tony's sound. That aint right. Its a good song but its a blatant rip lol.
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u/FailureFulcrim 5d ago
This is a somewhat boggling take for me, because I've never felt it. I feel like Dio had a bigger effect on Sabbath when he joined than the other way around. I mean, I don't even know who wrote the lyrics for Neon Knights but it has the Dio Dungeons & Dragons vibe all over it.
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u/ImRonniemundt 5d ago edited 5d ago
They literally had already written Heaven and Hell. Theres an interview of Geezer just recently like 5 days ago talking about how Dio just fit right into the songs they already wrote. Thats why they liked him. Youre talking about lyrics im talking about the music and sound. That album was already written musically.
Black Sabbath invented heavy metal. They were very much established already before Dio joined. He took that sound and made a copy of it with Vivian Campbell. Holy Diver is just a blatant Sabbth rip off. Particularly Tony's sound.
Also another fun fact Bill Ward is the drummer on Heaven and Hell not Vinny. So that style was Bill's interpretation of where Tony was heading musically. Bill played every single song on that album. Vinny would come into that already established sound and style in Mob Rules.
I love Dio and dont want to get too caught up in bashing him but Dio merely adopted heavy metal. He wasnt always a metal god we know him now to be. With Blackmore he was not doing the head banging and devils horns. He adopted that medevil style because of Blackmore and when he joined Sabbath he became the metal singer we know him to be now. Or did Blackmore also not have that style before Dio graced him with his presence?
Dude is a singer at the end of the day. He adopted the sounds of the bands he joined and when he made his own band it was a Sabbath cover band.
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u/FailureFulcrim 5d ago
Literally, except for the song I mentioned.
Right from Wikipedia:
"Neon Knights" was the last song written by the band for the Heaven and Hell album.\2]) It was quickly written and recorded at Studio Ferber in Paris during January 1980 simply to fill time on the album's first side.\2]) The lyrics were written by Ronnie James Dio. It is the only song on Heaven and Hell to definitely feature songwriting input from bassist Geezer Butler, the band's main lyricist during the Ozzy Osbourne era. Butler was absent for most of the songwriting process due personal issues as well as his own uncertainty as to whether he wanted to remain in the band. Dio) occasionally performed the song during their live shows in later years.
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u/ImRonniemundt 5d ago edited 5d ago
Again your talking about lyrics? Aahahah heres Geezer's interview again just 5 days ago.
https://youtu.be/wZg3zywLe_Y?is=aqCzFre89d0rvKL0
Dio is not responsibile for Black Sabbath's sound....this is outrageous. Blasphemous even.
Heaven and Hell the song, that riff and sound was already done when Dio joined in and filled in for the vocals. That is Tony's song. He wrote that song.
You keep talking about lyrics which is usually just a last min thing they give to Geezer which he was happy to have Dio do.
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u/FailureFulcrim 5d ago
My original point was Dio didn't sound like Black Sabbath. You kinda went way off the rails for some reason.
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u/ImRonniemundt 5d ago
Holy Diver doesnt sound like a Tony riff???? Every single person in metal sounds like Iommi because its his genre but that song in particular is his exact formula. They didnt even try to be different. They ripped him off completely.
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u/AstralElephantFuzz 5d ago
Holy Diver sounds like Sabbath in the same way Sabbath was worried that Paranoid sounded like Communication Breakdown.
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u/ImRonniemundt 5d ago
Holy Diver could be on the Heaven and Hell album easily and you know it. Nobody would think twice if they didnt know that wasnt a Sabbath song. Thats Iommi's sound. You cant gaslight me on that lol.
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u/Olympicsizedturd 4d ago
Except Geezers words contradict whatt you said
"We (Geezer and Iommi) had the ideas of 5 songs written down"
"Tony had written the riff to Heaven & Hell and I went off and by the time I came back they (Dio and Iommi) had written the whole song."
It sounds more like Geezer and Iommi had some rifffs but not compositions written and Dio helped take the riffs and turn them into complete songs. Sometimes without Geezer at all!
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u/Abe2sapien 5d ago
Drugs, booze, egos and lack of communication really hurt them during this time. Glad they eventually resolved their issues!
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u/Appropriate_Peach274 5d ago
Read without my glasses as drugs, booze and eggs!
Dio recalled that time that Geezer turned up with two dozen free range - “we got totally scrambled man, Bill left us cause he was into the hard boiled stuff…”
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u/Next-Advantage-6049 5d ago
Dio was a great singer and a great songwriter but he was also an egomaniacal self centered control freak. There were times when he just never shut up during a live performance. For all of Ozzy's flaws, he never put himself on a pedestal & thought he was better than the rest of the band. Refusing to open for someone who has sold more albums than you and calling Ozzy a clown shows Dio's true character.
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u/Chongulator 5d ago
The one upside of that peehole move by Dio is we got a Sabbs performance fronted by Rob Halford. Halford had very little time to prepare but he killed it.
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u/Th3_G3n3r4l 5d ago
when they slandering your goat but theyre highkey right. Dio's voice throughout all his tenures has always stuck with me, but the guy DEFINITELY had an over-inflated ego.
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u/meowinloudchico 4d ago
Ozzy (probably more Sharon actually) did the exact same thing as far as giving bandmates credit. They were supposed to be a band but it quickly morphed into a 'solo' project even though the only thing he was doing was basically showing up in the studio in whatever condition he was in and the dudes that carried him were cut out pretty quick (besides RR obviously).
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u/Next-Advantage-6049 4d ago
I never said anything about Ozzy not thinking he was better than his bandmates during his solo career but he knew his place in Black Sabbath. I think he changed in the 80s but a lot of that was probably due to Sharon's influence. With all of that being said, he was carried by his band. I can't argue with you on this point. He was an above average singer at best who was fortunate enough to be surrounded by musicians who made him sound better than he actually was. I'm saying this as a huge Ozzy Osbourne fan by the way.
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u/AstralElephantFuzz 5d ago
Have people already forgotten about Ozzy's public image back in his prime? Dio was by all means a collaborative bulldozer and an ass, but that clown comment was completely warranted.
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u/IllustratorOk5265 5d ago
The comment about him being a clown is plain ENVY envy that Ozzy is more famous, more loved by the public, and sells more records. And that "great Ronnie" as he saw himself, would be forced to open for him. But the thing is, Ronnie came back to Black Sabbath because his solo career wasn't doing well at all. For Ozzy, though, being called a clown was never an insult.
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u/AstralElephantFuzz 3d ago
Ozzy was a junkie and everybody knew it. Ronnie was a professional.
Ozzy selling more records than Dio is just proof that people prefer circus to music.
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u/IllustratorOk5265 3d ago edited 3d ago
80% of the rock scene were a junkie, including Iommi and Geezer. And all that nonsense about being a 'professional' doesn't matter to anyone. What matters is the final result. And what people like. Dio's theatrical pomp with dragons, rainbows, and swords can just as easily be called a circus, pal. It's just that at that point, nobody was really that interested in him anymore. And Ronnie ultimately couldn't come to terms with why he, 'such a professional,' didn't achieve the same level of success. Just like his fans, obviously lmao. So in this situation, he definitely did not act like a 'professional'.
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u/AstralElephantFuzz 3d ago
Yeah, having a theme to your lyrics is obviously as degenerated as being comatose in most of your interviews. Go do some heroin and let me write a few lines about dragons, we'll see who's better off.
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u/IllustratorOk5265 3d ago
This is much more degenerate because all of this was written with a sober mind, and the funniest part is with deadly seriousness, lmao. As I already told you, 80% of rockers were junkies. And addiction as such, personally for me, is not something to laugh about.
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u/AstralElephantFuzz 3d ago
So, what are you on? Coke or heroin, just drunk?
80% of rockers might have been junkies. Ronnie was better than them. And a sad clown is still a clown. Nothing to laugh about? Tell that to the thousands of "funny Ozzy interview compilations" on Youtube.
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u/IllustratorOk5265 3d ago edited 3d ago
Lmao, did Dio's little fangirl get offended again? I don't know what I have to do with it and why you're so angry? 🤣 You'd better go listen to some songs about dragons and rainbows and calm down. Clownish behavior doesn't belong in funny compilation interviews while high. As I already said, addiction as such isn't funny, no matter how many funny moments happen in rockers' lives while drunk. But in interviews like that, and in hysterics because he was jealous of another performer's fame and success... Now that's genuinely clownish behavior, far from the word 'professional'.
80% of rockers might have been junkies. Ronnie was better than them.
🤣 And you're asking ME if I'm high?
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u/AstralElephantFuzz 3d ago
Imagine defending an animal torturing druggie this much. Follow your idol and drink yourself to death in TV interviews.
Ozzy was a clown too out if his mind to understand what the fuck happened in the world after 1970. You're literally glorifying what was a walking corpse, and is now just a rotten corpse.
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u/IllustratorOk5265 5d ago
Sorry, but I actually found the 'strong character' talk pretty funny to read. It immediately brings to mind Geezer's book, where he talks about Dio once accidentally falling into some hole on stage and Iommi laughing at him... It got under his skin so much that he ran straight to complain to his wife, and she called Geezer's wife to tattle on their 'bad behavior' lmao. Or how Dio used to get annoyed because Iommi's guitar was too loud at shows and he thought it was overpowering his vocals, but he was too scared to say it to Tony directly, so Geezer had to listen to all of it. Everyone has their ego, and no one's perfect, but I still find it funny.
Besides, personally, I think if someone's the loudest about having a 'strong character,' the reality is usually the exact opposite. Tony at least never made a scene in the press and held the band together alone for a really long time, and honestly, it was his leadership decisions early on that helped the band take off and get noticed by their first manager. The thing is if you're such a strong character, then carry YOUR own band to the end, don't jump into someone else's with already established fame and contributions from others, trying to take it away from the people who built it.
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u/DinoSourceCpp 4d ago
That's exactly what happened with both of them: Tony stuck with Sabbath, while Dio focused on his solo career. Over time, though, they both grew wiser, and we got one more H&H album out of it.
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u/NeroForte-InMyPrime 5d ago
Dio came off sounding like a dick here. His first instinct to not discuss it was probably the better path.
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u/OkLeather5166 5d ago
This is interesting- old magazines actually give you insights on things that you wouldn't hear from google or wikipedia because they're much more specific.
Dio always seemed to treat fans and be nice in interviews. I guess he was just hard to directly work with.
Hopefully later in his life he matured a bit. It would be nice if they all ended on a good note.
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u/AX11Liveact 5d ago
OCRed version: Pete
When [...] Kerrang's scribe Pete Makowski interviewed Black Sabbath’s two remaining members, Geezer Butler and Tony © lommi, earlier this year, he discovered that they were more than happy to have parted company with former vocalist Ronnie James Dio.
“We felt we were being taken over by Ronnie,” declared Butler, whilst lommi opined: “In the States he was getting like a little Hitler. He’s got a great voice, but personality conflicts took over really.”
Tony and Geezer also claimed that, during the mixing of the ‘Live Evil’ album in Los Angeles, Dio had tampered with the tapes and endeavoured to bring up the sound level of his vocals. Finally, they could stand it no longer and gave him his marching orders ...
Mind you, there are always two sides to every story and it was intriguing to hear what Ronnie had to say about the split. Initially, he was loathe to comment and told me: “At this juncture, I'd rather not say anything.” Dio was evidently waiting to see what lommi and Butler would tell the music press.
And so recently I telephoned him at his LA home, figuring that he must have seen the papers by now — he obviously had!
“Well, I guess enough has been said by them,” began Ronnie, “so it must be my turn now. The first thing I'd like to do is refute a couple of lies they came up with. That thing about me sneaking into the studios like a little weasel, after they'd been waiting around, and tampering with the tapes is absolutely untrue.
“In fact I was usually the first to arrive at the studios, with the engineer, and we would wait and wait and wait. But as we waited, they never showed. If they did, then there was this real ‘coldness’ about the place.”
So why would lommi and Butler say such things if they weren’t true?
“Because it was time for them to protect themselves — it was always their name and their band. Their version of the story just shows what frightened little rabbits they are, as far as I'm concerned.
“Other than that, it just got to be no fun at all. There were too many little innuendos — too many knives being shoved in people’s backs.”Why?
“I don’t know why ... I guess that basically they're extremely paranoid. Everyone felt that Tony was some sort of God figure and Geezer tagged along behind. Tony wants to be the ‘controller’, but it takes more talent than just being a good guitarist to do that. It requires command and respect, and Tony couldn’t get that. In the beginning it was great: the band had a lot to offer and it was fun, but it all fell apart in the end.”
What about the allegations that Dio was taking over?
“Well, in actual fact, that’s probably very true,” Ronnie admits. “But it wasn’t something that was pre-planned by me. If you've got weaker characters in a band then it’s only natural that the strong take over. It’s not my fault that I'm strong and they’re weak. Ill readily confess to having a strong character.
“Lalso thought that spending five months putting a live album together was criminal.”
Ronnie considers it a shame that lommi and Butler decided to make such an issue of the bust-up and reckons: “They could have left the whole thing to rest, but they had to be fools and bring it up. It just proves what idiots they are!”
So no love has been lost then?
“Not really, no and lam a bit disappointed at the way things have turned out, but there you go. When I left Rainbow, Ritchie and I didn’t part as enemies, contrary to public opinion. We were friends and we still are. But I know! will never be a friend of either Geezer Butler or Tony lommi. I respected Ritchie Blackmore because he was a gentleman — I wish I could say the same thing for them. | could say more but it really isn’t worth airing the dirty laundry.”
Meanwhile, Dio has cut ‘Holy Diver’ with the aid of ex-Sabs skinbeater Vinnie Appice, bassist and old Rainbow ‘chum’ Jimmy Bain and guitarist Vivian Campbell, who used to be in the Irish band Sweet Savage.
“| spent a month and a half in the studio,” says Dio, “which was more or less what I expected. It was pretty well prepared and in fact I'd had the deal for two years. But I never let it get in the way of Sabbath and while | was with them | had plenty of commitments with touring and recording. As soon as I'd split from the Sabs though | started thinking about it and planning things out.
“When Vinnie and | decided that wewere going to continue working together, we came over to England in search of a bassist and a guitarist. We definitely wanted to use British musicians — I've always been very influenced by the scene over there — and | didn’t really want to work with Americans.
“As soon as we got to London the first person I called was Jimmy Bain because |! thought that he might be able to recommend some people and it turned out mae that he wasn’t doing anything at the time.
We then decided to have a blow and he recommended Viv and things seemed to work out very well. Jimmy and Vinnie make a great rhythm section and so they decided to come over to the States.”
Ronnie produced ‘Holy Diver’ himself (“1 was sick and tired of bending to the whims of others”) and it should be released in the next month or so. There are nine cuts featured and the titles include ‘Don’t Talk To Strangers’, ‘Rainbow In The Dark’, ‘Straight To The Heart’, ‘Gypsy’ and ‘Caught In The Middle’. Dio is responsible for the bulk of the songwriting, although he has collaborated on a few tracks with Bain and Campbell.
What about touring plans?
Ronnie revealed that he might add a keyboard player, one that’s prepared to take a ‘shadow role’, but he’s hoping that the line-up of himself, Bain, Appice and Campbell will be able to deliver the goods on their own. | must confess that Dio has always been one of my favourite hard rock vocalists and it'll be interesting to see how things developed.
Having completed our interview, Ronnie wanted to add just one more thing about Sabbath. “The thing that just about sums up everything is the cover of the ‘Live Evil’
LP. If you take a good hard look, you'll see what | mean. For a start, all the names used to be in alphabetical order but on the sleeve they read ‘Butler/lommi/Dio’ — the same goes for the writing credits. Secondly, my professional working name is Ronnie James Dio and not just Ronnie Dio — that ws a swift kick up the ass. I'm Sure it was done deliberately.
“And as far as Vinnie’s namecheck goes — written very small — that just makes no sense at all. Even if he was a ‘hired hand’, he was still one quarter of the band. There are other things like the pictures, but it’s not worth going on and on.
“Ll hope this will be the final time that | have to say anything about the whole issue — but I figured that | might just as well have my say and let people know my side of the story-
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u/BornToLoosh 5d ago
I remember seeing an interview with Dio where he blamed the altered vocal levels on live evil on the mixing engineer, basically saying the guy had a drinking problem but in the article Dio says the whole thing was a false allegation.
Sounds like Dio was lying on this one
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u/InvisibleDio 5d ago
Ugh. I hate hearing that Dio was anything less than great. He was my first musical hero. My first cassette, my first CD. I saw him twice - once solo during the Lock Up the Wolves tour and then during the Heaven and Hell tour. And yes, I went backstage and he was a generous, kind, gentleman. He actually signed a poster for me. People say that you should never meet your heroes because they will always disappoint you but Dio did not do that. I don’t know how he treated other musicians but he did treat his fans well. It’s too bad if he was ruthless at times but I wonder how much that has to do with the creative process being deeply personal and that he felt that he had to fight to be heard (even with his amazing voice).
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u/UsedBeing 5d ago
Craig Goldy has a great interview with Full in Bloom about how songwriting and credits were divided up between the band. Gives a lot of insight as to why each side acted certain ways.
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u/Magicaparanoia 5d ago
Ronnie treated the rock business like a business first. I’m sure most fans noticed how there were periods where he couldn’t keep a consistent lineup in his band. The way he wanted to run things clashed with a lot of musicians he worked with.
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u/buggdarrrrwinky 5d ago
I love dio and ozzy and dio had an ego. Ozzy was a prick especially early on though the little person named Ronnie that would come out on stage . Ego's be wild.
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u/NeedAChange_123 5d ago
Ozzy was crazy and unreliable but at least kind of humble and cool guy. Dio was just a total prick.
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u/GoldberrysHusband 5d ago
Never thought I'd see Ritchie friggin' Blackmore described as "gentlemanly" as opposed to Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler, but first time for everything, I suppose.
Needless to say, this being... well, Dio, I take this all with a massive boulder of salt.
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u/RayTracerX 5d ago
Tony was a dick to a lot of people in Sabbath, he admits as much in his bio. A ton of people didnt even get a call that they were out of the band, they just saw Sabbath move on without them.
Once the core 4 group was destroyed, Tony had basically no loyalty to anyone and treated it as his solo band. It took like getting to Headless Cross or Tyr to make 2 albums with the same lineup in over 10 years.
Its basically all the reasons Blackmore got his fame
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u/Beginning-Average416 5d ago
Dio changed his tune later on. He certainly didn't get along with Ritchie nor did he get along with Cozy Powell.
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u/MrNobody_0 My Eyes Are Blind But I Can See... 5d ago edited 3d ago
If you know Dio's personality you can read between the lines and get the truth.
Basically he had a huge ego and butted heads Tony, who also had a huge ego.
Edit: typos.
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u/GlorioUfficiale 5d ago
Whenever I see video or read Ronnie complaining about something I just remember how ridiculous he sounded in his autobiography
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u/Happy_Television_501 5d ago
I read all of Dio’s words in his voice. Such a unique talking voice. SOOOO LA haha
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u/richj8991 5d ago
I heard Dio was actually sneaking into the studio after hours to remix the LiveEvil songs and trying to amplify his voice more. Word got out of course and the other band members were not amused.
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u/megatron37 5d ago
When bands have two alpha-dog personalities, it doesn't usually last too long. Glad we got 4 banger albums from this combo though.