Life’s a never-ending wheel.

§ May 17th, 2010 § Filed under Uncategorized § 7 Comments

So there I was, back in the mid-1980s, going with my friend Eric to pop into the local record store to buy a Dio album. Afterward, sitting in Eric’s car as we were headed back to his house, I decided to pull the record…yes, “record,” an actual platter inside a large cardboard sleeve…out of the bag to get a look at the cover art:


“My, that’s certainly something,” thought mid-80s Mike to himself.

I was not a diehard fan of Mr. Ronnie James Dio in that I didn’t loyally buy every single album he released, but I did appreciate his talent and songs from those two early albums, Holy Diver and The Last in Line, still remain constantly-replayed favorites on the ol’ iPod.

And this video…this video. I saw it all of once back in the ’80s, and never saw it again until I thought about searching for it on the YouTube, but for whatever reason, images from this particular music video remained stuck in my head for years. I mean, sure it’s completely ridiculous, and it looks like it had a budget of about three bucks:


…but it had Dio shocking a cyborg in the crotch with his handheld bug zapper, and friends, it doesn’t get much better than that. (Also, I think Star Trek: The Next Generation owes a wee bit of the Borg’s visuals to that video.)

So long, RJD. You contributed some much loved songs to the soundtrack of my life, and for that I’ll always be appreciative.

7 Responses to “Life’s a never-ending wheel.”

  • FxHx says:
    May 17, 2010 at 12:08 AM

    Well said, Mike. I absolutely LOVE the live DIO dvd you gave me for Christmas. Corey and I were talking about how he is now in another dimension, fighting demons with a longsword while astride a green dragon.

  • buzz says:
    May 17, 2010 at 8:48 AM

    “Last In Line” is a great video, one of the last ones that had a genuine DIY feel before the big market bucks rolled in. It used to play on USA Network’s NIGHT FLIGHT all the time. RIP RJD

  • CW says:
    May 17, 2010 at 8:56 AM

    I still listen to Dio’s music quite often. Great for long road trips.

  • Employee Aaron says:
    May 17, 2010 at 9:19 AM

    He will be missed. The man did bring us the devils horns….. RIP DIO

  • Steven G. Willis says:
    May 17, 2010 at 12:55 PM

    Dio was an artist that was quite unique and will be sorely missed.

    Cheers!

    Steven G. Willis
    XOWComics.com

  • Bob says:
    May 17, 2010 at 3:29 PM

    I thought he was okay, but I remember some guys in high school were huge Dio fans. I did really enjoy his brief but memorable role in the Tenacious D movie THE PICK OF DESTINY. You can find it on the youtube, I’m sure.

  • Brian Brelsford says:
    June 29, 2010 at 10:20 AM

    I always especially liked how when you looked at DIO’s logo upside down, it read DEVIL.