Ronnie James Dio (1942 - 2010)

[peewee]

I was never a huge fan of the band Dio or never much liked Rainbow, but Ronnie James Dio was the epitome of a "Rock & Roll" survivor. Dio, who's birth name was Ronaldo Padovan, got started back in 1957 as a bass player in a group called The Vegas Kings out of New York. He later became the lead vocalist and the band changed their name to Ronnie and The Rumblers and later Ronnie and The Red Caps, performing doo-wop numbers. The Red Caps had a marginal hit with "An Angel Is Missing" in 1960. Around 1961, he changed his name to Dio after mafia figure Johnny Dio. That band eventually became Ronnie Dio & The Prophets @ '62 with the release of another marginal hit, "Love Pains" on the Atlantic label and the B side of a 45 rpm release of a cover of "Ooh-Poo-Pa Doo".

A few years later, Ronnie Dio and The Prophets disbanded and formed a new band with most of the remaining members named The Electric Elves in 1967, shortened later to The Elves and then Elf in 1969. As luck would have it, when Richie Blackmore left Deep Purple, he contacted Dio and recruited most of Elf to from Rainbow after the two had met in 1969 when Elf opened for Deep Purple. After leaving Rainbow in 1979, Dio replaced Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath until 1982 when he and drummer Vinnie Appice left to form DIO.

Here are a few video clips from the beginning of Dio's 6+ decades career that a lot of folks don't know much about. When I told a few folks about this stage of RJD's career, no one believed me until I found these clips on YouTube and then they couldn't believe it was the same guy! RIP, Ronnie Padovan, you were a true Rock & Roll survivor!

[peewee]

Ten years after "Love Pains" ...