RONNIE JAMES DIO On Some Of His Favorite Rock/Metal Songs

[Holymagica]

Ronnie James Dio's Playlist
By Jen Guyre
This man (on the silver mountain) has arguably some of the best and most recognizable pipes in metal. He has lent his powerful vocal prowess to Rainbow, Elf, of course Dio and even Black Sabbath (now Heaven and Hell). We got the chance to sit down with the masterful Ronnie James, who gave us a playlist of some of his favorite songs. "All of these things that I've chosen were because I like the song, not because there was any sort of inside meaning for me," says a relaxed, matter-of-fact Dio. "I just think [they are] great songs." Check out Dio's unusual picks, featuring artists like Jimi Hendrix, Soundgarden and even Ozzy-era Sabbath.

AC/DC, "She's Got Balls"
"I love AC/DC. That was Bon Scott, and I love Bon; I knew Bon and I'm missing him a lot. I just happen to love the title of that song."


Jimi Hendrix, "Purple Haze"

"One of the greatest songs ever done by one of the greatest musicians who has ever lived, who taught so many people how to play and why they should play. I just think it's a great song. 'Purple Haze' I think was the first song that I heard Jimi do -- either that or 'Hey Joe.' I just liked 'Purple Haze'; it was unusual, and he did great on it. So, that one."


Soundgarden, "Spoonman"

"I think Chris Cornell is such a great singer, and those guys write so well and always write well -- I mean, I love what he's done with Audioslave and the things he's done since then. I just think it's a great song and it's such an unusual song from that album. They just write so differently, yet they retain the influences from the hard-rock guys and the heavy-metal people from before."


The Beatles, "A Day in the Life"

"I'm gonna choose 'A Day in the Life' from my favorite band on earth, the Beatles. I think it has so much emotion inside of it. The piano note at the end that goes on for about 10 minutes is so unusual. But it just goes to places that I never thought anyone was gonna go to before. They taught us all how we can go places and be accepted. To me it's just the best song I've ever heard. I can remember driving the first time I ever heard it, and I had to pull over to the side of the road. I was just stunned; I couldn't believe it -- I couldn't drive to that song. It will always be my favorite song and they're always my favorite band. They invented great songwriting again, you know? Nobody else did that before them; they just delved inside of it, and they really knew how to write, and it was so special and so unique. I mean even though John Lennon was not the greatest singer on earth, his style was brilliant and he was so recognizable. (I happen to think Paul McCartney is one of the greatest singers on earth. That man has a voice like a chameleon' he can scream and shout and sing beautifully and write songs like 'Michelle' and 'Yesterday' and still do 'Why Don't We Do It on the Road.') I guess I'm just explaining why I love the Beatles. I love them for those reasons and for others, too."


Black Sabbath, "Heaven and Hell"

"I think it's a great song, I've always loved the song, and just because I had something to do with it doesn't sway me; I still think it's a great song. It was a song for its generation. There was a generation of people who remember Sabbath for the Ozzy, Tony, Bill and Geez days. Then doing this one, it captured another generation of people who had forgotten about that early Sabbath, and suddenly Black Sabbath becomes their band again. I think it was an unusual time and just a great song."


Judas Priest, "Nostradamus"

"I'm just so glad that they came back. They hadn't done anything in a while that really knocked my socks off, but I think that they really made a great attempt with 'Nostradamus.' It's hard to do a concept album and keep everything working. I've seen it presented live -- we did a tour with them for four weeks, so we saw it all the time -- but I saw them do it on the Jimmy Kimmel show, and the production was just wonderful. The first time I had seen it from the front and not on the stage, and I just think it really worked. They're such good friends, and I am happy for them. It's just a cool song."


Deep Purple, "Smoke on the Water"

"One of the greatest songs of all time. Of course, I played with Ritchie Blackmore for a long time, and all the guys in Purple have been my good friends for 35 years now. That record was produced by the bass player, Roger Glover, and the drummer, Ian Paice. Ritchie wrote a riff that we can all play -- so simple, but it is a magnificent riff. I just think it's one of the ultimate classic songs of all time, and when I hear it, I hark back to that time in my life -- it's important to me."


Metallica, "Enter Sandman"

"I thought [Metallica] was a great album, and I thought that song was especially great. I heard them venturing into another space when I heard that song. I was very surprised. It's just a well-played, perfect song from them at the perfect time. Everyone expected something different -- or maybe they expected something the same -- and they gave them something very, very different, so that's a great song."


Steppenwolf, "Born to be Wild"

"Love the song, love it more because it was the first time that the words 'heavy metal' were ever said in a song. It's just a great song; it lives up to any song you can hear today. It's loud, hard and strong. He virtually created that B3 sound, before John Lord (Deep Purple) did it, before Ken Hensley (Uriah Heep) did it. That song was just an anthem for its time, and today it stands up very well. I could have said 'Magic Carpet Ride,' but that was a little bit bouncy for me; I thought 'Born to Be Wild' was more gutsy."


Black Sabbath, "War Pigs"

"It was another one of those songs where you didn't expect it to go where it went. I just thought it was so well written and so well performed -- so different, so unusual. It's one of the standard-bearing songs for the band; I think it will always be remembered within the same confines as 'Paranoid,' 'Iron Man' and "War Pigs"; they just seem to go together. That was Geezer's lyrics. They stand up because that was a protest about people who were creating war, and they've never heard that before. That's a strange title, isn't it? You just put that together and it's so clever. Musically, it was just written so well. That's my 10."

[Bobby66]

...Ronnie chose all mainstream metal songs?...I thought he would have selected a more obscure/unique list?...
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[berserkur]

A good list, but yeah a bit too mainstream..

Where is this from. Some magazine.

[Holymagica]

There is nothing wrong with the list.
Why don't you ask someone you know who is around Ronnie James Dio's age and ask them what their top 10 playlist would be.
Also come to think of it....why don't you make your own top 10 playlist and lets see it comes up to OUR standards
Okay rant over

berserkur the list is from here....
http://blog.rhapsody.com/2009/04/dios-playlist.html

[berserkur]

I thought he could mention Jethro Tull, Moody blues or something like that. Even opera or Elvis. But yes of course there's nothing wrong with the list... One can't have people in a certain way..

[joan_antonini]

I agree with Ronnie James Dio list. This is a good list . I remember hearing these songs on the radio. This is when radio stations did not care about ratings and were more progressive.
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