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Rattlehead is best known for hosting Powerchord on Citr with Metal Ron from 1985. He's seen over a thousand shows and is Vancouver's biggest rock and roll fan, period. Over the years, venues have closed, scenes change, but Gerald's always been there. And he's doing it all for the love of it, which is why Vancouver's lucky to have him. |
I've had this idea for quite awhile but had a real tough time getting in touch with Gerald. I found out that he no longer did the radio show, and there was very little information about him on the internet (not for long!) One day I was walking around downtown and I ran into him. If you've met him, he's always super jovial (next time you're at a show and see him, say 'Hi'), but on this occasion he was bummin'....
"It's a sad day in metal today, I tell ya....Ronnie James Dio passed away." Gerald went on to tell me how cool Ronnie was to him over the years, and how much stuff he signed for Gerald, which ultimately gave me the idea of this series.....
So what do you have here?
These two pieces were when Heaven and Hell came through, Ronnie James Dio has since passed away. This record was the last thing they ever did together, so I’m glad I got it all signed and I got all the members to sign it. That day Ronnie signed thirty four things for me, and every one wasn’t even ‘Dio’, it was his full signature, 'Ronnie James Dio'. He’ll sign until there’s no one else around. I like to pass it on too, so when they played at UBC, I was telling kids that if they want to meet him, as soon as the shows over, just stand by the bus and he’ll sign everything you put in front of him. And that’s just what happened.
He’s short right?
Yep…small in stature but the biggest heart in the world. The best pipes too…
This other piece I have here is a 45 which I got signed the second to last time they played here. I didn’t get to see the show. The only reason why I missed it was because the Zombies were in town. I listen to all sorts of different types of music, not just metal, and I had never seen the Zombies. They’re older too, and if something ever happened to them, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself. I knew Heaven and Hell would come back, but who knows with the Zombies, so I went and saw them.
How did you get it signed then?
I knew that that it was the first night of that Heaven and Hell tour, so I went down to the Colesium because they would be setting up and rehearsing. I was right on the money. I see the bus is around the back, so I went and checked that out, and talked to the driver asking him if he had met Ronnie. He said yeah, but only briefly. I told him how nice Ronnie was, and how he’s the best guy you could ever meet. Then I went to the front of the arena, and I got to see the whole set through the windows of the Colesium, I was the only guy there. So they finish up, and I go around back, and see that Geezer and Tony are in their bus.
That's funny, Tony and Geezer roll in a different bus than Dio.
So I yell for them, and I get nothing, they are out of there. Then I see Dio get on his bus, but its leaving. The bus starts pulling out, and then it stops. I was wondering, ‘What’s goin’ on here?’ . Door opens, and Ronnie gets out! “I hear you’ve been saying some really good things about me!" I was floored. "You want some autographs don’t you?’ “Hell Yeah!", I said. He signed this for me, it’s an Elf 45. He said ‘Whoah I haven’t seen one of these in awhile’.
This 45 is a pretty important piece to me. My first heavy metal show ever was Deep Purple in 1974, they played the Coliseum too. Elf which was Ronnie James Dio’s band opened. I could tell even back then how great of a singer he was. Little did I know though that he’d get into Rainbow, Sabbath, and Heaven and Hell. To this day, out of all the people I’ve ever met he’s one of my favourites. As a person, how he cares about his fans, he’s the best for that, he’ll take care of you. Anything you have to sign, pictures, he’ll do it all until no one else is around.
Ronnie James Dio....RIP....
