In this episode, we have one of the greatest heavy metal vocalists of all time, Ronnie James Dio. At the time of the interview in 1985, Dio was 43 years old and was promoting his Sacred Heart album and tour.  In the interview, Dio talks about filling Ozzy Osbourne’s shoes in Black Sabbath, a mystical experience that almost killed his wife, his thoughts on Ritchie Blackmore’s playing, and his metal all-star project Hear ‘n Aid. The interview is conducted by a new Tapes Archive contributor, Canadian music journalist and author Steve Newton. During his four decades as a freelance music writer, he has interviewed everyone from AC/DC to ZZTop. We highly recommend that you head over to his Patreon page patreon.com/earofnewt and check out over 340 of his exclusive interviews. For only $5, you get full access. We are not paid for this endorsement; we truly feel it’s money well spent. Link to Newton's Patreon page: https://bit.ly/3WQBr9S For zero money, you can head over to Newton’s website, earofnewt.com, where he has posted more than 3,000 of his interviews, album reviews, concert reviews, and horror movie reviews. Link to Newton's website: https://bit.ly/3ij9GIa 00:00 - Intro 01:41 - Start of the Ronnie James Dio interview 01:53 - The Sacred Heart tour 02:42 - His project Hear ’n Aid and whose playing on it 04:05 - How he writes music while watching sports 04:33 - What his first instrument was and if he liked it 05:10 - His love for classical music and how it relates to guitar players 06:21 - Why anyone can like classical music 07:15 - What other singers he admires 08:12 - How well Sacred Heart is doing sales wise 08:58 - If the PMRC has affected him 09:24 - If he’s interested in the occult 09:53 - His strange mystical experience while recording Rainbow’s “Long Live Rock ’n’ Roll” 10:15 - An evil spirit who tried to kill his wife, Wendy Dio 10:55 - Filling Ozzy Osbourne’s shoes in his former band Black Sabbath 12:50 - What he thinks of Ozzy’s solo music 13:37 - If he thinks Heaven and Hell paved the way for a resurgence of heavy metal 13:49 - His favorite tunes he did with Black Sabbath 14:19 - If he wants to produce other bands 14:55 - If it’s true he has a degree in Pharmacy 15:05 - If he’s still friends with Ritchie Blackmore and what he thinks of his guitar playing 15:41 - His thoughts on Yngwie Malmsteen 16:05 - His kindness to Steve Newton Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.