Dio: Dreamers Never Die
directed by Don Argott and Demian Fenton
starring Ronnie James Dio, Wendy Dio, Mick Wall, and Dave Feinstein
Mercury Studios
So, how DO you become a famous rock star in the heavy metal world? Singing in a church choir might be a good start. So would getting some musical training and playing any instrument, even if it’s not a drum or electric guitar. Add a fascination with music that fills your imagination day and night, and you are on your way.
Ronald James Padavona is a good an example of this path to glory, documented in Dio: Dreamers Never Die. He grew up in Portsmouth, NH, and then spent a little time in New York. His dad insisted he play trumpet, and Ronnie spent long hours perfecting his singing and playing. Then there were a few bands, mostly forgotten today (Vegas Kings, Elf), but opening for Deep Purple in his Elf years was the big break Ronnie needed. Ronnie soon hit it big at the tender age of 33 with his Rainbow album. I bought that album; it was one of my earliest acquisitions and I still spin it occasionally today. But Ronnie’s real step to rock godhead came when he replaced Ozzy Osbourne as the lead singer in Black Sabbath. This cemented his career, and with 18 studio albums, nine live discs, and several compilations, this guy cranked out a ton of quality material.
The documentary is thoughtful, if not a bit odd. We hear interviews with band members, producers, and music historians and a story that paints a picture we know all too well: initial promise, raging success, a step down in productive (but not charting) consistency, and the unofficial retirement complete with resting on one’s laurels. Possibly the oddest item in his discography is a 1997 guest appearance on Pat Boone’s In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy (1997). I’ve hear the title track, and it is a bit of cognitive dissonance if you are a Pat Boone fan. And if you ARE a Pat Boone fanboy, congratulations on finding this remote story.
Special features, you ask? What rock doc is complete without them? There’s a very personal bio here going back to his youth and his bands the Red Caps and The Prophets. All obscure, but all formative in his artistic and technical background. In 1964, he recorded a cover of a 1960 song that Cher made a hit in 1972: “The Way of Love.” Dio even made it into a Tenacious D movie as a poster that sings to his younger alter ego. As rock docs go, this is one of the top ones I’ve encountered.
Dio is a joy to listen to, and the supporting short films are each a unique insight into to his band during those formative years in the 1970s and 1980s. Jump on this project for either yourself, or the headbanger you may live with. I’d let my hair grow out like Ronnie, if I still had any left.
