Ronnie James Dio 10/27/04 Anaheim, CA

In 1984, I was 17 when my parents allowed me to attend my first concert. It was Motley Crue opening for Ozzy Osbourne at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon.   The Crue was it with the red hot ‘Shout at the Devil’ fueling their rise that year and stealing some of the thunder from…

The 80’s. When men looked like women and women tried to keep up. One of my favorite band names, VIXEN originally formed in 1980 in Los Angeles and played the club scene for seven long years before breaking out with the release of their self-titled debut.

Did you know the first single and VIXEN’S biggest hit “Edge of a Broken Heart” was written by Richard Marx? (He makes a cameo appearance in the video).

That debut album sold millions, but like a lot of hair bands at the end of the decade, their follow up ‘Rev It Up’ (1990) didn’t fare as well. VIXEN broke up the following year.

  “It was basically a way to say thank you. Because there’s a lot of kids out here in the States that are too young to have seen me, so we just thought we’d do it.” Read More  

Ozzy Osbourne and Guitar master Slash made a special appearance Monday, January 10, 2011 at the House of Blues in Hollywood, California. Both rock Icons were in attendance to sign a 10-foot Gibson Guitar and to announce they will be teaming up for an upcoming U.S. tour. The first minute was filmed sideways, but I was able to get some video from this event. Special thanks to Angela and MSOPR for making this happen for METAL SHOP. -Ralph

A new studio album from Dokken titled “Broken Bones”, will be released in North America on September 25, 2012 (Frontiers Records).   The first single and video is called “Empire” and features a post-apocalyptic take on the band’s signature sound of catchy melodies, hot riffs and monster production.

  Oregon Music News: Currently you can use the name ‘Queensrÿche’ as can Scott, Michael and Eddie. You put together an all-star line-up that will tour under the name Queensrÿche. How confusing do you think this will be to the casual fans and will this hurt the brand?   Geoff Tate: “Oh, yeah it will…