Wendy Dio slams Jorn...

[labrekk]

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=158428


On Norwegian singer Jorn Lande's "Dio" album and other musicians who who have paid tributes to Ronnie:

Wendy Dio: "Ah… I don't know. I was very upset about the fact that [Jorn's 'Dio' album] was released. Yes, I was. When somebody dies, if you wanna record a couple of tracks [as a tribute to that artist], that's fine. But… to do a whole album of Ronnie's songs? Why would you want to buy a reproduction when you can buy the original? There have been IRON MAIDEN songs dedicated to Ronnie live. That's a real tribute. Rob Halford [JUDAS PRIEST] was an incredible friend of Ronnie. He did many tributes to Ronnie. Ian Gillan [DEEP PURPLE] was another friend of Ronnie. Klaus Meine [SCORPIONS] was a friend of Ronnie. All these people were friends of Ronnie and they all paid tributes to him in their own way without cashing in on anything."

I thought Wendy gave her blessing about Jorn's Dio disc...It appears it was not the case. She's quite hard on him IMO, as the album was recorded before Ronnie's death. Yes, the label fucked up when they released the disc so soon after Ronnie died, but it was not Jorn's fault. Did Wendy agreed to get Jorn to sing with the Heaven & Hell guys at last year's tribute? If so, why slamming him that way now? This is just weird...Even more with the Dio Disciples tour coming...

 

[nomisofsiman]

It is indeed weird, especially after him singing with Heaven and Hell last year at the tribute.

 

[DEATHZILLA]

Death will bring many weird things and situations. Once someone dies the gloves are off, i have seen family and friends go to war. The fact that Jorn's tribute cd had the Dio camp blessing before his death means nothing. While Dio was alive it was simply another tribute cd as many bands have done for their favorite "Living" musicians as well as keeping Dio's name and music pushing on. But because of his death it became a ball of different matter's, money high on the list im sure because Jorns cd would be seen as a door way for others without permission to exploit. Never the less death complicates all relations and decisions past, present and future.

 

[modernwizardry]

She's creepin' like a hungry cat.

I'd say Jorn recording a whole album of Dio's work is a pretty big sign of how much that person (Dio) influenced Jorn. In my opinion it is a pretty amazing tribute to record a whole release dedicated to Dio. Does Jorn really sell enough albums to be "cashing in" on Dio's death? And it's not like he just recorded the hits.

 

[Rycher]

She's creepin' like a hungry cat.

I'd say Jorn recording a whole album of Dio's work is a pretty big sign of how much that person (Dio) influenced Jorn. In my opinion it is a pretty amazing tribute to record a whole release dedicated to Dio. Does Jorn really sell enough albums to be "cashing in" on Dio's death? And it's not like he just recorded the hits.

I think it has more to do with the timing. After he died, they still pushed the record out fast. I think it would have been more respectful to put it on hold for a while.

 

[J-Dubya 777]

She's creepin' like a hungry cat.

I'd say Jorn recording a whole album of Dio's work is a pretty big sign of how much that person (Dio) influenced Jorn. In my opinion it is a pretty amazing tribute to record a whole release dedicated to Dio. Does Jorn really sell enough albums to be "cashing in" on Dio's death? And it's not like he just recorded the hits.

This^^^^^^^^ + 1,000,000

 

[mattbrood]

I think it has more to do with the timing. After he died, they still pushed the record out fast. I think it would have been more respectful to put it on hold for a while.

Unlike Manowar, who rushed out their own tribute album AFTER Ronnies death.

 

[Harvester]

I have no inside knowledge, but someone correct me if I'm wrong:

1. Jorn had the cd in the can before Dio's death.
2. Frontiers had it on their release schedule already, but bumped it up sooner.

If that's the case, then she should be pissed at the label instead of Jorn. It's not like Jorn is making major bucks or has the power to squash anything that is already delivered to the label.

On a personal note, I think she sounds hypocritical as hell. I mean she manages Ripper and he is heading out on the road as part of the Dio's Disciples tour.

 

[J. Golden]

I have no inside knowledge, but someone correct me if I'm wrong:

1. Jorn had the cd in the can before Dio's death.
2. Frontiers had it on their release schedule already, but bumped it up sooner.

If that's the case, then she should be pissed at the label instead of Jorn. It's not like Jorn is making major bucks or has the power to squash anything that is already delivered to the label.

On a personal note, I think she sounds hypocritical as hell. I mean she manages Ripper and he is heading out on the road as part of the Dio's Disciples tour.

Hey Glenn watch what you say or these guys in here might attack like they did when I said something against Wendy and all the goings on with those people. Of course it may be different once you say it, the forum well all follow in line. HAHA

 

[mattbrood]

I have no inside knowledge, but someone correct me if I'm wrong:

1. Jorn had the cd in the can before Dio's death.
2. Frontiers had it on their release schedule already, but bumped it up sooner.

If that's the case, then she should be pissed at the label instead of Jorn. It's not like Jorn is making major bucks or has the power to squash anything that is already delivered to the label.

On a personal note, I think she sounds hypocritical as hell. I mean she manages Ripper and he is heading out on the road as part of the Dio's Disciples tour.

I think with Wendy Dio, it's all about her ego, much like Sharon Osbourne, if she can't control something, then she bad mouths it. Frontier Records wanted to capitalize on Dio's death by rushing the release of Jorn's tribute, Jorn had no control over this. Tribute albums are nothing new, Bob Kulick is making a decent living releasing his "All star" tribute albums to various artists.

 

[seh750]

Wendy Dio: "Ah… I don't know. I was very upset about the fact that [Jorn's 'Dio' album] was released....

To me, this type of whining about which tributes are heartfelt and which are not does more to tarnish Dio's legacy than the supposed wrong-reason tributes. Ultimately, the fans will decide on their own, with their hearts and their pocketbooks, which tributes are worthwhile and which are not. I know what Dio's music meant to me over the course of the nearly 3 decades I listened to him and I can make up my own mind about which tributes are good or not. And likely the tributes I enjoy others may not.

I happen to think Jorn's Dio album was really good.

 

[ICEDEARTHFAN]

I have no inside knowledge, but someone correct me if I'm wrong:

1. Jorn had the cd in the can before Dio's death.
2. Frontiers had it on their release schedule already, but bumped it up sooner.

If that's the case, then she should be pissed at the label instead of Jorn. It's not like Jorn is making major bucks or has the power to squash anything that is already delivered to the label.

On a personal note, I think she sounds hypocritical as hell. I mean she manages Ripper and he is heading out on the road as part of the Dio's Disciples tour.

I think she sounds mad because she didn't get to release it instead of Frontier.I love that tribute album and I never looked at it's release date to be Jorn's fault once I read up on it.I'm not saying she is missing out on a wad of money cause I don't know if the album made/makes that much in the grand scheme of things.I'm just saying I thought I noticed a tinge of jealousy on her part.Maybe she thinks it's the best tribute album but doesn't want to admit it cause it isn't her release? Just some random thoughts........

 

[mattbrood]

In Wendy Dio's mind any tribute album not under her control = Not good

 

[The Fiddler]

Also correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the original songwriter paid rights or royalties by other artists to re-record songs the cover artist did not write/compose/create? If that's the case, then Wendy (also Ronnie's business manager) wouldn't have gotten a dime if the tribute was never created at all. If so, then the tribute was approved and Wendy collected her fees before Ronnie passed. It was OK then, but obviously not now. Probably because the tribute did much better than expected after Ronnie's unexpected passing at which time she was no longer in position to re-write a signed contract that would have given her a bigger fee or bigger percentage of any royalty payments.

She probably lost more money on this deal than if Ronnie was alive and well now. As they say, somewhat ironically, money is the root of all evil (made famous by Ronnie's horns up gesture he picked up from his grandmother to ward off evil).

 

[nomisofsiman]

And it's not like he just recorded the hits.

Exactly. If it was just the well-known Dio stuff maybe, just maybe it would've been one thing, but he decided to go deep into the catalog. And it's not like his popularity skyrocketed and he had tons of sales due to this album.

 

[edgeofthorns]

I hadn't heard anything about this so called "Disciples of Dio Tour" until this thread. With that said, I read up on it last night and it sounds lame as hell imo. Who wants to hear Ripper Owens sing Dio songs? Jorn is the only person alive worthy to sing Dio songs...properly anyway!

~Brian~

 

[AeonicSlumber]

I think it's shitty on her part to pick and choose what counts as a proper tribute to him and what doesn't. I am sure Ronnie himself would have been flattered by it regardless what the intentions were.

 

[nomisofsiman]

I am sure Ronnie himself would have been flattered by it regardless what the intentions were.

And ultimately, shouldn't this be the determining factor. For crying out loud, Jorn wrote a song himself dedicated to Dio. If that isn't a good intention, I don't know what is.

 

[Stingray11214]

Also correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the original songwriter paid rights or royalties to re-record songs they did not write/compose/create? If that's the case, then Wendy (also Ronnie's business manager) wouldn't have gotten a dime if the tribute was never created at all. If so, then the tribute was approved and Wendy collected her fees before Ronnie passed. It was OK then, but obviously not now. Probably because the tribute did much better than expected after Ronnie's unexpected passing at which time she was no longer in position to re-write a signed contract that would have given her a bigger fee or bigger percentage of any royalty payments.

She probably lost more money on this deal than if Ronnie was alive and well now. As they say, somewhat ironically, money is the root of all evil (made famous by Ronnie's horns up gesture he picked up from his grandmother to ward off evil).

Quoted for truth.

 

[AeonicSlumber]

Also correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the original songwriter paid rights or royalties to re-record songs they did not write/compose/create? If that's the case, then Wendy (also Ronnie's business manager) wouldn't have gotten a dime if the tribute was never created at all. If so, then the tribute was approved and Wendy collected her fees before Ronnie passed.

I'm not sure what you mean here. You don't collect royalties BEFORE the fact. Royalties are collected AFTER a sale. Otherwise it's an advance fee. Legally speaking, yes the copyright owner is entitled to a certain % of every CD/song sold since the intellectual property is not Jorn's or whoever did the tribute. If Wendy has the intellectual property to the tunes, then she gets a % of those sales. That being said, we're talking about what? $2,000? It's probably not much at all because she's only making a few cents on every sale and artists don't get paid royalties until the label has recouped all the costs involved in making the record. And of course, this is assuming the label is allocating and paying royalties. This is metal, the genre of music where many labels don't even pay royalties to their actual acts, let alone to a third party.

It was OK then, but obviously not now. Probably because the tribute did much better than expected after Ronnie's unexpected passing at which time she was no longer in position to re-write a signed contract that would have given her a bigger fee or bigger percentage of any royalty payments.

No you don't need to sign a contract to cover another band. There are royalty collection services (in the US it's Harryfox, in Germany it's GEMA) that set the standard for these things that all artists must obey.

She probably lost more money on this deal than if Ronnie was alive and well now. As they say, somewhat ironically, money is the root of all evil (made famous by Ronnie's horns up gesture he picked up from his grandmother to ward off evil).

It's not a "deal," and there's not a whole lot of money for her to be made here. She probably sees more money on royalties directly earned from DIO album sales.