Sail Away, Seize The Day

Theres a bug with out photo gallery that for some reason I just haven't been able to fix, but in the end now I've just decided its time for a new site as I had alluded to a few months ago . Be on the look out in the up coming weeks for a much more interactive Randy-Rhoads.com where you can register, post comments on photos, news, articles, etc. Also the security will be a bit more tight so we won't have have as many hacking issues...

Also, just a heads up for anybody needing to update their Randy Rhoads poster collection fast, here's a great oppurtunity. In a bit of a tight spot so I'm unfortunately having let these go. (Click the photo to follow the link)

Be checking back soon for the new site R-R.com V3.0 Who knows, maybe this time I'll be able to finish getting all of the boots up....

Matt

3 "New" Day on the Green Shots added to the Galllery

I was recently contacted by the photographer asking me to replace the ones on the site with ghosted ones, and he even offered to send me 3 uncirculated ones so of course I was happy to oblige. I love getting new shots of Randy like these, really reminds me why I'm a fan in the first place. Thanks Dave!

Late March '09

Hey Everybody, Just wanted to let you all know that there will be some major changes here soon. Going to be redoing the site layout once again, but this time in a searchable more user friendly format, where you can register and post comments. Also at that time I will upload the rest of the boots that I've been wanting to get on a routine of doing, but that just hasn't been able to happen so we're gonna try things a different way. So be on the lookout for some exciting more interactive things on the way.

Here's some of the latest news...

From Des Sherwood at randyrhoads.tk
Randy Rhoads Polka Dot V on Display Again

"Kelle Rhoads told me this week that the Polka dot is on show at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland Ohio. There is also one of Randy's polka dot QR outfits on display.
Randy's display is right next to the Elvis one. Kelle said Randy would have got a kick out of that;-)"

Thanks 60secondcrush for the photos (click to enlarge)

This was from earlier this month but as far as I know its still up.

From The Metal Den
ROCKET Interviews Director PETER MARGOLIS Of The RANDY RHOADS Film (Part 2)

With cooperation from the Rhoads family, Dakota Films and Director Peter M. Margolis prepare to bring us the long awaited documentary film on the life of celebrated rock legend Randy Rhoads, arguably the greatest heavy metal guitar player that ever lived.
Randy Rhoads already made his name on the Sunset Strip in the late 70's as a founding member of the much beloved Quiet Riot before appearing on former Black Sabbath vocalist Ozzy Osbourne's Blizzard Of Oz in 1980, one of the most acclaimed debut solo albums of all time, followed smashingly by 1981's epic Diary of a Madman. On March 19, 1982, Randy Rhoads would be gone from us forever, having been tragically killed in a plane crash. Randy's life and great musical genius were not to be fully enjoyed. They were snuffed out like a flickering flame in the wind.

Three years in the making, this documentary highlights interviews with those closest to Randy as well as reveals never before seen photos and footage of Randy throughout his life.
Despite being gone now for twenty seven years, Randy Rhoads and his incredible musical legacy continue to live on in the minds and hearts of millions of devoted fans all over this great planet.
THE METAL DEN’s Randy “Rocket” Cody has conducted an exclusive new interview with Director Peter Margolis for TMD’s loyal and devoted following of DEN HEADZ worldwide!
Randy Rhoads
TMD Rocks!
Rocket: First off, let me thank you for such a great first interview between us, going back to nearly 2 years ago. It was my intent all along to conclude discussing the subject matter of Randy’s film with a part two to our Q&A session, so I am really pleased you found time to do this with me again, Peter. Secondly, I am compelled to ask you, at this point, is Randy’s film project going to be released any time soon?

Peter: There is no official release date... thankfully, because if there was, I would have missed it already. My intent was to try to be finished with the editing by September 1st of this year in order to be able to submit to The Sundance FIlm Festival, then have through the remainder of the year to go back and polish things up a bit before the January 2010 release. However we will see if that comes to pass.

Rocket: Your crew started filming on March 19, 2007, when hundreds of fans gathered at Randy’s grave in San Bernardino, California, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his death. Is that pretty much where the film will start?

Peter: That is exactly not where the film will start. I filmed that event so that there would be an archival visual memory of that day. I cut a 13 minute piece together that begins with the Rhoads family getting in the car in Burbank and ends with them driving away from the cemetery late in the day. It is a well done short film in and of itself. I will probably use it as a DVD extra. I returned to Randy's grave later that year with Mrs. Rhoads and my film crew and we shot a much more intimate visit with her at her sons burial location. She opened the gates and for the first time the viewer will see what you can't see when you go there to pay your respects. As always she was extremely candid and open with me.

Rocket: Did you work from a pre-shoot script? If so, how much changed as you went along in the production, from what was on paper first?

Peter: There was nothing on paper when we started. However, that is not to say that there was not months of research ahead of filming. AJ and I shared an office with a 10 foot by 4 foot cork board filled with colored index cards with places and people and subjects scrawled all over them and then there were two 6 foot dry erase boards with all other related information that was needed to piece the story together. We sat in this room day after day for 6 months staring at names and dates and story points until we were able to weed out what we felt was unnecessary and try to get the story down to a reasonable length.

Rocket: Did you use storyboards?

Peter: We didn't use storyboards because that medium is generally not used for this type of production. Documentary shooting is much more of a reality based style typically where you arrive at a location, make sure the light levels are right, place the mics where they are out of the shots and go. I have done this enough for the last 23 years to know what I want. Sometimes if you are not spontaneous you lose the moment and that, is really what a lot of the storytelling is about. Catching the right subject at just the right time. Sometimes you capture lightening in a bottle when it is right.

Rocket: About how long does a documentary film of this scope take to edit and who will be handling that job?

Peter: To date we have accumulated over 700 hours of material. We have edited some pieces together. Some are really long and will be chopped down, some will be thrown out. It is really like putting a puzzle together with many extra puzzle pieces that have to be eliminated along the way. Everything that has been edited thus far has all been done by an editor named Joe Lorigo. I had seen his work on a documentary that came out in 2005 called Champion, the Danny Trejo Story and was impressed. He and I have sat for days upon days just screening the material and putting string outs together and creating bins for subjects long before two shots ever get pieced together. It is an exhausting process. We will spend several days on one story point then scrap the whole thing and start over if it does not feel right. Months and months later you start to whittle down the content and the people that become extraneous and you began to come up with a cohesive story. There are parts of Randy's life that we have not even touched yet.....but we will. All in due time.

Rocket: During the post production process, some Directors find themselves having to pull a miracle off to make the film cohesive, well paced and interesting, when discovering they didn’t get the right footage to work with, so they go back out and do some re-shooting. Did you ever find yourself in this position?

Peter: There is one interview that we discovered early on had a sound problem. The mics were over modulating. We were not using our normal equipment because it was being used on another shoot so we rented some different mics and the cameras didn't react to them as well. Fortunately it was one of the interviews that took place in L.A. and we have already discussed a reshoot with the folks involved and there is no problem. As far as not getting some of the material and needing to reshoot for that reason, have not discovered that problem yet. We almost did but I decided to abort that story instead of opt for a reshoot because it was not that critical and no one will ever miss it except me. This is not to say that by the time we are done, we may have to grab the cameras and go out and get a line that we are missing. Fortunately, a lot of that can be fixed with a narrator. But again, I was pretty thorough when interviewing people so the story so far is fairly air tight.

Rocket: What are some of the things about the life of this celebrated rock guitarist that now impress you the most since doing all the research and then the subsequent film production on Randy’s life?
Randy Rhoads
TMD Rocks!
Peter: I think we all relate things to how we would have reacted in a particular situation. I think back to being 22 years old and would I have been able to leave the home that I lived in for 22 years, leave my girlfriend and family with the threat that I would be moving to another country to live with a virtual stranger and may not return for a very long time. The answer for me is a definitive and resounding NO. Yet, that is what Randy did. But the more miraculous achievement that continues to astound me is "How does someone with 19 recorded songs to their name single handedly change the way hard rock and heavy metal rock guitar is heard... forever?

Rocket: Lori Hollen, your partner on the film, seems to really have played quite a role in making this film a reality. How integral has teaming up with her been for this production?

Peter: There were a few steps along the way that led to this film coming about. Talking to Brian Reason one day on a set was the event that led to meeting Lori Hollen. Impressing Lori enough to stick her neck out for me with Randy's brother and sister was the second and lastly, Kathy and Kelle bringing Lori and I in front of Mrs. Rhoads was the third. So yes, this would not have happened without Lori. I am indebted to her forever. But I think if you ask her the feeling is reciprocal. Once we started researching her role became more of an advisor and an outlet to reach many of the people involved with Randy during 1978 and 1979. Lori has been on probably half of the interviews that we shot and has seen every frame that has been cut together so far and we remain in close contact. She is credited as one of the producers of this film and is very deserved of her title.

Rocket: I know you said in our first interview together that Randy’s mom has been helping you with making the film happen. Is she going to be allowed to have ‘final cut’ authority during the editing process?

Peter: No one has final cut on this but me. That being said there are several steps along the way where I have to screen the film for various parties to get their approval. Several people own very critical parts of Randy likeness, life rights, writing and publishing catalog and so on and so forth. But ultimately at the end of day, if it is good, I will take the praise and if it is not I will take the criticisms.

Rocket: I understand that you’ve filmed 80 plus interviews, with Randy’s family and friends and people who worked with him, famous rockers such as Kelli Garni, the original bassist in Quiet Riot; Carlos Cavazo, and Rudy Sarzo. What other famous musicians will appear to celebrate Randy‘s music?

Peter: We have shot 103 interviews and about another 40 or so days shooting b-roll, which consists mostly of locations and driving shots, things like Randy's school room where he attended elementary school. As of the last count we have 32 famous musicians already filmed. I want to leave most of them as surprises. I will say this, we have every member of Quiet Riot and Ozzy's band during the time that Randy was in the band. The only one not accounted for on film is Kevin DuBrow.

Rocket: Roughly, how much old film footage of Randy will we see throughout the film? From the sounds of it, you guys must have had a ton of footage to work with, right?

Peter: That is the million dollar question I am asked on a daily basis. Is there any footage of Randy that has never been seen before? There wasn't as much as you would think to begin with. Three full Quiet Riot shows were filmed at the Starwood and Whisky along with some very early shows like L.A. Valley College, The Pasadena Civic, The Chili Cookoff and Machinists Hall. As for Ozzy there is even less. After Hours and some rough hand held footage shot from a balcony at one of the concerts is what you can find regularly on YouTube. Beyond that, the audience will have to wait until the curtain goes up to see what we have in store for them.

Rocket: Will Randy’s actual voice ever be heard during the film?

Peter: Most likely. I taped every single one of my lessons and he can be heard very distinctly on those tapes. Those have never been heard or released to the public. As well, we were given permission to use John Stix's interviews which to date have only been heard in small fragments. There are other bits and pieces that you can find out there like the backstage footage from the Starwood and the KROQ interview as well.

Rocket: Is it mostly color footage? And what format? Super 8 or 16mm film I would think, right?

Peter: Mostly color and all of the stated formats are accurate.

Rocket: Who is going to narrate the film?

Peter: I'm not sure yet. I have a short list of names, but that is just about the last thing that you worry about at this stage. While we are editing and watching, the narration is provided by me. But we'll take my voice off and replace it before we finish.

Rocket: How many minutes do you estimate the final version of Randy’s film will run?

Peter: Great question. Our first cut of just the Quiet Riot story ran 2 hours and 15 minutes. That is just 5 of the 25 years of his life. The second cut ran just under 2 hours. Ultimately it needs to be about 40 minutes. Most documentaries clock in at around 90 minutes but I can't see this running any less than two hours.

Rocket: Do you think about maybe having showings of Randy’s film to music schools around the U.S.A.? Young kids and adults learning to become a musician should be able to watch it and see what a truly great, yet humble and hard working musician is all about. I feel more of those types need to know about Randy Rhoads.

Peter: That would be great but you never know. You put your film in the hands of a distributor and hope that it reaches the target markets that you want it to reach.

Rocket: When you first took a guitar lesson from Randy Rhoads, what was he like as a teacher? Was he stern or more laid back?
Peter Margolis
(Director Peter M. Margolis)
TMD Rocks!
Peter: He was incredibly empowering. You left the lesson thinking that you had just been taught about the bible by one of the apostles. He had a rare gift. He had an ability to communicate unlike many people that I have encountered, and you were never made to feel less than or rejected.

Rocket: I recently interviewed George Lynch, who actually lost out to Randy Rhoads for the Ozzy band. He went on to actually teach at Randy’s mom’s school. Will George be included somewhere in the film?

Peter: George was interviewed about a year and a half ago at the ESP Guitar Factory in North Hollywood. He was a great interview subject as he is very bright and very well spoken but our time with him was somewhat limited due to a scheduling mix up so we only had little more than 1/2 hour. Nonetheless, he was cordial and cooperative.

Rocket: Looking back on it all, what has been the most rewarding moment for you personally during the making of Randy's film?

Peter: A few things, Rocket. There are several people that we interviewed along the way who asked about the whereabouts of lost friends from their past with Randy and we were able to reunite them. Today they have rekindled old friendships. That was very gratifying. There were a few interviews that were so remarkable that the subjects were able to travel down paths many decades ago in their memories and recalled moments with such tremendous clarity. One such interview was with Keyboardist Don Airey who was of the key eye witnesses to the crash of the Beachcraft Bonanza. Don's interview was close to 4 hours and his retelling of that fateful day was emotionally riveting. Tommy Aldridge was incredibly well spoken and clear about his memories as was Max Norman. There was one guitar player from one of the most famous rock bands on the planet who said something that literally took my breath away and then there was Joe Don Rooney, the guitarist for country band Rascal Flatts who will surprise everyone with his knowledge about all things Randy Rhoads and his uncanny ability to play every Randy solo note for note. And the list goes on and on.

This Can't Be Real...

oh but it is,... Diary of a Madman Mugs... Ha!

NEW - Diary Of A Madman Mug

Whether you're a madman or not, this C handle 15oz. Mug rocks. A black Ozzy mug that features the Diary Of

A Madman artwork that wraps around this mug.

New Official Randy Rhoads Film Site
www.randyrhoads.tv

First off I wanted to make you all aware of the new site for the Randy Rhoads Documentary Film from Peter Margolis. The site designed by yours truely will see many updates in the future of photos and new content beginning as soon as Peter returns to L.A. Feel free to check it out at www.randyrhoads.tv

As Promised...

Here's the Bootleg for the week!

5.2.81 - Palladium Theater, New York, NY ~ first set
(zipped in its entirety...) *I'd give it about 30 minutes its still uploading, try 12:40 AM US Central time

Also, I encourage all of you to remember to send in your Randy Rhoads tats to be added to the new section under events. Also if you have any Randy related fan art and would also like for it to be posted under the events/fan section please email all submissions to webmaster@randy-rhoads.com. I'm really wanting to build a community based section where everyone can share their RR creations. After all, this site is just another Randy fan's creation that I've fortunately and surprisingly been successful with.

Another note: We had some problems with hackings again here in the past few months so please alert me if you are recieving any further messages from anti-virus programs. As far as I know I've removed anything from our server that could be potentially be detected but I just want to make sure.

Randy-Rhoads.com to mission control...

... We have established communication. Hello all of you out there in TV land. I know its been a quiet year since spring. Been a very eventful year here for your favorite webmaster, from the birth of my first born daughter to the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. Never fear though we are back online. We've had several hackings and technical difficulties but we are still alive and well! Also, don't forget to check out the Guitar Bar & Grill!

First order of business on the list

From Blabbermouth.net -

Second RANDY RHOADS Sculpture: Photos Available - Aug. 23, 2008
KnuckleBonz has created a second sculpture of late guitarist legend Randy Rhoads (OZZY OSBOURNE, QUIET RIOT) in association with the Randy Rhoads estate. The figure is sculpted and hand-painted and available only in a very limited edition of 3,000 worldwide. Each is hand-numbered and has a certificate of authenticity on the base of the sculpture.

The Randy Rhoads II figure is officially licensed through the Randy Rhoads Charitible Trust. The sculpture has already been completed and approved by the family and KnuckleBonz is in the paint-production phase now. A fall release is expected.

A number of photos taken at Randy Rhoads's gravesite at the Mountain View Cemetery in San Bernardino, CA on March 19, 2007 to mark the 25th anniversary of Randy's passing have been posted online at this location.

With the blessings of the family of Randy Rhoads, Dakota Pictures and director Peter Margolis began filming the "Randy Rhoads Documentary" last year at the Mountain View Cemetery. In hopes to fully capture the significance of the 25th anniversary of Randy's passing, the filmmakers interviewed as many of Randy's fans as possible.

In 1982, Rhoads, the then-lead guitarist for OZZY OSBOURNE, and two others were killed at Flying Baron Estates, just outside Leesburg, Florida, when their small plane struck Osbourne's tour bus, then crashed into a mansion.

(Click photos to enlarge)

(Randy Rhoads II Rock Iconz Statue - Click here to purchase)

Guitar Bar & Grill Forums

Just a quick note as I'm getting some stuff ready for the April update, (bootlegs, new pics for the tatoo section..) Theres a new board up presented to you by randy-rhoads.com. Its the Guitar Bar & Grill Forums, for guitarists and fans of guitar rock. Head on over to GUITARBAR.TK and check it out!

EDIT: I posted the wrong link earlier, the correct link is now fixed to guitarbar.tk

NEW PHOTO GALLERY INSTALLED

I'm finishing up installing a new gallery right now, much better than that old plogger we were using. This one you can actually sign up to post comments. Plus its much less clunky and slow. I'm probably going to be going through soon and sorting out everything into sub albums for specific photoshoots etc under each section.

March 19, 2008

In years prior I usually try to set this day aside to reflect on how big an impact one musician had on me as a person, but this year it really snuck up on me as I'm sure it probably did to others. I'll always be thankful for finding Randy as not only a awe-inspiring song writer and composer, but as a positive role model growing up in a time without too many heroes for kids to look up to other than our own parents. Any time I think of Randy, especially these days, it really helps me remember never to give up on doing exactly what you want to be doing in life, to remain in control of your future and destiny and not let it be in control of you. Randy lived exactly how he wanted to and was unapologetic about following his dream. Any time I hear the fade out solo to "tonight" I'm still taken back to being 16 years old and laying on my floor listening wondering how on earth he could make the guitar do things no one else could. That thing you can never explain to people that just don't "get it" about Randy Rhoads. Thank you Randy.

-Matt

Heres a few new wallpapers I've made recently inspired by SATO

-------

Don't forget to pick up the latest issue of Guitar Legends on news stands now! It's got a few never before seen photos worth checking out!

I'm still planning on uploading all the bootlegs. To be 100% honest I had them all on a hard drive and I can't seem to locate it anywhere in my apartment. Rather than re-ripping them all from the CDs, I'm desperately trying to find it!

Also, please remember to submit any Randy Rhoads fan art drawings or paintings for a new section a la the Tattoo section for you to get your artwork noticed!

Marshall 1959RR Signature Amp Announced

From Des Sherwood at randyrhoads.tk -
Yes, the rumors are true! The new Randy Rhoads signature series amp is being unveiled today at the NAMM show in LA.
Marshall have asked us to keep this quiet until the day of the NAMM show, so that's why any posts mentioning the amp recently had to be removed.I was asked by Marshall to make this post to coincide with the NAMM show opening at 10am today.The amp is designed to look and sound exactly like Randy's amp it is sure to knock the socks off any Rhoads fan or any fan of a great sounding rock amp for that matter.I was lucky enough to be invited to the Marshall factory in December and I got to try out the prototype in the Marshall theatre at full gig volume. (By pure coincidence it just happened to be December 6th-Randy's Birthday...)My word it's good! I only had to play ONE note to realise that. I tried out about five different amp heads that day and I liked them all for different reasons but when I plugged into the Rhoads head my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.I had it set to Randy's stage volume which was about 6 or 7 I believe and it was so loud and proud and the tone was pure and 'honest' and so damn BIG sounding. People always said Randy had such a big sound. I can see why after playing through this!An amazing sounding amp indeed. It's not designed to make you sound like Randy Rhoads because you'd also need his pedals, his Altec cabs, his fingers, his brain and his heart to do that but what it does do is to provide an amazing sounding rock amp with the same spec as the one Randy chose from the factory with the same mod that was offered to him when he was there in 1980 in his white suit.Obviously it's approved by Delores and Marshall have taken every care to get all the proper permissions and details right and have crossed all the 't's and dotted all the 'i's.I’ve heard the Handbook will feature some never before published photos and loads of tributes from top players and new quotes from Randy's family.Doug Aldrich will be demonstrating the amp and I hear he'll be using Jackson pinstripes that Fender have loaned for the day.
Delores and Paul Marshall (Jim's son) will be talking about the amp too.Marshall have done it again. Another mind blowing and ear shattering amp. Sure to be a classic and loved by everyone who love amazing sounding rock amps, not just Randy fans.

--------

Stay Tuned for updated downloads very soon! More bootlegs to come! Also,

Please submit any Randy Rhoads fan art drawings or paintings for a new section a la the Tattoo section for you to get your artwork noticed!

2 Quiet Riot Boots + Quiet Riot Vid Added. Tattoo Section Up!

Lets see here. First off I added 2 Quiet Riot Boots up to the download section. I know I said I was going to do it last week, but its there none the less as soon as I could get to it. Also in the Quiet Riot video section I added a download link to the "VH1's Before They Were Rock Stars" video since youtube.com had removed it due to their own reasons. Pretty big file but its a rare cool thing to have I actually ripped from an old VHS tape I recorded back in about '99.

Also got the "Show Us Your RR Tat!" section up under events in the nav bar. Check it out and still send in those submissions because I know there's more out there! Once again a huge thanks to those who are sending in their pictures to be posted. Just another way to show Randy maybe be gone, but not forgotten!

Oh and also, on a personal note, just really wanted to say "Wow" to this here --> (clicky for picture). I grew up worshiping Randy as a guitarist and a role model from the time I was about 11 when I actually learned the name of the guy playing those cool riffs on the radio when Crazy Train and Flyin' high would come on. Finding sites like The Day the Music Died among others on the internet felt like the Holy Grail of information to a fascinating time and place regarding one of what I believed to be one of musical history's most underrated heroes. Now to be ranking that high in the same search engine(s) is pretty darn cool.

-Matt

Kelly Garni Speaks...

From the RandyRhoads.tk message boards....

"No need to state the obvious. First off I want to thank all of you who either called or emailed me. Im sorry I can't respond to them individually as it would be a huge endeavor. I also want to thank everyone who refrained from jumping to conclusions and starting rumors. This has been a very tramatic tradegy to me and because of the fireworks usually associated with Kevin, I was expecting an avalance of negativity that both me and Frankie usually have to deal with. And I'm happy to say that for the most part, everyone did nothing but express good feelings. Unfortunatley what negativity that did occur was internal and while inconviniate, I was able to handle.
On Sunday, while I was working I got a phone call from Kevin's home security company. It was at about 3:15 in the afternoon. I am the only one who gets a call when ever his alarm goes off and usually I go to his house and let the guards in to check things out. However, Kevin had had his front doors replaced a few weeks ago and I did not yet have a key so I told them to send the guards and if there was a problem I would go there and take care of it. They also told me that Kevins voice mail was full. That was the first sign of trouble to me. I got on the phone to frankie in LA and asked if Kevin was with him. He said no and that he hadn't talked to Kevin in about 10 days. He said he thought Kevin was with one of his girlfriends. From there, I started to track her down. I have never met her and only after Frankie gave me her name was I able to find her which was relativity easy. By now about 10 minutes had passed. She said that Kevin had missed Thanksgiving with her (one of 2 girls he was supposed to have thanksging with. Well, he IS Kevin) She said she had gone to his house and left him many messages without response and that she had a very bad feeling about this. Right then, my other phone rang. I have 3 phones in my house and little did I know soon all 3 would be ringing nonstop. I put the phone down on the table with girlfriend #2 still on the line and it was Frankie on the phone. He told me what had happened. I lost all composure at that point and told FB I would call him back. Now to the other phone where I had the unpleasnt task of telling #2 the news. Needless to say she freaked. GF#1 was Lark Williams who was in San Fran at the time. She was worried about Kevin as well and she had called a paramedic friend of hers to go check on Kevin. The guy happened to be very close to his house. With Lark on the phone, the guy went to Kevins and was looking into windows and told Lark he could see his keys on the counter. Lark told him to break in immediately. It was a very ballsy and good thing she did. The guy broke in (hence the call from the alarm co.) and found Kev. This all happened in about 20 minutes time. From there, police, fire, everybody was called. He was found in bed. I talked with a Detective who was there and they hadn't even removed Kevin yet. He said "We have found no signs of foul play and are ruling this an accidental death". Last I heard from Kevin's brother, there was going to be a service this Sunday in Corona del Mar, Ca. Kevin will be buried next to his father. But then I was told that the coroner was still not done so that was kind of up in the air. I have not heard from them since. Peter Margolis was one of the first people I called. I had had to tell the news to Kevins brother as well and I really didn't want to go through that again with others who are important in our lives. He was very kind was imediately saddened and said right off he wouldn't wish this on anybody. I read his statement and can say that he did in fact want to work out the differences between Kevin and himself. From here, I am not going to point out all the other things to you that people say when an icon dies. Kevin was what he was and he lived his life as such. To me, Kevin was my brother for 35 years. And like brothers, we had our diferences. But many many times over dinner, we discussed how great it was to be able to sit across from each and laugh about all the terrible things we said and did to each other. He was always there for me, and I was always there for him. The last time I saw him was on our mutually shared birthday, Oct 29, He gave me a big hug and a really great present. The best present though was the hug. I will miss him terribly. I pray that those who had issues with him don't take this opportunity to celebrate this. If you knew Kevin well enough to have a beef with him, then you knew him well enough to know he had a very good side to him as well. Thank you all for all your kindness. Please remember him for the one thing he wanted to be since he was born. A ROCKSTAR."

------

As a tribute I plan to put up some of the old Randy era Quiet Riot bootlegs up tomorrow as soon as I can.
-Matt

From MTV News

Quiet Riot singer Kevin DuBrow died Sunday, drummer Frankie Banali confirmed in a post on his Web site. DuBrow was 52 years old and the official cause of his death has yet to be determined.

"I can't even find words to say," Banali wrote. "Please respect my privacy as I mourn the passing and honor the memory of my dearest friend Kevin DuBrow."

DuBrow's body was discovered on Sunday inside the rocker's Las Vegas home. According to those close to the singer, DuBrow celebrated his birthday last month in New Orleans and seemed to be in good health. Quiet Riot bassist Kelly Garni has asked fans to be patient for details on the singer's death.

"I ask this to all of you not only for myself but for other friends and family," Garni wrote, in a message posted to a Web site honoring the memory of Quiet Riot founding member Randy Rhoads. "I ask that no one here offer any speculation or opinions, theories or other things that could be construed as negative or, and I'm sorry for this, even sympathetic, right at this immediate time. I am already, within hours of this, having to deal with untrue rumors and speculation and that only adds fuel to that. There is a tendency for the subject of Kevin to incite flames on every board, and now is not the time for that. I will explain to everyone here the facts and the truth in the next 24 to 48 hours as I realize this will affect us all. So please, until then, be patient. All details and other pertinent info will be passed on to you here when it becomes available to me."

Bill Chavis, owner of Chavis Records, the label that issued Quiet Riot's last LP, 2006's Rehab, also confirmed the news.

"DuBrow's body was found by friends on Sunday, November 25, in his Las Vegas home," reads the label's site. "As I mourn his death with a heavy heart, I will remember hearing his voice and the music for the very first time on the radio back in 1983. I will remember all the great music Kevin and Quiet Riot gave to so many of us over the years and I will say, 'Thank you, Kevin. May you rest in peace.' "

Credited with helping to launch the 1980s glam-metal scene, Quiet Riot are perhaps best known for their cover of Slade's "Cum on Feel the Noize," which appeared on 1983's Metal Health and eventually peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was the first by a metal band to reach the chart's #1 position.

----------
As soon as Kelli Garni gives us further updates we will let you know but don't forget to check the randyrhoads.tk discussion board for news as soon as it comes in.

Also I know its been a while since updates and I'm getting bad about that again, still working a lot. I'll put up a new batch of downloads to go along with the previous ones soon. I'm also still working on the "Show us your RR Tatts" section but I've only received a few submissions and I know theres more out there!

4 Ozzy Bootlegs Up + Show Us Your RR Tattoo

Ok, well I know I'm a tad late, but better late than never right? Well it was almost unanimous...Rather than doing the vote for the bi-weekly show thing, I went ahead and put up all 4 that were up for the choosing. Now I'm going to go back from the start and put up about 3 or 4 shows every week and we'll see how we do on bandwidth if I can host them all at the same time. So go check out the downloads section for this week's goodies!

PS I'd Give them about 2 hours because they are still uploading! ;)

Next order of business was inspired by an email I received from a dedicated Randy fan with an image of his Randy tattoo attached to it. The old hamster on its wheel in my head started running full speed and I came up with the idea to put up a section for RR tattoos so email the pictures in to me at metalmatt@randy-rhoads.com with your first name, and city/state if you like, and I'll start posting them in the events section in about a week. But don't worry, its not a limited time thing. Feel free to send in the pics whenever you can and I'll constantly update the section.

That's all for now ladies and gents,
Matt

Next Bootleg download....got a better idea

We can keep doing the vote for a show every week, and I'll keep it up after it wins and do a new poll, or I'll start from the beginning and upload a new show every few days or so. Cast your vote Rhoads Freaks! The choice is yours!

Also, if you cast your attention leftwards...(if thats a word) just under the feeback section, I put up a link to a page I wrote for home recording if any one is interested.

Bootleg Rotation

Hows it goin out there everyone? Still been working a lot of hours here and got a baby on the way so needless to say I've been busy!

Ok, down to the meat and potatoes. I'm gonna get the bootleg of the month back in rotation again, except this time I'm gonna do it bi-weekly, or every other week. BUT, rather than just randomly choose one, I'm going to start setting up a poll for which one you'd like to see available! Once the winner is selected, I'll drop that one from the poll and add another. I'll run this poll for a few days just to get things started then I'll upload the winner. From then on check back every 2 weeks!

-Matt

Update : And the winner by a landslide... is now up for download in the downloads section!
I'll put up another poll shortly to get this going for the mid october download!

Cool News and Setting the Record Straight...

I know its been a while since I posted anything new and I apologize, but i'm working about 70 hours a week now so it makes it kinda hard to find time. With that aside...

As many of you have probably heard by now, theres a Randy Rhoads film documentary in the works directed by Peter Margolis. This was announced right around the time of the 25th memorial (Click Here for info). Personally I'm very excited to see what they come up with. As we all know, news on Randy or anything for that matter is like finding the holy grail.

Secondly, Kevin Dubrow never "Dissed" Randy as claimed on randyrhoads.tk from "Guitar World Ben" (Wonder who he works for?) sighting this recent article from GuitarWorld.com Kevin gave his full statement here for those who want to hear the truth from the man himself.

From Peter Margolis -

I never used the words “gets the shaft” anywhere in my discussion with Guitar World magazine.
Nor did I mention to them that Kevin provided me with video.
They asked me how the interview process was coming and I told them that everyone was on board except for Kevin and that he declined because he wants to keep his memories of Randy private. The letter that he sent me did look like a form letter but it was not cold or calculating.

And as always, check out the forums www.randyrhoads.tk for the latest info as it comes in.

Peace!
Matt

It's been a while...

I know its been a while there just hasn't been that much new stuff to post...till now.

Rudy Sarzo's long awaited book is now available via amazon.com!

I'm about half way finished with it and I just can't put it down. Its so great to have new information and new things to learn after all this time. It takes me back to when I was a kid just getting into Randy and how magical the whole time and scene seemed to be. Thanks Rudy!

Also Not sure if everyone was aware but as I hinted around with my last update post, over at randyrhoads.tk there is a bootleg section up with pretty much everything you need now as far as audio goes. Which is why coincidentally I haven't been putting up shows here lately, besides our usual audio downloads available.

-Matt

Some New Stuff...

Well sorry it took so long for an update. I only recently remembered we never moved over the audio interview section when we revamped the page, so its up and running again..except now its an entire audio section where much awesomeness can be found.

I didn't put up a show this month... I know I'm sorry. But word on the street is.. theres a lot going down at randyrhoads.tk in terms of audio downloads. Ya didn't hear it from me folks!! ;)
-Matt

Even More New Wallpapers, Another Bootleg Download, Oh My!

We got some new wallpapers up. I think I'm about out of ideas for a while though... hope you guys dig these. :) Should be a new bootleg up shortly. Its great to be able to do monthly boots like we used to way back when now that the bandwidth problems went bye bye.

Also just to clear something up real quick. The videos we link to on youtube.com were uploaded and posted there by myself. Others that I didn't upload I prefer not to link to as they are not mine. I know theres a few others circulating on there that we don't have here. Mainly just a few old QR shows. Check em out there but I probably won't post them here unless I rip them and upload them myself. :)

-Matt

New Wallpapers, Bootleg Download, Oh My!

Well Hello fellow Rhoads freaks and Randy-holics. I know its been a while. We've got quite a lot of new wallpapers up here at the site. Check 'em out, they're sure to make your wildest dreams come true! Well maybe not that, but they look really nice.

Also, we've got an AUDIO BOOTLEG up for download. We've gotten a lot of bandwidth issues worked out so we'll see how doing full shows every month again works out.

And don't forget, all of the videos are now up and streaming thru this site. Go check it out under each video section!! Last but not least, due to the LARGE amount of spamming, I had to remove the guestbook because we were getting hundreds of fake signings unfortunately. But if you'd like to contact us and let us know what you think, please feel free to shoot an email our way.

Photo Gallery

"Diary of an Axeman" finally has a better photo gallery. With full customization on our side, we can offer much more with our photos. While its a project still in the works to bring you all the photos, its up and running. With this new database, you will be able to search through photos using the advanced search feature. We know we have loads of pictures, and if your just looking for a certain one, or a certain era. just type in your request and see what turns up. So please have a look see and let us know how its working for you. click on "images" under your prefered section.

We appreciate and welcome all feedback. This is yet another step in our direction to bring you the best Rhoads site full of all the information you need.

MySpace.com/DiaryOfAnAxeman IS NO MORE

TOM TOOK DOWN OUR PAGE WITHOUT WARNING. WHAT UP WIT' DAT TOM?

We thank you for the Comments that went out to our myspace page. We also thank you for the friend requests and messages.. you made our myspace page take off fast and smoothly.

However, Tom deemed it necessary to remove our account without notice. we had no illegal content on the page. Yet i went to log in and it had been deleted. thank you again for the messages and comments left. maybe in the future i will have another go at the myspace page.

All Videos Up and Streaming

Hello everyone. Finally got the videos up! Just check out the respective video sections for Ozzy and Quiet Riot, and you can now stream the videos directly off the site thanks to YouTube.com

With the extra bandwidth we now have, soon we will be hosting full audio boot downloads again.

COMING JANUARY 17th
Guitar World's Tribute to RANDY RHOADS!

Featuring:
Ozzy and Randy's story told by bassist RUDY SARZO
Randy RUNS RIOT in HOLLYWOOD
His Meeting with VAN HALEN
Randy's PERSONAL PHOTO'S & LETTERS

GW CD-ROM Exclusive!
A Step-By-Step Guide to Playing
"CRAZY TRAIN"

visit GuitarWorld.com for more info and a sample clip of the CD-ROM included with the January edition!

  After a very repetative day, the Article section is now up awaiting your reading pleasures. Hopefully in the next few days the Interviews section will follow.

  Thanks to everyone for their feeback, and all the great e-mails. A reminder to anyone who may be having trouble viewing any section of the site, please send an e-mail to Webmaster so that we may get any errors with the site sorted out.

Hello everyone,

  Sorry for everything taking so long. We've been trying to work out some of the bugs with the site, and things get a little hectic sometimes. You all know how it goes. ;) We are going to experiment with putting up the entire After Hours show up for download. We've gotten a lot of requests for that, and so we've worked on some possible solutions for bandwidth issues and now we're going to see how things work out. Sorry for skipping out in the middle of the Chicago downloads, but don't worry, they'll be back up.

  We apologize for the image sections taking so long to load. We know this is an extensive part of our site, and we wish to bring it to you the best way possible. We are in the works on getting a database so that all our images can be searchable (i.e. by date, place, location.) Due to this extensive database in the works, we are hosting all image files per section on one html page until its completion. Sorry for the load times, will try and have our new database up and running soon.

  Also, yes, we still do have lots more planned for the site. Hang in there, we're going to have it all up and running soon!

-Diary of an Axeman Team

 
 Welcome back guys! Brandon (Ace) came up with this sweet new php layout and redesign. Its a bit more organized and easy to navigate. Feel free to let us know what you think using the feedback section. This month's new downloads are up. We've got a few more things to add here soon that we haven't finished yet, so if theres stuff missing that's why. Also, we've got a lot more new ideas in store and hopefully we'll be offering more in the download areas as far as media goes soon too. Until next time, long live RR!!

Rudy Sarzo's Book "Off The Rails - My Adventures in The Land of Ozz"

has been delayed but as soon as we know when it will be out we will let you guys know. This book will contain detailed accounts of Rudy's time with Ozzy and will include much about Randy.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

KnuckleBonz, Inc. Signs a Licensing Agreement to Create a Randy Rhoads Figure for the Guitar Hero Limited Edition Sculpture Series

Park City, Utah - - June 17, 2004 - - KnuckleBonz, Inc. announced today their plans to create the Randy Rhoads sculpture for the Guitar Hero limited edition collectible figure series. The Rhoads estate has licensed the rights to Randy's image and likeness, which permits the company to create this hi-end, limited edition resin sculpture. The figure is scheduled for release in October of 2004, with pre-ordering available late this summer.

Randy Rhoads is considered to be one of the most talented and influential rock guitarists of all time. His work on the first two platinum selling Ozzy Osbourne solo albums is legendary. Rhoads' combination of metal chops and classical mastery earned him a special place in rock history.

We are honored to be working with the Rhoads family to create a unique piece of artwork that will commemorate Randy's incredible career as one of rock's finest and most talented guitarists, says Tony Simerman, President and Creative Director of KnuckleBonz, Inc. I was lucky enough to see Randy perform just before his passing. I started this company because of my personal desire to collect hi-end, music-based sculpture and have a passion to see that the Randy Rhoads figure is something that will excite his thousands of fans the world over.

The Randy Rhoads collectible will be created using a skilled team of artists to sculpt a remarkable likeness of the guitarist, cast the figure in a polyresin material and then hand-paint each figure in fine detail. All figures in the Guitar Hero series are limited editions and the Randy Rhoads figure will be very exclusive with only 3000 pieces slated for final production.

KnuckleBonz, Inc. also recently announced its licensing agreement with Fender® Musical Instruments Corporation, which permits the company to portray Randy Rhoads with his signature white Jackson® offset-V guitar.

"We are excited about the opportunity to display Randy's image in such an artistic manner," states Ms. Delores Rhoads, mother of the famous guitarist, Randy Rhoads. "We are only interested in projects that will promote Randy's legacy as a musician and artist. This series will do just that."

Pricing and Availability:
The Randy Rhoads Guitar Hero limited edition sculpture will be available in October 2004 for $99 and can be purchased via www.guitarhero.net. Pre-orders will be accepted late summer 2004. See the company's website for further details on pre-ordering, ordering and return policy information.