Vivian Campbell resurrecting the Dio band?

Some of the things you all are saying in this thread is absolute horse dung!!!! Have you all not read any of the latter interviews either RJD or Vivian Campbell did towards the end of RJD's life? In the end they did not hate each other. Sure they had some choice words for each other back when, but they seemed to be on the road to patching things up.

Vivian Campbell was a co-writer on the 1st 4 albums and played a huge part in Dio getting off the ground after Dio left Black Sabbath. So why couldn't he play the songs that he became known for?? There is no problem with it except what YOU are making a big deal out of.

Now STFU and accept it!

Lurideath wrote:

Some of the things you all are saying in this thread is absolute horse dung!!!! Have you all not read any of the latter interviews either RJD or Vivian Campbell did towards the end of RJD's life? In the end they did not hate each other. Sure they had some choice words for each other back when, but they seemed to be on the road to patching things up.

Vivian Campbell was a co-writer on the 1st 4 albums and played a huge part in Dio getting off the ground after Dio left Black Sabbath. So why couldn't he play the songs that he became known for?? There is no problem with it except what YOU are making a big deal out of.

Now STFU and accept it!

Very well said, bro!

Vivian Campbell wrote:

"When we first got together, Ronnie promised us that by the third album there would be an equitable split for the band. Everyone would be an equal guy in terms of merchandise and record sales. We got none of that. Jimmy Bain (Bass) and Vinnie Appice (Drums) and myself were all salaried players. We earned less than our road crew. I just felt it was wrong.
Ronnie and particularly his wife Wendy made this promise to all of us back then. So we started doing the third album, and I was probably the most vocal. “Hey Ronnie, we talked about this back then and you promised us this.” Ronnie kept saying, “We’ll talk about it when the record is over.” Then the record was over and I brought it back up again and he said, “We’ll talk about it when we’re on the road.” It just kept getting put off.

Then we had a break in the tour and I went back to Ireland to visit my parents. I got this FEDEX asking me to sign this contract. They were going to pay me an extra two hundred bucks a week, and that failure to return it signed by such and such a date would be constituted as me leaving the band.

So I’m on the phone trying to get Ronnie, and of course Ronnie won’t pick up the phone. The next thing I know, the band is doing the UK part of the tour with Craig Goldie and I’m fired. I’m very proud of those records. The songs that I wrote with Ronnie and the records we made really stand up. It’s bittersweet for me because I never got paid for them, nor did Vinnie or Jimmy.
We got no royalties on the records. We got none of the receipts from the tour. We were salaried guys getting paid less than the lighting designer, getting paid less than the sound guy, getting paid less than the professionals on the crew. To put a dollar figure on it, in 1984 I earned sixty something thousand dollars, and Ronnie earned eleven million. It’s a little bit of a financial discrepancy, considering that the band also wrote the music. Jimmy Bain and I wrote a lot of those songs with him. To not get paid at all and then to be fired…

I don’t like talking about the details of it in that way. I thoroughly enjoyed playing in that band. I never wanted to leave. I got fired. As a result, it did leave a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, so I hadn’t spoke to Ronnie since then. Frankly, when he died it was two weeks after my mother died, so I was kind of a little bit numb to the whole thing.

People were calling me saying, “What do you think about Ronnie dying?” I didn’t feel anything about Ronnie dying. I hadn’t talked to him in over twenty-five years and my mother had just passed. Saying that I left the band and turned by back on Dio is absolutely not true. I was 100% fired."

http://blog.sharemyguitar.com/smg-interview-vivian-campbell%e2%80%99s-excellent-adventure/

Lurideath wrote:

Some of the things you all are saying in this thread is absolute horse dung!!!! Have you all not read any of the latter interviews either RJD or Vivian Campbell did towards the end of RJD's life? In the end they did not hate each other. Sure they had some choice words for each other back when, but they seemed to be on the road to patching things up.

Vivian Campbell was a co-writer on the 1st 4 albums and played a huge part in Dio getting off the ground after Dio left Black Sabbath. So why couldn't he play the songs that he became known for?? There is no problem with it except what YOU are making a big deal out of.

Now STFU and accept it!

So I guess your story was not correct.

Temple of Blood wrote:

Saying you think someone made a mistake isn't "talking trash".

No, but calling the man a coward is talking trash.

Temple of Blood wrote:

Vivian Campbell wrote:

"When we first got together, Ronnie promised us that by the third album there would be an equitable split for the band. Everyone would be an equal guy in terms of merchandise and record sales. We got none of that. Jimmy Bain (Bass) and Vinnie Appice (Drums) and myself were all salaried players. We earned less than our road crew. I just felt it was wrong.
Ronnie and particularly his wife Wendy made this promise to all of us back then. So we started doing the third album, and I was probably the most vocal. “Hey Ronnie, we talked about this back then and you promised us this.” Ronnie kept saying, “We’ll talk about it when the record is over.” Then the record was over and I brought it back up again and he said, “We’ll talk about it when we’re on the road.” It just kept getting put off.

Then we had a break in the tour and I went back to Ireland to visit my parents. I got this FEDEX asking me to sign this contract. They were going to pay me an extra two hundred bucks a week, and that failure to return it signed by such and such a date would be constituted as me leaving the band.

So I’m on the phone trying to get Ronnie, and of course Ronnie won’t pick up the phone. The next thing I know, the band is doing the UK part of the tour with Craig Goldie and I’m fired. I’m very proud of those records. The songs that I wrote with Ronnie and the records we made really stand up. It’s bittersweet for me because I never got paid for them, nor did Vinnie or Jimmy.
We got no royalties on the records. We got none of the receipts from the tour. We were salaried guys getting paid less than the lighting designer, getting paid less than the sound guy, getting paid less than the professionals on the crew. To put a dollar figure on it, in 1984 I earned sixty something thousand dollars, and Ronnie earned eleven million. It’s a little bit of a financial discrepancy, considering that the band also wrote the music. Jimmy Bain and I wrote a lot of those songs with him. To not get paid at all and then to be fired…

I don’t like talking about the details of it in that way. I thoroughly enjoyed playing in that band. I never wanted to leave. I got fired. As a result, it did leave a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, so I hadn’t spoke to Ronnie since then. Frankly, when he died it was two weeks after my mother died, so I was kind of a little bit numb to the whole thing.

People were calling me saying, “What do you think about Ronnie dying?” I didn’t feel anything about Ronnie dying. I hadn’t talked to him in over twenty-five years and my mother had just passed. Saying that I left the band and turned by back on Dio is absolutely not true. I was 100% fired."

http://blog.sharemyguitar.com/smg-interview-vivian-campbell%e2%80%99s-excellent-adventure/

Man, I regret reading this... Now I'll never be able to listen to those albums and enjoy them the same way I used to before... If all this is true, Vivian, Jimmy, and Vinnie have every right to play those tunes, moral and otherwise

Yeah, this puts it all in perspective, doesn't it?

Sad story and I feel for Vinnie, Vivian, Jimmy and Claude.

However, I don't think it will change my perception of those albums any. I don't really pay attention to what artists do in real life, they are human and make bad judgements, I try to keep the music separate.

Of course.

But this whole "Dio is never wrong and was a totally great guy through-and-through" meme has just encountered some resistance.

So let me get this straight, I am supposed to take the word of a guy that has slammed RJD for years and now RJD is conveniently dead? Does anyone else complain about Ronnie? Anyone? In all his years in multiple bands? Also, how stupid is Viv not to get a contract for all of this? It's stupid people like Vivian Campbell that enable lawyers like me to make money.

Viv needs a PR man as this has to be the worst handling of a situation ever. He should have said something to the effect that he's sorry that he and Ronnie disagreed but his death made him think back fondly to the music and that's what's important. Instead we get the "Viv Campbell was wronged and screw anyone else that has an opinion" press release/statement.

Finally, Viv's complaints about cash have been known for years, so all of this is nothing new. I am surprised that others haven't heard it before. For me it all boils down to what name was on the albums? I'll give you a hint, it sure as hell wasn't "The Vivian Campbell experience."

Witchfinder wrote:

So let me get this straight, I am supposed to take the word of a guy that has slammed RJD for years and now RJD is conveniently dead? Does anyone else complain about Ronnie? Anyone? In all his years in multiple bands? Also, how stupid is Viv not to get a contract for all of this? It's stupid people like Vivian Campbell that enable lawyers like me to make money.

Viv needs a PR man as this has to be the worst handling of a situation ever. He should have said something to the effect that he's sorry that he and Ronnie disagreed but his death made him think back fondly to the music and that's what's important. Instead we get the "Viv Campbell was wronged and screw anyone else that has an opinion" press release/statement.

Finally, Viv's complaints about cash have been known for years, so all of this is nothing new. I am surprised that others haven't heard it before. For me it all boils down to what name was on the albums? I'll give you a hint, it sure as hell wasn't "The Vivian Campbell experience."

First off, how many 17/18 year old kids are versed enough to even know about contracts, especially when you're a musican a used to dealing with other musicians and not a musician who has a wife as manager. That gives both of those entities a quite different vested interest in the process. If what Vivian stated is true, well then the animosity makes a whole lotta sense, at least to me.

Second, you nor I know which side is true and Vivian's explanation seems plausable. One thing you fail to understand is that Dio was a mamber of Elf, Rainbow and then Dio. Only in the latter band was he more than just a hired gun. Yes, his name was on the marquee. Still if Vivian speaks the truth, things don't equate even with that fact. Afterall, this kind of stuff has never happened to members of a band before. I bet that is the reason why Ronnie left Rainbow, he wanted an equal share. If you help create somethingthat shouldn't be too much too ask.

Witchfinder wrote:

So let me get this straight, I am supposed to take the word of a guy that has slammed RJD for years and now RJD is conveniently dead? Does anyone else complain about Ronnie? Anyone? In all his years in multiple bands? Also, how stupid is Viv not to get a contract for all of this? It's stupid people like Vivian Campbell that enable lawyers like me to make money.

RJD did not run Black Sabbath or Rainbow. He and Wendy ran the Dio band. He and Wendy decided who got paid what. None of that was his decision in his other bands, therefore the other guys would have no need to complain about him.

Yeah, he may have been stupid for not getting a contract up front. But when you're young and inexperinced, and management/band leader is making prmomises to you for the future and all you have to do is work hard, you believe it. $60k a year for a 20-year old in 1984 is no small salary. But compare that to what the boss makes and it's chump change. It's like NFL players today who make millions, but still want a cut of the billions they help bring the NFL as a company.

I am a Ronnie James Dio fan for life...100%...complete. But, I don't think for a minute that he was a saint. Yes, the guys in Black Sabbath and others who were not on his payroll may have had nothing but nice things to say about him and I have no doubt that he was a nice guy to most people. He may have been completely nice and polite and caring to Campbell, Appice, Bain and Schnell. But when it comes to money, it's a whole different ball game. He was paying his employees and, like any business, employees are only worth what the company pays them.

James B. wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

So let me get this straight, I am supposed to take the word of a guy that has slammed RJD for years and now RJD is conveniently dead? Does anyone else complain about Ronnie? Anyone? In all his years in multiple bands? Also, how stupid is Viv not to get a contract for all of this? It's stupid people like Vivian Campbell that enable lawyers like me to make money.

Viv needs a PR man as this has to be the worst handling of a situation ever. He should have said something to the effect that he's sorry that he and Ronnie disagreed but his death made him think back fondly to the music and that's what's important. Instead we get the "Viv Campbell was wronged and screw anyone else that has an opinion" press release/statement.

Finally, Viv's complaints about cash have been known for years, so all of this is nothing new. I am surprised that others haven't heard it before. For me it all boils down to what name was on the albums? I'll give you a hint, it sure as hell wasn't "The Vivian Campbell experience."

First off, how many 17/18 year old kids are versed enough to even know about contracts, especially when you're a musican a used to dealing with other musicians and not a musician who has a wife as manager. That gives both of those entities a quite different vested interest in the process. If what Vivian stated is true, well then the animosity makes a whole lotta sense, at least to me.

Second, you nor I know which side is true and Vivian's explanation seems plausable. One thing you fail to understand is that Dio was a mamber of Elf, Rainbow and then Dio. Only in the latter band was he more than just a hired gun. Yes, his name was on the marquee. Still if Vivian speaks the truth, things don't equate even with that fact. Afterall, this kind of stuff has never happened to members of a band before. I bet that is the reason why Ronnie left Rainbow, he wanted an equal share. If you help create somethingthat shouldn't be too much too ask.

I'm assuming that there was no contract and if there was, Viv needs to shut up about it because he is bound by what he signs.

I agree completely that Viv could be telling the absolute 100% truth but even so, we'll never know because one of the parties is dead. So Viv's claims are all hearsay. I also agree that Ronnie probably wanted the lion's share of the money because Dio was built upon his reputation entirely. This makes sense to me.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

So let me get this straight, I am supposed to take the word of a guy that has slammed RJD for years and now RJD is conveniently dead? Does anyone else complain about Ronnie? Anyone? In all his years in multiple bands? Also, how stupid is Viv not to get a contract for all of this? It's stupid people like Vivian Campbell that enable lawyers like me to make money.

RJD did not run Black Sabbath or Rainbow. He and Wendy ran the Dio band. He and Wendy decided who got paid what. None of that was his decision in his other bands, therefore the other guys would have no need to complain about him.

Yeah, he may have been stupid for not getting a contract up front. But when you're young and inexperinced, and management/band leader is making prmomises to you for the future and all you have to do is work hard, you believe it. $60k a year for a 20-year old in 1984 is no small salary. But compare that to what the boss makes and it's chump change. It's like NFL players today who make millions, but still want a cut of the billions they help bring the NFL as a company.

I am a Ronnie James Dio fan for life...100%...complete. But, I don't think for a minute that he was a saint. Yes, the guys in Black Sabbath and others who were not on his payroll may have had nothing but nice things to say about him and I have no doubt that he was a nice guy to most people. He may have been completely nice and polite and caring to Campbell, Appice, Bain and Schnell. But when it comes to money, it's a whole different ball game. He was paying his employees and, like any business, employees are only worth what the company pays them.

I never said Ronnie was a saint nor I'm I taking "his side." He can't have a "side" because he's dead. Viv's age and inexperience in 1984 are all true but essentially meaningless. He should have noticed that he wasn't getting paid what he was promised and acted on it sooner. When he finally did he left the band and then did nothing about it. He should have then sued for what he was promised but he didn't. So he needs to shut up about it. He had his chance and didn't take it and now, 27 years later, he's still whining about it.

Listen, the plain fact is, we'll never know what happened in this situation because RJD is dead. I also think Viv Campbell has no sense whatsoever if he doesn't understand the uproar that this is causing. He could have defused this situation with a few simple statements but he didn't. Great PR, idiot. Does Viv have the "right" to play Dio songs? Of course, he can play whatever he wants. I also have the right to think he's classless.

I remember as a kid reading an interview with a magazine called Rock Scene, where they interviewed Viv Campbell regarding why he was fired from Dio, this interview took place shortly after he was fired and he said the same thing that his press release stated. So like Witchfinder stated, these statements by Campbell is nothing new.

My understanding with his situation with Rainbow and Black Sabbath, that money wise he was taken care of, he was not the leader of those bands but he was well compensated according to the Martin Popoff books on Black Sabbath and Dio, interviews Popoff did for those books.

Like Witchfinder stated the band Dio was built around the reputation that RJD had earned, and the contract with Warner Brothers was a contracted for a solo career, not a band.

I also find it curious, that Jimmy Bain waited decades to side with Campbell, he continued with Dio for a few more years and continued to perform with Dio off an on over the band's history after he left the band, so I have no idea why this is coming out now.

This all being said I am still a Dio fan and $60 grand in 1984 was not chump change.

Back to the topic, he did co write the songs and he has the right to perform them, doubt it is going to add to a cash grab since these gigs seem to be more fun since I doubt there is big money to be made by this line up reuniting minus Dio.

Like I said...people get old and have changes of heart. I see no problem at all with what Viv is doing. He was there, fans hear/know everything second hand. More power to him...

Dio rules!

A lot of interesting comments and I can see both sides. My thing is, I think it is pretty convenient for Viv to now want to play these songs again after Dio has passed on. He's spent a lot of time talking crap about him and now all of a sudden these songs mean something to him again? I understand he recently played "Rainbow in the Dark" again...but it still a little fishy to me.

Anyways, with the benefit of hindsight, I could believe that he understands he made mistakes and now knows the value of the work he made with Ronnie. So, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

As for Dio, it is widely known he was a nice, genuine guy. That doesn't mean he is perfect. Nobody is. But if the worst thing he has done is not pay the rest of the DIO band what they feel he should have paid them then....I think I can live with that. It's not as bad as what other musicians have done.

The guy can do whatever he wants, but every chance he got in interviews, he always made it clear that he never enjoyed writing or playing the Dio material. So either he was a liar then or he's a liar now. You can't blame people for being dubious about his motives.

I think that Vivian should be able to play songs that he recorded and co-wrote. Personal disputes should not prevent music from being played. If that was the case, Metallica shouldn't have played Dave Mustaine's songs.

Witchfinder wrote:

I'm assuming that there was no contract and if there was, Viv needs to shut up about it because he is bound by what he signs.

I agree completely that Viv could be telling the absolute 100% truth but even so, we'll never know because one of the parties is dead. So Viv's claims are all hearsay. I also agree that Ronnie probably wanted the lion's share of the money because Dio was built upon his reputation entirely. This makes sense to me.

If you read what Vivian said, he was promised/told that after 3 albums the band members would go from salary to percentage(s). After that happened, the "contract" presented wasn't what was agreed apon. Then while away out of country he is replaced. Regardless of whose reputation the band was built on, the music sold millions of copies in that time frame and IF royalties are owed, well then you can see reason for Vivian (or others) to be upset. As to parties involved being unable to rebuke Vivians claims. Jimmy Bain could substantiate Vivians claims by coming forward and saying he is owed royalty money as well, or not ? Also Wendy Dio is still alive and she can do likewise. Though, I'd wager if Vivian (or others) is owed money. she wouldn't come right out and say it. That would of course have to proven in a court of law. Where all parties involved would only make thier lawyers money and probably wouldn't be worth the hassle.

James B. wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

I'm assuming that there was no contract and if there was, Viv needs to shut up about it because he is bound by what he signs.

I agree completely that Viv could be telling the absolute 100% truth but even so, we'll never know because one of the parties is dead. So Viv's claims are all hearsay. I also agree that Ronnie probably wanted the lion's share of the money because Dio was built upon his reputation entirely. This makes sense to me.

If you read what Vivian said, he was promised/told that after 3 albums the band members would go from salary to percentage(s). After that happened, the "contract" presented wasn't what was agreed apon. Then while away out of country he is replaced. Regardless of whose reputation the band was built on, the music sold millions of copies in that time frame and IF royalties are owed, well then you can see reason for Vivian (or others) to be upset. As to parties involved being unable to rebuke Vivians claims. Jimmy Bain could substantiate Vivians claims by coming forward and saying he is owed royalty money as well, or not ? Also Wendy Dio is still alive and she can do likewise. Though, I'd wager if Vivian (or others) is owed money. she wouldn't come right out and say it. That would of course have to proven in a court of law. Where all parties involved would only make thier lawyers money and probably wouldn't be worth the hassle.

Let's us remember that Vivian does get royalties as does Jimmy Bain for that matter. Both are listed as co-writing half of the songs on both Holy Diver and The Last In Line and all the songs on Sacred Heart. Also, the statute of limitations on something like this would have run out long ago - probably 1990 at the absolute latest. So Viv did not pursue his interests when he had the chance. However, if it is true that he was "promised" a percentage and then was offered a different contract, then he's not owed anything. He never signed any contract at all. A promise is not a contract, it's merely a promise. Again, Viv could be 100% accurate and truthful but we'll never know. All Jimmy Bain and Wendy can tell us is what they heard, that's it.

Even if Viv is absolutely correct, he handled this situation poorly from a PR standpoint. All it took was a perfunctory statement about how "he's sorry that money got in the way but it's the music that matters" or some such nonsense, and none of this would have happened. Again, he's free to do whatever he likes and can play whatever songs he wants.

I hope Viv makes 100 million dollars from this tour and they go on to record a new album with this singer.

He and the rest of the band were wronged. I don't care if a 40 year old man and his manager/wife did legally talk a 20 year old kid into signing a bad contract. He was unfairly compensated for what he contributed to the DIO band's success.

DIO's name is on the marquee and he has every right to get paid more, even much more, than the rest of the band but obviously he undervalued Viv's input because he was never really able to adequately replace him and the albums suffered for it. That last DIO solo album he released was a gigantic turd, as was most of his post-Viv songs.

A great voice alone does not a great album make. Just ask Steelheart .... and there are many more where that came from.

Dio would've never gotten anywhere without Ritchie and Tony's great songwriting.

Dio had a great voice, but it wasn't the only reason people bought his albums. Viv's guitar playing had a lot to do with Dio's early and greatest success.

Temple of Blood wrote:

A great voice alone does not a great album make. Just ask Steelheart ....

Haha, I'm so stealing this for a signature, thanks!