Tribute

Heavy-metal icon Ronnie James Dio, shown here in a 1995 concert shot
(right) as well as a December 1988 photo when a street near his
parents’ Cortland home was renamed Dio Way (that’s the mustachioed
Syracuse rock musicologist Ron Wray behind Dio), had a long career in
this market. As a teen he led Ronnie Dio and the Redcoats for singles
such as “Lover” (1958) and “An Angel is Missing” (1961), and later
formed Ronnie Dio and The Prophets, known for the 1963 tune “Make
Johnny Blue.” 

Baby boomers will surely recall his work with Syracuse rockers Elf
from 1970 to 1975, especially the local hit “Hoochie Koochie Lady”
(1973). Dio then moved on to lead singer duties for Ritchie Blackmore’s
Rainbow from 1975 to 1980, and eventually replaced Ozzy Osbourne in
Black Sabbath from 1980 to 1982, although he returned for additional
Sabbath stints in 1992 and 2007 whenever he wasn’t fronting his own
band, simply called Dio. On May 16 Dio passed away from stomach cancer
at age 67.

Much like Norm in Cheers, Greg Italiano (below) could usually
be seen sitting at the bar of Lost Horizon, the Thompson Road landmark
club he ran for close to four decades. Locals with long memories still
recall its initial moniker as the Yellow Balloon, which then morphed
into the Lost when the disco craze hit in 1975, before settling into a
long run as a place for touring rock bands, all-ages hardcore shows and
just about anybody else in search of an atmospheric venue. 

It would be fun but impossible to log all the thousands of acts that
played at the Lost, everyone from the New York Dolls to Kid Rock (even
the Generic Comics troupe of young wiseguys like Tom Kenny and Bobcat
Goldthwait had a weekly spot in the early 1980s), but Italiano always
had the best seat in the house. Italiano passed away from cardiac
complications on May 17 at a much-too-young 59.