H! Everybody.

Just a reminder that on 10/14/06 “ROCK 50” at 11:00 AM Pacific goes on the air and over the internet (for details, check out the Rock 50 Radio page.)

The Classic Rock/Metal show is usually a wider variation of music, if compared to our Hardcore show. It’s a combination of music starting from the 60’s, sometimes earlier, right up to the late 80’s, and sometimes beyond that decade. We try to make a good show, playing the heavy-hitting bands – AC/DC, Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Priest, Sabbath – all of whom appear 10/14, as well as the Rock bands of the 60’s – Cream, Yardbirds, The Who. Also on this show, we’ll shake it up a little and play some old and new Blues to pay homage to those who’ve made a path for many of us to walk down.

Later.

Stay Strong,
Bill

Bill has sent in the the 15th edition of his Audio Diary series. This new edition, totaling 15:44 in length is available right now. It was recorded on Saturday August 12th, but due to some technical problems was not placed online until today (Aug 21st). Here’s some of the highlights of what Bill has to say in this edition:

• Talks about several of the bands he plays on his Rock 50 show, and a few words about Dave Mustaine’s Gigantour.
• An update on the Garage Sale
• Bill’s column in the “Hails & Horns” magazine
• An Update on “Beyond Aston”, saying he’s “nearly at the end of it”.
• A few brief remarks about terror issues in the world.

There’s plenty more to hear as well, so make sure to check it all out. Here’s the link to the audio diary:

https://www.billward.com/sounds/diary081206.m4a

(Right click and select “Save As” or “Save Link As” and save the file to your hard drive, don’t just click this)

You need one of any number of free audio players (Winamp, iTunes, or Musicmatch Jukebox) to play this file. Don’t forget about Bill’s Podcast for the diaries, you can get more info on that here.

You can discuss the audio diary in this thread on Bill’s forums here on billward.com. A short note, if you have Windows Media player, you may have to rename the file extension from m4a to mp4 to get the file to play right in that player.

My condolences to Arthur Lee’s family, and my thanks to Arthur for all his music. My most vivid memory as a teenager was rehearsing “My Little Red Book” for the local community centre gig and the Friday night gigs (pre-Sabbath) and later (with Sabbath) in Frisco at Fillmore West or Winterland (I’m not sure which venue.) I was honoured to be a part of helping Love’s drummer (at that time, 1970) fix his snare drum, being high as we were in those days, it was a challenging project. Becoming successful, Love continued to play on. Fond memories.

Arthur Lee – certainly original; influential – yes; different – yes; and so soulful. Thank you again, Arthur. You are remembered fondly, and your music will live in my heart forever.

Bill Ward

OK, we have a lot of stuff going on for our August 12th radio show. We’re playing some of the bands from the “Sounds of The Underground” tour, playing here on August 12th in Southern California at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City. Cannibal Corpse, Gwar, Through The Eyes of the Dead, Trivium, and of course, In Flames will be featured.

The “Gigantour” kicks off September 6th at the Idaho Center in Nampa, ID, so we’re playing bands from that upcoming tour also. Megadeth, Lamb of God, Arch Enemy, Overkill and more. All the bands mentioned so far from both tours are balls out, extreme rock – very incredible.

Other bands on the radio show will be Scar Symmetry, Stone Sour, A Life Once Lost and Unearth. Check us out if your taste is Metal and radical Hardcore.

Also, a short memorial tribute to the legendary Arthur Lee of Love fame will be played after the first hour of the show. Arthur died in Memphis on Thursday, August 3, 2006.

So the news today has reported that Iran is replacing Western names with alternative names. Words like “pizza” are not to be used. “Elastic bread” ­ much more hip.

In a bigger picture, if this is the beginning of a new Iranian trend/principle to separate itself from Western ideas, culture and words, then perhaps Iran being so offended by the West wouldn¹t mind separating itself from the following also: the light bulb, cars, aircraft, TV, radio, the computer, Western technology, Western medicine, Coke and Pepsi, the refrigerator, Levi¹s, CD players, DVDs, CDs, the internet, missile technology, the microphone (for speeches), the amplifier and sound system, the bulldozer, cement, the gun, the machine gun, canned food, film (movies), and electricity. Or is it just the words that offend.

This letter is in no way intended to be a sarcasm or criticism towards the Iranian people as a whole. It is realized that, in all countries, there are healthy and sick individuals throughout.

–Bill Ward

Thank you, Syd for the brilliant lyrics, melodies and songs.

Like so many you touched, you reached me also and provoked much to contemplate.

Rest in peace, Syd. My condolences to your family.

Syd and Gerald forever.

–Bill Ward (Black Sabbath)

Comment:

It’s plain, if we look at history, that bombing “the enemy” (these days we can include missiles, also) will only unite a country or a city.

Bombing kills and maims and destroys material worth; it scars the hearts of those still alive (like many, my parents were bombed multiple times, I’ve heard their scars.) Eventually bombing/missile attacks will win nothing, in my opinion.

I think the only positive effect that comes from being attacked is the unification of those in peril. It’s well written historically how people of all nations have tightened their belts, dug in and fought for life itself, overcoming anything “the enemy” tried to destroy. From the London Blitz to Stalingrad, Berlin, Vietnam and Iraq, it’s so obvious that the missiles and bombs bring no real solution to anything.

–Bill

P.S. For those glued to CNN, I humbly suggest the following:

1. Educate yourself in the word objectification.
2. Stop using escalating words and statements, i.e. World War III.
3. Have an open mind and maybe don’t gather up all of the world’s trouble spots, potential, or otherwise (media-fanned), and amplified for dramatic effect, to hit yourself over the head with fear. Don’t do that. You’re worth more, way more, than that.
4. Pray President Bush will preside with an open mind and not be one-sided and judgmental to all those in conflict at this time. A humanitarian process to stop the guns and back off, I hope, will be forthcoming.

H! Everybody. It’s Bill.

I wanted to check in to make an announcement about a change in the upcoming Hardcore show’s format. As some of you know, Syd Barrett, one of the founding musicians of Pink Floyd, died recently. Towards the last 30 minutes of the show, we’ll be playing some of Syd’s most memorable songs, and possibly “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” by Pink Floyd.

Regular listeners to Rock 50’s Hardcore show know that we pretty much pound away two hours of very, very heavy metal tracks, however, Syd’s death has to be acknowledged, and a tribute to him is essential.

Other bands appearing on the show this month – new Shadows Fall, Devil Driver, As Hope Dies, Celtic Frost, Ice Pick and many more.

Check out the show if you can this Saturday, July 22nd at 11:00 AM Pacific Time.

Rock always,
Bill

In addition to the Summer Sale program, Bill is also starting a series of ebay auctions. The first item up for auction at Ebay is an authentic Black Sabbath drumhead autographed by Bill Ward.

This drumhead is a Remo Snare Drumhead played by Bill Ward from 08-06-05 in East Troy, WI and retired after the Cynthia Woods Pavilion concert in Houston, TX on 08-27-05. The drumhead was autographed by Bill Ward on 05-31-06. Here is a picture of the drumhead (click on it for a larger picture):

This auction starts this evening (Fri, June 30th) at 8PM Eastern Time (in the US). Here is a link to the Ebay auction page. Please note it will generate an error until the auction has actually started.

Finally, if you are the winner of this auction, Bill will personalize the drumhead for you!

As Bill mentioned in the latest audio diary a few weeks ago, he’s having a Summer Garage Sale. Several new items are now available to order, plus the items that were already in the merchandise page have had their prices dropped. Here’s a list of the details:

Existing Item Price Drops

• When the Bough Breaks CD, price dropped from $10 to $5.
• When the Bough Breaks Poster, price dropped from $7 to $4.
• Ward One Poster, price dropped from $7 to $4.
• Straws Charities minimum donation dropped from $35 to $10.

New Items for the Summer Sale

• Snakes & Ladders Radio Promo CD – $5
• When the Bough Breaks “Naked” CD – $5
• Snakes & Ladders T-Shirt (M, L, XL) – $10
• Animals T-Shirt (M, L, XL) – $10
• Hate T-Shirt (M, L, XL) – $10
• Tall Stories T-Shirt (M, L, XL) – $10

Pictures of all of these items are available right now on Bill’s Merchandise page, so go check ’em out, and help Bill clean out his garage! Please note however, that orders will not ship until July 10th, so if you place an order right now, that is when they will commence shipping.