One of the big influences on The Sixsmiths, Ronnie James Dio, passed away yesterday. Dio was a huge figure in the heavy metal movement. I want to share my first experience of Dio. If you grew up in Australia at the same time I did, and watched a lot of afternoon ABC TV in the 70s and 80s, you probably saw a trippy animated music video of a frog singing a Beatles-esque song to various woodland creatures. That frog was Dio. The clip was played by the ABC, along with a couple of Mike Oldfield videos, to fill up empty space at the end of an hour, and they played it often. It was no doubt an influence on me. RIP.

– JMS