Black Sabbath invented heavy metal, in my opinion.
I want to be the Letterman of metal. I want five nights a week, Monday to Friday, 11 to 12, live. I always shoot for the moon.
If you're not in a major city, many bands don't come your way, and you have to really travel to see them.
Jon Bon Jovi is remarkable.
I've had the privilege of meeting and/or interviewing most of the top metal and hard rock artists at various points in my career and sharing their stories and music with millions of fans on air through TV and radio.
One of the things I've done on my shows is tell stories and do interviews.
My books are personal: I'm not saying they're the Bible of music.
One thing people would be surprised about is that although hard rock and heavy metal are without question 90% of what I listen to and my passion, there are other things I enjoy. My first ever favorite band in my life before KISS was a power-pop band called The Raspberries.
I have an iPod, but I put my music in it from my CDs, and then I have that CD in my library.
Hard rock for me is AC/DC, Def Leppard, Tesla, Kiss. Metal tends to be louder, ruder, darker, like Judas Priest, Slayer, Iron Maiden.
When I do interviews, I never pre-plan them at all, radio or TV.
The power chords in 'Come Sail Away' were super heavy to me as a kid. Metal? No. Hard rock? At times, for sure.
I've known Bret Michaels forever.
People sometimes tell me that I don't talk or act or look like a metal fan. Well, what does a metal fan look like? I've found people from all walks of life who love metal.
It's hard for people to realize now, but my gosh, when I was in school, you could not name a group that was less cool than Kiss. Going in to school with a Kiss T-shirt, you were asking for ridicule. In '77, they were one of the biggest bands in the world, but by '80, there was a severe backlash.
The biggest compliments I've heard about 'That Metal Show' are the ones from people that say that they don't even listen to this kind of music, but, 'We love watching the show.'
I have never said anything critical about Ozzy that he didn't say about himself many times.
When I was a kid just starting out on the radio, I would always watch people. And I'd see the interest they'd have in trying to get a photo with an artist or get a ticket stub signed. I guess, to me, that's the ultimate thing - to know that what you've done is important enough to other people that they want to take a picture with you.
I am so appreciative of all the attention I've gotten, especially since I don't ever consider myself anything more than a fan.
I'm completely open about the fact that I don't love every genre of metal. I like what I like. It's got to have some vocal quality and some semblance of melody.
