Hi Everyone.

Our radio show is this coming Saturday, December 16th. My trip to the U.K., for the most part was very enjoyable. I particularly liked the cold rain, gales, and below freezing temps. Upon my arrival back in the States, my gusto, energy and determination to get back on track soared then fizzled. I am, as I write this, floundering in the mire, hating the Christmas show I put together and searching for a new show – brought to my knees by the California sunshine, winds and allergies. Between body aches, I argue in my mind – Slipknot here or Dylan? – such dilemmas I can afford every day.

Bottom line, whatever the show will be musically, it will be a show dedicated to all – rich or poor, with or without, for those in love, for those suffering, for all people everywhere. Expect some Slipknot, Type O, Lennon, Flaming Lips, U2, older songs and classics – I guess, a mixed bag of artists, every one of them great in what they do.

Check us out. It’ll be a surprise for me and hopefully for you.

Stay Strong,
Bill

It’s Bill.

I have been expecting negative letters, rumors, and general gossip mongering over my not participating in the “Heaven & Hell” project. It’s not unusual, as yet I’ve made only one brief statement to confirm that I would not be involved.

It has been brought to our attention that there is a posting on a few web sites which discloses a supposed statement I made to a Clear Channel personnel. THIS IS COMPLETELY FALSE. Every piece of verbiage therein that posting – supposedly quoting me – is FALSE also.

OK. I’m off to get on with my life. Hopefully there won’t be too many shite letters floating around, as I don’t think anyone out there – myself included – wants to waste anymore time on complete falsehoods.

Sincerely,
Bill Ward

Bill Ward today announced that he will not be recording new tracks for the “Black Sabbath: The Dio Years” CD or playing drums on the “Heaven & Hell” tour.

“I realize there has been some speculation as to whether or not I am participating in the Heaven & Hell project,” said Ward. “I want to confirm that I will not be involved in either the recordings for the upcoming CD or the subsequent tour. I want to wish the guys ­ Tony, Geezer, Ronnie, and Vinny – much success for the coming year.”

No further statements are available at this time.

Hi! Everybody. It’s Bill.

The hardcore show for November falls on 11/11, Armistice Day/Veterans Day this year. The host of Rock 50, Mike Stark will be running this show. I’ll be back in December for the Christmas Show, December 16th.

The 11/11 show will be a Best of Hardcore ’06 and some ’05. All the Greatest of the Great: Slipknot, In Flames, Lamb of God, Dimmu, Strapping Young Lad, Shadows Fall, Arch Enemy, The Haunted, Exodus, Ministry. It’s endless, and it’ll rock from top to bottom. However, one exception; there will be a tribute to those in harm’s way, a reminder of those lost but not forgotten, in fitting with 11/11. Tracks in the tribute so far, Gung Ho/Anthrax and Recruit/Waterdown; possibly Pavarotti, I don’t know yet.

Hey, Stay Strong. “And if it’s in the dark, put it in the light.” © Bill Ward.

Later.

From Joe Siegler, Bill’s Web guy.. “Additionally, the song lists have been posted for the October shows. Please visit the Rock 50 page for a listing of all of them.”

H! Everyone.

It’s Bill. October 28th is our Hardcore show. This month, I’ve thrown in a few Halloween surprises. We have some new releases, or relatively new. Strapping Young Lad, good stuff. Sikth, a new band – to me, they sound great. More Lamb of God from their Sacrament album; Arch Enemy; In Flames; new to me, Psychocharger; Zombie1s Death of it All – just right for Halloween; the Murder Dolls – mmm, I wonder what they1ll be playing; Exodus; new Mastodon – great album: Type O Negative – one of my favorite bands, quite brilliant, I think. The show, I hope, will get you moving. There are many more bands, and I hope you1ll like it.

Stay Strong,
Bill

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