'The Roar of L'Amour'

JON ZAZULA - The godfather of the scene

Taken from a Facebook post

-

How he came to my rescue, goofed on my face and said I was a metal soldier

But more importantly, his importance in creating the "scene"

Inspired by a private convo with his daughter Rikki Zazula and Metal Joe from The Old Bridge Militia

The history of Jonny Zazula and Megaforce is well-documented in books, online and podcast.

If you were part of the 80s metal scene, you know it and lived it.

I met Jon when he started promoting shows. Jon was the original "metal" promoter for the scene and influenced what wound up becoming the L'Amour that you know and that I eventually worked at from 10/84-11/88.

One day we just happened to be standing next to each other at a show and we did the hello thing where you recognize each other but don't know who the fuck each other is.

I heard someone call him "Jonny Z." and I said ...

Oh, you are THAT guy?

He laughed and said "who the hell are you? I see you all the time."

We talked for a bit, and I thanked him for bringing underground bands to SI (where I lived) and he gave me his number, talked music and asked me to tell him about anything I thought was good

I was 19/20 at the time and in my circles, there wasn't a lot of bands yet forming, it was just starting but it opened dialog and mutual respect.

I sent him a demo of a band that was more commercial than what he was promoting, but he said I had a good ear but they weren't heavy enough for him and they were more "major label"

Part of our convo was about how surprisingly big the scene was. He admitted that he was surprised when people started coming to his flea market from out of the area. He said many drove from SI and that is what made him do shows there.

I explained since I didn't have a car, I had no idea NJ was a hot spot either but met a LOT of NJ metalheads at the SI shows.

That was the great thing about the very early days of the scene ... THE DISCOVERY.

L'Amour eventually became the metal hub, but in 82, it was still figuring out what kind of club it was going to be.

That isn't a shot, but the truth. It was still in transition and still had dance music between bands.

I know that drove the DJ in 83/84 Alex Kayne crazy, because he was pushing for pure metal.

It wasn't until 84 (before I got there) that it was strictly metal.

So, these show that Jon did were events for us metalheads in 82/83 and where we met like-minds from other areas.

I kidded Jon was 'The Godfather" and he said he saw me as a metal soldier.

On April 8th, 1983, I was hanging out with Steve Harris (Maiden) at a show and Jonny came up and asked how I knew him and if I came there with him?

I said I met him briefly once and didn't come with him, but Steve saw me and remembered me and asked me to save him from being pestered all night.

It wasn't a rock star attitude in any way, but he always enjoyed watching bands and couldn't if people kept tapping him on the shoulder.

Jon kidded that I have that kind of mug you don't forget ... umm ok.

I think seeing me with Steve solidified me in Jon's eyes, because any time after that, he would see me and come over to say hello and ask my opinions about whatever band was playing or whatever band was getting a local buzz.

This was all prior to me being courted and hired by L'Amour.

On October 26th, 1984, Anvil played the first of two nights at L'Amour and it was my first full weekend as DJ.

Jon saw me in the booth and came up and was surprised I was there.

George (owner) told him in advance there was a new DJ, but he had no idea it was me.

He asked me why I never told him I was a DJ when we talked, because he could have pushed for me and we could have done stuff together and I explained that I never really cared about being one, but George was interested in my music knowledge and asked me to try L'Amour.

He said "I told you; you have that kind of face" ... I am still not sure if that is/was a compliment.

He asked if I had everything I needed from them (Megaforce) and I told him I had bought pretty much everything because it was the scene I was into.

The next night, he brought me everything in the catalog and told the owners he knew me for years and was the right guy.

I appreciated that stamp of approval.

Whenever he was at L'Amour, he would always pop in to say hi and make sure I was hooked up with product

Eventually, Eddie Trunk and others would introduce themselves from Megaforce but Jon always said hello.

One night Anthrax played Beacon Theater in Manhattan and Jon personally puts me on the list.

I get there and go to the box office and there were no tix.

Charlie Benante saw me from the dressing room window (that overlooked Broadway) and yelled my name, and I yelled back "I am not on the list". He yelled to me "wait there"

Minutes later Jon comes running out and yelled at the box office because my tix were there the whole time.

He apologized and kidded that he didn't want my wrath because I had that kind of face ... again I am not sure what he meant by that.

He always personally invited me to anything he was involved in. Sadly, a lot conflicted with my L'Amour duties, but I was able to go to things like the filming of videos by Anthrax and Overkill and at an early Overkill show,he gave me a huge thank you for helping break Overkill locally.

He saw I was a huge supporter, and I would play and promote them heavily.

Like I always say, no thanks needed.

I was doing my job, and they were a great band and Rotten to the Core was a no-brainer to get behind and make one of the L'Amour staples.

I wouldn't exaggerate and say we were good "friends", but we certainly respected what each other brought to the table and our conversations and relationship represented that.

RIP Jon

I appreciated you and respected what you pioneered for the scene and thank you for your support during my era/error.

Chuck Kaye

Ah Yes Indeed

BACK