Marsha Zazula, who co-founded Megaforce Records, passed away January 10 2021 at the age of 68.
Jon Zazula spoke to Jimmy Kay on the phone ( from The Metal Voice) on January 12 2021 and he said, “Marsha died peacefully at home surrounded by family and friends. She was so loved by everyone.”
The Metal Voice sends their sincere condolences to the Zazula family.
Watch below a rare interview with The Metal Voice with Marsha in 2020
Zazula Teams Up with Cranium Radio for Weekly Jonny Z’s DEFCON 4 ShowA massive seven-disc physical audio CD edition of Megaforce Records founder Jon Zazula’s acclaimed autobiography, Heavy Tales: The Metal. The Music. The Madness. As Lived by Jon Zazula, read by the author himself, is available now.
“At last, the wait is over,” Zazula says. “‘Heavy Tales’ has been out in a digital format prior but has never before been available as a seven-CD collection where not only I get to tell my story, but I get to answer over two hours of heavy questions which was taken from live radio broadcasts.”
Unlike the previous audio addition, the physically copy contains a bonus disc containing over 100 amazing photos that originally appeared in the print edition of the book. The audio CD is available in most libraries and retailers nationwide.
Released last year in physical format,Heavy Talesis the detailed, story of how Jonny Z founded legendary New Jersey-based label Megaforce Records with his wife, Marsha, and built a dynasty unmatched by others, forever changing the scope of heavy metal.
Born in 1952, Zazula began his extraordinary journey as a renegade youthwho went from living on the streets of the Bronx in New York City, to later working on Wall Street, and eventually (and unexpectedly) transitioning into the music business and discovering Metallica,Anthraxand others. Today, Jonny Z remains one of the most respected names in heavy metal.
After Wall Street, Jonny Z began selling records at a flea market store in 1981 to put food on the table for his family. Dubbed Rock N’ Roll Heaven, the store eventually blossomed into a major record store that influenced the heavy metal movement as we know it today. In the winter of 1982, Jonny Z received an unexpected demo tape from unsigned underground band called Metallica. Eager and determined to have the music heard by the entire world, Jonny and Marsha founded Megaforce Records the following year and released Metallica‘s debut album, Kill ‘Em All. Through this release,Megaforcecemented its position as the de-facto music label in America for heavy metal. The bands they would go on to work with released some of the most important albums in heavy metal history, giving it its Golden Era.
Heavy Tales details the stories of how Jonny Z worked miracles by managing and releasing albums by Metallica, Anthrax, Testament, Mercyful Fate, Overkill, Exciter, Stormtroopers of Death, Method of Destruction, Raven, Ace Frehley, King’s X,Minisrty. Mindfunk, Nudeswirl,Warren Haynes,Disco Biscuits and others.
The stories told in Heavy Tales were captured and compiled by Harold Claros-Maldonado, a lifelong fan of heavy metal who originally contacted the Zazulas to write a report on early Metallica. After several discussions, Zazula felt Claros-Maldonado would be the ideal partner to help him tell his story in the book.
Also join Zazula onJonny Z’sDEFCON 4on Cranium Radio.Jonny Z’s DEFCON 4 will air Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2 p.m. EST and again on Saturdays at 8 p.m. EST.
For more information on Heavy Tales: The Metal. The Music. The Madness. As Lived by Jon Zazula, please visit www.jonzazula.com,www.facebook.com/heavytalesandwww.instagram.com/thejonzazula.
New Shockwaves Skullsessions Podcast episode #65, hosted by Bob Nalbandian, is now online, and features Megaforce Records Chief Jon Zazula along with Raven bassist/vocalist John Gallagher regarding Jon Z’s new audio book HEAVY TALES: The Metal. The Madness. The Music.
Jimmy Kay from Canada’s The Metal Voice spoke to co-founder of CraZed Management and Co-founder of Megaforce Records Jon Zazula about his up coming memoir entitled Heavy Tales: The Metal, The Music, The Madness as lived by Jon Zazula to be released October 29 2019. Pre-order August 13 2019 only available Online.
Watch the interview here:
Heavy Tales is the detailed, never before told story as lived by Jonny Zazula of how he founded Megaforce Records out of a flea market in New Jersey with his wife, Marsha and built a dynasty unmatched by others, forever changing the scope of Heavy Metal. The bands they worked with would go on to release some of the most prolific and important albums in heavy metal history, giving it its Golden Era.
Heavy Tales details the stories of how Jonny Z worked miracles by managing and releasing albums by Metallica, Anthrax, Testament, Mercyful Fate, Raven, Overkill, Exciter, Stormtroopers of Death, Method of Destruction, Ace Frehley, King’s X, Ministry, Mindfunk, Nudeswirl, Warren Haynes, Disco Biscuits and others, and how one night in 1984, he jokingly created Rap Metal before anyone else conceived the idea.
When asked about having his pulse on the music scene in the early 80’s and opening his flea market store which catered towards Heavy Metal fans
“In the early eighties I was thirty years old, I was that older guy. Metal really was exciting. I was first turned onto the music by a compilation album by the Friday Rock Show from the BBC. Also when I first heard Motorhead and Angel Witch it really turned me on in a very big way and that was the direction I was going to take in my store. The store that we started was in a Flea Market was called Rock and Roll Heaven. People came from 500 miles away to come and buy from the metal selection that we had which was unbelievable, we had everything. We had music from every country, every part of the world, you name it. People came and met at the store, it was a social gathering place. The store was no bigger than one bin and maybe smaller than the room I’m in right now but it was packed all the time, with metal and metal heads. Let me give you an idea I don’t know if I said this in a book but when Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist Randy Rhoads died the whole entire flea market was packed with headbangers who came to mourn his death at my store, it was the weirdest thing. We all came to be together because we were all so blown away by Randy’s death, that’s the kind of place it was, it was pretty cool.”
When asked about how he discovered Metallica’s Demo Tape then managed the band
“There’s a fellow who I owe my life to basically he came to me from California where he just saw Metallica and bought a demo tape from them,the No Life t’ll Leather (Demo) and made me play it in my store. (Which I didn’t want to do) I put it on and within minutes I was just blown away, I mean like God hit me with a hammer. I said to myself, Jon you gotta do something about this I didn’t know what to do but I started reading and looking for anything about Metallica and on the back of the demo tape there was a phone number for K J. Daughton. I called K.J. we had a good talk and he put me in touch with Lars. Lars and I spoke and I told him I have 12 shows out here if they come to the East coast and he just said yeah man send me some money and we are coming.”
When asked about how professional Lars conducted himself in the early days before Metallica success
“Lars was as serious as a heart attack and I personally love Lars. I really respect him.”
When asked how he felt about Metallica moving to another management group after managing and producing their first two albums on Megaforce
“I had no money we were broke but we did what we had to do to get Metallica going. I basically felt about as bad as one could feel. I’m a manic depressive, I have it on record that I am one. I just don’t complain about it, when this happened it set me on a big depression but I lifted myself up, you know it’s not the end of the world. It blew my mind unfortunately it made me not trust any band that I ever dealt with again even if they love me because even if they love you if they have a bigger better business opportunity I always feel that you are gone. I will say that I felt terrible but life did not end with the loss of Metallica because Megaforce Records and its record of who we signed and what records we put out speaks for itself and we had one success after another. I understood the reasoning but it was their reasoning and I have the ultimate respect for them, let’s just leave it at that.”
When asked about his working relationship with Mercyful Fate off their debut album Melissa
“Megaforce had the responsibility to break Mercyful Fate in the United States with the Melissa album, which we licensed through Roadrunner Records. Roadrunner would work S.O.D. in Europe and we would work Mercyful Fate in the United States. I don’t think we were both really that focused on preserving a relationship we just went on to the next project and they told me I don’t have the next Mercyful Fate album. I will say this that Mercyful Fate is one of my favorite bands in the world. I think King Diamonds vocals held him back and his vocals that made him.”
When asked about what went right and what went wrong in trying to break the band Raven in the USA
“All bands on Megaforce wanted us to be there for them and I really think I was really putting a lot into Metallica and ignoring Raven at the time. With Raven I think that they saw that I was giving too much time to Metallica and my partner was giving them the time they needed and they went with my partner. Also I was giving too much time and attention to Anthrax so you know Raven who started it at all, we’re all of a sudden neglected and it was very unfair. It was very unfair but I was just moved by what was the energy flow at the time.”
When asked about working with Anthrax on their debut Album Fistful of Metal
“Anthrax really came together in the studio doing Fistful of Metal, I remember that they were a really good band but when I heard the song Metal Thrashing Mad I was convinced that they were a great band and I became a huge Anthrax fan. We managed Anthrax and worked with them on their albums for 11 years, that’s pretty amazing.”
When asked about Nirvana wanting to meet with him prior to their success
“Nirvana were playing I believe in New Brunswick, New Jersey and I was homesick and Kurt Cobain wanted to come over to the office I didn’t know who he was. I heard their demo tape wow it was amazing you know for a different kind of music. This was before they were Nirvana as we know them. Grunge came along really put the metal business in the dark ages for a few years but metal came back.”
When asked about releasing three Ace Frehley Albums on Megaforce
“My relationship with Ace was wonderful I have nothing bad to say about him, in fact I only have good things. I learned what a creative artist he was what a creative mind he has. He’s a really good guitar player and he is from Kiss you know he was royalty in my opinion. I gave him the utmost respect and he gave me the utmost respect. I haven’t seen him in a very long time but I enjoyed working with him.”
When asked about Megaforce’s relationship with Testament
” As far as Testament goes I remain big fan of Testament today. I’m I’m great friends with Chuck Billy he wrote the foreword of my book. I have a long wonderful history with that Band.”
Jon Zazula Q&A and book signing October 24th at the Cutting Room in New York 7pm and at as well as at The Vintage Vinyl store October 26 2019 2pm The book will only be available online.
With the foreword written by Chuck Billy, plus over 100 rare photographs unearthed from the MegaVault and photographer friends, Heavy Tales is the definitive American story of a family man with a dream, determined to prove to the world that heavy metal belonged on the stage, on the radio and in your living room.
PRE ORDER HERE
Jimmy Kay from Canada’s The Metal Voice recently spoke to legendary Megaforce record label founder Jon Zazula at this years annual Hall of Heavy Metal History Gala on Jan 23 2019. Former manager of METALLICA Jon Zazula spoke about his new memoir book that he co-wrote with his wife Masha that will be released in October 2019.
Watch the interview here:
When asked about the book
“The book is coming out in October 2019 Halloween of this year, it is finished we are just filling in some parts, I am trying to finish my thank you list. The book starts where most people want it to end at the Roseland Ballroom, when Metallica, Anthrax and Raven played and all three bands got signed to major labels that night in 1984. This will be the kind of book that you pick up and put down in one reading or two. My wife and I Marsha went from total obscurity in a flea market making 50 dollars a night, to one point being worth 10 million dollars. It’s a great story. It’s a great story about a husband and a wife how they worked together though thick and thin without a pot to piss in and living in the hole for years to where we are today. It’s a blue collar story. ”
When asked about about the first time they got the original Anthrax demos
“I didn’t want anything to do with Scott Ian and Anthrax I hated those guys at the time, they were pains in the ass. They chased me and Marsha from here to hell trying to get us to listen to their music and we did. We listened to every note they gave us and we listened very carefully, we wanted to love it but we didn’t. It wasn’t until Scott Ian came to us with the demo single of Soldiers of Metal that we said now that sounds great , give us an album of these types of songs. ”
When asked if he had his hand at dismissing Dave Mustaine
“I had no hand in that , Metallica had come to me to use me as a feeding board but they did this all by themselves.”
Jon Zazula was inducted into The Hall Of Heavy Metal History on Wednesday, January 23 at Marriott Delta Garden Grove in Anaheim, California. The annual Metal Hall Of Fame gala
Watch Jon and Marsha Zazula induction speech here
