Frank DiMino recalls supporting Rudy Sarzo to leave Angel and join Ozzy Osbourne in the early ’80s

Frank DiMino recalls supporting Rudy Sarzo to leave Angel and join Ozzy Osbourne in the early ’80s

Angel frontman Frank DiMino was recently interviewed by Metal Mike for the 80’s Glam Metalcast podcast. Angel consisting DiMino on lead vocals, Punky Meadows on guitar, Danny Farrow on rhythm guitar, Charlie Calv on keyboards, Steve Ojane on bass and Billy Orrico on drums recently released their new studio album Once Upon A Time on April 21, 2023

With respect to influencing ’80s bands and how the original / classic Angel line-up (1975 to 1981) consisting of DiMino on lead vocals, Meadows on guitar, Barry Brandt on drums, Greg Giuffria on keyboards and Mickie Jones (1975-77) / Felix Robinson (1977-81) fell apart, DiMino indicated (as provided by the 80’s Glam Metalcast podcast with slight edits):

“Nikki Sixx came to some of our rehearsals. We rehearsed in the same place as they did. Tommy [Lee] used to sit by Barry and watch him. We used to do the same thing with Deep Purple and Rainbow. I think you pick up things from the bands you grow up on. I think MTV would have made a huge difference for Angel because we were such a visual band. In the late 80’s, I did a lot of studio work. I did a lot of stuff with producer Giorgio Moroder, soundtrack and TV stuff.  Angel just fell apart in the early 80’s.

Rudy Sarzo was the last bass player we had. We had about five songs written and recorded at that time. They were like a mix between “White Hot” and “Sinful”. Randy Rhoads was calling Rudy to join Ozzy. I told Rudy to go for it because we were in a bad situation contractual wise with Polygram. Jack Douglas was supposed to produce our next album. That all fell apart because Polygram wouldn’t honor the contract we had with Casablanca. They wanted to rework it and it didn’t work out for Jack. We just wanted them to let us go so we could go with Neil Bogart over at Boardwalk Records. They wouldn’t let us go from the contact. So we were stuck in an odd situation and I didn’t think we were really progressing. So I started doing more studio work and I kinda fell out with the rest of the guys. I just needed to keep moving forward.”

In terms of the future of Angel, DiMino opined: “There’s a lot more music in the tank. We have a new energy right now. Who knows? If you would have asked me we if we were going to have another album out right after “Sinful”, I would have said of course! I always look to the future as something positive. With the line up now, we really enjoy playing together live and that’s the most important thing. When we come to your town, come see us. It’s a shame if you don’t, because there is a time limit for anything. For Angel or any other band. So come see us, it’s a high energy show and you won’t regret it!”

You can listen to the interview with Frank DiMino on the 80’s Glam Metalcast podcast below: