An audio 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 and featuring more than two hours of bonus material, will be available July 21 via Audible.
Like the print edition, the Audible book contains Testament vocalist Chuck Billy’s foreword, also read by Billy himself. The bonus material expands upon the book, with Zazula – known the world over as Jonny Z – offering further insight into his life and career, and more behind-the-scenes stories, through material culled from a never-before-heard question and answer series with the Brothers Grimm radio show on CraniumRadio.com.
“When asked why I decided to record this audio book myself and not use a professional actor it was as simple as could be to answer – I am from the Bronx and the whole story would be weird if told by another, more well-spoken person,” Zazula laughs. “It wouldn’t be the same. We used a good studio and production team to bring my story to life. The bonus 147 minutes of live Q&A on the radio is lots of fun and makes this a very complete package.”
Released last year in physical format, Heavy Tales is 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 youth who 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, Anthrax and 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, Megaforce cemented 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.
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