Eduardo Rivadavia (aka Ed Rivadavia) was born in São Paulo, Brazil, and by his late teens had already toured the world (and elsewhere), learning four languages on three continents. Having also accepted the holy gospel of rock & roll as his lord and savior, Eduardo became infatuated with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and all things heavy, crude, and obnoxious while living in Milan, Italy, during the mid-1980s. At this time, he also made his journalistic debut as sole writer, editor, publisher, and, some would claim, reader of his high school's heavy metal fanzine, earning the scorn of jocks and nerds alike, but uniting the small hardcore music-loving contingent into a frenzied mob that spent countless hours exchanging tapes, talking shop, and getting beat up at concerts. Upon returning home to Brazil, Eduardo resumed a semi-normal existence, sporadically contributing music articles to local papers and magazines while earning his business degree. Finally, after years of obsessive musical fandom and at peace with his distinct lack of musical talent, Eduardo decided the time had come to infiltrate the music industry by the fire escape. He quit his boring corporate job, relocated to America, earned his master's degree while suffering the iniquities of interning for free (anything for rock & roll!), and eventually began working for various record labels, accumulating mountains of records and (seemingly) useless rock trivia in the process. This eventually led him back to writing, and he has regularly contributed articles to multiple websites since 1999, working with many different rock genres but specializing, as always, in his personal hobby: hard rock and heavy metal. To quote from the insightful 'This Is Spinal Tap': "People should be jealous of me...I'm jealous of me...." Eduardo currently resides in Austin, TX, with his wife, two daughters, and far more records, CDs and MP3s than he'll ever have time to listen to.
Eduardo Rivadavia
45 Years Ago: Iron Butterfly Release ‘Ball’
Who was having a ball in February 1969? Why, the members of Iron Butterfly, that’s who, as they collectively unveiled their hotly anticipated third album, which they chose to christen simply as ‘Ball.’
35 Years Ago: George Harrison Releases Self-Titled Album
Feb. 20, 1979 was a celebratory day for loyal Beatles fans, nearly a decade beyond the group’s dissolution, because it signaled the release of George Harrison’s first album in more than two years.
40 Years Ago: Steely Dan Release ‘Pretzel Logic’
The very notion may sound absurd today, but there was actually a day when Steely Dan’s career longevity seemed anything but guaranteed — until all doubts were quashed with the arrival of their almost universally acclaimed third studio opus, ‘Pretzel Logic,’ on Feb. 20, 1974.
The Day Iggy Pop and the Stooges Recorded ‘Metallic K.O.’ Show
One of rock’s most harrowing and authentically violent recorded documents was captured when Iggy and the Stooges unknowingly committed their last will and testament to tape (as an active '70s band, anyway) by performing the show that would go down in infamy as Metallic K...
30 Years Ago: Whitesnake Release ‘Slide It In’
Despite its far-from-stellar sales, Whitesnake’s sixth album, ‘Slide It In,’ which came out in late January 1984, is unquestionably the most pivotal record of the group’s long and storied career. It exists in two significantly different versions, due to a curious sequence of events that wound up drawing a clear line in the sand that, to this day, segregates the British band’s career into two, dist
Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr Reunite on Grammy Stage
For all of the many superstars who made appearances and thrilled fans with performances at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, the night will probably best be remembered as the night the Beatles dominated the airwaves again . . . almost 50 years to the day when they first landed in the U.S.
Ringo Starr and His All-Star Band Perform at the Grammys
As expected, the 56th Annual Grammy Awards has been a star-studded affair with, among many others, both surviving Beatles in attendance . . . and onstage!
Paul McCartney and Surviving Members of Nirvana Win Grammy
Historic heavyweights the Rolling Stones and Black Sabbath (as well as relative newcomers Muse and Gary Clark Jr.) were in contention for the Best Rock Song Award at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, but the trophy went to 'Cut Me Some Slack' by the nameless group featuring surviving Nirvana alum Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselik and Pat Smear with Paul McCartney.
Chicago Play Classic Hits at Grammys With Robin Thicke
As it happens every year, the 56th annual Grammy Awards featured a number of surprise, and at times somewhat far-fetched, collaborative performances. Among them was an unlikely pairing between R&B heartthrob Robin Thicke and classic-rock icons Chicago.
26 Years Ago: David Lee Roth’s ‘Skyscraper’ Released
The spring and summer of 1986 bore witness to one of the most hostile public airings of dirty laundry in rock and roll history, courtesy of Van Halen and their recently departed lead vocalist, David Lee Roth, whom they had of course recently replaced with successful solo artist, Sammy Hagar...