Drummer Vinny Appice (Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, Dio) tells the, Ouch You’re On My Hair podcast, that if Ronnie James Dio were still alive, he would be “pissed off” at Gene Simmons’ attempt to trademark the “devil’s horns” hand gesture.
Appice said, “Ronnie’s hand gesture thing is an old Italian thing; it’s called the maloik. And his grandmother showed him that and used to do that, and so did the elders in my family too. And that’s to put… one way’s to put horns on people, and the other way is to wish ’em good luck. So Gene couldn’t have invented it, because it’s an old Italian thing. And if Ronnie was alive, man, he’d be pissed off. Oh, yeah!”
Did, himself, reportedly took issue with Simmons, once stating, “Gene Simmons will tell you that he invented it. But then again, Gene invented breathing and shoes and everything else.”
Without disclosing the motivating factor, Simmons recently withdrew his trademark application.
5 Responses
The great RJD would have every right to be pissed at Gene $immon$. Gene said he did his hand gesture as a homage to Spider Man….if Gene would have been successful with the trademark, I would have loved it if Marvel comics sued his ass….karma…..
“Maloik from the elders”.. great album!
It’s fun to be angry at Gene, but think about something…..Gene’s gotten international press coverage over something as silly as trademarking a dopey hand gesture. Gene’s gotten commenters on this website (including myself) talking about him for weeks now. Everyone from Dio’s wife to former band members has talked about Gene. People can’t stop talking about Gene…..and all this at the exact time that KISS is going to play some select U.S. dates. It’s pure….Gene-ius!
Totally agree, RTunes68! Anyone with half a brain knew Gene didn’t stand a chance to get that gesture trademarked! He is a lot of things, but Gene is not stupid! I guarantee you that he was totally playing for publicity with this thing! They even brought this issue up on Fox News!! He got exactly what he wanted, which was free publicity.
I don’t know, it’s pretty desperate, not to mention annoying that he would grasp at straws such as this caper; he unnecessarily upset a lot of people for what?…his own ego? He goes on a solo tour and can’t even remember his own songs, and acts like we’re out of line for expecting him to remember….Planet Gene…..I guess he is doing pretty well containing his ego considering the multitudes of people who yes him to death….