Johny Zazula

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John Zazula, also known as Johny Z or John "the well is dry" Zazula is the owner of New York's legendary "Rock'n Roll Heaven" record store and founder of record label "Megaforce Records". Zazula's record store in East Brunswick, NJ made him a central figure of the East Coast metal scene, regularly playing demo tapes sent to him through his underground tape-trading network which included the likes of Brian Slagel of Metalblade Records, Ron Quintana, the editor of Metal Mania, and Mark Whitaker.

[edit] Career

His central role in the Eastcoast metal scene would later be an essential factor in launching the career of Metallica. Zazula offered the band their first opportunity to play in the N.Y. area and organized their first tour with Raven, one of the leading metal bands from the US at that time, after hearing the demo tape No Life 'Til Leather. He started his record label, Megaforce, to release their work. Zazula released Metallica's debut album Kill'em all, and set up an eastcoast tour with private funding.

After the success of Kill 'em All, Zazula signed now famous bands like Anthrax, who released their debut Fistful of Metal on Megaforce.