SFV ROCKS

23/07/2025

Nick Menza was born in Munich, Germany on July 23, 1964 while his dad, jazz musician, Don Menza was stationed with the US Army . Musical talent was already embedded in the DNA of Nick Menza. He began playing drums at the age of two. At the age of 18 he began his professional music career when he joined the band Rhoads, featuring singer, Kelle Rhoads, brother of the late Randy Rhoads. Although he is known for drumming with metal bands, the highly skilled and talented Menza showed his ability to play a range of musical styles, including R&B, gospel and funk. In 1988 Menza joined Megadeth as the drum tech for Chuck Behler. When Behler was fired from the band by Dave Mustaine for drug use, Nick was asked by Dave to join. Nick played with Megadeth from 1989 to 1998 creating four albums with the band. Rust in Peace (90) is definitely my favorite Megadeth album. The others include, Countdown to Extinction (92), Youthanasia (94) and Cryptic Writings (97). His nine year career with Megadeth ended in 1998 while recovering from a surgery to remove a benign tumor. He began work on Menza: Life after Deth but after a string of unfortunate events and the death of guitarist Ty Longley, and a year later, Jason Levin, moving on with this project was impossible. After a brief return to Megadeth in 2004, Nick joined the LA based metal band Orphaned to Hatred. Menza stayed active in various bands through injuries and health issues, even briefly playing with Megadeth again in 2014. Nicks life was tragically cut short on May 21, 2016 while performing on stage with his band OHM at the Baked Potato in Studio City. Three songs into the set Menza collapsed. He was rushed to the hospital, but did not survive. He died at the age of 51 of congested heart failure. Gone too soon we honor you sir, and your contribution to the music world on what would’ve been your 61st birthday. You lived and died doing what you loved. RIP🤘🏼
source: Wikipedia, IMDB and the rabbit hole known as the internet.

23/07/2025

Randy Rhoads was born on December 6, 1956, in Santa Monica, California, the youngest of three children. His parents were both music teachers. His brother, Kelle was also a musician. In 1958, when Rhoads was 17 months old, his father left the family and remarried. All three children were subsequently raised by their mother, Delores. She had received a bachelor’s degree in music from UCLA and had played piano professionally. She opened a music school in North Hollywood called Musonia to support the family.

The Rhoads family did not own a stereo, and the children created their own music at home to entertain themselves. Rhoads listened to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones as a child and would imitate their performances with his brother Kelle in the family garage. Rhoads began folk and classical guitar lessons at approximately age seven at his mother’s music school. He became interested in rock guitar and began lessons at Musonia from Scott Shelly. Shelly soon approached Rhoads’ mother to inform her that he could no longer teach her son, as Rhoads’ knowledge of the electric guitar had exceeded his own. Rhoads also received piano lessons from his mother to help build his understanding of music theory. He also taught at the school. Randy Rhodes joined Ozzy Osbourne from 1979 to 1982 after Ozzy’s departure from Black Sabbath and played on the first two albums, Blizzard of Oz and Diary of a Madman. Tragically his life was cut short in a plane crash, March 1982. 🕊️🕊️

Updated** today we lost the other half of this iconic duo. Ozzy Osbourne left this world on July 22, 2025 after battling Parkinson’s disease for several years.

Rest in peace, Randy Rhoads. Rest in peace, Ozzy Osbourne.

Musonia School of Music
12111 Tiara St.
North Hollywood, 91607

20/07/2025

We are less than a week away from one of the coolest events in the San Fernando Valley! 🥳🍿👻

Check out this fantastic blog post from the great Joe Blevins for his weekly segment of Ed Wood Wednesdays!

Join us after dark at the historic Pioneer Memorial Cemetery — one of the actual filming locations of Plan 9 from Outer Space — for a spooky outdoor screening under the stars! 🌙⚰️

🧛‍♂️ See Bela Lugosi in his final role... sort of.
👽 Witness flying saucers, graveyard ghouls, and Ed Wood’s infamous masterpiece like never before.
🌕 Surrounded by real tombstones and the lingering spirits of old Hollywood.

🎟️ Tickets are $20 on Eventbrite, $25 at the door — but don’t wait... they’ll vanish faster than a zombie in daylight.

Grab your ticket now... before it's too late.

🪓 BYO blanket, chair, and courage.

The official web presence of Joe Blevins, offering his thoughts on movies, music, television, Ed Wood, and so much more.

16/07/2025

Tickets on sale now! Link in bio! 🛸🛸🪦🍿🥳

07/04/2025

It’s National Library Week (April 6-12)
Time to celebrate the many ways libraries bring people together, spark imagination, and support, lifelong learning! Visit your local San Fernando Valley libraries. Here are a few of my favorites: https://sfvrocks.com/blog/libraries-of-the-san-fernando-valley-3/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaeAk372lVk2beiOqij7l74QO09s3JV2hnp1YEEpduRVawN0XvjggtHwE15kRA_aem_KcUlk0k65n2knrO61o0bkg

01/04/2025

Cesar Chavez, known for his non-violent yet effective approach to helping farmworkers working in unsafe conditions and receiving extremely low pay, has a significant connection to the San Fernando Valley. On May 14, 1983, Cesar, along with local 645 president Pete Beltran, Maxine Waters, Jesse Jackson, and members of the Los Angeles UAW, marched down Van Nuys Blvd. to prevent the closure of the General Motors (GM) plant in Panorama City. As a result of their efforts through marching, boycotting, and vigorous activism, they kept people employed ten years longer than anticipated. Even though the plant eventually closed, their organizing efforts demonstrate what’s possible when people unite as a community for positive change.
“Si, se puede.” - Cesar Chavez (March 31, 1927 - April 23, 1993)

27/03/2025

As Women’s History Month draws to a close, I must recognize the remarkable Indigenous woman named Espiritu Chijulla. She was a Chumash/Gabrielino-Tonga Native American, born in 1836, raised in San Fernando, and baptized in the San Fernando Mission. A courageous woman, a head of her time, a Spanish-speaking Native American, she became the common law wife of a basque farmer named Miguel Leonis, also known as “The King of Calabasas” later in life due to his extensive land ownership and influence in the area. She lived as Miguel Leonis’ common-law wife for almost 30 years until his untimely death in 1889. He left the bulk of his estate and landholdings, estimated to be $300,000, to French relatives. He left Espiritu $10,000, half in cash and half in investments to be distributed over time, which she would only receive if she did not contest his will. Well, she did, and after sixteen years, in 1905, in a landmark decision, she won her case and spent the remainder of her life comfortably living on her property. Her pioneering victory was a groundbreaking feat for the period. Unfortunately, she passed away seven months later, on May 10, 1906. She is buried on the Mission San Fernando Rey de España grounds. Espiritu, we honor you 💗

To learn more about this amazing woman’s life visit the Leonis Adobe Museum in Calabasas.