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
40 Years Ago: UFO Releases ‘Phenomenon’
UFO released their third album, 'Phenomenon,' in May of 1974.
50 Years Ago: How ‘Secret Treaties’ Shaped Blue Oyster Cult
At this point, their future standing as bona fide hard-rock legends was anything but guaranteed.
Why Saxon Should Have Finally Found U.S. Fame With ‘Crusader’
At this point, the band had already been “crusading” in the name of heavy metal for nearly a decade.
When Queen Played Their First U.S. Show
Just like every rock and roll band, they had to prove their worth as concert openers before graduating to headliner status.
30 Years Ago: Rush Release ‘Grace Under Pressure’
When asked exactly what he meant by “guts,” in a 1929 'New Yorker' Magazine profile, author Ernest Hemingway replied that he meant “grace under pressure.”
Remembering the Often-Overlooked CaliFFornia World Music Festival
You’d be hard pressed to find a more impressive lineup than the one that rocked L.A.’s Memorial Coliseum on April 7-8, 1979.
How the Taste LP Launched Rory Gallagher’s Career
This was his first major step toward immortality as perhaps the ultimate working-class guitar hero.
Why King Crimson’s ‘Starless and Bible Black’ Led to More Changes
By the end of the band's first half-decade of existence, leader Robert Fripp had already gone through several lineups.
Revisiting Mott the Hoople’s Final Burst of Glory, ‘The Hoople’
Mott the Hoople's last album under their original name was released on March 29, 1974.
When Marky Returned for the Ramones’ ’80s-Ending ‘Brain Drain’
By this time, they'd become almost irreparably damaged by the grind of touring, personal demons and substance abuse.
45 Years Ago: Frank Zappa Has a Commercial Hit With ‘Apostrophe’
Frank Zappa's most commercially successful album was released on March 22, 1974.
Why ‘Somethin’s Happening’ Didn’t Happen for Peter Frampton
Thus far, he'd only delivered a pair of commercially disappointing albums since leaving Humble Pie.