Megaforce founder Jon “Jonny Z” Zazula discussed losing Metallica to Elektra in a new Talk is Jericho interview.
When you’re talking about ‘Kill ‘Em All’ and ‘Ride the Lightning,’ was it hard for
you to have to let them go from Megaforce over to Elektra?
“Well, first of all, ‘Ride the Lightning’ I tried to get involved in. I was very involved with ‘Kill ‘Em All,’ but I wasn’t involved much on ‘Ride the Lightning’ at all.
“It was a terrible loss…
“I’ve had a friend, an agent by the name of Jeff Roland who came up to me and he goes, ‘Jonny, you’ve got too many bands, concentrate on one and take it all the way and then take another one at a young age.
“‘Don’t have three and all that responsibility and all that brainpower you need, it’s just too much, you’re gonna get hurt.’
“And that’s exactly what happened, and do I miss it? Did I miss it? Do I miss it today? Sure, but you know, life deals you what it deals you, you got to run with it.
“I didn’t give up. I didn’t have Metallica anymore, but I gained the Megaforce records, I gained Anthrax.
“Anthrax never went platinum, except maybe the ‘Attack of the Killer B’s,’ I’m not sure, but they went gold on everything I believe.
“I’ve never had a gold album for the second album, but it may be gold now. It was a great reward, I got to see them headline Madison Square Garden when we played that Clash of the Titans.
“They had their shot that night. Whatever it was, I got to see a lot of good things, I got to see the Public Enemy and Anthrax tour, which is as good as any tour I’ve been on.
“Some of the shows were Lollapalooza quality, they were just really powerful, so it’s all been good.” Ultimate-Guitar transcribed his comments.
