While Kate Bush‘s “Running Up That Hill” has far and away been the defining song of the latest season of Stranger Things, fans of the heavier side of ’80s music got some recognition, too.
Breakout character Eddie Munson, a Dungeons & Dragons-loving metalhead, sports a denim jacket with a patch inspired by the 1984 Dio album The Last in Line on the back. Original Dio drummer Vinny Appice, who’s a fan of Stranger Things, tells ABC Audio that he was “absolutely” excited to see the patch in the show.
“I’m, like, ‘Why didn’t you play the song?’ They played a lot of rock songs in that, they didn’t play a Dio or [Black] Sabbath song,” Appice shares. “But the back of his jacket — fantastic! A couple of shots, it was straight on.”
As was revealed following the season’s premiere in May, the patch was made out of a shirt provided by the late Ronnie James Dio‘s estate.
“That actually is a link to Ronnie’s personal stuff he had,” Appice says. “So that was great, I loved it.”
The second volume of Stranger Things season 4 premieres this Friday, July 1, on Netflix.
Meanwhile, a remastered and remixed version of Dio’s 1983 debut album, Holy Diver, is being released July 8 in honor of what would’ve been Ronnie’s 80th birthday on July 10. Appice feels that the reissue, like the Stranger Things reference, helps keep the music of Dio “alive.”
“[Holy Diver] just went double-Platinum, too,” Appice says. “All this stuff keeps the music maybe turning on to some younger audiences and stuff. And it’s become such a classic, it’s amazing.”
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