First of all Andy and I started the band together and I was 17. My complete name? My real name is Ross Friedman but my manager Sandy Pearlman gave me this ridiculous last name 'Funicello' which I've always hated and never used so I've just stuck with Ross The Boss.

When we formed the Dictators the rock scene was really bad. We loved only a few rock bands at the time, The Stooges, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, MC5, Flaming Groovies... You know, music like that. High energy music, and we rejected all hippy music at the time as being boring and out of touch.

Music to us -- The Dictators, in the 70s was fun. Pure fun. If you were looking for some political statement from The Dictators, Forget it! All we talked about was cars, girls, surfing and beer. and we were from New York! I kinda did imagine that my music would be known worldwide. I always did. We were good. We still are good.

My favorite guitars are Les Pauls and SGs style. My string gague is .056 to .012. My amplifier is a Marshall 800 or 900. They're both good. It is true that I do not use any effects. My guitar is just plugged in with a cord. No wireless. Just plugged right into the amplifier.

I was in Shakin' Street for two years from 1978- 80. It was a great experience. I loved Paris. They had to be shown how to rock! They are still my friends. We will play a show in June together in Sweden. My fave Shakin' Street songs are "Soul Dealer", "Solid as a Rock" and "Susie Wong".

We expected Manowar to make a great impact. After all, Manowar's music is in a different direction than the Dictators. We understood that Manowar was completely different from anything else there ever was. It either was going to be big or an unbelievalble failure.

I always had planned to make a new heavy metal record. When I met my German band it became obvious that they were the band for me and I was the guitar player for them. I mean as far as playing those old songs, it was good to play them a couple of times but I truly do not want to live on my past. While I'm very proud of those songs and my time in Manowar, My path led to my new cd to be released at the end of the summer and people will see and hear why Manowar was so popular.

It depends on who you ask! People who don't like Heavy Metal might not even know who Manowar is but they know The Dictators. A lot of people think Manowar is a complete joke with absolutely no street cred and that The Dictators were one of the most influential bands in punk rock and punk metal. We were the bridge between punk and metal to be honest.

And a lot of people on the other hand think that Manowar was the greatest and The Dictators were nothing. What that tells me is that you cannot please everyone all the time, so I just try to please myself.

To be honest with you, the best album that I've recorded is about to be released this summer. I can't tell you the most memorable song I wrote and my favorite solo on it because no one has heard it yet, but I would say by the time this article goes to print my cd will be out and I have ten examples on that CD why its the best.

We are about to start a heavy metal storm that will consume this whole planet hopefully if all goes well.

That would be my son Jesse. I wrote a song about him on my new album called "Immortal Son".

A lot of people are constantly asking me why did I leave Manowar? So let me set the record straight. Joey and I started the band as partners, we did everything together. As time went on Joe had his own vision for the band and at times it conflicted with my ideals and vision. I was always there for the band, but one day right before we released Kings of Metal, I was called to a meeting and asked to leave. Plain and simple.