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Friday, April 26, 2013

ALL ABOARD..THE OZZY TRAIN









Ozzy, like a stack other pommy metallers, was born within earshot of the same steam hammers that formed the musical tastes of Rob Halford in Birmingham England, after leaving school and having many odd jobs and a stint in lockup for nicking stockings, he posted a notice in a music shop that said Ozzy Zig needs a gig




 This was read by Tony Iommi and Bill Ward and ended up Ozzy and Geezer joining the other lads in a new band that went under several names (including Earth) that ended up being called Black Sabbath after a song of the same name that appeared on their first album (released 1969/70). 



Oz recorded several more albums with Sabbath despite the decline of his relationship with Tony Iommi, which after several break ups led to him leaving/being fired from the band in 1979....its been suggested thatr Ozzy decline came after his father passed and he was drinking a lot to manage his grief...either which way, he was ousted from Sabbath 






After a while and after spending a month in a hotel room getting blitzed everyday, Sharon dragged him down to a studio were Dana Strum had brought his mate Randy Rhoads to audition...Ozzy was stunned by Randy's skill on the axe and made him the first member of The Blizzard of Ozz.... 



the resulting album, Blizzard of Ozz (1980), was a resounding commercial success...it was during this album release he was ushered to the record company for a meet and greet with the board of directors and....NAH....I wont even bring up the dove biting or bat nibbling again



His Diary of a Madman (1981) followed suit....this was were Ozzy as a solo act showed up on my radar...it was during this tour that music lost Randy Rhoads in the infamous plane crash...sad..;(



Ex-Gillan guitarist Bernie Tormé was the first guitarist to replace Randy once the tour resumed. Torme's tenure with the band would last less than one month. 



During an audition for guitarists in a hotel room, Osbourne selected Brad Gillis (who went on to be one of two guitarists in Night Ranger) to finish the tour. The tour culminated in the release of the 1982 live album, Speak of the Devil recorded at the Ritz in New York City. A live tribute album for Rhoads was also later released....and its a deadset cracker



Despite the difficulties, Osbourne moved on after Rhoads' death. Speak of the Devil, known in the United Kingdom as Talk of the Devil, was originally planned to consist of live recordings from 1981, primarily from Osbourne's solo work. Under contract to produce a live album, it ended up consisting entirely of Black Sabbath covers recorded with Brad Gillis, bassist Rudy Sarzo, and drummer Tommy Aldridge. Osbourne later commented (inside the cover of "Tribute") "I don't give a fuck about that album. It was just a bunch of bullshit Sabbath covers."



Also in 1982 while wearing his future wife Sharon's dress because she had hidden his clothes, Osbourne drunkenly urinated on a cenotaph erected in honour of those who died at the Alamo in Texas, across the street from the actual building.  A police officer arrested him asking Oz and I quote " how would you feel if i pisssed on Buckingham Palace"..Oz replied  "I dont give a f**k, I dont live there" , Osbourne was subsequently banned from the city of San Antonio for a decade.


In 1984, Osbourne toured with Mötley Crüe. The tour is known as one of the "craziest drug and alcohol-fuelled tours in the history of rock and roll",  Oz would jump on Motleys bus pull out two huge bags of blow and scream lets party....some of the saner stunts included snorting ants and dressing in drag..there were decidely grosser ones ...but ..ewww ...


Oz. has what I call Ritchie Blackmore Syndrome, in that I mean he changes muso's with ridicluos regularity..except for Zakk, he was around for an age or three


In the 1990s, Osbourne continued to release albums and tour with his traveling metal festival, Ozzfest, Ive never been but the dvd looks great...

There have been a few dvds about Oz, one was just a mish mash of interviews , where he was blitzed 90% of the time with song videos fitted in between the drooling ...AND THEN...His son Jack made a documentary about him and its a ripper ...go get a copy

Osbourne has experienced tremors for some years and me, like most of the planet linked them to his continuous booze and drug abuse...HOWEVER... In May 2005 he found out it was actually Parkin Syndrome, a genetic condition, the symptoms of which are very similar to Parkinson's disease. Osbourne will have to take daily medication for the rest of his life to combat the involuntary shudders associated with the condition....SO, I stand corrected



SO THATS WERE GENE GOT THE IDEA!

Osbourne returned to celebrity status by the unlikely success of his own bizarre brand of "reality" television. The Osbournes, a program featuring the domestic life of Osbourne and his clan, has turned into the MTV Network's biggest hit to date. The comic appeal of the aging headbanger completing such humdrum tasks as taking out the garbage charmed even those conservatives who once vilified Osbourne. 



Despite his popularity as a reality television personality, Osbourne will also been remembered for his contributions to the world of music. He reunited with Black Sabbath in 2005 for a tour, and these legendary heavy metal heroes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame the following year. At the induction ceremony, Metallica played "Iron Man" in honor of the group. Osbourne, however, devotes most of his time these days to his solo career. He released Black Rain in 2007, which reached the number three spot on the American album charts.

BULLSHIT LAWSUITS

In 1985 California teenager John McCollum committed suicide while listening to Ozzy Osbourne's "Suicide Solution". The song deals with the dangers of alcohol abuse. McCollum's suicide led to allegations that Osbourne promoted suicide in his songs.



 Despite knowing McCollum suffered clinical depression, his parents sued Ozzy Osbourne (McCollum v. CBS) for their son's death, claiming the lyrics in the song, "Where to hide, suicide is the only way out. Don't you know what it's really about?" convinced McCollum to commit suicide.

 The family's lawyer suggested that Osbourne should be criminally charged for encouraging a young person to commit suicide, but the courts ruled in Osbourne's favour, saying there was no connection between the song and McCollum's suicide. Osbourne was sued for the same reason in 1991 (Waller v. Osbourne), by the parents of Michael Waller, for $9 million, but the courts ruled in Osbourne's favour again.



One critic claims that Osbourne sings "Get the gun, get the gun, shoot, shoot, shoot," a charge firmly denied by Osbourne....and I add the term BOLLOCKS to the total crap lawsuits



SABBATH ALBUMS:

Black Sabbath (1970)
Paranoid (1970)
Master of Reality (1971)
Vol. 4 (1972)
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973)
Sabotage (1975)
Technical Ecstasy (1976)
Never Say Die! (1978)
Reunion (1998) (Live album with 2 new studio tracks)
13 (2013)
Live at Last (Unofficial live album)

OZZY ALBUMS:

Blizzard of Ozz (1980)
Diary of a Madman (1981)
Bark at the Moon (1983)
The Ultimate Sin (1986)
No Rest for the Wicked (1988)
No More Tears (1991)
Ozzmosis (1995)
Down to Earth (2001)
Under Cover (2005)
Black Rain (2007)
Scream (2010)

RECENT OZZY BAND MEMBERS
Adam Wakeman, Rob Nicholson , Gus G, Tommy Clufetos
FORMER MEMBERS
Randy Rhoads Zakk Wylde, Bernie Tormé, Brad Gillis, Jake E. Lee
Alex Skolnick, Joe Holmes, Don Costa, Jerry Cantrell, Rudy Sarzo
Pete Way, Bob Daisley, Phil Soussan, Mike Inez, Geezer Butler
James LoMenzo, Robert Trujillo, Jason Newsted, Chris Wyse
Tommy Aldridge, Carmine Appice, Jimmy DeGrasso, Randy Castillo
Deen Castronovo, Brian Tichy, Roy Mayorga, Johnny Cook
Don Airey, Mike Moran, John Sinclair, Kevin Jones, Rick Wakeman
Tommy Lee, Michael Railo, Michael Beinhorn, Lindsay Bridgewater
Mike Bordin, Robert Mason



SO....THERE YOU, everyones favourite nutter.....have a rockin day


















Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Its Raining GLITTER..GLAM GREATS







ALVIN STARDUST

GLAM ROCK...you know what I liked about glam rock?...apart from the abundance of hooks in the tunes, I enjoyed the fact that the performers gave half a shit about their appearance...



If I have to guess at what my first taste of Glitter Rock was it would have to be either Sweet or Slade ...maybe T-Rex...one of them anywho...






SUZI QUATRO

Now, strangely enough, a stack of my mates thought bands like The Sweet and Gary Glitter were a touch light in the loafers, yet they believed Bowie and Bolan were butch as ...still cant figger that one out...



Anyway, I'm big fan of anybody who went above and beyond the call of duty when it came down to the whole package...don't get me wrong, those that know me or read my blogs know I like, Asia, a smidge of YES and a hint of Emerson, Lake and Palmer...but frig moi, that lot were a bit dull on stage, lets be honest ....




MARC BOLAN

To be BLUNT...I like showoff's...someone with a dash of flash and guts...

You will have probably noticed by this stage that I've also added Smokie and The Bay City Rollers...WHATS THAT YOU SAY? the Rollers and Smokie !!...AND once again, their in cause, they didnt exactly wear jeans and torn t-shirts and stare at their feet on stage AND they had some great tunes ( mostly Smokie, the Rollers belong to the missus's)...



A funny Rollers story just came flashing back, The Rollers were in Sydney and every chick we knew were camped outisde the Hilton (I think) so us being the rock dudes we were , we headed into town to pick up chicks..and to be fair we were doing o.k ..Till..f**king old mate yells out, and I quote "WOODY'S A POOF"..almost as one about 7 zillion birds turned as one and proceded to kick the shit out of us...I found out later my missus Deb was there..wonder if she joined in on the stomping..must ask one day......



I also  seem to remember the same guy getting us in trouble the night Leif Garrett was at Roselands..he mouthed off and we got whooped that night too, must hunt him down and kick him in the nuts.


SWEENEY TODD


And then there was Alvin Stardust, Suzi Quatro and of course the leader of the gang, Gary Glitter...criminal behaviour aside, he was a helluva showman and done a few cool tunes, as for Suzi and Alvin, well..Suzi still has a proud place in my record collection, chick can rock like no one else...saw her in Sydney a yonk or two ago...rockin show if memory serves, as for Stardust, hell I still got an Alvin record, find me someone who didnt like Coo Caa Choo and i'll show you a miserable arsehat...last time I heard of Alvin, was his Eurovision entry back in '85...he done alright and came third, it was after this slid off my radar


NOW, you will probably go "what tha" because I added Reggie Dwight to the list...BUT...think about it , do you remember what he used to walk around in back in the 70's ?....wasnt exactly subdued..he had more glitter than a top of the pops taping...I mean WOW..he stuck out like dogs nuts didnt he ...even when he came to Sydney during his coke binging days in the 80's he was done up like a sore thumb...BUT tunes for days...a true legend of music in general.



DAVID BOWIE 



SO, there you go...Narara and sunburn and Aussie greatness one week  to a mountain of shiny happy rockers the next ...yep, I do like a mixture dont I

Seeya next time 












Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Reckys BIG show Flashback: NARARA 83...I WAS THERE (I think)




The other day, probably the greatest event ever to hit my beloved Central Coast, happened when our A-League team  The Central Coast Mariners won the Hyundai A-League Grand Final...the joints buzzing, let me tell you...


and...that got me thinking about other events that have occured on the coast and naturally, I thought about the first Narara festival..(which wasn't at Narara but whose being picky) the order of bands may be off kilter..but, it wasnt last weekend O.K

 It was nowhere near friggin Narara to be honest...it held on the site next to Old Sydney Town, which is now defunct, shame it was a hoot of a place.





THE CHURCH - UNGAURDED MOMENTS

I went with a couple of mates from Aussie Post, Me, Rocky and Greg jumped in Jeffs falcon, went to Roselands and bought some tickets and proceeded north  ( for I wasnt on the coast then, I was in Sydney working)


We got to the place at Somersby and parked the car , grabbed the tent and headed over to tent city and set up...THEN we hit the bands ...and got on the piss ....I do vaguely remember some hippy chick handing out coffee ...much to my chagrin, the wank had laced it with mushies, which she forgot to mention..so I sorta watched faces appear on the flaps of her tent for a bit and wasnt she in a world of shit when i came down..fuckin idiot


...so the boys got me some actual coffee and sparked my synapsis into action..we wandered over and watched the bands and checked out the shops...I did buy a new bong actually...luckily some chap, we didnt know had some wacky tabbaky to go in it ...and we settled back and downed some beeries and had a fun meeting people we didnt know.






MARK GILLESPIE - Small Mercys


We had a fine time rocking along to the Choirboys, Aussie crawl, Jon English, Moving Pikkies and the Diviynls...cant say I was a fan of Chrissie and the boys but f**k they could rock, the Zoo played as well but I cant say I remember them even being there....


ANYWHOO...that night when we got back to tent city some prick had cut the ropes off our tent, presumably for his own use, luckily some nice young ladies had some spare rope and we joined our tents up...KEEP IT CLEAN...it has been alledged that Jeff found the bloke and ruined his weekend but I can niether deny or confirm this.


A NARARA ROSTER POSTER I KNOCKED TOGETHER

Saturday was the big day...fark moi, we drank a heap, and rocked hard, pretty much all day, I must say that I found while doing this blogaroo that I had a single of a bloke called mark Gillespie ..once again, cant say I remember him playing but its a great friggin song, its called Small mercy's....


.and it was on this particular day that I discovered THE ZARSOFF BROS...yeh I know what had I been doing right...what a great friggin band ..a true aussie classic ....The Rads had a play, so you had umpteen thousand people singing " I like drugs, I like sex"..yep The Fess Song was the hit of the avo..couldnt expect any less.





MARSEILLES - THE ANGELS 
NARARA 83



the Fess Song - The Radiators


The boys from Men at Work had a blast, once again the crowd gave them the welcome they deserved...I wasnt sick to death of Downunda just yet....Dynamic Hepnotics, INXS and The Church also had a hit out on Saturday, once again none are real favourites BUT you cant be a music snob at a festie HUH?...I gave them the respect they deserved 


THEN came The Angels..WOW...just fkn WOW...the gig of the weekend, it was that good they released it on red vinyl...and you know I had a copy...the highlight ..Doc climbing the lighting truss and leading the converged masses in a group singing of Marseille...


30 very odd years later I can still shut my eyes and see Doc giving it what for...get well soon brother....anyway, after much beer, billies and rock n roll we called it quits for the night..well, some of us did ...I've no idea how people stayed up for that long "wink wink nudge nudge"


SUNDAY.. rolled around and after a wicked breakfast of a bacon roll or seven...we jumped in the lake for a tub and got set to do it all again..people were still buzzing about Doc and his efforts of the previous night ..f**k , i'm still buzzing about it...ANYWHOO......


Mi-Sex , Jo Jo Zep, the Uncanny X men and Rosey Tatts all got up and gave it what for on the Sunday .. Goanna showed up and played Solid Rock and a very early version of let the Franklin flow...pretty cool.....Dickie Clapton got up and gave us what for, lotta people didnt like the Clapton set ...I did...nuff said...



MOVING PICTURES - BUSTIN LOOSE

Dragon showed up as well...Marc Hunter and boys were in full roar, I think they were pretty much smack free at this stage ..I could be wrong, but they didn't play like strung out junkies....BUT... for the life of me I can't remember Chisel getting up and having a blow...must of passed my cone limit or something...but by all, accounts they was the good's


MONDAY...was spent getting straight HAHAHAHAH..nary a drop of beer or a pipe was intaken...especially by Jeff he had to drive...seemed to be bush music day  both Bullamakanka and the Bushwackers showed up, apparently No fixed address played , but I cant say I even remember No fixed address even existing..if someone can help me out with them it would be good


and thus came an end to one of the wildest weekends I had..all good fun, except for that bitch with the mushies and the rope thief....



Narara 84 blog coming soon.

seeya















Tuesday, April 9, 2013

ITS A BON JOVI THING





G'day

SO...a Bon Jovi blog...I must admit to being a big fan first time I heard them, Runaway  and Tokyo Rose,  are still in my top 20 Jovi tunes...then came bloody "Slippery" ...geez,  what a album , 20 something million in the first couple of years, critics hated it, but that  only shows that crtics know a darn site less than f**k all really, now dont it?

I bought a copy of Slippery, wore the damn thing out too, just quietly,  as well...hell, went  to see the boys at the Sydney Ent Cent on the Slippery tour...unlike a few of my mates  who went, who were determined not to enjoy, and I quote, the bloody poof's..I went with  ears open, as is my usual state of listening to music, which is probably why I can listen to  Bon Jovi, Motorhead, Slim Dusty , Poison and Metallica all in the same song list...





anyway  by the time the Choirboys and Bon Jovi were done with the lads, the boys was amongst  the converted,  sadly the rest of the world aint as forthcoming and if memory serves, me  and the boys had to fight our way out of a pub near the centre that night after the gig,  thats something i'll never understand EVER...why just because somebody likes a band  that some bogun f**khead doesnt ..said first person deserves an arse kicking, if anyone  can explain that too me, give me a hoi and explain it to me....







ANYWAY, BON JOVI ..right?....here is a fun fact that I only just found out...you know  Skid Row , right?...the other New Jersey band ...



well their founder Dave "Snake" Sabo  was the guitarist on Runaway...he got replaced by Ritchie by the time the first album  proper came out , but Jon remembered his mate and helped get Skid Row signed...nice  fella that Jon....ANYWHOO..... after the Slippery tour, rest assured that regular  purchases of Jon Bon Jovi product was a regular occurence, and I seen him a few more  times as well, Sydney on the New Jersey tour and at Olympic park on the Lost Highway  tours and I caught him in the states and Holland a couple of times as well, probably the  only good thing (for the fans) was the way Doc McGee managed the band, he worked  'em till they almost dropped, us out front didnt know it, cause Jon and the boys dont half  arse it EVER...anyway, they flicked Doc after 29 months straight of touring...f**k me,   they woulda been seeing triple by that stage I reckon...so the boys took a well deserved  break...about all we heard from Jon during his holiday was the Young Guns soundtrack  which gave us "Blaze of Glory"..



.the boys re-grouped for the recoding of KEEP THE  FAITH...but bass player Alex decided that his state of mind and his physical well being  could not and would not handle anymore touring andhe retired, Jon reached out and got  another mate Huey McDonald to take up the bass position, which he still hold's till this  very day.


The resulting release, Keep the faith is a brilliant frikkin slab of rock as well..except the  press focused on Jon haircut instead of the tunes...WTF!!...frikkin media, drooling  dickheads sometimes, really.. a great album the length of his hair got more page inches  that the songs...amazing waste of fkn talent there muso reporters




I sorta lost track of Jon and the boys after Keep the Faith , what with divorces and other  shit going on in ReckyVille....then came the album called CRUSH...and my faith in Bon  Jovi was still intact..what a great fkn album, probably the best since New Jersey...but  thats all subjective I guess.


Have you seen the doco "When we were beautiful" ?....I only just watched it when the  Madison square gig came out on dvd, and I didnt realise that Jon is truly the boss and all  the band members are employees and they seem quite fine with that set-up so who am I  to question corporate formation.










Seeya next time