Internet Info 1997 December/Internet_Info_CD-ROM_Walnut_Creek_December_1997.iso/faqs/alt/answers/music/ozzy-osbourne-faq

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Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!faqserv
From: [e-mail] (Mike Lalonde)
Newsgroups: alt.music.black-sabbath,alt.music.ozzy,news.answers,alt.answers
Subject: Ozzy Osbourne FAQ/Biography
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Date: 14 Oct 1997 10:12:54 GMT
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Summary: This comprehenisve file will tell you about Ozzy's life,
   music career and of course the infamous bat.
X-Last-Updated: 1997/05/17
Originator: [e-mail]
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Archive-name: music/ozzy-osbourne-faq
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Last-modified: 1997/05/16
Version: May 16/97 (text)
URL: http://www.cyberpunk.ca/ozzy/

                    The Complete Ozzy Osbourne Biography
           If you can't find it in here, you probably never will

                                Text Version
                           Version: May 16, 1997
                By: Michael Lalonde ([e-mail])

            Also visit the "Complete Ozzy Osbourne Home Page" at
                      http://www.cyberpunk.ca/ozzy/

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 Disclaimer
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 This article is provided as is without any express or implied warranties.
While every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information
 contained in this article, the author/maintainer/contributors assume(s) no
 responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the
                 use of the information contained herein.

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                                Author's Note
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Most web pages which offer you information on Ozzy Osbourne, are sketchy.
Other pages are never updated and remain the same for over a year. Even
the commercial pages run by record companys can't beat the Ozzy fans pages
when it comes to the latest news. This text file is without a doubt the
largest source of information available on Ozzy, which can be found on the
Internet. This file may be freely distributed in all forms, or put on your
web page, providing the contents are not changed, though I doubt much would
happen even if you did :) I welcome any suggestions, corrections or
complaints you may have.

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                How to link this biography to your web page
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If you have a web page and would like your viewers to be able to access
this file right from your page, simply cut and paste the following 2 lines
into your html code:

<a href="http://www.cyberpunk.ca/ozzy/ozzybio.txt">
Click here for the Ozzy Osbourne Biography/FAQ</a>

This will guarantee you always have the latest version of the file on your
page (without having to download it from my page).

** My Cyberbeach account will be closed May 31, 1997 and the new one
will be run from the above link. Mail will have to be sent to
[e-mail] as well. ***


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                                Revision History
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 [VERSION: December 15]

- Added further information to the Alamo incident, full list of bands
  supporting Ozz-fest
- I changed some spelling errors and small facts, and also changed the
  embarassing 'Oozy' which appeared many times as a result of a spellcheck
  mistake.
- Added further information to the Alamo incident, full band list of bands
  supporting Ozz-fest
- Updated chapters 1.2, 1.4, 2.2, 2.4, 2.8, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8

 [VERSION January 19/97]

- I just added some more song samples to the B-Side area, chapter 3.1
- Added more pictures throughout the file and some sound samples
- Updated areas 1.1, 1.2, 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.5, 2.7, 3.4, 3.3, 3.6, and 3.7
- Added quotations chapter
- Added disclaimer for legal purposes

 [VERSION February 10/97]

- Updated chapters 1.1 (Thanks again Lisa), 3.0, 3.3,
  3.4 (html version), 3.9 (biography book)
- Added even more links, sounds and pictures

 [VERSION March 21 /97]

- Changed fonts and put revisions up top where you can view them
  right off the start.
- Added new tidbits to Did You Know (chapter 3.3), 2.1 (including some
  information on the dwarf), 3.7, 2.2 (Randy's death)
- Added a LOT more information concerning Ozzy's parents, siblings,
  jobs, and younger days to chapter 1.1
- Added more information to chapter 2.3 (the dove) including an interview
  with an eyewitness who was in the room at the time.

 [VERSION May 16/97]

- Added a Birmingham city link, corrected the Lucas car plant error
  ([e-mail])
- Due to my growing disinterest in my web page, I have decided not to
  continue with a graphical FAQ. If you want pictures and sounds, I
  suggest you simply visit my web page (URL is shown at the top of the
  file).


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                              Table Of Contents
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[1.0] Introduction
[1.1] What was Ozzy's childhood like?
[1.2] How did Ozzy start his music career?
[1.3] Who was Jim Simpson? (Manager Number One)
[1.4] Who was Earth/Black Sabbath?
[1.5] How did Black Sabbath come to be?
[1.6] Paranoia
[1.7] An act of SABOTAGE?
[1.8] Manager Number Two
[1.9] When and how did Ozzy leave Black Sabbath?

[2.0] Ozzy and Randy
[2.1] What the hell is this about biting a bat? (Diary of a Madman)
[2.2] When and how did Randy Rhoads die?
[2.3] What is this about a dove?
[2.4] Wife as Manager/Speak of the Devil
[2.5] Suicide Solution
[2.6] Bark at the Moon
[2.7] The Ultimate Disaster
[2.8] No Rest for the Wicked
[2.9] No More Beers
[2.10] Ozzmosis
[2.11] Why did Zakk leave Ozzy?
[2.12] Of Priests and Devils
[2.13] Will there ever be a reunion?

[3.0] Ozzy Album Discography
[3.1] Rare/B-sides/etc.
[3.2] Song Definitions
[3.3] Did You Know?
[3.4] Tattoos
[3.5] Milestones
[3.6] Questions
[3.7] Quotations
[3.8] Fan Club Info
[3.9] Where to find lyrics, tabs, links, and other info
[3.10] Ozzy's Movie Career
[3.11] What are his ex-Sabbath members doing?

[4.0] Closing Remarks
[4.1] Credits

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                             1.0  INTRODUCTION
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1968
====
 In a small German club, a band by the name of "Earth" is
up on the stage. The audience is ignoring the band as audiences typically do.
The lead singer, Ozzy, decides to get their attention. He goes back to the
dressing room, unnoticed by the audience. Backstage, he coats his hands,
face and feet in purple paint. He returns to the stage and then screams at
the audience. The audience remains oblivious to this purple man screaming
at them. The band resigns themselves to the fact that the audience is just
not going to pay them any attention.

1997
====
 Ask someone if they have heard of Celine Dion or Tom
Cochrane, and even if their answer is no, they have most likely heard about
Ozzy Osbourne or Black Sabbath. Since his debut in the late 60's as a
blues/rock singer, this man has had a world wide impact on the music scene.
You may think of him as a drugged out lunatic who sacrifices animals and
eats dead frogs for supper while worshiping Satan with dead bodies all
around him. This is of course complete and utter nonsense... I have never
heard of him using more than one dead body. :)

The most common stories are the beheading of the bat, wasn't there something
about a dove?, and what was that about the Alamo? From his childhood right on
up to his current Ozzmosis album, this file will attempt to explain it all.

At the age of 48, this man still has the mind, and at times, the body of
a 22 year old. His records still continue to sell and make it to the
charts, his concerts sell out within minutes, all this despite his never
having followed any given 'trend' as a lot of music groups try to do today.
When Alanis Morissette is 48, do you think she will still have sell out
concerts?

"When I left school I wanted to become a plumber. When I heard the Beatles
 I wanted to become a Beatle" ...Ozzy

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                    1.1 What was Ozzy's childhood like?
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 The year was 1948 and John Michael Osbourne was born on December 3rd in
the industrial town of Birmingham, England to Jack and Lillian Osbourne.
John was the fourth of six children (2 brothers, Paul and Tony) and 3 sisters
(Jean, Iris and Gillian) in a small two bedroom home at 14 Lodge Road in
 Aston, England. Needless to say the house was more than a little crowded.
Ozzy's father worked nights in a steel plant while his mother worked days in
a car assembly plant assembling electrical circuits. His family was in
poor financial shape with no money, no car and little food. In his spare
time, Ozzy would watch television. He liked shows such as "I love Lucy",
"Lassie" and "Roy Rogers". This was the lifestyle of Birmingham, a time
where you went to work all day and then to the pub to drink and play darts
until deciding to stagger home. For the Osbourne family, life was no
different. It was all work and little time to enjoy the finer moments in
life. While the Beatles were singing about flower power and loving one
another, the people of Birmingham simply had to take a good look around
them to see the reality of the world: it was hard. Life was no different for
the Osbourne family. If you would like to know more about the town of
Birmingham, click here.

While in school, other students called John, "Ozzie" or "Oz-brain" with
respect to his last name. Quite the rebel, Ozzy did however take part
in various school opera-plays such as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Mikado
and The Pirates of Penzance. There was one student at school named
Tony Iommi whom Ozzy did not get along with. Tony and John were from two
different crowds and there was no love lost between the two. Tony and his
mates would make fun of Ozzy's high voice and compared his singing to that
of a girls. The two of them would later reunite later on under totally
different circumstances.

Ozzy did not do particularly well in school and wanted to get out as soon
as he could. When asked on a school survey what his ambition was, he wrote
that he wanted to become a plumber. This was not to happen however. Ozzy
was kicked out from school. His parents argued often, and the main issue was
their lack of money. Ozzy decided that he could fix this if he could go out
and get a job. So at the age of 15, Ozzy took his first job as a plumber's
assistant. and then a toolmaker's apprentice. Ozzy then went on to work in a
slaughterhouse for two years, killing cows. Perhaps this influence his musical
style, we do not know. Other jobs included an auto mechanic, house
painter and even two weeks at a mortuary. His first musical job was workimg
in the Lucas electrical plant tuning car horns. He later said, "I liked
heavy metal
better because it was louder".

Ozzy did not care for working for other people so he decided to try crime
instead. He once tried stealing a 24 inch television set. Balanced on top of
a wall with it, and trying to keep his balance, he fell off with the
television
landing on top of him. He did some more break and enters but used a pair
of gloves with the fingers cut off. Naturally he was caught. Unable to pay
the fine, Ozzy spent
three months in Birmingham's Winson Green Prison.
While incarcerated there, Ozzy tattooed the now famous letters O-Z-Z-Y on
his left knuckles and happy faces on his knees using sewing needle and a
graphite slab. One happy face can be seen on his left knee on the "Diary of
a Madman" album cover. He would later be put in jail again for punching a
police officer in the mouth.

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                  1.2 How did Ozzy start his music career?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 After getting out of jail, Ozzy decided he did not want to go end up going
back. At this time, The Beatles were becoming increasingly popular and
becoming the craze. Ozzy thought that this would be the way to go. There was
money to be made in singing as opposed to crime. In fact the Beatles were one
of his main influences. Even to this day he still listens to the Beatles
before going out on stage. It is of interest to note that this would not be
his first musical experience though: earlier at the age of fourteen he
had already been in a band named 'The Black Panthers'.

A band by the name of "Music Machine" needed a singer because theirs was
sick. Ozzy liked the idea of being able to travel to gigs and meeting women
so he filled in. Later on he joined a band named "Approach" but didn't like
the band so he quit. He then decided to call himself "Ozzy Zig" and placed
this ad in the local music paper/shop: "Ozzy zig requires gig.
Owns own P.A.". Another 18 year old Brummie named
Terence 'Geezer' Butler
had been playing guitar for just six months when he saw Ozzy's ad on a shop
bulletin board and decided to go look him up. After the two met, they decided
to form a band named "Rare Breed". Rare Breed lasted only two shows before
they disbanded.

Elsewhere Ozzy's old schoolmate, Tony Iommi had teamed up with an 18 year old
assistant truck driver named William Ward
who had just quit his job. Tony and
Bill also decided to form a band, "The Rest", and recruited a singer named
Chris Smith. The Rest eventually moved north to a small town named Carlisle
where they renamed themselves "Mythology" and gained a large following of
fans. They played mainly blues songs inspired by such groups as The
Yardbirds, Cream, The Beatles and John Mayal.

Mythology eventually split up; Tony and Bill returned to Birmingham and
went to the music shop where they also saw Ozzy's ad. Tony was hoping this
was not the same 'Ozzy' he had went to school with because that Ozzy could
not sing well and the two of them disliked one other. It turned out that it
was
indeed the same Oz and decided it would not be a good idea to form a band
together. Tony was also not impressed with Ozzy because he had very short
hair (really!). Since Ozzy and Geezer still needed a drummer they later
approached Tony to see if he knew of a drummer. Bill was at Tony's place and
agreed to join them but only if they'd let Tony join too. So along with a
slide guitar player named Jim Phillips and a saxophone player, they formed
a new band. The new band returned to Carlisle where Tony and Bill had been a
success and played some gigs. Not being pleased with a six piece band, they
broke up and then rebanded once the two extras had gone. This was a
polite way of getting rid of the two unnecessary members. The foursome them
learned 18 songs in their first week together. Ozzy named the band "Polka
Tulk Blues Band" after a tin of talcum powder. It has also been said that
the name came from a Pakistani clothing store named the 'Polka Tulk Trading
Company'. Geezer Butler switched to playing bass guitar since Tony was now
the lead guitar player. Unable to afford a bass guitar, Geezer simply took
two of the guitar strings off his guitar and re-tuned it to make a bass
guitar. Another name change ensued and the group was soon known as "Earth".

History:
-------

   Ozzy Osbourne     Geezer Butler     Tony Iommi     Bill Ward
         |                 |               |              |
    Black Panthers (1962)  |        Rocking Chevrolets    |
         |                 |               |              |
    Music Machine/Approach |               |              |
         |                 |               >>> The Rest <<<
         >>>> Rare Breed <<<                      |
                  |                               |
               >>>>> Polka Tulk Blues Band <<<<<
                           |
             Earth (Autumn 1967-August 1969)
                           |
          Black Sabbath (Aug. 1969-1978)
                            |
   Black Sabbath (1978-) [After Ozzy left, Ronnie James Dio left 'Rainbow'
                          to replace him)

"Black Sabbath makes Led Zeppelin look like a kindergarten house band"
...Advertisment by Jim Simpson

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               1.3 Who was Jim Simpson? (Manager Number One)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jim Simpson was a musician who played jazz trumpet. He was also the manager
of a Brummie band named 'Bakerloo Blues Band'. Unable to find a place where
he could promote the band, he opened his own place called "Henry's
Blueshouse". Henry's, located at Hill Street and Station Road was an
instant success. It wasn't before long before the club had to stop
accepting new bands. A band that was just starting out, Led Zeppelin, would
also be one of the first bands to play Henry's.

In 1969, the four members of Earth approached Jim and asked if they could
play at Henry's. They also wanted him to be their manager since they knew
nothing of the business sense of things. He told them that they could open
for the band 'Ten Years After', which pleased them. Happy to have a manager
who supposedly cared for their interests, they recorded a song in tribute
to him, "Song for Jim". The song was a spoof of their manager and the jazz
music he played. This elusive song is still sought after by Sabbath fans
worldwide. Simpson would also give the band some of his jazz records to
inspire them to write songs.

It is of interest to mention that around this time, Tony left to join
Jethro Tull. While Tony did not appear on any of Tull's albums, he did make
an appearance at the "Rolling Stone's Rock and Roll Circus" which was never
released, because the Stones were upstaged by other acts. Tony and Jethro
can be heard on a bootleg called "Archangel Rides Again". The movie is
going to be finally released in the movie festival circuit later this year.
Tony's stint with Jethro Tull was very brief (for two weeks). He left Tull
and was soon back in Earth.

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                     1.4 Who was Earth/Black Sabbath?
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 BAND MEMBER                      FULL NAME            BIRTHDATE

 Tony Iommi [guitar]              Anthony Frank Iommi  Feb 19, 1948 in
                                                       Aston
 Bill Ward [drums]                William Ward         May 5, 1948 in UK

 Ozzy Osbourne [vocals/harmonica] John Michael         Dec. 3, 1948 in
                                  Osbourne             Aston

 Geezer Butler [bass]             Terence Michael      July 17, 1949
                                  Butler


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                   1.5 How did Black Sabbath come to be?
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"When we hit America we were the wild bunch. We bought dope and f***ed
anything that moved" ...Ozzy

While waiting to go into a rehearsal one day, they noticed a Boris Karloff
movie playing named "Black Sabbath" (1935). Geezer mentioned it was strange
that people would go to a movie to scare themselves silly. Until this time
they had only played other artist's material. They decided to use the name
of the movie as the name for their first original song.

One day the band showed up to do a gig at Henry's. There, someone mentioned
they liked the bands single. The only problem was the foursome hadn't ever
released a single! They then realized that there were two bands by the same
name. The audience were of upper class and expecting a totally different
type of music. Unable to back out of the show, the scruffy four played
blues and rock to the audience. It was a disaster! The band however did
have some fun in watching the crowd try to dance to their type of music.

As a result, Geezer came up with the idea to change their name to that of
the Karloff movie, 'BLACK SABBATH' to avoid being confused with the other
band named Earth. They now had a song and a band name taken from the
movie's title. This would also reflect the groups interest in the occult.
It has also been said that the name Black Sabbath came from Geezer's
interest in occult writer Denis Wheatley.

Not having any money, the band relied on Tony's mother who owned a
chocolate shop, for the use of a van, food and cigarettes. Sometimes the
group would get gigs on their own, other times they would show up at a
place where another band was to be playing. In the event that the scheduled
band failed to show up, the Sabs would take their place. They played the
Star Club in Hamburg in Jan. 1969, a place the Beatles had made famous.
They were so popular that they were booked to come back for 5 more shows.
They would play 7 shows a day, and write new material as they went along.
This would also explain why their early songs had different lyrics than the
final album versions.

As Black Sabbath made news, a group of Satanists asked them to play at
their "night of Satan" at Stonehenge. They refused. The head witch of
England, Alec Sanders who was a regular fan of Sabbaths, informed them that
these Satanists had placed a hex on the band members. Ozzy asked his father
to make aluminum crosses, which he did, and then had them blessed. They
wore these crosses 24 hours a day for protection. The cross remains a well
known Black Sabbath symbol even to this day. You see, Black Sabbath as
Satanic and dark as the name sounded, had nothing to do with the devil when
they chose their name.

An independent producer named Tony Hall paid for the band to record some
demo songs at the Regent Sound studio on Tottenham Court Rd. These were
produced by Roger Bayed, whose name appears on many of their albums. One
demo cut, a single called "Evil Woman", was released on the Fontana record
label in Jan. 1970.  This was a cover song from a Minnesota band named Crow,
which did quite well unbeknownst to the band. One demo was called "The Rebel"
and is played as a 10 second sample in "The Black Sabbath Story - I" video.
The song, about a reclusive voyeur, is one of the rarest Sabbath songs in
that it did not make it to the final album.

Their first completed album was released on Friday, Feb. 13th, 1970. It
took them only eight hours to record and cost a mere 800 British pounds
(approx. $1200 US). The album was recorded in four tracks on an 8 track
machine. The band was not that popular at this time, they simply wanted to
do what they liked best... sing about the darker, more depressing things
that surrounded them. It was not likely they ever intended to make the big
time, in fact Ozzy has said he was just happy to show his mother that his
voice was recorded on a piece of vinyl. It was not as easy as it sounds
though, it took them 14 tries before Jim Simpson found a record company
(Vertigo) that would carry the album.

The record company chose to put an upside down cross on the
gatefold of the album and thus people readily associated the band with
Satanism. The band knew nothing about this and did not want the upside down
cross, however they backed down from the record company's "wiser and
higher" marketing methods. Inside the inverted cross was a poem. The poem
seemed to correspond with the album's cover showing a woman standing in a
countryside, apparently in a gothic setting. The poem is called "Still
Falls the Rain". Due to requests by fans, it is shown below:

*** STILL FALLS THE RAIN ***

"Still falls the rain,
the veils of darkness shroud the blackened trees,
which, contorted by some unseen violence,
shed their tired leaves, and bend their boughs
toward a gray earth of severed bird wings.

Among the grasses, poppies bleed before a gesticulating death,
and young rabbits, born dead in traps,
stand motionless, as though guarding the silence
that surrounds and threatens to engulf
all those that would listen.

Mute birds, tired of repeating yesterdays terrors,
huddle together in the recesses of dark corners,
heads turned from the dead, black swan
that floats upturned in a small pool in the hollow.

There emerges from this pool a faint, sensual mist,
that traces its way upwards to caress the feet
of the headless martyr's statue
whose only achievement was to die too soon,
and who couldn't wait to loose.

The cataract of darkness forms fully,
the long black night begins, yet still
by the lake a young girl waits.
Unseeing she believes herself unseen, she smiles faintly
at the distant tolling bell, and the still falling rain."

The first album contained the following songs:

  1) Black Sabbath (a dark doomy sounding song)
  2) The Wizard (a song about a wizard who walks through towns cheering
      people up through the use of magic)
  3) Wasp/Behind The Wall of Sleep
  4) Bassically/N.I.B.  (a song about the devil falling in love with a
     mortal woman and changing to a good person)
  5) Wicked World  (society, and our struggle to survive)
  (Euro versions had 'Evil Woman' instead, another great single)
  6) Sleeping Village/Warning  (a very blues influenced song that is an
     easy listener, about found/lost love)

This was definitely NOT a satanic album! Today there are still people who
hear the words "Black Sabbath" and think hard rock devil music. This is
plain ignorance. Remember the band was originally a blues band, and there
is a definite blues sound in their debut album.

Ozzy brought the album home to proudly show his parents. The Osbourne's
were the type of people who would sit around the phonogram with a beer and
merrily sing alone to the records. This was not to be though. When Mr.
Osbourne heard the album he asked John, "Are you sure you were just
drinking alcohol?, this isn't music, this is weird." The first song began
with a church bell tolling and the sound of rain falling in the background,
and was eery to say the least. Ozzy too had not heard the final product
until now. It would reach #8 in the UK charts and #23 in the United States.

The four unknowns were now finally making a name for themselves with the
release of an album. It is of interest to note that their album followed
the release of Led Zeppelin's first album. Both bands knew one another
personally since they both played in the same club and the music scene was
a close knit group. It came in the form of a surprise to the Sabs when
someone put on a brand new album from Led Zeppelin. Bill Ward was close to
Zeppelin's drummer, John Bonham. He talks about the relationship between
the two bands in the book, "The Story of Black Sabbath".

It is of interest to point out that in February of 1970, the same month
their debut album came out, they broke the attendance record at Simpson's
club which had remained untouched for over a year by Jethro Tull. Tony had
made the right choice in returning to Sabbath it would seem. With an album
comes touring, and with touring comes America. America would have a great
impact on them as well. Ozzy has said that people would go around saying,
"if you go to San Francisco be sure to wear a flower in your hair". This
mystified him because he did not know what or where San Francisco was. When
the band eventually did tour America, it took them by storm. They had never
seen anything like it. They had their share of groupies and took in the
marvelous sights of America. They played one of their first shows at the
Fillmore East. Some old 8mm footage of their first trip overseas can be
seen on the commercial video, "The Black Sabbath Story - Volume 1". It must
be said, that on this particular videotape, Bill Ward the drummer relates
an interesting story: While playing in New York, the audience was still at
the stage where they would simply sit there and listen to the music. The
band wanted a stronger reaction from the audience since they were putting
150% effort into their songs. Ozzy would often yell at the audience to get
up and go crazy (as many bootlegs can attest to). At one particular show
they were growing fed up with the audience just sitting there and Bill
picked up his drum set and threw it at the audience. Bill says that as a
result, that night they did SEVEN encores. Can you think of any band in
today's scene which does seven encores? By the time they reached Los
Angeles, people had already heard about this "Black Sabbath".

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                                1.6 Paranoia
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

While working on their next album the band released a single called
"Paranoid". The single was very popular, maybe too popular: On October 23,
1970 the band attempts to play the Mayfair Ballroom in Newcastle. The crowd
is very drunk and all over the stage and equipment. The band, unsuccessful
in trying to get them off the stage, starts playing their hit single
Paranoid. 70 minutes later the show is done and the band is very upset.
Someone put their foot through one of their big PA speakers, Bill's drum
sticks and cymbals were stolen and a bass drum mic destroyed. The audience
had gone crazy over their new single and Ozzy says, "If it means us having
to give up putting out singles then we will. We want people to listen to
us, not try to touch us. I was really terrified, shocked out of my mind."
This would also be the gig that would give birth to their new song,"Fairies
Wear Boots". While walking down a street some time after the show, the band
was attacked by a group of skinheads. Tony's arm was badly hurt and this
forced them to cancel their next show. Due to the fact the skinheads wore
boots, they decided to make fun of the punks in the song.

It was not uncommon for the band to be verbally abusive if the audience was
not responding properly. If they were talking, the band would just crank up
the music some more. Bands were so loud during this time the Leeds City
Council introduced a "96 decibel law". If any band's music was to rise
above 96 decibels the amplifiers would cut out. Sabbath did not consider
their night's work complete unless they hit at least three cut outs a
night.

PARANOID
--------
The album, 'Paranoid', was recorded in four days once again at
Regent Sound and then released in Jan. 1971. The cover shows a person
running out of a forest with a sword and shield in hand. This seemed to
listeners, a strange representation of being paranoid. The truth is that
the album was to originally be named "War Pigs" (mans constant desire to
have weapons of destruction and killing). The record company objected to
the album title and so it was named after one of the songs. The song "War
Pigs" came about when Sabbath was told tales of horror and war from
soldiers while playing an American air force base. The Paranoid album
reached FIRST place in the UK charts and 12th in American charts. It was
during the span between the Paranoid and Master of Reality albums that Jim
Simpson was fired as the band's manager. The reason for this is will be
discussed in a later chapter.

MASTER OF REALITY
-----------------
In 1971 "Master of Reality" was released, charting 5th place in UK
and 8th place in USA song charts. Ozzy also married his first wife, Thelma
Mayfair and became a stepfather to her son, Elliot. This album would take
an interesting turn with the release of "After Forever" which was clearly a
religious, believe in God, song. The church called this blasphemy. People
disliked the band, perhaps for their After Forever song or perhaps for what
they represented. In any event, 1971 saw some strange events: At a show in
Memphis, their dressing rooms had crosses painted in blood on the walls.
During the show a Satanist jumped on stage with a sacrificial knife. The
local witches coven later gathered outside the band's hotel and Geezer
tried to scare them away with a fake hex. It was also the year that threats
were made that the band would be shot sometime during their US tour. At one
show the lights suddenly failed into their 3rd song and Ozzy stood frozen
solid with fear. The band also included a song titled "Sweet Leaf" which
openly talked about the band's usage of marijuana. The song begins with a
coughing sound (as if someone had just inhaled the drug). In actual fact,
Tony had just finished smoking drugs in a water pipe and the sounds were
included in the final version.

VOLUME 4
--------
The following year "Volume 4" was released. As with the inverted
cross case and the "War pigs" album title, the record company would again
take authority over the bands wishes. Volume 4 (hence the fourth Sabbath
album) was to have originally been called "Snowblind", another drug
reference. The record company thought this was too controversial and so
they had to change it. The band was becoming involved in hard core drugs by
this time (including cocaine). During the recording of Volume 4, the band
sat around in a Jacuzzi snorting coke all day and would get up every so
often to record a new song. We can see why Snowblind was an appropriate
album title. Not being allowed to use it as an album title, they came up
with this amusing line on the cover sleeve of the record: "Thanks to the
COKE-Cola Company". It was also during this year that Ozzy and Thelma had
their first mutual child, Jessica.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                          1.7 An act of SABOTAGE?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"For the first part of their career they were managed by two of the
biggest crooks in the business. They made nothing, I mean nothing."
               ...Sharon on Sabbath's early management

The year is now 1974. The band is living a good life of drugs, sex, cars,
etc. If they wanted a car or a house they would ask for it and receive it
almost the next day. Ozzy even owned a Jaguar which he smashed while
backing out of his driveway, the same day he was to sell it. What the band
never saw though, was money. They became very successful especially in the
UK charts. Their material possessions were provided by their new management
of Patrick Meehan and Wilf Pine. What happened was this: During the same
year that Paranoid was soaring up the charts, Pat and Wilf left their
management company (which was Don Arden's, more on him later). The duo
offered the band a chauffeured limo, champagne dinner at the Speakeasy, and
filled the Sab's heads with ideas that Jim was mismanaging them and they
could do a hell of a lot better with them instead. The Sabs agreed and on
Sept.4, 1970 Jim Simpson found out he was history. The man who had turned
the four nobodies into a juggernaut was dismissed. The Sabs were also not
happy that with Jim they were being paid a lot less than what they should
have been getting. The reason was that Jim insisted they perform at the
shows they had already been booked for, even six months prior. These older
bookings were for a lot less money than the usual fee, now around 2000
pounds per show. Simpson launched lawsuits against them for of breach of
contract. Some concerts later, Ozzy was handed a subpoena on stage for
Simpson's lawsuits. The resulting court case would last years.

California saw the Cal Jam concert take place in Ontario on April 6th. This
was a televised concert to millions of viewers as well as over 450,000
audience members. It featured bands such as Electric Light Orchestra. In
the middle of the night, their management threatened the band with a
lawsuit if they did not play the Cal Jam concert. The band had not
practiced for months and was not ready for a show, especially one with over
450,000 people in attendance. It has been said that the band did not even
know they were to play the show. This would be one of the final straws for
the band and they soon began the process of getting rid of their second
management. Ozzy talks a bit about this in the documentary, "The Decline of
Western Civilization II" where the band questions how much money they are
really making if their managers could afford houses and cars.

Once again the band gets rid of their management and decides to form their
own management. This allowed them to have more control and say into what
decisions were made for the band. It would be a learning experience as well
since they had never dabbled in the management aspects before. They decided
a rest was in order since they were exhausted. Their next US tour would be
in three short installments rather than one big tour to further save them
exhaustion and nervous breakdowns. Oh yes, remember all the flashy cars and
houses they were given? They were never really theirs, and when they dumped
the management duo they lost everything. They still had the Warner Bros.
label in America though, and stayed with WB during the management change.

SABOTAGE
--------
In September of 1975, the band released their "Sabotage" album.
The last song on the album, "The Writ", would reveal their feelings towards
their previous management and all the problems they'd encountered:

 The Writ
 ========
 The way I feel is the way I am
 I wish I'd walked before I started to run to you, just to you
 What kind of people do you think we are?
 Another joker who's a rock and roll star for you, just for you
 The faithful image of another man
 The endless ocean of emotion I swam for you, yeah for you
 The shot troopers laying down on the floor
 I wish they'd put an end to my running war with you, yeah with you

 Are you metal, are you man?
 You've changed in life since you began, yeah began
 Ladies digging gold from you
 Will they still dig now you're through, yeah you're through

 You bought and sold me with your lying words
 The voices in the deck that you never heard came through, yeah came through
 Your folly finally got to spend with a gun
 A poisoned father who has poisoned his son, that's you, yeah that's you
 I beg you please don't let it get any worse
 The anger I once had has turned to a curse on you, Yeah curse you
 All of the promises that never came true
 You're gonna get what is coming to you, that's true, ah, that's true

 Are you Satan, are you man?
 You've changed the life since it began, it began
 Vultures sucking gold from you
 Will they still suck now you're through

 The search is on, so you just better run
 And find yourself another way
 Probably dead, they don't feel a thing
 To keep you living for another day

 You are nonentity, you have no destiny
 You are a victims of a thing unknown
 A mantle picture of a stolen soul
 A fornication of your golden throne

 A smiling face, it means the world to me
 So tired of sadness and of misery
 My life it started some time ago
 Where it will end, I don't know
 I thought I was so good I thought I was fine
 I feel my world is out of time

 But everything is gonna work out fine
 If it don't I think I'll lose my mind

 I know, I know, I know, yeah yeah I know
 Listen to me while I sing this song
 You might just think the words are wrong
 Too many people advising me   [managers, lawyers]
 But they don't know what my eyes see

 But everything is gonna work out fine
 If it don't I feel I'm lose my mind

The anger is very strong in both the lyrics and the tone of Ozzy's voice.
After hearing the song one cannot help but feel sympathy for what the band
had been enduring. Some album labels (Warner Bros. for example) have a
hidden tune following the song, you need to really turn up the volume to
hear it. It features the band playing piano and singing an old 'Nitty
Gritty Dirt Band' song called "Blow on the Jug". A sound engineer caught
this during a recording session and it was put on the album. Sadly, there
are a lot of other Sab cover songs which we will never get to hear. You can
hear the 'Blow on the Jug' song by clicking right here!

Reporter: "Do you have a drinking problem?"
Ozzy: "Yes, I can't find a bar."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                           1.8 Manager Number Two
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Needing a new manager, Don Arden was hired. Don's management was the same
company that their last management had parted from. Don managed Black
Sabbath while his daughter, Sharon (then 18) was his receptionist. Ozzy and
Sharon met when Ozzy walked into his office wearing a tap faucet around his
neck and sat on the floor - refusing to use a chair. Sharon was terrified
of Ozzy upon first sight. She even tried to get another woman working in
the office to bring him a cup of tea, rather than bring it to him herself.
The two of them would get to know one another quite well over the years as
Don and the Sab four conducted business.

Money and fame were no longer problems for the four of them, instead the
only challenge was how to come up with another best selling album. A very
audible change in the bands musical direction began to show in their 1974
album, "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath". [bloody sabbath] Despite the title, the
album contains deep lyrics with many different musical arrangements. The
songs seemed more uplifting and vibrant than their previous dark, gloomy
sounding material and a more energetic sound. Electronic instruments also
changed the way they were able to record songs. This album, probably their
best album with Ozzy as vocalist, placed 4th and 11th respectively in UK
and American charts.

TECHNICAL ECSTASY
-----------------
"Technical Ecstasy" was released in 1976. This album was
considerably less heavy then previous albums, and perhaps was due to the
band just being fed up with it all. They had succeeded in making a lot of
money, owned as many cars as we own socks, and were getting burned out from
constant touring. T.E. would contain a song titled, "It's Alright"
featuring Bill the drummer on vocals, a very gentle song. The album cover
also set the stage for something entirely new from the band. No more dark
images, this artistic cover showed two robots having sex (or so it has been
said). Sadly, Technical Ecstasy did not sell very well.

The late 1970's also saw some deep trouble for the band. In 1977, two years
after he retired, Ozzy's father passed away. This took a toll on Ozzy and
he quit Black Sabbath. Ozzy's father, Jack, who thought his son would
either end up in prison or end up being someone very special, died knowing
his son had made something out of himself. While on his leave of absence,
Ozzy asked Glenn Hughes (another vocalist who would eventually spend some
time in Sabbath) about the two of them forming a band. Oz was fed up with
Sabbath by this time, though he kept his feelings about this to himself.
Glenn did not join Ozzy in his desire. Meanwhile the band had to continue
work on its upcoming album, "Never Say Die".

 NEVER SAY DIE
 -------------
They took in Dave Walker (who used to be with Fleetwood Mac)
to write new material for their album. Ozzy decided he
wanted to rejoin the band, but he refused to sing any of the
songs written with Dave Walker. So Dave left and the band
had to rewrite all of their songs. Tony booked a studio in
Toronto, Ontario because it was where the Rolling Stones had
recorded one of their albums.

The band traveled up there in the middle of winter to record the album.
Ozzy has since said it was a stupid thing to do and that it was freezing up
there. Tony was just trying to keep the band together in a time of turmoil.

There is one song titled "Junior's Eyes" which is available on the
"Archangel Rides Again" bootleg, featuring Sabbath with Dave Walker on
vocals. Junior's Eyes was kept for the final album with the same music but
Ozzy rewrote the lyrics in a way as to say goodbye to his father.

 Junior's Eyes
 =============
 Junior's eyes looked up to the skies in tears
 He prayed that his maker, the giver and taker, would `pear
 Junior sighed, as his hands reached out to the sky
 Junior cried, the day that his best friend died

 (chorus)
 You're coming home again tomorrow
 I'm sorry it won't be for long
 With all the pain I've watched you live within
 I'll try my hardest not to cry
 But it is time to say goodbye

 Junior's eyes, they couldn't disguise the pain
 His father was leaving, and Junior is grieving again
 Innocent eyes watched the man who had gave everything
 Junior's sorrow, who knew what tomorrow would bring?

 (chorus)

 Junior's eyes looked into the skies once more
 Now he knew well, this life was hell for sure
 He desperately tried, his fingertips stretched to the stars, yeah
 Reaching for reason, along with the time and the stars

 (chorus)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
               1.9 When and how did Ozzy leave Black Sabbath?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

By now, all four members of the band were staying in their rooms all day
and doing hard drugs and booze. They had cars, success, and perhaps little
motivation to release another album. Ozzy himself has said he only wanted
to release an album to make money and get fat off of beer. Ozzy would
subsequently not show up for weeks at a time for practice. They were to
begin work on their next album, "Heaven and Hell". Tony, having met Ronnie
James Dio (ex-Rainbow) by this time, then asked Bill to get rid of Ozzy.
Tony was fed up with Ozzy and was interested in having Dio as a vocalist.
After the 1978 NSD tour, Ozzy was told by Bill, that they no longer wanted
him in the band. Bill feels bad about doing this because him and Oz were
best of friends and yet Bill wanted Ozzy out of the band as well. People
still ask how Ozzy left, the truth is that both him and Tony Iommi say he
was fired. Ozzy also adds that he was relieved at this. In actual fact Ozzy
was asked many times on the last day to leave before being fired. For some
time now Ozzy wanted to go into a new musical direction and perhaps was
unable to do so with the politics of the band being the way they were.
Tony, being the transportation, would never be spoken against by the other
members of the band. 1978 saw the end of the original Black Sabbath. Their
last tour would be the "Never Say Die" tour. Appropriately named.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                             2.0 Ozzy and Randy
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

After being fired from Sabbath, Ozzy spent three months staying in his
hotel room. He would order out for pizza and booze and have his dealer drop
off cocaine for him. He basically thought his life was over. It was around
this time that his friend Sharon Arden suggested he start a new band. Over
in Los Angeles, a 23 year old guitar player named Randy Rhoads was turning
heads.

        Born Dec. 6, 1956 in Santa Monica, Randy was with Quiet Riot (who
        are best remembered for their hit "Cum On Feel The Noize"). Randy
        had recorded two albums with Quiet Riot, released only in Japan.
        Randy was introduced to Ozzy through Dana Strum (now of
        Slaughter). Randy showed up at Ozzy's audition and reportedly
        played for just five minutes before Oz said he was in. With Bob
        Daisley on bass and Lee Kerslake on drums, they recorded an album,
        "Blizzard of Ozz", in England. The album would also contain a
        melody titled "Dee" which was dedicated to Randy's mother,
        Dolores, a source of inspiration for Randy. The album was released
        on Don Arden's JET Record label. What about Don Arden and Black
        Sabbath? Well when Ozzy was fired, and Ozzy went solo, the record
        company said bye-bye to the Sabs.

 Ozzy then decided to tour, with his first solo concert in Glasgow,
 Scotland on September 12, 1980. What you probably don't know is
 that Ozzy had two shows before his debut under the band name of
 "Law". The opening day of his first solo concert he and Sharon
 paced the streets nervously. Since people in Scotland usually
 showed up at the concert without prepaying for tickets, they had
 no way of knowing how many people would show up. As it turned out
 it was a big success.

Ozzy played all of his Blizzard of Ozz album and some Sabbath songs.
Eventually he broke down and cried because he realized that he could make
it on his own without the other three Sabbath members with whom he had
paved the road to success. You must realize that when Ozzy was in Sabbath
he was really not a contributing member of the band. Geezer wrote most of
the song lyrics and Ozzy would come by and sing the words, but he had
little to do with the actual contributions to the songs[*]. Now Ozzy and
Randy were the main writers and had equal say as to what went into the
songs.

[*] Ozzy did write 'Am I Going Insane' (his feelings about society's views
towards him and his anger towards society) and 'Who Are You?'

Since this chapter will be the end of the Black Sabbath era, here is a list
of the albums which were recorded with any of the original members. As you
can see, in the end only Tony chose to remain in the group:

                  Ozzy            Tony            Bill            Geezer
                =======================================================

Black Sabbath     *                *               *                *
Paranoid          *                *               *                *
Master of Reality *                *               *                *
Volume 4          *                *               *                *
Sabbath Bloody    *                *               *                *
Sabotage          *                *               *                *
We Sold Our Soul  *                *               *                *
Technical Ecstasy *                *               *                *
Never Say Die     *                *               *                *
Heaven and Hell                    *               *                *
Mob Rules                          *                                *
Live Evil                          *                                *
Born Again                         *               *                *
Seventh Star (was to be solo)      *
Eternal Idol                       *
Headless Cross                     *
Tyr                                *
Dehumanizer                        *                                *
Cross Purposes                     *                                *

"Who do you think you were in previous incarnations?"
"I think I was a bat" ... Ozzy some years before the "incident"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
               2.1 What the hell is this about biting a bat?
                            (Diary of a Madman)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 The following year, "Diary of a Madman" was released. An
 interesting note, Ozzy's son, Elliot is shown on the album cover.
 Though production of the album was rushed towards the end so that
 the band could get out and tour, Ozzy has said he liked this album
 better of the two. The album came out the same time as Sabbath's
 Mob Rules album. Diary soared to the top 15 on US charts while Mob
 Rules remained at #29. Ozzy's first two albums would sell over 6
 million copies. As they toured, Randy would often hold a guitar
 clinic for kids who wanted to learn to play guitar. A kid named
 Joe Holmes took lessons from Randy, and would later have an impact
 on Ozzy's life as well.

The Diary tour was nicknamed Night of the Living Dead tour due to various
misfortunes: The entire band was expelled from a San Diego over Ozzy's
reputation, the prop truck broke down, and in Minneapolis a crane fell and
crushed $8000 worth of synthesizers. On the upside, the stage setting for
Diary of a Madman was a huge castle complete with fog. The drummer was
situated on a raised platform, and there was an opening in the center of
the stage where a dwarf would come out to give Ozzy water and towels. The
dwarf was actually Little John Allen who played R2D2 in Star Wars. It has
been brought to my attention that Kenny Baker actually played R2D2 so I
don't know which name is correct. John Allen suffered mock abuse by having
pig entrails tossed at him, he was stuffed into a hole and he was even
hanged for prolonged periods from a noose (as shown on some videos). This
was accomplished with a harness so as not to really choke him, but how did
he manage to stay up for so long??

During the Diary tour, Ozzy would throw raw meat at his audience. It was
even part of his contract that 25 pounds of calves livers and pigs
intestines be thrown. A parent once phoned the promotor of the show asking
how to get blood out of the clothes. As the tour continued, people would
bring meat to the show to throw back at him. As time passed, the audience
brought dead frogs, cats, snakes, etc. to throw onto the stage. Once,
someone threw a toy doll onto the stage and Ozzy freaked out thinking that
someone had thrown a real infant up on stage.

On Jan. 20 at a Des Moines, Iowa concert some winner threw a real bat up on
stage. The bat lay still because of the spotlights on the stage, and so
Ozzy picked it up, THINKING IT WAS A TOY RUBBER BAT. He bit into the bat,
taking off its head. Immediately the audience and Sharon freaked out. Ozzy
was rushed to emergency to have rabies shots. It is reported that at the
time he was treating the whole thing as a joke, apparently barking like a
dog when wheeled into the hospital. He sent the crew back to find the bat
to find out if it was in fact real or not, the bat could not be found. The
shots would continue for about a week, with needles in each buttock, arms
and leg. Ozzy would also faint or collapse at the concerts which followed.
Ozzy's advice on the situation is, "if you want to be a complete dick, try
it". Subsequently the bat would become a symbol for Ozzy on his upcoming
albums, and even a tattoo. The animal humane society would become involved
and show up to boycott Ozzy concerts. From this point on, he was marked a
madman and his reputation began to precede him. One such nasty rumor, and
sure sign of people's ability to go overboard with gossip and rumors is
this little gem: Before one concert even started, Ozzy supposedly threw
three small dogs into the audience. He refused to play the show until all
the dogs came back to him dead. The story is not true. It was the honest
mistake with a bat which would cement itself in people's minds, even to
this day.

[Ed: I can recall when Ozzy came to my home town on the Diary tour, the
SPCA and police were there threatening to take action if any animals were
harmed on stage. Ozzy has never returned.]

"If they were buzzing the bus, like people say, it probably meant
that Randy was struggling with the pilot to stop him from crashing it"
 Kevin Dubrow of Quiet Riot

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  2.2 When and how did Randy Rhoads die?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

In 1981, Ozzy divorced his first wife, Thelma. They were separated soon
after the day he came home (drunk) to find a bailiff at the door, and all
of his belongings outside. He was told that if he stepped inside the house
he would be arrested. Ozzy was not exactly what you would call a father
figure. He would leave home for days, weeks, at a time and stay at friends
places until they kicked him out. Rather than go through the divorce
proceedings, Ozzy told her to just keep everything. By now Ozzy and Sharon
had gotten to the point where they decided to get married. Sharon had been
hoping this would also get Ozzy a better deal since her father was the one
managing the recording and managerial contracts.

On March 19th, 1982 Ozzy and his band were on their way to Orlando, FL from
Knoxville, TN. Ozzy and Randy had been talking about their recent success.
Randy mentioned wanting to leave to pursue a degree in classical guitar at
UCLA. Ozzy has said that if Randy were still alive, it is doubtful that
Randy would still be playing with him.] During the trip, they stopped to do
some repairs on the tour bus at its base near Leesburg, Florida. The bus
driver, Andrew Aycock invited some of the people for a ride in his
Beechcraft Bonanza airplane. The bus driver took Don Airey and Jake Duncan
(the tour manager) for a spin. When the plane landed, the driver went for
another ride, this time with Randy and Ozzy's seamstress, Rachael
Youngblood, 58. The pilot of the plane was presumably under the influence
of cocaine (it was later found in drug tests). The pilot's ex-wife was
standing outside the bus and it is assumed the pilot dove the plane into
the bus in an attempt to kill her. The plane clipped the tour bus and
careened into a nearby garage where it exploded. Rachel and Randy were both
killed in the crash. Ozzy's new solo career had come to a screeching halt.

He would continue the tour in April with a quick shoe in of Bernie Torme.
Bernie joined Ozzy after the group he was in, 'Deep Purple', disbanded so
Ian Gillan could join... you guessed it, Black Sabbath. Bernie would not
stay with Ozzy long however. Torme couldn't handle being in front of so
many people as he was used to smaller clubs and told Ozzy he had to quit.
Brad Gillis left 'Night Ranger' to replace Torme for the remainder of the
tour. Brad Gillis also appeared on the 'Speak of the Devil' LP. After the
tour Ozzy would hire Jakey Lou Williams (Jake E. Lee) with whom he recorded
1984's 'Bark At The Moon' album. Gillis would later rejoin Night Ranger.
Brad may have wanted to stay on with Ozzy but Oz didn't really think the
two of them were compatible. On Feb. 19, 1982, while visiting San Antonio,
Texas, Ozzy was again drunk after drinking a bottle of Courvoisier. Sharon
decided to lock his clothes in the hotel room so that Ozzy would not go
outside and cause trouble. To solve this problem, Ozzy dressed up in one of
Sharon's evening gowns. While taking some photos of himself in drag, he had
to urinate and did so on the historical Alamo building. He was arrested and
charged with defiling a national monument and banned from playing in San
Antonio any further. This would be another blow to his image that would
haunt him to this day. The ban was eventually lifted.

Ozzy married his long time friend Sharon, on a Honolulu-Hawaii beach on
July 4, 1982.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       2.3 What is this about a dove?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

While the bat incident which still haunts Oz's reputation to this day can
be called an accident, the incident with the dove can be called stupidity.
Here is the story: Ozzy had just signed to a new record label, CBS. He and
his wife Sharon were being introduced to the head executives of CBS records
in Los Angeles. CBS was not too interested in Ozzy because they had just
signed Adam Ant. Ozzy was just another album to them, and they were not
interested in the person behind the music. Sharon decided it would be a
good publicity stunt for Ozzy to walk into the office and throw two doves
up into the air.

        The stunt worked, and made CBS pay attention to Ozzy. It also made
        the nation pay attention to Ozzy as well. After throwing one dove
        up in the air, Ozzy bit the head off of the other one. It is not
        known whether Sharon intended for Ozzy to actually bite the dove's
        head off or not. Ozzy has already admitted he (not surprisingly)
        had drunk a bottle of booze beforehand. Make no mistake about it,
        Sharon Osbourne is a shrewd marketer and I wouldn't put any dirty
        trick past her. What follows is an interview with an eyewitness
        (from Epic) who saw the event:

Q: What happened?
A: It was a normal Thursday morning marketing meeting down in the
conference room. It was just prior to the release of Ozzy's first solo
album. His management and Jet Records, which is the associated label that
puts out his albums, had arranged for him to pay a little surprise visit to
us, to say "Hi, my name is Ozzy Osbourne, and let's make this record a
hit".

Q: Is it unusual for the artist to come to a marketing meeting?
A: No, they seldom do. We've had people from time to time just come in.
Their manager arranges for them to drop by and say, "Surprise!" just to
push the album.

Q: Then what happened?
A: He walked in with Sharon, who later became his wife, and [withheld] from
Jet Records. They introduced Ozzy all around, and there was a photographer
with them. They sat him down on the arm of a chair, and he pulled a dove
out of his pocket. I looked at it and thought, "Gee how cute!"

Q: It was a live dove?
A: I'm ninety-nine and nine-tenths sure it was alive, but now I can't say
for sure. I remember I was leaning forward and thinking, "How cute," and
suddenly he bites its head off. There was blood on the floor. I think he
ate the head; he started spitting some feathers out. I was in shock. It's
hard to remember too much after that, to tell you the truth. It was
horrible.

Q: What was the reaction of the people in the room?
A: There was a stunned silence, and they got him out of there, fast. It was
just very quiet-not a good reaction, I would say. People were going,
"Yucch!". Some looked as though they thought it was a fake bird, that it
was all just a publicity stunt. And others said "No, it's a real bird and
what a horrible thing to do." Personally, I thought it was an awful thing
to do even if it was a fake bird. Sharon called up afterward and sort of
apologized.

Q: Do you think it was her idea all along?
A: Oh, I know it was. I said to her, "He's not mad, just desperate for
publicity."

Q: Did it work? Did he get the publicity?
A: I don't think it worked in getting Epic Records to take notice, but I
think it did work as far as getting the kids to take notice. When the story
leaked out, with photos and all, it got around everywhere. I'm sure Sharon
was calling columns all over the country. That sort of became the Ozzy
legend, that and all the other things he did afterwards.

Q: Sharon said that Epic wasn't taking any notice of Ozzy before this
happened.
A: I feel that people were already aware of Ozzy, prior to the meeting. My
impression was certainly that he was a major artist we were going to be
working with. I doubt if it changed our impression one way or the other,
although I could be wrong. Obviously, he went on to great success, and
maybe that was part of the reason, but who am I to say?

Q: So it was all definitely planned in advance?
A: Definitely. It was not a spontaneous act. He just didn't walk in and
happen to find a dove hanging out in the CBS reception area and say, "Gee,
I'll take this in with me in case I get hungry and they don't have coffee
and doughnuts." It was right in his jacket pocket. Come to think of it, he
had two of them. That was it: he had two of them, one in each pocket. He
let the other one go afterwards. Everyone made him do it. He took the other
one ouf of his pocket and everyone screamed, "No, don't do it again!"

Q: Did the second one fly away? That would indicate the first one was
alive, wouldn't it?
A: Not necessarily. He might have had one live one and one fake one. It's
just all so hazy; I was so shocked.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  2.4 Wife as manager/Speak of the Devil
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 "I am something of a madman.  I can do nothing in moderation.  If it's
  booze, I drink the place dry.  If it's drugs, I take everything and then
  scrape the carpet for little crumbs.  I took LSD everyday for years - I was
  spending about $1000 a week on drugs... I OD'd about a dozen times."
       ...Ozzy on his addictions

 Once married, the better deal they had hoped for fell through.
 Sharon did not want her father controlling Ozzy's future any more.
 It was decided that the two of them would buy out Ozzy's contract
 from her father. Before they could buy out Ozzy's management and
 recording contracts, Ozzy still had to deliver an album under his
 old contract. Since he wanted out badly, the result was the
 purposely low-budget live album "Speak of the Devil". This album
 was a live concert recorded Sept. 26 and 27th at The Ritz in New
 York. After the album was done, Ozzy could then leave his contract
 with Sharon's father.

Don would not give it up so easily though, even for his own daughter. The
newly married couple, not having much money, had to buy Ozzy's contract for
over $1.5 million dollars from her father. Sharon has not spoken with her
father since. Speak of the devil was released in November of 1982.

The runes on the border of the 'Speak of the Devil' album and inside cover
actually translate into meaningful phrases. The translation is found in
Ozzy's autobiography book:

 "Howdy! Dial-A-Demon productions in conjunction with graveyard graphics
 proudly presents the madman of rock dumping into El Satanos toiletto. "
 "A tribute to Randy Rhoads, the axeman. That kid was my lifeline, you know?
 He was such a dynamic player and I'd rather not talk about it anymore
 because it cuts me up every day of my life.
 Randy Rhoads rest in peace and love."

One of the conditions for the transfer of Ozzy's contract from Don to
Sharon was that she get him to enroll in the Betty Ford center for his
drinking problems. She did this by telling him she was "going to teach him
to drink like a gentleman". Ozzy took this to mean that he would learn how
to drink properly, not at all what the Betty Ford center was for. When he
showed up, he asked where he could find the bar. It didn't take long to
find out that at Betty Ford there is no bar! Ozzy would also begin work on
his next album, Bark at the Moon.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                          2.5 Suicide Solution
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 "I swear on my kid's life I never said 'get the f***ing gun'"
      ...Ozzy on his Suicide Solution song

"They know what they are putting out. There are people who are out there
trying to make money, and they have no hesitation to sell your kids down the
draon. You see a perfectly normal kid there who doesn't show any signs of
depression at all. Then six hours later, he's dead. Nobody can explain it.
The only thing we know is that he was listening to this music."
                      ...Father of suicide victim who listened to Ozzy

A song on Ozzy's second solo album, "Blizzard of Ozz" would cause a lot of
trouble. The song "Suicide Solution" from the start, would have a very
misleading title and this was understandable. Ozzy wrote the song after the
singer for AC/DC (Bon Scott) died after drinking heavily one winter's night
and passing out in his car, dying of hypothermia as a result. Ozzy's
intentions were to talk about alcohol as a DEADLY LIQUID ('solution'
meaning mixture) but the word 'solution' was looked upon as "an answer"
instead. If you are not familiar with Ozzy's lyrics and true intentions, I
strongly suggest before you pass judgement, to read the meaning behind the
song.

Suicide Solution:
================
  Wine is fine
  But whiskey's quicker
  Suicide is slow with liquor
  Take a bottle drain your sorrows
  Candied thoughts await tomorrows

  Evil thoughts and evil doings
  Cold, alone you hang in ruins
  Thought that you'd escape the reaper
  You can't escape the master keeper
  'Cause you feel life's unreal and you're living a lie
  Such a shame who's to blame and you're wondering why
  Then you ask from your cask is there life after birth
  What you saw can mean hell on this earth
  Now you live inside a bottle
  The reaper's traveling at full throttle
  It's catching you but you don't see
  The reaper is you and the reaper is me
  Breaking laws, knocking doors
  But there's no one at home
  Made your bed, rest your head
  But you lie there and moan
  Where to hide,
  suicide is the only way out
  Don't you know what it's really about

The song is clearly about the dangers of alcohol, but the song title could
be misinterpreted just as well. Try as I might, I just can't see anything
which tells a person to commit suicide. The only misleading words are in
the song title. In October 1984, a nineteen-year-old teenager named John M.
shot himself in the head, while listening to Ozzy Osbourne's "Suicide
Solution". When the coroner entered the room, he found the headphones still
on John's head.

In 1986, Ozzy had just gotten off a plane at LAX airport when people began
asking him about the "lawsuits". Ozzy knew nothing about any lawsuit but
the details quickly emerged. Three lawsuits had been launched against Ozzy,
claiming that his lyrics had caused youths to commit suicide. The family of
John hired attorney Thomas Anderson in a lawsuit against Ozzy. Mr. Anderson
claimed on the "Don't Blame Me" Ozzy video, that the song contained tones
known as 'hemisync' and would cause a person to be unable to resist what
was being said in the song.

The Institute for Bio-Acoustics Research, Inc. (IBAR) was hired to evaluate
the song. They found subliminal lyrics that weren't included in the lyrics
sheet. These subliminal lyrics were sung at one and one-half times the
normal rate of speech and are not recognized by a first time listener. The
IBAR institute claimed the subliminal lyrics, "are audible enough that
their meaning and true intent becomes clear after being listened to over
and over again." The subliminal lyrics in question were "Why try, why try?
Get the gun and try it! Shoot, Shoot, Shoot", followed by a hideous
laughter.

Further analysis by IBAR revealed the hemisync tones, which result from a
patented process that uses sound waves to influence an individual's mental
state. The tones have been found to increase the rate at which the human
brain assimilates and processes information. IBAR claimed these tones made
John vulnerable to the suggestive lyrics which Ozzy sang.

Ozzy's lawyer claimed that this was nonsense and relied upon the First
Amendment of the Constitution to argue that Ozzy could write about anything
he wanted. Three people had now taken their lives, and in each case it was
Ozzy's 'Suicide Solution' song which was the focus as the cause of the
deaths. Mr. Anderson claimed that the words, "shoot shoot, get the gun, get
the gun" were audible in the song. There is an effect which can be heard on
the song, that could be interpreted as that. The sounds were just Ozzy
dicking around with the soundboard. There is the very real possibility
which we must consider, that the record company wanted to promote publicity
and placed these tones in purposely, but this is not for me to prove or
disprove.

Throughout the world, this problem would occur only in America. People were
forced to now take a look at the family life instead of the actual music.
Rather than blaming the music, families should have realized it was up to
the parents to be strong role models and have good communication with their
children. In all cases, Ozzy was found not at fault and has sworn that this
was never the true meaning behind the song. Heavy metal seems to be a scape
goat in which to blame teenagers problems such as drug abuse on. Yet
teenagers who may listen to punk, jazz, or blues music may also suffer from
substance abuse or commit suicide. As a parent, you should be keeping not
only a close eye on the type of music your child is listening to, but get
involved in their lives. Talk to them, ask them how are they doing, try to
forge some kind of a relationship. When kids turn to heavy metal, sometimes
though not always, it is a form of rebelling against a society or education
system they dislike.

What follows is an article written by a group calling themselves "Truth
About Rock":

'' One teenager who unfortunately succeeded in committing suicide was 14
year old Eric A. of St. Louis Park, Minnesota. His favorite groups were Van
Halen, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, AC/DC, Quiet Riot, and Motley Crue.
Eric's mother said, "He watched it (MTV) day and night. He... watched
intil(sic) six o'clock in the morning." Eric and his friends were so
obsessed with the rock scene that, the very night before he died, they held
a seance and attempted to contack(sic) the spirits of dead rock stars. At
2:30 the next afternoon, with his eyes filled with tears, he said to his
father, "Dad, I just can't cope with the pressure." He then went into his
room, took his .22 rifle off the wall rack, and killed himself. ''

[Right here we have some problems. If a kid is spending all his time in
front of the television, it might be a wise idea for the parents to
intervene. If you just let him soak up videos all day, there may be a
problem. Hosting a seance is also not a normal social activity for a
teenager. Why did the father not talk to his son?]

'' Apparently, he had followed the deranged advice of one of his favorite
rock singers, Ozzy Osbourne, who preaches in "Suicide Solution", "Suicide
is the only way out/...Why don't you kill yourself 'cause you can't escape
the Master Reaper..." {3} ''

[This is bullshit. Ozzy never says "Why don't you kill yourself". This is a
prime example of a religious group portraying Ozzy as a menace to society.
If you read the lyrics of his song you would see otherwise.]

'' Though Ozzy preaches such deadly lyrics, he defends himself saying,
"Parents have called me and said, 'When my son died of a drug over-dose,
your record was on the turntable.' I can't help that. These people are
freaking out anyway, and they need a vehicle for the freakouts." {4} ''

[I am not a long haired rock freak. I live a conservative life and am
neutral in my views towards the church and Ozzy. I am not under the devil's
influence, though some religious person could easily claim so for my
negative views, but from my perspective this religious group is trying to
blame the actions of this 14 year old on Ozzy. Drug abuse may be higher
among the 'headbanger' heavy metal crowd, but to shift the blame to the
music itself seems to suggest the person is all too easily influenced by
music. Shouldn't television and newspapers also be censored then?]

I will leave the closing words to the remainder of the groups article:

'' Pathetically, Rock Stars themselves are being caught in the devastating
grasp of suicide. Peter Townshend, formerly of The Who, acknowledged, "Rock
is going to kill me somehow. Mentally or physically or some thing, it's
going to get me in the end." {5} I myself spent 6 months contemplating
suicide every day. The influence of Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll had almost
destroyed my life. Until, with a knife in my hand, after trying to cut my
wrists, I cried out "God help me!" From that moment on He began to change
my life, and a short while later I became a 'born again' Christian. Whether
you like it or not, you are in a battle for your life. The Devil wants to
destroy you and he is using Rock music as a primary agent. But God has not
given you life, only to have it choked out by the demented obsessions of
Rock musicians. There is only one solution to your problems. Begin to live
for God and not for yourself. Because Jesus loves you, He came to Earth to
give His life in your place, so that you wouldn't have to die for your own
sins. If you give your life back to Him, He will give you the peace you're
looking for. ''

     For more information on Rock n'Roll, write to: Truth About Rock,
   Box 9222, North St. Paul, MN. 55109
     Note: Since there is a constant turnover of new Rock groups some of
   those mentioned above may not currently be "hot".  However, be assured
   that other groups have taken their place and continue to present a
   similar message.
     FOOTNOTES: {1} National Center For Health Statistics
        {2} Aurora Mackey, "The Frightening Facts About Teen
            Suicide"< Teen, 10/83
        {3} Truth About Rock Report, June/July '85, p. 6
        {4} "Heavy Metal Mania", Anne Fadiman, Life magazine,
     12/84, p.112
        {5} Time magazine Dec. 17, 1979, pg. 94

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                           2.6 Bark at the Moon
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ozzy's next album would be "Bark at the Moon". The title track is a song
about a creature (werewolf) who has come back to seek revenge on those who
scorned and buried him. The video portrays Ozzy being confined to an asylum
because he was a mad scientist. In the asylum he sees this werewolf running
around chasing him. This song, like his earlier songs would supposedly
affect his listeners in negative ways, read on:

    "Rock Sparks Stabbing", Canadian Press Association:
     Halifax, Canada, 9/26/84

   "...according to the Canadian Press Wire Service, the effect of heavy
   metal rock music so influenced a young Canadian named James Jollimore,
   that '...on New Year's Eve -1983, he went out and stabbed someone.  A
   friend of the defendant testified that Jollimore, 20, who is charged with
   the first-degree murder of a 44 year old woman and her two sons, felt
   like stabbing people when he heard music such as Ozzy Osbourne's 'Bark at
   the Moon'.  'Jimmy said that every time he listened to the song he felt
   strange inside,' the friend told the court. 'He said when he heard it on
   New Year's Eve he went out and stabbed someone.'"

[Once again the blame would be shifted from the individual to the
musician.]

Ozzy's band now consisted of Jake E. Lee on guitar, Tommy Aldridge, Don
Airey on keyboard and Bob Daisley on bass. One of the videos they filmed
for the album was the lovely ballad, "So Tired". This ballad made use of a
full orchestra. An interesting note: Ozzy also plays the parts of all the
main characters in the video. A good use of makeup art is evident. One
scene shows Ozzy in front of a mirror clenching his fists, and the mirror
shatters. While filming the video, the charge which would shatter the
mirror was too strong and the mirror exploded sending glass into Ozzy's
face.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         2.7 The Ultimate Disaster
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 After the release of the 1984 Bark at the Moon album and subsequent tour,
Ozzy began work on the long awaited Ultimate Sin album. The Ultimate Sin
would come out in 1986, ending the long wait by his fans. It would also be
one of the poorest amongst the opinions of Ozzy and his fans as well. The
album's sound was cheesy and according to Ozzy, most of songs ended up
sounding alike (which they do).

On March 19/1987, due to overwhelming demand by his fans, Ozzy also
released the Randy Rhoad's Tribute album. Randy's mother, Dolores had
dozens of letters from fans wanting to know if there were any more Randy
concerts out there. She then contacted Ozzy who searched through his house
and came up with some old archive material. The material was send to Max
Spencer who had produced Ozzy's first three albums, to see if the material
was suitable. The result was the Randy Rhoad's Tribute album. Ozzy also
played only one show that year, at the Wormwood Scrubs prison.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                        2.8 No Rest for the Wicked
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following year, in 1988, Ozzy released his 'No Rest for the Wicked'
album. This featured Zakk Wylde (who had his own band 'Pride and Glory') on
guitar, Randy Castillo on drums and Bob Daisley on bass guitar. The album
title again was a bit eery and the cover showed an Osbourne sitting in a
chair with two girls (looking possessed) and one screaming at him. Zakk,
who had heard Ozzy on Howard Stern mention that he was looking for a new
guitar player, didn't think he had a chance. It was not until later when a
rock photographer mentioned he would be happy to pass along a tape of
Zakk's music, did he then get the audition and the subsequent part.

On August 12 and 13th of 1989, Ozzy played the Moscow Music Peace Festival.
This show featured acts like Bon Jovi, Scorpions and Motley Crue. The other
bands were basically small club bands but of course Ozzy was a world-wide
name and the crowd just went crazy when it was his turn to play.

In March of 1990, Geezer would join Ozzy in releasing a live album titled
"Just Say Ozzy". This would contain some of the No Rest for the Wicked and
Black Sabbath material combined. Nothing to write home about.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                             2.9 No More Beers
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The year 1991 would mark the beginning of big changes in Ozzy's life. Ozzy
gave sobriety another try, and came out victorious. It was a combination of
domestic situations, hangovers, and many personal reasons which made him
want to try again. He had wanted to quit drinking every day but was unable
to because he'd be feeling too bad from the day before. He had been to many
treatment centers (including multiple stays at Betty Ford) before. This
time he just woke up one day and decided that enough was enough. Since
successfully quitting, he has not had a drink to this day! Now that he
wasn't drinking, Ozzy took his health one step further. He bought a
Lifecycle (which he uses at least 90 minutes a day), starting dieting (he
now avoids eating red meat) and working out. The result was a better
looking Ozzy, both in physical aspects and his on stage performance. He
would also begin to see life in a different light, enjoying life's moments
that he had previously ignored because of being constantly drunk.

There would be another change, this time in his musical direction. Ozzy has
said he used to write songs based on what he thought his fans would like to
hear. The album titles were dark. He had never written or recorded an album
sober before. During this alcohol free period he recorded his next album,
"No More Tears", which would be a change from his previous dark album
titles.


Heaven" which would be an accurate portrayal of the cover. The cover showed
a tame looking Ozzy with wings, in a cloudy serene background. The music
itself was a pleasant mix of soft ballads like "Mama I'm Coming Home" (one
even your mother would enjoy), to hard rocking songs like "Hellraiser". It
is of interest to note that Lemmy of Motorhead helped Ozzy write the lyrics
to some of the songs (or in the case of Mama, he wrote all the lyrics). The
song "Road to Nowhere" would describe his life in general, while "Mr.
Tinkertrain" would talk about child molestation issues. Being written in
the first person, critics now claimed Ozzy was promoting child molestation.
He would also win a Grammy award for the song, "I Don't Want to Change the
World". This would also be a first in that it was the first album they made
demos of, thus deciding on which songs to keep and which ones to make
changes to. Samples of the untouched, original songs are available on
bootlegs as well.

Ozzy surprised everyone by calling the tour, "No More Tours". In interviews
he said that he was tired of touring and he wanted to spend more time with
his family. He was also suffering bouts of illnesses, canceling shows, and
other injuries. The pressures of touring got to him and he embarked on what
was to be his "final tour". The band now consisted of Zakk on guitar, Randy
Castillo on drums and Mike Inez on bass. During these final tours, some
shows were taped and used in an upcoming commercial video and audio
compilation, "Live and Loud" which was a double album. The CD package also
included two stick-on tattoos. There was much speculation about whether or
not this would be the final tour, or perhaps it was a ploy to get more
money.

On November 15 of 1992, Ozzy played at Costa Mesa, California. This was one
of the two nightly shows that would be the last in his tour. Sharon and
Ozzy decided it would be cool to invite the other members of Black Sabbath
for a reunion since this would be the end of it all. All of the members of
Black Sabbath agreed, but Ronnie Dio did not. After playing his songs, the
members of Black Sabbath came out and joined Ozzy in playing four songs:
Black Sabbath, Fairies Wear Boots, Iron Man and of course, Paranoid. The
video release of this final show only contains the Black Sabbath song
though. How did the audience react at seeing the original Sabbath members
back together since 1978? They went totally crazy of course. At the end of
the show a fireworks sparkler display went off which proclaimed, "I'll Be
Back". The purpose of having a final show and then saying you'll be back is
beyond me. Being his final tour, sales were high and other artists turned
out to see the madman before he retired, including Vince Neil, Rod Stewart
and Nicholas Cage.

When it was all over, so was Ozzy's lifetime of performing.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                               2.10 Ozzmosis
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

In 1993, Ozzy was officially retired. His fans had the 'Live and Loud'
video and CD to remind them of his final days. Ozzy went home and did what
he longed to do, be a father. He spent time playing with his children and
wife. He also bought various toys to pass time: motorcycles, guns, and
night vision goggles (to see animals running at night). It would not be too
long before he longed for his old lifestyle and after a few weeks of being
retired, Ozzy wanted to get another band and start touring all over again.
His fans soon began hearing rumors of an upcoming Ozzy album, what would it
be called? The latest gossip was "X-Ray" as a working title. There were
also disgruntled fans who were angry (and rightly so) that they had been
taken in by another lie. [While I am a huge fan of Ozzy's, I am not going
to only portray the good sides of him, this is after all a biography and it
is part of the story]. Rumors also persisted that Steve Vai would be
playing on the new album.

It was not until almost two years later that the rumors became facts. Yes,
Ozzy was coming back with a new album. Yes, there would be a tour to
support it. The album would be called "Ozzmosis".
                                                    On the final album a
                                                    song titled "My Little
        Ozzmosis is defined as "the diffusion of    Man" is written by
        fluids through a membrane" :) Geezer        Steve Vai but it is
        Butler, his old Sabbath friend would also   Zakk who played guitar
        be on the album and tour. The band          on it, this bothered
        recorded the album in Paris, and was        Ozzy. There are still
        produced by Michael Beinhorn. Since Zakk    dozens of unreleased
        was busy with his own project, Pride and    songs with Ozzy and
        Glory, it was arranged that Steve Vai       Vai that have yet to
        would be contributing to the album. The     see daylight.
        songs would be split so that both Zakk and
        Vai would appear on the album. Because of   On October 24, 1995
        the record company once again interfering   Ozzmosis hit the
        with plans, only Zakk's material made it    stores. The first
        to the final product. However Steve Vai     track on the album,
        DID play the guitar on My Little Man.       "Perry Mason", was
                                                    released as a single
                                                    earlier on and
                                                    received radio play.

All that remained after the album's debut was to begin touring...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       2.11 Why did Zakk leave Ozzy?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ozzy would name his Ozzmosis tour, "Retirement Sucks" in an obvious
statement about his feelings towards his short lived retirement. It was now
time to begin touring. Zakk was talking about playing with Guns and Roses
so Ozzy decided to audition new guitarists, thinking Zakk would not be
around for the tour. Zakk's manager, Doug Goldstein, called Sharon and told
her that Zakk would be available. He later phoned to say that Zakk was
still negotiating for the gig with Guns and Roses. Ozzy did not know what
Zakk was planning to do because he was negotiating with both groups, and so
asked Zakk to let him know what his plans were. When Zakk did not return
the phone call as promised, Ozzy decided enough was enough and found a new
player. Ozzy and Zakk are still on good terms however.

Remember Joe Holmes, the kid who took guitar lessons from Randy? The 31
year old guitar player who hailed from New Jersey, would soon play a part
in Ozzy's life. Joe had previoulsly played with David Lee Roth for his 1988
tour and was currently working on his own band, "Tariff", when Dean
Castronovo (Oz's drummer) phoned Joe to let him know they were seeking a
guitar player. Joe went down to Audible in Los Angeles and played three
Ozzy classics. He did not mention that he had once took lessons from Randy
because he thought this might jeapordize his chances. He succeeded though
and got the part. Unfortunately Joe is not heard on the Ozzmosis album but
he will be on the next one. So Joe Holmes as Ozzy's new guitar player and
Geezer Butler on bass began the Retirement Sucks tour. Halfway through the
tour, Geezer left due to being homesick for his family and Mike Inez took
his place.

Later on, in yet another shrewd marketing attempt, Ozzy and Sharon came up
with the 'Ozz-Fest'. The festival which would start September 14, 1996
would be of a different theme. At this event one could get a tattoo done,
body piercing or have your fortune read by a psychic. Ozz-fest featured the
following hard rock groups: Danzig, Sepultura, Prong, Slayer, Biohazard,
Fear Factory, Neurosis, King Norris, Earth Crisis, Powerman 5000, Coal
Chamber, and Cellophane.

Towards November '96, Ozzy played his last show of the tour in Hawaii. His
plans now are to go back to the studio to release a 'Greatest Hits' package
(early 1997) which will have his older songs and three new ones. One of
them will be a song called "Back on Earth" which was co-written with Steve
Vai.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                        2.12 Of Priests and Devils
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Years ago a particular news snippet caught my attention. It was a news clip
about a religious group who were burning records. It showed children and
adults throwing record albums into a bonfire. A priest told the
interviewer, "One of the albums we're going to be burning tonight is Ozzy
Osbourne's Speak of the Devil". The album cover shows Ozzy sitting in a
chair, or throne, with his mouth open and drooling what is supposed to be
blood (but looks more like strawberry jam). At Ozzy Osbourne concerts,
religious believers have been known to hand out pamphlets to concert-goers.
Religious leaders have condemned Ozzy for being a satanist and devil
worshipper. Ozzy's shows are boycotted and he is banned from playing
certain cities. Is any of the hype true, and as a parent should you be
concerned if your child is listening to Ozzy Osbourne? To start, Ozzy has
had a record of macabre album titles: Diary of a Madman, Speak of the
Devil, No Rest for the Wicked and The Ultimate Sin. However the old saying,
"you can't judge a book by its cover" certainly comes into play here. As a
priest, an album called 'Speak of the Devil' and showing a man spewing
blood would certainly be cause for alarm. But if you take a closer look at
the album and listen to the songs, it becomes another story. Speak of the
Devil is simply a live album boasting some of the earlier Black Sabbath
material. There is absolutely no reference AT ALL to satan. The closest
Ozzy comes on that album or most any other of his albums to evil, are songs
such as 'Snowblind' and 'Sweet Leaf' which talk about drug usage. You can
pull out all of Ozzy's albums, glance at the cover pictures and album
titles and dismiss him as a devil worshipper in a heavy metal band. However
we live in a world where people are free to make their own minds up about
what they believe. I fail to see anywhere in Ozzy's career any truth to the
Satanic rumours. I am a fan of Ozzy's and it is true I might be somewhat
biased towards him, but I can reassure you I have never seen anything,
WHATSOEVER, that leads me to believe Ozzy has any relationship with the
devil. Fans of his may laugh at this but there are obviously people out
there who seriously believe otherwise.

So why then has this man been accused so often of being associated with
evil? To explain this would be beyond my abilities. I can however tell you
that his album covers may play a part. The fact that people have claimed to
have heard backwards messages in his music may also play a part. The
suicide deaths of teenagers listening to Ozzy's music also go hand in hand
with the allegations of backwards messages. The fact he was once lead
singer for a band called Black Sabbath also may play a part. I really can't
tell you why people claim this. True, he is a singer in a band which is
considered heavy metal. This does not make him an evil person. In all
fairness, he has lived a life of drug and alcohol abuse and done some very
stupid things which people will always remember him for. Overlooking the
stupid stunts he has done, I don't find any evidence of his being an evil
person.

If you are a parent, should you be concerned if Jimmy brings home an Ozzy
Osbourne album? Well, to answer that you need to look at a few outside
factors. Is the kid level headed and are the lines of communication open
with your child? If the child has serious problems, perhaps listening to
his "Suicide Solution" would be a mistake. It is very easy to misconstrue
the lyrics and it just might play a part in your son's decision. If your
child is planning suicide, there are obviously more serious problems than
that of an Ozzy album. I don't wish to spread panic, there is no need to
really go and censor all of his albums. The fact is that if given the right
circumstances, any medium could lead someone to believe suicide is ok. If
you trust your child's judgement and believe him to be level headed, I
don't see any real problems. Mind you I am NOT an expert, nor do I pretend
to be. I am simply someone who grew up listening to Ozzy's music. Maybe you
should sit down with the lyrics to the song and explain that it was the
death of the singer for AC/DC which prompted the song, and the lyrics
pertain to alcohol solution not answer-to-your-problem-solution. I figure
it like this: If Jimmy is thinking of committing suicide, I think listening
to an Ozzy album would be the same as watching a TV program or reading a
paper on the same subject. If the child sees other teens talking about
wanting to commit, how they tried to, or how life is not worth living,
perhaps that media attention on the topic would affect his decision just as
much.

Up till now I have been talking mainly of suicide, this is because music
could play a crucial weight in a child's decision. However a song about
suicide is irrelevant to the topic of this chapter. I merely wanted to
address the question or whether it is okay to listen to Ozzy. SURE! I never
sacrificed any cats, nor did I try to kill myself. I did not go out on a
full moon and try to eat a dog either, maybe if I was sleepwalking but not
that I can remember. :)

So why then does the religious faith attack this man? I sincerely do not
know. I really don't. Perhaps it has to do with the last chapter. Maybe
when our children turn to drugs and alcohol and kills animals, it must be
heavy metal's fault. There has been a long waged war against metal. I think
stastically you will find that a lot of troubled teenagers and drug abusers
listen to heavy metal but I would not blame that music category for it. As
Ozzy once said, "I'm sure people smoke pot at a Stevie Wonder concert". Let
us now talk about some of the religious people who have attacked Osbourne
for being in league with the devil.

Cardinal O'Connor
-------------------------
This man accused Ozzy of being the devil and told people that exorcisms
were real and that Oz's music was spreading the devil's word. 'A Current
Affair' also did a telephone survey in which the majority of callers said
that they felt heavy metal music was killing their kids.

Jimmy Swaggart
--------------
Another television evangelist. The man makes his bread and butter by selling
God. The morals of this are not mine to determine. Jimmy also put down Ozzy.
Jim was later found coming out of a hotel room with a prostitute. He was
later shown on television crying to God and asking for forgiveness. I don't
wish to put him down for his repenting, but the fact he put down someone else
and comitted his own sins is hypocrasy. The fact is he is a human being with
human urges and he can't deny that. Ozzy made a song and video called
"Miracle Man" in which he talks about Jimmy and his critical views.

Oral Roberts
------------
Another evangelist who has put down Ozzy. This is
the same man who claimed if he did not get 7 million dollars by a certain
time, God would be calling him back home. To me, this seems a very obvious
and pathetic attempt at milking the public. Ozzy makes his money through
hard work, not pretending he will soon die.

None of these people offered to help Ozzy in his time of depression and
substance abuse. Though Ozzy did send Oral Roberts a single dollar for "his
psychiatric bill".

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    2.13 Will there ever be a reunion?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

In one simple word: NO!

What you may not know is that during the time Ozzy was playing his last
show in Costa Mesa with his old Sabbath buddies, the foursome had already
been talking for nearly a year about a reunion. It was originally going to
be a two month tour and an album (a Sabbath-head's dream come true). As
time progressed though, Ozzy grew uncomfortable about doing the reunion.
Problems began arising... the four original members now had their own
managers, lawyers, and record companies. Each person's manager wanted to be
the one in charge of the project which would result in a fortune. The Sabs
just wanted to do the show. Ozzy has since gone on to say that he might
have done a reunion if they had scrapped the name Black Sabbath at the time
when the original members left. As it stands, Black Sabbath has had members
leave, come back and then leave again. There have been numerous changes in
the members of the band involving outside players. Ozzy felt that the name
Black Sabbath no longer represented what it once did.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                        3.0 Ozzy Album Discography
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

This discography comes from [e-mail]

Blizzard of Ozz
  album, 1980, Jet (England)

Blizzard of Ozz
  album, 1981, Jet (US)
  ** The English pressing has a different back cover.  From the information
     I have, it is difficult to tell if it actually took until 1981 to
     have the album released in the US.  Also, it is not clear exactly
     what role CBS Records plays in the releasing and distribution.
     Randy Rhoads (ex-Quiet Riot) on guitar.
     Reissued with 22-bit remastering.

Crazy Train
  single, 1980, Jet
  ** Additional track is You Looking at Me Looking at You.

Crazy Train
  7" single, 1980, Jet
  ** Promo of the above single.

Crazy Train
  7" single, 1980, Jet
  ** Jukebox version of the above single.

Mr. Crowley
  7" single, 1980, Jet
  ** Additional track is You Said It All (LIVE). Bonus 7" that came
     in the Japanese pressing of either Bark at the Moon or Speak of
     the Devil.

Mr. Crowley Live EP
  12" picture disc, 1980, Jet
  ** This disc contains the above two songs along with a live version of
     Suicide Solution.  Additionally, this is available on black vinyl
     as a Canadian pressing; this pressing's cover has a color picture of
     Ozzy wearing his red "jump suit" with his arms extended.  There is a
     third pressing, from the U.K., where the cover is a silver and black
     picture of Ozzy wearing his fringed shirt.

Crazy Train
  7" single, 1981, Jet / CBS Associated
  ** U.S. 7". Additional track is Steal Away (The Night).

Crazy Train
  7" single, 1981, CBS Associated
  ** KZEW 98FM / Sound Warehouse single.  Probably promo, but not sure.
     Also has Troubleshooter by Judas Priest, It's All Right, It's OK
     by Hawks, and R.O.C.K. by Garland Jeffreys.

Diary of a Madman
  album, 1981, Jet
  ** Reissued with 22-bit remastering.

Over the Mountain
  12" single, 1981, Jet
  ** Additional track is I Don't Know.

Over the Mountain
  7" single, 1981, Jet
  ** Additional track is I Don't Know.  Also available as a promo with
     full artwork.

Flying High Again / I Don't Know (Live)
  7" single, 1981, Jet / CBS Associated
  ** Probably a U.S. only release.  Additional track is I Don't Know (Live).

Talk of the Devil
  double album, 1982, Jet (England and possibly all non US)
  ** see below.

Speak of the Devil
  double album, 1982, Jet (US)
  ** This is a live album.  Randy Rhoads died in a plane crash on the Diary
     of a Madman tour (March 1982).  Brad Gillis took an extended leave from
     Night Ranger to fill in.  The album is all Black Sabbath material.
     It was supposed to be a live album from the Diary tour, but after Randy's
     death, Ozzy felt he would be exploiting Randy's name by releasing the
     album.  This was to fulfill his contact for a live album.  I believe
     the album was eventually released as Tribute (see below).
     In order to have the entire album fit on one CD, CBS left off Sweet
     Leaf on the US CD (possibly world wide).  In 1991, Castle Communications
     re-released the CD under its European (and possibly Japanese) name
     (Talk of the Devil) and added Sweet Leaf.
     Reissued with 22-bit remastering.  The US remaster has restored Sweet
     Leaf.

Symptom of the Universe
  12" single, 1982, Jet
  ** Additional tracks are Iron Man / Children of the Grave, both from
     Talk of the Devil.
     Not available in the US.

Symptom of the Universe
  7" picture single, 1982, Jet
  ** This may also be available in black vinyl.  Additional track is N.I.B.
     Not available in the US.

Symptom of the Universe
  7" single, 1982, Jet
  ** Promo single for this song.  Additional track is N.I.B.
     Not available in the US.

Bark at the Moon
  album, 1983, Epic (Europe and possibly world wide)
  ** see below

Bark at the Moon
  album, 1983, CBS Associated (US)
  ** This album has two different versions and album covers.  The US pressing
     has the logo and title in red and yellow.  It also has the song Slow
     Down, instead of Spiders.  The European pressing has the logo and
     title in blue and yellow.  The song Spiders appears here, but not
     Slow Down.  Additionally, the song Centre of Eternity on the US pressing
     is listed as Forever on the European pressing.  Finally, the songs
     are in different orders on each pressing.
     Jake E. Lee (ex-Rough Cutt, Sexist, almost Dio, and Ratt(?)).
     Reissued with 22-bit remastering.  American reissue has Spiders in
     addition to Slow Down.

Bark at the Moon
  12" single, 1983, Epic
  ** Additional tracks are One Up the B Side and Slow Down.
     Not available in the US.

Bark at the Moon
  7" single, 1983, Epic
  ** Additional track is One Up the B Side.
     Not available in the US.

Bark at the Moon
  7" single, 1983, CBS Associated
  ** Additional track is Spiders.

So Tired
  7" single, 1983, CBS Associated
  ** Additional track, "B" side, is the same as One Up the B Side

So Tired
  12" single, 1984, Epic
  ** 12" single with So Tired, Waiting for Darkness, Bark at the Moon,
     Suicide Solution, Paranoid.  The last 3 recorded live at Salt Palace,
     Salt Lake City, Utah, March 18, 1984.  Comes with an Ozzy Osbourne
     logo patch.
     Not available in the US.

So Tired
  7" single, 1984, Epic / CBS
  ** Additional track is Bark at the Moon recorded live at Salt Palace,
     Salt Lake City, Utah, March 18, 1984.  Comes with an Ozzy Osbourne
     logo patch.
     Not available in the US.

So Tired
  7" single, 1984, Epic
  ** Additional track is Forever (Live).
     Not available in the US.

So Tired
  Double 7" single, 1984, Epic / CBS
  ** Gatefold 7" package with 2 7" singles.  The first single has So Tired
     and Bark At The Moon (live); the other single has Waiting For Darkness
     and Paranoid (live).

Prince of Darkness
  12" EP, 1984, CBS Japan
  ** Japanese only release including You Looking At Me - Remix, and
     One Up the "B" Side.  Probably vinyl and cassette only.

Shot In The Dark
  12" single, 1985, Epic / CBS
  ** 12" single with Shot In The Dark, Killer of Giants, and Rock And Roll
     Rebel.

The Other Side Of Ozzy
  12" EP, 1985, CBS Japan
  ** Japanese only release containing 10 rare B-sides from 1980 to 1984,
     including You Looking At Me - Remix, and One Up the "B" Side.
     Probably vinyl only.

The Ultimate Sin
  album, 1986, Epic (Europe and possibly world wide)

The Ultimate Sin
  album, 1986, CBS Associated (US)
  ** Reissued with 22-bit remastering.

Shot in the Dark
  7" single, 1986, Epic
  ** Additional track is Rock 'n' Roll Rebel.  Packaged in a poster bag.
     Dutch version also available, but with no poster bag.
     Not available in the US.

Shot in the Dark
  7" single, 1986, CBS Associated
  ** Additional track is You Said It All (Live - from Mr. Crowley
     picture disc).

Shot in the Dark
  7" single, 1986, CBS Associated
  ** White label promo.  Additional track is You Said It All (Live - from
     Mr. Crowley picture disc).

Shot in the Dark
  7" single, 1986/87, CBS Associated / Sony
  ** Additional track is Crazy Train. Reissued by Collectable Records.

Shot in the Dark
  7" single, 1986, CBS Associated
  ** White label promo.

Shot in the Dark
  12" single, 1986, CBS Associated
  ** Promo only.

The Ultimate Sin
  7" single, 1986, Epic
  ** Special Donnington Souvenir Single.  Additional track is
     Lightning Strikes.

Lightning Strikes
  12" single, 1986, Epic
  ** Promo only single with the track Lightning Strikes on both sides.

The Ultimate Ozzy
  video cassette, 1986, CBS / FOX video
  ** Live and video footage of one or more shows from The Ultimate Sin
     tour.

The Ultimate Live Ozzy
  12" picture disc, 1986, CBS Associated
  ** Live cuts from The Ultimate Ozzy video shoot.  Included are The
     Ultimate Sin, Never Know Why, and Thank God for the Bomb.
     Possibly US only.

Tribute
  double album, 1987, Epic (Europe and possibly world wide)

Tribute
  double album, 1987, CBS Associated (US)
  ** This is the only album where Ozzy doesn't get solo billing.  The
     album is listed as Ozzy Osbourne / Randy Rhoads.  This is probably
     the album that was supposed to be released after Diary of a Madman.
     Reissued with 22-bit remastering.

Tribute Sampler
  CD, 1987, Epic or CBS Associated
  ** Selected cuts from Tribute.  Promo only.

Crazy Train
  7" single, 1987, Epic
  ** Side 1 from Tribute; side 2 from Blizzard of Ozz.
     Not available in the US.

Crazy Train
  7" single, 1987, Epic
  ** White label promo, Crazy Train from the Tribute album on both sides.

Crazy Train
  12" single, 1987, Epic
  ** Side 1 from Tribute; side 2 from Blizzard of Ozz.
     Not available in the US.

Close My Eyes Forever
  7" single, 1987, EMI / Lisabella / Virgin
  ** Duet with Lita Ford.  Available on Lita's best of and on her
     album entitled Lita.

Back to Ozz
  EP, 1988, Epic
  ** Europe and Japan only. Tracks are The Ultimate Sin, Bark at the Moon,
     Mr. Crowley, and Diary of a Madman.  Includes color poster with
     photos and family tree.  Available in 12" vinyl and CD.  The Mr.
     Crowley is the live version from the picture disc.

No Rest for the Wicked
  album, 1988, CBS Associated (possibly Epic in Europe)
  ** CD and cassette have an additional track.  The track is unlisted and
     is called Hero.
     Zakk Wylde on guitar.
     Reissued with 22-bit remastering.

Bible of Ozz
  special package, 1988, CBS Associated / Sony
  ** Japanese special release of No Rest for the Wicked.  It contains the
     Japanese version of No Rest for the Wicked (which includes a second
     additional track called The Liar), an Ozzy Osbourne logo metal belt
     buckle, an Ozzy Osbourne logo patch, a Zakk Wylde name patch, and
     a Japanese book.  The whole thing is packaged to resemble a bible.
     It has a thin cardboard slip cover with pictures from the album cover.

Miracle Man
  12" single, 1988, Epic
  ** 12" with Miracle Man, The Liar, and Crazy Babies.  Possibly UK only.
     Not available in the US.

Miracle Man
  12" shaped picture single, 1988, Epic
  ** 12" shaped like Ozzy's head with the crown of thorns.  Additional tracks
     not know.

Miracle Man
  7" single, 1988, Epic
  ** Additional track is Crazy Babies.
     Not available in the US.

Miracle Man
  CD single, 1988, Epic (?)
  ** Promo only, picture CD single.  Additional track is The Liar.
     Possibly non-U.S.
     I have never seen one of these.

Miracle Man
  12" single, 1988, Epic
  ** Promo single.

Crazy Babies (Crazy Mix)
  12" single, 1988, CBS Associated
  ** Promo only single.  I can't tell the difference from the original
     version, but I've only listened to it once.

Crazy Babies (Live)
  CD single, 1988, CBS Associated
  ** Promo-only single.  The additional track, You Said it All, track is the
     same as the one taken from the Mr. Crowley Live EP.

Crazy Babies
  7" single, 1988, Epic / CBS
  ** One-sided Spanish promo.

Hero
  12" single, ????, ????
  ** Promo 12" single.  Possibly import.  Additional tracks are You Said It
     All / Devil's Daughter / Fire In The Sky.
     I've never seen one of these.

Breaking All The Rules
  CD single, ????, ????
  ** Promo-only, picture CD single. Possibly import.  Additional track
     is Miracle Man - Live, different version from Just Say Ozzy.
     I've never seen one of these.

Wicked Videos
  video cassette, 1988 or 1989 (?), (?)
  ** Video clips from No Rest for the Wicked.

Best of Ozz
  CD, 1989, CBS / Sony
  ** Japanese only compilation with songs from Blizzard of Ozz through
     The Ultimate Sin.

Led Clones
  7" single, 1988/1989, Virgin / Capitol
  ** Additional track is Speak For Yourself.  Ozzy sings lead on Led Clones
     and backup on Speak For Yourself.  Both songs are from Gary Moore's album
     After the War.

Speak For Yourself
  one song, 1988/1989, Virgin / Capitol
  ** Sings backup/harmony for this song from Gary Moore's album After
     the War.  Also available as the B-side to the Led Clones 7" single.

Purple Haze
  one song, 1989, Mercury / PolyGram
  ** This song appears on the Stairway to Heaven / Highway To Hell album
     by the Make A Difference Foundation.  This all of the songs on this
     record were originally written by bands that have been touched by
     drug or alcohol problems.  The band members are Zakk Wylde, Randy
     Castillo, and Geezer Butler.

Ten Commandments
  album, 1990, Priority Records / CBS
  ** "Limited Collector's Edition" CD and cassette only (no vinyl).  This
     was only released for a limited time and has been out of print for quite
     a while.

Just Say Ozzy
  ep, 1990, CBS Associated (possibly Epic in Europe)
  ** Live ep from No Rest tour.
     Reissued with 22-bit remastering.

Bombers (Can Open Bomb Bays)
  one song, 1990, Chameleon Records
  ** Sings this song on Bill Ward's solo record Ward One: _Along the
     Way_.  This CD is out of print.

Jack's Land
  one song, 1990, Chameleon Records
  ** Sings this song on Bill Ward's solo record Ward One: _Along the
     Way_.  This CD is out of print.

The Urpney Song
  7" single, 1990, Adventure Records
  ** Sings this song with Frank Bruno and Billy Connolly (this is the guy
     that played the teacher on Head of the class after Howard Hessman left).
     Also listed are Mike Batt and The London Philharmonic Orchestra.
     Additional track is The Whirlyped Launch; Ozzy does not sing on this
     additional track.  The song is from The Dreamstone, animated TV series
     for Central TV.  This song is also available on the album entitled
     The Dreamstone.
     Not available in the U.S.

No More Tears
  album, 1991, Epic / Sony
  ** Japanese version has 2 additional tracks: Party with the Animails and
     Don't Blame me. No US vinyl.
     Reissued with 22-bit remastering.

No More Tears
  7" single, 1991, Epic / Sony
  ** Additional track is S.I.N.
     Not available in the US.

No More Tears
  CD single, 1991, Epic / Sony
  ** Special UK package.  CD single in an embossed CD wallet with room
     for each solo studio record. Each sleeve has a different picture.
     Additional tracks are S.I.N. and Party With the Animals.

No More Tears
  CD single, 1991, Epic / Sony
  ** promo only, 1 track

Mr. Tinkertrain
  CD single, 1991, Epic / Sony
  ** promo only, 1 track

No More Tears
  12" picture disc, 1991, Epic / Sony
  ** Additional tracks are S.I.N. and Party with the Animals.
     Not available in the US.

No More Tears
  CD single, 1991, Epic / Sony
  ** "Maxi single" with No More Tears, S.I.N., Don't Blame Me, and
     Party With The Animals.  I believe Party... was from the movie
     Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Mama, I'm Coming Home
  12" single, 1991, Epic / Sony
  ** European single with Mama I'm Coming Home (Special version adapted
     from the No More Tears Album), Don't Blame Me (previously
     unreleased), I Don't Know, and Crazy Train.
     Not available in the US.

Mama, I'm Coming Home
  7" single, 1991, Epic / Sony
  ** Additional track is Don't Blame Me.  Possible promo-only.

Mama, I'm Coming Home
  CD single, 1991, Epic / Sony
  ** "Maxi single" with Mama, I'm Coming Home, Don't Blame Me, and Party
     With the Animals.

Mama, I'm Coming Home
  CD single, 1991, Epic / Sony
  ** promo only, long and short version

I Don't Want to Change the World
  12" single, 1991, Epic / Sony
  ** Promo only single with I Don't Want to Change the World, Mama, I'm
     Coming Home, and No More Tears.  Probably not avaliable in the US.

Don't Blame Me
  video cassette, 1991, SMV Enterprises
  ** Mostly interview footage of Ozzy and friends talking about his career.
     Some rare footage, including some Randy Rhoades bits.

Therapy
  one song, 1991, Epic / Sony
  ** Sings chorus to this Infectious Grooves song.  The song appears on
     The Plague That Makes Your Booty Move...It's The Infectious
     Grooves.

Hey Stoopid
  one song, 1991, Epic / Sony
  ** Sings backup on this Alice Cooper song.  The song appears on the Hey
     Stoopid album.

Road To Nowhere
  CD single, 1992, Epic / Sony
  ** Promo only, additional track is Party With the Animals.

Time After Time
  CD single, 1992, Epic / Sony
  ** promo only, 1 track

The No More Tears Demo Sessions
  CD, 1992, Epic / Sony
  ** Numbered, limited edition, promo-only CD of demo songs for No More
     Tears.  Tracks are I Don't Want to Change the World, Mama, I'm
     Coming Home, Desire, Time After Time, Won't Be Coming Home (S.I.N.)
     Mrs. J., An Interview with Ozzy 5/13/92
     Mrs. J. is an acoustic piece by Zakk Wyld.  All songs are basically
     the same as the released versions, just mixed differently with some
     different harmonies and solos.  The exception to this is Won't Be
     Coming Home.  This song eventually became S.I.N., but in this form
     the lyrics make it a really different song (in my opinion).  The
     back of the CD has a painting by Ozzy.  The liner notes say "Any
     broadcast of this recording is prohibited".

Shake Your Head
  12" single, 1992, Phonogram
  ** Was (Not Was) song where Ozzy duets with Kim Basinger.  May also be
     available on a full length Was (Not Was) release

I Ain't No Nice Guy
  one song, 1992, Epic / Sony
  ** Ozzy sings with Lemmy on this song from Motorhead's March or Die
     album.  Also, the song Hellraiser (co written with Lemmy) appears
     here, but as done by Motorhead.  Ozzy's version appears on No More
     Tears.

Live & Loud
  double album, 1993, Epic / Sony
  ** Live album from the No More Tours Tour.  CD is "limited edition".
     It comes in digi-pack with speaker grill front, booklet, and 2
     temporary tattoos.  This is a 2 CD set.  It is somewhat limited
     since it is now out of print at least in the US.  Vinyl not
     available in the US.
     Reissued with 22-bit remastering, but in double jewel case.  The
     original is still out of print.  No tatooes in the remastered version.

Live & Loud Sampler
  CD, 1993, Epic / Sony
  ** 13 song sampler from Live & Loud.  The 13th song is Shot in the Dark
     and is unlisted on the CD.  Promo only.

Live & Loud
  video cassette, 1993, Epic Music Video / Sony
  ** Limited edition packaging of speaker grill similar to the CD.  I
     believe the limited packaging version is out of print, but not the
     video itself since I've seen the video by itself.

Changes
  CD single, 1993, Epic / Sony
  ** Contains Changes, No More Tears, Desire, Changes (with Audience).

Changes
  12" picture disc, 1993, Epic / Sony
  ** Tracks are the same as CD single.
     Not available in the US.

Changes + 2: Live and Loud Sampler
  CD single, 1993, Epic / Sony
  ** Promo only version of the above.

Iron Man
  one song, 1994, Columbia / Sony
  ** This song has Ozzy singing with Therapy? as the backing band.  It
     appears on the Black Sabbath tribute Nativity In Black.  This CD
     is available in a second, promo-only, 2 CD format.  It is called
     The Bible According to Black Sabbath, Old and New Testaments.  The
     Old Testament (first CD) is the same songs in the same order as the
     tribute, but as performed by Black Sabbath.  The New Testament
     (second CD) is the actual tribute.  I believe copies of this are
     pretty rare.  There is no US vinyl of this, but there may have been
     a European pressing.

Born to be Wild
  album, 1994, Jim Henson Records / BMG
  ** Ozzy does a "duet" with Miss Piggy on the record called Kermit
     Unpigged.  Other artists on this disc include Vince Gill, Jimmy Buffett,
     and Don Henley.

Ozzmosis
  album, 1995, Epic / Sony
  ** Japanese version has an additional track Whole World's Falling
     Down.  Vinyl not available in the US.

Perry Mason
  CD single, 1995, Epic / Sony
  ** Tracks are Perry Mason (edit), Perry Mason (album version),
     Living with the Enemy, The Whole World's Falling Down.
     Not available in the US.

Perry Mason
  CD single, 1995, Epic / Sony
  ** Same as above, but without the album version of Perry Mason.
     Part 1 of a 2 part set.
     Not available in the US.

Perry Mason
  CD single, 1995, Epic / Sony
  ** Tracks are Perry Mason (album version), No More Tears, I Don't
     Want to Change the World, Flying High Again. Not available in
     the US.  Part 2 of a 2 part set.

Perry Mason
  7" picture disc, 1995, Epic / Sony
  ** Tracks are Perry Mason (edit), Living With the Enemy. Limited
     edition numbered picture disc.
     Not available in the US.

Perry Mason
  CD single, 1995, Epic / Sony
  ** promo only, Perry Mason (edit), Perry Mason (album version).

4 From Ozzmosis
  CD EP, 1995, Epic / Sony
  ** UK promo. Tracks are Thunder Underground, Perry Mason, Tomorrow, and
     I Just Want You.

Ozzatory Pt. 1 / Hard & Melodious Side
  CD EP, 199?, Epic / Sony (?)
  ** Japan-only promo. 13 tracks.

Ozzatory Pt. 2 / Ballad & Melodious Side
  CD EP, 199?, Epic / Sony (?)
  ** Japan-only promo. 8 tracks.

The Ballads of Ozz
  CD EP, 1995, Epic / Sony
  ** German promo.  Tracks are See You on the Other Side, Ghost Behind
     My Eyes, I Just Want You, and Old L.A. Tonight.

See You on the Other Side
  CD single, 1996, Epic / Sony
  ** Tracks are See You on the Other Side (edit), See You on the
     Other Side (album version), Voodoo Dancer, Aimee.
     Not available in the US.

See You on the Other Side
  CD single, 1996, Epic / Sony
  ** Japanese release.  Tracks are See You on the Other Side (short version),
     Voodoo Dancer, Living With the Enemy, Perry Mason (edit).
     Not available in the US.

See You on the Other Side
  CD single, 1996, Epic / Sony
  ** promo only, See You on the Other Side (long version),
     See You on the Other Side (short version)

I Just Want You
  CD single, 1996, Epic / Sony
  ** One of a two part set.  Tracks are I Just Want You (Single Edit),
     Aimee, and Mama, I'm Coming Home.
     Not available in the US.

I Just Want You
  CD single, 1996, Epic / Sony
  ** One of a two part set.  Tracks are I Just Want You (Single Edit),
     Voodoo Dancer (Rough Demo), and Iron Man with Therapy?.  Iron Man
     is the version from the Nativity in Black tribute album.
     Not available in the US.

I Just Want You
  12" single, 1996, Epic / Sony
  ** Tracks are I Just Want You (Album Version), Aimee (Rough Demo), and
     Voodoo Dancer (Rough Demo).  All three tracks are on one side.  The
     Other side has an etched "Best Wishes Ozzy Osbourne" in Ozzy's own
     "handwriting".  There is also a little Ozzy sketch.
     Not available in the US.

I Just Want You
  CD single, 1996, Epic / Sony
  ** Promo-only one-track single.

Headless Dove
  bootleg CD, 1996, Metalheadz
  ** This bootleg CD contains three Ozzmosis era songs: Tears for You,
  Back on Earth and Where Rain Falls. The cover shows a picture of
  Ozzy looking upwards at a half dozen flying doves with no heads.
  The front picture is in blue, the rear is a black and white logo
  which simply reads 'Ozzy Osbourne'. The CD originated from Toronto,
  Ontario but the store was raided by police and they no longer carry
  boots of any kind. The CD remains very rare.

Walk On Water
  one song, 1996, Famous Music Corporation / EMI Virgin Music Inc. /
                  Alamo Music Corp. / Testatyme Music
  ** Song from the movie soundtrack for Beavis and Butt-Head Do America.
     Produced by, of all people, Moby.
     Joe Holmes, ex Lizzy Borden, joins  on guitar.

Walk On Water
  CD single, 1996, Famous Music Corporation / EMI Virgin Music Inc. /
                   Alamo Music Corp. / Testatyme Music
  ** Promo-only one track single.

Pictures Of Matchstick Men
  one song, 1997, ???
  ** Performs this song with Type-O Negative for the soundtrack to Howard
     Stern's movie, Private Parts.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                           3.1 RARE/B-SIDES/ETC.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following are B-sides, bonus tracks, demos, or unreleased versions
of Ozzy songs:

* "You Looking at Me, Looking at You"
  [b-side to "Crazy Train" 7" single]

* "I Don't Know"
  [live b-side to "Flying High Again" single]

* "One Up the B-Side"
  [b-side to "Bark at the Moon" single]

* "Spiders"
  [track on European BARK AT THE MOON replacing USA Slow Down]

* "Hero"
  [unlabelled last track on NO REST FOR THE WICKED]

* "The Liar"
  [from Japanese NO REST FOR THE WICKED]

* "I Don't Want to Change the World"
  [from NO MORE TEARS demos CD]

* "Mama, I'm Coming Home"
  [from NO MORE TEARS demos]

* "Desire"
  [from NO MORE TEARS demos]

* "Time After Time"
  [from NO MORE TEARS demos]

* "Won't Be Coming Home (S.I.N.)"
  [from NO MORE TEARS demo w/alt. lyrics]

* "Mrs. J."
  [from NO MORE TEARS demo]

* "Don't Blame Me"
  [b-side to "Mama, I'm Coming Home"]

* "Party with the Animals"
  [b-side to "Mama, I'm Coming Home"]

* "The Whole World is Falling Down"
  [b-side to "Perry Mason"]

* "Living with the Enemy"
  [b-side to "Perry Mason"]

* "Aimee"
  [b-side to "See You on the Other Side]

* "Voodoo Dancer"
  [b-side to "See You on the Other Side"]

* "Purple Haze"
  [from the Make a Difference Foundation album STAIRWAY TO
  HEAVEN/HIGHWAY TO HELL]

* "Iron Man"
  [with Therapy?, from NATIVITY IN BLACK) 1994 Columbia/Sony]

* "Close My Eyes Forever"
  [duet with Lita Ford, from LITA FORD]

* "Bombers (Can Open Bomb Bays)"
  (with Bill Ward, from WARD ONE:
  ALONG THE WAY)  1990, Chameleon Records

* "Jack's Land"
  [with Bill Ward, from WARD ONE: ALONG THE WAY]

* "Shake Your Head (Let's Go to Bed)"
  [with WasNotWas, from BORN TO LAUGH AT TORNADOS.
  Kim Basinger supporting vocals]
  1992 Phonogram

* "Led Clones"
  [with Gary Moore, from AFTER THE WAR]
  1989 Virgin/Capitol

* "Speak For Yourself"
  [with Gary Moore, from AFTER THE WAR]

* "I Ain't No Nice Guy"
  [duet with Lemmy, from Motorhead's MARCH OR DIE]
  1992 Epic/Sony

* "Born to be Wild"
  [duet with Ms. Piggy, from KERMIT UNPIGGED]
  1994, Jim Henson Records

* "Therapy"
  [with The Infectious Grooves, from PLAGUE THAT MAKES YOUR BOOTY MOVE]
  1991 Epic/Sony

* "Hey Stoopid"
  [back-up with Alice Cooper, from HEY STOOPID]
  1991 Epic/Sony

* "Staying Alive"
  [with Dweezel Zappa, unreleased]

* "The Urpney Song"
  ["The Dreamstone" 1990 British cartoon]

The list comes from information provided by: [e-mail] and
[e-mail]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            3.2 Song Definitons
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

MIRACLE MAN : The hypocrasy of preacher Jimmy Swaggart who put Ozzy down
but then fell from glory himself when caught with a prostitute.

MY LITTLE MAN : A song Ozzy wrote for his son Jack, it sounds like it is
a last goodbye to his son.

KILLER OF GIANTS : A song about man and nuclear missles and how, if we keep
up this mad rush to have the bigger weapon, we will obliterate ourselves.

PERRY MASON : Perry Mason defending a man accused of killing someone.
The original idea had nothing to do with Perry Mason, it was just a title
Ozzy wrote down.

GOODBYE TO ROMANCE : Despite the misleading lyrics this is not about love.
The lyrics are about Ozzy's days with Sabbath, now dead and gone, and was
his way of saying goodbye to them. "Yesterday has been and gone, tomorrow
will I find the sun or will it rain". You figure it out.

CRAZY BABIES : Babies who are the result of crack cocaine mothers.

SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE : A song about death. Written after Sam Kinnison
died in a traffic accident and Steve Marriott of Humble Pie died as well.

SUICIDE SOLUTION : The dangers of alcohol.

ROAD TO NOWHERE : A retrospective look at Ozzy's life.

SO TIRED : I absolutely love this song. A soft ballad and easy listener
about a woman who is cheating on her lover and it is time for them to part.

DEMON ALCOHOL : Basically the same as Suicide Solution. The dangers of
drinking.

BLOODBATH IN PARADISE : Charles Manson and his following, the Tate and
LaBianca murders.

YOU'RE NO DIFFERENT : People who put down Ozzy, take a look at yourself
before judging others.

BARK AT THE MOON : A creature scorned and buried alive. The creature comes
back to seek revenge on them.

MR. TINKERTRAIN : The problem of child molestation in our society.

MR. CROWLEY : Ozzy had heard about Mr. Crowley and wanted to know what
he was all about. The song is Ozzy asking Mr. Crowley who he is.

NO BONE MOVIES : Just a guess, but I'd say pornography.

FLYING HIGH AGAIN : A song about drugs.

FAIRIES WEAR BOOTS : Written about skinheads who wear boots. This
came after the Sabs were beaten up by skinheads.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                             3.3 Did You Know?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The dwarf on the Diary of a Madman tour was the same actor who played R2D2
in Star Wars?

Ozzy's contract stipulated that 25 pounds of raw meat would be thrown at
the audience for the Diary of a Madman tour?

Gary Moore was originally considered for the Ozzy's guitarist on Blizzard
of Ozz.

In 1971, a nurse committed suicide while listening to the Paranoid album.

A Texan fan of Ozzys built a tomb for Ozzy and himself to rest in when they
both died. The fan expected to lay beside Ozzy in death, forever.

When Ozzy left Sabbath, he had to steal music equipment from a warehouse to
start up a new band.

Ozzy has a sketch of his on display at the Hard Rock Cafe in Tokyo?

In 1982, Ozzy donated 25,000 dollars to the SPCA to help neutralize some of
the bad publicity involving animals.

Some of Ozzy Osbourne's Favorites records are: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts
Club Band, The Beatles Revolver, The Beatles Rubber Soul, The Beatles The
White Album, The Beatles Led Zeppelin I, LZ Led Zeppelin II, LZ Band on the
Run, Paul McCartney and Wings Arc of a Diver, Steve Winwood Hello, I Must
Be Going, Phil Collins Kissing to Be Clever, Culture Club Essence to
Essence, Donovan

Ozzy's brothers names are Paul and Tony while his sisters names are Iris
and Gillian.

Ozzy was not born in a hospital but delivered by a midwife at home.

When Ozzy lived with his first wife Thelma, they took turns feeding the
chickens. One day it was Ozzy's turn but he was busy drinking with his
friends. Thelma kept asking Oz to go feed them, finally Ozzy went outside
with a shotgun and killed them.

Ozzy and Bill once urinated on Hitler's shrine in Berlin.

Ozzy is superstitious and will not wear the colour green.

Being a big star, Ozzy does not attend social engagements. He prefers to
sit at home and listen to music while he draws sketches.

When Oz was only 14 years old he was in a band called the Black Panthers.

The very first pub Sabbath played in as Black Sabbath was the Mermaid, in a
region of Birmingham called Sparkbrook. It closed down years ago, as it is
in an area now almost completely inhabited by ethnic groups who have no
care for it. [by Mike H]

Ozzy plays all of the characters in his 'So Tired' video. Don Airey also
makes an appearance.

Ozzy is the godfather of Zakk's child and the child is named John Michael,
after Ozzy.

Ozzy sends flowers to Randy's grave each year?

Ozzy was drinking Tequila for the very first time. He ended up getting so
drunk that he fell asleep under a table in a hotel restaurant. The cleaner
woke him up by hitting him over the head with a broom, thinking he was a
homeless person.

While in the Betty Ford clinic for alcoholism, Ozzy stayed in a room with a
mortician who cried all the time and was constantly depressed.

Ozzy wants to have a FOURTH child this year?

Ozzy once unknowingly urinated out a window onto a waiting audience below
him.

Towards the end of Ozzy's days with Sabbath, Ozzy had planned to call his
first solo alum, "Am I Going Insane?". Instead he wrote a song of the same
title for the Sabotage album.

The sound of crying at the end of "Am I Going Insane?" is actually Ozzy's
baby?

On Christmas Eve one year, Ozzy opened his bay window to look at the snow
covered countryside. As he sniffed at the icy air, there in front of him
was a stoat sitting up on its hind legs looking back at him.

If you've read the book by Steve Rosen you know that the author was with
Ozzy and the band when they trashed a hotel room. The events which lead up
to it were as follows: A girl who called herself Stormy Monday was in their
hotel room undulating to imaginary music. As she moved around the floor,
caressing herself, she would watch the band for their reactions. Realizing
she couldn't go through with it, she stopped just short of removing her
top. Angry, Ozzy ripped a thermostat off the wall. Then he tore the
pictures off the wall. He then tore the TV from the mounting and it was
given rides up and down the elevator. Then he broke the glass containing
the fire extinguisher and sprayed eveyone. (This is about where the author
takes over the story).

Ozzy once planned to have a T-shirt made which read, "If your day is
totally screwed up, blame Ozzy Osbourne" because of all the blame being put
on him for supposed effects on people from his music.

Ozzy's favourite beer is Starbucks. He has a dog named Baldrick and owns 6
dogs in all.

Ozzy owns an 18th century home in Buckinghamshire and one in Beverly Hills.

Ozzy was drinking in a bar with a girl named Regan, who was insulting Ozzy
and who then threw an icecube at his head. Ozzy dumped a bowl of popcorn
over head. After this she proceeded to try and slash him with a lit
cigarette. Her arms were held down while various drinks were then poured
down her dress.

Ozzy routinely uses a fire hose to douse his audience with water. His
security staff has taken to wearing raincoats now.

Ozzy's grandfather had a tattoo of a snake which went from his head all the
way down to his toes.

Once at the Niagra Falls Hilton, out of boredom Ozzy lit some matches under
a fire sprinker. Sirens and bells began to sound and people began running
around in sheer panic and soon firemen and policemen arrived and started
running around as well.

When Oz was younger he said that for his tombstone he wanted a statue of
him in the Volume 4 cover position (outstretched arms, peace sign).

In a testament to his supposed animal cruelty... Ozzy was staying in a
Swiss hotel once when he found a stray dog outside. The dog was starving so
Ozzy put a string around his neck and walked him into the hotel's
restaurant. Immediately staff told him he couldn't bring a dog into the
place. Ozzy said that since he was staying in one of their most high priced
rooms, he thought the dog should be fed. So they reluctantly fed him. The
waiter asked Ozzy what he'd like to have, then asked, "What will the dog
have?" "How would the dog like his steak done?" Anyway, the dog ended up
with a meal in his stomach.

A Christian, determined to save Ozzy from damnation, once followed the tour
bus from a concert for over 300 miles.

Ozzy's song 'I Don't Want to Change the World' won him a Grammy award.

The Osbourne family was travelling on a plane. A woman complained about his
rowdy kids and said, "My dogs behave better than your kids". Sharon
replied, "Thats because you're probably having sex with them". The kids
also filled her jacket pocket with peas and other vegetables.

Ozzy is so used to being called "Ozzy" that he no longer knows someone is
talking to him if they call him "John".

When Ozzy had hos dragon tattoo made, he had no idea what he wanted. He
simply asked the tattooist to make something, which he did, right out of
his own imagination.

"All Moving Part's Stand Still" is about a cross dressing president who
turns out to be a woman in real life?

Ozzy has a brother named Gordon (hi!)

Fox Television has offered Ozzy his very own television show. The show
would be about a singer who is on the road and has to adapt to life at home
after being away from home for so long. Oz says he won't do it though
because he doesn't like the way his voice sounds.

Sharon Osbourne used to be manager of many other groups as well such as
Gary Moore, but dropped them so she could spend more time with Ozzy. Tony
Iommi also used to manage bands such as Judas Priest.

Ozzy's personal assistant's name is Tony Dennis.

Ozzy once visited a dying fan in the hospital. The fan was unable to talk
and wrote out what song Ozzy would dedicate to him (Crazy Train).

After he and Sharon have a fight, Ozzy will sometimes go to Tiffany's and
buy Sharon an expensive piece of jewellery to make up for it.

Ozzy had a grand mal seizure which has left him with physical side effects.
He also takes prozac because of a chemical imbalance.

Ozzy was officially banned from Salt Lake City, permanently by a group of
mormons.

Ozzy once owned an XJ12 sportscar which was used only for special
occasions. Ozzy ended up sinking it after driving through a fence in his
yard.

Ozzy has worked with many different artists such as Dweezil Zappa, Kim
Basinger, Miss Piggy, Lita Ford, Sam Kinnison, Theraphy?, Bill Ward, Alice
Cooper, Gary Moore, Motorhead, Holly Knight, and Slash.

Ozzy's management uses Compuserve to aid in booking shows.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                3.4 Tattoos
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ozzy has over fifteen tattoos over his body. Some of them are:

- Red hooded ghoul on left chest
- Blue dragon with red flames on right chest
- Unknown tattoo (leaves or dagger?) on right arm
- Stick man figure on left wrist just below thumb
- Unknown tattoo (letters) on his left palm, starts with "A" [***]
- Letters O,Z,Z,Y on his knuckles of left hand [***]
- The word 'THANKS' is marked on his right palm
- Happy faces on both knees [***]
- Rose on right shoulder, he would later have the word 'Sharon' tattooed
  under it
- Skull with knife through it on left arm
- Long pointed dagger with Ozzy banner on left arm

- Bat and woman's face on upper left shoulder
- Symbols and a number "3" on his arm.  [***]
- Sword on his right thigh

Ozzy's tattoos can be seen on the Complete Ozzy Osbourne Homepage
(http://www.cyberpunk.ca/ozzy/)

[***] These tattoos were done while Ozzy was in jail. He used two different
methods during at least two different incarcaration periods. The first
method (his knees and knuckles) was done using a piece of graphite (as in
pencil lead) and a needle. The other method was done using a tin of grey
polish, melting it and sticking it into the skin with a needle.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                              3.5 Milestones
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dec. 3, 1948 - Ozzy Osbourne is born in Aston, Birmingham, England
Dec. 6 ,1956 - Randy Rhoads is born.
     1962 - Ozzy joins one of his first bands at age 14, Black Panthers.
     1967 - Ozzy, Geezer, Tony and Bill form Earth.
     1969 - Earth calls themselves Black Sabbath.
     1969 - Black Sabbath returns to England from Germany. So far
            they have not found someone to carry their record.
Jan.    1970 - Vertigo decides to sign Sabbath to their label.
Feb.    1970 - Sabbath breaks the audience record at Henry's.
Feb.13 ,1970 - Black Sabbath releases its debut self titled album. This
            would set the stage for the term 'heavy metal'.
Oct.23 ,1970 - A near riot results when a drunken crowd awaits the band.
Sept.4 ,1970 - Simpson and Sabbath part ways.
April 6,1974 - Sabbath plays the huge California Jam. Soon after they fire
               their manager.
     1975 - Free from their manager's greedy hands, the band releases
            the Sabotage album.
     1977 - Ozzy's father passes away. Oz quits Black Sabbath but comes
            back in time for the Never Say Die album and tour.
     1978 - Ozzy is fired from Sabbath, Ronnie James Dio replaces him.
     1980 - Ozzy signs with Jet Records. He releases his first solo album,
            Blizzard of Ozz which goes platinum plus in the U.S.
Sept.12,1980 - Ozzy plays his first concert in Glasgow, Scotland.
     1981 - Ozzy divorces his first wife. He goes on to release his second
            album, Diary of a Madman. This album also goes platinum.
Jan. 20,1982 - Ozzy bites the head off the bat.
Feb. 19,1982 - Ozzy urinates on the Alamo and goes to jail.
Mar. 19,1982 - Randy Rhoads dies in a plane accident in Leesburg, Florida.
     1982 - Bernie Torme replaces Randy but backs out and so did the
            Speak of the Devil album.
     1982 - Black Sabbath releases 'Live Evil', Ozzy releases 'Speak of the
            Devil'.
July 4, 1982 - Ozzy marries his long time companion, Sharon Arden.
     1983 - Ozzy signs to Epic Records. Bill Ward quits Black Sabbath.
     1984 - Ozzy enters the Betty Ford clinic for drinking problems.
            He also begins his Bark at the Moon project.
     1985 - Ozzy plays the first Rock in Rio festival to over 200,000
            people.
July 13,1985 - He also reunites with his ex-Sabbath members for the
            Live Aid reunion in PA.
     1986 - Ozzy wins a lawsuit that claimed "Suicide Solution" was
            responsible for a teenage suicide in California.
     1987 - Due to popular demand by his fans, Ozzy puts out the Randy
            Rhoads tribute album. He only plays one concert that year.
     1988 - Zakk Wylde joins Ozzy's lineup of guitar players.
     1989 - Ozzy donates $15,000 to AIDS charities in Philadelphia.
Aug.12-13/89 - Ozzy plays the Moscow Music Festival which benefits drug and
            alcohol programs.
     1991 - No More Tears is released setting new grounds in Ozzy's
            career. No more macabre album covers and titles.
     1992 - Ozzy announces this will be his last tour.
     1992 - Ozzy wins a grammy award for "I Don't Want to Change the
            World". Ozzy announces he is going to retire and embarks on
            the "No More Tours" tour.
Nov. 15,1992 - Ozzy plays his last show at Costa Mesa, CA
     1993 - Live and Loud is released to accompany his last tour.
1993 -> 1995 - Ozzy takes three years off to relax and be a family man.
            Finally he heads back into the studio and comes up with
            Ozzmosis. A spectacle in his history of albums. He says
            he is never going to retire again: The next time that he
            retires will be when they lower him into the ground.
Oct.25, 1995 - Ozzmosis album is sold in stores.
Sept.14,1996 - Ozz-Fest starts
October 1996 - Ozzy announces he is starting his own record label,
               "Ozz-Records" to promote smaller bands.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                               3.6 Questions
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: I saw that a John Osbourne was in a late 60's band named "Magic
Lanterns". Some dealers sell this LP at high prices. Was Ozzy really in the
band?
A: NO, Ozzy has never been in Magic Lanterns, it was another John.

Q: Why do some albums have bonus tracks. I notice a lot of Japanese albums
have these.
A: Albums cost more to buy in Japan, and come out after the American
versions. Bonus tracks encourage the Japanese to buy their own country's
version instead.

Q: What is the name of the extra track on 'No Rest for the Wicked'? A:
Hero. Q: Are there any old/rare (pre-Sabbath, pre-solo) Ozzy songs out
there?
A: Yes, but good luck trying to find them. The following songs are rare
material:
* "THE REBEL" - Black Sabbath demo (Regent Sound demo) which can be sampled
on the "Black Sabbath Story - Volume 1" VHS. What some people do not know
is that both this song and "Song for Jim" were actually released back in
1969 as 7" singles. They ARE out there, but I imagine most of them have
since been disbanded to garbage dumps or destroyed.

* "SONG FOR JIM" - Instrumental, song made for their first manager Jim
Simpson.

* "IMPRESSIONS OF LINDA" - (unverified, Polka Tulk band era, it kind of
sounds like Ozzy but I can't say for certain)

* "SLOW BURN" - Ballad recorded with Holly Knight but not released because
the final version was not good enough.

Ozzy was asked about his first two impossible to find singles. He simply
does not remember ever recording them. Geezer was asked about 'The Rebel'
(while drinking in a local pub), but he was in such a bad mood that an
answer was not possible.

Q: What do the letters NIB, AVH, SATO, SIN on his albums mean?

A: NIB - This is *not* Nativity In Black. Ronnie Dio has said this himself.
      Geezer Butler has said it was named after Bill Ward's beard
      which resembled a pen nib (tip).
   AVH - Alcohol, Valium and Hash. The name of this song comes from an
      interview with one of the sound engineers. The title of the song
      was considered politically incorrect so initials were used. The
      song describes the painful withdrawal of quitting alcohol and
      drug addictions.
  SATO - Sailing Across the Ocean
   SIN - Shadows In the Night

Q: Did Ozzy really sing the Bee-Gee's "Stayin' Alive"?
A: Yes he did. He did this for Dweezil Zappa's "Confessions" album, the
record company did not want to authorize the release however and so Donny
Osmond's version made it to the album. Oz can be heard on bootleg versions
though.

Q: Where can I find these rare and live Ozz/Sab boot tapes?
A: I am not going to get into this except to say almost every home page
(including mine) will help you in those matters.

Q: What is the name of the classical music played before each Ozzy concert?

A: The piece is "O Fortuna" from the Carmina Burana opera by Carl Orff.

Q: Why do some Black Sabbath albums have Ozzy singing "Wicked World" and
yet others have "Evil Woman" instead?
A: The Evil Woman single appears on UK versions of their first album only
because of copyright problems. The song was initially sung by a band named
Crow from Minnesota. The American version has Wicked World in its place.

Q: Is Joan Osborne (the beauty) related to Ozzy?
A: No, besides they spell their last names differently.

Q: The opening movie on Ozzy's tour is hilarious. Is it available?
A: Sharon (wife/manager) has said she will see about this. There are
finally bootleg video tapes of this funny opener video available too. For
those who haven't seen this, the video portrays Ozzy in different settings.
For example, he sits beside Forrest Gump on the bench (the box of
chocolates scene), he dances in Saturday Night Fever, and he knocks on the
door of the Apollo in Apollo 13.

[The next four questions are answered by a friend of the Osbourne's]
Q: What are Ozzy's siblings doing, ie. professional, white collar work,
factory, etc. Are they in England?
A: All I am allowed to say is that they still live in the home district of
WALSALL. It is a poor district in some senses, though poor these days is
nothing like what poor meant when Ozzy was a kid. It is a very
working-class, though very community spirited town.

Q: What are some of the names of the pubs you and Geezer and the other Sabs
frequent, do you play darts?, drink?, drink and puke?, drink and puke and
play darts?, play cards?, etc etc.
A: These days they stay in their home district of REDDITCH and only Geezer
and Geoff Nicholls can be seen in town at the likes of the Rock Cafe and
Costermongers.

Q: Is Birmingham still a factory oriented town where people work the
factories and go to the bars afterwards or has it improved financially?
What are it's main industries?
A: The whole of the midlands region is still the industrial heart of
England, though affluence is much more apparent these days. Triumph
motorcylces has had an enormous increase in fortunes these days and there
are many new world-beating industries here, so the poverty thing has all
but gone, though we still have poor districts.

Q: Is Sabbath still thought of as evil devil music or has the church and
Christians relented somewhat?
A: You have to remember, the way you chaps view things tends to always be
taken a step further than here. We have never seriously had a problem with
the devil thing Vs Sabbath. England is full to the brim with legends,
ghosts and mysterys as well as cults. It is seen more as the theatrical
thing that makes up our characters and culture. The first we really knew
about the problems it caused was when we heard about someone blowing his
face off, because he claims Ozzy told him to to it in a song. I am not
being rude at all ( I love America ) but that simply wouldn't happen here
and if it did, the person would be treated with the contempt he/she
deserved. Listen to any interview with Lemmy and he will tell you the same
thing.

Q: I saw Ozzy on his recent tour. Why doesn't he play a lot of his new
material?
A: His voice can't make the high notes as often. In the studio you can do
it over and over until you get it right. On stage you have just one shot.
Watch Ozzy on David Letterman performing, "I Just Want You" and see what I
mean.

Q: What is this about Ozzy suing Tony Iommi?
A: Ozzy filed a suit against Tony because some years ago Tony borrowed
money ($50-75,000) from Ozzy to get out of jail. Tony was put in jail for
non-payment of child support. When he refused to pay the money back to
Ozzy, a suit was then filed.

Q: What is "plastic water", I've heard Ozzy say he drinks this and he sings
it on "I Just Want You" ?
A: Ozzy is referring to Diet Coke, which like most diet pop and beer,
tastes like water.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                              3.7 Quotations
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Musically they are completely uncompromising, and would rather starve than
sell out to more commercial forms of music." [Vertigo Sab Promo]

"A lot of other bands just have guys in the crowd. Ozzy has a mixed
audience. But groups like Quiet Riot or Def Leppard attract just the girls,
and I find the girls are very fickle. Next year, a prettier band will come
up, and your dead. The men are more faithful" [Sharon]

"Ozzy had no technical qualifications really. At least Tony or Geezer could
play their scales or a B flat chord. Ozzy wouldn't know what a chord was if
it fell out of the sky and hit him in on the head. He knew nothing about
music whatsoever. All he had was feel. But he had far more going for him
than the rest of the band. The band, in my opinion, was purely Ozzy." [Jim
Simpson commenting on Ozzy when he was with Sabbath]

"I'm the guy kids love and parents hate. The guy mothers love to hate. When
you've achieved that, you've achieved a goal." [Ozzy]

"We've obviously got what the people want. It's agressive music and I think
America likes agression." [Ozzy in Sabbath]

"Well listen, how does a sparrow make an emergency landing? With a
sparrowchute." [Ozzy talking to reception desk in his hotel room]

"You hear your mother crying because she has no dough to feed you. Or my
father and her always fighting over something. And I used to sit on the
front steps all the time and think 'one of these days I'm going to buy a
Rolls Royce and drive them out of this shithole'. And I did it." [Ozzy on
life before fame]

"I never go on stage drunk or stoned or anything." [early days Ozzy]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                             3.8 Fan Club Info
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Send a self addressed stamped envelope with .80 cents (US) postage to
 the following address:

 Ozzy Osbourne Appreciaton Society
 P.O. Box 15397
 Beverly Hills, CA 90209
 USA

 You will receive an 8x10 autographed picture of Ozzy, signed by
 himself personally. If you would like to submit a tape of your band
 in the hopes that you can be part of Ozzy's new record label, Ozz-
 Records, use the same address above.

 You may also e-mail Ozzy's fan club at: [e-mail]

 For the latest Ozzy merchandise informnation, send a SASE legal sized
 envelope (foreign letters include IRC coupon) to:
 Ozzy Osbourne
 c/o Rock Express
 P.O. Box 59
 San Francisco, CA 94101

 ** Postal Address' ** (Unverified)

 Ozzy Osbourne
 1801 Century Park West
 Los Angeles, CA 90067

 1 Red Place
 London, W1Y 3RE, England

 Box 15397
 Los Angeles, CA 90209

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           3.9 Where to find lyrics, tabs, links, and other info
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The internet boasts a vast array of Ozzy and Black Sabbath links for
home pages, guitar tabs and lyrics. With the invention of the wonderful
language known as HTML, you can simply select a link from the list below:

==========
Home Pages (will usually contain lyrics, pictures, tabs, and links):
==========

======
Lyrics
======
www.epix.net/~aevanich/ozzy.html
www.cyberpunk.ca/ozzy/lyrics.html

===========
Guitar Tabs
===========
http://hem.passagen.se/le24/tab.htm

If you want guitar tabs, bass tabs, or what have you, try this site out.
This is the
OLGA (On-Line Guitar Archive) and will have what you're looking for! :
http://www.mdstud.chalmers.se/~md4calle/olga.html

============
Randy Rhoads
============
thoth.stetson.edu/music/rhoads/index.html
http://www.urban.or.jp/home/tu9669/randy/index.html

Ozzy also has an autobiography called "Ozzy Osbourne - Diary of a Madman"
by Mick Wall. The ISBN number is 0946391467, Zomba is the publisher.
Ozzy was unhappy with this book however as he wanted a more in depth
look at things, not just the groupies and stories that took place.

There is also a biography out on Ozzy from Ballentine Biographies. The ISBN
is  0-345-33240-7 and the Library of Congress catalog number is
86-91095. The first edition was from May 1986.

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                         3.10 Ozzy's Movie Career
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 "The f***ing Monkeyz?"
       ...Ozzy in Jerky Boys movie

     "These evil people have just got to be stopped"
     ...Ozzy in Trick or Treat

1986
----

Like some musicians, Ozzy has been in a few movies and in keeping with
Oz-tradition they are humourous roles. In the 1986 horror movie "Trick or
Treat", Ozzy plays Reverend Aaron Gilstrom, a priest who wants the evil
being spread through music stopped :) The movie starred Marc Price who
played Skippy in the Family Ties television show. Also stars Gene Simmons
as a DJ. [Note: Watch the movie all the way to the end, past the credits
and you'll see Ozzy once again]

There is also mention of Ozzy being in the movie 'Riders of the Storm' as
an "urban animal". The movie starred Dennis Hopper.

19xx
------

Though not a movie, Ozzy appeared in The Decline of Western Civilization -
Part 2 which was a documentary about heavy metal directed by Penelope
Spheeris, a well known producer.

1994
--------

In the 1994 Jerky Boys movie, Ozzy played a band manager who runs into the
Jerky Boys in a bar. The band he manages plays 'Symptom of the Universe'.

1996
------

Ozzy also has completed his part for Howard Stern's upcoming "Private
Parts" movie, released in 1997.

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                3.11 What are his ex-Sabbath members doing?
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BILL WARD left black Sabbath in August of 1980, a day before they were to
play in Hawaii. He gave personal reasons for his reason, however his
constant alcohol and drug abuse also played a part in his decision. Bill
has gone on to release two solo albums, "Ward One" in 1990 and his latest
album, "When the Bow Breaks" which has yet to be released. Bill has also
been sober for many years. He remains one of the kindest person you could
talk to if you wanted to reminisc on the old Sabbath days. We wish him the
best of luck!

GEEZER BUTLER continued to shuffle between Ozzy Osbourne's band and Black
Sabbath. His last words on Black Sabbath were, "I am never playing with
Black Sabbath again". He teamed up with Fear Factory's Burton C. Bell and
now has a band of his own called "G/Z/R" (pronounced Gee Zee R). His band's
first album was the 1995 "Plastic Planet". Most of the songs for the album
were written during a two week period at a Massachusetts farm. "Giving Up
the Ghost", is a song from the album which describes his feelings about
Black Sabbath, and how he feels the band should be put to rest.

TONY IOMMI is still with Black Sabbath. From the beginning, Tony would
always want to be part of the band, and according to Ozzy, to be in control
of the band. Black Sabbath went on to release many albums after Ozzy's
departure. People still argue whether Sabbath died when Ozzy left. Ozzy's
concerts sell out, Sabbath's are half full or cancelled due to poor sales.

JIM SIMPSON won the lawsuit against Sabbath and their managers. He was
awarded 35,000 pounds. He now manages the Birmingham Jazz Festival.

RONNIE JAMES DIO has just come out with a new album titled "Angry
Machines". There is no love lost between him and Ozzy. Dio calls Ozzy 'a
fat slob who looks like Benny Hill' and Ozzy used to use a dwarf in his
shows whom he would call "Ronnie" :).

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                            4.0 Closing Remarks
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Black Sabbath are undoubtedly one of, if not, THE band, which created the
genre of heavy metal. There are already a handful of tribute albums
dedicated to Sabbath and countless bands who were inspired by Sabbath. Ozzy
has repeatedly said he hates being classified as a heavy metal artist
however since it has become so diverse. Alice In Chains and Bon Jovi are
considered heavy metal. See his point? If you look at his albums lately,
they really aren't heavy metal. His albums contain a diverse mix of gentle
ballads to hard rocking songs with ear splitting guitar licks. There are
fans of metal who listen to Metallica or Slayer but hate Ozzy. Then there
are those who would give their next born child just to be able to meet the
man. These are our own personal tastes, but I think there is probably a
song on every one of his albums that everybody could enjoy. Classify his
music as you will, the man deserves some credit for his part in music
history.

True, he has led a life of ups and downs, much of it under the influence of
various drugs (though he is now sober). He has made McDonald Happy Meals
out of various flying animals. He has been accused by just about every
religious organization to be a devil worshipper, a promoter of Satan's
music. Yes, Ozzy's life has been surrounded by highs and lows, and it is
quite likely that when he dies he will be remembered only as a lunatic
madman. Who is the real John Osbourne? Nobody but him really knows. The
John Osbourne that I know and like is just an ordinary man who plays a
role. He enjoys making kids happy and going crazy on stage. Sure he has
made some mistakes in the past, and the media propagates these because he
is a world famous celebrity. John Osbourne eats and sleeps the same way you
and I do, and he has feelings just as we do. His wife is conservative,
dresses in stylish attire and conducts herself as a professional manager.
She is not a groupie, nor does she conduct herself in any appropriate ways.
Sometimes, because she is the wife of Ozzy she is not taken seriously, but
this woman is every bit competant as the next manager out there. The two of
them have made some excellent business investments which have enabled them
to lead a very wealthy life. They have also helped small bands get off on a
good start. Take for example, Motley Crue. While the Crue was still a club
band, Ozzy allowed them to tour with him and thus helping them become more
popular.

It is painfully obvious that he is getting old though. He no longer jumps
up and down like a wild man, no longer runs back and forth from one end of
the stage to the other. His later concerts show him either standing at the
mic, hopping up and down or walking from one end of the stage to the other.
His voice can no longer make all the high notes it once did, and he will
sometimes mouth curses at his frustration with this. Nobody knows what lies
ahead down the road for Ozzy Osbourne. The one thing I do know however is
that his shows continue to sell out, his albums continue to sell millions
and millions. I wonder what will he be doing when he is eighty years old,
if he is alive. I think even if it was Ozzy doing karaoke in a wheelchair
at a small bar, the crowds would still come out to see him. His fans and I
can only hope he will be around to entertain us for some time to come.

We love you Ozzy!

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                                4.1 Credits
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The information from this file was gathered from various sources. If you
are a hard-core Ozzy fan, you may recognize a lot of the information from a
book or interview you have read. The information was *not* however, taken
from anybody's web page. I've noticed a lot of web pages had carried the
same information I had found while researching.

All information for this file was obtained from:

== The Black Sabbath Story I VHS (Castle 38316-3)
== Chris Tetley Interview
== Rock-It's Black Sabbath and Ozzy comics (Issue 1? It was a one time deal)
== Ozzy Osbourne Biography by Ethlie Vare
== Article by Steve Rosen
== Guitar World, Dec. 1995
== Alexander Rack's Black Sabbath FAQ
== Mark Plummer article (Newcastle show, 1970)
== Black Sabbath Mailing List ([e-mail])
== Ozzy on various talk shows
== Scott Cohen's "Ozzy Osbourne" article
== AOL/Ticketmaster Interviews
== My own personal knowledge
== The Story of Black Sabbath by Steve Rosen (ISBN 1-86074-149-5)
== Articles by Brian Harrigan, Mick Houghton, Royston Eldridge
== Ozzy interviews (audio and video)

Special thanks to Lisa Hutson, Mike H., [e-mail]

This file will be revised as more information both past and present becomes
available. This FAQ is posted automatically, every month, to alt.music
ozzy, alt.music.black-sabbath and news.answers.
Please e-mail me with any corrections or additions you may have.