Tickets for the Black Sabbath final show went on pre-sale about 25 minutes ago, and my son and his girlfriend got in. As some of you will know, they run a YouTube vlog called Mead and Metal, so when they post that journey, it will be one hell of a vlog. Good old Ozzy Osbourne. I remember my first Sabbath album was Never Say Die. It had just come out and I went to the local (only) record shop in Haywards Heath to buy a copy, brought it home and popped the needle down. That opening song! A classic. The whole album? It's not their best. I didn't know at the time but Ozzy was on the verge of being sacked from the band but that album launched a lifetime love of Sabbath. My next album was Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and then Sabotage (still my favourite Sabbath albums to this day.
So Ozzy was sacked and in came Ronnie James Dio as vocalist. I was already a huge Rainbow fan and knew his voice and lyrics would work in Sabbath, but when Heaven and Hell came out even I wasn't prepared for the awesomeness of that record. It was a good time for rock music, 1979 to 1981. Lots of changes but Led Zeppelin was still going, as were Pink Floyd. AC/DC made the transition from Bon Scott to Brian Johnson - both Sabbath and AC/DC proving that it was possible to change vocalists successfully. I didn't think Rainbow were quite as successful when Down to Earth came out with Graham Bonnet singing, but it was just a very clear change of musical direction to get more commercial sales, and that worked for them, so what do I know?
Ozzy went on to a solo career. That first album was a game-changer. It certainly didn't try to imitate Black Sabbath - Randy Rhoads' guitar playing was fresh and continued a new way of playing rock guitar, pioneered by the likes of Eddie Van Halen, and that really paved the way for the Hair Metal guitar players in the later 80s. I played Blizzard of Ozz to death. Headbanging and playing air guitar in my bedroom. Then Ozzy announced a tour and they were playing at the Brighton Dome. So many big rock bands played in Brighton in the 80s. In those late 70s/early 80s years I saw AC/DC on the Highway to Hell tour, Black Sabbath on the Heaven and Hell, Rainbow on the Down to Earth tour, Motorhead, Iron Maiden on their first tour in a tiny little venue then called the Top Rank. Rush, Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy, UFO, Gillan, Kiss - so many. I think rock bands have moved their tour dates to Southampton now - maybe Brighton is deemed too close to London... But I got that Ozzy ticket. My Mum and Dad used to drop me and my friends off, then pick us up afterwards. It was a wild night. He was such an incredible frontman. Randy Rhoads was also astounding to watch, even when Ozzy was dragging him around the stage by his hair... The Dome was all seated, and the stewards would always try to keep the audience from rushing the front of the stage - they always failed. I ended up front row against the stage. By the end of the show I was drenched in buckets of water, he'd been throwing over us, and Ozzy was running around in nothing but his underpants. Yes. It was awesome.
Mum and Dad would arrive a little early to pick us up and would ask to be let in to see the end of the shows, and they always were. This time, as they approached the door to the Dome theatre an elderly steward in a full red outfit stepped in front of the door. He looked at my Mum and in a concerned voice said, "I wouldn't go in there madam, the singer has no clothes on." Mum laughed and thanked the old man but stepped in to see another bucket of water splash into the audience.
At the last Black Sabbath show at Villa Park this Summer Ozzy will be sitting down. He won't be throwing buckets of water, and I doubt he will be only in his underpants by the end of the show. He can't walk any more. To be honest I'm amazed he's still alive. My feeling is it will be a very emotional show. A chance for him to thank his fans and a chance for his fans to thank him and the rest of the band - for a lifetime of entertainment, of some of the greatest rock music ever written and recorded, for lyrics that helped so many of us make sense of the world growing up. A fitting farewell. I won't be there, but my son will be, and somehow that seems even more right to me.
Thank you Ozzy and Black Sabbath. Thank you so much.
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