One of my most dedicated Fartheads (and best friends) Spoob recently checked in from North Carolina after winning tickets to see the movie “God Bless Ozzy Osbourne.” I asked him to send in some words on it and he delivered! Read all about it below!
It’s always a blast to win free things from a radio station. Just as exciting is hearing that phone ring at the radio station after you’ve experienced nothing but busy signals up until that point. My advice: don’t EVER hang up once you get it to ring! My chances of winning tickets through 96 Rock’s daily “My Three Songs” contest seemed slim when I was driving a client home last week. One must guess the common theme between the three songs or albums. A listener had submitted the three songs that would make it possible for me to take my wife out on our first date in many moons. The first song played was “Why Can’t This Be Love” from Van Halen, and the second song was “A Looking In View” by Alice In Chains. Kudos to you if you can guess what the third song played was as well as the common theme (think about the bands on this one). It’s rare that 96 Rock plays that killer AIC track, so I had to call in and take a crack at tickets to a special showing of the new Ozzy documentary, produced in part by Ozzy’s son Jack and wife Yoko- I mean Sharon (nothing but love for you and your daughter, Aimee, Mrs. Osbourne). This was the same station that sent me to see AIC in April 2010. The planets aligned on this day as they had in the past. When the universe speaks we must listen and respond with metal intellect.
This post could easily be titled “101 Things I Never Knew About John Michael Osbourne,” or “Ossie,” as one of his first gold records was engraved. Imagine my surprise to see the Prince of Darkness applying makeup, pedaling an exercise bike, and doing vocal and lip exercises before a show in Argentina- this from a guy who was born in 1948 (12/3/1948 in case you’d like to send him a spare blanket for his birthday).
The film jumped to Ozzy’s 60th birthday party in Vegas. The concert footage for this film must have been shot prior to 2009 seeing as Zakk Wylde and Mike Bordin were in the band at the time (and Ozzy is now 62). We had a look at Ozzy’s sisters and brother. Could you imagine if you were able to tell people “Oh, yeah, that’s my bro!”
Reflecting on what I’d seen, it is as though Ozzy has had a journey much like a rap or hip-hop star: dirt poor young man has A.D.D., is dyslexic, goes to prison for six months, is slated for life a of crime, hears The Beatles in the early part of their career (not even the psychedelic stuff; N.W.A. for the rap star), has an epiphany, and becomes rich and famous by the age of 22. The only difference between Ozzy and a rap star is the “Big Chain” (shout out to Ludacris). Ozzy actually had a big chain- the only difference is his dad made his at the factory instead of paying some jeweler in NYC or London to make a million-dollar piece for him. Otherwise, the dope, the girls, and the children who rarely got to see their father was the same.
It was cool to see people like Tommy Lee, Henry Rollins, and Sir Paul McCartney wax nostalgic about Ozzy and what Black Sabbath meant to them. Perhaps most revealing was Tony Iommi speaking about where Sabbath came upon the idea for their sound. The band used to rehearse across the street from a movie theatre. Iommi and the band figured that people go in there and pay to be scared out of their minds- why not make the musical equivalent? That is exactly what they did because as Ozzy told a story about concert goers in the early days of the band leaving their shows running and screaming, I felt the same way the first time I heard the song “Black Sabbath.” It seemed as though that song was written as a hymn for Satan himself- it sure scared the hell outta me.
Of course there was the “Behind the Music” theme of how Sabbath graduated from being happy jammin’ with some pot and later graduating to coke and acid. I can’t imagine seeing a Sabbath show on acid let alone performing my music in front of scores of people on acid (and coke). Like many bands of the day, Sabbath pulled it off and they did it well. That is until coke decided to stay the night. There was footage of Sabbath playing “Never Say Die” on Top of the Pops when disco ruled the airwaves. Wouldn’t it have been great to see them on Soul Train? It was great to see Tony Iommi with something other than his SG (he sported a Les Paul during the Top of the Pops “performance”).
Lack of self-esteem was credited as the cause for so many of Ozzy’s poor drug, alcohol, and relationship choices throughout the years. As Ozzy and many addicts admit, he had to experience those things to get to where he is today: sober. Hopefully it has been seven years and counting since the end of filming.
For Brainfart dudes (and chicks who dig chicks), we were finally able to see Ozzy’s mysterious daughter, Aimee Osbourne, the one who opted-out of being on the reality show. What a babe! I’m sure there are pictures out there on the net of her but it was a trip finally seeing this Lady and getting to hear her talk about her dad (sexy English accent and all).
Even though much has changed since I saw my first Ozzy bumper sticker in the mid-1980s, this film shows a side of Ozzy that we may have known existed but had never seen until now. It brought back memories of the ‘80s when metal and even hair ruled my junior high and high school world. I was a late bloomer, not discovering Sabbath until I had discovered Pantera in 10th grade; then discovering Ozzy’s solo work thereafter. This film reinforces themes we can pass on to our children and anyone else in need of the wisdom: don’t believe the hype and research things for yourself. Otherwise, I would not have learned so much about an alleged Satanist who prays to a god or creator just like the rest of us when we’re scared (or want to give the fans a kick-ass show).
Thanks so much to Spoob for this great write up!
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