Well, It's Official: Ozzy Osbourne Can't Sing Anymore

[AutoBat]

He sounded pretty good and didn't have teleprompters during his 1999 Black Sabbath Ozzfest tour.

 

[stubhead]

The bit about the teleprompters makes me suspect he is/was caught in the same loop that plagued Jerry Garcia - he desperately wanted to back OFF from "being Jerry" and given his intelligence (and resources) he might well still be around - if he had taken a few years off to live on the beach in Bali and practice his banjo... but the people around him, the 40-50 people making a living off the Dead (and just their summer tour, a lot of them) - they had a lot invested in keeping the Jerry Machine tuned up and running, and unfortunately Jerry's old means were killing him, so drag in the psychiatrists and teleprompters and experiment with new methods on a creaky old dope fiend.

Ozzy is Ozzy because he's crazy, or at least he got to BE Ozzy by being crazy - and now that rock is a serious business, there's no room for mistakes. It used to be Sharon's job to tune him up, but he ran her off, and more important, she's got her own money now as a judge and host and all - uh-oh. There's an interview with Tony Iommi in the Guitar Player, but no word of any problems. I'd kind of expect there to be more problems from the lawyers and promoters associated with "OZZFEST", everybody in Black Sabbath is an old stoner too. They take out insurance policies and hire "minders" to follow these guys around, it ain't just dangerous anymore. :sad1:

When you've got the half-dozen (or more) songs on the "classic rock" treadmill that Billy Gibbons, the Stones, Page/Plant have, it provides a definite financial insurance against any temporary  financial problems - those songwriter credits are everything as far as long-term income. Black Sabbath & Ozzy? You might hear "Paranoid", "Iron Man", "Children of the Grave" and "Crazy Train" every once in a while - but you'll hear "Brown Sugar" more often than the four of them put together.

Kinda hard to see what product you could sell on television with a Black Sabbath song - gravesites? Rehabs, maybe....  :doh:

 

[erogenousjones17]

As I recall, there used to be an ad for Mitsubishi with "Crazy Train" in it. And they've played that riff (you know the one) about 764 times during every hockey game I've ever been to. That said, I can hear John Mellencamp any time I want just by flicking on the radio. Ozzy? Sabbath? Not so much.

 

[AutoBat]

Black Sabbath & Ozzy get plenty of airtime in central & northern Indiana.

tbh I can't think of the riff or even who does "Brown Sugar."

 

[swarfrat]

That said, I can hear John Mellencamp any time I want just by flicking on the radio. Ozzy? Sabbath? Not so much.

Really? I can.

While I don't wish to demean his  (or more particularly, his band's) place  in history, the question in my mind was... "How can you tell?" Seriously, the dude's icepick voice is kind of the rock n roll equivalent of country nasal twang or death metal cookie monster vocals.  Like making B-movies, it's only funny if you're not trying. Otherwise, what's the sport in setting out to make a bad movie intentionally?  (Him and Axl both. Knawk knawk knawkin on heavans doh-oh-awr....Keep knocking buddy)

 

[SustainerPlayer]

:laughing7:

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

The question is begged, was he ever a singer to begin with?  He sings the same way Henry Rollins and Lou Reed don't.  A louder version of talking modulated to the music behind them, and I like those guys.

 

[stubhead]

Nothing succeeds like... not dying*. Led Zeppelin at the Kennedy Center? Sir Mick Jagger? These guys were SATAN forty years ago. Of course, maybe he just got bad press early too.

*(Except dying works too! :icon_thumright: :headbang

Imagine in fifty more years, when rock 'n' roll will "matter" as much as big band music does now.

 

[swarfrat]

Hey now! I'm raising the next generation on Glen Miller already.

 

[mullyman]

tbh I can't think of the riff or even who does "Brown Sugar."

Please tell me that's a joke.
MULLY

 

[AutoBat]

tbh I can't think of the riff or even who does "Brown Sugar."

Please tell me that's a joke.
MULLY

Nope. I haven't even bothered searching for the either.
I could imagine Brown Sugar being an Isaac Hayes tune.

 

[Updown]

I could imagine Brown Sugar being an Isaac Hayes tune.

     

Oh dear  :doh:

 

[Cagey]

Geez. If I had a nickel for every time I heard/played that tune...

 

[swarfrat]

Geez. If I had a nickel for every time I heard/played that tune...

If I had a nickle for every time I've heard it, I would put them all in a sock and use it to beat the next person to play it.

 

[Cagey]

I can't imagine the size of the sock I'd need, but I understand the sentiment. You can only take so much. I'm that way with Bob Seger. Even today, they play so much of that guy's stuff on the radio that there's one station we call "The Bob Seger Station". It's like his recordings are the only ones they ever bought.

 

[Perry Combover]

I'm with you Cagey.  I am a regular practitioner of the Seger Second.

 

[m4rk0]

We have a Classic Rock Station that just has  a handful of compilation albums on shuffle!
Literally. every time I get in my car for lunch, it is either playing "Low rider" or "I want you to want me" and I hate both of those songs!!

 

[swarfrat]

Why is low rider even classic rock? I don't hate the song even though it does get overplayed (local station used to use it as "bumper music" for traffic reports). It seems more at home with old school R&B than rock.

thankfully 50's/60's oldies are essentially gone. Good music but I bet the average station had a playlist of less than 300 songs.

 

[alterbridgefan]

Thankfully 50's/60's oldies are essentially gone.

:sad:

Nope. Not gonna happen.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Jeff Beck can still rip it up in total style, and Ian Gillian & Glenn Hughes can too!