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Monday, February 25, 2008

Its Black Sabbath Week

Its the last week of February and the S'March of Metal is almost upon us....this week, in terms of video content anyway, is all about Black Sabbath, the band I've always considered to be first metal band. Some will christen Zeppelin but Led Zep is much more blues based and their music is much more melodic. Others will even argue that Blue Cheer was the first metal band...Honestly, I don't care for those types of arguments, because to me, there is no argument. Sabbath made metal.

As I mentioned in today's video, Iron Man is the first Sabbath song I ever remember hearing. I must have been 6 years old and my neighbor had a 45 of it that we used to play over and over. My discovery of the Sabbath catalog came via my elementary school obsession of Ozzy Osbourne. Either I had very cool parents or very naive ones because one year for Xmas, my parents bought me a new boom box with Ozzy's first two records and the entire Ac/Dc back catalog. My brother even picked me up a Diary of a Madman t shirt, which let me tell ya, garnered some stares when I wore it to the Morral Elementary school fun night in the 6th grade. Around the same time I discovered the then current incarnation of Sabbath featuring the vocals of Ronnie James Dio. I added Heaven and Hell (my all time FAVE Sabbath record) and Mob Rules to my collection when my birthday came around. It was 1982, I was in the 6th grade, and I was a Black Sabbath junkie.

I don't know if it was my obsession with horror movies, the writing of Poe, or the fact that a man who bit the head off of doves and bats was cool to me (ah...the days before PETA were good days!)...but I used my allowance to pick up the Sabbath catalog each week. More than anything, it was the guitar playing of Tony Iommi that made me a Sabbath fan. Lots of players have tried to copy Iommi's style but none have managed to do so. Its one thing to play in drop D, but unless you're missing half a finger like Iommi is, you're just not gonna get the sound. Iommi is the heart and soul of the band. While drummers and singers would come and go, Iommi continued to make the band worth listening to. Iommi's guitar sound defines what Heavy Metal music is (and Lemmy from Motorhead defines its attitude).

I plan to post at least two vids a day this week and we'll sample everyone (well at least those who lasted long enough to be captured on video) whoever sang for Black Sabbath. Ozzy, Dio, Ian Gillan, Glenn Hughes, Ray Gillen, Tony Martin, and Rob Halford....we'll take a look at the great and not so great (like Live Aid). For more on the history of Black Sabbath, visit your local library...or just go to www.black-sabbath.com Truly one of the great sites on the worldwide intergoogle. Its worth viewing just to see all the Spinal Tapish events in the bands history.

Quick hits from the weekend that was.....

I was having trouble falling asleep last night then I turned it to the Oscars. Out in under 10 minutes...the Oscars...better than Ambien!

After losing to Wisconsin, OSU stands no chance to make the NCAA tournament. Which means, I won't watch a minute of it.

Trading half their roster seemed to pay off for the Cleveland Cavaliers. They looked great least night in beating Memphis.

Can the CBJ change their name to Sybil on Ice? Just when I'm ready to stick a fork in them and proclaim the season over they steal two wins against superior teams to keep their playoff hopes alive.

A story in the NY Times today on Barrack Obama left me a little unnerved...seems many believe his candidacy will end with him being assassinated ala MLK and RFK in 1968.

Every time I see John McCain he reminds me more and more of the evil mask maker in Halloween 3.

Of course, the more I see of Hillary Clinton I can see why Bill went outside their marriage. The woman has all the warmth of a deep freeze.

I have a feeling that the economy will make this the worst summer ever at the box office for movies and concerts.

I think in the pecking order of celebrity sex vids this new Gene Simmons one falls after the one with Skreech from Saved by the Bell in the food chain.

With another winter storm in store for us tomorrow (Hey channel 4...just put a 24/7 webcam on the salt barn and be done with it!), take comfort from the fact that Grapefruit and Cactus League play begins Thursday....and another season of Arena Football is almost upon us. The end of winter is in sight!

Raise your devil horns high gang! Its Black Sabbath week!

4 comments:

O.M.O.M. said...

The RJD era is hands down my fav era of the Sabbath years, followed a close second by the Ron Keel era of Sabbath (all 1 week of it...)

We need to go to a Marion Mayhem game this season. We're looking at houses in the Marion area so I guess I should start supporting my Marion Mayhem.

Blast Furniss said...

Those stories of how Keel was brought into Sabbath are gold. Keel should be thankful they dismissed him in a week...look what Iommi did to Ray Gillen on the Eternal Idol...completely wiped his finished vocal off the record. No word if Iommi is also responsible for the AIDS related death of Gillen.

You've not been to a Mayhem game? They are fun for the whole family. Ticket prices are cheap as is the beer. Plus you can usually count on TFO to streak thru the VIP area and do the electric slide with the Mayhem dance team while screaming "I am a golden god!" The Mayhem are probably the biggest thing to hit the Marion Coliseum since Paul Rodgers.

TFO said...

Hey now, those Mayhem games are kinda fun, (at least as far as I can remember - that's the cheap beer talking) Some compare the Mayhem to football as you would WWE to wrestling...however, its something to do on an otherwise dull night in Marion.

Blast Furniss said...

Plus where else can you see legendary OSU QB Stanley Jackson ply his wares? I believe this years edition of the Mayhem is coached by OSU alum Pepe Pearson who is the player/coach. Maybe they can also sign Justin Zwick...I see the Cbus Destroyers cut him yesterday.

I actually think the Mayhem is one of the best things that ever happened to Marion. I'm curious to see if tho in year 3 the novelty has worn off.