Now listening to . . .

I had (might still have) an REO Speedwagon compilation album with a live version of that song on it. My other fave song of theirs is:



This was in 1969, before Black Sabbath's first album was released:

I have always liked REO Speedwagon too, they have many great songs.

The early Black Sabbath recording of Blue Suede Shoes is classic. I prefer it over Elvis any day. I have never been an Elvis fan.

The Dirty MAC, with John Lennon singing vocals and Keith Richards on bass guitar is epic



Good old rock and roll with a touch of the blues!

I think I would enjoy quite a lot more of 60s and 70s rock music if I knew where to find it. A classic from Alice Cooper:



And someone who was influenced by Alice:

I like Alice Cooper but, Marilyn Manson is a little too gruesome and repulsive for me.
I think that they were both influenced to some degree by Arthur Brown...very theatrical indeed!

I listened to Osric Pearl's classical selection last night - a nice change. I didn't know Arthur Brown had recorded anything recently, he's weirdly interesting like Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart:



Motley Crue are the ultimate party rock band. Ozzy again, duetting with Lita Ford:

I can’t remember Captain Beefheart Heart but yes, his style of music is very similar to that of Frank Zappa. Weirdly interesting is a good way of describing it.
I think, like Zappa and Brown CBH was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol when creating his art.
I could be wrong but they  all seem to perform in their natural state of consciousness, a little crazy but genius nonetheless.

Close my Eyes is a beautiful duet, a softer side to Ozzy. Very nice.

Another song about drugs with Ozzy/ Black Sabbath.


For the most part the old rockers use to party pretty hard. It is amazing that some of them are still alive and touring.
I heard an advertisement that Black Sabbath is coming to my area sometimes next year.

Two other Sabbath songs about drugs are "Hand Of Doom" and "Sweet Leaf". A little story about them recording the Sabbath Bloody Sabbath album:

Iommi: “We rented an old castle in the Forest of Dean [Clearwell Castle]. And it was just us there. What we did was we set up the equipment in the dungeons of the castle, to try and get some vibe going. And then that was it – we came up with Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, and the rest came fairly shortly afterwards . . . I recall walking from the dungeons one day, I think with Geezer, Bill, or somebody. We were walking along the hallway, and saw this figure coming towards us. It’s a long corridor. This figure turned left into this room, which was the armoury room, where they had all the weapons. We followed, and went in. There was nobody in there. And there was no way out or anything – no other door. Very odd. Anyway, a few days later, the people who own the castle came to see if we were okay, and we said: ‘We’ve seen a few strange things happening here’, and we told them. They said: ‘Oh God, that’s…’ whatever his name was, ‘the castle ghost. Don’t worry about him!’"

More from Wikipedia:

The spooky atmosphere at Clearwater Castle perfectly complemented the band's practice of playing practical jokes on one another. In the documentary Black Sabbath, Volume 1: 1970–1978 Iommi recalls, "I've got to be honest, we frightened the life out of each other. We had to leave in the end, everybody terrified of each other because we were playing jokes on each other and nobody knew who was doing it... We used to leave and drive all the way home and drive back the next day. It was really silly." In his autobiography Osbourne cracks, "We weren't so much the Lords of Darkness as the Lords of Chickenshit when it came to that kind of thing ... We wound each other up so much none of us got any sleep. You'd just lie there with your eyes wide open, expecting an empty suit of armour to walk into your bedroom at any second to shove a dagger up your arse." Osbourne also writes that he nearly burned the castle down one night when he fell asleep with his boot in the fire. Osbourne said that when it came to the shenanigans Bill Ward typically "got the worst of it", with the drummer eventually going to bed at night with a dagger.

That is the castle ghost don’t worry about him
I can see where their inspiration came from, it sounds like a magical place.
There is nothing here in the USA to compare.

I was listening to my old Aerosmith Draw the Line CD, there are a few good songs on it.

Good driving music.

Happy Birthday to Robert Plant, still going strong.
I heard a few great Led Zeppelin songs today. I never get tired of listening to them.

I really like the Aerosmith song, I hadn't heard it before. I dabble in Led Zep. Four Symbols is a good album.



A similar band to Mötley Crüe, but more bluesy:

Maybe our country is going insane, but there is still Handel.

I was reading yesterday about the launch of MTV in 1981 (1st of August). The first two song videos they played were:

The Buggles - Video killed the Radio Star is not available. Many of the songs that were posted on this thread are gone. That’s too bad because I like to go back and listen to the good ones.
Two MTV videos that stand out in my memory.

^^ Buggles video replaced with one from a different source.

A Dutch band: