Ozzy Osborne? Hmm . . .

Do the words “Prince of Darkness” mean anything to you?*

Cover of the eponymous debut album

In 1969 in Britain, two highly curious events happened. Five guys from Oxbridge schools recorded the first episodes of the TV show Monty Python’s Flying Circus, and four guys from Birmingham recorded the first album of the rock group Black Sabbath. Both events dramatically changed their respective creative arts.

The most famous member of Black Sabbath was Ozzy Osborne, who passed away this week. Tributes poured in for Ozzy, especially in the British media, who lionized Ozzy as a legend — a label the British media uses for every dead British former star. The tributes repeated the long repeated honorific that Ozzy and Black Sabbath invented the heavy metal genre. Maybe so, although I’ve never cared much for genre labels, and, with all due respect, The Who and Led Zeppelin had already ploughed the field of British hard rock. Nevertheless, Black Sabbath planted seeds in that fertile field, and they deserve credit for that.

Now, let’s be honest, the four guys from Birmingham named their band “Black Sabbath” hoping to get a rise out of people. 1969 was the year of that in British music. Heavy metal was designed to get a rise out of people. It worked. I’ve never been a big fan of that music, though some of it is good for blowing off tension. I've long enjoy watching…