Hey, Whaddya Know?

In my 11/22 submission I had written about some unimportant things that I would like to see happen. And then, almost as if my word is all powerful, one of them did happen. Black Sabbath is going to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Now, I know this isn't life-changing stuff here. It won't even have an affect on my sleeping habits. But it does bring me a little joy.

I was about ten or eleven the first time I heard them. I was at my best friend's house and one of his older brothers (older brothers are great for this sort of thing) put a cassette of Paranoid on his stereo. I was hooked from the very first sound of the sirens in War Pigs. Within three years (I was a poor high school kid and this was the early eighties, remember) I had bought all of Sabbath's albums with Ozzy. I memorized all the lyrics. I also bought Ozzy's solo albums and did the same.

Sabbath's lyrics and music are dark. They are foreboding. They speak to the masses of youth who feel neglected, who don't really fit in. Tony's riffs seemed to echo our despair. The rhythm section of Geezer and Bill represented our rage. And Ozzy was our voice.

If you ever have been a fan of heavy metal -- and judging from album sales I bet most of you have -- you owe your fandom to Sabbath. Everyone from Priest to Maiden to Metallica to Disturbed -- even more pop-ish acts like Smashing Pumpkins and Nirvana -- have been influenced. They invented the genre -- and set the bar so high that no one has quite been able to reach it since.

So cheers to you, Brummies. Finally.