Thought you might all like this

[Cola]

I saw Ozzy and Randy at one of the first gigs of 1980 (Fri Oct 10th).
Front row seats at the Odeon Taunton.
Budgie, the support band, stayed at my dad’s hotel, The Corner House.
Randy and Ozzy stayed at the County Hotel. I knew the manager so me and a mate met them, and had a drink with them in the bar after the gig. My mate got all his Sabbath album covers signed. He also took a few pics at the gig which I will also post.

Anyway I see that in a post from a couple of years ago someone had the same poster, but I have the 2 great sigs, the whole band and budgie on mine.

It hangs in my dining room, an I have no idea what its worth, but it is genuine.

[GUITARIDOL5682]

Hi Cola, It's me who posted up the Ozzy 1980 tour 'Taunton' posters. Yours looks in 100% better condition compared to mine plus it has the main man's signature on the bottom well Cool. I collect photos from the 1980 -81 UK gigs. Do you think your friend would exchange his set for some of mine ?. If you could ask him for me please, the quality of those Ozzy pics, pro shot what more can i say. Does he have pics of Randy from this gig ?. I've got a crew pass 'Stagehand' from this gig. Yours looks to be in Mint condition. Did you have a ticket for this gig or did you just get issued the pass. Thanks very much for sharing your memorabilia with us. If you ever want to sell it, i'll give it a good home. I'd be guessing at putting a price on it.. £2.5K

[GUITARIDOL5682]

A little bit of history for you ...Your pass is signed by the late John Downing he was the bands tour manager from 1980 -81. I heard he was on tour with a band and they got onto a ferry. John was found washed up on a beach was it foul play or did he fall over the side.

When Glenn Hughes was singing briefly for Black Sabbath (very much like James Brown singing in Metallica). It wasn't gonna work. Just four days before the start of the tour, vocalist Glenn Hughes got into a bar fight with the band's production manager John Downing he splintered the singer's orbital bone. The injury interfered with Hughes' ability to sing, and the band brought in vocalist Ray Gillen to continue the tour with W.A.S.P. and Anthrax, although nearly half of the US dates would eventually be cancelled because of poor ticket sales.

In the early days John was Jimi Hendrix's guitar tech. So the signature would be collectible to a Hendrix fan aswell as an Ozzy collector. Pictured here trying his best to keep this stack together.

[Cola]

That’s all very interesting...thanks.

I met John Downing because he stayed at my dad’s hotel and he got the passes and posters for us. 2 of us had legit tickets, I remember parting with the cash after cashing my dole cheque ^^. I got the second pair of tickets on sale and had seats in the middle of the front row, until it started of course. 2 others went with us and used the passes issued by John, we all 4 us got passes and signed posters. I bet the guy who took the pics still has his, but seen haven’t seen him for a while, but know he likes to collect recordings etc, so I will see if he still has the original pics or negatives. I haven’t been in contact with the other 2 for nearly 30 years, but it is possible that another 3 of these exist somewhere but my one is the only one that includes budgie's sigs as well.

[GUITARIDOL5682]

Cola, You could possibley track down those other friends on facebook. I'd love to see those photos from the Taunton gig. I only know of about 8 sets of photos taking from UK Ozzy 80 -81 gigs. London Hammersmith (both shows), Canterbury Odeon, Ipswitch Gaumont, Coventry Odeon, St George's Hall Bradford, Hull city hall, 1981- Sophia Gardens Cardiff, Bristol Colston Hall, HMH Portvale. I know more photos will be in private collections. But it takes people like you to speak out, then the connection can be made. Are those 2 pics you posted up from Ozzy 1980 gigs ?. Thanks for sharing your memories of the gig. Did your Father's hotel have regular visitors like Ozzy's band etc. I don't know if you've seen this clip but John Downey is with Randy at the end of the clip. This is how you'll remember him. Thanks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45myvATKuqA

[GUITARIDOL5682]

These are a few from my collection.. The Blackburn poster is one which is a reminder of one of our UR members who sadly passed on, the late Wyldeone. He sold this poster after he removed the signatures and cut off the damaged part of the poster. He was a passionate collector and a really kind guy. I'm sure one of the guys on here owns it now. I wouldn't be surprised if all the venues had similar posters made.

[Cola]

Yeah I might be able to track them down; they are not on Facebook though. Those pics are from that Taunton Gig, I’ve also got a couple of others my mate took of Rory Gallagher. As for other visitors, we did have the The Stranglers stay with us, they drank loads of tea!! Other than that it was mainly TV actors and actresses who were appearing at the local theatre.

We also both went to see UFO, but my mum threw away my jeans that were autographed by them and Girlschool ^^

The only other thing I have is a Black Sabbath, Mob Rules, tour program, signed by Tony Iommi, Ronnie (the dwarf) James Dio, The Geezer Butler, Vinnie Appice and Geoff Nicholls who played Keyboards off stage. I’m just looking at the ticket stub, Hammersmith Odeon, as was, Thursday December 31st 1981. It’s got a slight rip on the cover, but other than that, it’s very good. I will have to take some pics of it.

[GUITARIDOL5682]

So those are from the Taunton gig nice photos do you only have the 2 of those from that gig. Rory Gallagher was another great guitarist very much like Randy and was a very quiet, humble person. I met him back in 1982 on the Jinx tour. I use to have a cutt off denim jacket with Rory's signature and other famous names. I asked my mother if she had thrown it out but she said she wouldn't of. I'll have to have a look in the loft and see if its up there. If you get the rest of those photos be sure to let me know ok. I now have a mental picture of the Stranglers sipping tea and writing lyrics like 'Golden Brown' and we all know what thats about. Cheers for the reply and if you have any more photos to share with us, be sure to post them up.