How early was Randy trying to get out of Ozzy's band?

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orion_damage
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How early was Randy trying to get out of Ozzy's band?

Post by orion_damage »

I've been reading various articles lately and it seems like Randy was looking to leave Ozzy's band pretty early on. I was always under the impression it was around the start of the Diary tour but from reading an article with Delores it portrays Randy as wanting out as early as the first part of the Blizzard tour.

I haven't had a chance to read the latest book releases but can anyone clarify that for me?
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Re: How early was Randy trying to get out of Ozzy's band?

Post by devorerd »

Well IMO, the final straw was being kicked off the bus and fired by a drunken Ozzy. However, the origins can be rooted in firing Bob and Lee, which made no sense. I think Randy got a little taste of the big time and quickly figured out that Ozzy only had a very limited perspective and Randy was a much more deeper musician, not to mention human being. In other other words, Randy signed up to be in a band, not a solo artists backing band, especially after creating all the songs that put the solo artist back on the map.

Bottom line, with all that I have read, studied and gathered throughout the years, Randy couldn't get off the road soon enough, or away from the Jet records deal.
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Re: How early was Randy trying to get out of Ozzy's band?

Post by GUITARIDOL5682 »

I honestly think Randy was in the mind set of a young guy who was wanting to get a break with a major band. When the opportunity came about, it happened fast and the next thing he knew he was in the UK. He was in a situation of having to sign contracts and was forever being badgered to sign over his life to a record company and a busy touring schedule. I honestly think he regretted signing to the band. I know he was not having a good time on tour at the early stages of the 1980 UK tour and after only a few shows he was missing home and wanting the tour to be over quickly. I don't know if it was the people around Randy or the general touring schedule which is a hard slog and not cracked up to be all the fun it makes out to be. You just have to make the best of the situation you are in. I think Randy must of felt like he'd jumped in at the deep end and was regretting it big time. It was great to see him in concert back in 1980 and i honestly thought he was having a cool time but in the mind of Randy he was wanting out of the band. being ruled by binding contracts and having to bide his time and see the contract out to its end.
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Re: How early was Randy trying to get out of Ozzy's band?

Post by Sky »

GUITARIDOL5682 wrote:I honestly think Randy was in the mind set of a young guy who was wanting to get a break with a major band. When the opportunity came about, it happened fast and the next thing he knew he was in the UK. He was in a situation of having to sign contracts and was forever being badgered to sign over his life to a record company and a busy touring schedule. I honestly think he regretted signing to the band. I know he was not having a good time on tour at the early stages of the 1980 UK tour and after only a few shows he was missing home and wanting the tour to be over quickly. I don't know if it was the people around Randy or the general touring schedule which is a hard slog and not cracked up to be all the fun it makes out to be. You just have to make the best of the situation you are in. I think Randy must of felt like he'd jumped in at the deep end and was regretting it big time. It was great to see him in concert back in 1980 and i honestly thought he was having a cool time but in the mind of Randy he was wanting out of the band. being ruled by binding contracts and having to bide his time and see the contract out to its end.
Do you know when Randy signed his contact with Jet?
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Re: How early was Randy trying to get out of Ozzy's band?

Post by GUITARIDOL5682 »

Sky wrote:
GUITARIDOL5682 wrote:I honestly think Randy was in the mind set of a young guy who was wanting to get a break with a major band. When the opportunity came about, it happened fast and the next thing he knew he was in the UK. He was in a situation of having to sign contracts and was forever being badgered to sign over his life to a record company and a busy touring schedule. I honestly think he regretted signing to the band. I know he was not having a good time on tour at the early stages of the 1980 UK tour and after only a few shows he was missing home and wanting the tour to be over quickly. I don't know if it was the people around Randy or the general touring schedule which is a hard slog and not cracked up to be all the fun it makes out to be. You just have to make the best of the situation you are in. I think Randy must of felt like he'd jumped in at the deep end and was regretting it big time. It was great to see him in concert back in 1980 and i honestly thought he was having a cool time but in the mind of Randy he was wanting out of the band. being ruled by binding contracts and having to bide his time and see the contract out to its end.
Do you know when Randy signed his contact with Jet?
Not the date but i know roughly the time line about the second week of October 1980.
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Re: How early was Randy trying to get out of Ozzy's band?

Post by orion_damage »

GUITARIDOL5682 wrote:I honestly think Randy was in the mind set of a young guy who was wanting to get a break with a major band. When the opportunity came about, it happened fast and the next thing he knew he was in the UK. He was in a situation of having to sign contracts and was forever being badgered to sign over his life to a record company and a busy touring schedule. I honestly think he regretted signing to the band. I know he was not having a good time on tour at the early stages of the 1980 UK tour and after only a few shows he was missing home and wanting the tour to be over quickly. I don't know if it was the people around Randy or the general touring schedule which is a hard slog and not cracked up to be all the fun it makes out to be. You just have to make the best of the situation you are in. I think Randy must of felt like he'd jumped in at the deep end and was regretting it big time. It was great to see him in concert back in 1980 and i honestly thought he was having a cool time but in the mind of Randy he was wanting out of the band. being ruled by binding contracts and having to bide his time and see the contract out to its end.

You're probably right, that's a huge change of life for someone in their early 20's. Had I not read so many interviews and articles I would have assumed Randy was loving what he was doing.

Does this happen to anyone else? Sometimes when I'm watching or listening to Randy with Ozzy I'll catch myself more thinking of how unhappy he probably was right here. Kind of doing it only because he was legally obligated to do it.
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Re: How early was Randy trying to get out of Ozzy's band?

Post by GUITARIDOL5682 »

Well i think he was taking his chances, it was a big gamble which was going to either fall on its arse or take off in a massive way. Either way Randy was in it for the duration while it lasted, but sadly never got to see it through to the end.
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Re: How early was Randy trying to get out of Ozzy's band?

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Re: How early was Randy trying to get out of Ozzy's band?

Post by orion_damage »

TAB wrote:Also remember from one of Delores's interviews Randy had hesitations about going to England and she encouraged him to go play with Ozzy. I think things started heading down hill pretty quick . Even during recording Blizzard he was in the middle of Ozzy and Sharon's wars. If you look at the photos in Bob's book he looks miserable in many of them. When he starting getting notoriety by the Diary tour, around early March he was fed up. Possibly the Live Sabbath album may have been the last straw though I think he got focused on classical more when won the Guitar Player of the Year award for best new guitarist.
I would have to think his hesitations about going to England and everything was purely the magnitude of the decision. I mean he was barely in his 20's and the thought of jumping to another band, going out of the country and essentially leaving all that was familiar to him behind was pretty daunting.

Surely though he wasn't completely miserable throughout his tenure with Ozzy. I know he was ready to get out of the limelight and go study and everything but one would have to assume he had some good times during it.

Were there plans to do the Live Sabbath album while Randy was alive?
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Re: How early was Randy trying to get out of Ozzy's band?

Post by GUITARIDOL5682 »

Well if you remember Randy arrived in England to be put on the next plane home as his visa had not been arranged and no one was at the airport to meet him. So he would of been pissed off big time. If you are dealing with people who are professional, this should not happen. He could of getting cold feet there and then and could of made the decision to not come back. Yeah Delores did push him into making some decisions in life and i bet she wishes she could turn back the clock for the best. But regret can be one of those things in life when you don't do something and wish you had. Only if Randy and others had known what life had in store for him would life of been different to him and would he still be alive today.
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Re: How early was Randy trying to get out of Ozzy's band?

Post by Shockwave »

Personally it think it is all blown way out of proportion. Yes Randy wanted to leave the band, but the way the stories are told its as if he was leaving before he left if that makes any sense.

I think he was fine and happy all the way up until a few weeks into the Diary tour. If the Sharon/Randy rumors are true then that alone is reason enough for Randy to start giving reasons to get out of the band. Then to top it off Ozzy punches Randy for whatever reasons around February 20th, i forget the basis of the argument that took place mainly from a drunken Ozzy, but he could have heard something regarding the two being together and just did want to confront Randy about it. In turn, he just starts bitching at him for something else completely then pops him in the jaw, which probably didn't feel to good since Randy's wisdom teeth were really starting to act up around that time.

Another reason i say he was happy up until the Diary tour is that his playing showed it all throughout 1980/1981, he was on absolute fire. Once the Diary tour started and then a few weeks into it you can just tell with the way he played he was just getting really bored with the material. If Ozzy had decided to add 2-3 more songs from Diary i think he would have been much happier.

Who knows what happened in March though, that seems like a dead zone for Randy material, he got his wisdom teeth out and they had a week or two off correct? Maybe him and Ozzy buried the hatchet by then.

Either way, if he was contractually obligated to do a studio and a live album that's what we would have gotten out of him. He wasnt leaving the band until mid 83' IMO. Then go to school for a couple years and then he would be right back at it in the hey-day of 80's hair metal.

What would he be doing today? I think writing columns for magazines or websites
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Re: How early was Randy trying to get out of Ozzy's band?

Post by GUITARIDOL5682 »

Shockwave why go off pure speculation... If Randy has mentioned how he felt to others about that time in his life why try to say 'well its not what i think'. Yeah Randy was at his happiest on stage and if he was having a great sound on stage and the crowd reacted well to the gig etc. It was cool...but off stage you have Ozzy and Sharon fighting. You have the business side of contracts and all the other bullshit that needs to be signed over. Your in a strange country missing your home life, girlfriend, friends etc. Your idea of living in and out of a suit case and moving from town to town, city to city...It is not for everyone.. When you know what Randy was thinking and why he was pissed off for a good percentage of the time...Well that may change your thinking. Randy has said he was wanting the tour to be over and he was only 3 days into the UK tour. If he was wanting this as a musician so much, why was he wanting it to end so quickly.
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Re: How early was Randy trying to get out of Ozzy's band?

Post by Tito »

Very good points idol...i believe as soon as he got back to england after the passport fiasco and got down to rehearsing,he probably thought damn is this what i signed up for?im only speculating from what ive gathered over the years.
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Re: How early was Randy trying to get out of Ozzy's band?

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Re: How early was Randy trying to get out of Ozzy's band?

Post by Sky »

Do you know when Randy signed his contact with Jet?
Not the date but i know roughly the time line about the second week of October 1980.
No, Randy didn't sign the contract in October 1980, which would've been in the middle of the UK tour, he didn't sign to Jet until after DOAM was recorded in 1981.
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