When Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath played small youth club in Kirkcaldy

The rock world and beyond were shocked to hear of the untimely death of Ozzy Osbourne. Not only the figure as a band front man but known for his ground breaking TV reality series The Osbournes and for producing Ozzfest which showcased many upcoming metal bands.

The pioneering Osbournes reality series, filmed mainly at their home in Los Angeles, gave an insight into celebrity family life. It ran from March 2002 to March 2005 and was the most watched TV series ever on MTV.

His farewell concert, titled Back To The Beginning, in Birmingham just 17 days before his death on July 5 had the support of Anthrax, Alice In Chains, Pantera, Slayer, Guns N’ Roses and the mighty Metallica before Ozzy took to the stage with his original Black Sabbath. Seated throughout due to his crippling Parkinson’s Disease his short set within the ten hour show at Villa Park had video tributes before the acts from Billy Idol, Elton John, AC/DC and even Dolly Parton.

Ozzy sang the hits like Mr. Crowley, and his TV theme tune Crazy Train with his own band before a reformed Black Sabbath played War Pigs, N.I.B, Iron Man and the finale to end it all Paranoid. All 45,000 tickets sold out in 15 minutes, and all acts played for free except for travel costs. The entire event was streamed live in delay on a ‘pay per view’ platform peaking at a reported 5.8 million viewings.

Raising funds for Acorns Children’s Hospice, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Cure Parkinsons, the event raised £200 million which amazingly surpasses even Live Aid.

So this week we can remember when a 26 year old Dougie Hunter, later to be the founder of Fife soul funk band Lights Out By Nine, was clearly underage but nonetheless enjoying a pint in the bar at the White Heather Roadhouse on Hendry Road, before the short walk down the hill to the Saturday night youth club.

Dougie and his mates hitched up a conversation with four older lads in their early 20s as they looked out of place. A mutual love of music was the chat as Ozzy, Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi & Bill Ward spoke with the younger boys before joining them at the legendary YMCA in Hendry Crescent. Thanks to Jim Cooper at the YM, many bands played that tiny venue in those days from Robert Plant and John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers to Jethro Tull who elected to play upstairs in the smaller hall for better acoustics.

Sabbath were billed as Earth back then and had changed their name from Polka Tulk in September the previous year, named after a talcum brand Ozzy's mum had used. Earlier in August they had played the Pokey Hole Club at the Prince Of Wales Inn in Lichfield where they debuted a new song called Black Sabbath and within a couple of weeks collectively decided that would be the new name for the band.

In that breakthrough year of 1969, they had played a school dance, blues clubs, village halls and just days before arriving in Kirkcaldy played a week at the Star Club in Hamburg. This venue was already legendary for its gruelling long shows for the bands on stage but was arguably the apprenticeship that hardened The Beatles into a live act back in 1962.

So, the anniversary almost to the week, August 23, 1969, the fledgling Black Sabbath played their entire first album to an appreciative music loving crowd over two 45-minute sets and reports say they were paid £30.It was the beginning of what many called the birth of British Heavy Metal almost 56 years ago and ended this year but with an everlasting legacy never to be repeated.