Where were you when you first heard Randy?

[PowerTube]

I'll start....

I had been seeing ads for Ozzy's Blizzard of Ozz album in the magazines. This was around 1981/1982-ish. I remember it saying something about the "legendary singer of Black Sabbath." I honestly thought nothing about it because I had never gotten into Sabbath.

Then one night, I was listening to an FM station and the DJ said something like, "This is Ozzy Osborne from the new album, 'Blizzard of Ozz.' The song is called 'Crazy Train.'"

I will NEVER forget hearing that. Great riff, great rhythm, scorching solo.

As a side note, a lot of people malign Randy's studio tone and I can sort of see where they're coming from, but at the time, I was absolutely blown away because I had never heard anything even close. Years later a guy I worked with pointed out that Randy's sound was similar to Boston. I had never thought about it before that, but it does sound somewhat like Boston but with more of an edge.

Soon after that, I bought the Guitar World issue with Randy on the cover (I bought them every month). I read the interview and thought, "this guy is really nice and polite."

I never heard about it at the time he died, but in the next issue of Guitar World, there was a small blurb in the "news" section at the front about it, maybe a paragraph. I couldn't believe it, since he had been the cover story just a month earlier. At first I thought it couldn't be the same guy.

What about you guys? How were you introduced to Randy?

[STLKINGV]

I was 15 years old working on the family farm in Illinois.... Sitting in the pick-up truck listening to the radio at lunch.... The DJ did an intro voice over (nailed the post) during the beginning of Crazy Train, I was thinking to myself, "Shut the fuck-up so that I can hear this killer guitar riff..."....... I didnt want a weather & traffic report.....

What a Jackoff!!



A~

[jcm800x]

I was about 14 (1980) when I heard an ad on the radio for a concert, at the end of the ad they played 'crazy train' and said Ozzy was the opening act. I never heard such an over the top sound before and I went out and bought it. I wore that record out! I finally got tickets for the show on my birthday 3/16/82 and of course he dies three days later, I saw Bernie Torn(?) a few months later and a bald bloated Ozzy, cool show but we all missed a chance to see Randy.

[Cleveland Metal]

Walked into my friends house (Bills old guitarist in the VanhHalen tribute) and he'd already learned a bunch of the first album and was playing it with Bill on bass.

I was floored and was out to get the album shortly afterwards. Obviously it was in 1980-81.

I missed them on a club tour that they'd come through on I seem to remember, and then finally got to see Randy doing a large hall show on the next tour. Pretty impressive. He died about two months later.

[donf]

The first time I ever even heard of him was when I joined this site back in '04, believe it or not. I wasn't a metal fan back in the 80's, though I do remember Ozzy's guitarist getting killed in a plane crash.

[CharvelRocker]

2004 at a Philadelphia Flyers game. Im serious I ddint know who it was at the time, but I looked it up and I've been a fan ever since.

[guitarsjb]

I picked up the Diary album, just cause the cover was so cool. Completely floored me. I must have been 14 or 15 at the time..

[sevser]

I was 10...It was just released...My best friends Dad was given this album from his friend who owned a record store. He just grabbed it off the "New releases" shelf.

So, Tracy and I get to his house after school and there is this record that says...(So we thought) Ezzy Esbourne Anyhow...I think we played the first two songs all day.

[Ripley7t]

There was a radio station in Niles, MI. They played whole albums and were known as album 95, lol. They played Blizzard and I was smoking a dime bag with my buddies crusing the streets in my 76 Cutlass.

[pebber]

I was like 15 when I weekly visited a public place in Brussels where they lend you vinyl (those were the days)..
one day, I saw the Blizzard LP and I honestly didn't expected too much off it, but when that first riff of I don't Know sounded through my parents amp, I knew enough.. this was gonna leave a big impression, and it did..
20 years later I even flew around the world to meet his mom to tell her personally how big of a fan I still am!

[Special-K]

It was on MTV... Masters Ozzy Osbourne...
When I`ve heard the Crazy Train riff I was all over
Randy....
Then I`ve searched the net for him ...

[wilkinsi]

i was 7 years old and not yet exposed to the wizardry of guitar players.

[sysin]

My older friend in high school played me Crazy Train, and i was hooked. A couple months later, saw Ozzy with Randy in concert at what's now known as the Providence Performing Arts Center in Rhode Island....The opening band? Some guys called Def Leppard

[Deneb]

In my grams attic, with my uncle. I heard him playing diary of a madman, and i asked my uncle "if I play for a year, can I play like that?" and he said "it'd better be a long year."

[BODOM]

11 years old the first day that blizzard of ozz came out I saw it at the music store and bought the album.he was a fresh new breath of air and IMO much more talented Than Eddie van halen as far as far as skills go