So a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a hilarious quote by the self-proclaimed Prince of Darkness, when asked about his new record, and if file sharing affected it, Ozzy said:
I've been suffering terribly from people downloading it. If they don't find something to stop it, people won't be able to make records. There won't be any new bands. How are they going to survive? I'm an old-timer, I've been doing it 40 years now, but new bands are going to suffer. It's ridiculous, you could be doing it for nothing. Sharon said I'd be astounded to find out how many bands are touring because you can download a record but you can't beat a rock show. I've never done in a long time as many live shows as I'm doing now. This year I've done 90 shows.
Hmm, maybe your record isn't selling because you are no longer relevant, Mr. Osbourne? There will always be new bands, and there will always be bands making great music. What won't be around are bloated promotional budgets and record labels who throw away money left and right.
On top of that, MTV.com reports that Ozzy and the entire Osbourne clan will be auctioning off a bunch of crap they want to unload. I kept looking for the line that "all proceeds would go to charity" (UPDATE: Blabbermouth has since reported that profits will go to Sharon Osbourne Colon Cancer Foundation) Here is a small list of the stuff they are auctioning that doesn't suck:
- A Gold record of: Metallica's Master of Puppets, Static-X's Wisconsin Death Trip or Pantera's Reinventing the Steel (starting at $800 each)
- More into platinum? Lita Ford's Lita, the double-platinum disc awarded to Ozzy for No More Tears or the gold records for Ugly Kid Joe's America's Least Wanted, P.O.D.'s The Fundamental Elements of Southtown and System of a Down's self-titled debut, all listed at $600. (Who the hell wants a P.O.D. anything?)
- In addition, old pieces from his house, some of his daughter's dresses as well as the ATV which Ozzy suffered a terrible crash on complete with keys marked "Ozzy's Bike" ($2,000)
Lets hope that this auction puts Ozzy out of near-poverty levels so he can continue to live a normal glamorous life as opposed to being a normal peon like the rest of us.
