Planet Rock - USA (2020-04)

74 PLANET ROCK

going to be judged in comparison to the

Man In Black’s former bandmates Ian Gillan,

Glenn Hughes and David Coverdale, and he

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man, Iommi considered, would not be daunted

by the prospect of replacing one of rock’s

most distinctive frontmen in a newly focused

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The pair agreed to meet up at Iommi’s

house in Los Angeles for an introductory jam

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out with a disinterested Osbourne, prior to the

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Gimme a minute, and went into the corner

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“It must have been fate,” Dio remembered, “because we connected

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gone from nothing happening for ages to being able to come up with a

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rockers Quartz, to sit in for Geezer Butler, while the bassist returned to

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“It was exciting and challenging because we were doing things that

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were and it was a matter of pushing all the time, so see what he could

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HAT NOTION SPOOKED DON ARDEN, who believed that the

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on Iommi to bring Ozzy back into the fold, but the guitarist

stood his ground, to Arden’s frustration, talking up his new songwriting

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band’s accommodation and had them remove every piece of furniture

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Miami, Florida, where Iommi had secured accommodation at a house

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an endless supply of cocaine freely available to

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was Dio who recommended bringing in

producer Martin Birch, with whom he had

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longer with things getting out of hand, but this

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presence also brought out Iommi’s mischieĥ

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wary of the band’s longstanding, though

completely unfounded, reputation as practiĥ

tioners of dark arts, Iommi and Butler would

speak in stage whispers about secretive meetĥ

ings they were required to attend, refusing to

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Hell of a time:
Geezer Butler,
Southampton
Gaumont, June 25,
1980.