On This Day – Black Sabbath in London
Mar 9, 2010 On This Day
On This Day in 1970 The band formerly Known as Polka Tulk performed at The Roundhouse in North London under their new name, Black Sabbath.
Polka Tulk comprised Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward. Where the name really came from is a matter of debate some say it was named after a clothing sgop in Birmingham (Pulka Tulk Trading coompnay) or a brand of talcum powder. Personally I like the idea of the softest stuff on earth giving us the name of what would become the hardest (and loudest) band on earth.
Polka Tulk became Earth and was a blues rock band, as were so many bands at the time, at least in the UK. The band was playing the usual set list of blues covers but was keen to expand their repertoire. So Geezer began writing some original songs. Again, the truth is shrouded in the mists of time (in other words I have not tracked down a direct quote) but it seems that Geezer was reading a lot of books by Denis Wheatley. Wheatley wrote about magic and the occult (as well as thrillers in which he displayed his pro-monachy, empire, and class sysyem bias. But on the positive side his books, like him, were verhemently anti Nazi). It was the Occult series that gripped Geezer.
He wrote a song called Black Sabbath and, apparently, as soon as they played it live on stage for the first time they knew that they were onto something. The crowd went wild.
The lyrics, the loudness, the fact that Ozzy could not sing all made record companies wary of them. However, they toured and toured. They built up a great live reputation but, in what might have been a mistake, they did not play any London venues. This would appear to be because London venue owners did not realise that music existed outside the capital and Liverpool. This also meant that the music critics, all based in London, did not see much of them and gave them a hard time in print.
However, the truth was that they were building a large and growing following. The gig at the Roundhouse and the record deal were ininevitable and hugely succesful. The eponymous first album was released on 13th February 1970 on Vertigo.
(I still do not understand how anyone could have been intimidated by BS in those days, have you seen the pictures? Ozzy is no more than a pimply, overweight, idiot – or that a recent photo?)
Say what you like about Sabbath, and I do, Sabbath were an influencial band. They helped define Metal. They were voted the Greatest Metal Band of all time by MTV came second to led Zep in VH1’s 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. Paranoid, the second album sold 4 million copies in the US (still with little air play) total sales in the Us are more than 15 million. Their first 5 albums all top ten hits and all sold in the millions.
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