Blizzard of Ozz is the debut studio album by English heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne, released on 12 September 1980 in the UK and on 27 March 1981 in the US. The album was Osbourne's first release following his firing from Black Sabbath in 1979. Blizzard of Ozz is the first of two studio albums Osbourne recorded with guitarist Randy Rhoads prior to Rhoads' death in 1982. In 2017, it was ranked 9th on Rolling Stone's list of "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time".
Diary of a Madman is the second studio album by English heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne. It was released in October 1981, and re-issued on CD on 22 August 1995. This is the last Osbourne studio album to feature guitarist Randy Rhoads and drummer Lee Kerslake. An altered version appeared in 2002 with the original bass and drum parts removed and re-recorded. In 2011, a Deluxe 30th Anniversary Edition was released with all original parts restored. To date, the album has sold over 3 million copies worldwide.
Randall William Rhoads was an American guitarist. He was the co-founder and original guitarist of the heavy metal band Quiet Riot, and the guitarist and co-songwriter for Ozzy Osbourne's first two solo albums Blizzard of Ozz (1980) and Diary of a Madman (1981). Rhoads was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.
WMMR is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group through licensee Beasley Media Group, LLC and broadcasts an active rock radio format. The station's studios and offices are located in Bala Cynwyd and the transmitter is atop One Liberty Place at in Center City Philadelphia.
Down to Earth is the eighth studio album by English heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne. Released on 16 October 2001, it reached number 19 on the UK Albums Chart and number four on the US Billboard 200. "The Ozzfest was doing well", Osbourne explained. "I just wanted to be like the Grateful Dead and keep it going by touring, but the record company said they'd like a new Ozzy album."
KFJC is a volunteer-run non-commercial college radio station in Los Altos Hills, California, at Foothill College, using a variety radio format that features a broad spectrum of music styles and public affairs programming. KFJC's over-the-air broadcast is 24/7 and can be heard within the southern San Francisco Bay Area.
Robert John Daisley is an Australian musician and songwriter. A bass guitarist, he is perhaps best known for his intermittent relationship with vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, for whom he contributed bass, co-production and songwriting throughout the 1980s. Daisley has also worked with prominent rock acts including Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Gary Moore, Chicken Shack and Uriah Heep, among others. In 2013, he published his autobiography entitled For Facts Sake which has received outstanding reviews.
Preston & Steve is a morning radio, comedy, and variety broadcast on Philadelphia's active rock station 93.3 FM WMMR. The show features DJs Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison. The show originated at WDRE and then on Y100, both in Philadelphia, and features daily telephone interviews, in-studio guests, celebrity impersonations, unusual news stories, and numerous sound clips and running gags. It broadcasts live on the radio as well as streaming audio via the station website from 6 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. ET Monday through Friday, and is a featured podcast in the comedy section of the iTunes Store.
WIP-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. and broadcasts a sports radio format. The WIP-FM offices and studios are co-located in Audacy's corporate headquarters in Center City, Philadelphia, and the broadcast tower used by the station is located in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia.
KSAN is a commercial FM radio station licensed to San Mateo, California, and serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned and operated by Cumulus Media and it airs a mainstream classic rock radio format. It also serves as the FM flagship station for the San Francisco 49ers Radio Network. KSAN's studios and offices are located on Battery Street in San Francisco's SoMa district.
WMGK is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Beasley Broadcast Group and broadcasts a classic rock radio format. The broadcast tower used by the station is located in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia. The station's studios are in Bala Cynywd. The station features Philadelphia radio personalities Andre Gardner, Matt Cord, Eric Johnson, and Tony Harris.
KOME was a commercial FM radio station in San Jose, California, broadcasting at 98.5 MHz. KOME was on the air from 1971 through 1998. Currently, the 98.5 FM frequency is home to KUFX "K-Fox," a classic rock station.
Lee Gary Kerslake was an English musician, best known as the longtime drummer and backing vocalist for the rock band Uriah Heep and for his work with Ozzy Osbourne in the early 1980s.
Progressive rock is a radio station programming format that emerged in the late 1960s, in which disc jockeys are given wide latitude in what they may play, similar to the freeform format but with the proviso that some kind of rock music is almost always played. It enjoyed the height of its popularity in the late 1960s and 1970s. The name for the format began being used circa 1968, when serious disc jockeys were playing "progressive 'music for the head'" and discussing social issues in between records. During the late 1960s, as long-playing records began to supplant the single in popularity with rock audiences, progressive rock stations placed more emphasis on album tracks than did their AM counterparts. Throughout the 1970s, as FM stations moved to more structured formats, progressive rock evolved into album-oriented rock (AOR).
Max Norman is a British record producer and recording engineer active since 1973. He produced many acclaimed heavy metal releases.
John DeBella is an American former DJ who played a major role in developing the morning zoo format. Until his retirement in June 2023, he hosted the morning John DeBella Show on 102.9 WMGK-FM in Philadelphia.
Beru Revue is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that played that city's club circuit in the 1980s and reunited in 2006. They debuted at Grendel's Lair in Philadelphia on September 6, 1981.
The year 1968 saw a number of significant events in radio broadcasting history.
KYLD is a commercial radio station in San Francisco, California, serving the San Francisco Bay Area and owned by San Antonio–based iHeartMedia. The station airs a Top 40 (CHR) format on its analog primary signal. The station has studios located in the SoMa district of San Francisco, and the transmitter is located atop the San Bruno Mountains.
The Diary of a Madman Tour was the second concert tour by English heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne. It was undertaken in support of Osbourne's second album Diary of a Madman and covered Europe, North America, and Asia. This was Rhoads's last tour as he died in a plane crash at a small airport in Leesburg, Florida, on 19 March 1982, during the North American leg of the tour. The band took a two-week break after his death. Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne restarted the tour with ex-Gillan guitarist Bernie Tormé, who only performed seven shows before being replaced by future Night Ranger guitarist, Brad Gillis.
