In a brand new, exclusive extensive interview conducted by Rock N Roll
Universe (www.rocknrolluniverse.com) drum legend Carmine Appice
discusses his entire career, from his early days in VANILLA FUDGE,
CACTUS, BECK, BOGERT & APPICE, through his years spent with ROD
STEWART, KING KOBRA, OZZY OSBOURNE and BLUE MURDER, all the way to his
present activities with TRAVERS & APPICE. Also covered in the interview
are the drummer's recollections of LED ZEPPELIN'S first U.S. tour where
the rock legends opened for VANILLA FUDGE, the upcoming CACTUS reunion
at this summer's Sweden Rock Fest, as well as possible BLUE MURDER and
BECK BOGERT & APPICE reunions.
A short excerpt from the interview follows :
Rock N Roll Universe : You did the tour with Ozzy Osbourne on the 'Bark
At The Moon' tour. What was that like for you, and was Ozzy as fried
out then as he seems to be today?
Carmine Appice : No, Ozzy used to get drunk, and there were some times
when he'd do a lot of interviews and he'd get fried before he got
onstage. He's say, "Carmine, I'm knackered." I'd say, "C'mon Oz, we're
going on stage, Motley Crue's gonna kick our ass." But it was a great
experience. We played good sized buildings, then again, he gave me a
great drum solo, the band was tremendous, Bob Daisley on bass, Jake E.
Lee, Don Airey, great musicians all of them. I've always said Ozzy was
the weakest part of the band. (Laughs) But he's always been with all
his bands. But, he's an icon. I give credit to Sharon. She did an
amazing job in making him into a dynasty. I used to sit with him in the
early '80's at The Rainbow and he couldn't even talk. He'd be so out of
it, you'd be talking to him, next thing you'd turn around and his face
would be in a bowl of spaghetti. She took that, and turned it into a
success in every media. She was really ruthless but brilliant. She
fired people, musicans sued her over royalties. She fired me, I sued
them and won. Ozzy told me, "Look, I know you have problems with my
Missus, but I hope we can still be friends." We were friends. All
through that, he always said he wanted to be an actor. So, I guess he
got his little chance on his TV show. But by then he was fried. When
that came out, I couldn't believe that he or she let that out because
it made him look so stupid, and he wasn't. He was an intelligent guy.
He was out of it a lot, but he was an intelligent guy. He wasn't
stupid. That show made him look stupid. I talked to one of Ozzy's sound
or light guys and I asked, "Doesn't he care what he looks like?" He
looked to me and said, "When did Ozzy care about anything?" I said,
"You're right, he never did care." (Laughs) Because he was so out of it
he never knew what was going on. But during the daytime, before he
started drinking, he was more alert and more honest. That's when you'd
see the real Ozzy and he was a cool guy. I used to really love Ozzy. I
haven't seen him or talked to him in a long time, but he was always a
nice guy.
Rock N Roll Universe : The reality show really kind of tore down a lot
of credibility that he had with the hard rock/metal community
unfortunately..
Carmine Appice : Yeah, but look what she built. She built up Ozzfest,
it's unbelievable. It's amazing what she did. She got cancer... I guess
we were always considered "the enemy" with Sharon after that because I
sued her. What she said in the press. The same thing she said about
Billy Corgan, "He left for medical reasons, he made me sick." When I
heard her say that about him I said, "God, can't you think up a new
one? You said that 20 years ago about me." But had I stayed with them
it would've been great. Because when I went with them, I told Ozzy and
Sharon, "I'm looking for a home, I don't want to be jumping around
anymore I want to stay with a band." I had offers to go out on tour
with other people for big money, but I decided to go with them because
they were looking for someone to stay with them, too. I let her know
that I always got a lot of press in America, which I did at the time.
They didn't like the fact that I was doing sold out master classes in
every market, making a lot of money from it. I had my own press agent,
I had my own t-shirts on tour, which she okay'd the deal. You can read
about that in the Motley Crue book, 'The Dirt.' She cut the heads off
of my t shirts, hundreds of my t shirts. How long does that take to do?
(Laughs) I couldn't believe one day my one drum riser didn't work, when
I had a full page ad in the Cincinnati paper that talked about the drum
solo was the biggest effect. It wasn't my idea, it was their idea. I
said that in the article. That they designed it, I'm just the one that
plays it. But it is the biggest effect in the show. Unfortunately that
night, it didn't work. So, I asked Bob Daisley, "Hey Bob, would she
sabotage her own show to try and make me look stupid?" Bob looked at me
and said, "Oh, without a doubt." So, next thing I know, 4 weeks later,
maybe sooner, she fired me. She said, "Your name is too big, you need
to start your own band. We need someone who's more of a sideman, like
Tommy Aldridge." Gee thanks. (Laughs)
Rock N Roll Universe : What do you think of that whole situation with
the re-recording of Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake's parts on the
'Blizzard Of Ozz' and 'Diary of A Madman' albums, where they replaced
them with other musicians for the re-releases?
Carmine Appice : I think that's so ridiculous. You know what, I know
Bob really well. You know, you look at that first album, it's called
the 'Blizzard of Ozz'. It wasn't called 'The Blizzard Of Ozz' by Ozzy
Osbourne. The 2nd album, same thing, right? That was the name of the
BAND. The 4 people in the band, they were supposed to get a 25 percent
share of the artist's royalties. But because Sharon was in charge, she
made it into more of an Ozzy Osbourne deal. Everything went through
their company. They got screwed. That album sold 10 million copies.
Same thing with 'Bark At The Moon.' My deal with them for 'Bark At The
Moon' worldwide was for every 500,000 albums that was sold, I was
supposed to get a big bonus. I figured that out, and it would've turned
into a lot of money for me had I stayed with the band. But that was
probably the way she worked it. I don't know, maybe she thought she'd
promise me the deal then get rid of me, then they'd renege on the deal.
But anyway, Bob and Lee got screwed out of that, so they sued them. And
they lost, too. It was a drag, I don't know how they lost. It's
ridculous. It's like going in and taking the rhythm section off a
Rolling Stones song, and putting some new guy on it. Number 1, it's not
the same, and number 2, they did it digitally, with Pro Tools, so it
totally didn't have the same sound. They didn't play the same parts,
and it's a rip off of the audience. I can hear them on the radio when
they play them, and you can hear the difference. Those are classic
albums. It's just like taking Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr off the
fuckin' Beatles albums. Or John Bonham and John Paul Jones off the
first Led Zeppelin album and putting two new guys on it. You lose the
magic, it's gone, and I thought that was in really bad taste.
To access the entire interview go to this location :
http://www.rocknrolluniverse.com/rocknrolluniverse_385.htm
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