I'm worried this blog is in danger of becoming a collection of obituaries for the icons of my youth, most of whom are now getting into their last years. In truth, Ozzy Osbourne - who perhaps has survived longer than should reasonably have been expected - was not really one of those icons, but his band, Black Sabbath, was.

Discovering Led Zeppelin directed me to other bands, musical brethren and cousins, with Sabbath inevitably being one of those. Paranoid was my first of their albums, probably still my favourite, though I think Vol. 4 is another of their best alongside their 1970 debut, Black Sabbath.

When I started to learn bass guitar, Paranoid was the first song I worked out and learned on the instrument, going on to then learn NIB and Snowblind. We didn't do any Sabbath songs in my first group as some close friends of ours were in a Sabbath covers band, and we didn't want to stray into their territory, though I did return to Paranoid for a much later band. I also recall learning Symptom of the Universe for a pub jam night where I had to detune my bass by a whole tone so the vocalist could comfortably sing it - my E-string was like a rubber band it was so loose!

Obviously Ozzy was a massive part of the Sabbath sound, and they weren't the same when Ronnie Dio came in (as decent as his albums were), and it was more Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi who I really admired. I did have two Ozzy solo albums (1980s Blizzard of Oz, actually bought because I was interested in Lee Kerslake and Bob Daisley's contribution, both members of Uriah Heep, and 1987's Tribute), but neither got a lot of play, I must admit.

Parts of Ozzy's character were very problematic, but it's sad to see anyone decline, as he has, in recent years. How nice he had such a good send-off at the Back to the Beginning concert just a few weeks ago. I'll definitely be getting some of those early Sabbath records out for a spin over the coming days (and I've also been greatly enjoying Brown Sabbath and their cover versions in recent months).