So I was largely off the grid on Tuesday; spending way too much time in meetings during the day, and an allergy-aggravated headache that might well be a migraine creeping in, so I dragged myself home and mostly lie in the dark with my eyes covered until bedtime, which came earlier than usual.

So I all-but-missed the news that Ozzy Osbourne passed, not a month after the final Black Sabbath performance, which by all accounts was amazing.

Equal parts pioneer, badass, jester, mentor, and Prince of F**king Darkness, there’s no denying he was one of the most significant personalities in music, and he’ll be missed.

Being of the age that I am, I first encountered the man in the early-80s “Satanic Panic” era, through stories of his excesses: The urban legend about biting the head off of a bat and the whole Alamo business, which, in my fuzzy middle-aged memories will always be intertwined, and mostly BS stories about back-masking and driving kids toward inappropriate behavior. Only later did I actually discover the music, through the influence of more worldly acquaintances: “War Pigs,” “Iron Man,” “Crazy Train,” “Bark At The Moon.” Iconic stuff, some which blew my teenage, budding musician mind.

But it’s not any of those tunes that yanked me in. It was the oft-dismissed “Shot in the Dark” off of the generally looked down-upon record “The Ultimate Sin” (largely due to behind-the-scenes inter-band drama and authorship issues). For my early-teen hair-metal loving self, it’s heavy rotation on MTV was largely to blame, but to this day, I’ll go to bat for it, as it is a more-than-solid pop-influenced heavy rock tune; as they kids say, it’s a “banger” that “slaps,” and I’ll still dial it up from time to time.

So rest in peace, Ozzy. Go have a drink with Randy and high-five Lemmy and Ronnie for me.

Apart from that, I was kind of off the grid the rest of the week as well, logging fifty or so miles on the trail in 100° weather, even more meetings, and some less-than-pleasant other things. But, I got through it, and am aiming for a quiet weekend.

Apart from Ozzy, the algorithm was kind of eclectic in it’s providence this week, and presented below without comment:

1. “Let’s Bounce” – Supersuckers
2. “Hammerdown” – Jeff Shields
3. “The Hair Song” – Black Mountain
4. “Drivin’ My Life Away” – Eddie Rabbit
5. “idk” – Allison Eide
6. “Punkrocker” – Teddybears, Iggy PoP
7. “I Want Candy” – Bow Wow Wow
8. “Friday I’m In Love” – The Cure
9. “Better Deal Blues” – Daniel Donato
10. “Larger Than Life” – Backstreet Boys
11. “One Headlight” – The Wallflowers
12. “I Can’t Wait” – Nu Shooz
13. “Watch Me Go” – Lord Huron
14. “Rich Girl” – Daryl Hall & John Oates