Category Archives: ROCK HISTORY

ROCK HISTORY

INTO THE GROOVE

How a bizarre 1983 studio idea led to one of music’s strangest collabs between the Prince of Darkness and the Queen of Pop.

It sounds like something dreamed up in a Sunset Strip recording studio at 3 a.m. after a few rounds of coke and whiskey, but believe it or not, in 1983, Ozzy Osbourne and Madonna did actually appear on the same song!

The track was “Shake Your Head (Let’s Go to Bed)” an experimental electro-dance track from Was (Not Was), the Detroit-based band fronted by musician/producer Don Was. The plan? Put Ozzy on lead vocals and pair him with a then-unknown Madonna on the duet.

It wasn’t pop. It wasn’t metal. It was something  that you might hear the Sprockets from Saturday Night Live listening to in an underground techno club somewhere in Germany in 1987.

“Shake Your Head (Let’s Go to Bed)” was slated for Was (Not Was)’s 1983 album Born to Laugh at Tornadoes. But just as quickly as the collaboration came together, it fell apart—because Madonna didn’t stay unknown for long.

Her self-titled debut dropped in July 1983, and almost overnight she went from East Village club kid to global superstar. With that came more control, and a hard no on the use of her vocals now that she was developing her own signature style. Just like that, the Ozzy–Madonna duet was shelved.

Later, Was brought in actress Kim Basinger to re-record the part, and the original became the kind of story that sounds too weird to be true.

Except it was true.

Accidentally Reviving an Ozzy/Madonna Collab

Nearly a decade later, “Shake Your Head (Let’s Go to Bed)” came back from the dead.

In the early Ninties, the song got a second life when it was remixed into a club track by producer Steve “Silk” Hurley. And that’s when destinies collided—or maybe just got mislabeled.

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ROCK HISTORY, ROCKIN' NEWS

DOLBY SOUND

Secret synth wizard helped to define Def Leppard’s signature musical style on Pyromania.

Sometimes the coolest stories aren’t on the cover, they’re buried in an album’s liner notes.

When Def Leppard unleashed Pyromania in 1983, they didn’t just redefine arena rock—they quietly recruited a future synth-pop legend to help shape its sound. But unless you were digging deep into liner notes (and even then, not really), you’d never know he was there.

That’s because Thomas Dolby—yes, that Thomas Dolby—was credited under the alias “Booker T. Boffin.”

When Dolby (pictured below) stepped into the studio, he wasn’t a household name yet. His quirky and contagious breakout hit, “She Blinded Me with Science,” hadn’t yet taken over MTV and radio. That explosion would come later in 1983, months after Pyromania had already hit record stores and landed numerous Billboard hits.

You can hear Dolby’s fingerprints woven into some of the album’s best tracks, including “Photograph,” “Rock of Ages,” and “Die Hard the Hunter.” Notably, he also provides the intro to “Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop).”

At the time, Dolby was a behind-the-scenes synth innovator with a knack for turning good tracks into unforgettable ones. Producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange brought in Dolby to add textured synthesizer layers and doubled guitar lines for a thicker sound that has now become an iconic signature style of the band.

We’re betting that the next time “She Blinded Me with Science” comes on the radio, you’re never going to look at Thomas Dolby the same way again after learning he’s a key innovator of one of the best rock albums ever produced!