Detroit's most famous Ozzy Osbourne tribute band, Crazy Babies Ozzy Rebourne, will be making their national television debut on Wednesday, December 15th on E!'s Clash of the Cover Bands at 9:30 pm EST.
The show, which is produced by Jimmy Fallon, features Stephen "tWitch" Boss as the host and Meghan Trainor, Adam Lambert and Ester Dean as judges.
Crazy Babies provide one of the most realistic, visual, sound and high energy feels of an actual Ozzy concert. The band performs a number of Ozzy's solo hits as well as popular Black Sabbath classics.
Ahead of their tv debut, Rock Life spoke with frontman Boyd Quinton (Ozzy,) who spoke about how the appearance happened and how the band first got together.
Q: How are things going?
Boyd Quinton: Good, it's going good.
Q: You guys were one of the first bands in the Detroit area to get back out there over the Summer and play shows. I'm sure it felt great to get back out there!
BQ: Oh yeah! One of the funnest trips we ever had was going down to South Florida, but this year we went to Tennessee and some other places, which was a lot of fun. Knoxville was a blast! Just good people there and there's a lot of metal fans down there too.
Q: What has it meant to the band to be back out there playing shows again?
BQ: Nobody wants to just sit home and eat and watch tv so it's nice to get active again. The more you do, the more you feel like doing. When you're just sitting around the house you get lazy!
Yeah, so it's nice to just get moving and get in front of people and have a lot of people coming out. That energy really builds again.
Q: A lot of bands have hung it up through all of this. What kept you guys going?
BQ: Yeah there was a lot of folding up during that time so it's great that it's over. For me, it's just the fun that keeps me going, that's what I'd say if I had to put it in one word with capital letters: FUN!
Q: You've been doing this for awhile now and are so dedicated to making your tribute band as accurate as possible. What was the initial catalyst for putting the band together?
BQ: Yeah, it started about five years ago kind of in the Mid-Michigan area and then we played a few places in Detroit and it really caught on. Maureen Tobin the program coordinator out in Lincoln Park had us do some big shows for her and we just caught fire here. We live right next door to Lincoln Park; that's like our hometown.
From there, it just kept going. We played Diesel Concert Lounge out on the east side and The Token Lounge back down here in Westland.
As far as trying to look and sound like the Ozzy band, I really work on a lot of that myself, just making sure I watch the Ozzy videos and getting the songs and look right. The band has really stepped up and getting the guitars that are used by Ozzy's guitarist and bass player and making the drums look like Ozzy's drummer and growing the hair out and just trying to look and dress the part. They've really done a great job along with me.
Q: You just played a show this past weekend for the WRIF Rock 4 Tots at Freddy's out in Clinton Township. How did that go?
BQ: Oh, that went great! Yeah, Scott Randall from WRIF hosts that and Joe Evangelista that works with him on that are great. They really have hearts of gold. All that they do to get ready for those two days of like 54 bands coming in and out is crazy. Those guys don't get a break because they're helping set up the bands and take care of everything and if you call them the day afterwards, they're helping take everything down. It's a good cause and great people and it's always a lot of fun. We wouldn't want to miss that one!
Q: Now, you are making your national television debut this week on E!'s Clash of the Cover Bands. How did that come about?
BQ: You know, I'm not real clear on how it happened, but I'm really glad that it did. AStar Promotions out of Chicago handles us and I'm not sure if the E! Cover Bands team came to them or if they were just searching around online and found video.
They did a world wide search and kudos to them because they found the best. You really felt like you were meeting Britney Spears or J-Lo or Elton John. Everyone that they found were spot on with their look and sound.
Q: Without revealing too much, can you talk about your experience?
BQ: It didn't really hit me just how big it was. I don't know what it is about me, but I just don't get super excited about things.
We flew out there after a big show with no sleep and they had us doing stuff for a solid week. You know, B-side filming and going to different studios and things. And then we flew home and did another show so it was really a blur.
While we were out there, they really took care of us. They had us at the Loew's Hotel next to Hollywood Boulevard where all the stars are on the sidewalk and we weren't that far from the Sunset Strip so we were going and partying there at night.
It was really a awesome experience and, of course, the weather in L.A. was great. We were out in the pool and you could see the Hollywood sign from there. It was just a really great experience all around. I myself had never gone out to that area and hung out so it was really cool to be immersed in that.
Yeah, so it didn't hit me just how big an experience it was until I was back home for a week or two and I was watching Jimmy Fallon and the show is his production and he was actually advertising it and there was a little clip with us. It really hit me then. It was like, wow, this is pretty cool! It's definitely humbling.
Q: Is it something you'd like to do more of?
BQ: Yeah, I mean of course. Any exposure for your band is great and we were super, super lucky to get this because how many tribute bands get to be on national television? It was just a great opportunity and any time something like that happens, you've got to grab it and do it.
If things keep going like this then that's great. It's whatever this trip brings; I'm ready for it!
Q: Is there a particular moment or era in Ozzy's career that most inspires you and led to forming the band?
BQ: No, I've always been drawn to high-energy music like Ozzy, Sammy Hagar and Motley Crue. Really, it just kind of came up.
I did a show with a band that I was in for a couple of years called Magic Whiskey and about 5 or 6 years ago I was on stage finishing up and I did "Crazy Train" by Ozzy and there was a guy in the audience who kind of looked like Ozzy's guitarist Zakk Wylde. I knew who he was and after I came down off stage, he came up and talked to me and asked if I'd ever thought about putting a Ozzy tribute band together. I didn't really look like him at the time, but he thought I sounded like him.
It was something that really kind of broadsided me, but that night I really started thinking about it and how I love all of Ozzy's music from Black Sabbath on, even the ballads are awesome. He's got so many songs that I could be on stage and singing with the audience singing along with every word. It's great! So yeah, when the opportunity came up, I was like okay, let's get a drummer and a bass player and do some rehearsals and see what happens.
Q: And what's next for Crazy Babies? Any new videos coming?
BQ: I think we're going to do a lot of expanding. We just got a new publicist and that's rolling now and AStar has been talking to venues down South. We've played a lot of the tri-state area in Ohio and Chicago and I think it's just going to keep expanding and I think being on E! is definitely going to push that too.
As far as videos, we do have some Black Sabbath coming. We were in the studio and did "Sweet Leaf" and "Fairies Wear Boots," which is one of my favorites. We've definitely got some more stuff that is coming out.
Q: And anything you'd like to add for the fans?
BQ: Yeah, just thank you for the support, especially in the Detroit area. It really is like a family. The more people that come onboard, the closer we get; it's wild! There's nothing I'd rather be doing because there is a lot of love.
Crazy Babies is Boyd "Ozzy" Quinton (vocals,) Keith Holstein (guitar,) Rob Johannis (bass/vocals) and Cody McCoy (drums.)
Comments