30 Jul Adios Ozzy + Goblin Shakedowns + Matador Playlist 7/24/25
Another Thursday evening come and gone, Gentle Reader(s), another Matador Playlist for the ages. This week’s installment makes no uncertain recognition of the momentous passing of John Michael Osbourne—heavy metal founding father and reality teevee pioneer known popularly as ‘Ozzy.’ I will admit, I was never much of a Black Sabbath fan or a fan of the metal genre in general, but if there was one outfit I could claim some abiding affection for it was Ozzy, Tommy, Geezer and Bill. My brother had a couple of early Sabbath records when we was kids and those thick, sludgy Iommi riffs became embedded deep in my adolescent psyche. I can definitely say that I prefer Black Sabbath to much/most of what followed their in their trailblazing footsteps: Iron Maiden, Deep Purple, Metallica, Judas Priest, Slayer, the Crüe, etc, etc—sure, there are some great songs here and there but for the most part, I got no use for ‘em, thank you very much. These artistes do indeed reside in the DJ Inky music library and I’ll play them at Ye Olde Matador Bar & Lounge without a moment’s hesitation, but the likes of it will enjoy scant air time in the sacred confines of my own home. As a fan of America’s Pastime (aka, the Beisbol), and of the Chicago Cubs in particular, it is with pleasure that I will steer you to Ozzy’s rather, uhh, idiosyncratic rendition of ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame’ as guest conductor for the 7th inning stretch at Wrigley Field back on August 17, 2003. Appearing a bit unsteady on his feet and uncertain of the song’s lyrics, Ozzy improvised some shambolic scat singing of a sort to make it a highly memorable occasion. In the final reckoning, as the toll of 76 years of the rock & roll lifestyle finally caught up with him, Ozzy held on just long enough to make it through the all-star tribute/Sabbath farewell concert extravaganza on July 5th before shuffling along off this mortal coil just over two weeks later. Now that’s impeccable timing.
All honor to Ozzy, but this week’s topical gyration shall take us in another direction entirely. For better or worse, it’s time once again to delve into the fetid realm of Orange Goblinistics. I haven’t ventured forth with many thoughts on this regrettable topic since shortly after Election Day, but have no doubt, I am daily horrified just as much as you (and you, and you, and you too) are. It genuinely strains credulity to fully comprehend how low we have managed to sink since DrumpfReich 2.0 kicked in, lo those seven months ago. I knew it was going to be worse but I also figured, Hey—we got through this epic shitstorm once before, we’ll get through it again. But this time around it’s so bad and we’re so far down the deranged MAGA rabbit hole you got to wonder if this country will ever find its way back to some vague semblance of sanity, decency, honor and just basic goddam humanity.
Assuming we can get back, how long might that take? Quite possibly longer than I can reasonably expect to be around to witness, and that’s not a particularly comforting thought.
Upon hearing the other day that—lo and behold!—regulators have approved the merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media, I thought to myself ‘Self, there ya go—yet another successful Goblin shakedown!’ Because a shakedown is what this was, pure and simple. This particular shakedown (aka, extortion) is made all the more notable as it is one in which the direct beneficiary is the Orange Goblin his own personal self. I am referring to the $16 million payoff Paramount Global submitted to in order to assuage the Goblin’s objections to the manner in which CBS edited a 60 Minutes interview with then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Anyone remember her?
Beyond the Goblin lining his (and his family’s) personal pockets, the DrumpfReich administration is an extortion racket like none other in history as it is operating on a truly global scale. One of the top items in the news today is the attempted shakedown of the country of Brazil, wherein the Goblin is demanding that President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva’s government drop its prosecution of disgraced former president Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro, the Drumpf of the South, is of course charged with being party to a far-ranging conspiracy to retain power after he was booted out of office in 2022, including the storming of the capital complex in Brasilia on January 8, 2023. Sound familiar? The cudgel in this particular blackmail is the threat of a 50% tariff on Brazilian exports to the US of A. Thus far, Lula remains staunchly defiant.
The DrumpfReich extortion racket brings to mind the classic Monty Python sketch in which the Vercotti brothers (Michael Palin and Terry Jones), outfitted with black wraparound sunglasses and snug pinstripe suits, sidle into the office of an indignant British Army CO (Graham Chapman) and begin making thinly veiled threats: ‘You’ve got a nice army base here, Colonel. We wouldn’t want anything to happen to it.’
For ‘army base’ insert corporation, newspaper, television network, law firm, university, government agency, state, country, political party, individual, etc. etc., and that’s what we’re now dealing with on a day-to-day basis.
Not even longtime cohort Rupert Murdoch and his Wall Street Journal are immune from Orange ire: Perhaps emboldened by the success of his shakedown of Paramount Global the Goblin is going after Murdoch and his News Corp for $10 billion in an effort to stifle reporting on his extensively documented friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. Indeed, the Epstein involvement may prove to be the shitepile that Drumpf has stepped in that he may find impossible to fully scrape off. Having stoked the MAGA conspiracy machine for so long it’s rather ironic that Drumpf didn’t anticipate how his own highly problematic association with Epstein could backfire. Time to reap the whirlwind? One can only hope.
Anyway, enough with this ugliness—on to more pleasant topics. HERE is the link to the YouTube playlist articulated below. Rest in peace, Ozzy! Check in again next week for another thrilling installment of Matador Playlist!
Grammar of Life – Charles Bukowski
Iron Man – Black Sabbath
Destination Ursa Major – Superdrag
She’s Calling You – Bad Brains
Catch These Fists – Wet Leg
The Most Beautiful Girl – Charlie Rich
Wheels of Confusion/The Straightener – Black Sabbath
You Know I’m No Good – Amy Winehouse feat. Ghostface Killah
Why She’s A Girl from the Chainstore – Buzzcocks
Caught By the Fuzz – Supergrass
Egg Man – Beastie Boys
Snowblind – Black Sabbath
Where I’m From – Digable Planets
The Hippy Hippy Shake – the Swingin’ Blue Jeans
On Our Way – Pierced Arrows
Mustt Mustt (Massive Attack Remix) – Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Pretty Fucked Up – Supersuckers
Waterloo Sunset – the Kinks
I Don’t Know – Ozzy Osbourne
Rat Fink – the Misfits
Walking the Floor Over You – Ernest Tubb
Daft Punk Is Playing at My House – LCD Soundsystem
All the Small Things – blink-182 (request)
Ruby SoHo – Rancid (request)
I Got Mine – the Black Keys
Crazy Train – Ozzy Osbourne
My Hero – Foo Fighters
Mr. Crowley – Ozzy Osbourne (request)
Where Did Our Love Go – the Supremes
Bros – Wolf Alice
Midway – Bad Bad Hats
Out of Sight – James Brown
Sweet Leaf – Black Sabbath
Basket Case – Green Day
Shining Star – Earth Wind & Fire
Y Control – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Pusherman – Curtis Mayfield
Hyper Enough – Superchunk
After Forever – Black Sabbath
Brothers Gonna Work It Out – Public Enemy
Sucked Out – Superdrag
Whine and Grine/Stand Down Margaret – the English Beat
Success – Iggy Pop
Carolina – Super Wild Horses
Scenario – A Tribe Called Quest
Live Forever – Black Sabbath
Touch Too Much – AC/DC
Everything is Everything – Lauryn Hill
The Weeping Song – Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Crazy Naked Girls – Super Furry Animals
Love Train – the O’Jays
Children of the Grave – Black Sabbath
Anti-Orgasm – Sonic Youth
The Mississippi – Continental Drifters
Skills to Pay the Bills – Beastie Boys
Sheena Is A Punk Rocker – the Ramones
Falling and Laughing – Orange Juice
Double It – Galactic, feat. Big Freedia
Paranoid – Black Sabbath
All I Have To Do Is Dream – the Everly Brothers
Hells Bells – AC/DC
52 Girls – the B-52s
I Saw Her Standing There – the Beatles
Mekons Rock & Roll – the Mekons
Planet Caravan – Black Sabbath
Icky Thump – White Stripes
Johnny Hit and Run Pauline – X
Alien Blueprint – Rollins Band
Wasted Days and Wasted Nights – Freddy Fender
Y’all Get Back Now – Big Freedia
War Pigs/Luke’s Wall – Black Sabbath
Get Up I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine – James Brown
We Live As We Dream, Alone – Gang of Four
The Wizard – Black Sabbath
Love & Happiness – Al Green (request)
Black Dog – Led Zeppelin
World Without Tears – Lucinda Williams
Buona Sera – Louis Prima
Happy Trails – Roy Roger’s & Dale Evans
Taxi – Bryan Ferry
