– Music Special Features Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, With Host Matt Pinfield
– One and Two-Hour Versions Available to Stations NOW!
Benztown, a global leader in radio imaging, voiceover, programming, podcasting and jingles, announces that it will present “Blizzard of Ozz 40th Anniversary Special”, a celebration of Ozzy Osbourne’s iconic debut album produced especially for Rock/Classic Rock stations to air on Halloween weekend. The “Blizzard of Ozz 40th Anniversary Special” features Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne and is hosted by nationally syndicated Rock personality Matt Pinfield, who wrote the show with Keith Cunningham, Program Director, KLOS-FM in Los Angeles. Cunningham is also Executive Producer for the special. The “Blizzard of Ozz 40th Anniversary Special” was produced in collaboration with Epic Records.
There are two versions of “Blizzard of Ozz 40th Anniversary Special” available for radio stations: a one-hour version, which features music from Blizzard of Ozz, and a two-hour version, which adds post-Blizzard era highlights. The special includes four minutes of network inventory per hour through Westwood One, plus local spot inventory. Each station that airs the program will get 10 digital downloads of the record to give away to listeners.
Blizzard of Ozz was released on September 20, 1980, in the UK and on March 27, 1981, in the U.S. The album was ranked 9th on Rolling Stone’s list of “100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time” and was a commercial success, achieving a four-time Platinum certification status in the U.S. and selling over 6,000,000 copies to date worldwide, making it Osbourne’s best-selling solo album. The album tracks “Crazy Train” and “Mr. Crowley” were released as singles in 1980, with “Crazy Train” peaking that year at number 9 on Billboard’s Top Tracks chart. In January 2009, the song earned a two-time Platinum certification status. “Crazy Train” has become one of Osbourne’s signature songs and a staple of Classic Rock playlists.
Dave “Chachi” Denes, President, Benztown, said: “Rock listeners will love this Halloween weekend special. Now, more than ever, people are turning to the music that they remember from the best of times and this show will bring them home! It’s the perfect soundtrack to a Halloween weekend that doesn’t suck!”
Consultant to the production, Mike McVay, President, McVay Media, said: “There is no one to spend Halloween with that’s more appropriate than the Prince of Darkness. This is the type of programming that changes people’s habits.”
Keith Cunningham, Program Director, KLOS-FM and Executive Producer, “Blizzard of Ozz 40th Anniversary Special,” said: “When I was in Jr. High School, I plagiarized some lyrics from “Suicide Solution” for a poetry assignment. My teacher had no idea. My fandom of Ozzy goes way back and I am honored to be a part of this project and I thank Ozzy and Sharon for being generous with their time and agreeing to do this special.”
