CARMINE APPICE Says OZZY OSBOURNE Was The Weakest Link In His Own Band

The Dio Message Board recently conducted an interview with legendary drummer Carmine Appice (OZZY OSBOURNE, VANILLA FUDGE, BLUE MURDER). A couple of excerpts from the interview follow:

The Dio Message Board: What was it like playing with OZZY OSBOURNE and what did you think Of Jake E. Lee's playing?

Carmine Appice: "Well, we had a great band and Ozzy, as usual, was probably the weakest link [laughs]. I mean, Ozzy is great, Ozzy is Ozzy, he's a great singer. But he always had great bands around him. If Ozzy never had great bands around him, he wouldn't be as great himself. Look at the drummers he's had — he's had me, Tommy Aldridge, Vinny, my brother, and a few other drummers he's had these days. In those days, you could understand him when he talked, first of all. He was a real nice guy, he used to get drunk at night but during the day he was straight and he was really cool.

"Jake E. Lee was a great player, I knew Jake from the ROUGH CUTT days and he's always been a favorite of mine. Had really good feel, good hands, good showman. He wrote good songs with us and Bob Daisley was on bass — a tremendous bass player. [We also had] Don Airey, who is now the keyboard player for DEEP PURPLE. So it was a great band."

The Dio Message Board: I rented a really terrible low budget horror film called "Black Roses" a few weeks ago, and to my utter surprise, you were in it! How on earth did you get involved with that?

Carmine Appice: "You shouldn't have rented it. I could have told you it was terrible [laughs]. I got involved in it by doing the soundtrack. A friend of mine, his father had something to do with the movie company and he wanted to put some KING KOBRA songs on there, so we did it. It ends up that 'Big Pussy' from the 'Sopranos' is in it, Vince Pastori. When the director heard I was doing the soundtrack, he was a fan of mine and asked me to be in the movie. They paid me well, flew me up to Canada, in Ottawa, first-class flight, limo, first-class hotel, paid me by the day. I had a great time. By doing that, at the end when I turned into a monster, had the monster make-up on, I found a new respect for actors. I had to be in that make-up for 8 hours sweating my ass off, I was so uncomfortable I was getting really pissed off. It would take a couple of hours just for the face make-up. It was a drag, so I have new respect for actors."

The Dio Message Board: With Vinny [Appice, Carmine's brother] being in DIO/SABBATH for so long, did you ever get into DIO, and what would your answer be if Ronnie offered you the drum job in DIO?

Carmine Appice: "How much you paying? [Laughs] I got into DIO because my brother was in it. I liked it, it was a great band. The original band with Vivian Campbell, Jimmy Bain… It was magic, you know."

Read the entire interview in the "Don't Talk to Strangers" forum at The Dio Message Board (free registration required).