Ozzy Osbourne engineer Max Norman discussed Randy Rhoads having an Ozzy Osbourne song he wrote allegedly ripped off by a big name in a new The Metal Voice interview.
He first discussed Ozzy’s songwriting process, “To be honest with you, pretty much all the melodies are Ozzy’s melodies, and he has that very sing-song kind of mentality, and that’s really kind of what made those records…
“Well, one of the things that made them very accessible is the fact that his melodies are very accessible, it’s kind of poppy really, in a way. These are like pop melodies over a metal band.”
He added about how important Randy was to the creative process, “Yeah, the thing is it’s very much a symbiosis. Ozzy would never have written those melodies if he hadn’t had Randy behind it.
Later on, Norman revealed a big name allegedly ripped off Rhoads, “After the Ozzy albums, when they came out, they were stolen again and again. If you listen to ‘The Final Countdown,’ Europe, it’s exactly the same as one of Randy’s things.
“You just took the whole thing and made it into a new song. Because you’re writing new lyrics and putting a different melody, then now it’s a new song.
“But to me, that’s not that fair. You should give people kudos for writing a great riff. ‘Smoke on the Water’ – the riff is a whole song. I guess he doesn’t get any money for it, I don’t know.” Ultimate-Guitar transcribed his remarks.
