Madonna turns 67: that lost duet with Ozzy Osbourne

Born on August 16, 1958, Madonna turns 67 today and remains, after more than four decades from the debut, one of the most iconic and influential figures of pop music and culture. Queen of transformism and pioneer capable of reinventing himself continuously, the pop star has been able to cross fashions, genres and generations leaving an indelible mark. But in the endless career of the singer there is also a curious and little known chapter: a duet with Ozzy Osbourne recorded in the early 1980s and then disappeared from the official versions, linked to the history of “Shake Your Head”, a piece of the was (not was). But how did the “Prince of Darkness” and pop star end up collaborating?

Founded in 1979 to Detroit, Michigan, by David Weiss and Don Fagenson, who adopted the names of art David was and Don was, the was (not was) had their period of greatest popularity between the eighties and the first nineties. To give the group the success was the song “Walk the Dinosaur”, published in 1987 as the launch single of the album “What up, Dog?” from 1988 Here, in the early 1980s, Don was asked in Ozzy Osbourne, at the height of his solo power, to participate in a project of the was (not was). The proposal to involve Osbourne, no more Black Sabbath frontman since 1979, included his participation in the song “Shake Your Head (Let’s Go To Bed)”. With a lively rhythm, far from Ozzy’s typical metal, the song should have counted since the beginning of the participation of another artist. At a certain point, in fact, an then unknown emerging singer was called to record provisional voices: Madonna. When “Shake Your Head” came out for the first time in 1983, contained in the second album of the was (not was), “Born to laugh at Tornadoes”, the pop stars were replaced by singers in the studio.

As recently mentioned by the US edition of “Rolling Stone”, ten years after the original publication of the song, with Madonna now become a superstar in all respects, there was talk of a project to remix the song including his voice. The song with the voice of “Material Girl” never saw the light and in the end a version was published with, incredibly, Kim Basinger.

Although there has never been an official outing of the version with Madonna and Ozzy, the song has somehow leaked and circulates for years.