Hospital Radio: Everyone loves a comeback story

I was saddened to hear of Ozzy Osbournes passing, he was one of rocks great characters and entertainers.

Recently of course Black Sabbath had one final concert  to celebrate Ozzy’s final live performance, which featured a reunion of the legendary metal band's four original members.

The show at Aston Villa’s ground, was a must see for heavy metal fans. Ozzy was not the rocker of old, as his tired old body was confined to his bat covered chair, but it seems he was still able to keep the crowd in the palm of his hand with no problem at all. 

We love it when bands get back together, you only have to see the success of the Oasis gigs. There is no sign of any new music but who cares? The back catalogue full of bangers and there is no denying that Noel can write a great song. They are not the first to get back together and they will not be the last. I am sure there are some groups you would like to see live if they got back together.

I saw an interesting story this week that teased that Fleetwood Mac might be planning a reunion. Both singer Stevie Nicks and singer-guitarist Lindsey Buckingham have their own Instagram pages and they both shared lyrics from Frozen Love.

You may not be familiar with the song as it appears on their Buckingham Nicks album, which predates them joining Fleetwood Mac as it was released in 1973. So what? Well, when you factor in  drummer Mick Fleetwood listening to the song on a video of himself, well surely that means something?

Lindsey and Stevie  joined Fleetwood Mac in 1974, and then helped them to conquer the worldwide charts which peaked with their iconic, chart-topping 1977 album Rumours. Fleetwood Mac, that would be a good night out.

Now don’t start looking for tickets just yet, because  the band's singer and keyboard player Christine McVie, died in 2022 and Stevie said there was no chance of getting “Mac back together in any way. Without her, it just couldn’t work." We’ll just have to wait and see.

Another successful reunion of sorts was Abba. The band split in 1982 and they made the odd group appearance over the years, but said new performances would only make them an aged cover band of their past selves. Yet in 2021 they released Voyage, their first new album in forty years followed by ABBA Voyage, a hologram show which features them looking like they did in their heyday. The good news with that is it shows most days in London.

Now I saw The Spice Girls on the last tour, I stood for hours in the rain at Ashton Gate in Bristol. But could they get together again? Posh skipped the last tour, but with Spiceworld nostalgia peaking, the full five might just reunite for one blockbuster show—or maybe a final bow. It seems Victoria has pretty much ruled herself out, but there is still a world in which she could do some sort of avatar Abba type appearance.

Of course, many bands just keep going under the same name, it’s just the band mates that change. The Drifters for example have had over forty different members since they were formed in the 1950’s and they still get well supported when they play live.

The Stylistics  achieved great chart success in the 1970s. still have two of their original members in their line up and they perform at the Princess Theatre later this year. Otis Williams deservedly owns the rights to the Temptations' name because he's the sole surviving member of the famous Motown group. He still tours under the band’s name.

So, keep your eyes peeled, your now defunct favourite band may be making a comeback, it would be a shame to miss out. Regardless of who actually makes the final line up.