This past weekend, two cultural supernauts reminded us what it means to be first.
- Ozzy and Sabbath bid farewell.
- JAWS turned 50.
Both originals.
Both terrified audiences – so much so, we kept coming back for more. They’re forever tattooed on our collective conscience.
Both inventors.
Sabbath invented heavy metal – and kept parents awake at night.
JAWS invented the summer blockbuster – and kept people off the beaches.
There have been many originals. Many inventors.
Coca-Cola. McDonald’s. ESPN. Amazon.
At Rock Radio, what would mornings sound like if not for Stern or Mark & Brian?
Metallica openly admits they wouldn’t exist without Sabbath. Would we have Shark Week if not for Spielberg’s mechanical shark?
Yes, different worlds. Same lasting impact. Like “Paranoid” and “Crazy Train” – raw, real, original, timeless.
JAWS didn’t have CGI. Sabbath didn’t have AI. JAWS had a story. Sabbath had a sound so new, heavy and ominous that it spread across the world before there was even MTV or the internet.
We’re all witnesses: originality doesn’t have an expiration date. And that’s important in our RockTernative world.
While imitation is considered approved flattery, what are we creating that’s truly original in our competitive situations?
Put your station through the wringer. Does it sound unique, or like a band covering that station 100 miles up the road?
- Imaging, branding, copy?
- Benchmarks?
- Clocks, rotations, daypart strategies?
- The library?
- The sales approach?
- Stopsets and how spots are produced?
Ries and Trout taught us. Being first in a category is ideal, but not always necessary. The original can be unseated at times, but not many, so the course is to create new turf by positioning around differences.
- The Alternative vs. The Rock Alternative
- Classic Rock vs. Classic Hits
- The Rock Station vs. Everything That Rocks
Finding product or propositional differences is important. Sabbath isn’t the only legendary Metal band, and JAWS isn’t the only shark flick. Big Mac vs. The Whopper. Mac vs. PC. Hertz vs. Avis. Classic category battles with positioning around differences.
Most brands don’t last. Real originals do.
Fifty years later, JAWS still haunts the water; Sabbath still shakes the earth.
People still quote Brody’s “you’re gonna need a bigger boat” and sing, “generals gathered in their masses, just like witches at black masses.”
The OGs hold their turf if they came from authenticity. WMMR. KROQ. The End. WRIF. KLOS. All did.
Ironically, Sabbath’s authentic influence in the ‘70s is one of the reasons today’s Rock stations are Rock brands.
Before I sign off this week, there’s not much I can say about Back to the Beginning that hasn’t already been said. But I can help crystallize what made it matter.
Big Rock festivals aren’t new. Metallica, Tool, and GNR have shared the stage before. But that was Power Trip – and that was for profit. This wasn’t that. It was to pay tribute.
Ozzy didn’t say goodbye on IG or with a TikTok. At 76, battling Parkinson’s, he got his voice loud and his ailing body onstage. He commanded the worldwide crowd from his throne like only a legend can.
He reminded the world what originality and authenticity look like.
Ozzy gets the headlines, but like a heritage brand, he wasn’t built alone.
Sharon deserves props. But without Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward, there might never have been an Ozzy.
People will ask, “Who’s the next Ozzy or Sabbath?” Some may wonder who’s the next KISW or 91X? We’ll know it when we hear it.
Originals never die. They just echo louder with time.
How will people remember your brand 50+ years from now?
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Keith Cunningham is a music industry and Rock/Alternative columnist for Barrett Media and the founder of Black Box Group, a modern-modeled creative & strategic consultancy built for brands that need strategies with teeth. He’s the former Master of Mayhem at 95.5 KLOS-FM in Los Angeles for over a decade, a nationwide consultant, and has been repeatedly voted one of America’s top Program Directors and strategic thinkers. Keith has built his career by taking multi-million-dollar brands from worst to first and leading Marconi & Gracie award winners along the way. A data nerd with a rock-and-roll heart, he is an advisory council member for St. Jude fundraising, a fantasy football champion, and lover of his daughters & dogs. Reach him at keithblackboxgroup@gmail.com or on LinkedIn or X.
