Hammer editor Alexander Milas will be on Radio 5 Live on Saturday 13 Feb at 8:35am at to talk about Black Sabbath and the fortieth year of heavy metal. Tune in! Also, read an exlcusive excerpt from Hammer’s Sabbath feature in the current issue!

Metal Hammer is now on sale with a massive interview with all the members of Black Sabbath on their seminal debut. Here is an excerpt, but don’t forget to pick up the full interview in Hammer!

…In a final act of desperation, and inspiration, Jim Simpson elected to make a bold move. He did a deal with producer and one time jazz critic Tony Hall, who’d co-hosted a short-lived late 1950s music TV series called Oh Boy! – almost a precursor to Top Of The Pops. It was agreed that Hall would put up the money for Sabbath to do an album, and then try to sell the results to a record company.
“I think Tony Hall gave us £1000,” says Butler. “We each got £100 to pay off debts, and the rest went to pay for the album – £600. It sounds like nothing these days!”
“I thought I was rich,” adds Ozzy. “I spent some of the money on a pair of shoes. I used to go around barefoot at the time, because I literally couldn’t afford shoes.”