By Christopher Reddy

After a brief hiatus, the boys of CrazyTrain are back on the club scene again performing their tribute to Ozzy Osbourne with dead-on accuracy. The sound quality, performance, and overall musicianship are awesome, and lead singer Doug Hancock when decked out in the wig and spectacles, looks and sounds exactly like the Oz man himself. If you’re on Ozzy fan, you owe it to yourself to check out CrazyTrain the first chance you get!

Pulse Hi Ozzy ….I mean Doug. Gotta ask, on your web page bio section, the band members are listed by their first names only. Is this due to warrants or other legal issues or are you now willing to provide us with a full account of who does what in the band.

Doug HAHAAHAA, that’s rich. I don’t really know how the ‘first names only’ thing came about. I think at least partially it is that this is really about Ozzy and promoting him and his music. So the cast of characters is me as Ozzy and Chris Hicks as Zakk Wylde. The rock-solid rhythm section is comprised of Dan Haney on bass and Mark Morin on drums. Our support staff is our “roadie par excellence” Parker, who has been with us since the beginning, and Mark’s drum tech Ben. We have additional support from Chris’s wife Kelly and my girlfriend Brenda, who are very talented and help with the creation of props and any various minor crises that may occur at a gig. We all have other people who support the band in so many ways behind the scenes, we couldn’t do this without them either. We’re trying to replicate an OZZY show here! There’s a lot to it.

Pulse I know you have always been a fan of Ozzy’s solo material, but you guys also play some Black Sabbath. What songs are you currently tackling by both that will be new additions to the show?

Doug The specific era that we work to replicate is the mid to late nineties ~ but as fans ourselves we recognize that every once in a while you want a so-called “deep cut.” So we’re working on a couple of deep cuts from each era and have some more of the radio hits from Ozzy lined up for after that.

Pulse I have seen you guys before and was amazed at Chris Hick’s guitar playing. How did you guys hook up?
Doug The power of the Internet! The concept intrigued me, and though the post was more than 3 months old I called. I was Number 13 to audition, and it was Halloween weekend – go figure! Chris had seen more than his share of what he did not want, so he was skeptical. When I showed up, I told him, “I think I’m the guy you’re looking for.” After we did all of the songs we had discussed, he said “Come back next week looking like Ozzy and if you are even close, you’re in.” I went home, shaved off the mustache I’d had for 17 years, and bought a wig. Walked in screaming “I’m the Prince of F*CKIN’ DARKNESS” and they loved it. We have played venues in seven states since that day.

Pulse Have you ever been mobbed by a fan who just totally believes you’re Ozzy?
Doug Not quite. There have been a few people that just can’t get over it and are perhaps a tad too… intense, maybe. A guy at the Buffalo club actually dropped to one knee and went for the “kiss my ring” thing, that one kinda freaked me a bit. But he was very sane and we talked for a while, it is like the Family of Ozzy, so many cool people that have the same respect we do.

Pulse Have you ever met Ozzy and what would you want to say to him if you did?
Doug I almost had an opportunity, a friend could’ve gotten us on the field at Foxboro. But I was on Cape Cod working on the Katrina Relief effort, so it didn’t happen. Maybe someday though! If I got to meet him I would probably say “THANKS for EVERYTHING!”

Chris Thanks for catching us up on CrazyTrain, Doug ….as always, we wish you guys the best! Long live Ozzy!

Check out to www.crazytrainrocks.com for additional dates and info.