MERCHANDISE pinball wizard swimming shorts

There are some really strange merch ideas out there, not least from metal acts...

Golden Oldies topping pop charts: Black Sabbath

These cool cats top today's charts!

43 years on, their new album exploded into the charts

2013 has seen Rod Stewart set a new record for gaps between number one albums: 37 years.
With the geriatric Rolling Stones seemingly the biggest live draw on the planet, its increasingly hard to argue with Simon Reynolds' proposition in Retromania that the old is dominating the new in a format (pop/rock music) that was once defined by its freshness and novelty.
Further evidence comes this week with the news that Black Sabbath have quickly broken Hot Rod's record, with an incredible 43 year gap between number one albums. Their new effort, 13, is the band's 1st no.1 since 1970's Paranoid. They're also a top draw at festivals this summer.
See this article, though its been a widely reported news story.

Septuagenarians with a firm handle on social media

As someone who went to see Heaven and Hell (Black Sabbath with Ronnie Dio on vocals) live not so long ago, I'm not entirely surprised by this. Then again, like many long-running acts, the Sabs were seen as a joke for a large chunk of the 80s/90s.
I wonder if Beliebers will be queuing up to pay hugely inflated ticket prices to see a silver-haired Justin belt out 'his' hits some decades into the future...

You can view the video for their lead single, God is Dead, here.
As the YT screenshot below demonstrates, the Sabs (or at least their record label), are fully up to speed with social media (lets not forget that singer Ozzy Osbourne was a reality TV pioneer, with The Osbournes success helping to underpin MTV's shift from video channel to reality TV dreck/awesomeness (delete as age appropriate!).