Audio from a 1970 Dutch television appearance by Black Sabbath, long believed to have been lost in a fire, has surfaced as an unofficial vinyl release titled «The Lost 1970 Avro Sessions».
“`The Hilversum recording
The band taped the material at Hilversum in May 1970 for «Doebidoe», a short-lived music show by Dutch broadcaster AVRO aired on Nederland 1. It came roughly three months after the release of Black Sabbath‘s self-titled debut, on 13 February 1970. The line-up was Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward.
The live material runs for about 40 minutes and consists exclusively of songs from the debut album. It includes a version of «The Wizard» with different lyrics from the studio recording and a rare live rendition of «Warning». The band also lip-synced «Evil Woman» for the show, but that track is not included in the release.
From the fire to 666 copies
AVRO had stated that the tapes were destroyed in a fire. Until recently, the only known trace of the appearance was a 20-second silent clip of Black Sabbath playing «N.I.B.» on the show, which had appeared on YouTube in 2013.
The vinyl was released by Avertigro, a little-known German label whose name combines AVRO with Vertigo, the band’s label at the time. It is not an official Black Sabbath release. According to Discogs, it is limited to 666 copies and comes with a poster. The audio has also been shared on YouTube and the Internet Archive.
A few days later at Beat-Club
«Doebidoe» was the precursor of the long-running Dutch show TopPop. Other artists who appeared on it include David Bowie, who played «Space Oddity» in 1969, Deep Purple and Golden Earring.
Three days after the Dutch appearance, Black Sabbath landed on the German TV show Beat-Club, where they played «Black Sabbath», «Iron Man» and «N.I.B.», along with a cover of Carl Perkins‘ «Blue Suede Shoes» during the soundcheck. The Beat-Club footage of «N.I.B.» surfaced on the show’s YouTube channel in 2026.
The discovery arrives amid growing interest in the band’s early material. In September 2026, Black Sabbath‘s first manager spoke about the demos they recorded as Earth, the name they used before becoming Black Sabbath.
See also: Andrew Watt: Bill Ward’s Absence Sank the Black Sabbath Reunion Album | Geezer Butler played War Pigs with Jack Black’s Jack Sabbath.
