TREKCORE > SPECIALS > TREK ARTIFACTS > More Strangeness from Denise Crosby's Past

PUBLISHED: October 13, 2007
AUTHOR: Greg Jones

Denise Crosby. The sexy blonde relative of crooner Bing Crosby who played Tasha Yar during Star Trek: The Next Generation’s first season, and later, the blonde Romulan Commander Sela. The director of the documentaries Trekkies and Trekkies 2. Veteran actress who has appeared in dozens of TV series and feature films over the last 25 years. Cult sex symbol who once posed for Playboy magazine and performed a provocative sex scene, almost entirely nude, in the Showtime series Red Shoe Diaries. Denise Crosby. We thought we knew you so well.

As if these credentials weren’t enough to surprise–even shock–her fans, there exists an even stranger, or should we say darker, blacker, episode of Denise’s career buried deep in her pre-Trek past. I am, of course, referring to her (gird your loins) appearance in the 1986 Black Sabbath music video, “No Stranger To Love”. Oh...the humanity

Black Sabbath. The progenitors of the “heavy” music sound. The Fathers of heavy metal rock ‘n’ roll. The primordial pool that spawned Ozzy Osbourne and scared millions of parents who wished they could lock-up their teenage children for fear of Satanic influence. Black Sabbath. Makers of countless multi-platinum records. The band that made guitarist Tony Iommi a rock legend and...Denise Crosby’s lover.

Well, in the video anyway.

About a year before Star Trek: The Next Generation Denise appeared in a music video for the seminal rock band which by this point was being called “Black Sabbath Featuring Tony Iommi” since he was the only original band member left. The video was for “No Stranger To Love” from the Seventh Star album, a notably low point in the band’s otherwise glorious history. Surrounded by three new guys no one had ever heard of, guitarist Tony Iommi was contractually obligated to make this record under the guise of the Black Sabbath name; a promotional move that fooled nobody, especially record buyers. Shot in black and white, the video featured Denise as Iommi’s “dangerous” lover (or whatever) who embraces then rejects the guitarist, ultimately haunting him by popping up everywhere he goes. With shoulder-length “frizzy” hair, her combination of sheer good-looks and serious demeanor made Denise a perfect choice for this “role”. Too bad very few people ever saw this video which received only minimal rotation in 1986. It is, however, an obscure Trek Artifact that I’ve only recently discovered and will no doubt go down as a bizarre episode in both the history of Star Trek and rock ‘n’ roll.

Below are some video captures from the segment and a YouTube video.  You can also see the video in its entirety on The Black Sabbath Story–Part II DVD.

It’s OK Denise, we forgive you.

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