Robert Ozn (born Robert M. Rosen, New York City) (records under the name DaDa NaDa; Broadway credits as Robert Rosen; personal nickname OZN, (pronounced "OH-zen")) is a recording artist, screenwriter, producer and Broadway actor. He's known for being the vocal half of '80s synthpop duo EBN-OZN; his solo act, Dada Nada; and for his later work as co-producer and co-writer with Colin Greene of the award-winning, human rights-themed feature film I Witness starring Jeff Daniels, James Spader and Portia de Rossi.
He is also a prominent American bisexual activist.
Biography
Early life and career
As a child, he was a member of the New York City Metropolitan Opera Children's Chorus, appearing in numerous productions in both the "Old Met" and the "New Met" at Lincoln Center. At the age of 16, he was the youngest student to receive a Key Scholarship award from Herbert Berghof acting school (HB Studio) in Greenwich Village. At 17, he was accepted as a voice and theater major at the Indiana University School of Music, where he studied with Norwegian Bass/Baritone Roy Samuelson of the New York City Opera.
As a teenager, he went on the road as a singer with Doc Severinsen and The Tonight Show Band, working with Lew Tabackin, Ed Shaughnessy, Snookie Young, Tommy Newsom, Ross Tompkins, Buddy Rich and Mel Tormé.
His first professional musical theatre role was that of Hero in a tour of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum with Zero Mostel. Shortly after, he created the role of Henry Anderson in the original Broadway cast of the Tony Award winning musical Shenandoah starring John Cullum, which originally premiered at the Goodspeed Opera House. Subsequent acting work: leads in Vagabond Stars a pre-Broadway piece at the Berkshire Theater Festival with lyrics written by The Newsrooms Executive Producer/Director Alan Poul, Pirates of Penzance with Karla DeVito, and the LA company of Sam Shepard's Curse of the Starving Class with Gary Sinise and James Gammon.
However, it was not until his supporting lead in a small National Endowment for the Arts film No Regrets directed by Ruth Charny and produced by Ellen Sherman and his subsequent lead in the Broadway rock musical Marlowe along with Patrick Jude and Lisa Mordente that he came to the attention of the New York music industry, in particular Ron Delsner, who encouraged him to begin his own recording career.
EBN-OZN and DaDa NaDa
In 1981, Rosen met Ned Liben, then the owner of New York's Sundragon Recording Studios. Liben had built his first professional studio at the age of 14 and by the time he met Rosen had worked with Jimi Hendrix, The Talking Heads, The Ramones and a host of New York's rockers.
Their initial collaboration, "AEIOU Sometimes Y" was recorded in 1981–1982 (released in 1983) and was the first American record to be entirely produced on a computer (a Fairlight CMI). "AEIOU" was a mix of rap, spoken word, digital sampling, rock and R&B dance music. Liben and Rosen cut their own 12-inch dance single, which was signed by Arista Records in London and in New York by Elektra Records' President Bob Kraznow before the band even had a name, which eventually became Ebn-Ozn'''. "AEIOU" went top 20 on the Billboard Club Chart, establishing OZN as one of the first white rappers in the industry. "AEIOU"'s video, a Los Angeles Times Top 10 Video of the Year, and an MTV Heavy Rotation favorite garnered wide domestic and international exposure and was featured on Beavis and Butt-head throughout the '90s.
Ebn-Ozn's first full-length album, Feeling Cavalier, released by Elektra in 1984, went Top 20 on the College Radio Chart and their second single, "Bag Lady (I Wonder)" went Top 40 on the Billboard Club Chart. The video for "Bag Lady" starred Tony and Emmy Award winner Imogene Coca and like "AEIOU," enjoyed worldwide television and club play.
EBN/OZN received positive reviews for their album, singles, videos and live shows. They were covered in Time magazine, People, US and The New York Post. Ozn was declared the "greatest white rapper alive" by Playboy and called the "new American sex symbol" by the Boston Globe. EBN was also featured in Guitar Player magazine.
After the duo's split up in 1985, EBN went on to run his exclusive SOHO studio working with Scritti Politti and Arif Mardin, while OZN moved to Los Angeles and started his own label, One Voice Records and his own solo act, Dada Nada.
Dada Nada received a distribution deal with Polydor/UK and he distributed it himself in North America, landing two top five Billboard dance hits, "Haunted House" (the first House record by a white artist to chart in North America) and "Deep Love".