| PARADISO! |
The SunsetsI believe I see now why they elected to become Tamam Shud. Still, it's a fascinating period piece.I am restored to my digital life after nearly a month of move-related net deprivation, I'm happy to say. Might just squeeze in the christmas swag with luck. 5:50 PM - 20/11/2007 - comments {0} - post commentRock at its reddest!Have I mentioned how much I like Youtube? I think I may have. To a musical trainspotter, it's heaven on earth. Before we were webbed up, who knew there were so many of us? Here's the mighty Madder Lake with the proper Australian anthem (see earlier Sunbury post). Don't think I've heard this version previously.But wait, there is also the incredible and truly unlikely Kush, appearing on the Paul Hogan Show of all things! Of course, many prefer their hairy old Oz rockers in glorious technicolour, the better to see what frightening shade of green polo-neck skivvy is being worn by the drummer. To that end, here is Ayers Rock. I wonder why the SG was the weapon of choice in so very many 70s Oz bands? 8:44 AM - 4/10/2007 - comments {1} - post commentA Jimmy Hannan 3 Star Rating! I see my good friend and cabaret legend Sergio Paradise Junior has got himself a blog site. I can't believe he's getting rid of Big Ron. If there were only space in Casa Straightman, I'd adopt him myself but sadly this is an impossibility. No reason why you should miss out though. Check it out at http://www.blognow.com.au/paradiso 2:23 PM - 4/8/2007 - comments {4} - post commentPickle me gandmother!Well, I'll be jiggered! I thought my blog had disappeared from the face of the earth. There's an important lesson for you. Don't trust links.11:08 AM - 14/1/2007 - comments {31} - post commentThat makes two of us who are Angry.
Fiddlesticks. Just went to load up some Sunbury-type goodies and found that not only has my last upload been deleted after only a week, Rapidshare is full as a goog and I can't load up the new post. Could be time to start looking at alternatives, methinks. Anyone know any good ones? 11:04 AM - 23/10/2006 - comments {0} - post comment6 O'clock rock to GTK IIWe're going back to the earlier and/or poppier side of things now. After this, when I get around to it, we'll steam on ahead into the glorious Sunbury era again and do I ever have some gems in store. For now though, a little context. As always, just click on the link below and you'll be taken to the rapidshare site. From there click on "free", follow the prompts and you'll have a zip file floating through the aether at you containing all the songs I'm yappin' about in handy-dandy MP3 format.The link: http://rapidshare.de/files/36791973/6oClckRckToGTK2.zip The Bee Gees - Lonely Days (1970) I doubt there's anyone out there who needs to be told who the Bee Gees are, but I guesss there are a fair few who aren't really aware of their output prior to the blow-waved Saturday Night Fever era. After a career as child entertainers in Australia, they took off as a sort of budget Beatles, following them from unabashed pop (Spicks and Specks) to shameless psychedelia (Every Christian Lion Hearted Man). Derivative as they may have been, they certainly had a magic touch with a tune and of course those impeccable harmonies. Dove - Keep Our Lovin' On Your Mind (1976) A bit of an oddity this. I don't know anyone else who has ever heard of this band. I just came across the album by chance and thought it was kind of endearing. Clunky songwriting, fairly cheap (though not bad) production but how many acts like this must there have been who have passed into oblivion? Since then I've found a couple of others of theirs which are more sort of cabaret cover affairs which means that they'd been plugging away for a fair while before "finding their own sound". If anyone knows anything about these guys, I'd be very interested in hearing it. Jeff St John - Teach Me How To Fly (1970) A genuine rock 'n' roll animal, as befits someone able to hold a stage with the notoriously frightening Wendy Saddington in Copperwine, Jeff St John was absolutely everywhere at this stage. Having recently undergone a failed series of operations to restore mobility affected by spina bifida, Jeff burst back on to the scene off the crutches and in the driver's seat of what was to become his trademark wheelie-poppin', doughnut-spinnin' wheelchair. This song is a Rotary Connection (psych-soul act featuring a young Minnie Ripperton) cover with plenty of Jeff-style oomph, sloshy organ, wailing guitar, bass/drum play-off. It's a corker. Jigsaw - Mademoiselle Ninette (1972) This is a very odd song originally by freaky Liberian act working from Germany,The Soulful Dynamics. Jigsaw (not to be confused with the English or Dutch bands of the same name) were our very own piece of bubblegum paradise. Probably best remembered for their cover of Christie's Yellow River or possibly as Johnny Chester's backing band on Shame and Scandal, I've picked this one because it's one we used to do in our bubblegum tribute act The Reggies and it has an extremely silly organ solo. Judy Stone - 4,003,221 Tears From Now (1964) Cover of Artie Wayne/Ben Raleigh song recorded the previous year by Kerri Downs apparently. Only ever heard Judy's version myself. Judy Stone started out as a country artist in the early sixties in full fringed fig but with a creditable lack of genre loyalty made it big as a Bandstand staple. Liv Maessen - Snowbird (1970) Now this is darned peculiar. Liv Maessen burst on to the scene with her deep, husky voice applied to the phenomenally successful version of Knock Knock Who's There, Little Green Apples, and this cover of Gene MacLellan's Snowbird. She picked up a logie for best new talent and as far as I know was swallowed up by a crack in the earth. Any sightings? Ross D Wylie - The Star (1969) This was another of Johnny Farnham's songwriting efforts and was also a decent sized hit for Herman's Hermits. Former lead singer of The Kodiaks, Ross D. Wylie was also a well-known t.v. personality, hosting seminal '60s music show Uptight. The New Dream - Groupie (1969) Blue-blooded bubblegum gold here. This song was written by Buzz Cayson who, with Mac Gatden, wrote Candy Love, Hayride, La La, and Everlasting Love (a version of which I'm planning to post that you won't believe). This song was also recorded by The Four Fuller Brothers the same year. The New Dream started life as The Dream and all I know about them is that their drummer can now be found in all-star british invasion cover act The Substitutes. The Strangers - Looking Through The Eyes Of A Beautiful Girl (1970) The Strangers originally started out as a Shadows-type instrumental act (scoring a hit with Cry Of The Wild Goose), worked as a backing band for numerous singers, did a stint as the resident band on Go! and had a string of hits in their own right including Happy Without You, Melanie Makes Me Smile (which was my old bass-playing cohort Dookie's favourite song in the world) and this one released with Dave, Dee, Dozey, Beaky, Mitch and Titch's anti-war song Mr President on the other side. Looking Through The Eyes Of A Beautiful Girl was written and recorded originally by Irish band The Times the same year. 2:39 PM - 15/10/2006 - comments {8} - post commentTotally tubular!I continue to be astounded by the variety of material that has been lurking around waiting for a medium to come along that would give it new life. The YouTube phenomenon shows that just because you don't get a chance to see or hear this stuff doesn't mean that there aren't people who want to. You can type almost any band you can think of into the search window and stand a very good chance of having it pop up before your very eyes. Here's one to get you started.1:25 PM - 15/10/2006 - comments {2} - post commentEl Capitano LoafoWell, perhaps not. Just that I haven't been doing any blogging. Where the deuce do people find the time to keep this up week after week? Possibly something to do with organisation. I've heard tell of this thing but regrettably am unlikely to experience it personally.
Anyhoo, it's the weekend coming up and while Saturday is already designated for vodka melon slushies, I'm going to have a red-hot go at making a post Sunday and hopefully catch up with what everyone else has been posting. 7:23 PM - 13/10/2006 - comments {0} - post commentCak!As in to "cak yer daks larfin' " that is. Humour has been an undervalued current in all music and Australian music is no exception. Not that it's always intentional, mind you. The Cak posts will be a mixed bag of the intentionally humourous, the inadvertantly hilarious, the art of the inappropriate cover version and maybe some TV themes. So, with slightly less in the way of verbal diarhoea than my last post, here is the link.http://rapidshare.de/files/32470532/Cak1.zip.html 01 - Sister Janet Meade - The Lord's Prayer The Artist The world's funkiest nun, Sister Janet Meade. I gather that her bag was that she was a teacher trying to interest kids in music and prayer and stuff. You know..."the lord can be cool" kind of thing. Two interesting things about Sis Meade. One is that owing to vows of poverty, she was never able to cash a royalty cheque. The other (music nerd point alert) is that at one time, her band included drummer Clare Moore who was about 12 at the time. The song Well, it's the lord's prayer isn't it? You know...our father who art in heaven etc. Only set to music. That's it really. No attempt to make it rhyme or anything. The meter's impossible too. Doesn't scan well at all when you think about it. What it has going for it however, is the porn-funk production of Martin Erdman who was also behind Flake, Donny Sutherland, and was also responsible for Abigail's volcanic rendition of Je T'Aime. 02 - Bill & Boyd - Santa Never Made It Into Darwin The song Emotional treacle pumped out to cash-in on the massive cyclone that walloped Darwin in December 1974. This is the song referred to by The Hoodoo Gurus in Tojo. The artists Bill and Boyd started off as a sort of Everley Brothers cover act and had quite a successful career in the 60s as a professional overseas support act. Had a later hit in the 70s with a version of Put Another Log On The Fire. 03 - Running Joak - You Embarass Me The Song A parody of the too-macho-to-play-in-tune pub fixtures, Hunters and Collectors. B-side of a cover of the Kimba The White Lion theme song and Girl From Ipanema. The artists Running Joak were, as the name suggests, a joke band. There were a few acts of the sort around at the time (My Three Sons spring to mind) but it seems to have died out. Horrendously disorganised, they were. I'd seen them live and heard the single on the radio but when I went to buy it, they hadn't delivered them to the shop yet. Then when they did turn up, they didn't have the cover ready. Don't know if those ever turned up. I just bought the bloody thing in a generic sleeve in the end. 04 - Rick Springfield - Streaking The Australian Way The artist None other than Rick Springfield, guitarist of Zoot and perpetrator of Jessie's Girl. The song As a cash-in on the streaking craze, it comes in at a poor second to Ray Stevens' immortal The Streak, but it does have a nice local angle and is a very good representation of Rick at the height of his David Cassidy phase. 05 - Gene Pierson - Reach Out The song The old Four Tops barnstormer given a right old soaking in Timothy Leary's cough medicine. This has to be heard to be believed. Maybe not even then. The artist Gene Pierson (nee Giancarlo Salvestrin) began his singing career as a result of scooting across to New Zealand to avoid the draft and presumably having nothing better to do. After a number of minor releases, Reach Out scraped into the Australian charts and Gene decided it was time for a triumphant homecoming. Not a lot happened after that so he started a record label instead. 06 - Jimmy Hannan - Thanks The song I'm afraid christian pop isn't my strong point (not to dismiss the marvellous work put in by The Osmonds and Stryper) and I have absolutely no idea where in the heck this song comes from. I feel confident in saying however that you are unlikely to find such an emotionally charged rendition anywhere else. "Thanks to the lord"? No Jimmy, thank YOU! The artist Toothsome TV icon Jimmy Hannan is possibly best remembered these days as a game show host (remember Celebrity Squares?) but before that he was a genuine all rounder, bounding with remoseless enthusiasm and a terrifying grin into any variety show challenge that was fool enough to stray into his inexorable path. I don't know what it was that got him off TV in the end but I doubt it was anything with a smaller calibre than an elephant gun. 07 - Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band - Wangaratta Wahine The Song Describes a romantic encounter on the exotic Hume Highway, the "Silk Road" of Australian rock. The artists. The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band was a peculiarity of the time that nevertheless managed to claw their way to the position of premium Australian road act in the absence of anything interesting until the emergence of the next big (Skyhooks driven) wave. A gaggle of hippies with a love of jug band music of the '30s led by cabaret artiste extraordinaire, Mick Conway. Although highly successful, Captain Matchbox albums aren't that easy to come by. I suspect that's a result of small children playing them to death. I know I did. 08 - Bob Hudson - The Newcastle Song The song Well, here it is. The Stairway To Heaven of Australian novelty music. Sometime around my very first post, I was asked by at least two people if I was going to put up Rak Off Normie (I've recently sourced a copy of that by the way and it will be coming soon) but for those new to the Australian-novelty-records-of-the-70s-scene (such as it is) will appreciate the opportunity to experience the original scenario Rak Off Normie was responding to. Even if you do remember the Newcastle Song, it's possible you haven't heard the extended version as it appears on the album for reasons that will become obvious over the course ot the song. It is a bit time-consuming I grant you, so if you find that you've got a train to catch or something, you can always stop listening where it was cut for the single, just before Bob loses his Frapp. The artist Bob Hudson was basically a folk singer labouring in quiet obscurity (although he did support Phil Ochs on a tour so possibly not as obscure as all that) when he got a gig as a presenter on the new ABC rock station 2JJ. This in turn led to a certain amount of notoriety that led to a fairish amount of publicity for The Newcastle Song which changed everything. This was a massive success and a pretty significant cultural landmark in terms of how Australians saw themselves. Or how they saw Novocastrians at least. At any rate, this wasn't so good for Bob because despite being a funny bastard, he was also a very serious bastard in many respects and after the Newcastle Song, it must have been very difficult to be taken seriously. A shame really because the same basic themes also resulted in really lovely (while slightly depressing) songs like Girls In Our Town. An informant at the ABC tells me that these days, bob Hudson is a grumpy old bastard on the ABC newsdesk. 6:44 PM - 9/9/2006 - comments {7} - post commentBasia....and BEYOND!The link: http://rapidshare.de/files/31684592/basiaAndBeyond1.zip.htmlCountdown was a fine thing as far as it went, but we grew up a bit and Countdown just plain didn't. In fact, it regressed. As we got further into the 80s, a vibrant new live scene emerged that was all but ignored by the degenerate empire that was championing such bland synth-pop acts as Wa Wa Nee, Pseudo Echo and Kids in The Kitchen. Constant exposure to this bilge made a lot of us feel betrayed and removed from the music scene as it was was being shown to us and as everyone knows, a large number of stupid, angry, disaffected adolescents is the surest recipe that there is for ROCK!. But what kind of rock? I think all we knew was that we didn't want to listen to Flock Of Seagull and Duran Duran wannabes. Consequently on any given night at St Kilda's Prince of Wales (particularly the notorious, quality control-free Thursdays), you could hear any combination of next generation punk (I Spit On Your Gravy), possibly with metal connections (Exploding White Mice), or newer, nastier edges (Orchestra Of Skin And Bone). There was '60s revivalism aplenty whether paisley push pop (Huxton Creepers), Hashbury psych (Sunset Strip) or there was the great rediscovery of the day, 60s garage (Died Pretty). The goth scene was coming out in force (Box The Jesuit were far and away the greatest on the scene according to the Captain's log) and there was blissful power-pop all over the shop (the charge led capably by the Hard Ons). There was rockabilly running into punk and morphing into psychobilly (The Fireballs) while country was leaving the country and making inroads into the cities (The Johnnies, The Slaughtermen). Once we discovered all this (and in Melbourne before the free street presses really fired up, for us suburbanites it was almost always due to enlightened community radio station 3RRR), like any kids set loose in a lolly shop, we turned into monsters. We would glut ourselves on the loudest music we could find on any given night (hello Cosmic Psychos), sit up 'til dawn nurturing our own musical dreams with warped pawn-shop guitars, and file back to the pub in the daylight to listen to some healing beer-garden act. Don't ask me how, because I certainly don't remember there being any money to do this stuff with. Here's the track list. I'll write up some notes and put up some photos later, but just to get things on the road, the link is up the top there. 01 - Painters And Dockers - Basia  The Song Mighty ode to the exotic vixen of international pop presentation, Basia Bonkowski. For those under the age of Idon'twannathinkaboutit, Basia was the host of Rock Around The World, SBS's answer to Countdown. Or Nightmoves. Or something. I think Basia went out with Brad Shepherd (Hoodoo Gurus guitarist) for a while and I think she's now in the children's book racket. Lobby Loyde produced this album (Love Planet) and provides guest vocals as the Groovy Guru on Get Smart track Kill Kill Kill. Many great tracks on it but this is the only one that mentions Basia for some reason. The Band Deranged and exhausting, brass-driven power-punk-pop act that were great favourites on the pub scene but who suffered the fate of becoming too popular. They were one of the first acts that I had come across who crossed over into mainstream success with hits Die Yuppie Die and Nude School and I found that rather than occupying a cosy spot on the moral high ground ("See, I TOLD you they were good") I found instead that (a) they didn't play at places I went to any more and (b) if I did go and see them somewhere, the place would be full of hulking yobs in their "going out" floral shirts, spending the entire evening calling for the two songs mentioned above as opposed to the proper ones (which is to say the ones I liked). I have never wished success on a band I liked since. 02 - Toys Went Berserk - Audrina   The Song Hey kids, let's get morbid! When I was a young feller, the punk, goth and skinhead scenes weren't quite large enough to sustain themselves independently so there was a weird sort of interdependency between them. Any party at a punk household you went to, there would always be a contingent of the other two sets. Likewise a goth household, though those guys tended to be more adaptable to living with other types. Dunno about skin households. As far as I could tell, most of those guys claimed to squat which usually meant they lived with their parents and occasionally camped out in abandoned buildings. Anyway, this led to often bizarre musical clashes with Husker Du and PIL devotees struggling against attempts to play whatever Oi music was in the house over and over again, while some smudgey, cobwebby creature would be putting forth a case for the Cocteau Twins or Kate Bush. Very often it would result in an established pattern of punk dominance in the loungeroom, goth in someone's bedroom, and skinheads hanging around in the back yard trying to pick fights. That was a peculiar phenomenon in itself. I never saw a skinhead who was any damn good at fighting, weedy little ferrets that they were. Maybe it was just the effete company that I was keeping but skinheads relied on mob mentality for a reason. They were individually crap. Anyway, at some point in the evening this one would always appear prompting a mass, swaying, mooning response from every goth girl in the place. The band Sydney band whose greatest success was in sounding just like Siouxsie and the Banshees who eventually broke up because they were tired of being compared to Siouxsie and the Banshees. Had a recent reformation gig. 03 - Huxton Creepers - I Will Persuade You   The song One of their rockier offerings, this one went down well even with those who were just there for the jangle and the Pretty Flamingo-type covers, largely thanks to it's audience response-friendly call and response structure, I suspect. The Band "Y'see son, in them days boy bands wuz so poor they had to play their own instruments!" Well, that might be a little unfair but there's no denying that an annoying amount of space in front of the stage was taken up with moist young things swooning over singer Rob Crawe's flowing golden locks. They were very good fun, albeit a little lightweight for my tastes at the time and the songs bear up better than a lot of their contemporaries trading on the "paisley push" '60s revivalism going on at the time. Ultimately they fell apart due to problems with booze (they were carting around a shocking reputation for turning up pissed at one stage), stereotyping and male pattern baldness. 04 - Curious (Yellow) - Tinsel Heart (In Chain Mail)   The Song It's dreary time again! Can't say I'm a great fan of this act but I think Karin Jansson's vocals work pretty well on this number in a stentorian, flat, Nico-ish sort of way and for once the guitar seems to have somewhere to go. The Band I suspect parentheses-crazed band Curious (Yellow) were thrown together purely as a showcase for the singer/sonwriter, who happened to be the girlfriend of Church lead moaner Steve Kilbey. While Curious (Yellow) never really cracked it, Karin Jansson did okay for herself by co-writing The Church's gargantuan hit Under The Milky Way. 05 - Psychotic Turnbuckles - Albuquerque   The song Psychotic Turnbuckles' anthem and love-song to their spiritual home, Albuquerque. The band The eighties were not only a time of (mostly covert) rock revival. We also saw the re-emergence of wrestling! For pure, dumb showbiz, there is probably nothing more closely aligned than rock and wrestling but few had made the connection until the Hulk Hogan era. The Psychotic Turnbuckles did. Also the power of very bad wigs. For more details on this bizarre act, you can check out their website www.psychoticturnbuckles.com. I had no idea this resource was available when I was preparing this post but apparently there are those keeping the flame burning. 06 - Headless Chickens - Do The Headless Chicken  The Song Fairly representative of the album and its consistently bleak outlook, this track demonstrates an important musical maxim. Great guitar riffs are not generally invented by great guitar players. The band The Headless Chickens were a New Zealand act who threw together this unusually good album with the proceeds of a Battle Of The Bands competition. This was followed by a single (Gaskrankenstation) that brought them more widespread attention and then they spoiled it all by bringing in a girl singer and going in a more dance-pop direction. That they became even more successful is beside the point. The point is I didn't like it, although I thought their cover of Abba's Supertrooper was quite funny. 07 - X - I Don't Want To Go Out   The Song Covers pretty much the gamut of Punk subject matter (boredom, anger and smack) but with that one quality fatal to a true punk band, a sense of humour. Features the quintessential Ian Rilen bass riff and Steve Lucas demonstrates the art of The Chord With No name, which is the one you get when you don't put any fingers on the fretboard. The band X were and occasionally still are Steve Lucas, Ian Rilen and a range of beaten and broken drummers. They muscled their way on to the punk scene in the late 70s with a Lobby Loyde-produced album and a certain amount of publicity resulting from Ian Rilen having quit Rose Tattoo 'cos they weren't hard enough. After that, well they just kept going really. On and off. This track is an early one but I ripped it from side B of a cover of Roy Orbison's Dream Baby that had an accompanying video clip that got a fair amount of play on Rage. This spike in popularity led to what was not X's first last show but what was the first in what became a tradition of X's last show. The only thing X did almost as much as go on and on (on and off) was have last shows. I've known them to have last shows in the very venue where they start a residency the next week. I hope they have another one soon. I haven't seen them for ages. Ian Rilen is widely known for being in a ridiculous number of the most important Australian bands. He popped up in Blackfeather (but who didn't?), Band Of Light and Rose Tattoo before founding X. A true rock and roll beast, he recently dragged himself out of a hospital bed (he has pancreatic cancer) to appear at the Lobby Loyde benefit with current band The Love Addicts. I just found that he has a website www.ianrilen.com Steve Lucas was known as one of the best screams in the business and benefited at one time from a rumour that he was actually Bon Scott or Bon Scott's half-brother or some such twaddle. Mind you, I've heard him do Jailbreak with Whore and it was pretty convincing. Myself, I think he got good at screaming as a result of all the horrible injuries he inflicts on himself. I personally have seen him break an ankle falling off stage, turn up to a gig with a broken hand (as a result of hitting Ian), burst an eardrum by putting his head against an amp to see if it was working, and suffer portification as a result of swapping a rider from beer to port because his doctor told him to avoid cold liquids. Actually, I may have been the one who suffered from portification (a state of mortification that can be achieved only through excessive consumption of fortified wine). I have a horrible recollection of this taking place in the Gershwin Room of the Espy where the two of us were supporting the Painters and Dockers. The last thing I had to do was walk over to the side of the stage, put down my guitar, pick up my mandolin, walk back to my seat and play the last song. I got part of it right. I walked to the side of the stage, put down my guitar, walked back to my seat and sat down. Then I got back up, walked to the side of the stage, picked up my mandolin walked back to my seat and sat down again. While all this was going on, very little else was. Steve was waiting for me to get back and the audience was waiting too (mostly for us to rack off altogether). When we finished to scattered applause (and a few kind words from the Dockers afterwards) I slunk into the shadows. Steve changed into a mummy costume and did a set in the front bar with Bigger Than Jesus. Click here for a great interview with Steve www.i94bar.com/ints/x.html 08 - Died Pretty - Mirror Blues  The song Consumer alert! This track goes for at least 10 minutes but it's the only thing I have that will give you an idea of what these guys were like live. Produced by Radio Birdman/New Christs singer Rob Younger The band Epic 60s garage inspired act powered by a grinding, swirling organ and the howling vocals of mad goblin Ron Peno. Died Pretty had critical acclaim coming out of the wazoo, particularly after their album Doughboy Hollow but somehow the big break eluded them despite their slugging away at it for fifteen years. I suspect a vast international conspiracy to annoy music critics is responsible. A worthy goal to be sure, but it's just a shame that Died Pretty had to suffer for it. You can check out the Died Pretty legacy at www.diedpretty.com. Ron Peno bounced back in recent times with the entirely unexpected, fragile and sensitive country act The Darling Downs with Kim Salmon (ex Scientists, Surrealists, Beasts Of Bourbon etc). Details here www.carrottoprecords.com/artists/darlingdowns/index.html 9:47 AM - 3/9/2006 - comments {5} - post commentThis time for sure...nothing up my sleeve...PRESTO!Alright, weddings and associated parties are all finished, the Lobby benefit has been and gone (AMAZING night) and there's nothing to prevent a proper post. This weekend for certain I will at least put up the link and then add the guff as I get it done.On the topic of the Lobby night (apologies to anyone reading this who I've already bored senseless in person), it was an astounding event. So many of those guys are still so bloody good. The huge voices of Matt Taylor (Chain) and Mick Fettes (Madder Lake) etc. are miraculously intact. Most remembered how their respective instruments worked though one or two were led down the slippery slope of digital effect overload (yes I'm looking at you, Masters Apprentices). Thorpie's still Thorpie and Spectrum have been gigging enough that there was never any doubt there. Player of the match award definitely goes to Lobby Loyde himself though. I was amazed by how fresh and just darn good the Wild Cherries sounded and I'm definitely going to be tracking some of that down. During his appearance with the Aztecs, Lobby continued to give Thorpie guitar lessons, and to finish up he lifted the roof with the Coloured Balls and the mighty guitar anthem G.O.D. According to a clock-watcher, it was a 15 minute version. Stopped too soon for my liking. Afterwards my dad (Colonel Straightman) and I headed back to Straightman Central and watched the Sunbury film and listened to records for the rest of the night. My volume monitoring system might have been slightly impaired as Mrs Straightman informs me that it wasn't the quiet whisper I took it for. The Colonel brought down a box of Oz rock vinyl for me to archive including a Sunbury '73 album featuring himself up the front of the gatefold. Snapshot to follow. Top night except for the unfortunate going to work afterwards bit. 10:11 AM - 2/9/2006 - comments {0} - post commentCaptain Slackman Meant to have my first Basia And Beyond post up by now. Maybe I'll get there by Sunday but the possibility of lying in bed praying for death is very high also due to a friend's pre-wedding lunch happening the day before. Only four sleeps 'til the Lobby benefit. Happy to say my dad, Colonel Straightman will be coming to town to join me. Last thing we saw together at the Palace was Iggy, I think. The Colonel is a genuine Sunbury Survivor and was telling me the other day about some shack on the foreshore in Lorne where Lobby used to play. Anyone ever hear of this venue? 6:33 PM - 25/8/2006 - comments {2} - post commentNow in Glittervision!Added some snapshots to the Countdown post below (just under the Lobby plug). Not up to Gryphonn's standard perhaps (see his Limited Bandwidth site for some really snazzy snaps, Likewise Tinacee's Manah Manah site) but helps set the mood I think.http://www.blognow.com.au/manahmanah/9:36 AM - 17/8/2006 - comments {3} - post commentGetting there.Well, the system works but I'm thinking I'd better use lower res photos or the page is going to take half an hour to load (see Countdown post below). It means that you'll not only be able to hear what I'm on about via the dowwnload link, but see it as well.Just booked my ticket for the Lobby Loyde benefit. Very excited about it. You don't get many chances like this to see a jam-packed evening of great Australian music history like this. 
10:22 AM - 16/8/2006 - comments {1} - post commentLive across Australia...The link: http://rapidshare.de/files/29309651/rsdOnCntdn1.zip.htmlSomewhere today, there will be a dinner party and after a few drinks, a woman will explain in painful detail exactly why Les was the spunkiest Bay City Roller, or perhaps a man will recount the sudden onset of puberty unnaturally induced by exposure to the Promises "Baby It's You" video clip. We will be indulgent and smile politely while the interminable anecdotes progress because we know that they can't help themselves. They, like us, were raised on Countdown. It's difficult to explain to those who weren't there the extent to which this tatty show determined popular youth tastes in the 70s (and to a lesser degree the 80s). That peculiar man with the girl's name, the complete absence of conventional social skills and focus, and (as the hair receded) with the ubiquitous hat ruled supreme over the scene. A word from Molly in the right could rocket you to stardom while a Countdown blackban might condemn you to obscurity for all time. I'm starting here with a bit of a mix of genuine Countdown classics and some lesser known works by the Countdown stalwarts. Running behind my self-imposed and arbitrary schedule, I'm posting the link (above) and text(below) now with snazzy pics to follow in a day or two when I have time. Ooh Child - Marcia Hines - 1979  The Song Dead funky, almost early Commodores-like track also featuring Marcia's American-emigres Terry and Monalisa Young. This comes from an established, confident Marcia and is the title track of the album that also contained the hit single Dance You Fool, Dance but was sadly a precursor to a quiet spell due to label disputes. The Artist Marcia Hines was an American performer who came to Australia as part of a production of Hair. She happened to be pregnant at the time (with daughter Deni, who sang with the Rockmelons and had a solo career of her own),stayed in Australia for the birth and quickly realised that she could do a good sight better here with novelty value in her favour than back home where there were so many other people who could sing convincingly in an American accent. She was whole-heartedly adopted by Australia who bought her records, watched her variety show and voted her queen of Moomba. Still a great drawcard on the club circuit, she also raised her public profile by her role as the nice judge on Australian Idol, alongside fellow Countdown veteran Mark Holden. Greenskin Girl From Mars - Hush - 1974-ish?  A cunning band knows to have a band logo that kids will like to draw on their pencil cases.You be the judge.  The song Being heartily sick of Glad All Over and Bony Maronie, I've opted here for a vaguely remembered song with extremely silly lyrics. This live track demonstrates quite well what certain Hush members have happily confessed ("We weren't actually very good"...Les Gock) but also shows that it doesn't matter very much. It's a fun, bouncy song with dynamite vocals played by some guys that could make the teenyboppers scream. The artists Hush were some kind of rock mutants born to antagonise. Not only were they the local thin end of the glam wedge (read "flamin' poofdah"-ism in the contemporary vernacular), they also had not one, but TWO asian guys in the band, happily touring some of the world's most xenophobic (not to mention poofdahphobic) locations and gracing the tiled blood-sluices that passed for entertainment venues there. They should be allowed to march on ANZAC day. Fortunately for them, they were ideal Countdown fodder in that they were shiny and colourful and not too complicated. Hush were a fairly brief concern and most members bailed out as they recognised their star waning though singer Keith Lamb kept the Hush name for a while before rebadging as Airport. After that he went quite potty and spent a fair bit of time just walking around the countryside before being committed. The story goes that he was locked up for writing a 4-million dollar cheque and was judged to be too nuts to stand trial (which he was, later being diagnosed with schizophrenia). The peculiar thing about it though was that they thought he was crazy because he claimed to have thirteen gold records (true) and to be owed vast sums of money for songs he'd written for Status Quo (also true). Happily he was recognised by a psych nurse who was an old Hush fan and who sort of adopted him and brought him back to the world. The guitarist Les Gock crossed the boardroom and set up in advertising and I think he's got a line in music management too. They've now reformed for the Countdown tour. Goose Bumps - Christie Allen - 1979  The Song It's killer-diller pop. Great guitar riff overlaid with silly "woop woop" synth. Lyrics popularly amended byschoolchildren from "You give me goosebumps, heart-thumps, you make my body tremble" to "You give me goosebumps, heart-thumps, you make my bottom wobble". The artist. Don't really know what the idea was here. Something along the lines of "Let's take a cute dumpy chick and see if we can make ourselves another Kiki Dee". Had a follow up hit with He's My Number One, then sort of just disappeared. I seem to recall something about a bout of ill-health and personal problems of some variety but she made a triumphant return at a Mushroom anniversary show a few years back and no-one was cheering louder than me except possibly someone I know who was prominently present in the Countdown studio when Christie was on stage in her awful jumpsuit, and who now has the DVD to prove it. This Is The Life - Mother Goose - 1981  "We'd like to be taken seriously now please".  The song Title track on a late period album that was never heard by anyone I've ever met. I quite like it myself and as a "life on the road" song, the lyrics are far less boring than one of Max Merritt's. Suffers a little from inappropriate proto-80s production. The artists Mother Goose were a curious act from NZ with a zany thing going on (wore silly costumes and ran around a lot) but fairly seriously good players. I have a live recording of them doing a version of Chatanooga Choo Choo with convincingly executed simulations of a turntable winding down and winding back up again and record scratch effects that had me goin to lift the needle the first time I heard it. They had one substantial hit with Baked Beans which I enjoyed very much as a kid and would very much like to have a copy of now. Hollywood Seven - Jon English - 1976 The song Tremendously dramatic and high-charting number about the seamy side of Hollywood.  "Wodda spunk!"  The artist Jon English started out as the singer for Sebastian Hardie (before they went prog) and rocketed to stardom as a result of his show-stealing performance as Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar and for a while managed to comfortable straddle the pop and showtune scenes. He ended up writing his own rock opera Paris (about the Trojan War) but never managed to get a professional production of it launched. Made a quid in the 80s by playing a burned out rockstar in a dire sitcom called All Together Now and keeps a steady income out of periodic Gilbert and Sullivan productions which invariably also feature Simon Gallagher. Supernaut - I Like It Both Ways - 1976  "No seriously guys, you look GREAT! Especially you in the braces."  The Song Preposterous cash-in on the David Bowie-led bisexuality fad, particularly notable for the telephone conversation middle eight. Listen closely, it's worth it. The band. Supernaut were a sort of lobotomised Sparks championed by Molly Meldrum who suggested very strongly that the mincing tight-trouserness of the act should be played up as much as possible. It worked for them once to the extreme embarrassment of the band who turned very straight-edged and dull and renamed themselve The Nauts. Not a lot happened after that but they certainly left us a wonderful Annoy-Your-Parents-Pop Countdown classic. William Shakespeare - Can't Stop Myself From Loving You - 1975  "Moody? Sure I can look moody. Hang on a minute while adjust my puffy sleeves...how's this?"  The Song Vanda and Young at the top of their hit-machine form chugged out this one but the singer they had slated for it couldn't sing high enough for it. Vanda and Young liked to go high (much to the dismay of many including Stevie Wright who complained about it a great deal). And why not? They didn't have to sing it. I used to play this one in a bubblegum covers band called The Reggies (in which I inherited the name Augie Sausage) and the singer used to cry as we approached the key change. The artist. Enter former Amazons front man Johnny Caves aka Johnny Cabe. Vanda and Young knew when they were on to a good thing that could sing high so they parceled him into a ridiculous pseudo-Elizabethan outfit, died his hair purple, handed him a bag of songs (including the notorious My Little Angel) and sent him out on the road to make money for them as a sort of antipodean Alvin Stardust/Gary Glitter character with the stage name of William Shakespeare. Any chance of a sustained career was scuppered by "carnal knowledge" charge involving a fifteen year-old fan for which he received a probationary sentence. After that, he was dropped by Alberts and tried to push on under the name Billy Shake but without much success. The Ferrets - Don't Fall In Love - 1977  "I just know we've forgotten something. Let's see now...string section? Check. Boy's choir? Check. Dry ice? Check. Acrobatic midgets? ...Dammit!"  The Song.This was the hit for the Ferrets but as is so often the way, it's something of an aberration. I'd always loved this song as a kid and was astounded when I found the album many years later to be chock-full of orchestral rock plus this one peculiar pop gem standing out like dog's balls. The Band. Can't say I know a great deal about this band except that I once had an older girlfriend who'd actually seen The Ferrets (possibly at the Trocadero) and I was extremely jealous. Many years later however, I was playing at a party with a few regular bandmates plus a bass player we'd piked up for the night who happened to be an ex-Ferret. I couldn't resist and at one point jumped out from behind the keyboards, grabbed a guitar and went straight into Don't Fall In Love. It was great! Except maybe for my singing. That song does get pretty high at points. 9:55 AM - 15/8/2006 - comments {6} - post comment10...9...8...It's a shame to be leaving Sunbury behind us but we'll definitely come back this way. I've got a whole bunch of goodies yet to come. In related news, if you're anywhere near Melbourne on the 29th, don't miss the Lobby Loyde tribute at the Palace in St Kilda. Details at http://www.mikeruddbillputt.com/home/Stop_Press.htm#lobbyNext up is a visit to the Countdown era. It's pretty much ready to go but I'm currently tooling around with a bunch of pictures to accompany it which is holding up the works somewhat. If imageshack becomes a bit more co-operative, it should be some time today or tomorrow. Or so. 3:17 PM - 13/8/2006 - comments {1} - post commentAnd as the train pulls in to Digger's Rest...Here we go. This is the main reason I started ripping all this stuff to begin with. The golden age of Oz Rock, the era of the Sunbury Nation. Sometimes speciously referred to as the Australian Woodstock, Sunbury was special in that it was devoted to Australian acts. Watching the Sunbury film gives the impression that it was a non-stop OzBloozeBoogie-fest but there was a lot more going on at the time. It was before the death-grip of pub-rock had taken hold altogether and the more concert-focussed acts were able to push their progressive sides to ever increasing audiences as the big festivals needed stocking. An altogether amazing period.Before I start with the rants though, just a note about the download procedure. A few people mentioned that they either didn't know they could download what I was blathering on about or couldn't find it. It's down the bottom of the post but in future I'll try to make it more prominent. The link will take you to a file-share place where you just click the "free" option (unless of course you have a premium user account) which will yield a zipped file of all the songs I've been droning about. Easy huh? Just to get you started, here's last week's 6 O'Clock Rock-GTK vol. 1 link again http://rapidshare.de/files/27504851/6oClck_GTK1.zip.html and this week's Sunbury Nation Vol. 1 is at http://rapidshare.de/files/28238557/snbryNtn1.zip.html Remember, all links will only be valid for a month but I may consider reposting if someone really wants to check something out. Now, without further ado... 01 - Ariel - Launching Place (1974) The song. An ideal launching place (sorry) for the first Sunbury Nation post. This is a mighty little song and to my mind the stand-out track on an altogether great album (Rock and Roll Scars, recorded at Abbey Road, thank-you very much) and making the most of their new-found guitar grunt. Prog sensibility jam-packed into a tight little Partridge Family format, shattering the golden rule of progressive rock (which is something along the lines of "We might be able to get it down to ten minutes if we ditch the cor anglais solo") to deliver at under (that's right...UNDER) three minutes. I usually counter this shortcoming by playing it three or four times in a row. Great riffage and terrific, full, plaintive vox from Mike Rudd. This song originally appeared as the B side to I'll Be Gone, would you believe? The band To give an idea of the enduring appeal of these guys, the first two people to leave comments on this site both mentioned Spectrum. Ariel were yet another incarnation of Spectrum/Indelible Murtceps geared (as I understand it) to fulfill art-rock ambitions without the lingering Oz Blooze spectre forced upon them by the massively successful I'll Be Gone. Also a top song mind you, but there was a lot more to Spectrum and anyone discovering that for the first time is in for a treat. For the full picture, Mike Rudd and Bill Putt have their own great website (link on sidebar) with music to buy, lots of memorabilia and history, general ranting and news of gigs. Yep, they're still at it and sounding great, albeit generally in an accoustic-ey format which limits their epic swoosh repertoire a bit but definitely always worthwhile. You never know what you might hear, which separates them in a big way from the average "classic rock" act. 02 - Madder Lake - 12 lb Toothbrush (1973) The song If I had my way, this would be the Australian national anthem. Can't you just see it? The morning sun shines on large group of fresh-faced children standing to attention at a school assembly. The introduction crackles over the tannoy and then all at once, their sweet, youthful voices rise together in the patriotic paean: "NAA naa na NAnananaa,nanaNAnanaa naNAAna"! There's plenty to like about Madder Lake but I chose this one because anyone who hasn't heard it before has really been missing out. This is an ace song, let there be no doubt about it. I would probably even go so far as to say bulk ace. It's got it all...wa-wa guitar, noodling keyboards, gravelly vocals and lots of bits. I like bits. The rest of the album is damn near as good too. Still Point, it's called. The band. The thing that sets Australian "art-rock" apart is, I think, that most practitioners were faintly leery of being guilty of the cardinal Australian crime of "poofdah-ism". Consequently, there is something of a tendency to overemphasise the "rock" in the hope that the "art" will not have undue attention drawn to it. And it worked too. For a brief, glorious time there was a uniting power to bring together asthmatic music geeks, wattle-waving hippies and beer-swilling yobs. Admittedly, it was likely to get a bit messy after that. Nevertheless, there are few bands anywhere in the world who were able to pull it all together the way Madder Lake did. 03 - Ayers Rock - Lady Montego (1974) The song. One of Ayers Rock more lightweight numbers (as opposed to the heavy duty "jazz odyssey" repertoire, it's an excellent example of what can be done inside a fairly mundane format by people who really know what they're doing. This is taken from the Big Red Rock album which was recorded live in the studio, not that you'd know it until it finishes, which only goes to show just how well they put their sound together. I had given some thought to putting up Song For Darwin to make a Cyclone Tracy trilogy (more on that later) but I think this is a better introduction. The band. Considering just how much was happening in both jazz and rock in Australia at the time, it's surprising that there weren't more acts like this around at the time. Maybe they were scared. There aren't too many bands that could credibly put their stamp on a live Weather Report cover and drop it on their debut album. These guys are frighteningly good but at the same time had the graceful knack of not coming across as any kind of "Sit still and concentrate" sort of band. Music for the head and the feet, if you like. Sadly, ace guitarist Jimmy Doyle died this year (check out Milesago for a list of his amazing accomplishments) but at the time of writing, a version of Ayers Rock have reformed and will be appearing at the upcoming Lobby Loyd benefit. 04 - Band Of Light - The Destiny Song (1973) The Song. First cab off the rank for newly formed Band Of Light, this is a pretty punchy (and still OzBloozeBoogie-ish) number that showcases the distinctive slidework that characterised the band. The band. Finding it difficult to get his mystically-inclined songs played in the La De Das, Phil Key formed Band Of Light with fellow La De Da Peter Roberts (later replaced by "More Bands Than Brian Cadd" bassist Ian Rilen) and Gutbucket guitarist Norm Roue. 05 - Blackfeather - Seasons Of Change (1971) The Song My initial impressions of Blackfeather were understandably confused and I associated them with (a) Boppin' the Blues and (b) John Swan. Consequently, I didn't know what the fuss was about them. Then I heard this song and I got it. Seasons Of Change was the hit single from the critic wet dream album At The Mountains of Madness. As you might guess from the name, there is a decidedly proggy influence confirmed with a bullet by prominent recorder-tootling. Whether it makes any difference that Bon Scott was a guest recorder-tootler on the album you'll have to decide for yourself. Interestingly, Bon was at that time singer of Fraternity who also recorded and released Seasons Of Change that same year. The Band You would not believe how many people were in Blackfeather. Someone sent me a chart once but I had to delete it because I didn't have the storage space on my hard-drive. The only plausible explanation I can find for the sheer volume of personell is that people were queueing for a go mid-set. Sadly, this meant that the Seasons of Change line-up was very short-lived but with an impressive legacy nonetheless. 06 - Healing Force - Golden Miles (1971) The Song This is one of those that crops up every once in a while in those "Best Songs In The History Of Everything" lists (or best Australian songs of the 70s anyway) despite the fact that no-one except a few serious music nerds and old heads who were on the scene at the time have heard it. What is the story here? Is there some kind of musical masonic league trying to keep all this stuff to themselves? Anyway, here it is and it's a ripsnorter all right! Falls loosely into the prog category but well clear of the "Let Us All Wear Capes And Play Mellotrons!" aspects that put so many people off (I know not why). The Band Something of a supergroup, Healing Force suffered the traditional supergroup fate of collapsing under its own weight almost as soon as it started. I think they only recorded this one single and had already split up by the time it charted only to reform a year or two later in order to split up again. Fronted by the late, great Charlie Tumahai. See Milesago for the full story (http://www.milesago.com/Obits/tumahai-obit.htm). 07 - Kush - Easy Street (1975) The Song I love the Snow White and the Eight Straights album to the point where I find it difficult to isolate a song but once again I've taken the easy option and gone for a shorter, more accessible track. The band God knows how Kush came about. The basic premise is a sort of early Chicagoish kind of sounding outfit fronted by the fey sprite with the huge growl, Geoff Duff, whose goal in life seemed to be to have the proverbial kicked out of him by the evil, beer-swilling swine that he played to. Certainly nothing about the industrial strength, David Clayton-Thomas-type vocals gave any indication that you were going to be seeing an elf in a tutu up there and I sometimes wonder how many people knew what they were in for. Still, times were changing and Duffo didn't have too long to wait before the punk movement came along to catch up with him, allowing him to move to England and throw sheep's brains at people while dressed in cling-wrap (which if you ask me was a jolly sensible precaution in that notoriously phlegm-rich environment). But jeez, Kush were good. 08 - Thump'n Pig & Puff'n Billy - Captain Straightman (1973) The Song Hey, they're playing my song! This is a prime casualty of the arbitrary musical revisionism that drives me nuts. It's a great song, it's unusual (but not unapproachable) and it was apparently very fondly regarded at the time. Why then did I have to discover it on a scratchy K-Tel compilation record pressed cheaply on bad vinyl that I probably only bought because it had a version of some awful disco pap that I had to learn for some lousy band I was playing in after some berk had used it to store sandpaper and jam sandwiches on? To listen to the radio, you would think that Australian music prior to INXS, Midnight Oil and Cold Chisel consisted of One Axiom song, two Master's Apprentice numbers, a couple of Seekers and Easybeats songs apiece with a Russell Morris or LRB track on a good day. Argh! Where was I? Oh yes. Great song and fabulous example of the artistry of harmonic shouting. The band. Thump'n Pig and Puff'n Billy were a side project of Warren "Pig" Morgan (who played piano with Chain, The Aztecs, a late incarnation of the La De Das etc. etc.) and "Puff'n" Billy Thorpe. In the course of trying to find out just what these guys were up to at the time, I've discovered that the album this track appeared on has been rereleased on CD so that's on my shopping list. Vinyl nazi though I may be, I don't fancy my chances of picking up a copy of this one. See the Aztec Music link on the sidebar if you want one too. Sunbury Nation Vol. 1 link:http://rapidshare.de/files/28238557/snbryNtn1.zip.html 3:20 PM - 5/8/2006 - comments {9} - post commentNormie Rowe, slight returnGot an email from my dad, Colonel Straightman today, explaining how his lighting gig for Normie Rowe came about. Over to you, Colonel. The way I got in to the dizzy glam. world of showbiz was that a friend of mine, a session bassist, had been hired for Normie's Gippsland tour, and he asked me if I wanted to come along. There was no payment for me, but the promoter was happy to pay the motel costs, and he provided a car for us to drive there from Melb. Normie's motel was four-star, the one for the band was one-star, or less. I was nominally a roady, but Normie asked me if I would do the lights. " Just give me whatever you like for upbeat songs, and a red spot for ballads." "Erm, right, boss" The great thing about country tours is that the punters are starved for entertainment, and fairly easily pleased, and easily amused. After a few songs, Norm would introduce the band,(stop me if I have told you this anecdote before) and point at me and say "this is my lighting man, Alec, Alec Trician."
To my amazement, this lame pun always got a great reaction, people were guffawing heartily. But Norm was a true pro, and sweated and put everything into his performance. After this fleeting brush with lighting-guy fame, my gigphone became silent, and has remained so. Norm never writes, never calls, but that's showbiz.
That's all for now. I'll be back on the weekend with my first Sunbury Nation post. It's gonna be boss. Loving the comments, and for anyone having trouble finding the download link, it's at the bottom of the tracklisting rant. Might see about making that a bit easier henceforth.
7:13 PM - 4/8/2006 - comments {1} - post comment6 O'CLOCK ROCK - GTK VOL. ITrack 1. Johnny O'Keefe - She's My Baby (1959?) The Song The artist. Track 2. The Atlantics - Bombora (1961?) The Song The Band. Track 3. Normie Rowe - Every Little Bit Hurts (1965?) The Song The Artist. Track 4. The Groop - Woman You're Breaking Me (1967) The song. The band The Song The Artist Track 6. Gerry & The Joy Band - Ongo Bongo. (1970?) The song. The artist. Track 7. the Pushbike Song - The Mixtures (1971) The Song The band. Track 8. Flake - Life Is Getting Better (Year?) The Song The band.
THE LINK: http://rapidshare.de/files/27504851/6oClck_GTK1.zip.html That's it for now. Be back soon with a Sunbury era parcel and maybe some pics to make this a bit less dull to look at. 1:17 PM - 30/7/2006 - comments {5} - post commentLET THERE BE STUFF!Here it comes. I'm just going to preface the first real entry with a bit of an idea of what I'm doing here. A while back, I found I was having a lot of trouble cramming my records back on the shelves as my rock and pop A-Z collection had burst the vinyl dam wall. The answer came to me in a flash...I must leave my records all over the living room floor! Curiously, an altogether different answer came to my partner around the same time. Something along the lines of "The hell you will"!Being a fan of domestic harmony, I started ploughing through the records, isolating a sub-category of folk/art/prog/jazz-rock and putting those up on a high shelf where people are less likely to notice them. Not that I'm the least bit ashamed mind you but the invariable "What's that?" or "You're kidding!" questions and comments inevitably result in extremely prolonged education and appreciation sessions that no-one has time for. Or so I'm told. Anyhoo, in the course of all this shuffling, lugging, dust consumption and hernia inducing, I began to realise that I had quite a bit of Australian content, which had never really occurred to me before. I started thinking about how much of this wonderful stuff was being forgotten even by people who ought to know better as the picture of musical history continues to be redrawn with the presumable intent of rubbing out most of the interesting bits. I thought I might try to provide a bit of an introduction for people who might have some interest but no real reference points, and this is it. There will be five categories of post, which are as follows: - 6 O'Clock Rock to GTK (mostly 60s to 70s) - Sunbury Nation (the festival and beer barn titans) - Countdown Empire (the tight trouser era) - Basia and Beyond (alternative trends of the 80s and 90s) - Cak (humour/novelty/bizarre covers) And this is the selection criteria manifesto: Everything I post will be from my own collection. The quality will range from okay to hideous (I've got to get some sort of scratch reduction tool. Anyone know of any good ones that doesn't cost an arm and a leg?). Everything will be either out of print or at least ridiculously hard to get hold of. I'm happy to remove items but everything is going to be up for a limited time only anyway. I'm not posting entire albums here, just one item per outfit. It's an introductory sort of thing and I'm encouraging people to buy what they can. As I find out where we can get this stuff, I'll be posting links. All nerdfacts are pretty much off the top of my head and can be regarded as being about as plausible as anything told to you by some guy in a pub which in most instances is where I've gotten it from in the first place. I welcome correction. 11:39 AM - 30/7/2006 - comments {0} - post comment
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