Zoot - 1969 - 4 Shades Of Pink

1x2x3x4/Monty & Me/You Better Get Going Now/It's About Time


 Zoot were a pop/rock band formed in Adelaide, South Australia in 1965 as Down the Line. They changed their name to Zoot in 1967 and by 1968 had relocated to Melbourne. They had a top five hit on the Go-Set national singles chart with a heavy rock cover of The Beatles' ballad "Eleanor Rigby" released in 1970; but they disbanded in May 1971.

Plympton High School mates John D'Arcy on guitars and vocals, and Gerard Bertlekamp (later known as Beeb Birtles) initially on lead guitar and vocals formed Times Unlimited in Adelaide, South Australia with drummer Ted Higgins and a bass guitarist in 1964. Birtles moved to bass guitar and they were joined by Darryl Cotton, lead vocalist from local rivals, The Murmen. The new group of Birtles, Cotton, D'Arcy and Higgins formed in 1965, and were named Down the Line from The Hollies version of Roy Orbison's "Go Go Go (Down the Line)". Soon Gordon Rawson, an ex-school mate of Birtles, briefly joined on rhythm guitar.
 

Down the Line performed covers of English Mod groups: The Hollies, The Move, The Who and The Small Faces in many clubs and discos around Adelaide, gradually gathering a following. They sometimes backed Bev Harrell, a then popular singer, who was managed by Darryl Sambell. By May 1967, Sambell also managed rising singer, Johnny Farnham, and used Down the Line as session musicians on demo recordings which secured Farnham a contract with EMI Records. One of these was "In My Room", written by Farnham, which became the B-side of his debut single, "Sadie (The Cleaning Lady)" released in November. After recording with Farnham, Down the Line were approached by Adelaide-based musician, Doc Neeson, who was interested in band management and suggested they name themselves Zoot.

They liked the name but did not sign with Neeson, who formed a pub rock band The Angels in 1970. Zoot were playing some original material in their set and by early 1968 D'Arcy was replaced on guitar by Steve Stone. D'Arcy was later a member of Allison Gros alongside Graeham Goble. Other Adelaide bands, The Twilights and The Masters Apprentices, inspired Zoot to tackle the national market, so in mid-1968, Zoot relocated to Melbourne. Prior to the move, they had entered the South Australian heats of Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds, finishing second in a tense contest to The Masters Apprentices (eventually second nationally to The Groove).

Although Zoot were a popular band during the late 1960s, critics labelled them as teenybopper or light bubblegum due primarily to the Think Pink – Think Zoot publicity campaign devised by their management. After relocating to Melbourne in mid-1968, Zoot signed with Columbia Records/EMI Australia and were managed by Wayne de Gruchy, they recorded their first single, "You'd Better Get Goin' Now", a Jackie Lomax cover with David Mackay producing. They invited the music media to Berties discothèque—co-owned by de Gruchy and Tony Knight—to promote its release in August. Think Pink – Think Zoot had band members dressed head to toe in pink satin, they arrived in Cotton's pink painted car, they were photographed with Cotton's pet dog Monty—fur dyed pink—and the venue was pink themed throughout. The publicity gimmick brought attention to the group and attracted significant numbers of teenage girl fans, however it caused problems in establishing their credibility as serious rock musicians. By December, management by de Gruchy was dropped in favour of Sambell and Jeff Joseph, who also managed Farnham and The Masters Apprentices.

Zoot's second single, "1 × 2 × 3 × 4" was released in December and charted on the Go-Set National Top 40 Singles Chart. By September 1968, Higgins and Stone had returned to Adelaide to be replaced by Rick Brewer (ex-The Mermen with Cotton, Third Party) on drums and Roger Hicks on guitar. Besides radio airplay, the band appeared regularly on local pop music TV show, Uptight!. Their third single, "Monty and Me" continued the Think Pink – Think Zoot theme and was produced by Go-Set writer, Ian Meldrum (later hosted Countdown), which also reached the Top 40 in June. Meldrum also produced "The Real Thing" by Russell Morris and used Hicks as a session musician—he supplied the song's opening guitar riff. Zoot was voted Top Australian Group in Go-Set's pop poll published in June, just ahead of The Masters Apprentices and Brisbane group, The Avengers. In July they undertook a tour through the eastern states with Ronnie Burns, The Sect and Jon Blanchfield on the bill.

 Hicks left by September for The Avengers, and was replaced by Rick Springfield (ex-Icy Blues, Moppa Blues Band, Wickety Wak). Meldrum had produced Wickety Wak's single, "Billie's Bikie Boys" with Birtles as a backing vocalist. From September, Zoot joined other Australian bands on the national Operation Starlift tour, which was generally a publicity success but a financial disaster. For Zoot, it brought about increased media ridicule, peer envy and scorn from detractors, much of the criticism was homophobic such as "pretty pink pansies" taunts. October saw the release of "It's About Time" by EMI, Zoot read about it in Go-Set and had expected to re-record its demo quality. In December, in Brisbane, they made headlines when they were assaulted by street toughs, resulting in injury to Cotton.

By early 1970, band members had tired of the garish pink outfits and associated harassment and physical abuse, hence, to rid themselves of the bubblegum/teen idol image, they burnt their outfits on TV music show, Happening '70. Zoot then promoted their fifth single "Hey Pinky", released in April, with an advertisement in Go-Set which featured a nude picture of their bums. "Hey Pinky" was a hard charging guitar oriented song but it failed to chart. The song, written by Springfield,[13] was rebellious in nature and openly mocked the pink outfits as well as their previous management and their detractors. Their debut album, Just Zoot followed in July and reached No. 8 on Go-Set Top 20 National Albums Chart.[14] Go-Set also released their 1970 pop poll results in July with Zoot in fifth place behind The Masters Apprentices for 'Best Group', Springfield was second to Doug Ford (The Masters Apprentices) as 'Best Guitarist' and fifth as 'Best Composer', while Brewer was third as 'Best Drummer' to Colin Burgess (The Masters Apprentices).

They finished second in the Victorian heats of Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds to little known band, Nova Express (with vocalist Linda George). In August, both bands went to the national finals, where Zoot finished second to The Flying Circus.

In December they released a hard rock cover of The Beatles' song, "Eleanor Rigby" which became their most popular single when it peaked at No. 4 in March 1971. It remained in the Top 40 for twenty weeks and reached No. 12 on the Top Records for the Year of 1971. Their next single, "The Freak" / "Evil Child", another hard rock song, was released in April and peaked into the top 30.

 

With the chart success of "Eleanor Rigby", RCA expressed interest in bringing them to the United States to record, but they encountered problems with visa work permits, meanwhile Springfield was being scouted for a solo career. Along with other disappointments and frustrations, this led to the band breaking up in May 1971. Go-Set published their 1971 pop poll results in July with Zoot in third place behind Daddy Cool for 'Best Group', Springfield was 'Best Guitarist' and fourth as 'Best Composer', Brewer was second as 'Best Drummer' to Burgess, Birtles was second as 'Best Bass Guitarist' to Glenn Wheatley (The Masters Apprentices) and "Eleanor Rigby" was 'Best Single' ahead of Daddy Cool's "Eagle Rock". EMI/Columbia released a compilation, Zoot Out in 1971 and another, Best of the Zoot Locker 1969–1971 in 1980.

Angels - 1980 - Four Play Volume Six

No Secrets/Face The Day/Into the Heat/Stand Up



 The Angels are an Australian rock band that formed in Adelaide, South Australia, in 1974. The band later relocated to Sydney and enjoyed huge local success, clocking up hit singles across four decades, including "Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again", "Take a Long Line", "Marseilles", "Shadow Boxer", "No Secrets", "We Gotta Get Out of This Place", "Let the Night Roll On", and "Dogs Are Talking".

The Angels were cited by Guns N' Roses and a number of Seattle grunge bands, including Pearl Jam and Nirvana, as having influenced their music. In the international market, to avoid legal problems with the Casablanca Records' act Angel, their records were released under the names Angel City and later The Angels from Angel City.

Lead singer Doc Neeson who fronted the band from 1974-1999 left pre-Millenium due to spinal injuries sustained in a car accident. After spending most of the 2000s apart, in April 2008, the original 1970s line-up of The Angels reformed for a series of tours.

In January 2013 it was announced that lead singer Doc Neeson had been diagnosed with a brain tumour and would undergo immediate treatment. Neeson died aged 67.

It was also revealed that bassist Chris Bailey (1950–2013) had been battling an aggressive cancer. Bailey died on 4 April 2013; a benefit concert was held at Thebarton Theatre in Adelaide on 17 April.

Hans Poulsen - 1973 - Hans Poulsen

Boom Sha La La Lo/Light Across The Valley /Sleepy Town Girls/Meet Me In The Valley



Hans Sven Poulsen (born Bruce Gordon Poulsen, 7 March 1945) is an Australian singer-songwriter and instrumentalist who was popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Poulsen had hits with "Boom Sha La La Lo" and "Light Across the Valley" (both in 1970) and had success as a songwriter with "Rose Coloured Glasses" for John Farnham and "Monty and Me" for Zoot.

Poulsen was born in Melbourne. His parents, Vic and Nellie Poulsen, played two instruments, lap-steel guitar and ukulele with their styles of Hawaiian music, as well as bush ballads, country and western music and folk.

Poulsen's grandfather had migrated to Victoria, Australia from Denmark and, being proud of his Danish heritage, Poulsen took the first names of "Hans Sven" while still a teenager. It is possible that he took the name as a stage-name when he started his school band in 1961 called the Rimfires; at this time he played around the Frankston area, an outer suburb of Melbourne, and around the Mornington Peninsula region on the coast. It was here that he learnt his craft and became known for his interpretation of Buddy Holly's music and songs.

 In 1965 Poulsen formed the first version of a Melbourne group called 18th Century Quartet, which played original material (mostly by Poulsen) and performed in a style that later came to be known as world music; the group also differed from most of its contemporaries with its use of diverse acoustic instruments including mandolin, autoharp and bouzouki.

After embarking on a solo career in 1967, Poulsen had two Australian pop hits with the songs "Boom Sha La La Lo" (#05/1970) and "Light Across the Valley". He also had success as a songwriter with hits written for other artists, including "Rose Coloured Glasses" for John Farnham and "Monty and Me" for Zoot. One of his best-known and most successful compositions, "It's Only A Matter Of Time", was the much-played B-side of the famous single "The Real Thing" by Russell Morris, which was an Australian No. 1 hit in May 1969.

In 1972 Poulsen relocated to the Findhorn Foundation spiritual community in north east Scotland, where he recorded three albums, What A Way To Look At Life: Findhorn Foundation Sing-along, It Can't Be Described In Words and Universal Hands (all 1975, all released on cassette only by the Findhorn Foundation). These featured many of Poulsen's own songs, plus some by other community singers. Short clips of Poulsen performing several songs are included in the documentary Findhorn, produced in 1974 and reissued on DVD by Earthworks Films in 2006. Poulsen left Findhorn in 1976. Poulsen's career was cut short in the late 1970s when he suffered first cancer and then a stroke, and spent several years in hospital. On his recovery he went on to become a music therapist.

Air Supply - 1976 - Four Play Volume Thirteen

Love And Other Bruises/Empty Pages/Do What You Do/That's How The Whole Thing Started



Air Supply is an Australian soft rock duo, consisting of British-born singer-songwriter and guitarist Graham Russell and lead vocalist Russell Hitchcock. They had a succession of hits worldwide, including eight Top Ten hits in the United States, in the early 1980s. They formed in Australia in 1975 and have included various accompanying musicians and singers. The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) inducted Air Supply into their Hall of Fame on 1 December, 2013 at the annual ARIA Awards.