Ray Hoff & The Offbeats - 1966 - It's Ray Hoff & The Offbeats FLAC UPGRADE

 Bama Lama Bama Loo/Tossin' & Turnin'/Lookin' For My Pigs/Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go


Raymond Hough only had to effect a small tweaking of his birth name but it gave him one of the coolest handles in Oz rock: Ray Hoff & the Offbeats. From the rock'n'roll cauldron of the late 1950s and throughout the beat and soul-funk era of the 1960s and beyond, it was a name that commanded respect in Australian musical circles even if it was not always familiar in the nation's households.

Kept from a level of prominence enjoyed by his peers - and indeed some lesser talents - by the lack of a signature hit or a solid body of recorded work, Hoff's fame, as it was, centred around his gruff, powerful, soul voice. Like Max Merritt & the Meteors, his formidable reputation as a song stylist and his energetic sidemen always commanded enthusiastic audiences.

 Born in Strathfield to Sydney and Margaret Hough, at the end of a line of four brothers and two sisters, he lost his father at two weeks of age and developed a passion for singing while in short pants. In 1958 he fell in with two seminal Australian rock'n'rollers, drummer Leon Isackson and flamboyant pianist Jimmy Taylor, who saw him take the stage for an impromptu warble with Johnny O'Keefe's Dee Jays at Leichhardt Police Citizens Boys Club and were impressed as much by the frantic femme response he occasioned as by his pipes.

A few band competitions later - with Isackson enticed away by Dig Richards & the RJ's but with Taylor still pounding his keys maniacally - Hoff was on Six O'Clock Rock and he and his Offbeats were setting Sydney alight with rock'n'roll as part of a pioneering elite headed by O'Keefe, Col Joye & the Joy Boys, Johnny Rebb & the Rebels and Alan Dale & the Houserockers.

It was a heady environment for a time but without a record deal (Teen Records promised but withdrew) and with fairly formidable competition from what mostly became multiple-hit acts, Hoff moved to Adelaide, then Perth, where he was warmly embraced. But it was not until he returned to Sydney in 1965 and put together a new line-up of the Offbeats that things began to fall into some sort of place.

 Signed to RCA Records, the group recorded four tracks for the label, one of which, a thumping version of Chuck Berry's Little Queenie, became as close to a hit as he would have. It could have strongly established the act had not Billy Thorpe spirited away two of his Offbeats to form a new Aztecs, leaving Hoff floundering and losing momentum. Despondent, he made his way back to Perth, where he assembled an eight-piece horn-dominated R&B powerhouse version of the Offbeats, which was signed by Clarion Records for an album - the only LP he would record until the last decade of his life. During eastern visits this commanding unit was known to give the reigning likes of Jeff St John & the Id a bit of a scare.

Hoff was one of the most active Australian performers in Vietnam during the war, although due to his soul leanings, he was heard far more by American than Australian servicemen. During one tour of duty he met a go-go dancer called Kay, who became his wife of 25 years. (Glen A. Baker)


 RIP 1942-2010.

The Fendermen - 1974 - Dorset Gardens Presents The Fenderman FLAC

The Impossible Dream/They Call The Wind Maria/Hello Josephine/Little Deuce Coup/Mexico


Melbourne band formed in 1962. Members have included Frankie Brent (guitar, vocals), Frankie Burns (drums), John Cosgrove (guitar, vocals), Gavin Grace (bass), Ray Houston (bass), Graham Broomfield (saxophone), Rex Harris (bass), Gordon Pendleton (drums), and Noel Tresider (piano).




In 1961 John Cosgrove saw a Fender Guitar in a Melbourne shop window and Knew instantly that this was the instrument on which to build his musical career.

John with Bassist Ray Houston and Guitarist Frank Brent , left the Blue Jays Show Band and formed the first all-Fender group in Melbourne. When drummer Frank Burns joined up,the four young musicians,together with the full support of the Fender Company in the U.S.A. became the legendary Fendermen.
The Fendermen's blend of professional arrangements and quality equipment launched them to the forefront of the local pop music scene, securing long term contracts with Leggets Paladium and the Orana Ballroom, and the late night spot at the Palais De Danse. Regular appearances on IMT with Graham Kennedy and recordings with Frankie Davidson and Merv Benton followed.

1968 saw the Fendermen move to a long running residency at the Dorset Gardens working with and supporting a long list of international acts. Now working as a duo, the Fendermen have never stopped playing. In 1996 the original members reunited for their 35th Anniversary then in 2011 for their 50th.

                                                       The Fendermen's Fenders.

Thanks To John

Patsy Anne Noble - 1964 - Private Property FLAC

Private Property/Better Late Than Never/I Did Nothing Wrong/Crack in the Door



Patricia "Trisha" Ann Ruth Noble was born on 3 February 1944 in Marrickville and grew up in Sydney, Australia. Her father was Clarence Lancelot "Buster" Noble (1 March 1913 – 1990), a comedian and singer; her mother was Helen De Paul (born Helen McGoulrick, 1921–2007), an entertainer, singer, dancer and comedian on the Tivoli circuit. During World War II, Buster served as a sergeant in the Warratahs Entertainment Unit in the AIF from November 1942 to January 1946. Noble has a younger sister, Amanda. In 1950, Noble appeared onstage with her parents and had her own radio programme. By age 14, she was qualified to teach ballet. There is a video of Patsy Ann Noble on the Dailymotion website, titled: 'Patsy Ann Noble More Than A Song'. Dailymotion website.

Noble rose to fame as a teenage singing star in the 1960s under the name Patsy Ann Noble. Her singing career was encouraged by Brian Henderson, the compere of the Australian version of Bandstand, where she made regular appearances. She was signed to the Australian HMV Records and released her first single "Like I'm in Love" / "I Love You So Much It Hurts" in November 1960. She became good friends with a young Peter Allen, who had formed the successful Allen Brothers with Chris Bell, and released one of his compositions "Busy Lips" in January 1961. However, it was not until Johnny Devlin, a New Zealand singer-songwriter, handed her the lyrics of "Good Looking Boy" in November 1961 that she had her first Top 10 hit in Melbourne. "Good Looking Boy" was also top 20 in Sydney, but did not chart internationally. It was released in the United Kingdom, but did not reach the Top 100.

Noble won the 'Best Female Singer of the Year' Logie Award for 1961, presented by TV Week. By December 1962, Patsy Ann had scored herself two No. 1 and four Top 10 singles in Australia. In 1962, she travelled to London where she was given a two-year contract with Columbia Records. There, she released many "girl group"-sounding pop songs including "Sour Grapes" (February 1963), "I'm Nobody's Baby" (1963) and "Accidents Will Happen" (1963), but received little commercial success – although she continued to score hits between 1963 and 1965 in Australia. In 1963, she appeared in the British musical film Live It Up! (with music produced by Joe Meek), although only in a singing role. In June 1965, Noble released "He Who Rides a Tiger" which peaked at No. 21 on the British Top 30, and No. 15 on Australia's Top 40.

During the 1960s, Noble released six albums in Australia and one in England, the most popular being The Blonde Bombshell (1961) which received an award for most outstanding vocal performance on an album. In the second half of the 1960s, she turned to acting and made her dramatic screen debut in a 1965 BBC television production entitled The Snowball, and soon found herself appearing on other television series, including the 1966 Danger Man episode "Not So Jolly Roger" (in which her recording "He Who Rides a Tiger" was featured), Callan with Edward Woodward, and films such as Death Is a Woman (1966), in which Noble had a lead role as the femme fatale), and Carry On Camping (1969).
 

After 1967, Noble had changed her name to Trisha Noble in order to distance herself from her years as a teen singer. She relocated to the United States beginning in 1971 and appeared in films and television series. She guest-starred on Buck Rogers in the 25th Century as Sabrina, a superhuman thief in the episode "Cruise Ship to the Stars"; and a guest appearance on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1976 where she played a female reporter who tries to seduce Ted Baxter (Ted Knight) during the episode "Ted's Temptation". In 1975, Noble appeared in the Columbo episode "Playback", where she meets the murderer (played by Oskar Werner) in an art gallery wearing a low-cut dress. She was cast by the director who had spotted her in a party wearing the same dress. In 1976–77, she had the ongoing role of Yvonne Holland on the soap opera Executive Suite, and appeared in the 1977 television miniseries The Rhinemann Exchange and Testimony of Two Men. In 1979, she featured on The Rockford Files as Odette Lependieu in the two-part episode "Never Send a Boy King to do a Man's Job". In 1980, Noble played the role of heiress Phyllis Morley in the mystery comedy film The Private Eyes starring Tim Conway and Don Knotts. Another ongoing role was as Detective Rosie Johnson on the police drama Strike Force (starring Robert Stack) on ABC in 1981–82.

 Trisha on the Dangerman episode "Not So Jolly Roger"

Soon after Strike Force was cancelled, Noble returned to Australia in 1983 with her son Patrick because her father, Buster, was seriously ill. She re-established a career there as a theatrical actress. In 1986, she appeared in the television miniseries Body Business. In 2002, Noble filmed a small role as Padmé Amidala's mother Jobal Naberrie in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones which was cut from the final film – but included on the DVD release. Noble briefly reprised the role in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith in 2005. She continued to perform on the live stage and, as of 2007, appeared with the new National Music Theatre Company, Kookaburra, in their premiere season of Pippin as Berthe at the Sydney Theatre.