Missing Links - 1966 - The Links Unchained @320 RE-POST

I’ll Go Crazy/Don’t Give Me No Friction/One More Time/Wooly Bully





The Missing Links were an Australian garage rock, R&B, and protopunk group from Sydney who were active from 1964 to 1966.  The group was known for wearing their hair long and smashing their equipment on-stage. Throughout the course of 1965, the band would go through a complete and total lineup change resulting in two completely different versions of the band: the first consisted of Peter Anson on guitar, Dave Boyne on guitar, Bob Brady on vocals, Danny Cox on drums and Ronnie Peel on bass and released their debut single, "We 2 Should Live" in March 1965.

The second and better-known version had none of the previous members and consisted of Andy Anderson on vocals (initially also on drums), Chris Gray on keyboards and harmonica, Doug Ford on vocals and guitar, Baden Hutchens on drums, and Ian Thomas on bass, and released their debut album, The Missing Links in December. According to Allmusic's, Richie Unterberger, "This aggregation cut the rawest Australian garage/punk of the era, and indeed some of the best from anywhere, sounding at their best like a fusion of the Troggs and the early Who, letting loose at times with wild feedback that was quite ahead of its time."

 The Missing Links formed in early 1964 in Sydney, Australia with the line-up of Peter Anson on guitar, Dave Boyne on guitar, Bob Brady on vocals, Danny Cox on drums and Ron Peel on bass guitar (ex-Mystics). With their long hair, according to one venue owner, "they looked like a cross between man and ape" and so were named, the Missing Links (see transitional fossil). In November, the group played a benefit concert to support Oz founders, Richard Neville, Richard Walsh and Martin Sharp. The trio had been charged with obscenity and were awaiting trial.

The first version of the band recorded a single, "We 2 Should Live" which was released in March 1965 on the Parlophone label. By that time, Boyne was replaced on guitar by John Jones (Mystics) and Cox left soon after with New Zealand-born Andy Anderson (as Andy James aka Neville Anderson) joining, initially on drums. The band briefly broke up in July. Peter Anson formed a band, the Syndicate. Bob Brady joined Python Lee Jackson, and Ron Peel joined Brisbane-based group, The Pleazers.
 

The Missing Links reformed before the end of July with Anderson and Jones joined temporarily by Dave Longmore on vocals and guitar, Frank Kennington on vocals and Col Risby on guitar. Longmore was soon replaced by Doug Ford with Chris Gray joining on keyboards and harmonica, Baden Hutchens on drums and Ian Thomas on bass guitar (both ex-Showmen) completed the line-up of the second version, which was "even more fierce version than the first". During live performances, Anderson would climb walls to hang from rafters, then drive his head into the drums, other band members smashed guitars into speakers and all wore the latest Carnaby Street clothes.

With this totally new lineup, the group signed with Philips Records and released "You're Drivin' Me Insane" in August 1965 followed in September by "Wild About You". Veteran rock 'n' roller, Johnny O'Keefe was not a fan – he banned them from appearing on his television show, Sing Sing Sing. They issued another single in October, "H'tuom Tuhs," which was their version of "Mama Keep Your Big Mouth Shut," but with the tape reel played on backwards on both sides of the record (as parts 1 and 2). It was followed by their debut album, The Missing Links, in December. According to Allmusic's, Richie Unterberger, "This aggregation cut the rawest Australian garage/punk of the era, and indeed some of the best from anywhere, sounding at their best like a fusion of the Troggs and the early Who, letting loose at times with wild feedback that was quite ahead of its time". In 1966 Baden Hutchins and Ian Thomas would depart. Hutchins, tired of the rock & roll lifestyle, was engaged to be married.

Thomas returned to the Showmen, while the remaining members – Anderson, Gray, Ford and Jones – continued with an extended play, The Links Unchained in April 1966. The group disbanded in August.



After The Missing Links had disbanded, Anderson and Ford formed Running Jumping Standing Still in Melbourne in August 1966. Anderson later became an actor on Australian and New Zealand television. Ford was lead guitarist in The Masters Apprentices from 1968.

Toni McCann - 2008 - And The Fabulous Bluejays @320 RE-POST

My Baby/No/Saturday Date/If You Don't Come Back (Bonus)/Toni & Royce - Marble Breaks & Iron Bends (Bonus)



 Toni McCann, released her first single in 1965, when she was only fifteen years old. Born and raised in London, McCann’s world changed forever after seeing The Rolling Stones live. Inspired to play tough R&B, she was ready to sign a recording contract in the UK when her father announced that the family was immigrating to Brisbane. So McCann pursued a career as an entertainer in Australia instead, a challenging proposition given that she bucked then-current trends of what a female performer was and should be. In her own words, she wasn’t “girly-girly with pretty sounds and pretty dresses”. Instead McCann grew her hair long and wild, wore tight pants or bellbottoms, sang in a lower key than most of her peers with a rough blues-y voice, and played harmonica like Jagger himself (“It tended to mess up your lipstick”, she later laughed, “you could always spot my harps because they had pink stuff all over them”).

Discovered by producer Pat Aulton at a Brisbane talent quest, McCann was introduced to famed promoter Ivan Dayman, who began touring her across the country backed by Melbourne rockers, The Blue Jays (later to find their own fame with singer Tony Worsley). Aulton then took her and the band into the studio to record McCann’s debut 45 for the Sunshine label, a storming garage-rock double punch ‘My Baby’, backed by ‘No’ on the flipside.  Both songs were frenetic fast-paced originals, with the potent ‘My Baby’ still having the power to set dance floors alight, while the nihilistic sentiments and furious pace of ‘No’ are almost proto-punk.

 The single didn’t chart however, nor did her next release, the similarly stupendous ‘Saturday Date’ single, which was the theme song for the music television show of the same name, with its unforgettable refrain of ‘You’ve gotta go, go go go!” How could such catchy, original music fail to find an audience? In a later interview McCann said, “I think the songs weren’t really going to be accepted by the public. People expected women to do cute songs. What I did worked in a live context, but the image didn’t really have anywhere to go in Australia in those days”.

It would be a few more years before Australian audiences would accept such a tough, no-nonsense image from female singers like Wendy Saddington, Renee Geyer and later Chrissie Amphlett. But pioneers like Toni McCann deserve more recognition and respect nonetheless. It’s a shame that the four excellent songs McCann recorded with the Blue Jays on the Sunshine label have yet to be compiled altogether on one release, some thing I've done here while McCann herself – despite later finding further fame and touring the globe in a Sonny-and-Cher-styled duo with ex-Blue Jay (and later her husband), Royce Nicholls– doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page I've also added a live track by Tony and Royce.

Billy Thorpe - 1966 - Twilight Time WAVE RE-POST

Twilight Time/Hello Josephine/Baby Hold Me Close/Hallelujah, I Love Her So


Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs were an Australian pop and rock group dating from the mid-1960s. The group enjoyed success in the mid-1960s, but split in 1967. They re-emerged in the early 1970s to become one of the most popular Australian hard-rock bands of the period. Thorpe died from a heart attack in Sydney on 28 February 2007. Twilight Time released in Australia in 1965 reaching #3 Sydney #2 Melbourne #3 Brisbane #2 Adelaide #2 Perth. In Sydney, Brisbane and Perth this was a double-sided hit with My Girl Josephine.

Various - 1967 - The In Crowd @320 RE-POST

Johnny Cooper - Farmer John/Pink Finks - Back Door Man/Johnny Cooper - She's Got It/Little Gulliver - Short Fat Fannie




"Farmer John" Single on W&G, B-side of Oh Donna released in 1965 and charted in Melbourne at #28, by Melbourne rock'n'roll singer and guitarist Johnny Cooper who released a handful of singles on W&G 1965-66 and appeared on the major TV pop shows, notably The GO!! Show. Farmer John was also on the W&G album Go Go Go. Backing was by Melbourne band The Strangers. The deep voice saying, "Now looky here!" belongs to John Farrar of The Strangers.

Johnny Cooper started out in the early 60s with Melbourne bands The Mustangs and The Monarchs, and before going solo he was with The Saxons for a time as vocalist. Johnny Cooper and the Saxons supported Billy J. Kramer on their Australian tour in Sydney,Melbourne and Brisbane. He was a hard-working performer and gigged around Melbourne and beyond, and was still gigging well into the 2000s.






The Pink Finks formed in early 1965 when 16-year-old R&B fanatic Ross Wilson joined forces with Rick Dalton & Ross Hannaford's schoolboy outfit The Fauves, which played mainly covers of The Shadows and The Ventures. They were a part-time band, since the members were all still at school at the time. Hannaford, who was only 14 when the band formed, was often driven to concerts by his mother, and had to be sneaked in and out of the licensed venues they played at because he was underage. 

Money was short and Hannaford played his magical guitar work on a low cost acoustic guitar fitted with a Moody sound hole pickup (without controls) through a Burns Tri-Sonic amplifier provided by Wilson. Inspired by the onslaught of English groups like The Rolling Stones, The Pretty Things and The Yardbirds, the young band's repertoire was chiefly R&B and blues covers.

David Cameron replaced original rhythm guitarist Rick Dalton in early 1965, with Dalton later joining Running Jumping Standing Still, which included Andy Anderson and Doug Ford, both formerly of The Missing Links and Ian Robinson on drums.

The Pink Finks released four singles during their brief career; their first, released on their own Mojo label, was a raunchy version of The Kingsmen's "Louie Louie" and it gave them an early taste of success when it became a local hit (#16) in Melbourne in June 1965. These were followed by covers of The Shirelles' "Untie Me", Howlin' Wolf's "Back Door Man" and Spencer Davis Group's "It Hurts Me So".

Franklin, Cameron and Ratz left to go to university in early 1966. It appears from the information in Who's Who of Australian Rock & Roll that they were replaced, by Kinman (bass), Lansdown (drums) and Niven (keyboards). Michael Edwards was added on trumpet and sax in August 1966. Jimmy Niven was later a member of the Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band (1973–76) and The Sports (1976–80).

 Kevin Gullifer Hopkins-Smith (born Kevin Gullifer Smith ca. 1950 – November 2014), who performed as Little Gulliver and Gulliver Smith (also styled as Gullifer Smith), was an Australian singer and songwriter from the early 1960s to mid-2000s. He was the front man and founding mainstay vocalist of Company Caine. In 1976 he and Ross Wilson co-wrote "A Touch of Paradise" for Wilson's group, Mondo Rock, which appeared on their third album, Nuovo Mondo (July 1982). It was covered by John Farnham on his album, Whispering Jack (October 1986), and was issued as its third single in February 1987, which reached the top 30 on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart.

Gulliver Smith died on 12 November 2014 from kidney failure, according to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, "Smith drew on vintage rock'n'roll, Professor Longhair-styled New Orleans R&B, psychedelia and soul for inspiration. He was known for his outrageous stage act, which incorporated an inventive free-form approach and much evangelist-styled ad-libbing. Later on, he added a satirical Zappaesque component to his on-stage banter and lyrics."

Doug Parkinson In Focus - 1970 - Doug Parkinson In Focus WAVE RE-POST

Without You/Hair/Today I Feel No Pain/Dear Prudence



  After the demise of the Qustions in March 1968 Doug Parkinson, Billy Green, Duncan McGuire and Rory Thomas reunited and recruited a new drummer, Doug Lavery (ex Running Jumping Standing Still, Andy James Asylum) and took a new name that acknowledged the rapidly growing stature of their lead singer -- Doug Parkinson In Focus.

The slew of Singles released by Doug Parkinson In Focus warrants particular attention. The group (unfortunately) never made an album, but, if gathered together with their unreleased tracks (such as "Theme From 12th House"), these tracks would form a pretty solid album. Most have since been anthologised on the essential Raven compilation Doug Parkinson: In and Out of Focus.

The debut In Focus single "Advice" / "I Had A Dream" (May 1968) didn't chart, although it set out their stall in confident fashion, but the original lineup fell apart in August 1968. Organist Rory Thomas left to join The Affair and was not replaced; Doug Lavery departed to join The Valentines and was replaced by Johnny Dick (ex- Aztecs, Max Merritt & the Meteors).  

In early 1969, a friend of Doug's in the UK sent him an advance copy of The Beatles' stunning new self-titled double album (now universally known as The White Album). They were smitten and immediately recorded a superb cover of the classic John Lennon song "Dear Prudence". Doug sent the tape to Festival, hoping to have it released as the next single but, incredibly, Festival turned it down. Stunned, Doug took the recording to EMI, who loved it. A record deal was signed, and the single was released on Columbia in May 1969. It shot up the charts all over the country, earning rave reviews; it peaked at #5 in the Go-Set national singles chart in early August and stayed on the chart for a solid four months, becoming the biggest hit of Doug's career. It was a brilliant showcase for Doug, enabling him to display both his power and subtlety, and it also highlighted the tight, funky cohesion of his band. The package was reinforced by its impressive flipside, the Billy Green-composed "This Must Be The End". It became one of the biggest selling Australian singles of 1969 -- no mean feat in a year that produced classics like "Smiley", "The Real Thing" and Mr Guy Fawkes" and it remains a signature tune for Doug ... not to mention being one of the best Beatles covers ever recorded.

In July, as "Dear Prudence" was heading up the charts, the group again competed in the annual Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds. In a nail-biting finish, Doug Parkinson In Focus was awarded equal first place with competition underdogs The Masters Apprentices, and the two bands shared the prize. The prize enabled the Masters to achieve their long-held dream of going to England, but for In Focus the glory was shortlived -- soon after the finals rumours began circulating that their prize money had had been misappropriated by their management.

The Hoadleys controversy was followed by another setback when their next single, "Today (I Feel No Pain)" was deemed uncommercial by EMI and was withdrawn soon after release. Fortunately, the A-side -- remarkable for its driving, slightly psychedelic backwards guitar effects -- reappeared later on the Dear Prudence EP.

They bounced back with their next single, which showcased Billy Green's brilliant pop writing skills, together with his astounding, almost orchestral (and criminally overlooked) guitar stylings on the power ballad (in the best senses of the term) "Without You" (October) which provided them with a second Top 5 hit. On its reverse side, this single featured Doug's unique take on the title song from the notorious rock musical, Hair which had recently premiered in Sydney in a blaze of publicity.

Once again on the crest of a wave, the group looked set for continued success, but in November Green and McGuire abruptly split to join the short-lived supergroup Rush with former Wild Cherries members Mal McGee and Kevin Murphy. Doug hastily recruited English guitarist Mick Rogers (ex-Playboys, Procession) and veteran guitar ace Les Stacpool and the new lineup premiered in December. By January 1970 Rush has folded and Billy Green returned in time for In Focus' appearance at Australia's first rock festival, the Pilgrimage For Pop at Ourimbah, NSW. 

Duncan McGuire returned the next month, Stacpool and Rogers departed and In Focus returned to its classic lineup. Their final single was arguably also their supreme achievement, a fantastic 45 where it's hard to nominate an A or B side. "Baby Blue Eyes" / "Then I Run" was also a remarkably dynamic recording, and was one of the first stereophonic 7" singles recorded in this country. By turns lush, dramatic, evocative, funky and just plain hard-rocking, both of these Green-penned songs were shamefully neglected at the time, and deserve retrospective scrutiny for the hallmarks that they undoubtedly are. It performed moderately well, reaching #6 in May 1970, but the next month Doug and Johnny were invited to come to England to join a new band being put together by former Aztec Vince Melouney but that's another story.

Gremlins - 1966 - The Coming Generation FLAC RE-POST

Coming Generation/Only Thing On My Mind/Oh My Word/It's Easy To Say/Man's Gotta Be A Man



 Former Embers stalwart Glyn Tucker was just in his 20s but already an industry veteran when he formed The Adventurers in early 1965 with Paddy McAneney (guitar), Peter Davies (guitar), Roger Wiles (drums) and Ben Grubb (bass). During April 1965 they changed their name to The Gremlins and in mid-year the group recorded their first single ‘But She’s Gone’/‘Don’t Ya’ on the Allied International label.


Shortly after their debut single, Glyn and Paddy were called up for National Service, which put the group into mothballs as they embarked on their 12-week compulsory military training. On discharge in December 1965, a considerably fitter Glyn and Paddy re-grouped and they approached Viscount Records owner Gary Daverne, who had been in The Embers with Glyn. Daverne was enthusiastic and the first Viscount session for the group took place in June 1966 at Eldred Stebbing’s Saratoga Ave studio. It was decided that ‘The Coming Generation’ would be the next single. At the last minute, Paddy had to borrow a 12-string guitar from the music retailer Lewis Eady. The borrowed instrument gave the song a folk rock feel that suited the mild protest element of the song.

The Coming Generation’ burst on to the national charts the following month and instantly became a big hit for the group, eventually peaking at No.2 on the New Zealand Hit Parade on September 22, 1966. The Beatles’ ‘Yellow Submarine’ prevented it from reaching the top.

As a follow-up single the group recorded a Glyn Tucker original, ‘Understand Our Age’. It was released in November 1966 and bubbled under the National Top 20 chart.

Early in the New Year Glyn's long-time friend and collaborator Paddy McAneney decided to leave the group. Instead of finding a new lead guitarist, the band had a more ambitious plan in mind. Ben Grubb had recently bought a Jansen Transonic organ, which paved the way for Ces Good to join the Gremlins on bass with Peter Davies handling lead guitar duties and Glyn taking care of the 12-string guitar. This new line-up can be heard on the next single ‘You Gotta Believe It’/‘I Can’t Say’ which peaked at No.18 on the NZ Singles Chart during April 1967.

Gary Daverne managed to secure a UK release for ‘The Coming Generation’ on the Mercury label on May 20, 1967 where Record Mirror favourably reviewed it as “A bit Monkee-ish in conception, though it's certainly spirited”.

They weren’t to know that the track was recorded a month before The Monkees’ debut single.

During June 1967 the group recorded their fifth single ‘Blast-Off 1970’. The groovy, space-age keyboard sounds on the record were stumbled upon by accident in the studio. Peter had his guitar strapped on while in close proximity to Ben’s organ, which meant the pickup on Peter’s guitar picked up sound from the organ.

When released the following month, ‘Blast Off 1970 ’ made the finals of the 1967 Loxene Gold Disc Award.

Mercury Records in the UK released ‘You Gotta Believe It’ in the UK on October 22, 1967 with Record Mirror reviewing it as a “tough edged sort of romantic ‘belter’ which goes along nicely in a sharp-cut style”.

Around the same time the group cut their next single ‘Never You Mind’/‘I Want Your Love’, Peter Davies left the band and was replaced by Daron Curtiss from the Gisborne group ‘The Crying Shame’. The Gremlins had observed Daron during one of their tours and sent him a letter asking if he would like to join the group. He jumped at the opportunity.

Overflowing with creative input and with new blood, a rejuvenated Gremlins released their next single ‘Ballad Of A Busker’/‘Listen To Me’ where the disc featured the two songs on the A-side with a double-grooved spoof on side 2 called ‘The Great Drain Robbery’. The two grooves meant that depending on where the needle was dropped, either track would play.

The Gremlins ambitiously wrote songs and a script for a television pop-opera based on a fictional town called Kingsforth Heemingseen. This was to be a new beginning for the group but instead turned into a death knell when AKTV2 politely turned the project down. The theme song was recorded and released as a single in November 1968, to little fanfare.

The Gremlins broke up soon after in January 1969. Glyn Tucker carried on playing in several bands before starting a long and distinguished career on the production side of the music industry.

Sunsets - 1967 - A Life In The Sun @320 RE-POST

 A Life In The Sun/ Windansea/When I Found You/ Don’t Get Around Much Anymore


Starting out life as a Newcastle (Australia) instrumental band called The Four Strangers.

The group released one well-regarded surf instrumental single -The Rip b/w Pearl Diver – for Astor in 1964, after which their original guitarist (Gary Johns) left the band and was replaced by singer/guitarist Lindsay Bjerre.

Under Bjerre’s guidance the band – now renamed The Sunsets – moved to a more up-to-date beat/R&B style and scored a five-year recording deal with the Australian Festival label.
 They met filmmaker Paul Witzig via a mutual friend who ran surf film screenings in the city. The band initially provided a theme song for Witzig's 1966 film "A Life In The Sun" which met with some minor success around Sydney and was modelled around the Sandals theme for the Bruce Browne film Endless Summer. Hot Generation was the theme for his next film and saw a more exciting original sound from the band.

Becoming Tamam Shud in 1968, the band became one of the first local groups to embrace the late 60s psychedelic sounds, translating the acid-rock into a uniquely Australian context.

Atlantics - 1967 - I Put A Spell On You @320 RE-POST

Why Do You Treat Me Like You Do/It's A Hard Life/I Put A Spell On You/By The Glow Of A Candle


By all accounts Sydney's Atlantics, formed 1961, could turn their hand to any style of pop music, from surf to garage. Their biggest hits were two original surf instrumentals that rank among the world's best of the era: Bombora and The Crusher (both 1963).

Vocals on  I Put a Spell On You are by Johnny Rebb of Hey, Sheriff fame, who had joined the Atlantics at this time, following the trend of instrumental bands acquiring a vocalist in the wake of the British Invasion. Released in Australia in 1966, this single reached #29 in Sydney.

Pleasers - 1964 - The Pleasers @320 RE-POST

Yes My Darlin'/Forever/She's Had It/High Heel Sneekers



Line-Up:
Roger Skinner (Lead Guitar / Vocals)
Brian Layton (Rhythm Guitar / Vocals)
Kevin Walsh (Bass Guitar / Vocals)
Max Thompson (Drums)

Roger Skinner had served his apprenticeship well, by the time he formed the Pleasers in January 1964. Roger began his career back in 1957 with a skiffle group he formed, called the Kool Kats. With him in that group were Jimmy Elliot, later of the Premiers and the Dallas Four, Peter White on tea-chest bass and Lance Whittington on drums.

After the Kool Kats, Roger formed the Top Hats, who consisted of Graham Gibson, Geoff Land, Neville Findlay, Ian Goldwater, Neil Harvey and Roger. They used to play at RSA dances for several months until Goldwater and Harvey left. This was in 1960 and the remaining members renamed themselves the Versatones. Basing themselves as a Shadows type band, they secured regular paying gigs on the social circuits of Auckland City, playing regularly until disbanding at the end of 1963.

The Pleasers was his next outing, formed with Brian, Kevin and Max. They were inspired by the Beatles and managed to get a residency at the Beatle Inn, taking over from the Merseymen. Building their own group of fans, they were also giving a guest spot on television's "In The Groove", where they came to the attention of the producers of the Wellington based TV music show "Let's Go". They were offered a contract to be the shows resident band until the end of 1964.

This required a move to Wellington, and as soon as they got there they were also offered residencies at Teenarama and at the Petone Youth Club. The Pleasers replaced the Librettos at Teenarama and also as resident band on "Let's Go", after they had gone to Australia.

A recording contract was also secured with Red Rooster, a subsidiary of Viking Records. Their first single was "Ain't Gonna Kiss You"/"Move It". It was a cover of the Searchers song and when released in 1964, the Pleasers used the TV show to help promote it. The follow-up single is their best known one, "Yes My Darling"/"For Ever". It also came out in 1964 and was included on an EP called "The Pleasers" and an album called "Let's Go with Pete Sinclair and the Pleasers" that was released in early 1965. Their third single was "Lovely Lovely"/"Let's Go" and was actually cut with host Pete Sinclair.

They were one of the most visible pop groups in the country, working steadily on the club circuit as well. In 1965 they took the support role on the Dave Clark Five tour along with Lew Pryme and Ray Columbus and the Invaders. During 1965 they returned to Auckland and its club scene, making frequent appearances on the TV music show "Teen Scene".

A second EP called "The Pleasers Again" was released along with one final single, "Justine"/"I Saw You There", before the group disbanded in 1966.

Roger Skinner joined the last Keil Isles line-up for their residency on the "C'Mon" TV show before forming yet another band in 1968 called Motivation.

Church - 1982 - Unguarded Moment @320 RE-POST

 Unguarded Moment/An Interlude/The Golden Dawn



The Church is an Australian alternative rock band formed in Canberra in 1980. Initially associated with new wave and the neo-psychedelic sound of the mid-1980s, their music later became more reminiscent of progressive rock, featuring long instrumental jams and complex guitar interplay.
Founding members are Steve Kilbey on lead vocals and bass guitar, and Peter Koppes and Marty Willson-Piper on guitars. Drummer Nick Ward played only on their first album; through the 1980s the band's stable drummer for eight years (1982-1990) was Richard Ploog, who left the band after Gold Afternoon Fix. Jay Dee Daugherty (ex-Patti Smith Band) played drums for the band 1990-1994, after which Tim Powles became the longest-serving drummer; having played with the band, since 1996 he has now been a member for 18 years. Three of the members recorded material as The Refo:mation in 1997.
The Church's debut album, Of Skins and Heart (1981), delivered their first radio hit "The Unguarded Moment". They were signed to major labels in Australia, Europe and the United States. However, the US label was dissatisfied with their second album and dropped the band without releasing it. This put a dent in their international success, but they returned to the charts in 1988, with the album Starfish and the US Top 40 hit "Under the Milky Way". Subsequent commercial success proved elusive, however, and the band weathered several line-up changes in the early 1990s. The last decade has seen them settle on their current line-up. On 27 October 2010, The Church were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in Sydney.

Box the Jesuit - 1987 - Bloody Mary @320 RE-POST

Sick Sick Syd/My Father's Sores/Sleazo Peepshow/Satan/An Ale-Head Wind


Box The Jesuit formed from the ashes of Sydney group Madroom, founding members Goose & Susie took the band name from a 17th century old English seafaring slang term for masturbation. Box the Jesuit went through a number of line-up changes and indie record labels between 1986 and their break-up in 1995. They released their debut EP "Bloody Mary" on Snoyd Records. Here for you to download from 1987, recorded at Kings Lane Studios, Darlinghurst. There's a great version of Freashwater's 1970 song "Satan". The band became renowned for their wild and entertaining glam rock stage shows, lead singer Goose would often climb the speaker stacks. In January 1992 Box the Jesuit supported Nirvana at the inaugural Big Day Out. They released their final CD "Guide Dogs For The Spiritually Impaired" in July 1993, but sadly Goose died just three weeks later on 1 August 1993 following a long battle with lymphoma. It was one of Goose's final wishes that the band continue after he died, as he felt that the last line-up was the band's best. Ben Brown, lead singer of the Hellmen, took over as front man for a year. He was replaced by Martin Laud, Goose's younger brother in 1994. Even though the band felt they were writing some of their best music, it seemed that the audience's interest had died along with Goose. The last line-up recorded an album that was never released and later broke up in 1995.

Russell Morris - 1972 - Mr. America WAVE RE-POST

 The Girl That I Love/Slow Joey/Rachael/Mr. America



Originally a member of Melbourne's Somebody's Image between 1966-68, guitarist and vocalist Russell Morris struck out on his own in 1969. Morris' career started in September 1966 with the formation of the Melbourne group Somebody's Image, which rose to prominence with a local hit version of the Joe South song "Hush." He then achieved a No. 1 hit in 1969 with the Johnny Young song "The Real Thing" which was pruduced by the guru of Aussie Rock 'Ian Molly Meldrum'. "Real Thing" remained at No. 1 for weeks and was the largest selling Australian single in 1969. The song itself was a seven-minute epic moving from a gentle beginning through full-on psychedelia with sound effects and phasing (ending with a 'Zeig Heil' and a nuclear explosion!). His follow-up "The Girl That I Love"/"Part Three Into Paper Walls", also topped the charts in which it spent a total of twenty-one weeks. He set off for the U.K. to promote his singles (unsuccessfully) and recorded "Rachel", which made No. 25 in Australia, whilst there. He enjoyed several subsequent hits, including three Top Ten ones with "Mr. America", "Sweet, Sweet Love" and "Wings Of An Eagle". His debut album "Bloodstone"in 1971 also did well, narrowly missing the Top Ten. He later lived and toured in the U.S.A. On his return to Australia he went on to front several Melbourne bands   Russell Morris Band (1978-84), Russell Morris and The Rubes (1980-81), Russell Morris and The Lonely Boys (1986-89) and Russell Morris and The World (1990)  His solo releases during the seventies were "Russell Morris" 1975 and "Turn It On" 1976 Russell Morris Band "Foot In The Door" 1979 which charted at #38 His only release during the eighties was "Almost Frantic" #28 once again recording as a solo artist now 11 years since his last release he releases "A Thousand Suns" just making the charts at #71 11 years on "Off The Shelf". In 2007  "Fundamentalist"  is released an album of acoustic versions of his past hits and favourites. Also in 2007 he releases "Jump Start Diary" then in 2013 Russell release "Sharkmouth" and is probably the biggest surprise of the year by making it to #6 on the national Charts. Sharkmouth is a distinctly Australian blues album it is a gritty album about legendary Australian stories of sly grog and gambling dens and characters such as Squizzy Taylor, Phar Lap, Les Darcy and even the Sydney Harbour Bridge. 

The Seekers - 1966 - The Seekers @320 RE-POST

Don't Think Twice, It's All Right/This Land Is Your Land/Two Summers/The Times They Are A Changin'


The Seekers are an Australian folk-influenced pop quartet, originally formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States. They were popular during the 1960s with their best-known configuration as: Judith Durham on vocals, piano, and tambourine; Athol Guy on double bass and vocals; Keith Potger on twelve-string guitar, banjo, and vocals; and Bruce Woodley on guitar, mandolin, banjo, and vocals.

The group had Top 10 hits in the 1960s with "I'll Never Find Another You", "A World of Our Own", "Morningtown Ride", "Someday, One Day" (written by Paul Simon), "Georgy Girl" (the title song of the film of the same name), and "The Carnival Is Over" by Tom Springfield, the last being an adaptation of the Russian folk song "Stenka Razin". The Seekers have sung it at various closing ceremonies in Australia, including World Expo 88 and the Paralympics. It is still one of the top 50 best-selling singles in the UK. Australian music historian Ian McFarlane described their style as "concentrated on a bright, uptempo sound, although they were too pop to be considered strictly folk and too folk to be rock."

In 1967, they were named as joint "Australians of the Year" – the only group thus honoured. In July 1968, Durham left to pursue a solo career and the group disbanded. The band has reformed periodically, and in 1995 they were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. "I'll Never Find Another You" was added to the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia's Sounds of Australia registry in 2011. Woodley's and Dobe Newton's song "I Am Australian", which was recorded by The Seekers, and by Durham with Russell Hitchcock and Mandawuy Yunupingu, has become an unofficial Australian anthem. With "I'll Never Find Another You" and "Georgy Girl", the band also achieved success in the United States, but not nearly at the same level as in the rest of the world. The Seekers have sold over 50 million records worldwide.

The Seekers were individually honoured as Officers of the Order of Australia in the Queen's Birthday Honours of June 2014

Motivaters - 1980 - After The Fall @320

After The Fall/Slipping/Coming Up


The Motivaters features Rick Brewer (Zoot, Southern Cross, Ferrets) on drums, Dave Springfield (Buster Brown, Ferrets) guitar & vocals, Kenny Miller Lead Vocal & Guitar & Rick Petropoulos (Ferrets) Bass & Vocals. The band released 1 album "The Motivaters" and a number of singles they also shared an EP with the Dukes.

Sports - 1979 - So Obvious @320 RE-POST

So Obvious/Suspicious Minds/Who Listens To The Radio/Step By Step


The Sports were an Australian rock group which performed and recorded between 1976 and 1981. Mainstay members were Stephen Cummings on lead vocals and Robert Glover on bass guitar, with long-term members such as Paul Hitchins on drums, Andrew Pendlebury on lead guitar and vocals, and Martin Armiger on guitar. Their style was similar to both 1970s British pub rock bands (such as Brinsley Schwarz) and British new wave (such as Elvis Costello). The Sports' top forty singles are "Who Listens to the Radio", "Don't Throw Stones", "Strangers on a Train" and "How Come" . Their top 20 releases on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart are Don't Throw Stones (February 1979), Suddenly (March 1980) and Sondra (May 1981).

"Who Listens to the Radio" is a song recorded by Australian rock band The Sports. The song was written by band members Stephen Cummings and Andrew Pendlebury. Released in October 1978 as the lead single from the bands second studio album, "Don't Throw Stones" (1979), the song peaked at number 35 on the Australian Kent Music Report B-side was So Obvious. The song was released in the United States and peaked at number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1979 and appeared in an episode of WKRP in Cincinnati.  Suspicious Mins and Step By Step are also tken from "Don't Throw Stones".

Bootleg Family Band - 1975 - Bootleg Family Band WAVE RE-POST

The Shoop Shoop Song/Honky Tonk Women/Your Momma Don't Dance/Walkin' Home In The Morning



Singer/songwriter/producer Brian Cadd originally put together The Bootleg Family Band as the house band for the independent rock label
Bootleg, which Fable Records boss Ron Tudor had established with Brian in late 1972.
The idea was that the Bootleg house band would provide core musical backing for records and tours for himself and the other artists signed
to the label. The concept was inspired by American musician Leon Russell, who had put together all-star ensembles to back tours and Albums like Joe Cocker's legendary Mad Dogs and Englishmen and for Russell’s own Leon Russell and the Shelter People on his Shelter label. That idea was in turn grew out of Russell’s own experiences as a longtime member of “The Wrecking Crew”, the crack team of ‘first-call’ L.A.
session musos who played the backing tracks on countless famous recordings by The Beach Boys, the Phil Spector stable, Sonny & Cher, The Monkees and many others during the ‘60s and early ‘70s.
The Bootleg members were all seasoned veterans of the Melbourne scene, equally at home on stage or in the studio. Drummer Geoff Cox was one of Melbourne's most in-demand studio players, with a huge string of sessions to his credit. He had come from the recently defunct Cycle (1969-73). Members of Cycle including Cox were part of the all-star session groups that performed on Russell Morris' acclaimed solo LP Bloodstone  (which Cadd helped put together) and Circle backed Morris on his first major solo tour in early 1972, which included a well received performance at the otherwise ill-fated Mulwala festival in April. (Cycle guitarist David Briggs later replaced Rick Formosa in the Little River Band in the late 70s.) Gus Fenwick was a former member of the highly-rated but shortlived Healing Force.
Trumpeter Russell Smith joined the band in April 1973, making it an eight piece. He was a long-serving member of the Ram Jam Big Band, Levi Smith's Clefs and Luke's Walnut, the group that replaced Tully as the HAIR house band in 1970. Besides backing Cadd and other Bootleg
artists, the Bootleg Family Band band recorded four Singles and scored two major hits under its own name, adding to the considerable solo success of Cadd and other Fable/Bootleg artists like Mississippi and Stephen Foster.

Their debut, a Top 5 hit, was a cover of Loggins and Messina's "Your Mama Don't Dance" (Feb. 1973) and featured Cadd prominently. The second single "Wake Up Australia" (June 1973) failed to chart but the third single, a cover of the late Betty Everett's "Shoop Shoop Song" (July 1974), delivered another Top 10 hit. The band toured the USA with Cadd in May 1974, performing at Expo '74 in Spokane, Washington and at the famous Roxy Club in Los Angeles. While in the USA they became the first Australians to perform on the American rock shows Midnight Special and Don Kirshner's Rock Concert.

The four single A-sides were combined for the four-track Bootleg Family Band EP alongside their fourth and last single "Green Door" (February 1975), which barely scraped into the Top 100.
By 1975 it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep the large band on the road, so in May the line-up was cut back to a four-piece comprising Naylor and Cox with new members Ian Mason replacing Fitzgerald (who moved to America) and Clive Harrison replacing Fenwick. Renamed simply The Bootleg Band, this lineup was used for mostly for touring, although they issued a final single "How Do I Try?" / "Rockin' Hollywood" in October 1975, which scraped into the lower half of the Top 100.
When Brian Cadd relocated to the States at the end of '75, Mason left the group (he subsequently joined Ariel) and the remaining members
renamed themselves Avalanche.