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Before things get too serious here at Rock On Vinyl, I thought it might be fun to post a song / album at the end of each month, that could be categorized as being either Weird, Obscure, Crazy or just plain Korny. 
   
Still lampooning your favourite TV shows, satirising popular movies and lambasting popular junk culture. With over 50 years experience in the field of satire you think these idiots would know better! With so much popular culture in their face they are a difficult group to reach and even more difficult to influence because of their curious/cynical approach to consumer products and entertainment.
One magazine that stands out in this market segment, and has been influencing generations of teenagers since 1978 in Australia, is Mad Magazine. In fact the original import goes back to the 60s and Mad's influence is just as fresh today as it ever was. This zany publication takes a satirical sword to everything

For a complete run down on the history of the MAD magazine, see dtmagazine.com

This month's W.O.C.K on Vinyl looks at a flexi disk that was released with a MAD Magazine back in 1980.  The magazine itself was unique in many respects. It was the only issue of MAD without a number or cover date. It was the only issue of MAD devoted to a single subject to contain it’s own 33 1/3 floppy record. It was the only 32 page MAD ever published. And it’s the only issue of MAD to ever have: “MAD DISCO as an idea conceived by Dick DeBartolo” on the contents page. 

So here’s the back-story as told by Dick DeBartolo, MAD's Maddest Writer: 

I loved Disco.  Heck, I loved it so much I built a disco right inside my 50 foot houseboat complete with “infinity floor’, fog and bubble machines. And talk about a tough “door policy”. The only way to get into Disco Dick’s was to know it existed!
Meanwhile at MAD I wrote a lot of disco satires, which just kept piling up on the editor’s desk. Finally I told MAD Publisher Bill Gaines that if we didn’t do something with them soon, disco would be on its way out. So we could use all the material at one time, Gaines asked if I could get some of the other Usual Gang of Idiots to contribute enough to make MAD’s first (and only) Special Edition. I said I could, and I did! So MAD Disco was born. Features include: MAD'S Disco Owner of the Year / A MAD History of Dancing /MAD'S Disco Mother Goose Rhymes /Slipped Disco – The complete Disco Magazine /Don Martin's Guide to Disco Sounds / "Six Minutes" Looks at Disco.
 A 30 minute 331/3 rpm Flexi Disc titled "Mad Disco” was bound inside. It was a floppy vinyl record – with an emphasis on Flop.  Songs included:   "Disco Suicide"   /   "Sorry, No Words"  / "This Time, This Night" / "Barely Alive" / “The Disco Clap" / And a Disco Version of the World Famous MAD Song: "It's A Gas" -  Lyrics by Dick DeBartolo, Music By Norm Blagman PLUS: Music & Lyrics for all the songs (except It’s A Gas) are also in this issue! 

I just love MAD's theme track "It's A Gas" and the belches throughout the song can only place this disc in the Crazy and Korny categories. 
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Tracklist
A1     Disco Suicide
A2     Sorry, No Words
A3     This Time, This Night
B1     Barely Alive
B2     The Disco Clap
B3     It's A Gas

MAD Link (67Mb)
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(Australian 1970 - Present)
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Review by Glenn Cizano

Marcia Hines is the hardest musical act to review in Australia. She is so nice. She works so hard. Everyone loves her. (There is even nearly five minutes of applause on Side 4 of this album to prove how much everyone loves her). But underneath all the adulation lies the unspoken question: "How good is she really?' And everyone knows the answer is; "Not as good as we like to pretend."
And the damn trouble is that she is good. Just not that good. Shit, not even Aretha is that good. Anyhow, you can hear exactly how good (warts and all) on this live double album. All the hits are here. What is missing is maybe a good reason for releasing the record. Like there is this audience participation bit on "I've Got The Music In Me" that is Pittsville. Either the audience didn't respond ("We love you Adelaide!") beyond clapping, or else the recording didn't capture it. In either case the attempt should never had made the record. And then we have at least one song per side that is "black" which would be all right except that "black" material is generally speaking, Marcia Hines' weakest point. Like Etla Fitzgerald, this lady is primarily a pop singer, not a soul singer. Even though she does a fantastic job with "More Than You'll Ever Know", a blue soul-jerker by grey brother Al Kooper.

The best moments are the hits — but we knew that already. The best track overall however, is probably the bonus studio track "Music Is My Life". The fact is, she sounds better in a studio Which is strange, because she is quite a performer in person. Live, her movement rivets attention. But on this album she sounds, if anything, cooler than we are used to hearing her. That could be because of the arrangements. Jackie Orzaczky's idea of a good arrangement is pedestrian — or so it seems here. If you have to make the orchestra come on like the Brian May Showband in order to keep attention on the singer there is something wrong. But at other times Hines has to yell to be heard, and she is given no space to be subtle and damn little sympathetic backing compared to what she gets in the studio. There doesn't seem to be much here to feed on, or interact with, musically speaking. And this means that she has to produce the excitement on her own, which is no good for a singer. If you have to do it all yourself you run the risk of ending up like Tony Bennett or Peggy Lee, both of whom are marvellous musos who pack all the punch of an apricot yoghurt.

This woman could be a really important pop singer. She hits hard with what she does. She phrases great. She understands, the music in what she has to sing. Look, she even has a trunkload of boss material. Robie G. Porter alone could keep her in velvet for the rest of her days, arid that doesn't count the ear (Hers? Porters?) that finds just the right songs from musicals and so on.
So why isn't she better right now? The album has some answers. On Side 1, she introduces "Maybe It's Time To Start Calling for Love" as a brand new song. The tune is her meat: it is sensitive, melodic, haunting. But she gives it a banal, superficial run-through. Maybe she hadn't had the time. I can't imagine that she still does the song in such a perfunctory way, if she still does it. By now she should have got inside it the way she got inside Shining and the rest. What I am saying is that the lady needs time right now even more than she needs her fans love.
She needs time to learn to curb that blitzkreig attack on songs like "Love Is Blue" and "Jumpin' Jack Flash". Going too far too fast is a cliche fault with pop singers, but overcoming it is what seems to eventually separate the stayers from those that don't last the course. But all her biggies sound good even in watered-down versions, and there's one other thing that to me, is the most exciting thing on both records.

That is the way she does "Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans? She does it bloody well. This is one of those simple songs people dug before the revolution, and it takes a lot of gentle hard work to make-it into anything personal. Most singers don't have the patience or maybe the sensitivity to do songs like this very well and the fact that she does (and she has been doing it for some time) suggests both that she is going to become tremendous as she goes on, and that when the time comes to put her in the plush nightclubs-where-you-pay-a-lot-of-money-just-to-sit-down she'll fit like a hand in a glove. A bit of a warning here,'this song probably has the worst arrangement on the album, rising to cyclone level before it is through, and full of 50's brasnicks.
Don't get me wrong - this is a good album. It might do for a "greatest hits" stand-in. But really, the only reason it exists is so that people can have a souvenir of the tour and like that funny paperweight you brought home last summer, it probably won't be long before 'Live Across Australia' is gathering dust in a corner somewhere  [Review from RAM Magazine, 'Vinylising', June 30, 1978. p26]

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This post consists of FLACs and MP3's (320kps) ripped from my double vinyl set that I purchased when Marcia was high in the Australian charts. In fact, I'm pretty sure I bought it at Readings Records in one of their stores located at La Trobe University were I was studying at the time.  Amazing what you can remember sometimes!  Full album artwork along with a restitched gatefold and label scans are included. A scan of the original RAM review article is also included along with select photos of Marcia.
Please note that I took the liberty of editing out some of the applause on various tracks, as it becomes rather tiresome after awhile and in my opinion, detracts the listener from the music. 

Track Listing
LP1
01 - I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself
02 - Once We Get Started
03 - You
04 - Maybe It's Time To Start Calling It Love
05 - Imagination
06 - Shining
07 - I Don't Know How To Love Him
08 - Whatever Goes Around
09 - Love Is Blue
10 - Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans
11 - Fire And Rain
LP2
01 - Trilogy
02 - More Than You'll Ever Know
03 - Empty
04 - Jumpin' Jack Flash
05 - What I Did For Love
06 - Believe In Me
07 - I've Got The Music In Me
08 - From The Inside
09 - Music Is My Life (Studio Track)
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Marcia Hines MP3's LP1 (115Mb)
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Marcia Hines MP3's LP2 (127Mb)
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Marcia Hines FLACs LP1 (292Mb)
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Marcia Hines FLACs LP2 (319Mb)
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(New Zealand 1964-74)
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The New Zealand band The La De Das were first formed in 1965, but by 1973 Kevin Borich was the only original member of the  band remaining. He retained Keith Barber and brought in another old friend of his, Ronnie Peel who was better known as 'Rockwell T James'. Ronnie had been with a number of groups since 1965, including the Pleazers, the Mystics and the Missing Links. In addition, former member Phil Key was not replaced as Kevin now decided to take total control as guitarist, vocalist, electric pianist and frontman. With Kevin now recognised as Australia's guitar hero supremo, the group was now a power trio.

The trio returned to New Zealand in February 1973 to be part of the Ngaruawahia Music Festival. Their performance left the audience wishing for more and in May they returned to do a series of concerts in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. 1973 was a year of consolidation for the trio. They did a lot of touring throughout Australia, either headlining concerts with Sherbet or providing support to a number of visiting international acts. During this traveling they were involved in a road accident that put Ronnie Peel and their roadie in hospital and completely destroyed all of their equipment. The two recovered and only through a benefit gig in Sydney did they raise enough money to replace their gear.

Borich, Barber, Peel - 1973

With the group now recovered and rearing to go, Kevin was anxious to record another album. It had been nearly five years since the last album, "The Happy Prince". EMI weren't keen and after a lot of pressure they finally agreed. Rod Coe again took the production role and the result was "Rock and Roll Sandwich". The album was released in November 1973 to acclaims of being one of Australia's finest rock albums.  'Rock'n'Roll Sandwich', was lauded by Glenn Baker as "one of Australia's finest rock albums, a fiery, cohesive work dominated by the superbly talented Kevin Borich and carried off by the reliable gutsiness of Peel and Barber."


Borich was by now firmly entrenched as Australia's guitar hero supremo; his superb rendition of Jimi Hendrix's workout on Dylan's `All Along the Watchtower' had become a signature song, and the band was never allowed to finish a gig until delivering it. The fiery Rock and Roll Sandwich (the band's first album in five years, issued November 1973 and probably the first Kevin Borich album) considered their best album and came nearest to capturing their admired live energy on vinyl. Kevin Borich wrote (or co-wrote) all the material, sang every song and backed them superbly with electric and/or acoustic guitars and piano. It remains a classic boogie rock album. The singles "I'll Never Stop Loving You"/ "It's the Beginning" (December 1972) and "The Place"/"No Law Against Having Fun" (March 1974) maintained the pace but were not chart hits. The band's final singles, punchy, commercial covers of Chuck Berry's "Too Pooped to Pop"/ "She Tell Me What to Do" (#26 in July 1974) and Hank Williams'"Honky Tonkin''/ "Temple Shuffle" (August 1974), were minor national hits. "Too Pooped to Pop" also peaked at #13 in Melbourne. 

La De Das - 1974

Most of these singles, along with other recorded leftovers, were culled together in 1975 to form the basis of the "Legend" album (see my earlier post). The La De Das supported UK glam-rocker Gary Glitter on his July 1974 Australian tour [extract from Kevin Borich Fan Website]

Now with an album to promote, EMI got behind the group and organised two major support roles, one for Elton John and the other for Suzi Quatro. The gigs and touring continued throughout 1974 and into 1975. In January 1975, they made another appearance at the final Sunbury Festival. Although the event wasn't as good as the 1973 event, the La De Da's performance was still one of the few high points of the concert.

As 1975 progressed, the problems were growing. Radio was ignoring them, the touring was taking its toll, Keith Barber was becoming increasingly erratic and difficult. After ten hard years, Kevin realised that nothing tangible had really been achieved and the only thing laying ahead was more of the same. In May 1975, Kevin officially announced that the the La De Da's would disband.  [extract from sergent.com.au]
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Post consists of both FLACs and MP3's (320kps) ripped from my prize possession vinyl LP that I picked up at a garage sale, over 20 years ago.  Full album artwork and label scans are included. This post was made in response to a request made by a loyal blog follower, Dave - hope ya enjoy the FLACs Dave.
The thing I like about this album is that none of the tracks appear on any other albums - including early and recent compilations of La De Das music.  This one's not to be missed folks and be assurred its no 'club sandwich'
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Tracklist
01 - The Place     5:38
02 - To Get Enough     4:11
03 - Temple Shuffle     7:47
04 - No Law (Against Having Fun)     4:51
05 - Searchin'    4:47
05 - Who's The One You Love     4:47
06 - She Tell Me What To Do     2:12

Credits:
Bass, Vocals – Ron Peel (alias: Rockwell T James)
Congas – Joe Whippy
Drums, Percussion, Harmonica – Keith Barber
Guitar, Vocals, Flute, Piano – Kevin Borich
Saxophone – Don Wright
Vocals [Backing] – Bobbie Marchini, Renee Geyer
Producer – Rod Coe
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La De Das FLACs (221Mb)
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La De Das MP3's  (82Mb)
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(U.K 1962 – Present)
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Back on 16 January 1992, 300 music fans boarded coaches in London that took them to Bray Studios, near Windsor. Little did they know music history would be made that night on Soundstage1 as MTV filmed the opening episode of Unplugged’s third season. It would turn out to be some of the finest music ever recorded by Eric.

When MTV Unplugged with Eric Clapton debuted on television in March, it became the series’ highest rated show. It proved to be so popular, a “Part 2” featuring a few songs not included in the original broadcast was put together for broadcast in June. The resulting live album, released in August, became the biggest selling album of Eric’s career. On the 20th Anniversary of the filming and recording of this landmark work, the Where’s Eric! Team takes a look back at Clapton’s one and only all-acoustic concert.

The premise of MTV Unplugged was simple: musicians associated with amplified music would “unplug” from their amps and effects and go acoustic performing stripped down and sometimes radically reworked songs. By the time MTV approached Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Don Henley, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Allman Brothers Band, Sting, Elvis Costello and others had been featured. With Eric’s episode, the show would have its finest moment. The music was minimalist, alternating between his pop songs and the traditional blues that influenced him as a youth. Eric would also debut five new songs, all penned in the months following the tragic death of his young son, Conor.


In an interview filmed the afternoon of the taping, Eric said, “When I first started playing, I played a lot of finger style. I could never really find the right combination of flat pick, finger picks or thumb picks so really the easiest way to learn to play – though it's quite strenuous on the fingertips – is finger-style. I think you get a nice tone that way; there’s a beautiful sound to be gained from the finger actually touching the string. I wouldn't mind trying it on electric. It's something I just recently started to work on again.” One of the outgrowths from Unplugged was that Eric did indeed begin to play finger style on the electric guitar and the style continues to feature prominently in his live shows and recordings.

Back on 6 January 1992, BBC Radio 1 gave away 150 pairs of tickets for the taping. The question asked was a no brainer, even for casual music fans, “Where did Eric stay whilst recording ‘I Shot The Sheriff’?” Competition winners were told the show would take place at a “secret location”. They were also given a letter that read in part: "You should all be aware that sitting is not on a 'first come first served basis.' The producers of the show will allocate everybody their seats. This will depend on various points eg. colours that you are wearing etc. Please be patient while this process is happening."

After everyone was seated and some directions were given by the stage manager, Eric walked out to loud applause. He sat center stage with 6 and 12 string acoustic guitars and a dobro within easy reach. New band recruit Andy Fairweather Low (rhythm guitar and mandolin) was to his right and Nathan East (bass) to his left. Behind them were Steve Ferrone (drums), Ray Cooper (percussion), Chuck Leavell (piano) and Katie Kissoon and Tessa Niles (backing vocalists). It was a typical television shoot with a lot of stopping and starting over the course of two hours. Some songs had to be redone due to technical concerns.

Music historian and author Marc Roberty recently told WE!, “Eric was in fine form that night and I especially recall how emotional he looked after playing the songs he had written in memory of Conor. The different arrangements of some of his classic songs made the evening so special for me as I was so familiar with those songs in an electric setting.”

Eric and his band opened the two hour taping with the bouncy samba, “Signe” (the song order would be changed for the television broadcast and again for the home video release and CD; the interview segments would also be cut from the home video release). On Eric’s hand-penned set list – which can be glimpsed taped to a table next to him – it’s listed as “instrumental”. It was also the first public indication of Eric’s love of Brazilian music. Eric later said he wrote it on a yacht named Signe, which he had charted the previous summer. It was also the first song he wrote as part of his healing process after the death of his young son, Conor, the previous March.

Bo Diddley’s 12-bar blues “Before You Accuse Me” and “Hey Hey” featured Eric and Andy on guitars without the rest of the band were next. Eric pointed out, “this show was a great opportunity for me to pay homage to the things that originally influenced me. "Hey Hey" is a semi-instrumental by Big Bill Broonzy, and that was probably one of the first blues albums I ever heard. It was a piece I used to play in pubs when I was very young.  I never felt that I mastered it, so that’s why we’re doing it with two guitars!”

Three new songs followed – “Circus Left Town”, “Tears In Heaven” and “Lonely Stranger“ – with the full band. Warmly received, they were also written during the summer of 1991 as Eric grieved. He said, “Some of the songs are still in a very early stage of development, but they will be on a record someday. “The Circus Left Town" is about my son and the last night I spent with him, which was, in fact, at the circus.  It's....there's not much I can say about it except that these songs helped me get through a very hard patch in my life and I wanted to make them public.” Over the next several years, fans heard “Circus Left Town” evolve on stage during Eric’s worldwide tours. In 1998, the title was shortened to “Circus” when Eric recorded it for his album, Pilgrim.

“Tears In Heaven” dealt with his loss in stark, powerful terms. Throughout his career, Eric’s most popular songs originated from emotions at the core of his very being. “Tears In Heaven” resonated with the public like no other. He said, “I think that with what happened to me last year – the loss of my son – my audience would have been very surprised if I didn't make some reference to it.  And I wouldn't want to insult them by not sharing my grief with them in some way. So I do intend to make these things known and I will play the songs in concert and put them on record. It is a healing process for me, and I think it's important to share that with people who love your music.” After the song was over, Eric was clearly moved by the audience’s response to it; a scene that would be repeated around the world in venues large and small during his 1992 Tour.

The taping continued with Jimmy Cox’s “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out”. “I learned it and played it around the pubs, myself when I was 15, 16. It was part of my early repertoire. I played it unaccompanied and it was one of the first songs I felt I could sing because it was a melodramatic song. I could put all this angst into it. When I was with Derek and The Dominos, we did a version of it, but this is the way I originally used to do it with acoustic guitar,” Eric related in the between song comments.

The biggest surprise of the night was next. It was also a song that had been recorded by The Dominos. Eric had radically reworked one of his best-known songs, “Layla”, as a slow shuffle and it clicked. Saying to the audience, “See if you can spot this one,” Eric and the band launched into it. It took only a brief measure before one audience member shouted “yeah!” with the rest breaking into tumultuous applause, hoots and whistles a split second later. Eric said "Layla sort of mystified me I've done it the same all these years, and never considered trying to revamp it. A lot of artists do that. Bob Dylan, for instance, changes everything every time he plays a song. I thought this was another great opportunity to just take it off on a different path and make it into a shuffle. For a start, making it acoustic denied all the riffs which would have sounded a bit weak really on the acoustic. It just seemed to become jazzier somehow.  And, of course, I'm singing it a whole octave down, which gives it a nice atmosphere”. Reception was so favorable it was released as the album’s single, backed with the Unplugged version of "Tears In Heaven".


Throughout the taping, Eric’s keen sense of humor was at the fore. One of the most amusing moments came after “Layla”. A makeup girl scooted out to powder the shine from Eric’s and Nathan’s faces. The director then decided more makeup was a good idea prompting Eric to inquire,“what happens to the first part of the show as I didn’t have any on in the first place?” The makeup girl tried to cajole him saying “just the smallest, tiniest bit” but Eric playfully growled “I don’t want no makeup. Get off!” Seconds later, Eric wiped at his face and whined sotto voce, “I can’t play with it on," causing lighthearted laughter amongst the band and audience.

The Sun, in typical tabloid form, took a huge amount of poetic license with this moment when they reported it on 27 January 1992: "ERIC CLAPTON lost his cool with an MTV director who stopped him mid-song during an acoustic show in Windsor, Berks. to apply make-up to the band. 'I’m a f****** artist, not a bloody Barbie doll,' he raged." Talk about gilding the lily!

Following the re-worked “Layla”, Eric introduced another new song, “My Father’s Eyes”. He said, “It's a very personal matter, but I never met my father, and I realized that the closest I ever came to looking in my father's eyes was when I looked into my son's eyes.  So I wrote this song about that. It's a strange kind of cycle thing that occurred to me, and another thing I felt I would like to share”. Cut from the broadcast and omitted from official releases, Eric would perform it on stage regularly over the next several years. Like “Circus,” it too would be recorded for 1998’s Pilgrim.

“Running On Faith” was next, with Eric picking up a dobro and glass slide for the song. Eric recounted, “it was on Journeyman so I knew that that song was easily adaptable. It was an obvious choice and it’s also a fairly well known song and part of my usual stage repertoire. I thought it was good to include it.” He continued, “I played the dobro on that because I did on the record. I don’t play it on the stage so it was another opportunity. This program gives me all these opportunities to do things that I’ve always done at home but don’t do on stage.”

The main part of the taping was moving quickly towards its end and it would be nothing but the blues. “Walking Blues” – which was used as the opening song for the MTV Unplugged with Eric Clapton – Part 2 broadcast – featured Eric alone on dobro. Although it would become commonplace in succeeding years, this was the first time fans got to see and hear a song performed in this manner by Eric. “Walking Blues”, as done by Eric for Unplugged, was actually a hybrid song. Eric borrowed the guitar part from Muddy Waters'"Feel Like Going Home," and superimposed Robert Johnson's lyrics. Eric recalled, “It’s sort of my simultaneous tribute to both of them. It's a piece I've played since I was 14, but I only recently decided to start singing it.”

Next up was an old Snooks Eaglin song, “Alberta”, with its humorous false start (Eric forgot to remove the glass slide from his little finger) and tells the band to "hang on, hang on.". Like all of the cover songs in the set, it was another that Eric had heard during his youth that he always wanted to do. He said it was “accessible to me as a beginning guitar player, because it consists of three chords and just straight strumming. It’s just lodged in my head as a very sentimental song, and part of my early influences”.

“San Francisco Bay Blues” – performed with kazoo like Jesse Fuller’s original “one man band version” and “Malted Milk” (the second Robert Johnson cover of the night) wrapped things up.  But shortly after telling the studio audience “that’s it,” Eric said they needed to do two – no three - no five songs over again adding “if you don’t mind, I don’t mind.”  No one minded!

After the second take of “My Father’s Eyes” there was a brief break and cameras were off. Eric broke into an impromptu “Rollin’ and Tumblin’”, which he had last performed with Cream. The seasoned musicians quickly picked up on it and the crowd clapped along. The director, realizing what a gem this was, signaled the crew., They only managed to capture part of it which is why there’s such an abrupt start to the song. In fact, Eric was so pleased with it that when the song ended, he asked the director, “did you get that?”



The second take of “Running On Faith” was next, but the first take was still used in the broadcast and the official releases. “Walking Blues”, “San Francisco Bay Blues”, and “Malted Milk” were then set down for the second time and these are the takes that were used. The final songs recorded were “Worried Life Blues” – which was cut from the broadcast and releases - and “Old Love” from 1989’s Journeyman. The latter is one of the high points of the night, with Eric taking his usual long improvised solo during the song. It was captured in one brilliant take at the very end of the evening.

What was surprising to many at the time was the rich sound of Eric’s voice. He said, “it's such a joy to sing with a full band acoustically and be able to hear your voice; I find it so much more easy to adjust the volume of my own voice. On stage, I seem to be singing flat out all the time. Here, I could sing quietly, and have more dynamic range.”

Nathan East, a long-time member of Clapton’s band, reminisced with WE! about the recording of Unplugged. Nathan said, “It's always an honor to be on stage with Eric and this became a very special performance for many reasons. The new arrangements of songs like ‘Layla’, ‘Old Love’ and ‘Running On Faith’ turned these songs into classics all over again. Of course, ‘Tears in Heaven’ had a powerful impact on the overall concert being such an emotional tribute to little Conor whose spirit definitely filled the room. I loved the entire experience and the challenge of presenting Eric’s music in a truly unplugged fashion!  The vibe on stage was so relaxed, the band was amazing and it just felt like a room full of friends sharing music together one afternoon out in the country." When asked what his favorite track was, Nathan told us, "‘Tears In Heaven’, ‘Alberta’, ‘Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out’, ‘Running On Faith’, ‘Layla’, ‘Before You Accuse Me’, ‘San Francisco Bay Blues’, ‘Old  Love’, ‘Hey Hey’ and ‘Walkin' Blues’.”

Guitarist Andy Fairweather Low, who still tours and records with Eric, told WE!, " I have only one thought - 'Hey Eric, we should do this again!' It was the most unbelievable moment in my life. No more no less. Unbelievable."

At the time, nobody realized how successful the album would become. In fact, Eric did not even want to release it because he felt it would not do as well as a studio album of new material. After some cajoling, the album was released on 25 August 1992 to some of the best reviews of his career.
[Extract from whereseric.com MTV "Unplugged" With Eric Clapton]
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This bootleg was taken from the Unplugged MTV broadcast and features 4 tracks not included on the official release "Eric Clapton Unplugged".  The post consists of MP3's (320kps) ripped from the Australian Grapefruit CD release and includes the usual generic artwork and featured photos. The quality of the recording is as good as the official release and is a must for the 'Clapton Is God' collector.
I gotta say that when I first heard Clapton's tribute song "Tears In Heaven" back in 91', shortly after the loss of his son, I shed more than a few tears and promised God that I would never take my family for granted, ever.  So this post is dedicated to my two beautiful kids and wife.
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Track Listing
01 - Signe
02 - Tears in Heaven
03 - Circus Has Left Town
04 - My Fathers Eyes
05 - Running on Faith
06 - Walking Blues
07 - San Francisco Bay Blues
08 - Malted Milk
09 - Worried Life Blues
10 - Old Love
11 - My Fathers Eyes #2
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Eric Clapton (Guitar, Vocals)
Chuck Leavell (Keyboards)
Andy Fairweather-Low (Guitar)
Nathan East (Bass)
Steve Ferrone (Drums)
Ray Cooper (Percussion)
Tessa Niles & Katie Kassoon (Backing Vocals)
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Eric Clapton Link (147Mb)
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(U.K 1967-1999, 2006-Present)
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THE LAMB STANDS UP AGAIN
(Article from New Musical Express, Feb 1976)
Genesis haven't bothered to recruit a replacement for Peter Gabriel when he left the band last year - they've just brought Phil Collins out from behind the drum kit to handle the vocals on their new album, 'Trick Of The Tail'.
Casual fans might find it difficult to notice the difference. Collins' voice is unnervingly like Gabriel's. But critics have found the new album more accessible than the complex 'Lamb Lies Down On Broadway'.
'I think there was less friction between vocals and instrumentals,' explains Mike Rutherford. Peter's going has made us more of a band.'
They've also nailed the misconception that Gabriel wrote all Genesis' material. Rutherford and Tony Banks now have their contributions individually credited instead of being under the group banner. And they've already got a pile of material prepared for another album.
But first they'll be going on the road, adding ex-Yes and King Crimson drummer Bill Bruford, so that Collins can divide his time between drumming and singing.
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Marketed under the title 'I Know What I Like', this CD is a bootlegged release of Seconds Out minus the tracks "Supper's Ready" and "Cinema Show." Most likely, the two were not included in order to accommodate a single-disc package (Seconds Out is a double disc). Released in 1992 on the Italian 'On Stage' label, I Know What I Like has superb sound quality. The performances, recorded in Paris in 1976 and 1977, feature Collins in the role of lead vocalist for the first time on a live tour. While his voice excels on "Afterglow" and even on Gabriel's "Musical Box," it is barely adequate on other Gabriel classics, most notably "The Carpet Crawl" and the title cut. Despite these shortcomings, the music is always majestic. Chester Thompson, a one-man powerhouse, handles drum duty throughout. He and Collins double up on "Firth of Fifth,""The Musical Box," and, of course, "Los Endos." Collins also performs a keyboard solo on "Robbery, Assault and Battery." As always, Tony Banks' keyboards are the dominant force in the music, the backbone of the Genesis sound. The compositions on "I Know What I Like" are superior to anything the band accomplished thereafter.
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The post consists of MP3's (320kps) ripped from CD and includes full album artwork. I have also included a scan of the 'The Lamb Stands Up Again' article and the NME chronicle from which it was taken.
I must admit that when Gabriel left Genesis back in 1975 I lost a little interest in Genesis, and focused more on his solo efforts, but one still has to give credit to Phil Collins for being able to pick up the pieces with the lead vocals and kept the band alive well into the 90's before leaving the band himself.
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Tracklist
01     Firth Of Fifth    
02     The Carpet Crawl    
03     Afterglow    
04     I Know What I Like    
05    Robbery, Assault And Battery    
06     Squonk
07     The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
08     The Musical Box (Closing Section)
09     Dance On A Volcano 
10     Los Endos

Genesis were:
Tony Banks – keyboards, guitar, backing vocals
Mike Rutherford – bass, guitar, backing vocals
Steve Hackett – guitar
Phil Collins – vocals, drums, percussion
Bill Bruford – drums, percussion (supporting)
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Genesis Link (139Mb)  Mediafire

Genesis Link (139Mb)  Sendspace

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(Australian 1977 - 1983, 1992)
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If you've never heard of Mark Gillespie, you owe it to yourself to hunt down an album of his and experience what contemporary musical genius is all about.

Melbournites may best remember Mark Gillespie as the singer/songwriter/guitarist who enjoyed a cult following in the Victorian capital throughout the late 1970's. It was his emotive roots-rock style, incorporating soul, rhythm and blues, funk, and a dash of reggae that endeared him to fans of the Melbourne scene at the time.

Gillespie's first recordings appeared on a various artist's compilation called 'The Debutantes', released by the Oz label. The compilation featured two of his tracks, 'I'm A Kite (Won't You Be My Hurricane)' and 'The Joke's On You'. Around the same time Gillespie published a collection of prose and poetry through the small publishing company Outback Press.

In 1978 Mark Gillespie and the Victims released 'Savanorola', his first single. The Victims included Mick 'The Reverend' O'Connor on keyboards, Peter Reed on drums, and Bruno DeStanisio on bass.

Gillespie's big break was just around the corner. He signed to the Festival label and released the single 'Coming Back For More' in 1979. It was this release and his new label that scored Mark support slots for Tom Waits, Rodriguez and Maria Muldaur on their respective national tours of Australia. Gillespie and his touring band, Broderick Smith, Stephen Cooney, Clive Harrison, Trevor Courtney, Stewart Watson, and Pat and Gay L'Nane showed the rest of the nation the heart-felt performances Melbourne fans had been enjoying for the past few years.

The stage was set and Mark Gillespie, now signed to EMI, went into the studio with Joe Creighton, Mark Meyer, Ross Hannaford, Rex Bullen, Lisa Bade and a swag of other guest artists (some of whom went on to enjoy national stardom) to record his debut long player 'Only Human'. Four singles and countless performances to his expanding appreciative audience, Gillespie needed a break.

He traveled throughout Asia for a year or so before heading back to record the follow-up to 'Only Human'. In 1982 his second album 'Sweet Nothing' was released on the Glenn Wheatley's label through EMI. The album featured friends from his debut, Ross Hannaford, Mark Meyer and Lisa Bade, with the addition of saxophonist Andrew Thompson, bassist Tim Partridge, and Gary Lyon (not the ex-AFL player) and Nikki Nicholls on backing vocals.

The album produced three singles, 'Nothing Special', 'Traveller in the Night', and 'Night and Day'. On the Melbourne charts Gillespie's second album reached Number 9, but more importantly, it peaked at Number 32 on the national charts, the first time a Mark Gillespie release had featured in the national Top 40. Fans and critics alike lauded his releases and Gillespie was fast becoming recognised as Australia's premier songwriter. He followed up the success of 'Sweet Nothing' with his third album, a self-titled effort in 1983 that soon became more widely known as 'Ring of Truth' after the lead single. 'You' and 'Letting Go' were the other singles from the album that featured ex-Bee Gees and Groove drummer, Geoff Bridgeford and vocalist Renee Geyer.

Mark Gillespie, for whatever reason, had had enough. He returned to Asia where he set up an orphanage in Bangladesh, a gesture that was indicative of the heart and soul of Mark Gillespie. In the mean time Glenn Wheatley and EMI made the most of their signing when they released 'Best of Mark Gillespie (Small Mercies)' in 1985. It appeared Gillespie's contribution to Australian music was done when nothing was heard from him until 1992 when he returned to Australia to record and release 'Flame' in 1992 Gudinski's Mushroom label tied up with Festival, the label who had given Gillespie his first big break 13 years earlier. At this time he also released the CD single 'Long Time' and EP 'Don't Wait'. Old friends and musicians who'd long admired Gillespie's work gathered to record these comeback efforts. The artists involved included Joe Creighton and Ross Hannaford, along with ex-Mondo Rock keys man James Black, John Farnham band drummer Angus Burchill, ex-Aussie Crawl and Kevin Borich Express drummer John Watson, former Stephen Cummings Band guitarist Shane O'Mara, and Deborah Conway Band bassist Bill McDonald, among others.

But, so far, that's all she wrote as far as Mark Gillespie's contribution to Australian music is concerned. Since '92 Gillespie has had no further involvement. According to another Australian music legend, Broderick Smith, Mark is happy living with his wife north of Benalla in Victoria. Brod told us this week that Mark is "staying away from the scene and enjoys spending more time with farm animals than people".

Mark Gillespie's story truly is a humbling one for all us musicians. He seems to be a man who cares more about humanity, happiness, and music for music's sake than swimming through the sharks to "make it" in the business of music [sourced from a song facts forum]
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Joe Creighton (ex-band member) recalls:

Around 1978 I met Mark Gillespie, singer songwriter, the man in black! 
Mark came across as a tortured soul and with an air of mystery around him; he was fast gaining a solid reputation for himself as a songwriter/poet and developing a good fan base in the live pub circuit.
He came to my flat one day and asked me if I would play bass for him. He was also trying to recruit Hannaford. I was confused that another artist would want me to play the bass for them as I had a picture of myself as a singer/songwriter who happened to play the bass and not as 'BASS PLAYER'. I said to him 'Why don't you get a real bass player'. He said 'I want your bass playing in my band'. I said 'OK' and little did I realise that I had made a fairly serious career decision. I became a 'hired gun' for the first time.

I did Mark's first album 'Only Human' up at The Music Farm in Coorabell, near Mullumbimby, in 1980. That album gave me much kudos as a musician. Mark's songs were always great for creating good grooves and dynamic bass lines in. I always had a lot of fun recording with him. I was able to have quite a bit creative input in his music; I played bass, sung backing vocals and helped with the arrangements.

When that album came out my phone didn't stop ringing everybody seemed to want me on their albums. It was an exciting time as it was rewarding but it did distract me a bit from my fundamental purpose as a singer/songwriter. I did however learn a great deal from all those artists I worked with.
Zev Eizik who, with Michael Coppel, promoted a lot of overseas artists in Australia managed Mark. We got to do the support for many of those acts i.e. Jackson Browne, Maria Muldaur, Tom Waits, Rodriguez, Joe Cocker, to name a few. This elevated us to the Concert stage which helped me hone my craft even more. [taken from Joe Creighton's website]
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This post consists of FLACs and MP3's (320kps) ripped from a newly acquired vinyl pressing which I picked up from a local second hand record shop 'bargin bin'. Just gotta love finds like this one - mint, mint condition for $5.  Full album artwork is included as usual along with Wheatley Records label scans.
To sweeten the deal, I'm also including some hard to get singles as bonus tracks - 3 tracks from his 1980 "Deep As You" E.P, the B-side to Ring Of Truth  "All Your Love" and his 1978 single "Comin' Back For More"  (thanks to Unc at Midoztouch for the E.P tracks)
If you're looking for Mark's two signature albums 'Only Human' and 'Sweet Nothing' you'll find them at Aztec Records.
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Track Listing
01 - Ring Of Truth
02 - Thanks
03 - You
04 - Letting Go
05 - Look What You Got
06 - Lost In Wonder
07 - Here And Now
08 - Not Diamonds
09 - Scars
10 - Easy
11 - Deep As You (Bonus A-Side)
12 - Stronger Together (Bonus B-Side)
13 - Falling (Bonus B-Side)
14 - All Your Love (Bonus B-Side Single)
15 - Comin' Back For More (Bonus A-Side Single) 
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All instruments by Mark Gillespie except
Drum & Percussion - Geoff Bridgeford
Backing Vocals - Renee Geyer, Vanetta Fields, Lisa Bade
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Mark Gillespie FLAC's (331Mb)
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Mark Gillespie MP3's (140Mb)
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(U.K 1968 - 1976, 1984 - Present)
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When Deep Purple took the stage at the rock festival in Aachen, Germany on July 11 1970 an enterprising individual(s) had managed to run an extra line into the soundboard and a recorder was running out of sight. The resulting recording became the first DP bootleg:

Some information about the bootleg origin:
The first pressing was titled simply “Space” and was available in late 1970, either as a double (two discs in a single cover) or as two single discs. “Mandrake Root” was split over two sides of the second disc. The second pressing was called “H-Bomb”, which a more professionally produced single album which lacked “Mandrake Root” and also had slight edits to the other songs. “Kustom Records” (ASC 001) was the (Bootleg-) Label which distributed the disc across Europe and UK in early 1971.”

From what I have gathered so far, Kustom Records seems to have been a US bootleg label, so the above comment is perhaps a little exaggerated. Meanwhile in the US, the decent quality – for the time – made it an easy target for copying

The band officially released this title, mastered from a bootleg source, in 2001 as Space Vol. 1 & 2 – on the Sonic Zoom label no less, so CBM got a nod as well – and again in 2006 as Live in Aachen with a cover showing all the bootleg LP’s this appeared on earlier.  However, this release is no longer available.

The Recording

Concert Review
(by Martin Ashberry)
I know Aachen 1970 quite well, but throughout the opening few minutes of  'Wring That Neck' alone, I can pick out so much more of Jon's deft organ work that it might as well be a completely different show.
Jon and Ritchie are really battling throughout this. Jon's second solo is a lengthy affair, the usual expected combination of classic / humorous snippets, where the audience can be detected in the background applauding wildly. Blackmore's second solo then follows another burst of the riff, and again you can detect stuff that was clearly inaudible (hey, my first oxymoron!) on the original boots (to my cloth ears). And then, before you know it, it's over. Twenty minutes or so over in the blink of an eye. 
'Black Night' next, pumping with energy and enthusiasm, then 'Paint It Black' shambles in, the chaotic, almost anarchic beginning we're used to from this era quickly sharpening up, before Paice starts beating seven shades out of his drum kit.

Closer 'Mandrake Root' is a diabolically rude blast of sheer power, the vocals overloaded (as they are throughout the set), but when the musical performance is this good and the quality this unexpectedly sharp, you just have to sit back and let it all down to your knees. Clocking in at over 33 minutes, it's the expected musical tour de force that anyone with other recordings from the era will be familiar with, Ritchie exercising a restraint over his backing where you feel he is plotting to unleash something spectacular when he gets the chance, and eventually when his tremolo arm does come in for some heavy abuse, coupled with the thundering bass and pounding drums, signalling the beginning of the end. Things really do reach a caustic peak, willing you to visualize it in your mind's eye (and I can). A quick "thank you " and that's your lot.

Deep Purple 1970

Breathtaking! As soon as Ian Gillan starts to speak, you know that you're in for a good one. Clear, crisp and completely unmuffled, the sound restoration alone makes the purchase essential. I have six different boots of this show and wasn't expecting anything amazing, but I have to say that I'd arrest anyone on sight who claimed they were a Purple fan and didn't own a copy of this. Amazing, essential, brilliant. "Do you feel alright?". Most certainly! [extract from deep-purple.net]

Deep Purple Bootlegs
Undaunted by their overground popularity in 1970, Deep Purple continued courting the underground, their credos taking a major boost when a recording of a German festival performance, at the Aachen Reichstadion on July 11, was immortalized as the first ever Deep Purple bootleg, the appropriately titled 'H-Bombs', Bootlegging was still a novelty at that time. Barely two years had elapsed since Bob Dylan's 'Great White Wonder' first introduced the concept of illegally produced LP records to the rock industry (such things had long existed in the classical and jazz arenas), and only a mere handful of the heaviest hitters had thus far been honored — Dylan was followed by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, The Who . . . and Deep Purple? Within weeks of H-Bombs' appearance on the record racks that catered for such releases, the album was nestling at the top of the bestselling bootleg chart that accompanied a Melody Maker investigation into the phenomenon, and Deep Purple were bracing to become one of the most-bootlegged bands in rock history.


Looking back in 1998, Roger Glover professed himself firmly in favor of such recordings, legitimacy be damned. "I could never understand our success," he said. "I could never understand why so many people bought our records, because they were so full of flaws! And then I started listening to bootlegs and to what we really were, and I came to reassess the whole thing. Listening to bootlegs from [the early 19705], I realized what a dangerous band we were, and how exciting it was not to know what was going to happen next. We walked a very thin line between chaos and order, and that was the magic, that was why people bought our records. I came from a pop band, and when you're a pop band you learn the song and you play it the same way every night. And now there's this band veering off and suddenly the solo's in E when it should be ... 'Hey, what's happening here?' That's the magic."

Neither did the traditional music-industry complaints against bootlegging hold any water for him: "I had a meeting with some bootleggers many years ago in Germany; we had a big discussion about bootlegs, and they said, 'Listen, bootleggers are not ripping you off, you're not losing money because of bootleggers. The fact that other people are making money from your music is indisputable, but you're not losing money, it's
not money out of your pocket. In fact, the people who buy these things have already bought your albums probably two or three times already.'

"It was a potent argument," Glover continued, "and I sympathize with that. Besides, they presented me with something I'd not heard in years, which was a recording of us doing [something] for a BBC session. It was
a song that was written on the spur of the moment, just a blues, very fast, and it's great, I love it. But it was never formally written and recorded, that's the only version of it, and I said, 'Wow, it's so wonderful to hear this, I'd forgotten all about it!' So it's through bootlegs, or at least bootleggers, that things like that even exist."
[extract from Smoke On The Water: The Deep Purple Story. By Dave Thompson. ECW Press - 2004, p102-103]
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This post consists  of MP3s (320kps) ripped from my near perfect vinyl bootleg which I bought as an impressionable teenager and have treasured ever since.  The cover is typical of the 'Amazing Kornyfone Label' with record labels exhibiting no distinguishable markings other than Side 1 to .
Although limited artwork can be provided, I have sourced covers for all of the other titles which this bootleg has been released under, including the official 2001 CD release.
For anyone who loves their live set Made In Japan, this bootleg is a great insight into how Deep Purple's developed their stage act.
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Track Listing
Side 1. Mandrake root (16.18)
Side 2. Mandrake root (17.02)
Side 3. Wring That Neck (19.31)
Side 4. Black Night (5:38) / Paint it black (10:59)
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Deep Purple were:
Vocals – Ian Gillan
Bass – Roger Glover
Drums – Ian Paice
Guitar – Ritchie Blackmore
Keyboards – Jon Lord
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Deep Purple Link (163Mb)
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Before things get too serious here at Rock On Vinyl, I thought it might be fun to post a song / album at the end of each month, that could be categorized as being either Weird, Obscure, Crazy or just plain Korny.
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Born in Brisbane, Australia on the 27th May 1954, Pauline Hanson became the face of "Racists" in Australia with her maiden Parliamentary speech on the 10 September 1996. Originally running a fish 'n' chip shop she became the independent member for Oxley, Queensland and held the seat until the next election in 1998. She started the "One Nation" which for a time had some support from a small minority of xenophobic Australians, especially in Queensland.

During her time as a politician she was also famous for the 60 Minutes interview with Tracey Curro who asked "Are you Xenophobic" to which she replied "Please Explain?" in a nasally voice. In the same interview she was asked her opinion on the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in Sydney, to which she replied "I don't like it, because it’s promoting something that's not natural". The catch phrases "Please explain?" and "I don't like it" went on to become her trade marks and were used in television commercials and parodies (just like this month's W.O.C.K on Vinyl posting)

After the downfall of One Nation, her political career and a stint in jail she shot back onto our TV screens on Dancing with the Stars. A makeover and some dancing lessons didn't help her to a win but then again, she wasn't the first voted off. Rumors have it that Todd McKenney was heard back stage ranting "I Don't Like It" during rehearsals [extract from wikipedia]
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In 1997, Simon Hunt (a lecturer in sound and film at the College of Fine Arts in Sydney) as Pauline Pantsdown released a song called "Backdoor Man", which had received a cult following and been played on Triple J, the youth network of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Hanson won an injunction to stop the ABC playing it, and in response to that, Hunt recorded another single titled "I Don't Like It".
The song features unauthorised vocals from Pauline Hanson, the former independent MP and later founder of One Nation, sampled from interviews and media clips. It peaked at number 10 on the Australian ARIA Charts and was ranked number 58 in the 1998 Triple J Hottest 100 countdown.
On 3 October 1998, Hunt, dressed as Pauline Pantsdown, campaigned on the streets of Sydney in an attempt to entice voters away from Pauline Hanson and the One Nation Party in the 1998 Australian federal election. On 7 March 2013 Hanson announced that she would stand in the 2013 federal election and Pantsdown reappeared with "I Don't Like It".
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For your pleasure I have posted the funny and somewhat catchy parody "I Don't Like It" for this month's W.O.C.K posting.
Please Explain?
Well - it's Wacky and Korny to start with and "I Just Like It".  LOL
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I Don't Like It Link (MP3/320kps)
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(Australian 1962 - Present)
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Glenn Shorrock has been in colours most of his life. Drafted as an adolescent, he re-enlisted so many times that he became a career soldier, a lifer before he realised it. He served with valor in Australian English European and American campaigns. His name has passed into legend, synonymous with unstinting
dedication and stirring achievement.
As he enters his third decade of performing and recording, this battle scarred veteran observes that "Circles close up ten years or more after they begin". Early influences become recent influences. Old incidents become new songs.   Glenn has traversed a series of circuitous routes during the past twenty years and, although he has worked and recorded all over the planet, there is a familiar thread of honesty and excellence to all he has done.

This anthology is a powerful testament, not just to Glenn's fine talent, but to his own belief in that talent His tenacity, which sent him knocking on international doors many times before they were opened to him was shared by only a few other Australian rock principals of the sixties — Terry Britten, Barry Gibb Steve Kipner and George Young among them.

Born in Rochester Kent in 1944, Glenn arrived in Australia with his family a decade later as an assisted-passage immigrant. Blessed with the legacy of good humour from his Yorkshire father and Londoner mother he saw the sea journey to the far southern land as "a hell of an adventure". As he recalls clearly, "We saw a future in Australia but not in England, where post-war rationing was still in force. Australia was like a colour movie not a bit like grey old England."
"We were booked through to Melbourne but after Perth they said they were short on their Adelaide quota and wanted volunteers. So dad said, What the hell, let's go to Adelaide. The first sight of the city was horrific it was like Changi Prison. The seaport was a long tin shed set in a mangrove swamp. Mother cried for nine months straight; I went to sleep with her crying and woke up to her crying. But dad dug his heels in and got a job at the Weapons Research Establishment in Salisbury and found us a house there."
Glenn's mother took her son and daughter back to England for nine months, then decided to return and give it another chance. In time, the family prospered and moved to the Adelaide suburb of Elizabeth populated heavily by British immigrants. Glenn, by this stage, was obsessed by rock'n'roll. Back in England he had
listened to Frankie Laine and Johnnie Ray records on his Aunty's radiogram but his trembling conversion came at the Elder Park Migrant Hostel (on the site of the present Festival Theatre). "I was laying on my bunk It was a hot day and I had nothing to do, so I was just listening to the sound of somebody else's radio Heartbreak Hotel came on and I almost fell off my bunk. Nothing had ever sounded like that before."

The Checkmates

Glenn's first job was as a junior draftsman at the Mines Department. A workmate was a member of a local hot-shot vocal quartet and when a member quit, Glenn was invited to audition. He was accepted and was in the process of having his stage clothes made when the member decided to come back. Undaunted Glenn decided that he was good enough to be accepted by the Four Tones, he was good enough to lead his own vocal group "I had some friends and we'd sing in the car, drive-in or wherever. There was Mike Sykes, Cklem 'Paddy' McCartney and bass singer Billy Volraat. We worked engagement parties as The Checkmates and then, when Billy left became The Twilights. We worked a-cappella a lot. We couldn't do rock'n'roll because we didn't have a backing band, but if we were at a party where there was a band we'd always get up and sing.
"Then the Beatles broke and everything went crazy. Some friends had a band called the Vector-Men, which included Alan Tarney, and we worked with them for a while. Then we started singing with The Hurricanes which was Kevin Peek, Peter Bridecake, John Bywaters, Frank Barnard and lead vocalist John Perry, who went to the Vibrants and is now Kerry Packer's chauffeur. Perry got edged out, we dropped Mike Sykes, and all became The Twilights. Kevin Peek left to join Alan Tarney in Johnny Broome & The Handels and we got his number one admirer, Terry Britten, in to replace him. Before very much longer we were resident at the Oxford Club, there were lines around the block, and Carry Spry flew over from Melbourne to ask if he could manage us. There were a lot of bands in Adelaide then and the rivalry and jealousy was pretty fierce. All of them seemed to have at least a couple of British members, to make them authentic. This was a way for us to get back at those who saw us as 'dirty poms'; it was a chance to feel better about ourselves."

Twilights - 1964 Lineup

The Twilights existed from 1964 to 1969, recorded 13 singles and 2 albums, scored 8 consecutive hits (some double-sided), won the 1966 Hoadley's National Battle of the Sounds, recorded and performed in England, and set new standards for live performance in Australia. The Twilights live were an awesome spectacle, capable of creating note-perfect renditions of any song by the Beatles, Stones, Move, Who et al. They were Australia's international music barometer. Absolutely and irrevocably in, they anticipated and introduced audiences to each new phase of rock music and culture. In time, they outgrew their own market and joined the lemmings' rush to London in September 1966. They fared no better than Normie Rowe, Johnny Young, MPD Ltd., Groove or The La De Das but did get to record with Rubber Soul engineer Norman 'Hurricane' Smith and perform at Liverpool's Cavern.

Twilights- 1969 (Glenn far right)

The Twilights came back from London replete with new influences, droopy moustaches, sitars, trendy beards and Carnaby Street clobber. They took to playing 15 minute versions of Hendrix' Purple Haze (during which Glenn would climb into a gorilla suit and chase faint-hearted ladies through the audience) and cutting increasingly complex singles which enjoyed progressively less radio support. When Laurie Pryor refused to have another crack at England in December 1968 and decided to take his leave instead, The Twilights suddenly ceased to exist.
"The breakup of the Twilights was not something that we planned. It all happened in three days" Glenn reveals. "I didn't know what to do with myself, so Carry Spry gave me a job as a band booker in the AMBO agency. That's how I met the Brisbane Avengers, who wanted me to manage them. I gave it a shot for about three months; got Terry to write them some songs and pushed all the work I could their way. But it never felt right. I'd rehearse with them, take them to gigs, get them on the stage and then have to stop there. I never did have the chance to prove if I was a good manager or not, because after about three months, I ran into Brian Cadd at a party."

Axiom

Cadd, leader of the defunct Groop, had written songs for the Master's Apprentices, The Zoot and Paul Jones, and was keen to develop an outlet for his collaborations with Don Mudie. The three enlisted Cam-Pact guitarist Chris Stockley and Valentines drummer Doug Lavery and were, not surprisingly, labelled as a 'Supergroup' in the same manner as The Groove (Spry's post-Twilights hit act). With an old roadie mate (the late) Wayne DeGruchy, Axiom hid out at Don's mother's place in Nathalia for a couple of weeks and furiously emulated The Band and Traffic by rehearsing at the local football club in rural isolation.
Axiom's success was almost a forgone conclusion. Manager DeGruchy had no difficulty finding them work; they were immediately offered a recording contract and found instant radio acceptance for a Christmas 1969 single, the unashamedly American Arkansas Grass. Fool's Gold, the first album, was the soundtrack to a 20 minute film starring Happening '70 personality Tony Healey and dealing with the release of an elderly man from prison. It was also the first truly important and accomplished Australian rock album, offering an honest antipodean sound (Glenn played some didgeridoo) without descending to kangaroo and cork hat kitsch. A second single, A Little Ray of Sunshine, was, in Glenn's own words, "pure schmaltz". But the poorly recorded track possessed a certain magic which propelled it into both the national top five and innumerable sentimental hearts.

Recording the beautiful Fool's Gold album was "unadulterated joy" for Glenn, as the superb title track and Ford's Bridge attest. But the euphoria was short-lived. In April 1970, Axiom arrived in a creatively exhausted England, still spending the money flowing in from the British Invasion but offering little more to the world than burned-out hippies and heavy metal hammerheads. There were advances to be had and Axiom landed one large enough to keep them alive for a year, along with a three year Warner Bros recording contract. Handed to ill producer, Shel Talmy, of Kinks, Who and Easybeats fame (who by that stage was suffering from failing eyesight and hearing) cut a second album under engineer Glyn Johns. The title, If Only . . . , said it all. The harsh, uncomfortable album yielded up one minor hit in My Baby's Gone and is not remembered fondly by any of the participants or purchasers.

"My confidence was pretty low" says Glenn. "When the band decided to go back to Australia tor the second time, I said 'goodbye, I'm staying here'. Like a lot of other people at the time, I was trying to find myself. marriage had broken up and I was heavily into meditation, macrobiotic food and all that. I was looking for something to do and Carry Spry, who was over there with The Groove (Eureka Stockade), came to again. At that time I was hanging out with other Australians, like the Master's Apprentices, and that's relationship with Glenn Wheatley began. Carry managed to get me a deal with the management  recoil company MAM, which was owned by Gordon Mills, the manager of Tom Jones, Englebert Humperdinck and Gilbert O'Sullivan. I negotiated a good contract which paid me a weekly wage rather than a big advance-Signed to MAM's publishing arm (which was to eventually prove rather profitable for them), Clem a considerable number of demos but only three singles. Into the picture had stepped Twilights producer McKay, who was also based in London; and the Decca group Quartet, which comprised former Adelaide comrades Terry Britten, Kevin Peek (now leader of Sky), Alan Tarney and Trevor Spencer.

The first singled cut by this collective under Glenn's name, "Let's Get The Band Together", stiffed (perhaps because he didn't have a live band together) but the second, Mann and Weil's lovely "Rock'n'Roll Lullaby", at least picked up reasonable airplay. Glenn describes the flip, When God Plays His Guitar, as "a pretty good indication of where my head was at around that time." Another Shorrock MAM single, the mock-French "Purple Umbrella", was recorded under the alias of Andre L'Escargot & His Society Syncopaters.
The most important event in Glenn's career at this point was his move, at the very end of the Axiom days, into serious songwriting. It stands as extraordinary that a number of his very first compositions are today considered as among his best. Writing gave a new dimension to the accomplished singer, enabling him to achieve the sort of soulful, heartfelt expression which would reach its zenith with "Cool Change" and "Home On A Monday".
"Statue Of Liberty was inspired by the closing scenes of the film Planet Of The Apes. I wrote it at a time when America was looking decidedly shaky and in danger of real anarchy. Kent State seemed like just a beginning. I had this vision of the Statue of Liberty crumbling." The song, recorded only as a demo for MAM, found release (for the first time) in 1973, via another David McKay project.


"David told me he had a new project that he wanted me to front — classical rock band that would be much more avant-garde than ELO. He played me some tapes and it was really left-of-field stuff. But it was a challenge and A&M was right behind it, so I went in boots and all. "Esperanto was billed as 'the world s first international rock orchestra'. An unwieldy 12 piece outfit, it boasted members from Italy, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, England and Hawaii. The antipodean contingent was Glenn, Janice Slater, Brian Holloway (from Somebody's Image) and Maori singer Joy Yates. Glenn sang and co-wrote two songs with Belgian leader Raymond Vincent and contributed his own Statue Of Liberty. Unfortunately, despite all the hype, the public just didn't buy Esperanto, and by the second album, Glenn was credited only with 'lyrics, backing vocals and ideas'; by the third he was gone completely. "They made me manager for a while because they wanted to go completely avant-garde and then instrumental. But it was a complete mess, half the band lived in London and half in Brussels and I couldn't even get them together for a meeting.

Esperanto  (Glenn 2nd left)

So that last year in England I was really depressed. My hair was falling out and I decided to quit. I was still getting my weekly wage from MAM and Terry Britten got me some vocal sessions and a couple of months live work with Cliff Richard. I made good money working at the London Palladium with Cliff, eight shows a week. After the first night they came to me and said 'you were great Glenn, in fact you were too good, cool it'. I was making an amazing (for me) £100 a week for that, so I decided to stash it away and buy a ticket back to Australia.

Glenn & Graham Goble

"I booked a seat for October, 1974. 1 had no idea what I was going to do here. I though Id get involved in agency or management work. I didn't know what my musical credibility would be after five years away. About a month before I left England, I got a call from Beeb Birtles, who was living in a house in London with the remnants of Mississippi, who I'd never head of. He said they wanted to talk to me about starting a new group and I said, 'no thanks, I've had enough, I need to get out of this business for a while'. But they were very persuasive and they had some great songs, so I jutted my jaw, gritted my teeth and said I'd get involved, if they'd give me a couple of months to go home and be with my family. We all agreed to meet in Melbourne early in 1975."
Mississippi had grown out of Graham Coble's Adelaide soft-rock group Allison Gros (who had scored the 1971 hit Daddy Cool as Drummond). Floundering in England, members Goble, Birtles and Derek Pellici had begun to formulate ambitious plans for world musical domination with Master's Apprentices bassist Glenn Wheatley, who was proving to be more interested in the business side of music. They saw Shorrock as a proven and respected singer. What they were not to know was that he had a head full of completed songs, such as Seine City, Emma and Statue Of Liberty, all of which would be cut by Little River Band in their first year of recording.

Named after a signpost on the road from Melbourne to Geelong, Little River Band snared classically-trained guitarist arranger Rick Formosa and bassist Roger McLachlan from the Australian Godspell cast. Their aim, as highly competent adult rock musicians, was to create a textured, harmony-dominant, mass-appeal sound. Within an eight month period, LRB had 3 top twenty singles, 2 top ten albums, and a collective eye firmly set upon the lucrative American market. This assault, Glenn's third, had all the pieces in the right places. In November 1976, an edited version of "It's A Long Way There" made its way into the American top thirty and Dutch top ten. The following year, Glenn's powerful "Help Is On Its Way" broke worldwide, made the U.S. top twenty and cracked AM playlists. The third album, Diamantina Cocktail, sold over half a million units stateside, earning LRB their first gold disc, the first to be awarded to an Australian-based entity.
American hits flowed regularly and by 1982, Billboard had given LRB the honour, along with Olivia Newton John, of being the only act to score an American top ten hit every year consecutively for the previous five years. This was in addition to a string of gold and platinum albums. American acceptance of the sophisticated LRB sound was immediate; surprising Glenn, who admits, "International success may have been the stated aim of Wheatley, Goble and Birtles but Glenn Shorrock went along for the ride. I'd been disappointed too many times ... I'm always suspicious of happiness. But the first American performance was definitely an eye opener. We supported the Average White Band in the college town of Harrisburg, Virginia and the crowd went nuts. They gave us two encores. That was amazing, but none of us then realised the enormity of the market."

In February 1982, Glenn took his leave from Little River Band and was replaced by fellow English-born Adelaide singer John Farnharn. His departure was something less than a surprise for those who had observed the band during his seven year tenure. For Glenn it was, in many ways, a blessed release. "I had a strong feeling that it was not going to be peaches and cream from my first rehearsal in 1975. After two weeks we knew just three songs — we knew them bloody well but we still only knew three. I thought we should have known 23, so we could be out there working, honing our technique live. Graham and Beeb worked obsessively on points of detail, they wanted to dismember everything and put it back together, piece by piece. That frustrated me, I wanted to move, move, move. It led to a bit of a blue in rehearsal and they said, 'Glenn, back off, this is our baby and this is how we're gonna do the thing'. I backed off and I seemed to keep backing off all the way through. Graham always worked harder at getting his songs recorded than I did and I don't think I exerted as much influence on the band as I should have. I left it to fate, because that's the way I am. But then it got to the stage where I had to fight to get Cool Change on an album."

Glenn had enjoyed moderate success in 1979 with a solo rendition of Bobby Darin's "Dream Lover"; and the 1981 LRB single, "Long Jumping Jeweller" (never released outside of Australia) was very much a Shorrock initiated and promoted project. So the move from LRB frontman to individual entity was a relatively effortless one. Glenn enthusiastically embarked upon a number ol projects, starting with a superb solo album Villain Of The Peace; recorded in Los Angeles under LRB producer and close friend John Boylan, and featuring contributions from three members of the Eagles, Bill Payne (Little Feat), Jeff Baxter (Steely Dan/The Doobies), Garth Hudson (The Band), Jimmy Fadden (Dirt Band), Andrew Gold and Tom Scott. The American release featured three newly recorded songs, one of which (Don't Girls Get Lonely?) is included herein. From those sessions, "The Duchess Is Returning" emerged as a single B side and "Big Smoke" was, until now, unreleased.

To support the album's release in Australia, Glenn undertook a short tour with his own hot road band. He also joined Renee Geyer on stage at Sydney's Tivoli in December 1982 for a soaring rendition of the Coffin/ King masterpiece "Goin' Back", which achieved some chart success when released as a single. Having previously supplied a title song to the television documentary Australian Music To The World, Glenn was approached to provide themes for the films We're Coming To Get You and World Safari II, both of which are featured on this album; along with a lovely treatment of Paperback Writer (cut at the Dream Lover session) and the very first (unreleased) Little River Band recording, the Everly Brothers'"When Will I Be Loved" (featuring guitarist-for-a-day Graham Davidge).

Glenn 1980's

Three years of work under his own auspices may not have brought Glenn as much commercial success as he enjoyed with LRB, but his personal satisfaction is considerably greater. "When I made my own album" he confides, "there was just two of us making decisions, instead of six or eight. Instead of compromise, I now have the freedom to feel my way around. I've always thought of myself as a very versatile singer and now I have the chance to prove it."

Listening to Glenn's major contributions to Little River Band, it is appropriate to view him as the soul of the outfit, the true artist within its ranks. His voice then, as now, can be a plaintive cry or a surging energy charge - always imbued with integrity and an earthy passion. Asked to summarise his own career, he thoughtfully offers, "I think I've done things fairly quietly, never made a big noise. I may have lost a few career chances as a result but I can say that I don t have any major hang-ups and I don't lose sleep over my frustrations. I still have a fairly happy disposition."  [Linear notes by Glenn A. Baker]
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This post consists of FLACs and MP3's (320kps) ripped from my mint condition double vinyl set, released by J&B Records. Full album artwork for LP and CD are included along with label scans. As an added bonus, I have chosen to include a super rare single that Glenn released back in 1975 on Playboy records "Daydream Sunday" / " I Have Seen the Universe" which was only released in the states from what I can gather (thanks to Garethofox at Midoztouch for this rarity).
This is a brilliant anthology of Glenn's musical achievements between 1965 and 1985 and is a must for any serious collector of Aussie Rock.
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Track Listing
LP1
01 Needle In A Haystack (Twilights)
02 Bad  Boy (Twilights)
03 If She Finds Out (Twilights)
04 9-50 (Twilights)
05 Young Girl (Twilights)
06 What's Wrong With The Way I Live (Twilights)
07 Cathy Come Home (Twilights)
08 My Generation (Twilights)
09 Ford's Bridge (Axiom)
10 Fool's Gold (Axiom)
11 Arkansas Grass (Axiom)
12 A Little Ray Of Sunshine (Axiom)
13 My Baby's Gone (Axiom)
14 Rock 'n' Roll Lullaby (Solo)
15 Let's Get The Band Together (Solo)
16 Statue Of Liberty (Solo)
17 Seine City (Little River Band)
18 When Will I Be Loved (Little River Band)
LP2
01 Cool Change (Little River Band)
02 Home On A Monday (Little River Band)
03 Shut Down, Turn Off (Little River Band)
04 Help Is On Its Way (Little River Band)
05 Man On Your Mind (Little River Band)
06 Long Jumping Jeweller (Little River Band)
07 Goin' Back (with Renee Geyer)
08 We're Coming To Get You (with The Bushwackers)
09 Paperback Writer (Solo)
10 Dream Lover (Solo)
11 Restless (Solo)
12 Don't Let Girls Get Lonely (Solo)
13 Big Smoke (Solo)
14 Will You Stand With Me (Solo)
15 The Duchess Is Returning (Solo)
16 Rock 'n' Roll Soldier (Solo)

Bonus Single
01 - Daydream Sunday
02 - I Have Seen the Universe

Glenn Shorrock FLACs LP1  (353Mb)
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Glenn Shorrock FLACs LP2 (388Mb)
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Glenn Shorrock MP3's  LP1&2  (165Mb)
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(U.K 1960-70)
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Beatles in Indianapolis - September 3, 1964

I was in the fourth grade when The Beatles came to Indianapolis on their first ever North American tour. I did not attend the show but remember the hype and the folklore (urban legends) very well and thought I should write a posting on my memories of these days. I tell the story of their first trip to the US and the events in Indianapolis often as the city has changed much and many don't even remember the Coliseum where concerts were played and the Indiana Pacers had their first home some 40 years ago.

The Beatles traveled from Philadelphia to Indianapolis, playing 2 shows on September 3rd at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. They had played one show at 8:00 pm on Wednesday, September 2 at Conventions Hall. After a fun and entertaining chat with the press, and a quick meet-and-greet with a group of lucky locals, the Beatles took to the stage.

Beatles arrive at Indianapolis Airport

According to motor racing writer Bob Jennings who was one of the teenagers in attendance that day: "There was an afternoon show in the fairgrounds Coliseum before a packed house of something like 10,000 screaming fans. Ticket demand was so hot, an evening show was hastily scheduled in front of the grandstand on the one mile dirt race track because the Coliseum was already booked for another State Fair event. I was able to get tickets to the evening show... a couple hundred yards from the stage. There was an electricity that's hard to describe... about the only thing I can compare it to is the start of the Indianapolis 500."

Following their two performances that day in Indianapolis, the Beatles departed for Milwaukee Wisconsin, the next stop along their frantically paced 1964 North American Tour.

I remember most of the "hype" centered around where the Beatles stayed during their visit to Indianapolis. As a young boy at the time, I recall every news report speculated they were staying at the now demolished "Essex House", an upscale hotel in downtown Indianapolis which sat on the east side of Pennsylvania Street across from University Park; the actual address of the Essex House was 407 N. Pennsylvania Street. Various plans have been reported through the years for former Essex House site.

Crowds camped out by the hotel in hope of viewing the "mop tops" who were the sensation of the world at this time. Also fans made their way inside the hotel ripping off wallpaper, removing door nobs and other artifacts. The promoters then moved the Fab Four to the Speedway Motel.

The Fab Four on stage in Indianapolis

The Speedway Motel (on the site of the Indianapolis 500 race track), is still at this location and in use; it is literally the same as it was during the Beatles visit with some minor innovation renovation of the rooms, but no structural changes to the building. The Beatles stayed in rooms 228, 230, 232 and 234. These rooms are virtually the same as when the band stayed in them with the exception on new carpet, wall paper, etc.

The Speedway Motel was built in 1963 and renovated in 1981. It is now called the Brickyard Crossing Resort & Inn which includes a complete renovation of the former "Speedway Golf Course" by local Indiana golf course architect Pete Dye. By visiting the pro shop, you can view a photo on the wall of the Beatles in 1964 just off turn 2 putting golf balls; on what was at that time the location of the practice putting green.[recollections by David Steele]
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Concert Review

The Indiana State Fair's finest moment was the booking of the Beatles. For two shows, one at 6 p.m. in the Coliseum, the second at 9:30 in the Grandstand. It was Sept. 3, 1964. (The Fair was held later in the summer then.)

David Humphrey was one of the some 15,000 people who saw the second show, sort of. He watched at a distance, through a fence, with his parents. "We were on Paul's side of the stage," Humphrey said. "We could see the Beatles."  Humphrey was 8. He and his parents were not paying customers, but his two teenage sisters and cousin were. They were in the Grandstand.

Some parents were lukewarm on the four long-haired English musicians who were cutting such a swath through the culture, but Humphrey's parents liked the Beatles, and for the next few years Beatles music pulsed through the Humphrey house, which was in Anderson.
Humphrey grew up and became a freelance writer and photographer (his work has appeared in The Indianapolis Star), and now he has written a book about the historic Hoosier night, "All Those Years Ago: Fifty Years Later, Beatles Fans Still Remember" ($19.95, Butler Books.com).

The book is illustrated with 10 pages of photos and photocopies of some hilarious letters from fans seeking tickets. For example: "Dear Congressman Brademas: Could you please use all the influence you can possibly muster to obtain these Beatles tickets for me?".
The bulk of the 84-page paperback is made up of interviews with some of the 30,000 people who were at one of the concerts. There are 40 interviews in all.

Twist & Shout

Among the people who saw the Beatles perform at the Indiana State Fair on Sept 3, 1964, were two boys who'd grow up to figure prominently in Indiana politics: Mike McDaniel, a lobbyist and former Republican state chairman, and Democrat John Gregg, a former House Speaker in the Indiana General Assembly and the 2012 Democratic candidate for governor.
Humphrey interviewed them both. McDaniel noted that he "rubbed against the car the Beatles arrived in and got a good look at all of them." He said his favorite Beatles were Paul and Ringo.
Gregg also had a thing for Ringo. "We were seated near the back of the stage, just to the left of Ringo Starr," he says in Humphrey's book. "I'll never forget when Ringo was introduced to the crowd. He was kind and gracious enough to stand and wave to the fans seated behind the stage. Ringo waved in our direction too, and the crowd went wild."


Fans packed the State Fairgrounds Coliseum for one of the two concerts by the Beatles on Sept. 3, 1964.
Despite the mania surrounding the bands' visit, 1964 was still a simpler time, as evidenced by the Beatles' contract rider, the portion that details musicians' hospitality needs.

In 1964, the Beatles were very easy to please. In his letter to Robert Weedon at the Indiana State Fair, dated Aug. 10, three weeks before their historic appearance, Beatles' handler Ira Sidelle of General Artists Corp. wrote that "we would appreciate it very much" if the lads' dressing room could be equipped with "a supply of clean towels, chairs, a case of cold Coca Cola, and if at all possible, a portable TV set." [extract from beatlesmagazine]


.This post consists of MP3's (320kps) ripped from my Grapefruit CD Bootleg and includes the usual 'red' CD artwork. I have also included some covers for other releases of this show and select photos from the concert.  Please note that the 2nd set on this bootleg is not from their 2nd Indianapolis show but rather from their Philadelphia concert held the night before on the 2nd of September, 1964.  Both concerts are crystal clear on this release and free from the distraction of the screaming masses normally associated with their concerts.
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Tracklist:
Indianapolis
01. – Intro (1:21)
02. – Twist and Shout (1:22)
03. – You Can’t Do That (3:10)
04. – All My Loving (2:18)
05. – She Loves You (2:41)
06. – Things We Said Today (2:16)
07. – Roll Over Beethoven (3:15)
08. – Can’t By Me Love (2:41)
09. – If I Fell (2:13)
10. – I Want To Hold Your Hand (3:13)
11. – Boys (2:29)
12.– A Hard Day’s Night (3:04)
13. – Long Tall Sally (0:53)
Philadelphia
14. – Intro (0:30)
15. – Twist and Shout (1:19)
16. – You Can’t Do That (3:14)
17. – All My Loving (2:21)
18. – She Loves You (2:34)
19. – Things We Said Today (2:10)
20. – Roll Over Beethoven (3:09)
21. – Can’t By Me Love (2:39)
22. – If I Fell (2:10)
23. – I Want To Hold Your Hand (2:59)
24. – Boys (2:30)
25. – A Hard Day’s Night (2:52)
26. – Long Tall Sally (1:59)  
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The Beatles:
John Lennon: vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
Paul McCartney: vocals, bass guitar
George Harrison: vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
Ringo Starr: vocals, drums
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 The Beatles Unauthorised Link (115Mb)
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(Australian 1981 - 1984, 1995 - Present)
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Peter Cupples has been delighting Australian audiences for three decades. Originally with ‘Stylus’ in the late 70’s, then through the 80’s with the Peter Cupples Band featuring the likes of ‘David Hirshfelder’, ‘Virgil Donati’, ‘Ross Ingles’ and ‘Rob Little’.
Cupples is known by most singers as ‘the singers singer’ and is widely respected by his peers.
Some of his biggest fans come from far and wide ‘Bill Schnee’ producer of ‘Boz Scaggs’ Amy Grant’and ‘Huey Lewis and the News’, ‘legendary horn arranger ‘Gerry Hay ’ and ‘Harvey Mason’ to name a few.
He was the first white singer to sing on the Motown label with ‘Stylus’ and has always maintained a deep respect for soul music.

Peter recalls on his own website:
The band played the Melbourne pub band circuit in the early 80's when pub rock was big business around town. We loved what we were doing, and we felt that we were forging ahead and defining new trends in music. We had a decent publicity machine behind us, and generated a good amount of interest in Australia and overseas. We supported some top overseas artists and received critical acclaim. The album and singles sold well, particularly in Melbourne, but we never received the commercial success that we needed to take the band to the next level.

We never managed to put together the sound that was needed for a big Aussie hit. Maybe we were a bit too different, maybe the timing wasn't right.. - it's hard to say - but we were playing the music we loved playing, and our loyal fans followed us around the circuit as we continued in our pursuit of success.
We started working towards the second album "Half The Effort Twice The Effect". The songs had already become part of our set, and the fans had received them well. We had enough material to put down a follow up to 'Fear Of Thunder'. It was just a matter of working out with the record company which direction the album would take.

Louie Shelton, who is a legendary guitar player from America, came to Australia to produce ‘Half the Effort, Twice the Effect’ back in 1983.  That’s when I first met Louie.  Louie was inducted into America’s Musician’s Hall of Fame in 2009. He played on all The Monkees’ stuff. He has also played with The Jackson Five, Marvin Gaye, Boz Scaggs, Lionel Ritchie, Barbra Streisand.

'Half The Effort' was recorded for the American market and as good a recording as it is it is a bit of an orphan. It was never really given its chance to find a place in the local market and suffered from a lack of marketing. It was never even released in the U.S… Locally it was labelled as an American recording and in America it sounded like too many other American bands.  That being said,it was a beautiful album and I loved the music on it. Louis managed to get the legendary Gerry Hey to provide the horns section when he mixed it in the U.S.

"Love Of Another World" was the first single and features that horn section.

"Party Lights" was a poppy song that got some airplay.. Probably the peoples favourite song on the album was a little ballad called "Sitting Here".. Whilst being slightly departed from our rock 'n' roll roots it never failed to bring the house down when played live. We finished it with a little three part harmony that still sounds wonderful today. People still come up to me today and mention that little number,20 years on.

However, for the second time in my career I had reached a stage where the constant drain and grind of touring had worn me down. Similar to the end of the Stylus years, this period in the Peter Cupples Band signaled to me that it was time for a new direction in life.


In an interview with Peter Cupples, conducted by Sharyn Hamey at RockClub40, Cupples talks about his musical inspirations:

Peter has drawn his musical inspiration from a variety of artists. 
“James Taylor, for one.  I met James Taylor in Melbourne many years ago. We got to have a beer together and a bit of a chit chat for half an hour. I’d been to see his concert actually and, after his concert, his manager brought him to the night club owned by my manager and I was there and we just sat down and had a few beers. The two managers went off and James and I were sitting at the bar, having a beer and talking about growing up in the country. He was very affable, very quiet in a way and very humble. It was one of the great thrills for me.  I was a massive Taylor fan.  I also admire Stevie Wonder as a complete package… as a musician, as a writer and as a singer - just awesome! I’ve always loved soul singers. The real soul singers like Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Levi Stubbs from the original ‘Four Tops’, ‘Earth, Wind and Fire’ – I’m a big fan of ‘Earth, Wind and Fire.’ That’s from a singer’s point of view. From a musician’s point of view, I love guitar players like Larry Cahill. Love Sting as a poet, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan… as writers.  And I really admire Neil Finn.”I point out that there are probably a lot of people who draw inspiration from Peter Cupples as well. “Actually,” he admits, rather reluctantly, “I had an email the other day from a bass player who is playing with Billy Joel and has played with Madonna and he grew up in Melbourne, following my band, and he drew inspiration from there and he said ‘If it wasn’t for you, I probably wouldn’t have pursued music.’ So he’s making a fortune out of it,”  Peter laughs  “and I’m making nothing! Seriously, though, it certainly is wonderful when someone takes the time out to let you know about it. It gives you a certain amount of satisfaction, I suppose. We all like to think that we’re doing something good.”

Peter is still gigging these days doing mostly solo stuff but has recently tied up with the legendary Jon English to form "Uncorked". They have embarked on producing a lifestyle type program based around our music, wine, food and travel, all rolled in together. We have played together at a number of vineyards, and have filmed a pilot special in Tasmania earlier this year. They are hoping to expand the show, to cover the other parts of Australia, when they secure a network deal.

Jon English & Peter Cupples

This post consists of FLACs & MP3's (320kps) ripped from my recently acquired vinyl - a nice little find at the Essendon Secondhand Record Store. Although the front cover was slightly damaged, the vinyl itself is flawless. I have manged to photoshop repair the cover artwork for you, which is also included along with label scans. This album really rocks with the help of some accomplished Australian musicians, including Virgil Donati (Taste, Southern Sons, Jon Stevens) on drums and David Hirschfelder (LRB, John Farnham, Dragon) on keyboards.  If you liked his 'Fear of Thunder' album, then you won't be disappointed with this later release.
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Track Listing
01 - Don't You Leave Me Now
02 - Let Me Crawl
03 - Love Of Another World
04 - Just Can't Live
05 - Never Mind
06 - Party Lights
07 - In The Pitts
08 - Sitting Here
09 - Do You Still Remember Me
10 - On The Run

The Band:
Peter Cupples - Vocals
Ross Inglis - Lead & Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
Louie Shelton - Guitar
Virgil Donati - Drums & Percussion
Brian Hamilton - Bass, Fretless Bass
David Hirschfelder - Keyboards
Dario D'Angelo Bidino - Backing Vocals
Recorded by Ross Cockle at AAV Australia; additional recording at Richmond Recorders, Melbourne, Australia and Blue Harbour Studios, Los Angeles

Peter Cupples MP3 Link (88Mb)
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Peter Cupples FLAC Link (232Mb)
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(New Zealand 1976 - Present)
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Born in New Zealand in 1956, singer/songwriter Jenny Morris began singing in the Wide-Mouthed Frogs in the late '70s. She joined the Crocodiles in 1980 and moved to Sydney, Australia, with that band in 1981. The Crocodiles disbanded soon after. Morris released a number of solo singles, with her first venture being the theme for the film Puberty Blues, as well as released an album with QED which produced a massive hit with "Everywhere I Go" in 1984.

In 1985, Morris joined INXS as a backing singer for the Listen Like Thieves world tour, before releasing her first solo album 'Body & Soul' in 1987. The album was a success, selling over 70,000 copies in Australia (platinum status), and produced a number of hit singles, including "You I Know," written by Neil Finn. Her second album, 'Shiver', consolidated her position as one of Australia's leading female singer/songwriters by selling over 250,000 copies, although her third album 'Honey Child' was a comparative flop, producing one hit single "Break In The Weather" plus two others that missed the Top 40 completely. 'The Story So Far', a best-of compilation, was released in 1992, but the rest of the '90s saw little of note from Morris, apart from an album called 'Salvation Jane' in 1995. The appropriately titled single “Downtime” arrived in 2002 with the album 'Hit & Myth' following later that year.
In 2004 Listen: The Very Best of Jenny Morris was released, with the Alive DVD landing in 2005. A year later, Clear Blue in Stormy Skies appeared, filled with acoustic versions of some of the singer’s most popular songs. ~ Jonathan Lewis
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Album Review
Honeychild is the third solo studio album by New Zealand singer Jenny Morris, released in October 1991  by East West Records. The album went for the same style as Morris's other two albums' acoustic pop, with a hint of dance music, and was produced by Nick Launay, with some songs co-produced by Mark Forrester. The album included a cover version of the song "Tempted" by the English band Squeeze.

Honeychild was Morris's second most successful album, after Shiver, peaking at #5 in Australia, and being accredited platinum by ARIA. Morris also received a nomination in the "Best Female Artist" category at the 1992 ARIA Music Awards.

"Break In the Weather", the first single released from the album in September 1991, became Morris's highest-charting single in Australia, peaking at #2. It also peaked at #5 in New Zealand. "I've Had You", released in November 1991, fared less well on the charts, peaking at #39 in both Australia and New Zealand. "Zero", the third single from the album, peaked at #33 in New Zealand, and number #89 in Australia. The final single released from the album, "Crackerjack Man", failed to chart.

It was always going to be difficult for Jenny Morris to follow the success of 'Shiver', but Honeychild was not the way to go about it. Honeychild continued in the same vein of sunny pop that her previous two albums had exploited. However, by the time this album was released, it was starting to wear a little thin. The biggest single from this disc, "Break in the Weather," is a re-write of Shiver's "She Has to Be Loved," yet it's still the disc's best track; an indication of the quality of the rest.

Not one of her better albums, Honeychild still remains the last noteworthy Jenny Morris release. ~Jonathan Lewis, Rovi

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STOP PRESS
ARIA award- winning singer Jenny Morris revealed today (Sunday 13th October, 2015) that she has a rare neurological disorder that has forced her ro stop performing. Morris, 59, has spasmodic dysphonia, which causes spasms in the larynx.
The condition means Morris is no longer able to sing and has forced her into retirement from the stage.
“I sound like a 50-year-old crone who’s been smoking three packs a day for 30 years, and not in a sexy way,” she told a Herald Sun Reporter. “I have no idea whether I will sing again. At this point, I can’t see that I would want to charge people to hear me sing.”

Morris first began noticing 10 years ago that her singing voice was not performing the way she wanted it to. Her speaking voice soon began to sound “croaky”, forcing Morris to seek professional medical help.
Morris said the diagnosis was “a terrible loss” for someone who has been singing all her life, but she will remain active in the music industry. “I think having issues with my voice is not a reason to shy away from the world,” she said.
“It’s just a glitch and it’s not a good enough reason not to do what you’re passionate about.” While speech therapy brought some relief, Morris decided a performance at Sydney’s Taronga Park Zoo would be her last.
These days, Morris continues to chair the board of the Australasian Performing Rights Association (APRA) and is also the co-founder of an annual event called The Art of Music, which brings together some of Australia’s top artists and musicians to raise money for music therapy.
“Jenny came out of nowhere with the most succinct and beautiful idea for such an important cause, and it has brought a whole community of people together,” said award-winning artist Ben Quilty, who’s participated every year since the event’s inception.
“It’s hard not to think that Jenny was even unconsciously aware that the charity she supports is giving [disadvantaged people] the ability to communicate… She must feel a huge sense of achievement out of that. If she doesn’t, she’s mad. We all see it and the arts community sees her as a real hero.”

I'm sure that anyone who has heard Jenny sing will agree that this latest news is a blow to the Australian Music Industry and that our thoughts go out to Jenny while she deals with this debilitating illness.
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This post consists of FLACs and MP3 (320kps) ripped from CD and includes album artwork for both LP and CD.  While listening to this album, appreciate the wonderful vocals of Jenny Morris and the musicianship of her backing artists, including Andrew Farriss (INXS), Chong Lim, and Lindsay Fields (John Farnham).
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Track Listing
01 - Break in the Weather
02 - Zero
03 - Mercy
04 - I've Had You
05 - Lost in Heaven
06 - Tempted
07 - Crackerjack Man
08 - Action
09 - Tall Poppies
10 - There for You
11 - Tangled in Love
12 - Near

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Jenny Morris FLACs (362Mb)
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Jenny Morris MP3's ( 132Mb)
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(England 1978–1982, 1985–1986, 1990–1993, 2005–present)
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Even though the band followed this brush with stardom by performing at Wembley stadium with Elton John and The Eagles in 1974, two years later disillusionment had set in and Stackridge officially threw in the towel. Andy remained in London doing session work and pub gigs while James opted for an altogether more laid-back lifestyle in Bath.

The two remained in touch though, occasionally posting each other cassette tapes of their latest creations, until finally deciding in the summer of 1978 to actually get together in Bath to record a demo.

The Korgis First LP

Recorded in the top-floor apartment of classical composer David Lord, the four new songs attracted the attention of Nick and Tim Heath, sons of the celebrated 1940s bandleader Ted Heath, who had recently left E.M.I. to set up their own publishing company. Nick and Tim were especially convinced that one tune had great radio-friendly potential: If I Had You. Persuading record companies of this however proved to be well-nigh impossible and so the idea was inevitably mooted, “why not form your own record company?” And thus was born Rialto Records.

Andy and James were immediately given the green light to get to work on an album’s worth of new material and after five months of intensive writing and recording released their debut as The Korgis in 1979.

The album was an interesting amalgamation of influences: the Beatles-esque melodicism of "I Just Can’t Help It" and "If I Had You", the quirky stripped-down New-Wave rock of "Young ‘N’ Russian and Chinese Girl" and the wildly eccentric Stackridgian wordplay of "Dirty Postcards" and "Mount Everest Sings The Blues".

The critics loved it, Radio One D.J. Tony Blackburn played "If I Had You" to death and before they knew it, after ten years of trying to make it in the musicbiz, Andy and James suddenly found they had a top twenty hit. The boys now made an unfortunate ‘error of judgement’. They decided to remain a mysterious ‘studio-only’ band and eschew live performances.

The Buggles had probably set the precedent for this attitude and after six years of continuous country-wide touring as Stackridge, staying in one place simply writing and recording probably seemed very appealing indeed. But it did turn out to be a mistake. The Korgis never really secured a strong profile and despite the global success that was just round the corner, didn’t make that all important connection with the record-buying public.

The global success came in the form of the modern-day classic "Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime" from the second Korgis album, 1980’s 'Dumb Waiters'. Again written and recorded in Bath with producer David Lord, Dumb Waiters largely continued where the first album left off but perhaps with a more self-consciously commercial orientation. "Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime" reached #5 in the UK in 1980 and #18 in the U.S. The song topped the charts in both France and Spain and featured on the Korgis second studio album Dumb Waiters which peaked at #40 in the UK album charts.

Alongside the worldwide smash "Everybody’s Got To".. there were some notable highlights: "Perfect Hostess", "If It’s Alright With You Baby" and "Rovers Return"; the homages to Blondie: "It’s No Good Unless You Love Me" and "Dumb Waiters" and perhaps the menacing Mean Streets rock of "Intimate". The odd thing about the album is the fact that Andy is largely absent.

The pressure of trying to capitalize on unexpected success, fundamental disagreements on how to present and arrange the new material, plus the exhaustion of intense and claustrophobic recording resulted in Andy walking out on the project half-way to completion.

Neither James nor Andy knew if this abandonment was to be temporary or permanent but James carried on regardless, having no choice but to try and sing over the backing tracks already recorded in keys geared to Andy’s lower registers. The results are less than convincing but at least the album was finished.

Andy and James were still estranged for the making of 'Sticky George', the band’s third album (1981). James continued to work with session players Phil Harrison and Stuart Gordon as he had on Dumb Waiters, but with much background tension induced by suspicious record-company wheeling and dealing, not to mention the unenviable task of trying to emulate the massive recent success of Everybody’s Got To.. the now solitary Korgi experienced an out-of-character meltdown.

There was an acrimonious bust-up with Phil and Stuart and a very noticeable loss of artistic direction with the music. The edge and eccentricity of the first two albums had disappeared and what remained was a bit of a watered-down ‘Fleetwood Mac meets Paul Simon’ hodge-podge. However, "Can’t We Be Friends Now", "That Was My Big Mistake", "All The Love In The World" and "Living On The Rocks" are very pleasant examples of Korgi balladeering and for these alone the album is not to be overlooked.

Next followed a rather unexpected episode: in 1982 James recorded a one-off Korgis single with trend-setting producer Trevor Horn.

"Don’t Look Back" featured Ann Dudley on keyboards and Mel Collins on tenor sax - James once again in Paul Simon mode with a delicate, introspective ballad.

Unfortunately, Trevor’s involvement still didn’t achieve the hoped-for chart action and as with Stackridge a decade earlier, The Korgis having come to a bit of a dead end were effectively put to bed for the next seven years.

By the early 1990s Andy Davis had toured the world twice playing keyboards for Tears For Fears, while James Warren had been content to tour the pubs and wine-bars of Bristol and Bath performing Simon & Garfunkel and Beatles favourites with his old friend John Baker (who used to sing with Roland Orzabal before the latter went on to form Tears For Fears).

Andy now had his own studio space in Bath (shared with Will Gregory later of Goldfrapp fame) and the idea of recording a new Korgis album gradually took shape - but this time the band would be a trio.

The voices of James and John Baker blended very smoothly together and John’s easy-going presence would provide a welcome counter-balance to the fractious intensity of Andy and James’ working relationship. That was the theory behind John Baker’s involvement in the new project and it worked very well. The album that eventually emerged from Andy’s ‘Doghouse’ studio, This World’s For Everyone (1992), was a definite return to form.

The influence of World Music was evident on the title track, "One Life" and "Third Time Around". The massed chorus harmonies, acoustic rhythms and latin percussion of "One Life" were redolent of Crosby, Stills & Nash while "Wreckage Of A Broken Heart", "Who Are These Tears For Anyway?" and "Hunger" with their lyrical explorations of the darker side of sexual relationships, demonstrated once again the incredible musical versatility of the band.

For the first time also there were collaborations with ‘outside’ writers: Helen Turner, keyboardist with Paul Weller, penned two soft rock contributions with Andy Davis, "Show Me" and "Love Turned Me Around". Basically this mature Korgis collection seemed to effortlessly cater for every ‘Adult Orientated Rock’ taste.

What have Andy and James been up to since the year 2000? Andy started the new millenium as a high-flying session player once again, this time touring the world as keyboard player for Goldfrapp.

James by contrast had become the father of twins at the age of 48 and so music-making was understandably not his chief preoccupation.

However, 2005 and 2006 saw two fine additions to the band’s discography, The Korgis Kollection and Unplugged, released on independent label Angel Air. The Kollection had the added bonus of featuring new specially written tracks: Andy’s taut, electronic "Find Yourself Another Fool", James’ "Come To Me" - sounding like something John Barry might have written for a James Bond movie - and two John Baker- James Warren collaborations, "It All Comes Down To You" and "I Wonder What’s Become Of You".

The Kollection also boasts one bona-fide rarity: possibly pop music’s most overlooked and underplayed Christmas song, "Wish You A Merry Christmas".

The Unplugged sessions are well worth checking out, with Andy, James and John Baker performing excellent stripped-down renditions of all the well-known Korgis tracks plus a previously unheard "That’s What Friends Are For" and the seldom-aired "Lines" and "It Won’t Be The Same Old Place".

As far as live performance was concerned, Andy and James returned to their Stackridge roots. They hit the road around 2007 with several permutations of personnel, eventually settling on a very serviceable five-piece combo they’ve continued to tour with up until the time of writing (2014).

Andy has simultaneously been performing with his own acoustic trio DLM (Davis, Lindley and Mullan) while James plays weddings, parties and corporate events with The Meanies function band. And how about The Korgis appearing live? Amazingly, Andy and James plan to make that happen at a venue near you in 2015.

It’s only taken them 35 years to get round to it, but they’re confident it will have been well worth the wait. [extract from Korgis Website, bio by Gavin Mulhoney, June 2014]
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James Warren

This post consists of FLACs and MP3's (320kps) ripped from my prize vinyl. I remember buying this album from the Melbourne University book shop, having heard their hit single on the radio that same day. Talk about impulse buying hey. When I played the album in my dorm room that night, I must have driven my mates nuts....I just played it over time and time again.. it was brilliant. Besides their hit single my favourite tracks are Intimate and Rovers Return.  This is a classic album, not to be missed. I'm only surprised it is not listed in Michael Lydon's (founding editor of Rolling Stones) book '1001 Albums you must hear before you die'!  As usual, full album artwork and record label scans are included.
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Track Listing
01 - Silent Running
02 - Love Ain't Too Far Away
03 - Perfect Hostess
04 - Drawn And Quartered
05 - Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime
06 - Intimate
07 - It's No Good Unless You Love Me
08 - Dumb Waiters
09 - If It's Alright With You Baby
10 - Rovers Return
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The Korgis are:
James Warren - Lead Vocals, Bass, Guitar
Phil Harrison - Keyboards, Percussion
Stuart Gordon - Guitar, Violin
Guest Artists:
Andy Davis - Drums, Keyboards, Percussion, Backing Vocals
David Lord - Keyboards, Percussion
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The Korgis FLACS Link (216Mb)
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The Korgis MP3 Link (81Mb)
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Before things get too serious here at Rock On Vinyl, I thought it might be fun to post a song / album at the end of each month, that could be categorized as being either Weird, Obscure, Crazy or just plain Korny.
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In 1988, The Comedy Company became the most successful comedy program of the decade being the highest rated weekly television program, particularly of note it ran against the Nine Network popular current events show 60 Minutes which shared the same time slot. Much of its success was due to it being the only family entertainment on television on a Sunday night. The Comedy Company remained the consistently highest rating weekly television program for two years.
Many of the stars of The Comedy Company came from a 1985 Seven Network show called 'The Eleventh Hour', which starred Mary-Anne Fahey, Ian McFadyen, Mark Mitchell, Glenn Robbins, Peter Moon and Steve Vizard.   Fahey, McFadyen, Mitchell and Robbins went to The Comedy Company whilst Steve Vizard and Peter Moon went to the Seven Network series Fast Forward.
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The Comedy Company premiered many famous characters such as 'Con The Fruiterer'& 'Kylie Mole' - both featured here in this month's WOCK on Vinyl. Other characters were Col'n Carpenter, Uncle Arthur and David Rabbitborough. Some of these characters still remain minor Australian icons. Con the Fruiterer, one of the more popular characters appears even to this day on a variety of shows, as does his wife Marika. Comedian Kym Gyngell also created a spin-off series called Col'n Carpenter (1990–1991) based on his character of the same name.
Kylie Mole was also featured in the second series of the ABC's Kittson, Fahey (1993). Notably, Glenn Robbins often did public appearances as Uncle Arthur and on The Panel he often references The Comedy Company by periodically slipping in and out of the character, as well as appearing in full costume as Arthur for The Panel Christmas Special in 2005.
The following YouTube clip will give you a good insight into the light hearted, family entertainment that The Comedy Company offered viewers on Sunday nights, throughout 1988

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Con The Fruiterer
Con The Fruiter, played and sung by 'Mark Mitchell' was born in Melbourne. He taught secondary school English for five years before becoming an advertising copy-writer and then a professional actor. Mark starred in the pioneering sketch comedy show 'The Eleventh Hour', a predecessor to his hit sketch show 'The Comedy Company'.

He has made many guest appearances on Australian television series such as SeaChange, Neighbours, Something in the Air, Blue Heelers, Prisoner and Dogwoman. Mitchell's best known character is Con Dickaletus aka 'Con the Fruiterer' whom he created after being served by two Greek Australian stall holders at Glenferrie Markets in 1984.
The character became known nationally from regular appearances in The Comedy Company, Con's catchphrases "cuppla days" and "bewdiful" entered the Australian vernacular.
In August 1989, then Prime Minister Bob Hawke appeared in a The Comedy Company sketch with Mitchell on the premise of presenting Con with Australian citizenship. In reply to Con's question as to when Hawke was going to fix up the country, Hawke took great delight in responding "cuppla days"
In 1988, Con released the single “A Cuppla Days” b/w “The Con Dance”. The two tracks were written and produced by Colin Hay & Greg Ham from the well known Aussie band Men At Work.
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Kylie Mole
Maryanne Fahey (born 19 August 1955 as Mary-Anne Waterman) is an Australian actor, comedian and writer. Fahey's Kylie Mole character – a scowling schoolgirl – was so popular she published the best-selling novel "My Diary by Kylie Mole" and also released the Double A-Side single with tracks "So Excellent" and "I Go, I Go", which hit #8 on the Australian ARIA chart in November 1988. A music video for "So Excellent" was also filmed.
As well as performing monologue comedy segments, "The Comedy Company" also featured Kylie Mole interviewing various celebrities, including Julian Lennon, Sylvester Stallone, the band INXS and Kylie Minogue on the show. Kylie Minogue also appeared in some of the comedy sketches playing Kylie Mole's second-best friend, Rebecca.
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So, for this months WOCK on Vinyl posting, here are the two Comedy singles featured above (taken from the Comedy Company Album) which I can only describe as:  yes, you guessed it - 'So Excellent'. Thanks goes to Ozzie Musicman for the Kylie Mole single rip and artwork.
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Comedy Company Singles (MP3/320kps)
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(U.S 1976 - Present)
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Prince Rogers Nelson (born June 7, 1958), known from 1993 to 2000 as an unpronounceable symbol (or, informally, 'The Artist Formerly Known as Prince', 'Tafkap', 'The Artist', etc), is a popular American musician. He had 1984's biggest hit song in the U.S. with "When Doves Cry", and he's arguably best known for his album 'Purple Rain' and his movie of the same name. During the 80s, Prince had comparable success with other 'mega-superstars' such as Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, and Madonna in terms of star power and sales. Both individually and with his backing groups 'The Revolution' and 'The New Power Generation', Prince has remained one of the world's most bestselling artists, even as his popularity has waned since the mid-90s,

Few other musicians have matched the formidable breadth of his talents as a multi-instrumentalist performer, with his skills including not just singing and dancing but also composing, producing, and playing multiple instruments while directing videos and movies. In fact, Prince played nearly all the instruments on his first five albums, and he has produced himself since signing with Warner Bros. as a mere teenager. In terms of style, Prince's music has spanned myriad genres and showed a debt to numerous past artists. From his early material, rooted in funk and soul, he has constantly expanded his musical palette throughout his career, absorbing many other genres such as pop, rock, jazz, and hip-hop.
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In 1991, Prince formed what he dubbed "The New Power Generation", the most versatile backing group that he has ever assembled. With their first album, 'Diamonds and Pearls', Prince reasserted his mastery of contemporary R&B. The album became his biggest hit since 1985, with the song "Cream" being a worldwide smash and countless fans loving the vibrant soulful ethos of the work. Other tunes such as "Money Don't Matter 2 Night" and "Diamonds and Pearls" earned major praise.

The Diamonds and Pearls Tour
Like several of his then-recent tours, Prince chose not to tour in the United States (the exception being the Lovesexy World Tour). It wouldn't be till 1993's Act I Tour before Prince did a full tour of the United States.

More extravagant than the previous year's Nude Tour, the Diamonds and Pearls Tour had more expensive set design, and additional band members. The setlist focused mainly on songs from the album, but was spattered with a number of greatest hits. Most songs were played in their entirety. Prince added a new horn section to the band and promoted a new hip-hop image with raps by Tony M.

After the departure of the remaining members of The Revolution after 1990's Nude Tour, Prince decided to officially dub this new band The New Power Generation. Most of the band transferred over from the Nude Tour. Levi Seacer, Jr. was switched from bass to guitar to replace the departed Miko Weaver while Sonny T. took over for Levi on bass. Tommy Barbarella was brought in as a replacement for Doctor Fink on keyboards.
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Prince added a new horn section to the band, dubbed the NPG Hornz who, while not being active on the Diamonds and Pearls album, would contribute greatly to Prince's albums for several years.

Dancers Diamond and Pearl were mainly eye candy and holdovers from promotional videos, but Mayte Garcia would be elevated to the focus of his next album, and eventually become Prince's bride [extract from wikipedia]
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This post is the second half of the heavily booted Rotterdam concert, recorded on 28th may, 1992 at the Ahoy' Sportpaleis, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.  It contains MP3 (320kps) ripped from the Australian AMCOS bootleg, released in 1993 and comes with full artwork. Below right is an alternative front cover for this bootleg which contains both volumes. The quality of the recording is excellent.
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Track Listing
01 - Thieves In The Temples    10:45
02 - Strollin'    2:27
03 - Insatiable    6:25
04 - Get Off    6:03
05 - Get Off II    3:32
06 - Turn This Mother Out    5:21
07 - Cream    5:51
08 - Dr. Feelgood    5:43
09 - 1999    2:45
10 - Baby I'm A Star    2:06
11 - Push    3:41
12 - Instrumental End    2:43

The Band:
Prince (vox, guitar)
Michael B. (drums)
Sonny T. (bass, vox)
Levi Seacer, Jr. (guitar, vox)Tommy Barbarella (keyboards)
Rosie Gaines (keyboards, vox)
Tony M. (dance, rap)
Damon Dickson (dance, vox)
Kirk Johnson (dance, percussion)
Michael Nelson (trombone)
Brian Gallagher (tenor saxophone)
Kathy J. (baritone saxophone)
Dave Jensen (trumpet)
Steve Strand (trumpet)
Mayte Garcia (dance)
Lori Elle (Werner) (dance)
Robia LaMorte (dance)
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Prince And The New Power Generation Link (136Mb)
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(New Zealand 1973 - Present)
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Dragon helped put the drugs into sex, drugs and rock & roll. Fronted by wild man Marc Hunter with brother Todd on bass, Robert Taylor on guitar, Paul Hewson on keyboards and Neil Storrey on drums, Dragon were the most exciting Australian band of the late 'yes. Fueled by an uncompromising attitude and a string of chart hits their influence is still evident.

Dragon embraced a melodic rock approach in keeping with the times, yet still retaining the sound that propelled them to stardom all those years ago. 'Rain' was the comeback single and to this day one of the best singles released in Australasian rock history. This album marked a rebirth for New Zealand's legendary rockers.

Originally a six-piece, the group's lush and intricate pop songs had given them two hit albums in New Zealand—Universal Radio and Scented Gardens For The Blind. Dragon was run by the Hunter brothers, Todd and Marc; the former played bass and provided the group with whatever direction they had. Marc, the younger brother, was born to be a star and his extroverted presence and sense of danger made him the most charismatic performer of the time.

Dragon were looking for a new direction in a new land. Their relationship with Vertigo / PolyGram came to an end after one single, 'Starkissed', penned by guitarist Ray Goodwin who was soon replaced by keyboardist Paul Hewson. Dragon found their spiritual home at the Bondi Lifesaver and adopted a tougher sound. Their set at the time included Lou Reed's ode to outsiders, 'Sweet Jane', some Roxy Music and their own material including a song titled 'Spunk Drunk'.

In October 1976 Dragon announced their new direction with the light funk of 'Get That Jive', which dominated the radio. So much for the heavy metal direction they had taken. Dragon, however, was to be forever strung on the tension between their melodic pop instincts and their often wild lives.

Marc Hunter

Drugs were very popular around the band and in September of 1976 drummer Neil Storrey had died of a heroin overdose. Paul Hewson suffered from chronic osteo problems and tended to self-medicate with narcotics. Ed St. John's first assignment as a journalist was to interview Dragon on the release of their debut Australian album, Sunshine. 'This writer can remember vividly his first interview with the group during which singer Marc Hunter methodically picked up Mandrax tablets and crushed them with a spanner. Generally speaking, Dragon's ability to make people uncomfortable enhanced their image,' he wrote.
Their producer Peter Dawkins pushed for the group's pop side and Dragon pushed back. Nevertheless, the New Zealanders quickly became one of the most popular acts in Australia. By the end of the year Sunshine was double gold and there was interest from CBS internationally. [extract from 'The Real Thing 1957 - Now', by Toby Creswell & Martin Fabinyi, Random House 1999, p93-94]

Between 1975 and 1979, Dragon scored a string of major hits on the Australian pop charts with songs including “April Sun in Cuba,” “Are You Old Enough” and “Still In Love With You” and with the albums Sunshine and O Zambezi, making them one of the country’s most popular rock acts. Marc Hunter left Dragon in 1979 due to health problems which were, by then, seriously affecting his performances. Singer Billy Rogers formerly of the Perth group Last Chance Cafe and violinist Richard Lee from the Melbourne band Sidewinder were recruited and the group recorded the Powerplay LP before breaking up. In the intervening years Marc released two successful solo singles, “Island Nights” (1979) and “Big City Talk” (1981) Todd had meanwhile teamed up with his partner Johanna Pigott, formerly of group XL Capris, and together they became a successful songwriting team.

Dragon 1983 (LR) Robert Taylor, Terry Chambers, Todd Hunter, Marc Hunter, Paul Hewson

Dragon briefly reformed in 1982 to pay off outstanding debts, with the band then staying together to have another shot at success. Their second comeback single, “Rain”, proved to be a massive hit, and Jacobson left the band for health reasons and was replaced by British drummer Terry Chambers, formerly from the band XTC. American keyboard player and producer Alan Mansfield also joined at this point. The band’s 1984 album 'Body and the Beat' became one of the biggest-selling albums in Australia and New Zealand and Dragon was restored to something close to its late 70s glory. Its public profile was further raised at this time by the Marc Hunter solo album, Communication. Paul Hewson left Dragon and died in New Zealand in January 1985.

Dragon 1984 (LR) Terry Chambers, Marc Hunter (rear), Alan Mansfield (front), Todd Hunter, Paul Hewson (front) and Robert Taylor (rear)

Band members Terry Chambers and Robert Taylor left some time after. American drummer Doane Perry replaced Chambers, and Taylor was eventually succeeded by Sydney guitar ace Tommy Emmanuel. This line-up produced the Todd Rundgren-produced 'Dreams of Ordinary Men' album and later toured Europe with Tina Turner under the name Hunter (in 1987). In 1987 while on tour with Tina, John Farnham asked Todd and Johanna to write a song for his next album. They wrote “Age Of Reason“ which went to No.1 in Australia and was a hit in Germany and Canada.

Dragon again split up in 1988 although a year later the Hunter brothers and Mansfield had reconvened once again for the Bondi Road album, which also featured Tommy Emmanuel. Dragon continued to record and tour with varying line-ups centred around Todd and Marc Hunter and Mansfield. Todd Hunter retired from the band in 1995 and worked for six years on the soundtrack of Heartbreak High the television series, after the 1995 album ‘‘Incarnations’‘, which featured reworkings of earlier hits.  In 1997 Marc Hunter was diagnosed with throat cancer and died on 17 July 1998. [extract from the harbour agency website]

To read a more extensive account of the recording of the album and their 1984 Body And The Beat tour - see the audioculture website
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Album Review
Few CDs scream summer to me the way most of the albums Dragon released in the eighties do.  I'd argue that no other band captured the overall atmosphere and spirit of summer in musical form the way Dragon did.

Marc Hunter - Solo Years

In 1979, after firing vocalist Marc Hunter and trying to continue without him Dragon split up and Marc Hunter released a couple of solo albums (Fiji Bitter and Big City Talk).  In the early 80s Dragon decided to have another go at it.  They updated their sound a bit and capitalized on the success of Hunter's Big City Talk album and single as the springboard to catapult them back onto the Aussie charts after a four year absence with the single "Rain".
Rain was so successful the band headed back to the studio to record a full album leaving enough space to include their latest hit... 'The Body and the Beat' was born.  Before even opening the LP, CD, or cassette sleeve the album cover suggests opening the windows to let the summer breeze flow through.

From the first bars of their hit single "Rain" through to the closing bars of "Fool" Dragon gives the listener a full on blast of that summer breeze.  The album is further augmented by the follow up hits "Cry" and "Magic".  But capturing the overall vibe of summer the best is "Cool Down".  You can see the heat shimmering off the pavement, the hot sun beating down on you, the sweat forming in droplets on your forehead.  This song so perfectly captures the heat of summer that even on the coldest days of winter listening to this song makes me want to crank up the Air Con.

The upbeat vibe of "Promises (So Far Away)" captures the magic and fun of summer nights and further establishes the whole summer vibe of the album:

    The moon is a sunlight
    It shines in the night

While it sounds dated today, the title track, "Body and the Beat" is a fun song with Todd Hunter's solid bass chops taking center stage.  The truth is, there's not really a bad track on the album-- there are good ones and great ones.  [extract from perplexio76]
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30th Anniversary Tour
Iconic rockers Dragon are celebrating another milestone in 2015 with the 30th anniversary of their acclaimed 'Body and The Beat' album. To pay homage to this classic release, the band is hitting the road for a string of party tour dates that will see them not only play all their biggest hits, but also the album in its entirety. This is a rare chance for music fans to celebrate one of the most popular albums of the 1980s performed by one of the most revered bands.

When the classic Dragon line-up of Marc and Todd Hunter, Robert Taylor, Paul Hewson and Kerry Jacobson reunited in 1982, it was with the intention of clearing debts from the decade before. But a hit song with lyrics that grew from a children’s nursery rhyme, and the following album and tour, had them again scaling the highest reaches of the Australian charts.

In the early 80s Dragon took to the new Rhinoceros Studios in East Sydney and turned out a bunch of tracks too good to be ignored. Michael Crawley, the A&R man for Polygram Records, heard the band playing Rain from the corridor of the studio and famously stormed into the control room doors shouting "What's that song, I've got to have it" followed closely by "What band are you?" Luckily Crawley, a recent import from the UK, was not familiar with Dragon's wild ways and reputation!

Dragon's Body And The Beat Tour Plane

The resulting album was Body And The Beat?, a platinum selling record that dominated the charts in Australia in the mid-1980s. This was the album that kicked of Dragon's “Glory Years” and it was Paul Hewson, Kerry Jacobson and Robert Taylor's final recorded outing with the band after many productive and epic years.

When the album was released in the band toured Australia on the Body and The Beat Tour. They leased two planes to get around and the tour barnstormed through Adelaide, Tasmania, Melbourne, Sydney, provincial New South Wales, the Gold Coast, Cairns and Brisbane, virtually selling out everywhere. Their final show of the tour sold out the Sydney Entertainment Centre on 10th August 1985 and was filmed and recorded for later release as The Live One.

Fast forward three decades and Dragon now consists of founding member Todd Hunter (bass), fellow Kiwi Mark Williams (lead vocals / acoustic guitar), Bruce Reid (electric guitar) and Pete Drummond (drums). The four-piece have been touring solidly over the past few years, playing to packed houses and garnering new fans along the way.

Dragon Today

 Todd says the band is already enjoying preparing for the 30th anniversary tour. “It’s great fun to play these songs again,” he says. “We don’t play them in our current set because there just isn’t time, so it will be great to give these songs a run for a change. We’ve been working on replicating the original parts and harmonies so there will be a lot to recognise. There is amazing affection for the songs off this album and it’s very enjoyable to celebrate a very specific point in the band’s development. There must be something timeless about a number of these songs because whenever we play people of much later generations are down the front singing all the words! It just doesn’t get better than that!”

In the exclusive two hour show Dragon will play two-sets jam-packed with hits. The band will play the entire 'Body And The Beat' album in the first set and Dragon’s “top ten hits” as voted by the Dragon Facebook fans on in the second set.

This is a show not to be missed as Dragon storm their way through the hits from the record like "Wilder World", "Cry", "Magic", "Body and The Beat", "Rain" and finish the night with the crowd singing anthems like "April Sun In Cuba", "Celebrate", "Speak No Evil" and "Are You Old Enough".

To mark the 30th anniversary Dragon will release 'Body And The Beat Live'. This album will exclusively available at the shows and from iTunes. [extract from hotoffthepress.com]
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This post consists of FLACs and MP3's (320kps) ripped from a newly acquired vinyl, picked up at my local 2nd hand record store for the bargain price of $5. As usual, you will find full album artwork for both LP and CD releases and label scans. As a bonus, I have also included the impressive B-Side to the single Rain called "It's Too Late" (see pic above). As far as I know, this track has not been available on any albums or compilations.
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Track Listing
01. Rain (3:39)
02. Promises (So Far Away) (4:15)
03. Wilder World (3:53)
04. Cry (3:47)
05. Cool Down (4:36)
06. Body and the Beat (4:27)
07. Witnessing (4:43)
08. Magic (3:59)
09. What am I Gonna Do? (3:42)
10. Fool (3:31)
11. It's Too Late (Bonus B-Side Single)
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The Band:
Marc Hunter: Vocals
Todd Hunter: Bass
Robert Taylor: Guitar
Terry Chambers: Drums
Paul Hewson: Keyboards
Alan Mansfield: Keyboards, Guitar

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Dragon MP3 Link (116Mb)
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Dragon FLACs Link (302Mb)
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(U.S 1962 - Present)
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Born in Dallas, Texas, Jan 3, 1945, Stephen Stills is a singer and something of a multi-instrumentalist - guitar, keyboards, drums. Back in the 60's, he played local folk-clubs, before dropping out of university to go to New York. There he performed with various groups, including Au Go Go Singers with Richie Furay, but was eventually lured to Los Angeles by what he felt was more creative musical environment.
He made abortive attempt to form a band with Van Dyke Parks, auditioned unsuccessfully for membership with the Monkees, and finally called the aforementioned Furay from New York to assist him in assembling a new band which became the legendary Buffalo Springfield. It was Stills who wrote Springfield's first U.S. hit in early 1967, the politically-conscious "For What It's Worth", plus other group stand-outs "Bluebird" and "Rock And Roll Woman".

When this group split in May 1968, Stills worked on a variety of projects: he turned down an offer to replace Al Kooper in Blood Sweat & Tears but he did cut a Supersession jam album, August 1968, with Kooper and Mike Bloomfield; and also played guitar for his girlfriend Judy Collins on her Who Knows Where The Time Goes? album (Nov 1968); and bass on Joni Mitchell's debut album (July 1968). He is also said during this period to have taken guitar lessons from Jimi Hendrix and cut a number of unreleased tracks with drummer Dallas Taylor.



Then in December 1968, Stills announced the team-up of Crosby Stills & Nash, which would produce an astonishing eponymous debut album evidencing Stills at peak of creativity. His epic-length Suite: "Judy Blue Eyes", written for Judy Collins, was that outfit's first U.S. hit (CSN&Y). Stills recorded his first solo album during latter days of this colossally-successful aggregation's traumatic life-span. When CSN&Y ended world tour at London's Royal Albeit Hall, February 1970, Stills stayed in England purchasing Ringo Stair's Surrey mansion for some £90,000. Employing a variety of stellar musicians - Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, John Sebastian, Crosby, Nash, Booker T., Cass Elliott, etc. - his selftitled solo album was cut at Island Studios, London, and Wally Heider's and Record Plant in Los Angeles and was an impressive solo debut. Hendrix had O.D.'d between recording and release in November 1970, and the set was dedicated to "James Marshall Hendrix".

Stills returned to CSN&Y for last few months of band's existence, then formed first own group line-ups using Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuels (bass), Dallas Taylor (drums), both ex CSN&Y side-men, plus Paul Harris (keyboads), Stephen Fromhob (guitar) and Memphis Horns brass section for tour purposes. Nucleus of band came together at Stills' Surrey home and he embarked on 52-date U.S. tour to promote second album, the somewhat less assured Stephen Stills II (July 1971).

This band metamorphosed into Manassas in October 1971 via Miami recording sessions on which Stills used services of singer/ guitarist Chris Hillman (ex Byrds, Flying Burritos) and Al Perkins (pdl stl). Hillman was virtual second-in-command to Stills' often outstanding and widely-acclaimed outfit; other members being Samuels, Taylor and Harris, and newcomer Joe Lala. Samuels later replaced by Kenny Passarelli.
The   band   toured   extensively and recorded two albums, including the classic double-set Manassas (May 1972) and Down The Road (January 1973).

However, in September 1973, Hillman, Perkins and Harris split to form Souther-Hillman-Furay Band. Stills, who had married French singer Veronique Sanson in spring 1973 and was by then living in Colorado, formed a second version of Stephen Stills Band retaining Lala, Passarelli, and bringing in guitarist Donnie Dacus, keyboardsman Jerry Aiello and noted session-drummer Russ Kunkel (James Taylor, etc.). This was only short-lived aggregation, however, because in May 1974 occurred the much-rumoured reunion of Crosby Stills Nash & Young. Lala and, briefly, Kunkel joined CSN&Y back-up squad for highly lucrative, widely-publicised one-off world tour ending in London February 1975.

By this time Stills had severed long-standing contract with Atlantic and signed to Columbia, who released Stills in June 1975. Something of a hotch-potch of material dating over previous five years, this failed to halt widespread opinion that Stills' talents were on decline - although the album was notable for record debut of aforementioned Donnie Dacus. Dacus, a young protege of Stills, co-wrote a number of tracks, and was important fixture in third incarnation of Steve Stills Band formed March 1975. Other personnel were Lala and Aiello, plus Ronald Ziegler (drums) and George Perry (bass).

Second Columbia album Illegal Stills (May 1976) was more spirited attempt to recapture former glory; later in '76 he teamed with Neil Young for a tour and album, and in 1977 recorded a reunion set with Crosby and Nash. [extract from The Illustrated New Musical Express Encyclopedia of Rock, by Nick Logan and Bob Woffindon, Salamander Books Limited, 1977 p225]

Album Review
Stephen Stills had nothing to prove, but he still did it anyway. A superstar of late Sixties California soft rock, Stills was already familiar with success by the time his first solo album came out. While in Buffalo Springfield he wrote the classic counterculture anthem "For What is Worth"; by 1970 he was a million-seller. At 25, the Texas-born musician had enjoyed a golden age few could touch.

However, critics underrated Stills in comparison with comrades Neil Young, David Crosby, and David Nash. With this album, he shut them all up.

Backed by an all-star lineup—including Jimi Hendrix (to whom the album is dedicated), Eric Clapton, BookerT, Crosby, Rita Coolidge, Nash, John Sebastian, and Cass Elliot—Stills' raspy voice and strumming guitar injects the standard singer-songwriter formula with his idiosyncratic combination of grit and melancholy. The album fuses CSN&Y high harmonies ("Do for The Others"), gospel-soaked R&B in the Leon Russell / Joe Cocker school (the splendorous "Church"), Latin rhythms (the passionately driven single "Love The One You're With," a radio favorite), folk blues (electric in "Go Back Home," acoustic in the live track "Black Queen"), and hard rock (funky, driven "Old Times Good Times"). A reflective quality is never far below the surface, though.

The song "We Are Not Helpless" was written in response to Neil Young's song "Helpless" from the Déjà Vu album and the song and "Black Queen" have remained in the performing repertoire of both Stills and CSN. "Love the One You're With," Stills' biggest solo hit single, peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 on December 19, 1970, and another single pulled from the album, "Sit Yourself Down," went to #37 on March 27, 1971.

The album peaked at #3 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart in the week of December 5, 1970. It was reissued by WEA after being digitally remastered using the HDCD process on December 5, 1995. "We Are Not Helpless" and "Love the One You're With" were first performed in concert on May 12, 1970 during Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's Déjà Vu tour.

Ten superb songs sketch a soulful journey through a deeply personal Ecclesiastes of love, and the lack of it. With his debut album, Stephen Stills manages to imprint his own strong and lyrical signature on a vibrant mosaic of American music.

This album has been listed in Michael Lydon's well known book '1001 Albums you Must Hear Before You Die'

This post consists of FLACS and MP3's (320kps) ripped from my shrink wrapped vinyl which I purchased from Reading Records in Carlton back in 1978, for the pricely sum of $12.99 (US Print / Import) \. As a poor Uni Student this was a considerable outlay, but my key objective was to own anything that was associated with Hendrix - in this case the track "Old Times Good Times" features him on guitar.  Full album artwork for both LP and CD are included along with several single picture covers for his infamous "Love The One You're With" . 
So, this is one album you can strike off the list - only 1,000 to go.....
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Track Listing
01. "Love the One You're With"– 3:04
02. "Do for the Others"– 2:52
03. "Church (Part of Someone) – 4:05
04. "Old Times Good Times"** – 3:39
05. "Go Back Home"– 5:54
06. "Sit Yourself Down"– 3:05
07. "To a Flame"– 3:08
08. "Black Queen"– 5:26
09. "Cherokee"– 3:23
10. "We Are Not Helpless"– 4:20
** Features Jimi Hendrix on guitar

Stephen Stills — vocals, guitars, bass, piano, organ, steel drum, percussion; horn and string arrangements on "Church,""To a Flame," and "Cherokee"
Jimi Hendrix — electric guitar on "Old Times Good Times"
Eric Clapton — electric guitar on "Go Back Home"
Booker T. Jones — organ on "Cherokee"; backing vocal on "We Are Not Helpless"
Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuel — bass on "Love the One You're With,""Church,""Old Times Good Times,""Go Back Home," and "Sit Yourself Down"
Conrad Isedor — drums on "Church" and "Old Times Good Times"
Johnny Barbata — drums on "Go Back Home" and "Sit Yourself Down"
Ringo Starr — drums on "To a Flame" and "We Are Not Helpless"
Dallas Taylor — drums on "Cherokee"
Jeff Whittaker — congas on "Love the One You're With" and "Old Times Good Times"
Sidney George — flute, alto saxophone on "Cherokee"
Rita Coolidge, David Crosby, Priscilla Jones, John Sebastian — backing vocals on "Love the One You're With,""Go Back Home,""Sit Yourself Down," and "We Are Not Helpless"
Graham Nash — backing vocals on "Love the One You're With,""Sit Yourself Down," and "We Are Not Helpless"
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Stephen Stills MP3 Link (103Mb)

Stephen Stills FLACs Link (243Mb)
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(U.K 1962 - 1970)
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From their earliest bootlegs in the late 1960s, the Beatles have been one of the most bootlegged rock artists.
Beatles bootleg recordings have arisen from a multitude of sources, including broadcast performances, recordings of live shows, test discs, privately distributed copies of demos, and covertly copied studio session tapes. The largest single source of Beatles bootleg material is the set of Nagra audio tapes from the 1969 filming of the Get Back / Let It Be rehearsal and recording sessions. Performances for the BBC, stage and concert recordings, and studio outtakes have also been extensive sources for Beatles bootlegs.
This Mainline Music bootleg release contains no less than 7 different sources of recordings and covers a time span starting in 1963 up until 1968.  The following are brief accounts for each of these recording sessions, sourced from a variety of websites and Rolling Stones Magazine. Tracks included on this bootleg are listed in bold.

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Radio Broadcast, BBC Paris Studio, Regent Street, London, UK - 4th April 1963

Having taped sessions for two programs in the Light Program radio series, "Side by Side" only the previous Monday, the Beatles returned to the BBC on Thursday, 4th April, 11:00 am to 2:00 pm to record a third. (An option for a fourth appearance in the series, to have been taped between 2:00 and 6:00 pm this day, was not taken up, however). 

The Beatles - 1963, April 4, 12 Regent St. Photo by Kevin Naill

The Beatles and the Karl Denver Trio did not bother to re-record their duet of "Side by Side", the BBC using the April 1st tape for this transmission, which took place between 5:00 and 5:29 pm on Monday, June 24th. (It was unusual for the Corporation to keep recordings so long before broadcast, and this was certainly the longest any Beatles tape remained "in the can"). Listeners to the show heard the group perform "Too Much Monkey Business", Love Me Do", "Boys", "I'll Be On My Way" and "From Me To You". [extract from beatlesradio.com]

The recording of  "I'll Be On My Way" is the only one by The Beatles known to exist. It was written by Lennon-McCartney for Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas, another act managed by Brian Epstein. The group recorded it at Abbey Road on 14 March as the b-side to their cover of The Beatles' Do You Want To Know A Secret. Due to its rarity, I have included it on this bootleg as a Bonus Track.
After the BBC session, the Beatles attended photographic sessions with Dezo Hoffmann at mens-wear store Cecil Gee, London, and outside the BBC Paris Studio.

The Beatles - 1963, April 4, Photo session in Dezo Hoffman's studio

This episode of Side By Side was broadcast from 5pm on Monday 24 June 1963 on the BBC Light Programme. I'll Be On My Way, meanwhile, was released in 1994 on the Live At The BBC collection. [extract from beatlesbible.com]

Radio Broadcast, Karlaplansstudion, Karlaplan, Stockholm, Sweden - 24th Oct 1963

Start of Sweden Tour. Concert at the Karlaplansstudion, Karlaplan, Stockholm. Recorded for Swedish radio and for Swedish TV, through the programme `Drop In'. Beatles performance of She Loves You, Twist And Shout, Long Tall Sally and I Saw Her Standing There aired on Stockholm TV Show "Drop In" and recorded, later to be illegally included on Bootleg records like 'Sweden 1963', 'Stockholm 1964' and this boot 'Unlicensed'

The Beatles - 1963, October 23, London airport, on the way to Stockholm, Sweden

Although their short tour of Sweden didn't start until the following day, The Beatles recorded a radio appearance for producer Klas Burling's Sveriges Radio (Swedish National Radio) show Pop '63. In the morning they had attempted to do some sightseeing in Stockholm. Beatlemania had already broken out in Sweden, and they were soon swamped by hundreds of fans. They also held a press conference which was barely more orderly.

The recording took place at the Karlaplansstudion, later the Maximteatern - in Stockholm, in front of a studio audience of teenage girls. A hundred tickets were given away, but more than twice as many people turned up in the hope of seeing the performance. The Beatles played a spirited set of seven songs: I Saw Her Standing There, From Me To You, Money (That's What I Want), Roll Over Beethoven, You Really Got A Hold On Me, She Loves You and Twist And Shout.  Between Money and Roll Over Beethoven the group took a short break, and local band Hasse Rosén and the Northmen performed three songs.
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This edition of the radio show was subtitled 'Popgrupp från Liverpool på besök i Stockholm', which translates as 'Pop group from Liverpool visiting Stockholm'. It was recorded from 5pm and broadcast on Monday 11 November 1963 from 10.05-10.30pm. Studio engineer Hans Westman had trouble attempting to limit the distortion on The Beatles' recordings, a problem caused by the lack of a rehearsal and sound check. There were also problems converting the group's UK cables to Swedish electrical outlets.

Westman used six RCA and Velocity microphones to record The Beatles: two for vocals, one for the drums, a fourth by Paul McCartney's bass amplifier, and two more for John Lennon and George Harrison's guitar amps. Four more were used to pick up ambient noise including sounds from the audience. Although he later described it as "the worst recording I've ever made", The Beatles later expressed delight at the results.

Han's Westman comments.....I wasn't satisfied with the recording and I apologised The Beatles for the high distortion. But they seemed very delighted. I lost control over the height of the sound. The amplifiers couldn't make it when The Beatles started to play. It was the highest recording level I had seen and certainly the worst distortion I ever had heard.  Now, when I've seen the result, I can understand why The Beatles was so delighted. They had, already way back in 1963, started to use the distortion to create a very special sound.

Afterwards, The Beatles left the studio through the front doors, as there was no stage exit. They boarded a blue Fiat 1500 parked outside the studio, and were promptly besieged by fans. [extract from beatlesbible.com]

Festival Hall, Melbourne and filmed by Channel 9 TV for 'The Beatles Sing For Shell' June 15th 1964

The Beatles played two shows a night for three nights in Melbourne in June, 1964, and the sixth and last show was videotaped by Australia's Channel 9 for use in the hour-long special  "The Beatles Sing For Shell", first broadcast on July 1st and named after the oil company which sponsored the broadcast.

They played: I Saw Her Standing There, You Can`t Do That, All My Loving, She Loves You, Till There Was You, Roll Over Beethoven, Can`t Buy Me Love, Twist And Shout, This Boy and Long Tall Sally

This was The Beatles' last of three consecutive nights of shows in the city's Festival Hall, Each night they gave two concerts, which were enjoyed by a total of 45,000 people. After the night's shows, The Beatles attended a private party held in the city's affluent suburb Toorak.

The Beatles' manager Brian Epstein had initially agreed to allow Channel 9 to show just 12 minutes of the performance. However, after watching the recording an hour after the show he had a change of heart and increased the limit to 20 minutes. In the end 22 minutes of The Beatles were included, the rest of the hour being footage of Australian and international performers. The only song from the set not broadcast was This Boy. Full bootleg recordings exist of both concerts from this day. [extract from beatlesbible.com]

Radio (Top Gear) 14 July 1964

The Beatles made an appearance on the first edition of the BBC radio show Top Gear, a weekly late-night pop music programme, on this day.  Top Gear was produced by Bernie Andrews, who had worked on the Saturday Club radio show, and was presented by Brian Matthew. This first episode was broadcast two days after the recording, on the BBC Light Programme service, from 10pm on 16 July 1964.

Beatles with Brian Matthew

The Beatles recorded six songs between 7 and 11pm at London's Broadcasting House. They performed Long Tall Sally, Things We Said Today, A Hard Day's Night, And I Love Her, If I Fell and You Can't Do That.

This was the only occasion in which The Beatles performed "And I Love Her" outside EMI Studios. The song never made it into their stage repertoire, despite its popularity, and the group never performed it during their other numerous television and radio appearances.

Note:  BootlegZone indicate that the tracks I Feel Fine and I'm A Loser also came from the Top Gear Radio sessions but does not match the track listing provided by beatlesbible.com and beatles-discography.com  - so the jury is out on this one. 
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Palais des Sports, Place de la Porte de Versailles, Paris, France 20 Jun 1965

The Beatles opened their short European tour at the Palais Des Sports in the Place de la Porte de Versailles on Sunday 20 June 1965. They appeared on two shows at the arena, the first at 3.00pm and the second at 9.00pm. The second show was broadcast by both French Television and radio and the two houses were full to the 6,000 capacity – something which hadn’t happened for several years.

The songs performed: Twist and Shout, She’s A Woman, I’m A Loser, Can’t Buy Me Love, Baby’s In Black, I Wanna Be Your Man, A Hard Day’s Night, Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby, Rock And Roll Music, I Feel Fine, Ticket To Ride and Long Tall Sally.

The group received a tremendous reception after their final number, "Long Tall Sally". Ringo had a solo spot with ""I Wanna Be Your Man and George had sung lead on "Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby". There was enthusiastic applause for Paul when he tried to introduce several songs in French.
After the show French chanteuse Francoise Hardy visited the group at the George V Hotel and later they visited Castell’s nightclub. [extract from wogew.blogspot.com.au]

  
Nippon Budokan Hall, Daikan-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan. 30 June 1966

The Beatles' long journey to Tokyo ended with their arrival at Haneda Airport at 3.40am on this morning. In the evening they played the first of five concerts at the Nippon Budokan Hall. The group and their entourage stayed at the Tokyo Hilton, where they occupied the Presidential Suite. Security at the hotel was so tight that they were unable to make unscheduled excursions around the city. They did, however, give a press conference from the hotel.

Over the three nights they spent at the Tokyo Hilton, The Beatles collaborated on a painting which became known as 'Images Of A Woman' (see right). All four members of the group painted parts of the 30"x40" paper, working by the light of a lamp in the centre. When the painting was complete the lamp was removed, and The Beatles signed the empty space next to their contributions.
The paper and paints were provided by the Japanese promoter, Tats Nagashima, who suggested that the completed painting be auctioned for charity. It was bought by a cinema manager and local fan club president Tetsusaburo Shimoyama. In September 2012, it was put up for sale again through Philip Weiss Auctions and sold for $155,250 including the buyer's premium.

The evening's concert had support from Yuya Uchida and Isao Bitoh. The Beatles performed before 10,000 fans, with a set containing 11 songs: Rock And Roll Music, She's A Woman, If I Needed Someone, Day Tripper, Baby's In Black, I Feel Fine, Yesterday, I Wanna Be Your Man, Nowhere Man, Paperback Writer and I'm Down.

The concert, and their first on the following day, was video taped by Nippon Television. The two shows were edited together and broadcast during The Beatles Recital, From Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, which was screened on NTV Channel 4 on 1 July from 9pm.

The Rolling Stones 'Rock And Roll Circus'  11th December 1968

On 11th Dec 1968, John Lennon and Yoko Ono were among guests performing on The Rolling Stones' television spectacular, 'Rock And Roll Circus'. The event was filmed on this day at InterTel, an independent video facility at Stonebridge House in Wembley, London. The footage was captured on video and film, with sound recorded by Glyn Johns and Jimmy Miller on Olympic's mobile studio.

The Stones enlisted a range of guests for the show, including Eric Clapton, Jethro Tull, Marianne Faithfull, The Who, drummer Mitch Mitchell, pianist Julius Katchen and blues singer Taj Mahal. The groups Traffic and Cream had also both been invited to perform, but had split up just before filming began. Lennon was part of a temporary supergroup known as The Dirty Mac, which also featured Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Mitch Mitchell. The group played a version of Yer Blues from the White Album.

It was followed by a piece known variously as Whole Lotta Yoko or Yer Blues. Yoko Ono emerged from a black bag on the stage, and she and violinist Ivry Gitlis performed an improvised 12-bar blues with the Dirty Mac.

Dirty Mac R-L (Clapton, Lennon, Mitchell, Richards)

A simple stage is set up for the Supergroup. John is wearing his Levi outfit, and Mitch Mitchell looks almost unrecognizable with his straight blond hair. Keith plays a simple bass line, and Eric performs with masterful imperturbability. John looks a little apprehensive, but once they start playing he relaxes, turns his back to the camera occasionally in the classic jamming position. Yoko gets up on the stage, climbs into her black bag, and during the breaks, holds John's hand. Even while you are watching, it is hard to believe all this is actually happening.

Mitch's drumming is a little brisker and he is more in control of the cymbals, but this is not a jam session, in fact, Yer Blues is almost identical to the album track. Why is Eric following the record so closely? It is a strange paradox, but simply the presence of all these magicians together is completely overwhelming. What more can you say?

Brian Jones, Yoko Ono with Julian, John Lennon

But the effect of Yer Blues live is very different to hearing it on the record. To begin with it is obvious that John means every word of this song. He has used the form because the blues is the ultimate expression of a down trip. "Even hate my rock and roll" screams at you like a nightmare. The day before at the rehearsal, John, Mick and Eric played Peggy Sue together and John did a wry version of Elvis' great hit, It's Now Or Never. After Yer Blues, Yoko gets in front of the microphone and wails, while virtuoso violinist Ivry Gitlis saws away like a country fiddler, and the Supergroup is playing behind them. The audience is totally awestruck; they do not move or talk. It was breathtaking. [extract from David Dalton, Rolling Stone, 19th  March 1970]
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This post consists of MP3's (320kps) ripped from my Australian 'Unlicensed' Bootleg and includes the signature 'red' artwork. I have also chosen to include as a bonus, the ultra-rare "I'll Be On My Way" track recorded at the BBC Paris Studios in Regent Street, London from 1963. Although the selection of tracks on this bootleg come from numerous recording sessions and time periods, they somehow compliment one another making it an enjoyable listen.
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Track Listing
01 - Too Much Monkey Business
     (Radio Broadcast, BBC Paris Studio, Regent Street, London, UK)
02 - I Saw Her Standing There
     (Radio Broadcast, Karlaplansstudion, Karlaplan, Stockholm, Sweden)
03 - You Really Got A Hold On Me
     (Radio Broadcast, Karlaplansstudion, Karlaplan, Stockholm, Sweden)
04 - This Boy
     (Festival Hall, Melbourne and filmed by Channel 9 TV for "The Beatles Sing For Shell")
05 - Twist And Shout
     (Festival Hall, Melbourne and filmed by Channel 9 TV for "The Beatles Sing For Shell")
06 - Money (That's What I Want)
     (Radio Broadcast, Karlaplansstudion, Karlaplan, Stockholm, Sweden)
07 - Till There Was You
     (Festival Hall, Melbourne and filmed by Channel 9 TV for "The Beatles Sing For Shell")
08 - And I Love Her
     (Radio Top Gear)
09 - A Hard Day's Night     (Radio Top Gear)
10 - I Feel Fine
     (Radio Top Gear?)
11 - I'm A Loser
     (Radio Top Gear?)
12 - Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby
     (Palais des Sports, Place de la Porte de Versailles, Paris, France)
13 - Baby's In Black
     (Palais des Sports, Place de la Porte de Versailles, Paris, France)
14 - Can't Buy Me Love
     (Palais des Sports, Place de la Porte de Versailles, Paris, France)
15 - If I Needed Someone
     (Nippon Budokan Hall, Daikan-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan)
16 - Nowhere Man
     (Nippon Budokan Hall, Daikan-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan)
17 - Yesterday
     (Nippon Budokan Hall, Daikan-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan)
18 - Paperback Writer
     (Nippon Budokan Hall, Daikan-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan)
19 - She's A Woman
     (Nippon Budokan Hall, Daikan-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan)
20 - Day Tripper
     (Nippon Budokan Hall, Daikan-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan)
21 - Yer Blues
     (The Rolling Stones "Rock And Roll Circus")
22 - Dirty Mac Jam
     (The Rolling Stones "Rock And Roll Circus")
23 - I'll Be On My Way (Bonus Track)
     (Radio Broadcast, BBC Paris Studio, Regent Street, London, UK) 
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The Beatles Unlicensed Link (142Mb)
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(Australian 1965–1972, 1987–1991, 1994–1997, 2001–2002)
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Masters Apprentices were a highly-rated band who formed in Adelaide in 1965. Their diverse musical styles ranged from R'n'B to psychedelic rock to heavy rock. They were one of Australia's most popular bands of the sixties and their talent has continued to be recognised to this day.They formed out of the instrumental outfit The Mustangs who started playing raucous R'n'B material penned by their guitarist Mick Bower and took on vocalist Jim Keays at the same time. They pioneered use of distorted chords on rhythm guitar, paving the way for heavy rock. Their raw sound and wild stage act led top Australian radio DJ Stan Rofe to dub them "Australia's Rolling Stones".

In early 1967 they moved to Melbourne and put out their eponymous debut album, which contained both sides of their first two singles to name some of its fine original material. It also contained a splattering of cover versions like "I Feel Fine", "Johnny B. Goode" and "My Girl".They started out as one of Australia's top R'n'B bands in the sixties and had moved into psych-pop territory towards the end of the decade. They had veered towards progressivism by the start of the seventies and "Turn Up Your Radio" in 1970 gave them their first and only Top 10 hit. This was pure pop, but on the flip side was Jam It Up, a Led Zeppelin-style heavy metal raver that didn't appear on album, until Raven included it on their 1987 Jam It Up! rarities album.

The Masters were hugely popular throughout Australia, scored a string of hits and were consistently hailed as one of Australia's best live and recording acts. They started out as an instrumental band, rose to prominence during the mid-Sixties "Beat Boom", moved through psychedelia and bubblegum pop, finally becoming one the first and best Australian progressive/hard rock groups of the early Seventies. They went through many lineup changes, with vocalist Jim Keays being the only constant, and their membership also illustrates the intricate interconnections between so many Australian bands of that era.
By 1971 The Masters' had established themselves as one of Australia's finest progressive music acts. They were living in England in this era and that clearly helped keep them fully abreast of the latest trends. Their Choice Cuts album and "Because I Love You" 45 were both recorded at Abbey Road's No. 2 studio. The 45 gave them a No. 12 National hit.


 It was a strong song, superbly arranged and has stood the test of time well. The album could be termed hard progressive rock. Doug Ford's inventive guitar skills are in evidence on tracks like "I'm Your Satisfier", "Death Of A King" and "Song For A Lost Gypsy". Other songs which catch the ear are the haunting "Michael", the latin-flavoured "Rio De Camero", the pop classic "Because I Love You" and "Our Friend Owsley Stanley III", which at times recalls the style of Jethro Tull (and is about the legendary U.S. underground manufacturer of L.S.D.).

When the Master Apprentices returned to Australia in Dec 1970, they landed in Perth and waiting for them was EMI Records producer Howard Gable who had brought a portable recording unit and told the band he was recording the show that night for release.


The same year The Masters' also released a live album, Nickelodeon. It was recorded just after they arrived back from England for an Australian tour in December 1970. It's notable for being one of the first live albums recorded in Australia, but in truth is disappointing. The better moments include a spirited version of Because I Love You and Doug Ford's "Future Of Our Nation" which features a series of his lead solo's. This track was issued as a 45 with a non-album cut, the folksy "New Day" on the flip. A 19 minute run through Spooky Tooth’s “Evil Woman” outstays its welcome by five or six minutes but does have the band playing at almost speed metal pace during one section. Doug Ford’s wailing guitar never sounded better or heavier than it does here though he would’ve played better with a more developed set list.
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Concert Review
Nickelodeon, was recorded live in Perth, December 1970, with a portable tape recorder, hardly the latest technology, but for Australian standards, it would do. This gives it a raw sound, but then the performance itself was no doubt pretty raw, so it likely wouldn’t have mattered what they used to record it, whether a modern 8 track deck or by some kid in the audience holding a reel to reel.

For some reason opener “Future of Our Nation” was never attempted in the studio (to my knowledge), so it’s likely that it was written during the group’s passage back to Oz (I’m guessing), where the band thought it must have been good enough to give it a test try in front of a live audience. And you know what, it works. Hailed by some as the first ‘hard-rock’ recording issued in Australia, whether this is true or not, some forty plus years later, probably doesn’t really matter. All that does matter however is the quality of the performance. Obviously the Masters were attempting to make some sort of political/social statement on this one, a common enough sentiment amongst the rock scene in England and America, but not yet as prevalent in the antipodes of the British Commonwealth. And by the way, what they’re stating here remains still relevant to this day.

The Masters Apprentices 1971

The inclusion of “Evil Women” in the band’s repertoire at this time seems to suggest that they had been listening to Spooky Tooth, another rock outfit of shaggy musical misfits, who recorded an inspired version of this tune on their second album Spooky Two. The song starts off slow, before building up to the famous riff we all know and love. It’s a perfect vehicle for Jim Keays, whose voice is simply tailor made for the sort of singing necessary for this style of white bluesy histrionics. But you better make a cup of tea, or pour yourself a tall drink, because the band have decided to show off some of their newly learned improvisational skills, a whopping nineteen minutes of it! Because once Keays has finished with his bitter wailings, it’s pretty much guitarist Doug Ford’s affair from here on, at least until about the eleven minute mark, where we have a repeat of the main chorus (probably to give the singer something to do), and then we’re off again with Ford as our bus driver, taking us on a six string excursion into his imagination (sometimes via Hendrix), which despite its length, never gets boring.

Judging by the short applause from the crowd “Because I Love You” was already familiar to their fans. Ford’s playing is exemplary, as is the rest of the band, but it lacks some of the punch and finesse which makes the studio version so memorable.

The Masters apprentices - Up Close and Personnel

“Light a Fire within Yourself” is pretty much your standard proto-hippie message song. Nothing remarkable, but nothing all that offensive either.

Things pick up with “When I’ve Got Your Soul”, a Ford driven number, which has blues licks aplenty, and a thumping Neanderthal rhythm section. The last track, on what would have been the original LP (the CD copy has four bonus tracks), is a Free inspired composition written by Ford, called “Fresh Air by the Ton”. The man obviously loved his blues, and here he lets loose like a demon possessed, and proves to be the real creative force behind much of the Master’s magic, and who was undoubtedly on an equal par with those other blues behemoths of Australian rock, Lobby Loyde and Billy Thorpe.

Masters Apprentices In London

Unfortunately the bonus tracks are nothing to transmit into outer space. “Tears of Sorrow” comes across as a clichéd attempt to cash in on the paisley crowd. “New Day” sounds like a Van Morrison out-take circa Moondance, replete with vibes, and Van-like intonations of coming home and connecting with nature. “Jam It Up” is an obvious rip off of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love”. Ford apes Jimmy Page’s crunchy riffs, while Keays howls like Robert Plant at his lemon squeezing best. Rip off or not, they obviously had a blast recording it.

I have no idea where “Freedom Seekers” fits into the picture, but it’s included here for you to either enjoy or press the stop button. For me it’s the latter.

Ultimately Nickelodeon remains a rare and obscure snapshot of where the band were at in 1970, whose star was obviously on the ascent in the progressive rock sphere, at least in Australia, where their fan base was strongest. Yet for some reason the album remains unavailable in remastered form. Let’s hope it is given its due respect sometime in the future. That is, if whoever owns the original reel to reel (if it still exists) eventually decides to pull it out from under his bed. [extract from moonunderwaterblog.com]
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This post consists of FLACs and MP3's (320kps) ripped from my CD copy. I own the vinyl and I've only seen this album one other time, some 20 years ago in a record store in Toorak, in similar condition, selling for $100.  Well, I paid $1 for my copy at the flea market although it is alittle roached.  Still a bargain nevertheless.  I've included full album artwork for Vinyl and CD and also included four bonus tracks that were released with a 'pirated' release of the album. "Future Of Our Nation" is my favourite Masters Apprentices track with its heavy base riff and killer guitar solo. If they had continued to work as a band throughout the 70's and believe they had the potential to be Australia's own Black Sabbath.
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Track Listing
01. Future Of Our Nation
02. Evil Woman
03. Because I Love You
04. Light A Fire Within Yourself
05. When I´ve Got Your Soul
06. Fresh Air By The Ton
07. Tears Of Sorrow (Bonus)
08. New Day (Bonus)
09. Jam It Up (Bonus)
10. Freedom Seekers (Bonus) 

Tracks 1 to 6 recorded live at The Nickelodeon, Perth, Australia, in January, 1970.
Track7: Recorded in Perth, November 1970.
Track 8: A Side of Single, 1971.
Track 9: B Side of Single, 1970.
Track 10: previously unreleased, 1972.

Glen Wheatley - Bass, Vocals
Doug Ford - Guitar, Vocals
Colin Burgess - Drums
Jim Keays - Vocals, Harmonica    
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Masters Apprentices FLACs Link (416Mb)
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Masters Apprentices MP3 Link (156Mb) 
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Before things get too serious here at Rock On Vinyl, I thought it might be fun to post a song / album at the end of each month, that could be categorized as being either Weird, Obscure, Crazy or just plain Korny.
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There wouldn't be many people who haven't heard of the children's group The Wiggles unless they have being living under a mushroom for the past 25 years or don't think of Ross Wilson (from Daddy Cool) when they hear "Eagle Rock" been played on a Classic 70's radio show. 
What makes this Month's W.O.C.K on Vinyl post interesting is how these two pinnacles in the music industry have come together to produce a refreshing rendition of the #1 Daddy Cool hit - "Eagle Rock"
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Have A Wiggley WOCK On Vinyl Folks

With a stellar career spanning more than 45 years and showing no signs of slowing, Mr 'Eagle Rock' Ross Wilson is one of  Australian rock music's most enduring and lauded talents.  Twice inducted in to the ARIA Hall of Fame (1989 Solo and 2006 with Daddy Cool), Wilson continues to win acclaim in 2003 thanks to the Wiggles and their tribute release of "Eagle Rock", his signature track which has been included in the National Film and Sound Archive 'Sounds of Australia Collection'

King Mondo "Ross Wilson"

"Eagle Rock" is a classic Australian song, released by Daddy Cool in May 1971 on the Sparmac Record Label. It went on to become the best selling Australian single of the year, achieving gold status in eleven weeks, and remaining at #1 on the national charts for a (then) record ten weeks. "Eagle Rock" also spent 17 weeks at the #1 spot on the Melbourne Top 40 Singles Chart. The song was re-released by Wizard Records in 1982, and reached #17 on the Australian singles charts
"Eagle Rock" was released in early 2003 by the Wiggles to promote the upcoming video, Space Dancing. It featured both the audio and video for the Eagle Rock song, as well as all of the other songs from the video minus "Fergus' Jig". Ross Wilson is depicted as "King Mondo" in the film clip which is also included in this post.
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At first, when I saw this single released in the shops, I couldn't help but think that this was one Weird combination, the Wiggles and Ross Wilson. But when I listened to the track, I immediately understood the  connection - both the Wiggles (who started out as the pop band called the Cockroaches) and Wilson (lead singer from Daddy Cool) just love to move when they perform, as highlighted in the song's lyrics