Roadrunner 1(8) November 1978

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CONTENTS

CROADRUNNER)

LETTERS D ear R R ,I,

E D IT O R S A L L A N COOP A LE X EHLER T B R U C E M IL N E D O N A LD ROBERTSON

O ne m ise r a b le paragraph fo r a review o f B lo o d graph for a review of "B lo o d brothers", the D ictators' superb new a lb u m - t a c k e d o n t o th e end of a bunch o f M . 0 .R . s c h m u c k ! S u r e , it 's h e a v y m e t a l — it' s also a very im portant record for this y e a r . T h e b a n d h a s m a d e q u i t e an o b vio u s progression fro m the first album , away from a "cartoon" b a n d im age. . " B l o o d b r o t h e r s " is a v a l i d t r y a t some serious rock w ith stand­ out originals like "Baby Let's T w is t", "M innesota S trip ", "Stay W ith M e " and a superb cover o f the. G r o o v i e s ' " S l o w D e a t h " . H a n d ­ some D ick's in great form ill T w o a lte rn a tiv e s c o m e to m in d 1. Play " B l o o d b r o t h e r s " again , w i t h th e v o l u m e on th is t i m e ; 2. S tic k w ith songs from the 30s and forget about new rock m usic. D .R., may your n i g h t s be r e s t ­ l ess a n d dom inated by blistering R oss-The-Boss riffs! Love, DOUG THO M AS

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M E L B O U R N E E D IT O R CEE W A L K E R L O N D O N E D IT O R K E IT H S H A D W IC K C O N T R IB U T O R S B A IN R AN D Y BARBER J IL L IA N B U R T M AR K BURFORD LA R R Y BUTTRO SE JO N C H IT T L E B O R O U G H S U E D E N IM M IC H A E L HOPE PETER J O L L Y D A V ID LE S C U N D O N N A M A E G R A IT H PETER N ELSO N SUE P A R H A M ROSS S T A P L E T O N S U S IE W A L T O N PHO TO GRAPHERS C LAR E LEVER E R IC A L G R A JO E M U R R A Y C H R IS B A IN A D V E R T IS I N G FR AN K M ALO N EY (Ph 4 2 3 6 0 6 ) AD LAYO U T

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D is t r ib u t io n (S .A . an d N .T .) : B .J. and K .L . F u lle r , 1 0 5 M a in S tre e t, B e v e rle y , S .A . 5 0 0 9 P h o n e : (0 8 ) 4 5 9 8 1 2 ROAD RUNNER P .O . B O X 1 5 6 , N O R W O O D , S .A . 5 0 6 7 PH O N E: 332 5915 N E X T IS S U E : D e c e m b e r/J a n u a ry e d itio n . D E A D L IN E a ll copy Tuesday, N ovem ber 2 1 st. ROADRUNNER e n c o u ra g e s u n s o lic ite d c o n tr ib u t io n s . D e f­ in ite p re fe re n c e g iv e n to t y p e ­ w r it t e n , trip le -s p a c e d a rtic le s . O u r eyes are s o re !

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I w a s w o n d e r i n g if t h e r e w o u l d be a n y c h a n c e o f y o u d o i n g an up-to-date article on Jobs Paul Y o u n g and th e A lls ta r s B a n d , as I t h i n k t h e y se e m t o b e d o i n g great th in g s, especially w it h th e ir s i n g l e " L o v e Is I n T h e A i r " b e i n g N o . 7 n o w in A m e r i c a . A s an e x t r a , c o u l d you please p rin t a p h o to g ra p h of their m a n ­ ager. M a n a g e r s u s u a lly ge t no m e n ­ t i o n , w h i c h is u s u a l l y w e l l - d e s e r v ­ e d , as t h e y ' r e t h e o n e s w h o r e a l l y d o all t h e h a r d w o r k in t h e o r g ­ anisation o f c o n ce rts, to u rs etc. Just because th e y're the ones who are "behind the scenes", I d o n 't think they should be l e f t o u t o f the headlines. I f y o u c a n ' t m a n a g e an i n t e r v i e w , h o w a b o u t a simple p h o to g ra p h of J P Y , the Band and m an a g e r t o g ­ e t h e r , in y o u r n e x t issue o r t w o . I ' l l k e e p a l o o k o u t in y o u p a p e r for i t , so I h o p e y o u c a n m e e t my request. T h a n k i n g y o u in a d v a n c e , "A LO N G -T IM E JPY F O L L O W E R "

D ear R R , I had to w r i t e to t h a n k Keith Shadw ick for his excell­ en t article " I n R e tro s p e c t — Marc B olan" and to congratulate you all for a thoroughly enjoyable m a g a z i n e in R o a d r u n n e r . B u t back to the M arc B olan s to ry . I thought the in tro d u ctio n was t h o u g h t f u l and the b io g ra p h y a c c ­ urate and w e ll- w r it te n . B u t I was particularly impressed w ith the " S e l e c t i v e M u s i c a l S u m m a r y " . T h 'e s e n t im e n t s expressed and the ly r ic e x tra ctio n s were w ell-chosen and e x p l a i n e d / d i s c u ssed . A l s o , a t l a s t refe re n c e to the 1 9 7 6 k ille r single " L a s e r L o v e " / " L ife's A n E l e v a t o r " . W ith the " M a r c ........ W o r d s and M u s ic " d o u b le album fin a lly f i n d ­ ing its w a y i n t o O z i m p o r t s h o p s ( t h a n k s R e v o l v e r ) , t h i s a l b u m set contains a collection of choice Bolan tracks fro m "John's C h ild ­ re n " through "Tyrannosaurus R e x " to the " G e t O n " p e riod T. R e x . Also the " C h ild r e n o f Rarn S u ite " . Previously unreleased, the " C h i l d ­ r en o f R a r n S u it e " was the b e g ­ inning of a double co n ce pt al­ bum. M a r c is t h e s t o r y t e l l e r , o f e a r t h ' s l o n g - f o r g o t t e n p r e h i s t o r y . In a l a n d called B e lta n e t h r o u g h a range o f m u s ic a l styles ranging f r o m a c o u s t ­ ic w h i m s y , straight-ahead rock'n ' r o l l to ro c k ' a ' b illy . M a r c t h e tr ee w iz a r d p u re t o n g u e , o f D r u id s and D - w o r m s . S t u n n in g r ig h t t h r o u g h to the fin a l heart-ro u sin g ch o ru s. But w h e n , oh w h e n , w ill EMI f in a lly add to the selected d i s c o ­ graphy the f o l l o w up to " D a n d y In The U n d e r w o r l d " , t h e r el ease o f w h i c h has b e e n r u m o u r e d n o w fo r some tim e. In l o v i n g m e m o r y o f M a r c , T hanking you M IK E M O L O N E Y

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Having received a l esst h a n - f a v o r a b l e r e v i e w in t h e s i n g l e s c o lu m n o f this esteem ed m agazine r e c e n t ly , I resolved to m a k e k n o w n m y o w n o p i n i o n s o f w h a t c an be best described as "The V ictim s E P " . B u t f ir s t , here's som e i n f o r m ­ a t io n f o r th o se w h o a lre a d y have a copy. T h e E ' P ' has be en " o n i c e " f o r six rhonths, and was recorded t h e n i g h t b e f o r e o u r last p e r f o r m ­ ance. Vocals and m ix in g were done at a l a t e r d a t e . T h e r e are 5 0 0 c o p i e s available (the f ir s t V i c t i m s ' single "Television A d d ic t" had 1000), and was custom pressed t h r o u g h Festival R e c o rd s , S y d n e y (strongly r e c o m m e n d e d — the pressing q u a l ­ ity on b o th r e c o r d i n g s has be en e x c e l l e n t ) . T h e E . P . is b e i n g r e t a i l ­ ed t o s h o p s f o r $ 2 p e r c o p y , t h e e x tra cost to y o u being the p r o f i t m argin set b y the record shop. The E.P. should sell for $2.75 (and certainly not more than $3). I was reticent a b o u t a tte m p tin g to f o llo w up "T e le v is io n A d d i c t " , especially when the band was splitting and w ould not be able to p r o m o t e th e ne w r e c o r d . H o w e v e r , w e w e n t a h e a d w i t h it and the results are as f o l l o w s : "I U nderstand" — u ndoubtedly the best r'ecorded V ictim song. S im ple lyrics, m elody, chords, l e a d b r e a k ........ a l l s i m p l e , b u t t h i s song encapsulates all that the b a n d ever strove f o r . S o m e w o u l d say i t is j u s t a " p o p s o n g " ( i . . e . . disposable trash). M y o w n a ttitu d e to p o p m usic and c o n s u m e r p r o d ­ u c t s i n g e n e r a l , is t h a t is a n y p a r t s do n o t directly provide n o u ris h ­ ment or fla v o u r, then they are t h e b i t s t h a t are d i s p o s a b l e , N O T the w hole product (you only throw away the wrapper o f an i c e - c r e a m ) . " I U n d e r s t a n d " is 1 0 0 % fle sh . We t h o u g h t f u l l y peele d o f f th e rest b e fo r e r e c o r d in g . The second track, "O p e n Y o u r Eyes", is the worst recorded V ictim s so n g , b u t even t h i s has neat chem ical properties. Decide f o r y o u r s e I f . ( P . S . T h e l y r i c s ar e intended to be f a c i l e — w e c an w rite rh y m e s m o re startling than "la n e" w ith "p la in "; P.S.S. It c o s t us no m o r e t o e i t h e r i n c l u d e o r e x c lu d e th is t r a c k w h e n pressin g, so w e o p t e d f o r b u l k ) . Track Three, "H ig h School G irls" — no a p o lo g ie s to N M E , W o m e n ' s L ib , P o w e r Pop or the n e x t d y in g p o p e ; t h i s s o n g is f u n n y a n d t h e guitar riff is g a s ! ( W h y e q u i v o c ­ ate?) (P.S. t h i s song is t h e o n e most hated by Ian Henderson, R oadrunner's Perth e ditor - like i t in s p i t e o f h i m ) . Side Two, Track Four: "TV freak" — a sequel? The second boring episode of what could prove to be a long series? This song pre-dates "Television A d d ic t" and contains the best l y r i c s t h a t J a m e s has e v e r w r i t t e n . ( P. S. Ian H . l i k e s t h i s s o n g — y o u s h o u l d l i k e i t in s p i t e o f h i m ) . T r a c k Five " D i s c o J u n k i e s " ( a c t ­ u a lly , it's a b o u t Y O U , p u n k r o c k ­ ers!). If y o u d o n ' t laugh d u r in g t h e lead b r e a k o n t h i s o n e , t h e n y o u ' l l c r y . T h e o n ly t h in g m issin g from t this tra c k is t h e l a u g h t e r w h e n we (and T H E A U D I E N C E ) f i n i s h e d th e c h a n t w h i c h y o u can hear at the end — it was c u t o f f inadvertently from the final m ix . T h i s s o n g is e n e r g y - p l u s , a n d f o r those w ho h a v e n 't heard it, im a g in e "(I'm ) Flipped Out Over You" e x te n d e d to five and a half m i n ­ utes. (Most of) The sleeves f o r the rec o rd have been h a n d p a in t e d b e c ­ ause the cost of printing was prohibitive — we tried t o m ake them look "good" rather than " p u n k " ( w e t r i e d ). N othing more rem ains to be sai d (by me) except that I like the E.P., and I'll defend it to anybody — including Tony Parsons. Y o u rs sincerely , D A V E F LIC K ( E X -V i c t i m )

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G 'day! Festering M ick clocking on fo r another m onth's w o rth of rum ours, scurrilous slanders and hot poop about the musik b izn iz,................. Bad luck all you Kinks fans — England's fav­ ourite satirists have pulled o u t o f the Frampers to u r. Apparnerently Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were approached as last m inute repl­ acements but th a t fell through and it now appears that Wha-Koo w ill be slotted in as the second international act. Pity they c o u ld n 't persuade Thin Lizzy to stick around.......... Talking of Thin Lizzy, FM and Sue Denim had the chance to have a chat to Phil L y n o tt and Gary Moore from the Celtic rockers when Polygram fle w them down to Adelaide to be special guests at the Sgt. Peppers Ball. Sue talked m ainly to Gary Moore and th a t inter­ view w ill appear next m onth, b u t Phil L y n o tt had some interesting things to say to o . Like the name o f the band came fro m a cartoon in the Topper com ic about a female robot called T in Lizzy. Since Irish people have trouble saying "T " (they pronounce it as " T h " ) the band became Thin Lizzy. We also asked Phil about the Greedies. a sometime band featuring Phil, Paul Cook and Steve Jones o f the ex-Sex Pistols and Johnny T hun­ ders, but he refused to say anything w ith o u t being paid fo r it, and as we d id n 't have enough money we had to drop the question.............. Ex-Pistol John Lydon's new band Public Im ^ e L td have released th e ir firs t single (available locally real soon) — called "P ublic Im age" and a real corker it is to o . The English release comes complete w ith a fo u r page newspaper which features song lyrics, pictures, weird stories and a huge blank space in the centre where the band wanted to p u t an erect penis. The flip "T h e Cowboy Song" sounds like an attem pt at w hite man's dub, a distorted version o f the A-side and common practice among reggae bands.............................. The other ex-Pistol, Sid Vicious (see feature story) is o u t on $50,000 bail — paid by V irgin Records, n o t M ick Jagger and Keith Richards as some rum ours have it. Tacly Malcy McLaren is apparently raising money fo r Sid's defence by selling T-shirts sporting the slogan "T m alive — she's dead and I'm y o u rs "......................... Second cassette from T om o rro w Records, after the unexpected success o f the "L iv e A t The M arryatville' outing, is "A n Evening W ith The Dagoes" who contributed a couple of tracks to the L 'A 'M ' tape. It features color sleeve, stereo sound and captures in fu ll the rio to u sly ecstatic presentation o f a platinum cassette fo r sales o f one b illio n units to the three bands featured on L 'A 'M ', The A cco u n t­ ants, the Dagoes and the U-Bombs. The music

is p re tty faaar o u t, too. Highlight is the band's Ramonesian interpretation o f the old flow er power anthem "San Francisco". The tape is available from selected Adelaide record stores or, fo r interstate readers, fro m T om orrow Re­ cords, Box 336, North Adelaide, S 'A ' 5006. Price is $3.50 plus postage............................. The Humans wowed 'em at the M arryatville last m onth. The Humans are Fred Strauks (Skyhooks), Ed Bates (ex-Sports), Wayne Duncan (ex-Daddy Cool) and the rather less famous Paul Madigan. They treated an in it­ ially incredulous b u t later enthusiastic crowd to a com bination o f swing, calypso, country and western, fo lk and ro c k 'n 'ro ll. In keeping w ith the whole "back to basics" flavour o f the evening, the band's equipm ent was m inim al (Strauk's d ru m k if consisted o f bass drum , snare and one cym bal), they set the eqmpment up themselves and had the houselights up fo r the entire set.. Could they be this summer's Daddy Cool? (Remember DC started o ff as a fu n band to o ). More to the p o in t, do they want to be? Whatever, a band d e fin ite ly to watch o u t fo r ............................................................

Oz news: Sports have signed to S tiff Records in England and are currently recording an album fo r release there in the new year. Their new single "W ho Listens To The Radio "/"S o O bvious" is o u t now. The band have been pencilled in as support to Graham Parker and the R um our on GP's next European to u r.......... Wizard Records (the w onderful people who p u t the Sex Pistols o u t in this co u n try) have picked up some equally w o n ­ derful British New Wave bands and w ill be releasing new albums by the Buzzcocks, Otway and Barrett, Sham 69 and 999 next m onth. Singles by Siouxie and the Banshees ("H ong Gong G arden") and Sham 69 ( " I f The Kids Are U n ite d ") are already available on Wizard Ross W ilson's M ondo Rock to split up and Ariel to reform fo r three months? That's what a little m aliciousette to ld me although I haven't been able to co n firm it.......................................... Bruce Springsteen here in February............. Rob Grosser, e x-R iff R aff (Adelaide's New Wavers) now playing drum s fo r Melbourne's News a lth o ' apparently there's not much else happening on the News fr o n t........................ Saints' drum m er Ivor Hay pounding the skins fo r Johnny Kannis and the H it Men after the break up o f Brisbane's favorite sons...............

PM BA^ M id w a y th ro u g h n e x t y e a r, th e P rogressive M u s ic B ro a d c a s tin g A s s o c ia tio n w ill la u n c h its new FM ra d io s ta tio n . T h is s h o u ld be an e v e n t o f som e im p o rta n c e f o r th e C ity o f C h u rc h e s . In a s im ila r fa s h io n to its A M c o u n te r ­ p a rt, 5 U V , th e ne w m e d ia o rg a n is a tio n w ill be a im e d a t s tim u la tin g c u ltu r a l lite ra c y in th e lo c a l c o m m u n it y . R a th e r th a n s h o w c a s ­ ing te c h n ic a l e x p e rtis e and p r o m o tin g su p e r jo c k s , th e P M B A is m o re in te re s te d in re fle c tin g th e needs o f th e lis te n in g p u b lic . P ro g ra m m in g is th e d e te r m in in g fa c t o r in an y ra d io s ta tio n 's p o lic y . In m o s t cases, th e c h o ic e o f p ro g ra m m a te ria l is m ade by a sm a ll n u m b e r o f in te rn a l e m p lo y e e s and given to re g u la r disc jo c k e y s . These p ro g ra m s are u s u a lly m o re in d ic a tiv e o f w h a t re c o rd c o m p a n ie s w o u ld lik e the p u b lic to b u y th a n w h a t th e p u b lic w o u ld re a lly p re fe r to lis te n to . T he P M B A 's a u d ie n ce w ill be given th e o p p o r t u n ­ it y to ta k e an a.ctive ro le in th e w o rk in g s o f tb is new s ta tio n . A n y s u b s c rib in g m e m b e r, th ro u g h th e s ta tio n 's b ro a d s h e e t, w ill have a ch a n ce to express his o r h e r o p in io n on p ro g ra m s , p o lic y and fu tu r e p o s s ib ilitie s . T h e in te rn a l s tru c tu re o f th e s ta tio n w ill p ro v id e te c h n ic a l p r o d u c tio n assistance f o r g ro u p s and in d iv id u a ls to o rg a n is e .

Henry decided to put the single out himself. The reason it's free is because Henry has put so much tim e, e ffo rt and money into its com pletion that any financial return on sales would be comparatively m inim al. So :-*enry decided to give them away. Listen to 5U V on Saturday night fo r details on how to obtain a c o p y...............

First album from Dave Warner's From the Suburbs coming up on Mushroom this m onth It's called " A Mug's Game" and features a real game on the cover that you can play. The single lifte d from the album "Suburban B o y " is getting good TV coverage. Dave reckons the album could be the one to outsell Skyhooks "L ivin g In The Seventies". That m ight be a b it co nfident ("L iv in g In The Sev­ enties" has sold 240,000 copies) b u t then, you could never call Dave Warner modest A nother Dave Warner story. Apparently Dave heard that Evans/Gudinski Promotions were going in to liquidation (they have) and went to see Michael Gudinski to get some money owed to him . When Gudinski (head o f Mush­ room Records, Warner's record company) to ld him he'd have to w ait a few days, Dave lost his temper, left the o ffice and went to round up his Suburban Boys and th e ir equip­ m ent and roadcrew. The whole entourage returned to G udinski's o ffice , blocked the way w ith th e ir van and blocked the doors w ith their equipm ent, and refused to leave u n til they got their money. They got i t ................ W ith the collapse o f Evans/Gudinski, A 'C 'E ' have picked up the Elvis Costello to u r which is still scheduled fo r December. Costello has just released a new single in Britain — "R a d io, R a d io ", previously included on the American version of "T h is Year's M odel".

One interesting single release this m onth w ill be Henry V in y l's "Wake Up , T a n ia "/ "P u n k PO wer". In terestingfirstly fo r the music which is excellent and secondly fo r it's price — it's free!H enry, who is an ex-member o f the Pelaco Bros, and the M illionaires, was to release his single m onths ago, through normal d istrib u tio n outlets. Things w ent wrong though (like the record company going bust) and so

FM R O C K ON THE M O V E p ro d u c e and p re s e n t th e ir o w n p ro g ra m s . B y g iv in g co ve ra g e to a b ro a d e r c ro s s -s e c tio n o f th e c o m m u n ity in te re s t, th e ne w s ta tio n w ill p ro v id e in cre a se d p o te n tia l f o r p e o p le w h o w o u ld n o t n o r m a lly get access to th e m e d ia . L o c a l b ands can n o w bypass th e re c o r d ­ ing c o n tr a c t and th e m a n d ito r y single and s till g e t a irp la y . T h e p o s s ib ility o f b ro a d c a s tin g lo c a l b ands live s h o u ld h e lp b a n d s, p ro m o te rs and venues b y e x p a n d in g a u d ie n c e s and c re a tin g im p e tu s in th e live m u s ic scene. T h e im m e d ia te ta s k , th o u g h , is to get th e s ta tio n on a ir — and th e P M B A e s tim a te s th a t, to set up th e s ta tio n and pay f o r th e f ir s t y e a r's ru n n in g c o sts, c o u ld c o n s u m e as m u c h as $ 2 4 0 ,0 0 0 . So fa r th e P M B A has been p ro m is e d som e g ra n t m o n e y fr o m th e state g o v e rn m e n t (a b o u t $ 6 2 ,0 0 0 ) b u t th a t s till leaves a big gap. T h e A s s o c ia tio n has a lre a d y la u n c h e d in to a big d riv e f o r fu n d s — fr o m c o rp o ra te s p o n so rs, e tc — but needs m oney and s u p p o rt at th e g ra s s ro o ts level. If y o u w o u ld lik e to k n o w m o re a b o u t th e P M B A o r if v o u w o u ld lik e to b e c o m e a m e m b e r, th e P M B A is s itu a te d a t 2 4 0 B u n d le S tre e t ( f ir s t f lo o r ) P ho n e 2 2 3 3 0 1 6 o r P .O .B o x 3 6 2 , N o rw o o d 5 0 6 7

Young Modern are currently rehearsing th e ir new (as ye t unnamed) guitarist and w ill be moving to either Sydney or Melbourne in the near fu tu re . Their debut single "She's G ot The M o n e y " /"lt's A u to m a tic ", is selling fast and gaining airplay on 2JJ in Sydney and 3RRR in Melbourne. Though Sports' vocalist Steve Cummins produced the single he appar­ ently wanted no w ritte n credit. A w w , c'm on Steve, you d id n 't do that bad a jo b on i t ! ....... Earlier this year the Boys Next Door recorded aan album fo r release on Suicide Records. Since then. Suicide has folded the Boys Next Door have added an extra guitarist. The tapes, however, have continued to gather dust. One a ttem pt was made recently to get the tapes rel­ eased when a copy was sent to V irgin Records in England. U n fo rtu n a te ly, the copy sent was recorded backwards. Roadrunner wonders when V irgin are going to release an album o f experirqental music by those avant gardists the Rood Texh Syob......................................... Now fo r gossip closer to home.....this is the farewell issue fo r three o f Roadrunner's editors — Allan Coop (who leaves fo r Canberra), A lex Ehlert and Bruce M ilne (who's going to Melbourne). There w ill be a farewell party in the phone booth opposite the all night petrol station in O'Connell Street at some stage in the near fu tu re . - FESTERING M IC K M ALIC IO U S

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M e lb o u rn e 's h ig h ly p o p u la r p u b lic FM s ta tio n , 3 R M T - F M , has g o t a new n a m e . It's n o w k n o w n as 3 R R R - F M . T h e change has c o m e a b o u t as a re s u lt o f a d iv e r s ific a tio n o f its s p o n s o r­ s h ip . T h e s ta tio n has m o ve d fr o m near to ta l re lia n c e on m o n e y fr o m th e R o y a l M e lb o u rn e In s titu te o f T e c h n o lo g y ( R M IT ) to a m ore b ro a d ly -b a s e d fu n d in g c o n s o rtiu m o f u n iv e rs itie s and C A E s. D e sp ite th e g re a t n u m b e r o f in s titu tio n s fin a n c in g its o p e ra tio n , T rip le -R s till faces d iffic u ltie s . W ith a f u ll- tim e s ta ff o f nin e p lu s tw o o r th re e o th e rs p a r t- tim e , o p e ra tin g fu n d s are severley lim ite d . A s if m o n e y w a s n 't a big e n o u g h h e a dache, 3 R R R is n o w bein g th re a te n e d w ith a re d u c tio n in its IJcence te rm fro m th re e years to o ne. T h is m n vp has a n n a re n tlv rn m a fr o m th e A u s t­ ra lia n B ro a d c a s tin g T r ib u n a l w h ic h m o n ito r e d a p ro g ra m b ro a d c a s t by 3 R R R in w h ic h " o f f ­ e n s iv e " language was used. I t w o u ld be a p ity if T rip le -R was u n a b le to o v e rc o m e these p ro b le m s because its u n iq u e b le n d o f a lte rn a tiv e ro c k m u s ic and in fo rm a tiv e s p o ke n w o rd p ro g ra m m in g has d o n e a lo t fo r M e lb o u rn e ra d io . R O A D R U N N E R , N o v e m b e r 1 9 7 8 — Page 3

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THE ELUSIVE DUKE Technically, practically and powerwise, David Bowie is the person most responsible fo r advancing the accessible forefront o f rock in the '70s. Whether one likes it or not, Bowie has set precedents fo r rock'n'roll philosophy in the '70s and probably well into the '80s. Things could have been very boring this decade had it not been fo r the few true flares such as Bowie, Reed, Roxy Music and the much maligned New Wave personal­ ities. Add your own to the list, but remember that it was David Bowie who focused in on the central fact of the act; the concept and need fo r perpetual change. Fading are the days when anyone could rise to fame on a singular formula and remain on top fo r extended periods with that same sound. Rock'n'rollers great and small w ill need to learn this lesson. There have been times when even the instigator has had to pick himself up and throw himself forward, as happened at the end of Bowie's last stay in the U.S.A.. It should not be forgotten that changes for their own sake aren't all that's required, but shifts that m irror the ripples in the lives of both artist and audience. As an .important request, take little direct notice of much said about Bowie by journalists in the straight news­ papers and even musical magazines.. These reports usually show more of the writer's prejudice and personal (mis) interpretations than anything else. Bowie's career so far has been largely a series of cycles w ith recurring points of momentary alignment with mass taste — often accidental or short-term by-products which helped feed the funds. Two obvious throwaway h it singles were "Jean Jeanie" and "Rebel Rebel" (not quite "Fame Fame" though) but Bowie's real strength is in the album artform . Enough has been written by way of detailed historical and discographic outlines to make further elab­ oration unnecessary. I feel, though, that too few consider the real (or approximate) motives and influences which go into the making o f the vinyl product. Both Ken P itt as early manager and Tony De Fries as "hypemaster to the star" are fairly well discussed in the "David Bowie S to ry" and later publications, but little gets said about those who worked closely in co-operation w ith the "a c to r" — the producers and musicians By far the most important is Tony Viconti, originally from New Y ork, but later moving to England to become established and marry singer Mary Hopkins.. It was Vis­ conti who gave Bowie many of the basic steps in studio creativity, aiming fo r a different sound w ith each product ("Space O d d ity " and especially "Man Who Sold the W orld") and skilful variations w ithin those albums. Tony was also part of Bowie's original rock'n'roll studio band along w ith good o l' (young at that stage) Rick Wakeman and the amazing Mick Ronson (later to become the Mainman's mainman). The young Bowie/Visconti production team worked well, but as usual, the embryonic Ziggy went onto other things before he got back w ith Visconti in a greater way than the liner notes on Diamond Dogs would suggest. The Ziggy Stardust era was largely in the hands o f Ken Scott, w ith David gaining power until the self-production of Diamond Dogs — the much needed destruction of the Ziggy cycle. The idea of new album/new sound was well fed and well executed w ith the edgy pop feel of Hunky Dory switching to the sparse (appropriate) mix of "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust" and "The Spiders From Mars". "A lladin Sane" was apparently cut in haste after the late '72 States tour, w ith a deal of Bolan influence creeping in (he played on the original version of "Prettiest Star"), some dazzling piano playing from Mike Garson ( a U.S. pickup) and an overall sleek production job. E xit Ken Scott and Mick Ronson shortly after the final spinning of "Pinups" — nostalgia fo r mods. The current period o f Visconti influence took up w ith the mixing of the first live album which is dominated by the session sounds of Earl Slick (guitar), David Sanborn (sax), Mike Garson (piano), Herbie Flowers (bass) and the world's top paid session drummer Aynsley Dunbar, Visconti's friendship with Bowie seemed about to fire again but the now Soulful One's Americanised lifestyle was making things erratic recordingwise,with Bowie, Visconti and Harry Maslin playing mix and match with production credits. Maslin then went on to produce "Station to Station" (another rush job) with its odd crooning almost romantic soul punch, but this was the end of Bowie in America due to a personal feefing of degeneration and the desire for a new horizon, a new '-'language'. A change often needs a catalyst fo r full precipitation and although Carlos Alomar (guitar) had helped lift things musically from "Young Americans" on, it was not until the

move into Europe and a meeting w ith Brian Eno that the regeneration really got underway. It's quite easy to under­ estimate the significance of the coming together o f the

Thin White Duke and balding Eno. The chamelebn of rock now had the chance to move into a circle virtually untouched by mainstream performers — the synthesizer emerged (last used to any great extent on the "Man Who Sold The World'), questions of robots and Iggy Pop appear­ ed on people's lips at the same time. It was definitely an upturn for Bowie's personal, creative and long term business life. I think "L o w " confused many, but as Bowie himself ad­ mitted, he was going to lose fans anyway. D irt was thrown in damfulls, especially on business levels. One RCA o ff­ icial let show his screwed up mental underwear with the remark " You know what I'm going to do for David Bowie? I'm gonna buy him a house in Philadelphia to make another "Fam e" or "Young Americans" " — no wonder he's waiting to change contracts. The production skills used on "L o w " and "Heroes" put these albums in a class of their own, combining bold­ ness with subtlety in a way that makes them spin like no previous work of either Visconti, Bowie or Eno; or any­ body else for that matter. But the mightly critics will never learn. Just as they canned Eno's "Here Come the Warm Jets", then three years later decided it was a mast­ erpiece. so they w ill be tossed against the wall by David's latest efforts. It seems that Bowie is much less perturbed by the ghostly critic-shrieks than back in the days when he would eagerly read all reports on press reaction to his stateside tours. For some, David Jones is still playing the same old game of changes, but somehow I get the feeling that he's broken throuph to a new level — just when people thought they had his system figured. It saddens me when people (and sometimes, I ) cry with mad glee that they've captured the leprechaun, only to find nothing under their hats.. But for us here in the land of Oz the time for crapping on Christmas cakes and worshipping sandcastles has a chance to pass. So get out in those concert places and at least make yourselves open to wide possibilities, like seeing what was there all the time, a powerful person named David. PETER JOLLY R O A D R U N N E R ' N o v e m b e r 1 9 7 8 — Page 5

R R : W h o w as to g e th e r firs t? D ave: Us f o u r — N ic k , A n d y , M a x and m e . S id : D e fin it e ly n o t m e. D ave: W h a t h a p p e n e d to y o u ? A n d y : I m e t h im d o w n th e s h o p . (T o th e rest o f th e g ro u p ) R e m e m b e r, w e a s k e d 'h im to c o m e to th e M a r ry a tv ille ? R R : A t th is tim e , y o u w e re a ll c o m p e te n t m u sicia n s? N ic k : N o . We c o u ld n 't p la y a n y th in g . R R : H o w d id y o u d e c id e w h a t y o u w e re g o in g to p la y ? N ic k : W e ll, I c o u ld g e t a ch e a p bass, so I becam e th e bass p la y e r. A n d y : T h e y to ld me to p la y th e d ru m s . D ave: M y h a n d s are to o f a t to d o a n y th in g else, so I had to sing — and th e y saw me d r u n k one n ig h t p ra n c in g a ro u n d th e liv in g ro o m . N ic k : A c t u a lly , w e m e t S id th e w e e k b e fo re we w ere g o in g to p ra c tic e w h e n w e w e re c le a n ­ ing o u t th e s to r e ro o m ... R R : W h a t s to re ro o m ? N ic k : M o d e rn L o ve S o n g s '. R R : W h y w e re y o u d o in g th a t? A n d y : Because w e w e re s tu p id ! N ic k : Bo said he w o u ld n 't be o u r m anager unless w e c le a n e d o u t th e s to r e ro o m . S id : N o , w e c o n n e d h im in to th a t. R R : W h a t d o y o u m ean? N ic k : We had n o w h e re to p ra c tic e and no m o n e y . I f w e m ade h im o u r m a n a g e r, i t m e a n t he had to le t us p ra c tic e in th e s h o p . R R : W h a t w e re th e f ir s t p ra c tic e s lik e ? S id : We w e re fiv e ego tr ip s . Bo c a lle d it.. D ave: We .w e n t d o w n to th e s h o p and w e p la y ­ ed L o u ie L o u ie f o r a b o u t an h o u r... R R : Y o u k n e w h o w to p la y it? N ic k : S id k n e w h o w to p la y i t , and he s h o w e d M a x , and he to ld me w h e re to p u t m y fin g e rs on th e bass, and w e w r o te o u t tw o verses o f it f o r D ave to s in g , and A n d y s o rt o f b e a t o u t th e same th in g th e g u ita rs w e re d o in g . We p la y e d i t f o r an h o u r and th e n w e w e n t h o m e . A n d y : A n d c rie d ... D ave: I th o u g h t i t w as g o o d .

‘W e're A Three Chord B and'

N ic k : A f t e r a b o u t th re e re h e a rsals, we g o t a b it sic k o f L o u ie L o u ie and I'd w o rk e d o u t " Y o u R e a lly G o t M e " o n th e bass, and I s h o w e d M a x and S id th a t , so S id w o rk e d o u t w h a t th a t w as in c h o rd s — M a x w as s ta r tin g to le a rn c h o rd s b y th e n , so w e m a n a g e d to p la y " Y o u R e a lly G o t M e " . I t to o k us a b o u t tw o w e e ks to g e t i t o f f (D a v e : We h a v e n 't g o t i t r ig h t y e t) . We k e p t to songs lik e th a t - re a lly s im p le th re e c h o rd songs. We w e re p la y in g in th e s h o p f o r q u ite som e tim e . T h e s h o p w as g e ttin g m essed up and Bo d i d n 't lik e i t p a r t ic u la r ly .. We s ta r t­ ed lo o k in g f o r s o m e w h e re else to p la y — a w a re h o u s e — Bo fo u n d one in B lo o r C o u r t, and th re e b a n d s m o v e d in — th e U -B o m b s , th e D agoes and us. We a ll s o rt o f shared th e re n t and th a t's w h e re w e p ra c tic e d . # •X- # # -N >

«

R R . A re y o u a p u n k b a n d ? A ll : N o ! S id : I am I A n d y : W e 're lik e A b b a — and also I w a n t to be th e d r u m m e r f o r th e L it t le R iv e r B a n d . N ^c k : W e 're g o in g to be as b ig as S h e rb e rt. R R : A re th e re a n y o th e r b a n d s y o u lik e ? ; S id : Rose T a tt o o .; N ic k : N e v e r!; D ave: Y e a h , w e lik e Rose T a tt o o .; R R : W h o 'd y o u lik e to be lik e ? (V a rio u s s h o u ts o f Ig g y ! R ose T a t t o o ! S ham 6 9 !) . R R : S ham 6 9 , w h a t are th e y lik e ? D ave: T h e y 'r e g re a t!; R R : W h a t are th e y lik e ? ; D ave: T h e y w e a r b o o ts .; R R : W h a t else d o th e y d o? D a ve : T h e y used to be s k in h e a d s . R R : W ere y o u e ve r a s k in h e a d . D ave: N o . (S h o u ts o f " l i a r " ) D ave: N o , y e a h ... I used to be o n e . T h e n m y m u m to o k m y b o o ts a w a y fr o m m e and I w a s n 't a llo w e d to go o u t. * * * * * * N ic k : W e "re a th re e -c h o rd b a n d , and th a t's th e s o rt o f s tu f f we lis te n to . Because we can h a rd ly p la y a t a ll, th a t im p o s e s lim ita t io n s ; b u t th a t's a lm o s t b e n e fic ia l in th a t if y o u 'r e w o r k in g w it h in a v e ry t ig h t fr a m e w o r k , y o u re a lly d o s ta rt to w o r k o u t e x a c tly e v e ry th in g y o u can d o w it h t h a t fr a m e w o r k ; " D ig it a l L o v e " sh o w s h o w fa r y o u can a c tu a lly ta k e th a t th re e -c h o rd g e n re . It's even s lo w . O u r o ld f o r m ­ ula f o r p la y in g w as to have th e g u ita rs p la y in g th e same c h o rd s , b u t u s u a lly w it h a c o u n te r p o s in g r h y t h m , and th e bass I tr y and m a ke v e ry m e lo d ic . Y o u can h e a r th a t in s t u f f lik e " E liz a b e th C ity R io t s " . W hen I p ic k e d u p th e bass, I had no idea Page 6 - R O A D R U N N E R , N o v e m b e r 1 9 7 8

T h a t's s / d ^ w h a t i t d id . N e ith e r m y s e lf n o r th e o th e rs in th e b a n d had e ve r d is tin g u is h e d b e tw e e n th e in s tru m e n ts on re c o rd s . F o r th e f ir s t fe w rehearsals 0 p la y e d w h a t th e g u ita rs p la y e d , because I d i d n 't k n o w w h a t I w as s u p p o se d to d o , and th e n s o m e o n e to ld me th a t it w as the, s o rt o f in s tr u m e n t th a t w o rk e d w it h th e d ru m s b u t I d i d n 't k n o w h o w to w o r k w it h th e d ru m s .. In fa c t, I s till d o n 't k n o w w h a t th a t m eans a p a rt fro m k e e p in g tim e . So I w o r k w ith and a ro u n d th e g u ita rs to t r y and give th e songs a s tru c tu re . I lis te n a lo t to th e bass p la y e r th a t E lvis C o s te llo uses. H e's e x c e lle n t — th e ru n s he can d o — and he gets v e ry c le a r n o te s . I lik e th e bass w o r k on th e new B o w ie a lb u m " S ta g e " . He does lo ts o f lit t le tr ic k s - all th o s e v ro o o m s and s tu f f. I'd lik e to be able to d o th a t. .......Y o u see s t u f f lik e R o c k F o llie s , o r y o u h e a r o f o th e r b a n d s, and all o f th e ir s tr ic tio n s are s t u f f lik e t r y in g to g e t gigs, o r p e o p le b a n n ­

PI C: C L A R E L E V E R

ing th e m , o r p e o p le ju s t n o t lik in g th e m , and y o u hear th e m , and th e y can p la y . A n d w e 'v e c o m e fr o m p la y in g on tw o s trin g s , and n o b o d y b e in g able to p la y a th in g -- w e have these re a lly basic r e s tr ic tio n s o f ju s t n o t b e in g a b le , say, to change a c h o rd fa s t e n o u g h , o r n o t k n o w in g w h a t ke y y o u 'r e p la y in g in , o r w h a t a k e y is — all I k n o w a b o u t n o te s is w h e n th e y f i t ; o r n o t k n o w in g h o w to h a n d le th e e q u ip m e n t, h o w to g et rid o f fe e d b a c k o r p lu g in th e am ps. It's re a lly basic re s tric tio n s ! It's lik e n o th in g y o u ever read a b o u t — e v e ry o n e else is so adva n ce d w it h t h e ir re s tric tio n s .

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R R : S id , y o u r m o th e r is a w e ll- k n o w n A d e la id e fe m in is t p o e t. Has she e n c o u ra g e d y o u in y o u r c re a tiv e end e a vo rs? S id : She gives us th e house e v e ry S a tu rd a y n ig h t. She lets us stay th e re . I t h in k she's a lr ig h t. She d o e s n 't lik e w h a t I d o . She th in k s m y

D a ve : N o t as m u c h as th e U -B o m b s g e t — re m e m b e r t h a t tim e we w e re s ittin g o u ts id e and w e saw th o s e p e o p le ? S haved heads and a ll th a t ! A n d y : T h e y all e a t th o s e fu n n y beans — c h ili beans, th e y e a t — lo ts o f th e m , and u n le a v e n e d b r§ a d . R R : W h a t d o y o u t h in k o f p e o p le w h o see p u n k ro c k as b e in g a w o r k in g class p h e n o m e n o n and in som e w a y re v o lu tio n a r y ? 9 N ic k : W e ll, f o r o n e th in g , w e d o n 't g e t w o r k in g class p e o p le c o m in g to see us, and i f th e y d id th e y w o u ld n 't u n d e rs ta n d u s ....... D a ve : Y e a h , th e y p re fe r to spend $ 5 and g o t to a d is c o .. N ic k : T o lin k p u n k ro c k w it h re v o lu tio n is a b it n a ive . S id : H o p e fu l. D a ve : P o o fte rs . Can y o u p r in t t h a t w o rd ? R R : It's a g re a t A u s tra lia n w o r d , is n 't it? D a ve : Y e a h , th a t's w h y I use i t a ll th e tim e — I'm t r y in g to be a n e w A u s tr a lia n . N ic k : We g e t v e ry m o x e d a u d ie n c e s — I'v e seen a ll age g ro u p s , u p to a b o u t 3 0 o r so, p ro b a b ly o ld e r fr ie n d s o f th e D agoes o r th e U -B o m b s . A n d w e g e t — w e 'v e g o t o u r c o n tin g e n t, th e y lo o k g o o d — n i f t y dressers. T h e y s ta n d o u t fr o m m o s t o f th e a u d ie n c e . M o s t o f o u r a u d ie n c e lo o k lik e d e m in b o y s , and a lo t o f p e o p le w h o lo o k lik e h ip p ie s w h o have tr ie d h a rd to change in to p u n k s and th e y h a v e n 't q u ite m ade th e tr a n s it io n . Y o u g e t th e im p re s s io n th a t th e y 'v e a cte d o u t th e h ip p y , and n o w th e y are t r y in g to a c t o u t th e p u n k . I t 'l l ta k e a n o th e r y e a r o r so to p e r fe c t th e ir a c t, b y w h ic h tim e t h e y 'll be a b it la te (la u g h s ). Y o u g e t th e m in h ip p y ty p e c lo th e s — t h e y 'll w e a r rip p e d ja c k e ts , v e ry baggy p a n ts , and bare fe e t, and have c ro p p e d h a ir. Y o u get fre a k s as w e ll, w e ird p e o p le w h o are t r y in g re a lly re a lly h a rd . Y o u see th e m th e y lie d o w n on th e f lo o r and go in to spasm s, b re a th e h e a v ily in y o u r fa c e , s tin k o f a lc o h o l and v o m i t .......It's a w fu l.. Y o u fe e l lik e ju s t k ic k in g th e m d o w n th e s ta irs . B u t $ 1 .5 0 is $ 1 .5 0 ....... T h e re 's a lo t o f ta lk , o r w as, a b o u t p u n k b e in g a re v o lu tio n a r y fo r c e , b u t th e o n ly tim e m u s ic can co m e a n y w h e re n e a r th a t, o r a n y w h e re near p o w e r fu l, is w h e n it's lin k e d w it h s o m e th in g else. T h e N a zis lin k e d it w ith huge m a rc h e s . Reggae is lin k e d w it h a s o rt o f re lig io u s c u ltu r a l m o v e m e n t — it's p a rt o f s o m e ­ th in g . B u t m u s ic lik e w e are d o in g is ju s t a b a n d th a t's g o t to g e th e r, w h ic h has lo ts o f in flu e n c e , and is d o in g m u s ic f o r p e o p le to c o m e and lis te n to and h o p e fu lly lik e and d nace to and so o n . I t h a s n 't g o t a n y o f th o s e o th e r c o n n o ta tio n s — i t is n 't lin k e d w ith a n y big m o v e m e n t th a t has som e u ltim a te a im . T h e p e o p le w e g e t — a l o t o f th e m — seem to t h in k th a t it is, b u t th e y are th e same ty p e s th a t tu r n u p a t Ban U ra n iu m m a rc h e s . L e t W hales L iv e m a rc h e s . W a tc h a Ban U ra n iu m m a rc h o r a L e t W h a le s L iv e m a rc h , o r a n y and y o u 'll see a w h o le g ro u p o f A c c o u n ta n ts ' fa n s (g ig g le ). Y o u see th e same ty p e o f p e o p le - th e y a ll dress m u c h th e sam e. T h e y are in on w h a te v e r's th e b ig g e s t to p ic a t th e m o m e n t. Y o u k n o w , t h e y 'll a ll v o te L a b o r in th e c o m in g e le c tio n s and t h in k th e y 'r e re v o lu tio n a rie s .

it it it it it it

fr ie n d s are to o lo u d .......b u t I m o v e o u t p r e tty soon. R R : W h a t d o y o u t h in k o f th e s t u f f she w rite s ? S id : I d o n 't u n d e rs ta n d it , r e a lly ....... R R : W h a t does she t h in k o f th e s tu d d y o u w rite ? S id : D riv e l.

* * * * * it R R : W h a t k in d o f a u d ie n c e s d o y o u get? A n d y : L o ts o f h ip p ie s S id : We g et som e fe llo w s c o m e a lo n g w h o are d e a f — th e y c a n 't h e a r th e m u s ic . M a x : T h e ir fa v o r ite song is " Y o u R e a lly G o t M e " — b u t th e y c a n 't h e a r it, th e y ju s t to u c h th e g u ita rs . S id : In " I 'm A L a z y S o d " , th e y sing " s e v e n t­ e e n ", " s e v e n te e n " , " s e v e n te e n " ....... R R : Y o u get d e a f p e o p le c o m in g to y o u r c o n c e rts ? N ic k : A n d we g e t a lo t o f fre a k s to o . R R : F reaks? S id : H ip p ie s .

R R : H o w m a n y o rig in a l n u m b e rs d o y o u d o? (V a rio u s s h o u ts o f " S e v e n ! " ) R R : H o w m a n y a lto g e th e r? A ll : S e v e n te e n .......e ig h te e n ....... m a k e i t e ig h te e n ! R R : Is th a t lo n g e n o u g h f o r a set?; N ic k . I t has to b e .; A n d y : P e o p le c o u ld n 't keep d a n c in g a fte r th a t a n y w a y . W h e n w e g e t e n c o re s , w e ju s t d o som e o f th e m a g a in. R R : W h o w rite s th e songs? N ic k : A n d y u s u a lly w rite s th e ly ric s , a lth o u g h S id and D ave have w r it t e n so m e . M a x : U s u a lly I s it a t h o m e w it h m y g u ita r p lu g g e d in to th e re c o rd p la y e r, and p la y c h o rd s t i l l I g e t a fe w th a t s o u n d g o o d to g e th e r — th e n I c o m e a lo n g an d p la y i t to th e b a n d ....... N ic k : I w o r k th e bass o u t. M ax: S id u s u a lly fo llo w s m e , o r he w o rk s o u t s o m e th in g a b it d if f e r e n t , and th a t's i t — u s u a lly ta k e s a q u a r te r o f an h o u r. N ic k : A n d y w o rk s o u t th e d ru m s . R R : H o w d o y o u c o m e up w it h a tu n e ? N ic k D a v id ju s t sings — w e leave i t to h im . S id ; " E liz a b e th C ity R io t s " w as w r it t e n a fte r th e w o rd s . A n d y : I w r o te it lis te n in g to a n o th e r song so i t f it t e d to som e b e a t a n y w a y . S id : It's g o t f o u r c h o rd s . N ic k : In " D ig it a l L o v e " , we had th e w o r d s ....... S id : Y e a h , th e n M a x w as p la y in g s o m e th in g and I said 'H e y , th a t f i t s ' and he said 'W h a t ' and N ic k y ju s t jo in e d in . H e's g o t a g o o d ear. D a ve : H e 's g o t tw o g o o d ears — th e y s o rt o f fla p in th e w in d . A n d y : T h a t's w h y th e y 'r e ta p e d d o w n . D ave. L ik e B in g C ro s b y . RR: Y o u 'v e been d o in g som e re c o rd in g ? A n d y : Y e a h , w it h S im o n S tr e tto n ( T o m o r r o w R e c o rd s ). R R : H o w are th e M a r r y a tv ille ta p e s s e llin g ? M a x : I t g o t to n u m b e r tw o , d ro p p e d to fiv e and w e n t b a c k to th re e .

R R : D o y o u t h in k p e o p le are b u y in g th e tapes f o r y o u o r f o r th e D agoes and th e U -B o m b s? M a x : F o r us. N ic k : P eople lik e th e U -B o m b s , b u t th e y are o u t o f tu n e and th e vo ca ls — his v o ic e cra cks all th e t im e ; ..... M a x : A n d o f c o u rs e , he th r o w s in a fe w fu c k s h a lfw a y th r o u g h w h ic h he d o e s n 't n o r m a lly d o . S id : N o n e o f th e th re e b ands are re a d y f o r live re c o rd in g . N ic k : .......and th e D agoes d i d n 't c o m e o ve r to o w e ll on i t e ith e r (e v e ry b o d y sniggers). D ave: B u t R o n 's g o o d on th a t ta p e ....... R R : H ave y o u sold e n o u g h to m a ke a n y m o n e y ? A n d y : We d o n 't k n o w a n y th in g a b o u t .......we h a v e n 't even seen th e m o n e y . Is n 't t h a t w h a t th e P is to ls s a id :" W e h a v e n 't seen a n y o f i t ? " (E v e ry b o d y la u g h s). I f th e y can say it, we can b u t it's tru e as w e ll.

D IG IT A L L O V E In th e n o t to o d is ta n t fu t u r e T h e re w ill co m e a d a y W hen D ig ita l Love W ill be th e o n ly w a y D ig ita l L o ve F o r to m o r r o w 's to g e th e r fe llo w D ig ita l L o ve A n e q u a tio n f o r y o u and me D o n 't give me T h a t tr u e lo ve I d o n 't w a n n a I d o n 't w a n n a

y o u r o ld lies ru le s in y o u r eyes know know

D ig ita l L o ve Is ju s t a lr ig h t b y m e. S id : I t speaks f o r its e lf — I w as h a p p y w it h th e w a y it cam e o u t.

E L IZ A B E T H C IT Y R IO T S L oose lads and s la ck dads o u t to see th e ir team n o t th e team th a t p la y s b u t th e te a m th e y 'r e in . L oose lads and sla ck dads n o t a team a t all th e y 'r e an a rm y w a tc h th e ir n u m b e rs fa ll. O ne on e side th e b o o t b o y s th e o th e r side th e w ogs th e ir sc re a m in g w o m e n b e h in d p o lic e and dogs. A race r io t in A d e la id e on e th e y c o u ld n 't s to p T h a t w a s n 't lo n g ago th e y a ll th o u g h t i t fu n b u t n o w in E liz a b e th it's b e st t o have a g u n . A n d y It's a b o u t w h e n D a v id and I used to hang a b o u t w ith s k in h e a d s .. We used to go to th e soccer and all th e dads w o u ld go — slack dads. They used to go and le t th e ir loose lads d o w h a t th e y w a n t to d o . Have fig h ts and s tu f f, g e t c h u c k e d in th e p a d d y w a g o n . D ave: It's a b o u t h o w th e dads used to tu r n up and cause ju s t as m u c h tr o u b le . S c o ts m e n w ith th e ir s tu p id h ats. T h e y used to ro c k d o w n th e re and go in th e p u b w it h all th e b o y s and b y th e tim e th e y g o t to th e g ro u n d s th e y w e re ju s t as pissed as a n y o n e else. T h a t's w h y th e y 'r e c a lle d slack dads. A t h o m e th e y 'r e all d is c ip lin e S oon as th e y g o t o u t w it h o u t th e ir w iv e s , w o w , th e y 'r e a n y b o d ie s , y o u k n o w .

T w o verses o f C O U N T D O W N W e "re th e lads to ru le th e w o r ld D ra g o n 's dead I'v e ju s t been to ld L e if's a fa g g o t, o u r g o ld e n b o y H is im age o f s h it w s e " ll soon d e s tro y

M o lly M e ld ru m is th e ru le S h e rb e t's m u s ic 's ju s t a p u ll A c c o u n ta n ts ' m u s ic , o n e , t w o , th re e m u s ic a l a n a rc h y . D ave: I w a n te d to w r ite a song th a t w o u ld get b a n n e d on C o u n td o w n . I d o n 't lik e S h e rb e t o r L e if G a r re tt. A n d y : T h e w a y i t w o rk s — M o lly says it's g o o d , so it is. It's fa k e r th a n us. It's fa k e r th a n a n y ­ th in g . M o lly says th e N e w Y o r k D o lls are a g re a t new b and and th e y 'v e been s p lit up fo r tw o years — e v e ry o n e b elieves h im because he's M o lly M e ld ru m . - M IC H A E L HOPE R O A D R U N N E R ' N ovem ber 1978 -

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Sydney sid e Bands playing live in Sydney can be split into three basic categories 1. The Big Names, like Dragon, Skyhooks, 'etc; 2. The local groups who have established a niche for themselves in the limited but reasonably profitable late closing pub and club circuit; and 3. The strugglers w ho'll play anywhere. Category One is the same fo r all cities so we'll ignore In the second category come Midnight Oil (the most likely to succeed), X, Kamikaze Kids, whatever band Johnny Kannis is fronting this week, Jimmy and the Boys, Mental As Anything, Wasted Daze and Flowers. A ll are essentially good time bands (you can dance to them). Considering that these bands are playing to predomin­ antly punkish audiences, it's surpirising that X are the only punk band in the lot.. They are very popular. I think they are bloody awful. Their songs buzz by, back to back, no dynamics, no threat, no emotion. Noise, noise, whinge, whinge. You can tell the foldback is working because they always look how I feel....BORED. Flowers, Mental As Anything and Wasted Daze cover other people's songs, efficiently uninspiring. Flowers are preferable because they do "Jeepster" and "Telegram Sam". Everything about Midnight Oil astounds (intimidates)me.. Their version o f the Motors' " Dancing the Night A w ay" is so tight, it literally takes the old breath away. Their originals are uniform ly excellent, they're great to watch and yet they leave me unmoved. I can't explain why.. They're certainly worth seeing at least once, if only fo r the sheer ease o f the performance. Jimmy and the Boys are likewise supremely professional, and alhtough they've changed line-up since I last saw them. I'm sure I'd still hate them. Very campy, a hotch-potch o f Andrews Sisters songs and painful white funk, well played. A poor person's Tubes. The Kamikaze Kids are the only band in this batch that I've consistently enjoyed. Their singer may sound alarming­ ly like Patti Smith, but her voice is nonetheless incrediblely powerful and she delivers w ith real energy; the guitarist looks and plays like the audience have been very rude to him and they do a version o f "Love K ills " that's every bit as good as Radio Birdman's original. Unfortunately, until they can come up with some original material, I can't see them breaking out of their current role as the eternal support-band-better-than-the-headliner. Johnny Kannis has something of a reputation to live up to. From humble beginnings as the Glutonic who couldn't quite h it the note on Birdman's "D o n 't Look Back", to the man forever Back From Vegas, w ith a bit o f a local hit single on RCA, who can't make up his mind whether to be a pop star (in the nicest Blondie sense of the word) or a serious rock star. Well, not exactly serious, but you know what I mean. One o f the line-ups o f the old Johnny and the Hitmen featured girlie backup vocals, lovely trashy organ and a good rhythm section, but was prom ptly ditch­ ed in favor o f the four piece he currently fronts. That Chris Masvak is one of the pieces doesn't really compensate fo r what is an otherwise predictable rock band. The gig I saw only really had any spark when one Lynne Phillips joined w ith Masvak and Johnny on a nice mock-dramatic "Suspicious Minds", recalling something of the great garage-band era o f the H it Men. Still, Masvak and Kannis are w riting some good songs at last. Johnny's usually good for laughs and Chris Boy King's rhythm playing is quite spectacular. Yes, hup! Enough of the (relatively) big names; now we get into the seemingly endless list of bands digging up work any­ where they can, usually breaking up and reforming more often than they actually play. The majority are punk bands — the Professors and-the Assassins are the only ones in one piece at the time of w riting — plus the PsychoSurgeons, Subversion, Filth and the Scabs all in various stages of splitting — and w ith the exception o f Subversion, and to a lesser extent the Psychos and the Assassins, they really do deserve to be where they are. Hovvever,in this same predicament are what I consider to be Sydney's best three bands. Crime and the City Solution, Voight/465, and the Thought Criminals.. A ll display real talent and invention in their songwriting and all have a strong group identity, both musically and visually. Every Crime and the City Solution song is centred on a repeated riff, b u ilt on and belted in.. The singer resembles a puppet who strings are being cut, slumping down then jerking into crazy angular poses, incoherently mouthing over the sledge-hammer rhythm and saxophone counter riffs. Some o f the songs, notably " Featurette" and "C uriosity" are quite catchy, but generally their rather uncompromising non-dance - dance music falls on deaf ears (they're very loud). Nobody seems to actually like them. They dare to be different and are therefore worth your attention. Voight/465 dare to be more different, and as a conse­ quence have been known to actively offend some weakkneed listeners who have come along hoping to have their moron-musical pre-conceptions massaged. The song that gets them shrieking is called " F I " . It is improvised noise with short vocal...um...exclamations. Coupled with a quaint slide-show, the effect is shattering. However, because their instrumentals" are so often the centre of controversy the more or less normal origins are somewhat which is a pity. Nobody is w riting songs as fresh and creat­ ive as "A nd The Following Page'-', "Red Lock On Sea and "Is New Is". Voight/465 are superficially psychedelic to the deaf, and brilliant, blatant avante-garde to those who take the time. By the time you read this, their first single, " A Secret W est"/"State", should be out, so have a listen for yourself. Page 8 — R O A D R U N N E R , N o v e m b e r 1 9 7 8

seemed at odd place to play — Belair being an upper middle class area - but it gave the band valuable practice. It was during this period that Ian Thurnwald (sax) joined the band The band have played only Adelaide's recognised venues fo r times - the Tivoli twice and the Marryatville twice.. They have preferred to organise their own shows, although w ith the success o f the "Live at the arryatville" cassette they are getting more and more offers o f w ork from Adelaide promoters.

Bom bs A w ay The St. Vitus Dance Package made a ^iumphant return to the Marryatville stage last month. The Accountants, the D ay—Goes and the U-Bombs treated the capacity crowd to a near fatal dose of high energy music. During one of the breaks in the Day-Goes' performance members of all three bands got up on stage to be presented with a plat­ inum cassette for sales of "one billion units" of their legendary "Live at the Marry­ atville" cassette which as we write, is still riding high in 5K A 's progressive album chart.

The U-Bombs have been together since late last year.. Paul Tuxworth, guitar, and Phil Cayzer, bass and vocals, met each other fo r the first time in four years at the Radio Birdman concert in the Unley Town Hall. Paul was getting a band together so he asked Phil, who was just passing through town, if he'd like to be in on it. Phil agreed, they got drummer Roy Erzinger and Irving and the UrBombs were born. A fter playing a few parties around town they arranged a residency at the Belair Hotel in the Adelaide Hills. It The Thought Criminals also have a home-made single out, but apart from the funny lyrics and the huge credit list on the sleeve, it was pretty unremarkable. Any simHarities between the recorded product and the live band of the same nane, have got to be a coincidence. But, of course, they're not. Anyway, fo r whatever reasons, the band are w riting some o f the best examples of punk songs this side of Buzzcocks. In fact, I dare say the songs, if not the actual performance, are better. "Oceania" is b rill­ iant, likewise "A n ti-C lo c k w is e ". "Winston S m ith" is more 1984 fetish. "Fuck the Neighbors" is a lament for the struggling livingroom band w ith the punk-basher next door. The songs are entertaining, the band is h il­ arious. The singer has tw o movements. One is where he looks like he's sliding down the deck o f the Titanic, the other copping dumb blank stare freeze frames. He has also been known to screw up a song by tickling the drummer, himself a brilliant deadpan. The bass player never stops talking. The guitarist laughs a lot. They all laugh a lot. They also play great. We love you Big Brother. Of course, there are thousands o f other bands playing around Sydney, but I feel I must keep boogie bands in their place so we w on't talk about them. A ll the bands I've mentioned are worth at least a try. You may find Heaven on Earth.. But d on't hold your breath. Okay? Goodbye!

I asked Phil if he was surprised at the success o f the Marryatville tape. P h il:" I'm amazed. I find it d iffic u lt to believe that people are actually buying it. It's such a cruddy tape. The sound is really bad. The idea originally was to put it out as a joke — Music fo r Pleasure we were going to call it. None o f us ever expected it to do as well as it has". RR: Are you working towards putting a more conventional recording out? Paul: " Yeah, we've been recordinfl at Soundtrack Australia and we hope to have a single out in November.. A t the moment all we have to do is add sax to tw o tracks and mix them. We've have trouble getting a saxophone with perfect pitch but Ian's got one now so the recording should be finished in the next couple of weeks". RR: What are the songs on the single going to be? P h il:" We're definitely going to use 'The New and Impproved' and 'Give Me a Medal' and we may put 'What's Your Problem' on it to o ". RR: Are all the songs originals? Paul: "Y eah" RR: Who wrote the songs? Paul: " I did w ith some help from Phil. With our songs, what usually happens is that I'll get the music and chorus and maybe a verse or tw o and then Phil w ill add some more lyrics and polish it up and arrange it. We comple­ ment each other". RR: What songs do you enjoy playing most? P h il:"O f the non-originals I really like 'There's a Change On The Way', which is an old Terry Knight and the Pack single (Terry Knight is best known as the manager of Grand Funk Railroad)" Paul " I really like the Who stuff we d o " P h il:"O f the originals I really like 'The New and Improved' and'Give Me A M edal'". RR: You play a reggae medley in your set 'Police and Thieves/ Get Up, Stand Up' which always gets a big crowd reaction? What was the reason fo r including that? Phil "L yrica lly, it seemed to fit. WE don't do them as reggae songs. We've adapted them to our style.". Paul:"A lo t o f our cover songs are chosen fo r their lyrics". RR: What do you look fo r in a lyric then? Phil " We look fo r songs that w ill f it in w ith what we already do. A ll our songs say something about the same general area". RR: Most o f the songs seem to have some sort of mess­ age or social comment. Do you think that it is im portant fo r songs to say something about what's going on outside in society? P h il:"It's im portant to us but it's not necessarily im portant fo r music as a whole to do that. I'd rather sing about things like that than anything else but that's just because it is more relevant to me". RR: Do you think it's more important to say something than be entertaining? P h il:" No (laughs). It's possible to say something and be really boring! I think we're still basically a dance band. If people can get something out of our lyrics, that's really great; but if they just have fun and dance, that's really great to o ". j RR: What's your next step after the single comes out? P h il:" Well, we'll be doing an interstate tour to promote the single — one night at Melbourne's Winter Garden Room which we are told is the home of the New Wave in Melb­ ourne. That's on November 25th. We're also going to do a film clip to promote the single" Paul:"Then we'll put out our 'U-Bombs Sing 12 Family Favorites From the Golden Years o f Protest' cassette which we're going to do at Simon Stretton's studio (Simon Stretton runs Tomorrow Records, who put out 'Live A t the M arryatville')". RR: What tracks are going to be on that? P h il:" There w ill be tw o originals and covers of 'There's a change on the Way', 'Eve of Destruction', 'W on't Get Fooled AGain', and 'I'm Not Like Anybody Else' ". RR: I see your definition of protest is fairly broad. I thought maybe you'd be doing 'Slow in' In the Wind' and 'The Times They Are A'Changin'. Phil:"(Laughing) We thought o f doing 'The Times They Are A'Changin', We still m ight". Further discussion was pre-empted by the arrivak of 6pm and "C ountdow n" on the tube. I couldn't help ing that it might not be too long before Molly Meldrum would be introducing a new single from the Bombs —"It's a b it New Wave but watch out fo r it....etc". The U-Bombs firm ly believe they have a h it on their hands and you know what? — They could be right!

VIRGIN ON THE RDICULOUS When former Australian record executive Laurie Dunn, now holding down a senior executive position w ith Britain's Virgin Records — presently the hottest record label in Britain — returned to OZ earlier this year, he seemed a natural outside insider to pass judgement on the current state ot the rock industry in Ozland. Dunn, as head-of Virgin's international record division whose territory includes Australia, has in the past and still does, take more than a professional interest in what's happening in this country. His views, therefore, make a great deal o f good old fashioned common sense. On his month visit to Australia he took time out to do radio interviews w ith both 2JJ in Sydney and 3RRR-FM in Melbourne, and it was in Melbourne that I sat in as a guest interviewer to listen to the sermon from the mount as presented by Dunn. Virgin Records' rise to prominence as one o f the largest independent record companies in the U.K. reads like a fairytale w ith its very first record, Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells" becoming one of the biggest selling albums o f all time. Its recent association vvith the Sex Pistols, though, has done much to change not only the company's image, but its catalogue from one o f boring old farts, as some may think, to the leading New Wave label in zee world you better believe it. When he was asked to explain how Virgin operates, Dunn recited the company's modus operandi " It's naturally all drilled into us; We come in each morning and salute and recite the company creed and we "get points fo r how much we know ", before continuing on a /slightly more serious level."It's a small company that thinks big. It's continuing musical philosophy has been to make music available which no-one else w ill touch and we still do that in a lo t o f ways. We w ill continue to release products which are not commercially viable while at the same time looking fo r more commercial acts who cover the cost o f our more adventurous signings. Julie Covington would be a classic example o f th a t", To the point that Virgin has discovered has taste w ith the antics o f the Sex Pistols, Derek and Clive etc, he replied: "O h, indeed every­ one at Virgin is right into it" . And what of the Sex Pistols themselves — after all, Dunn was actually roped in as tour manager o f the band's Scan­ dinavian tour. " I should say here and now that the only reason Virgin signed the Sex Pistols was because our chairman Richard Branson (probably a m ulti-m illionaire at the tender age of 28) had a burning ambition to be arrested and figured that was probably the easiest* way to make it happen and get himself in the papers at the same tim e ". I guess we could say that's typical Virgin humor — you know, the sort that comes up with Jayne Mansfield saying in adverts: " I lost my head over the Motors". Seriously, please Mr Dunn? "A lrig h t, alright, alright. To put the whole thing into perspective, the Sex Pistols d id n 't get a lot o f money to sign w ith Virgin (Me theenks we must have been talking about whether Virgin ended up losing money on the Pistols because of their premature retirement). They recorded the album at their own expense and virtually leased it to us. We pay album-by-album and don't pay a massive advance on a five-year deal or thing (unlike, perhaps, Warner Brothers in America). We would only lose money we hoped to make rather than money we w on't get back", came the philosophical To the question of why had Virgin turned down the Pistols before they had originally signed w ith EMI, Dunn offered this comprehensive reply " Their manager Malcolm McLaren wanted too much money purely and sim ply".

Talk then got away from Virgin to the meat o f this article, the Oz rock scene and discussion? led o ff w ith talk o f Virgin's plans to release a special Daddy Cool album in the U.K. " I saw Ross Wilson and told him we would like to do a 10-inch album o f old Daddy Cool material, but the tracks are still to be decided. I think Ross is quite into the idea and hopefully it w ill be out in England in the next few months. We have one m inor problem w ith the album in that Ross Wilson is still under contract w ith Warner Brothers so we w ill have to come to some terms w ith them, but I do n 't th in k that w ill be a problem really". "We have been trying to find a way to make Daddy Cool available in England, but we had to really have something to hinge it all around; Just having a band w ith a cult fo ll­ owing and putting out a record is not really o f value to any­ one. BuL.with the 10-inch form at which we have recently introduced we know it w ill get a lo t o f attention from the media and w o n 't just get lost in the pile". I told our Australian ex-patriate that one thing which I found immensely interesting while I was working in London, was the number o{ top .musicians who readily told me upon discovering my country of origin, they really liked Daddy Cool. Considering the fact they never toured there, and their records were only available on limited im port through Virgin record shops, it's quite a phenom­ enon. "Yeah, they have got an amazing following there.. In fact, when Virgin first opened their record shops. Daddy Cool was always something they were pushing as imports. The director o f A and R at Virgin ranks them among his very favorite bands and as I said, we've been trying to fin d a way to release Daddy Cool there that would do the band, Ross Wilson and Virgin some good. "N ow we think the 10-inch form at is the perfect opp­ o rtu n ity ". He then related how, because o f his Australian contacts, he is constantly being asked by people in the British music business to score them Daddy Cool albums, such is the interest in the band."I think the amount of interest in Daddy Cool certainly augurs well fo r the release o f the record. "A nother thing in our favour is that a group who is really scoring well in England at the moment is the Darts, and Daddy Cool were 10 times better than the Darts w ill ever be, so I think the time is right fo r them ". And what of his impressions o f the current state of the Australian rock industry? "In itia lly very unfavorable, but as time's gone on that's changed somewhat. Whether it's because I'm becoming more used to what's going on here and the initial shock has gone I d o n 't know. But initially my first impressions were very bad. I thought it was all very west coast and American music and not the better American music at that. None o f the new bands like Talking Heads, but the Eagles and Little Feat and that type. Since I've been here and checked out some local bands, there have been several I've come across that I liked and thought could do very well overseas. Australia has to overcome its geopgraphical disadvantage, but I think a couple o f them are good enough to do it". I w o n d e re d if Dave W arner F ro m the Suburbs m ig h t be one o f th e m . "D a ve W arner d e fin ite ly (in fa c t, D unn to o k tapes o f W arner back to L o n d o n w ith h im to tr y to in te re st V irg in in h i m) . The Angels I th in k as w e ll. I d o n 't k n o w a b o u t th e ir re co rd in g h is to ry , b u t the tw o singles I saw th e m p la y live were b o th very good and I th in k th e y 're p e rfe c t fo r

England". And what about Sports? "Sports are also a very good band. The problem with Virgin is that we've signed the Wilko Johnson (Ex-Dr Feelgood guitarist) Band, and I think Sports fall far too much into that category which probably conflicts too much w ith working two bands in the same genre. But I still definitely rate them as one of the best bands in Aust­ ralia — they've got energy, that's fo r sure". What had caused him to initially feel depressed about the Australian rock scene, and what happened to change his mind? "Well the radio initially left me most unimpressed.. Com­ ing into Melbourne from the ai»"port and listening to one of its top stations, I was disappointed by its lack o f energy and lack o f British music w ith a couple o f exceptions. Like they are playing Elvis Costello and the Tom Robinson Band, but generally they are just very competent, very boring, very professional, very laid back rock'n'roll. What I mean is surely the time has come when you go to gigs and see the apathy around you, that radio should start to inject a bit o f life and make a whole scene better. "It's a chicken and egg situation now where the bands are making records they hope radio w ill play because they are a b it too frightened to take the step themselves".

The discussion then moved to the subject o f marketing of rock music in Australia, which certainly to my thinking is primitive and so totally lacking in imagination and flair that it almost seems pointless to talk about it. But on this matter Dunn proved to have things nicely in perspective. " I think in fairness to Australian record companies, the major differences and certainly there are many., are brought about by economies. I think it is only fair to point that out from the start. Firstly, Australian companies are looking to break a band in Australia and get back their initial investment and then they can look to hopefully break a band internationally which is the cream on top.. But the statistics prove that hasn't happened that often, so I guess to be totally brutal they must consider Australia to be the be-all and end-all in most ways. Bearing

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I. te ;,rr^ r a t : t I'm n o t saying Sid was incapable o f murder becausd he and Nancy d efinitely enjoyed w hat could best be des­ cribed as an SM relationship and they shared some very weired scenes, and in New Y o rk, which has nriore degener- ] ates and social m isfits than any other c ity in the w orld, it can be very easy to lose your perspective. B u t while I d o n 't rule o u t th a t Sid as capable in th e j [most extreme circumstances, I'm much more inclined to I believe the other tw o theories, and ft 's im portant to rem -j ember that at the time o f this w riting, some five d ^ s l after her stabbing, Sid has n o t deviated one b it from his original explanation to police that he woke up and found Nancy stabbed and he doesn't know what happened.

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Everywhere there were zippers, leather, boots, see-through plastics, male make-up, overtones o f sexual deviation, particularly sadism, mixed vyith amphetamines, student pop groups were appearing w ith louder music, calculated mania, ear-splitting amplification, the Rolling Stones, Yardbirds, Animals, Downliners Sect, and the classic Pretty Things. The members of the Pretty Things, Rolling Stones and Yardbirds were vastly different socially, from the hardrock establishment, many being ex-art students who disc­ overed pop through rhythm and blues. They all had mem­ ories of ban-the-bomb marches and the culture that grew out of the CND (Campaign fo r Nuclear Disarmament). In 1962, Dick Taylor and Phil May attended the same college as ' Keither Richard — the Sidcup A rt College. Taylor, Richard and Mick dagger, whom Richard knew from his childhopd, jammed together culling material mainly from the Chess recording artists (Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters and Howling Wolf), dagger mailed demo tapes produced by them to Alexis Korner (father of the London rhythm and blues scene in the early sixties). Korner contacted dagger and company arranging a meeting that was to begin the first chapter in the story of the Rolling Stones. Korner arrived w ith a friend named Brian' dones, who was to replace Taylor in the coming months when he left to devote more time to his studies. Taylor finally deferred his studies indefinitely, jamming again w ith students from Sidcut, which was to evolve into the formation of the Pretty Things. The initial line-up consisted o f Taylor switching from bass to lead guitar, Phil May on lead vocals, dohn Stax, a friend of May's, who was working on a building site at the time, on bass guitar. Brian Pendleton, a bank clerk, answer­ ed an advertisement requesting a rhythm guitarist. A in the lower 30's. Ex-drummer Skip Allan had joined a soul rhythm and fellow art student of May and Taylor was on drums.. In New Zealand, the band had its healthiest record sales blues combo "Sunshine" and their manager heard "Para­ He was quickly replaced by Viv Prince when the band — all three Fontana albums charting. chute" arrd wanted to know why the band d id n 't exist. signed w ith Fontana (Phillips in Australia). In 1965, the band's management signed fo r an Australian He telegrammed Phil May, who was vacationing in Greece, The record company introduced Prince to the group. tour w ith Sandie Shaw and Eden Kane (Peter Sarstedt's asking him to reform the band. Maintaining their experience in the w o rld -o f perform-., brother). Prior to this tour, there had been the annual Gene Phil May remained lead vocalist, his position since the ing and recording meant the band needed at least one Pitney tour plus a tour of the British Isles w ith the band's first rise. Peter Tolson played lead (maintaining he seasoned professional. Prince had been drummer w ith the Rolling Stones. left Eire apparently because he wasn't Irish like the rest), Dauphin St. Trad band in I960,, but more recently had New Zealand was as far as the tour proceeded. Reports Stuart Brooks played bass. Skip Alan drums, and John been making demo tapes w ith the Carter-Lewis w riting Povey keyboards. The band - wasn't impatient to throw team. filtered back to Australia; there were sensational stories of themselves headfirst into the gruelling process o f recording In a "Sounds" article on the Pretty Things, their first the management locking the band out of a theatre, the unprepared. They rehearsed fo r months, playing live manager, Bryan Morrison (recently managing Doctors of gigs w ith a string quartet. group breaking in and locking the officials in their office. Madness and Twiggy) told the band to lie on the floor, ' The New Zealand press printed hostile reviews and daily "Freeway Madness" (this time Warner Bros .) celebrated clim b the walls, do anything, while Prince, the ultimate reports of drinking from bottles, wild orgies and general the group's 10th year. The album was produced by Asa professional, would disappear offstage and reappear w ith anti-establishment attitudes.. The final straw occurred Jones, rumoured to be Wally Allen (ex-Pretty Things). w ith whatever weapon he could find and set about dem­ when Viv Prince strolled aimlessly around the stage d rin k­ The car on the cover was loaned by David Gilmour (Pink olishing the stage; the others soon took to removing any­ ing during Sandie Shaw's performance. Following Sandie Floyd). Gordon Huntley (Southern Comfort) played slide thing dangerous before their gigs. Shaw, the band took to the stage in wild abandonment, guitar on one track "C ountry Road". Phil May is on record stating that one night at the Royal smashing stage props and everything else in sight. Throwing Thinking their best chance lay in the States, rather than College of A rt a character, quite drunk, came backstage flame torches causing general chaos culminating w ith the touring the U.K. (where they were remembered as an out­ offering them a recording deal w ith Fontana. When the stage curtain igniting behind them. The management tried dated rhythmn and blues unit) a brief tour was planned. band signed a contract w ith the stated company, they to cancel the show, but to no avail; the band refused to Due to manager Bryan Morrison holding our Fox for more discovered the intoxicated gentleman had been viewing q u it the stage. bread, the band had never performed there. The tour of the concert w ith a Fontana executive. No, they were not nice people and the Australian gov­ the U.S. failed to build the band's commercial support Fontana, being surprised w ith the chart entry of the ernment took note of these bizarre and prefabricated while the record industry once again buzzed w ith enthus­ Rolling Stones, decided they needed an o u tfit displaying stories.. The Powers That Be refused entry visas to the iasm. Their management's bankruptcy caused the band to the comparable image and energy of the Stones. The group, ending any chance o f them performing in Australian take a vacation on returning to Britain, ending another record company's insistence that the Pretty Things try to concert h a lls . chapter in the band's life. This time it looked like destiny out-do the Stones, lived w ith the band until their demise They were due to tour Australia finally in January, 1973, hacf dealt its final death blow. w ith Slade, Status Quo, and Lindisfarne, but cancelled in 1976. Headlines began appearing in the English press; The band, gaining impetus to survive following their out at the last moment to be replaced by Caravan. The Rolling Stones are d irty , the Pretty Things are scum. American tour experience, drew up a shortlist of four Viv Prince quit the band to form " Bunch o f Fives" people they'd like to deal w ith. Their first choice was The so-called im portant social issues of the early sixties shortly after returning to England. In 1966 he recorded Peter Grant, Zeppelin's manager. The band could thank eventually crippled the band's progress — 90 per cent of one solo single "L ig h t of the Charge Brigade" on EMIthe world thought the Beatles' hair was long, but the Robert Puant's fan feelings and goodwill, having told Parlophone. Skip Allen replaced Prince to begin the first Phil May in Swansong's early days that he wanted the band Pretty Things....! The sleeve o f their first album showed o f his tw o stints w ith the Pretty Things. the band in all their glory — long haired, angry young on the label. The only other acts on the label at the time men. They were refused entry to hotels, barred from "E m otions", their third and final album on Fontana, were Led Zeppelin, Bad Company and Maggie Bell (exrestaurants all across Britain and the Continent was released in July 1967. Their first attem pt to transcend Stone the Crows); Detective and Dave Edmunds were later "Young Sun", a special feature appearing weekly in the from their rhytm n and blues was out o f their hands. They additions. Melbourne Sun, ran a story on the Pretty Things (circa were pressured into a quick album to complete their con­ Robert Plant commented in Rolling Stone (A pril '75); 1965). The main theme o f the article was the evaluation tract w ith Fontana. It was a commercial and artistic dis­ "The Pretty Things conjure up something from the past To people my age, and yet, they're certainly not nost­ of rock group fans. The Rolling Stone fans were one rung aster. Stax, Pendelton and Allen q u it the band. below the Beatle fans but the Pretty Thing fans were algic or anything like that. Most of. the time when you A period o f low morale followed, a series o f anonymous imbeciles or "agin the establishment" to vaguely enjoy don't hear of anyone fo r 10 years, it's the Neil Sedaka mood music soundtracks commissioned by the De Wolfe thing - you know, the Sha La La days are back! But the the group's material, let alone devour it. Film Company, three psychedelic singles fo r EMI-Columbia Pretty Things have got this tomorrow's-just-around-theNick Cohn's book "Wop Bop A Loo Bop Bam Boom", beginning their partnership w ith Pink Floyd producer corner feel about what they do". his statement on the history of rock and roll in the 50's Norman Smith. Smith recorded under the name Hurricane A three month extensive tour o f the States pushed and GO'S, commented "The most classic o f the 60's rhythm Smith in the early 70's registering a couple o f hits on the "S ilk Torpedo" (re-uniting the band w ith Norman Smith) and blues groups were the Pretty Things who'd been Australian charts. to No.77 on the U.S. album charts — a h it record in the deliberately designed to make the Rolling Stones look May and Taylor formed the new Pretty Things in 1968 States after a dozen years On the road. The band at this like the proverbial tea party. Man, they were ugly — w ith John Povey and Wally Allan (both ex-Bern E lliot stage were confident that the public were finally seeing I mean really ugly.. Phil May, the singer, had a fat face, and the Fenmen) plus Tw ink (ex-Tomorrow) on drums. the light; their next U.S tour already planned to publicise entirely hidden by hair and he'd bang around stage like This band recorded the concept album "S 'F ' Sorrow " their next album "Savage Eye" and increase the acceptance some maimed gorilla. The others looked even badder, (first of four albums produced by Norman Smith). A they discovered on their "T orpedo" tour. They toured tale o f a soldier's life, loves and death based on a short and their music was all chaos The big bad blues. Actually supporting the Kinks "Schoolboys in Disgrace" tour; it wasn't either big or the blues. Bad it was, however". story by Phil May. Acknowledged as the first rock opera, Swansong released the second album watching it rise to Peter Townsend listened to the first album practically May '64 saw the band's first single "Big Boss Man/ 103 on the charts, then plummet to obscurity in two non-stop fo r fo u r days upon its release (Sept.. 68). Towns­ Rosalyn" released, scraping into the Top 30 fo r one week weeks. Both albums were commercial disasters in the U.K. end then began w riting his rock opera "T o m m y " (May at 30. "D o n 't Bring Me Down' followed in October '64 America was their last hope. '69). proving a success at No. 10 on the charts. The band faced Swansong released "T o n ig h t" (May '76), their final Dick Taylor finally threw in the towel in 1969. Upon more harrassment this time from the States. "D o n 't Bring single. Phil May finally called it quits after 13 years of leaving the band there was'talk at the time o f him joining Me Down" was banned from airplay; American broad­ frustration. The group continued performing as the Pretty 'H aw kw ind", but apart from producing their first album, casters considered the lyrics obscene. Their third single "Honey I Need" was their last U.K. Top 20 entry, regist­ Things fo r a few months at gigs around London, finally has done little since. changing their name to "M etropolis". By now, no original ering No. 13 in March '65. The band"s first LP was rel­ By the time of Parachute (EM 1-Harvest 1969) Phil May members remained in the band. The "o ld e st"' was Skip eased later in '65 rising to No. 6 on the album charts. was the only original member left. Parachute was voted They first noticed the effects of a h it single in Hull, Allan who originally replaced Viv Prince in 1966. album of the year by Rolling Stone magazine, though it, where they had been booked to perform in a small coffee Their respective projects haven't appeared to eventuate.. too, failed to break commercially. Phil May blamed lack of Phil May joined forces again w ith Wally Allen to form shop that normally held 200 people. The audience prom otion — "We got great reviews, but the company wandered in and eventually numbered five times the "Fallen Angels". Twelve months ago, an item in Melody put quarter inch ads on the back pages of the music papers coffee lounge's capacity, w ith people spilling everywhere Maker mentioned they were recording (not Swansong) fo r about tw o weeks and that was their total co n trib u tio n !" an album in Europe. Nothing heard since. onto the street. The band drove past the coffee bar a In America, Tamla-Mowtown insisted to EMI Metropolis performed in and around Greater London, couple of times, surmising they'd been given the wrong (S'F' Sorrow/Parachute), that they gain the rights to supposedly signed to Swansong. In an interview with address by their agency. Pretty Things material stateside. Mowtown more or less Trouser Press (No.21, Sept. '77) Jimmy Page mentions A t this stage, several offers came from the States for strongarmed the deal. America never knew o f either a rehearsal tape that he's been impressed with. Nothing tours, but the closest they came was a filmed interview album's existence, though released through Rare Earth, has been mentioned of Metropolis in gig guides (NME, recorded in London fo r the Dick Clark Show.. They also a subsidiary of Tamla-Mowtown. taped a film clip (London Town) televised coast to coast Entering the seventies, the group's career was well and Melody Maker, etc) or the Swansong contract since. in the States by "Shindig". truly in the doldrums — Parachute had failed, their roles A t basic rhythm and blues, in hard raucous, heavy metal, Here in Australia, the band's record company released in Norman Wisdom's "What^^Good for the Goose" (1969), operatic, psychedlic and accoustic rock, the Pretty Things a self-titled EP (Rosalyn, We'll Be Together, D on't Bring a token psychedelic film , hadn't created new interest, excelled. The group died once again in 1976, but who Me Down and Big Boss Man). It was one of the few EPs fven the group's m otto, "any gigs to keep the band going", knows what the future holds. in the history of Australian Top 40 to chart, registering d id n 't help. The band split temporarily. -----X>AV/0> LE SC U N Page 12 — R O A D R U N N E R , N o v e m b e r 1 9 7 8

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R o g e r R u s k i n Sp e a rs m a d e a rare p u b lic a p p e a ra n c e r e c e n tly at the G o l d e n L i o n in F u l h a m . I t w a s a curious event: The place was p a c k e d to the rafte rs w it h p e o p le o f a l l ages c o m e t o see o n e o f t h e legendary Bonzo Dog Band men in a c t i o n a n d g o t a n i g h t t h a t w a s p r e d i c t a b l y m o r e biza rre and c o n ­ fusing than they had bargained for. Spears had tw o other people alo n g f o r the ride A m iddle-aged d ru m m e r-cu m - s a x - p lay er ( h i s d r u m k i t w a s a c t u a l l y a se t o f " t r a p s " , as t h e y u s e d t o c a l l it in the 30s) and a pianist, lo o kin g te r r ­ ib ly o u t o f shape and b e e ry , w h o was the original "Thunderclap Newman" — and had w ritten t h a t g ro u p 's o ne big h it " S o m e t h i n g In T h e A i r " , w h i c h he a n n o u n c e d at one p o i n t to the a udience th a t he still lived off the royalties from . It d id n 't seem to bother him and for most of the night he engaged in old Vaudeville/ Music Hall ro u tin e s w ith Spears and th e d r u m m e r , e v e n d o w n to the stale jokes. For a couple of numbers in one set, these t h r e e were joined by a fiddler who l o o k e d in t h e f a g - e n d s o f h i s s i x t h decade of life. Spears him self spent most of the night racing a r o u n d t h e stage c r e a t i n g m a y h e m w i t h an e n o r m o u s a r r a y o f h o m e ­ m a d e e le c tro n ic gadgets, d e cid in g a f t e r one o r t w o bars t h a t it was enough, and going on to some o t h e r d e v i c e . O c c a s i o n a l l y , he s e t t ­ l e d d o w n t o s o m e s w e e t sax w o r k , like on the closin g n u m b e r o f the s e c o n d set, " T h e S h i e k o f A r a b y " . T h e l a s t set w a s t h e b e s t A fter finally dragging the pianist back from the bar, t h e y la u n c h e d in to a duo-sax, rin ky-tin k version of "There's No Business L ik e S h o w B u s in e s s " , d o in g it s e e m in g ly deads t r a ig h t like some serious b u n c h o f art students discovering popular c u l t u r e s o m e w h e r e in t h e m i d - 5 0 s , t h e n l a u n c h e d i n t o a series o f c r a z y ro u tin e s, to p p in g the show w ith a version o f the old B o n z o n u m b e r "Jo llity F a r m " , f o r w h i c h Spears dragged up a m e n a c in g piece o f electric e q u ip m e n t w ith wires c o m ­ ing o u t o f it at all ang le s. L o o k i n g like a mad scientist, he thrust

the ends o f each wire in to the hands of the people occupying one o f the f r o n t table s and g o t them to push the contact-m ikes on the ends o n to their throats, so t h e y c o u l d i m i t a t e t h e n o i s e s o f al l t h e a n i m a l s a t J o l l i t y F a r m . B y the tim e this organised chaos had reached its frantic peak, Spears was rushing aroond the stage c o n d u c t i n g t h e entire pub on the choruses w ith a huge wooden hand on an extension m echanism , or applauding groups o f singers w it h a g ig a n tic pa ir o f w o o d e n hands. It was pu re v a u d e ­ ville and everyone joined in t h e spirit The night finished, predictably e n o u g h , w i t h an a b s u r d l y o l d - s t y l e s i n g a l o n g v e r s i o n o f " S o m e t h i n g In The A i r " , c o m p le te w ith a crazy G e n e K r u p a - s t y le traps solo w h ic h e n d e d j u s t b e f o r e its c l i m a x w i t h t h e b a ss d r u m f a l l i n g o v e r f l a t a n d t h e d r u m m e r b e i n a b e r a t e d hw t h o p ia n is t f o r t r y i n g to ruin th e song by s h o w in g o f f . T h e song f in a lly finished in the in c re d ib ly ragged style w i t h the w h o le p u b j o in in g in. A f t e r t h a t , even th e b a n d had had enough and headed fo r the bar, w hile we all piled o u t to the tube station confused and entertained nonetheless, w hich s e e m e d t o be b a s i c a l l y t h e w h o l e intention. It w asn't Bonzo, for — t h e gags w e r e n ' t s h a r p , t h e m u s i c was sloppy, but it was hugely e n j o y a b l e in its o w n w a y . T h e p i t y is t h a t it c o u ld be y e a r s b e f o r e S p e a r s h i t s t h e st age a g a i n . T h e o t h e r gig, at t h e B l u e C o a t in t h e A n g e l , I s l i n g t o n , g a v e m e t h e opposite reaction — it's a pity i t p r o b a b l y w o n ' t be y e a r s b e f o r e t h e M e k o n s a p p e a r live a g a in . A b u n c h o f e x -a rt s tu d e n ts f r o m up north (aren't they all). They managed to produce the most pretentious bunch of charlatan noises I've heard in y e a r s . T h e i r basic starting p o i n t s e e m s t o be the a narchic sounds of Beefheart's "L ick My Decals O ff, Baby", but couched in t h e s i m p l i c i t y o f the New Wave music. They're very smart — it's all worked out, each posture, to the final detail: T w o vocalists w h o manage to p u ll o f f a w h o le n ig h t o f y e lling on one n o te, n o t one w o r d de­ c i p h e r a b l e , n e v e r v a g u e l y in t h e k e y that the very simple s o n g -s tru c t­ u r e s are i n . I t t a k e s a l o t o f h a r d w o r k to . do t h a t : I m ean it! T h e t w o g u ita ris ts have p e rfe c te d a r o u t ­ i n e w h e r e o n e s t a y s in t u n e a n d plays the rare chord change or r if f t h a t em erges, very s l o p p ­ ily, while the o th er deliberately

stays incredibly out of tune al l n ig h t , t h o u g h p la y in g e x a c t ly the same structures. The bass and d r u m s ar e v e r y g o o d : A t i g h t u n i t w hich g i v e s t h e lie t o t h e w h o l e sh a m - a m a t e u r i s m t h e b a n d is t r y i n g to p uto ve r.

★

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

★

T h e s e t w o gigs w e r e a c o u p l e o f weeks apart, but the Music M a c h i n e has t h e k n a c k — h a p p y or u n h a p p y , depending on your f r a m e o f m i n d — o f m a k i n g e ac h n i g h t se e m a c o n t i n u a t i o n o f t h e last s m o k e - f i l l e d a f f a i r . A fter a couple of totally for­ gettable bands — so mundane, I c a n ' t even r e m e m b e r t h e i r n a m e s , only the boredom o f having to listen to th e m Patrick F itz g e r­ ald t o o k to th e stage, to a m i x e d reaction w ith only his o l d fans applauding him up front. The s it u a t io n d i d n ' t faze him a n d he went straight into a pow erful solo set; w i t h i n 15 m i n u t e s , h e 'd com pletely won over the c r o w d . I t w a s f a s c i n a t i n g t o see j u s t h o w h e ' d d o n e i t , as h e n e v e r m a d e a n y s h o w m a n lik e a t t e m p t s to w in th e m over He ju s t t a l k e d h u m o u r o u s ­ ly an d p o i n t e d l y b e t w e e n n u m b e r s a n a sang w i t n t r e m e n o o u s o n e a n a c o n v ic tio n , eventhough his w h o l e approach was l o w - k e y . He had a fantastic knack of tw isting and s p i t t i n g o u t h i s l y r i c s in a w h o l l y c o n v in c in g w a y , m a k i n g each little song (som e w e re o n ly one verse, a b o u t 45 seconds lo n g ) a te llin g social painting. Songs like "No Fun F oo tb a ll" and "T h e y're In The A lle y" w ith ^ their lists of terrifying aspects or just the horrible boredom of working-class life an d c u l t u r e , had such a cle ar and direct im pact, and by the e n d o f t h e set he w a s p u l l e d b a c k f o r t w o e n c o r e s . T h e last o n e w a s " S a f e t y Pi n I n M y H e a r t " , w h i c h w a s so s t a r k a n d b r o o d i n g t h a t it c u t the re c o rd e d version to pieces. I o n l y h o p e he c a n s o o n g e t i n t o a recording s e t - u p t h a t c an a d e ­ quately c a p t u r e th e p o w e r o f his

d e liv e ry .. P u n i s h m e n t o f L u x u r y were the headliners that night and from the fir s t n u m b e r had a h y p n o t i c presence on stage. T h e i r line-up is t h e standard t w o - g u i t a r , bass, d r u m s , and vocals, b u t the a rr a n g e ­ m e n t o f th e ir songs was w o r k e d o u t to give a continually dram atic edge to each s ong, w i t h o n e i n s t r ­ u m e n t a l w a y s g i v i n g an e d g e t o t h e drive o f the band by c o m i n g in o n an a t t r a c t i v e t a n g e n t . T h e y u s e d dynam ics w ithin a song really w e ll, c o n s t a n t ly s etting up d r a m a t i c

b a c k d r o p s f o r the t h e a tr ic a l vocals o f t h e lead sin g e r. T h e w h o l e b a n d was also vis ually entertaining throughout the perform ance, m o v i n g in relevance to the m usic as i t c h a n g e d , r a t h e r t h a n t h e s t a n ­ d a r d m a c h o le ap s a r o u n d t h e stage most New Wave b a n ds get in to o v e r h e r e . O n l y t h e R e z i I l o s, o f t h e b a n d s I h a v e s e e n , m o v e so w e l l . Some o f t h e i r ideas se e m e d to h a v e r o o t s in t h e m u s i c o f a b o u t three years ago, w ith rhythm changes and abrupt quiet pass­ ages a n d a l o t o f h a r m o n i c s o p h ­ i s t i c a t i o n ( w e l l , at least c o m p a r e d w ith the standard three-chord b ands on at the M us ic M a c h in e ) , y e t it wa s all d e l i v e r e d w i t h t r e e n d o u s edge an d i n t e n s i t y , s u i t i n g the fe v e r o f th e tim e s here. The dancers in the audience had a b it o f a hard t im e t r y i n g to dance to t h e m , w ith the c o n s ta n t rhyth m ic variations, but their s t a g e p r e s e n c e w a s so s t r o n g t h a t they held their a tte ntio n to the g o t an e n c o r e a n d d i d a k i l l e r w a r p ­ ed boogie w hich had the w h o le crowd p o g o i n g in d e l i g h t . I t w a s n i c e t o see t h e m w in the c ro w d over w ith music quite a little diffe re n t from the sta n da rd fare a n d i t ' s also n i c e t o r e p o r t t h a t they've already got their first single out, "Puppet L ife "/"T he D e m o n " on S m a ll W o n d e r re c o rd s , the label Patrick Fitzgerald just j u s t c u t s o m e s o n g s w i t h . I t ' s an i n d e p e n d e n t l a b e l, o f c o u r s e , a n d if you can't find i t in y o u r lo cal im port store, you can w rite to Small W o n d e r R ecords, 162 Hoe Street, W a lth a m s to w , L o n d o n E 17, U .K . On the second n ig h t, the h e a d ­ liners were a new group called "D o ll By D o ll". They were an interesting conglom eration, with three guitars, b a ss and drum s, e ac h of the guitarists singing h a r m o n i e s as w e l l . T h e l e a d s i n g e r / g u i t a r i s t h a d an i m p r e s s i v e v o i c e ; the songs were t o u g h and p o w e r ­ f u l, and the three vocalists o fte n delivered some stu n ning , spot-on harm onies, much like a lot of the old Tam la M ow tow n singers w o u l d h a v e d o n e in t h e l a t e 6 0 s . But things w eren't quite quite r ig h t — a lo t o f the songs d r i f t e d on aim le ssly f o r several m i n u t e s a f t e r t h e i r p o i n t had been m a d e , the guitars to ta lly d o m in a te d the m ix and so t h e ly ric s and m e l ­ odie s were o v e r s h a d o w e d . A ll this detracted from the overall im p a c t o f a b a n d t h a t c o u l d be v e r y i m p ­ r es s i v e i f t h e y t i g h t e n t h i n g s u p a

b it ! -

KE ITH

SH A D W I C K

POETS A ll o f y o u hnusicians o u t th e re w h o also pen th e o c c a s io n a l piece o f verse, w e 'v e g o t news f o r y o u ! P oets in A d e la id e (and in te rs ta te ) are o rg a n is in g ! T h e re 's been an a c tiv e P o e t's U n io n in th is c ity f o r som e m o n th s n o w and it's re a lly s ta rtin g to g et th in g s d o n e . T he new U n io n has a tw o - f o ld aim — to m a ke p o e tr y a m o re accessible m eans o f e xp re s s io n (b o th w r it in g and a p p re c ia tin g -w is e ) and to gain b e tte r in d u s tria l rig h ts f o r p o e ts . T o m a ke p o e tr y m o re a ccessible, th e u n io n has o rg a n ise d and e n c o u ra g e d readings in A d e la id e (th e re are n o w th re e here a m o n th and th e r e 'll be ones a t th e beach w h e n th e w e a th e r w a rm s u p ), has s ta rte d a w o rk s h o p ., and is p r in tin g a d ir e c to r y o f m e m b e rs so th a t s c h o o ls o r w h a te v e r can se le ct a v is itin g p o e t.. As f o r in d u s tria l rig h ts -- w e ll, th e re a re n 't an y as y e t f o r p o e ts . T h e average p o e t is lu c k y to earn th e p ric e o f one h a m b u rg e r a w e e k fo r h is /h e r p o e tr y . Q u ite o fte n m agazines and re a d in g o rg a n ise rs w ill a d v e rtis e th a t th e y pay f o r p o e m s /re a d e rs and even g et th e g o v e rn ­ m e n t g ra n ts to do so. B u t w h e n th e p o o r p o e t asks th e m f o r a wage th e re 's n o n e . T h e u n io n is g o in g to f ig h t f o r p o e ts ' rig h ts in th is m a tte r. B u t above a ll, th e u n io n w a n ts to b re a k d o w n th e b a rrie rs b e tw e e n p o e ts /p o e tr y and p e o p le , and to d o th is w e 've g o t to get o u t in to the p u b lic arena. So if y o u fe e l lik e jo in in g , c o n ta c t th e s e c re ta ry , R o ry H a rris , 3 9 G le n lo ssie S tre e t, S o u th W o o d v ille , S 'A '. I f y o u 'r e in te re s te d in c h e c k in g out th e re a d in g s, th e re 's F r ie n d ly S tre e t on at th e B o x F a c to ry on th e f ir s t T u e sd a y o f each m o n th , and th e B o ta n ic a t th e B o ta n ic p u b , c o rn e r N o rth T e rra c e and East T e rra c e , A d e la id e , on th e th ir d T u e sd a y o f each m o n th . R O A D R U N N E R ' No v emb e r 1978 -

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VIRGIN ON THE RIDICULOUS (C oatcrw id fkom in mind if an Australian band wants to go into the studio and spend $60,000 on recording an album, it has to be a monster seller to recoup their costs — so the groups are really killing it fo r themselves in many ways by being unreheased and unprofessional in the studios. So having said that, I w ill say the record companies do lack adventure and are very, very reluctant to try something new or a little different". Well, why are Australian companies so reluctant to advert­ ise their product here particularly on the radio? "They do advertise on radio here it seems, but they are reluctant to try and break singles on radio because, I guess they are looking at the results of that single, rather than taking a long-term view o f breaking the band and selling albums later on. In England we break singles all the time on the radio or we attempt to do so, and even then we can't expect to make a great deal o f money on a single if we are spending a lo t o f money on a radio campaign. But if we can launch that artist then the benefits are obvious". I pointed out to him that Capital Radio, London's leading commercial rock station, probably had about 30 per cent of its total advertising deriving from the record industry, which is incredibly high compared to the meagre efforts of companies in Austalia. "Yes, it is, but then it's a very competitive field and,you need to remember you have a lot of independent companies struggling to try and be one step ahead in England, whereas here a group o f major companies control all the independ­ ents from England. But in England the independents do all their own advertising and prom otion". In the case of someone like the Sex Pistols, how did Virgin plan the strategy fo r marketing the "Never Mind the Bollocks" album? "We planned a strategy in England which d id n 't come o ff simply because the IBA, which controls the standards of all TV and radio advertising there, considered our advertisements weren't nice enough to be seen on TV, eventhough we cleaned up the advertising w ith no mention of naughty words. We d id n 't mention the album title (Virgin was actually taken to court by the authorities when the album was released, charged by the police with indecent advertising by displaying the album title in record shop windows. When it came to court the magistrates most reluctantly had to dismiss the charges brought against Virgin under the Indecent Advertising A ct of 1892 would you believe). The fact that it was the Sex Pistols record was what they were objecting to and ultimately they had to admit that". With the discussion moving onto the Sex Pistols, Dunn talked about the emergence of new wave music in England as the single greatest upheaval in English Rock music in the '70s. Top of the Pops is the English equivalent of Countdown, and according to Dunn, TOTP oroginally w ouldn't have anything to do with the New Wave punk explosion which erupted early last year. However, in the last nine months, even the BBC's Radio One, which is its pop music station, has come around to programming New Wave to some degree. He said it had taken records such as the Pistols' "God Save the Queen", topping the charts w ithout airplay, fo r the TV and radio moguls in England to realise that there was an incredible demand by consumers that wasn't being fed by programmers. Page 14 — R O A D R U N N E R , N o v e m b e r 1 9 7 8

stage of development w ithin the industry to confer w ith, and individuals such as Glenn A. Baker have fastidiously compiled a positive goldmine of history. I fihd it d iffic u lt to respect this work as a solid, time­ less reference due to the w riting style and overt editorial­ ising by McGrath — despite the accuracy and thoroughness o f the entries. Encyclopaedic material should be rigidly factual and cannot hope to be authoritative and entirely correct if given to speculation. The future should be dealt w ith in ensuing reprints and updates AFTER it has happ­ "The complete biographies and discographies of every ened. Comments like "... look certain to break the inter­ popular Australian recording artist and group since 1958" national market wide open', "Perhaps their new single.... it most certainly isn't. Included are"....all artists who w ill do the tric k ", and "Her perpetual, youthful good had charted in the top fo rty on a national basis" from looks and obvious talent indicate that Olivia's future as January first, 1958, td^ December 31st, 1977. Anyone both an actress and recording artist w ill continue to be who had been a close spectator to the events of the Aust­ essful". are opinion, not fact. ralian music arena — and McGrath claims to be an avid Another irksome facet o f McGrath's w riting is that he punter — surely would realise that the most important, tends to already assume a reasonable knowledge of Austral­ most significant, most adventurous advances in Aust­ ian music by the reader. One is told little, and left search­ ralian music haven't necessarily been rewarded w ith a ing frantically for further details - if there are any further place in the charts. "Success on a large scale (of Austral­ details included! COMPANY CAINE are given a name ian music) w ill need the development Of a new trend and mention under the DADDY COOL banner, but further not simply the emulation o f overseas styles", McGrath mentions are entered under the name o f LITTLE G U LL­ concludes in his introduction to his encyclopaedia. His IVER, pertaining to the chart single that songwriter omissions from the tome have neglected the massive chunks extraordinaire Gulliver Smith had in 1965, years before of Australian performers who dared to be different and the inception o f CO. CAINE, and if Gully hadn't had that individual, and as a result less successful in most cases. h it single it's reasonable to assume that CO. CAINE, Many of the encyclopaedia's entries are entirely irrelevant, although one o f Australia"s most significant bands, would despite fu lfillin g the criterion. Abigail, Ernie Sigley, the have been omitted entirely. CO. CAINE member Russell Australian Cricket Team and Lionel Rose surely aren't Smith's shortlived but praiseworthy band B ILLY T are considered as rock, or influential in it. conspicuous by their absence, being relegated to a name I beg to d iffe r w ith Noel McGrath as well on the d iffmention — sans description — tagged onto Ross Hannaculty in scraping together Australian music data, despite ford's name in the DADDY COOL section. the lack of records and files held by record companies The Rockabilly (Ockerbilly?) revival and the AUTO­ and radio stations etc etc blah, blah, blah. Certainly it DRIFTERS, PELACO BROTHERS' KING BEES et al would be a thankless and time consuming and possibly escape inclusion either individually or grouped stylist­ tedious task, but there is no lack o f Australians from every ically. Yet they have been invaluable as the source of bands such as JO JO ZEP AND THE FALCONS and THE SPORTS. It would have been perhaps premature at Dec­ ember '77 to include the SPORTS, but Australian music w ithout JO JO ZEP AND THE FALCONS? Ludicrous! Dunn was asked if he could see records chartin here ST!LETTO, THE BLEEDING HEARTS, THE M ILLIO N ­ w ithout airplay — because until now that hasn't happened. AIRES and like bands are missing unaccountably.. As "Well, if it doesn't happen here. I'll have egg on my face purveyors of the uniquely Australian, "C arlton" sound (looks like he most certainly w ill) because I've been telling that not even the archtypeal Carlton band SKYHOOKS a lot of people it w ill happen here. I've heard the same are credited w ith, they should have been mentioned. arguments here against the New Wave thing if that's what Similarly Australian New Wave is ignored, except for you want to call it, that I heard in England a year and ROSE TATTOO who charted "Bay Boy For Love". and half ago. The only problem working against it happen­ Dsiregarding the SAINTS and RADIO BIRDMAN and ing here is you don't have the benefits o f these bands yet including ROSE TATTOO, is like w riting about the gigging constantly around the country, exposing them­ Royal Family and only mentioning the Corgis! selves to the kids. It's going to take its own scene here it More bitching and let"s consider jazz/rock. The Aust­ launch it properly, because the way we were able to chart ralian rock industry is tiny, the Australian jazz scene is singles in England w ithout airplay was by constantly tinier still — the crossover area is miniscule, but having bands igging all over the country where they were nevertheless significant. CROSSFIRE rate no mentions, seen in pubs and clubs". He said if that same situation despite being Australia's finest band and most sought aft^r arose here, kids would buy the records because they could collection of session players who are responsible for a see the bands playing them. When that happened, then he good deal o f the chart successes mentioned in the encyc­ considered the English new wave success would repeat lopaedia, no doubt. AYERS ROCK are ajasent too, and itself here too. But he clarified it by adding that hard core while SUN is mentioned by name in passing. Me Grath punk music could never really happen here. does not go on to state the importance of that band.. "Look, what I'm really interested in seeing happen here The fact that arguably the single most im portant force in is fo r a new batch of musicians coming through who Australian jazz Horst Liepolt was taken into the record haven't been around fo r 15 years, who aren't jaded and producing area through his management o f SUN, because who have a few fresh ideas. Even if their musicianship he was virtually the only person at that stage w ith an isn't up to that o f other bands who are currently getting understanding of fusion music, and also that SUN was Top 40 airplay". Renee Gyer's initial fo o t in many doors as a raw teenage Switching to the subject o f Australian radio which has singer, isn't explained (for the record, there was also hotted up somewhat recently, Dunn attacked the cons­ no mention of SUN's other members who have been part ervatism of local radio generally. " I think that so-called o f bands like A R IE L and MONDO ROCK more recently). specialised programs on commercial stations which are Renee went on to become a major singer — that is docu­ supposedly called progressive rock, aren't specialist enough. mented — but Horst Liepolt has gone on to become one of They seem to be really only a slightlier heavier version Australia's m ost. respected and successful (do your sums of what you get during the day. It's still the Eagles with on the sales of GALAPAGOS DUCK albums) record maybe something a little rockier, but i's not really advent­ producers. That's jazz you might say, but it's odd that urous. It's just the same formula wrapped up in a d iffe r­ Me Grath has included, then, pure jazzers (and even tradent package". dies) such as the COL NOLAN QUARTET and FRANK Finally we touched on the subject of the humble single TRAYNOR'S JAZZ PREACHERS, who had quirky which can't even be referred to as a 45 anymore due to the chart successes in their favor. increasing frequency of the pressing of seven-inch singles JEANNIE LEWIS, HOME, TAM AM SHUD, BAKERY, at 33-1/3 and 12 inch singles at that speed too, which is PARTY MACHINE, THE FOREDAY RIDERS, and part o f the reason fo r the single's sudden return to fashion DUTCH TILDERS are notable omissions.. Ross Wilson's with record buyers. individual credit doesn't mention the DEBUTANTES "Once upon a time in the sixties, you recorded a series project which was important in spite of the lack of chart of singles before you were ready to record an album; then action — it was a bold step towards advancing Australian record comapnies found it was easier fo r a band to just musicians record an album straight away wsithout any singles. action — it was a bold step towards advancing NEW Aust­ "N ow the interest in singles is there again "because a lot of ralian musicians. A brief listing o f Australian record comp­ the bands who have recorded interesting singles in England anies (i.e. Sparmac, Eureka, 44, OZ, Mushroom, Bootleg have not been ready to record albums.. They've been etc) is not essential but would be a valuable reference. too fresh and too young and many of them haven't had Descriptions o f the major Australian rock festivals; rock enough songs fo r a start. Had they rushed into recording television (so very im portant now); rock radio; public­ an album it would have been pretty poor anyway". ations during the era; and exhaustive discographies would Since this interview and Dunn's subsequent return to the have contributed to a super-duper top-class source of Virgin palace of punk, his employers have continued to information. The discographies as they stand are thum b th.eir nose at the good taste and decency w ith the w ith some bands who have recorded several albums being latest Sex Pistols offering w ith Ronald Biggs on lead vocals credited only w ith the one that charted. Absurd! which was recorded w ith Biggs in Rio De Janiero earlier Noel McGrath has given Australian music a cheap, middlethis year, and a possible album and a single from nine of the of-the-road and incomplete documentation of its achieve­ Great Train Robbery gang, called "We Pulled It O ff", h ments. Why he chose to do it through the medium that which tells the story of the robbery in words and music. has shown the least sympathy and support for home grown The latter also seems destined for release in Australia products, is beyond me. Australian radio has always been through Wizzard Records label. Crass Records. I suppose merciless and only last year there was a fierce and largely this shows that at least there is one company in Australia ineffective battle to staunchly police the 20% Australian prepared to risk offending countless millions and pandering content regulation on radio.. A retrospective yardstick to the dubious tastes of those people who find such that's valuable, because it's the ONLY reference text recorded offerings manifestly magnificent additions to their The Australian Encyclopaedia of Rock ~:riLL/AM e u ftr bad taste bins. I, fo r one, can hardly wait - R O SS S T A P L E T O N Johnny O'Keefe's death signals the end o f a generation o f Australian rock and McGrath gives us some document­ ation o f that era, bands and people we've either forgotten about or never knew existed. It's a tim ely reference. This is the only significant work o f its kind that has focused entirely on Australian music so it's a great shame that the encyclopaedia is incomplete, based on a puzzling selection criterion, poorly w ritten and contains shallow discograph­ ies.

SINGLES I had a b it o f trouble getting singles to review this m onth. W ith the record companies a b it slack about handing out sample copies. I was forced to do the rounds o f the local record stores a b it more stringently than usual. Far from im proving, as the singles market had been doing fo r a w hile, things seem to be getting worse. The shops had virtu a lly nothing. A p a rt from the top fo rty , which I d id n 't want, all I could get was old singles at 50c or 75c a th ro w or the few standard newies, like Bryan Ferry, Maurice G ibb, Abba (occasionally) and Boston. Part o f the blame must go to the shops. Q uite sim ply, they are not prepared to give us a chance to buy new singles, even some o f the s tu ff being played on the radio. W ith the records not in the shops, there's no way a new song can break. The real problem however lies w ith the re­ cord companies themselves.. They appear u n w illin g to get behind the very acts they sign. You make a record o r tw o , they flo p because o f no p ro m o tio n , then the company refuses to pick up the o p tio n . It's an all-too-com m on story fo r many bands, w hile absolute crap gets on the charts because o f a name an^ /o r a gim m ick. I'm not talking about so-called "a lte rn a tiv e " music either, b u t simple catchy "c o m m e rc ia l" s tu ff which begs fo r radio play w hile heading straight fo r the cheap sale bins. There's a lo t o f very good s tu ff around this m onth if you try to fin d it. The fu tu re o f these songs depends very much upon the whim s of our radio programmers. F irstly, the singles you really must listen to : "W H O LISTENS TO THE R A D IO ", THE SPORTS (Mushroom K 7300). A tru ly wonder­ fu l celebration o f the joys, uses and fu n o f the radio. It's also a celebration o f ro c k 'n 'ro ll in a d iffe re n t way b u t related to classics like "D o You Believe In M agic" and "R o c k 'n 'R o ll M usic". Soundwise, this record comes closer to the Sports live performance in life and energy, b u t it still has a d u ll edge to it. W ith M artin Arm iger on guitar now, the band has con­ siderably beefed up its sound to become a fully-fledged rhyth m and blues band rather than a borderline rocka b illy revival. You d o n 't hear th is new power quite so much on vin yl. Nevertheless, it's got a neat guitar break, a chorus you m ust singalong to and lyrics which strike the ro c k 'n 'ro ll heart. W ith words about the radio, like Still some magic Still some fun If you don't pay too mcuh attention They ju st about sum up th is colum n's a ttitu de to rock, pop and the dial. I listen to the radio! T w o songs which you've probably already heard a good deal o f, b u t which warrant a m ention are SO YO U N G , JO JO ZEP A N D THE FALCO NS (Oz, 11794) and THE FUG ­ IT IV E K IN D , M ONDO ROCK (Oz 11788). Both signal the most significant successes on record by these Australian bands. For Jo Jo, it's the firs t tim e th a t they've managed to p u t anything like the sting o f th e ir live performance dow n. A dd to th is a cast iron hook and you've got great listening. For Ross Wilson and band, it's the reverse. I've never liked M ondo Rock onstage — they always seemed tire d , cliched and "^sometimes d o w n rig h t sloppy. This record is everything th e y're n o t in the flesh. Pure jo y , Wilson at his best. Last Australian goodie, in fa ct, comes from Adelaide. "SH E 'S GOT THE M O N E Y "/ "A U T O M A T IC ", YO UNG M O DERN (Top Gear). The local pop heroes have fin a lly sold me w ith th is record and that's after seeing them many tim es live w ith o u t being convin­ ced. This record gives you tw o sides o f excellent­ ly produced (if a little b it th in ) pop in the cute tra d itio n yo u 'd expect from Young Modern. Pester y o u r local record shop fo r this one. "P IC T U R E T H IS ", BLO N D IE (Chrystalis K 7236) fro m the "Parallel Lines" LP provides a special side to this band: Q uiet, almost delicate, smooth and snakey. That's the only way you could describe Debbie Harry's vocals. If you liked " In The Flesh" yo u 'd probably like this, n o t only fo r its no-clothes theme, b u t because it's soft. But if you tho ug h t that the firs t single was to o sparse, d o n 't despair — this one bs fille d o u t w ith synthesier and twangy guitar. The drum m ing, as usual,' is superb, not to be bettered. "L O N G HO T SUMMER N IG H T S ", W ENDY W A LD M A N . I'm not sure if this is a single or not, b u t it seems th a t way from the radio play it's getting. When I firs t heard this I was most surprised. The Wendy Waldman I knew was a qu ie t, thoughful wom an, best repres­ ented by her self-titled and "M ain R efrain" albums. "Sum m er N ights" is a d iffe re n t story, though. Steely hard, crisp sounding and hedonistic to the centre hole, this is a fine record, based around a simple acoustic/electrical r if f and m ulti-tracked chorus. The subject m atter I like. For those w ho"ve seen the film , this could be a soundtrack fo r "M o u th to M o u th ". Tw o women o u t to ­ gether, living fo r each other, fo r fun and all

they can get. Aside from these especially good singles released th is m on th , we have a whole host o f excellent records. In fact, it's really only personal taste th a t distinguishes these from many o f the rest. Wr e c k l e s s eric has a new single "W H O LE W IDE W O RLD" (S tiff, BUY Pessimistic as ever, there"s only one girl in the whole wide w o rld fo r him , "and she ly lives in T a h iti" or the Bahamas or some other such far distant island paradise. O f course, he intends to search pathetically to the sound o f tre b ly, chunk-a-chunk guitar and whining harmonies. Catchy and fun. D A V E EDM UNDS on 'D E B O R A H " (Swan­ song SS 1970) continues his summary of rock history — this tim e it's Buddy H o lly. Helped along on vocals bu co-w riter Nick Lowe, Edmunds has made a nostalgic gem complete w ith tin n y guitar and snare drum beat. It's a little better made than most o f H olly's e ffo rts, though. The B-side "W H A T LOOKS BEST ON YOU" is co u n try, just beautiful country: You can look like a queen In diamond or in jeans B ut what would look best on you is me C orny, kitsch, co u n try; Lowe and Edmunds again. From America comes the SHIRTS ' "T E L L ME YO UR P L A N S "/"C Y R IN D A " (Harvest, HAR 11781). T w o 'n ic e examples o f lightw eight, harm ony pop. Someone tb id me and I th in k they're rig ht, th a t the harmonies are Beatle-like. "C y rin d a ", having a more constant m elody, w o uld make a better single. THE SAINTS, fro m th e ir "Prehistoric Sounds" album , the last before EMI dropped them , have a single "S E C U R IT Y "/" A L L TIM ES THRO UG H P A R A D IS E " (Harvest HAR 11795). The A-side is yet another remake o f the oldie. It's good, sleazy and nasty, b u t doesn't really have the life o f Jo Jo Zep's recent (well, w ith in the last year or so) version. The B-side however shows to me what the Saints should have been playing all along. It's a slow blues shuffle, real m uddy and...well...bluesy. Chris Bailey's vocals are characteristically spat away in to the backing just plugging away. The d ru m ­ ming is superb as usual. Y o u 'll never hear it unless you buy the recprd, either the single o r the album. G rudgingly, I have to adm it th a t D AV E W A R N ER 'S FROM THE SUBURBS "S U B ­ UR B AN B O Y " is good. I hate the band onstage — th e ir sexism is gross and they're everything they pretend to send up. This record ,however, shows none o f th e ir usual traits, just inventive ro c k 'n 'ro ll and sym pathetic lyrics. We've all heard about the rom antic visions o f Saturday night, b u t what about the reality o f "ju s t T V stations". A blo w fo r rock based in reality. What's disappointing this m onth. O f course, there's the usual dross. W e'll forget about th a t, if you w ant just check o u t approxim ately 50% o f the 5 K A p laylist. I expected better fro m a few people though. ABBA'S "SU M M E R N IG H T C IT Y " sees the band go fu rth e r in to "serious"m usic, bland and boring..................................................... ...................... C ountry star W IL L Y NELSON has made a terrible album o f remakes, "S T A R D U S T ", and from it comes a croaky, lifeless version o f "G E O R G IA "(C B S BA 222396). This man has made some classic co u n try records and deerves his place in the Nashville scene. He's stepping to o far in to the m iddle o f the road here though. BR Y A N F E R R Y m ight come to life w ith R oxy Music again. "S IG N OF THE T IM E S " (PO lydor 2001 798) fro m his latest LP offers nothing new. The same old phrasing, guitar licks etc. dom inate once again. Most disappointing o f all fo r me was hearing R O BERT PALM E R 'S "E V E R Y K IN D A PEO PLE" (Island K 7113). I've been a firm fan o f this man since he le ft Vinegar Joe many years ago. This single, laden w ith musical and lyrical schmaltz, sees him sink fin a lly in to the ru t o f spunky disco funks a la Boz Scaggs. Listen to the B-side fo r his p o tential. Some im ports q u ic k ly : "7 8 R E V O LU TIO N S A M IN U T E "/"A L T E R N A T IV E U L S T E R ", STIFF L IT T L E FJNGERS (Rough Trade Rigid Digits). The label says "P unk is dead b u t we're still d y in g ". It may not be dead if it all sounded like this. Fun, pow erful, m eaningful, w ith a roundhouse hack, both sides. "P U B LIC IM A G E " by PUBLIC IM AG E LTD (Virgin VS 228). Great cover (see above). This band contains a man called Lyndon (form erly R otten). Strangely enough it seems to be slighting the Sex Pistols, or at least the industry th a t spawned them . Sounds a b it like them , to o , not as good a rhyth m section though. " U N IT E D ", TH RO BBING G R ISTLE (INdustrial Records, IR 003). Like the record label says, this is fu ll o f industrial sounds. There's a vocal to o , though. I d o n 't th in k th a t they're talking about a united w orking class. D o n 't know, though. I can't really make it out. G ood-looking cover, though — real art.

TIM BUCKLEY

NIGHTMOVES CONCERT 2

" T i m B u c k l e y , an i n c r e d i b l y t h i n w i r e j u s t 1 9 y e a r s o l d , is a l r e a d y a kind o f quintessence o f nouvelle, t h e s e n s i t i v i t y a p p a r e n t in t h e v e r y f i n e n e s s o f h i s f e a t u r e s . T h e m a n is a study in f r a g i l e c o n t r a s t s Yet everything is i n key, precise". Well, that's what the linernote says on E lektra's re-release of Tim Buckley's first a lbum . It's the sort o f c o m m e n t th a t reflects certain A m e ric a n t h in k in g o f the m id '60s w h e n people were just b e g i n n i n g t o see t h a t r o c k c o u l d be " i n t e l l i g e n t " . D e s p i t e t h e h y p e , B u c k le y did o f f e r s o m e t h in g w h ic h appealed t o t h e i n t e l l e c t as w e l l as t h e feet; a new direction in 1966. He sang a collection of songs w hich dealt w ith love 'n rom ance in poetic style. Lyrics w hich, although now seem a little w e a ry and o c c a s io n a lly t r it e , m u s t ' v e m a d e e v e r y b o d y s i t u p in surf city — w e l l , c l u b s in L . A . . anyway. M a n y o f the lyrics were the w o r k pf B uckley's early friend and m usical collaborator- Larry B e cke tt w h o f a d e d a w a y as B u c k l e y m o v e d a r o u n d and g o t m o r e f a m o u s and m o r e e x p e r ie n c e d . S tra n g e ly it was B uckley him self w h o w ro te w h a t I c o n s id e r th e best and w o r s t songs on the set. "U nderstand Your M a n " , l a s t a n d r o c k i e s t is g r e a t . , while " W i n g s " h a s an a w f u l f l y high-sky type rhym e that must have been e m b a r r a s s i n g in r e t r o ­ spect. M usically, apart from the fa irly i l l u s t r i o u s side m e n i n c l u d i n g V a n Dyke Parks on keyboards and James F ielder on bass, th e be st thing about this record is T i m Buckley's voice w hich sustains t h e s o n g s in t h e i r l i m p e r m o m e n t s . G lim pses o f the co m p le xity and interest of Buckley's later w o r k are found here lyrcically and vocally a n d in t h e m u s i c , b u t i t is a p r o m i s e r a t h e r t h a n s t r e n g t h in t h e s o n g s t h e m s e l v e s w h i c h w i l l be r e m e m b e r e d . - SUE P A R H A M

ALAN STIVELL J O U R N E E A L A M A IS O N P H IL IP S 6357 829 This record's fairly lame title gave me an unfortunate first im p r e s s io n , w h i c h . I'm afrais, c o n t ­ i n u e d as I l i s t e n e d t o t h e m u s i c . It is a v e r y uneasy blend of jazz and t r a d i t i o n a l m u s ic . Stive l l s e e m s t o be t r y i n g t o c o n t i n u e his " C e l t i c R o o t s " p o l i c e o f s y n ­ thesisin g m odern and folk in fl­ uences on the re co rd . B u t here, unlike on some of his earlied a lb u m s , it d o e s n 't w o r k . The first tracj on Side One, " T r i n q u o n s N o s V e rre s (Raise O u r Glasses)", is very nice, gentle, b u t n o t g r i p p i n g . T h e rest o f th e side f a d e s i n t o b a c k g r o u n d m u s i c — I had to f o r c e m y s e l f to p a y it enough attention to be able to w r it e s o m e t h in g a b o u t it. S i d e T w o is d e f i n i t e l y b e t t e r t h a n Side One. There's more of Stivell's e x c e lle n t harp p la y in g on it. an d the jazz is m o r e subtly women into the music. But it s t i l l d i d n ' t e x c i t e m e in t h e w a y t h a t his e a r li e r r e c o r d s d i d a f e w y ea rs a g o . The album gives an overall i m p r e s s i o n o f l e t h a r g y , as i f S t i v e l l t h o u g h t he o u g h t t o m a k e a n o t h e r record, but d id n 't quite have enough energy or enthusiasm to do it p r o p e r l y . I t ' s s h o r t , t o o — u n d e r 3 8 m i n u t e s in t o t a l — b u t I guess it w a s o n l y a D a y at H o m e . - D O N N A M AEG R A IT H

Live com pilation album s ar e strange affairs. I'm never s ure w h o buys th e m . The people w h o were there for the recording? The people w h o wish th e y were? The diversity of the music on live c o m p i l a t i o n s — e s p e c i a l l y A u s t ­ ralian ones — h a rd ly makes fo r enjoyable lis te n in g . And the recording quality of Australian live a l b u m s has o f t e n left m u c h t o be d e s i r e d ( R e m e m b e r t h e j e t pla ne noises o b l it e r a t in g S p e c t r u m on one o f th e S u n b u r y a lb u m s ? ) T hankfully the N ightm oves Concert No. 2 largely succeeds as a c o h e r e n t l i v e a l b u m . F o r t h o s e who were there it c a p tu r e s the atm osphere. For those who w e r e n ' t in a t t e n d a n c e , t h e a l b u m has tw o points to recommend it: Consistent recording quality (no great f e e d b a c k wails or d is ­ a p p e a rin g in s t r u m e n t s ) and a fin e choice of bands. W ith the exc­ eption of D a n i e l , t h e b a n d s ( Jo Jo Zep, Sports and Skyhooks) fit neatly into the file labelled "M e lbourne (read 'C arlto n ') Pub R o c k " . N o t t h a t t h e y s o u n d alike b u t t h e r e is an a f f i n i t y between t h e m t h e m t h a t is s h o w n t o e x i s t when they com bine for "The J a m " at the end o f th e re c o r d . S k y h o o k s ope n the a lb u m w i t h "Som ewhere In Sydney" and "B B B B B B B B B B B B oogie " . "Som e­ w h e r e " is c l a s s i c S k y h o o k s - t i g h t , rocky and fast w ith Shirley's nasally w hine prancing around. "B B B B B B B B B B B B o o g ie ", is b b b b b b b o r i n g ; a c o m p l e t e t h r o w ­ a w a y so n g . Sports fo llo w w ith " B o y s , W hat Did The Detectives S a y " and a cover version of the Easy's "W edding R ing". Steve's voice has a b it e t h a t recall s t h e d a y s o f Gerry H u m p h r i e s and th e L o v e d O n e s . It's a m a z i n g h o w his v o ic e drops from its d e s p e r a t e b i t e t o a hum ble m u m b le of "T h a n k You and good n ight" at the end o f t h e i r se t . Daniel, who perform just one s o n g , " L a s t N i g h t In T h e C i t y " , ar e o u t o f p l a c e o n t h i s a l b u m . I t w o u l d h av e b e e n a m u c ji w i s e r c h o i c e t o i n c l u d e a b a n d s u c h as Stiletto.. T hey w o u l d have r o u n d ­ ed o f f t h e a l b u m n i c e l y m a k i n g it a satisfying live d o c u m e n t of a p a r ic u la r (if s o m e w h a t in c e s tu o u s and cliquey) A ustralian musical genre. D a n ie l's absence f r o m the c o l l e c t i v e j a m is o b v i o u s . Y a m a h a was one of the co n c e rt's sponsors so I g u e s s t h a t is w h y t h e y w e r e i n c l u d e d a t al l ( Y a m a h a a l s o s p o n s ­ o r s D an i e I ) . J o J o Z e p s c o n t r i b u t i o n is t w o songs " L o v e ' s a F i r e " and " D a n c i n g Shoes". The band occupies a m i d - p o i n t b e tw e en the hig h ly p r o f ­ essional S k y h o o k s and th e m o r e loose ( a d v e n t u ro u s ? ) S p o r ts . T h e ir l i v e r e c o r d i n g s ar e i n t e r e s t i n g e v e n if i t is j u s t fo r the amusement of listening to Joe's voice. At least I a l w a y s f i n d it a m u s i n g l i s t ­ enin g to a M altese-A ustralian t r y i n g to so u n d like Levi S tu b b s . The album finishes w ith "The J a m " . O n r e c o r d , it f a i l s t o c o m e off though o n t h e n i g h t I b e t it w a s a real t r e a t . T h e c r o w d o b v ­ i o u s l y l o v e i t as v a r i o u s m e m b e r s o f S k y h o o k s , Jo Jo Z e p a nd S p o r t s pla y an e x t e n d e d v e r s i o n o f t h e Stones' " It's A lr ig h t " . Though not w ith o u t its f a u l t s , N ightm oves Concert N o . 2 is t h e most satisfying live com pilation r e l e a s e d in A u s t r a l i a . L o t s o f f u n and bouncy enough to be t h i s m onth's "perfect party record". - BRUCE M ILN E

R O A D R U N N E R , N o v e m b e r 1 9 7 8 - Page 15

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LARRY CORYELL & PHILIP CATHERINE S P L E N D ID A T L A N T IC SD 5 2 0 8 6

EARL KLUGH T H E M A G IC IN Y O U R E Y E S F E S T IV A L L 36598

BRUCE COCKBURN C IR C L E S IN T H E S T R E A M F E S T IV A L L 7 0 0 9 1 /2

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L a r r y a n d P h i l i p do it again w i t h an e x c e p t i o n t o t h e r u l e t h a t a r t ­ i st s s h o u l d n ' t d u p l i c a t e t h e f o r m ­ ula of their previous success. "S p le n d id " is a m irror im age of the superb "T w in House", r e fle c tin g f u r t h e r f la t t e r in g angles of this guitar co m bination. " S p l e n d i d " is, w e l l ..........f o r t h e w a n t o f a m o r e a p p r o p r i a t e w o r d ........... s p le n d id ! T w o b r i l l i a n t , expressive j a z z g u i t a r i s t s go a c o u s t i c again , w ith equal inspiration and s p o n ­ taneity, and Joachim Kuhn on p ia n o on one tr a c k . George Benson is an adm irer of Earl Klugh's h e ' s said so on a c o u p le o f K lu g h 's earlier a l b ­ u m s l e e v e s . K l u g h is an a d m i r e r o f Benson's, fo r isn't im ita tio n the sincerest fo r m of flattery? Klugh is n o v i r t u o s o (a la M e s s r s . C a t h ­ e rine , C o r y e l l and C o c k b u r n ) b u t he's tasteful and doesn't veer t o w a r d the i n d u l g e n t . It's n o t jazz — there ar e n o solos o r i m p r o ­ visations among the m anicured a r r a n g e m e n t s . T h e f e e l is e x a c t l y in t h e m o u l d o f the c a n d y floss s o l f e a s y - l i s t e n ing f r i l l s o n e e i t h e r loathes or tolerates in George B e n s o n 's w o r k . B u t it's n o t ja zz! S im plicity and, surprisingly, r e s t r a i n t ar e e v i d e n t o n t h e t r a c k s and E a r l has s e l e c t e d a v a r i a n c e of m aterial — Danny O 'Keefe's "G ood Tim e C harlie's Got the B lu e s" suffers badly w i t h o u t lyrics, t h o u g h , and even sounds faintly t r o p i c a l h er e . Tres colloquial set, this one: B r u c e C o c k b u r n l i v e — in E n g l i s h a n d F re n c h - C an ad i an . A n o t h e r g u i t ­ a r i s t , w i t h m o r e in c o m m o n w i t h L a rr y and Ph ilip th a n M r K l u g h . E n tra n cin g acoustic g u ita r, im p e c c ­ ably pla ced in the folksy vein, t h e o d d passage o f e l e c t r i c g u i t a r , vocals, a d u l c i m e r here and there and bagpipes (well, it earned P a u l M a c . an a w f u l l o t o f m o n e y ) . A very w a rm and f r i e n d l y a lb u m s t a m p e d w i t h q u a l i t y , an d a dash of the e th nic fla vo u r. - JIL L IA N BURT

AKRON T H E A K R O N C O M P IL A T IO N S T IF F

DEVO O; A R E WE N O T M E N ? A : WE A R E D E V O ! W EA ------F o r e v e r y a c t i o n t h e r e is an e q u a l and o p p o s i t e r e a c t i o n . T h a t a basic s c ie n tific p r i n i c p i e and o n e , w i t h due c o n s id e ra tio n s , th a t holds true a r t i s t i c a l l y as w e II. E v e r y a r t i s t ' s w o r k is t h e r e s u l t o f " r e a c t i o n " — response to s t im u l i. Devo come from ^ A k r o n , O hio, which (as if you ’ d id n 't know) is the rubber producing catpial o f the w o r l d . I'm n o t goin g to tell y o u w h a t k i n d o f p l a c e i t is — i t ' s already a t tra c te d t o o m a n y cliches f r o m t o o m a n y u n q u a li f i e d sources S u f f i c e t o say i t ' s p a i n t e d as a c i t y w h e r e n o t h i n g m u c h is e n c o u r a g e d e xce p t the lo cal i n d u s t r y ; w h e re t h e r e ' s l i t t l e t o d o a n d less f u t u r e Page 16 -

( b e y o n d w o r k i n g on a p r o d u c t i o n line f o r e it h e r G o o d y e a r , G o o d r i c h o r F i r e s t o n e ). O b v i o u s l y , s u c h an e n v i r o n m e n t ' s only s a l v a t i o n c o u l d b e f o u n d in D E - E V O L U T I O I S I ........ ? I was q u it e a m u s e d w h e n I heard that Neil Y o u n g p l a n n e d t o use Devo in a nightm are sequence in h i s f o r t h c o m i n g m o v i e " H u m a n H ig h w a y " . To Y o u n g , whose music h a s a l w a y s b e e n so v e r y d o w n - t o e a rth , D e v o w o u l d surely rep re s e n t a nightm are vision o f r o c k 'n 'r o ll — l i k e in t h e i r f i l m o f " S a t i s f a c t ­ i o n " — p e r f f o r m i n g like a n d r o id s frantically trying to break free of their bounds; cold, hard, d e te r­ m ined. A n d th a t's the 'S o u n d o f A k r o n ' ........? In the rush to discover the/a Next Big Thing, somehow the " A k r o n S o u n d " was c o n c e iv e d and became a contender. So, wsith typical fervour. S tiff Records c l a i m e d t o h a v e m e n in t h e area "before other record com panies even k n e w w h e r e t o l o o k f o r it on the m ap". C o n s e q u e n t l y , it's they w ho've scooped the pool, and now we have "The Akron C o m pila tion ". On listin g to it, the fir s t t h in g y o u r e a l i s e is t h a t t h e r e ' s n o s u c h thing as a n y coherent "A kron" s o u n d . T h is c o m p i l a t i o n m i g h t have centred around any one of a m i l l i o n A m e r i c a n p r o v in c ia l cities. It c o n t a in s essentially n o n d e s c r ip t tracks from garage b a n d s li k e T i n H ue y, T erraplane, Sniper, R u b b e r City Rebels, Idiots C onvention and the B iz a rro s ( r e m e m b e r those names — y o u 'l l never hear them again) who ar e n o m o r e o r less t h a n ga ra ge bands» a n y w h ere a c r o ss across Am erica (and as such i n g o n l y as p i e c e s o f e s o t e r i c t r i v i a ) . The o n ly discernable (occasional) c o m m o n t h r e a d is o n e L i a m S t e r n ­ b e r g , w h o h a s a h a n d in m o s t o f the best t ra c k s (and the o d d d u f f one). He penned both "W hen I was Y o u n g " and " I ' m A n A c t r e s s " f o r Jane A ir e , w h ic h at b e s t are only m ildly diverting pop, and uced Rachel Sweet's "Truckstop Queen" and "T o u rist Boys". S i x t e e n - y e a r - o l d M s S w e e t has g o n e g o t p r o b a b l y the m o s t star p o t e n t ­ i al ( o n l y ) b e c a u s e e v e r y t h i n g a b o u t h e r is s u f f i c i e n t l y e c c e n t r i c . B u t apart from these t w o ladies there's o b v io u sly n o t m u c h a b o u t Akron to recom m end it. The Waitresses m ight initially attract y o u r a tte n tio n , b u t th e ir weirdness isn't enough to p u ll them th ro u g h in t h e l o n g r u n . C h i Pi g se e m t o be the closest Devo approxim ate p r e s e n t , b u t t h e i r su b - B ee f h ea r t ia n rom p is t o o "sub" to actually c u t it. Devo's influence is apparently less f e l t in A k r o n t h a n e l s e w h e r e . B ut then o f course the " S o u n d of Akron" belongs to D e v o ........? W h a t m i g h t h a v e g o t l o s t in t h e flo o d o f ove r-rea ctio n e n g u lfin g the ban d was the fa c t t h a t th e ir early singles r ea ll y w e r e p r o m i s i n g . N o t so much the first one "Jocko H o m o " / " M o n go lo id " , w hich I t h o u g h t was ju s t plain silly ( t h o u g h not w ith o u t some redeem ing features), but "S atisfaction". " S a t i s f a c t i o n , " w a s as n e a r p e r f e c t as a r e c o r d c a n be — i t a l o n e w o u l d have justified Devo's existence ( a n d al l t h e s u r r o u n d i n g h o o - h a ) . Had they done n o th in g m ore they still w o u l d have been r e m e m b e r ­ ed. T h e rel ease o f t h e i r a l b u m "Q : Are We Not Men? A: We Are D e v o ! " w i l l o n l y serve t o t a r n i s h that m em ory. It's a bitter dis­ appointm ent. Surely even the sceptics w o if ld have expected more than this — s o m e t h i n g at least i d i o s y n c r a t i c

R O A D R U N N E R , N ovem ber 1978

o r o u t r a g e o u s , be i t g o o d o r b a d . R a t h e r t h a n s o m e t h i n g so o r d i n a r y , so m e d i o c r e , t h a t i t l e a v e s l i t t l e t o be said in its d e f e n c e . W hether or not "The Truth About D E - e v o lu t i o n " actually means anything is m a d e irrelev­ ant. Devo m ight have got away w i t h ai l t h e i r o b s e s s i v e s e l f - c e n t r e d r a n t i n g i f o n l y t h e y c o u I d ' v e e ve n t u a l l y d e l i v e r e d t h e g o o d s ; as i t is it's m o r e like flo g g in g a dead horse than i t is o v e r - k i l l , a n d i t ' s j u s t d o w n rig h t bloody annoying. Even the album sleeve recalls f o r m e r glo ries — stills f r o m D e v o 's t w o f i l m s — a n d in d o i n g so i t set s t h e st age f o r w h a t ' s i n s i d e . O f t h e m u s i c i t s e l f , f o u r o f t h e 12 t r a c k s are m a k i n g their second appear­ ance on vinyl (though ad m itte d ­ ly t h i s t i m e it's d i f f e r e n t c o l o r e d vinyl!). Devo have re-recorded "Jocko H om o", "M o n g o lo id ", " S a t i s f a c t i o n " and " S l o p p y " and in e a c h case t h e s o n g s h a v e b e e n sapped o f the te n s io n and e le c t ­ ricity' that made them exciting in t h e f i r s t p l a c e . The rem inder of the album 's m aterial — " U n c o n tro lla b le U rg e ", "P laying Hands", "Space Junk", " T o o M u c h P a r a n o i a " , *"G u t Feeliing", "C om e Back J o n e e " , and "Shrivel Up" — w ould be f a m ­ ilia r to DEVO tees as part of Devo's long-standing repertoire. In n o w a y d o a n y o f t h e s e s o n g s equal som eth ing like — apart from lacking invention they often rely on g im m ickry (though "'J o c k o Hom o" is t h e worst offender in that respect), a n d t h e p l a y i n g is l a c k l u s t r e . Eno's p r o d u c t io n does n o th in g to e n h a n c e his r e p u t a t i o n , n o r a f f i r m Devo's. T h r o u g h o u t , it's a c h a r ­ acterless, thin sound that only ever c o m e s in to its o w n t h r o u g h t h e q u i r k y v o c a ls — an d even t h e y sound too "fam ilia r" (not unlike the T a lk in g Heads' David Byrne) t o m a k e a n y real i m p r e s s i o n . T o te ll th e t r u t h , no p a r t o f th i s album im pressed a n y t h i n g on m e . O n l y i t s v e r y e m p t i n e s s is d i s c o n ­ certing; otherwise it's a p o in tle s s exercise. Stiff sho u ld 've in clu ded" D e v o 's first tw o singles on " T h e Akron C o m p i l a t i o n " , in p l a c e o f s o m e o f the dross, alongside Jane A ire. Rachel Sweet, the W aitress and C h i Pig. T h e n m a y b e o n e w o r t h ­ while album w ould've resulted from the Akron Over-reaction, r a t h e r t h a n t w o throvy^away o n e s . - CEE W A L K E R

GARYBUSEY THE B U D D Y H O LLY STO RY E P IC ELPS3910 B u d d y H o l l y ' s s o n g s ar e s o m e o f the most definitive of rock'n ' roll. The s im p lic ity o f the lyrics a n d m e l o d i e s has m a d e s t a n d a r d s o f s o n g s s u c h as " T h a t ' l l Be T h e D a y " , " I t ' s So E a s y " , " N o t F a d e Aw ay", etc. As a result. H o lly 's m a t e r i a l is a m o n g t h e m o s t c o v e r e d m rock'n'roll. The number of recorded versions o f B u d d y H o lly s o n g s is a t e s t i m o n y t o h i s t a l e n t a n d an i n d i c a t i o n o f t h e d u r a b i l i t y o f his m a t e r i a l . This album is a d e p a r t u r e f r o m the usual r e p r e s e n ta t io n o f B u d d y H o l l y ' s m a t e r i a l f o r i t is an i m i t ­ ation rather than an interpret­ a t i o n . I t is t h e s o u n d t r a c k o f t h e f i l m o f th e same n a m e w h i c h stars Gary Busey as Buddy H olly. Busey not only had to sound like H o lly b u t had to p la y like him a n d l o o k l i k e h i m as w e l l . So o n t h i s a l b u m as w e l l as in t h e f i l m Gary B u s e y is n o t m e r e l y d o i n g B u d d y H o l l y , h.e is b e i n g h i m . O n t h e a l b u m , he m a k e s a c o m m e n d ­

able attem pt but doesn't quite c a p tu r e H o l l y ' s v o c a l style e x c e p t perhaps on "Every Day" and "M aybe B a b y " . S t i l l he d o e s j u s t ­ i ce t o H o l l y despite the o b v io u s c o n t r iv a n c e o f his sin gin g. T h e v a l u e o f t h i s a l b u m is t h a t i t c o n t a i n s l i v e r e c o r d i n g s , so"m e t h i n g B u d d y H o lly never did h im s elf and t h e y g i v e an i n d i c a t i o n o f w h a t he a n d t h e C r i c k e t s w o u Id h a v e s o u n d ­ ed I i k e . For anyone not fam iliar w ith B u d d y H o l l y , this album is p r o b ­ ably a good intro d u ctio n bec­ ause it c o n t a i n s m o s t o f his be st k n o w n s o n g s . B u t I c a n see n o v a l ­ id r e a s o n w h y t h e o r i g i n a l s h o u l d b e i g n o r e d in f a v o r o f a s-ounda l i k e w h e n t h e y a r e b o t h as a c c e s s ­ ib le. at least in record stores. -

SUE

D E N IM

TO RM ATO A T L A N T IC SD 1 9 2 0 2

TODD RUNDGREN IN IT A T IO N W ARNER BROS' BR 6 9 5 7

WALTER EGAN NOT SKY PO LYDO R 2310 609

BURTON CUMMINGS D R E A M S O F A C H IL D P O R T R A IT PR 3 3 0 0 9

MICHAEL BLOOMFIELD COUNT TALEN T O R IG IN A L S E P IC ELPS3914

AND

THE

" T o r m a t o " is t h e l a t e s t f r o m t h e revitalised Yes. W it h K in g A r t h u r back on the wizzbangs, they continue the vast im p ro ve m en ts d is p la y e d on the p re v io u s " G o i n g For T he O n e " , after the cosm ic gross-outs o f be fore . "T o rm a to " is m o s t rem iniscent o f the early " F r a g i l e " , th e ir firs t album w ith Wakeman — they're o b v io u s ly t r y i n g very hard to w in back the follow ing created by that m onster. A ll the s o n g s are reasonably e c o n o m ic (e c o n o m ic fo r Yes, anyway) and the perform ­ a n c e s o f t h e b a n d a r e, as u s u a l , exceptionally skilful. This is as a c c e s s i b l e an a l b u m as t h e b a n d h a s r e l e a s e d in m a n y a l o n g y e a r . "D o n 't Kill the W hale" is an effective track and "M a d rig al" is a p o t e n t i a l s i n g l e . W h i l e t h e i r sentim ents (they're still trying t o be p r o f o u n d ) a n d s t y l e ar e p e r ­ haps a little d a ted and a lt h o u g h I d o u b t t h a t t h e r e c o r d w i l l be a n y m ilestone in the evolution of p o p u l a r m u s i c , i t is s t i l l an e n t h u s ­ iastic, s o m e t im e s in sp ired and q u it e credible return for this unique band. C o n t i n u i n g in t h e v e i n o f c o s m i c freakouts, "In itia tio n " is a r erel ease o f a r e c o r d m a d e b y T o d d R u n d g r e n in 1 9 7 5 , w h i c h is p r o b ­ ably s o m e o n e 's a t t e m p t to f u r t h e r e n l i g h t e n th e masses t o th e m a n ' s giftSi b r o u g h t to lig h t by the rece n t success of "H e rm it of M ink H o llo w ". This little extravaganza wa s m a d e d u r i n g his m o r e i n d u l ­ gent period, where it seems t h e main aim w a s t o see h o w m a n y b u t t o n s a n d n o b s he c o u l d p u s h a n d p u l l in t h e s t u d i o . H i s u n d e n ­ iable s ki lls , d i s p l a y e d on th e la test r e c o r d and on s o m e o f his e a rl ie st solo r e c o r d i n g s as a c a t c h y pop w r i t e r ar e e v i d e n t , b u t t h e m a i n e m p h a s i s h e r e is " A r e n ' t I C l e v e r in t h e S t u d i o " .

m

FiFTfiHN 'n R )F x;frrs ()!

BRINSLEY SCHWARZ

T h e r e is n o d o u b t t h a t R u n d g r e n is m a s t e r in h i s e n v i r o n m e n t , b u t o n the w hole this re c o rd j u s t gets too bogged down w ith all the e l e c t r o n i c s p a c e - o u t s . S i d e T w o in p a r t i c u l a r is a l l i n s t r u m e n t a l , a n d w h i l e t h e r e ar e m o m e n t s , h e l a c k s th e m u s ic a l f l a m b o y a n c e o f , say, Brian E n o t o p u l l i t o f f . T h i s is n o t a b a d r e c o r d , in f a c t , as a n e x e r ­ cise in studio m eanderings. It's b r i l l i a n t , b u t if y o u ' r e l o o k i n g f o r another dose of "M in k H o llo w " — fo r get it. W a l t e r Egan has a p p a r e n t l y been hanging around the West Coast o r q u i t e a w h i l e n o w , p l a y i n g in /a rio u s b ^n d s and m a k in g frie n d s w ith fam ous p e o p l e . O n e o f his fa m o u s friends, Lindsay B u ckin g ­ ham seems to have taken quite an interest i n t h e g y y , s i n c e he p r o d u c e d hi& f i r s t LP " F u n d a m e n t ­ al R o l l " a n d t h i s , h i s l a t e s t , " N o t Shy". O ther 'm accers", Stevie N icks and M ick F leetw ood also make special guest appearances on a c o u p l e o f t r a c k s — in f a c t , the record could very easily be m istaken fo r F le e tw o o d Mac, only p e rh a p s it's a little m o r e laid back and doesn't com pare w ith Mac's rhythm s e c tio n . T h e songs f o l l o w t h a t s a m e r o l l i n g , m e l o d i o u s , e a sy listening form and his subdued v o c a l style fits p e r f e c t ly in to the general scheme of things. "D ream o f a C h i l d " is t h e t h i r d solo LP f r o m Burton C um m ings, f o r m er piano p layer and singer e x t r a o r d in a i r e from the defunct As m ain vocalist G u e ss Who. for the g r o u p , h e d i sp l a y e d o n e of the outstanding rock voices around. In a live s i t u a t i o n , his "Vocals t r a n s f o r m e d t h e b a n d i n t o a f o r c e t o be r e c k o n e d w i t h — in particular, his w ork on "Bus S t o p " and " A l b e r t F l a s h e r " really h it th e s p o t. W ith his solo stuff, however, it's been a different story. His latest " D r e a m o f a C h ild ', like the other tw o, cannot seem to let lo o se , w hil he still retains his gift for catchy, sem i-rock tim es s u c h as " R o i l W i t h T h e P u n c h e s " . T h e w h o l e t h i n g is j u s t a l i t t l e s u b ­ d u e d . T h e r e are a c o u p l e o f b a l l a d s t h a t m a y m a k e th e ra d io dig estive tract, such as " B r e a k It T o Me G e n t l y " , w h i c h h as t h a t b i g b a l l a d hit single feel w hich is just m a d e M s t e n a b l e b e c a u s e he r e a l l y does have a gre a t v o ic e . T h e a lb u m does, h o w e v e r , have t o o m u c h o f this d r a m a t ic ballad garbage. I wish he'd d u s t a w a y the c o b w e b s and s t o p t r y i n g t o be t h e n e w E n g l e b e r t H u m p e r d in k . " C o u n t T a l e n t and the O r i g i n a l s " is t h e l a t e s t L P b e a r i n g t h e n a m e M ichael B loom field and possibly his s t r o n g e s t rel ease s in c e t h e e a r l y < days. B lo o m fie ld was one o f the o rig in a l g u ita r heroes, gaining q u ite a c u l t f o l l o w i n g as a m e m b e r o f t h e o r ig in a l Paul B u t t e r f i e l d Blu es Band Over the y e a r s , he w a s i n v o l v e d w ith the Super Session records, the Ele ctric Flag, a sm a tte rin g o f p a t c h y solo LPs and a s o u n d t r a c k for a blue m ovie. This record ( w i t h i t s d r e a d f u l t i t l e — is h e t r y ­ i n g t o be D e r e k ) is r e a l l y S o n o f Supersession w ith performances f r o m lo ts o f his o l d pals a n d , o v e r ­ all, for once, it works pretty w e l l . M o s t o f t h e t r a c k s ar e s t r o n g and by using a v a rie ty o f vocalists (he only sings on tw o tracks) there are some nice contrasts, while the co n tin uity of style is r e t a i n e d b y t h e e v e r - p r e s e n c e o f h i s u n iq u e , su b t l y b rillia n t guitar p l a y i n g . In f a c t , l i s t e n i n g t o i t . I ' m re m in d e d just w h a t a great g uitar player this guy can be . There.'s nothing on this LP to m atch the inspiration of "East W est" from t h e B u t t e r f i e l d d a y s , b u t it sure s o u n d s like e v e r y o n e had a pretty good tim e and — Son o f Supersession or not — t h i s is a surprisingly good record. - POMPOUS OLDHO RSE

DAVE EDMUNDS T R A C K S ON W A X 4 SW ANSONG M X 1890?

BLONDIE P A R A L L E L L IN E S C H R Y S A L IS L 36694

BRINSLEY SCHWARTZ 15 T H O U G H T S U N IT E D A R T IS T S

TALKING HEADS M O RE SONGS A B O U T IN G S A N D F O O D S IR E SRR 6058

B U IL D ­

F o u r a lb u m s . T w o British and t w o A m e r i c a n . A l l t a k i n g as t h e i r s t a r t ­ i n g p o i n t s o m e s t a g e in t h e e v o l ­ u t io n o f r o c k . F o r in s ta n c e , Dave E d m u n d s takes C h u c k B e rry and late fifities rock, Blondie takes m id sixties pop, Brinsley Sch­ w artz starts at the m arriage of A m e ric a n c o u n t r y m usic and r o c k , consum m ated by the B yrd s, the G rateful Dead and the Flying B urrito Brothers, w hile Talking Heads take Roxy M usic's early e le c tro n ic stylism as t h e i r s p r i n g ­ b o a r d . A f a s c i n a t i n g sce.nario. I'm sure y o u ' l l ag ree. B u t these b a n d s all have som ething in common. W h ile bein g f a i t h f u l to t h e ir r o o ts they have all tried to advance the style o.f music they have em b r a c e d . F irs t o f f th e b lo c k s , Dave E d m ­ unds. S uperbly produced, ca p tur­ ing p e r f e c t ly the feel o f prim al rock'n 'ro ll, this album is like travelling back in t i m e 20 years and hearing the very first rock m usic. B u t the o rigina l co u ld never h a v e b e e n t h i s c l e a r . T h i s is r e f i n e d , high-quality stuff — every track s o u n d i n g li k e a classic y o u ' v e h e a rd a hundred tim es before y e t w ith the freshness o f som ething new. I t d o e s n ' t s o u n d d a t e d b e c a u s e all the perm utations of ro ck'n 'ro ll th a t exist to d a y have th is s o u n d d e e p in t h e i r h e a r t . E d m u n d s a n d R o c k p ile (N ick L o w e , Billy B rem ner, T e rry W illia m s , G e rry H o g a n and Pete Kelly) get right back to the source and celebrate it. No recom m endation c a n b e h, i gh e n o u g h . G e t it! M o v i n g f o r w a r d f i v e o r si x y e a r s , we arrive at B lo n d ie 's la u n c h pad — the S p e c t o r / P h i l a d e Ip h ia sound. The Philly sound was a d e v e lo p ­ m e n t o f the o riginal rock sound reflecting the increased s o p h i s t i c ­ ation of the recording studio. B l o n d i e ar e a t t e m p t i n g a d e v e l o p ­ m e n t of th a t d e v e lo p m e n t. A lot o f t i m e a n d e n e r g y has passed since the creation of Spector's wall of s o u n d b u t i t is s t i l l an e x c i t i n g a n d m o m e n t o u s e v e n t in r o c k B l o n d i e are e x p l o r i n g a n d s t r u g g l i n g w i t h the lim ita tio n s o f th a t style. The contrast between "Picture T his" and "P retty B a b y ", both d a n c e a b le , fu n songs and th e m o r e experim ental "Fade Away And R a d ia t e " e x e m p lif y this p e rfe c tly . T h e e n e r g y o f t h e a l b u m is p a r t l y in the Spector inspiration but a l s o in t h e t e n s i o n c r e a t e d in t h e struggle to expand the scope o f the m u s ic a l style B lo n d ie have a d o p t e d . B l o n d i e ar e a w a r e o f t h e increased s o p h is t ic a t i o n o f t o d a y ' s audiences and today's music in g e n e r a l a n d t h e i r m u s i c is m o v i n g f o r w a r d a c c o r d i n g l y . I t ' s an a l b u m that augurs well for the band, still the best dance A nd they're b a n d in t h e w o r l d a f t e r t h e R a m -

ones! "1 5 T h o u g h t s of Brinsley Schw a rtz ' is a f a s c i n a t i n g recorded docum ent, in the light of the present standing of N ick Lowe ( c e r t if ie d genius) and B o b A n d r e w s a n d B r i n sle y S ch w a r t z ( m a i n m e n in the R um our). It's an Englishsou n ding c o u n tr y - ro c k album w ith echoes of the G rateful Dead's;

" W o r k in g m a n 's D e a d " , the B y rd s ' "Sw eetheart of the R adio" and other U.S. c o u n tr y r o c k classics. It's in te re s tin g to n o te t h a t w h ile rest o f Britain was going ga ga over glitter rock (Bolan, Bow ie, S w e e t, Slade etc etc) th e L o n d o n pubs were playing host to an undercurrent of country rockers like the Brinsleys, C hilli W illi and the Red Hot Peppers and Bees M a k e H o n e y . B u t t h i s is n o t j u s t a c o u n t r y r o c k a lbum , for in t h e four-year life span o f t h e b a n d , t h e y w e r e o b ­ viously influenced by o th e r m u s ­ ical styles. There's a touch of reggae w i t h th e ir version o f Bob M arley's "H yp o crite ", some full tilt boogie w ith the live track "Hom e In M y H a n d " , the Beatl i sh " U g l y T h in g s " , w h i c h w o u l d n o t s o u n d o u t o f place on L o w e 's "Jesus of C o o l" album and a subtle soul in flu e n c e t h ro u g h the use o f b r a s s o n s o m e t r a c k s . If the b a n d m e m b e r s had n o t gone on to greater t h in g s it's d o u b t f u l we'd have ever he a rd t h i s a l b u m an d t h a t w o u l d have be en a real shame fo r the m usic the Brinsleys m a d e still s o u n d s great. A n a lb u m to calm jagged nerves w i t h . And after listening to T a l k ‘ing H e a d s ' second a lb u m " M o r e Songs A b o u t B u ild in g s and F o o d jagged nerves ar e exactly what yo u "ll h a v e . I ' ve said t h e i r m u s i c a l r o o t s l i e w i t h e a r l y R o x y M u s i c a n d I' M s t i c k b y t h a t . T h e r e is t h a t s a m e feeling o f adventuring and unpredictability that the early R o x y had — b u t v o c a lly and t h e m ­ atically, T alking H e a d s are v e r y diffe re n t. Whereas Bria n Ferry sang songs of decadence, angst and the cold spaces between hearts, David Byrne s i n g s s o n g s, a b o u t p a r a n o ia , edginess and the sp aq es between heads. There is n o t h i n g o u t r a g e o u s o r high c a m p a b o u t T alking Heads either — they all l o o k i n c r e d i b l y n o r m a l . E n o ' s p r o d u c t i o n has a d d e d a l o t m o re d e p th to the sound o f this alb u m . There are n o t the same spaces e v i d e n t on t h e i r f i r s t a l b u m " 77 ". The in stru m e n ts w o rk m o r e clo sely to g e th e r, weaving a rich t a p e s t r y o f s o u n d o v e r w h i c h B y r n e 's stran g le d vocals s w o o p and p lu n g e . It m a y ta k e a fe w listens to p e n etra te the a lb u m 's i n t r i c a c ­ i es, e s p e c i a l l y i f y o u ar e u n f a m i l a r w ith the band b u t t h e e f f o r t is w o r t h it. A n e x t r e m e l y s t i m u l a t i n g record. So t h a t ' s i t . M u s i c a d v a n c i n g o n all fronts. Can you afford to i g n o re i t ? - DO NALD ROBERTSON

LtNDA RONSTADT BACK

IN TH E

U.S.A.

R o ll o v e r C h u c k B e rry cos L in d a Ronstadt has butchered one of your greatest songs. But yo u 're in g o o d c o m p a n y f o r she d o e s t h e same to n u m b e r s w r i t t e n by Elvis Costello, Oscar H a m m e rs te in , L ittle F e a t and Elvis Presle y. W ith her new fo u n d patriotism ("W ho knows who should be President and if a n y b o d y should have an interest in d eterm ining these things? S h o u ld n 't Standard O il?") y o u 'd think that R onst­ a d t w o u l d get som e fe e lin g in to the t i t l e t r a c k a t l e a s t . B u t , " B a c k in the U 'S 'A '", a jubilant anthem supposedly w ritten by Berry on return from A u s t r a l i a , is f l a t a n d boring. D i t t o f o r t h e rest o f t h e a l b u m . W ith th e aid o f Pe te r A s h e r an d o ther c o m p e te n t musicians Linda R o n s t a d t m anagers to m ake lyrics like C o s te llo 's " A l i s o n " , b la n d and dreary. When she tells "R olling Stone" her attitude to concert audiences — "I try and p re t e n d they're no t th e re " — you u n d e rs t­ and the origins of such vacant

a lb u m s .

• But at the tim e of w riting "Back in the U .S .A ." was Nol n a t i o n a l l y , and had a lrea d y reached double platinum figures in the S t a t e s . S o m e o f t h e sal es c a n be put down to the in c r e d ib le h y p e g e n e r a t e d b e f o r e i t s r el e a s e How many other artists get leading articles in t h e e d i t o r i a l p a g e s o f the "A d ve rtise r" a n d f e a t u r e s in the "N e w s", "Sunday M a i l " and "Australian P o s t", plus M eldrum kissing the a lb u m c o v e r on n a t io n a l T V ? T h e r el ease o f g oss ip a b o u t her affair w ith G o v e rn o r B ro w n of C a lifo rn ia was e x q u is ite ly tim e d . O t h e r p u rc h a s e rs m a y have f o u n d her previous more country LPs p le a sa nt to listen to a fte r a hard day. They may be discouraged in future by the crassness o f " " B a c k in t h e U . S . A . " . B u t o b v i o u s ­ ly a l o t o f p e o p l e lik e s m o o t h l y produced Musak, and Ronstadt m ay b e co m e the M a n to v a n n i o f the '80s — p ro v id in g meaningless m usic f o r the in-different. -JO N C H IT T L E B O R O U G H

N E IL Y O U N G C O M E S A T IM E R E P R IS E MSK 2266 Bein g one of those fanatical N e il Y o u n g fans — y o u k n o w , one who has l i k e d all o f t h o s e l o u d c lu n k y electric album s (tha t m o st people haven't heard of) made s in c e "H a rv e s t" — this new record c o m e s as a g r e a t s u r p r i s e . S o m e t h i n g s t r u c k , m e as a l i t t l e weird when I saw no l ess t h a n nine acoustic guitarists credited on the cover. It se emed even w eirder when I played "G oing' Back", the first track. Young was singin g g e n t l y , b e a u t i f u l l y and in ke y, the h a rm o n ie s w ith Nicolette Larson were w o n d e r fu l. Then the strin gs h it . Jesus! This is a f in e ly m a d e and p r o d u c e d a l b u m . A n d i t r e a l l y is. N i n e o u t o f t h e 10 tracks are acoustic, there's h a rm o n y e v e ry w h e re , strings, o r c h ­ e s t r a , f i d d l e , s t e e l g u i t a r a n d al l k i n d s o f t h i n g s . I n t h i s sense m u c h o f " C o m e s a T i m e " is r e m i n i s c e n t of Young's first album and "H arvest", but it's much more subtly crafted than either o f those. N o t o n ly t h a t , b u t here we have an a l b u m o f l o v e s o n g s . . . ! S t a n d - o u t t r a c k s ar e " L o o k O u t F o r M y L o v e " and " H u m a n H i g h ­ way". The first is b a s e d upon c h u n k y acoustic pla yin g by Y o u n g and Crazy Horse's F ra n k S a m p e dro, alo n g w i t h th r e e - p a r t h a r m o n y just string e n o u g h to have som e bite ( u n l i k e , say, L R B's c o m p u t ­ erised flo ss). Behind it screams Neil's electric G ibson. "Hum-an H ig h w a y " , title track of C S N Y 's never released r e u n io n a lb u m is a ca lm er affair. Here, a c o m p le x m ix of guitar, banjo and p e d a l steel t u m b l e s alo n g b e h in d Y o u n g and L a rs o n , her voice s o u n d in g m u c h like a stronger E m m y lo u H a r r i s . A l o n g s i d e t h o s e f i n e t r a c k s are t h e gentle "A lre a dy O ne", "G oin' Back", "Peace of M in d " and " F o u r S t r o n g W i n d s " — and the countryish " F ie ld of O p p o r t u n it y " and " C o m e s a T i m e " . The one song that sits apart a n d j u s t d o e s n ' t m a k e i t is " M o t o r ­ cycle M a m a " , a raucous d u e t w ith N ic o le t t e L a rs o n . It's c l u m s y , b a d ly structured and u nw elcom e here. A line in the title t r a c k says " C o m e s a T i m e W h e n Y o u Settle D o w n . . . " . If I d i d n ' t k n o w b e t t e r . I ' d say t h i s w a s t h e p r o d u c t o f a c o n t e n t e d , settled and q u ie t m a n . I ' v e n o d o u b t ,h o w e ve r , t h a t N e i l Y o u n g w i l l s h o c k o u r se n s e s a g a i n by d o in g s o m e th in g unacceptable to the r o c k a ris to c r a c y . C o m e to think of it, w h e n rock/pop has moved ba c k to high e n e rg y , isn't an acoustic album like this just that? - MARK BURFORD

R O A D R U N N E R , N o v e mb e r 1 978 -

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G IG GUIDE

T H U R S D A Y N O V E M B E R 16 E LIZA BE TH RUGBY CLUB A R K A B A HOTEL CREOLE ROOM

F R ID A Y N O V E M B E R 3 R O Y A L HOTEL C RE OLE ROOM SEVEN STARS H OTEL HOTEL AUSTRALIA

OL D LION H O T E L HOT CHICKEN DAVE COLTON OUARTET PIONEER JAZZ BAND F RE D DY AND THE D REAMERS AND FRANKIE DAVIDSON WHITEWING SWANEE B A R R Y LIEF BAND W A L L STREET RUMPAS

OL D LION H O T E L A R K A BA HOTEL POORAKA HOTEL HIGHLANDER HOTEL W ATER LOO CORNER HOTEL SATURDAY NOVEMBER 4 CREOLE ROOM

GLEN H E N R IC K A N D FRIENDS WITH B EV E R LE Y ELKINS { 1 1 - 3 .3 0 A M ) FREDDIE AND THE DREAMERS AND FRANKIE DAVIDSON JULIE MCINNES

HOTEL AUSTRALIA A D E L A I D E U N K BAR

(8

v\ I"

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 5 A L D G A T E PUMP H O T E L CREOLE ROOM

(8 ARKABA ELIZABETH RUGBY CLUB

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FAT ALBERT WH ITE WING

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 8 OLD LION H O T E L FIESTA V I L L A

WH ITE WING BRUCE MELBON

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 9 ST L E O N S ' I N N BRUCE MELBON CREOLE ROOM J A Z Z FOCUS: SCHMOE A N D TED N E T T L E B E C K A N D JEFF K L U K E WITH A N G E L A SMITH (10 - 2 A M ) HOTEL AUSTRALIA DICK EMERY OL D LION H O T E L WH ITE WING ARKABAHOTEL SOULHEADQUARTERS F R I D A Y N O V E M B E R 10 A R K A B A HOTEL COUNTDOWN R O Y AL HOTEL CREOLE ROOM SEVEN STARS H OT EL HOTEL AUSTRALIA A D E L A I D E U N I ' G A M E S ROOM OL D LION H O T E L POORAKA S A T U R D A Y N O V E M B E R 11 A R K A B A HOTEL COUNTDOWN CREOLE ROOM HOTEL AUSTRALIA OLD LION H OTEL

ANGELS BRUCE MELBON HOT CHICKEN DAVE COLTON QUARTET W I T H S UE B A R K E R (11 - 3 . , 3 0 A M ) PIONEER JA ZZ BAND DICK EMERY YOUNG MODERN AND IRVING A N D THE U-BOMBS WHITE WING BRUCE MELBON

ANGELS BRUCE M E L B O N GLEN HENRICK AND FRIENDS W I T H B E V E R L E Y E L K I N S (11 - 3 . 3 0 A M ) DICK EMERY WHITE WING

S U N D A Y N O V E M B E R 12 ARKABAHOTEL ANGELS E L IZ A B E T H R UG BY CLUB BRUCE MELB ON CREOLE ROOM HENCEFORTH WITH B E V E R LE Y ELKINS

(8 A L D G A T E PUMP H O T E L T U E S D A Y N O V E M B E R 14 SEVEN STARS H O T E L OLD LION H OT EL W E D N E S D A Y N O V E M B E R 15 ELIZABETH RUGBY CLUB OLD LION H OT EL Page 18 -

R O A D R U N N E R , No v emb e r 1978

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SEVEN STARS H O T E L HOTEL AUSTRALIA OLD LION H O T EL

BRUCE MELBON R O SSW IL SO N A N D M O N D O ROCK HOT CHICKEN DAVE COLTON QUARTET W I T H S UE B A R K E R (11 - 3 .3 0 A M ) PIONEER JAZZ BAND THE SEEKERS WHITE WING

S A T U R D A Y N O V E M B E R 18 E L IZ A BE T H RUGBY CLUB BRUCEM E LB ON ARKABA HOTEL R OSSW IL SON A N D MO ND O ROCK CREOLE ROOM GLEN HENRICK AND FRIENDS W I T H B E V E R L E Y E L K I N S (11 - 3 .3 0 A M ) HOTEL AUSTRALIA THESEEKERS OLD LION H O T E L WHITE WING S U N D A Y N O V E M B E R 19 E L IZ A BE T H RUGBY CLUB BRUCEMELBON A R K A B A HOTEL ROSS W I L S O N A N D M O N D O R O C K CREOLE ROOM HENCEFORTH WITH BEVERLEY EKLINS (8-12) A D E L A I D E U N I . L I T T L E T H E A T R E F O L K C O N C E R T (1 - 6 PM) T U E S D A Y N O V E M B E R 21 S E V E N S T A R S H O T -E L O LD LION H O T E L

FAT ALBERT WHITE WING

12 )

SWANEE BAR RY LEIF BAN D

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 7 SEVEN STARS H O T E L OLD LION H O T E L

F R I D A Y N O V E M B E R 17 E L IZ A B E T H RUGBY CLUB AR KABA HOTEL ROYAL HOTEL CREOLE ROOM

10)

SOAPBOX ORCHESTRA HENCEFORTH WITH BEVERLEY ELKINS

%* v> â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;

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WHITE WING SWANEE B A R R Y LIEF BAN D B A R R Y LEIF B AN D RUMPAS JET

OLD LION H O T E L A R K A BA HOTEL POORAKA HOTEL COUNTDOWN WATERLOO CORNER HOTEL HIGHLANDER HOTEL

BRUCE MELBON SOUL HEADQUARTERS M O D E R N J A Z Z - J A Z Z FOCUS SCHMOE AND TED N E T T L E B E C K A N D J E F F K L U K E W I T H A N G E L A SM I T H WHITE WINGS

12)

SOAP B OX O R C H E S T R A

FAT ALBERT W H I T E WING

BRUCE MELBON WHITE WING

W E D N E S D A Y N O V E M B E R 22 OL D LION H O T E L POORAKA HOTEL

WHITE WING ANNE KIRKPATRICK

T H U R S D A Y N O V E M B E R 23 CREOLE ROOM

OLD LION H O T E L POORAKA HOTEL

M O D E R N J A Z Z FOCUS SCHMOE A N D TED N E T T L E B E C K A N D JEFF K L U K E WITH A N G E L A SMITH (10 - 2 A M ) WH ITE WING ANNE KIRKPATRICK

F R I D A Y N O V E M B E R 24 ROYAL HOTEL CREOLE ROOM SEVEN STARS H OTEL HOTEL AUSTRALIA OLD LION H O T E L POORAKA HOTEL

HOT CHICKEN DAVE COLTON QU ARTET W I T H S U E B A R K E R (11 - 3 .3 0 A M ) PIONEER J A ZZ BAND WINIFRED ATWELL WH ITE WINGS ANNE KIRKPATRICK

S A T U R D A Y N O V E M B E R 25 CREOLE ROOM HOTEL AUSTRALIA O L D LION HOTEL DOWNS HOTEL, E LIZ A B E T H

GLEN HENRICK AND FRIENDS WITH BEVERLEY EKLINS WINIFRED ATKINS WHITE WING SOAPBOX ORCHESTRA

S U N D A Y N O V E M B E R 26 CREOLE ROOM HENCEFORTH WITH B EV E R L E Y ELKINS

(8 A L D G A T E PUMP H O T E L

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12)

SOAPBOX ORCHESTRA

T U E S D A Y N O V E M B E R 28 SEVEN STARS H OT EL OLD LION H O T E L

FAT ALBERT NEW Y O R K C I T Y

W E D N E S D A Y N O V E M B E R 29 OLD LION H O T EL

NEW Y O R K C I TY

T H U R S D A Y N O V E M B E R 30 CREOLE ROOM

M O D E R N J A Z Z - J A Z Z FOCUS: SCHMOE A N D TED N E T T L E B E C K A N D J E F F K L U K E A N D A N G E L A SMITH ( 1 0 - 2 AM) HOTEL AUSTRALIA JACKIE TRENT AND TONY HATCH OLD LION H O T E L NEW Y O R K CITY G I G G U I D E is c o m p ile d b y M I N G w i t h h e lp f r o m C e n tra l B o o k i n g A g e n c y . F o r a f r ee lis tin g , c o n ta c t ROADRUNNER P . O . B O X 1 5 6 , N O R W O O D , S. A. 5 0 6 7 D e a d lin e f o r th e n e x t issue N O V E M B E R 24

67 leader streiBt forestville, S.A. 5035 phone (08) 293 1149

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