Attention Australians: Bob Blunt - 'A Biased History of Australian Rock'

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Reading it now. Isn't it great?

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Monday, 23 June 2003 01:24 (twenty-two years ago)

does even as we speak get their own chapter?

― keith (keithmcl), Monday, 23 June 2003 01:43 (twenty-two years ago)

tell me more

― gaz (gaz), Monday, 23 June 2003 01:50 (twenty-two years ago)

c'mon colin, provide some details for your fellow oz rockists!

― Chris Radford (Chris Radford), Monday, 23 June 2003 02:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes! Even As We Speak does get there own chapter! Actually, if you were in a band in the 1980's and not mentioned in this book, you must've been really bad.

http://www.ozmusicbooks.com/merchant.ihtml?pid=1342&step=4

I never got a copy of the double cd, as it's a library book.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Monday, 23 June 2003 02:14 (twenty-two years ago)

And while I was trawling for more info I found this little gem of a reissues page from ILM's own Phil Turnbull, I think? Tthere are also some classsic old post punk mp3s accessible from this site. And didn't he write the inaudible keyboard part for Tactics' 'Standing By A Window', one of the most amazing post punk tracks ever written? Correct me if I'm wrong.

http://www.users.bigpond.com/pturnbul/nns_reissues.htm

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Monday, 23 June 2003 02:20 (twenty-two years ago)

...and something from Simon Reynlod's page I've been maeaning to post for a while:

TRES HOT a/k/a RIPE FOR REDISCOVERY
[cooler-than-thou dead-cert trump-all-comers power move]

Australian postpunk: Voigt/465, Rhythmx Chymx, Slugfuckers, Tame O’Mearas, early Severed Heads.

No I would like to know how he's heard of all this stuff, apart from Severed Heads. I thought to know about The Slugf***ers you had to be IN The Slugf***ers. And as for Rhythmx Chymx... seriously, to have heard this record at all required you to be living in a one mile radius of Darlinghurst in 1979. What's the story? Is Simon from Sydney? Was that LFO track on their first album about him then?

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Monday, 23 June 2003 02:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Phil T is a national treasure.

― gaz (gaz), Monday, 23 June 2003 02:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Blunt is a great book - it came at a perfect time too, around the same time as Can't Stop It - so a lot of the obscure stuff it covers was ready and waiting to be rediscovered.

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Monday, 23 June 2003 03:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Simon R probably read Phil's page I'd guess.

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Monday, 23 June 2003 03:13 (twenty-two years ago)

well, thanks for the lovely heads up people but i'm rather too filled with ennui to be classed a national treasure, methinks.

i sent simon r. a cd-r comp of the stuff from my site about a year ago after reading his post-punk article in uncut and we've had a few conversations since then. i've only just realized that he put us all in that list - very nice of him to do so.

blunt's book is pretty good - well written and erudite with a true fan's sense of the moment : although his timeframe is basically adjacent to the period i was making music and my interest in the scene had decidedly waned by then. it's wide ranging too but, like the recent Tales From The Aust Underground cds leans a bit more towards straight rock.

the chapter on tactics was, for me, hilarious - dave studdert's comments about "voigt/265" being some arty intelligentia wank is particularly stupid coming from someone who used to rabbit on incessently about french philosophers all the time. (and the use of 265 instead of 465 is a deliberate attempt to somehow downgrade us in his mind, i believe). in any case, on their best nights, tactics were simply an unbeatable band. one of the cd-rs at my site is from a gig mid 79 and the intensity of the performance is so much better than most bands of the time.

spurred on by all the love in the room, i'll send a free 3 cd-r comp of all the bands detailed at my site to anyone who wants one - let me know within 24 hours (ie by 6pm australian eastern standard time)

― phil turnbull (philT), Monday, 23 June 2003 06:46 (twenty-two years ago)

good coverage of the era(s) but blunt's writing's dreadful, i'm sorry to say. the cds have clearly been compiled with love though - there's some terrific stuff on them (the cannanes track is a killer). i'm amazed at how fresh a lot of that music still sounds.

― angelo (angelo), Monday, 23 June 2003 12:59 (twenty-two years ago)

i seem to remember studdert calling the sunnyboys the "bhp in black leather" at one point too (inaccurate, but i didn't care...i have no sunnyboys love)
i often wondered whether some of those lyrics of his were inspired by french philosophers...hmmm.

― gaz (gaz), Monday, 23 June 2003 21:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Phil, tried to avail myself of your generous offer but got a delivery failure message on my email. Is the offer still going and your email still current?

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Monday, 23 June 2003 22:37 (twenty-two years ago)

take the nospam out colin

― gaz (gaz), Monday, 23 June 2003 22:56 (twenty-two years ago)

and that trash over there while you're at it

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Monday, 23 June 2003 23:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Aha! Thank you.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Monday, 23 June 2003 23:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Dammit, that didn't work either!! Phil, if you're there, please get in touch on my email and I'll send you my address. Humpf.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Monday, 23 June 2003 23:40 (twenty-two years ago)

And The Moles get a chapter too. Not to mention the incomparable feedtime. Oh, and in case you didn't realise it, the book establishes that Australia invented grunge in 1983. Which we already knew oif course, but now it's in a book, so it's true.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Tuesday, 24 June 2003 00:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Moles!!! gotta listen to my moles stuff again. Untune The Sky kicks five kinds of ass.

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 24 June 2003 00:22 (twenty-two years ago)

untune the sky has a great buzz in it. I only ever had the vinyl for the longest time and i loved it then the reissue came out and i was glad i only had the vinyl a lot of the missing sons were crap. moles always seemed more new zealand to me, sounded like the chills(accidental saint)/bats (curdle)and snapper(europe by car) rolled into one band. i liked it better when 35 aussie dollars equaled like 4 dollars us, now the exchange rate stinks.

― keith (keithmcl), Tuesday, 24 June 2003 02:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Wot about the singer's solo career then? Richard Davies is his name.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Tuesday, 24 June 2003 02:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Richard Davies solo career has been patchy. I love the Summershine album with the B&W cover, but "Telegraph" was dodgy save for two or three songs.

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 24 June 2003 02:56 (twenty-two years ago)

The Scientists get a good working through as well. "we Head Love"... Tune!!!!

Er, yes, Aussies iunvented grunge, you know. I remember well that not only was there grunge; there was Adelaide grunge (Grong Grong, Scientists et al) Melbourne grunge (late Birthday Party) and Sydney Grunge (er, Box of Fish). There was also a local fanizine in 1985 I found in Phantom called 'Grunge It Severely". Which was the fashion of the time.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Tuesday, 24 June 2003 02:59 (twenty-two years ago)

whats with the rock colin? you're not switching sides are you?

― gaz (gaz), Tuesday, 24 June 2003 04:08 (twenty-two years ago)

I like it both ways!

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Tuesday, 24 June 2003 04:17 (twenty-two years ago)

a great aussie classic. i remember someone doing a presentation on it in a year 9 music class. then they changed their name to the 'nauts and did a song called i don't wanna be unemployed.

― gaz (gaz), Tuesday, 24 June 2003 04:20 (twenty-two years ago)

That is too classic.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Tuesday, 24 June 2003 04:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Lubricated Goat was, er, seminal in bringing grunge to Seattle. Apparently.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Tuesday, 24 June 2003 05:43 (twenty-two years ago)

and nudity to the tellie

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 24 June 2003 05:45 (twenty-two years ago)

check this out!! http://www.happeningfilms.com/intheraw/

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 24 June 2003 05:48 (twenty-two years ago)

That cannot be work safe.

In the book, they say that one performance killed their career in Australia, as from then on every pub owner refused to let them play unless they did so in the raw.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Tuesday, 24 June 2003 05:51 (twenty-two years ago)

it's work safe. it's about a forthcoming doco.

poor old Stu Spasm. their history really is pretty depressing

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 24 June 2003 05:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah... poor Stu. He got me in a headlock at one of their gigs you know. All I was doing was chatting up this zaftig goth girl, and he was walking across the tables, probably singing some Tom Jones or James Brown song. I wasn't paying enough attention.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Tuesday, 24 June 2003 06:02 (twenty-two years ago)

That's a great band photo on that link too.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Tuesday, 24 June 2003 06:04 (twenty-two years ago)

Lubricated Goat? They're serious, right? What do they sound like?

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Tuesday, 24 June 2003 07:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Neal Karlen's book on Babes in Toyland has Stu has a character of note given he was Kat's boyfriend/semi-husband after a time. The picture painted was distinctly unflattering.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 24 June 2003 12:26 (twenty-two years ago)

i can't even begin to imagine how one might start polishing that particular turd

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 24 June 2003 12:28 (twenty-two years ago)

richard davies' 'telegraph' was truly awful but 'barbarians' was even worse. that said he had one of the most brilliant winning streaks of anyone with the moles 'instinct', cardinal and his first solo record 'there's never been a crowd like this'. pity he decided to tone down the eccentricity.

― keith (keithmcl), Tuesday, 24 June 2003 22:58 (twenty-two years ago)

i like richard's solo records, but yeah, 'untune the sky' is a classic by any measure. those BAGPIPES, for godsake! colin, clinton walker's books are worth checking out too if you haven't already.

― angelo (angelo), Wednesday, 25 June 2003 05:46 (twenty-two years ago)

two years pass...

erm, does anyone have contact details for Bob?

― moley (moley), Friday, 7 October 2005 02:29 (twenty years ago)

Esteban Buttez presents a history of shitty australian music

1965: shitty australian music begins
1966: johnny o keef dies of teh aids
1971: retarded beardos play some shit at sunbury
1977: CHISEL
1985: the go-betweens are too good for australia
1991: triple j is stuck in this year
2005: australian music is still as shitty and crap as ever

― ESTEBAN BUTTEZ~!, Saturday, 8 October 2005 05:22 (twenty years ago)

Esteban OTM!

He posted in that other thread a few weeks ago moley, if anyone can remember what it was about no doubt that would help...

― kit brash (kit brash), Saturday, 8 October 2005 06:21 (twenty years ago)

seven months pass...

You can now download all the Distant Locust albums. You may recall this was the band champoined by David Bowie - only he thought they were called 'Distant Coconuts' or something.

http://www.distantlocust.com/discography.htm

― ratty, Tuesday, 16 May 2006 00:14 (twenty years ago)

seven months pass...

that one performance killed their career in Australia, as from then on every pub owner refused to let them play unless they did so in the raw

― slackety yax (H2-H4), Sunday, 7 January 2007 08:08 (nineteen years ago)

deadset i was listening to 'in the raw' not two hours ago

― electric sound of jim [and why not] (electricsound), Sunday, 7 January 2007 08:14 (nineteen years ago)

Woahhh! LOADS of cool Australian 80s stuff on YouTube, much of it from the late night 'Rage' slot, which my partner remembers from a year in Oz back then. A DVD comp seems overdue, if there isn't one already.

― Soukesian (Soukesian), Sunday, 7 January 2007 14:28 (nineteen years ago)

Can someone post or point to a tracklisting for the companion CD(s)?

― Mitchell Dickerman (Mr. Odd), Sunday, 7 January 2007 20:03 (nineteen years ago)

there are several Rage-sourced or -branded DVDs, they are all rubbish.

― nu-mongrel (kit brash), Sunday, 7 January 2007 20:57 (nineteen years ago)

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