Saturday, April 5, 2008

JFK and the Cuban Crisis - The End of the Affair

This fantastic record was the very first vinyl record I brought into the
digital age from the analog age. I saw it requested for quite a while
on overhere's wonderful blog "They called it good at the time"
and after hoping someone else with the expertise would do a convert,
I eventually got of my bum and did it.
Not without some mistakes and much help from overhere,
but it did happen. I'm glad I did cause this is one of my top 5
Australian albums.
I'm posting this today cause I just read that overhere
is closing his blog down and the link for this is no longer working,
so a big thanks to overhere for a fantastic blog
and a whole lot of great music.
It was his blog that really encouraged me to get into this.
For anyone who missed this the first time round, download this you
won't be sorry, the following background is from the
JFK and the Cuban Crisis my space site found here

JFK and the Cuban Crisis had its origins in the Brisbane
southern suburb
of Acacia Ridge in the late 1970's.
John Kennedy and James Paterson
were friends from
high school with a common interest in pop music

and memberships in the Beatles Fan Club.
They went through a few garage band line ups with
names including
Barley Rhyme, Mantelpiece and
Post Mod, before James returned
from a period
overseas with the proposal of taking their music
to the small Brisbane post-punk club scene using
the band name
JFK and the Cuban Crisis.
With John on vocals and rhythm guitar and James
playing lead,
the pair formed the core of a band
that was to see a number
of line ups in Brisbane
and later, Sydney.
They took inspiration from the Beatles in using their
respective
talents to co-write a number of the early
JFK tunes.
In 1982, after some small success including
support spots for
the Pretenders and Ian Dury
and the Blockheads,
they decided to make the move
to Sydney in the hope of securing
major label interest.
A number of false starts later,
with a new line-up
and a new EP on Waterfront Records,

they established themselves on Sydney's
inner city indie club scene.


I brought this Lp in 1984 which was just after I had finished school,
It was a soundtrack for my passage into adulthood, a Brisbane band
like most, who had left for Sydney to make something of themselves.
They had a sound unlike anyone else.
I ended up following John Kennedy, the bands main lead singer's,
career closely for many years. He is an incredible talent.
James Paterson who also sings and wrote the classic "Gotham City"
went on to work on other projects like the wonderful
"Lawson Square Infirmary"
This is a fine album, recorded on a low budget with some killer
songs on it. There's some very nice instrumentation with cello,
trumpet, sax and violin and backing vocals from the late David
McComb, Graham Lee and Alsy McDonald, Robert McComb
plays violin.
The Triffids must of been good friends.
"Follow that car" is a great song
with its brass section working overtime,
"The ballad of Jackie O" a beautiful melody,
which was the single I believe.
A special mention for "We're no Angels"
which is a killer song and the
brilliant "Gotham City"
the greatest song written about Brisbane.

Tracklist

1. Follow that Car
2. Ballad of Jackie O
3. Happy Today
4. I Just Want to Go to Sleep
5. Mother's Concern
6. Quite Like Love
7. Sometimes I Just Want to Scream
8. A Place for Children
9. We're No Angels
10. Gotham City


Download Here




Juliet Jones by JFK and the Cuban Crisis 1980

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great blog Bob, i really enjoy the selections you've posted. Keep up the terrific work.
Don't spose you'd have a copy of Dave Warner's This is my planet" from 81. A wonderful record
Cheers
Steve in Melbourne

bob nebe said...

Thanks Steve, another Melbourne reader, I do Indeed have that lp and I'll post it in the near future.
Did you see the Mugs game post?
I suppose thats why you ask.
ciao bob

Overhere said...

Thanks Bob - I'll be keeping an interested eye on proceedings at this brilliant blog and I've still gotta e-mail you my thoughts on Robert Forsters new album - which I'll do soon.

Take care

Anonymous said...

thanks bob, i did catch the mugs game post but was lucky enough to hold onto my vinyl copy of that. unfortunately i stupidly sold "this is my planet" when, as dylan once said " i was so much older then, i'm younger than that now". take care
steve

Anonymous said...

Hi, it's James from JFK and the Cuban Crisis here. Thanks for posting the album, which would otherwise be completely unavailable to 'music lovers,' and for the kind words re Gotham City.

You may not know this, but John Kennedy revamped that song for his latest album Someone's Dad and to be honest it's a much better version than the two versions we released all those years ago.

Last, yes I was good friends with the Triffids and, apart from having members of the band guest on the album, we used to put them on the same bill as us whenever possible.

On a sad note, JFK's drummer, Paul Rochelli, is a Missing Person. No one seems to know what's happened to him and many people suspect that he's no longer in the land of the living.

bob nebe said...

Thanks James for dropping in and for your kind comments.
I have Johns Cd "Someones Dad" and
its certainly a great version of "Gotham City" , its actually a very good album, but you all will have to buy it, cause its too new to post here.
I would love to be able to say I saw the the Triffids on the same bill as JFK and the Cuban Crisis, what a fantastic gig that would have been.
Very sad about Paul Rochelli it never fails to amaze me how people drop of the face of the earth like that and no one knows a thing.
I wish that the people who organized the Pig City Festival had of offered the surviving members of JFK a large suitcase of money to reform, that would have made the lineup perfect.
Thanks again James and any imput you give here will be greatly appreciated.
ciao bob

Anonymous said...

Paul Rochelli is alive and well. He just went on a European odysee for 18 years. He's now living in Melbourne and is very happy that he is still thought of. Greetings to John, James and 'Holger'.
Ciao PR

Anonymous said...

That's fantastic news, Paul, it's really made my day. People you know (John, me, Jackie, Ashley) have been very worried about you and feared the worst.

Love,
James.

bob nebe said...

I 2nd that Paul, glad to hear you are alive and well, if you want to get in contact with James let me know here, I won't publish any email address or anything and I can put you in contact
ciao bob

Anonymous said...

Hi James,

do you mean Jackie K and Ashley B. If yes, that's amazing. Sorry, I've been a bit out of touch with Australia. i immersed myself into other cultures and languages and missed a huge chunk of what happened here in OZ. I once did hear that John was in Berlin?? - not sure as the info was a bit vague.

If you'd like to catch up, Bob mentioned he could arrange contacts. Was there a mention of a reunion?

I still have those songs running through my head - believe it or not.

Cheers

Paul

Anonymous said...

good to hear you are still ok Paul.

gh

bob nebe said...

back up