Monday, March 9, 2009

Fun Things - 7'' ep (1980)

While the band existed from 1979 - 1980 under the name
The Fun Things, they were also known previously during 1978
as The Aliens. There was another band of the same name during
this period from Adelaide but were more new wave orientated.
The Brisbane punk rock “Aliens” members featured Brad
Shepherd on guitar and vocals, bassist John Hartley, and
Murray Shepherd on drums but dissolved to form the Phantom
Agents for a phase without Hartley.
After the Phantom Agents, The original Aliens reformed as The
Fun Things with The Phantom Agents guitarist Graeme Beavis.
This outfit rapidly gained a strong local following,
which was due to their tight and energetic live shows.

The Fun Things were still teenagers but managed to record a
self titled E.P. in 1980. “It was just part of the punk process.
It was something you wanted to do. We felt we had a couple
of decent songs. We were still all in school at the time.
I borrowed 400 bucks from my parents in order to make the
thing happen,” Brad Shepherd recollected. The songs were
“mixed gutsy guitar riffs, breakneck tempos, punk attitude
and youthful exuberance in equal measure,” according to
Ian McFarlane.In 2000 the EP was re-released on
Pennimann Records from Spain. Some of the tracks in the
past had been subject to bootlegging from outside Australia.

The band split in 1980 at the time of their E.P. release which
was followed by Brad Shepherd joining The 31st, an
alternative rock outfit from Brisbane. Murray Shepherd and
Hartley went to form The Screaming Tribesmen in 1981
with Mick Medew and Ronnie Peno from The 31st.

In the early 2000's the Shepherd brothers formed a band
called The Monarchs, which was loosley based on the Fun
Things. A CD called Make Yer Own Fun was released by
The Monarchs.

01 When the birdmen fly
02 Lipstick
03 (I ain't got) time enough for love
04 Savage

Download Here

13 comments:

topper said...

This is one of the greatest singles ever ever made

thnx BoB

more punk yeahyeah

John said...

Been reading Pig City and always wanted to hear this. They passed me by back then. Not sure why!?!

Thanks for the opportunity to hear this at last.

bob nebe said...

You guys are welcome.

Unknown said...

about time u started posting some real music on this blog !! :)

check out http://lickmypussyeddievanhalen.blogspot.com/2008/08/fun-things-aus-4-track-ep-live-at.html

for more art and a live track

bob nebe said...

Chuck You old punk rocker you

topper said...

thanx for the link Chuck

punk rules (still)

Anonymous said...

Saw the Aliens at the Discreet Records farewell upstairs in Victoria Arcade.

It was a bit after The Stranglers show at the Queens Hotel. V2 was there, still wearing a bandage on his head.

There was a live Fun Things recording a while back on Dime. Did you get it?


duckdogtwo

bob nebe said...

Great story, steve. No I missed the fun things on dime, how was it?

duckdogtwo said...

Fun Things - Brisbane Hotel 20/10/79, 2 discs

28 tracks. Good audience. LOTS of Stooges plus MC5, New York Dolls, 13th Floor Elevators covers (and Louie Louie).

tengallonhead said...

Always thought this ep was fantastic. It really shows the Shepherd boys' talent was really well developed at an incredibly early age. Interesting that you say the Monarchs were based on Fun Things, because when The Monarchs were doing the rounds in the early 2000s, my wife and I accosted Brad Shepherd on a couple of occasions at gigs in Melbourne and tried to convince him to pull out Savage or Lipstick. He explained that he didn't think those tunes would fit. I'm not aware of the Monarchs playing any of Fun Things tracks elsewhere, but they would have been awesome to hear.

radio birdman from greece said...

I have 2 songs from this ep on a bootleg called ausralian underground.When the birdmen fly is one of the best songs ever.All the links are dead can you please re-upload this?

bob nebe said...

Back up Radio Birdman!

shreck said...

Anyone know where I can get hold of the original ep and what it may be worth?