Kintore Gospel Band and Mt Liebig Band - Western Desert Gospel

Back in 1990 I did a pilgrimage of sorts to the Northern Territory,
I was looking to experience Aboriginal Australia and the real Australia
that I had heard so much about. It was an incredible experience
and I came back very different.
While in Alice I picked up a couple of Cassettes, the kind of thing
that you didn't see outside of the center.
This is one of them and is my first cassette digitization.
I have a few interesting cassettes to blog as I rescue them from
being lost. This music is wonderful Western Desert music,
beautiful, relaxing unlike anything else. It transports me back to
the desert with its rich colours and isolation.
I'm hoping that this music will find fans all over the world and
no matter where you are the western desert will come to you!
Right now Brisbane is anything but a desert, we have had so
much rain for so long now I can't remember anything like it
since 1974 when Brisbane went under.
I was rather young then so my memories are very dim.
This is music to brighten up the wettest day!


Download here

Music from the Swiss Alps

For my last musical travel post I've choosen this short
video I made in the hills between Zermatt and the Matterhorn
in the Swiss Alps. What a fantastic place!
The video is of real Swiss cows and their cow bells making
the best music I heard in Swizerland,
a kind of a minimalistic ambient thing!
Merry Christmas from the SSS blog

A very 4ZzZ Christmas!

This wonderful 4ZzZ Christmas card from the mid 80s comes
to us thanks to Paislie who has heaps of great photos of Brisbane
bands and ZzZ stuff from when she worked for the station back
then and from bands she was in.
Thanks Paislie and Merry Christmas to all the SSS blog readers
from a not so sunny Queensland

4 ZzZ turned 35 today.

It only seemed like yesterday....
I forgot to get the Ol girl a present ... I should subscribe again I guess...

4ZZZ's History
“You’re listening to 4ZZ-FM Brisbane bringing you stereo FM rock on a frequency of 105.7 megahertz,” John Woods 12 noon December 8 1975 and The Who’s ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again” was broadcast to Brisbane for the first time in glorious FM stereo.

4ZZZ’s first broadcast on December 8 1975 signaled a revolution in Australian radio, it was the first community FM station in Australia and pioneered the playing of contemporary Australian music on these shores.

A new breed of radio station was emerging around the country thanks to an initiative of the Whitlam government and in Brisbane it took the form of 4ZZZ.

Ever since then Brisbane's best loved independent radio station 4ZZZ, has been supporting local music and artists, putting on great events, presenting news and opinions not found in mainstream media and providing support to the local community.
http://www.4zzzfm.org.au

 In 1985 they made a book to celebrate the 10th year - Download here

Some Saints vids

Wahoooo..  the five hundred series!  who woulda thunk it would have survived this long.. ..

Some saints vids for cousin Annie to celebrate.




found this on the tube tonight..  check out Bailey's incredible microphone technique..  many hours in the bedroom practicing i think...



This interview is from an old ABC rock show called Flashez



This is a quick grab from a great Australian Rock doco called "Long way to the top".. track it down and buy 1 for xmas



Same doco as above... hmmm  Bailey's Saints.. even Ed admits it... . .




Last but not least is the Saints on Recovery in Jan 1997 doing Good Friday

Wildlife Documentaries EP - The SSS blogs monumental 500th Post

Well loyal readers of the SSS blog we have made the very special
milestone of our 500th post.
When I started this blog back on Australia Day 2008 I never guessed
what a wonderful time it would be. Coming up to 3 years at the end
of next January I think Myself and Chuck shall have to think up an
great post for that!


This EP is a very special record I've kept up my sleeve for a special
occasion. Wildlife Documentaries was formed in the early 80s after
the original Saints split.
Ed Kuepper and Ivor Hay returned to Australia,
Hay joined The Hitmen, and Kuepper formed Laughing Clowns.
Chris Bailey remained in the UK and set about assembling a
new version of The Saints that initially included Hay on drums
(who returned to the UK briefly).

After that, Hay formed this jazz-inspired combo
Wildlife Documentaries back in Sydney.Described as a "steel skeleton with a heart of brass"
they released this ep on M squared in June 1982.
And that was it, shame really because this band had a
wonderful sound very much in the same vein as the
Laughing Clowns.After the end of this band Ivor rejoined Bailey in The Saints
during 1985.
Howard Cairns has continued working is music and after 25 years
has recently put out a record read all about it Here


Wildlife Documentaries are

Ivor Hay - Drums and Vocals
Howard Cairns - Guitar and Vocals
Mark Spence - Bass
Michael Charles - Alto Sax

Also playing on this record

Louise Elliot - Tenor Sax
and Greg Thorne - Trumpet

Track List

Forest for the Trees
Tremble
Promise Me
Ghetto Strength


Download Here

Antenna - Installation

This was a 1998 project with Kim Salmon and Dave Faulkner with Justin Frew and Stuart McCarthy.
Christina Amphlett does a lead vocal on the song "Divine". I saw on one of the weekend current affairs shows that she is having a hard time with cancer at the moment :(  ..  good luck Chrissy!
Most people will only know one song from this cd, "Come on Spring", but this cd has had high rotation in the house of Chuck now for years and worth checking out here



This was from the T.V. show Recovery live in 1998.



I found this tonight on the ol utube.. a version by Mick Harvey


As a side note,,Kim Salmon in Scientists mode performed "Blood Red River" at a recent ATP gig in New York...  Big thanks goes out to the guy from Sun Distortion who gave me the heads up on the location of a recording of that gig found here - 
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2010/11/the-scientists-live-at-atp-2010-mp3.html
Lots of other goodies at that site worth investigation.

As a side side note: Sun Distortion is a new warehouse gig space in Albion that seems to be run by some well meaning people with good intentions. Good luck peeps.. Brisbane needs some more venues.

Slowdive

I first met Claire over a conversation about the Regent theatre being pulled down. At first I thought she was just another bleeding heart on a crusade. .. but after a few minutes I recognised that she really loves Brisbane and its history. Not long after that I realised she was a multi-talented artist and music lover..
Her most recent project "Slowdive" has a Powerhouse week long run and looks funtastic.

Brisbane-based choreographer, Claire Marshall, who has worked with the likes of Darren Hayes, Megan Washington, Powderfinger, Kate Miller Heidke, The Sleepy Jackson, John Butler Trio, The Living End, Little Birdy, Savage Garden and more, continues her exploration of the Fortitude Valley’s club district.
This is Claire Marshall’s penultimate development of Hey Scenester, which sold out in January.

Slowdive sees the Visy Theatre transform into a night club where performers and audience share the space.

Slowdive is a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly side of club culture, and human behavior in the increasingly busy and often absurd scene in Fortitude Valley on a Friday or Saturday night. Set in the early 90's in an underground scene, Slowdive shifts between the strangely compelling and the somewhat disturbing as it explores the agendas of the DJ, bar staff, club owner, and punters.



This video is a 5 minute grab from Claire's previous related project "Hey Scenester"

http://www.brisbanepowerhouse.org/events/view/slowdive/

Join: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=122425044482740

Marseille and going out on the town with Annie.

What I did on my holiday part2.

Marseille what a wonderful place, famous for its history, its ancient
port,its Bouillabaisse and of course its home for Annie who runs
Meltingpod, the greatest Rock and Roll Podcast on the planet.
Marseille is France's 2nd largest city and Frances capital of Rock
music. Right on the Mediterranean its a wonderful place with its
North African cultural influence, near islands and beachs.
It is one place I shall return to and spend much more time

We met Annie ( pictured on the left above with my wife Carmen)
the afternoon we arrived and being the weekend She had a full
weekend ahead. She took us through the wonderful Souk like
markets, we spent some time at her home ( the first pic is the
view from her balcony), went out to tea in a hip restaurant
and after headed to Enthrophy, a small very underground
nightclub to see a couple local bands.
We entered via a back laneway, where you had know which
big heavy metal door to bang on.
No sign or anything, very do it yourself punk style!




Clan Edison were an energtic 3 piece that warmed up the crowd,
you can read more here
Described as follows

powerful and heavy, bluesy rock mixture where you can feel the
influences of Fugazi and the Gun Club,
but you'll hear the spirit of Nick Cave

The headline act was Conger! Conger! a favorite of Annie's who
showed us some of her video of them earlier. Their myspace site is
here
Alt post punk, bloody funny at times, they had loyal fans enthralled.
Annie has a review and some video of them up here
Here's how she described filming the band,
this really made me laugh!

I couldn’t really filmed in front of the stage because of the
usual pogo and I escaped behind jumping on a chair…
though there I filmed with one hand, the other one was
busy to quietly stop a young excited punk whose hands
walked too much on my legs and tried to put my nylons
down…ambience:)

Ahh France its like nowhere else!


We had a really fantastic time in Marseille, I could go on for hours,
the markets and the nearby Islands blew me away.
And Annie helped our time there to be especially special.
So all get along to Her web site if you haven't already
Meltingpod is found Here

Leonard Cohen with Clare Bowditch in support - Brisbane Entertainment Center 06-11-10

I know this is an Australian music blog but for Leonard
I shall make an exception.
I'm a little bit after the fact too, oh well better late than never
What a great concert, Clare was great as support sporting her
new hair do and stripped back sound. A short but enjoyable set.
Last time Leonard came to town Paul Kelly did this spot,
so she had big shoes to fill.

Leonard was fabulous, its hard to explain how good a show this
man puts on, a fantastic band, amazing songs and 3 hours long.
He did all the favs plus a few that weren't done last time.
If you ever get the chance to see him don't knock it back!
I managed a few shots, I was about 9 rows back so not to bad.

Models' frontman tragedy: James Freud takes own life

Its a sad day indeed, I just heard from Chuck that James Freud
is dead. I guess the tributes shall be flowing very soon for one
of Australia's most talented. Here's what I found online.

Read the whole article with video Here

Australia's music industry is reeling following the death of
the Models frontman James Freud today.
The 51-year-old singer took his own life following a long
struggle with drug and alcohol addiction, just one week
after the Melbourne band was inducted into the ARIA Hall
of Fame.

Musician Scott Carne, of '80s band Kids in the Kitchen,
said Freud's bandmates were devastated by the news.
"It was one of the great '80s bands that shaped the music
of Australia today," Carne said.
"They're the band that took us under their wing and took
Kids in the Kitchen on our first ever East Coast tour."
Freud was the band's bassist and lead singer.

Music promoter and close friend Michael Gudinski said
Freud would be "greatly missed".
"James's battle with alcoholism has been well chronicled.
His two books on his recovery and five years' sobriety were
bestsellers and gave a lot of people who were suffering the
same affliction comfort and hope,"
Gudinski said this afternoon.
"Unfortunately, James has succumbed to his disease and
taken his own life this morning."
Gudinski said Freud should be remembered as one of
Australia’sshining lights in the music industry.
"James was a true pioneer – he successfully crossed over
from Australia’s burgeoning punk scene in the early '80s,
to then create some of the most played tracks in
Australia’s recording history."

Ratpak - welcome to the rat race

I sent this collection of songs to Bob over a year ago but they were full of clicks and pops and he never posted it..  I had another chop at it today to remove the noises and here we are... download here.

Ratpak featured :
John Smethurst
Mario Spina
Nigel Baker
Cliff Hoad

This group played around the Gold Coast circa 1979 then for reasons unknown to me broke up. Two of the musicians here reformed in a different sounding band that got lots of 4zzz airplay at the time - "Seven Ballerinas".  The Ratpak sound is not unlike early Riptides to my ears. Great power pop - 'get up of yer ass and shake it' stuff I could listen to all afternoon over a few XXXX at the Miami hotel. A few extra tracks have been posted on the meyedream youtube channel. Not so much full videos as still pics with soundtrack. Good songs well worth checking out.






I guess its a good thing that noise filled version never got posted as its now a good excuse to bring to wider attention that John Smethurst was induced by the Crazy 88's just the other week to get back up on stage for an old Seven Ballerinas song "Circles".



You can check out a wider explanation of that performance, a link to a better quality audio file and sad news of Mario's passing away and other passings of Rock n Rollers of that Gold Coast scene at last years Seven Ballerinas post here.

What I did on my holidays part 1, The Hamburg Blues Brothers

Ive been back now a couple of weeks and its time to start blogging
again. That doesn't mean you can stop Chuck!
Too many fans of your good work for that to happen.
I have a few musical stories to share from my time in Europe,
starting with this story from Hamburg.
Hamburg for those who don't know has a long long seafaring
history. Its Germany's 2nd largest city and its a port city.
One of the more interesting Lonely Planet entries for Hamburg
concerned the "famous" Fishmarket held every Sunday morning
from 5am till 10am.



So it was up early for the bus ride across town in the rather
cold weather that Hamburg has.
Not so much a Fish market as a market for everything and what
caught my eye was the free concert part of the market which is
held in the old Fish auction house. A wonderful building which as
you can see was crammed with people many of whom were drinking
beer with the kind of gusto rarely seen on a Sunday morning at 9am.
The band was a real crowdpleaser, all those blues brother standards
and more, they had them eating out of their hand.
You'd have to wonder how many of the crowd were still partying
from the night before.



It was all a bit surreal, very enjoyable however.
After checking out the market and being told by loudspeaker to leave
the area at 10 because the market was now over.
We made the 15 minute walk up the hill to the Reeperbahn,
which is the largest red light district in Europe, bigger than Amsterdam.
Hamburg was a city of surprises!

Kim Salmon and the Business - studio 22

This audio is from the ABC tv show called Studio 22 that ran for a few seasons circa 1999 - 2003
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/studio22/programs/s282462.htm

The band consists of :
Kim Salmon - Guitar and vocals
Stuart Thomas - Bass & vocals
Greg Bainbridge - Drums
Leon de Bruin - Trumpet, flugel horn
Michael Redman - Saxophone, flute

and they performed :

Behave Yourself
And Here Are Your New Clothes
IOU
Savin' Me From Me
Caesars Lament
I'll Be Around

 Great sounds !

You can catch repeats of studio22 on ABC2 from time to time..  keep a dvd-r in your recorder in case this one pops up!



Download studio22 audio here



You can catch a stream of Kim Salmon and the Surrealists recent cd "The Grand Unifying Theory" over at this web site -
http://lowtransit.bandcamp.com/album/kim-salmon-the-surrealists-grand-unifying-theory

and some nice stuff here for the Salmon project -
http://www.thedavegraneyshow.com/General/Salmon.html

The Scientists - Atom Bomb Baby

This is my favourite Scientists vinyl.

Recorded @ Berry Street Studios, London in January 1985.
In 1985 the band had a falling out with their label Au-Go-Go which from that moment on resulted in several parallel releases on the band's new label Karbon and several repackagings/compilations on Au-Go-Go. In this case Au-Go-Go managed to secure copies of the multi track recordings and mixed them without any involvement of the Scientists or their producer, Peter Watts.   info from http://www.fromthearchives.com/ks/discography.html  -a site well worth checking out for the full discography and all things Birthday Party as well.


Download here