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."

James Freud - Singles

From the Models to James Freud, Chuck has ripped 3 limited
edition singles.

Hurricane bw Everythings Alright
Modern Girl bw Worlds of Tragic Tales
Enemy Lines bw Only the Young

Thanks Chuck


Download Here

James Freud - Automatic Crazy bw While We Worship Oxygen

Peter has sent me this rare solo single from none other that James
Freud. I've covered James Freud's solo career and his time with the
for mentioned Models

Heres what Peter has to say about this single

Automatic Crazy is the A side, quite a jaunty
commercial track,
but the B side: what was James on when he wrote that?
Numan’s influence perhaps? I’m a huge Numan fan BTW
(which is probably why I bought this single)

You can read James's very funny recollections of the time he spent
under Gary Numans wing here.
And you can find out what James was on!

Here's what he had to say about the A side Automatic Crazy.

Gary started to regard me as his protégé and took to calling me
Brian Ferry Jr. While we were in Sydney, he thought it would be
a good idea to record a track with him as producer.
We went into the EMI studios and came up with a song called
‘Automatic Crazy’. It’s not one of my favourites
JF

And the B side While We Worship Oxygen

Just after lunch, Andy, the inhouse tech guy, motioned for me
to go outside with him. I followed him upstairs, where he pulled
out a folded piece of paper and slipped it into my hand.
Happy birthday,’ was all he said, before disappearing back down
the stairs. I opened the package and was met by the sight of
glistening crystals of cocaine.
Things suddenly took a turn for the better. Roger and I spent the
afternoon excusing ourselves to go to the bathroom –
Gary must have thought we were a couple of freaks.
We were feeling pretty content and sat there grinding our teeth.
The euphoria was disrupted, though, when Gary turned to me.
‘OK, let’s put down some vocals.’
Vocals? My throat was so tense from all the cocaine that there
was no way I could possibly sing.
But there was no getting out of it.
I had one of my usual brainwaves; ‘If I have a huge line, maybe
I’ll really let go of my inhibitions and come up with some magic!’
I raced upstairs and chopped out a mother. ‘Here goes nothing.’
As I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, it didn’t go too well.
We did take after take and I could barely manage to stay in tune,
let alone give a half-decent performance. After a couple of hours,
Gary couldn’t take it any longer and stormed out of the studio.
He picked up a pool cue as he went past and threw it at the wall,
then continued out to his car, ‘where he feels safest of all’,
and sped off.
On the bright side, it meant that we could relax.
I immediately sent out for a bottle of scotch and bought another
gram of coke from Andy. Gary didn’t come back, so Roger and
I opted to sleep at the studio. On the other hand, who can sleep
with a schnozz full of Okie-Dokie? There was nothing we could
do without Gary there, so Nick took an early mark. Roger and I
decided to put down a new song with the assistant engineer.
We worked all night and ended up with this fantastic track called
‘While We Worship Oxygen’ (remember, it was the 80s).
Gary arrived in the morning after listening to Adam Ant’s
‘Goody Two Shoes’ all night, to be greeted by the three of us
passed out on the floor. He was apologetic and we played him
the track we’d put down. He listened intently then finally spoke.
‘You pricks! That’s the best thing on the fucking album.
And I wasn’t even here. It sounds like John Foxx. You bastards!’
He then got up and stormed out of the studio again. Great!
JF

Download Here

Models 7" singles

Chuck has ripped and scanned us four 7" single from
one of the greatest Australian bands the Models.
We have Big On Love B/W Preacher Black Lagoon,
I Hear Motion B/W No Talking,
Lets Kiss B/W A Man In A Boat,
Local And Or General B/W Telstar.
Thanks Chuck!




Download Here

Prehistoric Sounds - The Models Article

This 1994 Prehistoric Sounds article of the Models details
their entire career from the beginning to the end.
A fasinating read.
Thanks Chuck for this scan.

Download Here

Models - The Pleasure of Your Company

A request from Col leads me to post the Models 3rd album.
Released in 1983 with was the first chart success for the band.
There had been big changes to the band line up and James
Freud had just joined, bringing James and Sean back together
the first time since they played together in the Teenage Radio
Stars. The Models had become an all together different band.

Track List
01. I Hear Motion
02. Facing the North Pole in August
03. God Bless America
04. Watch Your Mouth
05. No Shoulders, No Head
06. Holy Creation
07. 79 A.D.
08. Sang the Butcher
09. Our Atmosphere
10. A Rainy Day

Download Here

From The Vaults - The Models

Its a real treat from Chucks library of Australian music
memorabilia. A 11 page " From the vaults" history of the
Models with complete discography, detailed band evolution
and some wicked photos. Even mention of Mark Ferrie,
his leaving and subsequent replacement with James Freud
and his next couple of bands, the Sacred Cowboys and the
Slaughtermen. Truly a great read for you Australian music
fanatics out there.
Thanks to the mighty Chuck.



Download Here

James Freud - Breaking Silence

I've had a lot of requests for this album and which appears to be
rather hard to come across. Ripped from my vinyl copy complete
with the wonderful early 80's artwork, this is a gem.
The wikipedia bio below gives you the low down on James Freud's
music career up until the breakup of the Models in 1988,
after which he released another solo album
"Step into the heat" which is already posted here.
This year he released " See You In Hell "(not called Lazarus
as I reported earlier), his first solo studio album since
'Step Into The Heat' which I hadn't even heard about until
researching for this.For more info check out his website here.

This is a fun album, very much in the early 80's New Wave genre,
the album art, which I had forgotten about made me laugh out
loud when I pulled the inner sleeve out this week
(hadn't seen sunlight for 20 years I'd reckon), I just had to include
it in this post. The hit single from the album"Modern Girl"
for which I have found the video clip, is a fantastic song.
as is "Enemy Lines,"Mean Modulator" and "19 Again"
So expect lots of 80's synthesizers, Saxophone, lead guitar
breaks and pop tunes with James's wonderful vocals.

If you like the Models you can find a rip of the cassette
version of "Out of sight, out of mind" on Meggsy's
wonderful blog "The 80's Tapes"where all things
1980's are found Here

At the age of 16, Freud formed his first band, Sabre, with
high school friend and guitarist Sean Kelly and drummer
Ian McFarlane. Their first performance was at Freud's
younger sister's slumber party after hearing the Sex Pistols
in 1977, Freud formed The Spred with Kelly and three others.
When the opportunity came to record a single
("I Wanna Be Your Baby"),later covered by Uncanny X-men ,
two members were fired and the band changed its name to
The Teenage Radio Stars. They performed the single on
Countdown. By 1980, Freud was recording as a solo performer
with a backing band, with whom he recorded a minor hit
single ("Modern Girl") and an album "Breaking Silence"
along with a large cast of session musicians.
In 1981, they renamed themselves James Freud and Berlin
and recorded the singles "Enemy Lines" and "Automatic Crazy"
before splitting up in 1982,
Freud joined the Models as bassist after the departure of
Mark Ferrie, (who now plays bass in the Rockwiz band on SBS)
reuniting with old collaborator Sean Kelly. Freud shared lead
vocalist duties on some songs, beginning with one of his
compositions, "Facing The North Pole In August" off the
"The pleasure of your company" album, recorded in 1983.
In 1985, 2 Freud-penned hits, "Barbados" and
"Out of Mind, Out of Sight",took the Models to numbers
#2 and #1 on the Australian top-ten charts respectively.
He remained in the band until they split up in 1988.

Track List
James Freud & the Radio Stars
"Breaking Silence" lp (1980)
1. Modern Girl
2. The Television's Hungry
3. The Saviours
4. Enemy Lines
5. Butane Babies
6. Star To Star
7. 19 Again
8. No More Telephone
9. Mean Modulator
10. Blue Moon

Download Here

Modern Girl

Lethal Weapons - Suicide Label Punk Compilation - 1977

30 years ago this compilation of Australian Punk was released by
the Suicide label. I was reading over at the ausrock forum that its
about to be re-released, so heres the original ripped from vinyl,
in its unmolested form. Out of the bands on this fantastic classic
compilation, two bands stand out, the teenage radio stars and
the boys next door.
James Freud and Sean Kelly started out in the teenage radio
stars, later worked together in the far more successful band
The Models. James also had in short solo career.
The Boys Next Door Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Phil Calvert
and Tracy Pew, went on to record two Lps and and Ep,
that I can remember off the top of my head, before morphing
into the Birthday Party, the rest is history.
Most of the bands of this were from Melbourne or Adelaide
with the two exceptions The Survivors from Brisbane and
Sydney’s Wasted Daze.
The tracks from the boys next door and
the teenage radio stars alone make this worth having,
But theres plenty other enjoyable songs on this Lp,
I remember playing this a lot when I was a young fella,
so its a bit of a nostalgia trip.
Wasted Daze are a little out of place with their straightforward R& B.
The Jab songs are great new wave pop songs,
The Survivors tracks bit more punk pop,
The Negatives ‘Planet on the Prowl’ is over six minutes long,
probably the reason the Negatives were the only
Lethal Weapons band to get just one track
and quite alike anything else I'd ever heard at the time.
X ray Z's ‘Three More Glorious Years’ is my favorite track,
classic political anthem,written by Doley in disgust at the
Liberal party’s win that year.“A fair few of us were bearing the
brunt of Fraser’s dole queues,” he says.
"It’s a satirical send up of the chosen man."
All in all in interesting listen.
This final quote from a mess and noise article found here

Counting the Beat contains a brief segment on Suicide in which
Gudinski announces that, “The label achieved… nothing.”
But Lethal Weapons has become notorious.
One of the most extraordinary aspects of its story is that
Mushroom’s arty arm White Label saw fit to reissue it a mere
five years after it first appeared; it was already becoming legendary.
Now, Aztec have reissued it with one extra track
a TRS b-side – and spectacular sleevenotes.




Download Here

The Models - Local and or General

The Models were a great band one of my favorites and very quirky, at least till
James Freud joined them and they became, well very poppy.
Don't get me wrong James Freud was a fav of mine too (and Ive got this solo lp of his
to rip one day), but Sean Kelly was an amazing vocalist.
I saw them in 1983 when they played support for Mr Bowie here at Lang Park,
I don't think James was with em then I could be wrong, But I did see them play
somewhere like the St Lucia Refectory later and He was with them then. the girls
in the audience wouldn't let you forget.
This Lp is tremendous I love all the songs, but its more like the feel of the album
that I like and "Unhappy" is one of the best pop songs ever.
Its the non-conventional approach musically and Sean Kelly most non-conventional
vocals that make this and all the early Models.
This was their 2nd Lp released in 1981.

Tracks

1. Local And/Or General

2. Truth About Truth About Scientists

3. Unhappy

4. Telstar

5. Dying for My Country at the War

6. Drive and Reflex

7. Bantam Had

8. Man O' Action

9. Drunk in the House

10. Tearing Hair Out

11. Rate of Change

Download Here