Kev Carmody - National Folk Festival 2005

Well its that time of the year again when some here

in Australia celebrate the day the first boat people

landed at Sydney Cove back in 1788 as some kind

of national day. To others its a day of mourning,

the beginning of an invasion, which is the camp I

fall into.

But here also on the SSS its the time we celebrate the

birth of the SSS blog. Yes back on this day in 2008

I posted the first post of this wonderful journey.

So we embark on the 5th year!

This fine recording is a rare Kev boot,

Kevin is an amazing performer, I've seen him many

times over the years, in many diverse places and he's

always very good. So do yourself a favour download

this and play it loud, a small token to counteract the

unfortunate displays of nationalism that is meant to

be a national day.

Tracklist

Set 1: (Budawang Hall)

01. Intro - Dirty Dollar Intro

02. Dirty Dollar - Moonstruck Intro

03. Moonstruck

04. Just A Little Fingerpick (instrumental)

- Comin' Home Intro

05. Comin' Home - Midnight Special

06. "Bitchin' Song" - Didgeridoo Intro

07. Didgeridoo Solo (instrumental)

- Slide Guitar Intro

08. Slide Guitar Solo (instrumental)

- Images Of London Intro

09. Images Of London

- From Little Things Intro

10. From Little Things Big Things Grow

(with kids from the audience)

Set 2: (Trocadero Tent)

11. Intro to Thou Shalt Not Steal

12. Thou Shalt Not Steal

13. Droving Woman

Download Here

The Triffids and Friends - Alternate recording, 2011 11 24 Powerhouse, Brisbane

We now have a SSS blog exclusive,

a second source recording of the Brisbane Powerhouse gig.

A big thanks to the mysterious Mr S for this recording which

according to him fell of the back of a truck.

A big thanks to Mr S who have been a long time contributor

and friend of the SSS blog.

A thanks to the local paper from whom I stole that nice photo.

Its an excellent recording by the way!

I won't say its better than Chucks just different!

Download Here

the Church - O.K.- I get it now!!

I finally got to see the Church live on xmas eve...
O.K. I GET IT NOW!!...
yeah yeah.. I know.. "You've never seen the Church live b4 ????"
well... no I haven't...a fact I'm not proud of... It's just how things happen sometimes.
I'm a fan - don't get me wrong! I've grown up listening to em from the fantastic early paisley pop records to the darker mood pieces...I've just never pulled my finger out and bothered to see em b4....until that fateful day.. a day etched into chucks memory forever.. DECEMBER 24 2011.
I really wanted to see em last time they played Brisbane at the Jude...but couldnt get tickets.. apparently from all reports it was a fantastic gig..I saw em get the ARIA award and thought - "hell or high water I'm gunna see these ppl next time they tour here!"


 ARIA hall of Fame package with intro from George (is brisbane) Negus.
 Kilbey was on fire for the ARIA speech and I was hoping to get some of this "aloof no more" rapport with the audience.. but he informs us early into the first set he has been told to keep "his 'charisma' under control " for the evening.. dang!.. not to worry - the sounds were what this night was about.


 Church speech @ ARIA holl of fame lifetime award.
The gig was at the Powerhouse and the room is a great size with a fantastic sound system.
I get there just as the band walk on stage and shuffle to my seat as they are playing the first number..The ticket says 7:30 and that's when they started..bang on.. It's xmas eve and they have 3 classic albums to perform as part of their "Future - Past - Perfect" tour..
They start with -
Untitled #23.  (link soon)
A CD I'm still struggling with. It's fine music but not the Church stuff that jumps out and smacks you in the face. Seeing it live has brought me back to giving it more listens and I can appreciate it more now. I woke up one day last week hung over like a mutha fugger and totally spent and it made more sense than it has before.. or since..I will continue that journey and no doubt one day It will click.
They take a 15 min break and return with -

PRIEST=AURA     FPP TOUR 24-12-2011..

Now this is a CD I've owned for a long time and live it gels well. If you don't have this grab it at all costs. It's not the total pop Church.. but it is "the Church".. great songs with soundscapes..The performance has stepped up a notch and a joy to watch them do their thang. It hits me- of all the hundreds of people I must have talked about this band to over the last 30 years..the ones that were totally dedicated to the 'cult' of the Church were regular gig goers and even tho you can enjoy the music by itself..to see the band is where the shits at..People tell me they are in fine form..well I've never seen em in bad form but I can testify that live...I'm sold..back again any and every chance I can get.
It's still not over..
they take another 15 minute break and return with -

STARFISH       FPP TOUR 24-12-2011.

This is the money shot for most casual Church fans..It has the hit "Milky Way" and one of my all time favourites - Reptile.



small Reptile clip from powerhouse 24-12-2011
Koppes has a bit of something going on with his geetar or amp during the end of the first song and he and his tech spend a moment trying to chase it down as the song finishes...he then starts his guitar intro for Blood Money and after a few bars realises he has blown it..Kilbey just rolls his eyes but doesnt turn around.. MWP laffs a bit and Tim makes a comment that Peter has his cd on shuffle.. to break the tension..and it does..There is an air at the powerhouse of behaving yourself that sometimes stiffles the crowd for showing its enthusiasm.. This little fluff clears the room of that stiffness and the band breaks into Milky Way.
A few minutes later Koppes has trouble again.. the ebow for the first solo is fuked and the notes clunk out instead of wailing.. him and the tech do the concerned look thing again and solo over, a new ebow is produced for a sailing outro solo..Koppes quips for the Blood Money intro "deja vu anyone" and continues to rock the room for the rest of the night..
After just shy of 3 hours of magical musical moments its all over..
MWP tells everyone to go out and buy a geetar for xmas..with masters like these as teachers of style I'm tempted to buy another one!!



Hotel Womb clip from Powerhouse 24-12-2011

some reviews of the recent seagulls gig and this gig can be found here..with some nice video of the recent american FPP tour.
and ffs - join the Church facebook page as it has lots of links for videos and updates of new solo projects..Cant wait for the Opera House DVD!
For a walk down memory lane read this great piece by the master of rock critique- Ian Macfarlane.

The Church article from magazine- From the Vault. vol1 no.3 -1987

Triffids 1985 clipping + Blackeyed Susans clip

Have I mentioned that the recent 'Triffids and friends' gig was FREAKIN' AWESOME!!

This is a nice story from JUKE magazine feb 1985

One of the highlights for the recent gig was to finally see Rob Snarski stamp his cuban heels on stage...had to track down this old recovery clip from 1995..Blackeyed susans singing "smoking Johnny Cash"..really wtf does that mean?? codeword for summin?.. poor Johhny..r.i.p.


 drummer looks familiar .. . .

Lighthouse Keepers poster + review

The Lighthouse Keepers have a web page for those interested here -
http://www.cannanes.com/thelighthousekeepers.html
I found a poster the other week and thought it would make a nice post.

1985 gig poster for brisbane club - Sensoria - George st..long one...

and then found this old review today and thought i'd better pull my finger out and post it...

JUKE -16 feb 1985 p16

Go-Betweens JUKE article December 1984

I knew all these old music papers would come in handy one day... Just didn't realise at the time I would be carting boxloads of em all over town for 30 years before they would find a nice home :/
Merry holiday / new year Stripey folks....
This one is a gem from 1984.

(aust.)   JUKE magazine December 8 - 1984 page 10

I'm running out of articles on go-be stuff here..If anyone wants to contribute contact that guy over there ----->>> Bob.

How the Fun Things Got Their Name!

Matt Mawson sent me this pdf of a wonderful article from

Time Off back in 1979.

Thanks Matt!

You will have to download the pdf to read it and discover

the answer to the Question!

Its not what I expected!

Happy New Year from the SSS blog as I sign off with a

massive 3 posts, Hope you all have a wonderful year ahead!

Thanks to our hard working team here as well

of Chuck and Donat

and I hear a rumour Chuck may have a Church

type post after their Christmas Eve Gig in the making!

Download the answer here!

The Seven Ballerinas

L to R: Mario, Nigel, John, Billy, Michael

This lineup recorded the single ‘Sometimes I Feel’

written by Michael and ‘Circles’ written by John in Sydney in 81.

Thanks to Michael for putting together this history of what was

a very good band and one of my favorites, over to Michael!

Formed in late 1980 after the demise of local Gold Coast Bands
Ratpack and The Strand.
The lineup was Ex Ratpackers, John Smethurst (guitar and vocals),
Nigel Baker (keyboards) and Mario Spina (bass) and
Ex Strand guitarist Michael Palmer.
Billy Pommer completed the lineup on drums.
After a handful of gigs Nigel Baker left and Billy Pommer
was replaced on drums by John Hippocrates.
Billy later went to Sydney as drummer for The Johnnys.

L to R: Mario Spina, John Smethurst, Michael Palmer and Johnny Hippocrates

Sometimes I Feel became a minor hit on 4ZZZ and also made
high rotation on Sydney’s radio 2JJ as it was back then.
On the strength of that we toured Sydney regularly.
Playing The Manzil Room, Bondi Tram. Governors Pleasure,
Stranded, Carmens at Miranda, The Trade Union Club etc etc.
In Brisbane the venues were rather sparse. 279 Club,
The Aussie National, The New York Hotel, Souths Leagues Club,
Easts Leagues Club. On the Gold Coast we played regularly at
The Playroom and The Jet Club.
And at the Royal Mail at Tewantin on the Sunshine Coast.
The band was very well received in Sydney.



The song Sometimes I Feel was also submitted by the
Engineer who had worked on the recording to 4MMM
to be on their first “Homegrown” LP. A collection of local
Brisbane bands. It was selected.
Be it naive or just stupid ego we were quite embarrassed about it.
I remember sitting in an office at MMM and looking
thought a pile of 45s. Was everything we liked to listen to.
Turned out it was their reject pile for the week.


There was record company interest from Polygram in Sydney
and in mid 82 we went into the studio to record what was to be
our first single but was really the first of many midnight to dawn
recording sessions. In actual fact unbeknown to us the recording
was organised by an AR guy from Polygram who was wanting
to form his own label. We were to be his first release.
Gangajang eventually got the honours.
When we heard the final tracks we were rather disappointed.
The producer had chosen to not work with anything we had
done in the studio and the songs had become too reliant on
his own use of samples and keyboards. It was eventually
agreed by all to forget it. 2 of the tracks from those sessions
“Another Day” written by Michael Palmer and “Falling Tear”
written by John Smethurst are on Youtube.
Listening to them now though I really like them.
The only place the recorded version of Falling Tear was ever
played was when the band appeared on Studio One.
A Saturday morning music show on channel 7.
We were promoting a festival “Summer Jam” at the Surfers Paradise
Raceway in January 1983 and we needed something
new to use as a backing.

You Tube Videos

FALLING TEAR

ANOTHER DAY

The band continued playing live and self funded recording. Some of these recordings are on Youtube.

THE FACE

STRANGERS

AUTUMN ROSE

There is also a clip of the band recorded live at the Playroom doing a version of Joy Divisions Transmission.

DRAGGED THROUGH DAYLIGHT, TRANSMISSION

The band called it a day late 84. Johnny and Mario went on to play in The Bossanova Kids and The Tellers.

In 1991 Michael Palmer and John Smethurst were joined by Chris Bailey (Gangajang and the Angels) on bass and JJ Harris (Divinyls) on drums and they recorded a version of Sometimes I Feel. Our live sound engineer Frank Kerestedjian at the controls in his studio in Sydney. A 10 year full circle.

SOMETIMES I FEEL 1991

L to R: Mario Spina, Johnny Hippocrates, John Smethurst

and Michael Palmer

Strand and Gold Coast Bands Press Clippings 1979

A big thanks to Michaels Mum who held on to these all these years

and Michael for bringing them into the digital age!

Click on any photo for a larger view

The Strand - Live At The Miami Hotel 26-01-80

Michael recently sent me this wonderful piece of Gold Coast/ Brisbane

music history. Some great tracks on this I especially like the track

Triple Z in my head as it goes through all the great shows that were

on the station back then.

Jeremy Oxley who went on to the Sunnyboys did his apprenticeship

here as a 17 year old and other went on to the excellent Gold Coast

band The Seven Ballerinas

But I shall put you over to Michael who can

tell you all about this band!

Thanks Michael!

The Strand was Tait Brady (vocals), Keith Mackay (bass), Mick Lake (drums),

Michael Palmer (guitar), Shane Williams (keyboards, vocals)

and Jeremy Oxley (guitar, vocals).

The Strand were formed late1978 on The Gold Coast. They embraced the

current trends in English New Wave and Pop playing covers of bands like

Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, Ian Dury, Doctor Feelgood, Nick Lowe etc. etc.

The Strand managed to acquire a residency at the Miami Hotel on the

Gold Coast playing every Friday and Saturday night.

Playing to an empty room at first but as word grew so did the crowds.

Mid 1979 saw the arrival of a new guitarist.

A 17 year old Jeremy Oxley.

The bands list of originals songs grew once Jeremy joined.

‘I Can’t Talk To You’ appeared on the first Sunnyboys album.

The CD was recorded on the bands final night at a packed Miami Hotel in

January 1980. It contains 17 of the originals the band played.

After The Strand, Jeremy went to Sydney and formed The Sunnyboys.

Michael Palmer joined with John Smethurst, Mario Spina and

Nigel Baker from fellow Coast band Ratpack to form Seven Ballerinas.

YouTube videos for The Strand

They are Strand originals:

Stranded On The Gold Coast

Snapshot

I Cant talk to you

Triple Z in my head

On Youtube but not on the CD are 3 cover versions

Iggy Pop’s The Passenger sung by Jeremy

Roadrunner sung by Jeremy

Larry Wallis’s Police Car

Download Here