Friday, October 30, 2015

W.O.C.K On Vinyl - The Comedy Company Singles: Con The Fruiterer & Kylie Mole (1988)


Before things get too serious here at Rock On Vinyl, I thought it might be fun to post a song / album at the end of each month, that could be categorized as being either Weird, Obscure, Crazy or just plain Korny.
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In 1988, The Comedy Company became the most successful comedy program of the decade being the highest rated weekly television program, particularly of note it ran against the Nine Network popular current events show 60 Minutes which shared the same time slot. Much of its success was due to it being the only family entertainment on television on a Sunday night. The Comedy Company remained the consistently highest rating weekly television program for two years.
Many of the stars of The Comedy Company came from a 1985 Seven Network show called 'The Eleventh Hour', which starred Mary-Anne Fahey, Ian McFadyen, Mark Mitchell, Glenn Robbins, Peter Moon and Steve Vizard.   Fahey, McFadyen, Mitchell and Robbins went to The Comedy Company whilst Steve Vizard and Peter Moon went to the Seven Network series Fast Forward.
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The Comedy Company premiered many famous characters such as 'Con The Fruiterer' & 'Kylie Mole' - both featured here in this month's WOCK on Vinyl. Other characters were Col'n Carpenter, Uncle Arthur and David Rabbitborough. Some of these characters still remain minor Australian icons. Con the Fruiterer, one of the more popular characters appears even to this day on a variety of shows, as does his wife Marika. Comedian Kym Gyngell also created a spin-off series called Col'n Carpenter (1990–1991) based on his character of the same name.
Kylie Mole was also featured in the second series of the ABC's Kittson, Fahey (1993). Notably, Glenn Robbins often did public appearances as Uncle Arthur and on The Panel he often references The Comedy Company by periodically slipping in and out of the character, as well as appearing in full costume as Arthur for The Panel Christmas Special in 2005.
The following YouTube clip will give you a good insight into the light hearted, family entertainment that The Comedy Company offered viewers on Sunday nights, throughout 1988

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Con The Fruiterer
Con The Fruiter, played and sung by 'Mark Mitchell' was born in Melbourne. He taught secondary school English for five years before becoming an advertising copy-writer and then a professional actor. Mark starred in the pioneering sketch comedy show 'The Eleventh Hour', a predecessor to his hit sketch show 'The Comedy Company'.

He has made many guest appearances on Australian television series such as SeaChange, Neighbours, Something in the Air, Blue Heelers, Prisoner and Dogwoman. Mitchell's best known character is Con Dickaletus aka 'Con the Fruiterer' whom he created after being served by two Greek Australian stall holders at Glenferrie Markets in 1984.
The character became known nationally from regular appearances in The Comedy Company, Con's catchphrases "cuppla days" and "bewdiful" entered the Australian vernacular.
In August 1989, then Prime Minister Bob Hawke appeared in a The Comedy Company sketch with Mitchell on the premise of presenting Con with Australian citizenship. In reply to Con's question as to when Hawke was going to fix up the country, Hawke took great delight in responding "cuppla days"
In 1988, Con released the single “A Cuppla Days” b/w “The Con Dance”. The two tracks were written and produced by Colin Hay & Greg Ham from the well known Aussie band Men At Work.
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Kylie Mole
Maryanne Fahey (born 19 August 1955 as Mary-Anne Waterman) is an Australian actor, comedian and writer. Fahey's Kylie Mole character – a scowling schoolgirl – was so popular she published the best-selling novel "My Diary by Kylie Mole" and also released the Double A-Side single with tracks "So Excellent" and "I Go, I Go", which hit #8 on the Australian ARIA chart in November 1988. A music video for "So Excellent" was also filmed.
As well as performing monologue comedy segments, "The Comedy Company" also featured Kylie Mole interviewing various celebrities, including Julian Lennon, Sylvester Stallone, the band INXS and Kylie Minogue on the show. Kylie Minogue also appeared in some of the comedy sketches playing Kylie Mole's second-best friend, Rebecca.
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So, for this months WOCK on Vinyl posting, here are the two Comedy singles featured above (taken from the Comedy Company Album) which I can only describe as:  yes, you guessed it - 'So Excellent'. Thanks goes to Ozzie Musicman for the Kylie Mole single rip and artwork.
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Comedy Company Singles (MP3/320kps)
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Saturday, October 24, 2015

The Korgis - Dumb Waiter (1980)

(England 1978–1982, 1985–1986, 1990–1993, 2005–present)
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In the beginning there was Stackridge, formed by Andy Davis, James Warren and a few other eccentric Bristol-based chums in 1969. Unclassifiable and unashamedly eclectic, this constantly evolving musical collective ploughed their own highly original furrow through the self-indulgent heyday of Progressive Rock. Too diverse and unconventional to attract mainstream recognition Stackridge did however notch up one very notable achievement: they impressed legendary Beatles producer George Martin enough for him to record their finest album, The Man In The Bowler Hat (1973).

Even though the band followed this brush with stardom by performing at Wembley stadium with Elton John and The Eagles in 1974, two years later disillusionment had set in and Stackridge officially threw in the towel. Andy remained in London doing session work and pub gigs while James opted for an altogether more laid-back lifestyle in Bath.

The two remained in touch though, occasionally posting each other cassette tapes of their latest creations, until finally deciding in the summer of 1978 to actually get together in Bath to record a demo.

The Korgis First LP
Recorded in the top-floor apartment of classical composer David Lord, the four new songs attracted the attention of Nick and Tim Heath, sons of the celebrated 1940s bandleader Ted Heath, who had recently left E.M.I. to set up their own publishing company. Nick and Tim were especially convinced that one tune had great radio-friendly potential: If I Had You. Persuading record companies of this however proved to be well-nigh impossible and so the idea was inevitably mooted, “why not form your own record company?” And thus was born Rialto Records.

Andy and James were immediately given the green light to get to work on an album’s worth of new material and after five months of intensive writing and recording released their debut as The Korgis in 1979.

The album was an interesting amalgamation of influences: the Beatles-esque melodicism of "I Just Can’t Help It" and "If I Had You", the quirky stripped-down New-Wave rock of "Young ‘N’ Russian and Chinese Girl" and the wildly eccentric Stackridgian wordplay of "Dirty Postcards" and "Mount Everest Sings The Blues".

The critics loved it, Radio One D.J. Tony Blackburn played "If I Had You" to death and before they knew it, after ten years of trying to make it in the musicbiz, Andy and James suddenly found they had a top twenty hit. The boys now made an unfortunate ‘error of judgement’. They decided to remain a mysterious ‘studio-only’ band and eschew live performances.

The Buggles had probably set the precedent for this attitude and after six years of continuous country-wide touring as Stackridge, staying in one place simply writing and recording probably seemed very appealing indeed. But it did turn out to be a mistake. The Korgis never really secured a strong profile and despite the global success that was just round the corner, didn’t make that all important connection with the record-buying public.

The global success came in the form of the modern-day classic "Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime" from the second Korgis album, 1980’s 'Dumb Waiters'. Again written and recorded in Bath with producer David Lord, Dumb Waiters largely continued where the first album left off but perhaps with a more self-consciously commercial orientation. "Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime" reached #5 in the UK in 1980 and #18 in the U.S. The song topped the charts in both France and Spain and featured on the Korgis second studio album Dumb Waiters which peaked at #40 in the UK album charts.

Alongside the worldwide smash "Everybody’s Got To".. there were some notable highlights: "Perfect Hostess", "If It’s Alright With You Baby" and "Rovers Return"; the homages to Blondie: "It’s No Good Unless You Love Me" and "Dumb Waiters" and perhaps the menacing Mean Streets rock of "Intimate". The odd thing about the album is the fact that Andy is largely absent.

The pressure of trying to capitalize on unexpected success, fundamental disagreements on how to present and arrange the new material, plus the exhaustion of intense and claustrophobic recording resulted in Andy walking out on the project half-way to completion.

Neither James nor Andy knew if this abandonment was to be temporary or permanent but James carried on regardless, having no choice but to try and sing over the backing tracks already recorded in keys geared to Andy’s lower registers. The results are less than convincing but at least the album was finished.

Andy and James were still estranged for the making of 'Sticky George', the band’s third album (1981). James continued to work with session players Phil Harrison and Stuart Gordon as he had on Dumb Waiters, but with much background tension induced by suspicious record-company wheeling and dealing, not to mention the unenviable task of trying to emulate the massive recent success of Everybody’s Got To.. the now solitary Korgi experienced an out-of-character meltdown.

There was an acrimonious bust-up with Phil and Stuart and a very noticeable loss of artistic direction with the music. The edge and eccentricity of the first two albums had disappeared and what remained was a bit of a watered-down ‘Fleetwood Mac meets Paul Simon’ hodge-podge. However, "Can’t We Be Friends Now", "That Was My Big Mistake", "All The Love In The World" and "Living On The Rocks" are very pleasant examples of Korgi balladeering and for these alone the album is not to be overlooked.

Next followed a rather unexpected episode: in 1982 James recorded a one-off Korgis single with trend-setting producer Trevor Horn.

"Don’t Look Back" featured Ann Dudley on keyboards and Mel Collins on tenor sax - James once again in Paul Simon mode with a delicate, introspective ballad.

Unfortunately, Trevor’s involvement still didn’t achieve the hoped-for chart action and as with Stackridge a decade earlier, The Korgis having come to a bit of a dead end were effectively put to bed for the next seven years.

By the early 1990s Andy Davis had toured the world twice playing keyboards for Tears For Fears, while James Warren had been content to tour the pubs and wine-bars of Bristol and Bath performing Simon & Garfunkel and Beatles favourites with his old friend John Baker (who used to sing with Roland Orzabal before the latter went on to form Tears For Fears).

Andy now had his own studio space in Bath (shared with Will Gregory later of Goldfrapp fame) and the idea of recording a new Korgis album gradually took shape - but this time the band would be a trio.

The voices of James and John Baker blended very smoothly together and John’s easy-going presence would provide a welcome counter-balance to the fractious intensity of Andy and James’ working relationship. That was the theory behind John Baker’s involvement in the new project and it worked very well. The album that eventually emerged from Andy’s ‘Doghouse’ studio, This World’s For Everyone (1992), was a definite return to form.

The influence of World Music was evident on the title track, "One Life" and "Third Time Around". The massed chorus harmonies, acoustic rhythms and latin percussion of "One Life" were redolent of Crosby, Stills & Nash while "Wreckage Of A Broken Heart", "Who Are These Tears For Anyway?" and "Hunger" with their lyrical explorations of the darker side of sexual relationships, demonstrated once again the incredible musical versatility of the band.

For the first time also there were collaborations with ‘outside’ writers: Helen Turner, keyboardist with Paul Weller, penned two soft rock contributions with Andy Davis, "Show Me" and "Love Turned Me Around". Basically this mature Korgis collection seemed to effortlessly cater for every ‘Adult Orientated Rock’ taste.

What have Andy and James been up to since the year 2000? Andy started the new millenium as a high-flying session player once again, this time touring the world as keyboard player for Goldfrapp.

James by contrast had become the father of twins at the age of 48 and so music-making was understandably not his chief preoccupation.

However, 2005 and 2006 saw two fine additions to the band’s discography, The Korgis Kollection and Unplugged, released on independent label Angel Air. The Kollection had the added bonus of featuring new specially written tracks: Andy’s taut, electronic "Find Yourself Another Fool", James’ "Come To Me" - sounding like something John Barry might have written for a James Bond movie - and two John Baker- James Warren collaborations, "It All Comes Down To You" and "I Wonder What’s Become Of You".

The Kollection also boasts one bona-fide rarity: possibly pop music’s most overlooked and underplayed Christmas song, "Wish You A Merry Christmas".

The Unplugged sessions are well worth checking out, with Andy, James and John Baker performing excellent stripped-down renditions of all the well-known Korgis tracks plus a previously unheard "That’s What Friends Are For" and the seldom-aired "Lines" and "It Won’t Be The Same Old Place".

As far as live performance was concerned, Andy and James returned to their Stackridge roots. They hit the road around 2007 with several permutations of personnel, eventually settling on a very serviceable five-piece combo they’ve continued to tour with up until the time of writing (2014).

Andy has simultaneously been performing with his own acoustic trio DLM (Davis, Lindley and Mullan) while James plays weddings, parties and corporate events with The Meanies function band. And how about The Korgis appearing live? Amazingly, Andy and James plan to make that happen at a venue near you in 2015.

It’s only taken them 35 years to get round to it, but they’re confident it will have been well worth the wait. [extract from Korgis Website, bio by Gavin Mulhoney, June 2014]
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James Warren
This post consists of FLACs ripped from my prize vinyl. I remember buying this album from the Melbourne University book shop, having heard their hit single on the radio that same day. Talk about impulse buying hey. When I played the album in my dorm room that night, I must have driven my mates nuts....I just played it over time and time again.. it was brilliant. Besides their hit single my favourite tracks are Intimate and Rovers Return.  This is a classic album, not to be missed. I'm only surprised it is not listed in Michael Lydon's (founding editor of Rolling Stones) book '1001 Albums you must hear before you die'!  As usual, full album artwork and record label scans are included.
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Track Listing
01 - Silent Running
02 - Love Ain't Too Far Away
03 - Perfect Hostess
04 - Drawn And Quartered
05 - Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime
06 - Intimate
07 - It's No Good Unless You Love Me
08 - Dumb Waiters
09 - If It's Alright With You Baby
10 - Rovers Return

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The Korgis are:
James Warren - Lead Vocals, Bass, Guitar

Phil Harrison - Keyboards, Percussion
Stuart Gordon - Guitar, Violin
Guest Artists:
Andy Davis - Drums, Keyboards, Percussion, Backing Vocals
David Lord - Keyboards, Percussion


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The Korgis FLACS Link (216Mb) New Link 03/05/2020
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Sunday, October 18, 2015

Jenny Morris - Honey Child (1991)

(New Zealand 1976 - Present)
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Born in New Zealand in 1956, singer/songwriter Jenny Morris began singing in the Wide-Mouthed Frogs in the late '70s. She joined the Crocodiles in 1980 and moved to Sydney, Australia, with that band in 1981. The Crocodiles disbanded soon after. Morris released a number of solo singles, with her first venture being the theme for the film Puberty Blues, as well as released an album with QED which produced a massive hit with "Everywhere I Go" in 1984.

In 1985, Morris joined INXS as a backing singer for the Listen Like Thieves world tour, before releasing her first solo album 'Body & Soul' in 1987. The album was a success, selling over 70,000 copies in Australia (platinum status), and produced a number of hit singles, including "You I Know," written by Neil Finn. Her second album, 'Shiver', consolidated her position as one of Australia's leading female singer/songwriters by selling over 250,000 copies, although her third album 'Honey Child' was a comparative flop, producing one hit single "Break In The Weather" plus two others that missed the Top 40 completely. 'The Story So Far', a best-of compilation, was released in 1992, but the rest of the '90s saw little of note from Morris, apart from an album called 'Salvation Jane' in 1995. The appropriately titled single “Downtime” arrived in 2002 with the album 'Hit & Myth' following later that year.
In 2004 Listen: The Very Best of Jenny Morris was released, with the Alive DVD landing in 2005. A year later, Clear Blue in Stormy Skies appeared, filled with acoustic versions of some of the singer’s most popular songs. ~ Jonathan Lewis
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Album Review
Honeychild is the third solo studio album by New Zealand singer Jenny Morris, released in October 1991  by East West Records. The album went for the same style as Morris's other two albums' acoustic pop, with a hint of dance music, and was produced by Nick Launay, with some songs co-produced by Mark Forrester. The album included a cover version of the song "Tempted" by the English band Squeeze.

Honeychild was Morris's second most successful album, after Shiver, peaking at #5 in Australia, and being accredited platinum by ARIA. Morris also received a nomination in the "Best Female Artist" category at the 1992 ARIA Music Awards.

"Break In the Weather", the first single released from the album in September 1991, became Morris's highest-charting single in Australia, peaking at #2. It also peaked at #5 in New Zealand. "I've Had You", released in November 1991, fared less well on the charts, peaking at #39 in both Australia and New Zealand. "Zero", the third single from the album, peaked at #33 in New Zealand, and number #89 in Australia. The final single released from the album, "Crackerjack Man", failed to chart.

It was always going to be difficult for Jenny Morris to follow the success of 'Shiver', but Honeychild was not the way to go about it. Honeychild continued in the same vein of sunny pop that her previous two albums had exploited. However, by the time this album was released, it was starting to wear a little thin. The biggest single from this disc, "Break in the Weather," is a re-write of Shiver's "She Has to Be Loved," yet it's still the disc's best track; an indication of the quality of the rest.

Not one of her better albums, Honeychild still remains the last noteworthy Jenny Morris release. ~Jonathan Lewis, Rovi

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STOP PRESS
ARIA award- winning singer Jenny Morris revealed today (Sunday 13th October, 2015) that she has a rare neurological disorder that has forced her ro stop performing. Morris, 59, has spasmodic dysphonia, which causes spasms in the larynx.
The condition means Morris is no longer able to sing and has forced her into retirement from the stage.
“I sound like a 50-year-old crone who’s been smoking three packs a day for 30 years, and not in a sexy way,” she told a Herald Sun Reporter. “I have no idea whether I will sing again. At this point, I can’t see that I would want to charge people to hear me sing.”

Morris first began noticing 10 years ago that her singing voice was not performing the way she wanted it to. Her speaking voice soon began to sound “croaky”, forcing Morris to seek professional medical help.
Morris said the diagnosis was “a terrible loss” for someone who has been singing all her life, but she will remain active in the music industry. “I think having issues with my voice is not a reason to shy away from the world,” she said.

“It’s just a glitch and it’s not a good enough reason not to do what you’re passionate about.” While speech therapy brought some relief, Morris decided a performance at Sydney’s Taronga Park Zoo would be her last.
These days, Morris continues to chair the board of the Australasian Performing Rights Association (APRA) and is also the co-founder of an annual event called The Art of Music, which brings together some of Australia’s top artists and musicians to raise money for music therapy.
“Jenny came out of nowhere with the most succinct and beautiful idea for such an important cause, and it has brought a whole community of people together,” said award-winning artist Ben Quilty, who’s participated every year since the event’s inception.
“It’s hard not to think that Jenny was even unconsciously aware that the charity she supports is giving [disadvantaged people] the ability to communicate… She must feel a huge sense of achievement out of that. If she doesn’t, she’s mad. We all see it and the arts community sees her as a real hero.”

I'm sure that anyone who has heard Jenny sing will agree that this latest news is a blow to the Australian Music Industry and that our thoughts go out to Jenny while she deals with this debilitating illness.
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This post consists of FLACs ripped from CD and includes album artwork for both LP and CD.  While listening to this album, appreciate the wonderful vocals of Jenny Morris and the musicianship of her backing artists, including Andrew Farriss (INXS), Chong Lim, and Lindsay Fields (John Farnham).
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Track Listing
01 - Break in the Weather
02 - Zero

03 - Mercy
04 - I've Had You
05 - Lost in Heaven
06 - Tempted
07 - Crackerjack Man
08 - Action
09 - Tall Poppies
10 - There for You
11 - Tangled in Love
12 - Near



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Jenny Morris FLACs (362Mb)
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Monday, October 12, 2015

Peter Cupples - Half The Effort Twice The Effect (1984)

(Australian 1981 - 1984, 1995 - Present)
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Peter Cupples has been delighting Australian audiences for three decades. Originally with ‘Stylus’ in the late 70’s, then through the 80’s with the Peter Cupples Band featuring the likes of ‘David Hirshfelder’, ‘Virgil Donati’, ‘Ross Ingles’ and ‘Rob Little’.
Cupples is known by most singers as ‘the singers singer’ and is widely respected by his peers.
Some of his biggest fans come from far and wide ‘Bill Schnee’ producer of ‘Boz Scaggs’ Amy Grant’and ‘Huey Lewis and the News’, ‘legendary horn arranger ‘Gerry Hay ’ and ‘Harvey Mason’ to name a few.
He was the first white singer to sing on the Motown label with ‘Stylus’ and has always maintained a deep respect for soul music.

Peter recalls on his own website:
The band played the Melbourne pub band circuit in the early 80's when pub rock was big business around town. We loved what we were doing, and we felt that we were forging ahead and defining new trends in music. We had a decent publicity machine behind us, and generated a good amount of interest in Australia and overseas. We supported some top overseas artists and received critical acclaim. The album and singles sold well, particularly in Melbourne, but we never received the commercial success that we needed to take the band to the next level.

We never managed to put together the sound that was needed for a big Aussie hit. Maybe we were a bit too different, maybe the timing wasn't right.. - it's hard to say - but we were playing the music we loved playing, and our loyal fans followed us around the circuit as we continued in our pursuit of success.
We started working towards the second album "Half The Effort Twice The Effect". The songs had already become part of our set, and the fans had received them well. We had enough material to put down a follow up to 'Fear Of Thunder'. It was just a matter of working out with the record company which direction the album would take.

Louie Shelton, who is a legendary guitar player from America, came to Australia to produce ‘Half the Effort, Twice the Effect’ back in 1983.  That’s when I first met Louie.  Louie was inducted into America’s Musician’s Hall of Fame in 2009. He played on all The Monkees’ stuff. He has also played with The Jackson Five, Marvin Gaye, Boz Scaggs, Lionel Ritchie, Barbra Streisand.

'Half The Effort' was recorded for the American market and as good a recording as it is it is a bit of an orphan. It was never really given its chance to find a place in the local market and suffered from a lack of marketing. It was never even released in the U.S… Locally it was labelled as an American recording and in America it sounded like too many other American bands.  That being said, it was a beautiful album and I loved the music on it. Louis managed to get the legendary Gerry Hey to provide the horns section when he mixed it in the U.S.

"Love Of Another World" was the first single and features that horn section.

"Party Lights" was a poppy song that got some airplay.. Probably the peoples favourite song on the album was a little ballad called "Sitting Here".. Whilst being slightly departed from our rock 'n' roll roots it never failed to bring the house down when played live. We finished it with a little three part harmony that still sounds wonderful today. People still come up to me today and mention that little number,20 years on.

However, for the second time in my career I had reached a stage where the constant drain and grind of touring had worn me down. Similar to the end of the Stylus years, this period in the Peter Cupples Band signaled to me that it was time for a new direction in life.


In an interview with Peter Cupples, conducted by Sharyn Hamey at RockClub40, Cupples talks about his musical inspirations:

Peter has drawn his musical inspiration from a variety of artists. 
“James Taylor, for one.  I met James Taylor in Melbourne many years ago. We got to have a beer together and a bit of a chit chat for half an hour. I’d been to see his concert actually and, after his concert, his manager brought him to the night club owned by my manager and I was there and we just sat down and had a few beers. The two managers went off and James and I were sitting at the bar, having a beer and talking about growing up in the country. He was very affable, very quiet in a way and very humble. It was one of the great thrills for me.  I was a massive Taylor fan.  I also admire Stevie Wonder as a complete package… as a musician, as a writer and as a singer - just awesome! I’ve always loved soul singers. The real soul singers like Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Levi Stubbs from the original ‘Four Tops’, ‘Earth, Wind and Fire’ – I’m a big fan of ‘Earth, Wind and Fire.’ That’s from a singer’s point of view. From a musician’s point of view, I love guitar players like Larry Cahill. Love Sting as a poet, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan… as writers.  And I really admire Neil Finn.”I point out that there are probably a lot of people who draw inspiration from Peter Cupples as well. “Actually,” he admits, rather reluctantly, “I had an email the other day from a bass player who is playing with Billy Joel and has played with Madonna and he grew up in Melbourne, following my band, and he drew inspiration from there and he said ‘If it wasn’t for you, I probably wouldn’t have pursued music.’ So he’s making a fortune out of it,”  Peter laughs  “and I’m making nothing! Seriously, though, it certainly is wonderful when someone takes the time out to let you know about it. It gives you a certain amount of satisfaction, I suppose. We all like to think that we’re doing something good.”

Peter is still gigging these days doing mostly solo stuff but has recently tied up with the legendary Jon English to form "Uncorked". They have embarked on producing a lifestyle type program based around our music, wine, food and travel, all rolled in together. We have played together at a number of vineyards, and have filmed a pilot special in Tasmania earlier this year. They are hoping to expand the show, to cover the other parts of Australia, when they secure a network deal.

Jon English & Peter Cupples

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my recently acquired vinyl - a nice little find at the Essendon Secondhand Record Store. Although the front cover was slightly damaged, the vinyl itself is flawless. I have managed to photoshop repair the cover artwork for you, which is also included along with label scans. This album really rocks with the help of some accomplished Australian musicians, including Virgil Donati (Taste, Southern Sons, Jon Stevens) on drums and David Hirschfelder (LRB, John Farnham, Dragon) on keyboards.  If you liked his 'Fear of Thunder' album, then you won't be disappointed with this later release.
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Track Listing
01 - Don't You Leave Me Now
02 - Let Me Crawl
03 - Love Of Another World
04 - Just Can't Live
05 - Never Mind
06 - Party Lights
07 - In The Pitts
08 - Sitting Here
09 - Do You Still Remember Me
10 - On The Run


The Band:
Peter Cupples - Vocals
Ross Inglis - Lead & Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
Louie Shelton - Guitar
Virgil Donati - Drums & Percussion
Brian Hamilton - Bass, Fretless Bass
David Hirschfelder - Keyboards
Dario D'Angelo Bidino - Backing Vocals

Recorded by Ross Cockle at AAV Australia; additional recording at Richmond Recorders, Melbourne, Australia and Blue Harbour Studios, Los Angeles

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Peter Cupples FLAC Link (232Mb)  New Link 08/07/2019
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Thursday, October 8, 2015

The Beatles - Unauthorised: Twist & Shout (1994) Bootleg

(U.K 1960-70)
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Beatles in Indianapolis - September 3, 1964

I was in the fourth grade when The Beatles came to Indianapolis on their first ever North American tour. I did not attend the show but remember the hype and the folklore (urban legends) very well and thought I should write a posting on my memories of these days. I tell the story of their first trip to the US and the events in Indianapolis often as the city has changed much and many don't even remember the Coliseum where concerts were played and the Indiana Pacers had their first home some 40 years ago.

The Beatles traveled from Philadelphia to Indianapolis, playing 2 shows on September 3rd at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. They had played one show at 8:00 pm on Wednesday, September 2 at Conventions Hall. After a fun and entertaining chat with the press, and a quick meet-and-greet with a group of lucky locals, the Beatles took to the stage.

Beatles arrive at Indianapolis Airport
According to motor racing writer Bob Jennings who was one of the teenagers in attendance that day: "There was an afternoon show in the fairgrounds Coliseum before a packed house of something like 10,000 screaming fans. Ticket demand was so hot, an evening show was hastily scheduled in front of the grandstand on the one mile dirt race track because the Coliseum was already booked for another State Fair event. I was able to get tickets to the evening show... a couple hundred yards from the stage. There was an electricity that's hard to describe... about the only thing I can compare it to is the start of the Indianapolis 500."

Following their two performances that day in Indianapolis, the Beatles departed for Milwaukee Wisconsin, the next stop along their frantically paced 1964 North American Tour.

I remember most of the "hype" centered around where the Beatles stayed during their visit to Indianapolis. As a young boy at the time, I recall every news report speculated they were staying at the now demolished "Essex House", an upscale hotel in downtown Indianapolis which sat on the east side of Pennsylvania Street across from University Park; the actual address of the Essex House was 407 N. Pennsylvania Street. Various plans have been reported through the years for former Essex House site.

Crowds camped out by the hotel in hope of viewing the "mop tops" who were the sensation of the world at this time. Also fans made their way inside the hotel ripping off wallpaper, removing door nobs and other artifacts. The promoters then moved the Fab Four to the Speedway Motel.

The Fab Four on stage in Indianapolis
The Speedway Motel (on the site of the Indianapolis 500 race track), is still at this location and in use; it is literally the same as it was during the Beatles visit with some minor innovation renovation of the rooms, but no structural changes to the building. The Beatles stayed in rooms 228, 230, 232 and 234. These rooms are virtually the same as when the band stayed in them with the exception on new carpet, wall paper, etc.

The Speedway Motel was built in 1963 and renovated in 1981. It is now called the Brickyard Crossing Resort & Inn which includes a complete renovation of the former "Speedway Golf Course" by local Indiana golf course architect Pete Dye. By visiting the pro shop, you can view a photo on the wall of the Beatles in 1964 just off turn 2 putting golf balls; on what was at that time the location of the practice putting green.[recollections by David Steele]
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Concert Review

The Indiana State Fair's finest moment was the booking of the Beatles. For two shows, one at 6 p.m. in the Coliseum, the second at 9:30 in the Grandstand. It was Sept. 3, 1964. (The Fair was held later in the summer then.)

David Humphrey was one of the some 15,000 people who saw the second show, sort of. He watched at a distance, through a fence, with his parents. "We were on Paul's side of the stage," Humphrey said. "We could see the Beatles."  Humphrey was 8. He and his parents were not paying customers, but his two teenage sisters and cousin were. They were in the Grandstand.

Some parents were lukewarm on the four long-haired English musicians who were cutting such a swath through the culture, but Humphrey's parents liked the Beatles, and for the next few years Beatles music pulsed through the Humphrey house, which was in Anderson.
Humphrey grew up and became a freelance writer and photographer (his work has appeared in The Indianapolis Star), and now he has written a book about the historic Hoosier night, "All Those Years Ago: Fifty Years Later, Beatles Fans Still Remember" ($19.95, Butler Books.com).

The book is illustrated with 10 pages of photos and photocopies of some hilarious letters from fans seeking tickets. For example: "Dear Congressman Brademas: Could you please use all the influence you can possibly muster to obtain these Beatles tickets for me?".
The bulk of the 84-page paperback is made up of interviews with some of the 30,000 people who were at one of the concerts. There are 40 interviews in all.

Twist & Shout
Among the people who saw the Beatles perform at the Indiana State Fair on Sept 3, 1964, were two boys who'd grow up to figure prominently in Indiana politics: Mike McDaniel, a lobbyist and former Republican state chairman, and Democrat John Gregg, a former House Speaker in the Indiana General Assembly and the 2012 Democratic candidate for governor.
Humphrey interviewed them both. McDaniel noted that he "rubbed against the car the Beatles arrived in and got a good look at all of them." He said his favorite Beatles were Paul and Ringo.
Gregg also had a thing for Ringo. "We were seated near the back of the stage, just to the left of Ringo Starr," he says in Humphrey's book. "I'll never forget when Ringo was introduced to the crowd. He was kind and gracious enough to stand and wave to the fans seated behind the stage. Ringo waved in our direction too, and the crowd went wild."


Fans packed the State Fairgrounds Coliseum for one of the two concerts by the Beatles on Sept. 3, 1964.
Despite the mania surrounding the bands' visit, 1964 was still a simpler time, as evidenced by the Beatles' contract rider, the portion that details musicians' hospitality needs.

In 1964, the Beatles were very easy to please. In his letter to Robert Weedon at the Indiana State Fair, dated Aug. 10, three weeks before their historic appearance, Beatles' handler Ira Sidelle of General Artists Corp. wrote that "we would appreciate it very much" if the lads' dressing room could be equipped with "a supply of clean towels, chairs, a case of cold Coca Cola, and if at all possible, a portable TV set." [extract from beatlesmagazine]


.This post consists of MP3's (320kps) ripped from my Grapefruit CD Bootleg and includes the usual 'red' CD artwork. I have also included some covers for other releases of this show and select photos from the concert.  Please note that the 2nd set on this bootleg is not from their 2nd Indianapolis show but rather from their Philadelphia concert held the night before on the 2nd of September, 1964.  Both concerts are crystal clear on this release and free from the distraction of the screaming masses normally associated with their concerts.
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Tracklist:
Indianapolis
01. – Intro (1:21)
02. – Twist and Shout (1:22)
03. – You Can’t Do That (3:10)
04. – All My Loving (2:18)
05. – She Loves You (2:41)
06. – Things We Said Today (2:16)
07. – Roll Over Beethoven (3:15)
08. – Can’t By Me Love (2:41)
09. – If I Fell (2:13)
10. – I Want To Hold Your Hand (3:13)
11. – Boys (2:29)
12.– A Hard Day’s Night (3:04)
13. – Long Tall Sally (0:53)

Philadelphia
14. – Intro (0:30)

15. – Twist and Shout (1:19)
16. – You Can’t Do That (3:14)
17. – All My Loving (2:21)
18. – She Loves You (2:34)
19. – Things We Said Today (2:10)
20. – Roll Over Beethoven (3:09)
21. – Can’t By Me Love (2:39)
22. – If I Fell (2:10)
23. – I Want To Hold Your Hand (2:59)
24. – Boys (2:30)
25. – A Hard Day’s Night (2:52)
26. – Long Tall Sally (1:59)  

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The Beatles:
John Lennon: vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
Paul McCartney: vocals, bass guitar
George Harrison: vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
Ringo Starr: vocals, drums

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The Beatles Unauthorised Link (115Mb)  New Link 07/07/2019
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Sunday, October 4, 2015

Glenn Shorrock - The First 20 Years (1985)

(Australian 1962 - Present)
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Glenn Shorrock has been in colours most of his life. Drafted as an adolescent, he re-enlisted so many times that he became a career soldier, a lifer before he realised it. He served with valor in Australian English European and American campaigns. His name has passed into legend, synonymous with unstinting dedication and stirring achievement. As he enters his third decade of performing and recording, this battle scarred veteran observes that "Circles close up ten years or more after they begin". Early influences become recent influences. Old incidents become new songs.   Glenn has traversed a series of circuitous routes during the past twenty years and, although he has worked and recorded all over the planet, there is a familiar thread of honesty and excellence to all he has done.

This anthology is a powerful testament, not just to Glenn's fine talent, but to his own belief in that talent His tenacity, which sent him knocking on international doors many times before they were opened to him was shared by only a few other Australian rock principals of the sixties — Terry Britten, Barry Gibb Steve Kipner and George Young among them.

Born in Rochester Kent in 1944, Glenn arrived in Australia with his family a decade later as an assisted-passage immigrant. Blessed with the legacy of good humour from his Yorkshire father and Londoner mother he saw the sea journey to the far southern land as "a hell of an adventure". As he recalls clearly, "We saw a future in Australia but not in England, where post-war rationing was still in force. Australia was like a colour movie not a bit like grey old England."
"We were booked through to Melbourne but after Perth they said they were short on their Adelaide quota and wanted volunteers. So dad said, What the hell, let's go to Adelaide. The first sight of the city was horrific it was like Changi Prison. The seaport was a long tin shed set in a mangrove swamp. Mother cried for nine months straight; I went to sleep with her crying and woke up to her crying. But dad dug his heels in and got a job at the Weapons Research Establishment in Salisbury and found us a house there."

Glenn's mother took her son and daughter back to England for nine months, then decided to return and give it another chance. In time, the family prospered and moved to the Adelaide suburb of Elizabeth populated heavily by British immigrants. Glenn, by this stage, was obsessed by rock'n'roll. Back in England he had listened to Frankie Laine and Johnnie Ray records on his Aunty's radiogram but his trembling conversion came at the Elder Park Migrant Hostel (on the site of the present Festival Theatre). "I was laying on my bunk It was a hot day and I had nothing to do, so I was just listening to the sound of somebody else's radio Heartbreak Hotel came on and I almost fell off my bunk. Nothing had ever sounded like that before."

The Checkmates
Glenn's first job was as a junior draftsman at the Mines Department. A workmate was a member of a local hot-shot vocal quartet and when a member quit, Glenn was invited to audition. He was accepted and was in the process of having his stage clothes made when the member decided to come back. Undaunted Glenn decided that he was good enough to be accepted by the Four Tones, he was good enough to lead his own vocal group "I had some friends and we'd sing in the car, drive-in or wherever. There was Mike Sykes, Cklem 'Paddy' McCartney and bass singer Billy Volraat. We worked engagement parties as The Checkmates and then, when Billy left became The Twilights. We worked a-cappella a lot. We couldn't do rock'n'roll because we didn't have a backing band, but if we were at a party where there was a band we'd always get up and sing.

"Then the Beatles broke and everything went crazy. Some friends had a band called the Vector-Men, which included Alan Tarney, and we worked with them for a while. Then we started singing with The Hurricanes which was Kevin Peek, Peter Bridecake, John Bywaters, Frank Barnard and lead vocalist John Perry, who went to the Vibrants and is now Kerry Packer's chauffeur. Perry got edged out, we dropped Mike Sykes, and all became The Twilights. Kevin Peek left to join Alan Tarney in Johnny Broome & The Handels and we got his number one admirer, Terry Britten, in to replace him. Before very much longer we were resident at the Oxford Club, there were lines around the block, and Carry Spry flew over from Melbourne to ask if he could manage us. There were a lot of bands in Adelaide then and the rivalry and jealousy was pretty fierce. All of them seemed to have at least a couple of British members, to make them authentic. This was a way for us to get back at those who saw us as 'dirty poms'; it was a chance to feel better about ourselves."

Twilights - 1964 Lineup
The Twilights existed from 1964 to 1969, recorded 13 singles and 2 albums, scored 8 consecutive hits (some double-sided), won the 1966 Hoadley's National Battle of the Sounds, recorded and performed in England, and set new standards for live performance in Australia. The Twilights live were an awesome spectacle, capable of creating note-perfect renditions of any song by the Beatles, Stones, Move, Who et al. They were Australia's international music barometer. Absolutely and irrevocably in, they anticipated and introduced audiences to each new phase of rock music and culture. In time, they outgrew their own market and joined the lemmings' rush to London in September 1966. They fared no better than Normie Rowe, Johnny Young, MPD Ltd., Groove or The La De Das but did get to record with Rubber Soul engineer Norman 'Hurricane' Smith and perform at Liverpool's Cavern.

Twilights- 1969 (Glenn far right)
The Twilights came back from London replete with new influences, droopy moustaches, sitars, trendy beards and Carnaby Street clobber. They took to playing 15 minute versions of Hendrix' Purple Haze (during which Glenn would climb into a gorilla suit and chase faint-hearted ladies through the audience) and cutting increasingly complex singles which enjoyed progressively less radio support. When Laurie Pryor refused to have another crack at England in December 1968 and decided to take his leave instead, The Twilights suddenly ceased to exist.
"The breakup of the Twilights was not something that we planned. It all happened in three days" Glenn reveals. "I didn't know what to do with myself, so Carry Spry gave me a job as a band booker in the AMBO agency. That's how I met the Brisbane Avengers, who wanted me to manage them. I gave it a shot for about three months; got Terry to write them some songs and pushed all the work I could their way. But it never felt right. I'd rehearse with them, take them to gigs, get them on the stage and then have to stop there. I never did have the chance to prove if I was a good manager or not, because after about three months, I ran into Brian Cadd at a party."

Axiom
Cadd, leader of the defunct Groop, had written songs for the Master's Apprentices, The Zoot and Paul Jones, and was keen to develop an outlet for his collaborations with Don Mudie. The three enlisted Cam-Pact guitarist Chris Stockley and Valentines drummer Doug Lavery and were, not surprisingly, labelled as a 'Supergroup' in the same manner as The Groove (Spry's post-Twilights hit act). With an old roadie mate (the late) Wayne DeGruchy, Axiom hid out at Don's mother's place in Nathalia for a couple of weeks and furiously emulated The Band and Traffic by rehearsing at the local football club in rural isolation.
Axiom's success was almost a forgone conclusion. Manager DeGruchy had no difficulty finding them work; they were immediately offered a recording contract and found instant radio acceptance for a Christmas 1969 single, the unashamedly American Arkansas Grass. Fool's Gold, the first album, was the soundtrack to a 20 minute film starring Happening '70 personality Tony Healey and dealing with the release of an elderly man from prison. It was also the first truly important and accomplished Australian rock album, offering an honest antipodean sound (Glenn played some didgeridoo) without descending to kangaroo and cork hat kitsch. A second single, A Little Ray of Sunshine, was, in Glenn's own words, "pure schmaltz". But the poorly recorded track possessed a certain magic which propelled it into both the national top five and innumerable sentimental hearts.

Recording the beautiful Fool's Gold album was "unadulterated joy" for Glenn, as the superb title track and Ford's Bridge attest. But the euphoria was short-lived. In April 1970, Axiom arrived in a creatively exhausted England, still spending the money flowing in from the British Invasion but offering little more to the world than burned-out hippies and heavy metal hammerheads. There were advances to be had and Axiom landed one large enough to keep them alive for a year, along with a three year Warner Bros recording contract. Handed to ill producer, Shel Talmy, of Kinks, Who and Easybeats fame (who by that stage was suffering from failing eyesight and hearing) cut a second album under engineer Glyn Johns. The title, If Only . . . , said it all. The harsh, uncomfortable album yielded up one minor hit in My Baby's Gone and is not remembered fondly by any of the participants or purchasers.

"My confidence was pretty low" says Glenn. "When the band decided to go back to Australia tor the second time, I said 'goodbye, I'm staying here'. Like a lot of other people at the time, I was trying to find myself. marriage had broken up and I was heavily into meditation, macrobiotic food and all that. I was looking for something to do and Carry Spry, who was over there with The Groove (Eureka Stockade), came to again. At that time I was hanging out with other Australians, like the Master's Apprentices, and that's relationship with Glenn Wheatley began. Carry managed to get me a deal with the management  recoil company MAM, which was owned by Gordon Mills, the manager of Tom Jones, Englebert Humperdinck and Gilbert O'Sullivan. I negotiated a good contract which paid me a weekly wage rather than a big advance-Signed to MAM's publishing arm (which was to eventually prove rather profitable for them), Clem a considerable number of demos but only three singles. Into the picture had stepped Twilights producer McKay, who was also based in London; and the Decca group Quartet, which comprised former Adelaide comrades Terry Britten, Kevin Peek (now leader of Sky), Alan Tarney and Trevor Spencer.

The first singled cut by this collective under Glenn's name, "Let's Get The Band Together", stiffed (perhaps because he didn't have a live band together) but the second, Mann and Weil's lovely "Rock'n'Roll Lullaby", at least picked up reasonable airplay. Glenn describes the flip, When God Plays His Guitar, as "a pretty good indication of where my head was at around that time." Another Shorrock MAM single, the mock-French "Purple Umbrella", was recorded under the alias of Andre L'Escargot & His Society Syncopaters.

The most important event in Glenn's career at this point was his move, at the very end of the Axiom days, into serious songwriting. It stands as extraordinary that a number of his very first compositions are today considered as among his best. Writing gave a new dimension to the accomplished singer, enabling him to achieve the sort of soulful, heartfelt expression which would reach its zenith with "Cool Change" and "Home On A Monday".
"Statue Of Liberty was inspired by the closing scenes of the film Planet Of The Apes. I wrote it at a time when America was looking decidedly shaky and in danger of real anarchy. Kent State seemed like just a beginning. I had this vision of the Statue of Liberty crumbling." The song, recorded only as a demo for MAM, found release (for the first time) in 1973, via another David McKay project.


"David told me he had a new project that he wanted me to front — classical rock band that would be much more avant-garde than ELO. He played me some tapes and it was really left-of-field stuff. But it was a challenge and A&M was right behind it, so I went in boots and all. "Esperanto was billed as 'the world s first international rock orchestra'. An unwieldy 12 piece outfit, it boasted members from Italy, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, England and Hawaii. The antipodean contingent was Glenn, Janice Slater, Brian Holloway (from Somebody's Image) and Maori singer Joy Yates. Glenn sang and co-wrote two songs with Belgian leader Raymond Vincent and contributed his own Statue Of Liberty. Unfortunately, despite all the hype, the public just didn't buy Esperanto, and by the second album, Glenn was credited only with 'lyrics, backing vocals and ideas'; by the third he was gone completely. "They made me manager for a while because they wanted to go completely avant-garde and then instrumental. But it was a complete mess, half the band lived in London and half in Brussels and I couldn't even get them together for a meeting.

Esperanto  (Glenn 2nd left)
So that last year in England I was really depressed. My hair was falling out and I decided to quit. I was still getting my weekly wage from MAM and Terry Britten got me some vocal sessions and a couple of months live work with Cliff Richard. I made good money working at the London Palladium with Cliff, eight shows a week. After the first night they came to me and said 'you were great Glenn, in fact you were too good, cool it'. I was making an amazing (for me) £100 a week for that, so I decided to stash it away and buy a ticket back to Australia.

Glenn & Graham Goble
"I booked a seat for October, 1974. 1 had no idea what I was going to do here. I though Id get involved in agency or management work. I didn't know what my musical credibility would be after five years away. About a month before I left England, I got a call from Beeb Birtles, who was living in a house in London with the remnants of Mississippi, who I'd never head of. He said they wanted to talk to me about starting a new group and I said, 'no thanks, I've had enough, I need to get out of this business for a while'. But they were very persuasive and they had some great songs, so I jutted my jaw, gritted my teeth and said I'd get involved, if they'd give me a couple of months to go home and be with my family. We all agreed to meet in Melbourne early in 1975."
Mississippi had grown out of Graham Coble's Adelaide soft-rock group Allison Gros (who had scored the 1971 hit Daddy Cool as Drummond). Floundering in England, members Goble, Birtles and Derek Pellici had begun to formulate ambitious plans for world musical domination with Master's Apprentices bassist Glenn Wheatley, who was proving to be more interested in the business side of music. They saw Shorrock as a proven and respected singer. What they were not to know was that he had a head full of completed songs, such as Seine City, Emma and Statue Of Liberty, all of which would be cut by Little River Band in their first year of recording.

Named after a signpost on the road from Melbourne to Geelong, Little River Band snared classically-trained guitarist arranger Rick Formosa and bassist Roger McLachlan from the Australian Godspell cast. Their aim, as highly competent adult rock musicians, was to create a textured, harmony-dominant, mass-appeal sound. Within an eight month period, LRB had 3 top twenty singles, 2 top ten albums, and a collective eye firmly set upon the lucrative American market. This assault, Glenn's third, had all the pieces in the right places. In November 1976, an edited version of "It's A Long Way There" made its way into the American top thirty and Dutch top ten. The following year, Glenn's powerful "Help Is On Its Way" broke worldwide, made the U.S. top twenty and cracked AM playlists. The third album, Diamantina Cocktail, sold over half a million units stateside, earning LRB their first gold disc, the first to be awarded to an Australian-based entity.

American hits flowed regularly and by 1982, Billboard had given LRB the honour, along with Olivia Newton John, of being the only act to score an American top ten hit every year consecutively for the previous five years. This was in addition to a string of gold and platinum albums. American acceptance of the sophisticated LRB sound was immediate; surprising Glenn, who admits, "International success may have been the stated aim of Wheatley, Goble and Birtles but Glenn Shorrock went along for the ride. I'd been disappointed too many times ... I'm always suspicious of happiness. But the first American performance was definitely an eye opener. We supported the Average White Band in the college town of Harrisburg, Virginia and the crowd went nuts. They gave us two encores. That was amazing, but none of us then realised the enormity of the market."

In February 1982, Glenn took his leave from Little River Band and was replaced by fellow English-born Adelaide singer John Farnharn. His departure was something less than a surprise for those who had observed the band during his seven year tenure. For Glenn it was, in many ways, a blessed release. "I had a strong feeling that it was not going to be peaches and cream from my first rehearsal in 1975. After two weeks we knew just three songs — we knew them bloody well but we still only knew three. I thought we should have known 23, so we could be out there working, honing our technique live. Graham and Beeb worked obsessively on points of detail, they wanted to dismember everything and put it back together, piece by piece. That frustrated me, I wanted to move, move, move. It led to a bit of a blue in rehearsal and they said, 'Glenn, back off, this is our baby and this is how we're gonna do the thing'. I backed off and I seemed to keep backing off all the way through. Graham always worked harder at getting his songs recorded than I did and I don't think I exerted as much influence on the band as I should have. I left it to fate, because that's the way I am. But then it got to the stage where I had to fight to get Cool Change on an album."

Glenn had enjoyed moderate success in 1979 with a solo rendition of Bobby Darin's "Dream Lover"; and the 1981 LRB single, "Long Jumping Jeweller" (never released outside of Australia) was very much a Shorrock initiated and promoted project. So the move from LRB frontman to individual entity was a relatively effortless one. Glenn enthusiastically embarked upon a number ol projects, starting with a superb solo album Villain Of The Peace; recorded in Los Angeles under LRB producer and close friend John Boylan, and featuring contributions from three members of the Eagles, Bill Payne (Little Feat), Jeff Baxter (Steely Dan/The Doobies), Garth Hudson (The Band), Jimmy Fadden (Dirt Band), Andrew Gold and Tom Scott. The American release featured three newly recorded songs, one of which (Don't Girls Get Lonely?) is included herein. From those sessions, "The Duchess Is Returning" emerged as a single B side and "Big Smoke" was, until now, unreleased.

To support the album's release in Australia, Glenn undertook a short tour with his own hot road band. He also joined Renee Geyer on stage at Sydney's Tivoli in December 1982 for a soaring rendition of the Coffin/ King masterpiece "Goin' Back", which achieved some chart success when released as a single. Having previously supplied a title song to the television documentary Australian Music To The World, Glenn was approached to provide themes for the films We're Coming To Get You and World Safari II, both of which are featured on this album; along with a lovely treatment of Paperback Writer (cut at the Dream Lover session) and the very first (unreleased) Little River Band recording, the Everly Brothers' "When Will I Be Loved" (featuring guitarist-for-a-day Graham Davidge).

Glenn 1980's
Three years of work under his own auspices may not have brought Glenn as much commercial success as he enjoyed with LRB, but his personal satisfaction is considerably greater. "When I made my own album" he confides, "there was just two of us making decisions, instead of six or eight. Instead of compromise, I now have the freedom to feel my way around. I've always thought of myself as a very versatile singer and now I have the chance to prove it."

Listening to Glenn's major contributions to Little River Band, it is appropriate to view him as the soul of the outfit, the true artist within its ranks. His voice then, as now, can be a plaintive cry or a surging energy charge - always imbued with integrity and an earthy passion. Asked to summarise his own career, he thoughtfully offers, "I think I've done things fairly quietly, never made a big noise. I may have lost a few career chances as a result but I can say that I don t have any major hang-ups and I don't lose sleep over my frustrations. I still have a fairly happy disposition."  [Linear notes by Glenn A. Baker]
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This post consists of FLACs ripped from my mint condition double vinyl set, released by J&B Records. Full album artwork for LP and CD are included along with label scans. As an added bonus, I have chosen to include a super rare single that Glenn released back in 1975 on Playboy records "Daydream Sunday" / " I Have Seen the Universe" which was only released in the states from what I can gather (thanks to Garethofox at Midoztouch for this rarity).
This is a brilliant anthology of Glenn's musical achievements between 1965 and 1985 and is a must for any serious collector of Aussie Rock.
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Track Listing
LP1
01 Needle In A Haystack (Twilights)
02 Bad  Boy (Twilights)
03 If She Finds Out (Twilights)
04 9-50 (Twilights)
05 Young Girl (Twilights)
06 What's Wrong With The Way I Live (Twilights)
07 Cathy Come Home (Twilights)
08 My Generation (Twilights)
09 Ford's Bridge (Axiom)
10 Fool's Gold (Axiom)
11 Arkansas Grass (Axiom)
12 A Little Ray Of Sunshine (Axiom)
13 My Baby's Gone (Axiom)
14 Rock 'n' Roll Lullaby (Solo)
15 Let's Get The Band Together (Solo)

16 Statue Of Liberty (Solo)
17 Seine City (Little River Band)
18 When Will I Be Loved (Little River Band)
LP2
01 Cool Change (Little River Band)
02 Home On A Monday (Little River Band)
03 Shut Down, Turn Off (Little River Band)
04 Help Is On Its Way (Little River Band)
05 Man On Your Mind (Little River Band)
06 Long Jumping Jeweller (Little River Band)
07 Goin' Back (with Renee Geyer)
08 We're Coming To Get You (with The Bushwackers)
09 Paperback Writer (Solo)
10 Dream Lover (Solo)
11 Restless (Solo)
12 Don't Let Girls Get Lonely (Solo)
13 Big Smoke (Solo)
14 Will You Stand With Me (Solo)

15 The Duchess Is Returning (Solo)
16 Rock 'n' Roll Soldier (Solo)

Bonus Single
01 - Daydream Sunday
02 - I Have Seen the Universe


Glenn Shorrock FLACs LP1  (353Mb)  New Link 27/02/2024
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Glenn Shorrock FLACs LP2 (388Mb)  New Link 9/04/2016

Bonus Single MP3 (11Mb)  New Link 24/06/2022