W.O.C.K on Vinyl: Coronavirus Rhapsody (based on Bohemian Rhapsody)

.

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.

In light of the unprecedented times we are facing at the moment .............
(moan - how many times have you heard this recently ! )
Hey, let's all lighten up a bit and have some fun for a change, while self isolating.
So for this month's W.O.C.K on vinyl post, I'd like to acknowledge some hidden musical talent that exists within our community, starting with Raul Arabein's rendition of Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' with the help of some topical lyrics by Dana Jay Bein.
No prize for guessing what the C stands for this month, but I'd like to also add Clever and Cool to this list, with maybe a hint of Kornyness.  Hope this brightens up ya day & Stay Safe folks.

U2 - Eight 5 7 9 Baby Second Homecoming (1992) Bootleg

(Irish 1976 - Present)
.

It is May, 1987 in the U.S.A. and U2 are on the covers of Time, Musician, and Rolling Stone.  The Joshua Tree has become America's best selling album. "With or Without You" is the  best selling single. Night after night U2 are playing live to capacity houses, embracing the American audiences, as the American audiences embrace them.

This is a band approaching the heights of acclaim. Everything they've worked for during  the long tours of the early Eighties is finally happening. Before they ever touched the shores of America, Bono was cheekily bracketing U2 with Elvis, The Beatles and The Stones. Now it's everyone else that's doing the New Beatles talk.
Television commentators chatter breezily about a a return of Sixties social concern. A New York ticket vendor compares the appetite of his customers with that of "Beatlemaniacs".

The Joshua Tree Tour

The accolade of Time's front cover puts them up there with The Beatles, The Band and The Who.
The Joshua Tree album seems set in an essentially American landscape, having completed the first leg of their Joshua Tree Tour.  The second leg takes place in European arenas and outdoor stadiums running from late May through to early August, starting at the Stadio Flaminio in Rome on 27 May. The final show of the European leg is at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork on 8 August.

'The Joshua Tree Tour' sold out stadiums around the world, the first time the band had consistently played venues of that size. The Joshua Tree and its singles had become huge hits and the band had reached a new height in their popularity. Tickets for shows were often very hard to get, especially on the first American leg when they only played in arenas.

This bootleg was recorded on July 10, 1987 at Feyenoord Stadium, Rotterdam, Netherlands and is one of the best audience recordings available from this tour.

Feyenoord Football Stadium

This post consists of MP3's (320kps) ripped from my KTS CD (#2 in a set of 3) and is tagged as being an audience recording.  There is certainly evidence of audience participation in the background (clapping, singing and the occasional dialogue) but the quality of the recording is close to Soundboard quality.  Full album artwork and concert/tour related photos are also included.
The track listing is nothing short of being a Best Of U2 featuring all of my favourite tracks - Sunday Bloody Sunday, Pride, New Years Day and Bullet In The Sky. It's a pity whoever designed the back cover couldn't spell Bullet (Bullit) but I guess it is a bootleg.
.
Tracklist
01 - Where The Streets Have No Name 6:11
02 - I Will Follow 3:53
03 - I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For 5:31
04 - M.L.K. 2:16
05 - The Unforgettable Fire 4:35
06 - Sunday Bloody Sunday 5:52
07 - Exit  4:29
08 - In God’s Country 2:45
09 - The Electric Co.  4:10
10 - Help! 1:49
11 - Bad 7:44
12 - October 2:02
13 - New Year’s Day  5:09
14 - Pride (In The Name Of Love) 3:53
15 - Bullet The Blue Sky 5:10
16 - Running To Stand Still 4:25
17 - Party Girl   4:10
18 - “40” 5:15
.
U2 Second Homecoming (172Mb) New Link 04/01/2024
.

Ralph McTell - Right Side Up (1976)

(U.K 1969 - Present)
.

One of the great storytellers, Ralph McTell, is now celebrating almost 50 years on the road. Known for his virtuoso guitar style, he is primarily a prolific and gifted songwriter. With a style that invites you into a unique world, he weaves a narrative that is both significant and poignant.

Ralph made his debut in 1968 with the album ‘Eight Frames a Second’ and in 1974 the release of "Streets of London" earned him an Ivor Novello Award. In 1993, Nanci Griffith recorded ‘From Clare to Here’ on her Grammy Award winning album and in 2002 he was presented with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. [extract from Ralph's website]

.

Ralph McTell Street Survival

(Rolling Stone Magazine, Feb 22, 1979. p19-20)

Ralph The Busker

Ralph McTell must look like an easy mark to every scum-crusted derelict on Seventh Avenue, because each one he walks by hits him up for spare change. Maybe they single him out because he wears old clothes, or maybe it's the gold hoop in his left ear, but it's probably because he's willing to look them in the eye while seasoned New Yorkers instinctively sidestep the bums. "I hate to turn them down", says McTell, "but what can I do?  The first time I was in New York I gave out all the change in my pockets within three blocks".

Ralph McTell has always had a feeling for street people. The British singer/songwriter's best-known song is "Streets of London," a catchy folk tune about bag ladies and homeless old sailors. It was a Number One hit in England in 1975 (although it's been an underground favorite since the late Sixties) and is part of the reason McTell is one of the most popular pop/folk artists in Great Britain. But even though he has made ten albums (four of them American releases) and has been touring for more than twelve years, McTell is relatively unknown outside Europe. 

"I'm no overnight sensation, and I don't expect to be," says McTell, who got his start as part of the same British folk scene that spawned such artists as Donovan, Cat Stevens and Pentangle. But he has toughed out the Seventies performing his simple folk/ blues/ragtime melodies while most of his contemporaries have drifted into more commercial rock idioms or have completely faded from sight.

After years of bouncing from label to label ("I really get through the record companies," he says), McTell is now affiliated with Fantasy, which has just issued Ralph McTell Live. Easy, a 1975 British LP, will soon be released by Kicking Mule, a small, independent label.  And he recently completed a studio album that he thinks may open up a new audience for him. It's a band album," McTell says. "I've never had what you would call programmable material. So the only way I can get through is by doing live appearances. I hope this new album will be programmable ...less folkie."

But when McTell opened for David Bromberg on a recent U.S. tour, his languid, "folkie" material won over audiences who had come for Bromberg's high-energy act. The last stop of the tour was Carnegie Hall, where McTell stepped onstage armed only with an acoustic guitar and nervous smile to play for a restless audience, some of whom were already screaming for Bromberg. Within ten minutes the hecklers had shut up, and by the end of the set the audience was shouting for more. After the concert, McTell and I headed for Greenwich Village to get a drink. A light snow was falling as we walked down Bleecker Street, searching for a warm bar. We passed a skinny kid in shirt sleeves standing in a doorway, strumming a beat-up guitar. His companion walked up to demand some spare change for his buddy. McTell politely declined. Safe inside Kenny's Castaways, a local folk dub, McTell warmed himself with a whiskey and beer. "I was looking at that guy outside and remembering how it feels," he said. "When I was seventeen and eighteen I was what you call a busker. I traveled around Europe, playing guitar in cinema queues and cafes and things like that. But it wasn't something I liked to do". I remembered McTell onstage at Carnegie Hall, shaking visibly until well into the set. Wasn't he frightened playing on street corners? 

McTell onstage at Carnegie Hall

"I just used ro put my face down and shout my head off. I was terribly nervous. But when you're hungry, it's easy to get your courage up. I was discovered when an agent saw me playing in the street in Paris?' Two fingers scratch the air around the word discovered. "I got a gig playing for a French Dylan lookalike called Antoine. He was their rebel, but he couldn't play guitar. So they dressed me up in a dinner jacket and bow tie to play behind him. But you get sick doing street gigs and I was ill. I went back to England, and things started happening for me there".

 McTell travelled the British folk circuit, at first performing traditional blues and Woody Guthrie classics, then gradually slipping in his own material. His first song was Nanna's Song, written for his Norwegian wife, whom he met when he was a street singer. "She was my bottler, one of the girls who would collect money for buskers and get ten percent of the take. She wasn't very good at it, but she was so sweet". He took another gulp of his draft "Romantic, isn't it?" 

Ralph McTell is a romantic. His simple melodies and imagistic narratives are deliberately accessible. He wants, more than anything else, to make people feel that they are not alone and that life isn't as bad as they thought. "Music for me is political," he said. "I like to get a message across. I deal with emotional subjects quite often, and some people use the word sentimental. Well, I'm not afraid of that word".

McTell stood back from the bar and cheerfully announced to his musician friends that his thirty-fourth birthday was coming up. "'I was born on December 3rd, 1944," he said, wrapping an arm around one of his mates. "And on that very day, Woody Guthrie made a speech over WNEW radio, right here in New York. And he said something like: 'I hate a song that makes you think you're no good to nobody. I am out to sing songs that make you take pride in yourself and your work.' "You know, I grew up in the working class. I'm not working class now. I'm never hard up for a drink or cigarettes - I'm successful, really. But you never forget where you came from. You never forget what it was like".

Ralph McTell Today

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my pristine vinyl (acquired from a now defunct radio station in Melbourne). Full album artwork and label scans are part of the package.

This is one of several excellent McTell albums from the 70s, and it still stands up well.

The material on this album is overall very good (although perhaps nothing really stands out). It includes the McTell classics 'Naomi,' 'Tequila Sunset,' 'Slow Burning Companion,' and the sublime 'From Clare to Here.' 

McTell also does a very good cover of John Martyn's well-known song 'May You Never.' This is nice, gentle stuff with period small-folk-combo backing and an almost Nashville sound. 

.

Tracklist

A1  - San Diego Serenade 2:45

A2  - Naomi 3:07

A3  - Tequila Sunset 3:22

A4  - Weather The Storm 4:01

A5  - River Rising * 3:57

B1  - From Clare To Here 4:13

B2  - Chairman And The Little Man 2:09

B3  - Country Boys 2:32

B4  - Slow Burning Companion 3:28

B5  - Nightmares 2:55

B6  - May You Never 3:25

* Track A5 is titled "River Rising" on back cover and "River Risin' Moon High" on label.

Ralph McTell - Acoustic Guitars, Vocals

Rod Clements/Dave Pegg - Bass Guitar

Danny Thompson - Acoustic Bass

Graham Preskitt/John Stevens - Keyboards

Sammy Mitchell - Dobro

Tony Rivers/John  Perry/Krn Gold - Backing Vocals

.

Ralph McTell FLAC Link (232Mb)
New Link 24/04/2020

.

REPOST: Captain Beyond - Selftitled (1972)

(U.S 1971-79)

... in the summer of 1972, standing in the record store, holding this album. Hmmm, Lee Dorman and Rhino. (I was an Iron Butterfly fanatic.) Hmmm, Rod Evans. (I was a Deep Purple fanatic.) And, who the heck was Bobby Caldwell? Johnny Winter had a drummer by that name. Was it the same one? I didn't buy the album that day, but about a week later, I did. I took it straight to a friend's house, and we had a listen. Needless to say, it just about took our faces off.

The album still has its effect. What an amazing display of power and finesse! Never before--and never again to my knowledge--has an array of diverse time signatures danced with such remarkable ease. Bobby Caldwell's highly aggressive but astoundingly tasteful drumming will stupefy you. I thought about mentioning a couple of specific spots on the album where he overwhelms me, but that's impossible because the guy never really stops overwhelming me! With today's preoccupation with trying to mimic a drum-machine (an ongoing trend for almost 20 years), I wonder if anybody knows how to play drums like this anymore.

Guitarist Larry Reinhardt (Rhino) is as tasteful a player as one could ask for. We got a dose of his alluring style on Iron Butterfly's METAMORPHOSIS (a much overlooked gem, by the way). His playing is firm, to the point, and power-ridden. But, it also contains cosmic elements, overtones of otherworldliness, that I find irresistible. Lee Dorman is much underrated on bass. The power aspect of this music does not afford him the freedom to embellish with the endless variety he gave us with Iron Butterfly, but he does give us plenty of motion, along with maintaining the solid bottom needed for these driving rhythms. I've always loved the work of vocalist Rod Evans when he was with Deep Purple. Here, he is given the opportunity to really show off. His vocals are as energized as the rest of the band.

Another review points out that most of the reviews on this product page are written by us old folks. Yes, there are indeed many of us who have owned this album for 30+ years, and who are still infatuated by its brilliance. Great music stands the test of time. It rises above mere nostalgia. CAPTAIN BEYOND packs a wallop. What a combination of energy and sophistication! The music is well thought out--it's classy, but tailored to knock your socks off. If you have any idea of what it takes to make a band jell, I can almost guarantee that after the first four songs, you and your friends will be looking at each other with blank stares. "Juggernaut" does not even begin to describe this album. [Reviewer:David Parker (Burlington, Vermont United States)]

LP  3D  Cover

What first attracted me to this album was the 3D album cover. I had never seen anything like it before and when I listened to the album for the first time, I was completely numbed by the awesome wall of sound that came from my BOSE speakers. This album remains as one of my all time favourite LP's - so have a listen.

Please Note: I'm posting this album as single side Mp3 files for a good reason. Because most of the tracks run into one another, breaking up the original analogue experience would simply kill the magical experience. To enjoy this album the way it was originally recorded, it MUST be listened to as one long piece, without the pseudo breaks created by Digital reproductions. So ENJOY this truly 'Mesmorizing' rock experience!

The first rip was taken from a Vinyl pressing at 320kbs but has no song separation (I prefer this rip) while the NEW second rip was taken from CD in FLAC format with song separation. Also included is full album artwork for both CD and LP releases. I am very proud of my Vinyl copy with it's 3D cover (see above) and consider this to be one of my prize possessions in my record collection. I've never seen another copy like it in the 40+ years I've been collecting records.

Track Listing
01. Dancing Madly Backwards (On a Sea of Air)
02. Armworth
03. Myopic Void
04. Mesmerization Eclipse
05. Raging River of Fear
06. Thousand Days of Yesterdays (Intro)
07. Frozen Over
08. Thousand Days of Yesterdays (Time Since Come and Gone)
09. I Can't Feel Nothin', Pt. 1
10. As the Moon Speaks (To the Waves of the Sea)
11. Astral Lady
12. As the Moon Speaks (Return)
13. I Can't Feel Nothin', Pt. 2

Band Members:

Rod Evans (Vocals)

Larry 'Rino' Reinhardt (Guitar)

Lee Dorman (Bass)

Bobby Caldwell (Drums)

.

Vinyl Pressing - Side A / B (83Mb) New Link 12/10/2023

CD Pressing with Song Separation (235Mb) New Link 12/10/2023
. 

Healing Force: Golden Miles - The Healing Force Collection

(Australian 1970 - 1973)
.

The legendary Healing Force was something of a 'supergroup', and its history intersects with several other important bands of the period, notably King Harvest and Friends. They made only one single, but it is still widely regarded as one of the flagship Australian progressive rock releases of the early '70s. All the members had a wealth of experience - Pryor had been the drummer in the The Twilights; Charlie was from Nova Express; Logan was from The Rebels and Wells had been a member of Perth's prog-rock pioneers Bakery.

The first lineup formed late in 1970 and began playing in Adelaide over the '70/'71 Christmas period. They played at several early rock festivals including Launching Place. In April 1971, they signed with Robie Porter's new Sparmac label. Midway through 1971, they expanded to a five piece with the addition of John Pugh (ex-18th Century Quartet) on guitar.

In July, they released their brilliant single. The 'A' side, "Golden Miles", by Lindsay Wells, is one of the most admired Australian progressive rock recordings of the period, and indeed rock historian Ian McFarlane named his magazine after it and rates as the best Australian progressive recording of the era. It was deservedly successful and spent nineteen weeks in the Melbourne charts, barely missing out on entering the Top 30. It features rippling Hammond organ by Logan with a beautiful melody line and a dramatic chorus, highlighted by the soaring vocals of the late, great Charlie Tumahai. The flip-side, another Lindsay Wells composition, was heavier but almost as good. It has never been commercially released but it has been included on the first CD in the trade-only CD-R compilation series Obscured But Unscarred. Just before the single hit the charts, Charlie quit to join Chain and the group returned to a four piece. Pryor left soon after and was replaced by Joe Tattersall (ex-Barrelhouse), but then Lindsay also left and the band fizzled out.

In November 1972, Healing Force reformed with Logan, Pryor and Pugh, plus newcomers Gus Feniwck (bass) and Mal Capewell (ex-Company Caine) on reeds. This version performed at the Sunbury Pop Festival in January 1973, with Charlie rejoining especially for the show. One track from their set, "Erection", was included on the Mushroom Records Sunbury '73 album. They disbanded shortly afterwards, during preparations for a planned LP, leaving their considerable promise sadly unfulfilled.

After Healing Force:

- Mal Logan had a short stint in The Dingoes, filling in for Chris Stockley during his enforced absence from the band (he had been shot and wounded at a party in late 1973), after which he joined The Renee Geyer Band.

Joe Tattersal spent some time with Ayers Rock and later joined Stylus;

Gus Fenwick played with the Bootleg Family Band

Mal Capewell joined Chain and also played with a later lineup of Company Caine

Tumahai and Logan both joined the short lived Alta Mira in 1973, then Tumahai briefly played with Friends before joining Mississippi. He travelled to the U.K. with them and stayed there after the group returned to Australia. For most of the later 1970's he was the bassist and co-vocalist in Bill Nelson's 'Be Bop Deluxe'. He returned to New Zealand in the eighties and joined The Herbs, and also did much work on behalf of his local Maori community until his sudden and unexpected death from a heart attack in December 1995.

Lindsay Wells headed back to Perth and played with popular local band Fatty Lumpkin, then returned to Melbourne and joined Ray Brown's One Ton Gypsy and a later lineup of Blackfeather. He eventually returned to Perth, where he remained active on the local blues scene for many years.

Discography

"Golden Miles" is the opening title track on Raven Records' 1994 2-CD compilation of Australian progressive rock; and is also featured on the EMI  LP Sizzling 70's, Vol. 2.

"Erection" was included on Mushroom's Sunbury 1973 live album. This was recently compiled into a 2CD set with highlights from Sunbury '74, released on Michael Gudinski's Liberation Blue label. These recordings are of enormous historical importance, but the recent CD must be strongly criticised for its shamefully poor quality. The second CD of Sunbury '74 recordings has clearly been transferred directly from LP, without any attempt at noise reduction, and many of the tracks are marred by very obvious surface noise. In an age when high-quality, low-cost digital recording systems are available to even domestic users, it is deplorable that that Liberation has chosen to released such an obviously sub-standard product to the public.

Single: 1971  "Golden Miles" / "The Gully" (Sparmac SPR 009) #31 (Melbourne Charts)
[EXTRACT from Milesago]

Go Set 1971 (May, July, November)

Go Set Articles 
(The following feature articles, which provide a deeper insight into the band and their eventual demise, were published in the iconic Aussie Rock Magazine 'Go Set" which was published from 1966-1974, thanks to Woodynet for the scans)

Aztecs and Healing Force Ready To Go
(Go Set Mag May 1, 1971 p5)

Healing Force have built up quite a following - this week they put down their first single and this should greatly strengthen their grip as Melbourne's most promising group.

Laurie Pryor (Drums) and Lindsay Wells (Guitar)

Pictured above are drummer Laurie Pryor and guitarist Lindsay Wells during a recording break.
Lindsay write their forthcoming single (which is not yet titled)  when he was with Perth's Bakery and although it was not recorded at that time, it  became very popular when a tape of it was played on Perth radio several times. In fact,  the station voted it the most popular song of the year.
Healing Force are recording the single for Melbourne's Sparmac label, which is half-owned by singer Robbie Porter.
Sparmac are also due to release "Eagle Rock" this week, the debut single (by) Daddy Cool. An album by that group should follow quite swiftly.

Healing Force In Stereo
(Go Set Mag July 24, 1971 p23)

Australia's third stereo single became available last week when Healing Force released their first record, Golden Miles.
Since they began in Melbourne several months back, Healing Force has been accepted as the best new group to emerge from that city - and they're hoping that the new single will be an extension of the attention they've attracted through live appearances.
During the next two weeks, Healing Force will also record their first album for the Sparmac label - one of the directors, singer Robie Porter, is in Australia this week from Los Angeles, and he'll produce the LP from the group's original material.

Record Review / Singles
(Go Set Mag July 24, 1971 p15 by Ed Nimmervoll)

It's sad that this record looks to be an epitaph for Healing Force instead of the beginning it was to be. Healing Force were emerging as the next major force in Melbourne Music. They impressed at each performance with clean complex, highly evolved music, a little like Spectrum but with separate, individual emphasise.
On "Golden Miles" you can hear that crisp, rhythmic, organ-based sound around the bluesy vocals. You can hear the interesting, original style they've evolved.
The song has a lot to hold your attention, including a memorable melody. Same holds for the other side, "The Gully". The fact that their style is fairly subdued, low-keyed and flowing, instead of being ear-catchingly dramatic, will hinder the air-play of the record. A fine local record you should not miss.

Gig Review 
(Go Set Mag November 20, 1971 p21 by Ed Nimmervoll)

There's a new Healing Force, resurrected from the "Golden Miles" group. They had problems with their equipment so it's possibly unfair to judge them but this group hasn't the same impact as before, not the same interesting organised flow.
They've retained the characteristic rhythmic style but that's really all there was to the performance.
.
This post consists of MP3's (320kps) sourced from their Sparmac 45, GTK film clips and the LP Garrison: The Final Blow - Unit 2.  Full artwork and Go Set Articles have also been included (thanks to Micko for live rips & artwork).
One can only wonder what Healing Force would have produced if Robbie Porter had followed through with his plans to record their debut album. Whether it was unrest amongst the Healing Force camp at the time or lack of funds on the part of Sparmac, one can only speculate why the LP never eventuated. However, the following compilation of their studio and live material is the closest thing that is available.

My copy of their single "Golden Miles" is probably one of the most treasured singles I have in my record collection, and still remember when I stumbled upon it by accident at an Op-shop in Colac back in the early 70's.  I think I paid 20c for it!  (ebay copies sell for nearly $75).  In as much as "Golden Miles" was the A-Side single, the flip side "The Gully" could have easily been an A-Side track in MHO.
I have also provided a separate WAV Rip of this single for all those Aussie collectors.
.
Track Listing
01 - Golden Miles (A-Side Single)
02 - The Gully (B-Side Single)
03 - My Boogie (Live GTK 30/3/1971)
04 - Poem Of Joy (Live GTK 14/4/1971)
05 - Feelings From The Gully (Live GTK 19/5/1971)
06 - Hay Fever Fill (Live Hit Scene 30/10/1971)
07 - Erection (Live Sunbury 27/1/1973)
08 - My Soul's On Fire [as Alta Mira] (Live At The Garrison June 1973)
.
Original line-up:

Laurie Pryor (drums)
Charlie Tumahai (vocals, bass)
Mal Logan (organ)
Lindsay Wells (guitar)

Other members:
Lindsay Wells (bass, guitar)
Ray Findlay (bass)
John Pugh (guitar)
Joe Tattersal (drums)
Mal Capewell (sax, flute)
Gus Fenwick (bass)
.
Healing Force Collection (93Mb)

Golden Miles/The Gully WAV (56Mb)

The Aliens - Translator (1980) + Bonus Singles

(Australian 1978 - 1981)
.

Three of the founders of The Aliens, Danny Johnson on lead vocals, Geoff Stapleton on guitar and vocals and Greg Webster on lead guitar, were in an Adelaide band, Gold, at that time Stapleton was on drums. In 1975 the line-up of Gold also included Grant Lang on keyboards, Dave Lewis on lead guitar and Grant Lewis on bass guitar. They played local venues around the city, as well as a number of country performances. In 1976 Gold were winners of the 5KA 'Battle of the Bands'. Soon after they were renamed as Riff Raff, which had a more punk name which reflected their material. In 1977 the Riff Raff line-up were Johnson, Stapleton (now on guitar), and Webster (now on guitar and vocals), together with Rob Grosser on drums. In February 1978 Johnson, Stapleton and Webster moved to Melbourne and in April that year they formed The Aliens with Graham Lewis on keyboards and Kevin Patricks on drums.

Early Aliens: Danny Johnson, Graham Lewis, Geoffrey Stapleton, Boris, Kevin Fennesy

Kez Hood was their manager and with Premier Artists as their agent, they began playing around Melbourne at places like Martinis, Hearts, Bananas, The Tiger Lounge, The Station,The Crystal Ballroom and Bombay Rock.

Their first of many Sydney shows was at the Sydney Cove Tavern on Tuesday 27th of February 1979. They'd played in Adelaide at the Arkaba Hotel on Sunday 25th, and drove to Sydney via Melbourne in an old broken down Valliant. It was the first of many hell rides up and down the Hume Highway. In Sydney they played places like The Bondi Lifesaver, The Civic Hotel, Stage Door Tavern, Comb n' Cutter, Manly Flix, French's Wine Bar, Chequers and The Royal Antler.

By May 1979 the "full house" signs were going up all over the inner city venues of Melbourne. The band played hundreds of live shows around Australia in 1979, sometimes two or even three shows a day. They were one of the first local bands of the late 1970s to adopt a new wave uniform of black clothes and skinny, white ties.

Classic Aliens: Greg Webster, Rob Grosser , Danny Johnson, Geoffrey Stapleton

They were also being courted by a number of major record companies but eventually signed to Mushroom Records on Wednesday 20th June 1979. They sold their publishing for a dollar! They recorded their first single, "Confrontation", with producer Charles Fisher over a weekend, from 11 to 13 August 1979, at Trafalgar Studios, Sydney. The group were mid-tour supporting The Sports nationally. In December "Confrontation" reached No. 36 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart. Their debut album, 'Translator', was recorded at The Music Farm, in northern New South Wales, between 24 November and 9 December 1979, with David Tickle producing.

The band performed on TV shows: Countdown, Nightmoves, Sounds Unlimited, and Hey Hey Its Saturday. In January 1980 the band toured nationally supporting United Kingdom band, Squeeze, and in March they supported The Police. The band had released its second single, "Follow that Girl", on 25 February that year, which reached No. 48. On 20 May 1980 following a performance at the Canberra Theatre, Webster quit and returned to Melbourne. In the previous sixteen-month period they had played 356 shows around Australia.

The band continued as a three-piece, working in a whole new repertoire and sound, which included keyboards from Stapleton. In September Randy Bulpin from Mondo Rock briefly joined on lead guitar until the end of October when the band relocated to Sydney. Pierre Baroni joined the band on the day they left Melbourne for Sydney. He was recruited for his voice and song writing ability, as well as his guitar arrangements. On 27 November Grosser left and was replaced by Alex Bash on drums in December 1980. On 6 March 1981 Johnson left the group leaving Stapleton as the only original member. Greg Trennery joined on bass guitar on 31 March.

The new line up of Stapleton, Baroni, Bash and Trennery recorded a third single, "I Don't Care", on 23 May at EMI Studios 301. "I Don't Care" featured Stapleton on lead vocals and the B-side "Over my Head" had Baroni on lead vocals. It was released in December 1981 on their own label, Planet X Records, through EMI. On 29 May Bash left the band and was replaced by Malcolm Fogg on 3 June. They toured Melbourne during October and November that year. Bash rejoined the band, replacing Fogg for the band's last performance on the TV show, Countdown, on 11 December 1981, performing "I Don't Care". Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, noted their "sound embraced guitar-oriented pop rock with the emphasis on 1960s melodies". Stapleton later joined a range of groups: Rockmelons (1983–85), GANGgajang (1984–87, 1995–present), Absent Friends (1990) and The Dukes (1991–93). Baroni worked in the art department of Mushroom Records.
[extracts from History of Aussie Music & The Geoffrey Stapleton Gallery]
.

This post consists of FLACs ripped from vinyl (thanks to Sunshine) and includes full artwork for the album and bonus singles.  Although not a band that I really followed at the time, I have grown to appreciated their music during my later years. Their single "Confrontation" was all over the airwaves in 1979 reaching No.13 on the Melbourne 3XY charts.  I have included as bonus tracks, the non-album B-Side single "The Hyding Of Dr. Jeckyl" and their final single "I Don't Care" with it's B-Side "Over My Head".

Another highly underrated Aussie Band brought to the surface for your enjoyment !


Tracklist
01 Too Late Now 2:43
02 Follow That Girl 2:58
03 L.O.V.E. Love 3:16
04 Till The Beast Is Dead 3:30
05 Girls 3:10
06 She's So Dangerous 3:07
07 He's An Angel 3:02
08 The Boys In Black 2:36
09 Go Away 3:08
10 The Machine Wants To Know 3:24
11 Confrontation 3:47
12 Bomb Squad 5:10
[Bonus Tracks]
13 The Hyding Of Dr. Jeckyl 3:53
14 I Don't Care 2:52
15 Over My Head 2:33

Band Members:
G.I Webster - Lead Guitar, Guitar Synthesizer, Vocoder, Vocals
Geofferey Stapleton - Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
Danny Johnson - Vocals, Bass
Robbie Grosser - Drums

Aliens Translator FLAC Link (312Mb)

New Link 15/12/2023