REPOST: Various Artists - Live At The Station (1976)

(Australian 1976)
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The Station Hotel (located in Greville Street, Prahran), which was first established in 1904, was an important part of the local live music scene during the 1970s, where it played host to some of the biggest Australian bands of that decade, including AC/DC, The Dingoes, and Spectrum.
The venue was also the setting for the fabled, and extremely rare, 1976 vinyl LP, "Live At The Station Hotel" which featured performances from The Dingoes, The Wild Beaver Band, Myriad, and Saltbush.
Longtime Dingoes member John Bois recalls the iconic venue’s 70s heyday in his new book, The Dingoes’ Lament, which contains several extracts featuring The Station Hotel; one section reads:
Derelicts and dole dependents normally peopled the Station, as well as besotted bon vivants who claimed it was a haven of mateship, a place where men could be men out of earshot of nagging women. But to the untrained eye it looked more like a place of banishment.  Nevertheless, on Saturday it was transformed into a subcultural temple. The gods of that subculture were … The Dingoes.” [extract from tonedeaf.com.au]
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A highlight of the album is of course the Dingoes, but there's so much more on this album ..the superb songwritng skills of Carl Myriad & his band who include musos who went onto major success like guitarist Andrew Pendlebury (who went onto Sports & a solo career) & Mark Ferrie (Models)
And you must check out the amazing twin lead guitar attack of the great Mick Elliott & John Brunell playing some superb southern boogie in the Wild Beaver Band. Mick & drummer Noel Herridge had both been in the great Sid Rump before forming Wild Beaver Band.
Finally you have Saltbush, a terrific country band featuring vocalist/guitarist Bernie O'Brien (Bobby & Laurie's Rondells, Merv Benton's Tamlas) & drummer Harold Frith (the legendary Thunderbirds). See my recent post on this terrific 'Country Blues Band'   [comments by Micko at Midoztouch ]
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Although the Dingoes released an album entitled 'Live at The Station', it is this second 1976 release “Live At The Station Hotel” that best captures the spirit and the music played there. While it features some of Melbourne’s then best bands, it is not to acknowledge that almost every artist and band worth anything, played at the legendary Station Hotel at some time.
This album features four of all the great artists to have played there. In order as they appear on the album:
Myriad - Carrl Myriad – vocals & guitar: Andrew Pendlebury – lead guitar: Chris Wilson – vocals & organ: Mark Ferrie – Bass: Phillip Smith – vocals & drums.
Dingoes – Brod Smith – vocals: Chris Stockley – vocals & guitar: Kerryn Tolhurst – guitar: John DuBois – vocals & bass: Ray Arnott – Drums (What a line- up!)
Saltbush – Bernie O’Brien – vocals & lead guitar: Ross Nicholson – vocals & guitar: Polly Pyle – vocals & bass: Harold Frith – vocals & drums. For more information about Saltbush see my earlier post.
The Wild Beavers – Snowy ‘Cutmore’ Townshend – vocals: Mick Elliott – guitar: John Brunell – vocals & guitar: Mick Crawford – bass: Noel herridge – drums.

The Dingoes

This is arguably an amazing collection of styles among these four groups and now, some 37 years later we can recognise that many of these artists have gone on to become true legends of the Oz music scene! There is not a ‘dead’ track on this fantastic album.
If you have not been fortunate enough to hear this album as yet, then you will need to take my word for the fact that the atmosphere and crowds at the Station Hotel have driven these groups to play at their very best. Yet, there is more. Behind the scenes there are some now ‘legendary’ names of the Melbourne music scene at work.
Produced by Keith Glass (of Missing Link fame and himself a musician and singer of note) – having been a significant member of the 18th Century Quartet and Cam-pact, later to have sung a lead role in Hair, and part owner and founder of the also now legendary Archie & Jugheads Record Shop. The other part owner of that shop, David N. Pepperell (aka Doctor Pepper), also a man well know throughout the music scene both as originally the lead singer of the short lived Melbourne Group of the 60’s – The Union (notable for their recording of the Thump, a track acknowledging the Thumping Tum disco), and also well known for his music Journalism. Keith is credited as Producing this Album, and David as the “Drunken Producer” (or vice versa).
The third key man associated with both the production of the album, and credited with being the first promoter of the Station Hotel, and member of Cam- pact, notorious in his own right – Mark Barnes. The cover and notes reflect the quirks and skills of these three guys and along with John McDiarmid & Michael Shipley, who engineered the recording, we have been left with an absolute Classic Australian Recording!. [Review by Rob Greaves]
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The Wild Beavers

The Wild Beavers
'There's a riot in cell block No. 9 — And The Wild Beavers are playing'.
There are a couple of new bands playing around the traps in Melbourne which are expected to do a lot of barnstorming over the next few months. They've got style and energy and good things can be expected. One of these bands is The Wild Beaver Band. Lord knows what that name means, like, one hesitates to ask, it could be something a bit risque. The Wild Beavers" members seem to have a kind of grounding in the urban blues, but the music the band now makes is more akin to the Southern American sound of Charlie Daniels and Elvin Bishop and Jerry Jeff Walker and Little Feat, h's the fast and sweaty beer hall rock V roll type music which sounds real good, when it s played right.
The Beavers began just a few months ago, with old school chum Mark Barnes, from Prahran's Station Hotel, as their manager. They played a bit at The Station, then got a chance to back J.J. Cale in Melbourne on his recent tour, and after that, they started to get a lot of work, as crowds began to notice this bunch of new fellas.
But probably the most interesting gig they've had of late is playing to the minor offenders and well-behaved at Pentridge Prison in Coburg. It was a couple of weeks ago that The Beavers went out there for an open air rock show, playing to Divisions A. B and D. The several hundred men in that lot. who don t normally get a lot of entertainment, thought the Beavers were all right, and gave them a big reception.
According to Beaver vocalist Snowy "Cutmore" Townsend, the show went down particularly well with the rock-starved 56 ers (they ve been wearing their stovepipes in stir since they got locked up 20 years ago) who were thirsting for Chuck Berry.
Apparently most of the entertainment served up out that way consists of Salvation Army Bands, which arc all well and good, and it's nice of the Salvos lo make the effort, but somehow it's not always ... er. fun ... to listen to. Snowy says there's a young guy out there on several armed robbery counts (busy defending himself in court, with the defence that he was in plaster from the waist down during one of at le.ast of the jobs) who is trying like crazy to get some decent entertainment for the inmates. The Beavers were the first excursion, and it looks like paved the way for more cell block rock n roll.

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The audience really got stirred up and were required to sit down and behave, but these restrictions didn't stop them from yelling for more, and tapping their feet. One of the inmates took a great interest in the drum equipment, commenting that the cymbals were split. He offered to fix them for drummer Noel Herridge with his oxy-acetelene torch in the prison workshop. It turned out the guy was also a drummer who played with the Pentridge inmates band.
Another thing which amazed the band about this prison was the number of prisoners wandering around with long hair and earrings and stuff. But they couldn t check out about the hair situation in the maximum security section — like "H Division.
Well by now it's a reasonable time to acquaint you with all the band members who are as follows: Snowy Townsend, vocals; Mick Elliott, guitar; John Brunell, guitar; Mick Crawford, bass guitar-, Noel Herridge, drums. Mick Elliott has played with Sid Rumpo, Jim Keays and Moppa Blues way back in the dim dark last decade; Noel also played with Sid Rumpo. Together with their manager Mark, they form a formidable drinking team because according to Mark, they "went to school together, drink together, grew bad together and live together". Things look good for |he band at the moment as. according to Barnes, five record companies have expressed keen interest in the band to record, and they re sitting back and considering the possibilities. The first recording they'll be on is a 'Live at The Station Hotel' LP with The Dingoes and Saltbush etc. where they do these songs: "What Am I Doing Here", "Shanghais in Alleys" and "Messing Around The Town". [article by Jim Morris, RAM Magazine, #31, May 7, 1976]

 Myriad
Carrl Myriad has been a staple on the Australian folk, country & bush music scene now for close on 40 years & continues to perform around the country & record.
He's perhaps best known for his folk/rock debut album "Of All The Wounded People" which was recorded by Carrl & Janie Myriad (Janie Conway of Stiletto), which is an album I'll upload in the next few days. He's also known for his self named country/rock band Myriad who had a long standing residency at Prahran, Melbourne's legendary venue The Station Hotel in the mid -late 70's. Myriad (the band) also appeared on the Live At The Station album with the Dingoes, Saltbush and the Wild Beavers
Following tours with Roy Orbison, Frank Zappa, and Melanie, Carrl travelled around Australia, which kindled an interest & research into the bush rangers Ned Kelly, Ben Hall, Mosquito etc. This developed into the concept show "In Search Of The Great South Land" which he toured around Australia to much acclaim. It was while he was in Tamworth in 1979 during that tour that he recorded this brilliant album that celebrates our wide brown land & it's inhabitants for the small Selection Records. [comments by Micko at Midoztouch]
For more info on Carrl Myriad, see musicminder.com
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This post consists of FLACs taken from Vinyl (released on the Lamington label) and includes full album artwork and label scans. Also included is a high resolution scan of the RAM Magazine article used for the rare background information provided on 'The Wild Beavers'. It is my opinion that their 3 tracks on this album are the highlight of this brilliant 'snapshot' of Melbourne Pub Rock from the 70's., in particular the hard riff driven song "What am I doing here?"
Repost made because I came across this album recently at my weekly trash & treasure, enabling me to make a fresh rip of the album in FLAC format. Another great $1 find !
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Track Listing

01 - Myriad - The Ballad Of The Glenrowan Hotel (Lookin' For Love)
02 - Myriad - Rock 'n' Roll Highway
03 - Myriad - Glenrowan
04 - The Dingoes - Marijuana Hell
05 - Mark Barnes - Mark's Rave
06 - The Dingoes - When A Man Loves A Woman
07 - Saltbush - Up Against The Wall Redneck Mother
08 - Saltbush - Stay All Night
09 - Wild Beaver Band - What Am I Doing Here
10 - Wild Beaver Band - How Come All You Dudes Look Like Cowboys
11 - Wild Beaver Band - Messin' Around The Town
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Live At The Station FLACs Link (301 Mb) Link added 3/07/2016
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The Dingoes - Live At The Station (1976)

(Australian 1973-1979)
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The Dingoes were an Australian rock band active from 1973 to 1979. From 1976 to 1979 the band was based in the USA. The founder and principal songwriter of The Dingoes was songwriter, guitarist Kerryn Tolhurst. He had been a member Melbourne's Adderly Smith Blues Band in the late '60s, where he first met singer and harmonica player Broderick Smith. This was followed by stints in two seminal Australian country-rock bands: Sundown (1970) with Keith Glass and Country Radio (1972-73). In Country Radio Tolhurst formed a successful writing partnership with leader Greg Quill, and they co-wrote the hit singles "Gypsy Queen" and "Wintersong", both of which were strong influences on the Dingoes' future direction.
After leaving Country Radio in early 1973, just after their appearance at the second Sunbury Rock Festival, Tolhurst briefly joined the band Mississippi (which would eventually evolve in Little River Band). Tolhurst formed The Dingoes in Melbourne in April 1973. The original lineup included Chris Stockley (ex-CamPact, Axiom), John Strangio (bass), John Lee (ex-Blackfeather (drums)) and Broderick Smith (vocals, harmonica). Smith had previously been the lead singer in noted blues/boogie combo Carson. Strangio left in July and was replaced by John Du Bois, who had worked with Tolhurst in Country Radio.
They were one of the early signings to the fledgling Mushroom Records label. Their debut single "Way Out West" was written by Tolhurst (although the first two albums credit it to the group as a whole). Released in October 1973, it became the band's signature tune and one of the classic Australian singles of the '70s. It was successfully covered by James Reyne and James Blundell in 1991. Just a week before the single was released Stockley received a serious gunshot wound during an incident at a party in Melbourne that resulted in a two-month stay in hospital. For many years the incident was written up as 'accidental shooting' but according to Ian McFarlane's Encyclopedia of Australian Rock & Pop, Stockley was shot by the notorious Melbourne drug dealer Dennis Allen, who had been trying to gatecrash the party. While he recuperated, Stockley was replaced by keyboard player Mal Logan (ex Healing Force, Carson), who stayed with the group until the end of 1974.

A nine hour benefit concert was held on 4 November 1973 at Leggett's Ballroom, Greville Street, Prahran. "Way Out West" charted in January 1974 and reached No.26 in Melbourne. The Dingoes appeared at the 1974 Sunbury Festival over the Australia Day long weekend, and their performance featured on Mushroom's Highlights of Sunbury '74, released later that year. The same month, they recorded their superb self-titled debut LP, produced by John French. Mal Logan played on the album, contributing keyboards on several tracks, including "Goin' Down" and "Sydney Ladies".
John Lee left in May 1974 to join Ariel and he was replaced by Ray Arnott, (ex-Spectrum, Mighty Kong). The group's debut LP The Dingoes was released in June 1974, along with a second single "Boy On The Run" / "Last Place I Wanna Be", which did well in Melbourne but did not break nationally. The LP reached No 18 in July 1974 and was the Federation of Australian Broadcasters' "Album Of The Year" for 1974. A third single, "Smooth Sailing" / "Dingoes Lament", was released in October. During the year The Dingoes toured nationally with various artists including Bad Company, Leo Sayer, Bo Diddley and Freddy Fender, and they won 'Best Australian Group Album' at the Australian Music Awards and 'Best Group Vocal Album' at the ARIA awards.

Early in 1975, the group got a major break thanks to expatriate Australian roadie Billy McCartney, who saw them while on a visit home from the USA, where he had established himself as a tour manager for Elvis Presley and Rod Stewart. Returning to the USA, McCartney recommended the band to Peter Rudge, who was then tour manager for both the Rolling Stones and Lynyrd Skynyrd, and after lengthy negotiations Rudge agreed to manage The Dingoes in the U.S.A. The following months proved frustrating for the band -- expecting the summons from Rudge at any time, they were unwilling to commit to long-term tours or to recording, and thus lost valuable ground in Australia when they should have been consolidating on the success of the LP and singles. An American tour was finally arranged for mid-1976, but by the time they arrived Rudge's attention was focused on Lynyrd Skynyrd. Just prior to leaving, Ray Arnott quit the group by "mutual agreement" and John Lee returned to the fold, meeting up with the band in Canada. The Dingoes signed a two-album deal with A&M records in the USA, on the recommendation McCartney and Rudge. In preparation, they undertook three months of rehearsals in Canada, then headed for the U.S., where they set up base in Mill Valley, in Northern California, at the start of 1977.

They recorded tracks for a new A&M album in San Francisco during January and February, produced by Elliot Mazer, whose credits included Janis Joplin and Neil Young, and there were session contributions from celebrated keyboard players Nicky Hopkins and Garth Hudson. The new album, ‘Five Times The Sun’, was the group's first overseas release, and included re-recorded versions of tracks from their first album, including "Way Out West" and "Smooth Sailing", which enjoyed chart success when released (as a double A-side) in Australia. It also featured liner notes by author Emmett Grogan. Soon after, the band members were granted their prized green cards, allowing them to base themselves in America, and in their two-year stay they toured forty states by road.

Stockley left the band in early 1978 and joined Greg Quill's new band Southern Cross, and when that band broke up in Australia at the end of the year he formed Stockley, See & Mason. He was replaced in The Dingoes by American session guitarist Andrew Jeffers-Hardin. By this time the group had moved east and settled near Woodstock, in upstate New York. In mid-1978, they released a third album, ‘Orphans Of The Storm’, recorded at New York's famed The Hit Factory, and they continued to work around the US until late 1978, but their efforts to crack the US market were ultimately to prove fruitless. The most serious blow came when several members of Lynyrd Skynyrd were killed in a plane crash, a tragedy which destroyed the morale of the management team and effectively brought The Dingoes' US career to an end.
‘Orphans Of The Storm’ was released in February 1979, along with a final single, "Into The Night", but by this time the band had split for good. [extract from wikipedia]
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The Dingo Tapes Part 1
BARKLESS
WILD DOGS
SPEAK

The Dingoes speak out... What's been tagging them, what turns them on; Why they left the MAC agency art what they really think about their 'Best Country Album Moomba Music Award. . . Hints about their secretive plans for America, and plenty of stirring. At last! The Dingo Tapes!

"My mother said I was an animal
For my wild and wicked ways
My father said I was an animal
Cos I would not wash for days
My girlfriend said I was a dog
And I guess she oughta know
A Man s Best Friend in human form
I'm a D-I-N-G-O
Yes I'm a dingo, I'm a D-I-N-G-O"

("I'm a Dingo", written for The Dingoes by Ross Wilson)

Ah yes, the Australian dingo — a much-maligned animal. A bit of an outlaw, with a price on his head . . . Running his pads raw, his tongue hanging down, across the yellow 'n red Australian outback sporting a wicked grin, looking for a hole in the endless fence where the dingo dogs crawl through.
More than just another wild dog, a Dingo is also a species of Aussie musician . . . A bit of a boy on the town, a man who's paid his dues and shows his scars from running battles with more than one mean-eyed promoter, out to tan his hide. Still grinning though, sharper than a brace of foxes and looking to be travelling on.
The Dingoes have been around since May '73 when Kerryn Tolhurst left Country Radio, our best Australian country-rock band up till that time, and teamed up with the inscrutable Broderick Smith, at the time pursuing a hot solo career (remember "Going on Down to the End of the World", on Flat Earth Records? Also, Brod playing the part of the Father, in Tommy? All these after leaving famous blues/boogie blow band Carson) and Chris Stockley (returned untriumphant from England, where "Australia's first Supergroup", Axiom, had broken up); drummer John Lee and bass-player John Strangio.
Three or four months later, Strangio was replaced with another member of Country Radio, John Du Bois. The only other line-up disruption since then has been when John Lee left around December '74 (to join the headed-for London town Ariel), and was eventually replaced, after some experimentation, by Ray Arnott, late of Spectrum/Murtceps and Mighty Kong.

Since their inception, The Dingoes have toured all over this wide brown land, all states excepting Queensland, "because Bjelke-Petersen's in power", and Tasmania, on protest (until such time as Errol Flynn's birthplace in Hobart is installed as a national monument). They have released three singles, "Way Out West", "Boy on the Run", and "Smooth Sailing".
The Dingoes, minus one Broderick Smith, who has succumbed to the enviable temptations of free food and grog at one of Melbourne's better restaurants, Edouard's of South Yarra — which, he discovered, was owned by the uncle of a friend — are gathered around an oval table in the plush-yet-modestly comfortable surrounds of drummer Ray Arnott's flat, only just a hop, step 'n' jump away from the luring cuisine of Edouard's. The tinnies are out, and the long tall glasses too, Dobie Gray croons morosely in the background. A couple of essential young women are talking at another table over by the kitchen door, and Ray Arnott s girl, Sam, strays by in a purposeful way, watering lush clusters of indoor plants as the conversation rises.

RAM: What was happening to The Dingoes, around the time that John Lee left to join Ariel?
Stockley: Absolute disaster. Oh well, the usual dissatisfaction came into a band around that time. About nine months ..... gestation. And then dissatisfaction comes in, and people start wanting to get into other things. Everyone had things to do, and everyone thought, like they'd go out and do 'em, you know? And that freaked John out, cos 'e 'ad a couple of offers, and 'e actually went and took 'is. Which was a bit of a shock to everyone concerned, because I think everyone else was just talking about it. But he went and did it. And that sort of. . Well, it's pretty dicey, init? Well, you know more than I do (looks at John Du Bois).
Du Bois: Basically, from my point of view, it was because we didn't have anything going at the time. We had an album out, and we'd given it a good six months ... it was out a while . . . and, um, there was nothing happening, and it would seem like we were sorta stuck. In Australia. Which we didn't want. Or I didn't want, just about everybody in the band really except Chris. And we were really on the verge of breaking up. But then, by the grace of God, a few things happened . . . The first thing that happened was replacing John Lee with Celonese drummer Seneil. It was an experiment that lasted three months.
"He was into black music" says Du Bois. "And he couldn't adapt. The whole thing was . . . like he was a beautiful guy, but the whole thing was really ... a waste of time."
Stockley: Yeah, it was just because of that, because he was into the soul thing, he wanted to do funky feels and go, ptsh-ptsh-ptsh, like that, and we wanted a real .  . a laid back big holy drummer.
Tolhurst: And we got an unholy one.
Arnott: It was really good, because, you know my record as well as I do . . I've played in two bands (classic Arnott understatement) ... but none of them have been, um — well all of them have been removed from what I've been into. Like, with Mighty Kong I used to like soul music a long time ago, and the band was really into soul. So I sort of drifted into that again. And this one is a combination of everything I've liked, and everyone has the same basic roots. From what I gather.

THE DINGOES ALBUM
RAM: Why do you think the album "The Dingoes" didn't sell particularly well, when it won two major awards and got great reviews?
Stockley. For the reason that the minority appeal we have is not big enough to be financially viable. And it had no promotion.
Tolhurst: None of those awards were capitalised on one bit. I think each time — those awards were six months apart or something — that could've sold an extra thousand copies ... It probably could've doubled in sales, but it was a dead record by the time of the Moomba Awards.
Stockley: I think it's still selling, we don't have the figures ... But you've got a good example there. Because people who write, and people who play records, like DJ's and column writers, record reviewers, all loved it. Musicians loved it too, And then again, that market of ours is more an LP market than a singles market, for a start off. And the singles we released weren't singles, as such. They were sort of to push the album, if anything.
RAM: What happened to your latest single "Smooth Sailing"?
Stockley: It didn't really get picked up. We're really big in Newcastle — um, the radio, 2NX, were trying to get a copy because we were doing a concert up there a few weeks ago, and they had a big promotion thing because they were running it... and they couldn't get "Smooth Sailing". It's been out since, what, last October or something.
Stockley: We even sent them up a tape. Was it you Kerryn who said "And now for our new single, 'Smooth Sailing'?" — and they didn't have anything to play after.it, so they couldn't use the tape.
Tolhurst: It's pretty hard to sell records like that
Stockley: Actually, recording-wise, it was probably the best thing we've done but it should've been gone back on and registered, and you know, put a few more things on it.
RAM: What did you think of your "Best Country Album" award?
Du Bois: Well, I'm sending mine to Slim Dusty.
Stockley: I'm sending mine to Reg Linsay, cos he was nominated, and he's country.
Tolhurst: I'm sending mine to Fred Zeppelin . . .
Stockley: We're a rock 'n' roll band, anyway.
Tolhurst: No I . . .It was very strange. It was nice to receive it, of course.
Stockley: We're very thankful for the people that voted for us... But it was just another hype, that's all.
(A large and spirited argument erupts, with all taking part),
Arnott: From what I heard . . . There was so many nominations sent out, and only about a third of them came back. So it shows you probably about a third of those people are interested . . . And they're probably the people who like listening to good music. And that's probably why it got a vote.
Stockley. Once again, up your music critics.
[extract from RAM Magazine, #7 May 31, 1975  p14]
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This post is an MP3 rip (320kps) taken from a soundboard cassette recording sourced from Midoztouch (thanks to Micko and DrPepperOz) and includes full album artwork and all photos featured above (sourced from brodericksmith.com). I have also included a copy of the RAM article scanned at high definition for all the music historians out there in Dingo land as well as their trademark track "I'm A Dingo" as a bonus, which was recorded at the Sunbury 74 concert.
For more information about The Station Hotel and the bands that played there along side the Dingoes, see my earlier post.
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Track Listing
01 - Starting Today
02 - Shine A Light
03 - You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone
04 - Mother In Law
05 - Rock A Bye Baby
06 - Come On Down
07 - How Come You're Never Home When I Call
08 - KO Love
09 - Teenage Blues
10 - Living In The Land Of Oz
11 - Having A Good Time
12 - Waiting For The Tide To Turn
13 - Going Down Again
14 - Smooth Sailing
15 - Sydney Ladies
16 - Up On The Roof
17 - Marijuana Hell
18 - Mark Barnes' Rave
19 - When A Man Loves A Woman
20 - I'm A Dingo (Bonus Track)
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Dingoes were:
Broderick Smith – vocals
Chris Stockley – vocals & guitar
Kerryn Tolhurst – guitar
John DuBois – vocals & bass
Ray Arnott – Drum 
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The Dingoes (173Mb)  New Link 30/08/2015
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Various Artists - The GTK Tapes Vol 3 & 4

(Various Australian Artists 1969-75)
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The series title was an abbreviation of the phrase "Get To Know". GTK is one of several significant popular music programs produced by the ABC, and like the later establishment of Double Jay, GTK was created to address the perception that the Australian youth audience was being poorly served by commercial radio and TV and that much important international music and especially Australian popular music was being ignored by commercial TV and radio at that time.

GTK premiered on 4 August 1969 and ran until 1974, after which it was superseded by the even more successful weekly show Countdown. The first series of GTK was directed by noted TV and event director Ric Birch, who was at the time the youngest director in Australian television. Because colour television was not introduced in Australia until early 1975, most of GTK was shot on black-and-white film or videotape, although segments of programs ca. 1974 are known to have been shot in colour.

GTK ran for ten minutes and was broadcast daily from Monday to Thursday, at 6.30 pm just before the ABC's popular rural soap opera Bellbird. GTK's magazine-style format—which gave strong emphasis to local Australian rock and pop music—included interviews, reports, music film-clips (music videos) and occasional footage of local and visiting international acts in concert.   

GTK (1969-74) aimed to introduce 'new teens and twenties … to the world of trendsetting fashions, records, movies and events’. The first program included a profile of Sydney rock band The Cleves and most episodes featured a live performance filmed for GTK at the ABC’s Gore Hill studio in Sydney.

A feature of every episode—and one that makes GTK a unique document of that period of Australian music—was the daily live-in-the-studio performance segment, especially recorded by GTK. These segments featured hundreds of notable and lesser-known Australian acts of the period. The band chosen as featured group for the week would often record their own 'cover' version of the GTK theme (composed by Hans Poulsen), which was played at the start of each of the programs.

Certainly the nightly viewers -always devoted and dismayed in equal parts - were served up the readily familiar likes of Zoot, Axiom, Doug Parkinson In Focus, Autumn, Jeff St John, Sherbet, Country Radio, the La De Das, Blackfeather, Billy Thorpe, Chain, Hush, Max Merritt & The Meteors, Russell Morris, Daddy Cool, Spectrum, and Flake, but they were also exposed to new, challenging contemporary acts such as Company Caine, Captain Matchbox, Pirana, Tamam Shud, Bakery, Sun, Third Union Band, Syrius, Glenn Cardier, Kahvas Jute. Band of Talabene No Sweat, Gungan Dim; Mother Earth, Human Instinct, Langford Lever, Duck, Jeannie Lewis, Friends, Wendy Saddington, Wild Cherries, Band of Light, Gary Young's Hot Dog, Moonstone, Mighty Kong, Home, Buffalo, King Harvest, Headband and Carson.

These live performance segments were filmed in Studio 21 at the ABC's Gore Hill complex, which had originally been used for drama during the early days of live-to-air production. Groups were called in early on Monday mornings, and four songs/pieces were recorded, with one segment broadcast each day. Another aspect that makes this GTK footage important is that many of the bands were asked to play material from their live repertoire—including cover versions—rather than their current or recent hit song/s, since it was felt that the groups would perform these better and because it would show off other facets of their music. It is believed that because these live performances were filmed (and later transferred to videotape for broadcast) most of this footage was preserved, despite the fact that many of the broadcast master tapes were later erased.

It was thought for many years that most of the videotapes of the program had been erased during an ABC economy drive in the late 1970s, but recent discoveries at the ABC, notably during and after the closure of the old Gore Hill studio complex in Sydney, have revealed that much of the series (including location pieces and in-the-studio performances) was shot on film and then transferred to video. Recent estimates from the ABC indicate that as much as 90 percent of the series has survived, although regrettably most of the first year of the show was only videotape, which has since been erased.

Recent discoveries have included Mick Jagger discussing his role in Ned Kelly (1970), an exclusive GTK interviews with Pete Townshend and Marc Bolan and unique colour footage of Lou Reed's 1974 Sydney concert (including one of the earliest known films of Reed performing "Walk on the Wild Side") and his legendary Sydney press conference, which features noted Australian television journalist Ian Leslie.

GTK's final show was broadcast in late 1974 and was superseded by the highly successful ABC pop music show Countdown (1974-87).  [extracts from Wikipedia and Australian Screen website]
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This post consists of MP3's (320kps) most likely ripped from YouTube snippets of GTK episodes (and sourced with thanks from Deutros) along with full CD artwork.  Vols 1 & 2 are also available on my blog. The GTK tapes are a wonderful chronology of the diverse and highly talented Aussie musos that dominated our music charts in the early 70's.
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Vol 3. Track Listing
01 - Who Said What (Carson)
02 - Blow In D (Chain)
03 - The Devil's Disciple (Coloured Balls)
04 - Mango's Theme (Blackfeather)
05 - Winter Song (Country Radio)
06 - If Only (Ted Mulry)
07 - Only You And I Know (Doug Parkinson)
08 - Woman With Reason (Company Caine)
09 - Poem Of Joy (Healing Force)
10 - Lucille (John Farnham)
11 - 64,000 Dollar Question (Daddy Cool)

12 - Launching Place Part II (Spectrum)
13 - Way Out West (The Dingoes)
14 - Gee (Daddy Cool)
15 - Private Eye (Skyhooks)

GTK Tapes Vol 3 Link (83Mb)
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Vol 4. Track Listing
01 - Don't You Know That I Do (Sherbet)
02 - Ginger Bread Man (Brian Cadd)
03 - Munge (Chain)
04 - Boogie (Friends)
05 - Down At The Station (Daddy Cool)
06 - Nile Song (Human Instinct)
07 - Johnny B. Goode (Johnny Farnham)
08 - Message (Renee Geyer & Sun)
09 - Wishing Well (Sherbet)
10 - Sunset Song (Mighty Mouse)
11 - I've Grown Tired Already (Syrius)
12 - Speak To The Sky (Rick Springfield)
13 - Come Back Again (Daddy Cool)
14 - Make Your Stash (Spectrum)
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GTK Tapes Vol 4 Link (121Mb)
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Various Artists - Great Aussie Rock (1975)

(Australian 1973-1975)
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Other than Festival Records, no local company has had such a dramatic impact on Australian popular music as Michael Gudinski's Mushroom label. Although it struggled as a minor player for its first two years, it had a major effect on the direction of Australian music because of the many important acts it signed, and because of its intimate business connections with what became the leading east coast agency, Premier Artists.
Mushroom evolved from Premier's immediate ancestor, Consolidated Rock, which was formed by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans in 1971.
The fledgling label's inaugural release in February 1973 was Madder Lake's Goodbye Lollipop. The inaugural album release, issued in April 1975, was typically ambitious -- a triple album compilation of live tracks from the previous January's Sunbury Festival. The first year of Musroom's output reflected the diverse rage bands Gudinski and Evans had signed -- Madder Lake, Friends, Bobby James Syndicate, Chain, Matt Taylor, Ray Brown's One Ton Gypsy, Ayers Rock, The Dingoes, Sid Rumpo, Buster Brown.

The label might well have folded had it not been for the signing of an up-and-coming Melbourne art-rock band called Skyhooks, who were championed by former Daddy Cool supremo Ross Wilson. Wilson signed them to his publishing company, convinced Gudinski to sign them to Mushroom and produced their debut album and single. Released in August 1974, it shot to the top of the charts around the country [extract from Midoztouch]
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In addition to the releases on their standard label, Mushroom records also released a limited number of 'compilation' albums on their 'budget priced' anti-Rip Off label. One of these releases was called 'Great Aussie Rock' which is featured in this post. All artists on this great compilation were signed to Gudinski's record company and in many respects were his showcase bands. Bands such as Skyhooks, Madder Lake, Chain and The Aztecs were all huge at the time and help to make this a very collectible item indeed.
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Here is a brief run down of the bands on this compilation and the albums from which the tracks were taken:.
Skyhooks - Living In The 70's
Living in the 70's was the debut album released by Melbourne band Skyhooks in October 1974 on the Mushroom Records label. Initially charting in Melbourne only in 1974, by early 1975 the rest of the nation began to catch on. It spent 16 weeks at the top of the Australian album charts from late February 1975, and became the highest-selling album by an Australian act in Australia up until that time, with sales of 240,000. In October 2010, it was listed at No. 9 in the book '100 Best Australian Albums'. The album was produced by former Daddy Cool lead singer Ross Wilson.
Two singles were lifted from the album: "Living in the 70's"/"You're a Broken Gin Bottle, Baby" and "Horror Movie"/"Carlton (Lygon Street Limbo)", the latter spending 2 weeks at the top of the Australian singles chart in 1975. Six tracks from the album were banned on commercial radio in Australia, including the featured track 'Smut' on this compilation However, in defiance of this, the ABC's new youth station in Sydney, 2JJ, played the track "You Just Like Me 'Cos I'm Good in Bed" as their first ever song when they began broadcasting in January 1975.
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Ayers Rock - Big Red Rock
Ayers Rock's debut album 'Big Red Rock' was taped live before an invited audience at Armstrong's Studios in Melbourne, over two nights in September 1974. The live-in-the-studio approach worked extremely well for Ayers Rock, and the album clearly demonstrated why their awesome live 'chops' had made them such a popular concert attraction. But it also was something of a necessity for the cash-strapped label -- they took the same approach with and another early signing, Mackenzie Theory. The Ayers Rock LP reportedly cost Mushroom a mere $5000 to record.
Big Red Rock was an early critical and commercial success for Mushroom, showcasing the band's considerable prowess and the material was a good balance between the more commercial song-based material of McGuire and Brown and the more adventurous instrumentals. The LP features three songs by McGuire, including their memorable second single, the Latin-flavoured "Lady Montego", a song that dated back to McGuire's stint in Friends; an earlier, slower version appears (in a live recording) on the Garrison: The Final Blow LP.
Big Red Rock also features two excellent pieces by Loughnan including an awesome power-jam "Crazy Boys", two songs by Chris Brown, and a dazzling cover of Joe Zawinul's "Boogie Woogie Waltz", originally recorded by Weather Report (who were at that time virtually unknown in Australia).

..Madder Lake - Butterfly Farm
Recorded in October 1973 at TCS studios Richmond Melbourne . Produced by John French and Madder Lake.This album takes on a different musical direction with the inclusion of " Andy Cowen" on keyboards.
The second LP, 'Butterfly Farm', was released in April 1974; it sold very well (giving the band their second gold album) and went to #18 in the album charts. Mushroom lifted two Singles from it: the first was Butterfly Farm / Back Seat Song (April '74). Radio in Melbourne picked up one of the album tracks, "Booze Blues", and gave it a lot of airplay. Many fans thought it was the new single, so Mushroom rush-released it in May, but it was only a local hit in Melbourne and didn't chart nationally. The next single, It's All In Your Head / Slack Alice (November) was written specifically as with radio airplay in mind, but it didn't make the charts. A CD release of 'Butterfly Farm' is currently from Aztec Music
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Matt Taylor - Straight As a Die
His debut solo album, 'Straight as a Die', was released at the end of 1973. The single "I Remember When I Was Young"/"Krishna Loves You, Too," which had been recorded in an open paddock at Kingston Park Farm, hit the Top Ten in Melbourne. Note that his single "I Remember When I Was Young" didn't actually appear on the vinyl release in 1973 (even though a longer version of "Krishna Loves You, Too" did), but was included on the CD release in 1997.
The album reached number 15 on the national charts and Taylor toured the country, performing at Sunbury 1974; the live track "We'll Never Do the Same Again" appeared on the various artists album 'Highlights of Sunbury '74 Part 2'.
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Dingoes - Selftitled
The Dingoes are one of the greatest bands Australia has ever produced.
The Dingoes were only relatively successful when they released their self-titled debut album in June 1974, one of the first signings to Michael Gudinski’s Mushroom Records label. The lead single ‘Way Out West’ made an impression as did the second single ‘Boy On The Run’ released to coincide with the release of the album, but they weren’t runaway hits – and yet, you will know both those songs, as all through the years that have passed since they’ve never been far away from radio playlists. That in itself is a not sign of greatness but certainly of longevity.
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Greg Sneddon - Mind Stroll
Decent biographical information on Greg Sneddon is hard to come by; suffice to say that he's still performing today, thirty years after the release of what I presume was his debut album, 'Mind Stroll'. A keyboard player of some repute, Sneddon used a handful of other musicians on the album (not least a singer), playing multi-keys himself, although I'm afraid to say the end result's a little anodyne; the composition has its moments, but overall has far too much of a 'soft-rock' vibe about it. Full-on symph this is not. The two longer compositions, the title track and Madman are probably the best, but there's something lacking in this album; it doesn't even touch Aussie prog masters such as Sebastian Hardie or Aleph.
Ignore online references such as 'lots of Mellotron' with regard to this record; only two tracks I can hear, with polyphonic flutes on Winter and orchestrally-inclined strings on Take It Slow And Easy, which doth not a 'Tron album make.
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Coloured Balls - First Supper Last
Australia's Coloured Balls are the sort of thing legends are made of. In their homeland, that's exactly how they're revered, though their impact in the states and other parts of the world has gone virtually unheard. Headed by guitar hero Lobby Loyde, Coloured Balls pioneered a raucous, abrasive and loose sound that at one point became the mantra of skinheads in their native country.
'First Supper Last' is a stonkingly rocking album that was actually recorded in 1972, making it their first album, but was not released until 1976 after the band split in 1974.
'First Supper Last' is the sound of a band finding its sound. Though it is essentially a blues workout on most of the material here, the sound is punishing and energetic. It's evident from the start how this band earned its reputation. The album is padded with numerous cover tunes, but the original material is what really demands your attention. Loyde's guitar work is abrasive, chaotic and teetering on the verge of destruction...everything a charged rock and roll album should be.
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Buster Brown - Something To Say
Buster Brown was a short-lived, but highly influential Melbourne band from the early Seventies, who are remembered as the breeding ground for some of Australia ’s most famous musicians (AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd & Rose Tattoo vocalist Angry Anderson being the most notable).
Lack of industry infrastructure and media outlets plus sheer bad timing were factors - newly signed and fellow mushroom label-mates Skyhooks eclipsed Buster Brown just as they were gathering momentum. Angry Anderson on vocals and Phil Rudd on drums were the backbone of a rock outfit who were a force to be reckoned with on the live circuit.
Title track/theme song Buster Brown showcases the roots of Australian heavy blues-rock and Angry's penchant for writing lyrics that address growing up tough on the wrong side of an Australian suburb; Young Spunk and Apprentice do the same, echoing a time when panel vans had murals and kids from private schools would never dream of having tattoos. A CD release of 'Something To Say' is currently available from Aztec Music
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Chain - The (Very) Best Of
Chain were an Australian blues band formed in Melbourne as The Chain in late 1968 with a lineup including guitarist, vocalist Phil Manning; they are sometimes known as Matt Taylor's Chain after lead singer-songwriter and harmonica player, Matt Taylor. Their January 1971 single "Black and Blue", which became their only top twenty hit, was recorded by Chain line-up of Manning, Taylor, drummer Barry Harvey and bass guitarist Barry Sullivan. The related album, Toward the Blues followed in September and peaked in the top ten albums chart.
Chain had various line-ups until July 1974, they separated for several years then reformed in 1982 for a one-off concert and more permanently from 1983–1986. Further line-up changes occurred with some forms called Matt Taylor's Chain, from 1998 Chain members are Harvey, Manning, Taylor and Dirk Du Bois on bass guitar. Both Manning and Taylor have also had separate solo careers.
In 1973, Mighty Mouse would evolve into yet another Chain -- by now the 15th permutation of the band!. Signing to Mushroom, this line-up issued two singles, the medium-tempo "I Thought You Weren't My Friend" (August) and the gruff shuffle-blues "I'm Gonna Miss You Babe" (November). Neither was particularly successful, but the reconstituted group did impress on the touring circuit, appearing in March at yet another large outdoor gathering, the Down Under Rock Festival in Melbourne (again, all the usual suspects were on a bill that featured – surprise – headliners The Aztecs). During May, Chain toured the country as support to the Muddy Waters Band and soon after teamed with that band's James "Peewee" Madison (guitar, vocals) and George "Mojo" Beauford (vocals, harmonica) for recordings that would form part of Chain's next LP, Two Of A Kind.
Sadly, the single "I'm Gonna Miss You Babe" was never released on a studio album, although it did appear on later compilations 'The History Of Chain (1974)' and 'The (Very) Best Of Chain (1978)'
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Sid Rumpo - First Offence
Sid Rumpo was a fairly polished pub-rock band which formed in Perth in 1971 and unfortunately disappeared into the mists of time in 1974. 'First Offence' - Sid Rumpo's one and only LP as it turned out - features the twin guitar riffing of Elliot and Rob Searls on some very catchy boogie and blues-rock songs.
All the songs pump along with the assistance of some tasty electric piano chops from Ken Wallace over the tight grooves laid down by Noel Herridge on drums and Owen Hughes on bass.
But for me, it's Rob Searls' bluesy vocals that stamp 'First Offence' with it's appealing, distinctive 70's, Aussie Rock sound.
"The Riddle"/"Jump Down, Step Aside" was their only single with the A-Side only appearing on their album.
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Phil Manning - I Wish There Was A Way
One of Australia's best known guitarists, Phil has a single handedly turned more Australians onto the Blues than any other performer.
Chain guitarist and sometimes vocalist "I Wish There Was A Way" was Phil Manning's first solo album. In this case, Phil has pulled out his acoustic guitar and presented a set of predominantly well-structured soulful ballads - in most parts far removed from the sometimes meandering blues of Chain. Phil is one of the great Aussie guitarists and his playing on this sets a pretty high standard. The superb title track opens the album and fairly well sets the scene for what is to come. Renee Geyer also features on vocals. [extract from Midoztouch]
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Aztecs - Sunbury 73
Thorpie and the Aztecs' Mk V legendary performance at the inaugural Sunbury Pop Festival in January 1972 spawned the Top 5 hit album Aztecs Live! At Sunbury. The album peaked at #3 on the national chart during September, sold over 80000 copies and remains a milestone in the annals of Australian heavy rock. The crunching 'Mamma' also appeared on the Various Artists live album Sunbury, issued by EMI. Just after Sunbury, alongside La De Das and Friends, The Aztecs were responsible for drawing one of the largest crowds ever assembled in Australia at Melbourne's Myer Music Bowl (estimated at over 200000 people).
Thorpie was back in Australia in time to headline at Sunbury 1973. The live track, 'Going Back Home', appeared on Mushroom's triple album set 'The Great Australian Rock Festival Sunbury 1973' (April 1973). The version included here is an edited rendition of the 13min original, with the track fading out after 6 mins.
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The rip included here was taken from CD at 320kps and includes full album artwork for both LP and CD (thanks to Woodynet for the CD artwork). I have also included scans of the LP labels which depict Mushroom's infamous anti-rip off label.
This is certainly one of my favourite compilation records and a prize possession amongst by Aussie record collection.
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Track Listing
01 - Smut (Skyhooks)
02 - Lady Montego (Ayers Rock)
03 - Booze Blues (Madder Lake)
04 - Well Never Do The Same Again (Matt Taylor)
05 - Way Out West (Dingoes)
06 - Winter (Greg Sneddon)
07 - Johnny B Goode (Coloured Balls)
08 - Something To Say (Buster Brown)
09 - I'm Gonna Miss You Babe (Chain)
10 - The Riddle (Sid Rumpo)
11 - Love Is The Mender (Phil Manning)
12 - Going Back Home - Live (Aztecs)
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Great Aussie Rock Link (108Mb) New Link 11/01/2023
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