Madder Lake - The Best Of (1978)

(Australian 1970–1976, 1978–1979, 1982, 1996–current)

Melbourne (Australia) band Madder Lake are best remembered for their infectious single "12lb Toothbrush".

Formed in 1970, their brand of prog rock/psychedelic blues quickly became extremely popular on the local pub circuity and Madder lake appeared as an opening act at the inaugural Sunbury festival in January 1972. A year later, they were one of the headlining acts at Sunbury 1973 and were one of the first bands signed to Michael Gudinski’s Mushroom Records. Gudinski’s first Mushroom release was the live album Sunbury ’73 featuring Madder Lake live with "Down The River"/"12lb Toothbrush".

They issued their debut single "Goodbye Lollypop" in February 1973 and supported The Rolling Stones at their Melbourne concert.

Stillpoint (1973)                                      Butterfly Farm (1974)

Debut album 'Stillpoint' (August 1973) was an adventurous work which reached #2 in Melbourne and #11 nationally.

The next single (the aforementioned 12lb Toothbrush) reached the Top 40 in Australia (Top 10 in Melbourne) – no doubt helped by the nagging vocal hook by Mick Fettes. At this stage, Andy Cowan replaced John McKinnon on keyboards.

Their second album, 'Butterfly Farm' (April 1974), lacked the magic of their debut, although it still sold well.

Mick Fettes 1973                                 Mick Fettes 2009

The two singles from the LP – "Butterfly Farm" (April) and "Booze Blues" (May) – were not successful. Follow-up single "It’s All In Your Head" also flopped.

Leaving Mushroom in 1974, Madder Lake were commissioned to write, record and perform a concept piece based around Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. The project was to be funded by the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) but was shelved after two years of work.

Mick Fettes and Andy Cowan left the band, with Fettes resurfacing in Bandicoot with now comedian Shane Bourne. [See earlier post Bandicoot ]

The band carried on as a three-piece until John McKinnon returned in 1976. The group endured three further lineup changes over the next 12 months.

The single "I Get High" (July 1976) was not successful and Tony Lake left the band in May 1977.

Fettes rejoined in 1978 and the band undertook a successful Australian tour. He left again in 1979.

Madder Lake never officially split up – they just stopped playing gigs or recording. A rare live performance formed part of the ‘Mushroom Evolution Concert,’ held to celebrate the label’s 10th birthday in January 1982. [See earlier post Mushroom Evolution Concert ]

Sporadic reformations have occurred since. Sadly, Mick Fettes passed away on 18th November, 2016. He was 65. [extract from nostalgiacentral.com]

The Madder Lake 'Family'  
[Photo taken in the Beer Garden of Violet Town Hotel]
with thanks to Dominic Barbuto 

Trivia Note:

Many of the original band members had art school/graphic design backgrounds – hence the name ‘Madder Lake’. It’s a pigment obtained when making dye from the root of the madder plant. It’s one of the oldest natural pigments in the world.

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my CD copy and includes full artwork for both CD and vinyl media, along with label scans. I always regretted not buying the LP when it was released in 1978 (copies now fetch big dollars) but was lucky enough to pick up a copy of the CD (released by Mushroom in 1991) at a garage sale many moons ago.  Their 2 albums (which I have on both media) are still available on CD from Aztec Records

For those interested in knowing the identities of the Madder Lake Family above, you will find a 'hot spot' version of the photo on Dominic Barbuto's Facebook page. I think you will be surprised by the who's who list of Australian Musical Royality, including producer John French (far right)

Track Listing:

01 Goodbye Lollypop 3:31

02 Listen To The Morning Sunshine 5:03

03 Helper 5:12

04 Song For Little Ernest 4:29

05 Down The River (Live at Sunbury '73)  6:10

06 12lb Toothbrush 3:51

07 Butterfly Farm 3:34

08 Booze Blues 2:54

09 Mothership 7:45

10 Slack Alice 5:08

11 It's All In Your Head 3:50

12 I Get High 3:26

Madder Lake were:

Andy Cowan (keyboards, vocals) 1973-75

Mick Fettes (vocals) 1971-75, 1978-2013

Ian Holding (bass) 1976-78

Jack Kreemers (drums) 1969-2011

Tony Lake (vocals) 1976-78

Brendan Mason (guitar, vocals)

Kerry McKenna (bass, vocals)

John McKinnon (keyboards, vocals) 1970-73

Colin Setches (vocals) 1976-78

Madder Lake Link (327Mb)

REPOST: Bandicoot - Selftitled (1976)

(Australian Band: 1976-78)
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.Mick Fettes, was the front man and vocalist for Madder Lake, which was one of the most original and distinctive of the "new wave" Australian groups that emerged around 1970. They were also an important and popular part of the Melbourne music scene in the early 70's. It's unfortunate that they're only known for their two excellent albums - Stillpoint (1973), Butterfly Farm (1974) and one "Best Of.." compilation (1978). Both studio albums have recently been released on CD by Sandman Records (aka Aztec Records).
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Things came to a head however, at the end of 1975. While on a trip to Sydney, Mick Fettes, who was very much the voice and face of Madder Lake, decided he had had enough, and one night before a gig at the Bondi Lifesaver he quit the group.

Mick took a well-earned sabbatical and then teamed up with an his old mate, musician and comedian Shane Bourne. Mick and Shane knew each other from the Reefer Cabaret, where Madder Lake had played many times, and where Shane performed comedy spots between acts. After several months' writing the pair formed a new group, Bandicoot, which also included drummer Gary Young (Daddy Cool). They recorded an album and single in 1976 for the Rainbird label, and toured extensively.

Bandicoot (featuring Mick Fettes far right)

This rip was taken from a vinyl pressing in FLAC format and includes full Album Artwork for CD and vinyl, along with label scans (thanks to Antichubais at Ausrock for the rip and artwork)

Note: Sadly, Mick Fettes passed away on the 18th of November, 2016 aged 65. RIP mate

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Track Listing:

01. Living Off The Radio

02. Rock n Roll Dreams
03. Winter Boy
04. Star Of The Screen
05. Oo-wee
06. Just Goes To Show
07. Hoe Down
08. Country Girl
09. Who Am I To Say
10.Backstage Goddess
11.Midday Dawn
12.Living Together Alone
13.Woman Of Stone

Band Members:

Mick Fettes (Vocals)
Ross Davies (Guitar)
Mick Elliot (Guitar)
Chris Stafford (Bass)
Gary Young (drums)

New Improved FLAC Rip

Bandicoot Link (231Mb) 

REPOST: Various Artists - Garrison: The Final Blow Unit 1 & 2 (1973)

(Various Australian Artists 1973)
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The Garrison discotheque was a small two-storey building sandwiched between a chemist shop and a billiard parlour in High Street, Prahran (Melbourne). Thursday to Sunday nights it rocked through the early hours of the morning to the sounds of the best rock bands in Australia. Against strong opposition, the local council forced its closure in June 1973. 

Two albums were recorded over Garrison's last five nights - Wednesday 6th to Sunday 10th of June. The three groups featured on Unit (volume) 1 are "Ray Brown's One Ton Gypsy", "Madder Lake", and the group "Friends," who would later be known as "Ayers Rock". Friends contributed two songs, an early version of "Lady Montego" (as featured on Big Red Rock) and "Freedom Train", with it's incredibly long break / solo by drummer Mark Kennedy. "Boy You Shot Me Down" by Ray Brown is also worth a listen. Unit (volume) 2 is worth grabbing for the collection, but Unit 1 is the better complilation.

 

This four-piece version of Friends only lasted until the middle of the year. In early June 1973 they were one of the groups that played at the closing nights of the Garrison venue in Melbourne and the group folded soon after the Garrison farewell, with Burton Kennedy and McGuire all leaving to form their eponymous trio, which evolved into the original lineup of Ayers Rock, who re-recorded "Lady Montego" on their debut album.

This is a unique, live Australian rock'n'roll album that is certain to stand the test of time. Garrison has gone but because of this album the music will last forever - we had the final blow.

I've split the downloads into two (in case you already have one of the units), rips were taken from my recently acquired vinyl (thanks to market seller John Tait) in glorious FLAC format and includes full album artwork (sourced from Midoztouch with thanks) and label scans.

                                     **  NEW FLAC FORMAT **

Track Listing

Unit 1

01 - Madder Lake - Bumper Bar Song

02 - Madder Lake - When Is A Mouse

03 - Madder Lake - Rodney's Birthday

04 - Ray Brown - Covered Wagon

05 - Friends - Lady Montego

06 - Friends - Freedom Train

07 - Ray Brown 's One Ton Gypsy - Boy You Shot Me Down

Garrison Unit 1 Link (254Mb)  New Link 28/03/2023

Track Listing

Unit 2

01 - Chain With Matt Taylor - Grab A Snatch And Hold It

02 - Sid Rumpo - Now I`m Free

03 - Sid Rumpo - Forty Days And Forty Nights

04 - Dutch Tilders - Sweet Marie

05 - Chain - Do What You Wanna Do

06 - Matt Taylor - Roberta

07 - Alta Mira - My Soul`s On Fire

Garrison Unit 2 Link (268Mb) New Link 28/03/2023

W.O.C.K On Vinyl: Various Aussie Artists - Mushroom Evolution Concert (1982)

On Australia Day we come together as a nation to celebrate what's great about Australia and being Australian. It's the day to reflect on what we have achieved and what we can be proud of in our great nation. It's the day for us to re-commit to making Australia an even better place for the future. Australia Day, 26 January, is the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet of 11 convict ships from Great Britain, and the raising of the Union Jack at Sydney Cove by its commander Captain Arthur Phillip, in 1788.

With respect to Australia's Music Industry, we can be very proud of the contributions that our Aussie Musos have made in entertaining people from every nation with music and song, with many of our artists achieving world wide acclaim. Huge Concerts on the Australia Day long-weekend are something of a rock & roll tradition. 

In 1972, the Sunbury festival — our very own Woodstock — set the trend when 35,000 people camped out for three days on a site in country Victoria to watch the cream of Australian rock Daddy Cool, Max Merritt and the Meteors, Spectrum, Chain and, of course, Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs. The event was such a success that it became a regular on the rock & roll calendar for the following three years. The last Sunbury (1975) — which featured Deep Purple, Skyhooks, Sherbet, Madder Lake and the Dingoes — was marred by inclement weather. Its financial failure lolled the festival.

It wasn't until 1982 and the Mushroom Evolution concerts at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne that Australia Day rock was revived. Over the two days of the event, over 100,000 people turned out to help Mushroom celebrate its tenth anniversary and watch the likes of Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons, Paul Kelly, Renee Geyer and Russell Morris. The original lineups of Chain and Madder Lake also reformed for the event. 

The following year, Narara '83 tried to revive the spirit of Sunbury with a three-day concert at Somersby, NSW, featuring Cold Chisel, Australian Crawl, INXS, the Angels and the Church. Despite its success, die festival took on a strong international focus the following year, headlining with Talking Heads, Eurythmics, Simple Minds and the Pretenders. In 1986, Australian Crawl kept the tradition alive: For their final show ever, they headlined an all-day gig at Melbourne's Myer Music Bowl. The following year, the Australian Made tour stole the limelight but it wasn't until 1992 when the Big Day Out was launched in Sydney (headlined by Nirvana and the Violent Femnes) that a regular event agajn branded its name on the weekend [Dino Scatena-Rolling Stone Magazine Sept 1994]

Myer Music Bowl - Evolution Concert 1982

To mark this Australia Day, I have decided to post the Mushroom Evolution Concert. I purchased this Triple LP when it was first released in 1982, mainly because it had one of my favourite Aussie bands featured (Madder Lake) however the album was also chocked full of some of Australia's finest artists.

Album Review

Almost one year after the two day concert at Melbourne Myer Music Bowl which drew more than 100,000 fans of Australian rock, this audio documentary of the Mushroom Evolution Concert was finally made available. Even allowing for the lavish and intelligent packaging, the lengthy delay was surprising. Still, this stunning triple album set was worth waiting for.

Mushroom and the late Michael Gudinski had already been the backbone of Australian rock for a decade and this tasty sampling of the label's history is remarkably diverse and exciting. From the techno-pop of MEO245, to the gritty blues of the original Chain, to the zany rock 'n' roll celebration of OL'55, to the familiar melodic strains of Madder lake, this is Australian rock at its best.

With generally excellent performances by those acts, along with Sunnyboys, Sports, Kevin Borich Express, Renee Geyer,, Rock Doctors, Milly Miller, Paul Kelly (without his Dots), stalwart Russell Morris, Mike Rudd and the Heaters, Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons, Models, Dave & Derros and the Swingers this album is a vibrant, blockbusting delight. And with a pricetag of just $17.99, this live release was a bargain.  

As a special bonus, to close side six, the cream of the musicians from the various acts came together in a giant jam (overlorded by the irrepressible Wilbut Wilde) to bash away two classics - Stand By Me and Johnny B. Goode. For the icing on the cake, Mushroom 'old boys' Angry Anderson (ex Buster Brown) and Broderick Smith (ex Dingoes) handled lead vocals  [Review by Glenn A. Baker]

This post consists of FLACs ripped from the CD release (thanks to Sunshine) and consists of full album artwork for both vinyl and CD.     

To read a comprehensive coverage of the concert as reported by Donald Robertson in 1982 Feb edition of 'Roadrunner', take a look at the Roadrunner website  (thanks to Crossocean8).

Happy Australia Day and enjoy this great Aussie Rock

Tracklist

1-1 Billy Miller And The Great Blokes  - She Took My Heart

1-2 Dave And The Derros  – Nice Legs, Shame About The Face

1-3 Meo 245  – Other Places

1-4 Mike Rudd And The Heaters  – Love Comes, Love Goes

1-5 Mike Rudd And The Heaters  – Ill Be Gone

1-6 Swingers  – Counting The Beat

1-7 Kevin Borich Express  – Don't Let Go

1-8 Kevin Borich Express  – Can't Help It

1-9 Sunnyboys  – Trouble In Brain

1-10 Sunnyboys  – Birthday

1-11 Paul Kelly – Hand Me Down

1-12 Paul Kelly – Billy Baxter

1-13 Jo Jo Zep And The Falcons  – Love And Devotion

1-14 Jo Jo Zep And The Falcons  – You Don't Know

1-15 Models – Happy Birthday I.B.M.

1-16 Models – Local & or General

1-17 Rock Doctors  – Yes Indeed

1-18 Russell Morris And The Rubes  – In The Heat Of The Night

1-19 Russell Morris And The Rubes  – Roar Of The Wild Torpedoes

2-1 Madder Lake  – Goodbye Lollipop

2-2 Madder Lake  – Song For Ernest

2-3 Madder Lake  – 12lb. Toothbrush

2-4 The Sports  – How Come

2-5 The Sports  – Stop The Baby Talking

2-6 Chain – Black And Blue (Medley)

- Dust My Blues

- Blow In 'D'

- My Arse Is Black With Bourke Street

2-7 Chain –  I Remember When I Was Young

2-8 The Fives (OL'55)  – C'mon Let's Do It

2-9 The Fives (OL'55)  – On The Prowl

2-10 The Fives (OL'55)  – Goodnight Sweetheart

2-11 Renee Geyer And Friends  - Sitting In Limbo

2-12 Renee Geyer And Friends  – Say I Love You

2-13 Renee Geyer And Friend  – Heading In The Right Direction

2-14 The Jam – Stand Me By (Featuring – Broderick Smith)

2-15 The Jam – Johnny B. Goode (Featuring – Angry Anderson, Matt Taylor)

Mushroom Evolution Concert (1.07G)

REPOST: Various Artists - Sunbury '74 (Parts 1 & 2)

(Various Australian Artists 1974)
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The 70's was a period in Australian Rock Music when the industry showcased its very best at the annual Sunbury music festival. On each Australia day weekend from 1972-1975, 35,000 plus people would travel to a picturesque site 30 minutes from Melbourne, in anticipation of witnessing some of the greatest performance of our own rock bands. For those who attended it was an event not to be missed and still considered today to be the most successful rock music festival of its kind held in Australia.
The Sunbury Music Festivals were organised by a group named Odessa Promotions, said to be members of the Melbourne TV Industry. The principal of the company was John Fowler, and it’s said that the company included people who had previously worked on shows such as Uptight, a pop TV show of the late ‘60s. The company went into liquidation after the final concert of ‘75, which was a financial disaster compared to the previous festivals.

There’s just as much mythology about the spirit of the Sunbury Music Festival, with some regarding it as Australia’s Woodstock, a keypoint in more innocent times that embraced peace and a laid back life, while others saw the Sunbury festivals as an event that mirrored the decline of that flowery period with some suggesting that the festivals steadily became a beer-soaked yob fest.
While the Sunbury Music Festivals did much for the Aussie music scene, featuring an all-Australian line-up in ‘72’s first festival, it also attracted well-known acts from overseas in the later festivals with British bands Queen appearing in ‘74 and Deep Purple taking the stage in the festival of ‘75.
John Fowler's Odessa Promotions flexed their muscles for Sunbury '74. But getting Daddy Cool to reform wasn't enough. They decided to impose their first 'international' act on the festival.    So far, Sunbury had been a celebration of Australian music. Their international guests were unproven and no one had heard of Queen. They were just two albums old and yet to make any significant name for themselves. Where Queen were treated like. . kings...down to being chauffeured to the site, the Australians of course made their own way. (Nothing's changed of course. Ask the Australians who were forced to appear for free at Rumba recently). The rest of the Sunbury '74 performers resented Queen being there, resented everything their presence represented. The audience also resented the English band being there. For them, the Australian music was more than enough. Making things just a little worse, there was a mix-up over daylight savings. Queen had been booked to appear an hour before they expected. They made everyone wait until the sun went down. Queen didn't do themselves any favours, but they were SO unknown, and SO insignificant no-one held it against them later. Only for Queen was it a day they would never forget.
When Queen took to the stage, the band was largely unknown at that time on Australian shores and they were unfortunately heckled from the stage following their performance, allegedly after the announcer of that year’s festival asked the audience, “D'you want anymore from these pommie bastards or do ya want an Aussie rock band?”

 
Before leaving the stage to jeers that labelled them “pooftahs” who should go back to Pommyland, Freddy Mercury, Queen’s iconic front man (who was nonetheless fond of bottoms) boldly and bravely fired a parting shot back at the audience. He declared that when his band Queen would next visit Australia, they would be the biggest band in the world. And true to his word when they returned to our shores in ‘76, QUEEN were indeed one of the most globally acclaimed bands. [extracts from onlymelbourne.com.au]
 
The following is an account of the Sunbury '74 concert through the eyes of one of the festival's compares (and a well known celebrity from the Countdown era) - none other than Ian 'Molly' Meldrum. Reporting in his regular weekly column 'Ian Meldrums Keyhole News' (GoSet magazine, Feb 9,1974. p10), Molly gives us a wonderful run down of each band who played over the three days, and helps capture some of the excitement that occurred at what some people consider to be the best Sunbury of all. For more information about the Sunbury festival, see Milesago.com.

 

SUNBURY BLOODY SUNBURY …POP ORGY…well, that was the headline in one of Melbourne’s better known Sunday papers…their editorial went on to describe how Sunbury became Sin City…of how sex, violence, drugs, and beer-swilling teenagers turned the festival into an orgy.  Wow, SUNBURY ’74 must have been sensational…I wish I’d been there…the funny thing is that I was there for the whole 3½ days and apart from a few isolated incidents involving some yahoo’s, no way known could you describe Sunbury as a violent festival…and as for the open use of drugs, well the drug squad who were there in full force must have been blind-folded because they only made a couple of arrests…thousands of contraceptives sold??...strange that the Chemists report that they only sold about a dozen. 
In other words, WHAT A LOAD OF BULL!...in fact, I would go as far as to say that Sunbury’74 was one of the most peaceful and most organised festivals you could ever hope for…Nude Bathing?...Well, why not?...I mean, who cares?...we have, thank you, grown up at least that much…and let’s face it, it’s papers like this Sunday rag that have made us immune to it all…they thrive on the Tits and teeth bit…unfortunately the thing they forgot to mention was the great line up of talent that kept us entertained over the three days…unfortunately this column is too short to give mention to everyone…but believe me, in one way or another, all deserve a pat on the back…my fear that this year’s Sunbury would be dreary and boring like Sunbury ’73, was completely unfounded…

Friday Night and Sherbet Slayed ‘em
Friday Night…a beautiful clear sky and the satellite city is already in full swing…and wouldn’t you know once again I opened my big trap once too often RE: SHERBET…I did say a couple of weeks back in the column that I couldn’t understand why the group was performing on the first night when most of the audience would be still hitching up their tents etc etc…Wrong…the audience hill was packed and I must say that Sherbet were magnificent…but the guys should give thanks to PIRANA, ROSS RYAN and BAND OF LIGHT who were on before them because they really put the audience in a great mood…PIRANA played a beautiful set and it’s hard to believe that they are not a bigger name in this country because they deserve to be…ROSS RYAN was good but Ross’s outstanding performance was to come on Sunday…BAND OF LIGHT were, I thought, tremendous… surely they are destined to do big things on the Australian music scene this year…and then there was SHERBET… what a performance!...it was their first ever Sunbury and let me tell you right here and now that they made up for the previous two years when they were unable to appear…For months I’ve been raving about their stage act and musical talents but every time I see them they just never cease to amaze me…I’ll go as far as to say that they have probably one of the finest stage acts in the world…and I’m sure the likes of Bowie, Rod Stewart and Elton John, if they were ever given the chance to see them, would agree with me…need I say that Sunbury loved them…it should, in SHERBET’S book, go down as one of the highlights in their already dazzling career…because Sunbury is a fest and in my book, and they may disagree because I believe they weren’t happy with their performance, they get 10 out of 10
To finish off Friday night, HOME, one of Australia’s up and coming groups put the final seal to the night’s superb display of entertainment.

Hot Saturday
Saturday was HOT, really, really HOT…and the drink and watermelon stores were doing great business…sure, people drank booze and happily I report that gone from the festival were the dozens and dozens of kids that were there last year staggering around till the early hours of the morning…by mid-afternoon temperatures had soared to 35 but this didn’t put a downer on UPP’s energy…here is another group that’s full of visual excitement…sure, they’ve got a long way to go but I have every confidence that over the next six or seven months they will build up the following they need and they’ll be up there with the best of them…next on were the 69’ers and as usual they provided the laughs for the day…they really are an incredibly funny group and I hope that they never lose their sense of humour…like last year, they more than wowed the crowd…and to finish off their set they had an all-out cream cake fight…as compare, they were the first act that I had to bring off stage and I’m sure you will agree that it was rather fitting that I ended up with a complete sponge-cake and cream all over my face.  SKYHOOKS were the next on and unfortunately I feel that this group needed a night-time spot when they could make full use of the lights…because they are as much into theatre as they are into music….but one thing’s for sure, watch out for the name SKYHOOKS…they’ve arrived

and they’ll be here for quite a while…SID RUMPO proved to all and sundry what fine musicians they are and after their performance I eagerly await their forthcoming album…MATT TAYLOR was on next doing his solo bit…and what can I say about MATT?... he defies all convention of a ’74 pop star… I mean, name one other pop star who gets out on stage, sits down, and says to 30,000 people, Gidday…but you can’t help but love his music…and as usual, in his own peculiar way, he got the audience going… MATT was rewarded with a fine ovation and an encore…but Matt had a surprise in store for them the following day…DINGOES were next on and boy, can they rock and roll…I absolutely love this group and obviously with the response they got, so did the Sunbury crowd…but the one thing that I feel is missing is visual projection from lead singer, BRODERICK SMITH…he possesses an incredible voice…he looks good, but for some reason he fails to project….there’s an old say Brod, If Ya Got It, Flaunt It, so Start Flaunting!  Next on were CHAIN…and has this group got themselves together up in Brisbane…all the reports and fears that the group would break up were dispelled five minutes after they started playing on stage…we all know what a fine group of musicians there are but now with the added confidence that the Australian public really do appreciate them, this group has really come alive…fortunately or unfortunately for Barry Harvey, they don’t miss him as a drummer at all…the group is tight as I’ve ever seen them…why even Phil’s developed a personality…it was a brilliant musical set and it put the crowd into a great mood for what was to come.

And what was to come was four hours of sheer musical entertainment…the BALLS hit the stage with LOBBY not far behind…and did that audience develop balls!..Wow!...sure, the skinheads and the tattoo freaks love them, but so did everyone else…and I think it would be fair enough to say that the group put on their best performance ever…and LOBBY, me boy, there’s no denying it, you’re every bit a Pop Star…and what a great sight it is to see 30,000 people cheering and yelling and rocking their hearts out…ooooh, it sends shivers up me spine…and thumbs up (in the rude sense) to all those self-appointed critics who have written in to the paper over the past few months criticising this group and labelling them boring…cause when 30,000 get their rocks off on Ballpower, they must have something…next on was a surprise…it was the LA DE DAS and I thought they were bloody fantastic…it would be hard for any group to follow LOBBY successfully but the LA DE DAS did it and did it in fine style…it’s amazing the sound that can be created by just three musicians…and watch out girls because lead singer KEVIN BORICH is about to become a sex symbol…a job well done LA DE’s…

Go Set Magazine Article

Billy’s Not Over The Hill – A Rainbow Fixed That
 Next was one of the two Sunbury miracles…I must admit I felt like an ant walking out on stage with all these towers of equipment surrounding me…it looked as if we were about to restage the Commonwealth Games…but Aztec energy was about to be let loose…just before I made the announcemen I asked BILLY if the group would be wanting to do an encore…and he replied, Don’t Ask Me Man, You’ll Know From The Reaction Of The Audience…and I must confess that I thought, God, I hope last year’s no indication of audience reaction…’cause in ’73 an encore they did not want…Sunbury ’74 was possibly the greatest test this group had to go through, and I mean the Greatest…and BILLY knew it…gone is the denim and replacing it it are the superb tailor-made velvet and leather jackets etc…the next hour was one of the most amazing sights I’ve ever witnessed since I’ve been connected with pop scene…the AZTECS didn’t Wow the audience…they destroyed them!...BILLY had them literally eating out of his hands…you know, words can’t describe what happened…they did new songs, they did old songs…and ten minutes into their set BILLY was wearing the biggest smile you could imagine…he knew he had them back…one song, what was it?...you can’t go round saying What on stage??....F*CK I think…front of stage in the press and group arena it was packed…the COLOURED BALLS were down there, the DINGOES…you name them, they were there, all clapping and cheering…and the audience of 30,000 up on the hill with their arms above their heads, the bare-breasted ladies up on guy’s shoulders weaving and rocking, the Excitement…it was really Too Much…and what about when part of the audience  started chanting the AZTEC “Suck More P…” slogan…a saying that derived from their days at the Whitehorse Hotel…it spread through the audience like wildfire and BILLY said “Keep it up, Keep it up”…and then he and the group wrote a song, there on stage about suck more p…
I firmly believe that audience was ready to do anything for BILLY at that stage…after a couple more numbers like Oop Poo Pah Doo, BILLY announced that he was going to do a number that we’d either hate or love…”Here’s One For The Knockers”, he said…and, my God, he did a song that he made a hit eight years ago, ‘Over The Rainbow’…we all looked at each other in disbelief, but it was sounding great!...and on his alone THORPIE can take the title of Australia’s Top Superstar, because that he is…well, the audience just went beserk after that and they just continued to scream and yell, clap and shout and rock and roll…they finally walked off stage and I passed BILLY and I almost felt tempted to say, well it doesn’t look as if you’re going to do an encore…but I didn’t exactly want to wear a guitar at that stage…and the crowd was just screaming for more, and I do mean screaming…in the middle of my Do Ya Wanna Hear More, my voice suddenly cracked in the excitement and like, for the next two days they had to put up with a rather croaky demented Meldrum…there was no doubt that AZTEC energy was back!
What a hard job for ARIEL to follow this…but like the LA DE DAS with LOBBY, ARIEL did a grand job…all the work and effort that’s been put into their visual stage act is really starting to pay off though I must admit that the big explosion on stage that they created fair frightened the daylights out of me…they performed A Strange Fantastic Dream and is it any wonder that the album is selling so well?...what a shame the group, due to an energy crisis in England, are unable to go there in March because at this stage they are very together…obviously the gigs that they have done supporting overseas bands have helped instill a lot of confidence performance-wise into the group…musically you cannot fault them…visually they are progressing in leaps and bounds…MISSISSIPPI were the next on and this group possesses a brilliant range of harmonies…they lack the visual side but they make up for it with their voices and playing…I’m sure everyone out there agreed that they’re really nice to listen to.

Sunday – Madder Seals Crown
Sunday was just as hot and the St.Johns ambulance brigade were working overtime treating people for cut feet, heat exhaustion and other minor injuries…what would a festival like this be without them?...I shudder to think…GLENN CARDIER played a beautiful set that afternoon and it’s easy to see why he was given a Commonwealth Grant…he may not be everyone’s cup of tea but with that selected audience he really does entertain…RICHARD CLAPTON is another who performed that day and although he was very nervous, he proved what a talent he has, both as a singer and as a songwriter…CAPTAIN MATCHBOX were very entertaining…like SKYHOOKS, they are more a theatrical group and it’s good to see that the Australian music scene has now found a place for this type of group…one highlight of that afternoon had to be KUSH and LINDA GEORGE…KUSH are a brilliant brass-orientated group and with JEFF up front camping his way through song after song, ’74 should see this group emerge as a top seller on the record market…LINDA GEORGE was superb…she’s undoubtedly one of Australia’s finest female singers and you can see her confidence growing day by day (an unintentional pun!)…It’s also good to see that Sunbury has come of age and is able to present artists of her caliber on such a festival…there were some fine vocal backings also by the COOKIES…

Matt Taylor

Next on were the DINGOES who gave another fine rock and roll performance…another appearance by MISSISSIPPI and then MATT TAYLOR hit the stage with a rock group backing him…and what emerged was the MATT of old, the MATT TAYLOR that we once knew as lead singer of CHAIN…he really got that audience jumping and in so many ways I strongly feel that MATT should perform with a rock group more often…and what a gas to hear him sing once again “Grab A Snatch And Hold It”…it was yet another great performance by MATT and the audience fully appreciated it…and then came the big wait…for the appearance of QUEEN…apparently there were a lot of hassles with setting up the equipment etc. and I am not going to attempt to go into who was right and who was wrong…but one thing I will say…I don’t think any group should be subjected to the insulting remarks that were made on stage prior to them going on…after all, they were asked to come here and they wanted to give the best performance they could give…the remarks made by this certain person who, I might add, was not one of the comperes, were unfair and totally unjustified… and worse still, it put a downer on the whole audience…QUEEN finally hit the stage,  with all the odds stacked against them…no, they didn’t receive the greatest applause in the world but with a very tight set, they did swing the audience back and at the end the audience gave them a polite but genuine applause…unfortunately the next day they could not appear because their lead singer was legitimately ill…perhaps a few people will have to eat their words over the next year if QUEEN make the top ranks on the international scene.

Queen at Sunbury

The saving grace of the night was the next act that was on…it was MADDER LAKE and they were really fantastic…first they had the hard task of pulling the audience out of their downer…once they achieved that they worked on the audience to bring them to what had to be the all-time high of the day…like the night before with THORPIE, the audience started to dance and wave their hands in the air etc…MADDER LAKE for the first part of their set, performed their new album, ‘Butterfly Farm’ and if you go by the audience reaction they should have no worry about it being a top seller…for the latter part of their show they performed numbers from their ‘Stillpoint’ album as well as their hit singles…and the audience ..well, need I say, just went ape…my only regret was that every programmer from interstate weren’t there to see MADDER LAKE perform…they are without a doubt one of Australia’s unique sounding bands…they are full of originality and are full of entertainment…just ask any one of the 30,000that were at Sunbury.

Queen's Setlist

After MADDER LAKE came JOHN GRAHAM and BLACKSPUR…Now there’s an under rated artist for you…but keep at it JOHN because they’re going to wake up soon…AYERS ROCK then hit the stage and what fine group of musicians they are…and full credit to them for getting the audience rocking and rolling again at 2.30 in the morning…they lack nothing in musicianship whatsoever and perhaps need a front man to give them some visual effect…once this is achieved I would imagine the sky’s the limit…both their performance this night and the following day proved that we have some really top-line Australian musicians…I thought they were great…to finish off the night, well as a matter of fact it was the very early hours of the morning, MACKENZIE THEORY played an amazing set…they really are an unbelievable group…there can be no other group like them I the world…and if they stick together then I’m sure someone from overseas is going to grab them…the worth of this group speaks for itself, but might I add that there were around about 4000 people who stayed up until 4 o’clock in the morning just to listen to this group…the group also played on the second stage and packed it out…

Daddy Who? Daddy Cool (Getting ready to go on stage at Sunbury 74)

Monday – 35C Cool Entertainment
Monday was a very tiring day…it was hot and muggy…once again PIRANA, AYERS ROCK, SID RUMPO and CHAIN entertained the crowd…ROSS RYAN made his second appearance that day and I would imagine it was one of the best performances he’s ever given…ROSS has always been full of confidence and unlike so many artists, he really knows how to work his audience…he has, over the last 12 months, emerged as one of Australia’s top singer –songwriters and his performance that day proved why he has become just that…
One group that emerged on that Monday who were virtually completely unknown before was BUSTER BROWN…they really got the crowd rocking so Watch Out For Them…that’s a definite name to put in your little black book…but Monday really belonged to DADDY COOL…they played as though they’d never ever broken up…and they somehow re-created the excitement of ’71…the crowd just went mad…Absolutely Deliriously Mad…just prior to the group coming on, they adored the stage with three giant Australian flags and during their performance they issued to the audience hundreds of toy flags…the scene was quite unbelievable…the did all their old hits…look, what more can you say…DADDY COOL HAD RETURNED…and so had the excitement…I really believe that they could have played all day and all night and the crowd still would have called for more…it was a great ending to a really successful festival…
I thank all and sundry who organised the festival, especially Odessa Promotions...and Mr. John Fowler…Sunbury ‘74 proved that the Australian music scene id very much alive…but more than that, it proved that Australian artists and musicians are amongst the finest in the world…
Sunbury Pop Orgy???...No!...Sunbury was full of Fun, Music and Entertainment…yes, this year at Sunbury a man died but also for the first time at Sunbury a baby was born… MOLLY xxxxxx
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Now, firstly it should be noted that there are some discrepancies in Molly's account which should be noted. It has been reported (by Milesago.com) that Skyhooks were booed off stage at Sunbury 74 (apparently the audience wasn't really ready for all of the glam and glitter that they brought to the table) and it is because of this that their first lead singer 'Steve Hill' left the band and was replaced by Graham "Shirley" Strahan, and of course the rest was history.  So, I guess Molly forgot to mention this in his report.
Another discrepancy lies with Milesago documenting that Blackfeather performed at Sunbury '74, yet Molly makes no mention of them playing in his extensive account. Likewise, another Sunbury review in GoSet by columnist Mitch entitled 'Front Row Reviews' (Feb 16, 1974) makes no reference to Blackfeather in amongst his listing of bands.  So, unless someone can provide direct proof, I think Milesago has got it wrong.
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One real mystery associated with the recordings released by Mushroom on their Anti RipOff label (see below) is the inclusion of a recording made by an unknown group called 'Full Moon'. There has been much speculation about who they were yet 'Full Moon is absent from any reviews or articles in the GoSet Magazine at that time. There was a UK group with the same name (but are certainly not the same band) based on their style of music.

One hint that might help, is when Molly refers to a 'second stage' when discussing MacKenzie Theory's performance. It is possible that Full Moon may have performed "Freedom Jazz Dance" on this second stage to a smaller crowd, and the recording used to diversify (or fill) the Mushroom release - Part 2.
Apparently, the new concept of a 'second performing stage' was added to the Sunbury festival in 1974 to include "alternative performances such as jazz recitals, theatre, dance, mime, poetry and acoustic music." which seems to fit in with this explanation.
As to the identity of the band Full Moon, ChickaMunro provides us with the only info at hand, on the Midoztouch forum when he reports:  'From the front cover of a promo booklet from Open Sky Productions, who were putting on a gig at the Dallas Brooks Hall, Nov 1975'.
Ayers Rock, Silver Sun, Phil Manning, in concert at The Dallas Brooks Hall
Conceived in our illustrious Gardenvale, Silver Sun makes it's first public appearance tonight.
After months of solid slogging in that fine suburb, the band features John Pugh, a former member of Healing Force and FULL MOON, on lead guitar and vocals. Barry Sullivan,...bass,...Sunil De Silva from Skylight and the Dingoes on drums...Sam McNally...Mal Logan...jazz, soul and blues...funky...Herbie Hancock...Marvin Gaye..."
This has something to do with the whole Healing Force thing - who also had their biggest gig at Sunbury 73, didn't they? Also the Company Caine precursors had Pugh - and so the trail leads all over the place in Melbourne.  Any further information about this mysterious group would be gratefully received !

One final note, before I close this 'rather long post'. Apparently, Sherbet was supposed to have "Hound Dog" included on one of the featured albums but pulled the plug at the last moment for some reason and Thorpie's XXX rated track "You Can't Go Around Saying F*ck On Stage" was pulled by Mushroom in fear of legal repercussions.  In addition, EMI would not allow its acts to appear on these albums, hence the absence of tracks by Ariel, Coloured Balls, Mississippi, Ross Ryan etc..
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This post consists of FLAC rips taken from vinyl, both in excellent condition.  Full album artwork is also included for both vinyl (mine) and CD (thanks to Bondie), a multitude of newspaper articles (from Go Set magazine thanks to RAM) and photos (sourced from The Age archives and anddum.com with gratitude).

Artwork and associated Sunbury literature are also included as a separate download for those you who already have the music, and only want this support material. 

IMPROVED RIP
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Track listing:
(Sunbury '74 - Part 1)
01 - Lizards (Madder Lake)
02 - I'm a Dingo (The Dingoes)
03 - Gonna miss you babe (Chain)
04 - Big Shake and Hi Honey Ho (Daddy Cool)

05 - New Orleans (Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs)
06 - Hey What's the Matter (Skyhooks)
07 - Roll over Beethoven (Buster Brown)
08 - Buster Brown (Buster Brown)
(Sunbury '74 - Part 2)
01 - Payday Again (The Dingoes)
02 - Morning Magic (Ayers Rock)
03 - Supreme Love (Mackenzie Theory)
04 - Love On The Radio (Skyhooks)
05 - We'll Never Do The Same Again (Matt Taylor)
06 - Wang Dang Doodle (Sid Rumpo)
07 - Sweet Home Chicago (Sid Rumpo)
08 - Freedom Jazz Dance (Full Moon)
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Sunbury '74 - Part 1&2 FLAC Link (476Mb) New Link 20/10/21
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Sunbury '74 Artwork and Photos (36Mb)

Various Artists - Rock Explosion (1973) MAJESTIC

(Various Artists - 1973)
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It all began with 25 Great American Country & Folk Artists Singing their Original Hits. Or did it…

To quote Majestic/K-Tel founder Philip Kives – who died 27 April 2016: 'Never has an album offered so much for so little. Here, on one record is a veritable treasure of “25” Country and Folk Hits representing a stellar group of artists ranging from the traditional era to modern times.'

Festival and W & G were offering compilations as early as the late 1950's. However, it was probably Philip Kives under the Majestic brand that began the As Advertised on TV phenomenon. By the late 1970's there was much competition for K-Tel, and by the late 1980's the majors had more or less taken control of the Original Hits / Original Stars market. The companies that tried to 'pass off' their albums of 'sound a likes' by anonymous session artist felt the full force of the majors and were soon shut down.
While K-Tel still offers a huge range of music, it is mostly re-recordings and covers.

I think the Majestic record label only used to put out one LP per year until about 1969, then we started seeing two or three in the same year. Super Bad, Rock Explosion and one other during 1973.

You'd think that by cutting back from 24 to 20 tracks, there'd be plenty of room for FULL versions of songs, but K-Tel and Majestic still edited many of the songs they included on their releases, and this volume is no different. One massacred recording on this MAJESTIC release is Madder Lake's "12 lb Toothbrush". Every time I hear the edited version on this Rock Explosion release, I cringe and squirm. It's just not on. So I've decided to include the full single version of this classic track, so you have the option of substituting it when listening to this great compilation.

Sherbet

Sherbet (Cassandra)
Sherbet was formed in Sydney in April 1969 by Dennis Laughlin on vocals, Doug Rea on bass guitar, Sammy See on organ, guitar and vocals, Clive Shakespeare on lead guitar and vocals and Danny Taylor on drums. Initially they were a soul band playing Motown covers and rock-based material. Alan Sandow replaced Taylor on drums by July. Sherbet signed to the Infinity Records label – a subsidiary of Festival Records. 
By March 1970, Daryl Braithwaite had joined, initially sharing lead vocals with Laughlin who left the band a few months later. Braithwaite's former band mate Bruce Worrall took over from Rea on bass guitar.

Sherbet's first chart hits on the Go-Set National Top 40 were covers of Blue Mink's "Can You Feel It Baby?" (September 1971), Delaney and Bonnie's "Free the People" (February 1972) and Ted Mulry's "You're All Woman" (September 1972).
In November of 1973 they released their second album 'On With The Show', which featured the track "Cassandra" and was issued as a single in in September. Also in 1973, they were dubbed Best Australian Group at the TV Week King Of Pop Awards, an honour which was bestowed on them each year thereafter during the 70's.
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Albert Hammond (Free Electric Band)
Albert Hammond is a Gibraltarian singer, songwriter, and record producer. A prolific songwriter, he collaborated most notably with the songwriters Mike Hazlewood, The Hollies, Leo Sayer and Carole Bayer Sager.
He was also a solo singer in his own right. His biggest (and only Top 20) Billboard hit was "It Never Rains in Southern California", #5 US 1972. Other songs of his include "Down by the River", "The Free Electric Band", "I'm a Train", "When I'm Gone" and others. 
"The Free Electric Band" was written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood and performed by Hammond as a solo venture. The song reached #19 on the UK Singles Chart and #48 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973.

Timmy Thomas (Why Can't We Live Together)
"Why Can't We Live Together" is a song by Timmy Thomas from the album Why Can't We Live Together. The song is notable for being recorded in mono; its sparse, stripped-down production, feature a Lowrey organ, bossa nova-style percussion from an early rhythm machine, and Thomas's passionate, soulful vocal.
Released as a single in late 1972, the song became a major hit in the U.S. during the early part of 1973, reaching the number one spot on the R&B chart, number three on the Billboard Pop Singles and eventually selling over two million copies. The song became his only hit single. It was also a hit in the UK as well, peaking at #12
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Maureen McGovern (The Morning After)
"The Morning After" (also known as "The Song from The Poseidon Adventure") is a song written by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn for the 1972 film The Poseidon Adventure. It won the 1972 Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 45th Academy Awards in March 1973. After the film's release, it was recorded by Maureen McGovern and became a hit single for her following its release in May 1973. It was a number-one hit in the US for two weeks during August 1973, and became a Gold record.  The song is performed in the film by the character of Nonnie, played by Carol Lynley, but is actually sung by a vocal double, Renee Armand. The lyrics relate to the themes of the film, as a band of passengers survive the capsizing of the ship SS Poseidon and have to escape the sinking wreck.
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Elton John (Rocket Man)
A true super-showman, Elton John has been called "the Liberace of Rock and Roll." Known almost as much for his outrageous stage costumes and sets as he is for his bluesy style on the piano, Elton John was the king of pop music in the mid-1970s, with such Number 1 hits as Philadelphia Freedom, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, and Don't Go Breaking My Heart. His stage performances remain hugely entertaining, and his talent as a pianist and his gift for melody have ensured him a place in the hearts of fans who enjoy his unique sound.

In 1969, Elton released his first hit single, Lady Samantha, from his debut album Empty Sky (he had started writing songs with lyricist Bernie Taupin at this time).

A truly impressive string of hit singles followed for several years, including "Rocket Man", "Honky Cat", "Crocodile Rock", "Daniel", "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", "Bennie and the Jets", "Candle in the Wind", and, surprisingly, Lennon and McCartney's "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds". 

"Rocket Man" captured the public imagination in rather the same way that Bowie's "Space Oddity" had done, and eclipsed "Your Song" as Elton's most successful British single. It soared to No. 2 (as did the album from which it came 'Honky Chateau'), only T Rex's 'Metal Guru' keeping it from the top spot. Surprisingly, it only reached No. 6 in America; perhaps the novelty of space flight was not quite as captivating there.

Mississippi

Mississippi (Early Morning)
Mississippi was an Australian band (1972-1975), which featured some big names in Australian rock music, Graeham Goble, Beeb Birtles and Kerryn Tolhurst. The band started as Alison Gros in Adelaide, South Australia in 1970 and moved to Melbourne in 1971 where they recorded as Allison Gros, Drummond. In 1972, they became Mississippi; eventually evolving into Little River Band (LRB) by 1975.
One of the group's important early appearances was their set at the 1973 Sunbury Rock Festival in January, where they were backed by a full orchestra. Their non-album single, "Early Morning" / "Sweet World" was released in July '73, and was co-written by Russ, Graham and Beeb. In October of the same year, they supported The Jackson Five on their Australian tour.

Charlie Rich (Behind Closed Doors)
"Behind Closed Doors" is a country song written by Kenny O'Dell. It was first recorded by Charlie Rich for his 1973 album Behind Closed Doors. The single was Rich's first number-one hit on the country charts, spent 20 weeks on this chart, and was also a crossover hit on the pop charts.
Released in 1973, country love songs didn't get much more suggestive than Charlie Rich's hit "Behind Closed Doors." But you'd never guess what first inspired Kenny O'Dell to write the song — it was infact the Watergate scandal.
“Behind Closed Doors” and “Most Beautiful Girl in the World,” also on the album, continued to be signature songs for Rich whenever he performed, until he passed away in 1995.

Barry Crocker (Suzie Darlin')
In the 70's Crocker (a lanky singer, actor and variety entertainer from Geelong in Victoria) famously appeared as Barry McKenzie, the gormless Aussie youth abroad, in two films based on the Private Eye comic strip written by Barry Humphreys. He is well rekowned for singing the original recording of the theme song for the "Aussie" soap opera 'Neighbours'.
In May 1973, he released the album "Music Makes My Day", featuring an updated version of American Rockabilly singer Robin Luke's "Susie Darlin'" on the Festival Records label. The recording featured Olivia Newton-John and Pat Carroll on backup vocals and enjoyed chart success, reaching Number 25 in Sydney, Number 7 in Melbourne, Number 3 in Brisbane and Adelaide.
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Jim Stafford (Swamp Witch)
Best known for his humorous country novelty songs of the mid-'70s, multi-instrumentalist Jim Stafford also enjoyed a lengthy career as a television personality and live entertainer. He started playing in local bands as a teenager, including one, the Legends, that included future country-rock legend Gram Parsons, as well as Kent LaVoie, who would later become singer/songwriter Lobo. 

Some years later, Stafford was performing in Clearwater, Florida, when he ran into Lobo and asked if he would consider recording his original "The Swamp Witch." Lobo suggested that Stafford record it himself, and helped him land a contract with MGM; he would later produce many of Stafford's singles as well. 
Stafford's first chart hit was "Swamp Witch" (produced by Lobo), which cracked the U.S. Top 40 in July 1973. "Swamp Witch" was a mythological tale of the uneasy relationship between a town and its local witch. 
His sense of humor was also showcased on the follow-up hit "My Girl Bill" which was released in 1975.
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Johnny Chester (The World's Greatest Mum)
"Johnny" Chester is an Australian singer-songwriter, who started his career in 1959 at the age of seventeen when he began running a dance in the St Cecilia's Church Hall in Melbourne's suburban West Preston and singing rock'n'roll. In 1969, he changed to country music. He has toured nationally with The Beatles, Roy Orbison, The Everly Brothers, Kenny Rogers, Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette and Charley Pride. During his career he has led various groups including Johnny Chester and The Chessmen, Johnny Chester and Jigsaw, Johnny Chester and Hotspur. With Jigsaw he had five top 30 hit singles, "Gwen (Congratulations)" (1971), "Shame and Scandal", "Midnight Bus" (both 1972), "World's Greatest Mum" (Reaching No. 9 on the Australian Charts, 1973) and "She's My Kind of Woman" (1974).

Madder Lake (12lb Toothbrush)
The Melbourne band Madder Lake feratured Mick Fettes on vocals, Jack Kreemers on drums, Brendan Mason on guitar, Kerry McKenna on bass and John McKinnon on keyboards. With Melbourne based Michael Gudinski looking out for new acts to present to the public in this developing music genre, and Madder Lake looking to establish themselves wider than pubs, the match was made and by 1973 following them being they were the opening act at the inaugural 1972 Sunbury Pop Festival, they became the headline act!

In February of that year they released their first single with the unlikely title of "Goodbye Lollypop", which struck a chord in the groups growing band of followers and it went to number 15 in Melbourne and cracked the top 40 Australian singles chart. 

In April '73 Mushroom released their classic debut album, Stillpoint. This album was recorded at TCS Studios in January and March and produced by John French. It was another breakthrough success for the band and provided Mushroom with their first gold record. It reached #11 nationally and #2 in Melbourne, where they had become one of the top live draws. The album is beautifully framed by Drak's wonderful cover illustration, which complemented the music in much the same way as Roger Dean's famous covers for Yes. The distinctive Madder Lake logo, designed by Ian McCausland, completed the package.
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In August another track from Stillpoint was released, and it showed the group had lost non of their penchant for evocative names, being "12 lb Toothbrush", which fast became one of the groups most recogniseable tracks. "12lb Toothbrush" also featured on Mushroom's live Sunbury 73' triple album and their raw rendition of the hit single demonstrated just how good they were as a live act. Note that the rendition included on this compilation was an 'edited version' of their single release and does no justice to the original release. As such, I am including the original 'single' for your reference (and potential swap)
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Jud Strunk (Daisy A Day)
A native of New York, Strunk moved to Farmington, Maine in 1960 and started out singing at a local hotel. He then began a solo act on the U.S. Armed Forces circuit, appeared in the Broadway musical Beautiful Dreamer, and during the early '70s was a semi-regular on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. Strunk also appeared on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and did his signature song "Daisy A Day" which went to #14 in Billboard in early '73. 

Although much of Strunk's material was humorous, his most popular song was not. "Daisy A Day" which Strunk wrote and recorded in 1973, is a gentle, sentimental ballad describing the relationship between a boy and girl who ultimately grow old together. For every day of their lives, he gives her a daisy as a sign of their love. In the last verse, she has died, but her widower husband continues to make daily visits to her grave. The song made the Billboard Top 20 on both the country and pop music charts.
After leaving show business, he started a business restoring antique airplanes. In 1981, he died in a plane crash while test-flying one of the planes he was restoring.
On the Apollo 17 lunar mission, a tape copy of his hit single "Daisy A Day" was brought along by the astronauts, making it the first recorded song ever played on the moon.
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Eric Weiss (Duelling Banjos)
Eric Weissberg (born August 16, 1939) is an American singer, banjo player and multi-instrumentalist, best known for playing solo in "Dueling Banjos," featured as the theme of the film Deliverance (1972) and released as a single that reached number 2 in the United States and Canada in 1973.
Weissberg released a related album, called Dueling Banjos: From the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 'Deliverance' (1973), which also became a hit. The album was made up mostly of tracks which Weissberg had recorded on New Dimensions in Banjo and Bluegrass (1963), with Marshall Brickman and Clarence White.
Widely acclaimed as a landmark picture, the film is noted for a music scene near the beginning, with one of the city men playing "Dueling Banjos" on guitar with a banjo-strumming country boy, and for its visceral and notorious male rape scene.

Abigail (Je T'Aime)
Abigail Rogan (born 23 July 1946, in London) Known simply as Abigail, she became best known to Australians as a sex symbol, starting with the television soap opera Number 96 in the early 1970s. Despite common belief, she did not appear nude in the series. In fact it was fellow actor Vivienne Garrett who played Rose Godulfus from the same series who was the first to appear topless on Australian Television. In 1973, after leaving Number 96, she published her autobiography, Call Me Abigail which sold 150,000 copies in its first two weeks of sale. Also in 1973, Abigail made an attempt at a popular music career and scored a hit with a cover of Serge Gainsbourg's "Je t'aime... moi non plus", which reached the top 10 in Australia. 
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Tony Marshall (Pretty Maid)
In 1973 in Australia one of the biggest hits of the year was "Pretty Maid" by Tony Marshall. Tony's song was first a hit in 1971 in Germany (his homeland) where it was called "Schöne Maid". The original German version had tweeting birds at the start but the musical arrangement was basically the same. 

Pete Bellotte who wrote the English lyrics for "Pretty Maid" has been churning out hits for many years. Pete was a British lyricist and producer, most notable for his collaborations with Giorgio Moroder. His hits include "Hot Stuff", "I Feel Love", "Love To Love You Baby" and "Son Of My Father". 

Tony Marshall was born February 3, 1938 in Baden-Baden as Herbert Anton Bloeth. He changed his name to Herbert Anton Hilger before changing for a third time to Tony Marshall. He settled on the name Tony Marshall in about 1965 when he started training as an opera singer at Karlsruher College of Music. 

Before his opera career took off Tony made the German top 40 with his first single "Schöne Maid". Since then he has had many hits in Germany but is considered a one-hit-wonder in Oz.
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Seals And Croft (Summer Breeze)
One of the signature soft-rock groups of the early Seventies, Jim Seals and Dash Crofts were childhood buddies from Texas who moved to California and had a huge hit with this sublimely mellow, CSN&Y-style ode to lazy, June-time domesticity. "Summer Breeze" rolled through the jasmine of America's mind in 1972, with an innocent melody played on a toy piano. “Summer Breeze,” became a No. 1 hit in 1972 selling over one million copies. The lyrics are about a guy who is happy with his life, happy that it's summer, and happy with his wife and his home. 
In addition to being legendary soft rock singers, Seals and Crofts were both accomplished instrumentalists playing in their group with Seals on guitar, saxophone and violin, and Crofts on guitar and mandolin. When they performed during their heyday, their instrumental skills were so impressive that their music could stand alone even without using vocals.
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Barry White (I'm Gonna Love You)
When I first heard Barry speak on a TV interview in the 1970s the TV actually shook as his voice was so low. The guy had the voice that every man would have loved to have as we all knew the ladies would love it. Add to that he could write and produce and sing and perform. Gosh this man was a love god.
Barry White was a five time Grammy award winner and Barry Eugene White was born in 1944 and died in 2003 from renal failure, plus other complications because of his weight.

Barry had been responsible in the 70s music for the Love Unlimited Orchestra who had a big hit with It My Be Winter Outside (But In My Heart It’s Spring) and Loves Theme, he also wrote the huge hit "Walking In The Rain, With The One I Love", later Barry went solo and became the "The Walrus of Love" to his fans.
But as a solo performer Barry had everything. Barry has his first UK single with the 1973 No.23 hit called "I’m Gonna Give You Just A Little More Love Baby" which had the Ghostbuster Ray Park Jnr on piano. 
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Dr Hook And The Medicine Show (Cover Of The Rolling Stone)
An American group, Dr. Hook And The Medicine Show assembled over a gradual period in late '60s around a nucleus of Locorriere and Southerners Sawyer, George Cummings and Francis. Sawyer, an eye-patched, ex-soul singer from Chicksaw, Alabama, and Locorriere, a New Jersey folkie, were vocalist-leaders of the group which played bars and dives around New Jersey area until their "discovery" by  cartoonist / songwriter Shel Silverstein.

Dr. Hook and The Medicine Show were featured on the cover of the March 29 edition of Rolling Stone magazine in 1973, thus gaining a massive plug for their CBS single at the time, "The Cover Of The Rolling Stone", which entered the US Top 10 in its first week. The song was penned by Shel Silverstein, the Playboy writer and cartoonist, who also wrote most of Dr Hook's earlier material.
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Jamie Redfern (Venus)
Jamie Redfern is a professional Australian entertainer and was the founding team member of Young Talent Time, which was one of the most successful phenomenon's in the history of Australian television.

Jamie was voted Australia's "King of Pop" and best male vocalist, and was on numerous occasions called the best young singer and performer in the world by such legendary entertainment icons as Elvis Presley, Sammy Davis Junior and Liberace. 

Johnny Young arranged to have Redfern signed with Festival Records, which issued his debut single in 1971. It was a cover version of "The Little White Cloud", which peaked in the Go-Set National Top 60.
In 1973, he released the single "Venus', a cover version of Frankie Avalon's song, and peaked at No. 8.on the Go-Set charts. 
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John Francis (Play Mumma, Sing Me A Song)
John J. Francis (b. 1945) is an American-born singer-songwriter and producer who lived in Newcastle, NSW from childhood.

In the 60's he was with Newcastle bands The Sorrows (1963-1965), The John Francis Collexion (c.1966-1967) and Magic (1969-1970), each of which released at least one single. 

After releasing four solo albums, some singles and an E.P through Warner 1972-1974 John J. Francis quit the music business permanently. He was heard for several years as a presenter on the midnight-to-dawn shift in the early days of 2JJ, ABC Radio's youth station launched in Sydney in 1975.

John J. Francis is remembered for "Simple Ben", that was heard on the soundtrack to Albie Falzon’s surf film 'Morning Of The Earth- (1972), and the highly successful single "Play Mumma, Sing Me A Song" released in 1973, reaching #11 in a Australian National charts, both tracks coming from John's second album, 'Breaks, Works & Thoughts' - the most nominated album at the 1973 Australasian Radio Awards (the precursor to today's ARIA Awards) winning the coveted Best Song/Composer of the Year Award for "Play Mumma, Sing Me a Song". 
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This post consists of FLACs and MP3's (320 kps) ripped from my 'well played and much loved' vinyl and includes full artwork and label scans (for both LP and featured 45's).
As mentioned previously I have also included a rip of the original single release of Madder Lake's "12 lb Toothbrush" for your pleasure and comparison.
A nice collection of early 70 hits, I must say - simply majestic !

Track Listing
01 - Casandra (Sherbet)
02 - Free Electric Band (Albert Hammond)
03 - Why Can't We Live Together (Timmy Thomas)
04 - The Morning After (Maureen McGovern)
05 - Rocket Man (Elton John)
06 - Early Morning (Mississippi)
07 - Behind Closed Doors (Charlie Rich)
08 - Suzie Darlin' (Barry Crocker)
09 - Swamp Witch (Jim Stafford)
10 - The World's Greatest Mum (Johnny Chester)
11 - 12lb Toothbrush (Madder Lake)
12 - Daisy A Day (Jud Strunk)
13 - Duelling Banjos (Eric Weiss)
14 - Je T'Aime (Abigail)
15 - Pretty Maid (Tony Marshall)
16 - Summer Breeze (Seals And Croft)
17 - I'm Gonna Love You (Barry White)
18 - Cover Of The Rolling Stone (Dr Hook And The Medicine Show)
19 - Venus (Jamie Redfern)
20 - Play Mumma, Sing Me A Song (John Francis)

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Rock Explosion FLACs Link (351Mb)
.New Link 05/01/2024