W.O.C.K On Vinyl: Flexi Discs - INXS / Mental As Anything

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Before things get too serious at Rock On Vinyl, I thought it might be fun to post a song at the end of each month, that could be considered to be either Weird, Obscure, Crazy or just plain Korny.....
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This months W.O.C.K on vinyl features two Flexi Discs that were released by two popular Australian bands - namely INXS and Mental As Anything. These 'single track' flexi discs were released as promotional items by the well known Australian magazines "Countdown' and 'Dolly'.
Although the pressings are not top quality (what would you expect on a 1mm thick piece of  plastic) but they are certainly collector items, making them fit into the Obscure categorisation.

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INXS - Faith In Each Other (Live) 1991

(Flexi-disc, 7", Single Sided, Promo, 33 1/3 RPM, Blue)

Rare OZ  single sided flexi giveaway 45 released in 1991, through 'Dolly Magazine'.

INXS

With a career spanning 25 extraordinary years, INXS are undoubtedly one of the world's great bands.

With more than 30 million records sold worldwide, countless awards from their peers and fans, platinum certifications, and a history peppered with outstanding achievements, the band are arguably Australia's most successful rock export.

From their first gig as the Farriss Brothers in Sydney's Northern beaches in August 1977, Michael Hutchence, Kirk Pengilly, Garry Gary Beers, Tim Farriss, Andrew Farriss and Jon Farriss quickly won Australian then international acclaim.

In Australia INXS celebrated their first number one single with 'Original Sin' in December 1983, beginning a phenomenal run of 38 top 40 hits. The Swing in April the following year was the band's first Australian number one album, the first of seven to reach the top three, four of which charted at #1 (The Swing 1984, Listen Like Thieves 1985, Kick 1987, X 1990).

"It's incredible that a bunch of friends should end up such good players - never thrown anyone out, never needed help" vocalist Michael Hutchence marvelled around the time of the ten million selling Kick album. "We know each other so well. I find that rather frightening. Andrew and I may write most of the songs but this is a real band. It's not two writers and four dumb musicians; it's a very active, competitive, democratic group of people. We're a band that sounds very much like a band, a live band, that's who we are, where we came from. "

With each step of their path to the upper strata of international music carefully considered and deftly executed, they performed before gauchos in Buenos Aires, Royals in Melbourne and teens in Tokyo, on their way to number one American singles, headlining before 75,000 at Wembley Stadium - a show captured and released on DVD in the shape of Live Baby Live - , playing to 100,000 at Rock In Rio, seven MTV awards, three Grammy nominations, and albums which hit #1 all over the world.

[extract from A Day On The Green)

Performers – Andrew Farriss, Garry Gary Beers, Jon Farriss, Kirk Pengilly, Michael Hutchence, Tim Farriss

Recorded By, Mixed By – Mark Opitz

Written-By – J Farriss, M Hutchence

Recorded in London, 1990 (possibly London Arena, Nov 26th or London Wembley Arena, Nov 28th. Did not appear on their 'Live Baby Live' album released in 1991)

Mixed at Sarm Studios.

(Promotional use only - not for sale)

eBay prices attract @$25 

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MENTAL AS ANYTHING - Hold On (1984)

(Flexi-disc, 7", Single Sided, Promo, 45 RPM, Varying colours - Yellow [mine], Blue, Black, Green, Clear)

Taken From the US album, “Fundamental”.

Rare OZ Only 1 sided flexidisc, 'Rock Video Project' Promo by Gold Crest Muesli Bars/Countdown Magazine from Match, 1985. 

(A Mentals competition where the winners video clip idea would be made into a finished video in the Melbourne Countdown studios, plus the Mentals would play a gig in the winners home town)

Mental As Anything's music is characterised by poppy, accessible and well-crafted melodies and lyrics, and their work showcases an ironic, satirical and self-deprecating sense of humour.

The Mentals
The band formed in Sydney in 1976, initially playing to students at parties, pubs and uni dances, when they caught the attention of new independent Regular Records. The band sold out 1300 copies in a fortnight in late 1978 of the three track vinyl Mental As Anything Plays At Your Party with one track  "The Nips Are Getting Bigger".

All of the early members are visual artists and have had combined studio displays, some have had solo studio displays with Mombassa's artwork also used as designs by the Mambo clothing company. The majority of the group's record covers, posters and video clips have been designed and created by the band members or their art school contemporaries.

In 1985, they released 'Fundamental As Anything' – Platinum Best Selling Australian Album – Live It Up – Best Selling Australian Single – singles You’re So Strong( No. 8) / Date With Destiny (No. 18) – multi platinum Greatest Hits Vol I goes to No. 2 on the charts – Live It Up received Apra award for most performed work and Countdown award for best single and song writer.  "Hold On" was also taken from this album.

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Flexi Disc Link FLACs (50Mb) New Link 09/09/2024

Various Artists - Wizards Of The Water (1981) Movie Soundtrack

(Various Australian Artists 1979-1981)
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'Wizards of the Water' is a film for surfers of the 80's, featuring the Best Surf and the Best Surfers in the world. And it just so happens that the Best in the world are Australians and the Best Beaches are the Beaches they surf. The film follows the Wizards of Australian Surf. World Champion Mark Richards from Newcastle, runner up to Mark, Cheyne Horan from Bondi, Surfabout and Bells Champion Simon Anderson to name but a few. Wizards of the Water sees these surfers in locations and conditions that have to be seen to be believed: The Easter of '81 Bells Beach competition in Victoria where competitors surfed the biggest surf in 20 years, The Big Wave spots of Hawaii - Waimea Bay and Pipeline and then on to Indonesia. Here the Producer of the Film Alan Rich, with his crew of surfers half the honour of being the first surf film makers ever to be invited by the Indonesian Government to explore the Island of Lombok in hope of discovering potential Surf Beaches. What they found was far beyond expectation.
Wizards of the Water take you with them on this unique adventure of discovery. For his film, Rich wanted music equivalent to the energy of the Australian surfers. He knew there was only one choice. His Soundtrack for Wizards of the Water had to be Australian. The music from the film represents the best Australia has to offer....Australian Surf, Australian Surfers an, Australian Music. The Best in the World. Wizards of the Water....an Australian Film. [Cover Linear Notes]

   
'Wizards Of The Water' was released on 14 December, 1981 at the Sydney Opera House Music Room . The movie was directed by Alan Rich and the cover art was done by Phil Meatchem.  It's a great example of that period in Australian surfing with the surfing of Mark Richards and Cheyne Horan featured heavily throughout.  

Mark Richards
Richards was thought of as unstoppable during his world title years. In 1979 he skipped four of the scheduled 13 events (two in South Africa, two in Florida), and was ranked fourth going into the World Cup in Hawaii, the final event of the year. In what would turn out to be the decade’s most thrilling title finish, the three front-runners faltered one after the other, and the 22-year-old Richards won both the World Cup and the championship. He won four of 10 events in 1980 to easily defend the title. The 1981 and 1982 seasons were closer, but without the drama of 1979. Australian Cheyne Horan was Richards’s main rival, finishing runner-up to the championship in 1979, 1981, and 1982.

A key to Richards’s world tour success was his re-fashioning of the twin-fin surfboard. He’d been shaping his own boards since age 15 (in 1977 he had a two-month-long shaping seminar with Hawaiian board-making guru Dick Brewer, whom Richards credits as having inspired his designs for twin-fin boards that could be ridden in larger surf), but was struggling to keep up with smaller, lighter pros when the waves dropped below three feet—which happened often on the world tour. Richards took note in 1976 when Hawaiian surfer Reno Abellira came to Australia with a wide, blunt-nosed 5’3? board with two fins; the following year Richards produced a longer and more streamlined version of the twin-fin, saying later that the boards were “fast and maneuverable,” and that he “felt like he could do anything on them.” Twin-fin fever swept through the surf world in the late ’70s and early ’80s, then was stopped cold by the 1981 introduction of the tri-fin surfboard (see picture above)

Richards retired from full-time competition surfing at the end of the 1982 season. He’d won Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach four times (1978–80, 1982), twice won the Stubbies Pro (1979 and 1981), twice won the Gunston 500 (1980 and 1982), been a four-time Duke Kahanamoku finalist (winning in 1979), and a four- time Pipeline Masters finalist (winning in 1980). In 1985 he entered and won the Billabong Pro, held at Waimea Bay and Sunset Beach, and in 1986 he defended his Billabong title—a competitive surfing career epilogue that has no equal. [extract from encyclopediaofsurfing.com]

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This post consists of  FLAC files ripped  from my vinyl copy of this classic surf movie.  Not a pop or crackle to be heard here surfers - just pure, unadulterated 'Classic Aussie Music'.
Full album artwork is also included along with a selection of band photos from the era along with various promotional posters used for the movie.
So get ya wax out and unbolt ya board from ya roof rack surfers, cause' surfs up at Rock on Vinyl .......but careful you don't get caught in the rip!  LOL
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Track Listing

01 - Khe Sanh (Cold Chisel)
02 - We Can Get Together (Icehouse)
03 - DC10 (Mental As Anything)
04 - Just Keep Walking (INXS)
05 - Devil's Gate (The Angels)
06 - The Nips Are Getting Bigger (Mental As Anything)
07 - Standing On The Outside (Cold Chisel)
08 - Paradise Lost (Icehouse)
09 - In Vain (INXS)
10 - Into The Heat (The Angels)


Wizards of the Waters Link (254Mb) New Link 17/10/2015

Stop Press: Improved Rips Posted
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