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: The Sports - Fair Game E.P & Early Recordings Acetate (1977)

(Australian 1976-1981)

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The Sports were formed in 1976 by Stephen Cummings who was the singer of Melbourne rockabilly group, 'The Pelaco Brothers', (which comprised Cummings, Joe Camilleri, Peter Lillie and Johnny Topper). Cummings and ex-The Pelaco Brothers bandmate Ed Bates, with Robert Glover (ex-Myriad) on bass guitar, Jim Niven on piano (ex-The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band) and Paul Hitchins on drums. Their early sets contained covers of Chuck Berry, Billy Emerson, Don Covay, Company Caine and Graham Parker. Original songs, mostly written by Cummings and Bates, completed their sets. The Sports' debut recording was the EP, 'Fair Game' in early 1977, financed by friends and family. This E.P is now considered to be very rare gem amongst other Australian recordings, as only 500 copies were pressed.

A friend in London posted the record to the 'New Musical Express' which declared it 'Record Of The Week'.

(from New Musical Express, 9-7-77)

This was sent in by a fan in Melbourne, Australia and blimey it is ace. If you got crooked by AC/DC, The Saints and Frank Ifield don't think that all the bands downunder are out of date. Steve Cummings out-Jaggers Jagger and nearly matches Lowell too, I kid you not. Featish slide from Ed Bates, touch perfect keyboards from Jim Niven, and a fair dinkum rhythm section courtesy of Paul Hitchins and Robert Glover. You can tell where they're coming from but so what. The Sports are a gen-u-wine rock'n'roll discovery.

The Sports found themselves right in tune with the very latest music trend dominating London rock. They became part of the promise of a new beginning for song-based rock as an antidote to punk, dubbed New Wave. "We were totally surprised," Cummings says of the NME review.
"It was the last thing you'd expect. It was my making and my undoing in some ways. When you have everything go right so quickly you expect that everything after that is going to be good and that easy. It meant that I probably didn't put myself out as much as I should have."
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The following is an early 'pub circuit review on The Sports playing in Melbourne, back in March, 1978. The article comes from an independent newspaper called Bottom Line which was circulating in the CBD in the late 70's:

Sports are a tasty, quirky R&B band who have become legendary in a very short time around their home town of Melbourne. They play like a genuine band: i.e. with a peculiar, fused sound which innovative in itself. Their four-track EP Fair Game found its way to England earlier this year and won an excellent review in New Musical Express, which made the snobs sit up and take, notice, and those who already had smug. For Sports are very much a clique-owned band (their buttons, featuring the famous twisted sandshoe logo, are hugely in demand), and will remain largely so as long as they stay in this country. For Sports are short on teen appeal and long on musical roots. They mostly draw the 20's age bracket here, because their influences are so 60's. They play "Keep On Running" and "Walk in the Room", both monster hits of that era, and their own material, although diverging into some eccentricities (a heavy touch of rockabilly in numbers like "In Trouble With the Girls") has that same neat, urgent, sweaty feel. Their arrangements are classy, very professional, and everything they tackle comes up with that unmistakable Sports touch. Their stage presence is total and confident, owing much to the energetic Steve Cummings, lead vocalist, who has worked his way up to this from The Pelaco Brothers (arty truck-driving music). Pianist Jim Niven, an old, familiar face from Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band, works beautifully, and the rest of the band (Ed Bates and Andrew Pendlebury on guitars, Rob Glover on bass, Paul Hitchens on drums) are more than proficient. Besides their EP, Sports are available now on the Oz 'Debutantes' album. An original number like "(Right) Through Her Heart" (on the EP) is the stuff of which classics are made . . . And it would be fair to say that, caught on a goodnight, Sports have played, and will play again, some truly great great music [reviewed by Jenny Brown from her regular write-up "Pub Bands (An Occasional Guide]"

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I remember seeing the Sports play at both La Trobe and Melbourne University during the late 70's and at the time considered them to be poor cousins of Jo Jo Zep and The Falcons (who were very big at the time). However, over time my respect for the band changed and I started to realise that they had a unique sound of their own and Stephen Cummings was a great vocalist in his own right.

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The Sports had top 30 hits on the Australian Kent Music Report singles charts with, "Don't Throw Stones" (1979), "Strangers on a Train" (1980) and "How Come" (1981); and top 20 albums with, Don't Throw Stones (#9, 1979), Suddenly (#13, 1980) and Sondra (1981). "Who Listens to the Radio?", co-written by Cummings and Pendlebury, peaked at #35 on the Australian singles charts in 1978, and was their only hit on the United States Billboard Pop Singles chart, peaking at #45 in November 1979.
The Sports broke up in 1981 with lead singer Stephen Cummings going on a successful solo singing career [Extracts from Wikipedia and Stephen Cumming's blog Lovetown].
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The rip for the Fair Game EP was taken from vinyl in FLAC format and includes full artwork (many thanks to Deutros at Ausrock).  Likewise, the even more rare Acetate of  The Sports' Early Recordings (which pre-dates their EP) was also ripped to FLAC (thanks to Sunshine at Ausrock) and also includes artwork and label scans. 

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(Fair Game EP)

Roadrunner Mag Oct, 1978

01- (Right) thru her heart

02 - Twist Senorita

03 - In Trouble with The Girls

04 - Red Cadillac and a Black Moustache

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Band Members:

Stephen Cummings (Vocals)

Ed Bates (Guitar)

Robert Glover (Bass)

Jim Niven (Piano)

Paul Hitchens (Drums)

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Joe Camilleri (Sax and Producer)

(Early Recordings Acetate)

01: True Stories

02: When We Got To The Taxi Rank

03: In Trouble With The Girls

04: The Creature

05: Missing The Kissing

06: A Red Cadillac And A Black Moustache

Line Up

Vocals: Steve Cummings

Guitar: Ed Bates

Piano: Jim Niven

Bass: Robert Glover

Drums: Paul Hitchins

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Sports Link (320Mb)   FLAC Rips

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