W.O.C.K On Vinyl - The Royal Guardsmen: Snoopy's Christmas (1967)

Before things get too serious here at Rock On Vinyl, I thought it might be fun to post a song / album at the end of each month, that could be categorized as being either Weird, Obscure, Crazy or just plain Korny.
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A follow up to their earlier "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron", "Snoopy's Christmas" is about the loveable Peanut's character 'Snoopy'  going out to fight the Red Baron on Christmas Eve. The Baron has Snoopy at his mercy after a long dogfight but, instead of shooting him down he forces Snoopy to land and offers Snoopy a holiday toast. Afterward, Snoopy and the Red Baron fly their separate ways, "each knowing they'd meet on some other day".
Although fictitious, the song recalls a historical event. During World War I, in 1914, "The Christmas Truce" was initiated not by German and British commanders, but by the soldiers themselves. The length of the cease-fire varied by location, and was reported to have been as brief as Christmas Day or as long as the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. Trench-bound combatants exchanged small gifts across the lines, with Germans giving beer to the British, who sent tobacco and tinned meat back in return. No Man's Land was cleared of dead bodies, trenches were repaired and drained, and troops from both sides shared pictures of their families and, in some places, used No Man's Land for friendly games of football.

The song even has the initiator correct as it was generally the German soldiers who called over to the British and initiated the truce and, in the song, it is the Red Baron—a German WWI hero—who extends the hand of Christmas friendship to Snoopy.
"Snoopy's Christmas" reached the #1 position in the Australian pop charts in 1967, and continues to be played as a holiday favorite on most 'oldie' radio stations [extract from wikipedia]
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I can clearly remember playing this single on the families large HSV record player at the tender age of 8 and listening in awe to the sounds of the dogfight between the Bloody Red Baron and our hero Snoopy in their biplanes. What wonderful memories came flooding back when I played this single for the first time in god knows how many years the other day. So I thought it was time that this Korny childhood tune resurfaced for this month's WOCK on Vinyl posting and I hope that it puts a smile on your face, and perhaps for some of you, bring back your own fond memories of growing up back in the 60's.

Because my single has seen better days (being played to death on a very worn stylus), I am providing a CD rip of "Snoopy's Christmas" taken from the The Royal Guardsmen's Anthology.
I have however ripped the B-Side of the single "It Kinda Looks Like Christmas" as this track does not appear to have been released on any of their albums. Perhaps this makes the post Obscure as well.
Both tracks have been ripped in MP3 format at 320kps and I've included label scans of the single.
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Snoopy's Christmas  (13Mb)  New Link 07/08/2024
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Bob Hudson - The Newcastle Song (1974) + Bonus Tracks

(Australian 1975-1980)
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Bob Hudson's twelve month stint as a teacher in the Riverina during 1968 was a far cry from the national recording success he was experiencing seven years later. It was after this brief teaching period that his interest in music became more serious.
At first it was difficult as Bob's folk singing contained too much humour for the purists, but he did manage to get some campus and club work.
Then, when Paul Hogan began to emerge as a successful comedian, Bob was hired as one of his writers. Ironically, although Bob was paid out under his contract, his services were never actually utilised. From there Bob appeared in the stage production of The Rocky Horror Show. Around the same time he made a demo tape of some of his material. He took the tape to a prominent record company, but they turned him down.
In fact, it wasn't until he began the Sit Yourself Down series for the ABC that musical director, Chris Neale, took a fancy to his songs and arranged for him to record the Newcastle Song Recorded Live album for the M7 label. The title track was edited down from its original ten minute duration and released as a single. The result was a national number one hit in March 1975.
Bob's songwriting ability also produced a sequel to the 'Newcastle Song' called 'Rak Off Normie' (recorded by Maureen Elkner) and Margret Roadknight's hit, 'Girls In Our Town'.
Meanwhile, as a follow-up to `The Newcastle Song’, Hudson issued the album "After Me Cat Left Home" and the single `Waltzing Matilda Rock’/`Heartsmasher’. Hudson issued his third album, Party Pieces, in 1980.
Despite his recording success, Bob maintained his job as producer at the ABC's radio station 2JJ in Sydney, and eventually became a disc jockey in 1978. He also did a stint as a music reporter for the Sydney National Times.

Norm and his F.J Holden

The Newcastle Song
The Newcastle Song was a 1975 hit for musician and comedian Bob Hudson. It poked fun at the working-class youth culture of the City of Newcastle in NSW. The song was recorded in front of a live audience in 1974. The basic story-line concerns a young man called Normie who goes out with his mates looking to pick up women in Newcastle's main street, Hunter Street, in their "hot - F.J. Holden".
They encounter a young lady and her Hells Angel date outside the "Parthenon Milk Bar". Apparently, the Parthenon Milk Bar survived in Hunter Street into the 1990s as a local business.

Bob Hudson captured Newcastle's car culture best in the chorus of his 1975 The Newcastle Song:

Anyway there was this mob of blokes driving down Hunter Street,
in the front seat of the hot FJ,
with chrome plated grease nipples,
and twin overhead foxtails,
and the coolest of them all,
who got to sit near the window,
was young Norm.



I can clearly remember hearing this song for the first time while driving my dad's H.R Holden Ute at the tender age 17 (L plates of course) down the back streets of Geelong and cranking up the volume on my newly purchased 'Clarion' Tape/Radio, much to the horror of the ol' man. Needless to say I was picturing myself as Norm, with arm hanging out the window and checking out the local chics on the sidewalk. Ah, those were the days !
Of course, I raced out down to my 'local record shop' the following day and got myself a copy of the single, and started playing it at home. My mother absolutely loved it and I can still remember her giggling at the part where Norm's gets picked on by the Big Burly Bikie.
So, here is the album from which this song originated, although the single release was a substantially shortened version of the album version, which is almost 10mins long.
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This post consists of MP3's (320kps) ripped from a CD release of the album (no longer available) and includes artwork for both Vinyl and CD releases.  Note that the order of the tracks on the CD release is different to that of the original LP, but the music is the same and still features the original 10min version of "The Newcastle Song", which was incidentally recorded in front of a live audience.  As a bonus, I have also included a rip of my trusty single which features the 'edited version' along with the non-album B-Side track "Ventriloquist Love". 
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Tracklist (LP)

01 - J.L. Budgie  5:44
02 - Livin' It Up On The Dole   3:03
03 - R Certificate Song  2:21
04 - Clarissa    1:33
05 - Motor Car Song   4:41
06 - Christened My Dog     3:26
07 - Librarian Lady   2:30
08 - Teenage Cremation  2:53
09 - Who's Your Friend? 2:54
10 - I Never Was Born Like Mel     0:48
11 - The Girls In Our Town  3:16
12 - The Newcastle Song (extended version) 9:54

13 - No More Songs  5:05
14 - The Newcastle Song (Bonus A-Side Single Edit)  2:58
15 - Ventriloquist Love (Bonus B-Side Single)  4:33
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Credits
Double Bass, Bass Guitar – Dave Ellis
Drums, Percussion – Doug Gallagher
Piano, Electric Piano,
Synthesizer, Mellotron, Mandolin,
Electric Guitar – Chris Neal
Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Flute, Tin Whistle – Geoff Oakes
Vocals, Guitar [12-string], Acoustic Guitar, Ukulele, Tambourine – Bob Hudson
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Bob Hudson Link (133Mb)
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Bryan Adams - Unauthorised Live Vol.1 (1993) Ex Bootleg

(Canadian 1976–present)
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Bryan Adams is one of Canada’s most famous singers. He has also been very successful as a songwriter for other singers. His music is a mixture between rock and pop. His songs have been at the top of the charts for more than twenty years.

Bryan Adams was born in 1959 in Kingston, Ontario. His parents came to Canada in the 1950’s from England. Bryan’s father worked as a Canadian Diplomat and the family lived in many countries including Israel, Portugal, Austria, England and Canada. Bryan considers Vancouver, British Columbia as his hometown.

Adams was preoccupied with his music throughout his teenage years, and was not distracted easily. “In high school, I was too far into my music to even pay attention to girls.” Adams told Steve Pond in Rolling Stone. “I’d run after the occasional girl, but music and rock n’ roll bands were far more interesting to me.”

Bryan quit school at the age of 16 to play in a band called Shock. He worked for a year as a dishwasher in a local restaurant. He did not enjoy it, but he saved up $1,000 to buy an electric guitar that he still has.

He moved on from band to band throughout his teens. In the summer of 1976, he went to see a pop band called Sweeney Todd in Surrey, British Columbia, just outside of Vancouver. At the end of the show, he found the band’s manager and proclaimed himself four times better than the group’s singer. The band decided to let him audition, and hired him to take over the front man’s spot. The following year, he left Sweeney Todd to pursue songwriting. “I’ve been in awe of singer-songwriters from the days of first hearing Paul Simon,” Adams told Larry LeBlanc in Canadian Composer. “I knew then that if I was serious about a career in music, I had to be a writer.”

In 1980, Bryan recorded his first solo song but he was not very happy about it. The record company sped up his voice and changed the background to a disco beat. It sold 250,000 copies and it was played in discos all over the world. He also had his first solo album in 1980 called Bryan Adams, but it did not sell very well. He had to sing in radio commercials to pay his bills. Bryan started playing in small clubs and arenas to promote his second album You Want it, You Got It. The media finally began to notice him.

In 1981, Bryan recorded his third album called "Cuts Like A Knife", which did very well. He began to tour the world with the very popular band Journey. Bryan’s album Reckless in 1984 had six ‘top 20’ singles. "Run To You" was the first single from this album and it peaked at #6 on the Billboard charts. Another song "Heaven" became the most popular song in the United States and was also in a movie. Bryan Adams was now considered a superstar.

The song "Summer of ’69" is one of Bryan’s biggest hits and is about his memories of summer when he was younger. The opening lyrics to the song refer to when Bryan was 10 years old and bought his first guitar.

               I got my first real six-string
               Bought it at the five-and-dime
               Played it till my fingers bled
               It was the summer of ‘69

He and some boys from school formed a band and played in his parent’s basement. Bryan learned how to play a guitar and piano without ever taking lessons.

In 1987, his album Into the Fire sold one million copies and only had one top 10 song. Bryan spent over a year and a half doing concerts around the world. All of his concerts sold out.

Throughout his career, Bryan has spent a lot of his time helping charitable causes. In 1985, Bryan performed in the Live Aid concert where he sang a duet with Tina Turner called “It’s only love”. Bryan began touring with other famous singers to raise awareness and money for Amnesty International. He also sang with other famous Canadians in the song Tears are Not Enough to raise money to help people starving in Africa. He performed in a concert during apartheid in South Africa to support the release of political prisoner Nelson Mandela. He has also performed for many other causes such as Cancer and endangered animals.

In 1988, Bryan appeared as an actor in a move with Clint Eastwood called “Pink Cadillac”. Bryan has written many songs that have been in movies. Bryan’s hit song "Everything I Do, I Do It For You" from the movie Robin Hood:  Prince of Thieves starring Kevin Costner was released in 1991.  The song went to number 1 in its first week in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. The album called Waking up the Neighbours (Sept. 1991) was so popular that it was the number one album for 16 weeks in the United Kingdom. The album sold 5.5 million copies worldwide and was the number one album in ten different countries.

Bryan spent 1992 to 1994 touring the world doing concerts. He released a greatest hits package in 1993, which sold over 13 million copies. Bryan wrote and sang All for Love with fellow musicians Sting and Rod Stewart for the movie Three Musketeers. In 1995, his song Have you ever really loved a woman from the movie Don Juan de Marco was the number one song in the United States for four weeks. In 2002, Bryan Adams wrote all of the songs for the very successful animated movie Spirit.  Bryan’s songs are played throughout the movie.

In the fall of 2005 Bryan Adams celebrated his 25th anniversary as a recording artist with his first two-CD collection Anthology, the biggest retrospective of his multi-platinum career. The 36 selection Anthology spans Adams’ entire career from 1980 through to present day, offering the very best of one of the most popular rock singer-songwriters to ever don jeans and a t-shirt.

To this day, Bryan continues to sell out concerts and make new music. Bryan Adams has become one of the most popular singers and songwriters in the world.
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This post consists of MP3's (320kps) ripped from my JOKER CD and includes full album artwork along with select photos as shown above. The sound quality of this Bootleg is nothing short of an A+ rating, and at one stage I thought JOKER may have sourced this from a studio release until it was apparent by the audience participation at the start of "Heaven" that it was in fact a great Soundboard recording.
The cover indicates that the concert was recorded in Los Angeles, California sometime in 1993, but because there is scant little information about Bryan Adams tour schedule during the 90's, I really can't confirm this.
Either way, this Bootleg is not to be missed and contains just about every big hit he has produced during the 80's and 90's.
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Track Listing
01 - It's Only Love
02 - Cuts Like A Knife
03 - (Everything I Do) I Do It For You
04 - Straight From The Heart
05 - Heaven
06 - Heat Of The Night
07 - Run To You
08 - Somebody
09 - Into The Fire
10 - Summer Of '69
11 - Remember
12 - One Good Reason
13 - Lonely Nights 
14 - Tonight

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Bryan Adams Link (147Mb) New link 17/12/2023

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Paul O'Gorman - Poet & The Painter (1978)

(Australian 1975-86)
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Paul O’Gorman was an unknown quantity when he entered the 1976 Australian Popular Song Festival. He had only seriously begun writing songs a few years earlier while studying Law at University and had notched up a few talent quest victories along with a handful of appearances on TV in Victoria.

Former Cherokees guitarist Doug Trevor, who had recently returned from overseas where he’d been musical director for Davey Jones of the Monkees, believed in Paul’s abilities as a performer and the two began writing songs together. When they entered the Festival in '76 they thought they were in with a chance, though they faced stiff competition from some big names, including Steve Groves and Beeb Birtles.
So what hat happened to Paul after making the final that year was a short but great journey into the world of pop stardom. He enjoyed a couple of hit singles, played to international audiences and cut a lone LP, The Poet And The Painter, before leaving it all behind to work behind the scenes in publishing, management and entertainment law [extract from ABC Radio National Rare Collections]
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Paul was the son of respected Melbourne radio veteran Kevin O'Gorman (currently of 3KZ). His interest in singing started at an early age and by 1976 he was appearing regularly around Melbourne bars.
He then performed on the New Faces television series and won the heat. Around this time, one of Paul's home-made demo tapes got into the hands of songwriter Doug Trevor and the two began a working relationship. Paul began appearing on television and presented Doug's composition of 'You're More To Me' at the 1976 Australian Pop Song Festival. They succeeded in winning second place.
In 1977 they re-entered the Festival and this time they won with a song entitled 'Ride, Ride America'. From there they took the number to the International Song Festival in Tokyo and took off two of the major prizes — Best Song and Best Song Performance.
Back home the song was released on the Infinity label and made the charts in December '77.
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Despite the fact that Paul's obvious ability as a singer/song-writer has always been acknowledged, he still found it difficult to exist financially on his musical activities in 1978. Although he was voted Most Popular New Talent in the TV Week King of Pop Awards in October '78, he was forced to take on some part-time work with a law firm.
It was still an important year for Paul. He made regular television appearances including a spot on the Paul Hogan Show and, late in May, he toured as support for Cliff Richard and used a backing band for the first time.

Paul's debut album, The Poet and the Painter, was released on Infinity in May. (The LP was co-composed and produced by his musical director, Doug Trevor.) A single, '(You And Me And) Love In The Morning' was lifted from it and provided Paul with his second hit. A follow-up, 'You're More To Me' (which was the runner-up at the 1976 Australian Popular Song Festival) was released in September.

At the end of 1978, Paul began preparing for a new album, which was expected to be released midway through 1979 - but alas, never eventuated. However, he did manage to release a single "Getaway" in 1979, followed by three more singles, "Play the Music" in 1980, "Hate To say Goodbye" in 1981 and after a dry spell, "In The name Of Peace" in 1986. [extract from Noel McGrath's Australian Encyclopedia of Rock: 1978, 1978-79 Yearbook, Outback Press]
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This post consists of a Vinyl Rip in FLAC format and comes with full album artwork and label scans. I was very lucky to stumble across this album at a flee market, sitting in amongst a pile of 'rubbish' which could have been easily overlooked. Bonus !  The album was in super condition with just a few ring marks on the front cover.  Paul O'Gorman sounds a lot like Peter Allen and John Denver, and his song writing skills are certainly up there with the likes of Doug Ashdown and G.Wayne Thomas. Also interesting to see that Mario Millo (Sebastian Hardie) assisted Paul on this album along with the great John Lyle
Hope you enjoy this one and only debut album by a highly talented Aussie musician who simply slipped away without a trace, which is a real pity.
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Track Listing

01 - You're More To Me
02 - Love Again
03 - Poet And The Painter
04 - Lisa
05 - Are You Travellin' With Me
06 - Leaving Love Behind
07 - (You And Me And) Love In The Morning
08 - Doesn't It Show
09 - Ramblin Old House
10 - Jacqueline
11 - Ride, Ride America
12 - May It All End With You
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Artists:
Vocals - Paul O'Gorman
Acoustic Guitar - Paul O'Gorman, Jonathan Coben

Electric Guitar - Jonathan Coben, Mario Millo
Bass - Chris Stafford, Roger Corbett
Drums & Percussion - Dave Hicks
Keyboards - Raddy Ferreira, Ian Hunt
Trumpet/Flugel Horns - Boof Thomsen, Ray Bensted
Trombones - Bob McIvor, Derek Long, Ron Spillett, Peter Haslam
Cellos - Hans Gyors, Donna Noble
Mandolin - Mario Millo
Flute - Errol Buddle
Harmonica - Greg Foster
String Leader - John Lyle
Backing Vocals - Alison MacCallum, Janice Slater, Sally Rogan, Peter Brandon, Mick Leyton, Joe Andre
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Paul O'Gorman FLAC Link (291Mb)

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W.O.C.K On Vinyl - The Rolling Stones Medley: Rolling Hits (1981)

Before things get too serious here at Rock On Vinyl, I thought it might be fun to post a song / album at the end of each month, that could be categorized as being either Weird, Obscure, Crazy or just plain Korny.
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SOME STONES MYTHS
A band that has had as long and as colourful a career as the Stones will have accrued their fair share of stories, myths and legends. Here are just some of the erroneous (or are they?) stories surrounding the band.
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1.  OTIS REDDING WROTE SATISFACTION
Strip away the fuzztone guitar riff of 'Satisfaction' and take the edge off its snarled lyric and you have a stomping soul number the type of which proliferated on the Stax label in the mid-1960s. Perhaps it was this then that caused the Toronto Telegram to declare in February 1968, a couple of months after Stax artist Otis Redding's death in a plane crash, "It's High Time The Stones Acknowledged This Debt". The headline appeared over a story that alleged that the band had remained "stubbornly and disgustingly silent" about the 'fact' that they had bought the song off Redding for $10,000 when they had visited Memphis and heard him cut the track. The only shred of truth in the story

was that Redding had recorded 'Satisfaction' - although as Steve Cropper (Redding's guitarist, who played on the track) pointed out, not until the Stones version had hit the store. "The story that Otis originally wrote 'Satisfaction' is completely false," Cropper said. The progress of the crusading journalist who wrote the story towards the Canadian equivalent of a Pulitzer Prize is not known.
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2.  THE KEITH RICHARDS BLOOD TRANSFUSION RUMOUR
Whereas Tony Sanchez did much to scotch the Mars Bar rumour, he was chiefly responsible for the legend that, in 1973, Richards
- anxious to be 'clean' for an upcoming tour but unable to take the time to wean himself off smack - undertook a little-known rich addict's cure involving the wholesale replacement of his blood with that provided by a donor or donors. It's been repeated over and over in newspapers since whenever the Stones are touring and some juicy copy is required. Harry Shapiro of the charity Drugscope says, "It's rubbish. Drugs like heroin and coke wash out of the system in 24-48 hours. Detoxifying is not that much of a problem so long as you can deal with the withdrawals - it's staying off that is the issue - and that needs therapy, not a blood transfusion." Richards himself has also denied it. And yet... there is something convincing about the way Sanchez relates the story in his book, explaining that Marshall Chess - who had apparently taken the 'cure' before - told Richards of it, going into detail about the doctor who arranged it, the Swiss clinic at which it supposedly took place, the cost, the events surrounding it (including Richards' offer to pay for a cure for Sanchez, which he declined, fearing needles) and the way the cure gave Richards a cavalier attitude about getting hooked again, his reasoning being that it didn't matter because he now had a quick way of cleaning up any time he liked.
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3.  MICK'S CROTCH
How deliciously daring it was in 1971 to buy an album whose cover consisted of a life-size (these were 12-inch sleeve days) bejeaned male loin region with a real zip that pulled down (or, in fact, went up - to prevent damage, the zip had to be down when shipped to the stores so that its weight when stacked would be on the record label, not the vinyl). The descended zipper revealed a man's occupied pair of underpants. Naturally, everybody assumed it was Mick Jagger - at that point the biggest male sex symbol in rock - that was bulging in their faces. In fact, it is believed to be one of Andy Warhol's cinematic 'Superstars' named Joe Dallesandro (immortalized as Little Joe in Lou Reed's 'Walk On The Wild Side'). The model for the inner picture - who was noticeably less well endowed - is believed to be another Warhol acquaintance named Jed Johnson.
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4. THE MARS BAR INCIDENT
The 1967 drugs trial of Jagger and Richards gave the popular press a field day of scandal (supposed role models taking drugs) and sex (surrounded by men, a mystery woman was wearing only a rug). However, the most salacious gossip emanating from the trial did not see print, but instead was a true underground rumour, passed by word of mouth until virtually everyone in Britain had heard of it. This was that, when the police burst in that fateful night, they had found Jagger eating a Mars bar from the vagina of Marianne Faithfull (who was the woman in the rug but referred to only as 'Miss X' in press reports). Faithfull herself has denied it. Though Faithfull sometimes seems confused about details (in her autobiography she says Let It Bleed is her favourite Stones album and then proceeds to cite tracks from that and Beggar's Banquet and Sticky Fingers) she is hardly one to be anything less than candid about events. Even Tony Sanchez - whose book is a mine of dirt about the group - says it didn't happen. He wrote that, at the Jagger and Richards trial, "in a bar during a lunch break, two senior police officers gulped down bottles of beer with crime reporters and sniggeringly told "lewd and grossly exaggerated stories about Marianne's behaviour at the time of the raid... and a totally false and malicious rumour was begun which Marianne has never quite managed to live down." [sourced from 'The Rough Guide To The Rolling Stones', by Sean Egan. 2006  p294-296]
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This month's WOCK on Vinyl post features a rather Obscure 12" Single Medley of  Rolling Stones Hits (or

rather a Stars on 45 rendition) that was released in 1981, during a time when Stars on 45 party mixes were being released for the more popular bands of the time (ie. Abba, Beach Boys, Bee Gees). This 6 minute Stone Fest features some of the most popular Rolling Stones hits like "Satisfaction", "Jumpin' Jack Flash", "Honky Tonk Woman" and 8 others, all cleverly blending into one another.
The B-Side is a huge disappointment however, with a pointless track by Haim Saban called "Gonna Catch You" and should have been another Medley (Part B) featuring some of their other big hits like "Gimme Shelter","Little Red Rooster" and "Sympathy For The Devil" which were not included on Side A.
Anyhow, I hope this Rolling Stones medley really Wocks your socks off and ya like it !
Also included with the MP3 (320kps) music files are some alternative covers from releases in Germany and the UK, along with my own record scans and covers.
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Medley Track Listing:

Satisfaction
Get Off My Cloud
As Tears Go By
Let's Spend The Night Together
Honky Tonk Woman
Paint It Black
Jumpin' Jack Flash
Brown Sugar
Bitch
Miss You
It's Only Rock N' Roll
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Rolling Stones Hits (25Mb)  New Link 29/06/2022
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The La De Das - Anthology: Rock 'n' Roll Decade (1964-74)

(New Zealand 1964-74)
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Original line-up: BRYAN HARRIS (drums); TREVOR WILSON (bass); BRUCE HOWARD (organ/sax); PHILLIP KEY (lead vocals); KEVIN BORICH (lead guitar).
The La De Das formed in New Zealand in 1965 and after reaching the top there (with their single, 'Hey Baby' which made number one), they left for Sydney two years later.
On their arrival in Australia they received little attention from their recording company who at first refused to let them record. As a result they fell into a rut working steadily, but uneventfully, in Melbourne and Sydney. Then early in 1968 they decided to buy new instruments and develop a new act. The change brought with it a renewed interest in the band and in March, 1969 they released their highly acclaimed Happy Prince album.
Two months later they left Australia to try their luck in England. Other, more renowned groups, had tried before them without success and the La De Das found the going just as tough. They returned in April, 1970 minus Trevor and his place was taken by RENO TEHEI (ex-Genesis and Compulsion). In the meantime their album had sold steadily during their absence, and later in the year Bryan left and he was replaced by KEITH BARBER.
More line-up changes occurred in January, 1971 when Bruce left to form a duo with Trevor, and Reno also moved out. The band added PETER ROBERTS and reformed as follows: PHIL KEYS (vocals and guitar); PETER ROBERTS (bass); KEITH BARBER (drums); and KEVIN BORICH (vocals and guitar).
They consolidated with the new format and released a new single, 'Sweet Girl'/'I Can't Find A Reason'. Then in November, '71 came the breakthrough they had been waiting for when they made the charts with 'Gonna See My Baby Tonight.' Another hit was achieved six months later with 'Morning Good Morning.'
But, just as they seemed destined to become the superstars they had tried so long to be, the band experienced another setback. In September, 72 Peter and Phil left to form the Band of Light. But not to be discouraged, the band took on RONNIE 'PEEL (ex-One Ton Gypsy and Thunderclap Norman) to play bass and worked as a trio.
The new three piece format created a new vigour, with Kevin having to work harder on guitar, and in November, '72 they released an exciting single called 'I'll Never Stop Loving You.' From there they settled into a hectic pattern of work and in July, 1973 they issued their notorious Rock'n'Roll Sandwich album.
The following year was their last together, but included a single, 'The Place' (May, '74), a tour with Gary Glitter (July, 74) and also a re-entry into the charts with Chuck Berry's old rocker 'Too Pooped to Pop.'
Kevin went on to form Kevin Borich Express while Ronnie recorded under the alias of Rockwell T. James as well as playing with John Paul Young's All Stars [extract from Noel McGrath's Australian Encyclopedia of Rock, Outback Press, 1978. p 174-175].
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New Zealand - The Beginning
Teenage schoolboys have always dreamed of becoming rock and roll stars, but it's a fair bet that such a fantasy was more prevalent in 1964 than all the other years combined. Certainly it was for four Auckland lads who, midway through 1964, pooled their musical talents and aspirations to become the long-forgotten 'Mergers'. The Mergers became such hot property on the Auckland school / football club dance circuit that the occassional weekend work became a regular occupation and mid-week engagements began to roll in as well. The quartet soon decided their name was a little too quaint and intended changing it to something a little tougher. When Trevor Wilson's mum heard that they were about to become The Criminals, she reprimanded, "You might as well call yourselves the La De Das". What, with mums knowing best and all that, they took her suggestion.
During all this fledgling activity, Phil was struggling through high school. Trevor (the yougest, 16) was working as a delivery boy, Kevin was laboring on his parent's orchard (and would cycle 20 miles to rehearsals) and Brett had just left school. Phil had not yet begun to sing, so Kevin and Trevor were handling all vocal duties.

Phil, Trevor, Brett, Kevin and Bruce - 1966

In April 1965, the film 'Those magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines' opened in Auckland and TV producer Robert Handlin cooked up an idea for promoting it on TV. Having heard some impressive reports about a 'happening' young group around town, he caught them in a club one night and made an offer they couldn't possibly have refused.
Resplendent in black suits, white shirts, bow ties and bowler hats, the La De Das mimed the film's theme song in prime time on national network television - an ingnominous fate for proud blues purists! Handlin, who certainly owed them a favour after that episode, liked the group enough to record single with them in a vaguely adequate 2 track studio.

17 year old Kevin Borich was the forefront of the session. He wrote the ballad "Ever Since The Night" amd co-wrote (with Trevor) "Little Girl". Ironically this was to be his last recorded composition/s for five years. Kevin's recording experience actually predated his associates for many years. When 12 Years old, he had made a private recording for Astor with two your sisters who lived in a neighbouring poultry farm in Huapai, Judy (11) and Sue Donaldson (9) later became a popular Auckland recording group called The Chicks, around the same time the La De Das were chart topping (Sue now records as Suzanne in England and also sings with Cat Stevens). Kevin's withdrawl from a focal position in the group, until he finally took control in 1973, is puzzling indeed and indicates just how strong was the leadership of Wilson and later, Key.

La De Das (Kings Cross Sydney) - 1967

In 1965/6, New Zealand's local pop industry was enjoying a bouyant boom, new bands were forming each week, record companies were snapping up as many acts as they could find, the public was buying local hits and gigs were plentiful. The most popular acts were mass-appeal soloists like Mr. Lee Grant, Allison Durbin, Peter Posa, Sandy Edmonds, John Hore and Maria Dallas, but popgroups were also making great strides in the footsteps of national heroes Ray Columbus & The Invaders and Max Merritt's Meteors. They sprung up from all over (mostly) the North Island; the most notable being Peter Nelson and the Castaways, The Crescendos, The Underdogs, The Gremlins and Larry's Rebels to name but a few. Nightspots were also thriving, in Aukland one could rage to good young R & B bands at dives like the Oriental Ballroom, 1480 Village, Galaxie and Monaco. In all, it was a vibrant healthy atmosphere for the develoment of good rock music.

The hottest beat club in Auckland in 1965 was 'The Platterack', run by wrestler cum footballer cum bouncer, Dave Henderson and partner, Fred McMahon. The pair were continually reminded by one or all of the La De Das of the group's decided suitability for this hallowed venue, but were a little unsure of the musicalability of 4 idealistic kids. An opportunity finally came late in 1965 when Red McKelvie's band was unable to play a full night and the La De Das were given a try-out. They were reasonably well recieved and sparadic bookings continued.
By Christmas 1965, Phil had left school and the La De Das went fully professional. The Platterack, which they were now packing out almost every night, engaged them as resident group for the fine sum of twelve pounds a week and they gradually became known around Auckland as N.Z.'s 'Rolling Stones'. A regular quiet admirer from the balcony was one Bruce Howard, a formally trained young pianist. It didn't take long to figure that, with the holiday season requiring up to eight hours playing a night and a keyboard being good for a lengthy solo every few songs, Bruce could become a valuable addition to the outfit. He was summarily invited to join and , with restrained fervour, accepted.

The La De Das - 1968

The excitment being generated from the Platterack soon found its way to the attention of Eldred C.Stebbling, a wiley manager/record producer who actually owned his own studio. Through his Zodiac Records label, Stebbing had launched Ray Columbas & The Invaders and was ever on the lookout for another promising act. He was impressed enough to take on the La De Das and devote considerable attention to breaking them nationally.
In January 1966, Stebbing produced their first Zodiac single (The Blue Magoo's) "How Is The Air Up There?" The studio was under his house, "He had four single track Telefunken tape recorders patched together" is how Phil Key remenbers it. "There was hardly any privacy, the wife and kids would wander through and people would call by, but we got such a great sound it didn't matter."
When released in Feburary, "How Is The Air Up There?" was an instant smash, climbing to number four on the national local artist chart and establishing the group as a major entity. For the next two years, nobody in the country could rival them for popularity and record sales. Only Larry's Rebels came near but their teenybop status was never matched with high sales or chart action.

Phil Key again recalls, "The hits just inspired confidence in us.We became totally involved in getting dressed up and going out to gigs, the gigs and rehearsals were everything. Nothing worried us, we were so busy consuming what was happening around us. We were super aware, on top of every trend in music and clothes and language. We tried to be honest and sincere with our music, only playing and recording what we liked. The guys in the good record bars dug what we were doing and they got in all the latest English R&B records for us. We were listening to Zoot Money, John Mayall, Manfred Mann, The Animals, all that sort of stuff, and trying to create that sound. We were different from groups like the Underdogs who just played 12 bar blues all night, we tried to be a lot more imaginative about what we did".

La De Das - 1971

Despite being featured regularly on the C'mon T.V pop show, the La De Das generally lacked a strong P.R machine and more press ink seemed to be devoted to The Gremlins and Larry's Rebels. Although Stebbing was an effective manager, his flair was more toward production than promotion.
The second Zodiac single "Don't You Stand In My Way" a Wilson / Howard original almost stiffed but the third finally broke them on the major national chart. "On Top Of The World", a frantic John Mayall song issued at the end of 1966, hit number three and mingled with the Hollies, Gene Pitney and Herman's Hermits.
Life for the La De Das was, by this point, a living fairy tale. "We had no idea what we were earning on tour, we just spent what we wanted and ploughed the rest back into the band. We had our way with girls, bought more clothes and equipment and just enjoyed being stars" admits an almost embarrassed Phil. Most of their popularity however, was Auckland based, they were yet to become a pnenomena in the South and other areas of the North Island. Brett Neilson at the time, told a straight women's magazine , "It's good in Auckland now but when we go away to places like Whangerei, it's like starting all over again." Shy Brett was, along with Kevin, attracting the bulk of adoring fans and pleading letters by this point, with Phil a close third. Trevor and Bruce were the musical leaders - determining with Phil, the direction / repertoire of the band. Borich, as best as he remembers, just played what he was told and went along for the ride. His musical dexterity was still in apprentice stage.

La De Das - 1974

The choice of a follow-up to their first big hit was crucial and finally came from legendary blind pianist Claude Papesh (one of Johnny Devlin's original Devils). In a club one night, he played them a soulful version of Bruce Channel's classic "Hey Baby" and the group fell in love with it. In March 1967, the La De Das version was released and five weeks later it knocked Penny Lane out of number one on the national charts. Not only that, it was also the very first local group recording to hit number one. Eldred Stebbing promptly sent off a telegram to Brian Epstein informing him of the event (he must have been pleased!)

The next step was quite inevitable. Kevin, Bruce, Trevor and Phil, who were all living a consumate bachelors existence together in one Auckland house, knew that they had conquered New Zealand, for all that it was worth, and that if they were to grow musically they would have to journey to more demanding pastures. England and America were worlds away in another galaxy but Australia was comfortably in reach, so it was on this barren land that they set their ambitious sights. Brett was not quite so enthusiastic; although he was a fine drummer ("Looking back now, he was very together, we didn't have to tell him a thing" says Kev) he was almost involuntarily caught up in the pop-star game and, being basically shy and conservative, began to feel frightened by its threat to his domestic security.

The La De Das impeding departure was announced with a great flourish by Stebbing; "Shortly the La De Das will branch into a new concept of pop music, concentrating on soul music and giving their own interpretations of Negro spirituals. Because of this we want to make some appearances on Australian television shows. We eventually hope to get to America" he told the daily press. True to their word, in May 1967, with "Hey Baby" still topping the charts and another hot single in the can ("All Purpose Low"), the group flew to Sydney to begin their great rock 'n' roll adventure.....[Extract from linear notes by Glenn A Baker].
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This post consists of an MP3 rip (320kps) from by double Cassette Tape set - purchased some 30 years ago and rarely played. This double tape set shows no sign of deteriation or speed issues and plays as good as the day I bought it from my local record bar in Geelong. Thanks must go to Grado at the Midoztouch Forum for the extensive LP artwork and scans, and to New Zealand Music for many of the photos shown above.
Some things worth noting with this release: It features the full rendition of 'The Happy Prince' with narration (not my cup of tea to be honest) and a hidden track at the end of Side 3 - a radio jingle written for "New World Motors" which is not annotated on my cassette tape cover (also included - see right)
This is an extensive collection of all the La De Das studio releases along with three live tracks, which were previously unreleased.
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Track Listing 
01 Little Girl
02 How Is The Air Up There
03 Don't You Stand In My Way
04 I Take What I Want
05 On Top Of The World
06 Jump Back
07 Hey Baby
08 Find Us The Way
09 All Purpose Low

"The Happy Prince"
10 Intro/ Covered In Gold
11 Ruby For The Lady
12 Come Fly With Me
12 Swallow, Little Swallow
13 You Can't Take It With You
14 Life Is Leaving (Instrumental)
15 Tales Of The Nile

16 Winter Song
17 Lullabye
18 Civic Pride
19 Chant

20 Come Together
21 Sweet Girl
22 Morning Good Morning
23 Gonna See My Baby Tonight
24 New World Motors (jingle) *
25 Rock Me Baby (live)
26 The Place
27 Too Pooped To Pop
28 I'm In Love Again
29 Honky Tonkin'
30 All Along The Watchtower
31 Gone Dead Train (live)
32 I'm Ready (live)
* Hidden Bonus Track
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Line-Up:
Kevin Borich (Lead Guitar) 1964-1974
Phil Key (Rhythm Guitar / Vocals)  1964-1972
Bruce Howard (Organ)  1965-1970
Trevor Wilson (Bass Guitar) 1964-1970  
Brett Neilsen (Drums) 1964-1967 
Brian Harris (Drums) 1968
Keith Barber (Drums) 1968-74
Reno Tehei (Bass and Guitar) 1970   
Peter Roberts (Bass) 1971-1972
Ron Peel (Bass) 1973-1974
Adrian Rawlins (Naration of Happy Prince)
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The La De Das Anthology (296Mb) New Link 2/3/2014
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Guns 'n' Roses - Unlicensed Live Vol.4 (1993) Bootleg

(US 1985-Present)
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Guns N' Roses (sometimes abbreviated as G N' R or GnR) is an American hard rock band. The band formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California in 1985. Led by frontman and co-founder Axl Rose, the band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album while going through numerous line-up changes and controversies since its formation.

1985-1990
Slash met Steven Adler in Los Angeles when he was 15, and they both decided to form Road Crew. Meanwhile, Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin got together to play in several bands. They hired Duff McKagan, who came back from Seattle, to give their first concert as Guns N' Roses in April 11th 1985 in Anaheim, California. Slash and Steven Adler joined the band the following month and, after rageous openings for L.A. Guns, Poison or Faster Pussycat, Guns N' Roses drew the attention of Geffen Records who signed them on March 26th 1986 for the recording of seven albums.

The Gunners created their own label to release Live Like A Suicide, a first EP sold to 10,000 copies in four weeks. In early 1987, Guns N' Roses recorded Appetite For Destruction and the debut album was released rather confidentially in July 1987. The band opens shows for The Cult and Motley Crue and gives its first concerts out of the U.S.A.. Supported by a heavy rotation of the single "Sweet Child O' Mine" on MTV and an explosive onstage presence, Appetite For Destruction reached number 1 on the Billboard in 1988. It's with a well established reputation that Guns N' Roses opens for Alice Cooper, Iron Maiden and Aerosmith shows and takes part of the Monsters of Rock festival in front of more than 100,000 people.
While being on the cover of prestigious magazines and receiving several awards, Guns N' Roses's second album, GN'R Lies, is released in November 1988. Including the four recordings from Live Like A Suicide as well as four acoustic tracks, the album soon reaches the top 5 of best U.S.A. selling albums.

1991-1993
As recording sessions for the new album just started, Steven Adler, drugged out of his mind, is fired and replaced by Matt Sorum from The Cult. Around the same time Dizzy Reed, an old friend of the band, becomes the keyboardist of the group. Studio work is put on hold between January 20th and 23rd of 1991 as Guns N' Roses headlines two nights in Brazil in front of the 120,000 crowd of the Rock in Rio festival. On those nights, Matt and Dizzy appeared for the first time as full time members, and several new songs were played. The band then returned to the studio to finish the recording until they embarked on the Use Your Illusion World Tour in May 1991.
In July, the soundtrack of the movie Terminator 2 launched "You Could Be Mine" as the first single of the two Use Your Illusion albums which were finally released on September 17, 1991 and debuted respectively as number 1 and 2 of the Billboard charts. The success is global and it propels the band into the top rank of rock acts. So when Izzy Strandlin quits Guns N' Roses in the whole middle of the tour, the surprise is complete. He is soon replaced by Gilby Clarke. The endless tour is riddled with incidents: riots, late starts, cancellations, health or abuse problems, pouring rain, police raids... The last concert takes place in Buenos Aires on July 17 of 1993, after 197 shows given in front of more than five million people on the planet. [extract from Slash Paradise]

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This CD, released on the AMCOS label, is a soundboard recording (2nd half of the show) made at the Hippodrome De Vincennes in Paris, on June the 6th, 1992. This concert was part of the "Get In The Ring Tour" 1991-1992 (142 shows in 26 countries). The recording has been graded as A+ quality and runs for almost 68mins (see heretodaygonetohell.com)
There have been other bootleg releases for this show, such as 'One In A Million', 'Le Beaux Gest' and 'La Vie En Rose' (see covers below).  This show has also been released on DVD and is considered to be one of GnR's best gigs captured in the 90's.  What makes this concert even more interesting are the guest appearances by Steve Tyler and Joe Perry (from Aerosmith) on the tracks "Mama Kin" and "Train Kept' A Rollin".  It is common knowledge that Slash has been a big fan of Aerosmith since he first started playing guitar and would have been thrilled to perform alongside his 'mentors'
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The post consists of a single MP3 file (320kps) ripped from CD (no song separation I'm afraid) and includes full album artwork, along with other alternative bootleg covers.
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Track Listing
01.  Drum Solo
02.  Various Solos  
03.  Godfather (theme)
04.  (Sail Away Sweet Sister/Bad time)  Sweet Child O'mine
05.  Welcome To The Jungle  
06.  (Only Women Bleed) Knockin' On Heaven's Door
07.  Mama Kin [with Steven Tyler & Joe Perry]
08.  Train Kept A Rollin'  [with Steven Tyler & Joe Perry]
09.  Don't Cry  
10.  (Mother) Paradise City

.The Band
Axl Rose:  Lead vocals, piano
Slash:  Lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals
Duff McKagan:  Bass, backing vocals, lead vocals
Matt Sorum:  Drums, backing vocals
Dizzy Reed:  Keyboards, backing vocals
Gilby Clarke:  Rhythm guitar, backing vocals
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Guns 'n' Roses Link (156Mb)
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