Various Aussie Artists - Albert Archives (1979)

 (Australian 1964 - 1975)

Albert Productions, the recording arm of the 94 year old independent publishing house J. Albert & Son, is a record label unlike any other. It came into being as a result of one man's love of rock & roll and has continued under virtually the same criteria for 14 exceedingly successful years.

Ted Albert, great grandson of company founder Jaques Albert, was 26 when Beatlemania engulfed the world late in 1963. Although he had never been involved with music recording, Ted knew that something exciting was happening and he wanted to be in on it.

With recording facilities in Sydney being all but non existent, Ted Albert dusted off the disused 2UW Radio Theatre in George Street and set about becoming a record producer. In every major city of the English speaking world, the same process was occurring as a new music empire was being built.

Ted began with two groups. One was already firmly established and had enjoyed huge national chart success on another label, the other was a scruffy bunch of young amateurs from the Villawood Migrant Hostel. Both Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs and The Easybeats became multi-hit supergroups and Ted Albert emerged as one of rock's natural producers with a raw technique honed out of eager enthusiasm.

In August 1964, the first Albert Productions single was released on the Parlophone label - "Mashed Potatoes" by Billy Thorpe, a sizeable hit. Seven months later The Easybeats debuted with "For My Woman" and for the next 18 months both acts virtually shared the top of the charts.

R&B influenced rock resigned at Alberts, as Ted sought out and recorded such premier exponents as The Missing Links and The Throb - acts that other companies would not have dreamed of signing!  In all it was a euphoric boom which lasted until The Easybeats left for England at the end of '66. Ted went with them, produced a few unreleased tracks and then returned to Australia - where he wound down his recording activities to a point of virtual cessation, after dispatching producer/A&R man Tony Geary to London as his representative.

Alberts concentrated on publishing until the end of the sixties, while The Easybeats were battling the English charts and sending home their songwriting demos in hope.

The first attempt at Albert Productions' own label was in February 1969 when the unlikely "Songs Of Brotherhood" by The Boys of Fort Street High School Choir appeared, but it was not until December 1970 that serious pop releases began with Ted Mulry's "Falling In Love Again" hit.

Ted Mulry began a second phase for the company, scoring a healthy string of chart hits and generating numerous cover versions. The engagement of publicist co-ordinator Katie MacKillop (ex secretary to Radio Luxemborg boss Alan Kleen) was another shot in the arm, as well the timely signing of a shy and diminutive young pop singer called John Paul Young. Visiting English producer Simon Napier-Bell, working out of the Albert's camp, matched John with one of the Vanda & Young demos which were on hand and the result was a huge 1972 hit with "Pasadena" (The lyrics of which, incidentally, were written by actor David Hemmings)

At the end of 1973 Harry Vanda & George Young returned to Australia after a four year production/recording stint in England, wanting to get down to some serious work. They threw their awesome weight behind the new Albert Productions label and within a matter of months the charts were saturated with Albert singles.

Throughout 1974-75 Wanda & Young returned Alberts to a boom period, akin to the turbulent 1965-66 Easybeats era.  Stevie Wright became the flagship of the fleet with the classic Evie single which won the 1974 'Song Of The Year' award for Harry & George and is enshrined as one of the top ten selling Australian singles of all time. V&Y also contributed heavily to the success of Alberts publishing division, as a result of cover versions of their songs by hundreds of international acts - including David Bowie, Rod Stewart, Bay City Rollers, Savoy Brown, James Last Orchestra, Dahlia Lavi, Joe Dolan and Marmalade.

William Shakespeare, a V&Y exercise, scored two huge hits; AC/DC began their spiraling rise to world fame with the double Platinum 'High Voltage' album and John Paul Young commenced a new phase of his career with the incredible "Yesterday's Hero"

It was not only Albert acts which rode the charts on V&Y superhits, others like Ray Burgees, Alison McCallum, Johnny O'Keefe, Doug Parkinson and Johnny Farnham queued for material and, subsequent hits.

After 1975 Vanda & Young settled down to more long term-orientated activities with the international market in mind and other Albert acts emerged as strong forces. The most notable was Ted Mulry who, with his Gang, became a teenage rock idol of immense record selling proportion. A&R Director Chris Gilbey developed a wide range of artistically interesting but commercially disappointing acts such as Cool Bananas, Wendy Grove, Bobby Marchini, Graham Lowndes, and Madden & Harris

By 1977 Alberts completed the installation of a world standard twin 24 track studio complex and moved forcibly toward the world markets with high quality rock acts like AC/DC, John Paul Young (affectionately known as Squeek by his fans), The Angels, Rose tattoo and Flash & The Pan. Now in 1978, under the A&R direction of Fifa Riccobono and the international representation of industry veteran Mike Browning, Albert Productions is enjoying the greatest level of consistent success since its inception in 1964 and is still, to Ted Albert's external credit, a true ROCK label. For it is in such an environment that Vanda & Young are able to work unhindered and albums like this, are able to be issued  [notes by GLENN A. BAKER]

This post consists of FLACS ripped from CD (thanks to Micko at Midoztouch) and includes full album artwork for both vinyl and CD releases along with label scans.  As a bonus, I thought it appropriate to include some of the tracks mentioned in Glenn A. Bakers notes that were not included on this release, as bonus tracks.  If you are looking for a full discography of Albert Production releases, I highly recommend their 50th Anniversary 5CD release entitled 'Good Times' from 2014.

Tracklist

01 The Easybeats – She's So Fine (Live)

02 The Missing Links –  Shakin' All Over

03 The Throb –  Fortune Teller

04 Billy Thorpe And The Aztecs –  The Word For Today

05 Bobby And Laurie –  Every Second Day

06 Ted Mulry –  Ain't It Nice

07 Alison McAllum And Tully –  To Love Somebody

08 The Easybeats – All Gone Boy

09 Marcus Hook Roll Band – Natural Man

10 Jeremy Paul – What Becomes Of You My Love

11 The Hooter Sisters –  So Tough

12 Cool Bananas – Been And Gone

13 John Paul Young –  You Drive Me Crazy

14 AC/DC – Rockin' In The Parlour

15 T.M.G. –  It's All Over Now

16 Stevie Wright – My Kind Of Music (Live)

17    Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs - Mashed Potatoes [Bonus Track]

18    Ted Mulry - Falling In Love [Bonus Track]

19    John Paul Young - Pasadena [Bonus Track]

20    The Easybeats - For My Woman [Bonus Track]

Albert Archives Link (458Mb)

Hagar, Schon, Aaronson, Shrieve - Through The Fire (1984)

(U.S 1983-1984)

Hagar Schon Aaronson Shrieve (also known as HSAS) was a supergroup band featuring lead vocalist Sammy Hagar, lead guitarist Neal Schon, bassist Kenny Aaronson and drummer Michael Shrieve. The group reportedly rehearsed for less than a month before playing in concert. They released a semi-live album, recorded during two live performances at The Warfield in San Francisco, entitled Through the Fire. The album includes a cover of Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale".

After the release of Journey's Frontiers in early 1983, guitarist Neal Schon decided to pursue another project with vocalist/guitarist Sammy Hagar. Hagar had released his Three Lock Box album in late 1982 and afterwards took a three-month safari vacation in Africa. Schon and Hagar then began looking for other musicians to complete the band. In an interview from mid-1983, Schon talked about the band's formation: "Sammy and I just get along so well. We're already working on an album together, and it's a killer! Right now we have Denny Carmassi, who used to work with Sammy on drums, and we're looking for a bassist. We worked a bit with Tom Petersson, but I guess he had other commitments."

Schon went on the Frontiers tour with Journey from February to September 1983, and then reconvened with Hagar. By this time, Carmassi had left the band to join Heart, and the remaining two band members became Kenny Aaronson on bass and Michael Shrieve on drums. Shrieve and Schon had played together in Santana in the early 1970s.

To record their album, the band played live dates from November 9, 1983 to November 21, 1983 at the Warfield Theatre. Two of the dates, November 14 and November 15 in San Francisco, California were recorded and broadcast by MTV. This footage was aired at least once but was never released on official videotapes or DVDs. The album Through the Fire was edited in-studio to reduce the crowd noise, but otherwise was left as recorded.

The first single released was their cover version of  "A Whiter Shade of Pale" in May 1984, which reached No. 94 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Another single released, "Top of the Rock" (as a promo only,) peaked at #15 on the "Billboard" Top Rock Tracks, and it became popular in various airplay regions of the United States. In addition, a third single from H.S.A.S., "Missing You" (also promo only,) peaked at #37 on the Top Rock Tracks.

The band toured briefly in California in 1984, adding rhythm guitarist Nick Sciorsci for live performances.

HSAS only produced one album before Schon returned to Journey, and Hagar recorded his VOA album and subsequently joined Van Halen. Hagar and Schon reunited almost 20 years later to form the short-lived Planet Us project, which would also feature past Van Halen and future Chickenfoot and Sammy Hagar and the Circle bassist Michael Anthony.  [extracts from "The Guinness Who’s Who of Heavy Metal", Colin Larkin, ed. (1995). Guinness Publishing. p. 172/3]

Album Review 1

There was no denying the skills of the assembled musicians, but the results of this collaboration amounted to little more than middling mid-‘80’s arena rock. In fact, much of the material now comes across as an underdeveloped forerunner to Hagar’s work with Van Halen, especially the pop-metal of “Missing You” and “He Will Understand”. The fairly stimulating opening track “Top Of The Rock” now seems like something of a prototype for Van Halen’s later hit “Top Of The World”. Of course, Neal Schon’s style of high-speed guitar virtuosity is different from that of Eddie Van Halen, but not by as much as you might think. Schon’s playing is the album’s best attribute, showing the guitarist letting loose outside of Journey’s increasingly commercial structure. Aaronson and Shrieve worked well together to provide a sturdy rhythm section for the material. But, as is often the case with supergroup recordings, Through The Fire is less than the sum of its parts – and so were HSAS. This album will be enjoyed most by fans of Van Hagar and of Journey’s early jam-band albums.

Album Review 2

While most trendy types might not remember HSAS, I’m sure that a lot of metalheads and a few non ones do. When Sammy Hagar toured solo at the end of the year and even during his first tour with Van Halen, there were signs around many a concert venue that read, “Sammy Hagar, Top of the rock.” That’s because it’s the best known song from the album. He played it that night I saw him and it is a brilliant song. However, it’s only my second favourite. The top slot goes to the very next track, “Missing You.” That song really cooks and Neil belts out great guitar solo on it.

Hearing the next three tracks, I am now convinced that when the band played live, they played all three together as one song. Each track quickly goes from one to the next so you don’t really get a break. Furthermore, all three are in the way out space rock mode and they fit very well together. In the MTV concert, only the title of the first song, “Animation” was introduced but it went on for far longer than the four minutes it says the song lasts on the label. Actually, I am pretty sure that the song lasted for the duration indicated by the three songs.

Hagar and Schon

There is one blip in comparing the album with the concert and that comes in the form of the band’s cover of the classic, “Whiter Shade of Pale.” The song closes the concert and I think it was a great song to close the show with. However, it’s not the closer on the album and now I wonder if it should have. It’s still done very well and I think that Procol Harum would have been impressed. After that comes the hard rocker, “Hot and Dirty,” which Sammy stated in the concert that it was about Kenny the bass player’s girlfriend. Can’t fault the song, it’s really good and Neil Schon shows his talent up and down all of it. While not a ballad, “He’ll Understand” is, to quote Sammy, on the tender side. It starts out as a ballad but that changes not far into it and has a smoking guitar solo. The irony is the closer because I am fairly certain that it was the opener for the concert. However, it works both ways.

The reason why all nine songs are so good is down to the talents of the four men who comprised HSAS. Sammy’s vocals and Neil’s guitar work were always going to be a lethal cocktail, no doubt about that. But we should raise a glass to the rhythm section of Aaronson and Shrieve because together, they make a fine one. 

In For The Kill (Live at San Jose, California 1983)

This post consists of FLACS ripped from my pristine (shrink wrapped) vinyl which I purchased from Reading Records in Carlton in the mid-80's.  I was first drawn to this album when I realised Neal Schon (ex Santana and Journey) was one of the four artists, but was also interested in hearing their cover of A Whiter Shade Of Pale.  Although I wasn't a big fan of the 80's metal bands, HSAS was one supergroup that I thought had real talent and were destined for greater things. Sadly, they never recorded again and disbanded as quickly as they had come together. Maybe this was for the best as I doubt if they could have topped this debut album. 

I have included full album artwork for both Vinyl and CD as well as some official Geffen Press release documents that are worth a read. I have also taken the liberty of also providing a singular FLAC for tracks 3,4 & 5 which run into one another without any distinctive break. If you are not fussed with track numbers, you will find this single track more enjoyable to listen to. This album will not disappoint, especially fans of Journey and Van Halen

Tracklist

01 Top Of The Rock 4:18

02 Missing You 4:26
03 Animation 5:02
04 Valley Of The Kings 3:22
05 Giza 1:20
06 Whiter Shade Of Pale 4:46
07 Hot And Dirty 4:17
08 He Will Understand 4:47
09 My Home Town 4:05

HSAS are:

Sammy Hagar - Vocals

Neal Schon - Guitars

Kenny Aaronson - Bass

Michael Shrieve - Drums

HSAS Through The Fire Link  (224Mb)

STOP PRESS:   Thanks to the generosity of a fellow blogger (DRaftervoi) on the other side of the globe, I am now able to provide you with the six missing tracks (in FLAC) from the HSAS concerts that this album was originally taken from.  

If you would like to hear the 'Westwood One In Concert ' in its complete entirety, as presented by a local radio station in 1984 (with ads and disc jockey intros), then I highly recommend you head over to  https://voodoowagon.blogspot.com  and take a listen to Dave's freshly digitized posting, while pursuing some great newspaper reviews of the 1983 HSAS concerts that he also sourced. 

Missing Tracks

01 - Movin' In For The Kill

02 - Tough Enough

03 - Eyes Of Love

04 - Hope And Fear

05 - Ever Since You Came

06 - What Will Never Be

HSAS  Missing Tracks  (223Mb)

Golden Earring - Cut (1982) plus bonus singles

 (Netherlands 1961 - Present)

Best known in the U.S. for its hard rock material, Golden Earring has been the most popular homegrown band in the Netherlands since the mid-'60s, when they were primarily a pop group.

The group was founded by guitarist/vocalist George Kooymans and bassist/vocalist Rinus Gerritsen, then schoolboys, in 1961; several years and personnel shifts later, they had their first Dutch hit, "Please Go," and in 1968 hit the top of the Dutch charts for the first of many times with "Dong-Dong-Di-Ki-Di-Gi-Dong," a song that broadened their European appeal.

By 1969, the rest of the lineup had stabilized, with lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Barry Hay and drummer Cesar Zuiderwijk. They experimented with their style for several years before settling on straightforward hard rock initially much like that of the Who, who invited them to open their 1972 European tour. Golden Earring signed to the Who's Track label, which released a compilation of Dutch singles, Hearing Earring, helping the group break through in England.

Golden Earring in early 80's

1974's Moontan LP spawned the single "Radar Love," a Dutch number one, U.K. Top Ten, and U.S. number thirteen hit. The group toured America opening for the Doobie Brothers and Santana, but the lack of a follow-up ensured that their popularity remained short-lived in America, even though they remained a top draw in Europe over the rest of the 1970s. 

1982 saw a brief American comeback with the album Cut and the Top Ten single "Twilight Zone," but as before, Golden Earring could not sustain its momentum and faded away in the U.S. marketplace. All of Golden Earring's basic lineup has recorded as solo artists in Europe. "Radar Love" enjoyed a second round of popularity when pop-metal band White Lion covered the song in 1989.

The Album
Unfortunately, many people, including a good number in the rock and metal world have Golden Earring down for being one hit wonders. They only know “Radar Love.” While I never had them down for that, I didn’t realize that they have an extremely rich discography which I am salivating over having a listen to. Some will argue that they are two hit wonders because of the single from this album in 1983, “Twilight Zone.” Believe me, the “Cut” album alone is too good to dismiss Golden Earring as such.

Without any of the flowery wording, let’s just say that “Cut” is a very good hard rock album. One could go as far as to say that they are melodic hard rock in respect to the album. The horns in the opener, “The Devil Made Me Do It” remind me slightly of their all time classic but there is some good rock to be had. The next three tracks are all melodic hard rock tracks with “Baby Dynamite” being the best of them. “Lost and Found” is more of a straight forward rock tune with some decent harmonizing by the band. I think “Chargin’ Up My Batteries” influenced later new wave artists but I can’t quite put my finger on who would sound like the song and “Secrets” is just simply a good closer.

Normally, I get a little nervous when the hit single is the best track on the album. If you heard “Twilight Zone” back in the day, please forget the shortened down radio/MTV version. The proper version (the album version) is nearly eight minutes long and with some really cool long guitar solos. It makes a catchy radio oriented song that much better. Hey, there’s even a bass solo in it. A great song but while it is the best track on “Cut,” it doesn’t stand so far above the other tracks that it diminishes them. What this combo does is make the album that much better.[extract from 80smetalman.wordpress]

Although Cut is not Golden Earring's best album, it does feature the killer track "Twilight Zone" that resurged my interest in the band back in the 80's.  I was already a fan having grown up with "Radar Love", a regular on most radio stations, but it had been a long time between drinks.  Of course I bought the "Twilight Zone" single but was pleasantly surprised to learn that the album version was even better, when the owner of my favourite Import Shop in Melbourne played it for me. Needless to say, I walked out of the shop with Cut tucked safely under my arm and it's this vinyl, from which this post originates and still in its shrink wrap

Freshly ripped to FLAC and not a crackle to be heard, this post also includes full album artwork and label scans.  As a bonus, I am also including a rip of my Twilight Zone single, which also includes the
non-album B-side entitled "King Dark".  I have also managed to source another non-album B-Side called "Shadow Avenue" (the flip side to "The Devil Made Me Do It")

I plan to post a few more Golden Earring LP's in the near future, so stay tuned.

Tracklist

01 The Devil Made Me Do It 3:20

02 Future 5:20

03 Baby Dynamite 5:10

04 Last Of The Mohicans 4:40

05 Lost And Found 3:55

06 Twilight Zone 7:55

07 Chargin' Up My Batteries    4:15

08 Secrets 4:00

09    Twilight Zone (Bonus Single Version)   4:45

10    King Dark (Bonus B-Side Single)    3:29

11     Shadow Avenue (Bonus B-Side Single)   3:52

Golden Earring Are:

George Kooymans: Lead Guitar, Vocals

Barry Hay:  Vocals, Guitar

Rinus Gerritsem: Bass, Keyboards

Cesar Zuiderwuk:  Drums

Golden Earring Link (219Mb)

W.O.C.K On Vinyl: Bert Newton - To A Sleeping Beauty (1960)

Before things get too serious here at Rock On Vinyl, I thought it might be fun to post a song or album at the end of each month, that could be categorized as being either Weird, Obscure, Crazy or just plain Korny.

As far as showbiz royalty goes, Bert Newton, who sadly passed away this weekend, aged 83, and his widow Patti Newton are considered the King and Queen of the Australian entertainment industry. Bert made his small-screen debut in 1957 working alongside Graham Kennedy on In Melbourne Tonight and from that moment, the 81-year-old presenter has dominated every era of television.

Albert Watson "Bert" Newton, AM, MBE, was born on the 23rd of July 1938, and is a multiple Gold Logie winning Australian television, radio, film, stage performer and author. Newton was born in Fitzroy, an inner suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. Bert lived at home with his mother until the age of 36, prompting widespread gossip that he was gay. In 1974, he married Patti McGrath, a co-worker. The Newtons have a son, Matthew, and a daughter, Lauren. 

In 1989, Bert began hosting The Bert Newton Show, before going on to host Good Morning Australia.

Bert hosted the Logie Awards on numerous occasions through his career, and is a four time recipient of the Gold Logie and a Hall of Fame inductee.

Bert forged a long and successful partnership with Don Lane (see right) in the 70's. Both Lane and Newton maintain that the first time they met was on-air, during the first episode of the Don Lane Show. Each describes that there was instant 'chemistry', and that they never made any deliberate attempt to build the relationship; it just happened. Newton took much pleasure in sending up Lane's singing, sometimes by playing his records at half-speed while miming Lane's performance. 

Lane sometimes responded in kind by sending up Newton's own record, the "Bert and Patti Family Album". The Don Lane Show ended on 13 November 1983. It was during the Don Lane show that Bert adopted the nickname 'Moonface' which was indicative of his beaming round face.  

To write all about Bert's career in television, radio and stage it would be many pages but if you are interested go to Wikipedia.

I have very fond memories of watching Newton either host or co-host T.V shows during my teenage years and trying to pick the funniest moment is almost impossible. But a highlight would have to be his impersonation of Demis Roussos and especially the night when Roussos appeared on stage unbeknown to Bert.  What a set up!

Bert Newton was a household name for so many Australians during the 70's and 80's and a much loved and respected T.V personality. He was respected by all of his peers and gave so much joy and laughter to the world. A wonderful family man and a devoted husband, Bert was one of a kind. 

I am providing this 1960 single release by Newton for this month's WOCK post, not just because of its Obscurity but also because I think it typifies his deep seated love of family.  The dialogue might sound Corny in this day and age, but the message within is still relevant. There's nothing more tender than a father's love and concern for his beautiful baby daughter. 

This post consists of FLACs and artwork (thanks to Guitarzan)
01 - To A Sleeping Beauty
02 - The White Magnolia Tree

Download Here   New Link 26/03/22

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

(Various Australian Artists 1974)
.

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)