REPOST: Stylus - Where In The World (1975) plus Bonus Tracks

(Australian 1975-1979, 1992, 2002-2010)
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Stylus was a popular Melbourne funk/soul band of distinguished membership that released four albums and a number of singles 1975-1979. The band was fronted by Peter Cupples who went on to form the Peter Cupples Band (see earlier post).

Stylus grew out of the ashes of Melbourne band Mason's Cure, formed by keyboardist Ian Mason (ex-Kush). Mason's Cure issued one single on Astor in early 1975, "Let Me Love You Right"/"Back to Reality", before Mason left the group. He joined The Bootleg Band, and went on to issue a solo single, "Gotta Lotta Love"/"Keep It Up" (August 1978), and album, 'Nobody Takes Me Seriously' (Oz/EMI, 1978). Singer Peter Cupples had been the focal point of Mason's Cure, so with Mason's departure, the band recruited Sam McNally on keyboards and became Stylus. The band toured as support to Focus, Ike and Tina Turner and Sherbet, scored a deal with WEA (Atlantic) and issued the single Seals and Crofts' "Summer Breeze"/"Feelin' Blue" (July 1975). The single reached #31 in Melbourne during August. The band's second single, "World of Make Believe"/"Just Began" (October) reached #27.
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In November 1975, WEA issued the Stylus debut album 'Where in the World' (#19 in Melbourne during December). The album produced a third single, "I'm Going Home"/"Where in the World" (April 1976), but by that stage Stylus had left WEA. The band issued one single, "So Much Love"/"We All Need One Another" (#30 in August 1976), on Crystal Clear, before signing a new deal with Ross Wilson and Glenn Wheatley's Oz label (through EMI). The album For the Love of Music produced the singles "I Just Don't Wanna Fall in Love Right Now"/"Funky Fig" (October 1976) and "Kissin"/"For the Love of Music" (June 1977). By that stage, Peter Lee had been replaced by Trevor Courtney (ex-Vibrants, Skylight) initially, and then by Joe Tattersalls (ex-Ayers Rock) by the end of the year.

Courtney played on the band's third album, 'The Best Kept Secret ' (April 1978), which produced the singles "Work Out Fine"/"Natural Feeling" (March), "Look at Me"/"You Can't Get It Out of Your Head" (July) and "Got to Say Goodbye"/"Discover Your Life" (November). The prestigious American label Motown distributed the album in the USA (under the title Stylus) via the Prodigal imprint. In late 1978, Peter Roberts (ex-Ride Band) joined Stylus as co-lead vocalist. Not long after that, Mark Meyer (ex-Sailor) replaced Tattersalls on drums, and the band supported visiting American jazz guitarist George Benson on his Australian tour. The band's fourth album, 'Part of It All' (August 1979), and its single, "If You Believe in Me"/"Byron Bay" (August), were not successful and the members of Stylus parted.
A Stylus reunion tour in 2002 yielded the album 'Still Alive'.
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Interview with Stylus (RAM # 44, November 5th, 1976)
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'We Flunked Business College' admit Stylus
It's been a while. Sam McNally was telling me since Stylus last appeared in these hallowed pages. McNally is Stylus' keyboard player and he has a point: RAM No. 21 was, I think, the last time that the group scored themselves an article. In fact I think both he and vocalist Peter Cupples are slightly peeved by the fact. We three are gathered around the small kitchen table of Cupples' Elsternwick (Vic.) home getting down to a bit of interviewing, you see, and the question of Stylus long silence has popped up.
Maybe you'd noticed. Stylus have maintained a fairly low-key existence over the last six-or-so months Which is pretty unusual, because their brand of funky good-time music got them off onto a highly promising start. The singles Summer Breeze and Make Believe both did a fair share of chart climbing and the album 'Where In The World' didn't exactly sink without trace (it is now almost gold). The only real sign of activity lately, however, has been the single So Much Love, which inexplicably did very link-chart-wise. Why the silence?
Well, after about ten minutes of talking it becomes clear Stylus think they have the answer. Bv that time the conversation had shifted to a discussion of the group s old record company - W.E.A, whom they split from in January. Although Where In The World came out as well as,if not better than they had expected they have few compliments for W.E.A records.
"There was no communication with W.E.A at all," explains McNally. "They just weren't interested in us.
Well, how did you first get signed up?
"We weren't signed up with them technically".
Uh?
"It was all done through our manager", continues Cupples, ruefully munching an apple. "We didn't know much about it. We didn't know much about anything at this stage. We were sort of rookies in the business". He grins.

"lt was terribly, terribly confusing", says McNally. "because there was us, then our management, then the record company, and it was mainly between management and record company. We felt we were left in the dark".
All in all. Stylus stress, they were Not Happy.
A question about management was met with silence, then a burst of laughter, then a request from McNally to keep quiet about it. Management, they assured me, was "going to be cool, but they preferred not to talk about it.
Neither McNally nor Cupples are very specific, but they stress the musical side of the band had been disrupted over the past six months and that a lot of their time had been spent sorting out managerial and related matters.

"The most important thing we're aiming for", says McNally. "is ownership of our own music, instead of being signed up to a company that has the right to do whatever they like with what they call our Product. We want the right to say where and when we want Product X released, which is very important".
"We want to keep it together, keep it nice and honest" continues Cupples "In this business you don t need a certificate to become a manager. Any whack can become a manager, it (the business) has got to become more professional and the bands — the music — has got to be respected more. The music is the seed, everything branches out from that.
"Now we're taking a very careful look at what we are doing on a business level as well as a musical level. You've got to, otherwise (pause) you could end up really badly in the shit".

Sure enough, a week after the interview the band split their ties with the past and signed to Glenn Wheatley's Oz label
Whatever happens next, let's hope both band ,and new record company keep smiling warmly at each other. Certainly Stylus haven't done very well in the world of Big Business so far.
But less of these downers and more of the happy, musical expansiveness that Stylus are renowned for Musically, things have never been better, as Peter Cupples will tell you "Musically'.' Yeah, it feels great."
For audiences it feels great too. Stylus are a rare example of the sort of band who don't use sticks of dynamite and guitar-in-the-crotch poses as springboards for their musical prowess. They are, if you like funky, but they are definitely not the usual, banal, disco rhythm-ace hook-up that word is often applied to.
They're funky in the sweetly melodic, wordly-aware sense the best examples of Philadelphian soul music always demonstrate. A melody line is never a repetition, it's always a winding path with undulating movements that suggest the gradual unfolding of A Direction. Their choruses are a celestial blending of voices that sometimes suggest the Beach Boys singing church hymns. The music, more often than not is adventurously arranged with a subtlety and feeling fulness that demonstrates a compatibility which allows each musician to respond to his fellow members.
If there's one criticism of the group that's endured, it's that their internal harmony and unity is often mistaken for blandness. And their propensity for delving into gentle themes of Brotherly Togetherness and the Quest For Inner Peace And An Organic Gardening Plot (all members are vegetarians)" sometimes attracts the unwelcome tag of the Macrobiotic Wimps.
Still, only those who really listen can hope to know what is really going down.

The band is incredibly together as a unit," says McNally. "We feel that in the next week or so we're going to be on the verge of our-biggest breakthrough ever
This statement has more than a little to do with the fact that, by the time you are reading this, their new album For The Love Of Music will probably have been released. It's been over a year since the first album and both members become animated when talking about the newie.
"With the first album." says Cupples, "we had a lot of early stuff I'd written and it was in a Philadelphian funky vein I feel. The first one was sort of "let's have a go and see what happens" type of thing. We had no really set ideas and it came together a lot in the studio.
"Whereas the new one ... it's a lot further advanced. We're more carefully chosen the material and put the album together a hell of a lot better. This time I've gone in with a concept on about 70 % of the production things and it s been put together as more of a concept of what we're about. The playing has also improved incredibly ..
This album, as with the first, has been produced by Cupples and Trevor Courtenay and all the tracks were written by Cupples, except two which were co-written with Courtenay. The tracks are For The Love Of Music. We All Need One Another, Gettin' In The Groove, Nature Is Giving So Much Love, Sweetness, What's Right For You, Love Is All We Have, Musical Man and Moving on Home. The latter two Cupples describes as External Road songs, ones that he wrote while the group were on an interstate Sherbet tour last year. So Much Love was also written on that tour, as he explains.

"That was one of the things that inspired me to write the song for Ashley, because I sat down, took a look at the band in concert format and started thinking how we could utilise what we had within the band to make the show look better. And I thought "well it would be nice if Ashley were to come out the front". because he's got a really beautiful voice but he hadn't really sat down and sung anything. Anyway, he dug the idea and it really blew a hell of a lot of people out when he began to do it.
Indeed. I'm yet to find a person with an unkind thing to say about So Much Love and yet . . and yet . it's somehow failed to do really big business. Cupples says that he, too, thought it would do more than it did and maybe business problems are again mainly to blame: the song was recorded in December but not released until June because of the many hassles the band were experiencing.
Still, the milk is spilt and the band are now looking towards a new song. At the time of interviewing the songs were still in need of mixing. Once that's completed, a single will he selected. There is also a mystery song not yet recorded. (The following sentence, from Cupples, constitutes my only scoop of the afternoon ! (Ah- gee Rich —only one measly scoop in a whole afternoon !! — ed.)
'Yes, we have a big surprise. We have this single in the can at the moment which I'll tell you about. It's a song written by Ashley and it's really incredible.

"It's a very simple, fairly slow ballad" continues McNally and they proceed to give me an exclusive (exclusive mind you) listen to a rough mix. The song not only sounded as sweet 'n' funky as anything they've done before, it was also given a visual aspect by Cupples young son, who performed a series of guitar hero poses roughly to the beat, on a four string ukelele. The song could succeed where 'So Much Love' failed. It is also the first time another member of the band has had one of their songs recorded. The writing of McNally and guitarist Ron Peers is also developing. Cuppies informs me and hopefully this will further broaden the band's scope.

Ultimately, however, they are looking to America and possibly Europe and Japan, as their next step forward. Even though they are based in Melbourne, McNally says they rarely play here at the moment. Other states, particularly Adelaide, seem to give them a better reception but overall "it's very hard to sell this type of music in this country. Whether we have a better chance over there is hard to say — we'll just have to go over and find out"
"There s nothing definite yet" says Cupples. "Just some good things up in the air that need bringing down to the ground and sorting out. We have a few contacts in L A. and on the East Coast, so we wanna get over there and get a few things tied up. Most definitely it will be hard. But if you're in the environment where you're playing to an audience that really get off on the music, well, you really want to work for them - go home, get new things down, better things. But here you get no reaction at all from the crowds, y'know. You just wanna go home and sleep for six months. [reported by Richard Guilliair in RAM #55 Nov 5th 1976. p19].

A-World Of Make Believe / B-Just Begun

This post consists of FLACs ripped from CD (thanks to Smackster) and includes full album artwork, along with scans of an insert sheet containing B&W photos and lyrics. The CD release also contains 3 bonus tracks (all B-Side singles released between 1975-1978). I am also including a live rendition of "Summer Breeze", recorded on the Steve Vizard Show in 1992 and a scan of the RAM magazine article from which the above interview was transcribed.
Although funky R&B is not my favourite genre of music, I still enjoy Stylus's early material - in particular this, their debut album.

' New Improved Rip With Additional Bonus Tracks '
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Track Listing

01 - World Of Make Believe
02 - All In The Game
03 - Will This Continue
04 - Just Begun
05 - Summer Breeze
06 - Paradise
07 - I'm So In Love With You
08 - Where In The World
09 - I'm Going Home
10 - Can't Get It Out Of Your Head (Bonus B-Side Single, 1978)
11 - Funky Fig (Bonus B-Side Single, 1976)
12 - Feeling Blue (Bonus B-Side Single, 1975)
13 - Summer Breeze (Bonus Live 1992)

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Band Members:
Peter Cupples (Guitar, Vocals, Congas & Percussion)
Ashley Henderson (Bass, Vocals)
Ron Peer's (Lead Guitar, Vocals)
Sam McNally (Keyboards)
Peter Lee (Drums & Percussion)
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Stylus Link (377Mb)

Genesis - Genesis Live (1973)

 (U.K 1967 - Present)

Genesis Live is the first live album released by rock group Genesis in 1973. It was the band's first top 10 hit in the UK, reaching No.9 and remaining on the charts for 10 weeks.

In early 1973, Genesis allowed the taping of a couple of live shows for broadcast in America as part of the King Biscuit Flower Hour syndicated radio show -- most of their current set, drawn from their albums up through 1972's Foxtrot, was represented. A few months later, Tony Stratton-Smith, the head of Charisma Records, to which the group was signed, approached them about allowing him to fill the extended gap between Foxtrot and their next album, Selling England by the Pound, by releasing a live album from this same taped performance. The bandmembers, who now say they were somewhat distracted at the time by their work on the new album, agreed to it.

L-R: Tony Banks, Peter Gabriel, Mike Rutherford, Steve Hackett, Phil Collins

And the result was Live, which was originally the only official document of the group in performance with Peter Gabriel in the lineup. And it's not just the singer, but everyone who shines here -- it's doubtful that anyone ever got a richer sound out of a Mellotron on-stage than Tony Banks does on this album, and Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford, and Phil Collins' playing is all quite amazing as a whole unit, holding together some very complex music in a live setting. And on that basis alone, this album was an essential acquisition for fans of the group, as well as a key link in solidifying their growing popularity -- the intensity of the performances on "Watcher of the Skies," "Get 'Em Out by Friday," "Return of the Giant Hogweed," "The Knife, and, especially, "The Musical Box," easily transcend the work (superb though it was) on the studio originals, and is an in-your-face presentation of the theatrical intensity that Gabriel and company brought to their work on-stage.

Genesis 1973

What's more, the very fact that the band could pull some of what they do on-stage -- and this was in an era where other prog rock bands, such as Emerson, Lake & Palmer, were running up against a brick wall in terms of re-creating their complex studio sounds in concert -- is mighty impressive.

Additionally, in the case of "The Musical Box" and "The Return of the Giant Hogweed," both songs originally recorded on Nursery Cryme, the versions here documented this lineup's true approach to these pieces -- at the time when Nursery Cryme was recorded, guitarist Steve Hackett had barely joined the group (and fragments of music composed by his predecessor, Anthony Phillips, still exist on the album), and most of the guitar parts there were actually the work of bassist Mike Rutherford (who did, in fact, take over most of the group's guitar chores after Hackett's departure in the late '70s).

Foxtrot Tour Stage Costumes

Peter Gabriel is probably at his peak as a singer, and his vocal performances sound remarkably bold and confident. He was known for wearing elaborate costumes during their concerts and making it seem like they were in woodland fairy plays. If that were me in his shoes, I would have felt like a complete idiot, but all that nonsense seemed to empower Peter Gabriel! It's easy to fall in love with his vocal performance in “Get 'Em Out By Friday,” where he does the same amount of play acting as he did in the studio version and perhaps with even more gusto. Gabriel was having so much fun at the time that he even cracked a joke at the beginning of “The Musical Box.” That is amazing since I didn't figure that Gabriel was the sort of person who usually cracks jokes.

Foxtrot Tour Program

So what we hear on this album, which has now been upgraded on CD at least twice, once in the '90s and again in 2009 as part of the Genesis Live 1973-2007 box set, are the definitive interpretations of these pieces by this version of the band, more so than the studio originals. And one also gets to hear the classic version of the band tackle the oldest part of their repertory, "The Knife," which went back to their first Charisma album -- and it's a killer compared to the original. And one could say that about the whole album, as well as being the best representation of this version of the band at this point in their history, but for one glaring flaw -- the original King Biscuit broadcast included the epic "Supper's Ready" from Foxtrot, which Stratton-Smith was compelled to leave off of the album, rather than face the economic challenge of issuing a three-sided double-LP. That flaw aside, this is about the best single-LP representation of what this band could do on-stage, and to the surprise of a lot of people, it actually won them lots of new fans ahead of the release of Selling England by the Pound.

Genesis were persuaded by their label, Charisma Records, to release Genesis Live as a budget-priced title to mark time while the band recorded Selling England by the Pound in mid-1973. (Contractual obligations to Charisma's North American distributor, Buddah Records, may also have been a factor, as Charisma would move its distribution to Atlantic Records shortly before Selling England's release.)

The tracks on the album were recorded at De Montfort Hall, Leicester, England by the Pye Mobile Recording Unit, engineer Alan Perkins, on 25 February 1973 except for "Return of the Giant Hogweed", which was recorded at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, England on the previous day, when the band was touring in support of Foxtrot. These recordings were originally made for the US radio show King Biscuit Flower Hour, although they were never broadcast.

A handful of early radio promotional double-LP test pressings by Philips/ Phonogram Int. B.V. (actually PolyGram at the time) were created which included a 23-minute version of "Supper's Ready" from the Leicester show. This pressing's running order was "Watcher of the Skies - "The Musical Box" - "Get 'Em Out by Friday" - "Supper's Ready" - "The Return of the Giant Hogweed" - "The Knife", and included between-song patter by Gabriel.

'Whether this test pressing was intended to be released as the actual album is unknown. In any event, "Supper's Ready" was not included, even though the front cover photograph was taken during a live performance of "Supper's Ready" (with Gabriel donning the "Magog" mask). Excellent digital copies of the double-LP test pressing are readily available. (A live recording of "Supper's Ready" from the following year's tour was released on 1998's 4-CD boxed set, Genesis Archive 1967-75. However, Gabriel re-recorded some of his vocals before allowing release.)

Rolling Stone gave the album a brief but positive review, commenting that "this album goes a long way toward capturing the gripping power and mysticism that has many fans acclaiming Genesis as 'the greatest live band ever.'"

Peter Gabriel features in his Magog Mask

A retrospective review by Allmusic was also resoundingly positive. They remarked "it's doubtful that anyone ever got a richer sound out of a Mellotron on-stage than Tony Banks does on this album, and Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford, and Phil Collins' playing is all quite amazing as a whole unit, holding together some very complex music in a live setting." They judged all the recordings to be far superior to their studio originals.

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my prized vinyl, puchased back in the mid 70's from K-Mart in Geelong. I had not heard of Genesis at the time, however I chose to purchase the album for 2 reasons - firstly, its eye catching cover and secondly the budget price it was being sold for. No details on the back to indicate the artist names but I was able to ascertain they were a British band based on the recording details. And so my life long association with this brilliant band had started.

 Full album artwork (for both CD and vinyl) is included, along with label scans and all photos featured in this post.  

As a BONUS, I am also including a rip of the original King Biscuit Flower Hour (KBFH) broadcast that contains the missing "Supper's Ready" recording. The only downfall is that the recording is in MP3 (160) format and consists of a single file (no song separation), but beggars can't be choosey I guess. So folks, Supper's Ready. Enjoy !

Track Listing

01. "Watcher of the Skies" 8:34
02. "Get 'Em Out by Friday" 9:14
03. "The Return of the Giant Hogweed" 8:14
04. "The Musical Box" 10:56
05. "The Knife" (Banks, Gabriel, Anthony Phillips, Rutherford) 9:47

Personnel:
Tony Banks – Hammond organ, Mellotron, Hohner pianet, 12-string guitar, backing vocals
Phil Collins – drums, backing vocals
Peter Gabriel – lead vocals, flute, tambourine
Steve Hackett – lead guitar

Mike Rutherford – bass, bass pedals, 

12-string guitar, backing vocal

Genesis Live Link FLACs(256Mb)

KBFH Broadcast MP3 (55Mb)

W.O.C.K On Vinyl: The Here's Humphrey Theme / The Safety Song - Look Both Ways (1966)

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.

Humphrey B. Bear is a fictional character first created in an Australian children's television series called Here's Humphrey, which first went to air in 1965. Its fictional character namesake is an icon of Australian children's television. Humphrey B. Bear first aired on Adelaide's NWS-9 on Monday, 24 May 1965. The show became one of the most successful programs for pre-schoolers in Australia. Edwin "Ted" Duryea (c.1930-2009), an actor, singer and dancer, first played the part of Humphrey.

The character of Humphrey is a tall, shaggy honey-loving brown bear with a large, round, shining, glossy black nose, straw boater hat, tartan waist-coat and oversized yellow bow-tie. His television show always features a companion who assists and narrates Humphrey's various adventures in the "magic forest" including his brightly coloured treehouse. In the early days, the character was known as Bear Bear, and was evenetually named Humphrey B. Bear as the result of an on-air competition.

The show has won Logies for Best Children's Series and the Humphrey character has received national awards and commendations, including the "Citizen of the Year" Award at the 1994 Australia Day celebrations. Humphrey B. Bear has viewers all over the world thanks to the United States version of his show shown on PBS in America and the Spanish version shown on Galavision. It has been translated or produced in 55 different languages.

The writers of Humphrey B. Bear, including Anthony O'Donohue (also long-time host of the show), attempt to set up each show as a new adventure for Humphrey. Each episode parallels the needs, encounters and interests of the average young child. The character of Humphrey explores life as they do, trying to reinforce their self-esteem and showing them it's all right to embrace challenges.

In July 2013 Humphrey returned to national TV screens on television stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth. Humphrey celebrated his 60th anniversary only days ago, on May 24th, 2025.

I grew up watching Here's Humphrey on black & white T.V during the late sixties, and when my own children came into the picture, they too watched the show - but in colour of course. When I heard that Humphrey was celebrating his 60th Anniversary this month, I couldn't help thinking that I should pay tribute to this Wonderful, Oversized, Cuddly and Kind Bear.  As it happens, the Channel 9 people behind Humphrey B. Bear released a 'road safety' song called "Look Both Ways" along with the "Here's Humphrey Theme" back in 1966.  

Oh What a Funny Ol' Fella is Humphrey 

I was lucky enough to source this single not long ago from a fellow blogger (thanks to SunnyToo at Ausrock), and would like to share the single with you for this month's WOCK on Vinyl post.

As you can see above, it ticks all the WOCK boxes, and absolutely ticks the Obscure category as well.

Thank you Humphrey for bringing so much joy and happiness into my life as a child and also my children. I look forward to seeing you again on the airways, while babysitting the grand kids !

Ripped from Vinyl in FLAC with full artwork and label scans.

Track Listing

01  Ann North with The Del Rios - The Here's Humphrey Theme

02  Ann North, Humphrey B. Bear and Wilbur Worm - The Safety Song Look Both Ways

Here's Humphrey Link (21Mb)

Chetarca - Chetarca (1975)

(Australian 1973 - 1976)

Chetarca was a progressive rock band from Australia that was formed after the demise of Langford Lever in 1973. Chetarca was underrated and didn't get the recognition they deserved at the time but the age of time has seen their music become more appreciated amongst the progressive rock world.

Operating out of Melbourne in the mid-seventies, this band were a sort of Aussie equivalent to Emerson, Lake and Palmer. They only released one 45, ‘Another Day’, but it spent three weeks in the Top 100 peaking at No.75 in September 1975. No other Australian progressive album sounded like this one (which many now consider to be underrated). Musically, it is notable its lack of guitars, it's dual keyboard assault of Andrew Vance (piano, organ) and Bruce Bryan (synthesiser) and Paul Lever's wailing harp and bluesy vocals.

The selftitled album was the band's only release along with the single ''Another Day''. Only 1000 copies of the record were produced making it a rare collectors item these days. To support the album, the band went on a tour in 1975, during which they opened for the Electric Light Orchestra and Frank Zappa.

The album opens with the band mixing some progressive instrumental sections into their characteristic bluesy jams and grooves.

This album is worth a listen especially for the 24 minutes long track "Oceanic Suite", with its long complex dual synth compositions and interesting vocals, and the 8 minutes long "chetarca", with a psychotic synth solo leading to some kind of delirium. Otherwise, the LP is synth driven progressive. Frequent hallmarks of the album include Ekseption/Refugee keyboard runs, trebly Squire-esque bass, and wailing harmonica.

Paul 'Langford' Lever

Chetarca was co-produced by Ian Miller (Coloured Balls, Moir Sisters, John Paul Young, Flash and the Pan) and engineered by Martin Benge (Col Nolan Quartet, Crossfire).

Outside Chetarca, keyboardists Andrew Vance and Bruce Bryan played on The Boy From the Stars, the 1974 solo album by ex-Masters Apprentices frontman Jim Keays.

The band worked around Melbourne and appeared on ABC TV's Countdown. When Chetarca broke up, bassist John Rees went on to form the successful pop-rock group 'Men At Work', recording two albums with the band between 1981 and 1983, Ian Miller went on to become a successful record producer, Andrew Vance became one of Australia's leading jazz pianists, and Paul Lever was tragically killed in the late nineties by a hit and run driver when crossing the road outside a Collingwood hotel from which he had just bought a takeaway. Ian Miller died from cancer in 2009

Extracts from "Dreams, Fantasies and Nightmares" by Vernon Joynson, an extensive guide to Canadian / Australian / New Zealand and Latin American psych and garage music 1963 - 1976.  AND jazzrocksoul.com

This post consists of FLACs ripped from CD (thanks to Hanalex) and includes full album artwork for CD and Vinyl media.  The CD was released by Paisley Press, in Germany.

For more information on Paul's original band 'Langford Lever', see Harmonica Riff Raff's website 

Track List

Side 1

01 - Death Of Rock & Roll Singer  7:00

02 - Another Day  3:30

03 - Diary   7:18

04 - Chetarca  7:48

Side 2  'The Ocean Suite'

05 - The Sea   8:34

06 - Wet Suit  9:44

07 - Fisherman's Nightmare  5:54

08 - Crystal Rainbow Logo  1:10

Personnel:

Bruce Bryan - Synthesizer

Geoff Gallent - Drums, Percussion

Paul Lever - Vocals, Harmonica, Tambourine

John Rees - Bass, Violin

Andrew Vance - Keyboards, Vocals

Ian Miller – Producer

Chetarca Link (359Mb)

Madder Lake - The Best Of (1978)

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

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

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

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

Stillpoint (1973)                                      Butterfly Farm (1974)

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

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

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

Mick Fettes 1973                                 Mick Fettes 2009

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Trivia Note:

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

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

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

Track Listing:

01 Goodbye Lollypop 3:31

02 Listen To The Morning Sunshine 5:03

03 Helper 5:12

04 Song For Little Ernest 4:29

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

06 12lb Toothbrush 3:51

07 Butterfly Farm 3:34

08 Booze Blues 2:54

09 Mothership 7:45

10 Slack Alice 5:08

11 It's All In Your Head 3:50

12 I Get High 3:26

Madder Lake were:

Andy Cowan (keyboards, vocals) 1973-75

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

Ian Holding (bass) 1976-78

Jack Kreemers (drums) 1969-2011

Tony Lake (vocals) 1976-78

Brendan Mason (guitar, vocals)

Kerry McKenna (bass, vocals)

John McKinnon (keyboards, vocals) 1970-73

Colin Setches (vocals) 1976-78

Madder Lake Link (327Mb)

Steve Hunter - Swept Away (1977)

(U.S 1971 - Present)

Steve "The Deacon" Hunter, born 1948 in Decatur, Illinois, is an American guitarist best known for his collaborations with Lou Reed and Alice Cooper. He first played with Mitch Ryder's Detroit, beginning a long association with record producer Bob Ezrin.

In the 1970s, he appeared on five Alice Cooper albums, four of which were produced by Ezrin. In 1973, he was on the final two albums recorded by the Alice Cooper group, Billion Dollar Babies and Muscle of Love.

When Alice Cooper became a solo artist, Hunter followed and appeared on the 1975 groundbreaking album and live show Welcome to My Nightmare alongside guitarist Dick Wagner, with whom Hunter had already formed a formidable guitar team, as can be heard on the Lou Reed live album Rock 'n' Roll Animal and further demonstrated on the film 'Welcome To My Nightmare', released on home video in 1976 featuring the celebrated guitar battle between Hunter and Wagner that formed part of the Alice Cooper 1975 live show.

Steve Hunter & Dick Wagner with Alice Cooper

 He and Wagner also played on Peter Gabriel's self-titled first solo album, which was likewise produced by Ezrin, in 1976.

The following year, Ezrin produced and played on Hunter's solo album 'Swept Away'. It is predominantly instrumental and a guitar show.

His first collaboration with Lou Reed was for the Berlin album. He also played in the live band captured on Reed's live albums, the aforementioned Rock 'n' Roll Animal and Lou Reed Live. 

Steve Hunter with Lou Reed

Other artists Hunter has worked with include David Lee Roth (in the mid-1990s), and Tracy Chapman. He also contributed music to and is featured on the soundtrack of the film "The Rose", starring Bette Midler.

A documentary about the guitar partnership of Hunter and Wagner entitled Rock 'n' Roll Animals is currently available HERE.

Welcome To My Nightmare Credits

Album Review

After the 'Welcome To My Nightmare' tour Steve Hunter released his debut solo album "Swept Away." The album was recorded over a two year period whilst Steve toured with Alice Cooper. In Toronto on Aug 18-28, Oct 24-29, Nov 24-28 in 1976. Then in L.A. on Dec 17-19 in 1976 and Jan 8-10 1977. Released on the Atlantic label, it was produced by Rob Ezrin who also produced Alice's Welcome To My Nighmare album.

Hunter's backing band was pretty much the same people who work on 'Welcome To My Nighmare' and 'Go To Hell' albums. Steve Hunter on all guitars and vocals, Prakash John on bass, Jim Gordon on drums and Bob Ezrin on keyboards, percussion, and vocals. In fact, Bob Ezrin actually produced this album along with Brian Christian. Some other guest artists include Jim Malen on percussion and Jozef Chirowski plays Fender Rhodes on "Eldorado Street".

Steve covers an instrumental version of "Eight Miles High" by The Byrds which is amazing and I particularly like the drums by Jim Gordon. Another cover is "Sail On Sailor" (a Beach Boys song), a huge favourite of mine which I first heard on the Beach Boy's double live album. Steve's cover of the song is both controlled and impressive.

I also like "Sea Sonata" and "Deep Blue" which close the album and were written by Hunter.

My only criticism of the album is the short opener on side 2 "Jasper...Rag" which sounds like it has a timing issue (maybe it was done on purpose) but it doesn't really sound great.

Nevertheless, Hunter shows off his guitar work on this album and demonstrates a wide range of skill sets both on acoustic and electric guitar. Overall, the album has a predominantly laid back sound and with the help of the picture on the cover, it reminds me of being on a tropical island, and hence the title "Swept Away".

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my near mint vinyl which I purchased from the Melbourne University Bookstore back in 1977, during my Uni years.  Strangely enough, they tended to stock the more 'non- commercial' releases, and Steve's debut album was one of them. I was already familar with the brilliant guitar work by Hunter and Wagner through 'Rock And Roll Animal Live'  and was therefore drawn to this album when I spotted it in the racks, along with it's eye catching cover.

Full album artwork and label scans are also included. 

 

If you haven't heard this album, then I guarantee you will be drawn in immediately with the opening track. The rest of the album is just icing on the cake.

Track Listing

01   Eight Miles High [Byrds]  5:02

02   Eldorado Street  4:59

03   Goin' Down [traditional]  2:33

04   Rubber Man  2:53

05   Of All Times To Leave  1:42

06   Jasper St. Viaduct Gitar Rag  1:44

07   Sail On Sailor [Beach Boys]  4:29

08   Swept Away  4:33

09   Sea Sonata  4:54

10   Deep Blue  2:56

Band Members:

Steve Hunter - guitars, vocalBob Ezrin - keyboards, vocals, percussion

Jozef Chirowski - piano Fender Rhodes

Carol Pope, Joanne Brooks, Tony D'Amico - backing vocal

Prakash John (Parliament) - bass

Jim Gordon (Derek & The Dominos) - drums

Jim Maelen - percussion

Steve Hunter Link (198Mb)

REPOST: Arena - Arena (1976)

(Australian 1976-1977)
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This is a highly sort after Australian Jazz funk issued privately in Melbourne. It includes the famous tune "The Long One" which was compiled on Ubiquity’s 'Heading in the Right Direction'. Could be described as the Australian Placebo.
Recorded in Melbourne sometime during the 70's (maybe 1976), this is one of those rare albums that hardly ever turns up on ebay and when it does, it goes for a small fortune. Arena was formed by Ted White and from what I gather this was their only release and the main reason this album was made was to test out the newly built “Crystol Clear” Studio’s in Melbourne, Australia.
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After hearing there was a copy in town, and some running around Melbourne, I finally got a hold of this mythical Aussie holy grail piece at a reasonable price / trade. Arena is a 7-track progressive Jazz/Rock album by Melbourne musicians Ted White, Peter Jones, Graham Morgan, Bob Arrowsmith and Charlie Gould. The albums highlight, "The Long One" starts with a drum break and then heads into 6:32 minutes of funky madness. There are a number of other breaks and ill moments spread throughout this platter. Great listening and well worth the money and effort tracking this one down.
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“The Long One” is the tightest cut on the album (sought after by collectors and beat heads for the dope drum break intro). It's a really Dope Jazz-funk instrumental and was included on the “Luv N’ Hate” compilation “Heading in the Right Direction” . The majority of the album is pretty dam funky with Samples and Drum breaks all over the place. Other stand out tracks include: "Scope", "Scrichell Cat” & “Keiths Mood”.
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Their music is not dissimilar to that of Crossfire or Weather Report, however, it lacks the production and jazz hooks that made these bands famous.  You can preview Arena's music by taking a look at the following YouTube Clip.  .

Although there is not a great deal of information for Arena, I was able to gather the following snippets of info on each of the band members:
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Peter Jones 
(Keyboards, Electric Piano)
Joined Mackenzie Theory is September 1973, played at the Sunbury 74 concert, and on their Bon Voyage album (a recording taken from their final concert at Dallas Brookes Hall, Melbourne)
For more info, see milesago.com

Ted White
(Lead Alto Sax / Reeds)
Ted has toured in South Africa and Hong Kong and has backed numerous Australian and overseas acts. He has played with names such as - The Bee Gees, Midnight Oil, Australian Crawl, Little River Band, Barry White, Sammy Davis Jnr, Village People, Dianna Ross, Gladys Knight & The Pips and Liberace.  Played at the Sunbury Rock Festival.
He arrived on the Gold Coast in 1963 playing various venues before becoming Musical Director for the Maori Castaways (Hi-Fi’s) and touring with them from 1964 – 68 going to UK, Malaysia, Thailand, Sweden and Finland.
Ted not only played with Arena in 1975-76, but he also wrote most of their material

See Ted's Website for more info

Graham Morgan
(Percussion, Drums)
Born in Melbourne Australia in 1937, Graham Morgan was educated at Melbourne Grammar School. He ventured to Los Angeles in 1962 where he studied under some of the best drummers of the time (Joe Morello, Murray Spivak).
Grahams outstanding career has spanned five decades and has taken him from playing on the first ABC television broadcast to recording a live album at Carnegie Hall with Cleo Laine and John Dankworth. He has recorded and played with numerous other artists such as John Farnham, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Clark Terry, Carmen McRae, Freddie Hubbard, Nancy Wilson, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and his own "Graham Morgan Jazz Quartet".

At GTV-9 Australia he held the position of staff drummer for over 20 years working on numerous shows including The Don Lane Show. At channel 10 (0) Graham worked with the Young Talent Time band for 10 years, The Ernie Sigley Show, Showcase and more.
His drumming can be heard on hundreds of filmscores and television/ radio commercials recorded during the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's. He has earned himself the unique title of 'The Most Recorded Drummer in Australian History'
For more info, see drumtek.com

Bob Arrowsmith
(Bass)
Played Bass for Bruce Woodley (of the Seekers) and for a long-running Melbourne revue band called the Roulettes. For other snippets of info, see milesago.com and mymusicrip.blogspot.com

Charlie Gould
(Guitar)
A session payer for many years, Charlie played with Beeb Birtles and Daryl Cotton in the highly successful Australian band 'Frieze' and earlier with the Melbourne group 'The Thunderbirds'
See also billyowens.tripodcom and Milesago.com

This post consists of FLACs ripped from a clean Vinyl copy of the album. It includes full album artwork and label scans.  This is a rarity not to be missed but best suits Jazz enthusiasts.

Note:  This album is no longer available from North Side Records, and is now out of print (direct from the horses mouth !)
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     New Improved Rip !

Track Listing

01 - Journey In Three's
02 - Scope
03 - Duke
04 - Scrichell Cat
05 - Keith's Mood
06 - The Long One
07 - Turkish Defunked
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Arena are:
Saxophone, Flute - Ted White
Keyboards, Electric Piano - Peter Jones
Percussion, Drums - Graham Morgan
Bass - Bob Arrowsmith

Guitar - Charlie Gould
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Arena Link (239Mb)