John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Collection (1991)

(U.K 1962 - Present)

John McLaughlin was born in Yorkshire on 4th January, 1942. Growing up in a musical family he studied piano and violin from the age of seven and, influenced by American blues recordings, picked up the guitar in his early teens. He first came to prominence in the mid-Sixties playing with various English R&B bands, including the Graham Bond Organisation (with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker) and Brian Auger's Trinity.

In 1969 he cut his solo debut 'Extrapolation', and although making no commercial impact, it established McLaughlin as a fast-rising star possessed of a dazzling virtuosity. It also attracted the attention of drummer Tony Williams who invited McLaughlin to the States to join his outfit, 'Lifetime'. He subsequently came to the notice of Miles Davis, and over the next hectic 18 months played on two Lifetime albums ('Emergency' and 'Turn It Over') and two classic Davis jazz-rock sets, 'Bitches Brew' and 'In A Silent Way', while finding time to record his second solo album, 'Devotion', in France with Buddy Miles.

At odds with the pace of life in New York, he turned to yoga, gave up meat and cigarettes, and subsequently became a convert of the bengali guru Sri Chinmoy, an event that was to have a profound effect on his life and music.

In 1971 he recorded 'My Goal's Beyond' with Jerry Goodman, former violinist with US jazz-rock band 'Flock', and Panamanian-born drummer Billy Cobham, another Davis sideman. These two stayed with McLaughlin as he put together his Mahavishnu Orchestra, adding Rick Laird on bass and Jan Hammer on keyboards. This band cut two classic albums, 'The Inner Mounting Flame' and 'Birds of Fire' (both heavily featured here) which pushed the genre of fusion music to new heights and suceeded in breaking McLaughlin to a wide rock-based audience.

At its best, as represented by these albums, jazz-rock had the ability to be breathtaking in emotional impact.  At its worst, it degenerated into empty displays of virtuosity and by the mid-Seventies was failing to sustain the interest of critics and fans alike.

Thereafter, his hitherto unimpeachable taste was called into question as he made the self-indulgent 'Love Devotion Surrender' with fellow Chinmoy disciple Carlos Santana. The live Mahavishnu set 'Between Nothingness and Eternity' recorded in Central Park, New York followed in 1973.

Anxious to work with a larger unit, he put together Mahavishnu Version 2, which included violinist Jean-Luc Ponty and Michael Walden on drums, in January 1974. The massively-ambitious 'Apocalypse' (with the London Symphony Orchestra) and the follow-up [masterpiece] 'Visions Of The Emerald Beyond' went along way to convincing critics that a substantial talent was going to waste. 'Inner Worlds', recorded with a slimmed-down line-up, was the last Mahavishu work with McLaughlin.

Band member 1971-1973

He then changed direction in 1975 to form the Indian-based acoustic group Shakti, featuring the violin of Shankar and the tabla of the richly talented Zakir Hussain.

Their three albums - eponymous debut, 'Natural Elements' and 'A Handful Of Beauty' - featured some of McLaughlin's most satisfying work for several years. 

Featured Albums

After releasing another strong solo album 'Electric Guitarist' in 1978, he formed alliances with other artists including Al Di Meola and Paco de Lucia, favouring acoustic guitar over electric and remains a supremely talented player noted for his speed, fluidity and claenliness of style. [Liner notes by Ian Sturgess, August 1991]

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my CD and includes full album artwork and post photos. It should be noted that this release never appeared on vinyl, however it was released on cassette and I therefore consider it to be approriate for the blog.  My only criticism of this release is that it doesn't include any material from their masterpiece 'Visions Of The Emerald Beyond' (a shameful oversight on the part of Ian Sturgess at Castle Records).

However, it does include 3 tracks from his recordings with Shakti which are now hard to find if you are playing catchup with McLaughlin's discography. I was lucky enough to stumble across their debut album on vinyl and intend posting it on the blog in the near future, so stay tuned folks.

Track List:

01  Mahavishnu Orchestra  –  Meeting Of The Spirit  6:53

02  Mahavishnu Orchestra  –  Dawn  5:16

03  Mahavishnu Orchestra  –  Vital Transformation  6:16

04  Mahavishnu Orchestra  –  Awakening  3:29

05 Mahavishnu Orchestra  –  Birds Of Fire  5:44

06  Mahavishnu Orchestra  –  Celestial Terrestrial Commuters  2:55

07  Mahavishnu Orchestra  –  Thousand Island Park  3:21

08  Mahavishnu Orchestra  –  One Word  9:58

09  John McLaughlin  –  New York On My Mind  5:42

10  John McLaughlin  –  Every Tear From Every Eye  6:58

11  John McLaughlin  –  My Foolish Heart  3:31

12  Shakti  –  Joy (Part 1)  7:09

13  Shakti  –  Lotus Feet  4:51

14  Shakti  –  Come On Baby Dance With Me  1:54

The Collection Link (452Mb)

John Farnham - Whispering Jack In Concert (1987) Bootleg

(Australian 1967 - Present)

The success of John Farnham's album 'Whispering Jack' caught everyone off guard. A pub and concert hall tour soon after the record's release in 1986 was clearly not enough to satisfy demand. In June 1987, David Sneddon started working on the 'Jack's Back Tour' at the request of Farnham's manager, Glenn Wheatley.

"We sat down and worked out what we thought was a very feasible concert run", explains Glenn. "We'd started by booking four dates in Melbourne, two in Sydney, two in Perth and two in Brisbane. It far exceeded what we imagined - never in our wildest dreams did we think the tour would so the sort of business that it did. We later added five shows in Melbourne and three in Sydney and shifted to a bigger venue in Brisbane. We were tearing our hair out to fit in extra dates. Everyone sat back and said , 'Something's happening out there'. We knew the album had gone through the roof, but no one had expected that sort of demand for a live ticket, and at that time we were up against artists such as Michael Jackson and Billy Joel who were also touring Australia at the time".

Farnham & Wheatley

The 'Jack's Back Tour' wound up on January 2, 1988 and Farnham and his band commenced working on their follow up album 'Age Of Reason'. [Extract from 'Whispering Jack, The John Farnham Story' by Clark Forbes, Hutchinson Australia, p137]

In March 1987, John Farnham delivered one of the most defining performances in Australian music history at the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre (also known as the "Glasshouse"). Riding the wave of his Whispering Jack album, Farnham’s powerhouse vocals on “You’re The Voice” turned the concert into a national moment of unity. The anthem’s call for empowerment and change resonated deeply, with the crowd singing every chorus back in thunderous harmony. Broadcast nationally, this performance cemented Farnham as Australia’s ultimate live performer and gave “You’re The Voice” its place as a generational anthem.

This legendary performance immortalized his highly successful Jack's Back tour, capturing the energy of his record-breaking, multi-platinum album 'Whispering Jack'. The historic concert was also professionally filmed and released on home video, later becoming a staple live concert DVD. Backed by the accomplished John Farnham Band, the show featured massive hits from the Whispering Jack era alongside fan favorites and tracks from his Little River Band years.

Key tracks included:"Pressure Down", "Touch of Paradise", "Going, Going, Gone", "Playing to Win" and "You're the Voice". The instrumental prowess behind Farnham’s vocals during this tour solidified the band as one of the tightest units in Australian music history.

This post consists of MP3's (320) [ripped from DVD I suspect] and includes full album artwork.  I was lucky enough to attend one of the Melbourne 'Jack's Back' Concerts, held on Dec 22, 1987 at the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre [see my ticket stub below]. 

To this day, I believe it to be one of the best concerts I've ever attended.  I can still remember Farnham taunting and teasing the audience over his first hit from the 60's "Sadie The Cleaning Lady" and eventually delivering the goods towards the end of the show, singing the 'ditti' alongside a lady with a mop and bucket cleaning the stage floor, much to the delight of the audience. Farnham's 'Whispering Jack' personna was a force to be reckoned with and both he and the band literally tore the place apart and Farnham had the audience in the palm of his hand all night. Yes folks, Farnham was Back !

Concert Track List:

01 Pressure Down

02 One Step Away

03 Going Going Gone

04 Let Me Out

05 Touch Of Paradise

06 When The War Is Over

07 Amazing Grace

08 Reasons

09 No One Comes Close

10 Love To Shine

11 One

12 Playing To Win

13 Help

14 You're The Voice

The lineup included:

John Farnham (Vocals, Gags)

David Hirschfelder (Keyboards)

Brett Garsed (Lead Guitar)

Wayne Burt (Guitar)

Steve Macainsh (Bass)

Angus Burchill (Drums)

Lindsay Field (Backing Vocals)

Venetta Fields (Backing Vocals)

Lisa Edwards (Backing Vocals)

Whispering Jack In Concert Link (137Mb)

Cargo - Selftitled (1972) plus bonus tracks

(Netherlands 1970 - 1972)

This band from Netherlands started out as 'September' and recorded a few singles that hold no interest to progheads. They then changed their name to 'Cargo' and recorded their sole album. Cargo consisted of brothers Ad and Jan De Hont both on guitars, Willem DeVries on bass and vocals and English drummer Denis Whitbread. The music developed here is a seducing hard rock with a killer twin-guitar attack much in the line of Wishbone Ash around their "Argus" album. The two brothers played delightfully long and complex guitar lines that intertwined beautifully, proof of their long-standing mutual trust and camaraderie.

Formed in 1970, September released a single on Imperial records "Little Sister/Walk On By". The A-Side was written by the band, and it sounds like hardrock with some progressive influences. It became a minor hit in the Netherlands but left no permanent impression. Band members at the time were Ador Otting (real name Jan Otting) on organ, Jan De Hont on guitar, Frans Smitt on drums who all played with De Maskers and Willem de Vries on vocals and bass.

September (Early Cargo)

A year later the line-up of the band changed with a new drummer, Jerry Gobel replacing Frans Smit (who went on to join Jan Akkerman's band 'Brainbox'), and a new vocalist/keyboardist, Hassel de Vries replacing Ador Otting. Hessel de Vries wrote September's second single, "Yelly Rose/If Mr. Right Comes Along", which was released in 1971.

Their third single was also released in 1971, "Choker/ Lydia Purple". 

By this this time, Jerry Gober was replaced for a short time by drummer who went under the name Snuffel (real name Frans Krachten) but was later replaced by former 'Ekseption' drummer Dennis Whitbread (real name Dennis Witbraad) and they were joined by Adrie de Hont (Brother of Jan and had also played with De Maskers) who also played guitar.

September Singles (1970-1971)

In 1972, September changed their name to Cargo. The change in name indicated also a change in musical direction for the band. They transitioned from a singles band to a "serious" rock band, focusing now on long, mostly instrumental passages.

By now the manager of the band, John van Setten, wanted to record an album with the band. But he had the luminous idea to put no name on the sleeve. he thought it would make the media curious, and hence the album sales would rise. Their record company at the time EMI, booked a studio for only two days, and they could record whatever they wanted. They decided to play as if it was a live performance, and they wouldn't restrict each other in the improvisations thay would play.

When the record was released, they only put Cargo on the sleeve. But unfortunately the media never got curious, and the album didn't sell well. As a result, the band finally decided to part ways with their manager, and eventually broke up.

This album was later released on CD by Pseudonym records which included their "September" singles as bonus tracks.

This post consists of FLACs ripped from CD and includes full album artwork for both vinyl and CD releases.  All three September singles have been included as bonus tracks along with two rare demo's that were recorded in 1971 but were never released until Pseudonym's Cargo CD release in 1993.

The standout tracks of this album are really the first four recorded by Cargo in 1972, featuring the awesome dual guitar work of the De Hont brothers and free form jams reminiscent of bands like Wishbone Ash and The Grateful Dead.  The bonus tracks are also interesting as they provide an insight into how the band developed its sound over such a short period of time. It is just a pity that they threw in the towel after their debut album's release - probably in response to poor management and lack of support from their record company.  

Track List:

01 Cargo – Sail Inside   10:54

02 Cargo – Cross Talking  8:33

03 Cargo – Finding Out  5:14

04 Cargo – Summerfair  15:35

Bonus Tracks (Singles/Demos)

05 September – Choker (A-Side Single)  3:52

06 September – Lydia Purple (B-Side Single) 3:51

07 September – Yelly Rose (A-Side Single) 4:01

08 September – If Mr. Right Comes Along (B-Side Single) 4:23

09 September – Little Sister (A-Side Single) 3:41

10 September – Walk On By (B-Side Single) 2:59

11 September – Run Away (Demo)  3:14

12 September – One More Change (Demo)  2:35

Track/Band Lineup:

Drums – Dennis Whitbread (tracks: 1 to 6), Frans Smit (tracks: 9, 10), Jerry Göbel (tracks: 7, 8), Snuffel (tracks: 11, 12)

Guitar – Ad de Hont (tracks: 1 to 8, 11, 12), Jan de Hont (tracks: 1 to 12)

Organ [Hammond] – Ador Otting (tracks: 9, 10)

Vocals, Bass – Willem de Vries (tracks: 1 to 12)

Vocals, Electric Piano – Hessel de Vries (tracks: 7, 8)

Cargo Link (486Mb) 

Cargo Alternate Link (486Mb)

Young Homebuyers - Young Homebuyers (1982) plus Bonus Tracks

 (Australian 1980 - 1983)

Young Homebuyers hailed from Adelaide, Australia, and pivoted around the songwriting team of Nigel Lawrence and Greg Williams, who met at high school.

In their original incarnation, the band were heavily into satire, offering hilarious stage parodies of The Police, Billy Joel, Redgum and others, with songs like It’s Still Billy Joel To Me, Penguins Took My Baby, Wanking, Polish Reggae Party and Please Let Me Be On Countdown.

Critics compared them to Mental As Anything, The Sports and early Reels because of their pop hooks, party atmosphere, quirky lyrics and overall irreverent approach to rock & roll.

They phased overt novelty out of their act and developed their sublime blend of power pop, British Beat, rockabilly, reggae, funk and punk to come up with a fresh, exhilarating, ultra-commercial young sound.

Snapped up by Melbourne’s Rough Diamond Records before they had even set foot in that city, the group recorded their self-titled debut album under the production of former Little River Band guitarist David Briggs.

The album was released in November 1982 and shone with such polished diamonds as Fiona, Boyfriend, Jackie’s Door and Sheree. Their first hit, Take One Step (May 1982), was actually an extended version of an advertising jingle they wrote for Hall’s Lemon Twist, a popular Adelaide soft drink.

Their magnificent second single, She’s A Girl (September 1982), unfortunately, received little radio airplay in Australia and the band called it a day with Greg Champion pursuing a career in radio. [extract from nostalgiacentral.com]

Young Homebuyers: On The Brink (by Glenn A. Baker)

Countdown Magazine Article (Vol 8, Feb 1983 Page 6 )

The recent reduction in interest rates was greeted with delight by young homebuyers all over Australia - particularly in Adelaide, where six of them have hailed the news. The half dozen fastidious savers are Nigel Lawrence, Greg Williams, Greg Champion, Mick Teakle, Tony Thorton and Paul Ziesling. "To run a rock band is so expensive!" exclaims Nigel. "We're just surviving".

Young Homebuyers are Adelaide's most recent contribution to quality Australian rock. They come from the city that has given us the Twilights, Master's Apprentices, Zoot, Cold Chisel and the Angels. There is no reason to believe that the band is going to achieve anything less than those hallowed names. In fact their debut self-titled album stands as one of the most confident, fully realised and utterly enjoyable LPs of last year.

 

The group is pivoted around the songwriting team of Nigel Lawrence and Greg Williams, who have been friends since high school. "We've been writing songs since we were 15" explains the talkative Nigel. "I met him on a bus" adds Greg. "he showed me his Slade records, I showed him my Deep Purple records and we had an instant mutual admiration".

The Young Homebuyers evolved out of Nigel's group NASTY NIGEL AND THE TEENAGE HELLCATS, which released the legendary independent single 'Jonestown Suicide' in 1979.

Nigel recruited rock journalist Greg and then came Mick Teakle and Greg Champion from the Fabulaires, Tony Thorton from Paul Kelly & The Dots and Paul Ziesling from a number of obscure suburban outfits. In original formation the band was heavily into satire, offering hilarious stage parodies of the Police, Billy Joel, Redgum and others. 

Some of their early stage songs included "It's Still Billy Joel To Me","Penguins Took My Baby", "Wanking", "Polish Reggae Party" and "Please Let Me Be On Countdown". Critics compared them to Mental As Anything, The Sports and early Reels because of their pop hooks, party atmosphere, quirky lyrics and overall irreverent approach to rock & roll.

The band's first hit, "Take One Step", was actually an extended version of an advertising jingle they wrote for Hall’s Lemon Twist, a popular Adelaide soft drink.

Their performance of it on Countdown (Yes, their wish was answered) was one of the most memorable appearances seen on the show over the past few years; highlighted by Nigel virtually throwing himself into the audience.

Shortly after coming together late in 1980, the Young Homebuyers phased overt novelty and satire out of their act. "In Australia it's prohibitive to be a racial band" explains Nigel. "We don't have a big enough market here to support a left-of-centre band". Instead, the six stalwarts developed their sublime blend of power-pop, British Beat, rockabilly, reggae, funk and punk to come up with a fresh, exhilarating ultra-commercial young sound. 

The most perfect example of this is the magnificent "She's A Girl", their second single. The disappointing lack of airplay for this gem proved that most radio programmers do have a severe case of cloth ears. To quote one critic, "if you hate the atonal wastelands of 'The Fall', you are sure to love the melodies of the Young Homebuyers".

Snapped up by Melbourne's Rough Diamond Records before they had ever set foot in Victoria, the group recorded their debut album under the production hand of former Little River Band guitarist David Briggs (see review left -  Countdown Mag Issue #7). It shone with such polished diamonds as "Fiona", "Boyfriend", "Jackie's Door" and "Sharee". "David knew what he wanted and how to get it out of us" says Nigel with admiration.

Adelaide's Young Homebuyers have but one simple aim, that you can help fulfill. In the words of Nigel (known sometimes as 'Nasty', though one can't imagine why!); "Basically, we want to be on the charts". They will be, they will be.

This post consists of FLACs ripped from vinyl (thanks to Sunshine at Ausrock) and includes full album artwork and label scans.  As a bonus, I am also including two B-Side singles taken from their Maxi-Single (Take One Step) which was released in the same year.  As a special bonus, I am also including Nigel's earlier release from 1979 (while performing under the name of Nasty Nigel), the punk single "Jonestown Suicide" and its reggae B-Side "A.K.A".

I chose to post this album today, in reaction to yesterday's announcement by the RBA to increase the Interest Rates by 0.25% points (yet again), to give hope to our current Aussie Home Buyers that the interest rates will start to drop soon, like they did back in 83'.  

Track List:

01 - Sheree 3:21

02 - Showbiz Revolution  3:28

03 - She's A Girl 3:30

04 - Sometimes 2:30

05 - Take One Step 2:24

06 - Every Dog 4:08

07 - Fiona 2:17

08 - Fashion 2:43

09 - Jackie's Door 3:10

10 - Boyfriend 3:04

11 - Is She Gonna Go  4:50

Bonus Tracks

12 - Polish Reggae Party  2:23

13 - Laughing Clown  3:02

14 - Jonestown Suicide  2:42 *

15 - A.K.A  2:41 *

* Nasty Nigel And The Teenage Hellcats

Band Members:

Nigel Lawrence - Vocals

Greg Williams - Guitar, vocals

Greg Champion - Guitar, vocals

Mick Teakle - Guitar

Paul Ziesing - Bass

Tony Thornton - Drums

Young Homebuyers Link (323Mb)