(Australian 1980 - 1983)
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.
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.
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".
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.
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.
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)
