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.
In 1977, James and school friend Sean Kelly formed Teenage Radio Stars who were signed to punk label Suicide Records after only one show. The band’s first single ‘I Wanna Be Ya Baby’ was released on a compilation titled 'Lethal Weapons' but failed to make an impact on the charts.
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| James Freud 1977, New Years Eve La Maison Babeez, Faraday St, Carlton |
The Teenage Radio Stars broke up the following year and Freud formed James Freud and the Radio Stars. They were immediately signed to Mushroom Records and released their debut album Breaking Silence in June 1980. The single 'Modern Girl', was released simultaneously and peaked at number 11 on the Australian national charts. That same year, the band supported Gary Numan during his Australian tour and so impressed Numan that he invited Freud to record an album in the U.K.
Unfortunately neither Freud nor Numan were happy with the result and the album was never released.
A name change to James Freud and Berlin followed, thanks to a U.K. band that was already called The Radio Stars. In March 1981, James Freud and Berlin released the single 'Automatic Crazy', produced by Gary Numan. However one month later Freud decided to destroy his pop image by shaving his head, disbanding James Freud and Berlin and moving to London to pursue his creativity.
In 1982 Freud returned to Australia and reunited with Sean Kelly as the bass player for Models. The band went into the studio with producer Nick Launay and came out the critically acclaimed ‘The Pleasure of Your Company’ which produced the band’s first chart success with the hit 'I Hear Motion'. The band was propelled to the next level and supported David Bowie on his ‘Serious Moonlight Tour’.
After line-up and management changes the band released the album ‘Out of Mind Out of Sight’ which spawned the #1 and #2 hits 'Barbados' and 'Out of Mind Out of Sight'. The band toured relentlessly and signed a deal in the USA with Geffen Records. But like most bands at the peak of their career The Models broke up in June 1988 after the release of the album ‘Media’. Kelly and Freud went solo.
In March 1988 James moved his wife Sally and new born son Harrison to New York to record what is reputedly the most expensive album Mushroom Records has ever made. 'Step Into the Heat' was recorded at the famed Power Station studios with Bernard Edwards from Chic and peaked nationally at number 16 in Australia in June 1989. The single 'Hurricane' peaked at number 15. James was crushed by it’s lack of major sales and found himself looking for a new project.
Freud spent 1992 playing bass on Kylie Minogue's first world tour but found no joy as a back-up player.
At the end of 1992, Freud teamed up with old buddy with Martin Plaza from Mental as Anything for the dance act Beatfish. The duo’s self titled album produced the top twenty hit 'Wheels of Love' and showcase gigs in Los Angeles.
Beatfish called it a day a year later so James moved on to writing and producing over 100 TV commercials for major clients like Coke, Singapore Airline, Honda and Rayban.
In 1995 another solo album, 'Big Mouth', was shelved by Freud. The single, 'Postcard to Hawaii', was the only track that met Freud's expectations so he went back into the studio and recorded ten new tracks. The album was released under the Moondog banner which turned into a collaboration with guitarist Phil Ceberano, released in January 1997.
James joined Les Gock’s (Hush) company ‘Song Zu’ as their head composer in Melbourne until he decided that the world of commercials had nothing creatively stimulating to offer him. He walked away from advertising in 2000.
A name change to James Freud and Berlin followed, thanks to a U.K. band that was already called The Radio Stars. In March 1981, James Freud and Berlin released the single 'Automatic Crazy', produced by Gary Numan. However one month later Freud decided to destroy his pop image by shaving his head, disbanding James Freud and Berlin and moving to London to pursue his creativity.
After line-up and management changes the band released the album ‘Out of Mind Out of Sight’ which spawned the #1 and #2 hits 'Barbados' and 'Out of Mind Out of Sight'. The band toured relentlessly and signed a deal in the USA with Geffen Records. But like most bands at the peak of their career The Models broke up in June 1988 after the release of the album ‘Media’. Kelly and Freud went solo.
In March 1988 James moved his wife Sally and new born son Harrison to New York to record what is reputedly the most expensive album Mushroom Records has ever made. 'Step Into the Heat' was recorded at the famed Power Station studios with Bernard Edwards from Chic and peaked nationally at number 16 in Australia in June 1989. The single 'Hurricane' peaked at number 15. James was crushed by it’s lack of major sales and found himself looking for a new project.
Freud spent 1992 playing bass on Kylie Minogue's first world tour but found no joy as a back-up player.
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| Martin Plaza & James Freud |
Beatfish called it a day a year later so James moved on to writing and producing over 100 TV commercials for major clients like Coke, Singapore Airline, Honda and Rayban.
In 1995 another solo album, 'Big Mouth', was shelved by Freud. The single, 'Postcard to Hawaii', was the only track that met Freud's expectations so he went back into the studio and recorded ten new tracks. The album was released under the Moondog banner which turned into a collaboration with guitarist Phil Ceberano, released in January 1997.
James joined Les Gock’s (Hush) company ‘Song Zu’ as their head composer in Melbourne until he decided that the world of commercials had nothing creatively stimulating to offer him. He walked away from advertising in 2000.
A move to Queensland saw Freud head up a Government funded record label called Elston Records. But his own demons proved too hard to conquer so James checked into rehab in October 2004
A newly invigorated Freud toured Australia on the hugely successful ‘Countdown Spectacular’ and relocated his family to Los Angeles. While there he produced the debut EP for his sons Harrison and Jackson’s band Sonic Dogma.
Tired of travelling the world for over 30 years James decide to return to his hometown Melbourne in February 2007 to see the release of his follow up biography 'I am The Voice Left From Rehab' (Random House).
Music had began to ring loudly in his head for the first time in years so James began writing and recording for his next solo album. In Feb 2008, he released 'See You in Hell', which would be his last solo studio album. Prior to his death, Freud was manager for his sons' band, Attack of the Mannequins, and assisted them with the development of their debut album, 'Rage of the World'.
On 4 November 2010, Freud was found dead at his home in Hawthorn, Melbourne. A week earlier, on 27 October, Models were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame without Freud attending the ceremony. His absence was explained publicly as due to commitments to managing his sons' band. Privately, organisers were told that Freud would not attend because he could not be anywhere near alcohol. During the ceremony, Kelly explained the absence by saying Freud had "another bicycle accident"
Big Mouth
Here's something from my collection which I am sure will interest a few people. Some advanced copies of James solo album Big Mouth were leaked to media but later withdrawn from circulation. James wasn't happy with the album for some reason?
A fellow blogger at Midoztouch called Smackster managed to get hold of an advanced disc at Lawsons back around 1995. Unfortunately he sold it a couple of years later to help pay his bills but did keep a backup copy for himself. He found it in storage recently but unfortunately the disc was scratched. He tried a few things to retrieve all of the recordings from the disc and was successful in getting all but track 5, which was only partially recovered (90%). He procrastinated for ages on what to do with the damaged track and eventually decided to fade it towards the end where it cuts out, making it less noticeable.
I was luckly enough to acquire this edited version of the album, which is amazing and features many musical styles, including reggae. As there was no artwork with the album, I have put together a front cover which I think is appriopriate for the album's title and have added some Freud related media content into the picture just for fun [see if you can spot it].
This month's WOCK on Vinyl post consists of FLACS (thanks to Smackster) and definately ticks the Obscure / Rare box. Unavailable to the masses up until now, this Aussie jewel needs to be heard by all and Freud's musical genius and talent be finally recognised by his critics. I hope you enjoy this album as much as I did. I partricular like his rendition of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart".
Track List:
1. Church Is Bleeding
2. She's So Weird
3. Postcard To Hawaii
4. Love Will Tear Us Apart
5. You light Up The Sky
6. Never Let Me Go
7. Mama
8. Everybody Get Happy
9. Kiss Me Stupid
10. You Don't Know What You're Missing
11. Postcard To Hawaii Reprise
Big Mouth Link (269Mb)
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