Black Sabbath - Live In Australia, Brisbane (25-04-2013) Bootleg

(U.K 1968–2006, 2011–Present)
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Over the past four decades, there have been various Black Sabbath lineups, and Ozzy Osbourne has also had a successful solo career since the release of 1980's Blizzard of Ozz. There was an attempt in 2001 by the original members to record an album with producer Rick Rubin but it came to nothing. Now, sufficient water has passed under the bridge to make them (minus Ward due to contractual wrangles) eager to make it work. It still felt, Rubin has said, "like being in a cage with a lion, keeping them calm", but the results, they agree, were worth it. Their new album '13' sounds more like Black Sabbath than any album since 1973's 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' (and my personal favourite by far). Osbourne says 13 is the most important record of his career. 

It’s hard to imagine that nearly forty years have passed since the founders of heavy metal, Black Sabbath, graced our fine shores. Whilst Sabbath reunions themselves are somewhat of an event in themselves, the fact that they’ve finally made it Down Under this time around is nothing short of a miracle.
Sabbath have just completed multiple shows in all major cities around Australia during April and May and I have managed to source an A+ bootleg of the Brisbane Concert, held on the 25th April at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.
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Gig Review 1
by Jody MacGregor

Jody MacGregor spends a night in the company of a cackling, cuckooing paranoid Ozzy Osbourne at Black Sabbath’s first Australian show since 1974.
I almost didn’t go to see Black Sabbath. What if Ozzy Osbourne is the same mumbling shambles on stage he was in The Osbournes? What if he’s back on the drugs and drifts through the night in a half-aware haze? What if my precious youthful memories of listening to Sabbath and being disaffected are tainted forever?
I shouldn’t have worried. From the opening of "War Pigs" on wards he sings exactly like you want him to. He cackles like a witch with a mouth full of baby fingers and he says “Oh Lord Yeah” like Ozzy Osbourne says “Oh Lord Yeah!”
The tightness of the rest of the band is less surprising, though still impressive. Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler have been doing this forever, and Tommy Clufetos has drummed for Ozzy’s solo tours enough to be down with all this stuff (he’s not the guy who drums on their new album though: that’s Brad Wilk from Rage Against the Machine).

  “Ozzy cackles like a witch with a mouth full of baby fingers.”

During "Into the Void" Ozzy dunks his entire head in a bucket of water, which he’ll later pour over the Songs from their first two albums get the most play, although they pull one or two from all over the place. "Snowblind" from Black Sabbath Vol. 4 (“Here’s a song about something we don’t do anymore because we’re too fucking old!”) gets an outing, and so do two new songs from 13. Both fit seamlessly alongside the classics, even though Ozzy briefly forgets the name of the second one.
"Fairies Wear Boots" sounds ridiculously heavy, everything crashing together like pealing church bells. Ozzy takes a deserved break after that for an instrumental version of "Symptom of the Universe". Nice as it would have been to have original drummer Bill Ward be part of this line-up, having a younger man on the team comes in handy when he plays a lengthy drum solo so the older men can finish off a cup of tea backstage. The crowd are into it, shouting every time Clufetos raises his sticks as if he’s finished before bringing them back down for another bash.

The full band return for "Iron Man", which is obviously loved, but so are lesser numbers like "Dirty Women". Somebody even throws a bra on stage during that one, which Ozzy gleefully puts on, first on his chest and then wrapped around his head like Princess Leia’s buns. When he says “I want to see ’em!” again I’m pretty sure he’s still talking about our hands in the air, but one lady in the crowd gets her breasts out anyway.

They save "Paranoid" for the encore because of course they bloody do, and it’s amazing because of course it bloody is. I’m ashamed to have doubted.

Gig Review 2
by Andrew McMillen

There are surprisingly few frills to tonight’s stage production. At the back, a giant video screen is intercut by what might be intended to be spiderwebs. A smaller video screen sits beneath the tall drum riser. There's coloured lights and strobes. No pyrotechnics. Two men perched up in the rafters ensure that twin spotlights remain on the singer at all times. A handful of cameramen track the players for the big screen, alongside occasional file footage of atom bombs exploding and some sort of cheesy-looking undead. There's no shortage of religious iconography: crosses etched into the guitarist’s fretboard, a big gold bastard hanging from his neck. One of his guitar straps bears his surname in bold font. As if everyone in this room doesn't already know it.

To think that an industrial accident nearly robbed us of one of the finest and most original guitarists of all time. Tony Iommi doesn't do much more on stage than eke out riff after evil riff, custom thimbles fitted snugly over the tips of his stumpy middle fingers, occasionally peering over his blue specs and throwing up the horns to his disciples in the front row. I'm seated on his side of the stage, so I've got nearly two hours to watch closely. He gives off an avuncular air of quiet confidence, and wears his smart leather jacket throughout. I've seen a few guitarists in my time, but this man is in a class of his own. The singer occasionally prostrates himself before Black Sabbath’s sole continual member; he refers to him as “the real ‘Iron Man’”, and waves his arms in that classic we-are-not-worthy pose.

Indeed Ozzy Osbourne is as enthusiastic as any 64 year-old on the planet. The close-up camera shots show him reading from a teleprompter, straining to recall which syllables to place the emphasis on. Who gives a good goddamn shit, though? That he's still living and breathing without the help of machines is commendable, especially since he was back on the sauce and blow as recently as last February. This crowd loves him for the caricature he has long been. How many musicians can throw their lives open to the fickle, vain world of reality television and still command respect like this man? Which other 64-year old singer’s rider includes a bucket of water – regularly used to dunk one’s head into, and/or throw onto the front rows – black nail polish, and waterproof eyeliner?

Geezer Butler is an unassuming bassist if ever there was one, yet he’s stacked every song so full of clever, tricky phrasing that he rarely has time to look up and acknowledge that he’s playing to a full room of 13,000. Tom Larkin – drummer of touring support act Shihad – was spot-on when he described Butler’s dextrous playing as “wrestling his bass like it’s a live eel”. (Worth noting: Shihad were strong earlier, their set a half-hour of power consisting of songs spanning 1993 –'Factory', 'Screwtop' – to 2002’s 'Comfort Me'.)

Behind the kit is not founding stickman Bill Ward but a skinny workhorse named Tommy Clufetos. He's a flashy player, too – arms raised high at every opportunity, emphasising each cymbal crash – probably owing more to the occasion of playing with these three legends than musical necessity. He's smooth, though, no doubt. His drum solo is backed by the most intense multi-colour strobe light display I've ever experienced. Epileptics beware.

The song selection and set structure is immaculate, though the two tracks from their forthcoming album 13 go down like the proverbial zeppelin. Hardcore fans will find it tough to bitch about the breadth of material covered, all performed with verve and precision. If a weak link must be nominated, it’s Osbourne's wavering octaves and drill-sergeant demeanor. Students of their 1998 live album Reunion have already heard every bit of stage banter in his repertoire. (The setlist isn’t dissimilar, either.) I would've thought that there’s only so many times a crowd could be asked to SHOW ME YOUR FUCKIN' HANDS! before the novelty wore off, but this lot are a dedicated and willing bunch. 39 years between Australian tours speaks for itself, I suppose. And if there's one man in metal worth showing your hands to, it's Mr Osbourne.
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This post consists of an MP3 rip (320kps) of a soundboard recording taken from their Brisbane show (sourced from Musictravellerstwo.blogspot with thanks) along with full album artwork (thanks to LiborioFriki).  Most of the concert photos depicted in this post were sourced from Charly Cameron with gratitude. The quality of this recording is outstanding and the band was certainly on fire this night. This is a 2CD set.

Remember Me !

Black Sabbath Brisbane set list
01 - War Pigs
02 - Into the Void
03 - Under the Sun
04 - Snowblind
05 - Electric Funeral
06 - Black Sabbath
07 - Behind the Wall of Sleep
08 - N.I.B.
09 - End of the Beginning
10 - Fairies Wear Boots
11 - Symptom of the Universe (Instrumental)
12 - Drum Solo
13 - Iron Man
14 - God Is Dead?
15 - Dirty Women
16 - Children of the Grave
Encore:
17 - Paranoid (with “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” intro) 
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Black Sabbath Link (237Mb) New Link 17/12/2023

The Beatles - Rare Beatles (1982)

(U.K 1960-70)
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This album was released in 1982 on the Phoenix label. A ten track stereo vinyl LP compiling live recordings made at Hamburgs Star Club in December 1962, it is housed in a picture sleeve with a tinted colour version of a classic Dezo Hoffmann photograph, making it look almost like a bootleg - however this is an official release.
The album collects some recordings made by Ted Taylor at the Star Club in Hamburg, probably in December 1962. These recordings were made on a portable machine, so the sound quality is somewhat mediocre.
There were two releases: one in the UK and one in France; this is the UK release from January 22, 1982. There are ten songs, none of which were written by any of the Beatles themselves (ie.all covers) and were recorded at the Star Club in Germany.
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The Beatles first visited West Germany in late 1960 when the group's line-up was still John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe (who was to die tragically young) and drummer Pete Best. Playing in Hamburg either made or broke every Liverpudlian beat group that worked there but it was soon obvious to everyone that this was one group which would be going places. After returning to Liverpool in early 1961 to do a residency at the now-legendary Cavern Club, the Beatles made a second trip to Hamburg in April 1961 during which visit they recorded several titles with Tony Sheridan for a German Record Company. It was during one visit to Hamburg that these tapes originated and, as luck would have it, although Ringo Starr did not officially join the group until August 1962, which was just about the time the Beatles were having their first recording sessions for EMI, he happened to be 'sitting in' for Pete Best on the very night that Ted Toylor decided to make some recordings with his portable machine.

The Beatles In Hamburg

No matter how many thousands of words were written about the Beatles, the only way for anyone to appreciate their full appeal is to listen to the music. It explains everything. The Beatles' music has managed to span every generation and as ambassadors of pop, no one is likely to beat them. The Star Club recordings tell all. The music is raw, vital and exciting and goes a long way to demonstrating why John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr become such musical legends. The humor, the sheer talent and the audience excitement almost hits you in the eyes...
Until now these tapes have been heard by no more than a handful of people but it is right that these Hamburg moments should be shared with the millions of Beatles fans worldwide. Four years ago the respected British pop musk magazine Melody Maker reviewed the Hamburg tapes as they were in their original state and declared that the music neither injured the reputations of the artists or insulted the intelligence of the listeners. The writer declared that the recordings were a "unique and important announcement" of the most musical unit of the lost decade. More than that they are history and provide the best insight into the early life of the Beatles which most people had thought lost for good.
[Sleeve notes by Chris White London, March 1977]
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The Star Club Recordings
The first release of tapes from The Beatles German stage show recorded 31st December 1962.
These tapes were recorded by Adrian Barber on a mono Grundig reel-to-reel tape recorder using a hand-held microphone. He had been asked to make recordings by Ted "Kingsize" Taylor, a Liverpool singer who sung with the Dominos. Once the Beatles has some commercial success, Taylor offered these tapes to Brian Epstein, but Brian would only offer as much as ?20 for them as he felt they had no commercial value. Little did Brian realise, but the tapes did in fact legally belong to Parlophone anyway, as they had been made AFTER the signing to E.M.I. of their contracts, but there was some confusion over the date of recording of the tapes. Although, once again, listening to them, it was clearly December 1962 ... John mentions Christmas between songs, and Buddy Holly's "Reminiscing" had only just been released in late 1962.

They then lay in derelict offices until 1972 when they were found under piles of rubbish by Allan Williams who had managed the Beatles before Brian. Williams offered the tapes to George and Ringo for $5,000, but at that time Apple were going through financial difficulties so they too turned them down.
.After spending $50,000 on cleaning up the sound, and transferring them to 16-track tapes, Williams found a buyer and the first release was in Germany. Immediately the Beatles sued, but lost the case because the judge ruled that the tapes were of historical interest, they were not trying to fool anyone by pretending it was a new release (the records clearly stated "old recordings"), and, the Beatles should have sued earlier and not left it until a release was imminent.

33 songs are apparently on the tapes, but 26 only appeared on the release. But the U.K. version of this album (and German version) had 4 tracks different to the U.S. version, which of course meant that the four "missing" songs in the U.K. often turn up as long lost rarities. The missing four were :
"Where Have You Been All My Life"
"Sheila"
"I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Cry Over You"
"Till There Was You".
Two other tracks were alternate versions of "To Know Her Is To Love Her" and "Roll Over Beethoven", which obviously weren't required as the best versions were used.
This means one track is left, "My Girl Is Red Hot" which has never appeared anywhere !

Unfortunately, the finished article caught the Beatles just as they were about to release "Please Please Me" in Britain, and clearly the thoughts were on home. Their lack of enthusiasm comes across in the introductions and comments between the songs and of course the recording quality is still very poor.
BUT this is an essential historic document.
In 1981, after the Lingasong release was deleted, the rights to the tapes were again sold and again were treated to a further re-mix providing a bit clearer sound yet again. But the new owners Audio-Fidelity spoilt re-releases with cheap packaging and labelling errors. The pictured sleeve is the original release on Bellaphone catalogue number BLS 5560 as this came out one month earlier and I had already purchased this version. The first C.D release was 16th December 1985, all 30 tracks on Overseas Records, catalogue no. 38CP-44 [extract from Graham Calkin's Beatles Pages, 2006]

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This post consists of an MP3 rip (320kps) taken from my near mint vinyl and includes full album artwork plus label scans. Although the quality of the recording is average, one must keep in mind when these tapes were made and the limitations of the recording equipment at that time.
If you haven't heard any early Beatles material before, then this album is a great place to start, with all tracks being covers by artists that the Fab Four looked up to when they were starting out.

Track Listing
01. Be-Bop-A-Lula
02. Long Tall Sally
03. Your Feets Too Big
04. Im Gonna Sit Right Down And Cry Over You
05. Where Have You Been All My Life

06. Sheila
07. Hallelujah I Love Her So
08. Till There Was You
09. Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey
10. I Remember You

The Beatles:
John Lennon: vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
Paul McCartney: vocals, bass guitar
George Harrison: vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
Ringo Starr: vocals, drums

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Rare Beatles Link (52Mb)  New link 17/09/2025
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The Beatles - Live At The Hollywood Bowl (1977)

(U.K 1960-70)
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So much has been said and written about the Beatles -- and their story is so mythic in its sweep -- that it's difficult to summarize their career without restating clichés that have already been digested by tens of millions of rock fans. To start with the obvious, they were the greatest and most influential act of the rock era, and introduced more innovations into popular music than any other rock band of the 20th century. Moreover, they were among the few artists of any discipline that were simultaneously the best at what they did and the most popular at what they did. Relentlessly imaginative and experimental, the Beatles grabbed a hold of the international mass consciousness in 1964 and never let go for the next six years, always staying ahead of the pack in terms of creativity but never losing their ability to communicate their increasingly sophisticated ideas to a mass audience. Their supremacy as rock icons remains unchallenged to this day, decades after their breakup in 1970.

The Beatles' only official live album was recorded over three nights at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, in 1964 and 1965. George Martin had originally wanted to record The Beatles' concerts at New York's Carnegie Hall on 12 February 1964, during their first US visit. Although Capitol Records agreed, he was denied permission by the American Federation of Musicians.

As the effects of Beatlemania became all pervasive, the label decided to release a live album to capitalise on The Beatles' US success. During their first full American tour Capitol agreed to record the group's concert at the Hollywood Bowl on 23 August 1964. George Martin was at the venue, working with Capitol Records' producer Voyle Gilmore on the recording. The concert was seen by 18,700 people.

    "George Martin made such a speech. It sounds like he changed it but I doubt it. There's not much he could do. It was recorded on three-track machines with half-inch tapes. The Hollywood Bowl has a pretty good stereo sound system so we plugged our mikes right in there. I didn't do an awful lot. There wasn't much we could do. They just played their usual show and we recorded it. It wasn't that bad. I kept thinking, 'Maybe we'll get permission to release the tapes.' So I took them back to the studio and worked on it a while. I worked on the applause, edited it down, made it play and EQd it quite a bit.  

The Beatles heard it and they all wanted tape copies. I had five or six copies made and sent over. That's where the bootlegs must have come from. We had a system at Capitol and we knew where all our copies were. The Beatles said they liked the tapes, that it sounded pretty good, that they were surprised but they still idn't want to release it.
I thought the first concert was a little better than the second. I don't know if I would have put them together like they did because doing it that way they have sacrificed an album. They really could have made two albums".  [Voyle Gilmore 1977]


The album
Although they had hoped the 1965 recordings would be better than the previous year's, Capitol decided that the quality was insufficient for release. The tapes remained in the record company vaults for several years, and in 1971 were given to Phil Spector to see if an album could be prepared. However, Spector's work came to nothing, and the tapes remained unreleased for several more years.

"Capitol called me a few months back and asked if I could help find the tapes in the library and, of course, I knew right where they were. They wanted to get permission to put them out and thought it would be useful if George Martin was involved, since he knew the boys and had made all their other records".  [Voyle Gilmore, 1977]

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In the mid-1970s Capitol president Bhaskar Menon gave George Martin the tapes and asked him to compile an official live album. Although impressed with The Beatles' performances, he found the sound quality disappointing. Nonetheless, in January 1977 he began working with studio engineer Geoff Emerick to clean up the master tapes and assemble a set of songs for release.

    "Bhaskar Menon, the president of Capitol Records, is an old friend of mine. He mentioned these tapes to me and asked whether I would listen to them because capitol was thinking of releasing an album. My immediate reaction was, as far as I could remember, the original tapes had a rotten sound. So I said to Bhaskar, 'I don't think you've got anything here at all.'
    There have been an awful lot of bootleg recordings made of Beatles concerts around the world and they've been in wide circulation. But when I listened to the Hollywood Bowl tapes, I was amazed at the rawness and vitality of The Beatles' singing. So I told Bhaskar that I'd see if I could bring the tapes into line with today's recordings. I enlisted the technical expertise of Geoff Emerick and we transferred the recordings from three-track to 24-track tapes. The two tapes combined 22 songs and we whittled these down to 13. Some tracks had to be discarded because the music was obliterated by the screams." [George Martin]

The recordings were transferred to 24-track tapes to be edited, filtered and equalised. No redubbing of voices or instruments took place. Eventually an album was assembled consisting of recordings from all three Hollywood Bowl concerts.

Six songs were included from the 23 August 1964 concert tapes: Things We Said Today, Roll Over Beethoven, Boys, All My Loving, She Loves You and Long Tall Sally.

Due to an error, the tracklisting for The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl lists all the recordings as dating from 1964 or 30 August 1965. However, three of the songs - Ticket To Ride, Dizzy Miss Lizzy and Help! - originated from 29 August 1965. Unfortunately a technical fault left Paul McCartney's vocals and introductions inaudible during the first four songs of the first 1965 show, rendering a substantial portion of the recordings unusable.

Five songs from 30 August 1965 appeared on The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl: Twist And Shout, She's A Woman, Dizzy Miss Lizzy, Can't Buy Me Love and A Hard Day's Night. The album version of Dizzy Miss Lizzy was a composite edit incorporating parts of the 29 and 30 August performances.

Some of The Beatles' on-stage announcements were inconsistent when presented in album form. A Hard Day's Night and Help! are both referred to as their latest albums, owing to the different recording dates.  [extract from beatlesbible.com]
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This post offers two choices for download. Nevertheless, both contain MP3 rips (320kps) from my Near Mint Vinyl and full album artwork for both LP and CD.  Alternative covers are also included (see below)
The first post consists of two MP3 files, each taken from a side of the album without track breaks. Because each song runs into the next, with some banter by the boys in between, the full atmosphere of the recording is retained.
The alternative post consists of separate MP3 files for each of the songs, however, the breaks are not always seamless, and therefore the concert atmosphere is somewhat disjointed in this version.
Either way, this is a classic recording of the Fab Four in their hey day, when Beatlemania was at its peak.
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Tracklisting 
Side A
01 - Twist And Shout

02 - She's A Woman
03 - Dizzy Miss Lizzy
04 - Ticket To Ride
05 - Can't Buy Me Love
06 - Things We Said Today
07 - Roll Over Beethoven 
Side B
08 - Boys
09 - A Hard Day's Night
10 - Help!
11 - All My Loving
12 - She Loves You
13 - Long Tall Sally

The Beatles were:

John Lennon: vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
Paul McCartney: vocals, bass guitar
George Harrison: vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
Ringo Starr: vocals, drums

The Beatles Live - Side A / B (80Mb) New Link 12/04/2025

The Beatles Live - Separate Tracks (80Mb) New Link 17/09/2025
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W.O.C.K On Vinyl - Redgum: Roll It On Robbie (1987)

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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.
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Formed in Adelaide, Australia in 1975, the success of Redgum’s brand of folk/rock political satire has since been regarded as an anomaly, albeit thoroughly deserved. The core members comprised university students John Schumann (vocals/guitar), Verity Truman (vocals/tin whistle/saxophone), Michael Atkinson (vocals/guitar/mandolin), and have in the past included 15 other musicians.

After going professional the band built up their support base by constant touring featuring an excellent live show, with stage wit provided by Schumann, whose droll voice was the antithesis of the traditional rock hero. Their debut album provides some of their best material, comprising typically astute observations on the rich, the hypocritical, politicians and the plight of the under privileged, but it was only originally available on a small independent label. National mainstream success was not achieved until the release of ‘I Was Only 19’, in 1983, a song written about a survivor of the Vietnam war, which compares favourably with three other poignant anti-war songs by fellow Australians - ‘Jungle Green’ by Broderick Smith, ‘The Band Played Waltzing Matilda’ by Eric Bogle and ‘Khe Sahn’ by Cold Chisel. A second hit single, the reggae-flavoured ‘I’ve Been To Bali Too’ (1984) hit home with many Australian tourists. As the band lost more original members, they began to lack their characteristic bite even though their albums became better produced.

This, their third Australian chart single from 1987, ‘Roll It On Robbie’, caused outrage amongst the conservative elements of the country because it encouraged the use of condoms to promote safe-sex. A non-LP single, it was intended as a humorous promotion for the use of condoms and the fight against the spread od AIDS.  It was Redgum's final single release and it entered the Top 40 Charts, but the now-rare single was regarded more as a novelty song than a serious piece of social advice. Composer John Schuman now reportedly considers the song "an embarrassment" which is a shame, as the intentions behind this single were quite honourable in my opinion.[extract from
John Schumanns's Website]
Below is an article from Juke 1987 regarding this single, which refers to Ansell's intention to provide one free condom with each single sold. It would seem however, that Redgum's record company CBS were not comfortable with this proposal as the company feared it might be liable for any malfunction in the condom provided.
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So, whether this month's entry into the 'WOCK on Vinyl' Hall of Fame is the O for Obscure (there's one copy selling on eBay at the moment for $50) or simply the C in Condom, I reckon  "Roll It On Robbie" deserves another 'stretch' in the limelight.
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Track Listing

01 - Roll It On Robbie
02 - Empty Page
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Redgum Were:
Hugh McDonald - lead vocals, guitar
Verity Truman -vocals
Michael Spicer - keyboard, vocals
Darren Deland - bass, vocals
Malcolm Wakeford - drums, vocals
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Redgum Link (20Mb)
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John Paul Young - The Singer (1981)

(Australian 1972 - Present)
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When John Paul Young (JPY) was a boy his family moved from Scotland to Australia, where he quickly learned to imitate the local accent to avoid being teased by his classmates. It was with this newly learned voice that he started singing, joining a production of Jesus Christ Superstar and becoming the lead singer for rock band Elm Tree in the 1970s. During one of their performances he was spotted by manager and sometimes-producer Simon Napier-Bell, who asked him to record an overdub for a song called "Pasadena." That song was written by Harry Vanda and George Young of the Easybeats, who were impressed enough with him to become John Paul Young's songwriters, penning a string of pop songs that gave him chart success in Australia as well as Europe and Asia. It wasn't until the late '70s that he became world-famous, first for the disco song "Standing in the Rain," and then for the biggest hit of his career, "Love Is in the Air." John Paul Young attributed the song's success to the direction of George Young, who had told him to make the song casual by singing it as if it were a conversation. Subsequent singles either unsuccessfully attempted to re-create the disco formula of "Standing in the Rain" or turned towards rock, which gave him several more hits within Australia in the early '80s.

In 1981, Young recorded an album of 1960s rock and pop favourites called 'The Singer', again for the budget label Hammard and his cover of The Stones/Chris Farlowe classic "Out of Time" came out as a single in September 1981. Despite its budget price, the album featured top-shelf session musos including guitarists Jimmy Doyle (ex-Ayers Rock), and Stuart Fraser (ex-Feather), Rex Bullen (keyboards; ex-Bakery), Ralph White (trumpet; ex-Fugitives), Les Young (bass; ex-Chessmen) and Russell Dunlop (drums, percussion, synthesiser; ex-Levi Smiths Clefs, SCRA, Johnny Rocco Band, Ayers Rock).
Young eventually retired from singing to become a radio DJ, but came out of retirement in 1992 when a version of "Love Is in the Air" was used on the soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann's film Strictly Ballroom and the song became a hit once again. After performing his old hits at live concerts for another decade, including a performance at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, he returned to the studio with Harry Vanda's Flashpoint Music in 2006 to record a new album, In Too Deep. [extract from iTunes]
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Interview with John Paul Young when he celebrated 40 years in the Australian Music Industry 
(Transcript taken from the Herald Sun with thanks)

In 2012, John Paul Young celebrated 40 years in the Australian music industry with both a solo tour and another turn in the massive Long Way To The Top concert production.To viewers at home, he looked and sounded convincing. A real star. But that's not how John Paul Young remembers the first time he sang Yesterday's Hero on ABC's Countdown, in front of an ecstatic studio audience.
"I was a scared little rabbit," Young says. "And I had every reason to feel scared because Molly Meldrum had teed everybody up in that studio to yank me down off the stage and to go crazy. I was the only one who wasn't in on the gag. To me, it wasn't a gag.
"Anyway, during the song, I did get yanked off the rostrum and I'm on the floor with a microphone without a cord and I'm telling the floor manager there's no sound and he's saying, 'I don't care, get back up'. In the end, he threw me back up and I'm there, trying to finish the song with no shirt . . . just two cuffs. So embarrassing."

Did he think about quitting pop music, right then and there?

"Nah. I thought, 'At least something might happen out of this'."

His instincts were right. Yesterday's Hero might have been about the fleeting nature of pop stardom but when Harry Vanda and George Young's song became a chart-busting smash in 1975, Young's world turned upside down. Suddenly, the former sheet metal worker from Sydney's west was known everywhere as JPY or Squeak. He became a sailor-suited regular on Countdown, he powered a stack of monster radio hits (The Love Game, I Hate The Music, Standing in the Rain) and he was the subject of teenage frenzies at Festival Hall.

"Did I feel like king of the world? Yeah, I did," he says now. "I actually enjoyed the transformation."

Next month, Young marks four decades in showbiz with anniversary concerts. "It's going to be a real celebration," he says, cupping a candle-lit cake for our photographer. "Forty years since I met my wife (Lynette), 40 years since I met Meldrum and 40 years as a professional performer. Amazing."
The Allstar Band that has backed Young down the years will pound out those hummable hits. And being a nimble storyteller, with a knack for funny accents, he's sure to take a stroll down memory lane. Get ready to hear about the time Young first heard Pasadena on a car radio, the night he played to "diamonds and furs" in Johannesburg, and the day he finished recording Vanda and Young's Love is in the Air in 1978: "I remember thinking, 'Oh, yeah ... this is good'. But I was cautioned. (Music publisher) Ted Albert called me into his office - which didn't happen very often - and put the record on. 'Whaddya think?' I said, 'I think it's a hit'. And he said, 'Don't ever say that. This is too funny a business ... but you're right, it is good'. Still is."

"Love is in the Air" opened doors for Young in Europe and North America but instead of settling in Los Angeles, "where people wanted to turn me into the next David Cassidy", he flew back to Australia.

"Looking back on it, yeah, I suppose it was gutsy. In a weird way, I knew what I didn't want."

Young has always been the plain-speaking type. It's to do with his Scottish upbringing ("Seven of us living in a one-room apartment in Glasgow") and those hard-scrabble years in the mid-'60s when he was living on Sydney's outskirts and hiding his accent so he didn't get bullied. His passport to acceptance was music. Fronting a local band (Elm Tree) when he wasn't welding, he got noticed and landed a lead role in Jesus Christ Superstar. Then Countdown happened.

"I do have a determination in me but it's not really an ambition," he says. "I just want to be safe."

When Young's son Danny announced he wanted to be a singer, he tried to talk him out of it "because this is not an easy business. It can break your heart".
With albums fizzing and lawsuits flying, Young "retired" in 1984. Breakfast radio put him back in the spotlight. So did Baz Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom (1992), which recycled Love is in the Air. Young sealed the deal by singing the song to his biggest audience at the Sydney Olympics.
"The royalties? Oh, they're OK. They allow me to say, 'No' every now and again, which is a nice luxury."

JPY Today

For our interview, Young slips into a smart suit with grey pinstripes. He wears it well, but there's no hiding his origins. This nuggety bloke with the salt-and-pepper mop is a survivor, an authentic Australian who has never taken his successes for granted.

"We arrived here on Australia Day, 1962," he says, "and the place was absolutely deserted. No flags, nothin'. Now it's huge. I've been to Australia Day events and told a version of my life story and about what it's like to be an immigrant."

So, Australia is home ..."If you were to say to me you can live anywhere you like in this country, I couldn't give you an answer. It's everything to me."

Young swallows hard and his eyes mist over.

"Sorry. It's because my old man and my mum, they were brave ... you know."

Yesterday's heroes?

"Yep."      [article by Simon Plant, Herald Sun, April 21, 2012]
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This post consists of an MP3 (320kps) rip from my trusty vinyl LP which has held the test of time and cost me a whopping $1.98 when I bought it from K-Mart way back in the early eighties.  Of course full album artwork (with the price tag still attached) is included, along with label scans for the inquisitive.
Over all, I quite like this album as it highlights JPY's ability to sing cover songs as good, if not better, than the original artists themselves. For most of his early career, JPY had been singing songs specially written for him by the Australian powerhouse songwriting duo 'Vanda & Young' (no relation by the way). From the Beatles' "Fool On The Hill" to Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride", to the Kink's "You Really Got Me", he delivers each song on this album as if it were his own. 
The only hiccup is "All Along The Watchtower" which doesn't quite reach the mark in my opinion, but then again, Dylan and Hendrix are big shoes to fill.  
Although released on a budget label, at a time in JPY's career when he was trying to distance himself from his pop idol image, this album is worth a listen and as the title states, he is A Singer, and a good one at that.
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Track Listing
01 - Hold Me
02 - Summer In The City
03 - Good Lovin'
04 - Fool On The Hill
05 - All Along The Watchtower
06 - For Your Love
07 - It's Too Late
08 - Out Of Time
09 - Magic Carpet Ride
10 - 1, 2, 3,
11 - Groovin
12 - You Really Got Me
13 - Soul Sister
14 - Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
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The Band:

John Paul Young (Vocals)
Jim Doyle, Stuart Frazer (Guitar)
Les Young (Bass)
Rex Bullen (Keyboards)
Russell Dunlop (Drums, Percussion & Synthesiser)
Ralph White (Horns)
Geoff Oates (Sax)
Karen Smith, Russell Dunlop (Backing Vocals)
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JPY Link (95Mb)
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Hush - Rough, Tough 'N' Ready (1975) - REPOST -

(Australian 1971-1977)
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Hush's most succesful line-up included Keith Lamb (vocals), Les Gock (guitar), Rick Lum (bass) and Chris Paithorpe (drums). The band came to public notice when they made the final of the 1972 'Battle Of The Bands' and won a recording contract with WEA. But their careers didn't immediately take off and it was only with 'Loud'n' Live' in 1973 that they began to move up the charts. In 1974 they moved to Wizard Records and charted with the single "Walking". Then in 1975 they did a heavy cover of "Bony Maroney", which went to No.1 and their album 'Rough Tough 'n' Ready' went platinum (see picture with Molly presenting the award to Hush)
Countdown changed the career of Hush by exposing them to a much wider audience than they had ever played to while touring. Hush were perfect for television and perfect for Countdown - glitz, glamour, spectacle and catchy riffs. 
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Interview with Hush (RAM Magazine - Jan 2, 1976)
"The Further Dragon Flight Adventures of Hush"

 - Rough 'n' Ready Road Crews and Bad Thoughts for Tasmanian Politicians -

As you know, one of the legends about Chinese restaurants is that the food they serve up to their countrymen is different, richer, more succulent and delicious.
In the kitchens (so the legend goes), there are two pots. One boils and bubbles with rich, secret aromas. This is The Real Thing.
The other contains but a taste test of The Real Thing, this is the stuff they give to Australian diners.
So anyway, there we were in a Chinese restaurant and Les Gock of Hush is ordering in actual, Chinese. He is conversing with the waiter at some length about every dish being ordered. The waiter, his head bent over the menu is shaking his head at some entries, guiding Us through, the maze of listings — pointing to where the secret taste delights are concealed from western eyes.
Keith Lamb who has stepped off a return flight from London a few hours before is sitting back, re-gathering his vitality. And Hush manager Peter Rix, wearing an incongruous denim hat Lamb had brought him as a present, casts an avuncular, friendly eye over the proceedings.
The restaurant, which some years ago used to be a student hang-out with laminex tables and lino floor, but which of recent times has changed over to carpet, piped musak and higher prices, takes some time to deliver the specialities to the table. And ... mmmmmm ... munch, chew, swallow ... jeeze, it's no different from the stuff you get if you order in English,
Ah well, another Oriental Legend hits the scrap heap.
By the way Les 'n' Keith, are the Chinese and Occidental factions in Hush still struggling for supremacy?   
"I'm sick of 'avin' all those bloody dragons and Chinese symbols on stage," mutters Lamb. "The only thing is, Smiley (Pailthorpe, Hush's drummer) and me can't get it together to get something happening".
"Like he wants an Australian flag on stage, but ah'm British mate, an' I want the Union Jack."
"These Westerners are too disorganised to even get close to superior Chinese intelligence," grins Les Gock.
"They're crafty bastards,admits Lamb. "We try not to stay at the same motel with them any more ...."
"Mind you," he adds, "that especially applies to Queensland, where they sometimes try and run Les and Rick (Rick Lum, Hush bass player) out of town at 2.00am in the morning."
"Nothing personal, he assures us. "But I'm a growing pop star with a reputation for wild behaviour to maintain. And I need me sleep."
"The elected member for Bass in the Tasmanian parliament got up in the House and asked why this pop group Hush were allowed into Tasmania since their sexual behaviour on stage had caused them to be banned in many mainland states of Australia," says Peter Rix.
"That's great," says Lamb. "I love all that.., they're such fools aren't they ....
"Nah, I confess all ... I've gotta dirty mind, that's wot it's all about... everything I do on stage is planned to give policemen and Tasmanian politicians bad thoughts.
"'But the group hasn't been banned anyway...er, has it? I mean, we've got this new album to promote y'see ....
"By the way," he asks. "How do I explain to me old mum in England about that press clipping in the album with me masturbating on stage in Adelaide? She'll come over 'ere and drag me back 'ome to England."

Hush On Countdown

"Anyway, Merry Christmas to all politicians in Tasmania and all policemen in Queensland and Adelaide.'
"The Chinese people don't really have Christmas," says Les. "We save on presents to each other. Though sometimes we have to give something to these Westerners, to keep them happy."
"The new Hush album is a good Christmas present," he adds.
Ok lads, tell us about the new album. Try not to be bashful now.
"It represents a return to form for Hush," says Les seriously.
"We really put a lot work into it. It's really a whole different direction to 'We're Taking Over' which is where we tried to experiment in the studio.
"This time we tried to get the band's stage sound onto record and it's worked pretty well I think. Like it's lot more straightforward than 'We're Taking Over'. But on the other hand, the playing is a lot more controlled and better judged.
"And it's much better recorded than the 'Get Rocked' album."
"I'd buy the album," opines Keith Lamb. "I only heard how it finished for the first time this morning, and I really liked it."
"Like I wasn't so hot for 'We're Taking Over' in the end, but this one's hot, and saucy and juicy ... cor!! ...."
Yeah, but everyone says that about their new album.
"Yeah, but not everyone's had the ups and downs we've had over the past year," offers Les. "Like this is our first album for nearly a year and we knew it had to be something special. We really sweated over every detail of it. We worked out exactly what we wanted to do on it, how we wanted it to sound, what sort of energy level we wanted on it."
"And we spent a lot of time getting what we were after. It's a positive direction for the group ...."
Getting down to specifics, the album showcases a strong Hush obsession with life on the road and other forms of rock and roll existences.
"Like Grand Prix," says Les. "That was written watching the Bathurst 500 Motor Race on TV. We had the riff some time before, but that's how we got the words. There's no storyline really, it's a collection of racing images thrown together for a speed kind of effect. We reckoned the life racing car drivers lead is pretty much what happens with rock bands. Lots of moving from one place to another, lots of gearing up for the main event ... a stage show or a big race or whatever.

Les Gock

"The racing circuit has its own groupies too ... women that are really turned on by the idea of speed and the atmosphere ....
'The title track. Rough Tough 'N' Ready is about the road too ... "but it's about our road crew. People think pop groups are rough 'n' ready but we're pampered softies compared to the road crews... if you ever want to find out what really happens on the road ... they're who you should speak to ...."
Hmmmm. That's the Hush road crew whose more boisterous moments on the Tasmanian tour caused official, wrath to fall on the next group coming through ... which just happened to be Sherbet ....
"Yeah, that's them," admits Les.
"What's that?" says Lamb who, having being in England for the past month or so, hadn't heard about that sequence of events in Tas.
"Cor blimey," he gasps when all has been explained. "Can we get back to something a bit lighter now?"
"Anyway," finishes Les. "A road crew lives rougher and tougher than anyone I've ever come across, and we thought it was worth writing about"
And the road theme keeps on featuring throughout the album. Another track, China Doll was written on a stretch of road in the furtherest northern reaches of Queensland.
"It's a fantasy," explains Les. "We were doing about 400 miles a day on that tour and you just don't want to know about reality. It's all flogging down dust roads at 80 mph and running cars into the ground. So you fantasize like mad about something more pleasant. That's the difference between us and the road crew. They handle the reality."
It turns out that another song. Spitfire, is about a recent New Zealand trip.
"New Zealand's very into the 60's and all that psychedelic music," says Keith. "It's our peace, love and light show song ...."

And so it goes. Another track, 9 to 5'er is a look back to the band's life of 3 years ago.
"Working 9-5 and leading very boring lives," says Les. "Nowadays when we meet old friends who are still leading boring lives as clerks or whatever, it's sort of sad. 'Cos they sometimes start apologising for the fact they're still working 9 to 5 ... and they've worked themselves into it so they know they'll be doing the same thing for the next 20 years.
"With us, we don't know what'll be happening to us in two years time, which is a different sort of pressure I suppose ...."
Of the three non -originals on the album, Glad All Over and Boney Moroney have already been released as singles. However the album version of Boney Moroney features some changes from the single version. There's a new mix and a new guitar solo.
Glad All Over also features a new guitar solo and a new-improved mix from the first pressing of the single.
The other non-original on the album, the Beatles' song You Really Got A Hold On Me was found by accident. Keith Lamb was looking for a song (he can't remember the title, but he'd know the tune if he ever heard it again) and came across You Really Got A Hold which Smiley Pailthorpe thought would be good for the band to do.
The other Hush original on the album, How Do You Feel? Alright! started off as an intro for Hush shows some years ago. When rehearsing for the Rough 'n' Ready album it was dusted off and developed from a 10-bar opening into something longer.
And for the last word: "I'm still not hot for Boney Moroney" says Les firmly. "It was a successful single all right. But I just don't feel comfortable with the song ... we gave it the, Hush- treatment, but the song has more to do with Robbie Porter, our producer, than the group. 
It just doesn't fit in with anything the band grew up with."
Still slagging your top 10 hits, eh lads?
"We've got an image to maintain," sighs Keith Lamb.
[by Anthony O'Grady, RAM Magazine #22 Jan 2, 1976 p19]

Keith Lamb (Photo thanks to Greg Noakes)

Irrespective of Les Gock's opinion about the single, "Boney Moroney" took off. It gained airplay and high chart positions in state after state and ended up selling over 50,000 copies. It spread slowly all around Australia, staying on most national charts for most of '75 and it ended up being No.1 National Hit for '75 on the Countdown TV series pop charts.
The follow up single, "Glad All Over" was not as highly successful but it was successful enough, and it was also the single that attracted most interest from record companies in England and America — an interest that has resulted in the band being offered a tour of England in late '76.
Hush's album (released Dec '75) was a return to the raunch rock format of the get Rocked era. It was also the closest yet studio approximation to the band's on stage excitement level.

This post consists of an MP3 rip (320kps) of my vinyl copy along with full album artwork. In addition, I have included a scan of the interview featured above, published in RAM Vol #22, 1976. Also included are 2 bonus tracks, the first being a non-album track entitled "Get What" (B-Side to Glad All Over) which was often played at live gigs, with the audience altering the lyrics by one word ! Need I say more. The second bonus track "Glad All Over" is a live redition lifted from Mushroom's 1980 Concert of the Decade.
So get ya flairs out, let your hair down, and let yourself be entertained by a band that really knew how to rock. For more information on Hush, why not check out their website.
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Track Listing

01 - Grand Prix
02 - Rough Tough 'N' Ready
03 - China Doll
04 - Spitfire
05 - Gladd All Over
06 - 9 to 5'er
07 - You Really Gotta Hold On Me
08 - How Do You Feel? Alright!
09 - Boney Moroney
10 - Get What (Bonus B-Side Single)
11 - Glad All Over (Bonus Live - Evolution Concert)
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Band members:
Keith Lamb (vocals)
Les Gock (guitar)
Rick Lum (bass)
Chris Paithorpe (drums)

Hush Link (107Mb)