Mark Williams - ZNZ (1990) plus Bonus Track

(New Zealand 1970 - Present)
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Mark Williams was the face of NZ pop in the late 1970s with the runaway success of two No.1 singles ‘Yesterday Was Just The Beginning of My Life’ (1975) and ‘It Doesn’t Matter Anymore’ (1977). These radio-friendly singles came from three albums produced by Lower Hutt-based HMV in-house producer Alan Galbraith – Mark Williams (1975), Sweet Trials (1976) and Taking It All In Stride (1977). They charted No.2, No.14 and No.14 respectively. Tracks from these pop-soul albums are now viewed as rare groove classics by soul music fans.

In music magazine Hot Licks (no.19 1975) Mark Williams explained his easy-going, working relationship with Alan Galbraith, his HMV producer:

“Alan sent up a whole lot of material and I had a listen through them and picked out which ones I wanted to do and which ones I didn’t. And the ones I didn’t want to do we did.”

Williams was commenting on the least successful of his three albums, the rockier Sweet Trials.
Already, at the age of 21, Williams was intent on leaving the country. “I don’t want to stay in New Zealand much longer, basically because I want to learn a lot.”  Williams had found that being a “star” in his homeland was not all fun. His version of “glam” – he has since called “drag” – “The reaction was either absolute adoration or total disgust. Complete opposites. I was very scared of what it created. That’s one of the reasons I left New Zealand, because it was just too scary.” 

When RipItUp spoke to Williams in 1977, Alan Galbraith, the record producer had taken on the role of manager and reiterated the need to move on – “If we’re going to stay in these pubs much longer, we’re all going to die.” Galbraith was critical of NZ talent managers, “All they are is booking agents.” The producer is probably referring to old school managers like Lew Pryme who discovered Williams playing in Dargaville band Face. After booking Face, Pryme encouraged Williams to leave the band and appear as a resident singer on the 1974 TV pop show Free Ride.

By the end of 1977, Williams and Galbraith were both in Sydney. The singer would soon be enjoying working as a recording session backing vocalist and Galbraith joined CBS to work in A&R.
Williams did not record another album until Life After Dark in 1981. The CBS album made no impact on either side of the Tasman.

In 1990 Williams returned to the charts on both sides of the Tasman with the single ‘Show No Mercy’ for Albert Productions, under the direction of Vanda & Young. The single was released under both his band’s name Boy Rocking and his own name, reaching the chart position of No.9 in both countries, and  was chosen to launch the 1990 Rugby League Grand Final. The single gave him unprecedented national exposure and went platinum.

Mark then released the LP 'ZNZ' in the same year as a follow up to his first Australian album 'Life After Dark', the albums being released 10  years apart.  The album reached number 44 on the National Australian Charts and a second single, "Fix of Love"/"Your Love", was released but didn't fare as well, reaching number 37. A third and final single, "Spell Is Broken"/"Fool No More", failed to chart.

During the 1990s Williams would combine trips home to see family with a booking at Auckland’s Sky City Casino bar, fronting a band that included funky bass player Max Stowers. The singer would perform his hits but also excelled on Stevie Wonder’s ‘Master Blaster (Jammin')’, Bob Marley’s ‘Is This Love?’ and Aretha Franklin’s live arrangement of ‘Love The One You’re With’. [extract from Audio Culture]

Since 2005 Williams has been the lead singer for Todd Hunter’s reformed Dragon touring both Australia and New Zealand.

The Vanda & Young Connection
The Vanda and Young hit machine had enough energy left for one last hurrah. It was 1990 and Harry and George had a batch of songs ready to go, including one called "Show No Mercy", which they had earmarked as a single. All it needed was the right voice.

Auckland-born singer Mark Williams once had a No. 1 hit with a Vanda/Young song way back in the 1970s. "Yesterday was Just the Beginning of My Life" is considered a classic in New Zealand to this day. The 1980s were relatively quiet for Mark, who was living and working in Australia and providing backing vocals for Renee Geyer, Tim Finn, Jenny Morris and lan Moss. His claim to fame during this period was as the voice behind the theme for the long-running Australian soap opera Home and Away.

"Harry came to see me in a show that I was doing with Doug Parkinson in a theatre restaurant in Sydney about the Motown story," reveals Mark. 'They were going round looking at male singers to see who was right. Immediately as I sang the song, I knew it was tailored to me, I knew it. It felt absolutely natural, some of the inflections, some of the words, some of the other stuff added into it, it just felt natural. The album was titled ZNZ (pronounced Zee En Zee), a palindromic reference to the singer's New Zealand heritage. The single "Show No Mercy" was a Top 10 hit in both Australia and New Zealand. Williams performed it to a television audience of six million at Sydney's Rugby League grand final.

A second album, 'Mind Over Matter', was released in 1992. As they had done with John Paul Young years earlier, Vanda and Young encouraged Williams to contribute some songs to this album. The Vanda/Young single, "We Can Dream", was inspired by the Rodney King race riots in Los Angeles. Disdain for world leaders had been a regular theme in their songs over the years: "The leaders all will one day understand, and they oughta understand."

Williams found Vanda and Young to be hard taskmasters but great teachers: "They pitched the songs so high for me that I used to get terrible headaches. Then I had to go and do it live! It was all very driving, very high and very hard. They encouraged me to write and taught me what you have to do to stay in the industry." [extract from 'Vanda & Young:Inside Australia's Hit Factory' by John Tait, 2010 p200-201]
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This post consists of FLACs ripped from CD and includes full album artwork. Note that the vinyl release of this album is somewhat rare and I have yet to sight a copy. As a bonus I have also included the 'extended' version of  "Show No Mercy" which was also ripped from CD.
Although not my favourite NZ artist and still respect Mark for his achievements and consider this album to be his best release.
One interesting fact that I discovered while researching this post is that Mark Williams sang the theme to Home And Away (Aussie TV series), along with Karen Boddington, released in 1989.
See below
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Tracklist
01 Show No Mercy   4:21

02 Fix Of Love   3:44
03 Spell Is Broken   4:07
04 Heavy Woman     4:12
05 Good Thing         4:12
06 Love Electric       3:45
07 Shanghai Lily      4:34
08 You're So Cool   3:04
09 Feel For The Night   4:01
10 Fool No More        3:32
11 Show No Mercy (Extended Version) 7:39
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Mark William FLAC Link (305Mb)
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Flash And The Pan - Waiting For A Train (Various 12" Remixes)

(Australia 1976–1993)

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Flash and the Pan was an Australian new wave musical group (essentially an ongoing studio project) initiated during the late 1970s by Harry Vanda and George Young, both former members of The Easybeats. The duo's first success was their debut album with single "Walking in the Rain", which was later covered by Grace Jones. This album was successful in Europe, the UK, and the US. Formed as a creative release for writer / producers Harry Vanda and George Young, singles like "Hey St. Peter", "Down Among the Dead Men" and "Walking in the Rain", established a momentum that proved difficult to stop. Combining masterful song writing and a decidedly bent world view Vanda and Young managed to create a string of hit albums - attracting a vast and loyal international fan-base in the process. In 2017, George Young died at the age of 70.

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Early on in Flash and the Pan's history, Harry and George had tried to involve Stevie Wright in the project. He declined at the time because it was not a direction in which he wanted to go. However, for the third Flash and the Pan album, Stevie Wright was mentioned as part of the official line-up on the cover notes along with Harry, George, Les Karski (bass) and lan Miller (guitar). Additional players cited included Lyndsay Hammond (Cheetah), Ralph White, and drummers Ray Arnott, Johnny Dick, and Alan Sandow (Sherbet). The press release announced, 'Headlines brings into firm focus the always-present contributions of vocalist Stevie Wright who now assumes a more prominent position in the group.' He also appears in the promo photo.

In reality, Stevie Wright was not involved in the making of the album. Because of the constant pressure to tour and promote, Harry and George had hatched an ambitious plan to put together a band to tour the album for them while they remained at home. A recently recuperated Stevie Wright would play the role of Flash. As always, Stevie's sobriety was not to last and the plan did not come to fruition. Later pressings of the album removed his name from the credits.

Headlines became their third successive No. 1 album in Scandinavia. It still used the Flash and the Pan format, only it was much darker. Guitars took equal billing to keyboards. Toby Creswell reviewed it for Rolling Stone: 'Headlines'is a more sombre record thematically than their poppy hit singles of a couple of years ago, and in their songs they paint a rather schizoid picture of contemporary society. For example "Jetsetter's Ball", which presents images of rampant corruption and false values in society.

George Young and Harry Vanda

Waiting For A Train

"Waiting for a Train" perfected the 'Walking in the Rain' formula with its spoken lyrics, keyboard accompaniment and unique percussive effects. Lyrically, it is simply the meaningless musings of someone who is waiting for a train to arrive at a station. It was released as a single in Australia in December 1982 and barely troubled the Top 100 (No. 98). It did reasonably well in New Zealand (No. 26) and incredibly well in the UK where it peaked at No. 7 on 25 June 1983. They were in great company this time. The artists above them in this chart were the Police (No. 1 with 'Every Breath You Take'); Rod Stewart, David Bowie. Irene Cara ('Flashdance'), Wham and Elton John. Peaking at No. 8 that week was Michael Jackson's 'Wanna Be Starting Something'. 'Waiting for a Train' became a DJ anthem with numerous club and radio jocks adopting the track as their theme music. A 12-inch 'Long Disco' version was released in Germany in 1983 and then later remixed by DJ KK in Germany to be released in 1989 (called the Harrymeetskaplan Mix).  [extract from Vanda & Young: Inside Australia's Hit Factory. By John Tait, 2010. p189-190]

George and Harry at the Mixing Desk

This post consists of two rare 12" Single releases of "Waiting For A Train", ripped to FLAC from my newly acquired vinyl which I came across at a Bazaar in Geelong.  Full album artwork and label scans are also included.  Having searched on the Internet, these two international releases (German and English) do not appear to be common and therefore I suspect that this post will please the avid collectors of anything Vanda and Young related, especially in light of the recent death of George Young.  The '89 remix is probably my favourite, and the added bonus of Hey St Peter on the flip side makes this release great value.  Note: The front and back covers of the Long Disco release are identical.

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Long Disco Version '83 - Ensign Records

01 - Waiting For A Train (6:42)

02 - Jetsetters Ball (5:07)

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The Harrymeetskaplon Mix '89 - Cha Cha Records

01 - Waiting For A Train (6:10)

02 - Hey St Peter (4:20)

03 - Where Were You (3:19)

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Flash And The Pan Link (165Mb) New Link 06/06/2023

Robert Plant - Starting Over (1983) Bootleg

(U.K 1982 - Present)

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Robert Plant is a British rock singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist for the band Led Zeppelin. Inspired at a young age by Elvis Presley, Plant left school to begin his musical career. He performed with a number of groups before he was discovered by Jimmy Page, who was in search of a lead singer for a new band he was forming, called the New Yardbirds. The group eventually became Led Zeppelin.

In 1982, Plant launched his solo career with 'Pictures at Eleven', which fared well on the album charts. He then released 'The Principle of Moments' (1983), known for its mellow single "Big Log." Recording with Page, guitarist Jeff Beck, and guitarist/producer Nile Rodgers, Plant sang the lead vocals for a collaborative R&B-influenced project called 'The Honeydrippers, Vol. 1' (1984). The group had two successful singles, the ballad "Sea of Love" and the more uptempo "Rockin' at Midnight."

Reuniting with Page and Jones, Plant revisited his Led Zeppelin days at the Live Aid benefit concert in 1985. He released another solo effort, 'Shaken 'n' Stirred' that year, on which he experimented with hip-hop styles. In 1988, Plant pitched in for Page's solo debut, 'Outrider', as well as releasing 'Now & Zen' in response to fans' ardent requests for Led Zeppelin material. He then released 'Manic Nirvana' (1990), which received strong reviews and reached as high as the 13th spot on the album charts. He re-teamed with Page and Jones in 1988 for the special concert held in honor of Atlantic Records 25th anniversary. This time, however, Jason Bonham, son of the late John Bonham, filled in on drums.

'For Fate of Nations' (1993), Plant explored a more folksy sound. He then reunited with Page for 'No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded' (1994). Together they revisited Led Zeppelin classics, reworking them with a heavy Moroccan and Arabic influence. They also recorded a few new songs for this project, which resulted in a television special and 1995 tour. That same year, Led Zeppelin was inducted into the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame.

Three years later, Plant and Page put out a new studio album 'Walking Into Clarksdale' (1998). The recording earned rave reviews and netted the pair a Grammy Award win for Best Hard Rock Performance for "Most High." After a long hiatus, Plant returned in late 2001 with his solo album 'Dreamland'. Two years later, he debuted 'Sixty Six to Timbuktu', a two-disc compilation dedicated exclusively to works from Plant's solo career, including "Tall Cool One" and "Upside Down."

Plant earned some of the best reviews of his solo career for 'Mighty Rearranger' (2005). Incorporating African rhythms, blues, psychedelic rock, and Celtic ballads, he created "a collection of songs that sound gloriously raw, relevant and, most importantly, rocking," as one music journalist wrote. Plant saw his career reach new heights with another musical experiment, collaborating with Alison Krauss on the 2007 country-folk album Raising Sand. The recording quickly became a top seller in the United States and won five Grammy Awards, including the honors for Album of the Year and Record of the Year for "Please Read the Letter."

Reuniting with other surviving members of Led Zeppelin, Plant performed at a special benefit show for the Ahmet Ertegun Education Fund, named for the late co-founder of Atlantic Records. Tickets sold out quickly for the December 10 show, which was the first appearance by Led Zeppelin in 19 years (with Jason Bonham again filling in for his late father on drums).

After the hugely successful concert, rumors swirled about a possible Led Zeppelin reunion tour and album. Plant, however, released a statement in 2008 that he was not interested in touring for the next few years. His former bandmates publicly discussed carrying on without him, but they have yet to tour or record new material.

In July 2009, Plant received a special honor. He was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his services to the field of music. Prince Charles bestowed the honor on him at a ceremony held in Buckingham Palace. [extract from biography.com)

The Bootleg
This is an extremely rare, long out of print, limited edition pressing bootleg of Robert Plant "Starting Over" live from Houston, Dallas and Austin, Texas on his first solo venture in 1983 for the Principle of Moments tour, with Phil Collins on drums.  This is a complete, soundboard  show on 2 vinyl LPs.

Of course no Zep tracks, but the show is amazing. First of all despite all Plant's blather about leaving Zep behind, plenty of songs had Plant ad-libbing Zep style, and doing some of those legendary sustained howls.  Robbie Blunt is excellent, with his unique sound and is able to be subtle and forceful as the songs require. Some of the studio songs which are a bit "weak" on vinyl work fine live. I think Plant must have lost his mind to lose Blunt.

This post consists of FLACS ripped from my pristine vinyl which I picked up at the Victoria Market (Melbourne) back in the mid 80's for the pricely sum of $25.  I have included full album artwork and label scans but take note that the track listing on the back cover is not accurate.
In addition the photos of Plant depicted on the back cover are from when he was front man for Led Zeppelin while the front cover photo is more true to what he looked like in 1983.

This double vinyl bootleg is one of my prized possessions and the sound quality of the recording is full soundboard 10/10 quality.  This bootleg has been released under other titles, namely - 'Texas Toast 1983' (King Biscuit Flower Hour) and 'Robert Plant - Austin Texas'.
I hope you enjoy this last post for 2017 but stay tuned, as I have plenty of other rarities to post in the new year.

Track Listing
01 -  In The Mood
02 -  Pledge Pin
03 -  Messin' With The Mekon
04 - Worse Than Detroit
05 - Moonlight In Samosa
06 - Fat Lip
07 - Slow Dancer
08 - Big Log
09 - Burning Down One Side
10 - Other Arms
11 - Horizontal Departure
12 - Like I've Never Been Gone
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Artists:
Robert Plant - Vocals
Robbie Blunt - Guitar
Bob Mayo - Rhythm Guitar
Jeff Woodroppe - Keyboards
Paul Martinez - Bass
Phil Collins - Drums
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Robert Plant Live FLAC Link (498Mb)
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W.O.C.K On Vinyl - Bobby (Boris) Pickett and The Crypt-Kickers - Monster's Holidays (1962)

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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.

Bobby (Boris) Pickett was an aspiring actor who sang with a band called the Cordials at night while going to auditions during the day. One night, while performing with his band, Pickett did a monologue in imitation of horror movie actor Boris Karloff while performing the Diamonds' "Little Darlin'". The audience loved it, and fellow band member Lenny Capizzi encouraged Pickett to do more with the Karloff imitation.

Pickett and Capizzi composed "Monster Mash" and recorded it with Gary S. Paxton, pianist Leon Russell, Johnny MacRae, Rickie Page, and Terry Berg, credited as "The Crypt-Kickers". (Mel Taylor, drummer for the Ventures, is sometimes credited with playing on the record as well, while Russell, who arrived late for the session, appears on the single's B-side, "Monster Mash Party".) The song was partially inspired by Paxton's earlier novelty hit "Alley Oop", as well as by the Mashed Potato dance craze of the era. A variation on the Mashed Potato was danced to "Monster Mash", in which the footwork was the same but Frankenstein-style monster gestures were made with the arms and hands.

"Monsters' Holiday", a Christmas-themed follow up, was recorded by Pickett and released in December 1962, peaking at #30 on the Billboard chart. The tune was penned by the renowned novelty song composer Paul Harrison. 

In the spirit of the Christmas season, this month's WOCK On Vinyl Post pays tribute to one of the more serious releases produced by Boris Pickett and his monster crew for the festive season.

The A-Side track "Monster's Holiday" is a nice little catchy tune with the usual ghoulish 'creatures of the night' references backed by Decks of Holly & Sleigh Bells, while the B-Side "Monster Motion" cashes in on yet another Monster Mash sound alike tune. 

So once again in December, the C in WOCK is for Christmas with a little bit of Creepy and Weird thrown in for good measure, making this another well deserved candidate for this month's WOCK on Vinyl post.  Ripped to MP3 (320kps) including artwork and label scans, this post should fit nicely into your Christmas stocking this year.  Merry Christmas everyone and have a safe & Happy New Year.

Monster's Holidays Link (5Mb) New Link 23/04/2026

Electric Light Orchestra - Balance Of Power (1986)

(U.K 1970–1986, 2000–2001, 2012–present)

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Formed by Lynne, Wood and Bevan, members of Sixties pop group the Move, the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) was intended to continue the progressive sound the Beatles invented with 'I Am The Walrus'. The self-titled debut album was released in late 1971 and contained a UK Top 10 hit in '10538 Overture', but Wood quit the following year.

'ELO2' included a second Top 10 hit, Chuck Berry's 'Roll Over Beethoven'. Bassist Richard Tandy moved to keyboards, and a string of albums followed, notably 1974's US Top 20 breakthrough album 'Eldorado'. After 'Face The Music' (1975), 'A New World Record' (1976) was their biggest yet with hit singles 'Livin' Thing' and Telephone Line'.

At the height of punk, 1977's double album 'Out Of The Blue' reached UK and US Number 4, while 'Discovery' (1979) and Time' (1981) gave ELO their two UK Number 1 albums. After 1983's 'Secret Messages', however, Lynne rested the band to concentrate on his production work but they returned briefly for 1986's 'Balance Of Power': 'Calling America' was their 26th UK Top 40 single.

Two years later Lynne joined the Traveling Wilburys, and cut the solo 'Armchair Theatre'. 1991 saw Bev Bevan re-form the band as ELO Part 2 - without Lynne and without success.

Electric Light Orchestra 1986

Review 1

'Balance of Power' is the eleventh studio album by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) released in 1986. It is the final album by the band to feature co-founder Bev Bevan on drums, as well as the last album to feature keyboardist Richard Tandy in an official capacity.

Like many pop artists, Jeff Lynne has had a habit of recycling his ideas by twisting and turning them around as he moves from one album to the next. Generally speaking, the connection between any two given songs wasn’t meant to provide lyrical insight; instead it was limited to his unwavering desire to improve upon his prior melodic and symphonic concepts. With Electric Light Orchestra’s 11th outing 'Balance of Power', however, Lynne took a different approach. In the wake of its gargantuan endeavor Out of the Blue, the band had floundered in its abilities to move its music forward, a product, no doubt, of its close ties to the ’70s. While the group had remained popular, particularly in the U.K., it also was beginning to run out of steam.

Lynne, Tandy & Bevan

The songs on 'Balance of Power' reflected Lynne’s sadness over Electric Light Orchestra’s impending demise, though he simultaneously couched his ruminations within the framework of a love affair that was on the decline. Consequently, while the music was genuinely joyous, there were darker textures that bubbled beneath its surface. Frustration and anger lurked within Secret Lives, for example, and a sad yearning clung to "Is It Alright". Though Lynne remained focused on placing his own stylistic spin upon the canons of The Beatles and The Beach Boys, the lone truly reconfigured moment from his past occurred during "Sorrow about to Fall". Echoes of both Evil Woman and Showdown were tucked inside the tune’s swirling, aqueous arrangement, thus lending a greater meaning to the twin interpretations of the album as a whole.

Calling America

Nevertheless, 'Balance of Power' was plagued with a fatal flaw. In trying to overcome his struggles with penning new material, Lynne had jettisoned the orchestrations that previously had defined Electric Light Orchestra’s music. At first glance, this wasn’t necessarily a bad strategy for him to have employed, especially since he had begun to feel stifled by his need to concoct his customarily complex arrangements. What he utilized instead, though, was a heavy dose of electronic effects. The drum machines and synthesizers suffocated the music, leaving it cloaked in a cold, calculated sterility to which a live string section ironically would have added some much needed warmth. Although the hit single "Calling America" held merit, largely because of its ingratiating melody, the bulk of the outing fell flat.

Prior to the creation of 'Balance of Power', Lynne had worked with Dave Edmunds on Information and Riff Raff, and soon enough, he would be hired to produce Mystery Girl, Roy Orbison’s late-’80s, comeback album. In that sense, the final two tracks on the original version of the outing (Endless Lies and Send It) provided plenty of hints as to where Lynne’s heart and mind increasingly had begun to rest. 'Balance of Power', then, was the transitional effort that allowed Lynne to close the book on Electric Light Orchestra and better position himself for the next phase of his career as a well-respected, if heavy-handed, producer. [Review by John Metzger at musicbox-online]

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Review 2

The first half of Balance of Power is by-and-by okay but, unusually for an ELO album, lacking any real light bulb moments. Opener “Heaven Only Knows” works better as a one-off synthy Christmas song with the dings and dongs of the synthesisers. “So Serious” follows and I bet if you played the theme song from The Never Ending Story straight after, I wouldn’t be able to tell. Those two songs sound so similar that I’m surprised the record companies didn’t troll buyers by occasionally swapping the two songs around. There’s some hopeful piano playing hidden in the background of “Getting to the Point” but again, the ‘80s synthpop drowns it out. We get a little variety with “Secret Lives” when some new wave ska-like beats and a bit of saxophone lead us through the verses, kind of like an offering from the Police’s Synchronicity. Then it’s back to the generic tone as “Is It Alright” rolls around. 

These tracks define the album’s first half and so far, it’s not looking too good for ELO. Any new wave or synthpop band could have done it. Where’s that “Evil Woman” sound that I hoped for? What happened to the tenderness I heard in “Telephone Line”? Where’s the grandiose sound of “Mr. Blue Sky”? It’s not rubbish at least, but it’s not impressive. 

You can put this LP on the player at the nightclub and at least you’d find it alright to party to – although I am assuming a lot of things making that statement considering I don’t particularly like those sorts of events. Now is the rest of Balance of Power the same as before? Actually, not quite. “Sorrow About to Fall” does have a synth disco vibe but there are moments where the synthesisers imitate those ELO classical strains that have been missing for the last 17 minutes. More hope arises in “Without Someone” with a very ELO-like synth beginning and a guitar solo shining a lighthouse beacon just over midway through the song. “Calling America” follows on and is one of the better cuts off the album. It’s more reminiscent of their arty rock songs, like a synthy version of “Rockaria!” Of course, it’s not as good as the song I alluded to, but this is pretty good compared to what Balance of Power has delivered so far. 

Tandy, Lynne & Bevan

Right after “Calling America” is what I deem the best song on the album, “Endless Lies”. This is by far the most ELO-sounding song here. What was I saying earlier about wanting a bunch of other classic songs? Here they are. An “Evil Woman” vibe with the tone of “Telephone Line” and the soaring feel of “Mr. Blue Sky”. It’s down tempo compared to the rest of Balance of Power, and less reliant on the synthesisers, opting more for some melancholic guitars and drums. This is the lighthouse of the album, the track that should have been the sonic director. I realise that Lynne wanted a new ELO sound but having not made that attempt come off eloquently, I’m glad “Endless Lies” retains that classic ELO feel in a sea of generic new wave noise. Now that should have ended the album but for the last act, synth clashes with rock and roll for “Send It”. While it’s slightly above average compared to the generic stuff we’ve encountered so far, it feels tacked on and unnecessary.

Had ELO just started out with this kind of music, they’d have had reasonable appeal like every other ‘80s band because Balance of Power sounds just like everything else at that time. In this universe though, ELO were incredible masters at blending creative rock with classical tunes giving us memorable tracks like “One Summer Dream” and “Tightrope”. Predictably, any attempt at moving away from this sound is going to be looked on with some disdain. I don’t mind people exploring other types of music but if their forays don’t deliver, then that disdain will kick in. For ELO, Lynne’s move wasn’t the best one and thank goodness they didn’t continue down that road. I don’t believe they had the ability to pull off that synthy music well enough to justify the shift considering how the band’s been essentially typecast as the rock plus violins bunch. 

Of that album marking the band’s collapse, “Calling America” and “Endless Lies” are the highest peaks musically while the rest are good but not really above par. If you try to look at Balance of Power lyrically, you’re getting nowhere. The lyrics here aren’t particularly astounding except for “Endless Lies”. It all comes down to the music in the end, and that misses the mark more than enough times. This ELO album isn’t a standout but it’s at least listenable. It plays too safe and too similar to established music.  [Extract from Biased Reviews]

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This post consists of MP3's (320kps) ripped from my pristine vinyl, and includes the usual album artwork and label scans. Although an expanded version of this album was released on CD in 2007, I have chosen to only present the original album to stay true to what the band was producing at the end of their career, before folding in 1986. I only came across this album by accident last month while attending a record and book fair organised by the Melbourne radio station 3MBS, and this was one of the many gems that I managed to pick up at $2 a pop.  Yep - I'm another happy camper.

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Track Listing

1. Heaven Only Knows (2:52)

2. So Serious (2:38)

3. Getting to the Point (4:28)

4. Secret Lives (3:26)

5. It Is Alright (3:25)

6. Sorrow About to Fall (3:59)

7. Without Someone (2:48)

8. Calling America (3:26)

9. Endless Lies (2:55)

10. Send It (3:04)

Line-up:

Jeff Lynne - lead & backing vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, piano, producer 

Richard Tandy -  keyboards, piano, sequence programming

Bev Bevan  - drums, percussion 

Christian Schneider - sax

Electric Light Orchestra Link (81Mb) New Link 19/12/2023

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The Who - The Live Tommy Unauthorised (1993) Bootleg

(U.K 1964–1982, 1989, 1996 – present)
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The Who - The Complete Amsterdam 1969 Remastered

Venue: The Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Date: 29 September 1969.

The greatest rock'n'roll band in the world of all times in their absolute prime !! The audio has been carefully remastered with great dedication. It has never sounded this good before.

About the recording: This recording was made by a Dutch radio/TV broadcast. It's not 100% certain who did it, but it was probably done by the VPRO, who also did the Pink Floyd recording the same year at the same venue. And just like that Pink Floyd recording, this one was also bootlegged a million times from various very good to very poor sources. All of these sources were originated from radio broadcast/s. Back then, and today still, the Concertgebouw was not a place for rock bands but for opera's and other classic music. Mixed directly to 2-tracks, this may been one of the reasons why the mixing engineer had a hard time finding the right balance. The mix changes often, and sometimes the drums or the guitar just disappear or get buried for a while. It also must have been hard for the band to hear each other, because of the extremely reverberating acoustics. Remember, this was 1969 and sound monitoring on stage was still a thing for the future. When comparing this one to other Who shows from this period, this one probably isn't the best. Roger Daltrey has once said that he didn't think he sang very well this night.

The Who 1969

 And playing the Tommy album on stage was obviously not a routine for the band yet. But, there is more than enough to enjoy here. It is the only complete soundboard recording from this year. It is also the only one with complete lineage, and it has the best sound. Beside that, all other Who '69 board tapes are far from complete and don't have most of Tommy. Somewhere around 2000, a Pre-FM source of this show was unearthed. Funny enough, the same thing happened with the aforementioned Pink Floyd recording, but that's another story. They may have come from the same person though. Read the quote below: "My source in Amsterdam worked on a Who anniversary special, for the same radio station that broadcast the show in 1969. He suggested that the DJ use some of this show, so a technician produced the original masters. He took the chance to make a copy on their professional reel-to-reel equipment. Our CD was transferred off his 1st generation reels.

The Who On Stage 1969

Although this show has been booted repeatedly, this is the REAL source. It sounds amazing, like it was taped off the radio yesterday, perfect except for a little tape hiss in the very quiet bits. My source was upset that this show was recently booted from a copy of his tapes. Even though it contains the complete song list, he removed key bits of dialogue from every copy he made and was able to find the source of boot. His "revenge" was to offer the COMPLETE show to anyone who wanted it and encouraged someone to do a tape tree to discourage money from being spent on the bootleg. According to him, the recent boot "Amsterdam Journey" on the Hiwatt label is the one taken off his copy." (For the record: the source used here is the one with the dialogue).
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Tommy: The Rock Opera
The first day of recording sessions for the Who's rock opera Tommy took place at the IBC Studios, Portland Place, London. on the 22nd September, 1968.
Pete Townshend: It was supposed to be a series of singles and any departure from that was introduced by Kit Lamberts coaching - "Keep that, write another tune, then repeat that." So I just wrote bits and stuck them into songs. It may appear to flow, but when I presented it to the band, it was simply a series of songs.
Roger Daltrey: It was really Kit Lambert's dream to do an Important Work in rock music — if there were ever any such thing. Kit had come from a classical background - his father, Constant Lambert, was founder of the English National Opera - and having his kind of education, it frustrated him that there were all these grand tales being told in classical music, so why couldn't rock address itself to something more serious than the three-minute soundbite?
It was a long way from what we'd been doing, but we'd have a go at anything. Only someone like Kit could have pulled Tommy off, though - all the hype that went with it. I mean the narrative is not particularly good, is it? Then again it does have a narrative, which is more than Quadrophenia had!
John Entwistle: We started out doing what was basically a single album, but it didn't make sense. We realized the only way to make it coherent was to make it a double album, because a lot more things happened to Tommy than could be put on one album.

Keith Moon: We wrote most of Tommy in a pub opposite the recording studio.
John Entwistle: It took us eight months altogether, six months recording, two months mixing. We had to do so many of the tracks again, because it took so long we had to keep going back and rejuvenating the numbers, that it just started to drive us mad, we were getting brainwashed by the whole thing, and I started to hate it.
Pete Townshend: [ Tommy] was completely autobiographical. All I knew was that I spent time with a grandmother whom I didn't like very much. "See me, feel me, touch me." Where did that come from? It came from that little four-and-a-half-year-old boy in a fucking unlocked bedroom in a house with a madwoman. That's where it came from.
I was so earnestly trying to avoid writing something autobiographical. All of The Who's first work was about their early audience; we felt rock should be reflective of its audience. That was what was unique about rock'n'roll as an art form. I tended to write, if not my own biography, certainly an encapsulated biography assembled from bits of the audience. Yet Tommy felt to me - when I was writing it - to be the exception to that.
Roger Daltrey: Pete used to literally write his best stuff when he was writing about a character that he could see very, very clearly from outside himself. When he gets introspective it turns into melodramatic dross. And some of it's really good and I admire his courage for doing that. So, I'm not putting him down for that but he writes his best stuff when he's writing for a figure beyond himself. And I was that figure. And of course I personified Tommy. I was the guy who used to play the part. I played the damn part for five years. I slogged my balls off around the world sweating it out. People thought I was Tommy. I used to get called Tommy in the street.

The Who Onstage 1969

John Entwistle: When we did Tommy, we had moved up to eight track, but we only recorded five. The last three were for the orchestration, but we couldn't afford it.
Roger Daltrey: Pete used to come in some days with just half a demo. We used to talk for hours, literally. We probably did as much talking as we did recording. Sorting out arrangements and things on Tommy.
Pete Townshend: I didn't write Tommy in any kind of chronological order. I already had some of the material - "Amazing Journey", "Sensation", "Welcome", "Sparks" and "Overture". "We're Not Gonna Take It" was a kind of anti-Fascist statement. The first rundown of the idea I put on a graph. It was intended to show Tommy from the outside and his impressions going on inside him.
John Entwistle: Pete suggested that I write two songs he felt he couldn't write.
Roger Daltrey: The most important songs in Tommy, which give it the kind of edge, are "Cousin Kevin" and "Uncle Ernie", which were written by John Entwistle, not by Pete.
John Entwistle: Basically, the brief I got was to write a song about a homosexual experience with a nasty uncle, and a bullying experience by ... I don't know whether "cousin" was actually mentioned, but I figured it might well be the son of Uncle Ernie. I found it very easy. I'd written "Fiddle About", for the character of Uncle Ernie, by the time I'd got back to the room. If I've got the idea for a song, then it comes almost immediately.
Pete Townshend: I don't consider the album to be sick at all. In fact, what I was out to show is that someone who suffers terribly at the hands of society has die ability to turn all these experiences into a tremendous musical awareness. Sickness is in the mind of the listener and I don't give a damn what people think.

Roger Daltrey: Tommy came along at a time in our lives when everyone was searching for answers in their life. The ambiguity of Tommy allowed it to answer many things for many different people. But in fact it didn't really answer anything. That's the beauty of it.
Pete Townshend: There is no ending. What I was doing at the time was attending to the fact that in rock'n'roll what you don't do is make peoples decisions for them. You share their ideas, difficulties and frustrations.
John Entwistle: I only ever played the record twice — ever. I don't think Tommy was all about [what] was on the record - I think it's on the stage. The message is much stronger on stage than on record.
Pete Townshend: I suppose the mistake I made in Tommy was instead of having the guts to take what Meher Baba said - which was "Don't worry, be happy, leave the results to God" - and repeating that to people, I decided the people weren't capable of hearing that directly. They've got to have it served in this entertainment package. And I gave them Tommy instead, in which some of Meher Baba's wonderfully explicit truths were presented to them half-baked in lyric form and diluted as a result. In fact, if there was any warning in Tommy, it was "Don't make any more records like that." [ extract from The Who - The Day-By-Day Story, by Johnny Black. 2001 p142-145)
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Release Of Tommy
May 23, 1969. The Who release their rock opera album, Tommy, in the UK. That night they play at the Electric Factory, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Leonard Bernstein (composer/conductor): Pete Townshend of rock's toughest and most innovative group, has made the dream a reality with Tommy, a full-length rock opera that for sheer power, invention and brilliance of performance, outstrips anything that has ever come out of a recording studio.
Pete Townshend: We joked as a group about Tommy being true opera (which it isn't) but The Who's audience and many of the rock press took it very seriously. It was this seriousness that ultimately turned Tommy into light entertainment.
Roger Daltrey: In fact, the Tommy album was not a particularly big success. It got into the charts but then it quite rapidly disappeared again. It was only after us flogging it on the road for three years, doing Woodstock and things like that, that it got back in the charts. Then it stayed there for a year, and took on a life of its own. We were flat broke and busted before Tommy, and for the three years afterwards until it caught on. But when it did, it totally made our fortunes.
Pete Townshend: We went from the ridiculous to the sublime - being told we were musical geniuses when really we were just a bunch of scumbags. [ extract from The Who - The Day-By-Day Story, by Johnny Black. 2001 p155-156]
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This bootleg recording comes from my Grapefruit CD and was ripped to MP3 (320kps) and includes full artwork. The quality of the recording improves from start to finish and is indicative of the live sound that The Who could produce back in 1969. Please note that the 2nd last track Boris The Spider is thought to not belong to these Amsterdam recordings and in fact comes from their earlier Fillmore East concert.  Although not the full Tommy track listing, the essence of the rock opera is certainly represented here.  So, Tommy - can you hear me ?

Track Listing

01 Substitute
02 Happy Jack
03 I'm A Boy
04 I Can't Explain
05 Overture
06 It's A Boy
07 1921
08 Amazing Journey
09 Sparks
10 Eyesight To The Blind (The Hawker)
11 Christmas
12 The Acid Queen
13 Pinball Wizard
14 Do You Think It's Alright
15 Fiddle About
16 Tommy Can You Hear Me
17 There's A Doctor.
18 Go To The Mirror

19 Smash The Mirror
20 Miracle Cure
21 Sally Simpson
22 I'm Free
23 Tommy's Holiday Camp
24 We're Not Gonna Take It
25 See Me, Feel Me
26 Sumertime Blues
27 Shakin' All Over
28 Boris The Spider
29 My Generation
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The Who Line Up:
Pete Townshend (guitars, vocal)
Roger Daltrey (vocal)
John Entwistle (bass, vocal)
Keith Moon (drums, vocal) 
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The Live Tommy Unauthorised (171Mb)  New Link 06/04/2020
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W.O.C.K On Vinyl: Barry Humphries - A Track Winding Back (1972) EP

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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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He’s been called the funniest man in the world. He describes himself as a “music-hall artist”. But to the thousands who have flocked to his one-man shows since the 1960s he has that rare quality that separates the great entertainer from the mere performer. He’s one of the few carrying on the tradition of Max Miller, Roy Rene, and the glorious Broadway era of Jolson, Cantor and the Marx Brothers. All were masters at bridging the gap to the crowd across the footlights.

Barry Humphries was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1934 and was a very intelligent boy who attended Melbourne University. There, he began in revues and doing some impersonations. He moved to London around 1960 and began his TV career. Humphries went on to present a succession of hugely successful one-man shows in Britain, the United States and Australia. In these the ubiquitous 'Dame Edna Everage' appeared with a motley range of other Humphries characters, most notably and consistently the nostalgic, rambling ‘senior’, Sandy Stone, and the appallingly crude Sir Les Patterson, ‘Australian Cultural Attaché to the Court of St James’. The longevity of Humphries’ career – and the characters he created – is unique. For more than fifty years, neither he nor they showed signs of flagging: Edna’s adoring ‘possums’ still crowded theatres, still waved their ‘gladdies’ in joyous unison, and still eagerly submitted to her barbed but good humoured humiliation.

By the early 1970s, censorship restrictions had been lifted on script for "The Wonderful World Of Barry McKenzie" and moreover the newly set-up Film Development Corporation (funded by a government grant) decided to turn it into a movie. With actor Barry Crocker in the title role and Barry Humphries playing Edna and two other characters, cameras started rolling in 1972. The all-star cast also featured Dennis Price, Dick Bentley and old mates Peter Cook and Spike Milligan.

It was at this time that Barry Humphries in collaboration with co-star Dick Bentley, had the idea of recording a traditional Aussie bush song entitled "Along The Road To Gundagai" along with some satirical ditties. Although not his first recording, the EP entitled 'A Track Winding Back' was certainly the first of many successful attempts at musical satire.

From what I can gather, this EP is somewhat obscure and fetches some decent $$ on ebay.  Well Possums, what more can I say! This post ticks both the Obscure and Wacky categories for this month's WOCK on Vinyl post.  Ripped to FLAC from my A+ vinyl, fans of Barry Humphries are just gonna love this month's offering.  

To close, in the infamous words of Humphries himself  "Never be afraid to laugh at yourself, after all, you could be missing out on the joke of the century."

Barry Humphries FLACs & Artwork (62Mb)