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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

10 May 2026

Hits: 1339

• lipstick killers
• cherry red
• dave laing
• grown up wrong
• dog meat
• beathoven
• the breakers
• I Wanna Be A Teen Again! - American Power Pop, 1980-1989

You may know Melbourne's Dave Laing from many places. He’s been a record label head for decades, with his own Grown Up Wrong and Dog Meat labels, home to such influential bands as Powder Monkeys, Bored! and Hoss, and more recently Lipstick Killers, Screaming Tribesmen and Flamin’ Groovies. 

He’s also worked with the likes of  The Pretty Things, The Imperial Dogs, Dead Moon, The Cheater Slicks, Billy Childish & Thee Headcoats, The Devil Dogs, Teengenerate, The Real Kids, the Screamin’ Mee-Mees, The Barracudas, the Jeff Dahl Group, The New Bomb Turks and Chris D.

What you may not know is that he's a power pop freak - one who doesn't merely trudge through the record crates, either. These days he's a music publicist and (again) runs the two labels that he started way back in the 1980s. He's also an occasional music writer for Ugly Things and elsewhere.

Last year UK label Cherry Red released one of those astonishing box sets that they excel at. “'I Wanna Be A Teen Again! - American Power Pop, 1980-1989”. It was curated by the very same Dave Laing, who also wrote the liner notes and publicised it.

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

28 April 2026

Hits: 1090

• hard-ons
• peter black
• nunchukka superfly
• The Boss Is Gone Gone Gone
• a bowl of spiders

 

Delicate Barflies, I'm more than a little stunned. The breadth, beauty and sophistication of Peter Black's latest two solo albums. “A Bowl of Spiders” and “The Boss Is Gone Gone Gone” is really damn exciting. These LPs are world-class and really, the man needs exposure overseas outside the context of his bands, Hard-Ons and Nunchukka Superfly.

As far as I can see, Australia has no idea what constitutes a pop song anymore - the mainstream seem happy enough with some oik ranting or squawking over a vague wafty structure. 

Anyway. Fucking hell. I've asked my local record shop to get Blackie's latest two records in for me.

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

19 March 2026

Hits: 630

• scientists
• kim salmon
• in the red
• smoked salmon
• kim salmon and the surrealists
• hit me with the surreal feel
• the definitive artricle live

 _{Hmmm. Smells like Smoked Salmon. Artist supplied.}

Scientist and Surrealist Kim Salmon is one of those persistent, wilful artists who simply cannot stop.

LA label In The Red will soon be releasing a reissue of the first Kim Salmon and The Surrealists LP, “Hit Me With the Surreal Feel”. This is the one you can never find. On top of that, would you believe a new Scientists live album? “The Definitive Article Live” was recorded at Brisbane's The Triffid back in 2017, with Kim, Boris Sujdovic, Tony Thewlis and the late, much missed Leanne Cowie.

To whet your appetite, Kim has announced a brief but unique tour, combining personnel from both The Scientists and Surrealists. Surreal Science appears at the Corner Hotel in Melbourne on Friday April 10, followed by the Oxford Arts Factory in Sydney on Saturday April 11, and finally the Rosemount Hotel in Perth on the following Saturday, April 18.

Since can't get to any of these gigs (and believe me, I'm gnashing my teeth and wondering if I could clone myself), I thought I should ask Mr Salmon a few questions to see what condition his condition was in.

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

10 March 2026

Hits: 249

• australian tour
• the stranglers
• hugh cornwall

 

This June, promoters Troubadour are bringing Hugh Cornwell, the original singer, guitarist and principal songwriter of The Stranglers, to Australia.

Their events page rightly states: “As leader of The Stranglers, Hugh was the main songwriter of all the band’s most memorable songs across 10 stellar albums, all of which consolidated Cornwell’s stature as a unique songwriter and musician.

“His lyrics to 'Golden Brown', from the 'La Folie' album, and their multiple meanings, are a songwriting masterclass. Widely regarded as the poet laureate of punk, Hugh Cornwell has also built a substantial and singular body of impressive solo albums."

Something like 10 studio albums, and about as many live records. He's also written three novels (“Future Tense”, “Window on the World” and “Arnold Drive”) and three non-fiction books relating to The Stranglers (“Inside Information”, “The Stranglers Song by Song” and “A Multitude of Sins”.)

For younger Barflies, note that Cornwell made a guest appearance on Billy Nomates' “Metal Horse” last year. Cornwall’s most recent studio album is “Moments of Madness” and, there's a current live effort, “All The Fun of The Fair”.

Old farts might notice that Steve Albini produced his “Totem & Taboo” in 2012, and Gary Steel of Witchdoctor website rightly commented: "In a world of egotistic over-achieving and slack-arse under-achieving, Hugh Cornwell knows how to play it just right, and “Totem & Taboo”  is a master class in sticking to your guns and doing what you do well".

That comment may as well be about all of Cornwell's solo work: I might add that there's more than a small dollop of wry, inverted humour about Cornwell's work - but I'm sure you already know that. We spoke this week.

 

I-94 Bar: I'll apologise for asking so many questions about the past; I'm sure you're tired of the same ones so I've tried to find areas which I don't think have been looked at too much. You're a cricket fan, so you're obviously an honorary Australian. What is it that still draws you to the game - and what was it which got you hooked?

Hugh Cornwell: What attracts me to cricket is the wonderful order of the game, completely different from the music business. My father was a draftsman by profession, and used to work at home a lot, so he would have the cricket radio commentary on whilst he worked.

I-94 Bar: You've been playing steadily since the late 1960s. Where on earth do you find the stamina? I mean, performing takes a lot of effort ... so what is it that drives you?

Hugh Cornwell: I try to keep fit and healthy, no more reckless living. And a good diet is important.

I-94 Bar: Could you tell us about the impact that Richard Thompson had on you?

Hugh Cornwell: Richard had a profound impact on me; he taught me to play bass.

I-94 Bar: Many Stranglers fans might not know that you in turn taught Jean Jacques Burnel to play bass. Still in the past, I notice that you were a fan of The Graham Bond Organization when you were a schoolboy - what was it that drew you in, and how did it affect your own music and songwriting? I'm assuming - and I could be wrong - that they were one of the bands which were more effective in mixing up r'n'b and jazz and sliding into prog?

Hugh Cornwell: The Baker/Bruce rhythm section was tops and Graham was a remarkable performer. I liked the way they mixed it up, as you say!

I-94 Bar: There's more than a small element of darkness to your songs, as well as irony and double-meaning. How has this worked for you? - and - any idea where this came from?

Hugh Cornwell: I have no idea where this has come from. Writing lyrics has become a sort of diary of my life.

I-94 Bar: In “When I Was a Young Man” (from “Moments of Madness” in 2022), there are some lyrics which absolutely floored me: "Mother, please forgive me/ For forgetting you forget/ Father, I forgive you/ For regretting that we met", and two other stanzas about (I assume) your mum and dad. Was this song autobiographical? could you elaborate at all?

Hugh Cornwell: Yes, this song is autobiographical - after leaving The Stranglers I had extra time on my hands and I spent it with my parents, and loved every minute of it.

I-94 Bar: How does it feel to be singing songs you wrote in 1975 alongside songs you wrote last year? 

Hugh Cornwell: I guess many artists do the same these days, so it has become standard practice.

I-94 Bar: There were several powerful cultural underground movements in 1976. At the time it seemed to us more likely that “something would burst” in the USA, but the Grundy Incident made the underground burst into the overground and changed the world. Back then, did you see it on TV yourselves? 

Hugh Cornwell: Yes, I did watch it, and felt the earth move.

I-94 Bar: What was the immediate result - for yourselves and for the cultural underworld in UK?

Hugh Cornwell: Suddenly the attention of the country's press was on what I was doing.

I-94 Bar: I know that, at the time, The Stranglers did not consider themselves “punk”. Looking back though, were they?

Hugh Cornwell: We did not know what we were. The press invented the term “punk”.

I-94 Bar: You've been a solo artist for 36 years, more than double the time you were in The Stranglers. One of the reasons you left was that “all the danger and risk had gone” (I'm referring to your autobio “A Multitude Of Sins” here) - this makes me wonder - is the danger and risk still there for you? 

Hugh Cornwell: There is risk every time I release a new album of songs: whether it will be recognized as being relevant or not.

I-94 Bar: Just on that, it strikes me that it's a very different thing to walk on with a huge jackhammer of a band alongside you (as you will be doing on the Australian tour) ... and to walk on armed only with a guitar and an attitude. Was this difficult initially?

Hugh Cornwell: I began as a singer with an acoustic guitar to accompany myself, so solo acoustic shows come very naturally to me.

I-94 Bar: We're living in an era of enormous inequality, greed and selfishness - I think the worst era since the Second World War. Yet such human traits have been with us forever, it seems. What gives you hope for the future of us humans?

Hugh Cornwell: I don't have much hope for the human race. History repeats and so do human mistakes.

I-94 Bar: What was your first guitar - and do you still have it?

Hugh Cornwell: My first guitar was a home-made bass that cost me five pounds. I don't still have it.

I-94 Bar: Favourite guitar, and why?

Hugh Cornwell: Always will be a Fender Telecaster. The simplicity is its blessing.

I-94 Bar: Lastly, what advice would you give a musician heading into the industry today?

Hugh Cornwell: Don't give up the day job.

High Cornwall online

Hugh Cornwall
Australian Tour 
JUNE
10- – Theatre Royal, Castlemaine, VIC
12 - Corner Hotel, Melbourne, VIC
13 - Manning Bar, Sydney, NSW
14 - Crowbar, Brisbane, QLD
18 - The Gov, Adelaide, SA
19  - The Rosemount, Perth, WA
Tickets

And now let your fantastic plastic do some strutting: get your tickets to see him - and his band - here:

https://troubadourpresents.com/events/hugh-cornwell/

Details

By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

10 March 2026

Hits: 991

• australian tour
• the stranglers
• hugh cornwall

 

This June, promoters Troubadour are bringing Hugh Cornwell, the original singer, guitarist and principal songwriter of The Stranglers, to Australia.

Their events page rightly states: “As leader of The Stranglers, Hugh was the main songwriter of all the band’s most memorable songs across 10 stellar albums, all of which consolidated Cornwell’s stature as a unique songwriter and musician.

“His lyrics to 'Golden Brown', from the 'La Folie' album, and their multiple meanings, are a songwriting masterclass. Widely regarded as the poet laureate of punk, Hugh Cornwell has also built a substantial and singular body of impressive solo albums."

Read more …

Details

By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

04 March 2026

Hits: 588

• charlie marshall
• harem scarem
• family affair
• gaian soul
• louie marshall
• the body electric

_{Louie and Charlie Marshall. Supplied.} 

The name Charlie Marshall should be familiar. He was the singer and guitarist in one of Melbourne's legendary outfits, Harem Scarem, beloved in the 1980s for their swamp blues 

Charlie's a sensible chap - knowing that rock'n'roll does't always pay the bills (never mind buy you a house), he has a job, just like most of us. He is a science teacher.

Unlike most of us, he established  The Body Electric, which ran (or, perhaps, may still run) from the early 1990s to about ten years ago, with a variety of fine Melbourne talent, which has released at least five albums. Along the way he's also released another six records with different line-ups. Seems his job doesn't keep him out of mischief.

The calibre of musicians that Charlie has arrayed around him is high: they include Jim White (Dirty Three), Warren Ellis (Fungus Brains, Dirty Three, Nick Cave), Brian Henry Hooper (Kim Salmon and the Surrealists, Beasts of Bourbon), Bryan Colechin (The Marching Girls, Hugo Race), Cam Butler, Matt Heydon (Cow Penalty, The Voyeurs), Clare Moore (The Moodists, Dave Graney) and Darren Richard Seltmann (The Avalanches).

And then I listened to, and was mightily impressed by, Charlie's latest album "Gaian Soul" by Family Affair, a duo with his son  And  I thought a few questions were in order.

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