Living Legends honours Dave Graney and Clare Moore, Steve Lucas

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By The Barman

The Barman

06 July 2015

Hits: 5576

The Melbourne music scene is world-renowned for being a bubbling volcano of rock 'n' roll fire and creativity that throws up rare diamonds and musical gems. The Leaps and Bounds Music Festival honours its stars each year with its Living Legends series.

Beginning in 2014, the Living Legends feted that year were rock gods Spencer Jones, Kim Salmon and Charlie Owen. This year the honour is bestowed on another trio who are fully legendary in the eyes of their peers and music lovers.

• dave graney
• clare moore
• steve lucas
• living legends

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In Cold Blood - Johnny Thunders (Easy Action)

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By The Barman

The Barman

26 June 2015

Hits: 6655

It would be the ultimate irony if Johnny Thunders’ most consistent album came out 24 years after he died. Any sober assessment of his post-Heartbreakers output would deem it erratic but speckled with explosions of brilliance that outshone the lesser moments.

And so it is with “In Cold Blood”, a double CD package from UK label Easy Action that brings together a number of lost threads. It’s not Thunders’ most well-rounded effort - that’s probably still his first solo LP “So Alone” – but it’s still a significant addition to the JT canon.

The original “In Cold Blood” was a double vinyl affair that came out in 1983 while the outlaw guitarist was still breathing. It paired bare bones studio recordings by ex-Stones producer Jimmy Miller to a disc taken from a 1982 UK gig.

• easy-action
• johnny
• thunders
• in cold blood

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Tumbleweed hit the road again to play "Galactaphonic"

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By The Barman

The Barman

03 July 2015

Hits: 4558

Aussie stoner favourites and Wollongong’s proudest exports, Tumbleweed, are off on a national Australian tour in August and September, playing the “Galactaphonic” LP in full for the first time, as well as a slew of favourites. 

The band has re-grouped after the untimely death of bassist Jay Curley.

"Galactaphonic" came out in 1995 and critic Ian McFarlane described it as "an epic masterwork, a strident album full of fierce, booming metal-boogie and catchy, hard-edged rock'n'roll". Tour dates:  

The Corner Hotel Melbourne
Friday August 21

The Manning Bar Sydney
Friday September 11

Rosemount Hotel Perth
Friday September 18

Fowlers Live Adelaide
Saturday September 19

Waves Towradgi Beach Hotel Wollongong
Saturday September 26

• tumbleweed
• live
• galactaphonic

High Time: MC5 honoured in home town

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By The Barman

The Barman

03 July 2015

Hits: 6704

They can't crack it for a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but the MC5 will be honoured with a 50-year retrospective exhibit and concert in their Detroit-area hometown of Lincoln Park, Michigan, at the Lincoln Park Historical Museum.

An open reception will be held on July 11 with a concert on July 12. The exhibit will run through Labor Day, September 7, with regular museum hours (Wednesdays and Saturdays from 1-6pm.) Admission to all events is free though donations to the Lincoln Park Historical Society are encouraged.

The exhibit highlights iconic photos by Detroit photographer Leni Sinclair and Lincoln Park-raised Emil Bacilla, original psychedelic posters by Carl Lundgren, and Gary Grimshaw (also raised in Lincoln Park) and band memorabilia (including personal artifacts from the Derminer/Tyner family.)

The concert will be held in the Park Band Shell in Memorial Park - one of the earliest sites where the MC5 played – with music from Timmy’s Organism, Rocket 455 and Chatoyant.

Surviving MC5 members Wayne Kramer and Dennis “Machine Gun” Thompson and the families of Rob Tyner, Fred “Sonic” Smith and Michael Davis have been invited. While Kramer is unable to attend, Thompson will be in attendance at both the Saturday and Sunday events.

While the band was the target of establishment harassment during its existence, the afternoon concert will be marked by Lincoln Park Mayor Tom Karnes presenting the keys to the city. Ain't irony grand?

A limited edition of Carl’s Lundgren’s artwork created for the anniversary celebration poster will be available for purchase at the opening night and on the day of the concert. The Lincoln Park Historical Museum website is here.

• mc5
• wayne kramer
• rob tyner
• dennis thompson
• fred sonic smith

You'll be glad when this Sydney supergroup goes On and On

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By The Barman

The Barman

30 June 2015

Hits: 6094

A brand new powerpop-rock combo with an impeccable pedigree, The On and Ons, are launching their Citadel Records CD album, "It's The On and Ons Calling", at the Factory Floor in Sydney on July 18.

The back story is this: Ex-Screaming Tribesman and Kings of the Sun member Glenn Morris (lead vocals and guitar) and his brother Brian (drums), of The Zeros (the Australian band) toured Australia and the US in 2012 as members of The Paul Collins Beat.

That successful stint encouraged them to record their own album of Glenn's original songs. The resultain record "It's The On and Ons Calling" was produced and engineered by legendary Australian guitarist Dennis Wilson, of Khavas Jute fame.

• Tribesmen
• screaming
• hoodoo
• gurus
• died pretty
• joeys coop
• paul collins
• on and ons

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Vale Billy Borgioli of The Real Kids

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By The Barman

The Barman

29 June 2015

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Real Kids, Classic Ruins, Primitive Souls and Varmints guitarist Billy Borgioli (pictured right, with The Real Kids) has passed away, apparently after suffering a brain aneurysm.

The Real Kids were one of the most influential bands of the Boston scene of the late ‘70s, with their roots in '50s classic rock and roll, loads of melody and hooks and all the energy of punk. Borgioli is best remembered for being on board for their classic 1977 debut album, “The Real Kids” whose stand-out track “All Kindsa Girls” is a stone classic.

Spencer P. Jones and The Escape Committee live in Adelaide

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

28 June 2015

Hits: 6429

 
I missed the first band, but I’ve heard good things. I did catch The Pro Tools.

Led by the extraordinary Pete Howlett, ThePpro Tools hammer at you - they’re a lot of noisy, in-your-face fun; coupled with Howlett’s almost Dolls-esque behaviour.

“No-one flicks his hair with such elegant contempt as Johnny Thunders,” remarked fellow audience member Nazz Nassari tonight, in response to my observation that Howlett’s perfectly timed angry slash at his hair toward the end of their set expressed an eloquent contempt). I never saw Thunders, but Howlett has a sort of compressed loathing of his instrument, despite his dexterity and talent, as if somehow the instrument simply cannot do what Howlett wants it to. Therein lies part of the public persona/reality of the man.

• live
• spencer
• pro-tools
• pete howlett
• helen cattanach
• dave nicholls

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Shot Myself Up - Iggy Pop (Easy Action)

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By The Barman

The Barman

27 June 2015

Hits: 7542

If 1977 was the year Iggy Pop presented his professional face to the American public, it was really by a matter of degrees. Think about what constituted Mainstream USA back then and ask if it was ready for Iggy, even in the guise of a clean-living and professional working stiff? The question’s rhetorical so don’t bother answering.

The Iggy that Americans saw (those who took notice) is captured on “Shot Myself Up”, a made-for-radio recording captured live in a studio on Pop’s ’77 tour of his homeland.

• easy-action
• iggy pop
• stooges
• david
• bowie
• 1977
• shot myself up
• tv eye

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New collection to lift lid on music of the Sharpies sub-culture

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By The Barman

The Barman

25 June 2015

Hits: 7426

Following in the tradition of acclaimed compilations like “Boogie” and “(When The Sun Sets Over) Carlton”, Festival Records and WMA are releasing a new collection of music from Australia’s sharpie subculture of the ‘70s.

“When Sharpies Ruled – A Vicious Collection” is a power-packed 23-track CD packaged with a slipcase, 28-page jewel case booklet with liner notes and a separate 60 page booklet of Sharpie snaps. It’s billed as “the ultimate aural and visual statement on the infamous Australian youth movement and gangs of the ‘70s” and who are we to disagree?

Sharpies were a uniquely Australian, working class phenomenon from the late ‘60s to the late ‘70s. Notorious for causing trouble, they’re remembered for their startling style sense - tight Italian cardigans and razor cut hair were favoured – and outrageous dancing.

• kevin
• lobby
• skyhooks
• sharpies
• rose tattoo
• lobby loyde
• colored balls
• borich

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