Beyond The Fringe: Ex-Lime Spider and The Most member Richard Lawson

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By The Barman

The Barman

19 June 2023

Hits: 4461

News that a long-lost five-track release by Sydney band The Most was making its way onto streaming platforms has made the ears of veterans of Australia's 1980s underground scene prick up. The Most were among many terrific acts in a crowded inner-city Sydney scene, and a band that spawned future members of the Lime Spiders and The Cruel Sea.  

Originally issued as a cassette in very limited quantities by fanzine "48 Crash", the "Another Day" EP is now available online, so we tracked down The Most drummer RICHARD LAWSON to extract some historical details. THE BARMAN did the interrogating. 

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Kuepper's Exploding World takes classic re-issues on the road

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By The Barman

The Barman

19 June 2023

Hits: 2135

Saints and Laughing Clowns elder statesman Ed Kuepper is backing an extensive re-issue campaign of his solo back catalogue with a series of Australian shows under the moniker, “The Exploding World of Ed Kuepper".

Kuepper will be joined by the all;-star band of Mark Dawson on drums, ex-Sunnyboys bassist Peter Oxley,  pianist Alister Spence and brass maestro Eamon Dilworth for a run through seven states and territories. 

The Exploding Universe will tackle the best of “Electrical Storm” and “Honey Steel’s Gold”, the iconic Kuepper solo records being re-issued in re-mastered form in all formats right now by Remote Control label. All shows are fully seated and on sale now.

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The Most rise four decades later

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By The Barman

The Barman

15 June 2023

Hits: 2577

Long-lost inner-Sydney pop-psych band The Most - whose members went on to major acts like the Lime Spiders and The Cruel Sea – is rising from the grave, digitally.  

The early '80s band is remastering and releasing the EP “Another Day” this  month. It will be available on all platforms later this month.

A staple of Sydney’s thriving inner-city scene, they supported such bands as Sunnyboys, The Church and Machinations and were finalists in the 1982 Battle of the Bands at the Strawberry Hills Hotel - eventually won by The Lime Spiders. 

The Most recorded “Another Day” in 1982 and it was the first foray into the studio. Nevertheless, the recordings have a maturity about them, and Steve Lorkin from “48 Crash” fanzine was impressed enbough to issue it on cassette in ‘83. 

Driven by the song-writing talents of vocalist Phil Thornton, the songs show influences as diverse as David Bowie,Lou Reed and the Rolling Stones. 

Other members of The Most were Richard Lawson (drums and vocals), Ged Corben (lead guitar), Tony Bambach(bass) and Greg Owens (guitar). 

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Loki's not so sweet dreams are made of this

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By Patrick Emery

Patrick Emery

14 June 2023

Hits: 2859

 _{Jurgis Maleckas photo.}

“The concept was taking the business model of The Eurythmics,” laughs Loki Lockwood, studio engineer, producer, Spooky Records label owner and, more recently, auteur behind the electro-noir-goth studio project Velatine.

“Because I’d been in so many bands that had fallen apart, the less people involved, the better! I didn’t want to be the singer or the focus. So with The Eurythmics, they were sort of the ideal: they’d come from being in a band, they’d fallen apart and then as a duo they developed this thing.”

Lockwood says he’d been “fucking around with electronic music since about 1986”. Australian electronic music pioneer OllieOlsen, music director on 1986 cult classic movie "Dogs in Space" in which Lockwood featured as guitarist in Marie Hoy’s band, suggested some artists for him to listen to further his knowledge of the genre.

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GoFundMe launched to help Died Pretty's Chris Welsh fight cancer

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By The Barman

The Barman

13 June 2023

Hits: 4649

Friends of Died Pretty drummer Chris Welsh have launched a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for treatment for lung cancer.

Welsh, who lives and works in rural Thailand, has flown to Australia for treatment ahead of a series of shows with Died Pretty in October.

The band’s singer, Ron Peno, is still undergoing medical treatment after a diagnosis of esophageal cancer in February 2019.

Says fundraiser organiser and former bandmate Robbie Warren: “Chris's extraordinary talent has helped to make Died Pretty the iconic band we all know and love. Unfortunately, Chris has recently been diagnosed with lung cancer, throwing his world and his loved ones into turmoil.

“Right now, Chris needs our support more than ever. Having dropped everything to return to Australia for urgent treatment, his initial lung cancer diagnosis lacks a biopsy leaving him very uncertain about the extent of the cancer.

“Chris is too humble to ask for help, so this fundraiser has been put together for us all to rally together and show our unwavering love and solidarity.”

Donate here.

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Beasts saddle up once more to mark 40

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By The Barman

The Barman

12 June 2023

Hits: 2343

The Beasts – the band populated by the surviving members of the Beasts Of Bourbon - will perform two very special shows in Melbourne and Sydney this August to celebrate 40 years since the original band’s foundation.

Tex Perkins, Kim Salmon (guitar), Charlie Owen (guitar), Boris Sujdovic (bass) will be joined by drummer James Baker, fresh from the last-ever Victims show in Perth.

Friday, 11 August – Factory Theatre, Sydney
(Tickets)

Sunday, 13 August – Croxton Bandroom, Melbourne (Tickets)

Tex Perkins takes up the story:

Forty years ago, I was a skinny 18-year-old kid living in Darlinghurst in Sydney having the time of his life - playing gigs, taking and drinking everything within arm’s reach!

Constantly meeting and bonding with people in other bands who would turn out to be lifelong friends.

When my band up and left me in the dead of night by the side of the road with a month long residency, it was those friends that were there to help me pick things up and start again.

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Old souls ring true

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By The Barman

The Barman

11 June 2023

Hits: 1936

Get Old – The Holy Soul (self released)

There’s undoubtedly some self-effacing irony in the title of the fourth long-player by Sydney veterans The Holy Soul. Ageing is an inevitability and these guys (and gal) have been around since the early 2000s, coalescing in a shed in the suburban outskirts before establishing a base in the creative oasis of the inner-west.

Since then they’ve collaborated with the likes of Damo Suzuki (Can), David Thomas (Pere Ubu) and Robyn Hitchcock (The Soft Boys), the latter an adopted Aussie who produced this while on one of his extended stays in Sydney.

“Get Old” contains The Holy Soul’s trademark interlocking guitars and throbbing rhythm section, and typically dodges easy categorisation. There’s a touch of jangle, some bluesy swagger and a large slice of glam.

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Help the late Richard Lane's daughter Penny realise her dream

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By The Barman

The Barman

07 June 2023

Hits: 2215

Raised and home-schooled inside the music school that is her namesake, West Australian teenager Penny Lane has been immersed in creativity her whole life, and her original songs reflect the musical influences and experiences that have shaped her as an artist.

The daughter of the late Richard Lane of The Stems, Penny has been blessed both with his natural talent and the gifts he gave her by teaching and playing music to and with her every day of their life together.

The Fremantle younger has set her sights on an acting career and has released a single to help raise funds to get her to Los Angeles.

“In October last year I started acting as a way to process some of my difficult emotions after losing my Daddy in 2020,” Penny says.

“After months of auditions, I am one of a hundred young actors who have been chosen from thousands to attend a professional acting course and showcase in Los Angeles, where I will get to perform in front of casting directors, agents and managers at a week-long event.

“The past few years have been really hard for me and this opportunity has given me something to dream about and I hope you can help me get there.”

Penny is a multi-instrumentalist who lves to create musical soundscapes and lyrics that help her to translate the depths of emotion that she has had to navigate. With her first release at just 14-years-old, “Lavender Dice” is a hypnotic and soothing journey through a kaleidoscope of cascading metaphors and feelings.

You can buy the single for $6 here but if you want to donate more it will help her on her way. To find out more, check out her GoFundMe page.

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• richard lane
• penny lane
• lavender dice

Psychotic Turnbuckles gear for Japan with two Aussie bouts

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By The Barman

The Barman

07 June 2023

Hits: 2022

The pain will be real when the Psychotic Turnbuckles emerge from their palatial luxury homes in Pismo Beach and go on a two-city rampage in New South Wales in July. 

The Turnbuckles play La La La’s in Wollongong on Friday, July 28 and Marrickville Bowling Club on Saturday, July 29 as preparation for a Japanese tour in October. 

Lame-brain failed gym flunkies, The Dark Clouds, and limp-limbed Brisbane bovver boy pretenders, Shandy, are making up the numbers on both bills .

Prepare to see them out-classed in two no-holds barred elimination bouts, courtesy of the Turnbuckles, who are rightly hailed around the Intercontinental Rock and Roll Team Champions (undefeated). 

“We’re heading to Japan to ‘say no to sumo’ but first we’ll practice our moves on The Dark Clouds and Shandy,” said Turnbuckles manager Chester Chitworth.

“We visited Australia for a training camp in a remote rural location earlier in the year and worked in our new bass man, The Infliktor, but this time is the real deal.

“We’re a hot commodity in demand around the world so who knows when your sad little country will see us again? I’m outta here – we’re going surfing.”

Tickets for both bouts are on sale via Moshtix (Wollongong) and Oztix (Marrickville.)

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