jeremy oxley

Sunnyboys
+ Rocket Science
+ The Prize
Northcote Theatre, VIC
Saturday 28 January 2023
Michelle Bilson photos

A work colleague of mine told me once she’d had her wedding reception at the Northcote Theatre, back when it was known as Fani’s Receptions in the late 1980s, 70-odd years after its original opening as a picture theatre. The marriage didn’t last too long – about six months, I think – but the venue was still hosting sumptuously catered family celebrations up until it was taken over and reinvigorated as a live music venue.

The benefit of personal geographical proximity aside, I’m not sold on Northcote Theatre just yet. The combination of a high ceiling and a lack of absorbent surfaces renders the acoustic profile imperfect. Like the property prices in the local area, the drink prices are on the high side; frustratingly, it’s a cash-free venue and the distance between the stage and bar makes for a challenging journey for all concern.

40 - Sunnyboys (Rocket)

New Sunnyboys studio recordings: They were long rumoured, but what they constituted and whether they’d see the light of day remained well-kept secrets. Now they’re here, they prove to have been worth the wait. 

There’s no need to recount the rise, fall and reincarnation of the Sunnyboys here. Let’s make the point that their second career is on a vastly different trajectory to their first. The pressure of being a major label money-maker on an endless treadmill is gone. Jeremy Oxley's health is good but he still needs to manage himself. It’s a measured gait for these Sunnies in 2019 - at least until they walk onto a stage - as befits four gentlemen of, ahem, enduring existence. 

Just like riugby league, the “40” record - a mini-LP, really, as it’s eight tracks long - is a game of two halves. Side one comprises the four songs released on the band’s self-titled “yellow” seven-inch EP on New Year’s Eve in 1980. The original vinyl version sold out in a couple of weeks, to be re-pressed in a re-mixed 12” version soon after, but this is the first time that the original mixes have made it to CD.

They really are unstoppable and they shouldn’t be. Not at this stage of the game. Their goals might be modest - to have a good time reprising their own past, in the hope that you will too - but that doesn’t underplay how good the reincarnated Sunnyboys are on “Best Seat In The House”.

It’s officially their second live album but really their third (1993’s rough and ready “Shakin’” on Phantom seems to have been disowned) and it perfectly captures the band in all their pop-rock glory, playing the final gig on a mostly sold-out Australian run in March 2015.

The award for 2025’s Lowest Act so far goes to a lame tribute band from Queensland that somehow managed to “kill” the lead singer of the iconic Australian band from which it profits.

Sunnyboys Shakin’has been playing shows in South-East Queensland since late last year and  today posted a fake Facebook obituary to Sunnyboys frontman Jeremy Oxley,claining he had passed away two days earlier. 

The real band’s mouthpiece, Sunnyboys Fan Club, was quick to dispel the fake news within two hours of it going online. Images of Jeremy Oxley posted to Facebook indeed showed he is very much alive and well and still a Happy Man.

The fake news drew a sharp retort from Jeremy's wife Mary Oxley-Griffiths who posted a cxomment: "You pricks! Jeremy is alive and well!"

Sunnyboys have disassociated themselves from Sunnyboys Shakin’ and a quick listen to performances posted online reveals why.

Concerns about the way the tribute act and some venues have billed the fake band have angered fans of the real thing. We look forward to the retraction and explanation.