World Coming to OZ Stead Capturing the Rough'n'ready, Street -Level Rawness of Oz 10Ak1 Rock
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4t34204:erotlik §';°s Ydr t& 'Me tyúT $'. W fgrf Rules The Waves UA3.$i:,i,..-.... 4k, Continued from page TIA -58 tie 49 WAVZ A Billboard Daddy Cool, Spectrum, Ariel and the Loved Ones. In fact we hAAif= did a version of a big hit by the Loved Ones as a single. We did SPOTLIGHT it just at the right time, when Australians were getting behind ?;f.41:4 ON their own musical heritage and realizing how strong and good THE our own music actually is. "The best of all about being an Australian band is that we no longer have to leave the country that we are most creative ti:: LIVE in and go overseas. Now we can stay here and the world is coming to us." Just why the world is coming to Australia's door after years E N of kamikaze missions and lemming rushes to the other side of A ii14..ew: l . the world, has no convenient answer HUNTERS & COLLECTORS -Tribal funk that, despite no U.S. but the bottom line O F - seems to be the power, the rawness, the edge that character- : e record deal, has picked up airplay in North America. izes the music £t.S -the almighty 'pub boogies.' G.ìr M. When film producer David Elfick made the rock musical iigiilii "Starstruck," he approached it with the aim of moving away .x/oft from a "Grease /Can't Stop the Music" type slickness and in- MiN i4i AUSTRAIIA_Itzet:,...7., World Coming To OZ stead capturing the rough'n'ready, street -level rawness of Oz 10ak1 rock. Australian's Continued from TIA -54 have very firm demands as regards the yy&di .?t5.v :'..:erhz::`áy..4'.x.µ.y.Ax:.,'Wì4 page i;pk2? ?t:FiS:`S:E'i.' y 6FfMtYA? ZH'` :+9IY ! EKKáá:% M^'.l`T .!'..áf,4f.R presentation of music culture. For example, although ì:YF'r ... ofigT:aY1i' APP voY ï'.?4=+t.,, $+NR::ïn^ :J i,f. w.`w"&M ái:iO.:1al :44 screened down under, the TV show "Solid Gold" could never MEAD, sang a rocked -up version of "The Lord's Prayer" and have been made in Australia -a market which has no time at suddenly found herself in the American top five with a two - all for Las Vegas million- productions, glittering dancers and glib others don't have and I feel the best way we can express that selling international monster on the (equally startled) hosts. By contrast, Australian pop TV is spontaneous, pun - is through the medium of film music." A &M label. The following year, long- departed pianist- singer kish and scrupulously current. Compare "Countdown" to Film musk is by no means the only avenue by which Aus- Lana Cantrell scored a minor U.S. hit (number 63) with "Like England's "Top of the Pops" and the latter comes off looking tralian music can leave an indelible mark for the ages to A Sunday Morning." like the Johnny Carson Show -a sentiment expressed by 80% come. The most exciting and satisfying development in recent SHERBET were the next chart champions, in 1976. They of all visiting U.K. rock artists. times is the long overdue emergence of real Australian mu- echoed the Mixtures effort by reaching number four in Eng- land sic -the traditional jigs, reels and shanties of the Bush - (and top five in many European countries) with the Aus- wackers, Cobbers, Bullamakanka and the like, and the tralian- recorded "Howzat." They toured the world twice after rhythms and new age Dreamtime' of black Aboriginal bands this hit and were signed by Robert Stigwood to the RSO label. such as No Fixed Address and Us Mob. After one album as Highway, they became THE SHERBS on For a decade or more, young Australians have readily con- Atco. The following year Brisbane's THE SAINTS, Australia's sumed the Elizabethan chants of Jethro Tull, Fairport Con- pioneering punk outfit, were at number 34 on the U.K. charts vention and Steeleye Span, the Rastafarian reggae of Bob with "This Perfect Day." Marley and Peter Tosh, the North American folk roots of The JOHN PAUL YOUNG broke out internationally for the Band -without turning toward their own cultural heritage. Ja- Vanda & Young team in 1978. After considerable European maica's tradition has been exciting but ours has been embar- success with "Standing In The Rain," Young hit number five rassing, for far too many years. U.K. and number seven U.S. with the wide -appealing "Love Is Both the black Aboriginal bands and the white traditional In The Air," which has now been covered by more than 50 art- outfits have picked up vast audiences over the past two years, ists. This was the year that Vanda & Young's other main act, AC /DC, as tastes expand in the general marketplace. The Bush - began scoring British chart hits, beginning with wackers, Australia's leading 'bush band,' have six consecutive "Rock'n'Roll Damnation" at number 24. gold albums to their credit. They command the same fees and That year also saw big- voiced SAMANTHA SANG, who had audience sizes as rock bands like Cold Chisel, and generate been a Melbourne hit artist in 1967 under the name Cheryl MENTAL AS ANYTHING -Country punk? Rockabilly funk? such fervor that there are documented instances of fans Gray and recorded under Barry Gibb in London in 1969, storm Whatever it is, it's fun. dancing so hard and fast that they have broken their legs on right to No. 1 in America with the Gibb Brother's "Emotions," the floor. The appeal of bands like this, underlined by the top a pinnacle she was never able to equal. 20 charting of a brisk version of the traditional poem "Clancy Also in America, LITTLE RIVER BAND had confirmed their Australia has given the world a hardy, resilient breed of of the Overflow" by Wallis & Matilda, is ridiculously broad. high -profile chart status with the number three hit "Reminisc- power rockers. If any bands have molded a firm Aussie image Woolshed dances are booked out months in advance, by kids, ing," one of 10 (to date) chart entries. 1979 saw Melbourne's it is the likes of AC /DC, Rose Tattoo, Midnight Oil, Cheetah, parents, punks, hippies and businessmen. THE SPORTS stop just outside the U.S. top 40 (number 41) Heaven, Angel City and the Saints. These acts have cut their with "Who Listens To The Radio ? " -Arista's first pre -Air Sup- teeth on iron, just making a living in a country which is the size ply Oz signing. 1980 saw TMG enter the lower reaches of the of continental Europe and more. A vast often desolate land Billboard Hot 100 with "Lazy Eyes" and PLAYBACK crack the which contains a scant 14 million souls and no more than a Billboard disco chart with "Space Invaders." dozen which centers could be called cities; the two largest of Of course there have been many acts who have made a sig- which are 600 miles apart. nificant international impact without actually scoring hits. In By virtue of an extraordinary multi- tiered live work struc- 1959 Australia's rock'n'roll dynamo, the 'Wild One,' JOHNNY ture, Australian acts have the rare and priceless opportunity O'KEEFE, was signed to a five year contract by Liberty during to work hard and often, honing their skills in the process. They an American tour and launched on the U.S. market as 'the play to some of the most demanding and discriminating au- Boomerang Boy.' Though he never made the American diences in the world, often side -by -side with the best that the charts, his Liberty tracks were home -market chartbusters. Northern Hemisphere has to offer. The flash in the pans, the During the '60s 'beat boom' a great many hot Aussie acts weekend hobbyists just don't make it. If you can't cut it in the recorded and toured in Engand to varying degrees of success Melbourne pubs before 1,500 sweaty punters, you can give up and acceptance. Some of the notable were NORMIE ROWE, hope of New York, London and Toronto. JOHNNY YOUNG, THE TWILIGHTS, LA DE DAS, THE And when an Australian act lobs into town on the other side GROOVE (Eureka Stockade), THE GIBSONS and AXIOM. THE of the world, that's what stands out. Before they have even MASTERS APPRENTICES came closer than most to breaking made a moderate international name for themselves, most through, recording two critically -acclaimed albums for EMI. Australian bands have more base -level experience than most Their bassist was Glenn Wheatley, who later used his skills to international mega -star acts. launch Little River Band In America. In New Zealand we saw Australia as nothing more than a The '70s saw Australian jazz outfit DALY WILSON BIG stepping stone to England," admits Split Enz leader Tim Finn, BAND tour Russia with MARCIA HINES; Sydney boy Dave Tice but our attitude underwent a drastic change once we arrived front London's COUNT BISHOPS; JO JO ZEP & THE FALCONS and worked here. We found that the competition was much JO JO ZEP -A New York street sensibility and more than a perform at the Montreaux Jazz Festival with product released stiffer than we'd thought and that the standards were a great dash of fun. by WEA worldwide; THE BUSHWACKERS educate the British deal higher. We're now in a position where we can base our- about Australian traditional music and score an encore at the selves really wherever we wish but we've chosen to work out of Reading Rock Festival to boot; AYERS ROCK and THE DING- Australia because it's provento be healthy for the band.