77. I Wanna be Adored by The Stone Roses 1991

I was DJing at KAOS in North Melbourne when the promoter Ronnie Williams turned up with a bunch of singles that had been recommended by to him by a hip record shop in Chapel Street. The only one that didn't work was The Stone Roses "Made Of Stone" I had heard he hype but I just couldn't get it from the single.
Six months later it seemed they were the coolest band in the world. And listening to the album  made it all make sense. Just playing tracks off this album at Lizard lounge made you feel cool.
This is my favourite track off one of my favourite albums. It transports me to another place. Once I put this song on I have to listen to the whole album. It's one of those albums that makes you want to be part of a band and just play guitars all night long.

They toured Australia after the release of their disappointing second album and unfortunately they were pretty bad. I saw them at the Metro and Ian Brown couldn't sing for toffee.
Later I contributed to a book about this album for the 331/3 series where they interviewed me about it's influence. And it did. It made me want to pick up an electric guitar again. And write tunes.

76. 52 Girls by The B52s 1979

In 1980 I finally got to Paris, France and started wandering the cold streets of the French capital looking for something new. I managed to try out a few words even if it was only lying in bed ordering 'le petite dejenuer'.

We posed by the Eiffel Tower, by rivers and bridges. At night we ate and drank in small cafes. Heading home one night full of wine and atmosphere I heard this strange sci-fi guitar sound coming from a record shop. It was just so different to what was going on in my Mod/punk world. When the singer started singer his voice was so bad I gathered they were French. I've discovered a band no one knows about.

I went into the record shop and it turned out to be an American band. I was disappointed they weren't French. But I couldn't wait to get back to Melbourne with my ska and B52s records. When I got home Rock Lobster was everywhere. Independent radio and Countdown. The Specials had taken off. I had nothing to show.
They played Festival hall not long after. The people I knew who went complained they didn't wear their wigs. By that time I was over the sound of the B52s. Radio played them to death.
And I still can't listen to Rock Lobster.

75. Blitzrieg Bop by The Ramones 1976

Living in the suburbs in the Seventies I didn't know where any independent shops were so I would ride my by my records from a newsagent in Blackburn near the train station or ride my bike to K-Mart on the corner of Blackburn Road & Burwood Highway. Or I would take the bus to Box Hill and go to Brashes. This is where I bought this record. A regular reader of NME I heard about the Ramones and it seemed exciting just the words they used. Buzzsaw guitars and drills and machinery to describe the sound. I had to buy it. I couldn't believe it when I saw it in the record racks. I shelled out 10 bucks and took it home.

The first song Blitzreig Bop knocked me sideways. It was everything they described and more. It had great pop tunes. It was sixties and seventies and the future but it was minimal and fierce and prehistoric. I had just begun writing songs. Suddenly I had a model. Iggy Pop and the New York Dolls had laid the groundwork but this was it! This was the model for punk rock. And one of the best opening songs ever.
Not long after I saw Nick Cave and his band the Boys Next Door play some church hall in Mount Waverley. They did a great version of this song.

74. Young Girl by Gary Pucket and The Union Gap 1968

My brother Steve had a portable record player that he kept between our beds. I would often wake to him playing a 20 happening Hits or something similar. I loved those mornings. Usually Sundays. I loved those albums full of the great and the terrible pop songs of the era.

My kids love Glee. One night the Glee cast sang Young Girl as part of a medley. Or mash up as they call it. I had to find the original. I put it on. And I was back in bed on a Sunday morning where weekends went forever and we didn’t get up until bacon and eggs were ready. Fulton road, Blackburn South. One day I rented a horse and rode it all around neighborhood. What was I thinking? Nowadays I wouldn't get on a horse if you paid me.

73. My Pal by God 1988

I started the Lizard lounge in 1990 behind the Union Hotel in Chapel Street Windsor. When I first opened the club it was only on Saturday nights. The first DJ I got to work with me was Jason Underhill. I’d known Jason since the days of the Venetian Room in the early 80’s when he was a young teenager. I even remember the first time I met him in the kitchen there. Then for years he was always around. Doing this or that. He tells me he even DJed. I must know this. I got him to DJ with me.

So we became a team on Saturday nights and brought along is great sense of humour and a bunch of rock tracks. He liked to play the Cult and he liked to play this song. Released 3 years earlier I had kind of missed the boat on this one. But it’s a classic from the descending guitar lines to the great chorus of

 “you’re my only friend
you don’t even like me

At first the Lizard went nowhere. We’d make enough to pay for a couple of records. We’d play half hours sets. I’d wander down to the big video store opposite Windsor Station . It was huge. And they sold CDs. I loved hanging out there between sets. And the small numbers were enough to keep us going. Later it took off. In a big way.  And they listened to dance and pop and hip hop and My Pal. It was fantastic.

And later Jason and I took off to the USA together. And we hung out in LA and got drunk in San Francisco. My pal.

72. My Sweet Lord by George Harrison 1970

Early 70s. Living in Blackburn South. Before girls figured in my life there was one thing I liked to do more than anything else and that was to listen to music. We had an old stereo that had a compartment to keep my limited supply of albums in. Every album I owned was a Beatles record. Before I could own anything else I had to have all the Beatles albums. I would listen to music incessantly. In the living room . On the couch.

But then one day my brother took his portable record player outside. He started to play all of the triple album All Things Must Pass by George Harrison. Listening to music outside in the sun. Lying on the grass. Drinking lemonade. Brilliant.

71.Groove is in the Heart by Dee Lite 1990

In the 90’s the Lizard Lounge exploded with packed houses every Thursday, Saturday and Sunday nights. It got so popular I had to give up my day job and just run the night club. The Lizard lounge was the backroom of the Union Hotel in Chapel Street Windsor. When we first opened it I tried to copy a few of the ideas I had read about from overseas magazines. I hung up sheets and projected slides and colours on to them. I had videos going on little screens. We gave away wrapped lollies at the door. Kind of sixties dance vibe. And we played records to dance to.

“Groove is in the heart” was one of our anthems. You would save this until around 11:45pm and bang it on to send the dancers crazy. We played this song off and on from the beginning. The song came out in late in 1990 just as the Lizard started to take off. People just loved it.

When I got to England, the year after I was surprised to see Lady Miss Keir’s outfit in a museum. It seems she had become a bit of an icon in Britain whereas in Australia they were nothing but a one hit wonder.

70. Daft Punk is Playing At My House by LCD Soundsystem 2005

Just one of those songs the family and I like to jump up and down to when we get in the mood to dance. Also since it's release it quickly found a regular spot on my Robtober party list. Robtober? Back in the mid 90's I used to have a birthday month. I'd start with a BBQ round my house close to my birthday. Then I'd organise a Robtober softball match. Usually anyone who was first base usually ended up in hospital. then on Cup Eve my friend Lisa Martini and I would throw a birthday party in a nightclub. The Bank, Motel, whatever Ding Dong used to be. The Russian Bar under the Prince of Wales. These parties were always in November.

Sadly with the coming of kids Robtober kind of died. No more Cup Eve parties. And when I throw a birthday party now I usually hold back until November when the weathers warmer. And sometimes we get a dance going. But a lot of parties nowadays is about catching up.
One year Ronnie Williams came over and got people dancing in the garage.
And I still make my mixtapes or playlists. And I still look forward to dancing to this song. and I wonder if I ever will.

69. Know Your Product by The Saints 1978

When this song came out it blew a hole in my idea of what punk was. I thought their first single Stranded was great but didn't care much for the album. Then they came out with One Perfect Day and this song. The horns, the ad-libs and the sheer power of the song blasting out of my speakers. It also pointed me back towards my soul past and the Northern soul discos I frequented a few years before. I was a punk who loved sixties music. This pointed me in a good direction.

 In 1978 I was living just up the road from the Tote in Collingwood in a share house with bars on the window . I had a back room with windows with bars on the window but at least it was upstairs. The Tote was just a pub then.
Summer was brilliant there. We'd sit on the balcony drinking beer and listening to 3RRR playing all the new wave songs. Wellington Street was close to a few pubs so there were always people walking up and down the street which gave it a kind of vibe. Playing loud New wave/punk music was just showing off really.

68. Telstar by The Tornadoes 1962

I keep trying to figure out which song first got to me and apart from Little White Bull by Tommy Steele which I'd rather forget this is the earliest song I can remember. I can't hear it now without thinking of all those Gerry Anderson shows that came before Thunderbirds in particular Fireball XL5 and Stingray. (Four Feathers Fall was a puppet western so it doesn't count.) I would watch these shows regulary on our black and white telly in the living room. One night a new show started that actually scared the crap out of me. Doctor Who! But the scariest was The Outer Limits especially one about the Zanti Misfits which was ants with alien heads.

Anyway Telstar still holds up today and is far from a novelty hit. Produced by Joe Meek and released in 1962 it is so modern in a sixties fashion. I recall seeing Models do covering this song and doing a bloody good job of it too.
As for Fireball XL5 it featured Venus. If one could have a crush on a puppet she would be the one!

67. Ranking Full Stop by The Beat 1979

In January 1980 my girlfriend and I hire a car and drive up to Edinburgh from Blackpool to check out Scotland. Driving through the moors on a cold winter night was quite scary and at times it felt we were on another planet. We finally got to our destination which was a little bed and breakfast.
Digging out the NME to check for bands we notice The Purple Hearts, one of the new mod bands were playing at a club called Clouds. So off we went into the cold of the city.
Inside I'm given a hard time for drinking half pints by the local Scots who find this slightly feminine. Luckily I put on the Australian and manoeuvre away from the danger.
The Purple Hearts are great and do their "hit" Millions Like Us twice but what impresses me is the DJ who doesn't just play between bands but is the support act and actually compliments the act. It was an idea I brought back to use at our Mod nights at the Market Hotel. No crappy support act just good tunes.
Anyway this is what got me up to dance that night. I loved the sound of The Beat. Of all the ska bands I thought they actually took ska music somewhere different in their sound. This was the b-side of Tears of a Clown. One night we were watching Top of The Pops on TV when The Beat came on, then Madness then The Specials. Magic!

66. Marjorine by Joe Cocker 1969

At the age of 15 I started noticing girls in a big way. My first crush was Bernadette from Box Hill South. Then I met a Bernadette from Nunawading South. She lived in the new developments there. Her dad was a teacher. He made homemade ginger beer that he stored under the house and it tasted heavenly. Bernadette and I didn’t go out together. I went round her place and played Canasta, a card game she introduced me to.  She only seemed to have one record “Cocker Happy” the best of Joe Cocker. I never liked Joe Cocker but some of the songs started to get to me. This one especially.

She knew I liked her. We kissed a couple of times but I think she just enjoyed having boys competing over her. On New Years Eve she came to the party hand in hand with some dude with black cords and a black linen shirt. My time was up.

65. Badge by Cream 1969

When I was fifteen years old I crossed to the other side of Middlesborough Road and mixed with the Box Hill South gang. It was the first bunch of kids I hung around with that were a little bit wild.  It was the first time I tasted beer without lemonade. And it was time for my first real crush. Her name was Bernadette. I thought she was gorgeous. Trouble is everybody else liked her too. She was very popular. And the other guys were much cooler than I was.

One day I got my chance though. I dropped into see her when she was babysitting. She put Cream’s Greatest Hits on the record player. And we fumbled around on the couch. Every time the kids ran in we would jump up. The record player was automatic so every time it reached the end it would start again. I listened to that Cream ( just the first side) record 3 times in a row. I didn’t want to get off the couch and I didn’t want her to go either. Now I can’t hear this song without thinking of fumbling around on a couch with young catholic girl from the other side of Middlesborough Road. Never really saw her again after that.

64. When You Dance I Can Really Love by Neil Young 1970

 

In 1976 I was at a Youth Camp up in  Beaufort Victoria staying in tents. My friend Alan had just been to Thailand and he brought back all of these cassette tapes that he got for like 20 cents each. He had a panel van in which he had actually built a cassette rack above the windscreen. After the Goldrush was one of the tapes he brought along and for three days it was all we played. Released six years earlier and being a cool record to sit at the front of your stereo it was it's availability on cassette that took it out of the bedroom and out to the country. The album was full of great songs that we would sit round the bonfire and listen to. We were used to Harvest but this was so much better.

It was this song that did it for me though. Maybe it was Neil just going I need a break from the folk singer bit lets strap on an electric guitar and rock a little while. And rock he did. It also kind of gave me permission to put the word  “dance “ in my songs without being trivial, A few years later I was introduced to him at the Jump Club in Collingwood. He was wearing platform thongs. A true individual.

63. Mermaids by Paul Weller 1997

After DJing at the Lizard Lounge a bunch of us would often go to the Marquee in South Melbourne to try and keep the night going. There were always queues outside but we managed to get VIP status and bypass the other punters. This was always impressive when taking a girl there. We’d dance and drink until the first rays of light peeked through the heavy set curtains. One night I followed the party over the West Gate Bridge to Newport had a few drinks and began talking rubbish miles from home. Sometimes you get so far way from where you want to be you just have to turn around and go back.

As the dawn turned to morning I was crossing the West Gate Bridge when Mermaids came on. I had the album for weeks but this was the first time this song had hit me. I was on the bridge in the early morning sun listening to Paul Weller. By the time I got to KFC I had to step outside the car light up a cigarette and listen again. It just felt so good!

62. Eleanor Rigby by The Beatles 1966

At the end of 1966 my family moved up to a migrant hostel in Sydney. It was close to lane Cove but that's all can remember other than instead of bags at school all the kids had little suitcases and instead of marbles they had these nail and wood creations where you actually gambled your marbles. There were willow trees to swing on and bees to avoid. And the summer went on forever.
Every hostel had a rec hall that blasted out pop music in the early evenings. One night they were showing a film outdoors opposite the rec hall with everyone on blankets waiting to watch Old Yeller (and I cried at the end). Before the film started this came on the speakers. It was like music from the gods. I had never heard anything like it before.

No guitars or drums and as it turned out not all The Beatles but a string quartet and some delicious harmonies from John and George. But I can still see myself standing in a car park on a hot Sydney night listening to this pop gem. 

61. Shipping Up to Boston by The Dropkick Murphys 2005

My daughter Ruby loves this song. Whenever it comes on the car stereo I know we’re going to have the best three minutes ever. It’s just a mad fantastic song that I’ll always associate with my youngest daughter. Shouting the lyrics which Ruby either thinks are funny or the mad screaming is. We never get sick of it and I hope we never do. Unfortunately in a few years from now she may forget so I will have to keep reminding her how good it is.

Recently the song was used in the film "The Departed" and from the opening few bars of the song you're into the drama and violence onscreen. Later I found out the lyrics are by Woody Guthrie. Anyway a great song.

60. Jungleland by Bruce Springsteen 1975

When I was at teacher’s college in the seventies once a week they would have a record stall set up in the hallways where they were sell American imports. Teachers college had a girl/ boy ratio of 15 to 1. One lunchtime a group of girls were poring over the cover of a new release. The artist was Bruce Springsteen. The album was Born to Run. The girls thought he was a sex god.

On Sunday nights there would be a radio show that just played album tracks. I would listen to the show religiously while doing homework or reading. But one night they played this amazing track that seemed to last forever but finished quickly. It put you right smack into the heart of New York. It was Jungleland from the Born To Run album. It changed the kind of music I wanted to listen to. I was trying to get into Bowie's white soul stage but it just wasn't working out and glam had faded away. This was just too good. It was the same time I was getting into Dylan so the two just came together. It was soon after this I wrote my first song.

59. Friday on My Mind by The Easybeats 1966

I arrived in Australia in 1965. My family four brothers and one sister lived in a 3 room Nissan Hut at the Nunawading Hostel. A Nissan Hut looks like half a tin can and was shared by two families. There were lots of kids there so it was a great time. We’d play roof tiggy at night and made samurai stars by day. Dress up like super heroes and look for snakes and lizards in the bushland. The walk from the hostel to school was through the bush.

I don’t know if I even heard this song there but I can’t hear an Easybeats song without being taken back to those days. The long summers and mixed lollies. What was a milk bar or a kiosk.? Every meal with hundreds of other families in a huge canteen. FJ Holdens and more. The Easybeats encapsulate Australia in the sixties.

Little Murders tried to cover this song in the 80’s but we couldn’t do it any justice so we played I’ll Make You Happy instead.

58. Penny on the Train Track by Ben Kweller 2006

I bought Ben Kweller’s first album because there was a bit of a vibe about him and most of it coming from Jack White of white Stripes if I recall. The CD was alright but not something that captured my CD player. Neither did the next album. But I bought it because my wife Liz really liked the first, while I couldn’t really be bothered with Mr. Kweller at all. But all the time he was creeping into my mind courtesy of Liz.

I’m watching an ad on TV for Ray Bans and I know the song but I can’t quite make out who it is, but loved the song. Ben Kweller. Eventually I started to like his music. Enough that when he came to play the corner I was willing to take Liz along. I wasn’t expecting much but it was great. I knew all the songs. Maybe I had been slowly brainwashed but it was just a fantastic concert full of great songs. This tune was the climax. The whole crowd joined in the chorus which went on forever.

I wait…I wait…for something good…. For something great!

Don't we all!

57. I Want You by Bob Dylan 1966

When I was first getting into Bob Dylan in around 1975 this was the song I initially got into. Maybe because it was it overtly pop. I was going out with a fellow student at Burwood Teacher’s College. Her name was Leonie. She lived in Balwyn North. I don’t think the Dad ever liked me and we were together for years. The first time I went to her place we were playing records in her living room and it was the first time I’d listened to a whole album of Bob Dylan. The album was his Greatest Hits with the dark blue cover and his silhouette on the cover. I was immediately converted. I didn’t realise how great the man was my initial knowledge of the man being Lay Lady lay and Knocking on Heaven’s Door which both were in the charts.

Leonie had a guitar and let me borrow it so I could have a go. I got an old songbook and learnt a few chords from that. Suddenly I was up and away and buying my own guitar.

I started buying up big starting with that album then Greatest Hits 3 which was a double. I bought his songbooks and learnt the whole eleven minutes of Desolation Row. I did forget the words sometimes though.

56. Garageland by The Clash 1977

Buying the first Clash album is one of the most exciting days of my life. (once upon a time records could do that) It was year zero and I knew The Clash even then would be the only band that matters We had heard about it, read about it and finally it was here. Every song was great and so many of these songs could of been written about here. But Garageland was almost my anthem and I love spitting out the lyrics as I drove around Nunawading in my Datsun Bluebird.

My mate Chris and I decided to make our own Clash T-shirts with house paint. Mine was White Riot and Chris painted London’s Burning. However he left off the “R” so it became London’s Buning. He still wore it once or twice though.

Later little Murders would cover the song on stage around 1981 and I thought we did a great version. Then later when I was playing solo gigs in 2002 I would play this song with just me and the Fender. I still try and get Little Murders to have a go at playing it live but the guys are on to me now and know that every once in a while when we talk about adding a cover I will push for this one. They just laugh me off! And guess what. We're still in garageland.

55. Don't Change by INXS 1982

 

When INXS first started having some minor hits in the early Eighties we played a few gigs with them. I never found them too impressive and couldn’t abide their ska covers. (they did Gangsters by The Specials) But they did have something which was that rock star charisma. One night we exchanged pleasantries on the stairs of Macys but I didn’t think they would go anywhere.

Then a few years later I was at The Venue chatting to Brian Mannix of Uncanny X-Men after a gig together when the DJ put this song on. Brian said in so many words that this was the moment when INXS learned to rock. And yes it was a great rock song. Totally exciting. Brilliant lead in and then BAM!

I think I was actually coerced into dancing to the song that night but of course it was after a gig and I was slightly drunk. The DJ that night ended up managing Little Murders for a few months.

54. Teenage Kicks by The Undertones 1978

 

1979 Blackpool England. Second day of my holiday and first mission was to find this single. I knew it well and loved it but the record collector in me wanted the original ep it came on. I started exploring the record shops and found shops loaded with goodies. Thousands of singles I had only read about. Picture sleeves. I spent hours going through the vinyl. I had to keep sending my girlfriend off to shop for clothes while I looked and looked. And there were plenty of shops like this over Blackpool. Posters of The Clash and Elvis Costello on the wall advertising gigs bus rides away.

I used to love browsing through the vinyl in record shops. A day out could be just looking for that rare piece of vinyl. Even with the coming of CDs it was still fun to pop down to the CD store to look for something new. In my head I would carry a wish list. Nowadays we have access to even the rarest of albums but it’s not that much fun anymore. You no longer claim a prize (opening the bag and playing the record)

I loved The Undertones and in interviews I would often push comparing Little Murders to them. They had a run of brilliant singles. This was only the first.

53. No Matter What by Badfinger 1970

 

In 1970 The Beatles broke up and the radio DJs kept going on about new (and old bands) having the Beatles sound. When Paul McCartney released Another Day the DJ played in twice in a row he was so excited. IN those days Djs controlled their own music. The Bee Gees released Lonely Days (just like the Beatles...I can’t hear it now!). Then there was this song. There is a Beatle’s feel to it. They were on Apple. Paul had written their first single and had a hand in their career. And it was bloody great. I never get sick of this song. Well written, well played and well recorded it’s got everything.

In the street I where I lived in Blackburn South there was a 3AK disc jockey. I used to play with his kids. The Edwins. He had thousands of records that we were allowed to take anytime we wanted. My record collection in 1970 exploded. However most of the stuff was records that were never hits or extremely naff hits. Little Arrows by Leapy Lee. God help us.

However 3AK used to run beach parties all through summer and we would often tag along. So I got to see the 3AK house band who that year were The Zoot promoting their hit Eleanor Rigby. I loved watching Rick Springfield spin his guitar and then toss it 2 or 3 meters in the air, catch it and go straight back into the song. Wow!

52. Heart like A Wheel by Kate & Anna McGarrigle 1975

This is one of my big break up songs. In the midst of some horrible break ups I have often turn this song. I don’t know why we make ourselves even sadder by playing these songs but maybe it’s because we can identify with someone else who’s written in moments of emotional pain. Waking up at 7pm in the morning pouring a glass of whisky in a freezing cold flat while this song plays.  Because she’s gone.

 Luckily the end of the world usually only lasts for a few days.

I first heard about this song when Billy Bragg mentioned it an interview. And then I read how the album is one of the big break up albums. If I go through break ups I have a tendency to walk and with the help of the walkman I had a soundtrack to my misery. A great record though.

51. I'm Eighteen by Alice Cooper 1970

In 1977, as punk rock was hitting Melbourne in its small and explosive manner I heard from Bruce Milne about a band called The Boys Next Door who were the real deal. These guys meant it and were destined to be the leading band on the scene. They were going to play a gig in a church hall somewhere in Mount Waverley and we just had to get there. There wasn’t a big audience and we recognised many of the faces there from places like the Tiger Room but when the Boys Next Door came on they just exploded. Mostly the work of the charismatic lead singer Nick Cave but the rest of the band were no slouches either with Mick Harvey particularly impressing with his lead/rhythm guitar. You just knew they were going to be the anointed ones. I saw many of their early shows and  my bands The Fiction and later Little Murders regularly supported them.

They also introduced me to this great Alice Cooper song. Released before his string of hits in the seventies it was a standout youth anthem. Johnny Rotten even mimed to it for his Sex Pistols audition. I dug out Alice Cooper’s greatest hits and found quite a few great songs I had missed.

50. Prefab Heart by The Reels 1979

One night Little Murders supported the Reels at the Jump Club in Fitzroy/Collingwood. The dressing room for the Jump Club was the old kitchen. The only time I think it was ever used as such would have been at our record launch when we served the guests sandwiches. In those days record launches were usually free events advertising a new record.

Anyway when we came off stage Dave Mason the lead singer of Reels was sitting high on the counter with legs crossed ready to offer his opinion. “You guys should cover “you’re All Woman” by Sherbet.” Thank You!

I really like The Reels especially the songwriting of Dave Mason. This is one of my favourites starting with the title itself. Prefab heart. There was a slow version they released on KTel a few years later which was just as good as this version.

I saw the band whenever they came to Melbourne. Each time I saw them they seemed to have one less member. I thought they would disappear. Then they did.

49. (the Angels wanna wear my) Red Shoes by Elvis Costello 1977

!977 and I’m sitting in the stalls at the Valhalla Cinema when it used to be in Richmond and in walks a guy in a long black overcoat and carrying under his arm an album, almost like a gangster would carry a machine gun. The record was “My Aim is True” by Elvis Costello. I could hardly stick around for the film when I knew that somewhere out there a record shop had the record.

The film over I set off in search of a record shop. Late at night I found a place that sold the latest imports. I got my Elvis Costello record. It was to stick on the turntable for the next 6 months by which time there was another Elvis album. This Years Model.

I was excited about Elvis Costello even before I heard him from reading about him in NME and an article written by Nick Kent. He wrote about 2 things : anger and revenge. He looked slightly ridiculous but also cool. Red Shoes was the only song I was remotely familiar. So it was my entry, my starting point. And it puts me back into the Valhalla and in the car looking for a late night record shop.

48. Alone with You by The Sunny Boys 1981

The first time I met the Sunny Boys they were destroying some old lockers at a railway station somewhere in Sydney. They strolled away from the party next door and started kicking the lockers. Two days later we were supporting them in some packed pub. I think it was the Mosman. We ended  up playing many supports to this great Australian band. And we got on really well with them. Jeremy Oxley was into jamming. I caught up with him one day and he promised he'd join us on stage that night at the Jump Club to play You Really Got Me. Half an hour after we had finished, lights were on and the audience had gone home Jeremy is in the dressing room (the kitchen) trying to pull the band on stage to jam. There was nothing up there by now. No amps. No guitars. Just Jeremy's enthusiasm to play. "let's put the stage back together!"
I loved the sound of the Sunny Boys.It reminded me of those sixties punk bands on the Nuggets double album. They were a guitar band in the midst of synthesisers and hair bands. These guys looked like their Mum cut their hair. They cared about music. Jeremy's guitar was one of the dirtiest I'd ever seen and the strings were way past their use by date but what a sound he coaxed out of it. Great band, great song.

47. Alive and Well by Paul Kelly and the Dots 1982

Somewhere around the early eighties there was a bit of to-ing and fro-ing between Paul Kelly and Little Murders. First we got the bass player Alan Brooker featured in the Alive and Well video. Then we ended up with the same manager. When the band started to fall apart in 84 and Paul went to Sydney he ended up taking our drummer Mick Barclay with him. Our new guitarist was Tim Brosnan the guitarist in the video and we also got his drummer Greg Martin too. Weird scenes in the goldmine but Melbourne is a small town. The band didn't work out. When Tim ripped off his shirt onstage at the Venue it was a bit much for a mod like me. Our new manager at the time also managed Uncanny X-Men and I remember he was a bit disappointed only 500 people came to the show. I'm glad he wasn't at our gig last week!.

I was a big fan of Paul Kelly at the time and I like his early albums too but especially this song. I think the reason I got Tim into the band was so I could not only cover Alive and  Well but have the original lead guitarist play the song.
After 3 gigs and and realising it wasn't much fun anymore I walked out on my band. But this song also takes me back to Mandy's house in Caulfield. And to The Armadale. And Hey Hey it' Saturday..morning!

46. Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash 1963

I think as one gets older one becomes more in tune with Johnny Cash. He was like a mountain that you knew one day you just had to climb. I of course got off to a bad start because the first time I ever heard him it was the dreadful “Boy Called Sue”. And amongst the glam rockers and sensitive songwriters Johnny Cash didn’t get a look in.

Then I heard this song. I knew the Animals version which I loved but this was different faster and had those great Mariachi trumpets. In the late seventies there seemed to be a constant search for “original” music as opposed to a lot of bands that were covering old songs. We were always trying to find who did the first version. So for Tainted Love by Soft Cell we would be playing Gloria Jones original Northern Soul blockbuster.

In Ring of Fire the lyrics talk about the torture of loving but the music rolls around like a drunken dancer at a wedding party. Nothing like it, depressing lyrics versus happy melody equals great singalong. And the horns. Everytime I work on a new album I dream of putting those kind of horns on.

45. Blue Boy by Orange Juice 1980

My mate Jimmy gave me an Orange Juice single. Not one of my favourite tracks it ended up the pile to sell . (Unfortunately I’ve gone back and bought back a lot of those albums and singles in the intervening years). Jimmy came round one night and saw the single in that pile and scribbled on the picture sleeve  “never sell this you bastard…James”. So now I couldn’t sell it.

A few years later I was managing the band Captain Cocoa (who featured a young Dave O’Neil of comedy fame) The band who were big Orange Juice fans saw the single and got very excited to see it signed in such a familiar way by James (James Kirk being the OJ’s lead guitarist). So I told them of my trip to Scotland and how I met up with the guitarist etc. Better story all round. I can’t remember if I ever owned up.

Orange Juice were another of the bands I collected all their work. Blue Boy was the first single and it knocked me sideways. They followed it up a couple more singles on Postcard Records. And then an album “You Can’t hide Your Love Forever” then I lost interest. But I still love those first recordings. They just seem independently magical.

44. Ask by The Smiths 1986

One of one my favourite songs from one of my favourite bands. I find The Smiths never date and probably that's why they are never tied to some of the awful stuff that came out of the Eighties. (saying that I can name lots of great songs from that period) This song always makes me feel good and in the past as given me confidence to do things I might have been afraid to do. Like a certain song in the car can make you drive faster. Or to get ready for a party you play some bangin' tunes. The words in this song said simply 'Ask

There was a dancer I used to admire from afar at the Shout nightclub. One night she turned up at The Beehive where I was DJing. I guess because I had admired her while on stage (well a rostrum actually) I guess I was a bit shy to chat to her. So I put this on and it gave me the kick to start talking to her. Eventually I drove her home and we started seeing each other for a little while. And then I went to England and we lost touch.  But if I ever feel a little afraid of taking the leap I think of that line."Shyness can stop you From doing all the things in life You'd like to". Works for me.

43. I Wanna Be Free by The Monkees 1966

I wouldn't want to listen to this song ever again. There are many many other Monkees songs I love and I'm going to add a few to the list in the future but this song is part of me for 3 reasons.
It was the first single I ever bought. In Grade 6 I had some money to go and buy a single. So I rode up to Box Hill Shopping Centre and went to my Record Store to purchase a record even I'm too scared to mention here. (It was a novelty song). Anyway they didn't have it but they did have a Monkees single and I loved the Monkees. So I bought this. But when I played it on my brother Tony's record player it wasn't a very exciting moment.
So I kind of forgot about it until I was 16 when I was kind of going out with a girl called Gwenda. I say kind of because I thought we were and she didn't think we were. Anyway she gave me a letter one day and the lyrics to this song were written on it. I got the message!

A little bit later I started playing guitar and came across this song in a songbook and I saw that the chords were easy to play. So I also practised guitar to this song. When I formed The Fiction in 1977 and we were looking for covers to I thought of this song. I Wanna Be Free as a title fitted in with the current punk ethics. And it was dead easy to play. (Although I never played guitar in The Fiction). So we played it like we'd imagine The Saints doing it. We only played it once though. Then I forgot about it. Until now.

42. Downtrain Train by Tom Waits 1985

Around 1985 I used to DJ at a club called Barbarella's in Smith Street Collingwood (opposite the legendary Jump Club)It was one of the first clubs in Melbourne to play just about anything at all and from day one it was packed and happening. At the same time I was listening a lot to Tom Waits "Raindogs" album. So while we setting up before opening the doors I would play Tom. Throughout the night I would pass bar staff and start sing "For I am a raindog too!!!!"  Because the club went to around 5 in the morning and we would often go and get some breakfast I would miss the all night videos on the TV so I got into the habit of recording them and skimming through after I woke up on Sunday afternoon. The video for Downtrain train was like a mini movie. I must have watched it so many times I couldn't get enough of it. The album also came with a bunch of mini clips where Tom rattled on about subjects from the album. Magic.
The lyrics take you straight into Tom's world.

Outside another yellow moon
punched a hole in the nighttime, yes
I climb through the window and down the street
shining like a new dime

41. Don't You Want Me by Human League 1981

I was teaching in Yarraville in the early eighties when I first heard this song. This record just screamed out hit long before it came out as a single. The album "Dare" was great and absolutely pop. From the opening "these are Things that dreams are made of" with it's Norman Wisdom and Ramones references.
I loved the beat. There was a push in schools at the time to get the kids dancing for exercise. Everyone was getting on board and we were given handouts for healthy dancing. There was a dance called the Monkey which was basically up and down movements rather than some distant primates. This song matched it brilliantly. So for a week we danced the Monkey to the Human league.
Of course it went on to be a number one smash all over the world and propelled the Dare album to the top of the charts. The song is a duet too which is always great when it works. plus it had a fantastic film clip.
The Human league never got over Dare except for a few hit singles. And when they came to Australia Phil Oakey had got rid of his distinctive hairstyle. But this is one of the best singles of electro pop.

40. Portions For Foxes by Rilo Kiley 2004

I think I first heard about Rilo Kiley reading an Elvis Costello article where he praised them. Then I read about them in Mojo magazine and they sounded interesting enough for me to go out and buy their CD. The trouble is once I head them I was hooked. Rilo Kiley was one of those bands I had to go looking for all their earlier stuff because they really got to me. And what a wealth of material they have. But when I talk about them to people they've got no idea who they are.
No hit singles or hit albums. Never toured Australia. Hardly played on the radio. The only videos I could find were live performances so you won't see them on Video Hits or even Rage. But they are a fantastic band. i don't want to keep them a secret. I play this song and it's accompanying album to as many people as I can.
A few people heard this song because it was on a few TV shows. It's witty and clever and just so bloody good.

39. I'm Stranded by The Saints 1977

I first heard The Saints just outside the Balwyn Swimming pool in 77. The DJ was talking about an Australian band which had been picked up by EMI UK as punk band. I pulled the car over to listen. The record was Stranded and it was brilliant.

We heard they were going to play a short tour of Melbourne before leaving for England. So we went to see them at Martinis in Carlton which was kind of  a hotel/ pizza parlour that had bands on. There was only about 15 people there. The only person I recognised was David Pepperoll who owned Archie and Jughead’s Record Shop  which later became Missing Link.

When the Saints came on Chris Bailey refused to go anywhere near the front of the stage preferring to keep himself behind the huge PA speakers. The sound was great but of course there was not much action onstage. Pepperoll kept calling out for Chris Bailey to come out. He never did.

After the show the band talked to us. They made it plain that they couldn’t wait to get out of this country.

38. Song To Siren by This Mortal Coil 1983

In the Eighties I was at the movies in London waiting for a movie to come on and the ads to finish when this song came on. It was an ad for a beach resort or island getaway. Basically it was girl drifting through sparkling waters. It was very beautiful. In an ad way It didn’t make me want to go away to an island in the sun but it did me want to chase down the song that soundtracked this paradise. There was no Google then so it was a matter of looking around and asking around.

The song seemed familiar. It turns out I had a version by the writer Tim Buckley in my record collection. It was however on the Starsailor album which I couldn’t stand and just hadn’t got round to selling. The voice was also familiar and it turns out that it was Liz Frazer, the lead singer of Cocteau Twins.

I managed to get the album and it became a mainstay of my top floor flat in Elwood in the Eighties. Nowadays I can’t remember much about the album but I always come back to this song. It just takes me away to another place. And it tells a story too. Of the sirens that called sailors to their deaths on the rocks. Or something like that.

37. Eloise by Barry Ryan 1968

When I was living in Blackburn South in the early seventies and i couldn’t afford to buy singles (sometime’s my Mum would bring me home an album-the first album I got was Abbey Road..I came home from school and it was lying on my bed..but I digress) If I wanted to hear a single in 1970 I would have to wait for it to come on the radio. Luckily popular songs came on the radio every few hours. My other option was to borrow the single from a friend. Or make friends with kids that had the record.

I can’t remember what his name was. I remember he lived on Middlesborough Road Box Hill North. He had a concrete backyard where we played cricket. And he had a record player in his room on which he played Eloise by the Barry Ryan. I loved  the whole drama of the song   The orchestra. The slow parts and fast parts. Very filmic. Nice guy too! he let me borrow it for a week.

Later the song was covered by The Damned and that was a good version too. We used to get people dancing to that in the Eighties. A bit goth however.

36. Time to Pretend by MGMT 2008

This is one those songs that seems to reflect the moment you’re in. In a happy mood you can sing along to it. It’s got a great drum beat so you can move to it. But it’s lyrics are very poignant with layers of meanings. A young musician off to make it in the pop world. Or someone who’s being doing it a while and maybe they’re just kidding themselves. Or maybe just the whole story. The lyrics also take you into the trash aesthetics of the pop world and nostalgia for a time gone.

I loved this song since I first heard it but it was when it was used in the last few minutes of the second series of “Skins” as the big finale number that it got stuck in my mind. It’s one of those songs that seems perfect to drive to work to. Although when I think of this song from 2009 I see myself sitting at the railway crossing about half a kilometre from where I live. Travelling to work I've been stuck at these light for ages. I need songs like these to carry me forward. You can forget where you’re going and put yourself in another place. Paris, New York. In the end you still end up outside your place of work though.

35. Walking On The Moon by The Police 1979

Not a Xmas song but I will always relate this to the snow and the cold. Christmas 79 I was in Blackpool England staying at my brother’s house and this song seemed to be on the radio constantly. It was number one. It was the sound which kind of summed up the weather. Walking the frozen streets it just seemed to be the soundtrack to those few short weeks in Blackpool.

I first came across the Police in Readings bookstore in Carlton when I saw their first album on sale second hand. Still in the mode where I bought anything that looked remotely New Wave I bought it. Before that I didn’t know much about but the album contained a clutch of brilliant singles and what I could only think they made up in the studio. But I do have a soft spot for the Police. I especially like Stewart Copeland’s drumming. And all the space in their songs. And they have a greatest hits CD loaded with top tunes.

 

34. I know I’m Losing You by Rod Stewart 1971

At a youth camp in 1975 I performed two songs. The first “All The Young Dudes” I’ve already mentioned . The other song we mimed to was I know I’m Losing You by Rod Stewart of his Every Picture tells a Story album. A great album full of top songs this just being one of them but in a way it was my introduction to soul music

I like bands doing covers because it can lead you some interesting places you might not have gone to. Of course I knew the big soul hits but this was a cover of a song I’d never heard. I followed it up and came home with a double album of soul. After that I went through a period of listening to nothing else. Then at the end of Year 12 I went with my Mum and sister back to Blackpool on a holiday.

While I was there I went clubbing with my cousin and one of those places was the Blackpool Mecca. So I got my introduction to Northern Soul watching guys throw talcum powder on the floor and do high kicks or swivel in circles. Amazing stuff! Then there was the records they played which were familiar and different, a cross between soul and Motown featuring artists I’d never heard of.

For a while there Rod was the coolest pop star out there. Then he made an Atlantic Crossing, met Britt and that was that. However I saw him 83 and it was one of the best concerts I’d ever been to.

33. A New England by Billy Bragg 1983

The first time I heard this we were driving down Toorak road about to turn into St. Kilda Road. One of those songs you remember the first time you hear cos it knocks you off your feet. (luckily I was sitting down) At first I thought it was Paul Weller playing solo. But I soon caught on that this was something different. We got tickets to see him at the National Theatre in St. Kilda and he was simply great. One man, one electric guitar. A no smoking venue my mate Jimmy lit up a cigarette and nearly got us thrown out.

For his second tour I missed out on tickets so I drove up to Sydney where my girlfriend and I were promised names on the door from a radio acquaintance. Full House and no names but I managed to blag our way in. This time he was twice as good.

For a while in the 90's and early 2000's I tried to emulate Billy. Doing solo gigs with just me and a Telecaster. Putting on more of an English accent than was ever thought possible. The b-side of Little Murders single Andy Warhol is 4 solo tracks in a Billy Bragg style.
Unfortunately I've seen him a few too many times now and I much prefer him with just a guitar and not the band thing. I did meet him once. At Inflation nightclub after one of his early gigs in Melbourne. What did I say to him? "Excuse me!". He was in the doorway. I had to get past. I couldn't come up with a witty line.

32. Anarchy in the UK by The Sex Pistols 1976

In 77 me and Chris Hunter would spend time visiting Janet Planet in God Knows where but I think it might have been Glen Iris. I don’t know how Chris knew her but she wrote for a fanzine called Pulp (run by Bruce Milne) she knew the Boys Next Door and she had a copy of Anarchy in The UK. I had to meet her because all I heard of the song was 20 seconds on Current Affair when they reported on the outrageous state of affairs in London. When we got there Anarchy was sitting on the mantelpiece. I tried to be cool but inside I was so excited about getting to hear this record in full. Mick Harvey from the Boys Next Door was there. We couldn’t believe it when he told us he was taking guitar lessons. We were punks now and learning basic skills seemed a no no! We were a bit naive.

We both lived at home. These people lived on their own. In a house. With future rock stars popping in. With the latest records from the UK. Too cool!
I had to wait for the album to come out before I could enjoy it properly. I bought it one lunchtime on the day it came out and played it in an empty classroom at the teacher’s college. The album was never going to live up to the hype but it was still bloody good if a bit slow compared to the bands we were listening to. The opening chords are a real call to arms for this short lived revolution. And what a film clip. Johnny Rotten is behind the drums! I saw their re-union shows at the Palace in St. Kilda in the 90’s. Brilliant!

31. Making Plans For Nigel by XTC 1979

Not my favourite XTC song but when I hear the song I’m always transported back to the Crystal Ballroom 79/80. As you walked through the door on the right hand side there was a giant video screen. Every time I walked past it, it seemed to be playing this song. Even when they moved the screen to other parts this song seemed to pop up. I guess they may have had one video tape.

Drums and Wires the album this song came from was when I really started to get into XTC. There’s something so English and eccentric about them (well Andy partridge) and their musical output as remained consistent to this day. This song was written by Colin Moulding who wrote about a third of their albums.

I spent a lot of time at the Ballroom starting in 78 with my band the Fiction right through 82 and the end of it’s heyday as a live venue. The first time we played there was on a Saturday afternoon supporting Two way Garden. The sun through the windows illuminated the whole room in a seaside glow. There wasn’t many people there and guitar and drum cases seemed to be scattered around the room as if we were all just using it as a rehearsal space. It was The Fiction’s second gig . It was magic.

30. Someone I Care About by The Modern Lovers 1976

These songs are not in order otherwise this would be in the top 10. I first heard the Modern Lovers when I went round to Bruce Milne's place. the punk scene in Melbourne was very small and he was trying to push the movement along. One night he played The Modern Lovers album. He was the most brilliant thing I'd ever heard. And when this song came on a shiver ran through me. The quite bit and.....

Alright, listen to this now
Picture this: I'm walking with my girlfriend
28 misguided souls combine say: "We're moving in!"
There's a certain kind of girl
That you care about so much
You say: "I don't care what you guys do to me
But her, don't touch!"
 possibly the best lyric ever written! Just reading the lyrics makes me want to go and play it loud. Bruce had told me how this record got him and a friend (Graeme Pitt who played bass on the night of the Fiction's debut at Bernhardts) through a time when they both broken up with their girlfriends. For me it was just euphoric. I liked the fast rock and roll songs. This and "She Cracked". It was the coolest thing ever. Punk bands like JAB did songs like Roadrunner and Hospital. The world was ready for the Modern Lovers. Jonathon Richman is a genius.

29. Personality Crisis by New York Dolls 1973

In 77 I was in a dismal coffee shop/pizza parlour band called Subway. We played my songs but they were mostly dirges and lent towards Dylan. Driving home from a gig by Bleeding Hearts at the Tiger Lounge in 77 I was with the drummer Vic and we pulled up alongside another car when the passenger yelled out "Are you in a band?" "What kind of music do you play?"
I answered New York Dolls. We didn't play that stuff but I listened to it and I was ready to make a leap into the kind of scene happening in the UK. As coincidence would gave it the guy in the other car was Bruce Milne (founder of Au Go Go records) A few weeks later an ad appeared in the Swinburne Newspaper asking if Subway really existed could they contact Bruce. So I sacked my girlfriend who sang with us and Subway was now a punk band. We only played one gig as a punk band. Someones party in Hawthorn where we cleared the room in one minute. The bass player didn't even bother to turn up. I rang Bruce up which lead to meeting other people in the scene, changing the band name to The Fiction and being on Au Go Go Records
Personality Crisis was the first track on the New York dolls album. I bought the album during the Brashes sales, like a lot of my albums. I bought it because Bowie had said good words about them in an interview. Then I read the NME article by Nick Kent. Later I would see Radio Birdman perform the song at the Tiger Room. A wild start to an album , it completely sets out their territory.

28. All The Young Dudes by Mott The Hoople 1972

Ian Hunter is one of my heroes. When I had lots of hair I could make it look like his. I loved the way he sang and have often tried to copy his style. I already knew about by the single before I heard it because Bowie had written the song and given it to Mott The Hoople to stop them breaking up. And what a song it was. It instantly became a glam rock anthem. I wondered why Bowie had given away such a brilliant song. I guess he wondered to because he's been pushing it in concerts ever since.

All The Young Dudes was the first song I kind of performed on stage. I was at a christian youth camp ( a brief fling with religion) and me and my friends under the name of Flashco mimed to this song. I was lead singer with full glam regalia including those little star stickers on my cheeks and felt tip eyeliner. I even moved through the audience. Some of my fellow campers thought I was actually singing. I guess it was the start of the rock and roll bug.