144. Hello Hello I'm Back Again by Gary Glitter 1973

Despite all that came later ( I don't want to even think about it) in the early 70s Gary Glitter was king of the radio. Terribly naff looking in his silver foil costumes and obviously way over the age of his teenybop audience nevertheless is music had an impact. His version of glam was like a twin drum machine.
I first heard this on my little tranny I used to have attached to my bicycle as I did my chemist rounds. Gary Gliiter's records always sounded brilliant on little speakers. they had crunch! A couple of nights later I saw it on GTK which often featured film clips of pop groups from England. Later I would buy the song on a 4 track EP best of as a present for my girlfriend Lynne Wilson. At the time I thought it was quite special to give some one a record especially since in those days you couldn't record it first. Luckily she was into pop music too.
years later after his career as a pop artist had finished he came to Melbourne to play places like Melbourne Uni and Chasers. Really it was one of the best gigs ever. All the Melbourne musicians were there. Even the coolest ones. Gary's voice wasn't working so the whole crowd sang the songs for him it was amazing. Incredibly communal.
As I referred to before it's a great pity that his escapades of the last few years have tainted all that magic he created back in the 70s.

143. Glad Girls by Guided by Voices 1999

One of my favourite GBV tracks and one that was well played when I lived in Elwood. There was lots of sunlight in the back room of Elwood and this is really a sunshine song. Fell in love with the vaguely obtuse lyrics and started looking for more of the same stuff in record shops. Eventually picked up quite a lot of Guided By Voices records. Some great and some incredibly lo-fi. But always interesting. I always though GBV were quite power pop and I must say when writing the new album they were a big influence both in their sound and lyric writing.
this song I can't enough of. And it's got a great film clip to go along with it. But what was is he singing about? Which leaves an opening for all kinds of interpretations. And that's the kind of writing I like. Songs should mean different things to different people. I like the imagery and I kinds cribbed a bit of this song on my song Pretty penny. "I can see the light behind you!" is a bit of a homage to Robert pollard singing "The light that passes through me"

142. I Melt With You by Modern English 1982

In the mid Eighties I DJed at a place called The Beehive in Punt Road in Richmond. Started by Ronnie and Michael as a kind of follow up to Barbarellas it lasted about 6 months there before moving to the Carron Tavern in West Melbourne. Despite great numbers the pub owner thought he could run it himself and keep  all the money. On the Indie circuit of clubs this was a common occurrence. 

Anyway the move didn't hurt much and although the crowds weren't as big it still did well. One of my favourite tracks from the Beehive days was this track by Modern English. I never bought their albums. This was the only track of theirs I ever heard. And I loved it. I played this single to death. Unfortunately my exuberance for the song meant one night somebody asked to borrow it for one week. And that was the last I saw of it. The borrower was a bouncer who managed to quit that week. I still miss that single! When I picked up the song on a MTV CD compilation a few years later it was not the same version. They had re-recorded it and that version is the one that always turns up. I still haven't found it so maybe today I'll start looking again.
The Beehive lasted a few years but Ronnie and Michael were always trying to move out of their on Saturdays. So they opened KAOS which didn't take off. They gave the Beehive away so with the end of KAOS I was without a DJ gig on Saturdays. Then I got an offer to start my own club at the Union Hotel in Chapel Street. The Lizard lounge.

141. Danny Says by The Ramones 1980

When Little Murders were about to record She lets Me Know we had a few planning meetings around at Stuart Beatty's house in St. Kilda to reference the song. Stuart had just joined the band after being the producer of our first 2 singles. He played a number of tracks. This was one of them. I already had the record but had never listened as intently as we did that night. "Wait for the guitars to come in!" Stuart had a great sound system and lots of records. Every record had its own plastic bag with the opening facing inwards. He really looked after his records. "This is what we're aiming for" The making of She lets me Know was going to end up being a long long process that would test the patience of everyone involved.
The house in St. Kilda was referred to on the first single "Things Will Be different" as the Cathouse because Stuart and his partner Rosslyn had so many cats. Big beautiful cats that roamed the house as we worked on our recording which took place on the first record in the bathroom ( to get the correct echo!)
She lets me Know would be recorded at Richmond recorders.
Danny says was a great song that was a constant on my mixtapes. Like a lot of my favourite songs, I associate it with summer as I do with most Ramones songs. In the end, we only covered one Ramones song. Here Today Gone tomorrow

140. Tomorrow's Tears by The Riptides 1980

I first saw the Riptides at the Crystal Ballroom must of been early 1980. They were a revelation. We went on to play a number of shows with them both here and in Sydney developing a friendship with Mark Callaghan and the band. they were such a fantastic band live and on record and in a perfect world would have been huge. They even got on to Countdown! They looked great in that mod sixties surf casual way. And that sound was just made for dancing. After hearing them I went off and wrote a few Riptides sounding songs..well in my mind! That little bit of ska he added to power pop had a big influence on me.
I bought the single at missing link records. Didn't stop playing it for months and would always sneak it in to my DJ sets. It's such a summer record!
Actually a few months earlier I had searched in vain for their Sunset Strip single when they were known as the Numbers.
above me as I write this is a poster for when we supported the Riptides at the Bayview tavern in Sydney. In much bigger writing below is Outline. When we went for an audition for EMI Records they were the band that got signed. That was Australia in the early 80s. A lot of great power pop bands never got a chance to show what they could really do.
The Riptides never even got to release a proper album in their time. A pity. we had to wait another 10 years for that.

139. The Cowboy Song By Thin Lizzy 1978

In 1978 I was living in Oakleigh in a share house. One of the guys was a heir to the Myer fortune who was well into hippy living and Bob Dylan. His girlfriend was the heaviest walker known to man. The house shook as she walked. The other was a cynic into Van Morrison. I was into punk and had my own entrance on the other side of the house. I was really busy reinventing myself following Year Zero.
One day I got a package in the post. My cousin Neil sent me a cassette he'd recorded as a kind of audio letter. His favourite band the Status Quo were on there but there was a lot of tracks from Thin Lizzy and their Live and Dangerous album. My perceptions of Thin Lizzy disappeared when I heard some of the incredible songs on the tape. Despite my punk devotion I actively seeked out the album just to get a copy of this song.
What I really liked was the descending notes on the guitar as the song begins to rock out after the slow "western" start. I'd drive around in my Datsun Bluebird listening to this song over and over.
A few weeks later I found a copy of the studio album it was on in my record collection. I'd bought at a Brashes sail but never listened to it. But the live versions were just so good. Probably the best live album ever.
I only lasted about 8 months in Oakleigh then we all moved to Wellington street Collingwood.

138.A Million Miles by The Wedding Present 1987

1987. With the Smiths breaking up in August of 87 luckily we had a band that seemed to be cut from a similar if  a rougher stone.  The first thing I noticed about the Wedding present was the song titles which were like lines Morrisey might have used in his songs. Their lyrics were self depreciating. funny , insightful and had great melodies. The sound was lo fi and indie probably due to a non existent budget to make their album. But hell they had George Best on the cover.
I bought the record in some record shop in Hawthorn. The cover really did sell to me. And I wasn't enamoured at first until it got to this song. This was the tune that opened the door and allowed me into the Weddoes world. The line that sold me was "You're Not Like Anyone I've ever Met Before" It made me want to go out and meet someone and fall head over heels. For the next few months I would be playing this album regularly in my Meredith Street Flat. I even tried writing songs in it's style. some times I still try to emulate Gedge's style. And then I would have a go at the wild guitar strumming style.
I never got to play these songs at any of the places I DJed but I was always thrilled when a braver soul than I would play these songs at Indie Nightclubs.

137. Search And Destroy by Iggy and The Stooges 1973

I was at a party in St. Kilda 1997. It was the house where the Negatives lived and rehearsed. Me and Chris turned up too early for the party and when we looked through the window we could see all these great guitars and amps in full view as if the band had just spirited away mid song. So we went down the pub and came back four hours later. Gary Grey the lead singer was holding court on his views of Jim Morrison. He was the greatest front man ever!  But Iggy Pop someone else argued.. a singer who had almost replaced Jim  and hadn't been heard of for years..he was the greatest rock singer and he was coming back...
and he did. A lot of discussions went back and forth about the merits of Jim and James. Suddenly everyone was getting into Iggy. The Pistols, Radio Birdman and the Damned covered his songs. the records started turning up at parties like rock and roll gatecrashers. He was the real godfather of punk rock.
One night I came off stage while playing with The Fiction and and a guy came up to my face..and i mean right up to my face and said "Play Search and Destroy" spraying spittle as he spoke. Chris was standing beside me at the time and it became a standing joke to walk up to people and say the line. We found it funny at the time. I don't know why but it amused us.
Search and Destroy is a classic song. with a great tag. I am the world's forgotten boy ...... he wasn't forgotten for too much longer.

136. Instant Karma by John Lennon 1970

John Lennon was my first musical hero. Becoming one of the record buying public as the Beatles were splitting up it seems one had to choose sides and really between John and Paul there was no choice. John was cooler, wrote better lyrics and captured that Northern cynicism I was so used to. Because of my tendency to be alone when listening to music and so Mum could watch the telly in peace I ended up with the spare room as a record listening room. All my brothers had left home to get married so there was plenty of space. I had a divan, a record player and some Xmas fairy lights. I also had one huge poster on the wall of John Lennon from the film "How I won the War". Minimalist decor with a touch of incense. how could girls resist. But they did. Only one girl ever went in there. Lynne Wilson. And she was in there for no more than 3 minutes.

John Lennon was top of my celebrity charts (yep I used to keep charts of my favourite artists month by month) but was knocked off by David Bowie in the end. Marc Bolan and Rod Stewart also gave him a run for his money. John's albums got progressively worse and he seemed to lose relevance. He had some good songs on his LP s but I can't say I loved any of his albums after Imagine.

And then some bastard shot him. I went to the mourning service in the city square. It was devastating. Still is really. 

135. My Sharona by The Knack 1979

1979 and I'm about to release the first single by Little Murders. I'm also working at a school in Abbotsford which has since shut down. On the first day of school instead of the bell, they played a record over the speakers. They had a turntable in a little alcove next to the office. The kids lined up to pop records. Nowadays every school I go to does it but it was something totally new back then. And the big song while I was there was The Knack and My Sharona. God, we loved this song when it came out. A truly thrilling piece of power pop. The trouble of course was that it wouldn't go away. It stayed on the top of the charts for what seemed like months. There was no escaping it.  I bought their album and there were a few good songs on it. But that song just got too big and they would have to live under its shadow forever,
Later when Things Will Be Different came out I got them to play it to bring the kids in. There was a special announcement at the assembly. No matter how much I wished my song didn't get as big My Sharona. By quite a few million. Then again. I've never had to worry about a follow-up.
I played this song to my kids a few years back. They thought it was brilliant. Listening to it far removed from its time it really is a brilliant song.

134. Jailbreak by ACDC 1976

1976. Despite all the rubbish that was played on it every Sunday night everyone I knew sat down and watched Countdown. Often eating some kind of takeaway dinner at the same time. The horrible acts stick in the mind. Mother Goose anyone? However now and again there would be something special that would liven up the whole show and make you realise that amongst all the dross in the world of music one song can make it all worth it. Jailbreak was actually made by the Countdown team and showed Bon Scott, Angus Young et al escaping from some rock quarry in Footscray. The riff is simple and immediate but remains timeless. it could be a relation to Them's Gloria but all in all it is definitely ACDC. A formula they never stopped using.

You might deride the simplicity but it doesn't take much more than an electric guitar and a thirty watt amp to start playing ACDC riffs. 

Through all of punk and whatever came next we kept on watching Countdown. waiting for the Sex pistols, The saints or David Bowie. One good clip could make a show. What else could we do. There was really nothing else.

133. Fox On The Run by Manfred Mann 1969

Summer 1969 and school was about to finish. Box Hill High were having one of their regular free dress days. The times being as they were once the uniforms were off the whole school became relaxed. Radios were turned up and the lines were just a little less straight. That morning I had heard the best song ever. Well since the last one and until the next one. I was busy extolling the virtues of the said song standing out the front of the school facing the busy Whitehorse Road when from the art room window came blasting the song of the day. Fox On The Run by Manfredd Mann

I couldn't help but sing along. And it was such a great song to sing along to. Despite my friends looks of disdain. Hey I was in the choir in Form 1, how bad could I be?

There was a film clip that accompanied the song full of long haired girls in flowing dresses walking beside glistening lakes in black and white parklands. It was something they showed on the Saturday morning pop shows I watched religiously. I don't think it was an official video cos the band wasn't in it. Just the park, the river and beautiful long haired girls. I wanted to be there. Not hippy but very groovy sixties which truth be told was probably the early seventies because that's when it really took off.

132. Ballroom Blitz by Sweet 1973

In 1974 me and a group of friends got our selves tickets to see The Sweet at Festival Hall. This was their first time in Australia and they were still having hits however they had started talking about moving away from their Chinn-Chapman puppet masters/songwriters and doing their own thing. So what we got was one very loud and I mean ear splitting band play sub metal rock and roll without any hint of subtlety. At the start of the gig there was an announcement that Brian Connolly was very sick so he wouldn't be appearing all night (so he just sang the hits)

In those days a you get passouts so regularly through the show we went out to Pete's car and slugged on a whisky bottle. And that's all I remember the whisky and the pure noise of The Sweet.

But nothing can take away from this record. It was just so exciting. Of course my school mates hated it but now I had a bunch of friends who weren't so close minded. Sweet singles are all glorious glam trash but magnificent at the same time. That this song was also loved by punks a few years later (covered by The Rezillos and others) speaks loads. It's just a damn good record!

131. Initials BB by Serge Gainsbourg 1967

There's a Russian Vodka bar under the Prince Of Wales in St. Kilda called Mink. It was here Lisa and I threw the last of our big birthday parties in 1999. We had been there the year before and thought it was a cool place to do it all over again. This was the first time we had repeated ourselves so it was probably a bad omen. Liz and I now had a child Melody so Liz couldn't make it. I was wearing some crappy shoes. Lisa went home before the night even finished.

Yes the crowd was big and many people came down after Echo and The Bunnymen had finished their set upstairs. But it didn't feel the same. Dan and I DJed the night away. I was going through a Serge Francophile stage at the time and I played Gainsbourg's Initials BB. Peirre Baroni came over and said that was the best record you've played all night. And it probably was! The film clip for this record where he just smokes as he delivers the lyrics in his nonchalant way sums up how cool this guy was. 

I got into Serge through Mick Harvey's cover album. Once I heard the real stuff there was no turning back. I started grabbing as much of it as I could. Yeah some of it was rubbish but when he was good , he was real good. It also lead me to the YA Ya girls, those French female pop singers of the sixties. Like all French music you have to pick your way through the debris. Cos when it's bad it's real bad!

130. Change by Killing Joke 1980

1980. In my small flat in Fitzroy north I'm in the bedroom putting stuff away when i hear my girlfriend Ange putting on records. which is odd because i usually do all the record playing in this relationship. Anyway each song she puts on is like something I've never heard before which is a bit disconcerting because I pride myself in knowing my record collection inside and out. I walk out to the living and she doesn't look happy. maybe we had an argument that morning but I can't remember.
"What are you playing? " I ask.
"You buy all these records and you never listen to them!"
Angela had been playing the b-sides of all my singles to make a point about my habit of buying so many records. She was right. In some ways. Often b-sides were just that, b-sides. But then she put on Change by Killing Joke. This was a record I bought just for the b-side. Never a fan of the killing joke i had heard this played on RRR and thought it amazing. Actually her action got to me to check out a lot of b-sides after she went home. So it all turned out good. Though the pickings were slim.
later I would play this song at Barbarellas. Until one day it disappeared along with a whole box of singles I accidentally left at the front door of Barbarellas. some one nicked it. I was devastated and it took me a long time and the advent of mp3s to get myself another copy. I sounds as fresh today as it did then. Killer!

129. Double Barrel by Dave and Ansell Collins 1972

1972. Across Middlesborough Road from where i lived in Blackburn south was a small shopping strip which we used to hang around in. There was a fish and chip shop where we buy potato cakes and chips for about 20 cents the lot. we'd sit in the sunshine chatting up the girls and sharing our food. you could hear the radio blasting from the shop. One afternoon this song came on. I'd never heard anything like it it but it was mesmerizing. I wasn't even sure if I liked the record at first. was it an instrumental? why was the guy speaking the lyrics. What were the lyrics? Halfway through the chippie came out and started accusing us of ripping him off by 5 cents. Did he give us one too many potato cakes? I dunno but we didn't have any money left anyway. So he banned us from the shop. A few unsavoury words were bandied about and from then on we had to move to the milk bar and live on milk shakes for the rest of the summer.

Double barrel was my first taste of ska. Of course I had heard Israelites and My Boy lollipop but Double barrel was something altogether. This was all over the radio that summer and I learned to love it. It was a real grower. A few of my friends were sharpies and at the time all they listened to was Bowie and Slade but some were really starting to get into this ska sound.

Soon after came "Mad About You' by Bruce Ruffin. Ska was slowly filtering onto commercial radio. Then I picked up a ska compilation dead cheap at K-Mart and started getting into these weird sounds. The album was Tighten Up which was a rare find here but when I got to Blackpool a few years later there was tons of the stuff in the record stores. 

The skinhead undertones were a bit of a worry what with me having hair halfway down my back. And having to stay out of their way at Box hill Station. But the skinheads in Melbourne seemed to be more into Lobby lloyd and the coloured balls anyway.

128. Shake some Action by The Flamin Groovies 1976

1976. this song started following me around in the 70s as hasn't let up yet. Every time I think about covering it in my band I'll go to a gig and some band will be playing it. First time I heard it was the Keith Glass Band who played at the Tiger Room on Wednesdays supported by punk bands including Nick Cave's Boys Next Door. It was one of those songs I couldn't seem to get my hands on until this punk album which had some punk spitting at the camera came out and it was on there along with the New York dolls and more modern types.
Then I stumbled a second hand copy in that delicious thick cardboard in the basement of a record store in the city. The song's parent album was fantastic really digging into their real sixties roots and playing a cross between the Beatles and the Stones. It was on constant rotation at my place.
At the same time I was playing their Teenage Head album which was like another band altogether.
 Later I got to see the Groovies play at The Jump Club. I was with Adam Duncan. At first I thought this isn't the Groovies...where's the bald guy?. Adam told me Cyril was now wearing a wig on stage.
Great song that bands find very hard to ruin. The Huxtons Creepers played it. The Hitmen, our bass players other band play it live. Really I don't think there's room for my version.

127. Always Something There To Remind Me by Sandie Shaw 1964

In the early eighties my friend Wayne a loyal Little Murders supporter was round at my place in Fitzroy telling me about this band that were playing down the local pub once a week and they were like the new Little Murders but with an accordion. It was the pub on my street so I went down to have a look. I couldn't see any resemblance musically but I knew everyone but the accordion player. Paul from the ballroom, the drummer from international exiles and Mick who had auditioned for Little Murders. Anyway the Weddings, Parties, Anything were great that night and became very popular because they were an audience band. Weddoes always had a communal feel to their gigs. Anyway during the set Mick did a great version of this song. Rescuing it from the awful version being played on the radio at the time by some crap Scandinavian band.
It's one of the songs that echo clearly from my pre-teen years in Blackpool before we came to Australia. A fixture on English telly with her bare feet and mod dresses. More than any other girl singer from that era she epitomises the Swinging Sixties. And the songs she recorded in the early part of her career. She was always on the side of loneliness. No wonder Morrissey loved her.
When I was back in the UK midway through last year she was performing at the Vintage festival. I saw the leaflet on the ground outside the Museum of Natural History. Unfortunately it was on after we left.

126. Rock n Roll Girl by The Beat 1979

1979. 2 minutes and 17 seconds of power pop perfection. When Little Murders began playing gigs our set was full of short rock and roll songs played with as much energy and melody as we could muster up (with a dose of harmonies too) We weren't tagging ourselves power pop. We were just rocking out the best we could. Gradually we slipped into the Mod scene that was just starting up and became a Mod band but often were tagged power pop as well. Power pop in my mind was a scene dominated by a lot of light vocals and I while I appreciated a lot of the songs and loved a few it wasn't tough enough for me. Rock n Roll Girl broke down the doors for me and put this particular niche of music right upfront.
I first heard it sang by Chris Harrington and the Larges. The song just clicked with me. So I hunted down the record which wasn't easy back then. When I got it I found the album was full of classics. Later when Chris and I put together a band "Blow Up" that played about 4 gigs all together I was so excited at playing the song live.
In the 90s when I was running Swerve Records I gave the album to Jonestown and told them ..this is the blueprint for a great record and please cover some of these songs. they ended up covering "Walking out on love" live.
Last year when making the new Little Murders album I went back to this record for inspiration when writing and recording. Driving to the other side of the city The Beat featured heavily on my mixCD. Great song.

125 She Said by Plan B 2010

2010. In the middle of 2010 My family and I travelled around Europe and the UK. We didn't use public transport much hiring a car for getting about. Although I now have my own personal radio, my iPod with it's 25 000 or more songs more often than not we'd put on the radio to get some local flavor. I don't ever use the radio in my car in Melbourne but hey! we're on holiday. And there wasn't just me listening.
The first new song that grabbed our attention was She Said by Plan B. Not too far removed from Amy Winehouse with it's retro feel. I have to admit I first thought it was a girl singing and didn't realize it was a guy until we saw the video at my brother's place.
My brother David is still very keen on music and just keeps collecting all kinds of music. He lent me a CD of the top radio songs to listen to in the car. This was on it. When we left Blackpool we forgot to give it back to him. So we had the song to play all around Europe. It didn't matter though. Because everywhere we went Spain, Italy, France this was blasting out of radios, shops and televisions. Listening to the song now I'm taken back to driving along the coastal roads of the Mediterranean.

124. Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana 1991

As it got closer to the end of 1991 the Lizard Lounge really started to take off in a big way. We had decent crowds from the end of 1990 but now we were getting large queues waiting to get in. Fridays had taken off and Thursday nights were huge too. We had to start a membership card system to get the regulars in. I always thought it had something to do with this song. The moment when alternative rock hit the mainstream which brought clubs like ours into the public eye. This song was everywhere. On every station.

The first time I head it was in Meredith Street Elwood pulling my car into my block of flats. It was one of those songs where I had to sit in the car until it was over. Then I'm reading in The Face magazine how they're playing this track at the top nightclubs. It was the song that ate the world. It changed everything. It was that powerful.

One of the best things about it is that it put the spotlight on The Pixies who provided the template for Nirvana's more commercial rock and roll. Bad thing..all that Seattle crap although Pearl jam did have a few good tunes.

When I started my entertainment company I named it after two records I deemed pretty important in my musical life. Nevermind. After  Nirvana's album and The Sex Pistols "Never Mind The Bollocks". When I started the business the old lady at the bank thought it was a lovely name. I think she related it to peter pan.

123. Blank Generation by Richard Hell and the Voidoids 1977

1977. Singles and albums from punk artists were turning up thick and fast. And it was amazing how much good stuff there was.  I absolutely loved this song and never get tired of listening to it. Nor singing along to it. Not only was Hell's voice all over the place but the guitarist was something else all together. He played like firecrackers were going off in his hands.
One night the punk rock movement in Melbourne all went to see "The Blank Generation" a film made about the scene in New York using 8mm film but with demos and such added on afterwards. So no syncing.  Everyone on the scene seemed to be there. Bands. promoters, record shop people. One of those things like international tours by punk bands. Blondie and such. I never cared much for the New york stuff. I only learned to appreciate later. My focus was on UK punk. The film itself was a bit of a bore. Then again I should check it out again. Maybe I'm ready to appreciate it now.
But I do remember this song. And Richard Hell's presence both visually and audio.
A couple of times in bands I've tried to play the song but this is totally uncoverable. Always ends up sounding like Stray Cat Strut.
As for the album. Well cherry picked for mixtapes. And I haven't mentioned the lyrics. Sublime.

122. Pretty Vacant by the Sex Pistols 1977

1977. I'm living at my brother Tony's house in Blackburn since my Mum as gone back to live in England. This is where we started getting The Fiction together before rob wellington joined. Tony let us set up all our equipment in the master bedroom which was kid of him and his wife Carol. I think it was because they liked Vic so much. One Xmas they gave him a present but not me. Anyway punk rock was just a noise to them. Pretty vacant was the first punk rock record they liked. Probably because of the amazing start to the record and then those drums. Totally brilliant. And it was a catchy pop single really. Just wrapped up in punk rock clothing.
I stayed at Tony's for about six months or more until I finished my Teaching diploma at Burwood teachers college. Subway played their last gig in the living room. I had completely forgotten this until I started writing today. Our audience was Tony's family. After that I moved into a share house in Oakleigh.
One night Tony smashed his car into a bridge and had the remains towed back to his driveway. This made a great background for our first punk rock photos. He had a great Dane that hanged itself. well it jumped over a fence while still on a leash and that was that. They went away on holiday and Vic and I lived there for the summer. She left a casserole on the stovetop but we didn't touch it for weeks. In the end we threw it over the back fence into a horse paddock. I think it made the horse seriously ill.
Looking at the pretty vacant single now it still irks me it was Wizard records in Australia. The label looks so colourful and hippy like. But what a song!

121. Mrs. Brown, You've Got A Lovely Daughter by Herman's Hermits 1965

In the early seventies as my record collection was growing I bought a lot of 2.99 albums from K-Mart on Burwood Highway. It was a short bicycle ride away and they had an extensive range of cut price albums. Cheap albums with hit single titles but turned out to be the actual albums such as "Pet Sounds" (sleeve notes by Ian Meldrum!) or the Kinks 'Something Else" Anyway I loved this sixties stuff even though it was only a few short years before but I didn't have the records then. One of my favourites was Herman's hermits greatest hits which contained this song.
It was kinda the first song I ever performed live. Camp Banksia. 1975 I was singing it while we walked through the bush. I felt dead comfortable singing it. it's quite monotone and suited my voice. Plus at the time I found using my English accent worked wonders meeting girls. They were always getting me to say "Rice Bubbles". So cute. If it helped I'd try it. I even contemplated going on Young Talent Time with it.
When little Murders recorded High school in 1979 I tried to emulate that dead guitar sound by putting masking tape over my guitar strings. The b-side Trouble With Love also was not that far removed from the chord structure on Mrs Brown.
In the late 90's when I was doing a lot of solo gigs with just me and an electric guitar I started performing it on stage. Slowed down with a dollop of angst. It's a fun song to sing. And it's quite sad really. he's lost his girlfriend and he goes round to her Mum's house. What for I don't know.
One day I got a message that Herman's Hermits had reformed and were going to cover one of my songs "After The Fire". Of course it never happened but what a blast that would of been.