171. Letter From America by The Proclaimers

The Proclaimers - Letter From America

One day in 1987 I was looking through the records at Brashes in Chapel Street when the Proclaimers album "this is the story" came on. I was instantly captivated by their folkie sound and scottish accents. And I bought the album there and then. Got it home and played it to death. A few days later I'm in a scond hand record shop and I see this single in the racks for 50 cents. And I love the band version even more than the acoustic one on the album. So I went a bit Proclaimers for a while and formed an acoustic band called The Folk Rockers From Hell with me, Rod and Adam Duncan on violin. We supported bands like the Killjoys and Captain Cocoa and played the Punters Club, It was great fun and we even got to record a bit too. Later we changed our name to the Val Doonicans. And then just stopped after Rod went off to play with Dave Grayney and The Coral Snakes who were starting to get quite big,
Just as I was getting sick of the Proclaimers sound they released their second album. And that was good too! and they had a band..and a huge hit more of which I wll speak of later...

When you go will you send back

A letter from America?

Take a look up the railtrack

From Miami to Canada

Broke off from my work the other day

I spent the evening thinking about

All the blood that flowed away

Across the ocean to the second chance

I wonder how it got on when it reached the promised land?

When you go will you send back

A letter from America?

Take a look up the railtrack

From Miami to Canada

I've looked at the ocean

Tried hard to imagine

The way you felt the day you sailed

From Wester Ross to Nova Scotia

We should have held you

We should have told you

But you know our sense of timing

We always wait too long

170. Loaded by Primal Scream

Loaded - Primal Scream

This song came out the same year I opened the Lizard Lounge in Windsor. In 1990 there really was something in the air. This was the start of of that particular kind of dance and indie rock fusion which was all over the first fewyears of the new decade. Suddenly everything was cool. Even Kylie was cool.  Dj sets were a fabulous cross section of dance, rock and hip hop. Rap and reggae. Basically all music was thrown into a big pot and mixed up. Then they grabbed all the sixties decor..the coloured lights and oils on glass lighting. It was a pretty cool time.
Loaded of course for not haing much of Primal Scream playing on it. It didn't matter. it was a call to 90s party life. We're gonna have some fun. When the night was starting to move into another gear this was the song to play.

Just what is it that you want to do?

We wanna be free

We wanna be free to do what we wanna do

And we wanna get loaded

And we wanna have a good time

That's what we're gonna do

No way baby lets go

We're gonna have a good time

We're gonna have a party

I don't wanna lose your love (4x)

Just what is it you wanna do?

I'm gonna get deep down, deep down

I said, (I'm gonna get deep down) deep down

Woo hey!

We wanna be free to do what we wanna do

Let's go!

169. Spring Fever by Tony Pass

Spring Fever by Tony Pass - an Aussie hit single

I first remember hearing this song in 1967 when I went to the end of year party for my Grade 6 at Box Hill State school. (No longer there). It seems like the first real party I ever went too. It was in a garage with a table laden with tons of food and then dancing to a bunch of records. We played this one about 5 times. It was just bloody great. It seemed to go on forever. It even got dark! I wish I had some photos.
Anyway at the moment I'm planning my daughters Grade 6 birthday party. She wants a Hairspray party. A sixties party. And she wants it in the garage. With coloured party lights. Life just goes round in circles.

Back in 1967 I was buying singles from a record shop in Box Hill. I could only play my records when my brothers let me. I couldn't wait to own my own record player.

Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Oh yeah
Well all right, Well all right
Robin singing in my back yard in the tree top
Robin singing in my back yard and it won’t stop
Well it likes to drive you crazy Oh yeah
I got to see you baby All right
Robin singing in my back yard in the tree top
Won’t stop baby

Spring fever got a hold on me now
Spring fever got a hold on me
Spring fever got a hold on me baby
Spring fever got a hold on me
Spring fever got a hold on me
And it ain’t gonna’ let me go oh no no
It ain’t gonna let me go no no
It ain’t gonna let me go

168. Car Trouble by Adam and The Ants

Adam & the Ants - Car Trouble

This came out just before Antmania rocked our world for a short time in the Eighties. I thought it was bloody brilliant! Two drummers. Magic. There's something very cool about the two drummer sound. This was bought at Missing Link Records when it was in Flinders Lane. Plastic sleeve. Indie section.
Shortly after I bought the record Adam released Antmusic and then he was never off Countdown for what seemed forever. Mind you that was a great song too. Even if it was to haunt us for many years to come. It was a regular addition to DJ playlists in the late 80s and 90s.
I the time of this I was on my third car. They were always kinda crappy. The 66 Datsun Bluebird which looked like a box. Then I got an early 70s Mazda 323 with the fluffiest car seat covers ever. I was up to my Mazda Fiat which had a great sound system but stopped working on hot days. I was no stranger to car trouble!

Have you ever had a ride in a light blue car?
Have you ever stopped to think who's the slave and who's the master?
Have you ever had trouble with your automobile?
Have you ever had to push push push push?
Cartrouble oh yeah

You might have seen them very busy at the weekends (oh oh)
Lick lick and polishing the beep-beeps into shape
And then its proudly up the M1 M2 M3
And keep your feet off the upholstery Ronnie
Cartrouble oh yeah

Car carcar trouble car carcar trouble
Car carcar trouble car carcar trouble
Car carcar trouble car carcar trouble
Car carcar trouble car carcar trouble

And remember this:
You don't need anything after an icecream

I used to sit at home silently and wonder
Why all the preference is polishing the chrome
While all the mothers and the sisters and the babies
Sit and rot at home
Cartrouble oh yeah

And remember this:
You don't need anything after an icecream

167. Simply Thrilled Honey by Orange Juice

Orange Juice - Dada with Juice - 05 - Simply ...
Living in my tiny flat in Fitzroy North 1980 surrounded by hundreds of vinyl singles and albums. The walls covered in posters of my favourite bands. Guitars amps beer in the fridge and cartons of cigarettes in the cupboard. It was like a teenagers bedroom come alive. The television was simply a moving image with the sound turned down.
My favourite singles from this time were coming from the Postcard label from Scotland and the band I was fixated on was Orange Juice. Their sound was quirky but emotional. Slightly displaced from everything that was going on at the time. I suppose we were heading into post punk territory here but OJ did it with the slightest of touchs. On Poor Old Soul the refrain was "no more rock and roll for you!" In fact their lyrics really got into my psych.

I choose to leave myself of tired little fears
To stand as one against the all too obvious rising sun

[chorus]
We must be simple thrilled honey
We are just simple thrilled honey
Roominess must keep apart from me

Some girl can’t defy from her blue eyes
Turns too look at you she’s spitting foul

And she’s counting out aloud
I seemed to be ages before the album came out. So that first group of three singles which included the mighty Blue boy was all I had for ages. None of friends were much into them though. Luckily a few years down the track I started managing Captain Cocoa and I found some fellow fans.

166. Neat Neat Neat by The Damned

Damned neat neat neat supersonic 1977

The Damned put out the first UK punk album. It was just so bloody exciting! You felt like the walls of Jericho were coming down. I bought the album at Brashes and couldn't wait to get it home. And the first song was Neat Neat neat and it just ripped out of the speakers. I was in a band called Subway with me playing an acoustic guitar. I few weeks later I was writing songs like "Nothing To Do In The City" "Negative Fun" and "Play It At Your Sister" all cribbed from the English punk scene and ads and articles I'd read in NME. The Damned were my first template for punk rock writing. Quickly blown away by the Clash of course but for a while there they were the cat's pajamas. While some of their stuff is hard to listen to now Neat Neat Neat hasn't lost any power whatsoever. It's a stone cold classic. And so is New Rose of course.

be a man, kinda mystery man,

be a doll,be a baby doll,

it can't be found not any way,

it can't be found no way at all

a distant man can't sympathise,

he can't uphold his distant laws,

due to form on that today,

i got a feeling then i hear that call,i said

(chorus)

neat neat neat, you can't afford no cannon,

neat neat neat, you can't afford no gun at all,

neat neat neat, you can't afford no cannon,

neat neat neat, she ain't got no name to call,

neat neat neat

165. Life On Mars by David Bowie 1971

A few weeks ago I went to the Roxy Music concert with my friend Dan. At one point he mentioned that David Bowie would be touring Australia quite soon. I didn't believe him and when I got home I double checked and there was no tour. But deep down I hope there is going to be another one. He's been very quiet now for almost 5 years after his heart attack. A world without Bowie is something I don't want to think about.
Is Life On Mars? is greatest song. Some days yes. I mean a lot of days really. After buying Ziggy Stardust I was thrilled to find another Bowie album in the shops. 1972. Brilliant year. The song that got to me first was Life On Mars. It was like nothing I'd heard before. And it was a song I couldn't stop playing. I have to admit that at first I got the lyrics mixed up and was singing the middle bit all wrong for ages. The lyrics have often been compared to Salvador Dali images. I thought they were just about the movies. Maybe they're both. Whatever it just is utterly captivating.  A mention of lennon's on sale again tied the song to my previous hero John Lennon. A stand out on a brilliant album.
Just the use of the song on the BBC television series of the same name made the show a must see.

164. The Lemon Pipers - Green Tambourine

The Lemon Pipers - Green Tambourine

Always loved this song though didn't have a copy of it forever. 

When punk just got started their were only a few bands around. My band the Fiction being

one. The Babeez were another but they were so far ahead both in music and attitude. I was at a party in Richmond one night when they played this song. Brilliant cover of the song especially Jarryl Wirth's guitar playing. I never realised it had so much power or even such an identifiable riff. There were lots of parties where the punks of 76 and 77 would meet up. I mean there wasn't that many in Melbourne really. The Boys Next Door and The Babeez were the top bands on the scene. The Babeez changed there name to The News and graffitied the town. The whole of Melbourne had News spray painted on bus shelters for years. 

Drop your silver in my tambourine
Help a poor man fill his pretty dream
Give me pennies I'll take anything
Now listen while I play
My green tambourine

Watch the jingle jangle start to chime
Reflections of the music that is mine
When you drop a coin you'll hear it sing
Now listen while I play
My green tambourine

[Instrumental break]

Drop a dime before I walk away
Any song you want I'll gladly play
Money feeds my music machine
Now listen while I play
My green tambourine

163. Quick Joey Small (Run Joey Run) by Kasenatz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus

Kasenatz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus - Quick Joey Small

I remember they used to have a music show on Saturday afternoons. When I first started reall getting into music Hey Jude was on all the time because it was number one like forever. I seem to remmember it going for 16 weeks at number one. But one day they played this film clip and it blew me away.  I t started my love affair with bubblegum music. In the end there were just a few great songs maybe enough to make a best of album you could see where Glam rock and later punk rock got some of their ideas. This was the flip side to garage rock but even dumber.

Quick Joey Small went over the wall With a ball an' a chain behind him Quick Joey Small went over the wall Send the dogs right out to find him. In a striped prision suit with no room to move He headed for the highway With his chain still dragin' He thumbed down a wagon said Well you're goin my way. And they say now Run Joey , Joey run run the hounds are on your trail Jump-up Jump-up Run Joey , Joey run run they're gonna send you back to jail

162. Coz I luv you by Slade

Slade - Coz I Luv You [totp2]

I bought this record in 1971 from KMart on the corner of Burwood Highway and Blackburn Roads in Burwood East. I was 15 and the only places to hang around were the local shop are Kmart which was pretty big. Also late night shopping had just begun on Friday nights. I bought a lot of records and they always had a good selection of singles. And when they left the charts you could buy the singles for 20 cents each. I bought this one full price though. It was an instant charmer as soon as I heard it on the radio. Noddy Holder had the greatest Rock voice since John Lennon. And it had that beat the pop kids really go for.
I managed to get a huge poster of the band to put on my door of bedroom. Later I got tickets to their Showgrounds gig. It was my first real concert. I got to watch the show on the shoulders of my mate Geoff Thake. I was small and light and he was tall. In 1971/1972 Slade were the band for me (though I was also big on T. Rex). I had yet to be introduced to Bowie.
I never went back to KMart. A girl I liked thought it would be funny to hide a chocolate bar in my shopping bag. Caught but innocent. Stupid skylarking. I think they were more pissed off because I didn't have a phone at home so to follow it up they would have had to drive to my place. So they let us go with a bit of a warning. It did mean a longer bike ride to buy records and I really liked all those cheap sixties re-issues they had there. Oh yeah the girl disappeared too.

I won't laugh at you when you boo-hoo-hoo coz I luv you

I can turn my back on the things you lack coz I luv you

I just like the things you do mmm,

don't you change the things you do mmm

You get me in a spot and smile the smile you got and I luv you

You make me out a clown then you put me down I still luv you

I just like the things you do mmm,

don't you change the things you do mmmm

161. To Sir with Love by Lulu

Lulu • To Sir With Love

Back in the late seventies/early eighties I was busy soaking up sixties pop culture like there was no tomorrow. I had got my first video player. Beta! doh! but there were a few titles about. Not nearly as much as the VHS titles. But I would argue the compact size and better quality made it a worthwhile purchase. Meanwhile I waited til I felt I'd owned it long enough to justify dumping it. One of the first films I taped off the TV was To Sir With Love. That I was already enamoured with Suzy Kendall and Judy Geeson only added to the enjoyment of watching this great film. It probably had something to do with me being a teacher too. Though I don't know about that.

And it's a great song too. It goes beyond the lyrics. Great melody. Those opening strings followed by The Mindbenders backbeat followed by strings again. The quiet loud quiet format. Maybe this is where the pixies got the idea from!  Cool song, great voice.

Those schoolgirl days of telling tales,
And biting nails are gone.
But in my mind I know they will
Still live on and on.
But how do you thank someone,
Who has taken you from crayons to perfume?
It isn't easy, but I'll try.

If you wanted the sky,
I would write across the sky in letters,
That would soar a thousand feet high,
"To Sir, With Love."

160 Sit Down by James

James - Sit down

1991 I'm in London. HMV in Oxford Street. It was a time when bands seemed to be making more from T-shirts than from selling records. They were bright day glo creations with a touch of sixties nostalgia run rampant. I was buying up plenty. My favourite and the one I wore until it fell apart was my James T-shirt.
Before coming to England I had a copy of Sit Down on 7 inch and it was quite a good song. But in England the Record Stores, which had their own deejays were spinning a different version. More of a beat to it similiar to the old Gary Glitter beat. It was a brilliant! Completely changed the whole feel of the song and made it bright and commercial.
One night we went to this little Indie club in Edgeware Road. When the DJ played this song everyone sat down on the dance floor. I started playing it at the Lizard lounge when I got back to OZ but unlike in England no one sat down. but they danced! and sang along!

I'll sing myself to sleep 

A song from the darkest hour 

Secrets I can't keep 

Inside of the day 

Swing from high to deep 

Extremes of sweet and sour 

Hope that God exists 

I hope I pray 

Drawn by the undertow 

My life is out of control 

I believe this wave will bear my weight 

So let it flow 

Oh sit down 

Sit down next to me 

Sit down, down, down, down, down 

In sympathy 

159. Wrote For Luck by Happy Mondays 1989

Happy Mondays: WFL

In 1989 there was a feeling that something was happening in music. One of those times where it all comes together to make something special. The eighties had it's share of great music and rubbish but now tere was talk of a new sound centred on Manchester in the UK.  we had begun to hear snippets of the Stone Roses already but their rivals in pop music were to be The Happy Mondays. I had heard their Bummed album and didn't quite get it. Then again I had listened to it at a Matt Wilson party at the College Lawn Prahran while in a state of inebriation.
But one night I was down at The Beehive which I was no longer DJing at and Jason the new DJ there was playing these wonderful sounds from the UK. Especially this song. I couldn't believe it was the same Mondays I'd heard before. This had such a clean groove. Well produced. Indie but dance!
Clothes were changing. It was the first time people started wearing hoodies to clubs. I picked up this great top from Central station Records. And baggy jeans. The psychadelic lighting from Rubber Soul which was on Friday nights fitted just as well with this music on saturdays. It was a cool movement and what felt like the start of a great decade to come. and listening to happy Mondays was perfect for reading Tank Girl comics to.