300. As Tears Go By by Marianne Faithful 1964

Marianne Faithfull - As Tears Go By (1965)

And then there were the girl singers I did have a crush on. I remember seeing Marianne faithful singing this on the telly back in 1964 when I was 8 years old and being completely entranced by her. She was absolutely mesmerising. And I loved the song too so that was a bonus I guess. I didn't get to hear anything else by her until the seventies when she brought out The Ballad of Lucy Jordan which was another great song. But by then she was looking a bit rough. Then again anyone reading her auto biography could understand that.
Despite not hearing her songs she was still in the spotlight in the late sixties being Mick Jagger's girlfriend. Actually Mick and Keith wrote this song. One of their first originals after Andrew loog Oldham locked them in the kitchen and told them not to come out until they'd written a song.
And it was an easy song to play so that when I started playing guitar in the mid seventies. This is one of the first songs  I learnt to play and sing.
Looking back at those videos of Marianne now it's amazing how much charisma she has considering she doesn't really do anything in the clips but sit or stand there and look beautiful.

299. Shout by Lulu and The Luvvers 1964

LULU & The Luvvers - Shout! (Shindig 1965)

Before I came to Australia in 1965 I had just started noticing pop music on the radio back in Blackpool, England. I only remember a few that I can relate to those times. Most of the stuff I like from the early sixties I got into later. However there are a few that take me back to that time. Lulu and Luvvers "Shout" is one of them. Probably because on seeing old videos of this song it's amazing how dynamic Lulu is compared to the other girl singers that were around at the time. She really does shout out the lyrics to the song. And she's got a terrific rock and roll voice combined with a ton of pure Scottish energy. She couldn't help but be noticed.
I never had a crush on her but she put out some amazing singles in her time. And of course she was in "To Sir With Love"..also another great Lulu track.
I finally managed to pick up this track in the late Seventies when I found it on these Decca compilations that came out full of all these great sixties tracks full of stuff of didn't have and more often than not never heard of. This was a song I played at the Rubber Soul. Purists would say the original by the Isley Brothers was better but I'll go for this version anytime.

298. That's What They All Say by Graham Parker and The Rumour 1976

Graham Parker - That's What They All Say

In 1976 something was definitely stirring in the UK. Dr Feelgood and Graham Parker seemed to be the top exponents of what came to be called Pub rock. By this time the music had kind of lost its way and there seemed to be nothing but crap on the radio and in the charts. The scene was set for punk rock just around the corner. 

My introduction to Graham Parker was definitely through going to see the Sports at places like Martinis in Carlton. They did a mean version of White Honey and I seem to remember them playing the record through their PA though I could be imagining that part. Suffice to say when I first started going to gigs it was bands like the Sports and Bleeding Hearts and this other great band that for the life of me I can't remember their name. And it was imported record shops with cheap albums in thick cardboard from the USA.

I bought his first album for 99cents cos it didn't have a cover. Heat Treatment I got cheap too because outside of Carlton and Fitzroy I don't think anyone was interested.

This song is from their second album and is a bit of Dylanesque put down. I didn't mind that. We were all angry about something in those days. Actually, Graham Parker was quite an angry intense performer. A gifted songwriter is thunder was kind of stolen by Elvis Costello. But even if his time in the spotlight was brief he kept writing great songs long after.

297. Right Here by The Go-Betweens 1987

THE GO BETWEENS "Right Here"

When it comes to a band I love and I haven't written about them yet with which song do I start. Do I pick  a favourite or do I choose one that brings back memories. If it's memories I'd probably go for "Spring Rain" because we used to play it a lot a Barbarellas, not me but Adam Duncan, who was the other DJ there. It was also one of the first videos I remember making into a compilation video tape. But in the end the song doesn't make me want to single it out.
"Right Here" is just a fantastic song with some great lyrics. With Go Betweens records I'd cherry pick the best tracks which more often than not were Grant McLennan songs. Actually back in the eighties I kept getting mistaken for him. The first time it happened was at Inflation when some guy came up to me and asked me what I was doing in Melbourne. After that it happened a quite a few times. I guess late at night after a few drinks in a dark venue there might be some resemblance.
I've had this playing loudly in my car while I drove around Melbourne many times. It's one of those songs that makes me feel good. Despite the somewhat depressing tone of the verses.
It was a tragedy when he died at only 48. There were still moments of genius on the new albums the Go Betweens were making. There would surely have been more.

296 Locomotive Breath by Jethro Tull 1971

A great song from a band I don't really like. In saying that they do have 4 tracks on my iPod. A strange prog rock band from the early seventies who used a flute as a lead instrument this band was massive. And inescapable. Even my English teacher at High School played them in class. Their music went over my head I guess. I was more into pop music and singles.
I first heard this song at school. The older kids were playing it in the Art Room. I was in there helping out with something. The art room was a great escape from the race race that was the schoolyard. I wasn't into sports so I was drawn to the library and the art room. I was lulled into serenity by that long jazzy piano intro and then bang..in comes the heavy guitar riff. And it's one of those guitar riffs one learns in the seventies.
I don't think they had much of a handle on Art at my old high school. When I was doing it for my HSE (year 12) the teacher left halfway through the year. They didn't replace him so me and Pete, who was the other art student, there were only 2! had to finish the year by ourselves with no teacher. Just us and Gombrich's The Story of Art.
At the Art exam when we had to create a piece Pete was behind me. 20 minutes near the end I heard the sound of ripping behind me. With no time to finish his grand concept, he decided to half his painting. Further distractions came in the form of Our Lady of Sion girls taking the exam with us. All those years of no girls at school and they turn up at the exams.
I did alright and became the first to pass HSE Art at Box Hill High School in 4 years. When I went around to see Pete H to ask about his results he was playing Thick as A Brick. Enough said.

295. Wherever I lay My Hat by Marvin Gaye 1963

 Marvin Gaye - Wherever I Lay My Hat (1963) - YouTube
I first thsi song when it was number one hit by Paul Young back in the eighties. Didn't mind the song although the fretless bass did my head in. I thought the actual song was great though. And of course for a very long while I wore a hat. Ever since the Mod days I liked to wear a hat. Always had a trilby or a pork pie hat on. One day I was on the Metro in Paris, I had my hat on and a long coat and my girlfriend leonie had a beret on. I heard a few murmers of Bonnie and Clyde. Hilarious.
DJing I would wear my hat all the time. By that time I was starting to thin out a bit and it was more to do with ego than actual coolness.  Then I shaved my head and it was a great relief off my shoulders ( and my head) I had become too attached to wearing hats. It really is crap losing your hair. But the worst is losing it. When it's gone you have nothing left to worry about.
anyway back to the song. A friend of mine who I used to hang with constantly and whose name now escapes me, lent me a copy of Marvin Gaye's best of album. It was a big set with a bunch of songs I wasn't familiar with. This song was on it which was a surprise cos I didn't know it was a cover. When I heard it I was knocked out. What a brilliant song. Upbeat and almost ska like it became my favourite Marvin Gaye song after only a few listens. Another great Gaye- Barret Strong and Norman Whitfield song. And as it turns out a big Northern soul classic.

294. Right Back Where We Started From by Maxine Nightingale 1975

Maxine Nightingale - Right Back Where We Started From - YouTube
Such a fantastic song even if it was a Disco song at at time when disco was a filthy word. Actually there's quite a few disco songs thta I love. Something like this harks back to the old soul and Motown records. I liked this song so much I convinced the first line up of Little Murders (what we now call the Clint Small era) to cover it thinking it would go over a smash. My enthusiasm wasn't matched by the crowds however and the song didn't stay in the set long.
The first time we played it was at the Daylesford Hotel. We had a regular once a month gig there that had started back in the Fiction days. I remember the pub owner telling us the two most popular bands were us and a band called Men At Work. Same thing at the Market Hotel in Prahran. Never got a chance to see him  but they did go on to be pretty big. So I saw them on the telly.
The Daylesford pub had a band room with a home-made mirror ball nade with mirrors stuck on a small plastic dustbin. In the winter we'd get there book into rooms and then go down and have a brandy in front of the open fire. Once it even snowed.
Actually Daylesford was also when bruce milne stopped being our manager when he couldn't get his own room and ended up sleeping on the floor. That was the end for him.
Also the first time we played there when I was in The fiction the billboard outside said as featured on Countdown when they got us confused with La Femme. Nigel rennard had organise the gig at first and the pub must of misheard. We neber did get to play on Countdown even when She Lets me Know was top of the RRR charts for 6 weeks because as he said " Countdown is not a talent show for unknown bands" Lovely. The next week he had some Box Hill band wearing masks. Fun days indeed.

293. Valerie by Mark Ronson featuring Amy Winehouse 2007

Valerie

Tonight I was doing a DJ job at my old stomping ground the Union Hotel. Basically I was roped into doing a football club do. By football I mean soccer too. So there was quite a few english people there. Me and Dan played a mix of Retro, Hip hop and Top 40. Usual function thing, not that I've done it for quite a while. Anyway I thought I'd slip in an Amy Winehouse song. Watching the crowd dance all night this was the song that got the biggest reaction. You could see people really enjoying the song. Singing at the top of their voices.
So it's a tragedy that she died so young and after only two albums. She had a tremendous voice and amazing style. She was so English in the way she actually created that look of hers. Just amazing. And she opened up the way for all that soul stuff coming through over the last few years.
This song is a not so old Coral song. Their biggest hit too.  I like their stuff but Mark Ronson took it and turned it into a masterpeice of r & b. Good R & B, like in the sixties.
The old Lizard Lounge doesn't feel the same. Actually it didn't feel the same 8 years ago when I left for good. It's all pristine and clean now. The Lizard I knew was an old pub with peeling paint and sticky carpet. Actually the floor tonight did get a bit sticky. Punters still get their drinks knocked out of their hands constantly.

292. Band of Gold by Freda Payne 1970

Freda Payne - Band Of Gold

Often tagged a disco hit this was a definite soul classic written by Holland Dozier Holland hiding their songwriting royalties from Motown Records while in dispute. One of my first big soul loves and the first of many to come. I admit at in 1970 when I was still in the early teens the words meant not so much to and even now I still don't really know what happened on her wedding night but it didn't sound all that good. It is a song that's held up well to repeated listenings over the years. The song just powers along.
In 1970 I was listening to guitar rock or maybe even a bit of the old singer songwriter blues so this was a refreshing change.
First time I heard this was on my Crystal Radio Set which was hooked up to my window ledge. Casey Case's Top 40. I always wanted to hear the UK Top 40 but the radio staions never played that. Just the US top 40. It was so frustating. It always took so long for a good song to come on.
The crystal radio only had one earplug. After half an hour my ear would get sore and I'd have to switch to the other one. Sunday night laying in bed late at night falling to sleep to the sound of rock music. And of course soul in the form of Freda payne. Magic.

291. Laid by James 1993

James - Laid (Version 3)

A very big Lizard Lounge song this is one of those songs that got the crowd all singing in unison even the extremely high notes which verge on the point of yodelling. Just the first few strums of the acoustic guitar would get the punters running to the dance floor before the drums brought the band in.
By 1993 the Lizard lounge was really firing on all cylinders, Initially it was a saturday only club but by the end of 1990 we had taken over Fridays as well. for this I brought in Ronny from Rubber Soul. We originally called the night Revolver, the follow up to Rubber Soul. It didn't really work until around 1993. By then lizard Lounge had added a free uni night on Thursday. God knows why they called them Uni nights. Full of students straight from cheap drinks at the Armadale Hotel. First we tried to charge but when that didn't work we reduced the price of beer and made it free. Then it went through the roof. Having two successful nights on either side Friday started to pick up to. So by 93 there queues outside very night. Itwas a very exciting time. Instead of the usual headphones I rigged up an old  phone to cue tracks. Many times I had people come up and ask me why I was on the phone so many times.

290. Fell In Love With A Girl by White Stripes 2002

The White Stripes - Fell In Love With A Girl - YouTube

At the start of the 21st century there suddenly seemed to be this new wave of guitar bands. You had the Strokes, The Hives and then along came The White Stripes. It felt like we hadn't had great rock and roll bands for ages. We probably did have except this stuff was so good you forgot what was happening before. Music seemed to get all exciting again for the first time since maybe the Stone Roses. Not saying Britpop was bad just that in the end it wasn't really that exciting except for maybe the bands involved. 

White Stripes stood out. The colour red that figured so prominently. The stage costumes. No bass guitar. Rudimentary drumming meets astonishing guitar work. A real rock and roll voice that harked back to the sound of Led Zeppelin.

One night we were playing the Duke of Windsor in Prahran. Talking to one of the promoters he was excitedly telling me about his new group . Just guitar and drums. I can think of half dozen bands that now have that lineup.

Incidently I still have the ad for that gig. We headlined Saturday night and Jet, who within a year would be global superstars, were the support act to Large Number 12s on the Sunday night.

289. I Get Around by The Beach Boys 1964

Beach Boys - I Get Around - YouTube

I first heard this song in Phil Joyce's station wagon driving back from the youth club I went to every Friday night. Being 17 I didn't have a car so my mate Peter's brother usually ended up driving us everywhere. That he was totally into music and had a great collection of sixties tracks was a total bonus. Phil enlightened me to bands like the Troggs and with this song The Beach Boys.
In the early seventies I had no time for the Beach Boys. I didn't surf nor like the beach. And I didn't like surfing music. I hated Sloop John B, Cottonfields and all that rubbish that was on the radio when I was a teenager. With this song though my ears were opened. At first I didn't quite get it was the Beach Boys. It sounded to me totally different to their early records. It was like it had a motor running underneath the song. The production of the song made it leap out in front of all those other 1964 releases other than the Beatles. It was meant for driving. It was exciting and had great lyrics.
The only way I could get a copy was to buy a cheap greatest hits package from K-Mart. Which took a lot longer than I thought. Beach Boys pickings were slim. I did eventually find a second hand copy though. Horrible cover with somebody surfing on it. But after getting through the first couple of Chuck Berry inspired tracks the album turned out to be full of gems.

288. Like A Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan 1965

Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone 1966

Too young to get into it when it first came out it sure created an enormous impression when I started listening to Dylan in the Seventies. One of Dylan's big put down songs it just seemed totally in tune with the changing times of the mid sixties. And I really was into sixties music. Even though I was there at the time I was a bit too young to realise what was going on. So in the early seventies I started going back. There was this magazine that came out that over a period of time built up to be an encyclopeadia of rock and pop. It was called The Story of Pop. And I bought every issue, devouring all the information. Just some of the images of the musicians from the sixties did for me. Dylan in his pomp and prime doing Rolling Stone while crowds booed him. Marvellous. Never understood it though. The single was already number one when all this happened.
Then when I bought NME it would regularly appear as the number one single ever in all the polls. It's definitely a contender. How many times have I sang with a bunch of mates "how does it feel?" at the top of my lungs. Many many times. And we knew all the words. I was in Munich in 1991 and the DJ put this on in a club and the reaction blew me away. The whole crowd singing. Very loudy. Probably gave me some ideas for the Lizard.
Brilliant!

286. My Best Friend's Girl by The Cars 1978

The Cars - My Best Friend's Girl - YouTube

when I think of the Cars the first thing that comes to mind is Nigel Rennard and his over the top reaction to their first album. Nigel who managed my band The Fiction in 1978 and later went on to manage La femme, the Ballroom and later Missing Link seemed to be besotted by this album. He was always going on about it. I think he liked the girls on the cover as much as the album inside. He started off managing my band The Fiction and then later took over La Femme. One day he bought a PA and we tried it out at our guitarist's Rob Wellington's Dad's warehouse. We played and then La Femme just blasted it away. The police came and shut it down. And we lost our rehearsal space. Then Nigel decided to concentrate on La Femme. They did have a brilliant sound though. My Mod friends weren't keen on them but I was always amazed how great they sounded. Got them on Countdown. Even Rob Furst from Beat magazine joined them on keyboards. In 1982 they had to support us at the Venue which was kind of a good feeling since in the early days we had to support them quite a few times. And they still sounded great.
I love the sound on the first Cars album and this is one of the coolest tracks on it. Power pop with a touch of the Queen sound thanks to Roy Thomas baker who produced Night at The Opera.

287. Add It Up by Violent Femmes 1983

Though I missed their gig at The Jump Club because my band was playing somewhere down the peninsula I soon got onto their debut album. That I got the record after the gig made me want to kick myself for missing the band. The music just jumped out of the speakers. Even now I find it hard to choose which particular song got to me the most but on reflection, this is the one I've listened to and played the most. It's the one that got the most consistent plays at the Lizard Lounge and before that the Beehive, Barbarella's, and the short-lived Kaos in North Melbourne. Some DJs try to cut off the slow bit at the start of the song but then it loses its appeal. You need the crowd singing along to "day after day....". And the crowd sings along to all the songs. A real indie dancefloor gem.
I did get to see them later on in Tower Records in the heart of London. And they were brilliant. I managed to get right close to the band which was good cos it was packed and they only had acoustic guitars. But the crowd sang along to all the tracks off the first album. Really the album of choice. My wife Liz got to see them busking at Missing Link Records when she was still in high school. Then she spent the rest of the day hanging out with them. How cool is that?

285. Boys Don't Cry by The Cure 1979

The Cure "Boys Don't Cry" - YouTube

The Cure make fantastic pop singles. Their first grerat hits album is choc full of radio friendly tunes. All slightly off kilter but full of pop and fizz. Personally I'm no fan of some of their other stuff which is mostly dirge like to these ears. This came out quickly after their first single Killing An Arab and and it was like the beginnings of Indie pop.
Somewhere there is a video of me miming to this song at Murphy Street in South Yarra. My school had bought a newvideo camera and since I was in charge of AV I took it home to test it out and spent the weekend making videos of me and my friends. The first thing I learned was to put the sound from the stereo straight into the camera so I began taping people singing along to pop tunes. It started with me and then my girlfriend at the time came round so I filmed her miming. Then I bumped in Michael P down the shops and brought him up. And so on. One big pop video. As I said, I covered Boys Don't Cry.
Big song on the radio and destinied to be played at all the clubs I worked at over the next 20 years. Everyone loves this song. Put it on the turntable and the dance floor fills up. A great big singalong.

284.Walk Away Renee by The Four Tops 1968

The Four Tops Walk Away Renee - YouTube

This was the first Motown single I ever got. Not that in primary school I even knew what Motown was. But the sound was very distinctive. And I loved the Supremes. But songs were about what was on the radio. As a kid I didn't know genres or labels. Just great songs. And back then the pop charts were a mixture of soon to be classics rubbing up next to crooners and novelty songs.
This was from a stack of singles given to me bu one of our neighbours. He had too many records. He worked for 3AK "Where No Wrinklies Fly" I was a friend of his son so he gave me boxes of singles. Not many good ones but this was a sparkling jewel. My copy was an ep. 4 songs on a single. There was also a deadful cover of a Broadway show tune on it. Hello Dolly I think. The idea makes me shudder. I had to be quick to get the needle off the groove before it came on.
I would listen to it a lot. All through the seventies. I couldn't believe someone could sit down and write a song this good. I never got sick of it. I can still listen to it now and marvel at it's brilliance. I didn't know it was a cover of a 1966 song by The Left Banke. The guy who wrote was only 16.
Billy Bragg also did a cover of the song as a kind of spoken word thing on the b-side of one of his singles. It's a great version cos he kinda captures the essence of teenage love.

283. See Emily Play by Pink Floyd 1967

Originally I heard a version of this by David Bowie on his Pin Ups album of covers. At the time all I knew of Pink Floyd was Dark Side Of The Moon which I liked but I was no Pink Floyd fan. It was just too omnipresent, sonically blasting out of everyone's stereo speakers. A good test for the sound system. Music shops would put it on so you could hear how good the speakers were. Then I bought a book called The Best of NME and there was this article by Nick Kent about Syd Barrett. It was a fantastic read (as were a lot of the other articles in the book. NME was the go-to music bible)
One day at K-Mart I spotted a copy of Relics at Kmart for $1.99 so I thought I'd give it a go. Relics was kind of a cheap compilation of early Pink Floyd songs sold on the back of the newfound success. It was of course fantastic. As was the original version of See Emily Play. A terrific if slightly eccentric pop song of the late sixties. This was a Pink Floyd I could love and still do. Especially after I managed to pick up a copy of their Piper At The Gates of Dawn album a few years later. Later I would become a bit obsessive about the Syd Barrett phase of Floyd's career. I was listening to them day and night while in the outside world, everyone else was listening to Another Brick in The Wall.

282. Bizarre Love Triangle by New Order 1986

One minute I'm thinking that The Smiths were the sound of the eighties when I remember the records of New Order. Especially Bizarre Love Triangle off the album Brotherhood which was like the tipping point for me. When like all the other bands I love I had to start buying up their past records. I loved songs like Temptation and Blue Monday before this but neither convinced me to search out the rest of their back catalogue. Bizarre made me wonder. It also got me buying up their amazing 12 inch remixes which I enjoyed more than the album versions.
I first heard the 12 inch of this in a record store on Malvern road in Prahran. Can't remember the name of the shop but it was the same place I picked up my record cases and later my cd cases. It could of been Central station before it moved. Also used to buy copies of the Face magazine there. My Mum used to send me copies from England until she moved back to Melbourne. So I had to get import copies somewhere. One day I went in and they were playing this. I couldn't concentrate on browsing. It sounded too good. I walked out the shop and up the street towards Brashes. 12 inch records were expensive especially from the UK. I wasn't completely flush at the time. I got to the intersection of Chapel and Malvern turned around and bought my first 12 inch record.

281. What Difference does It Make by The Smiths 1984

The Smiths - What Difference Does It Make (TOTP)

1984. Bridge Road. Richmond. Coming up to Punt Road. Or Hoddle in Richmond? My Mazda is packed with guys. we're on our way somehwere but it doesn't matter because Wayne puts on this cassette and says you've got to listen because this band is it!. And it was. I'd heard a couple of Smiths songs including their huge hit Charming Man but this one knocked my proverbial socks off. I couldn't believe how good the song was. And then there was more. The first album. All great songs. But Difference for me was when I fell in love with the sound of the Smiths. And more importantly the lyrics. Just the title. What Difference Does It Make. Indeed. My band days were winding down. My DJing days were just beginning. I heard these songs and I was too absorbed to care. I wanted to play these songs loud in a club.
Morrisey's lyrics are both profound and incredibly funny. A northern sense of humour at play. And all these references to Granada culture. Magic.
I went out and bought the first album. And then all this other stuff came out. Hatful of Hollow. This is the real sound of the eighties.

280. (Marie's The Name) His latest Flame by Elvis Presley 1961

(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame - YouTube

The first Elvis song I fell in love with. Growing up in the late sixties I had no time for Elvis. I especially had no time for him in the seventies. Yes I saw all the films and remember going to the local theatre in Blackpool when I was 8 to see some Acapulco Fun or something similar. But we had the Beatles and the Monkees and then Cream and Creedence and I couldn't see where Elvis fit in. I do rememer a fondness for In The Ghetto when it came out. I had built myself a crystal radio set and listened to casey case's American Top 40 in my bed on Sunday nights.
But it was until the late seventies while driving to a gig at RMIT for O week when this song came on the radio. It was like someone opening a door to the outside letting in the first light. IT was familiar but I don't remember ever hearing it. But I had to get it. It was just too good. Of course it ws no longer a single purchase , I had to buy a double album best of. For one song. But I thought I'd give some of the songs a try. And I began to realise what made the guy so special. Hearing Heartbreak Hotel on headphones blew my mind. All this stuff I had heard on tinny transistor radios surrounded by radio crap. In my room with better speakers I really got to hear him. Brilliant stuff.
The Smiths incorparated into one of their songs on the Rank album. Nuff said.

279. Hippychick by Soho 1990

Soho - Hippychick

Must of been something in the water in 1990. Either way it was a good time to start an eccentric nightclub which played just about anything that could make you move. The beats the thing. But this opens with a sample of "How Soon Is Now" by The Smiths. Another song we often played at the club. Of course a few Smiths fans would get upset when the beats came in. But if they stuck around long enough we'd make it up to them with the original and so much more. Had a 12 inch of this which I played at the Lizard. When I tried to replace it on CD a few years later it took ages and quite a few buys to find the right version. Something that happens quite a bit when I'm trying to find music from this period that I've lost. Before the onset of the Internet I would be buying different compilation CDs trying to find the right remix. It used to drive me nuts.
Scouring the second hand CD shops looking through dodgy comps for the right version. At the same time I found stuff I might never have heard.
Thinking about it now ..why on earth was some unknown band sampling Johnny Marr?  Damn good though. Though some of this stuff I'm a bit hesitant to go back to in case it doesn't hold up outside the confines of the Lizard lounge.

278. Love Rears It's Ugly Head (soulpower mix) by Living Colour 1990

Living Colour Love RIUH SoulPower Mix

Another big Lizard song. Undoubtedly a lot better in it's it's remix form. I didn't hear what it sounded like in it's original form for a long time. and by time it was too late. I was already hooked by the remix. I had it in vinyl form first and later when I tried to get it on CD I ended up with the original. Which is good. Real good. But I was in love with the remix.
In late 1990 after a trip to a club called Joy which was at the Continental in Greville Street I came back to the Lizard with a bunch ideas influenced by Joy and things I'd read about overseas clubs. So we hung up all these sheets I'd bought from a cheap material place in Glenhuntly. Got some oil lamps and got a mate to take a bunch of slides using old copies of The Face magazine. We had bubble machines and gave out lollies at the door. It was all quite a trip. And the place went through the roof.
We did try a smoke machine. But because the place was quite small it filled up the whole place with a couple of jets. Including the public bar next door. No one could see a thing. The manager of the place and the bar staff couldn't work out what was happening. They came running up screaming turn it off. We had to open every door. So we never used it again. It didn't matter though. It was so crowded the people made the atmosphere electric.

277. Roadrunner by the Modern Lovers 1976

Roadrunner - The Modern Lovers - best ...

This is the first Modern Lovers song I ever heard. And it just jumped out of the speakers. It was so good. Hypnotising. The rest of the album was great too. And all the demos and bootlegs I found later. This version of Modern Lovers was just so cool and tilted. But I have to admit that that when I hear this song now although the version by the Modern Lovers is in my head it takes me back to the Tiger Room and first crop of punk bands that played there on a Wednesday night. Under the name The Beat Club which used to have a poster which was a direct rip of the The Who's Maximum R & B poster, all the first bunch of Melbourne punk bands played. Except for my band The Fiction. While we were regulars at the Crystal Ballroom our managers never seemed to get us a gig here.
One of the bands that played there were JAB. Lead by the impossibly tall, it seemed, Bodhan X, who along with Ash Wednesday and Johnny Crash made this strangely compelling racket.  Behind them was a bunch of old TVs, very similar to the back cover of the first Ultravox Record. Anyway the highlights for me was their version of Roadrunner. I think they did Hospital too.
I remember the night Boys Next Door were advertised as playing there but weren't actually on. Nick Cave and Phil Calvert were standing on the front step telling people not to go in. They weren't on. I can't remember who actually was on now. I just remember Nick and Phil out the front. Like those guys who stand on the street who try to get you in. Sprukers in reverse.

276. The Nips Are Getting Bigger by Mental as Anything 1979

Mental As Anything - 'The Nips Are Getting Bigger' 1979 - YouTube

Before this song took over the airwaves and became a Australian veteran I first used to hear it on RRR. A different version than the one I ended up buying as a single. This version was a lot closer to the New Wave sound that was taking over the English charts at the time. And it seemed to owe a little debt to Wreckless Eric's Whole Wide World". I just loved the opening. Still like listening to that guitar bit at the front. Which is joined by the bass. Then the band keeps building the song up, pushing the momentum, like a train.
Went and saw them at the Crystal Ballroom and they were great on stage. It's actually a very clear memory. I was standing right at the back leaning on the railings next to the mixer. I guess I'd never stood there before. The support band featured a guy who was in neighbours at the time and they did a version of "Some Weird Sin" by Iggy Pop. Memorable gig in a strange way. Maybe I was sober.
I went out and bought a signed copy of the album. It seemed everyone had a signed copy. They worked hard.

275. Midnight Bus by Johnny Chester 1972

Johnny Chester - Midnight bus - YouTube

One song by Johnny Chester. That's basically all I'll ever listen to. But it's a great version of an old JD Loudermilk song that seems to only have been recorded by Australians. Betty McQuade did the original which is cooler but this is the version I heard and liked first. I hesitate to say loved but I've been playing it for over 30 years so it's made some impact. I really enjoy playing it too.
It came out when Australian radio went down the tubes for a short time. Because of a dispute between the big labels and the radio stations over money a lot of potential hits didn't get played. In stepped in the newly created  Fable label and with no competition got their stuff played.
I've tried to get the Murders to play this song. We've done it in rehearsal but never taken it on stage. Time to start lobbying again.
One rehearsal back in the Eighties and we were tring to get the Murders back on track after Rod left around 1984 Maurice Frawley came down to play guitar. Some little studio in Windsor next to Dandenong Road. We rehearsed this song. He thought it was a great song. And he thought it would be perfect for Ian Rilen from X to cover.
That's the trouble with covers. Once someone else gets to it first you really can't do it. Rock ettiquette.

274. Whole Wide World by Wreckless Eric 1977

Whole Wide World - Wreckless Eric

In retrospect a key song for me when it comes to writing. Little Murders also covered this song. Only a few times mind you. I've got a song list here from when we supported the Church at the Chevron and this song is on it. I'd wanted to cover it for ages and finally, in 1983 I managed to get the band to do it. It sounded like a Little Murders song. two chords E and A. Muted guitar strings. Big chorus. perfect. Hard one to remember though because he only does two chords but uses them differently. Not mathematically. All over the place. And it's a great song to sing too.
I first heard it on a Bunch of Stiffs album. A compilation of Stiff artists which included Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe. he was like the younger brother. A bit snotty and basic. But this song fits well with that side of the punk movement. I even got to see him live at the Crystal Ballroom. And yes the music was snotty and basic.
Unfortunately Mental as Anything did a cover of the song and scored a minor hit. Wrong band to do it but it did kind of connect to their first hit "The Nips Are Getter Bigger" Actually I heard some of his new stuff a while ago singing with a folk singer in a duet. Pretty good stuff too.