318. EMI by the Sex Pistols 1977

The only thing I didn't like about this was the label on the record. In Australia the Sex Pistols came out on Wizard records which had the most awful downright hippy label ever. What on earth were they doing on that label. It was too hard to look out. Because in 77 the whole package mattered! And this was a great cover with a magnificent record inside. This would have ripped a hole in the radio if any major station had played it as anything other than a novelty record. This is the reason that independent stations like RRR and PBS and 3CR started getting really popular. It was the only place to hear the new stuff from New York and London. Not that I was ever a big radio person. I like to soundtrack my own life.
This was the final track on the Never Mind The Bollocks album. I played it to death. It was fantastic. What was all this rubbish about amateur musicians. This was massive on all levels. The guitars, thumping bass and drums and Johnny Rotten's sneer. Far removed from the fast  tinny records popping up from the punk movement. Really one could argue that came before punk. Some do.
Despite lack of commercial airplay I was still able to get a Sex Pistols poster magazine from the newsagent. So I had this huge photo of Johnny Rotten on my bedroom wall. Typically it was a rubbish photo. Luckily my girlfriend Leonie went to visit her sister in Sydney and brought me back a cool poster. She also told wondrous tales of their cool record shops. I had to get up there as soon as possible.

317. I Live Off You by X-Ray Spex 1978

When I was in The Fiction our manager was a guy called Nigel Rennard. He was quite well off and when the Live at The Roxy album came out he asked the guy at Readings Record Shop in Carlton to keep him a copy of every record that came out from the bands featured on the album. The Readings guy just came over to me and said "Your manager was in earlier and he ordered all these punk albums that haven't been released yet!" One of them of course was X Ray Spex. I didn't have the money to buy stuff without hearing it and actually I didn't have the money to buy new albums. I was on the dole and living in a run down share house in Oakleigh. I was forever scouring second hand bins for the latest albums. I couldn't even afford the new Clash album when it came out. I did pick up a cheap copy of the Roxy album but the only tracks I liked were the Adverts, Buzzcocks and Wire. Hated Bondage, Up Yours.
One day I was in a second hand store in Moorabbin and they had the X Ray Spex dead cheap. An old friend of mine's sister had brought the album back from the UK and she hated punk but loved the album. So I thought I'd give it a go. It was cheap. I didn't really get round to listening to it properly though until we started having a Mod disco support us at our gigs in 1980. Peter Crosby our regular DJ would put on Warrior in Woolworths and I I thought it was great. So I went back and listened to the album more. And I just loved the sound. Fantastic. The highlight being this track. The album became one of my favourites.

316. Hey Jude by The Beatles 1968

In 1968 I had just High School in Box Hill. While music had been a constant background while growing up and the Beatles were a perfect soundtrack I didn't rate them any higher or lower than other bands of the time. I loved The Monkees singles and the first single I ever bought was a Monkees record. Apart from that I didn't put any band at the top of my list. I started to watch a chart show they used to place on Channel 2 early Saturday afternoons. This was me starting to get into music big time. The trouble was that as soon as music started to become part of my life Hey Jude hit the top of the charts and was there for about 9 weeks. And it went for over 7 minutes so they had to cut songs off the chart to make way for it. I couldn't stand the song. But I couldn't stop singing it. I loved it and hated it. I even contemplated entering a talent show at one stage singing Hey Jude.
As the Beatles became sacred to me in 1969 after my mum bought me a copy of Abbey road I still avoided Hey Jude which was easy because it wasn't on any albums. Then in the 80s I started DJing at the Rubber Soul and we used to have these theme nights. The biggest was the Doors. Next biggest was the Beatles. The first night I put this on as the last song. Massive speakers, great sound, hundreds of people singing along. It really was  a fantastic song. The delightful bit was I could listen to it with untainted ears.
I did eventually buy the single as a teenager. But never got to play because my mate Alan Barnard through a dart and landed on the record. making it jump around the second verse. Revolution was fine though. And I would wear the grooves out on that song. Such a fantastic raw sound.

315. I Don't Mind by The Buzzcocks 1978

When I think of this song I'm standing outside Rob Wellingtons' dads factory in Nunawading. It's where The Fiction used to rehearse each week. Upstairs in the offices. Banging away at Rob's and my tunes. Sometimes we would come down on the weekend on a Sunday afternoon. One Sunday we had a photographer come down to do a band shoot. I had just bought and taped this record so I had my car doors open playing this song as we had our photos taken. This was the second defining Buzzcocks moment for me. Boredom was like something from another band. But this song was punk pop. This was the kind of music that I wanted to make. Maybe I could. We were getting our photos taken. we had started getting gigs constantly. And my writing was starting to move away from punk epics like Negative Fun to pop songs like Things Will Be Different.
Twenty years later we supported the Buzzcocks at the Prince of Wales. Joey from Dollsquad asked for her records to be autographed. So I struck up a small conversation with Pete Shelley who came from Manchester. "Ever been to Blackpool?" He had a relatives who lived near there. So instead of talking about some of the most influential songs of my life I discussed the Blackpool Illuminations.

314. This Damn Nation by Godfathers 1985

My IPod has got over 23000 songs on it. So when I put it on random and it's playing away while I'm busy doing this or that sometimes I don't even notice what's on. And then bang..a song I've forgotten suddenly leaps out and gets you flicking back to the start because you don't want to miss the thing...cos you want to listen to it loud. Well tonight while I was preparing dinner this song came on and I rushed over and played it loud and then played it again. I think it's the guitar sound that pulls me in. It's one of those sounds where you go...how does he do that? And there are live videos on You Tube and you still can't work out how he's getting that sound. I want to put it on a disc and start driving somewhere..anywhere as long as this type of song is playing. Actually it also reminds me of my mate Poz and his band the Squad. I got Poz to sing with Little Murders a few weeks back doing some of the old number we don't do anymore in Little Murders. He sang them tough. We called ourselves The Undertakers. Loved it.
I'd never paid much attention to the Godfathers when they were big..well biggish! But I know they've played a few gigs in Melbourne. Not so long ago too if I remember. If they come back again I won't miss them. I've managed to get their music through the numerous blogs that abound on the net. Brilliant sources of obscure and long deleted music. The things I've found on the internet have been amazing. French pop! Swedish garage! Sixties tunes from Thailand...it's all there.
Godfathers had a certain style which was traceable back to some Mod origins I guess. They look like a bunch of ex-mods anyway. They dressed the same. Like a pack of East End gangsters. Fantastic stuff!

313. Are You Gonna be My Girl by Jet 2003

Must of been in 2002 when I started getting e-mails from interstate friends asking me if I could get a hold of any Jet music. I'd never heard of them but there was a real buzz going round. Have you heard?  can you get the ep? then we did this gig on a Saturday night at the Duke of Windsor in Prahran. The ad in Beat magazine had the weekends lineup and there on the Sunday supporting Large Number 12s was Jet. Sadly despite the buzz I didn't get myself together to go and see them. Not long after that their stock rose considerably as they got reviews in NME and got whisked off to Los Angeles to record their first album.
So the first thing I heard was this song. And boy did it pack a punch! A great song it went down a storm at the Lizard whereas a lot of the other guitar bands of the time got a good reaction this one went through the roof. Then again everyone liked this song. I was back doing teaching by this time and the kids loved the song too. Suddenly kids were playing air guitar and phantom drums. Better than all that dance music they'd be listening to. A real Australian classic using a heavy Motown beat. Always a favourite of mine.
A bit later a friend of mine Aeysha had a birthday party where the band Even played a bunch of Bowie covers. Jet were there after their mainstream success.  They looked like a cool rock band. A gang of musicians. That's always a good start.

312. Main Offender by The Hives 2001

Straight after The Strokes up popped all these other bands which in some ways seemed connected but were in countries all over the world. And they all had this rock and roll stamp on them. As I said it was very exciting and at the time Lizard was doing alright so we would play these songs late on the night when the crowd were quite drunk and merry. But it was becoming a bit of a fight as the popularity of the Lizard had caused a bit of a shift in audience and we seemed to get more people who wanted to hear dance music or even classic retro rather than the latest indie rock and roll saviours. Slowly the Lizard began die off. I can't remember when we left there. But they did up the place and that was that. Anyway I was busy playing my guitar. The Lizard had stopped being fun but the electric guitar was always fun. I started composing stuff on electric rather than the usual acoustic. I was also able to download some recording software and start banging away with drum machines and multi tracks on the computer.
The Hives were a real kick. I first heard of them, through my mate Matt Wilson who gave me a copy of there Vini Viscious Vidi album. I burned myself a copy and played it continually in the car. Unfortunately  I didn't write the names of the songs.  So half those tracks I loved I still can't remember what they're called. And I've never felt the need to go back and repackage the album with titles.

311. Last Night by The Strokes 2001

The Strokes - Last Night (MTV)

It was almost as if we'd forgotten what guitars sounded like. And rock and roll for that matter when the Strokes appeared at the start of the new century. Surely there was something going on before but off hand I can't recall what. First there was the word of mouth as people starting talking about this new band from New York. Then there was word from the UK. So when this single turned up at the Mighty Music Machine I just had to have it. Even though it incredibly overpriced as all good stuff was. And you knew a few weeks later it would be released locally.
I was still buying singles but now it was CD singles. Which didn't really hit the spot. And now they are all packed away in a big box. Unlike my vinyl singles which are still accessible.
The Strokes not only sounded great. They looked great too. They had a real band look. You saw them as a collective. It was actually very exciting especially when the album came out around the same time. Exhilarating stuff. It made you want to pick up an electric guitar. Which I actually did. The album Little Murders had just released was written on acoustic. I started writing new songs on electric. I guess a lot of other bands were taking note too. It also kicked started a rash of cool bands from all over the world. Guitar pop seemed to be king again. It also went down really well at the Lizard lounge. The new century was off to a great start.

310. Girl Of My Dreams by Bram Tchaikovsky 1979

Bram Tchaikovsky - Girl Of My Dreams - YouTube

When we were making the first Little Murders record in early 1979 I'd go around to Stuart Beatty's house in St. Kilda to record the vocals. Usually this was done in the bathroom. On the record we called it the Cathouse because he and his partner Rosslyn Beeby, had so many cats. Great big fluffy ones. Everywhere you looked. We recorded in the bathroom to get the natural echo. The backing tracks for Things and take Me I'm Yours were recorded up in St. Andrews on a friends farm. All the rest were done here.
Stuart also started to educate me in the ways of great sounding power pop. Everyone of his records had a plastic sleeve and he would takes ages to get it out the sleeve check it for dust before playing to me a power pop classic like Danny Says by The Ramones. And this one by Bram Tchaikovsky. I have to admit the songs I heard there were pretty great. This one especially would influence a bunch of songs I wrote. And it influenced quite a few other power poppers by the sound of some of their records. I was at Dom Mariani the other night and I turned to Danny McDonald (who also admits to a bit of Bram influence) and said that some of this sounds like Bram Tchaikovsky.
Bram isn't that well know. He was in the Motors he produced some classic singles. I think he was a bit of a cult hero in the USA. But after this record I never heard anything else. I'm tempted to google him but I might just leave it alone and instead go back and listen to this song. Ageless power pop.

309. Smash it Up by The Damned 1979

The Damned - Smash It Up (Part 1 & 2) - YouTube

Picked this compilation album up at Missing Link second hand and it had all this Chiswick stuff on it. Great comp but the best song on it was this great long version of the damned's single Smash It Up. A meandering start that leads to one of their best singles.
Loved the damned when they released their first album. I guess it was the first punk album. Well first UK punk album anyway. There was this ad for the album that said "Play It At Your Sister". Love that line so I wrote a song called "Play it At Your sister" 3 chords. One of my first punk songs.
After the first album they made a fairly rubbish second and they became kindof uncool compared to bands like The Clash and Stiff Little fingers. Then the indie radio stations started playing this song. Great stuff. And they followed it up with Love Song which was also a great single. I bought the singles but I was not so keen on investing in the album until about 10 years ago when I finally picked it up second hand. And there is some great stuff on it. Of course then they went all slightly gothic and lost me again. Eliose was a good cover and we used to play it at Barbarellas and Beehive. But it was all a bit grimly fiendish for me.
still I like playing this song. I like their sentiment too. Everyone is smashing things down and we are smashing things up.

308. You Got My Number by the Undertones 1979

Undertones - You've got my number 1979 - YouTube

Loved the Undertones. Lots of great songs full of pop tunes and guitars and it all just moves along so nicely. A run of brilliant singles. Almost missed this one at the time except my mate Chris Hunter who was in the Subway with me started talking about it one day in his flat in Prahran. When he actually put the single on it was great. I was especially impressed with the long start and then the move in to something else for the verse. When I got to England at the end of 1979 the local newsagent in Lytham St. Annes were selling off all their singles so I managed to pick up a picture sleeve of this as well as nearly every Mod record released to that point. All for 20P each. Great score. And despite some of the rubbish released by a lot of those bands there were some great songs by Purple Hearts, Lambrettas, Secret affair, the Chords and Squire.Plus I picked up Jam and Undertones. Just great.
In 81 I did an interview with Rolling Stone and the interviewer  was banging on about Mod and how the wheels would fall off soon. I pushed the fact that while I was a Mod the band the other guys weren't as committed and we were a band the Mods liked in the same way they liked bands like the Undertones.
So we get a big article in Rolling Stone with a headline that reads "We Are Not A Mod Band!". That went down well with my mates. Luckily it came out in late 81 when the wheels were actually coming off the whole Mod thing .

307 Ambition by Subway Sect 1978

Subway Sect - Ambition

A great but all but forgotten song from Subway Sect who first came to my notice when I saw their name supporting The Clash at some gig in the UK. Of course the name caught my attention because my previous band had been called Subway which everyone thought was a rubbish name. Actually the name I went for around the same time was The Police. But everyone thought that was crap and it would be a name that wouldn't stand a chance. Nobody told Sting that I guess.
Anyway I bought this single because of the Clash connection. They rehearsed at the Clash's studio! I was more than happy when I actually heard the song. Punk guitars but with sounds of ping pong bouncing all over it. Elusive lyrics. Great beat. Instant favourite.
What makes it special is that in my record box it's a one off. I've never been inclined to buy another Subway Sect single or album. I don't feel the need to chase one down on the internet. I'm happy to keep this in my group of one off singles that I listen. Actually I've got quite a few compilation Cds  I've made up of these singles with no siblings (or if they have nowhere as near as good). And after all these years I still play the Cds. Where even great albums get shelved these compilation CDs are always getting an airing,

306. Dancing With Myself by Gen X 1980

Gen X Dancing With Myself

In 1980 as my friends and I became more and more Modified as they say we knew we had to find ourselves a venue to dance at. Little Murders started having a disc jockey at their gigs particularly at a venue called the Market Hotel but these were still gigs.  Michael and Chris found a little place in Church Street called The Alfred Hotel and started a Wednesday night club called Kommotion. Legendary for it's tiny dancefloor. big speakers that dancers would jump off and a courtyard which each week had more and more and more scooters.
And the crowd of Mods danced and drank all night. But there wasn't enough Mod songs to dance to it seemed. Or else we were a little bit more eclectic. Because we added songs like dancing With Myself by Gen X to the playlist. (and Love Will Tear Us Apart & Oliver's Army) So it was a little bit New wave as well. When we finally got to the Sydney Clubs we noticed how deep they were into genuine Mod sounds and Northern soul. Down here in Melbourne we didn't mind a bit of the old Power Pop.
Generation X were one of my favourite punk bands because they produced a bunch of great singles from "Your Generation" to this song. Loved this song and danced to it many times. Billy idol must have thought it had legs because he re-recorded it when he went solo.
Don't know why they shortened their name to Gen X though. Daft idea!

305. Truth About You by The Particles 1981

The Particles - Truth about you - YouTube

I first heard this song in Ashburton which is in the Eastern suburbs of Melbourne at the home of the Collette sisters. Kat the oldest was the girlfriend, and later wife of Steve Fusezi, the Little Murders bass player at the start of their long career. Steve joined us from a band called the Virgins who used to play at the Champion Hotel. I don't think the Virgins singer was very happy that we took their bass player and let me know in no uncertain terms. Actually todays date October 10 is the last date 30 years ago Steve played with us. I think he got sick of the whole Mod thing. The drummer Rod left at the same time. Maybe I was a little unbearable. It was sad to see them go.

Anyway I was the Collette's house. The radio was on. RRR. And this little song came on. I was in the living room and the radio was in the corner and I was standing there by myself and this wonderful little song was playing. I was now an inner city dweller so Ashburton and the suburbs seemed like another country. But this song was just perfect for where I was.

1981 was a good year for us at RRR. They used to have a singles chart based on record plays and we were on top for 6 weeks with She let's Me Know. At 3PBS we were number one for 4 weeks. RRR was always on wherever I went. I'd hear songs like this one and go out and buy the single. Sometimes I miss the radio.

304.Almost With You by The Church 1982

The Church - Almost with you

I was at an music night a few days ago, the opening of the Greyhound Hotel as a rock venue again, and Steve Kilbey got up and played a few songs acoustically. Of course he played this song which is arguably his most popular song though friends of mine would argue for Milky way or Unguarded Moment. Early in the set he was heckled by Laurie Richards (of Jump Club fame) which sent Steve of into a great rant at the audience and I guess the audience. It was great. But Kilbey and The Church always gave great performances. I saw them numerous times in the early eighties and Little Murders did a mini Melbourne tour with them in 1982..four gigs in a row. The Church on stage had a brilliant sound. I can still hear those chiming guitars ringing out in venues like the Central Club, Jump Club and Manhattan Hotel in Ringwood. And they always looked so cool. A perfect band for those times and on well ahead of the game.
I first heard this song on Countdown. I show I used to religiously watch every Sunday evening. And hate. But now and again it would feature something great. Like this song. I loved the way the song is written,  from the intro which goes a bit longer than the usual records of the time, to the classical solo in the middle. The solo is similar to the one in Cockney Rebels "Come Up And See Me". I remember one night after a sound check we all went out for a bite to eat in Chapel Street and we were talking about music and we got onto bands that influenced The Church and they came out with obviously Cockney Rebel but they also mentioned Doctors Of Madness which was a band no one else had ever heard of. For a little while I was big on them. A record I would listen to with my head on a pillow between two speakers. My Mum came in one day cos she thought I was singing too loud. Still don't know if it was complimentary.

303. Two Cabs To The Toucan by Models 1981

Models - Two Cabs To The Toucan (1981)

After the Boys Next Door left for England Models kind of took over the mantle of biggest band in Melbourne. This was no bad thing because they were a fantastic pop band who had the brilliant edge to their music and at the same time were experimental and not afraid to go out there. (wherever Out There may be) When it came time to record their first album they decided to record all new stuff rather than their stage favourites. This was a bit frustating for the fans. We all had our favourite Models songs and now we would never hear them. I still haven't. They also did a great cover of Tonight from West Side Story.
We did a lot of supports for Models. The gigs were always great (except for a very bad one in Braybrook) and the audiences loved them. Actually the Mods who I hung around with at the time loved them too. Well the girls did. And Models did bring in the girls. I think they were the reason Sydney Mods used to go on about the arty Mods down south. Our Mods would go and see Models and listen to Joy Division.
This song came out on a 10 inch single /mini-album which saw it enter both singles and album charts. How don't know how that works. It was accompanied by a long form music video which was highly entertaining. It had two songs that directly appealled to me. This one and Atlantic Romantic. Excellent pop tunes.

302. Shivers by the Boys Next Door 1978

The Boys Next Door - Shivers (1979) - YouTube

The Boys Next Door were the first punk band I ever saw. I had been introduced to Rob Wellington and we had started getting the Fiction together going and one night he dragged me to see this band at a church hall in the suburbs. The Boys Next Door were just fantastic. They looked great and sounded great. Nick Cave was a star as soon as soon he walked on stage. Afterwards we went to a party where they all were and I felt slightly out of it because my hair was a bit long and I think I was even wearing platform boots. The next day I cut my hair and changed my clothes completely.
From then on I went to see the Boys Next Door regualrly. They had such a brilliant sound. And they did a great cover of Andy Warhol by Bowie which was like the cherry on top. When the Fiction got going we started supporting them at various venues like Bernhardts and the Paradise lounge at the Crystal Ballroom. Even when the Fiction died Little Murders would continue to support them. One gig at Hearts in Fitzroy I looked at them in their suits and looked at my band who were dressed in jeans and decided we needed to get our image together. This eventually led to the Murders smartening up and then on to our Mod look. Later we would support the Birthday Party too.
I don't think the sound of the Boys Next Door was ever really captured well on record. Shivers however was majestic and far away from their early pop punk sound. And it's such a great song. We would sing along to it like it was an alternative anthem. When Rowland Howard joined the band my friends and I thought they were messing with something that was already good enough. But he brought in this song. And he changed the sound of the band. Something was happening..it was like fireworks on stage. And you knew something magic was going on. This band was going to be legendary.

301. Loser by Beck 1994

Beck - Loser

Now I'm right back in the Lizard lounge again. When this came out it just sounded so different to everything else. In reality it was mining the same sort of down on one selves attitude that was everywhere at the time. Thanks mostly to Nirvana who made it cool to hate yourself. Not that it mattered when music was as good as their stuff or Beck or Radiohead.
I first heard this song on a Thursday night at the Lizard. Thursday nights at the Lizard went through the roof after we made it a free night. When we first started we were charging $5 but no one was coming so we decided not to charge and offer cheap drinks. From then on it was packed equalling our Saturday nights for popularity. The Thursday night DJs and regulars would argue that it surpassed Saturdays but I don't hold to that opinion. What it did do is make the Lizard a top indie nightspot from Thursday to Saturday.
Thursdays was also a training ground for new DJs. DJs were hired for their enthusiasm to play rather than any past skills. That's why we got some really different music coming on. One night I went down there and they were playing The Gambler by Kenny Rogers and it worked really well. But not a song we would play on Saturday night.
Loser however became massive. A real crowd pleaser.