384. Rum and Coca Cola by The Andrew Sisters 1945

In 1975 30 years after this song was recorded I started to go to see international acts regularly at Festival hall in West Melbourne. Before then I'd only been to see one overseas act and that was the Slade, Status Quo, Lindisfarne concert at The Showgrounds. In 1975 me and my mates started to go to see the big bands though. The first gig was Roxy Music and it will always be my favourite gig ever. Then at the same venue we saw Leo Sayer, who was huge at the time, Sweet, Queen, Lou Reed and a few others I can't remember off the top of my head. I did turn down the ticket to Jethro Tull. Couldn't stand them.
Two of the main things I remember about those gigs was the support act always seemed to be Split Enz. before they got big. The other was every gig seemed to have this song, Rum and Coca cola,  playing over the PA before and after the show. We traipse out of Festival Hall with with the Andrew Sisters singing their jaunty song about prostitution in Trinidad. Of course we were nowhere near drunk. There wasn't a bar there in those days. We had to get a pass out and have drinks in the car.
The early seventies saw a lot of this retro music in vogue. Can't say I was too interested. But I liked this song. I think it was the bass sound coming out of the huge PA at Festival Hall. Or maybe it was the cheap alchohol we drank in the car.

383. Strychnine by The Sonics 1965

Because tonight I actually got to see them live at the Caravan Club in Oakleigh. Oakleigh of all places. The Sonics. The ultimate garage band. And despite them all knocking on 70 or maybe even more they sounded fabulous. It's like they bottled their sound and they're able to pop it open to give everyone a taste of that wild sound. And the almost local RSL was the perfect place to see them. It had one of those old fashioned stage set ups that you might see in old english Halls where rock and roll was first played. It reminded me of some of those scenes in the film "That'll Be The Day" where David Essex checks out the local bands. It was really just a good feeling and a memorable night. I went their by myself cos I knew there would be so many like minded people there and without asking I knew there would be friends from other bands. I wasn't expecting so many though. Full house. An epic rock and roll night. 50 years on and fresh as ever.
Strychnine was the first Sonics song I ever heard. Back then I was knocked out by it's rawness and power. And I'm still knocked out.

382. Don't bring Me Down by The Pretty Things 1964

                         

I was introduced to the Pretty Things by David Bowie on his "Pin Ups" album when he covered two of their songs. This one and Rosalyn. At the time I thought the Bowie versions were fantastic. But then apart from the Kinks and Easybeats songs I'd never really heard any of the other stuff.
A few years later I started hanging around second-hand records shops searching for sixties records. I picked up a few of the early Pretty Things singles and was just knocked by their rawness. kinda like a cross between The Stones and the Yardbirds who I was really into at the time. That sixties garage rock r'n'b that would inform the bands I was trying to form in the mid-seventies. Miles away from the pomp of the big bands of the time like ELO and Queen. Unknowingly we were building ourselves our own culture listening to the Pretty Things and Dr. Feelgood. Early sixties stuff like The Easybeats and the Nuggets compilations. Raiding second-hand shops for clothes or heading down to a Carlton shoe shop because we heard there were winkle pickers in the back room. I would make mixtapes and try to get them played at parties we went to. It was a crusade that would feed naturally into Year Zero and the punk explosion of 77 in Melbourne.

381. Only For Sheep by The Bureau 1981

1981 was a very exciting time in Melbourne especially if you were a Mod. Or so we thought anyway. We had our own world pretty much in place. Little Murders gigs were full of Mods. we had our own clubs. And if anything reminds me of Kommotion, the first Mod Club, it's this song by the Bureau. We were mad about Dexy's Midnight Runners. The first album was played to death. Then this song came out by a bunch of ex-Dexys and Mods and it went off. We'd dance like mad. Two UK soul bands. Then Countdown got a hold of it and suddenly it was a hit. The only country in the world where it was a big hit reaching number 6 here. And you'd see the film clip all the time. Which kind of tainted it a bit and made them seem just like a poppy Dexy's. Sadly I don't think anybody bought their next single which was the equally great, or maybe even better, "Let Him Have It".  And we played that to death too. More so than Dexy's. Maybe a lot of the new Mod bands weren't giving us great singles, although there were a few, the best being Maybe Tomorrow by The Chords and Time For Action by Secret Affair. We had these songs, the ska stuff and The Jam. Sixties soul and pop. It was brilliant.
Then Dexy released "Come On Eileen" and the party was over.

380. Turtle Dove by The Rats 1975

I have a special fondness for lists. I love reading lists in books and magazines and online. I'm particularly fond of music and film lists. One of the best things about the Internet is that not only can you  find out about great stuff you may have missed back then but you there's a 99% chance you can actually download seconds after reading it. So 35 years after it was released I discovered all these glam singles that didn't come anywhere close to getting on Australian radio and probably not so much back in England where they were released. Obviously there was fair amount of rubbish but amongst the cheese and dross there are some absolute corkers. Turtle Dove is one of those. I found it on a compilation called Boobs:The Junkshop Glam Discotheque Nice and tasteful in so much it's hard to think they were referring to unless it was un pc covers of most albums back then. Turtle Dove is a little bit Sweet, a little bit T. Rex and even a bit of Bowie too. And totally trashy in a very good way. One of those rewarding finds for those of us who continue to search for new kicks from the past. .

379. Gotta Gettaway by Stiff Little Fingers 1979

When the Stiff Little Fingers first album came out it was just as The Clash had released their second slightly disappointing (at the time) album "Give 'em enough Rope" Actually a bunch of the first wave of punk were turning out some rubbish and the newer punk bands like Sham 69 were just plain awful. The Stiffs were like a Godsend to punk lovers. Speed, politics and guitars with just enough melody to have you singing in the car on the way to a gig. I wore out Inflammable Material" and because of the strike rate of the punk heroes wasn't expecting the second album to do much. But I loved "Nobody's Heroes" which was heralded by this track Gotta Gettaway.  It was just so damn exciting.
I had just got Little murders started and we had released our first single "Things Will be Different" I'd been laying low since the demise of my previous band The Fiction only venturing out to record the single.  But when we released the single in August 79 we had a new name and new members in the band. We had the single out for the first gig of Little Murders at The Champion Hotel in Fitzroy. Anyway I was out of the house and if I wasn't playing gigs then friends of mine were starting to open small clubs in the backs of hotels. So I started doing a little DJing too. Of the records I played this was one of the ones that really stood out. I'd put the record on and run around the booth and on to the dance floor to jump around with my mates. Really trying to resist playing air guitar. And screaming at the top of our lungs "Gotta Gotta Getaway!" No that we wanted to really. In 1979 in Melbourne some of us were having the time of our lives.

378. You Can't put your arms Around A Memory by Johnny Thunders 1978

Bought this from a second hand bin for around 2 bucks a couple of weeks after it came out. There was a record shop in the city where you could get review copies of albums dead cheap. While most ex review records were at least 5 bucks this one obviously didn't sit well with the shop owner who instantly put it in with the rubbish records. maybe he didn't know who Johnny Thunders was. I had The Heartbreakers record he released the year before and despite a lousy mix I loved that album LAMF. Solo Thunders for 2 bucks. Great.
On getting the record home and playing it it turned out to be quite rubbish. Actually listening to it depressed me. However there was one song on the album that was worth the price of admission. Memory is just a brilliant song. And even though Johnny sounds like he's performing on the edge and everything isjust a little out he just works perfectly. It's got this great feel. And although it's been covered by a lot of artists in many sweet and tender forms those versions never have the power that comes from being Johnny Thunders. Though I should go and listen to Babyshambles version because Pete Doherty stirs up the ghost of Johnny in many ways. Some of his stuff sounds like he's using the same band.
I never went back and listened to the rest of the album again. Nowadays I couldn't tell you if it's good or bad. But I still listen to this track. And although some prefer the acoustic version I love it for when the drums kick in.

377. I Can't Control Myself by The Troggs 1967

I used to check out this paper called The Trading Post every fortnight to see if anyone was selling old records, guitars, or anything musical. One time, around 77, I bought a bunch of sixties singles, about 200,  for 50 dollars. There was a bunch of Troggs 45s in there and they just knocked me out. This was right at the time I was starting to play in bands and write my own stuff. The Troggs records were a great blueprint to base my writing on. Before The Troggs, I was trying to copy Dylan or Leonard Cohen. If punk got me all revved up on fast rock the Troggs gave me something to emulate. And of course, we even covered their songs in The Fiction.
A few years later Little Murders were supporting The Troggs at The Venue in St. Kilda and I got to meet them. Couldn't understand a word that Reg Presley was saying because his accent was so strong. But I told him how much I admired his records and got out of the dressing room dead quick. My mate kept calling him Elvis. We retired to the back bar and went on to get slightly inebriated while The Troggs bashed out their hits. And they did Wild Thing twice.
I love this track. I love the scream at the beginning where he goes Oh No. The pounding drums. The loud but simple electric guitar sound. And those great backing vocals. Ba Ba Baba Ba ba Ba Baba,

376. Johnny and Dee Dee by The Eastern Dark 1984

Was this the B-side or the A-side of the Eastern dark single. I don't know and can't see the point of trying to find out because both songs are just so good. And why Johnny and Dee Dee? What about Joey. Which I was asking myself the other day when I bought these Pop Rocks figurines of the Ramones which only featured Johnny and Dee Dee too.  It must be a guitar thing. Then again they're bring out Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious figurines too.
Anyway this song takes me back to the Venetian Room when during the course of the night we'd play both sides of this fantastic single. I DJed there a few times but it wasn't a regular gig for me because Little Murders were still playing. Usually far out of the city or headlining at 1pm in the morning in some inner city club. We did actually play the Venetian Room a few times and it was the place we first called it a day. That was a huge night with fans spilling onto the stage. Of course we came back six months later and played some bigger venues on a kind of farewell tour. And then we kept coming back.
The Venetian Room was a very cool hangout. Not very big but some great bands played there including The Church and The Go-Betweens. Run by Ronny and Michael who went on to do Rubber Soul, Barbarellas and The Beehive. It was a favourite hangout for the inner city music scene. And a lot of the Mods would turn up despite a ban they imposed on Ronny and Michael's venues after The Batcave and The Happening, two previous clubs they ran. They were accused of profiting from the Mod movement. It was all a bit weird and strange and hard to understand. But similar events were also happening with the Sydney Mods too.

375. Serious Drugs by The Gigolo Aunts 1993

Picked this up on a compilation CD where all these bands did covers of famous and not so famous bands. 18 Unoriginal Hits by 18 original artists.. The Gigolo Aunts who were often compared to Teenage Fanclub did a Fannies type version of Serious Drugs, a song by BMX Bandits who were close to the Fannies and even had Norman Blake from that band singing lead vocals on one version. All slightly confusing. But when I played it to my wife she thought it was Teenage Fanclub. It's even got a "The Concept" fade out.

Which doesn't take away from what is a great version of a great song. One I never get tired of listening to. I only just found out they were an American band too. I know nothing about them and this is the only song of their's I've heard.

I think I saw the album first round Neil Wedd's house at one time. Neil is a legendary Melbourne rock promoter. He was doing something at the Hi Fi bar at the time. He got me to do a Rubber Soul night at the Hifi. The first night had girls in dancing cages. The second night we were upstairs in the small room. I'm not even sure there was ever a third night. The same kind of thing as happened when I've tried to re-do other nights too. I should of learned by now to keep those excellent club nights in the past. Then again I just got a call about the Lizard Lounge. What with the clubs and re-unions it's all getting a bit Doctor Who round here.