That's Entertainment : Hall & Oates 1980-1985

That's Entertainment : Hall & Oates 1980-1985

So here we are: it's almost Xmas, 2013 is nearly up and Festivus is here.  For those of you who partake in the Christmas traditions, I shall wish you the merriest of merries.  For those who don't or chose not to celebrate, carry on ;-)  Me? The Festivus stick is up and the Ashes have been won 3-zip thus far...so I'm a happy chappy.  Another year is over and 2014 is the year I get published, or at least get a bloody book deal!!!

Now, to the important stuff. 

In the early to mid-1980's, when MTV was new and pop was dominated by lashings of synth pop, New Wave leanings and hyper colours, one duo rode high on the back of a quarter of highly successful LPs.  That duo was Hall & Oates.

Now you can say all you want about them being naff, and ever so Eighties...but come on...check out the tash!

Or better still, chuck on this whirlpool of their greatest hits...not a dud there.

After starting in the early 1970's and writing successful songs for other acts as well, Hall & Oates hit the zeitgeist with their Voices (1980), Private Eyes (1981), H2O (1982) and Big Bad Boom (1984) LPs.  Releasing a string of hits that blazed to the tops of the charts around the world, so a five year period, Hall & Oates owned video and radio spots for their infectious, R&B flecked, synth pop.  Their success began when they included more electronic sounds and urban beats as well as being adopted by MTV as a video staple.  In fact by the time Big Bad Boom was being released, they were using the Synclavier II - one of the first computerised synth set-ups).  They had their singles remixed by cutting edge DJs for their 12 inch mixes for the clubs, and even today, Hall & Oates are still radio giants AND sampled and covered in large numbers by newer acts.  They even did a stint on American Idol.  

But for mine, it's the cheesy, sugary Kiss On My List that wins me.  The vocal is exquisite and is a fab little ditty to belt out in the shower.  

All these songs are essential on your Ipod.  Hall & Oates are a little time capsule of that early-mid 80's period of my youth, a guilty pleasure and someone in the genre I reckon had the magic to make wonderful pop music.  

Anyway, I hope you enjoy.  No matter how crap things are, a little bit of Hall & Oates is the tonic.

And that folks, winds up 2013.  I'm going to have a couple of weeks off from the column, but if you feel so inclined, check out the blog and read up on some of the ones you may have missed here :  http://giveitaspin76.blogspot.com.au/

Thanks for reading, and once again, if you want to opt out of this email, please let me know.  If not, I'll pester you forever.

Kiss On My List      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u9FrXBWu_I

You Make My Dreams      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz2W3QfXnHc

Private Eyes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anLfoy2XsFw

I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccenFp_3kq8

Maneater    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRYFKcMa_Ek

Family Man   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKvJ7bvNxfY

Say It Isn't So    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6tvXq6-Eak

Out Of Touch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cggi9STVWDs

Method of Modern Love   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAaFt7_6qvk

Mighty Boosh use of I Can't Go For That

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHfyZJeeTTA

And a Queen vs Hall & Oates mash-up - classic!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYgzNRxHM9k

That's Entertainment : One Hit Wonders 1991-2001

That's Entertainment : One Hit Wonders 1991-2001

This week, leading in to the Xmas parties and late nights trying to catch a late night taxi, I've compiled a list of artists who only ever once troubled the compilers of the ARIA Chart [actually - upon a further inspection, ONE artist listed here actually hit #40 with their 2nd single...so really, I should have cut them, but hey.].  DOUBLE POINTS IF YOU CAN GUESS WHO.

Imagine.  You slog you guts out for probably years.  You refine your sound, practice your chops and most of the time, out of nowhere, you suddenly get gifted a song that hits the pointy end of a lot of countries' Top 50s.  For those fifteen minutes, you're on all the music programs, you do all the interviews, you take all the photos for Smash Hits and the like.  

So that magic moment passes you by, your left to rue missed opportunities or the like.  And then suddenly, you never repeat that success.  You're naff, you're forgotten...except by drunken screechers like me warbling at a party or bleating on and on and on about how unfair it was that you're a sad one hit wonder.

But fear not, for clods like us love nothing better than to sip a few lemonades and go to Xmas parties where DJs trot out songs from this list.  Most of them are party anthems.  I had to cut it down, so I arbitrarily chose 1991-2001.  There are soooooo many more songs that could be included but there isn't time or space.

I've chucked in a few other little one hit wonders - not your classic 'novelty' type songs that the Brits seem to love and cherish and send hurtling to the #1 spot on their charts.  Like Stiltskin - a band that had their song used for a Levi's ad in the mid-1990's before the singer went on to a short lived stint as vocalist for Genesis when Phil Collins moved on.  And Linda Perry (singer of 4 Non Blondes) actually is a hit factory for Pink [Let's Get The Party Started], Gwen Stefani [What You Waiting For?] and Christina Aguilera [Candyman].   And did you know that Shannon Hoon [singer from Blind Melon] provided backing vocals for Guns N Roses on their song Don't Cry from their Use Your Illusion sets?  And the Electric Hippies?  Well they were 2 of the other blokes from Noiseworks.  And did you also know, there's a song on here that I use to annoy the crap out of my wife?  Yep...the very simple chorus repeated over and over drives her insane.

Anyway, all these singles are either annoyingly catchy ear candy or great little pop hits from almost 20 years ago.

And I'm sure you'll be out there during this Xmas Party season, commandeering the Karaoke microphones and ensuring that all these fine artists score their 2 and 1/2 cents per spin and have that 15 minutes of fame stretch out for another three and half minutes.

Oh, by the way, did you guess the band with the 2nd minor hit?  It was the Crash Test Dummies who hit #40 with their follow up single Afternoons and Coffeespoons.

Londonbeat : I've Been Thinking About You   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGw3w_njQ4g

EMF : Unbelievable  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waacof2saZw

KWS : Please Don't Go  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w1TzLR2tYc

Blind Melon : No Rain   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmVn6b7DdpA

4 Non Blondes : What's Up?   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NXnxTNIWkc

Crash Test Dummies : Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIbcqgXh5-4

Stiltskin : Inside   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuTVKO0RScI

Francis Dunnery : American Life In The Summer Time   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML8fJKUgB7M

Electric Hippies : Greedy People  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAkbxSfcI08

Deep Blue Something : Breakfast At Tiffany's   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ClCpfeIELw

Babylon Zoo : Spaceman   http://vimeo.com/68450506

OMC : How Bizarre  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2cMG33mWVY

White Town : Your Woman http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIQWt3oMids

Los Del Rio : Macarena  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiBYM6g8Tck

Blue Boy : Remember Me    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2Eah_EGiDc

Chumbawamba : Tubthumpin'   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS-zK1S5Dws

Cornershop : Brimful of Asha    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LBnMRWeV-E

Lou Bega : Mambo No 5  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unlc89KvLt4

Len : Steal My Sunshine   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1fzJ_AYajA

Bomb Funk MCs : Freestyler    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymNFyxvIdaM

Baha Men : Who Let The Dogs Out?   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qkuu0Lwb5EM

That's Entertainment : Spin-offs

That's Entertainment : Spin-offs

This week, I'm looking for something breezy to mull over and present to you.

So, I thought I'd take a look at spin off groups - basically, bands that were created when members in a current band were either bored, jaded or needed so creativity on the side OR were created when band members left or were kicked out of their respective bands and started their new one almost right away.  Some times bands die or go on hiatus, and a number of members splinter off in to other groups - for example Blink 182 begat Angels & Airwaves AND +44; Duran Duran splintered in to Arcadia and The Power Station; Oasis dissolved and 4/5 of the band became Beady Eye whilst Noel Gallagher started the High Flying Birds.

The greatest spin off I can think of is the Foo Fighters.  When Kurt Cobain suicided, Dave Grohl was left doodling his demos which ultimately would become the self-titled debut album and a popular legacy that matches Nirvana's (IMO).   Pearl Jam are the ultimate spin off - gaining members from Mother Love Bone (whose singer Andrew Wood died of a heroin overdose - and was a band that took members from Malfunkshun AND Green River and begat some of them to both Mudhoney and Pearl Jam) and Temple of the Dog (a tribute album to Andrew Wood) and these days also contains Soundgarden's in and out drummer.  Keeping up?  Similarly, Joy Division's singer Ian Curtis committed suicide and the remaining members regrouped as New Order (roping in the drummer's girlfriend and future wife) to take on where Joy Division left off but in a more electronic vibe.

Mick Jones was kicked out of The Clash, so eventually ended up fronting various incarnations of Big Audio Dynamite, with B.A.D. II being the biggest in 1991 with Rush and The Globe.   Tina Weymouth (bass) and Chris Frantz (drums) were the in Talking Heads and husband & wife.  They started the Tom Tom Club to groove on the side.    The Sex Pistols imploded and snot nose singer Johnny Rotten / John Lydon created Public Image Ltd.  The Jam and The Smashing Pumpkins would up and the singers' started new bands in the Style Council and Zwan.  Kim Deal who thought she was getting a raw deal in The Pixies started her own band in The Breeders.  Miffed with their own bands, Robert Smith of The Cure and Steve Severin of Siouxsie and the Banshees collaborated for The Glove - a weird, arty, psychedelic concept album.

Of course there's Electronic.  A creation of Bernard Sumner (vocalist and guitarist of New Order) and Johnny Marr who was now bandless after the breakup of The Smiths recorded their debut album together.  The song most remembered is Getting Away With It, which also featured the Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant and in turn created a classic.

Then of course there's Queens of the Stone Age (Kyuss AND ), Them Crooked Vultures (Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl, Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme and John Paul Jones [formerly of Led Zeppelin], Velvet Revolver [Stone Temple Pilot's singer and members of Guns N Roses] and Audioslave [Soundgarden's singer Chris Cornell and Rage Against The Machine's musos].  1960's trippers Jefferson Airplane finally became 1980's corporate pop Starship, before eventually melding the two in to Jefferson Starship.

Finally, there's the Travelling Wilburys.  The classic spin off AND supergroup which produced two wonderful albums.  George Harrison was riding high in the late 1980's with his Cloud 9 .  He mentioned he wanted to do an album with his mates and when he was called to record a B-side for the single of This Is Love, he and his 'mates' and produced Handle With Care.  Jeff Lynne - one of the mates, producer of Cloud 9 AND the vocalist mastermind of ELO - Electric Light Orchestra and Roy Orbison [legend] had had a meal and decided to do something together and here was their chance.  The decamped to Bob Dylan's home studio to record and Tom Petty got involved by fluke as George had left a guitar at Tom's place, went to fetch it and Tom Petty returned with George.  Anyway, Handle With Care was created.  The record company scoffed, suggesting this was no throwaway B-side...and could they do 9 more songs and release an album.

Sure enough.  It all came together and one of the classiest, greatest supergroup spin off albums of all times hit the airwaves.  Eric Idle wrote the album liner notes.  From there, they all basically worked on each others next records which were all hits.  Sadly, Roy Orbison died and the remaining four released the second album wryly titled by George Harrison Vol 3.  

So there you go.  Sometimes alls well that ends bad.  Go and enjoy!

Travelling Wilburys - Handle With Care  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8s9dmuAKvU

Tom Tom Club - Who Feelin' It  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EIwOXhHnNU

Arcadia - Election Day   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3Yy6c0Tlvk

The Power Station - Some Like It Hot  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgYqIvnPvqQ

Big Audio Dynamite II - The Globe  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPrPNpzLHIk

Foo Fighters - This Is A Call  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imxAeQZjBeI

Pearl Jam - Alive  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM0zINtulhM

New Order -  Ceremony  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pr6SxJb-Dw

Starship - We Built This City   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_EdzOSSDV0

Public Image Ltd -  Public Image   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cifo77azntk

The Breeders - Cannonball   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxvkI9MTQw4

Style Council - Shout To The Top  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m94ip38UKs

Zwan - Honestly  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLPgz9K4D20

Electronic - Getting Away With It   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46z4K-tV_Io

The Glove - Mr Alphabet Says  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yylfV1SaWSY

That's Entertainment : Skyhooks AND John Farnham

That's Entertainment : Skyhooks AND John Farnham

Today was hot.  I heckled a ute driver with a LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT bumper sticker, asking him if I only 'liked it most of the time, could I stay and take overseas holidays every once in a while?'  I cooked snags smothered in tomato sauce; I wiped my mouth on an Australian flag tea-towel.  I've sunk a couple of VB stubbies.  Aus Music month should be over, but I just realised there were 5 columns due in November and well, I exhausted my loot.  There's soooo many acts I forgot too...

So feeling the becalming affects of said VBs, I've thought stuff it.  After watching England thumped by Australia at the Gabba in the Ashes, I'm loud, proud and an emboldened Aussie - whatever that may be.  I loved sticking it to the stiff upper lip types.  I'm proud to be one of the sons of beaches; to be a convict.  Am thinking of getting a Southern Cross tat but I don't like needles.  

Instead, I'll give you TWO for the price of one.  Yep true, blue Aussie icons.

Who? you may ask.

Well.

Here's the first.

He was a teen idol.  His biggest hit was Sadie The Cleaning Lady.  He ended up in Little River Band.  When I was a kid, he was no Johnny come lately...he was simply The Voice.

Yep.  John Farnham.

When I was a kid, no one carried off the mullet and trench coat quite like our John Farnham.  Jeez...just thinking now, from 1986 on, John Farnham owned the ARIA charts.  His 'comeback' album Whispering Jack is still the biggest selling Australian album of all time.  When it came out, I told my mum I wanted this 'new' thing...she laughed.  It was all new to me; she remembered him as a teen idol.  

You're The Voice was the sound of Australia growing up and taking on the world in the 1980's.  It was the song of the Bicentennial year in 1988.  Pressure Down, A Touch of Paradise, Reasons...all massive hits.

In 1988 he released Age of Reason and smashed it all again with Age of Reason and Two Strong Hearts.  In 1990, Chain Reaction carried on the chart domination with Chain Reaction, That's Freedom, and Burn For You.   He continued on in the 1990's, having more 'Farewell' tours than we've all had hot dinners.  Still, naff as some may think him, he has a special place in my heart.  John Farnham always came across as a but of a dopey bloke who had just had extraordinary luck and a decent set of pipes.  But that's part of the charm.  He was one of us.  Just a bloke, who sang songs, but could be your mate, suck down a Tooheys or two and watch the cricket with you and your mates.

You're The Voice  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbkOZTSvrHs

Pressure Down  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Emutat3_IP0

Reasons http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX6eMwAQ83Q

Two Strong Hearts  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWNb8UeXnZo

Chain Reaction  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDWIVl1Fejk

Burn For You http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDJMgANjLwk

Next up, I give you Skyhooks.

See, when I was a kid, Red Symons was just the bespectacled, suit wearing ba$tard judge on Red Faces on Hey, Hey It's Saturday.  And Shirl was the co-host of the home makeover program Our House on Channel 9 and earlier in the 80's, Shirl's Neighbourhood. 

But late in 1990, they released Jukebox In Siberia.  Being an impressionable 14 year old with absolutely no idea, I loved it.  

Little did I know, and only after I told my mum it was a new band she had no idea about and was laughed at, that Skyhooks is probably on of the quintessential and most influential Aussie rock bands of the 1970's.  Their debut album Living In The 70's was #1 for 16 weeks and contained the hits Living In The 70's, Horror Movie and You Just Like Me Cause I'm Good In Bed.   They touched on drug culture with Carlton and sex - Balwyn Calling and Smut, and the gay scene - Toorak Cowboy.

A 'glam' band because of their flamboyance, colour, make-up and costumes, Skyhooks had six albums off the ten track album banned for radio play.  In defiance, Double-J's first spin when they went to air in 1975 was You Just Like Me Cause I'm Good In Bed.   

The follow up album, Ego Is Not A Dirty Word contained the hits Ego Is Not A Dirty Word and All My Friends Are Getting Married.

Skyhooks released a couple more albums.  They were fan favourites and irritated the establishment.  It's all harmless - now - but at the time, certainly was something right out there...something that would lead to the decay of Australian civilisation as we knew it.   And after years of a fabricated 'war' with the teeny bop pop band Sherbet (the singer was Daryl Braithwaite) to sell magazines and records, they petered out.  So it was in 1990, in time for their greatest hits album did Skyhooks pen and release Jukebox in Siberia.  

Their songs still get heaps of airplay and deservedly so.  They still sound as fresh now as I'm guessing they were in the early/mid 1970's.  There's a certain naughtiness, a certain frisson of excitement when I hear their tracks.  There's that up-yours puerile Australian with a wicked sense of humour laughing at the insanity; the hey guys and gals in this great red land...we count too.  And who else uses Twisties in their lyrics?

I guess, when all is said and done, it's with a degree of sadness I listen to Skyhooks too, as Shirl was the guy I knew on Our House and from Shirl's Neighbourhood kids TV, that distinctive voice and enthusiasm.  He died in a helicopter crash on August 29th 2001.  To see Red Symons, the hard man ba$tard of countless Red Faces panels tear up for his old mate and lead singer, well, it makes me shed a tear too.  

Horror Movie  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7l8rlnMpCI

Living In The 70's  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLUtKKoMetM

You Just Like Me Cause I'm Good In Bed  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfLNjDSfkcY

Ego Is Not A Dirty Word  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UduuxKdPt9Q

Why Don't You All Get  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0lfCcbQPyk

Anyway - what's the irony of all this.  Despite hammering the poms in the cricket...I hold a British passport through my immigrant dad.  John Farnham was 10 when his family shifted from the UK to Australia and Red Symons immigrated to Australia from the UK in 1958 at the age of 9 (on the same boat as the Bee Gees Gibb brothers).  See...Aussies all come from somewhere.  I still don't like the English cricket team though.  Carn Australia...let's win those Ashes.  Now after me...you're the voice try and understand it...  And if you don't like it, why don't you all get...  :-)

That's Entertainment : Aus-Music Month - The 2010's

That's Entertainment : Aus-Music Month - The 2010's

AusMusic Month Part 4 - the 2010's.

So here we are...right here, right now.  The 2010's.  And I promise, next week, back to a slimmer column.

I've always been selfish with this column...guiding you towards stuff I grew up loving or towards stuff I reckon is under appreciated.  It's a balancing act.  The column also serves as something my sons can one day read and figure why their dad listens to sooooooooooo much music.  

Well, this week, I'm guiding you towards a swag of new-ish (a flexible, fluid description) acts as well as some up and comers.  All of which are Aussie, all of which demand your ears, all of which kick ar$e in some way or another.

With the changes in the music industry - the death of CD singles, the long rumoured demise of CDs, the return of vinyl and even cassettes, the biggest thing I feel now is social media & the internet.

See, when I was a kid, you joined a fan club with a SAE and usually got a sticker and an annual newsletter mailed to you.  You bought 7 inch singles and made mixed tapes.  Now, I can hear a song on the radio, use my i-phone to Google the song's lyrics, find the band's website, head to YouTube to find the song and head back to Amazon, JB Hi Fi or the band's own site and download the song (or buy the CD...yes, I am a CD slut...I just love the cold reflective surface spinning in the player ;-)  ).

But the one thing that hasn't changed is the hard slog.  Not to bag your Australian Idol and X Factor winners - ok, I own some Shannon Noll singles and Lee Harding's WASABI - but it's not real.  It's a TV set up.  Real bands slug it out in the garage, in their bedroom, in their local halls and pubs, sweating it out.  It's bloody hard work.  There's debt to everyone, there's endless touring (if you can afford it) in dive bars, there's fickle fans, radio stations and record labels.  Even self producing and uploading songs is bloody hard work.  

For mine though, there is still that moment of magic.  That moment when a song you have written is played back.  Hits a press and is issued.  Gets a video on RAGE or gets spun on a radio station.  Or when you get a snippet in street press.  There is that dream of something more to come.  I've always been ever so intrigued to know if some of the songs I love were just throw aways or songs that when recorded, the band sat back and said 'bloody oath, that's a hit'!  

I guess the other thing I regret is that even if your Katy Perry, Rhianna, Beyonce types have legit reasons to grab all the headlines and the money, there's all these other bands struggling to bob in the sea of uncertainty.  It seems so unfair.  

So here endeth the downer, the lecture.

Now for something good.

All the bands listed here are Aussie acts.  They're all fighting for your attention.  They've all certainly grabbed mine in one way or another.  I used Facebook to contact every single band, and I got heaps of feedback, personal notes and links.  A lot of them I heard breaking on Triple J or community radio, or supported international bands touring Australia.  [[ Lee and I always get to the gig early - because 1, we're out for the night, away from the kids and when you spend $80-$100 on a gig ticket, you want bang for your buck and because 2, the support bands are fugging awesome. ]]

To begin the Aus-Music month, I looked to the past - my cherished, loved boxes of LPs, cassettes, CDs.  My Icehouse and INXS, my Ratcat and TISM.  Australia has its ups and downs, good times and bad.  We've had some well wicked bands deliver brilliant tunes to us.  Our Aussie scenes have been vibrant and chock full of gems.  

To end Aus-Music Month, here's to the future.  It's in safe hands.

Even if you check out one band...you're doing something grand for the nation.  If I was you, I'd check em all out, and more.  There's plenty to go round.  There's influences and originality aplenty, but most of all, it's all stuff you can tap your toes to, sing along to in the car or in the shower, and best of all, see down your local pub slogging it out.  Then, if you've got time, email your local radio station and tell em you want to hear more new Aussie stuff AND email your local politician and tell em to support the local music industry.

But best of all, sit back, listen and enjoy!

-----------------------

The following bands/artists all took time out of their busy touring/recording schedules to reply to me on Facebook.  To each - thank you!  Not only has their music enriched me, entertained me, kept my faith in 'new' music, but they all took time to have a chat and give me some info about themselves.   A couple are established acts, some are independent.  But they are all fresh, exciting and Australian, and they all have CDs out and gigs to attend, so check out their Soundclouds (am still getting used to this), Facebook, official website for info or head over to Itunes or JB HI FI to score yourself a bevy of goodies.  Xmas is just around the corner...take a chance.

Amazing too how most of these bands were found by chance - on the radio dial, on RAGE or clicking on the wrong link.  

Anyway, it's always exciting communicating with musicians as being a left handed tub thumper of dubious ability, it's always fascinating to meet/chat to people who can play and record for real.  The people with the 'talent'.  I am totally besotted with music and not only do I reckon these bands are grouse, here's how I found 'em.  So go on...read on...

Sons of Rico

This Madness  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96-wbaOFh_M

Get To You  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UITWnJjDgA

https://www.facebook.com/sonsofrico

In Rico Glaciers - http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/music/pop-rock/in-rico-glaciers/681135

Reactions - http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/music/pop-rock/reactions/582394

My story:

This a band I happened upon listening to 2SER in late 2010.  I was driving through Fairfield on my way home from work and This Madness just smacked me right between the eyes.  And as usual trying to remember the band name without a mondegreen, trying to commit it to memory sans pen and driving in peak hour traffic was killer.  But not as killer as this band.  With the chilled retro vibes of Bowie, Bolan and Supertramp, Sons of Rico are a great summer BBQ soundtrack.  Their latest album is a bottler and Get To You is another one of those songs that really oozes chillaxed vibes.  The kind of band that should be filling the airwaves!

Parralox

http://www.parralox.com/2012/bio.htm

Sharper Than A Knife  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33wXU3Veyao

Eye In The Sky  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TP3byVO07S4

https://www.facebook.com/parralox

https://myspace.com/parralox

http://www.parralox.com/

My story:

Parralox are a Melbourne pop duo who I chanced upon back in early October by clicking on a YouTube link whilst listening to the Eurogliders.  They don't have anything in common really.  However, Sharper Than A Knife with it's driving synth beat and Madonna-esque vocal - it's just got 'something'.  I blew half our internet usage listening to all their tracks on MySpace - YES! - MySpace! -  over and over, until finally I had to buy the song off I-tunes.  And what could be cooler than a synth pop band in my own backyard giving Alan Parsons Project a whirl, with their cover of Eye In The Sky?  

WIM

http://www.wimtheband.com/

See You In A Hurry   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh6cAxToI8s

https://www.facebook.com/wimtheband

WIM - http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/music/pop-rock/wim/648513

My Story:

This is one of those tales of turning up to a gig early and checking out the support act.  With Lee 5 months pregnant in early 2011, we went and saw Gypsy and the Cat at the Metro, and WIM were the support.  Man...blew me away with their live show, and the next day I had to have the album, which memory serves was just about to come out, and I had to wait a bit.   However, the wait was worth it and WIM's self titled debut is a keeper.  

Private Life

http://www.privatelifeband.com/

Otherside  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8VlflCRTAM

https://www.facebook.com/PrivateLifeBand

Private Life - CD EP - http://www.privatelifeband.com/

My Story:

Lee and I love Garbage.  Just one of the great 90's post-pop/grunge bands of all time and with Shirley Manson striding the stage and Butch Vig bashing the tubs, you can't go wrong.  Anyway, another support band who just absolutely aced it on the night.  Popping down to the merch stand, they had a home produced CD EP in the cutest little home sewn CD single purses.  Recently, they released their debut EP and for $3, I feel like I'm stealing.  Go and buy one NOW!  With gloss, hit track 2 - Otherside.  Close to my song of the year, for it's driving beat, tinkling 80's retro vibe and meshing contemporary pop sensibility with a hint of the Cocteau Twins.  I've been right in to another Scottish band in 2013...Chvrches; Private Life is better [someone at NME is just hiring an assassin to shoot me...but hey, it's true!].  When I am published, and they make the movie, Otherside will be a soundtrack song.  Cannot wait for the album now!

Loon Lake

http://www.loonlake.com.au/

On Fire  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CLHwwDNF7c

City Lights   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNOyfprHH1g

https://www.facebook.com/weareloonlake

Gloamer - http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/music/alternative/gloamer/690074

In August 2012, Lee's nan was banged up in St George's Hospital and each day, I'd take the boys over to visit.  With Triple J on, there was this golden couple of weeks where every tune was new, Aussie and kicking out the jams!  Loon Lake had this jerky, quirky track called Cherry Lips.  Honing their sound, Loon Lake have got their debut LP Gloamer out in the shops only recently, with the latest single being City Lights.  It's amazing how much they've developed and improved in between recordings and Loon Lake are definitely a band to file under 'one to watch'.  I will follow these chaps with much interest, let me tell you.

Club Feet

Everything You Wanted  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPffFTWZWlI

https://www.facebook.com/HelloClubfeet

http://helloclubfeet.com/

Official Bio  http://mushroompromotions.com/aus/clubfeet-make-out-break-up-late-night-party-album/

Heirs & Graces - http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/music/dance/heirs-graces/679203

My Story:

Anyone who knows me knows I love blowing Friday night/Saturday morning trawling RAGE for tunes.   Aussie / South Africa combo Clubfeet were one of those bands that made me sit up and gasp.  Not only is the video for Everything You Wanted a video masterpiece, the tune is one of those songs that seeps in to your nervous system and sends you spasming towards the dancefloor.  The chorus and keys are stunning.  Furthermore, since the death of CDs, I buy a lot of compact discs for one song.  I am pleased to say that all 10 tracks are great and Heirs & Graces is one of those dance-pop albums that nails it from go to whoa.   With a new remix EP out, this is one band I am excited to see live soon EXCEPT I'LL MISS THEM IN SYDNEY AS I WILL BE IN MELBOURNE ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!  Looking forward to the follow up.

Dappled Cities

http://www.dappledcities.com/

Run With The Wind  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whoqSk4qVIg

The Price  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phZNmfGaqkw

https://www.facebook.com/dappledcitiespage

Many Roads - http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/music/alternative/many-roads/695500

Lake Air - http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/music/alternative/lake-air-deluxe-edition/668747

Zounds - http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/music/alternative/zounds/441724

My Story:

RAGE - thank you!  In 2009, The Price had to be close to 'my' song of the year.  It's got this grandiose atmospheric and air-raid siren noise effect, magic drum and strings.  The vocal is sumptuous and it lifts in to this beautiful, most amazing piece of pop crunch.  Like most of the songs here, The Price should have been #1.  It will become one of those classic Aussie songs - in my mind - up there on the pedestal of great Aussie tracks.  Then in 2012, we saw US band Death Cab For Cutie, and again, another support band slot we checked out and being clueless, was stoked it was Dappled Cities.  They played 'new' songs and Run With The Wind completely, utterly blew away the Enmore.  Fark me!  It was a religious moment for me yet the album was still months away.  The wait was unbearable.  But once it hit, the album Lake Air stunned me to my core.  Don't take your eyes away, don't take take take your eyes away indeed!!!  New album out now...celebrate hard!

Yeo

http://www.yeo-yeo.com/

https://www.facebook.com/yeoyeoyeoyeo

Girl  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np7eJ94gD_c   OR https://soundcloud.com/snackswithyeo/girl/s-3UlEo

Jacob's Ladder http://snackswithyeo.bandcamp.com/track/jacobs-ladder

My Story:

Heard Jacob's Ladder one morning on 2SER and I was driving down Gov Macquarie Drive and pulled over, finished listening to the song and wrote down the name of the song and artist.  It took me a while, because Yeo was something else, but finally found 'em.  Yeo is a chap from Melbourne who produces awesome indie electro pop.  It has an earthy quality to it but a cool funky charm.  The album - the Sell Out - which is available off the website, is bloody good.  Lots of little bleeps and blips.  Check out Bacteria too...loving it at the moment.  Girl is the new single, just in time for summer.  Grab a wine, wind down.  

Green Stone Garden

http://greenstonegarden.com/

The Island  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4xmHvV3pAs

https://www.facebook.com/greenstonegarden

North - download EP - http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/greenstonegarden

My Story:

Was surfing Triple J's unearthed webpage and clicked on this band by accident.

Which was serendipitous because The Island is one of those dreamy, spacey slabs of rock that wouldn't have been out of place in any era. 

With a debut album around the corner, Green Stone Garden will win a lot of excited admirers if they produce a record that matches this debut effort.  

Definitely another to file under 'one to watch'.    Not bad for a fluke click on my part, eh.

============================================

These are current bands I truly recommend you check out in some form or another.

Voltaire Twins

http://voltairetwins.com/

Animalia  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw4vS9pqt1k

Convaire

The New You   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeFJCSCG_Mg

Talk In Technicolour   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lad_0Jx0p3c

Sparkadia

http://sparkadia.com.au/

China  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERUZ5CPHPUg

PVT

http://pvtpvt.net/

Nightfall   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XnAoe5-H2U

Gypsy and the Cat

http://www.gypsyandthecat.com.au/

Jona Vark  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YboETF6ZHQ

Bloom  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3d2a5xpCgw

Snakadaktal

http://snakadaktal.com/home

Expatriate

Do You Remember http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGUG_U7vOow

Strange Talk

http://www.strangetalkmusic.com/

Cast Away  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxDLd0bhhKk

Jezebels

Rosebud   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlYJZmrDark

Birds of Tokyo

http://www.birdsoftokyo.com/

Club Sport

Nantes

http://nantesband.com/

Fly http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSQ7ScJwJhk

Drones  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HIzbl7qqmU

Bluejuice

http://www.bluejuice.info/

SOS  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YnWgB0xf3I

Head of the Hawk  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vmcvKjPh6U

City Calm Down

http://www.citycalmdown.com/

Sense of Self  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1Pa95ewirQ

Temper Trap

Sweet Disposition  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxKjOOR9sPU

Tame Impala

Expectation  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Hm8SXcFi8

Worlds End Press

Melody's Echo Chamber

Endless Shore   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEtgRtZ1fD0

Jagwar Ma

The Man I Need   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8KCPw9kYpo

Usurper of Modern Medicine

Motorolla Borealis      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BThG1tlu7XY

DZ Deathrays

Northern Lights   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhJ0grMCKYc

Kirin J Callinan

Victoria M   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Pb0HJPS9EI

Rufus

Tonight  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCa_TKn9ghI

That's Entertainment : Aus-Music Month - The Noughties

That's Entertainment : Aus-Music Month - The Noughties

AusMusic Month Part 3 - the 2000's.

It feels weird to think you can already bundle up the first decade of the 21st century.  It doesn't seem like that long ago - granted the tail end is only 4 years ago - but it was another great decade for Australian music.

The big alt bands of the 1990's continued to prosper and release great albums OR had their fanbases eroded by record label changes and what not.  Powderfinger and Something For Kate hit commercial peaks, You Am I released more gems and Regurgitator pushed boundaries with the genre hopping and the band in the bubble concept.   The Living End continued to release excellent rockabilly punkish social commentary.   Silverchair released 2 more massive albums and Daniel Johns did his side project The Dissociatives with DJ Paul Mac. 

The i-pod, file sharing and online music started to bite too.  Bricks and mortar record shops disappeared only for the jolly yellow giant of JB Hi Fi to spread.  The end was predicted, but bands started to realise you didn't need record labels, utilising the internet to build websites, create rapport and spread their message.  YouTube began, so videos could be uploaded.  Social media like MySpace was red hot in the late 2000's before Facebook and Twitter and all the rest, and recently made a bit of a cool comeback.

In Australia, synth-pop with nods to the 80's bubbled to the fore.  Bands like Decoder Ring, Presets (who owned much of 2008), Cut Copy, Pnau, Van She, Architecture in Helsinki and Midnight Juggernauts dropped wonderful electro pop and began to win over overseas fans and labels with their abilities.  Even Pseudo Echo got back on the wagon to release some new millenial synth pop.  The disaffection of synth pop and cold electronica took on a new cool with the Aussie flavour and for mine, it was (and still is) a great period for electronica...to a point the local stuff is what I exclusively listen to.  A scene often cannibalises itself but the local product just keeps improving.    A lot of nods need to also go to Sonic Animation who brought in the new century with their brand of electronica, and Groove Terminator's album Road Kill is a classic, spawning the song Here Comes Another One (used for The Block).  Also, if you can findit On Inc's Size Does Matter is a ripper.

Perth seemed to generate a scene, so far from everything, that produced a line of great artists like Eskimo Joe, Little Birdy, Sleepy Jackson, End of Fashion, and Gyroscope.  Mixing dreamy pop with dollops of fun, these bands traipsed our great land in search of willing ears.  

In the early part of the decade, Lo-Tel was a band I really, really liked.  Teenager of the Year won them plenty of fans when included on the Looking for Alibrandi soundtrack, but for mine it was A Pop Song Saved My Life and it's b-sides Replaced By Vinyl and www.writersblock.com that found their way on to my playlists and mixed CDs.  Another little pop band that eventually hit it big was Faker.  I first heard them with Teenage Werewolf in 2001 and scrounged around for the EP.  Some years later, they conquered the chart with This Heart Attack but unfortunately things seem to have gone quiet for this band.   Another dreamy little pop band was Space Like Alice with Compensate and Ice Cream Hands with Rain Hail Shine.   For something cool, check out the Red Riders Slide In Next To Me.

Eskimo Joe were probably one of the success stories of the 2000's.  Keeping their indie darling cred and having commercial success, songs like Liar, Black Fingernails Red Wine, Love Is The Drug, Foreign Land and To The Sea were quintessential Aussie tunes needed on your Ipod.  With the loss of their record deal, they got crowd funding for their 2013 album which is totally kick ar$e little record.  The one thing that caused me to wonder - when you hear their song Sarah - is this lyric:  Sarah....won't you tell me your name.  Hmmm...you call her Sarah and then ask Sarah her name...ummm....yep.  

Another artist I found kind of by accident was Gotye.  Nestled on a Homebake sampler from the SMH, his track Thanks For Your Time was something totally different and 5 years before he was a global #1 with Somebody That I Used To Know, his 2006 album Like Drawing Blood was something jazzy and chilled and Lee and I played it a lot.   Heart's A Mess is another wonderful track and you should check out Eyes Wide Open and Giving Me A Chance .  Gotye was also a member of the criminally ignored band The Basics that performed indie pop rock with heaps of influences chucked in for good measure.  I regret not seeing them live and am spending time checking them out in retrospect.

And just as reality TV confection music shows came along, out popped my guiltiest of guilty pleasures from 2003 - Mandy Kane.  His singles Stab and Stupid Friday were both out of place and perfect goth-synth pop.  He seemed to be big for about 15 minutes, enough to get himself a large number of haters and a slew of ardent supporters (of which I am kinda one).  If he'd waited a few months, he'd have won Australian Idol.  Instead we got Guy Sebastian.  And talking about guilty pleasure - please give me The Veronicas.   I've dedicated a whole article to them previously and there's nothing better in bubblegum pop than Lolita lesbo sisters pouting as they deliver slabs of pop.   While we're 'fessin' up to sins - Rogue Traders Voodoo Child peeps?  One of the most infectious pop dance hits of the 00's.  Yep - own it.

And look, I don't want to bag the reality TV muso quests.  Sure, I own some Shannon Noll singles - Loud will always remind me of 2007 and the Bunnies making the NRL finals for the first time since 1989 - I always thought he was punching above his weight and seemed fairly genuine - but the rest was all like a Maccas cheeseburger.  Eat it, poop it.  Bubblegum flavour lasts longer.  And the horror is these poor saps win and 12 months later the next series wipes them away to be forgotten.  What About Me?  Indeed!!!

Something For Kate delivered in spades in the naughties and should be a band you check out.   Three Dimensions and Monsters from their 2001 album are essential, but you really should own most of their albums.  Vocalist Paul Dempsey's 2009 solo album is a peach too, with Ramona Is A Waitress being one of those aurally exciting songs that makes my nerves stand on end.  How he ever got writer's block is beyond me cause the guy is a lyrical genius.  

Retro rock found three standard bearers in The Vines, Jet and Wolfmother.  Like thieving magpies they cherry picked the 70's genre to produce some great rock n roll, and it was no surprise to see places like the UK lap up some of their stuff.  I actually went to school with The Vines' Hamish Rosser (his brother Gavin was in my year)  [I also went to school with Chris Lilley of Ja'ime fame...just saying ].    Oh and Nick Littlemore of PNAU, he was a couple of years below me (his brother James was in my year).    Australia also has a strong prog rock - metal scene.  I must confess, my metal head bangin' days were over by the late 1990's...but it's a scene that gets no ARIA support in this country and that's a bloody crime.  

Talking six degrees of separation, a Sydney band in 2001 called Oblivia released a track called Mindbomb.  Oasis-esque, I believe the guitarist is related to our own XXX XXX.  ;-)

One of the shortest hits of the decade was Rhubarb's Exerciser from 2000.  At about a minute thirty, it's a perfect gem and a Triple J short fill to the news song.  I recently downloaded all their albums off their site and their catalogue is littered with nuggets of bop that you should all check out.    All free downloads here : http://www.rhubarbmusic.com/

Another band who seems to get slagged a lot is Thirsty Merc.  Jeez, what a crime to write and release breezy summer time pop.  I seem to remember Triple J breaking them back in late 2003 with Wasting Time.  Just shows you how fickle people can be.  Me?  I don't care to be honest.  But they do seem unfairly maligned.  

The rise of Skip Hop in Australia needs respect paid to The Herd and Hilltop Hoods.  Whilst not my cup of tea, I can see and admire what they're doing.

Finally, John Butler Trio.  When I worked at Borders the music dept always banged on about these guys and over the decade they became bigger and bigger.  I still didn't get it, until one of their later singles One Way Road hit the air.  Just shows that any band can grab me with one song, and this one did.  Probably close to the last CD single I bought before they were discontinued back in 2009.  Just a jiving little gem.

Other bands who produced great tunes that should be noted are Neuropa, The Cat Empire, Magic Dirt, Machine Gun Fellatio, Empire of the Sun, Gerling, Peter Murray, Kisschassy, British India, Missy Higgins, Angus and Julia Stone, Cog, Ben Lee, Sarah Blasko, Karnivool and The Butterfly Effect.   The most spectacular one hit wonder of the century has to go to The Avalanches.           

As always, there's soooooo much more I missed, so much more that I could squeeze in here, but I have run out of space.  

Next week, look out for the thrilling final instalment for Aus-Music Month where we look at where Aust music is going in the 2010's. 

                             

The Avalanches Frontier Psychiatrist   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLrnkK2YEcE

Gotye - Heart's A Mess  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnXFJOXvL_A

The Basics - With This Ship    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lALFpUKmInQ

Groove Terminator Here Comes Another One  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFs4MjIQVKI

Thirsty Merc Wasting Time  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQHqF_ZfBcQ

Faker  - Teenage Werewolf  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yegdLr2kEw

Lo-Tel -  Teenager of the Year  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjjLItLRfL8

Something For Kate - Three Dimensions   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8SdYqHT3xE

Paul Dempsey - Ramona Was A Waitress  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zaiy_ZxCGyE

Eskimo Joe  Liar  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxb3IrObNTc

End of Fashion   O  Yeah    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGC2wqmvtMA     

Mandy Kane - Stab   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmB16EDV0LU

Cut Copy - Saturdays   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7c4JypIQyI

Midnight Juggernauts   Into The Galaxy   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6SKNEYvZvQ

Gyroscope - Doctor Doctor  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJpCtEcydeE

Van She  Talkin   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1unkCLKU9Q 

Oblivia   Mindbomb   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIQY39FGpLw

28 Days  Goodbye   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BEnx4KUvI0

Shannon Noll - Loud  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7unZR9EFc8

Pnau - The Truth  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbmgxKEwB8A    AND    Unite Us   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjiyM5NIHuU

Superheist  Step Back   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBNzCF2QNFU

Presets   Are You The One  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1D-w5VVLnQ

Rhubarb  Exerciser  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKUvT0B_kko

The Veronicas  Everything I'm Not  Jason Nevins remix  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJZ1Sc-x4TY

Wolfmother  Joker and the Thief  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySjXFjLTagQ

Jet - Seventeen   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BYMPPm34as

The Vines - Ride   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFDHVuGeem8

Sonic Animation Get Up  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V05luvZ2-UY

Youth Group - Friedrichstrasse  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47R7jdXgEdk

Decoder Ring   Out of Range

John Butler Trio  One Way Road  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5f3gfFtHY8

Sleepy Jackson  God Lead Your Soul   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AUq6Y9GWR8

Little Birdy   Bodies   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rG8vnsZZiQs    and Come On Come On   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-PfhQGIVkA

Silverchair   Greatest View   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA_ZiyI3Ros

The Dissociatives - Somewhere Down The Barrel  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjkMf-oMk0s

Magic Dirt - Locket    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkXyvyppRuU

Rogue Traders - Voodoo Child   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrlhLaNClgw

Ice Cream Hands Rain Hail Shine  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj0VFNiPfmg

Red Riders - Slide In Next To Me    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VH_rI0uIdE