Thursday, 10 March 2016

That's Entertainment : Ross Hannaford (Daddy Cool)


It’s been a terrible week in the music biz.

Sir George Martin (considered the Fifth Beatle, producer and multi instrumentalist AND more next week) passed away, as did Jon English, Australia’s own Judas Iscariot, pop and stage star and passionate Parramatta Eels supporter (and he went to school with my father-in-law) both passed away.

And they say things always come in threes.  Well, it did.

Ross Hannaford passed too.

Ross was a beloved member of one of Australia’s biggest rock acts of the 1970’s, Daddy Cool.

A quintessential Australian song in any person’s collection is Daddy Cool’s Eagle Rock.  It was a #1 hit for TEN weeks (SEVENTEEN weeks on the Melbourne Chart).  Daddy Cool smashed sales records with the single and their debut album Daddy Who?  Daddy Cool.  It was so popular, a touring Elton John was inspired to write his own Crocodile Rock.

Whilst Ross Wilson (the singer) went on to be in a slew of other bands and have solo hits, Ross Hannaford was beloved by audiences.  According to Wikipedia: 

Hannaford's unique guitar stylings won wide praise from critics and his goofy stage presence, distinctive baritone voice and trademark 'helicopter' cap made him a favourite with fans. He also wrote several of the group's songs and co-designed the sleeve of their second album, Sex, Dope, Rock'n'Roll: Teenage Heaven.

Years later, the Manly-Warringah rugby league club’s fans adopted Eagle Rock as their theme/victory tune and you hear it often to this very day.  It’s laid back, it’s silly, it’s cool and it’s great to sing along to.

For anyone who grew up or lived in the era, it’s a cherished song.  For those of us who came later, it’s part of our Aussie DNA.  In fact, I reckon that stupid exam they give new migrants should include a role play where you sink a can of beer (or ten) and then get given the lyric sheet, a hot pie with sauce and get made to sing along.  


RIP Ross.  

Now after me…

Hey hey hey…good old Eagle Rock’s here to stay…I’m just crazy ‘bout the way we move, doin’ the Eagle Rock.

Daddy Cool - Eagle Rock

Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, 3 March 2016

That's Entertainment : Mixed Bag - Crayon Fields, Royal Chant, Kundu and The Beat Parade


The last couple of weeks, I’ve been ferrying the kids to birthday parties.  And one thing about kids birthday parties is that at the end of them, you get to bring home a lolly bag.

Now a kid’s reputation in the school yard can live and die by what their folks put in the lolly bag.  Too many crummy $2 shop lollies, and you become a social pariah.  A bag full of yummy lollies and you have a dozen mates for life.  Before I gave up sugar, you could win me with a jaffa, a snake, a green frog or two, strawberries and cream, milk bottles and mint teeth.  

And if you have yummy lollies AND a toy/gift thrown in for good measure…hell, every kid is gonna want to come to your party next year.  And it ain’t just the kids who have reputations to uphold.  Parents can wake up in cold sweats before and after the event just hoping and praying their booty bag passes muster.  It just isn’t worth the social dislocation handing out booty bags full of crap lollies and if you do, I’ll be sure to name and shame you on my Facebook Group - Yummy Mummies vs Crummy Mummies.

As a parent with a Year 2 child, we’ve already made preparations for a home party this year.  The pressure is on.  It’s not until June but I’m already having sleepless nights and heart palpitations.  It’s rather stressful.  

So please excuse me while I have mixed bags on my mind and present to you some new-ish songs I reckon you should check out.

Sweetie?  Would you like a sweetie?

There’s something here for everyone.  Some garage rock, some electronica pop and some Britpop flavoured jams.  And they need your ears.  All of them, and if they don’t make it places, I will take off my shirt and eat it (lucky I’m wearing a singlet made out of liquorice ;-)   )

All of these bands openly chatted to me on social media and/or sent me their demo CDs (if available).  I’ve promised to go to gigs next time they’re in town and I’m keen to hear them all live.  A special shout out to Royal Chant.  Not only did they press limited promo copies of their new album and sent me one, they included some previous singles and EPs and some stickers too.  I’d also like to thank the chap(s) in The Beat Parade who also took time to go back and forth via FB messenger to chat.  Being in a band is not an easy gig and the blood, sweat and tears involved would break a man like me.

So be kind, unwind and take the time to give each of these bands 4 minutes of your time.  And the lollies are on me.


Crayon Fields - Love Won’t Save You


Royal Chant - I Am A Model


The Beat Parade - Good Morning To The World







Via FB I had a very brief chat with the fellas in The Beat Parade and they would love to share the following - and seriously check their other songs out via the Triple J page :  

(We are) trying to take the music of older bands like the Beatles, Oasis, (and) the Sunnyboys and create something new from those influences. We're all in our early 20s.
(The) ultimate goal is to bring good melodic rock tunes to people who don't want to listen to the current crop of indie shoe gazers and techno Pop music. (And fair enough I say!!)

Ok..so at the moment we are in the middle of recording a debut EP, which should be out in a few months, no gigs booked at the moment. (But if you listen to their tracks, I’m sure that should all change down the line)






Posted by at No comments:

That's Entertainment : Joan Armatrading




When some misguided individuals I hear say ‘oh chicks…they can’t rock!’, I bow my head and cringe.  It shames me.  It really does.  

Not that I need to list them, but Suzie Quatro, Joan Jett, Alanis Morissette, Suze Demarchi, Chrissie Amphlett, Shirley Manson, Chrissie Hynde - just in two seconds of thinking.

Anyway.  I digress.

One lady who rocked out and is a fave of mine is Joan Armatrading.  With a career spanning 40 years and 18 studio albums, Joan is one of those artists that writes, plays and records all her own music, surrounding herself with loyal bandmates who then go on tour and deliver.

And deliver she did and does.  Often in rock music circles, there’s an anecdote about overseas rock bands and they say that if you can win over an Australian audience playing live, then you’ve won the battle because Aussies will be very loyal to that band.  And it’s true, bands like the Tea Party swear by it.  And it was true of Joan Armatrading in the 1980’s when she released a slew of pop rock albums littered with soft gems and rock-pop staples that propelled her not only up the US and UK charts, but on the Aussie chart too.

This is the period I really love of Joan’s.  She had the balance right.  Songs like Me Myself I and Drop The Pilot are still FM radio staples and when ever they come, the volume gets cranked up.  Another I like is the rough and ready blistering fret shredding of (I Love It When You) Call Me Names.  That’s one that I can just sing and sing with its deliciously spiteful lyrics and boogie and shout out chorus.  

Joan Armatrading also has the distinction of lending backing vocals to what I consider one of the worst - if not THE worst - Queen song in Don’t Lose Your Head.  It’s a throwaway number inspired by The Kurgen in The Highlander film, but with a lyric that includes don’t drink and drive my car, don’t get breathalysed, don’t lose your head…you’ve got to really wonder what Queen (and Joan) were thinking.  

All in all, the Australian music public loved Joan Armatrading in the 1980s and to this day, Joan loves us.

Even now…my toe taps.  The boogie makes me shake my hips.  I want to rock out!  It’s the weakness in me.






(I Love It When You) Call Me Names https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc_WJFp6fRs




Queen - Don’t Lose Your Head (backing vocals)



Posted by at No comments:

Saturday, 20 February 2016

Plug It In: Crayon Fields
I chanced upon Crayon Fields driving home late on a Sunday night, hearing their single Love Won’t Save You on a community station down the dial.

Instantly, I feel in love with their heartfelt pop-tronica ‘sound’ - both music and vocals - and couldn’t believe my luck.  It's always exciting to stumble across a new song especially when you had not intended to be blown away.

Checking them out online then ordering in the album No One Deserves You, I finally got my mitts on it and giving it a few whirls already, I have to say it is fantastic.  From go to whoa, every track is a nuanced slice of pop.  

A band that's been around for a while, I’m surprised and saddened to think I haven’t heard of Crayon Fields earlier considering the amount of great Aussie pop-tronica there has been in the past 10 years.  Crayon Fields have a mixed sound too - a little bit Whitlams / Youth Group, a splash of space bass and warm synth with a suggestion of artier Hot Chip and some might say a sprig of Elvis Costello.  Whilst saying all that might appear to be disingenuous to the band, they have their own distinct, nuanced sound and I love it.

This is a band I'd love to see live and I'll definitely try to when they swing my way next time.

Check out the pretty cool video for their track Love Won’t Save You:

Of course check out the band here: 


Or buy the CD:

JB HI FI : CD album No One Deserves You




Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, 18 February 2016

That's Entertainment : The Babys / John Waite / Bad English



Do you ever get those moments where you figure out something and you think to yourself ‘how the hell did I ever not know that?!?’  It happens to me all the time, but then again, I am clueless.

So with Valentine’s Day, I was listening to WSFM (not much of a crime, I admit) and they played The Babys Isn’t It Time.  It’s one of those late seventies easy listening ballad rock n roll numbers that seems to get tacked on to ALL THE HITS OF THE SEVENTIES 3 CD boxsets or on to late night RAGE when they’re feeling cheesy - and for good reason, it was #1 here in Australia.  It’s got a bit of a disco vibe to it; a bit of a stomper…great for singing along to.  Of course, I never knew the band were The Babys or that they had another hit with Every Time I Think of You and a minor hit with Back On My Feet Again (which, personally, I like the best).  So dot 1 to dot 2 - I figured out The Babys.

Then…I discover John Waite is the singer.  Who?  Well John Waite had a US #1, Australian #5 hit with Missing You in 1984.  Check out the video.  Surely, you recognise the tune?  It’s straight out of Richard Mercer's Love Song Dedication.

Caller : Well, my boyfriend…his name is Killer, he is locked up in Silverwater…so I thought you could play me a song while I cry myself to sleep.
Richard Mercer (deep voice) : John Waite’s Missing You?
Caller [sobbing] : Yeah.  That’d be grouse.  I miss him so much.
Richard Mercer : No conjugal visits?
Caller : No [sobs].  He’s a softy…really.  He just likes shotties and ….
Richard Mercer [sympathetic]: Let’s play that song.

See that kind of ballad.  The one that flies across the universe, bridging souls and make hearts beat as one.  The kind I listen to in the privacy of my home AND would never admit to it.

So John Waite, there’s dot 3.  

Right.  Now, in early 1990, there was a band about called Bad English.  They were kind of lumped in with the hair metal rock of the late 1980s - and why not, they sounded and looked like a hair metal clone.  They had a #4 hit with When I See You Smile and a couple of other very, very minor hits.  

It’s another one of those ballad staples rolled out for Love Song Dedication.  The sort of thing I like to screech along to with the windows down, wind in my hair and sun shining down.  Go on, sink your teeth in to these lyrics - preferably with the music clip blaring and you singing out at the top of your voice:


When I see you smile, I can face the world
Oh, oh
You know I can do anything 
When I see you smile, I see a ray of light
Oh, oh
I see it shining right through the rain 
When I see you smile 
Baby when I see you smile at me
Oh, yeah

And the point is?  Well Bad English’s singer was John Waite (actually, Bad English were 3/5 of The Babys).  So dot to dot to dot and whammy!  

Sometimes I even astound myself.  

So listen, sing and enjoy.


*** No…I am not Killer locked up in Silverwater.  

The Babys




John Waite solo




Bad English







Posted by at No comments:

That's Entertainment : Valentine's Day


Well, Valentine’s Day is upon us.  

And I’ve got no advice.  Nothing.  

But I do have something for you in the music dept, no matter what state of the heart you might find yourself in.

So sticking to that old adage - something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue and a silver sixpence in her shoe.


Something old:

Herman’s Hermits : I’m Into Something Good 


This was Herman’s Hermits debut single that went to #1 in 1964.  Funnily enough, the song was co-written by Carole King.  It’s a quintessential Sixties pop ditty and always makes me think of the TV show Heartbeat.  Awesome song to sing along to.  Makes me want to drink Fanta.

AND

Blondie : Hanging on the Telephone


It’s cool to find Deborah Harry (and a woman) being the pursuer here, pleading not to be left hanging, cause if she is, there’ll be trouble pal!  (And who in their right mind would ignore Deborah Harry - the ultimate sneering, posing front woman?  Puh-lease!).  And just a tick under two and half minutes, it’s pop punk perfection.



Something new:

St Lucia : Dancing On Glass


I discovered St Lucia at a Walk The Moon gig where the sound tech was whirling some of his own fave tracks pre-show on the PA.

Anyway, this is St Lucia’s new single Dancing On Glass and the album dropped last week, so it’s fresh as.  With an 80’s synth, a gleaming pop heart beat and dance floor filling vibes, Dancing On Glass asks the pertinent questions about starting a relationship: will this last?  for how long?  is the break up inevitable?  And will I get hurt?  

I’ve had it on high rotation and each time I hear it, I just want to dance.  Not on broken glass, because I have sensitive soles.  But good pop does that to me.  

Anyway.  It’s catchy as all hell and I recommend sniffing out the entire album which is like a slab of party you won’t want to leave.  



Something borrowed:

Pet Shop Boys : Always on my Mind


When I was a kid, this was a smash hit for the Pet Shop Boys in late 1987 (the Xmas #1 in the UK).  They’d played it for a 10 year anniversary tribute to Elvis and because it was so popular, decided to record the track and release it as a single.  The one thing I didn’t know was it was an Elvis Presley song.  Only today, did I actually discover Elvis didn’t do it first and he covered it too.  Ha!

That said, Always On My Mind is right up there with my favourite Pet Shop Boys songs.  Better still, the regretful lyric is absolutely fabulous.  Basically, the singer presents the facts: they’re a crap lover yet despite all their failings and despite admitting to taking the relationship for granted, the subject was always on their mind.  It works perfectly as an apology or as a lament.  

Great to sing out loud and the film clip is eccentric (clips from the Pet Shop Boys’ movie It Couldn’t Happen Here [released at their commercial peak in 1988 because they didn’t want to tour].



Something blue:

The Cure : Pictures of You


Robert Smith could write some really psychedelic pop songs and then he could write this, one of the greatest and most beautiful goth ballads of all time.  

Lifted from 1989’s Disintegration, conceivably one of the greatest albums of all time, Pictures of You transcends everything.  Deliciously melancholy, you need a dark room, candles, a bottle of red wine and pillow to cry in to for the ‘one that got away’ or that unrequited love.

Don’t believe me - check this lyric and try not to blub (or let your mascara run):

If only I’d thought of the right words
I could have held on to your heart
If only I’d thought of the right words
I wouldn’t be breaking apart
All my pictures of you.

I’d have no qualms calling this a masterpiece.  It’s exactly what it is.  



Sixpence:

Sixpence None The Richer : Kiss Me


Ahhh, Dawson’s Creek.  I’m not sure if Katie Holmes ever got any of my fan mail.  I’m thinking not.  Sigh.  

Sixpence None The Richer had a #1 hit here with Kiss Me an infectious little pop-ballad.  The band followed it up with a so-so cover of There She Goes and then dived head first in to obscurity.

Why Joey ended up with Pacey, I will never know.  Makes me want to jump up and down on the couch in frustration.


Happy Valentine’s Day!


Hidden ‘Cockles of your Heart’ Track

J Geils Band (criminally underrated / forgotten) : Love Stinks

Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, 4 February 2016

That's Entertainment : Comedy Gold


Music.

Comedy.

What’s not to love?

It’s the best of both worlds when done right.  

In the past 10 years or so, there seems to have been a real mix of musical comedy with a slew of Aussie, Kiwi and British shows incorporating well crafted, excellently written and performed pop songs seeded within the narrative of the show.

For mine, the best of the bunch have been New Zealand's The Flight of the Conchords who seamlessly created homages to well known songs/sounds and created their own body of work as well as the UK’s The Mighty Boosh, who mixed psychedelic comedy with their chords.  Both groups took their shows on the road to much critical and commercial success, blending their music, gags and wit in to a rip roaring show full of fun which literally had people splitting their sides AND dancing in the aisles. America’s Portlandia also meshes quirky humour and music (that said, co-creator/writer/actor Carrie Brownstein is the singer/guitarist of the band Sleater-Kinney)

And that’s not to say comedy tv shows haven’t always parodied popular music.  But my bent is music actually created for the show, placed within the show. 

So without further ado, get ready to rub your funny bone, tickle those ivories and warm up the vocal chords because here’s my platinum selection of comedy gold.

*** Please note - I’ve left a couple of songs off this list.  A bit too risque for a family friendly column such as this.  I hope you understand.  (RE: South Park)

*** Also - if you’ve got any songs you think I might like, drop me a line.  I’m always looking for new TV to watch and songs to snort lemonade out my nose laughing to.



Matt Berry  One Track Lover From Garth Merenghi’s Dark Place ( 2004 )



Flight of the Conchords Fashion Is Danger From Flight of the Conchords episode New Zealand Town (2009)



Portlandia The Dream of the 90’s From the episode Farm (2011)



Matt Berry  Snuff Box Theme From Snuff Box (2006)



The Mighty Boosh Love Games From The Mighty Boosh episode The Legend of Old Gregg (2005)



Chris Lilley  She’s A Naughty Girl From Summer Heights High (2007)



The Mighty Boosh I Did A S*** On Your Mum From The Mighty Boosh episode The Chokes (2007)



Steve Coogan The Day My Computer Said Hello From I Am Not An Animal (2004)



Flight of the Conchords Hurt Feelings From Flight of the Conchords episode The Tough Brets (2009)



Not The Nine O’Clock News Nice Video, Shame About The Song



Flight of the Conchords Inner City Pressure From Flight of the Conchords episode Bret Gives Up The Dream (2008)

Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)