Post 165 - Rick Springfield - Mission Magic LP

After his success in Australia, the 22 year old Rick Springfield relocated to Hollywood, California in 1972. Exposure on American Bandstand, as well as being regularly featured in teen fan magazines such as 16 magazine and Tiger Beat, sparked interest amongst teenage girls. In 1973, a Saturday morning cartoon called Mission: Magic! Was cantered around Springfield and ran for one year, with a soundtrack album also released. Rick Springfield used a gramophone to get in contact with the Adventurer's Club to give them missions in magical lands to solve mysteries. Rick has a pet owl called Ptolemy. Rick has a song he sings in almost every episode of the series. Here to down load is the soundtrack LP from 1974 "Mission Magic" (ZL 205) produced by Robie Porter for Wizard Records. All songs were written by Springfield and band members were Jim Keltner, Russ Kunkel, Ray Arnott and Barry Morgan (drums), Carol Kaye, Lee Sklar, Barry Sullivan (bass), All guitars, organ, piano, synthesizer and all vocals by Rick Springfield.

Post 164 - Rick Springfield - What Would The Children Think / Walking The Floor On My Hands Over You

This was the last single Rick Springfield recorded on the Sparmac label in 1973. It went as high as #38 in Australia and # 70 in the U.S. the A side appears on the 1972 LP Beginnings and the B side has never appeared on a LP except the Australian released Best Of recorded for Summit Records, but it was an A side for Johnny Farnham released on the 25th of December 1971. Rick also recycled "Walking The Floor On My Hands Over You" as the theme to the Cartoon series he appeared in called Mission Magic in 1974. Here to download are "What Would The Children Think b/w "Walking The Floor On My Hands Over You" (SPR-023). Both tracks penned by Rick and produced by Robie Porter.

Post 163 - Ed Devereaux - Sings & Tells The Story Of Skippy The Bush Kangaroo EP

Ed Devereaux born on August 1925 was an Australian actor, who lived in the UK for many years. He was best known for playing the part of Matt Hammond in the Australian children's television series Skippy. Devereaux was one of 10 children born into a working-class Catholic family in North Sydney. He had been a boy soprano, teenage soldier in New Guinea, cabbie, storeman and truck driver before the acting urge took him to London in 1950. He played Matt Hammond, head ranger at Waratah National Park, father to Sonny (Garry Pankhurst) and Mark (Ken James) and boss of helicopter pilot Jerry King (Tony Bonner) in Skippy between 1966 and 1968. Here to download is the 2nd of two EP's this one was released on RCA Records in 1970 "Ed Devereaux Sings & Tells The Story Of Skippy The Bush Kangaroo" (20545). Despite an acting career that spanned six decades Devereaux never dodged talking about the show that made him a household name, although he believed he never saw enough money from Skippy. Devereaux died in his sleep of renal failure at his Hampstead home between 3am and 4am on Wednesday 17th of December 2003, London time, three months after he was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus.

Post 162 - John Paul Young - Spain / Money To Burn

This non album single was released in October 1986 for EMI Records, both sides of the single written by John and Warren Morgan. On 25 January 1988 Young performed in the 'Royal Command, New South Wales Bicentennial Concert' in front of the Prince and Princess of Wales at the Sydney Entertainment centre. Televised across Australia, the event was viewed by over 10 million people and prompted an invitation to appear at World Expo 88 in Brisbane. In late 1988, Young and his family moved to Lake Macquarie near Newcastle. Newcastle's first FM radio station, New FM, was preparing to open in 1989. Here to download is the single from 1986 "Spain" b/w "Money To Burn" (EMI 1814)

Post 161 - Jimmy Hannan - Chang The Magic Dragon / The One And Only Original Sunshine Kid

Jimmy Hannan was born in August, 1934 was a variety show host, singer and entertainer. Hannan won the 1965 Gold Logie award. One of his daughters is Melissa Hannan who won the Miss Australia 1981 and was also in the Miss World held in London. His grand daughter is illustrator Jaki Jo Hannan. In 1975 Jimmy recorded "Chang The Magic Dragon" (102678) for RCA Records the song was about Wollongong born Graeme "Changa" Langlands an Australian rugby league footballer and coach of the 1960s and 70s. He was a representative in the Australian national team on 45 occasions from 1963 to 1975 and captained his country in 15 Test matches and World Cup games. He played with St. George Dragons from 1963-1976. The single was produced by Rocky Thomas. Here to download is that single with it's B side "The One And Only Original Sunshine Kid".

Post 160 - Trevor Hindmarsh - Milly Molly Mandy / Long Haired Lover From Liverpool

Trevor started on Young Talent Time when he was 11 years old. When Trevor left and formed his own band he played the circuit around Sydney. When he moved back to Melbourne and got involved in horse racing, and became the company director of Wincirca Pty. Ltd. He lives in Melbourne with his wife and 5 children. Here to download is Trevor's single out of 1974 on L & Y Records "Milly Molly Mandy" b/w "Long Haired Lover From Liverpool" (K-5629). Produced by Johnny Young and recorded at T.C.S. Melbourne.

Post 159 - Jimmy Hannan - Beach Ball / You Gotta Have Love

Recorded in November 1963, Festival Studio, Sydney on R G Records. Backing vocals were by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb. The young writer of "Beach Ball" Jim McGuinn later founded the California harmony rock group the Byrds, where he was also known as Roger McGuinn. The Bee Gees were uncredited as backup singers they also do some talking in the background to build up the party atmosphere on ‘Beach Ball’. Here to download is Jimmy Hannan's hit "Beach Ball" b/w "You Gotta Have Love" (RG 496).

Post 158 - Billy Thorpe - Retail Teaser

In 1981 Billy Thorpe released a one sided single on Pasha Records. It was a retail teaser for his Stimulation LP, produced by Billy and Spencer Proffer. I can't find much about this one, but I would say it was done for D.J's to promote the Stimulation album. I thought this would be a must for all you Thorpie collectors….and there's a lot of us out there. Enjoy the Retail Teaser (AE7 1286)

Post 157 - Mike Williams - Swayin' To The Music / Singles

Mike Williams aka Shirley Temple the blond, curly headed floor manager for the Mike Walsh Show. In 1977 he issued a single for M7 Records "Swayin' To The Music" b/w "Singles" (MS-221). The A side was released by Johnny Rivers in America the same year. The song was written by Jack Tempchin (the same guy who wrote so many hits for the Eagles: Already Gone, Peaceful Easy Feelin‘). Although Rivers’ version made it to #10 on the US charts, Williams’ version only charted in Perth, reaching #38 for 7 weeks. The single was arranged by Terry Walker and Geoff Harvey and produced by Terry Walker.

Post 156 - Cheetah - The Non Album Singles

Cheetah was active between 1977 and 1982. The main members and vocalists were sisters Chrissie Hammond and Lyndsay Hammond. They had been session vocalists for many Australian artists including Jo Jo Zep, Jon English, Marc Hunter, Flash and the Pan and as a vocal duo toured with Stevie Wright, Norman Gunston and Daryl Braithwaite. Lyndsay fronted a group called Skintight and toured with Renée Geyer before forming Cheetah with Chrissie Hammond. Cheetah toured across Australia, the UK and Europe including appearances at Roskilde in Holland, the Nuremberg and Wiesbaden Festivals in Germany and a show at the 1982 Reading Festival with Iron Maiden to an audience of 120,000 people. They are often compared to Seattle based Heart, also with two sisters. They are not to be confused with The Cheetah Girls. Chrissie Hammond would become better known outside Australia for performing female vocals for Rick Wakeman. In 1982 Alberts released the LP Rock And Roll Women produced by Vanda & Young which produced the hit "Spend The Night". Here to download is a collection of singles released before 1982 which never made it onto the LP. The only track that made it to the LP was the B side of "Love You To The Limit" (AP-419) which was "Let The Love Begin" on Albert 1981 produced BY Vanda & Young. Other singles here are "Shake It To The Right" b/w Love Ain't Easy To Come By" 1977 Philips (6037 090 2) produced by Peter Plavsic, "Desperado" 1978 EMI (EMI-11771) produced by Rick Formosa the A side “Walking In The Rain” has been recently released on CD - Get That Jive Australian Pop Of The 70’s and "Deeper Than Love" b/w "Deeper Than Love" (instrumental) 1979 EMI (EMI-11867) produced by Ian Meldrum. Thanks to Micko for the help with this post.

Post 155 - Playback - Sweetheart You're Gonna Take Over This Town! (...You Had It All The Time)

Russell Dunlop was born in Paddington, New South Wales. In the late 1960s he joined Aesop's Fables, a group featuring singer Cheryl Blake and organist Gary Moberly, who went on to work with The Bee Gees. Dunlop also soon found himself in steady demand for session work as a drummer and vocalist. Aesop's Fables disbanded around October 1970 and Russell moved back to Sydney, where he joined Mother Earth, another jazz-rock group which featured Renee Geyer as lead singer. In the mid 1970s Dunlop toured the U.S. with the band Ayers Rock, renewing his friendship with Jimmy Doyle, and they subsequently toured Australia many times with the Aussie Blue Flames, backing the British performer Georgie Fame. He also recorded and toured with the Aunty Jack Show team, among many other acts, while becoming more involved in recording.In the late '70s, Dunlop began a highly successful collaboration with producer engineer Bruce Brown at Albert Studios and they formed their own independent production company BAD (Brown And Dunlop). Dunlop’s credits as producer or co producer with Bruce Brown include Machinations, Mental As Anything, Jon English and the Doug Ashdown. Dunlop and Brown enjoyed success of their own right as a recording act with the 1980 hit "Space Invaders", inspired by the popular video game of the same name, which they released under the pseudonym Player One for Warner Bros. Here to download also out of 1980 under the name of Playback they recorded the song "Sweetheart You're Gonna Take Over This Town! (...You Had It All The Time)" (WCP 2) for WEA. And under the pseudonym The Monitors, Brown and Dunlop scored another Australian hit with the single "Singing In The 80s". Dunlop died suddenly in May 2009 while playing drums at his son's wedding in Sydney. He is survived by his wife Judi, son Aaron and daughter Kane.

Post 154 - Hush - Get Flaired

Hush were finalists in the 1972 Hoadley’s National Battle of the Sounds and were well on their way to being one of the top bands in Australia. 1973 was the beginning of Hush’s intensive national touring, playing more than 200 towns and cities, driving approximately 4,000 kilometres each week. Hush were often on tour for 9 months of the year. The single, “Get the Feeling“, and album Aloud N Live were released in late 1973. “Get the Feeling” was a hit in NSW. In March ’74 the band signed with Wizard Records and their single “Walking” became the first national hit for Hush. Robbie Porter took over production of the band’s recording and the first product of this association was the hit single “Boney Maroney”, an updated version of the Larry Williams song. Also in 1974 they recorded a one sided promo single here for you to download for Colonial Jeans called "Get Flaired" (WP-1)

Post 153 - Laurie Allen - Sunshine On Your Face / On A Ferris Wheel

Laurie's musical career began in 1959 as guitarist with one of Melbourne's first rock bands, Malcolm Arthur & The Knights. He then joined The Blue Jays as organist and released a solo single, "Wolfman" 1962, before teaming up with singer Bobby Bright in 1964. Their hits in the '60s on the Go!! label included Laurie's self penned "I Belong With You" and "Judy Green"; after switching to Albert Productions/Parlophone they scored another national chart topper with Roger Miller's "Hitch-Hiker" and in 1966, they hosted their own ABC-TV show It's A Gas, later retitled Dig We Must. The duo's second backing band, The Rondells, included some of Melbourne's top players and included the future Daddy Cool rhythm section of Wayne Duncan and Gary Young. When the duo split up in early 1967, Laurie formed up the Laurie Allen Revue, which featured Colleen and Glenys Hewett, on backing vocals and issued three singles for Festival. In 1969, Bobbie and Laurie reformed for three singles, including the hit version of Porter Wagoner's "Carroll County Accident" before splitting again in 1971. He signed with Col Joye's ATA label, here to download is his first single for ATA in 1972 "Sunshine On Your Face" b/w "On A Ferris Wheel" (ATAK-4734). Produced by Col Joye and Laurie and backed by The Joy Boys.

Post 152 - Joe Dolce - Pizza Pizza / Pizzamix

In 1984 Joe Dolce wrote the song "Pizza Pizza" (FB-1399) as a tribute to his love for pizza. "Pizza Pizza" is one of those tunes that once you hear; you end up humming all day long. Joe decided to license the song to pizza operators to use in advertising or as a jingle. The record was sent around to radio stations, and was put in a pizza box. That got the attention of radio programmers. It was produced by Joe, Ern Rose and Mike Brady for Fable Records in Melbourne. There is also a EP with an extended version but here to download is the 3.20 single with it's B side "Pizzamix".

Post 151 - Joe Dolce - Ain't In No Hurry

Yes another Joe Dolce record this time it's the B side of his #1 hit "Shaddap You Face". Recorded for Astor Records "Ain't In No Hurry" (A7316) never made it onto the LP "Shaddap You Face". Penned by Joe and produced by Ian McKenzie and Joe and recorded at Flagstaff Studios in Melbourne in 1981.

Post 150 - Red Symons - The Big Time / The Copyright Act

This is Red's second single released in 1987 "The Big Time" b/w "The Copyright Act" (K278) on Mushroom Records. In 1977 his first single "It's Only A Flipside" and in 1988 "Sex Appeal" which you can find here at post #29.Here is the single produced by Red as Rick Pinko Sims and arranged by Paul Grabowsky.

Post 149 - Bob Hudson - Waltzing Matilda Rock / Heartsmasher

Bob Hudson was essentially a folk singer, came to the attention of ABC musical director Chris Neal who arranged for him to record the in concert album The Newcastle Song. Chris Neal produced and played on the album. The album produced the national #1 hit single "The Newcastle Song". Which was edited down from the ten minute LP version.. As a follow up Hudson issued the album “After Me Cat Left Home.” Here for you to download from 1975 on M7 Records is "Waltzing Matilda Rock" b/w "Heartsmasher" (MS-112). Hudson issued his third album, Party Pieces, in 1980. Since then, he has concentrated on writing and DJ work.