Post 387 - Nolan - In Vain The Christian / What You'll Do

If your memory is good enough, go back to 1969 to a television program about drug addiction called “No Roses For Michael”, you might also remember the name of the man who wrote the music, being Sydney artist Aidan Nolan. Aidan played with various Sydney rock bands during the late 1960’s including Daisy Roots, their drummer Alan Sandow went on to drum for Sherbet. Other bands he played with were Garage Plus, Papa Skragg’s Patent Leather Nightmare and Pro to name a few. In 1973 he began to lay down tracks for an album, Tales From The Sun, but with the album still not completed, he decided to travel to England. While in London aidan was offered a contract to record cover versions of American songs. Apparently he found great difficulty relating lyrically and, such musical honesty being financially unrewarding, he was down to the ancient art of busking, making use of the excellent acoustics of Green Park station in the London underground. However, it was when John J Francis who produced and arranged "Tales From The Sun" took aidan's album to London, the former street busker was immediately signed to the British Sparks label. The album will be released in England and Europe. Here to download we go back to 1971 with a single he recorded for M7 Records called "In Vain The Christian" b/w "What You'll Do" (LW-4532), both sides were penned by Nolan and the single was produced by Allan Crawford. To read more about Aidan Nolan go to http://www.aidannolan.com/index.html

Post 386 - Billy Miller & The Great Blokes - Perpetual Motion / Perpetual Motion (Extended)

Billy Miller is an Australian musician who started singing and playing guitar back in the 1960s. After a 3 year stint in the cast of Jesus Christ Superstar, he formed The Ferrets, who in 1977 had a no 1 hit "Don't Fall In Love". Between 1979-1982 he performed as Billy Miller & The Great Blokes and only released one single for Mushroom Records here for you to download. The single "Perpetual motion" b/w "Perpetual Motion (Extended)" was penned by Billy. It was produced by John French & Trevor Countney. The only other song that I know of by this band is a track on the "Mushroom Evolution Concert" "She Took My Heart" which is a great song, I only wish that they did a studio version of this song.

Post 385 - Steve Hill Collection

Skyhooks formed in March 1973 in Melbourne with Steve Hill on vocals (ex-Lillee), Daddy Cool frontman, Ross Wilson was playing in his group Mighty Kong with Skyhooks as a support act. Wilson was impressed with the band and signed Macainsh to a publishing deal. Skyhooks gained a cult following around Melbourne including university and pub rockers, but a poorly-received show at the January 1974 Sunbury Pop Festival saw the group booed off stage.Two tracks from their live set, "Hey What's the Matter?" and "Love on the Radio" appeared on Mushroom's Highlights of Sunbury '74. After seeing his performance on TV, Hill phoned Macainsh and resigned because he didn't like the sound of his voice. The only other know recording of Steve is "All My Friends Are Getting Married" (Demo Version) from the "Demos & Dialogue Rarities" Box Set. Sadly Steve Hill passed away after a long battle with cancer on 31st October 2005. His final wish was to play one last show with his Skyhooks mates, which he did on 13/9/05 at the Annandale Hotel, Sydney.

Post 384 - The Cherokees – Your Bulldog Drinks Champagne / Heart Full Of Country

Melbourne based Cherokees were formed from Johnny Chester’s Chessmen, Chester suggested they name their new band The Cherokees after an ice cream that was popular at the time. The Cherokees were Billy Dale and Barry King (Guitars), Barry Windley (Drums) and Peter Tindall (Bass). Starting as a vocal and instrumental act, the group switched to vocals only in 1965 with great success. Their first single coupled the U.S group The Five Whispers track “Moon In The Afternoon” backed with a Doug Trevor original “Running Wild”. Trevor had been the lead guitarist with the Marksmen and later joined the Cherokees on bass and guitar. Lindsay Morrison (rhythm guitar), Peter 'Max' Bliney (drums), Marty van Wynk (guitar) and vocalists Mike McGuire and Kevin Smith were group members at various times. The group were selected to support the Monkees' 1968 tour, and continued into the 1970's. The single "Sally" was produced by Brian Poole, and probably recorded in England. Their last single, here for you to download “Your Bulldog Drinks Champagne” b/w “Heart Full Of Country” (RS-010) was produced by Keith Glass and Doug Trevor. The A side was a cover of a Jim Stafford song. The single was released on Real Records in 1974. Doug Trevor went on to manage Gina Jeffreys & Troy Cassar-Daley. To read more on the history of The Cherokees go to http://bluesola.com/artists.htm