Current Traffic

Sunday 17 May 2015

Post 580 - Cats Under Pressure - Singles

Simon Hussey was working as a record producer on a single by the Lisa Bade Band which included guitarist Mark Greg.  When he formed Cats Under Pressure  in 1984 with himself on guitar, keyboards and backing vocals; Mark Greig on guitar and David Reyne (ex-Australian Crawl) on drums and lead vocals. They issued a self-titled mini LP on Freestyle Records, the label owned by Reyne's former band mates from Australian Crawl. It was produced by David Reyne's older brother, James, who was still Australian Crawl's lead singer. Cats Under Pressure followed with a single, "Let Me Be" b/w “Polar Notch” (FREE-0001), which was co-written by Hussey with David Reyne. A second single followed in 1985 “On Again Off Again” b/w “Ping Pong” (FREE-0006) this single was produced by Ian “Mack” MaKenzie and Hussey. During the 1980s and 1990s Hussey was a legal reporter transcribing court cases when not working in the music industry. Greig joined Australian Crawl until they disbanded in 1986. Reyne sang backing vocals on Chantoozies most popular tracks "Witch Queen", “He's Gonna Step On You Again" and "Love the One You're With”. He also began his acting career with a minor role in the 1983 film, Skin Deep. At the April 1985 TV Week Logie Awards ceremony, he won the 1984 Best New Talent Logie for his work in the ongoing role of Martin Kabel in the ABC series Sweet and Sour. These are the only two singles released by the band as well as the mini LP in 1984 which I’m yet to find a copy. A big thanks to Alan who provided me with the 2nd single as well as the A side to the 1st as mine was scratched pretty bad when I dug it out. mp3

Post 579 - Spaniards - The Singles

Following The Spaniards post yesterday I thought I’d post their three singles with a couple of non LP tracks for your collection. The first single “God Is A Shield” b/w “God Is A Shield (Extended) (KSS-1263) was produced by Red Hot Records and mixed by Ernie Rose with Tony Cohen doing the engineering. It was recorded in 1984 for I.C.Records. It was penned by Billy Miller. The 2nd single recorded in 1985 for EMI “Angel” (EMI-1541) again written by Billy Miller and features an instrumental version on the B side. It was produce by Mark S.Berry and engineered by Ian “Mack” MacKenzie .  The 3rd single “What Can I Do” b/w “Memory” ( EMI-1668) recorded for EMI in 1986 both feature on the mini LP “Locked In A Dance”, also produced by Mark S.Berry. Thanks to Henry for his help with this post. mp3 

Saturday 16 May 2015

Post 578 - Spaniards - Locked In A Dance

In 1983, Billy Miller formed The Spaniards with Mick Pealing ex Stars/Ideals on vocals and Mark Mannock ex Ideals on keyboards. The Spaniards utilised other musicians as required like Dave Springfield, Kevin Purcell, Russell Brown and John Annas. The band released three singles plus a mini LP here for you to download “Locked In A Dance” (EMM.430038) for EMI in 1986.  Additional players on the track “God Is A Shield” were Hendrick de Fries, James Freud and Wayne Young. mp3

Saturday 2 May 2015

Post 577 - The Studs - The New Studs Album

In 1977 Silver Studs Lance Reynolds and Gino Latorre continued as a duo, renaming themselves simply The Studs (and recruiting a new backing band). The debut single from The Studs was Funky Feet which reached Number 13 in October 1977. The duo completed an album which did not see the light of day until November 1978 and followed two more singles, Today I Met The Girl I’m Gonna Marry and Dr Bop. However The Studs only sang on side one with Stud front man Gino Latorre singing solo on side two, which featured his single “Crazy Lover”. The album was produced by Tony Hogarth at Trafalgar Studios, Sydney and Larrabee Studios Los Angeles between May 1977 and July 1978. Musicians included on this album were Tony Ansell, Stephen Murphy, Greg Lyons, Jim Kelly, James Taylor, Terry Young, Col Loughnan, Clydie King, Terry & Mona Lisa and Stephen Hopes. mp3