Seeing it's that time of year again this is a Split Enz Christmas Fan Club single from 1983, Contains a mixture of Christmas greetings and well wishes, mostly to an improvised studio jam, as well as Christmas carols and covers of other songs. Date based on a reference to Neil Finn's newborn son, Liam. Recorded by Festival Records for Fan Club Edition, the record was in Green Translucent. Flac
John St Peeters was born in Melbourne, in 1956, to Italian-born parents. He grew up in Richmond with a younger sister, Josephine. Early in his career he performed as Johnny Lo Piccolo. From the age of 11 he played piano accordion on TV talent quests, such as Brian and the Juniors. John St Peeters and the Sharells were formed in 1974, as a vocal trio, with two female vocalists, Niki Nicholls and Kim Julin. They toured Australia, North America and South-East Asia before issuing a single, "Take Me if You Want Me" in October on the Astor label. He resumed his solo career in 1976 with a disco-based single, "You Know that You're Sexy", in November of that year. Peeters signed with EMI Records, which issued his next two singles, "Shiny Side Up" and "Love the Way You Move", none reached the top 100. At the King of Pop Awards of 1977 St Peeters won Most Popular New Talent. In the following year his contract was taken up by RCA Records. He released his next single, "Deep Inside of Me", which peaked at No. 22.His next single, "High Class Woman" '78, reached the top 50.He followed with his debut album, "So Many Ways" produced by Spencer Lee. In 1979 he formed the John St Peeters Band. His second album, "One Night Stand", and its associated singles did not reach the top 40. His 1980 single, "Wonder World"was the theme song for Simon Townsend's Wonder World, a children's variety TV series.Here are all his singles for you to download with art by Henry DeRooy. Flac
Dave And The Derros was created by lead singer David Jones. Jones was a radio disc jockey based in Newcastle N.S.W and wrote novelty songs for his radio show. David had a large repertoire of radio character voices, one of which was his beloved Dave the Derro. David liked to make parody songs for his radio show. This eventually allowed him to work up an act based on "Dave". He complemented his performances with an ever changing backing band of musos. Some of these various musos also backed John Paul Young. Dave and the Derros also released an album in 1980 called 'Live After Death' which features most of these singles recorded live. David Jones (vocals), Trevor Parkinson (guitar), Kevin Buckingham (guitar), Bert Moonen (bass) Steve Connellan (drums), David Baldwin (drums). Thanks again Henry DeRooy for more great art work. Flac
Late 80s punk rock band from Sydney, were known as "A sarcastic arrogant band with an ill-tempered lead vocalist" Johnny Teen (real name Robert Gale). Green Fez Records issued the bands first live single a cover of Supernaut's "I Like It Both Ways", from there they moved to Timberyard Records and released a number of singles and EP's. Members later involved with Pearls & Swine, Blind Society & Panacea.Members:- Johnny Teen (vocals), Acid Baloney (guitar), Holiday Inn (guitar), Evil Kenevalknob (drums)Ladel Set (bass). Art work Henry DeRooy.Flac
The Monitors were a band of the early 1980s. They were primarily a studio group which involved a collaboration between Terry McCarthy on vocals and keyboards, and Mark Moffatt on guitar, bass guitar and keyboards. They used various guest vocalists. Their debut single, "Singin' in the '80s", was released in 1980 and reached No. 16 on the Kent Music Report singles chart.The video featured Gayle & Gillian Blakeney lipsyncing the vocals of Kim Durant, the sisters went on to become television hosts on children's television show Wombat and actresses on television soap opera Neighbours. A second single, "Nobody Told Me" June 1981, peaked in the top 40. The Monitors issued a sole album, "Back from Their Recent Illness" in October 1982, for which Ricky Fataar had joined on drums, percussion, guitar and keyboards. The group disbanded in 1982.Thanks Henry for the art work.Flac
Cattletruck began as a self-described "irreverent semi-acoustic punkabilly covers outfit", that would play "anywhere, anytime, invited or not" In early 1985 singer/guitarist Paul Janovskis decided to "get serious" and the group independently produced a single "Never Is", which received public radio airplay. This allowed the band to lead support gigs for A-list Australian and International acts.In 1986, they signed with Regular Records and began work on their debut album, with a series of singles and video clips released. In December 1987, "Ready to Believe" was released, which peaked at number 58 on the Australian Charts.The band ground to a halt amidst bickering, management problems and financial issues in 1988. Henry DeRooy art work flac
Kim Durant was born in Macksville NSW in the late 50s. When Kim was 18 she moved to Sydney with her manager to boost her singing and acting career. Durant then moved to Queensland and became one of Queensland's most awarded female entertainers over a long period of time. She has appeared on two Royal Command Performances and has also appeared on every major television show throughout Australia. Signed to the Infinity label she released her first single ''Givin' Up On Love'' in 1979, penned by Sherbet's Garth Porter & Tony Mitchell. This was followed by a number of singles and an album 'Take Your Time With Me'. Durant provided the backing vocals for The Monitors on their biggest single, "Singin' In The '80s" which was released in 1980 and reached #16 on the Australian singles charts. Her Awards range from Queensland's Entertainer Of The Year and Queensland's Recording Artist of The Year. Thanks again for some great art work from Henry DeRooy. Flac
July 14th was put together by Terry Bradford, and the core members were Terry, Rod Ling and Robyn Habel with Tom Cowsill, Andrew Mills, Roy Ezinger and Brett Spilsbury joining at different stages. The name July 14 is made up from the birth date of three of the band members. The group's first single released in 1984 "Me and My Gun" (GPR 110) on Greasy Pop Records did very well nationally and internationally. The group was commissioned to provide the tracks for two documentaries, the first for the ABC titled Searching for Women's History a three part documentary which was broadcast on national television. The second project was a US documentary on the Zanoni shipwreck off of Port Lincoln.Flac
Models were formed in Melbourne in August 1978. They went into hiatus in 1988. They are often referred to as "The Models" They re-formed in 2000, 2006 and 2008 to perform reunion concerts, and began regularly performing again from 2010 onwards. "Out of Mind, Out of Sight", their only No. 1 hit, appeared on the Australian singles charts in July 1985. The related album, Out of Mind, Out of Sight, peaked at No. 3 on the Australian albums charts after its release in August. Out of Mind, Out of Sight appeared on the Billboard 200 albums chart, with the single, "Out of Mind, Out of Sight", peaking at No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. An earlier song from the same album, "Barbados", had peaked at No. 2 on the Australian singles chart. Models early line-up included Andrew Duffield on keyboards, Mark Ferrie on bass guitar, Janis Freidenfelds (a.k.a. Johnny Crash) on drums and percussion, and Sean Kelly on vocals and lead guitar. A later line-up was mainstay Kelly on guitar, James Freud on vocals and bass, Roger Mason on keyboards, Barton Price on drums, and James Valentine on saxophone. Backing singers in the group included Zan Abeyratne and Kate Ceberano (both from I'm Talking) and Canadian-born Wendy Matthews. In early 1989, Duffield, Kelly, Matthews and Valentine were members of Absent Friends. On 27 October 2010, Models were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame by Matthews.
Here for you to download are all the B Sides from all their singles. 12 of the 17 songs are non album tracks and are pretty good but if you're expecting songs like "Barbados" "Out Of Sight Out Of Mind" then you will be dissappointed, But I like these, I think the Models might have been expermenting with new sounds or instruments or maybe just doing something completly different than the A Sides. But what ever they were doing it worked. One B side is a cover of The Tornados 1962 hit "Telstar". The 12" versions of some of their singles have different B sides then the 45 versions and yes that will be another post to come. To complement these tracks more great art work from Henry DeRooy, thanks Henry! Flac
Johnny Christie born in Bendigo Victoria, he recorded one single for Fable Records in 1972 "Sorrow Is My Name" Like a lot of Aussie Musos he went to the U.K. to try his luck and dropping Johnny to John. Dave Clark (from the Dave Clark Five) discovered John and produced many singles his first "Everybody But Me" in 1974 for Polydor Records. His second single also from 1974 "4th Of July" was penned by Paul & Linda McCartney. He released 12 singles for Polydor & EMI from '74/'77 as well as one LP. John can also be heard on the soundtrack album of Dave Clark’s musical “Time”. John starred in a lot of West End musicals and singing regularly on cruise ships. There's not a lot about John on the net and is a hard man to pin down but like I always say maybe someone out there might inform us with more about this great singer. Here are all the A & B sides of those singles with some great art work from Henry DeRooy. Flac
Melbourne band "Windy And Warm" named after a Chet Atkins instrumental featuring the vocals of a teenage Robin Jolley. They played pop covers and recorded one single for Astor Records in July 1969 a cover of a Spencer Davis song "It Hurts Me So" b/w "Bread" (A-7141), the single was produced by Max Berrenger. Members were:- Robin Jolley (vocals 1967-) John Beshara (guitar), Geoff Maxwell (drums), Roger Sharp (vocals 1965/67), Ian Stewart (guitar) and Ian Williams. (bass). flac
Dragon formed in Auckland in January 1972 with a line-up that featured Todd Hunter on bass guitar, guitarist Ray Goodwin, drummer Neil Reynolds and singer/pianist Graeme Collins. All had been in various short-lived bands in Auckland, Collins is credited with using I Ching to provide the name Dragon. Their first major gig was an appearance at the Great Ngaruawahia Music Festival in early January 1973. By 1974 several personnel changes had occurred, with Todd Hunter's younger brother, Marc Hunter, joining on vocals and Neil Storey on drums. The band recorded two progressive rock albums in Auckland, "Universal Radio" in June 1974 and "Scented Gardens for the Blind" in February 1975 both on Vertigo Records. Despite being one of Auckland's top live attractions by late 1974, neither albums nor related singles had any local chart success, and they recruited Robert Taylor (ex-Mammal) on guitar as they searched for a raunchier pop sound. By early 1975, manager Graeme Nesbitt (ex-Mammal), who had obtained regular gigs and organised their first New Zealand tours, felt they should tackle the larger Australian market. Nesbitt was unable to travel with them to Australia as he had been arrested for selling drugs.The three Vertigo singles are now very sorted after by collectors and sell for big bucks, here for you to download are those singles "Vermillion Cellars" b/w "Rock 'N' Roll Ponsonby" (6036 908) "Education" b/w "Swell Foot Sue" (6036 909) "Star Kissed" b/w "Crystal Dove" (6036 910). All singles were released in 1975. FLAC
The nucleus of Sydney band Feather came together in early 1976 under the name Blackfeather, and lead singer Neale Johns had fronted various incarnations of Blackfeather since 1970. The 1976 Blackfeather line-up was more pop-oriented and featured Johns, Ray Vanderby (keyboards), Lee Brossman and Warwick Fraser, plus Warwick’s 14-year-old brother, Stuart. In November 1976, Johns left to travel to the UK and Vanderby followed him out of the band. The remaining members recruited singer John Swan and guitarist Wayne Smith to become Feather.
The bands first break came that same month when it supported Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow on an Australian tour. Feather then settled into the local pub rock circuit and issued the single "Girl Trouble" in May 1977 for CBS. The band also recorded an album at that time called "Going Through Changes" which has never surfaced. In April 1978, on the eve of the band’s support spot on TMG‘s three-month ‘Disturbing The Peace’ tour, John Swan left the group. 19-year-old Gary Conlan stepped in as Swan’s replacement. The band contributed two tracks to an Alberts compilation album, "Canned Rock", recorded live at Parramatta jail. FLAC
The mainstays of the Aussie band (Lee Emmett, Felix Maslin and Bud Mangion) first joined forces in 1974 as Jasper. Emmett, Maslin and Mangion formed Punkz with the addition of Robin Jackson (who had been the original lead vocalist with Hush and had played in a schoolboy band in the UK with Peter Frampton) and Randy Hall, who was quickly replaced by Ray Goodwin from the John Paul Young Allstars. Punkz came to the attention of Ol’ 55 manager and rock brain Glenn A Baker, who helped shape the bands 1960’s pop image. Mushroom Records issued the singles Anyway You Want It '76 and Take Me For What I’m Worth '77, neither of which were very successful despite the fact that they were near note-perfect versions of the 60’s originals. Ray Goodwin left soon after and the band changed its name to Cheek to avoid any punk rock connotations. A cover of the Mighty Avengers’ "So Much In Love", backed with The Easybeats‘ "Do You Have A Soul?" was Cheek’s debut single for Mushroom in January 1978. The band then began recording an album, with the addition of Troy Richards on keyboards and guitar.The album was never released, and the final single, "Leave My Heart Alone", was also unsuccessful and the band broke up in August 1978. An EP on Greg Shaw’s Bomp! label appeared in the US. Felix Maslin died as a result of an asthma attack in 1988. Here for you to download are the two singles and E.P. FLAC
The Neighbours theme song is the theme tune to the Australian soap opera Neighbours. It was composed by Tony Hatch with the lyrics written by his then wife, Jackie Trent, It was once voted the world's most recognised television theme song. Neighbours was originally recorded by Barry Crocker. After Trent and Hatch relocated to Australia in the 1980s, they were asked to write the theme song for Neighbours. The soap opera was going to be called Ramsay Street, before the couple penned the song. Trent told Jessie Stoelwinder from The West Australian, "We wrote the song as Neighbours because we said Ramsay Street was too close to Coronation Street, which was the major soap in Britain." The theme was written and recorded in a day and Trent said "We called in Barry Crocker at about 10pm to put his voice on it and it was on the producer's desk by 10am the following morning. And they loved it, so the series was then called Neighbours." Since 1985, there have been nine different renditions of the theme broadcast on television. They were sung by the following artists:
1 Barry Crocker 18 March 1985 – 6 July 1989
2 Barry Crocker7 July 1989 – 15 May 1992
3 Greg Hind 18 May 1992 – 27 November 1998
4 Paul Norton and Wendy Stapleton 18 January 1999 – 14 December 2001
5 Janine Maunder 21 January 2002 – 20 July 2007
6 Sandra de Jong 23 July 2007 – 12 April 2013
7 Stephanie Angelini and Daniel Boys 15 April 2013 – 5 December 2014
8 Garth Ploog 5 January 2015 – 24 March 2020
9 Bonnie Anderson 25 March 2020 – present.
In 1989, ABC Records put together a series of albums aimed at kids. One of these albums, called "Album 9" contained a new song written and sung by Sharon O'Neill. The song was called "Water For The Flowers" The rest of the album was made up of other artists, including Normie Rowe and Doug Parkinson. A single was released from the album, with Sharon only having one side of the single, with "Water For The Flowers" (876 188-7), and the other side was also from the album, Doug Parkinson's "Jeremiah Peabody". Their was also a CD version of the album released by the ABC as part of a series of songs for children. The CD was called "More ABC For Kids".FLAC
Charley Boyter has been entertaining audiences for almost 45 years. Originally from Windsor NSW Australia, Charley was removed from his Aboriginal family as a youngster along with his brother and three sisters and spent the rest of his childhood growing up in a foster home in Sydney. Charley began playing around with a guitar at the age of fifteen, jamming along with other pickers at a Church of Christ camp at Lake Illawarra. As Charley’s guitar playing improved he started performing for church groups playing and singing traditional Country and Bluegrass Gospel music. Charley started performing with a good friend, Bruce O'hara and soon after, this combo became known as Country Sound.It was during this time that Slim Dusty saw and heard Charley’s guitar playing and offered him a job with his show. Charley joined Slim’s Travellin’ Country Band in 1975 and has toured most of Australia, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Charley has recorded on so many of Slim’s albums, Slim once remarked “Charley has played on more of my albums than any other guitarist”.The partnership with the Slim Dusty Show lasted for about 20 years.Charley is a multi-award winning artist and his unique acoustic guitar sound can be heard on some Aussie Classics such as Walk a Country Mile, Country Revival, Duncan and Leave him in the Longyard.Bruce O'hara who I can find very little about, recorded a live E.P in 1971 Called "Creamsleeves" "The Moter Cycle Song" b/w two of Charley's songs "The Sunset Is Red This Evening" "Don't Let Them Tear That Little Brown Building Down" (TEP-719) for Troubadour Records. Thanks to Tim for sending me this rare one for the Blog.FLAC
Ivan Joseph Hutchinson born on 11th February 1928 was an Australian film critic, television personality and music director.Hutchinson was active in the industry for over 30 years, from the early 1960s until the mid-1990s, first on Melbourne-only programs for HSV-7 and later nationwide through the entire Seven Network. In the early 1970s he appeared alongside film and TV journalist Jim Murphy on Channel 7 in probably Australian TV's first regularly-scheduled evening movie review program entitled “Two on the Aisle”. Hutchinson later moved into the roles of midday and classic movie host and appeared in numerous local film cameos usually playing himself or a critic. In his last years, Hutchinson was a film columnist for The Sun News-Pictorial and its successor, the Herald Sun. In addition to his on-air role for Seven, Hutchinson was a studio and session pianist serving as the band leader, arranger and music director for most of the variety shows and specials originating from HSV-7 throughout 1964 to 1994. In Oct.1973 Ivan Hutchinson And His Honky-Tonk Piano released a version of The Mixtures "Pushbike Song" b/w "Let Him Go Let Him Tarry" (FB-198) for Fable Records.Flac
