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For post # 600 (never thought I'd get to 60) a song that I have been asked about for sometime now, Russell Morris "Sweet Sweet Love" the long version. This version has never appeared on any of Russell's singles, LP's, EP's or CD's. It was released on a Channel 7 Telethon LP from 1972 through HMV Records. Morris' career started at the age of 18, in September 1966, with the formation of the Melbourne group Somebody's Image, together with Kevin Thomas (rhythm guitar), Phillip Raphael (lead guitar), Eric Cairns (drums) and Les Allan (aka "Les Gough") (bass guitar). Somebody's Image rose to prominence with a local hit version of the Joe South song "Hush". The band came to the notice of the Groop and, in turn, the Groop's friend and local music identity Ian Meldrum. Meldrum convinced Morris to leave Somebody's Image for a solo career. Meldrum, as Morris's manager and producer, spent considerable hours and money to create a seven-minute production extravaganza around a song called "The Real Thing", and the rest as they say is "History".wav
Mike Brady was born in England in 1948 and migrated to
Australia in the 1950's with his family. His first job was at the Commonwealth
Aircraft Corporation factory in Port Melbourne, Victoria, as a sheet metal worker.
He started performing when he was 15 and he was one-third of the 1960's pop act
MPD Ltd. (which stood for Mike, Pete and Danny) which had hit singles including
"Little Boy Sad" and "Lonely Boy". The band toured
Australia and the U.K. Brady also toured Vietnam entertaining troops, with a
different band which included Wayne Duncan, Gary Howard and country brother and
sister act Ricki and Tammy. After the break-up of MPD Ltd., Brady continued to
record occasionally and had a top 10 hit with a cover of U.K. band Rare Bird’s
"Sympathy" b/w “Look At Me” (FB-036) For Fable Records in 1970. The
single was produced by David MacKay, Brady penned the B side. The post before
this one is a version of the song by Broken Chains from 1971 but I think Mike’s
version is far better, just my opinion. mp3
This was the only single release by Broken Chains and there are no band members listed or where they were from, my guess is Sydney. Their cover of U.K. band Rare Bird's "Sympathy" b/w "Super Natural" (TSP-716). The B side a rendition of John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers "Super Natural" penned by Peter Green.Very little is known about the band though. I know they did play at some of the Jesus Music revival concerts in Sydney and Canberra (between 1971 & 1973). So there may be some connection with the Methodist Church who co-ordinated all of these events.Troubadour Records was an independent label based out of Balmain in Sydney. Mike Brady also recorded a superb version in 1970 which will be another post here very soon. Thanks to Matt Gleeson for the info here and as always here's hoping some band members/family or friends might enlighten us with some more info in the near future. mp3
Enzo Toppano spent 79 years in front of audiences. From the time he made his debut on ABC radio at 13, he was regarded as one of Australia's best entertainers. He was also the father of a showbusiness dynasty. He was born on February 14, 1928, in Broken Hill, the youngest of six children of Italian farmers Leonardo Toppano and his wife, Katerina (D'Appolonia). The Toppanos had left Italy then spent 10 years in Canada before the winters drove them to warmer climes. Leonardo loved to play the piano accordion so he encouraged Enzo and his brother Lou take up the instrument.Enzo very quickly became a performer and left school at 16. He went to London in 1949, where he was many times voted the best instrumental performer on the London Palladium circuit. In London, he also met another Australian performer, Peggy Mortimer, and they were married in 1950. When they returned to Australia they were among the first entertainers to appear on television, with their own segment on Sydney's first television breakfast show.In 1968, Enzo (music) and Peggy (libretto) wrote the musical The Flintstones which successfully toured Australia and New Zealand with the Rudas Organisation. In 1969, they began working exclusively with Tibor Rudas as writers and composers for his organisation in North America, the Bahamas and Europe.The Toppanos proudly flew the Australian flag across the globe, performing in more than 35 countries. Whenever Enzo was asked what part of Italy he came from, he always whimsically answered, ''Broken Hill, mate.'' Here to download from 1975 is The Toppano Family's LP "The Travellin' Toppano Family" (SOELP-10234) for HMV Records. It was produced by Mike Perjanik. After Peggy's death in 2003, Enzo dedicated himself to performing in her memory. He and one of his sons, Dean, frequently performed in homes and institutions for dementia and Alzheimer's disease patients in memory of Peggy. Enzo died in 2013 and is survived by his children Peta, Lorenzo and Dean. Thanks to Tim for finding this LP for the Blog.mp3
Yet another one with not much info out there, Evan Jones as far as I can find out is the brother of Idris Jones of the Mixtures who was not a band member. (They were both in Adelaide band The Gingerbread Men). Evan also released two singles in 1972 "Little Black Spider" and "Jesus Song" on the short-lived Adelaide label Raven best known for the rare Bon Scott/Fraternity single. Raven evolved from Nationwide and evolved into EMS, all three labels rarely distributed beyond Adelaide (despite Nationwide's optimistic name). This Raven label should not be confused with the later reissue label based in Sydney. In 1981 Evan was back with a band called " Y Knot" and released one single for RCA Records "Mm! Mm! Don't Cha Love Summertime!" b/w "Hero (Them's The Breaks)" (103735). The single was produced and written by Jones and recorded in Adelaide's Grapvine Studios. mp3
