Category Archives: Australia

R.I.P. to The Easybeats, Stevie Wright

Posted by Palmer Eldritch on

The Easybeats were Australia’s finest proponents of 60’s Garage Beat, Pop and Psych, and Stevie Wright was undoubtedly one of the finest singers to emerge from that scene. With 1966’s slice of pure Pop perfection, Friday on My Mind, The Easybeats cracked the Top 20 in both the US and UK, a feat that no future Easy’s single was able to repeat. Their lack of international follow up success is as  confounding as it is a shame, as The Easybeats were clearly one of the era’s best. Thankfully their homeland gave the boys the chart topping success that they deserved with three numbers ones, and a string of successful singles.

The good news is that there is a substantial amount of footage of the band in their prime, which clearly backs their legend. Enjoy.

From the bands 1968 Pop Psych masterpiece, Vigil, which featured the party rocker, Good Times, which has become a staple of numerous bands live sets over the ensuing years.

 

 

Song Of The Day: The Church w/ George Ellis Orchestra – Tantalised

Posted by Palmer Eldritch on

From 1985’s, Heyday, this is a 2011 performance with full orchestra from The Sydney Opera House.

I saw The Church, on the Starfish tour somewhere around ’88, with Peter Murphy and Tom Verlaine opening. They were at the height of their American fame, with the single, Under The Milky Way, having cracked the Top 40, and were in great form. Sad thing is, that despite having had all their albums up to that point, I know virtually nothing of the post Starfish era life of the band. Well, not knowing what to expect from The Church live these days, I’ve gotta say how blown away I am by these epic performances of Tantalized. In fact, I was just going to post the song Reptile, when I discovered these clips and decided that they had to be posted. Full orchestra, at the world famous Sydney Opera House, and Marty Wilson Piper getting nastier on the guitar than he did back in the eighties? Yeah, sign me up!

And another performance from a year before from their induction into the Australian Recording Industry Association Hall of Fame, with a smaller orchestra, but perhaps even better sound

Happy birthday, Billy Thorpe

Posted by Palmer Eldritch on

Dig the supreme heaviness of Time To Live. Something that should appeal to fans of Hawkwind and Spacemen 3, and Proto-Metal/Doom/Stoner heads, as well.

Legend of feedback ferocity, Lobby Loyde (Purple Hearts, Wild Cherries, Coloured Balls), spent a few years trading axe duties with Thorpe


and his biggest commercial success, outside of Australia, 1979’s, Children Of The Sun, which when you’re lucky, you’ll hear on classic rock radio.