There's a new gun slinger in town... How’s this for a bio? At the age of 8 you pick up your first guitar, by the age of 11 you’re playing local clubs and bars with hundreds of gigs under your belt. Within another 2 years you’re playing every night of the week and you’re attracting the attention of some big time players like Joe Bonamassa. By the age of 16 you’ve seen it … [Read more...]
Parallel Lines – Blondie
The phone rings twice. Pause. Then Debbie Harry launches into “I’m in the phone booth, it’s the one across the hall…” the driving power pop and immediacy of Hanging on the Telephone hits you right between the ears. It’s the perfect entrée to one of the great summer soundtracks that is Parallel Lines, an album I recall with great fondness as a substantial part of my summer of … [Read more...]
East – Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel, one of the most dynamic live acts Australia has ever produced. A band of outsiders driven to succeed at any cost and a band that lived as they played – hard and fast. A band of fractious temperaments that could implode at any moment and often did. If ever an Australian band embodied the sex, drugs and rock and roll ethos it was Cold Chisel and their record company … [Read more...]
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 – Midnight Oil
It’s the summer holidays and I’m in the heart of Midnight Oil’s turf on Sydney’s northern beaches. The house where I’m staying is just off Powder Works Road, the winding piece of bitumen that paved the way down to the coast and brought the wax heads from the city’s leafy north shore and beyond down to the nirvana of one of Sydney’s best breaks. It’s also the road that gave name … [Read more...]
Living In The 70’s – Skyhooks
Skyhooks exploded as an entity in 1974 with Living In The 70’s. It was an astonishing debut that changed the face of Australian music and went on to become the highest selling independent album by an Australian artist, a record held until the release of The Whitlams' Eternal Nightcap in 1997. The album’s success ensured the fledgling Mushroom Records would go on to become a … [Read more...]