POP GUN MEN at Hearts 20/6/79

POP GUN MEN at Hearts 20/6/79





Pop Gun Men were formed out of remnants of X-Ray-Z and the early version of Secret Police.

John Ray (drums), Peter Rich (vocals, sax), and Maurie Bund (guitar, keyboards, vocals) have combined with Andrew Picouleau (bass, vocals) and Dys Nalon (guitar) in a merger that thrives on gut energy at the same time as it feels the need to experiment a little with arrangement ideas and not quite conventional song structures.

This night was their first gig, not made any easier by a mixed crowd (punks, straights, in-betweens, local musos) and the inevitable reciprocal sussing out between band and audience. With Pete Rich out front flashing his teeth and his sax, the band sped through a first set that didn’t give all that much away except for the fact that they operated on a fairly high level of energy and that they were capable of varying the feel so as not to wear themselves too thin too early. Ma...

Doctor Pepper: The band’s…well…but the singer is SHARYN ROSENBERG



Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery so I suppose we can forgive Ms Rosenberg the manifest strains of the divine Joplin that permeate her voice. But there’s a lot more to singing the blues than copying the masters (or mistresses) as even saint Janis herself found out. The voice, being the greatest musical instrument there is, still needs some backup to shine at its best. It needs feel, love, devotion (surrender?) , hard times, good times and a whole lotta heart to bring out the reality of itself. Sharyn Rosenberg (have to change that name!) has these things, all these things and she has them in spades! I caught her at the Snake Pit wherein I had only gone escape the Melbourne Cold and was knocked almost right outta my socks. I know, I know, I’ve said this lotsa times before, and I’m just a heapa hype and I said that Sid Rumpo and the Wild Beaver Band were gonna be the biggest thing sinc...

THE MODELS
By Al Webb





One cold, bleak Melbourne morning, lead vocalist guitarist Sean Kelly and keyboard player Ash Wednesday were contemplating the ins and out of Models forthcoming trip to Sydney and Brisbane.

But we had no time for such trivia. I wanted a history of Models in ten words. A few ums and ahs later, Ash spoke.

When we started we had a vague idea of playing and performing inventive pop songs I think pop songs was the phrase talked about at the time back in 1978.

Sean: I hadnt sung before, so at the stage we didnt know if I w

as going to be a mammoth singer or a snivelling (Pauses to sniffle).

Were Models a reaction to the extremes of punk? The thrill had gone, and the drift of music coming in from overseas was changing, Sean said, were bands like Magazine, Talking Heads, Buzzcocks and television more mature forms of New Wave. There was bound to be a similar p...

The Alternative Gig Guide

Edition 1 Movie

TAGG FIRST EDITION

My Rough Diamond Child

Helmut Katterl finally convinced me to publish this little mag with him as a partner. It was a wild ride...
I thought this movie of the mag serves the purpose well as you can pause the pages if you choose to read the rock history of that era.

I want to add tracks that are pertinent to each issue of TAGG, so if you were in any of those bands I would love to hear from you and possibly send me any updates, requiems or current gigs, giveaways for current product, etc..

I've chosen Dave Hole, for it was his 3 piece from WA, along with the lounge room gigs from Men at Work and The Fabulaires at an infamous Coppin Street East Malvern house, and putting on my own Saturday afternoon gigs at The Waterside Hotel, featuring Dave Hole Band, Flash Annie and the Floyd Boys, The Dead Livers, Bush Turkys and The Illegal Smiles that inspired

...

THE CRYSTAL REVIEWED


^{_{The George Hotel, Fitzroy Street St Kilda, past home
of the Crystal ballroom.}}

By Patrick Miles - June 14th, 1979

A variety of senses motivate people to see a rock’n’roll band. It is impossible to cater to everybody’s whims and invariably someone is thoroughly peeved with the conditions in which they hear a band.
Animal involvement, casual observance and uninterrupted study swirl together in differing levels of audience participation and someone’s night is a painful one.

I have yet to visit all of Melbourne’s venues however the Crystal Ballroom in St. Kilda, due mainly to its size and layout, provides a roomy cage for healthy co-habitation of different kinds of people.
The grandiose décor of the Crystal Ballroom initially seems incongruous with some of the human remnants that patronise the place.


_{Eric Gradman man and Machine} ...

The Sports live to air radio and television hook-up at Bombay Rock last Friday was both a success and a disappointment. Their 8pm performance for the 3XY/2SM/2NX/4IP network was great – the audience was in ta co-operative mood, cheering right on cue and the band’s performance was one of the tightest. But somehow, between 9p, when they left the stage, and 12.30am when they returned, the zap had gone and it was a pretty nervous group which appeared on the screen for Nightmoves. Lead singer, Steve Cummings, had changed his shirt and put on the ole hat, but somehow, the boys just didn’t look at home. It’s a pity the 8pm show couldn’t be the live television performance – the songs were presented in a better order, giving the audience time to warm up properly. One thing’s for sure, there were few hassles (fights) and the bar wasn’t overcrowded – everyone was out dancing! Russell Morris and his band did their bit to keep everyone going between Sports performances, and downstairs the Alien...

FRANK HOWSON

By Lisa Waters



At 26 Frank Howson is a familiar name in both theatre and recording circles.

Frank has appeared in the stage productions that include Jesus Christ Superstar, Stop the World – I Want to Get Off and Death of a Salesman.

He has written two stage shows for children in collaboration with Barry Ferrier, has just completed a musical on the life of Melbourne gangster Squizzy Taylor and has written songs for stacks of people e.g. Reg Livermore, John Paul Young, Brenda Kristen, Joan Brockenshire, Trevor White, etc.

Frank is now stepping further into the limelight since the release of his first solo single called ‘Killing Ourselves’, which he originally wrote for the Ferrets’ debut album ‘dreams of Love’. His version was released last September on the Mushroom label; amidst much publicity as to what the actual meaning of the song was. Some said it was drugs (Gasp!), others thought it was a...

THINGS HAVE CHANGED...MUCH!




Ron Tudor (“I’m very old- 55”) is the managing director of Fable Records and the President of the Australian Music Maker’s Association. He has been in the music industry for 23 years and started at the now defunct W&G Records as a sales rep in 1956.

Here he discusses the AMMA in the first of a series of stories which will look at…

MUSICMAKERS




RON TUDOR

By Al Webb

Australian artists are shortly to be given a fairer go on the nation’s airwaves, according to the chairman of the Australian Music Makers’ Association, Mr Ron Tudor. Mr Tudor said last week discussions had been held with the bodies concerned and he expected a quota of 30% Australian content for all radio music shows to be adopted within the next few weeks.

“We took a delegation to the Minister for Post and Telecommunications, Mr Staley, and questioned the delays in the...

When Jane Clifton talks about Stiletto, you can’t help but get the feeling that she looks back on her days in a rock’n’roll band not so much with regret as with a wisdom and a knowledge that she didn’t have when the band started.

Comfortably settled into a circuit of activities that includes acting, swingtime/jazz singing, and a late night spot at the Last laugh Theatre Restaurant, she can probably afford to feel that way.

But the Stiletto sag, starting off with so much enjoyment and ending in so much disappointment, still looms large in her mind.
“One of the great failings of Stiletto,” says Jane matter-of-factly, “was there was no single central figure to say this is the way ahead, this is the music we’ll play, these are the ideas we’ll have.”

“I firmly believe now that the most successful – in the commercial sense – rock and roll ventures have a typical structure, where there is a central person with an idea around...

ICEHOUSE

30 Years on...




LET ME TAKE YOU BACK TO THEIR LAST GIG AS FLOWERS with Dr. GREG
THE LAST FLOWERS CONCERT

GREG MANSON

Due to uncertainty about gaining entry, I made a very early appearance - so early in fact that only those concerned with the show were inside and I was able to observe the first few teenies hurtle to the front row like penguins fleeing a shark, and squeal and squabble for position.

Actually, the place filled up at an amazing rate. I wasn't aware that it was a gig for teenagers (or maybe it wasn't supposed to be) so I felt like a bloody schoolteacher after a while — all this innocence!!! (If only you knew — ED). Oh well, at least there was a bar for the jaded to lean on whilst the true rock'n'rollers climbed all over each other and enthusiastically screamed their responses on cue. Anyway, onto the music, (about time too — ED). ...