Johnny:Australia in the sixties was a predominately Anglo-Saxon/Celtic society. Very conservative, very "English". After World War II, a great number of European immigrants settled here.The population of the entire country was only around 8 million. The economy was quite healthy and jobs were plentiful.
2. At a musical level, what kind of music do we find there, before the apparition of the beat wave, in the early 60s ? blues ? skiffle ? R'n R ?
J:Rock & roll hit this country around 1957, when Bill Haley &
the Comets toured. Buddy Holly and Little Richard also graced our shores;
of course, Presley's fear of flying (or the Colonel's lack of a passport!)
prevented the King from coming downunder. Australia's biggest rock &
roll star at the time was Johnny O'Keefe, who was hugely successful. Blues,
r&b and skiffle were not known in Australia. Jazz and swing had been
popular here since the war years, when a large number of American servicemen
were stationed here.
The early sixties downunder was dominated
by surf-instrumental bands - not surprising when you consider that 95%
of Australia's population lives on the coast.
It seems that forms like skiffle,
and even blues/r & b, were little known in this country until the mid-sixties.
3. Is there a major event that initiate the beat outcome and invasion in Australia ? Can we speak of ? british invasion ? as it's been the case in the USA ?
J: When the Beatles toured here in June 1964, the beat age had arrived.
The Beatles received their biggest reception (in history) in Adelaide,
when 300,000 people lined the streets to greet them on their arrival in
that city.
Most of the major British acts toured Australia:
the Rolling Stones (twice), Kinks, DC5,Yardbirds, Who - even Herman's Hermits.
Of course, this had pretty much the same effect on Aussie teens as those
in the U.S.
4. How can we explain this aussie particuliar sound, in the beat/freakbeat productions ? It seems indeed to have been a mix between US garage and UK beat, 'tho we can think that the UK records must have been much more available there than the records coming from the USA ( Commonwealth). How can we define this sound ?
J: Many of the Aussie bands contained British members - young immigrants
who had witnessed first-hand the burgeoning beat-scene in England before
coming to this country. The scene here was completely British-influenced.
I feel that "Sixties Punk" is a genre that developed spontaneously around
the world, as a result of the Stones, Kinks,Yardbirds,etc. It certainly
happened in Australia.
I wouldn't say that there was a particularly defining
or unique Aussie "sound".
5.What's the social origin of most of beat bands during the mid-60s ? In which context and places do they rehearsal ( garage ? pub back rooms ? church ? ), and do they do their shows ?
J: Their were no real "class" boundaries determining where OZ beat bands
were coming from, although it would seem that the majority were from lower
middle class backgrounds. Yes, bands would rehearse in the garage, pub,
church hall or family living room. Gigs would take place in a wide variety
of "discos" - generally, small unlicensed clubs. Sydney and Melbourne each
had a vast network of venues to play at, and on any given night, kids could
go out and see any number of cool bands on stage.
One unique aspect of the Australian
scene is that every year, there was a national Battle of the Bands. This
really provided a great incentive for hundreds of groups right around the
country to become competive and do their very best, in the hopes of making
the big time. Of course, very few made it!
6. What kind of music are the beat rivals at this time ? Is the aussie beat well received by the ? establishment ?, and is there echoes from the radios, press, TV, etc ? Apart the Easybeats, can we speak of real ? beat stars ? in Australia ?
J:Folk was very popular at the time, and Australia's Seekers' found
phenomenal worldwide success. The establishment were happy with their easy-listening,
MOR schlock - as they are today.
Long-haired beat bands were looked upon
as scum by much of the older generation. In this regard, Australia was
much the same as anywhere else in the western world.
Roughly in order of appearance, the biggest stars
on the Aussie "beat" scene were: Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs, Ray
Brown & the Whispers, Bobby & Laurie, the Easybeats, Normie Rowe
& the Playboys, the Twilights, the Loved Ones, the Master's Apprentices.
These were the bands with the most sustained success, in terms of record
sales and live popularity.
Other beat groups to enjoy brief popularity and one- or two- hit wonder
status, include MPD Ltd, the Throb, Johnny Young & Kompany. The majority
of Aussie bands had great difficulty in getting airplay, in spite of the
obvious high quality of so many of the records.
J:There really were no regional differences in Australia's beat scene.
Society, at the time, was really quite homogenous. In fact, there are no
dialect or accent variations in this country in spite of its geographical
size, and the isolation of many of the cities.
Although bands sprung up in almost every
town, the major beat scenes were in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide (the
largest Australian cities). The vast majority of recordings were done in
Sydney and Melbourne.
I'm convinced that New Zealand - per
head of population -had the wildest scene of anywhere in the world! This
may be attributable to the after-effects of the Pretty Things' crazed tour
of that country. They were subsequently banned from New Zealand - that
didn't stop plenty of insane Pretty Things-inspired combos from forming
IN the country, however!
8. Can we compare the evolution of the aussie beat with the evolution of UK beatand/or US garage ? Is there some comparable evolutions , between 64 and 68 ? What has been in fact the importance of the aussie beat ? What was the folow up of this scene by the aussie kids ?
J:Australia's music scene was always slightly behind that of the rest of the world. For this reason, wild punk was still being produced here well into 1967. Folk-rock is one form that regrettably never actually took hold in this country - it kind of came and went before Aussie bands could latch onto it. <p Psychedelia generally wasn't as great an influence downunder as it was in other countries, probably because it, too, was a relatively short-lived phenomonen.
9. Australia is well known for the high productions of ? covers ? that have appeared on the aussie records during the mid-60s.. any reasons ?
J:This is a misconception, and I don't know how it came about. I don't
feel that Aussie bands, in general, relied on cover material to a greater
extent than their overseas counterparts. The Beatles, Stones, Kinks,Yardbirds,
Animals, Beach Boys and most everybody else recorded their fair share of
cover versions.
Plenty of Euro bands recorded versions of rock and
r & b standards, and of course dozens of US garage combos recorded
covers of 'Hey Joe', 'Gloria', Louie Louie', and so on.
In fact, the only major '60s bands
IN THE WORLD (that I can think of ) who recorded 100% original material
were Australia's Easybeats and Holland's Outsiders!
So really, I think the Aussie ratio of covers
to originals is no different to anywhere else.
10. What has been the importance of the psychedelic wave in Australia ? It seems that the main problem was in fact to be supplied in drugs, in particular LSD, in these lost parts of the world... I've even seen the term ? psychedelia without drugs ? to characterize the aussie psy wave...
J:Australia (in spite of being an island continent) has never had much
trouble importing drugs. LSD was readily available here from late '66 (when
it was illegalised) - much like in America. Pot was always around too,
but remember that most bands in the mid-sixties weren't even old enough
to drink alcohol!
By 1967, drug use was creeping
into the music industry and quite a few musos certainly did indulge.
11. We don't know many aussie psychedelic Lps whereas there's been loads in UK and US at that time.. are they still something to be discovered, is there many gems, or is there in fact nothing produced of that kind in Australia?
J: Because Australia had/ has a much smaller population than the UK
& US, the musical output from here is naturally much smaller. And unlike
the situation in America, there were practically no independent recording
studios or labels here in the '60s. An Australian band would have to be
signed to a major in order to get a record out.
Although the psychedelic movement was
never fully embraced here, there were numerous psych bands operating in
the country - most of them simply didn't record. Still, there are a number
of psych gems from this country, all ofwhich appear on major-label 45s.
It seems that by the late '60s,
Australian bands were more into either bubblegum or hard rock than psychedelia.
If there are any lost psychedelic masterpieces
somewhere in this country, they would probably exist on reel-to-reel tape.
Maybe something will turn up one day!
12. It seems however that meetings of the ? Woodstock ? or ? Monterey ? kind have happened in Australia in the late 60s... is that true ? Which bands were featured ?
J:This period is beyond my field of interest, but Australia did have the big rural festivals - not really until the early '70s. Bands like the Aztecs, Spectrum, Daddy Cool, and Tamam Shud were the kind of acts you could have seen at these events. I think the biggest event of this kind was Sunbury, where visiting Brits, Queen, were booed off the stage!
13. How did Australia look like after the hippie/psy decline in the early 70s ?
J:Mostly, the early-mid 70s was dominated by lightweight pop and tedious pub rock. Glam (at least the imagery) was adopted by groups like Skyhooks and Hush. It was an apalling decade for music of course, although the '80s would prove to be even more pathetic!
14. At wich point are we now concerning the discover of mid-60s aussie beat and cryptic gems ? After some comps such as ? Ugly Things ?, ? Pretty Ugly ?, ? DFGold vol. 5 ?, ? It's A Kave In ?, are we reaching the end, or is it just the beginning of the wave ?
J:There is still enough material out there for 3 or 4 killer Oz '60s garage/beat comps. Hopefully, there is still plenty of unreleased stuff waiting to be discovered!
15. What was the importance of the neo / ? revival ? movement of the early 80s in Australia ? What was the interest of these bands for aussie past ? Is there bands there that are currently tyring to rediscover this sound, rather than the typical US garage stuff ? What are your apinion about this wave, and about these bands ?
J:A lot of people here got into Aussie sixties punk because of the Raven
comps (myself included).So, like everywhere else, Australia had a thriving
neo-scene. This died in the arse for several years, when people lost interest,
but seems to have picked up again just recently. Not long ago, I saw Thee
Unheard in Sydney; they did include some Aussie covers in their set.
I've been in neo-bands myself, and we
used to cover plenty of Missing Links, Steve & the Board,Cherokees
as well as US trax.
The neo-revivalist stuff is OK,
but it's only a RECREATION of the real thing.
16. Finally, what would be the essential bands to remind from this time ?
J: Of course, the Easybeats
were the biggest and most prolific - they are justifiably remembered as
Australia's greatest '60s band. I would say that the Missing Links were
our wildest combo, in terms of attitude and musical approach.
But let's not forget acts like
the Black Diamonds, Throb, Creatures, Moods, Atlantics, Elois and many
others who released tracks that are absolutely among the best punkers of
all time, from anywhere.
I feel that the first volume of Ugly
Things, in spite of a few dud tracks, is THEE best '60s punk compilation
EVER. COMPS related questions
17. Let's try now to recapitulate and to sum up, 'cause all your productions are rather hard to find... what are all your productions, under the Lance / Incessant Noise labels, the numbers of the records, and the quantities at which they were issued ? What's the relation between Lance and Incessant Noise ?
J: Devil's Children (500 copies), Destination Frantic (500copies), A Forest of GoldTops(500 copies) and Pretty Ugly (1,000 copies). The CDs all bear the number '1001' because that was the most common serial number used on US 60s punk 45s! The vinyl editions of these comps (on Lance, etc.) are produced by a third party in Europe, under mutual agreement.
J:There are several Australian '60s punk enthusiasts behind these releases.
One of them is a professional sound engineer, with a state of the art studio.
This gives the compilers a distinct advantage over many other people who
reissue this kind of material.
Regarding the legality of these comps: The
music was all originally released on major labels, most of which are still
active today. These major labels were initially approached by the compilers
in regards to reissuing the material. The companies were not interested
in licensing tracks that were not even hits in the first place, on minuscule
pressings of 500 to 1,000. The time and expense of their administration
and "effort" would outweigh whatever profit could potentially be made (i.e.
NONE). To cut a long story short,
the compilers it would be nice to have these songs out there for the few
hundred people around the world who dig this stuff.
It's well known that most '60s punk compilations
are not strictly legal; if everything had to be done by the book, there
would be very few comps out indeed. It just would not be viable.
Even seemingly legal compilations
are suspect. The ex-members of the Missing Links, for example, never received
a cent for any of the Raven reissues of their material. Perhaps the justification
is that at least their songs are now appreciated by a whole new generation.
19. You know that you've got a strong reputation of high quality in the comps world... what's the difference between your comps and the other classic garage/beat comps ? a mix of beat and pop ? what are the criteria on which you're making the trax selection ?
J:The comps are designed along the lines of the classic Highs In The Mid-Sixties and Pebbles LPs, which showcased a combination of wild killer punk, melodic beat and moody garage.
20. What's the idea behind the double issue vinyl/cd ? Why is there
never sheets of infos in your vinyls, whereas we can find a booklet in
your cds ?!
As mentioned, the vinyl LPs are
done by someone else, who resides in Europe. He thought it would be cool
to do vinyl versions of the comps because so many collectors still prefer
that format. It's up to him how he wants to package the material. I think
he's beginning to include a sheet of liner info now.
21. Did you collaborate with Digging For Gold vol. 5 ? Is there other comps, that have appeared in the past, or that are about to come out, where we gonna find your contribution ?
J:Yes. Also the liner notes for the Fabulous Blue Jays' track on At The Club.
22. The Lance label is not exclusively devoted to the aussie scene, cause the ? Destination Frantic ? album was devoted to the US garage.. is there any other volumes of US punk that gonna come out, and will we find other ? countries ?, maybe european, in the comps isssued on Lance ?
J:I'm afraid I don't know what plans the Lance guy has in store for his label.
23. Can we tell us about the volumes that gonna come out on the Lance
label in the forthcoming months ?
J:I'll have to refer you to the above answer on that one.
24. What sources of infos would you recommend to the aussie beat lovers,
such as zines, specialized mail orders, catalogues, etc ?
J:It would be worth anyone's time to seek out old copies of Dean Mittlehauser's
Oz beat zine, The Livin' End. Very sadly, Dean passed away in 1996.
I understand that a new fanzine
regarding the Oz '60s garage scene is being put together by a couple of
lunatics in Canberra. I hear that it will include a discography of all
cool Oz mid-sixties recordings, band interviews, record reviews and plenty
of wild photos. It's supposed to be out VERY SOON.
Time Warp records in Sydney ocassionally
puts out auction lists which include a few Oz beat 45s; otherwise original
'60s punk records are virtually impossible to find here now (as they are
anywhere else in the world).
25. If you would heve to give 3 reasons to the reader unaware of the 60s aussie beat to give him the desire to have an ear on these sounds, what would they be ?
1. '60s punk is the best music ever recorded. 2. Some of the best '60s punk was recorded in Australia. 3. Listen to compilations of Aussie '60s punk! - Johnny Rimshot, October 1998
