Buffalo - A Collection

 

Buffalo was an Australian rock band formed in August 1971 by founding mainstay Dave Tice on lead vocals (ex-Head). Fellow founders, also from Head, were Paul Balbi on drums, John Baxter on guitar, and Peter Wells on bass guitar; together with Alan Milano on lead vocals (ex-Mandala). Milano left after their debut album, Dead Forever... (June 1972), and Balbi was replaced on drums by Jimmy Economou. Their next two albums, Volcanic Rock (July 1973) and Only Want You for Your Body (June 1974), were also issued by Vertigo Records. After 1975 line-up changes resulted in a more commercial sound and the group disbanded in March 1977. 

Australian musicologist Ian McFarlane noted that there was "nothing subtle about Buffalo's primal, heavyweight sound, but it was delivered with a great deal of conviction ... combining the dense, heavy riffing ... with the progressive blues chops ... the band certainly captured the arrogant disposition of the times in a bold and thunderous fashion". 

Alongside Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs and Blackfeather, Buffalo pioneered Australia's heavy metal, pub rock and psychedelic rock movements. 

After Buffalo disbanded, several members went on to other projects. Peter Wells formed Rose Tattoo, playing both slide and bass guitar, he also had a solo career. Peter Wells died on 27 March 2006, aged 58. Dave Tice went to the UK to join The Count Bishops (alongside Paul Balbi) but returned to Australia to work as a solo artist and as a member of The Headhunters. As of July 2005, he was playing with ex-AC/DC bass guitarist Mark Evans as Tice & Evans.

Dead Forever - 1972

Volcanic Rock - 1973

Only Want You For Your Body - 1974

Mother's Choice - 1976

Average Rock'n'Roller - 1977

Buffalo Revisited - Volcanic Rock Live - 2022

(When The Sun Sets Over) Carlton (Melbourne's Countercultural Inner City Rock Scene Of The '70s)

 

1-1 Skyhooks– Carlton (Lygon Street Limbo)

1-2 The Sports– Who Listens To The Radio?

1-3 Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons – So Young

1-4 The Dots – Lowdown

1-5 Stiletto – Middle Of The Bed

1-6 The Bleeding Hearts – Hit Single

1-7 Daddy Cool – Boy You're Paranoid

1-8 Mighty Kong– Hard Drugs (Are Bad For You)

1-9 Mondo Rock– Primal Park

1-10 Mark Gillespie – Suicide Sister

1-11 High Rise Bombers– Faster Than Light

1-12 The Toads – Eudil

1-13 The Pelaco Bros – Mechanics In A Relaxed Manner

1-14 The Relaxed Mechanics – Truckin' Casanova

1-15 Millionaires*– Gossip

1-16 The Kevins – Out At Night

1-17 Martin Armiger & Buzz Leeson – No Reason

1-18 Parachute – The Big Beat

1-19 Spare Change – Let's Get Rich Together

1-20 Glory Boys – The Ballad Of Good & Evil

1-21 Eric Gradman Man & Machine– Crime Of Passion

2-1 Martin Armiger– I Love My Car

2-2 The Bleeding Hearts – Boys (Greg Macainsh Demo Version)

2-3 Stiletto – Rozalyn

2-4 The Dots – I See Red

2-5 Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons – Only The Lonely Hearted

2-6 The Sports– Suddenly

2-7 Mondo Rock– Telephone Booth

2-8 Daddy Cool – Saturday Night

2-9 Skyhooks– Hey, What's The Matter (Steve Hill Demo Version)

2-10 Company Caine– Buzzin' With My Cousin

2-11 The Indelible Murtceps – Blue Movies

2-12 Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band– Roll That Reefer

2-13 Stephen Cummings & Dave Flett – The Third Degree

2-14 Rock Granite– You Got Me Where You Want Me

2-15 Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons – Someday It's Gonna Come To You (1976 Demo Version)

2-16 Mark Gillespie – Comin' Back For More

2-17 Autodrifters – Locked Out Of Love

2-18 Fabulous Nudes– I'll Be A Dag For You, Baby

2-19 The Pelaco Bros – Truckdrivin' Guru

2-20 Peter Lillie & The Leisuremasters– Hangin' Round The House

2-21 The Sports– Live, Work & Play (Nightmoves Live Version)

2-22 High Rise Bombers– Radio Show

2-23 Eric Gradman Man & Machine– The Bright Boy

2-24 Skyhooks– This Is My City

(When The Sun Sets Over) Carlton

The Glory Days of Aussie Pub Rock Vol.2....various artists compilation

Volume 2 of The Glory Days of Aussie Pub Rock gathers once again gathers the cream of Aussie Rock from the 70's, 80's and 90's. 

It features different tracks from the much the same list of big names as last time and much much more. That list of big names is massive. Cold Chisel, The Angels, Men at Work, Australian Crawl, the Sports, Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons, Mental As Anything, Split Enz, Sunnyboys, Screaming Jets, Rose Tattoo, the Radiators, Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls, the Dingoes, Ian Moss, Goanna, Dragon, Flowers, Noiseworks, Hunters & Collectors, Skyhooks (their lone post-Shirl hit 'Over the Border'), Baby Animals, Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs, TMG, Dragon, Dave Warner's From the Suburbs, Choirboys, Richard Clapton, the Saints, the Reels, Mi-Sex, Mondo Rock, the Models, The Badloves (with Jimmy Barnes), Matt Finish, V Spy V Spy, Uncanny X-Men, Warumpi Band, Weddings Parties Anything, Russell Morris, Black Sorrows; all these and more are represented by tracks that not only shook pub walls back in the day but pumped out of transistor radios and, in most cases, Sunday night ABC TV screens too. 

Also featured are plenty of big names who weren't included last time, including the Hoodoo Gurus, Jim Keays with his 1975 remake of 'Undecided', Ol'55, Kings of the Sun, Daddy Cool (with the rare 1975 comeback single 'All I Wanna Do Is Rock'), Little River Band, Mother Goose, Kevin Borich Express, Rose Tattoo slide guitarist Peter Wells' brilliant 'Between the Saddle and the Ground', Little Heroes with 'One Perfect Day', indigenous reggae-rock trailblazers No Fixed Address with 'Black Man's Rights', Vika & Linda rocking up a storm on a song that Paul Kelly wrote but never recorded with the Dots 'I Didn't Know Love Could Be Mine', Sydney '80s faves Flaming Hands, the Riptides and Dynamic Hepnotics, Melbourne mainstays Nick Barker & The Reptiles, Mike Rudd & the Heaters and the Spaniards (featuring Billy Miller & Mick Pealing), and glam-era pub favourites Hush, Taste and Supernaut. 

Other noteworthy tracks include rare singles by Stars (1976's 'With A Winning Hand', which never appeared on an album) and post-Ol'55 power poppers the Breakers who featured in the original 'Puberty Blues' movie, and the first ever reissue of anything by Gary Young & the Rocking Emus (the great single 'Rockabilly Heaven', featuring the great Daddy Cool/Jo Jo Zep drummer together with late fellow DC members Wayne Duncan and Ross Hannaford). There's also the rare but great 1971 single 'If You Got It' by legendary Adelaide group Fraternity, featuring Bon Scott on vocals. 

The collection ends with the Party Boys and John Swan - John had replaced Bon in Fraternity - who together give us an idea of what AC/DC might've sounded like if Swanee had also replaced Bon (or Brian) in AC/DC, with a ripping 'High Voltage.'

A sheer smörgåsbord for lovers of classic Aussie Rock!

see also blog post for Vol.1: https://theaussiemusicblog.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-glory-days-of-aussie-pub-rockvol1.html

available on Amazon HERE:

one times  x two times x three times x four

Dave Graney and The Coral Snakes...The Baddest

David John "Dave" Graney is a musician, singer-songwriter and author from Melbourne. Since 1978, Graney has been accompanied by drummer, Clare Moore. The pair have fronted numerous bands including The Moodists (1980 to 1987), Dave Graney and The White Buffaloes (1989 to 1990), Dave Graney and Coral Snakes (1987 to 1989, 1991 to 1997), The Dave Graney Show (1998 to 2003) , Dave Graney and Clare Moore featuring the Lurid Yellow Mist or Dave Graney and the Lurid Yellow Mist (2004 to 2011). He was awarded 'Best Male Vocalist' at the ARIA Music Awards of 1996 for his work on The Soft 'n' Sexy Sound, while "Feelin' Kinda Sporty" won 'Best Video' in 1997 and he has received seven other ARIA Award nominations. 

Graney and Moore formed Dave Graney and the Coral Snakes in late 1987 and played in London pubs and clubs. Other members were, Gordy Blair on bass guitar, Malcolm Ross (ex-Orange Juice, The Moodists) on guitar and Louis Vause on piano and keyboards. In 1988, with Barry Adamson (former member of Magazine, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) producing, they recorded enough material for an extended play, At His Stone Beach released in September on the Fire label. Graney had adopted a cowboy image, wearing snake skin and brown suede, sporting a curled moustache and waxed goatee. The band released My Life on the Plains in 1989 with Phil Vinall producing.

During June 1990, Graney, Hayward and Moore travelled to London and recorded I Was the Hunter... and I Was the Prey with Blair on bass guitar, Ross on guitar, and Vause on piano. The album was produced by Vinall at a Croydon home studio run by former Procol Harum organist Matthew Fisher. For their April 1993 album, Night of the Wolverine, the band signed with PolyGram, Andrew Picouleau (ex-Sacred Cowboys) provided the bass guitar and Cohen co-produced. Graney adopted a new persona, "The Golden Wolverine", with the album described as "a certified Australian rock classic". It captured Graney at the peak of his songwriting powers "... [tracks were] full of elegant and eccentric detail". The band's next album, You Wanna Be There But You Don't Wanna Travel, which peaked at No. 10 on the ARIA Album Charts, was released in June 1994.

The group's July 1995 album, The Soft 'n' Sexy Sound, was produced by Victor Van Vugt. It reached the Top 40 and earned Graney the 'Best Male Artist' accolade at the ARIA Music Awards of 1996. In his acceptance speech, Graney wore a hot pink, crushed velvet suit and a wig to declare himself (under his breath) 'King of Pop'. The next album, The Devil Drives, (May 1997), reached the Top 20. It was recorded in Melbourne and mixed in London at Maison Rouge studios and co-produced by Graney, Moore and David Ruffy. It spawned the single, "Feelin' Kinda Sporty".

They released this compilation, The Baddest, in September 1999. It includes an unreleased version of "The Sheriff of Hell" from The Devil Drives which was re-recorded and remixed with Andrew Duffield (ex-Models) on keyboards, Phil Kenihan and Billy Miller (The Ferrets) on guitar and vocals. It also features an unreleased cover version of the AC/DC song "Show Business". 

                                             

                                                                             

Hunters & Collectors first 2 albums H&C (1981) and Fireman's Curse (1983)

Hunters & Collectors formed in 1981. Fronted by founding mainstay, singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Seymour, they developed a blend of pub rock and art-funk. Other mainstays are John Archer on bass guitar, Doug Falconer on drums and percussion. Soon after forming they were joined by Jack Howard on trumpet and keyboards, Jeremy Smith on French horn, guitars and keyboards, and Michael Waters on trombone and keyboards. Also acknowledged as a founder was engineer and art designer Robert Miles. Joining in 1988, Barry Palmer, on lead guitar, remained until they disbanded in 1998. The group reformed in 2013 with the 1998 line-up.

Originally, Hunters & Collectors were influenced by Krautrock and productions of Conny Plank, featuring strong percussive influences, noisy guitar, and driving bass lines. Their sound was in the vein of the Talking Heads album, Remain in Light (1980). Hunters & Collectors utilised Plank to produce two of their early albums, The Fireman's Curse (1983) and The Jaws of Life (1984), but neither charted into the Top 50 of the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart. 

Their first Top 10 album, Human Frailty (1986), also featured their logo, a H & C symbol, where the "&" consists of twin snakes entwined around a hunting knife, a variation of a caduceus. Later Top 10 studio albums were Ghost Nation (1989), Cut (1992), and Demon Flower (1994). Their hit singles were "Talking to a Stranger" (1982), "Throw Your Arms Around Me" (1984), "Say Goodbye" (1986), "When the River Runs Dry" (1989), "True Tears of Joy" (1992), and "Holy Grail" (1993). They became one of the best live acts in Australia and according to musicologist, Ian McFarlane, their "great achievement was to lay bare human emotions in the intensely ritualistic milieu of the pub-rock gig".

                                                        

INXS.....INXS (1980) and Underneath the Colours (1981)...origins of a legendary band

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INXS formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney.They began playing covers in Western Australian pubs and clubs, occasionally playing some of their original music. Mainstays were main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, guitarists Tim Farriss and Kirk Pengilly, bassist Garry Gary Beers and main lyricist and vocalist Michael Hutchence. For twenty years, INXS was fronted by Hutchence, whose "sultry good looks" and magnetic stage presence made him the focal point of the band. Initially known for their new wave/pop style, the band later developed a harder pub rock style that included funk and dance elements.

The origins of the band began with Andrew Farriss convincing his fellow Davidson High School classmate, Michael Hutchence, to join his band, Doctor Dolphin. The band contained two other classmates, Kent Kerny and Neil Sanders and a bass player, Garry Beers and Geoff Kennely, from a nearby high school, Forest High School. In 1977, Tim Farriss, Andrew's older brother, invited Andrew, Hutchence and Beers to join him and his schoolmate Kirk Pengilly. Tim and Pengilly had been playing together since 1971 as either an acoustic duo, Kirk and Tim, or as a four-piece band called Guinness (named after their bass player's dog). Together with younger brother Jon Farriss they formed the Farriss Brothers, who consisted of Garry Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar, Geoff Kennelly on drums, Michael Hutchence on lead vocals and Kirk Pengilly on guitar and saxophone.The band made their debut on 16 August 1977 at Whale Beach,40 km north of Sydney.

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