Showing posts with label Collection. Show all posts

Saturday, December 7, 2024

The Sports - A Collection

The Sports were an Australian rock group which performed and recorded between 1976 and 1981. Mainstay members were Stephen Cummings on lead vocals and Robert Glover on bass guitar, with long-term members such as Paul Hitchins on drums, Andrew Pendlebury on lead guitar and vocals, and Martin Armiger on guitar. Their style was similar to both 1970s British pub rock bands (such as Brinsley Schwarz) and British new wave (such as Elvis Costello).

The Sports' top forty singles are "Who Listens to the Radio", "Don't Throw Stones", "Strangers on a Train" and "How Come" . Their top 20 releases on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart are Don't Throw Stones (February 1979), Suddenly (March 1980) and Sondra (May 1981).

In October 2010 Don't Throw Stones was listed in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums.

Fair Game EP (1977)

Reckless (1978)

Don't Throw Stones (1979)

O.K. U.K.! EP (1979)

Poor Mouth (single, 1980)

Suddenly (1980)

Sondra (1981)

The Sports Play Dylan (and Donovan) (1981 EP)

All Sports (1982, Compilation)

This Is Really Something (1997, Compilation)

Thursday, November 21, 2024

Skyhooks - A Collection

Skyhooks were an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1973. Their classic lineup (1974–1977) comprised Graeme "Shirley" Strachan (vocals), Greg Macainsh (bass and backing vocals), Red Symons (guitar, vocals, keyboards), Bob "Bongo" Starkie (guitar and backing vocals), and Imants "Freddie" Strauks (drums).

Known for their flamboyant costumes and makeup, their music addressed a variety of issues including drugs, sex, and the gay scene while frequently referencing Australian places and culture. Evolving from a series of groups with Macainsh and Strauks in the late 1960s and early 1970s, they rose to national prominence when their debut album Living in the 70's (1974), which was initially a moderate success upon release, gained unprecedented popularity the following year, aided by the nascent ABC music show Countdown; the album topped the Australian Kent Music Report chart for a record-breaking 16 weeks and sold over 200,000 copies, becoming the best-selling Australian album at the time. Their second album Ego Is Not a Dirty Word (1975) topped the Kent Music Report for 11 weeks.

Symons and Strachan left in 1977 and 1978 respectively and became media personalities; Symons was replaced with Bob Spencer and Strachan was replaced with Tony Williams, before they disbanded in 1980. The classic lineup reunited four times in the ensuing years, with reunions in 1990 and 1994 producing new material, including the number-one song "Jukebox in Siberia" in 1990. Strachan died in a helicopter crash in 2001; original lead singer Steve Hill, who left and was replaced by Strachan, died in 2005, and original guitarist Peter Starkie died in 2020.

Music historian Ian McFarlane stated that the band "made an enormous impact on Australian social life". In 1992, the group was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame. In 2011, the Skyhooks album Living in the 70's was added to the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia's Sounds of Australia registry.

Living In The 70's (1974)

Ego Is Not A Dirty Word (1975)

Straight In a Gay Gay World (1976)

The Skyhooks Tapes (1977)

Guilty Until Proven Insane (1978)

Live! Be In It (1978)

The Best of Skyhooks (1979)

Hot For the Orient (1980)

Live In The 80's (1983)

Living In The 70's (1984 reissue)

Red Symons - The Big Time (1987 single)

Skyhooks Flexidisc (1988)

The Latest and Greatest (1990)

Happy Hippy Hut / Ballad Of Oz (1994 single)

Skyhooks/Daddy Cool

Singles And B Sides (1994)

The Collection (1999)

Don't You Believe What You've Seen Or You've Heard (2015)

Hits'N'Riffs (2015)

Sunday, October 27, 2024

Daddy Cool - A Collection

Daddy Cool formed in Melbourne in 1970 with the original line-up of Wayne Duncan (bass, vocals), Ross Hannaford (lead guitar, bass, vocals), Ross Wilson (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica) and Gary Young (drums, vocals)

Their debut single "Eagle Rock" was released in May 1971 and stayed at number 1 on the Australian singles chart for ten weeks. Their debut album, July 1971's LP Daddy Who? Daddy Cool, also reached number 1 and became the first Australian album to sell more than 100,000 copies. The group's name came from the 1957 song "Daddy Cool" by US rock group The Rays. Daddy Cool included their version of this song on Daddy Who? Daddy Cool.

Daddy Cool's music was originally largely 1950's Doo-wop-style cover versions and originals mostly written by Wilson. On stage they provided a dance-able sound which was accessible and fun. Their second album, Sex, Dope, Rock'n'Roll: Teenage Heaven from January 1972, also reached the Top Ten. Breaking up in August 1972, Daddy Cool briefly reformed during 1974–1975 before disbanding again. They reformed with the band's original line-up in 2005. Their iconic status was confirmed when they were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame on 16 August 2006. At the Music Victoria Awards of 2014, Daddy Cool was also inducted into the Music Victoria Hall of Fame.

This collection gathers their studio and live albums, compilations, and post-Daddy Cool releases.

Daddy Who?, Daddy Cool (1971)

Sex, Dope, Rock'n'Roll: Teenage Heaven (1972)

The Last Drive-In Movie Show (1973)

The Daddy Cool Story (1974)

The Missing Masters (1981)

Favourites (1985, cassette)

The Greatest and Coolest Hits (1994)

Eagle Rock (1995)

That's Cool: The Ultimate Collection (1999)

Live at the Myer Music Bowl 2005

The New Cool (2005)

The Essential (2007)

Live At The Whiskey Au Go Go 1971 (cassette)

Mighty Kong (Ross Wilson, Ross Hannaford) - All I Wanna Do Is Rock (1973)

Billy T (Ross Hannaford) - No Definitions (1977)

Gary Young - Rocking Emus..plus (1982)

Monday, October 14, 2024

Billy Thorpe - A Collection

William Richard Thorpe AM (29 March 1946 – 28 February 2007) was an English-born Australian singer-songwriter, and record producer. As lead singer of his band Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs, he had success in the 1960s with "Blue Day", "Poison Ivy", "Over the Rainbow", "Sick and Tired", "Baby, Hold Me Close" and "Mashed Potato"; and in the 1970s with "Most People I Know Think That I'm Crazy". Featuring in concerts at Sunbury Pop Festivals and Myer Music Bowl in the early 1970s, the Aztecs also developed the pub rock scene and were one of the loudest groups in Australia.

Thorpe also performed as a solo artist. He relocated to America from 1976 to 1996; after moving, he released the space opera Children of the Sun, which peaked in the top 40 of the Billboard Pop Album chart in 1979. He worked with ex-Aztec Tony Barber to form a soft toy company in 1987 and co-wrote stories for The Puggle Tales and Tales from the Lost Forests. Thorpe also worked as a producer and composed music scores for TV series including War of the Worlds, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Columbo, Eight Is Enough and Hard Time on Planet Earth.

Thorpe returned to Australia in 1996 and continued as a performer and producer, additionally he wrote two autobiographies, Sex and Thugs and Rock 'n' Roll (1996) and Most People I Know (Think That I'm Crazy) (1998). According to Australian rock music historian Ian McFarlane, "Thorpie evolved from child star, beat pop sensation and cuddly pop crooner to finally emerge as the country's wildest and heaviest blues rocker. Thorpie was the unassailable monarch of Australian rock music". Thorpe was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame in 1991. He died of a heart attack in February 2007 and was posthumously appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in June for his contribution to music as a musician, songwriter and producer.

This collection features Billy's releases post his 1960's career.