Video Diary: Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!

Song of the Week: The Creatures - Ugly Thing

We're winding down our Down Under focus this week and we feature, by request from Jack Hayden, The Creatures doing their RCA Records release from 1967, Ugly Thing. It's the song that inspired the Raven Records collection of Aussie bands and the now 30 year old fanzine on crazed and depraved records, Ugly Things, run by Mike Stax.

The Creatures hailed from Mildura, a rural town in Victoria. The band was centered around three brothers, Herman Marcic on bass, Eric Marcic on guitar and Rudolph Marcic on drums. Greg Lawrie was also on guitar and Keith Matcham on vocals. Matcham and Lawrie are the composers of Ugly Thing, a song about, well, I'm not too sure. Mostly because I have no idea what Keith Matcham is saying at the beginning of the song. Or for most of the song, for that matter. But it still sounds cool.

The Creatures, as you can see from the picture below, liked to dye their hair various different colors. Truly some Ugly Things. 

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

Song of the Week: The Elois - By My Side

Back for more Aussie love. Today we feature this writer's favorite Aussie Beat song ever.

A friend of mine once asked why I collected 45s more aggressively than I collected LPs. It was a fair enough question to be posed in the '80s when bands made "albums". This week's Song of the Week is my two minute and 5 second answer.

Many, many great records of the late '50s and early '60s were made by local bands that produced only one or two 45s. These bands didn't make LPs. Heck, many of them didn't even have real record labels let alone distribution deals. These records might be pressed locally in lots of 250, 500, or maybe as many as 1,000, if the bass player had a daddy who owned a local car dealership and thus had some money. The records were then often sold to their fellow high school classmates by the band themselves at their weekend Battle of the Band shows. Or maybe that supportive dad might give a disc away with each new car purchased. Most sat unclaimed in a box in dad's garage where the band practiced on Saturday afternoon and stashed some warm beer behind the drill bits.

One of the great things about this do-it-yourself recording culture was that it removed the record executives (aka, "the weenies") from the mix. These bands didn't realistically think about making it big or touring with the Beatles. They went in to the studio (usually a radio station) with one thing on their mind: "If we cut a real good record we might just get to second base with those girls from the next town. You know, the ones who drive over here in that black Lincoln Continental and are always sneaking Schlitz into the dances." As you might imagine, these bands recorded whatever they wanted without any editorial control from the weenies. More often than not the results were pretty bad.  The A-side of the single often sucked raw eggs as it was all too often some lame cover of a slow ballad that maybe a band like Gerry and the Pacemakers just had a hit with. It's the song that got all the girls slow dancing at the hop. And the drummer's mom always liked that song most as they would rehearse in the uninsulated garage. But every once in a while, squirreled away on the flip-side, was some bizarre creation of a song the band wrote just last week. You know, "the one that is kinda like that Yardbirds record with all that feedback in it." These little creations were often enough brilliant. A depraved record that can only come out of the collective minds of uncontrolled teenagers with one thing on their mind.

This week we explore one of these one-shot local bands and celebrate their own depraved composition. The band is from the small town of Ballarat in Victoria, Australia (about a 90 minute drive from Melbourne). The short-haired, well dressed lads call themselves The Elois after the "tranquil sunshine people" from H.G. Wells' Time Machine. Some time in 1966 our lads travel to the big city of Melbourne and cut their one and only record at the Bill Armstrong Studio. The A-side is a Who inspired cover of Bo Diddley's oft-covered I'm A Man. It's okay, but it's been done. But the real gem was to be found on the flip-side. It's a self-penned explosion of rage detailing a young man's uncontrollable hormonal yearnings for the satisfaction of a young woman. It's the song mom said she didn't like. The one the band wouldn't rehearse if mom was in the house baking cookies. The boys from Ballarat call it By My Side, and, I do not say this lightly, it is one of the greatest songs ever dedicated to wax. Seriously.

The song stands in stark contrast to the image of the clean-cut, small town quartet. Opening with a shot of adrenaline-infused feedback in the key of E, the drummer starts his cymbal intro with a rapid 4/4 beat. The front and center bass enters with a slide from B up the neck until it lands into a killer riff in the key of E. The guitar joins the bassist in the machine-gun riff and together they modify the riff as quick as it starts. The singer menacingly growls out: "Said I need you girl by my side" as the backup singers presage various aspects of the repeated lyrics. Then something funny happens at just :32 into the song. The wicked little 4/4 beat ends as quickly as it began. The drummer drops the band into a catchy bomp-chee-----bomp-bomp-chee 2/4 beat. At this point you can literally hear the drum kit squeak under the pounding it takes from the drummer. The bass adds a loping "vroom" of a slide that morphs just as quickly into a nice little walk. The guitarist falls back as he punctuates the instrumentation. And then our primordial singer and the possessed backup singers return with lyrics of bravado as they let us know that their girls keeps them satisfied. And then, just as quick as we went into a 2/4, without warning we are back into a 4/4 beat as the guitarist launches into a feedback heavy lead that would make even Jeff Beck and Pete Townshend envious. Our singer barks out his final words to his muse, "I can't get enough of you girl." And then, just like the frustrated teenager himself, only a little more than two minutes after the romance starts, it's over. Just like that. The only thing you can do is sneak out for a smoke, take a few minutes and then start it all over again.

Our boys would soon return to the small town of Ballarat Shepperton and try to sell their record. They probably told mom not to listen to the flip-side. Truth be told, most people didn't hear either side of the record and the group soon disbanded to go about their lives in University or in the military. Their recording didn't get a breath of attention until 1980 when a Melbourne record collector compiled a bunch of his favorite forgotten singles from unheralded local bands dating between 1964-1967 and released them on an album called Ugly Things. I picked that record up at a Tower records in San Francisco circa 1983. Somewhere towards the middle of side one was this 125 second gem. I hope you enjoy it 1/1000th as much as I do.

Song of the Week: The Moods - Rum Drunk

Day four of our Down Under journey takes us to the hep-cat town of Melbourne, Australia. In 1966, five high school lads who called themselves The Moods recorded a composition from their guitarist, John Livi. The song is the sublime Rum Drunk. While the number may not share the manic punk angst of yesterday's song, the frantic pounding of By My Side or the undeniable toe-tapping of Friday On My Mind, I'll put this number squarely in the top 5 of all Aussie Beat songs. That's how much I love this song with it's incessant Duane Eddy guitar riff, mouse vocals and generous dose of reverb. 

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side! 

Song of the Week: The Bluebeats - Social End Product

Day three of our down under series has us crossing the Tasman Sea to Auckland, New Zealand. It was there that The Bluestars -- John Harris, Rick Van Bockhoven, Murray Savidan and Jim Crowley -- released their own fist-waving-in-the-air anthem, Social End Product, in September of 1966. This barn burner is tough to find these days but makes it's way on to numerous comps.

John Harris sings and plays lead guitar on this number he penned about his pent-up frustrations with an oppressive culture. Let's turn to the lyrics of Social End Product for some guidance:

I carry my girl through the mean city streets
I change up my mind with everya-aweek
I don't stand for the dream
In a house where traditions mean... 

I've been labeled as an angry young man
Because I don't fit into the master plan
Under society's microscope
I look funny but it's no joke. 

I'm a social end product so don't blame me
I'm a social end product of society
It's not my fault that I don't belong
It's the world around me that's gone all wrong 

Social end product, social end product, social end product, social end product 

How did you expect me to turn out?
Did you want me just a little boy scout?
Before you start to criticize me
Take a look and you will see 

See, see, see 

I'm a social end product so don't blame me
I'm a social end product of society
It's not my fault that I don't belong
It's the world around me that's gone all wrong 

Social end product, social end product, social end product, social end product 

Aaaah, how do you expect me to turn out?
I'm Just a little boy scout?
You try to criticize me

Dig the bassist mistake at 1:30 after "boy scout". What? You gotta problem with it? You can't blame Murray for the mistake. He's just a shhhhhocial end product of quick takes!

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

Song of the Week: The Easybeats - The Shame Just Drained

Day two of our look at Aussie Beat has us spinning Australia's only international stars from the beat movement in the 60s, The Easybeats.

The Easybeats took the world by storm in November, 1966 after the quintet relocated to the UK and worked with American producer Shel Talmy. The release of their original number, Friday On My Mind, was so huge that it is largely the only thing The Easybeats are known for these days. But they did much more. The Easybeats' songwriters, guitarists Harry Vanda and George Young (the older brother of Malcolm and Angus of AC/DC fame) were very, very prolific. So prolific that they couldn't get their songs out fast enough.

Today we listen to a song that was recorded with Talmy at the controls in 1967, but failed to get released until 1977 when it was released on an odd and ends album of unreleased and hard to find songs. Today's SoTW, The Shame Just Drained, was one of those unreleased numbers. Beautifully written, beautifully produced, beautifully performed, it's amazing this never saw the light of day. The Shame Just Drained tells the story of a man who realizes, too late, that he had treated a woman badly. As he sees her, his shame drains the color from his face. Stevie Wright is NOT on vocals as this was only a demo. George Young is singing on this. Snowy Fleet on drums and Dick Diamonde on bass.

Enjoy. Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

Video Diary: The Easybeats, "Sorry"

Video Diary: The Black Diamonds, "I want, need, love you"