West Auckland Punk Gig Poster 3 1982

Two more posters from the West Auckland hall Punk scene of the early 1980s. No Tag, The Mormons, The Plunket Boys and Red Cross were  cornerstone bands of the early 1980’s West Auckland hall punk scene. They played self-organised gigs in hired West Auckland halls. The gigs were promoted by world of mouth and self-designed photocopied posters like this one. The Plunket Boys put this gig together and therefore this poster. It was closed down early by the Police like many were.

Here is a rare recording of The Mormons drunk in their practice room. It was recorded on a portable cassette player. The singer was Ian Wardle, the guitarist Gary McDonald, the bass player was Karl Tchernegovski and drummer may have been Pete Morris.

The Mormons - Sweetwaters 1982

The Mormons - war.mp3

The Rolling Stones: Schoolboy Blues (Cocksucker Blues) 1970

Here is the infamous last single recorded by The Rolling Stones for Decca Records. In 1970 The Rolling Stones’ contract with Decca had come to an end and the band had formed Rolling Stones Records. Deeca informed the band that they owed them one more single. So, to fulfil their contractual obligations The Stones gave Decca this obscenity ridden, unreleaseable blues number. Known as Cocksucker Blues but its actual title was Schoolboy Blues. 

 

Schoolboy Blues

Schoolboy Blues Version 2

As a bonus here’s Andrew’s Blues, an obscenity ridden jam from 1965. The Andrew in the song is of course Andrew Loog Oldham.

Andrew's Blues

The Velvet Underground: Squeeze1973

Here’s something a bit different to restart the site with. It’s the first album to be posted on this blog.  

This is Squeeze, the fifth Velvet Underground album. Which seems to have been all but erased from the band’s official history? No tracks from it appear on any Velvet Underground compilations or box sets. Unavailable on vinyl since the seventies, it has never officially been issued on CD. The Kismet label has released it recently on CD unlicensed. The version here was taken from vinyl.

By the time this was recorded in 1972, Mo Tucker and Doug Yule were the only band members left. Doug Yule produced and played most of the instruments on it. Mo Tucker was stopped from playing on the album by the band’s manager. The drums are performed by Ian Paice, Deep Purple’s drummer. Hence many fans do not see it as a real Velvet Underground album. Doug Yule was not included in the band when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Despite the fact he played on three of their five albums. 

1. Little Jack
2. Crash
3. Caroline
4. Mean Old Man
5. Dopey Joe
6. Wordless

7. She'll Make You Cry
8. Friends
9. Send No Letter
10. Jack & Jane
11. Louise

Produced By Doug Yule

Doug Yule   Vocal, Guitar, Keyboards, Bass guitar

Ian Paice                                                  Drums

The Velvet Underground - Squeeze.zip  

The Enemy: Five Songs Live1978

The Enemy were one of the most influential New Zealand bands of the Punk era. They broke up before officially releasing anything. These songs were recorded at The Enemy’s final gig at the Windsor Castle pub in Auckland in 1978. We Are The Enemy and Iggy Told Me were crowd favourites. Don’t Catch Fire reappeared on Toy Love’s only album. Tease was later transformed by Toy Love into Squeeze. A point of interest here is Chris Knox’s fake British accent. Three members Alec Bathgate, Mike Dooley and Chris Knox went on to formed Toy Love after The Enemy’s demise.

The five songs in the zip are

1. We Are The Enemy
2. Iggy Told Me
3. Tease

4. Don’t Catch Fire
5. Gone To The Worms

Chris Knox                Vocals
Mick Dawson               Bass
Alec Bathgate            Guitar
Mike Dooley              Drums

We Are The Enemy.mp3
Five Songs From Live At The Windsor Castle 1978

Killing Joke: Requiem 1980

Killing Joke were formed in 1978 in Notting Hill, London. Although they shared an aggressive element with Punk, they were different from most London bands of the time. They played slower, denser songs and they used a synthesizer. Their earlier records were released on their own Malicious Damage label. Requiem was released on EG Records in 1980. It was Killing Joke’s third single. It’s a different version than the one that appears on their self-titled debut album. The B-Side, Change was originally released as limited edition seven inch. Only 300 copies were sold. It appears on the American version of their debut album, but not the British version.

Produced by Killing Joke

Jaz Coleman        Vocals, Keyboards
Geordie Walker                      Guitars
Youth                                          Bass
Paul Ferguson                         Drums

  

Requiem.mp3

Change.mp3 

As a bonus here is the Eighties. It’s the song Killing Joke claim Kurt Cobain copied for Come As You Are. In 1993 they sued. The suit was dropped when Kurt Cobain committed suicide in 1994. 

Eighties.mp3

Eggs Over Easy: Three Songs 1972

Austin deLone, Brien Hopkins and Jack O'Hara

Although the two founding members, Jack O'Hara and Austin de Lone were from New York, Eggs Over Easy were formed in California. They moved to London in 1970 to record an album. While there they played the London pub circuit. Many of the local musicians turn out to see a genuine American band playing at their local. Graham Parker, Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello have all claimed to have been influenced by them. They are now widely acknowledged as being a major factor in the birth of the Pub Rock scene. The band had a set list that included over a hundred songs. The songs posted here are from their 1972 debut album. The one recorded in England was never released. The tracks are produced by Link Wray, at his brother, Vernon Wray’s studio in Tucson, Arizona.

Produced By Link Wray

Austin de Lone                    Piano, Guitar, Vocals
Jack O'Hara      Guitar, Bass, Harmonica, Vocals
Brien Hopkins           Piano, Guitar, Bass, Vocals
Bill Franz                                                   Drums

Home To You.mp3

Arkansas.mp3

Party Party.mp3

Spider: Concorde 1998

Spider was a late 90s Auckland band formed by Dave Mulcahy (JPS Experience, Superette), it also featured his flatmates at the time Big Ross (Bird Nest Roys, The Tufnells) and Steve Gilbert (The Tufnells).  Originally a 3-piece they soon grew to a quartet with the addition of Mark Anderson (Gaunt Pudding) on bass.  These 3 songs were recorded in a woolshed in South Auckland by Matthew Heine and released as a single in 1998.  The band changed their name to Raygun as Anderson left to join Sleepers Union and was replaced by Matthew Heine, the band split up in 2006 when Mulcahy made a permanent move back to his hometown of Christchurch.

Mulcahy currently releases music under the moniker Mulchzoid and plays in Christchurch band Sexy Animals as well as occasional recordings with ex-Spider drummer Steve Gilberd as 'Snakedog'.

Dave Mulcahy       Vocals, Guitar
Ross Williams        Guitar Vocals
Mark Anderson                    Bass
Steve Gilberd                    Drums

Concorde.mp3
Summerlite.mp3
Halo.mp3

Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians: Balloon Man 1988

Robyn Hitchcock was a member of Cambridge band The Soft Boys. Formed in 1976, they were often labelled ‘New Wave’ by the English press, even though they were more influenced by Syd Barrett than Sid Vicious. After their demise in 1980, Robyn Hitchcock pursued a solo career. Balloon Man was released in 1988. It became a College radio hit in the USA. The video for the song was even played on MTV. He is backed on the record by the Egyptians. Which he formed in 1984 and were made up of the Soft Boys rhythm section.

Produced by Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians and Pat Collier

Robyn Hitchcock      Piano, Guitar, Vocals
Andy Metcalfe                                    Bass
Morris Windsor                                Drums

On A globe of frogs
Peter Buck                        12 String Guitar

Warning recorded from vinyl**surface noise**
Balloon Man.mp3

A Globe of Frogs.mp3

Charles Bukowski: Three Poems1973

 

Charles Bukowski was born in Andernach, Germany in August 16, 1920. His father was an American serviceman stationed in Germany. In 1945 he published his first poem. After failing to take the literary world by storm he retired from poetry and went on a decade long drunken “lost weekend”. After a spell in hospital for a near-fatal bleeding ulcer in 1955 he started to write again. By 1960 in order to support himself he took a job at the U.S. Post Office working as a letter filing clerk. He stayed there until 1969, all the time writing and publishing poetry. As his poems often deal with subjects like drinking, being hung over, gambling and sex.  Time magazine in 1986 called him the "laureate of American lowlife". He died of leukemia on March 9, 1994, in San Pedro, California, aged 73. These poems come from a concert recorded in City Lights Poets Theater, San Francisco in 1973. He gave up live readings by the late 1970’s.

**Warning recorded from vinyl, surface noise**

The Creation of the Morning Line.mp3 

Style.mp3 
Earthquake.mp3

The Sundowners: Baby Jane 1963

Teddy Toi, Bob Wynyard, Trixie Willoughby, Sonny Day, Lloyd Tangaio and Max Purdy

The Sundowners were formed in the late 1950’s in Auckland, New Zealand.  Originally called Sonny Day and the Sharks. They played a form of Rock and Roll that had yet to be influenced by The Beatles. They recorded three singles and an EP for local label Viking Records before signing to another Auckland label Zodiac Records in 1963. Released in the same year, Baby Jane was their second single for Zodiac. They release three more singles, one under name of Dave Henry and the Sundowners, before folding in 1964. They never recording an album. The song Baby Jane was also recorded by The Applejacks  a year after the Sundowners. The B-Side was a cover of the Little Richard’s gem Keep A Knockin’.

Produced by Dave Dunningham

Sonny Day                                  Guitar
Bob Wynyard                              Guitar
Teddy Toi                                      Bass
Max Purdy                                   Piano
Lloyd Tangaio                     Saxophone
Graeme 'Trixie' Willoughby        Drums

Baby Jane.mp3

Keep A Knockin'.mp3

Peg Leg Howell: New Jelly Roll Blues 1927

Henry Williams, Eddie Anthony, and Peg Leg Howell 

Peg Leg Howell was born Joshua Barnes Howell on March 5 1888 in Eaton, Georgia. Just twenty three years after the ending of slavery. His music comes from an era that predates the Blues. He worked as a farm worker until 1916 when he lost his right leg after his brother-in-law shot him with a shotgun during an argument. Hence, his nick name Peg Leg. He was sent to Prison for bootlegging in 1925 and 1930. Bootlegging was his primary source of income at the time. In 1926 he started recording for Columbia Records. New Jelly Roll Blues was recorded in Atlanta, Georgia on April 8, 1927. Beaver Slide Rag was the B-Side. After his friends and band members Henry Williams and Eddie Anthony died (Henry Williams in prison in 1930 and Eddie Anthony in 1934). Howell retired from music saying, “I just didn’t feel like playing anymore. I went back to selling liquor.” In 1952 he lost his other leg to diabetes. During the 1960’s blues revival he was “rediscovered” living on welfare and at 75 years old recorded again for Testament Record. He died in 1966 aged 78.

Peg Leg Howell      Vocals/Guitar
Henry Williams                  Guitar
Eddie Anthony                    Violin

New Jelly Roll Blues.mp3

Beaver Slide Rag.mp3

Johnny Cash: The German Connection

In the 1960’s and 70’s many musicians re-recorded their hits in various foreign languages to cater to different markets. Among them were The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Marvin Gaye. Johnny Cash pioneered the practice by dubbing German vocals for his song I Got Stripes in 1959. He also dubbed Five Feet High and Rising and I Walked The Line as well as recording two German songs in German, Besser So, Jenny-Jo and Kleine Rosmarie. His German connection goes back to 1952 when he spent two years as a radio operator with the U.S. Air Force stationed in Landsberg, Germany.  It was there he brought his first guitar and formed his first band the Landsberg Barbarians. Here’s Viel Zu Spät (I Got Stripes) and Wer kennt den Weg? ( I Walked The Line).

Viel Zu Spät (I Got Stripes).mp3 

Wer kennt den Weg (I Walked The Line).mp3

Discharge: Decontrol 1980

Discharge were formed in Lemmy’s hometown of Stoke-on-Trent in 1977. They were a Punk band, but their songs have been covered by the likes of Metallica, Anthrax, Sepultura, and Napalm Death. Often hailed as the first band to blend Punk and Metal. Their sound was so widely copied it became know as D-beat (D for Discharge). The two songs on the B-side, It's No T.V. Sketch and Tomorrow Belongs To Us typify that sound. Decontrol was released in 1980 on Clay Records. It reached number 5 on the UK Indie Chart.

 Producers John Brierley and Mike Stone

Cal          Vocals
Bones      Guitar
Rainy         Bass
Tezz        Drums

Warning recorded from vinyl. Surface noise can be heard

Decontrol

It's No T.V. Sketch

Tomorrow Belongs To Us

Greg Fleming & The Trains: Codine Road 1994

Singer songwriter Greg Fleming hails from Auckland, New Zealand.  His backing band The Trains has included an ever-changing line up of impressive musicians. Among them Mark Petersen (Jan Hellriegel, Straitjacket Fits, Cabbage Bomber), Nick Kreisler (the Pet Rocks), John Segovia (Shaft, The Axlegrinders, Boxcar Guitars, Don McGlashan & The Seven Sisters),  Andrew B. White (Bic Runga, Donald Reid, Damien Binder) Dom Blaazer (SJD, The HitList, Don McGlashan & The Seven Sisters), Ricky McShane (Chainsaw Masochist, White Swan Black Swan),  and Cameron Miller (Mike Scott).
In 1993 he released his debut album Ghost Are White. A year later a track from that album, Codeine Road was remixed by Anthony Ioasa and released as a single on Lost Records. The B-Side was All The Time In The World and First Waltz. All songs were written by Greg Fleming.

 

 Produced by Anthony Ioasa

Greg Fleming      Vocals/Guitar
John Segovia                  Guitar
Cameron Miller                Bass
Rick McShane               Drums
Jono Lonie       Violin/Mandolin

Codeine Road.mp3

or the whole EP as a Zip

Codeine Road EP.zip

The People's Choice: I Likes To Do It 1971

 

The People’s Choice were formed in Philadelphia by Keyboardist Frank Brunson in 1971. The instrumental I Likes To Do It was their debut single, released on the Phil L.A of Soul label in the same year. It pecked at number 38 on the Billboard charts and 9 on the RnB chart. After signing to Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff ‘s Philadelphia International Records they had an even bigger hit with Do It Any Way You Wanna. In 1989 I Likes To Do It was sampled by De La Soul for the track Trend Water on their album 3 Foot High And Rising. Big Ladies Man was the B-Side. Both songs were written by Frank Brunson.

Produced By Bill Perry and Rudy Wilson

Frank Brunson        Keyboards/Vocals
David Thomson                        Drums
Darnell Jordan                           Guitar
Johnnie Hightower                    Guitar
Stanley Thomas                          Bass
Marc Reed                                Vocals

I Likes To Do It.mp3

Big Ladies Man.mp3

Blues Magoos: (We Ain't Got) Nothing Yet 1967

Originally formed in The Bronx, New York in 1964 as The Trenchcoats. In 1966 they changed their name to Bloos Magoos, before settling on Blues Magoos. Their debut album (Psychedelic Lollipop) was released in 1966. Even though (We Ain’t Got) Nothing Yet was included on that album, it was not released as a single until 1967. Written by Ron Gilbert, Ralph Scala and Mike Esposito, it pecked at number 5 on the Billboard Top 100.  Gotta Get Away was the B-Side. Just over a year later, after releasing two more albums, they broke up.  But the band’s management and singer/guitarist Peppy Castro backed by various hired musicians kept the name alive until 1972. 

    It's fair to say Deep Purple’s 1970 hit, Black Knight owes a debit to (We Ain’t Got) Nothing Yet’s main riff.

Produced by Bob Wyld, Art Polhemus

Mike Esposito                 Guitar
Geoff Daking                 Drums
Ronnie Gilbert                  Bass
Peppy Castro      Vocals/Guitar
Ralph Scala        Organ/Vocals

(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet.mp3

Gotta Get Away.mp3

Roger Sings The Hits: Part 1 1991

First thing, these songs are owned by Flying Nun Records. They are posted here so people can hear them, as they are very rare and currently unavailable. They are for personal listening only.

On the 20th September 1991 Flying Nun Records had organized a gig at Auckland’s Power Station to celebrate their tenth anniversary. Someone came up with the idea to get some of the bands involved in the gig to record songs from other Flying Nun bands, put them on a cassette and sell them at the concert. So the night before the gig, six bands went into Incubator Studios and recorded and mixed six songs. 500 copies of the cassette were sold the next night. As far as I am aware, none of the tracks have ever been issued on CD.

Here’s Jean Paul Sartre Experience covering Fetus Productions’ What's Going On, Straitjacket Fits doing Jean Paul Sartre Experience’s  Flex and The Bats doing Look Blue Go Purple‘s I Don't Want You Anyway.

Roger Sings The Hits 01

The Saints: One Two Three Four EP 1977

In 1974 Brisbane band The Saints, started mixing their love of 1960’s Pop with their love of high energy Detroit rock. Their set list included speeded up cover versions of Del Shannon, and Ike and Tina Turner as well as Stooges songs. In late 1977 after the release of their debut album, (I am) Stranded, they released the One, Two, Three, Four EP. Which included cover versions of Ike and Tina Turner’s River Deep Mountain High and Connie Francis’ Lipstick On Your Collar. The two other original songs on the EP (Demolition Girl & One Way Street) were different versions than the ones that appear on the (I am) Stranded album.

 

Produced By  Chris Bailey and Ed Kuepper

Chris Bailey       Vocals

Ed Kuepper        Guitar
Ivor Hay            Drums
Kym Bradshaw    Bass

The Saints - 1234 EP

John Foxx: Underpass 1980

 

In 1979 after Ultravox! were dropped by their record company, singer and electronic music pioneer John Foxx decided to leave the band for a solo career. Unfortunately, Ultravox’s subsequent success with new singer Midge Ure over shadowed John Foxx’s solo work. By 1985 (his last live gig was in 1982) he had reverted to his original name (Dennis Leigh) and his original career (Graphic Design).  In 1992 he was a Graphic Arts & Design lecturer at the Leeds Metropolitan University. He re-entered the music business in 1997 making Dance and the Triphop music. Underpass was his first solo single. Released by Virgin Records in 1980. It reached number 31 in the British singles chart, his highest solo chart position. All instrument were played by Foxx.

Underpass

Film One

Chant R&B: I 'm Your Witchdoctor 1966

 

Chant R&B were formed in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1964. That same year they won a Battle Of The Bands contest at Addington Showgrounds. Their prize was time in a recording studio. They rarely played outside of Christchurch.  Only releasing two singles before moving to Australia and disbanding in 1967. I 'm Your Witchdoctor was their second single, like their first (I've Been Loving You Too Long) it was a cover.  It was written by John Mayal. At the time Witchdoctor was recorded the band included Australian Max Croke, who it turned out was really named Max Kelly and was a deserter from the Australian Air Force.

 

Produced by James Tomlin

Trevor Courtney                Drums
Michael Rudd         Guitar/Vocals
Martin Forrer                        Bass
Max Kelly                           Guitar

I 'm Your Witchdoctor

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