In 2011 I went to the community cup, an annual event where a bunch of people in bands play a bunch of people in radio. In between the footie we have a number of bands playing. That year Tim Rogers fresh from playing all day on the foot field went straight up on stage and into some of the best guitar pop this country's ever produced. Unfortunately the weather was too cold and I managed to experience 3 songs before I had to get my young kids home before we froze. I paid for it with a massive head cold.

Almost 20 years ago I was doing a solo spot at the Don Hosie Memorial gig at the Metro in Sydney, You Am I were playing the bigger room. They let our crowd in for free so just before I did my solo thing I got to see a couple of You Am I songs live. They tore the crowd apart. Bit I had to go and play. And that was it. For some reason or other I kept missing this great band. 

Until last year when they actually came to my suburb and played the Glen Eira Party in The Park. Finally I got to see a whole set and it was an excellent gig. Tim as a rock and roll swagger that draws the crowd in. And what a bunch of great songs.

Anyway I was talking about Hourly Daily. Some people rate Hi Fi Way as their masterpiece but this is the album that does it for me. I can see more of a Kinks type pop influence going on here. It's a great album from start to finish. It's really well sequenced so by the time you get to the end you look forward to hearing it all again. 

1996 in Elwood. Out the back on the new decking.  Soaking up the sun. Drinking beer. Listening to Soldiers, Mr. Milk and Good Mornin'. All Good!

the Stooges 1969

I used to belong to the Australian Music Club where once a month you'd buy a couple of albums and have them delivered to your door. I loved getting home from school and finding a couple of 12 inch parcels waiting for me. I didn't buy this record off the club. But I do remember seeing The Stooges name in the catalogue and thinking what a rotten name. Why call yourselves after the 3 Stooges? And the cover didn't really grab me. I was into T. Rex and Bowie. Then Bowie produced The Stooges Raw Power and my interest was piqued. But by then I had left the club and now had to rely on Box Hill record shops. So no matter how much I looked I couldn't find Iggy's first record. I almost thought about rejoining the club. But I didn't and my record collection stayed pretty much Stooges free.
Finally got the album in 1976 and here were all the songs I heard so much about but never heard. No Fun and I Wanna Be Your Dog. My first band Subway attempted that song. Luckily we never played it live. Actually Subway only played 2 gigs. One at a party where we cleared the living room in one minute flat. And the bass player didn't turn up either. The other gig was the Bayswater Youth Club.
oh and the record. How was it a cult record when it was so good?

Wilder by The Teardrop Explodes 1981

In 1981 Teardrop Explodes toured Australia. I went to two of their gigs. Both places were regular haunts of my band Little Murders. The Prospect Hill Hotel and the Chevron Hotel. The Prospect Hill in Kew was a great gig. We managed to score the legendary Monday night residency there. It was 4 weeks of packed houses and manic rock and roll. There were pillars in front of the stage and inebriated punters would try to climb them. Later the Prospect was the place where one of our roadies would accidentally leave the back door open and thus enough equipment was stolen to financially bring the band to its knees. 

The Chevron was another great rock venue. Really good sized room. We would often play there supporting bigger bands like the Church and Jo Jo Zep. In the nineties, I came back as a DJ on Sunday nights.

As for the Teardrop Explodes I was a bit manic on them in 1981 having to have all their records including the singles and b-sides. Now and again a band comes along and I just embrace them and want everything they've done. Nowadays it's easy if you don't mind streaming and downloads. Back then it was real work.
The gigs were great. They played stuff from both albums. They only had one trumpet player but it was incredibly effective. At the Chevron as he came off stage and was standing on the stairs I saw two friends of mine chatting to him. Girls of course.
I played Wilder constantly even while I was living the Mod life. I liked the psychedelic tones and colours. I loved playing it late at night. I remember none of my friends sharing the same enthusiasm for the record. But that's alright. Makes the album a bit more special.

Revolver by The Beatles. 1966

This is another record I bought off my brother Steve when he got married. Until I started writing this stuff I didn't realise he had some pretty good taste. Of course, sharing a room with him and hearing him play these records was forming my taste too.
When I first got into the Beatles in the late sixties it was their early records I really loved and played the most. But as I became more of a discerning record buyer and came back to the Beatles again and again and my musical tastes buds developed I became more focused on their golden middle period. Rubber Soul used to be my favourite album and then one day it became Revolver. At first, I was attracted to the ballads especially For No One and Here There and Everywhere. When I started playing the guitar it was the rockers like She Said. Actually, there is a mixture of sounds here that I've dipped into all my life. and they've got their obligatory rubbish song in Yellow Submarine but even that song I've taught many kids to sing along to and well really it's not that bad. And I loved that film too.
In the mid-nineties, we started playing Tomorrow Never Knows at the Lizard Lounge and it fitted in seamlessly with the Chemical Brothers.
And what a sleeve. In 1968 I was at Croydon High School. All the artwork that the kids were doing in the later years looked like Revolver outtakes. Wonderful. I love the sixties!

Whatever People Say I Am by Arctic Monkeys 2006

I remember reading about the Arctic Monkeys very early on. I jotted down a not about them before I'd even heard their music. "find 5 minutes by The Arctic Monkeys!" When I really first heard them I couldn't believe how good they were. Fantastic songs. Great lyrics. Real rock and roll swagger. then I found their songs were all over the Internet. some great quality, some in peoples living rooms. Wasn't long before I had an albums worth of their stuff. I went down to Pure Pop in St. Kilda and asked for any Arctic Monkeys.."Never heard of them!" wouldn't be long until they were the hottest band out. I was like an Evangelist telling everyone I knew how great they were.
Soon I had 2 albums worth of demos and stuff and then the single came out. Look Good On the Dancefloor. Bit sad that I didn't have a club to play it at but blasted it everywhere I went. Perfect pop song!.
Then this album came out. I was so used to the demos it took me awhile to get used to such a polished product. But come round I did because the songs are just so good. And they way he sings 'em. Unfortunately every album they bring out seems a little worse than the previous one. Can't even bring myself round to listening to the new one. Then again they always have a few good songs tucked away.

The Psychomodo by Cockney Rebel 1974

This one really puts me back in my bedroom in Blackburn South in the mid-seventies. This is one of those records I played with my head on a pillow between two speakers. After Come Up and See Me (Make Me Smile) came out I started looking for Cockney Rebel records in shops but couldn't find anything. Then I discovered second-hand shops and bargain bins and my life kinda changed somewhat. I could gather up the past faster and cheaper. I guess I was desperate to get a big collection fast. Can't remember where I got this but I think it was in Blackburn near the station. Probably the Newsagent or maybe the new second-hand record shop that was opened opposite the roundabout. Dixons Recycled.
I loved this record. mainly because I was getting sick of Bowie's plastic soul and rubbish live albums. This was still glam. And he had that weird voice. And he filled up his songs with strange characters like Mr. Soft. And the musical landscape and decadence were perfect for a teenager.
While I loved this record, his records after that except for a couple of tracks did nothing for me. Oh well, maybe half of Best Years of Our Lives was pretty good. And Come Up and See Me is a pretty perfect pop single.

Hounds of Love by Kate Bush 1985

Never cared much for Kate Bush. Wuthering Heights her big first hit, drove me nuts. All the other stuff was too winsome and too freaky. Yes, she was gorgeous but I kept well away from her records. 

In 1985 I was in the UK and the big song was Don't Give Up with Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush duetting. I was already a big fan of Peter Gabriel and honestly I didn't mind that song. I happened to read an article on Kate Bush where she described learning new ways to write and record using techniques she had learnt from Peter Gabriel. In Tower records, Picadilly Circus. the morning I was to leave for home I tried to get some new cassettes to listen to on the long flight back to Australia. Picked up my usual retro stuff plus some modern alternative but on a whim I picked up Hounds of Love. The reviews were great.

Listened to my tapes on the Sony Walkman all the way and by the time I hit Perth there was only one cassette to go. I thought I'd give Kate a shot. The plane was empty so I stretched out, the sun streamed through the windows and the album just transported me. I was locked deep inside my headphones with Kate Bush. it was really magnificent. 

I've tried other Kate Bush albums purely because this is so good but they never reach the same level. This truly a one off for me.

Years later exploring the night sky just outside Chang Mai in Thailand a little worse for wear it and in a slightly altered state, it was the Hounds of Love cassette I reached for to provide the soundtrack. Great album.

Down By The Jetty by Dr. Feelgood 1975

Although this came out in 1975 I didn't pick it up until 76 and it was in the bargain bin at Brashs in Doncaster shopping town. God, did I spend my life in that shop? I'd read about the band in NME but this was my first sighting of the record. The cover was unlike anything else I'd seen. These guys looked like extras from Brighton Rock. And when I played the record it was lean and thuggish but totally mesmerising.
The album I bought previously to this would have been A New World Record by ELO and the difference was breathtaking.
This was basically live in the studio. I think it was Wilkos guitar that got me hooked first. Short stabs of the electric guitar like a machine gun. It was the shape of things to come. I kept playing my glam and ELO records but as 76 progressed I kept returning to this record.  Roxette being the particular highlight. As I started to play the guitar and write songs and dream of being in bands Dr Feelgood were my role model. This is what a band looks like. Later I saw the film of them live and it was just incredible. Mesmerizing stage performers. Then I got to see them live at the Ballroom. I was up the front for the first part of the gig but I got so crushed by dancing Mods and punks I ended up on the floor in the bathroom a sweaty mess. Brilliant!

Dare by The Human League 1981

In 1981 I was playing in a Mod band. Listening to lots of sixties soul and garage rock. My home looked like something out of the sixties. And yet I couldn't help loving this album. When I first heard "Don't You Want Me Baby" me it was a sixties song wrapped up in electro sounds. It had a great beat. I took it to school I was teaching at over in Yarraville and used the song to teach my kids to dance. It was a simple dance called the Monkey. Knees bend, arms down, legs straight, arms up...do the Monkey! The relentless rhythm of the Human league was perfect for teaching simple dance. Not that I was much of a dancer myself.
And it made my stereo sound so good...and the car stereo. Amazing sounds. And it begins with the superb         'The Things That Dreams Are Made Of" where they pay respect to Norman Wisdom and the Ramones.
This album opened up a soft spot in my heart for electronic music. Later .despite the naysayers I really loved the Pet Shop Boys..often on my own on that one.

Germ Free Adolescents by X-Ray Spex 1978

Punk was turning into what they called New Wave. The sounds were all quite glam infested. And they sounded great. Really great. Everyone was started to get a bit more stylish, finding their look. Also the music was starting to move out into the world. 

In 79 I was in a band The Fiction and I was living a bit more inner city. Listening to new sounds on RRR, mixing with new friends. I kinda moved away from my old friends except for the ones who came to see the band or who helped with the band. ( By around 1984  after constant playing in a band when I was younger I found after 6 years of playing gigs I had sadly lost all my teenage friends.)

On one of the increasingly rare occasions I went back to Nunawading in early 79 I visited a friend Christine. I was actually looking for someone else but as we sat on her front steps catching up I heard the sound of X-Ray Spex. Her sister had heard the track Germ Free Adolescents while travelling in London and bought the album. This is someone who loved Carole King. Now there was room for punk rock on her turntable.

I was a bit dubious at first with X-Ray Spex but then Steve Crosby DJed at the Market Hotel (for Little Murders Mod Disco Parties) one night and played Warrior in Woolworth's and I loved it. Bought the album and just loved that also. It's like a small aircraft buzzing cars. I'd play this then the Rezillos. Two sides of a cassette tape. 

Never Mind The Bollocks The Sex Pistols 1977

The day this came out in Melbourne I zipped down at lunchtime to Box hill in my Datsun Bluebird and brought the album back to burwood teachers College. I couldn't wait until my classes had finished so me and Leonie and Caroline (who was our drummer's sister) went looking for a good stereo up in the classrooms. They left after a couple of songs but I listened to the whole first side sitting at Teachers College in my home made White Riot/ Clash T-shirt.
One year earlier I was dressing like David Essex at the circus. I was wearing baggy jeans and waistcoats and platform boots. Now I wore black jeans and black suede boots. It was a great feeling to erase the past and start again. And I was in a band. Subway. I was writing songs.
We couldn't wait for the Sex pistols album to arrive so when it did get released it was a bit of a let down. 4 singles that had already been released. Bands weren't doing that anymore. It seemed a bit desperate. also with bands like The Clash and The jam on the ascent the pistols looked a bit naff. And their music was slower. We were expecting a bit too much so our judgements were a bit harsh.
But the singles are great. And there's Seventeen and my favourite EMI. And we all laughed over Bodies. And I've come back to this album many times cos it really is good. And it's very much a part of 77 and that first rush of punk. The cover art. Sid Vicious. The Pistols were like an off station radio playing in the background. Great album. Even if they did take their sweet time to get it out.

Harder They Come OST 1972

Although this came out in the early 70s I didn't hear it until after I saw the film in the late 70s. When I became a punk in 77 swearing allegiances to the Clash and all, we not only got the politics of dancing but our ears were opened up to new music and old music we needed to hear.

 Trak cinema were still doing their midnight sessions so when they showed The Harder They Come, the classic reggae film me and Chris Hunter went down to see it. A brilliant film with a brilliant soundtrack. Watching Jimmy Cliff in the studio with the Melodians playing the title song was spine-tingling.
It was dead easy to track down this album. It must have been just re-released. A great album (though I could never tell the difference between the 2 versions of Harder). It also introduced me to a faster reggae and most importantly Toots and The Maytals and "Pressure Drop",  one of the most exciting songs I've ever heard.
Sunny day. Open the windows and put the speakers out. Turn up the bass. How many afternoons were spent relaxing to this record? Too many to count

Ian Hunter 1975

I loved Mott the Hoople. Most of all I loved Ian Hunter's voice. Many times I've tried to emulate it when singing. When he left Mott I thought it was all over but then he came out with this terrific record. Before he released it we first heard the single "Once Bitten Twice Shy" which was right up there with the Mott stuff. The album was just as good. Me and future Murders roadie Alan Barnard would play the thing to death on our stereos then tape it onto a cassette and play it in the car. Knew every word. Yes, some of it was a bit over the top but this was the mid-seventies.
Alan was a bit of a handyman. He had a station wagon and he actually built a timber overhead shelf for all his cassettes. He was the first person I knew to go to Bali and come back with cheap cassettes. He managed to get every album I could think of. He also had these great mixtapes with amazing themes and covers.  It would be a few more years before  I got to one of those cheap cassette stalls.  With such a collection and his woodwork skills, he installed a library in his car. 

One Easter we drove to Sydney listening to all the latest albums.
He was also handy with the motors helping me buy my first car, a Datsun Bluebird for 400 bucks then helping to keep it on the road. Eventually, I learned to keep it going with a piece of chewing gum holding together the carburettor. In the end, I sold it for 12 dollars to a mate of Bruce Milne's.

Can't Stand The Rezillos by The Rezillos 1978

I read a review in NME or some other music paper. This sounded great. And the Rezillos covered sixties tunes too. How fab! But couldn't find it anywhere. None of the shops had it. Or they were getting it in. It used to drive me nuts reading about great albums and then having to wait until they were released here. Then like a ray of light on a cloudy day, I was passing the second-hand bin in some record shop and there it was. A preview copy had been traded in. I'd never heard a track but I was bloody excited. Sometimes you can love a band before you hear them.
But then when I got the record on the turntable it was just fantastic. It was like a bunch of hit singles. It had a bit of glam meets punk side that leapt out of the speakers. Top of The Pops, Flying Saucer Attack, somebody's Gonna Get There Head Kicked in Tonite..great song after great song!
And they stopped being the Rezillos and became the Revillos! The Motorbike Beat

Golden Hour Of The Kinks 1971

....and here begins my infatuation with The Kinks that's lasted 40 years. All those early singles are on here. It's just magnificent. My first Kinks record and I get Waterloo Sunset, Sunny Afternoon, Dead End Street..the list is endless. In a time when I could keep all my records in one box this was by far the most played piece of vinyl until Bowie came along. While I was familiar with many of the songs most were new to my ears. Shangri La. This album led me to all those other albums I collected.

I was round at PeteJoyce's house and his brother Phil was playing one of his sixties mixtapes and he had the song Autumn Almanac on it. I wasn't familiar with the track but they mentioned Blackpool. I loved the song. Something stirred in me and the next time I was in K-Mart I looked through the K section. It was only $1:99. Value!

Now I've got over 20 kinks albums not including the CD Album Box Set and the BBC Radio sessions box set. And the Village Green Box Set. etc.

And the autograph after the drink with Ray Davies in a hotel bar in East Melbourne. Where I gave him all the Little Murders singles and said to him "I have all of your records and now you have all of mine!" Love the Kinks.

Velvet Underground 1967

As I went from erstwhile folky on the outskirts of Melbourne to year zero punk living in Fitzroy, it was amazing the amount of music I was being exposed to. I was devouring print and articles from the UK and while they went on about new music that was inaccessible at the time they also explored the roots of punk. I was already big on Lou Reed and loved Transformer but the albums that came after (except for Berlin) didn't do that much for me and after Berlin, I lost interest. Well Berlin was a bit depressing.
I was familiar with Sweet Jane and Rock n Roll etc because they had been covered. But when I picked up a second hand copy of this album, with the American heavy card sleeve I really understood what it was all about. and it comes with the whole Andy Warhol Pop Art thing writ large. I started reading about the Factory and Edie Sedgewick and the whole damn scene.
We'd sit around the living room at night listening to the trams rumble along Nicholson Street playing Velvet Underground records.

The Pretenders 1980

When I was in the UK in 1979 I religiously watched Top Of The Pops every Thursday night. Similar to our Countdown but with much cooler bands. Of course there's was plenty of rubbish too. One night they had a new band on called the Pretenders. Singing an old Kinks song. Produced by Nick Lowe. And a girl singer. Totally brilliant. I was sold from the moment they started. And they had that sixties new wave look so they fitted totally with my Mod aesthetic.
Then the album came out and they shot to number one with Brass in Pocket and then they were everywhere. The album image was plastered all over the record shop windows. Their songs were all over the radio. Everyone was into the Pretenders. And it was a great album. I found it hard to get past the first track Precious because I kept lifting the needle off the record and putting back to the start again. Same with The Wait.
My girlfriend Leonie was particularly taken by them. She had a flat in Abbotsford. Near Victoria Street and the old Valhalla Cinema. Down the road from her place was a milk bar where I found 20 unopened toy Monkeemobiles. Quite big and hidden on the top shelf like relics from the sixties. Bought them for 5 dollars each and reactivated the motors inside by giving them an electrical shot from a train set transformer. Then Bruce Milne sold them down at Missing Link records. But I digress.
great album!

What's The Story (Morning Glory) by Oasis 1995

For a second there it really did feel like Oasis were the biggest band on the planet. With this album they cracked the US charts a feat Blur couldn't get anywhere near. Although I was happy when Blur beat Oasis in that singles battle both songs turned out to be quite rubbish. But the album Morning Glory was just magnificent. It seemed to put England right back at the centre of modern music. London swings indeed even if it was with a Manchester beat.
The album was stuffed with great songs. A lot of the songs we played at the Lizard lounge. The big one of course was Wonderwall which got the crowd singing along. They also went crazy for She's Electric too. The title song was played a few times but never quite caught on.
The Britpop era was such a good time. Some brilliant songs came out of it. When it started to die off I was amazed at how the daggers came out. And then it became a bad word.
I continued to buy Oasis Cds. There was always a few good ones on there. Liam's got a great voice. And Noel is the best interviewee no doubt. He is incredibly off-hand and funny. The stuff he comes out with is priceless.
Oasis have been deemed an overrated band. With the amount of scorn heaped on them, I would say they are definitely underrated.

This comes from my alternative country phase in the middle to late nineties. I was introduced to the music of Wilco through Paul Thomas who played lead guitar on the Little Murders "First Light" album. He was sitting on the couch at Audrey Studio (when it was a bungalow in Elwood) banging out this song called Casino Queen. Then he tried to get me to go halves on a Rickenbacker 12 string guitar he found in the Trading Post.
I went out and bought the album and couldn't stop playing it. I wrote a song or two for the album which were heavily influenced by Wilco. I could hear shades of bands like Big Star and Tom Petty in the songs. Jangling chords and rich harmonies. Gritty rock and roll. Not country as I knew it. Just great songs. Suddenly I was digging out Gram Parsons records I'd bought and hardly listened to. Sunny afternoons spent listening to alternative country. I bought the next album Being There and sat in the car park behind Cosmos Bookshop (now Readings) in St. Kilda just listening to it.
I actually got a write-up for the album for the Little Murders "First Light' album in Mojo, a UK music magazine. A line in it says we are a mix of The Clash, The Jam and Wilco. It must have been something I said at the time.
I went and saw them at the Forum a few years back. Good band but they played forever. Too long for my concentration.