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.