Is it true you nicked some of your early equipment from David Bowie’s trucks outside the Hammersmith Odeon at the last Ziggy Stardust show, in 1973? There’s definitely some truth in that. It wasn’t outside in trucks though – it was on the stage! They played two nights, and after the first night they left all […]
Steve Jones: 10 Chaotic Questions Read More »
The ABC news radio announcer’s incredulous tone said it all. “An unknown band from Brisbane, by the name of the Saints, has earned rave reviews in England for a record it made itself,” he said. It was September 1976, and the words, complete with the plummy delivery, were loaded with cultural cringe – all the
(I’m) Stranded turns 40: the song that changed Brisbane Read More »
The video begins, appropriately enough, with the sight of a door being kicked open – then a hurricane of noise rushes through. Until very recently in Brisbane, it was still possible to visit the decrepit building on Petrie Terrace and stand in front of the fireplace on top of which the words “(I’m) Stranded” were
Australian anthems: (I’m) Stranded Read More »
Danny Fields – so-called “company freak” of Elektra Records in the late 1960s; the man who discovered the MC5 and then the Stooges; later the first manager of the Ramones – once rapturously described Television as the band with “the most perfect skin in the world.” They literally got under mine: on the inside of my
In 1977, John Lydon – née Rotten – launched a vitriolic attack on the monarchy that brutally summed up the status of England’s youth in the year of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee: “When there’s no future, how can there be sin? / We are the flowers in the dustbin / We’re the poison in your
Flowers in the wheelie bin Read More »
Count-dow-wn! It’s time for the top 10! 10. PAUL KELLY/KEV CARMODY – From Little Things Big Things Grow (1991, 1993) The ultimate compromise choice on this list. Both Kelly and Carmody should feature individually in any compilation of great Australian songs, but which ones? In the end, I’ve gone for this co-write, initially recorded by
Final: The Great Australian Songbook V (10-1) Read More »