ROSE TATTOO - BAD BOYS (and nice guys) OF AUSSIE ROCK

Rose Tattoo , it can be argued is at the very top of my list of fave bands, seen them a couple of dozen times probably, at most of the classic "pub rock" venues around town, like the Sefton Pub, Punchbowls Sundowner Hotel, Bondi Lifesaver, Revesby Roundhouse, Bexley North Hotel, Maroubra Seals, Forest Inn, remember pub rock, all really good music , hardly any fkn dickheads?..well in my experience anyway...and also saw them at big gigs like Narara and How to shut a jail properly

Angry Anderson, formerly of Buster Brown and slide guitarist Peter Wells, bass player in Buffalo got together in late 75 in Sydney they were soon joined by another guitarist,  guitarist Mick Cocks, bassist Ian Rilen and drummer Dallas “Digger” Royal, the group made their public debut on New Year’s Eve at the local club Chequers, although to be honest I didnt see them till i saw the clip for bad boy for love and rock'n'roll outlaw....i dont know who talked Pete into wearing a vest and tie for the outlaw clip, as a matter of fact they were all fairly niftily attired for that clip.....and then of course was the famous moment on Countdown when Angry decided to french kiss Mick Cocks, it got them banned by the ABC, which probably shifted sales through the roof.

Like I said, I saw them quite a few times, and I must say that Angry is quite the philosopher on stage, he gave a few "hmmm, thats an interesting thing to say" moments...anyway to the music,  the band’s debut single “Bad Boy for Love” was written by Ian Rilen, who left the lineup prior to the record’s release, among their best known songs are “We Can’t Be Beaten”, “Scarred for Life” and “Bad Boy for Love” also co-written by Ian Rilen...my favorite songs were and still are Manzil madness, magnum maid and One of the boys.

 Their first four albums were produced by Harry Vanda and George Young ....Along with AC/DC and The Angels, Rose Tattoo helped establish an Australian rock sound in the 1970s that was copied around the world for example Guns 'n 'Roses are famous for covering Nice Boys (don't play rock'n'roll) and some could argue that the Gunners first ep sounds very Tatt like

 The Tatt's hard-rocking sound quickly earned a devoted following in the Sydney area and then  world wide cult status......

however the band broke up in 1987, and Angry released a solo album " Beat from a Single drum" that in actual fact wasn't doing much good until Neighbour's used the song "Suddenly"  during Kylie Minogue's characters wedding, the single went through the roof, but got pipped for the top spot by Kylie's version of Grand Funks classic Locomotion

... then in 1989 while Angry was writing and recording in LA, came another hit single in the shape of "Bound for Glory" he rang the boys and got the band back together but since you cant keep a good thing down,they reformed to support Guns'n'Roses in 1993, went their seperate ways again after the tour but got back together in 1998.....the last time i saw the Tatts on Aussie soil was the Boggo Road jail "JAILHOUSE ROCK" closing concert along with Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs, saw them a few years later at Wacken in Germany and recently got a copy of the Boggo road gig on DVD, so i can relive my 
youth almost 
daily ....hahahaha

NOW..fave  Tatt tracks...well, there is quite a few BUT, I'll trim  it down for ya...here go's

SCARRED FOR LIFE

BAD BOY FOR LOVE

BUTCHER & FAST EDDIE

ROCK'N'ROLL OUTLAW

BRANDED

ONE OF THE BOYS

MANZIL MADNESS

MAGNUM MAID

UNION MAN

ONE MORE DRINK WITH THE BOYS

THE RADIO SAID ROCK'n'ROLL WAS DEAD.

..and the single greatest lyric in aussie rock history was penned by the tatts in the song STUCK ON YOU and I quote " I had a fish named Sam, he lived in a bowl..I heated up the water so he wouldn't get cold"...Sheer Brilliance

In August 2006, they were inducted into the (ARIA) Hall of Fame.

Sadly five former members have died in recent years including four of the original recording line-up, Dallas Royall (1991), Peter Wells (2006), Ian Rilen (2006) and Mick Cocks (2009), and Lobby Loyde (2007), who was a member between October 1979 and September 1980.

    Rose Tattoo – 1978

    Assault & Battery – 1981

    Scarred for Life – 1982

    Southern Stars – 1984

    Beats From A Single Drum – 1986 (Later released as an Angry Anderson solo album)

    Nice Boys Don’t Play Rock N Roll – 1992 Compilation

    25 to Life – 2000 Live album

    Pain – 2002

    Best of Rose Tattoo – 2005 Compilation

    Blood Brothers – 2007

The Day Angry and Thorpey shut a prison

SO, there you go

seeya next time

its all Thorpeys fault

• I thinks its safe to say that i am like I am, musically speaking of course, due to seeing and hearing, live in a paddock full of hippies, a bloke bashing on a Les Paul weilded by "arguably" the greatest rock'n roll singer that ever strode across this continent we call home....I was 12, just a youngun, and by any and all logical thought process's , i should not have been withing COOEE of Sunbury in 73 (or 74)but i was, and this young fella got an education real quick...blame my uncle the mad bugger 

I must say, I grew up in a house full of music, so "pop" music wasn't a new thing to me,....BUT...this pop music at the festival, was a whole other bag of chips sports fans........Colored Balls, Sid Rumpo, Max Merritt, Spectrum, Madder Lake, Matt Taylor, this was stuff i'd not heard much of, and I was addicted straight away, if all those bands werent enough to convert anybody, well...Thorpey finished the job off with a set that i can still see if i close my eyes...too this day I can still hear Thorpey erupting into OOH POO PAH DOO, CC RIDER and of course MOST PEOPLE i KNOW THINK THAT I'M CRAZY....

Thorpe also performed as a solo artist; he relocated to the United States from 1976 to 1996 where he released the space opera Children of the Sun which peaked in the top 40 of the Billboard Pop Album chart in 1979. He worked with ex-Aztec Tony Barber to form a soft toy company in 1987 and co-wrote stories for The Puggle Tales and Tales from the Lost Forests. Thorpe also worked as a producer and composed music scores for TV series including War of the Worlds, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Columbo, Eight Is Enough and Hard Time on Planet Earth.

Thorpe returned to Australia in 1996 and continued as a performer and producer, additionally he knbocked out two autobiographies, Sex and Thugs and Rock 'n' Roll (1996) and Most People I Know (Think That I'm Crazy) (1998)...both stellar reads I must say.

Thorpie was the unassailable monarch of Australian rock music".Thorpe was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame in 1991. He had a massive coronary in February 2007 and the man we thought indestructable ( along with Bon)was gone.

Thorpey was posthumously appointed a Member of the Order of Australia...could happen to a nicer bloke

I had the great good fortune to see Thorpey many times over the years, none better , it could be argued that one of the loudest nights i've had in yonks was when he helped shut down Boggo Road jail in Brisbane back in 1993,if you can find the DVD fkn grab it...its the goods

 anyway, here is a link to some Thorpey Classics, by all means give them a listen...


HE SAID ..A OOH POO PA DOO...Thorpeys Hits