THIS IS IT FOLKS.... OVER THE TOP.....The Angels

The Angels loom large in the memories for people of our age, who can forget seeing the boys live, and wondering exactly what the hell Doc Neeson was blabbling about. They burst onto the scene in the mid 1970′s and went from strength to strength. I first saw them at a gig at Sundowner Hotel Punchbowl in 79, before i'd really heard much of their stuff...WELL...they  blew the roof of the joint and I was hooked from than on....
Saw them quite a few times through various incarnations, the gig at Narara Music festival where Doc climbed the lightning rig was fkn brilliant, what am I talking about, a crook Angels gig was a rare beast, the singer babbling bizarre verniage , the unmoving brothers in black playing twin S.G Gibson's
 last I saw them was up here on the Central Coast at Ourimbah RSL ....found out later they were filming that documentary " NO WAY GET F**KED, F *#K OFF,  about the reconciliation and subsequent reunion tour, I checked , didnt get me head on tape....BUGGER....the same level of performance was there, amazing really, given Docs spine issues....anyway to some band history

They started life in Adelaide, at Uni as the The Moonshine Jug and String Band, originally formed by  Joh and Rick Brewster somewhere around 1970, by '74 they’d changed name to Keystone Angels and were starting to attract some attention of a wider audience. In 1975 they dropped the “keystone” to become The Angels and had released their first single “Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again” in April 1976. At that time they were performing as a 4 piece band with Doc Neeson handling vocals and bass, Charlie King on drums and John & Rick Brewster on guitars, and wasnt that a fun video with Doc playing a Rickenbacker and dressed totally in leather

Sometime after this Graham “Buzz” Bidstrup had replaced Charlie King on drums and Chris Bailey joined soon after on bass to make the band a 5 piece. This is the first “classic” lineup of the band. Their big break came with 1978′s Face to Face album, reaching number 16 in November and staying on the Australian charts for 79 weeks. This album also gave them their first big hit with
the single “Take a long line”, with the iconic beginning " THIS IS IT FOLKS OVER THE TOP"

The last sight of The Angels in the 70's for me was seeing Doc get walloped with a bottle at The Opera House at the news years gig...always wondered if that bottle tossing prick ended up in hospital or not, if anyone knows gimme a shout.


The 80′s & 90′s

Buzz Bidstrup left in early 1981 and was replaced by Brent Eccles & about 12 months later Chris Bailey also left to be replaced by Jim Hilbun. They had a number of successful albums during this period including “Night Attack”, “Watch The Red” & “Two Minute Warning”.
The next significant lineup change was when John Brewster left and the job went to ex-Skyhooks guitarist Bob Spencer in March 1986. By the mid to late 1990’s the band had tried to crack the US market with limited success but support in Australia had remained fairly solid. All this time the band toured relentlessly and were famed for their energetic live performances and on 20 October 1998, The Angels were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.
They performed their “last” gig on New Years Eve of 1999. Doc Neeson, having suffered spinal & neck injuries in a car accident, announced he was leaving.

For most of the 00’s there was some fairly nasty angst and animosity between various members with quite a few disputes over the name. Doc Neeson toured for a while under the name “Doc Neeson’s Angels” with a band containing Jim Hilbun, Dave Leslie, Paul Wheeler and others. The Brewster brothers teamed up with Buzz Bidstrup & Chris Bailey to form “The Original Angels Band” but in 2008 differences were sorted and the band reformed again as The Angels....my two cents is this, the Brewsters founded the band, so its their band

I did see a version at Ted Mulrys Benefit Gig..that was a damn good version too

Just recently The Angels, featuring founding members Rick Brewster, John Brewster and Chris Bailey, were joined by Screaming Jets singer, Dave Gleeson, and undertook the Waiting For The Sun Tour across Australia, to support the release of the same-titled new EP....how good is that ?.. Dave Gleeson has grabbed the mic, should be a helluva version of the band

OH YEAH one more thing....as relates to The Angels and their song "Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again" and the pre requisite response from audiences. Whenever Doc Neeson sang the words of the Angels' classic love song 'Am I Ever Going to See Your Face Again?' back came the ingenious response: 'No way, get f*cked, f*ck off'...many have wondered about the origin of the shout back, I've heard various stories about it being started in Kalgoorlie and what have you...I like to think we started it at Bankstown RSL...so there ya go

   

THEY WERE RUFF, TUFF & READY...IT'S HUSH

I only got to see Hush twice ever...1974 at Sydney Town hall, and The Countdown Spectacular in 2006....mind you , once i saw them in Sydney, none the less, they won me over and i got their albums and singles at Palings record store in Roselands Shopping centre just up the road from Casa del Recky

 In 1971 Keith formed Hush and the original line-up consisted of Keith Lamb (vocals), Chris Nolan (keyboards), Robin Jackson (guitar), Rick Lum (bass) and John Koutts (drums) Les Gock joined Hush in 1972, as did Chris Pailthorpe, replacing Robin Jackson, John Koutts and Chris Nolan. The new line-up which continued to 1976 was Keith Lamb (vocals) Les Gock (guitar) Rick Lum (bass) and Chris Pailthorpe (drums). Rick left towards the end of 1976 and was replaced by Jacque De Jong. The band split up altogether not long after.

They got some attention when they made the NSW finals of the highly entertaining rock band competition Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds in 1972, a few bands got a kickoff with this competition, someone should start something similar again

They first made the Australian charts in October 1973 with their own composition, "Get The Feeling". By this time they were down to the "classic" four-piece line-up of Keith Lamb (vocals), Les Gock (guitar), Rick Lum (bass) and Chris "Smiley" Pailthorpe (drums). By the time they made #1 on the charts in September 1975 with a rocked up, driving version of Larry Williams, "Bony Moronie", they were riding the wave of the glam-rock craze in Australia.

I cant imagine what a pub full of blue singlets and stubbies thought when a band dressed in gold flares, stack heel boots with twin asian guitarists, one of which with a blonde streak in his hair, hit the stage with dragon heads spitting fire and power riffs sharp enought to draw blood...I saw them on a doco about aussie music, the name of which eludes me, they had footage of a pub gig, and after the initial shock, the punters got well into it.

They made numerous, unforgettable performance on Countdown's early colour episodes with their colourful outfits, playing among other tunes as Glad all over, C'mon were taking over and Bony Moronie

The band broke up in 1977, and the members have gone on to do various things

Keith Lamb - formed other bands including Hush 2, Larry, and Airport. He is now a partner in the international embroidery company, Rajmahal, and is co-author of the successful card game series TAOC The Art of Conversation, Keith also co-wrote songs for Status Quo following the breakup of Hush, including top 10 hits such as Ol' Rag Blues.

Les Gock - became a jingle writer and won a major campaign in the early 80s.

Smiley  - became an architect.

Jacques De Jongh -  still plays and records still, and is also a chef.

Rick Lum -  works in graphic design.

In September 2006, Hush played Australia wide with many other artists who appeared on Countdown during the seventies in the Countdown Spectacular Tour, and I must say, that while the concert was pretty damn good, Hush was who I was waiting to see, and they were loud, and they were flash, and they were bloody fantastic...someone need to put together a dvd or something, HELL...i'd buy it

DISC-OGRAHY

Singles

    "Over You" / "Rainy Day Bells" (Phonogram’s Philips label)
    "White Christmas" December 1972 (reggae version)
    "Get the Feeling" / "Take Us Home" (#11 in Sydney, October 1973)
    "Man Eater" / "Black Skinned, Blue-Eyed Boys" (February 1974)
    "Get Rocked" / "Linda Lee" (May 1974)
    "Walking" / "Exit" (#10 in August 1974)
    "C’Mon We’re Taking Over" / "Paradise" (September 1974)
    "Bony Moronie" / "Rocking Gypsy King" (#4 Nationally, September 1975)[1]
    "Glad All Over" / "Get What?" (#9 October 1974)
    "You Really Gotta Hold on Me" / "Rough, Tough 'n' Ready" (February 1976)
    "Too Young to Know" / "Lies" (#21 October 1976)
    "Sunday" / "How Do You Feel? Alright!" (December 1976)
    "Nothing Stays the Same Forever" / "Sunday" (June 1977)
    "Messin' Around" / "Only Love" (August 1977)

 Albums

    Aloud 'n' Live (1973, WEA)
    Get Rocked (1974, Wizard)
    C'mon We're Taking Over (1974, Wizard)
    Rough Tough N Ready (1975, Wizard)
    Nothing Stays the Same Forever - Best Of (1976, Wizard)
    Touche (1977, Wizard)


http://hushmusic.com.au/home.html

HUSH - The Hits

          

SKYHOOKS - THEY WERE A BIT DIFFERENT ;)

I have had the pleasure of seeing The Hooks, and while I never got to see them at the height of their powers, they were still great live, saw them at the MCG with a huge crowd, little did we know that we were gonna end up on tele, WELL, I didnt anyway, and then I went and saw them on the tour supporting Jukebox at The Canberra Hotel in Lismore ( that's a whole other story)

ANYWHOO.....

Skyhooks were formed in Melbourne in March of '73 by  Greg Macainsh and Imants "Freddie" Strauks on drums, they were soon joined, by possibly my favorite Hook,Bob "Bongo" Starkie on guitar ( who replaced his own brother, WEIRD HUH?), and Red Symons on guitar and part time carpenter and full time surfie, Graeme "Shirley" Strachan, named due to his curly hair, became lead vocalist in March 1974 after a mad rush to Tassie and back by Greg to recruit him after the Hooks current singer, Steve Hill quit the band after seeing himself on tele.......they had two tracks on the "Highlights of Sunbury '74" album, which was strange since they got booed off stage

Skyhooks were described as a glam rock band, because of flamboyant costumes and make-up, and yeh, they looked the part of a glam band, but the material they wrote about was hardly bubblegum pop, they addressed teenage issues including buying drugs, suburban sex and the gay scene AND they had a giant exploding penis onstage ......Greg McCainish, to put it mildly, in my opinion is a musical genius, and i'm an old stick in the mud, i dont throw about compliments like that everyday, he had a masterstroke of an idea and namechecked Melbourne suburbs and Australian themes into his song titles, I dont care what anyone says, but, that had to help sales somewhat, The first time i can remember seeing them was when the band appeared on the first color episode of Countdown, playing Horror movie ( i still dont get what that guy was doing crawling all over the stage while they were playing, something real fkn cryptic knowing the Hooks probably)

ANYWAY...with Australian commercial success achieved, Skyhooks turned to the US market. Gudinski announced a $1.5 million dollar deal with Mercury Records/Phonogram Records, which released a modified version of Ego Is Not a Dirty Word with "Horror Movie" and "You Just Like Me Cos I'm Good in Bed"  on the release.....A US tour followed in March–April 1976, but them goofy yank critics described them as imitators of Kiss because of Reds make-up,

(YEH I WAS GET CONFUSED BY RED SYMONS & GENE SIMMONS  NEAR IDENTICAL PHYSICAL AND VISUAL APPEAREANCE, YA MORONS)

and like many other Aussie acts at the time, doing the "College "circuit, they got a fair bit of success, sales and crowd wise in Boston and Florida, yet they failed to make gigantic in-roads into the general US market.

In January 1978 they toured New Zealand and performed at the Nambassa festival. In February their next single, "Women in Uniform" was issued and peaked at #8, while its album Guilty Until Proven Insane followed in March and reached #6 The album was produced by Americans Eddie Leonetti and Jack Douglas. The second single from the album, "Megalomania" issued in May, did not peak into the top 40.

Shirl told band members he intended to pull the pin—but it was not officially announced for six months—he continued regular shows until his final gig with Skyhook's on 29 July.

He released further solo singles, "Mr Summer" in October and "Nothing but the Best" in January 1979, but neither charted in the top 50, Shirl also had a couple of runs with The Party Boys on the live circuit and on a couple of party Boys live albums.......Strachan's replacement in Skyhook's, on lead vocals, was Tony Williams (ex-Reuben Tice)  Williams first single for Skyhooks, "Over the Border", reached the top 40 in April, and is quite possibly my fave Hooks song, the song talked about Jo Bheljke Peterson and his near tyrannical reign over the state of Queensland, they reckon Jo didnt like the song AT ALL, I seriously doubt he knew what the damn thing was about, I also seriously doubt if any of his like minded party mates could of explained it to him..probably sold a zillion copies north of the borser then..HAHAHAA, and their fifth studio album, Hot for the Orient, appeared in May 1980, but failed to peak into the top 50.

From 1975 to 1977, Skyhooks were—alongside Sherbet—the most commercially successful group in Australia, but over the next few years, Skyhooks rapidly faded from the public eye with the departure of key members, and in 1980 the band announced its break-up in controversial circumstances. Ian "Molly" Meldrum, usually a supporter of Skyhooks, savaged Hot for the Orient on Countdown, in reply to Mollys critique,  the band to take out a page-sized ad in the local music press declaring "Why Don't You All Get F****d" and they played their last performance on 8 June in Kalgoorlie

After Skyhooks

Strachan and Symons each went on to successful careers in radio and television. Symons worked on HEY HEY ITS SATURDAY and the first AUSTRALIA'S GOT TALENT, which suited him down to the ground and Shirl had a good run with SHIRLS NEIGHBOURHOOD( I know you all remember Claude the Crow, dont deny it)

Bongo played locally with different bands including a run with my favorite "supergroup" Ol' Skydaddys,and also had a stint with Ram Band ....Strauks was drummer for rock band's
The Sports, Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons,and The Bushwackers and hit the skins for the the Ol' Skydaddys as well...Greg Macainsh played with John Farnham on his Whispering Jack Tour and with Dave Warner's from the Suburbs,[ in 1988 he put together and managed a very successful AC/DC tribute band called Back in Black who went on to support Skyhooks on their comeback tour....In 1990 the guys got together to do a video for "JukeBox In Siberia" to promote a compilation album , Latest and Greatest , a single with Jukebox and Happy Hippy Hut on the B side was also released, went to number one, so thats pretty good

Graeme Strachan was killed in an air crash in 2001, when the helicopter he was learning to fly solo crashed into Mount Archer near Kilcoy, northwest of Brisbane. A memorial concert was held on 11 September 2001 at the Palais Theatre, tributes were paid and some remaining members—Strauks, Macainsh, Starkie, Symons and Spencer—performed with guest vocalists Daryl Braithwaite and Wilson. It is the only time Symons and his replacement, Spencer performed together on stage. Braithwaite performed "All My Friends Are Getting Married" with the band whilst Wilson sang the rare Skyhooks track "Warm Wind in the City".

In 1992, Skyhooks were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame.

Their original lead singer, Steve Hill, died in October 2005, aged 52, of liver cancer.

In 2011, the Skyhook's song Living in the 70s was added to the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia's Sounds of Australia registry....OH and to my pommy mates who say that The Hooks did a Iron Maiden cover...WRONG !!!!...Women in Uniform was written by Macainish..SO THERE...;)
...

Seeya's