Loud Guitars and Cups of tea...ITS SAXON

G'day, Saxon huh, right then...

first time I saw a Saxon album was at Utopia records, my favourite heavy metal shop in the world, and to be fair, at the time, I hadn't heard any of their stuff but one of the blokes must of read my mind and played me Wheel of Steel and Strong arm of the law and that was me hooked, took both albums home with me and wore them OUT..

Had the pleasure of meeting the boys at Schiphol airport in 87, I was arriving as were they, I walked up and said g'day, they were stunned and Aussie had heard of them, I told 'em they were the grouse and they gave me some autographs and stuff,  (which the ex wife chucked out)..ANYWAY.....

Saxon began with a lineup formed by Peter "Biff" Byford on vocals, Paul Quinn and Graham Oliver on guitars, Steve "Dobby" Dawson on bass and drummer David Ward. Early in their career, the band changed their name from Son of a Bitch to Saxon, and gained support slots on tour with more established bands such as Motörhead. In 1979, the band signed to the French record label Carrere and released their eponymous debut album.

n 1980, the follow-up album Wheels of Steel (UK no 5) spawned two hit singles: the title track, and the crowd favorite "747 (Strangers in the Night)". The album catapulted the band into stardom overnight and they began a series of relentless tours across the UK. On 16 August 1980 Saxon appeared at the very first Monsters of Rock Festival where they received a great reception from the crowd. The band's set was recorded but not officially released until 2000. In 1980 Saxon made their first of many appearances on Top Of The Pops where they preformed the hit single Wheels of steel. Strong Arm of the Law (UK no 11), considered by many fans to be their best recording, was released later that same year and kept the bands popularity increasing. Two singles were released from this album: Strong Arm of the Law and Dallas 1PM, the latter about the assassination of President 

By 1981, the band had toured most of the world and were getting less time to record new material. With the band touring the world they had gained notable success in Japan where the single Motorcycle Man had stayed in the charts for almost 6 months. Nearing the end of 1981 the band released their fourth album Denim And Leather which was dedicated to their fan base. 

The album is still very popular today and the title track "Denim And Leather" is considered to be a metal anthem of that era. The album also featured many other fan favorites "Princess of the Night", "Never Surrender" and "The Bands Played On" were all UK Top 20 hits. Denim And Leather followed its predecessors success and charted all over Europe and went silver in the UK.

Just as the band was about to embark on a huge tour to follow the success of Denim And Leather the bands drummer at the time Pete Gill dropped out due to damaged hand. The band had to quickly replace him with Nigel Glockler formerly of Toyah, who had to learn the whole set within a day and a half just before the tour was about to begin. Glockler is still with the band today.... but cracks began to appear within the band with Nobby doing a ton of blow and trying to take over the stage from Biff,  and in early 1986 bassist Steve Dawson was fired, and Saxon was back in the studio recording their 8th studio album Rock the Nations without a bass player. 

With Elton John guest playing on piano on 2 tracks, and Byford laying down the bass parts, the album charted higher than its predecessor and was considered a successful album. They hired bassist Paul Johnson to fill the spot and a European arena tour followed. In the summer of 1986 they headlined the Reading Festival and toured the U.S.

During 1994 Saxon recorded the album Dogs of War. Just after the recording of the album Graham Oliver was fired from the band after trying to sell recordings of Saxon's performance at Donningtion in 1980 behind the band's back....the man was clearly insane, and yet on the Saxon documentary he cant see anything wrong with what he did ( nor can Steve Dawson...weird)

The band replaced Oliver with Doug Scarratt, a long time friend of drummer Nigel Glockler. 

in 1999, those two nimrods Graham Oliver and Steven Dawson tried it on again and registered 'Saxon' as a trade mark. They then maintained that they had exclusive rights in the name and tried to prevent Biff Byford and Saxon's promoters and merchandisers from using the name. Byford applied to the Trade Mark Registry to have the trade mark declared invalid. 

In 2003 the High Court told Nobby and Oliver they were barking mad and decided that it was Byford and the current members of the band who owned the name, and the goodwill which they had generated themselves and were therefore in a position to prevent Oliver and Dawson passing themselves off as Saxon...SUCKED IN

The line-up of Byford's Saxon has been fairly stable, other than in the spirit of Spinal Tap, they have gone through a few drummers  Following Glockler's departure, German Fritz Randow took up the position until 2004. His replacement was former Stratovarius man Jörg Michael.
2004 saw the release of Lionheart their 16th studio album. The album title was inspired from Richard Lionheart, King of England. "Beyond the Grave" was released as a single and a video. The album received positive reviews and the title track remains a fan favorite. Glockler rejoined the band in 2005 after his neck and shoulder injury had healed. In 2006 the band released the live album, The Eagle Has Landed – part 3

Saxon released a new studio album, Into the Labyrinth, on 12 January 2009. The album received positive reviews and continued the success that The Inner Sanctum had created The band also headlined the Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany. 

Saxon released their nineteenth studio album, Call to Arms, on 3 June 2011. It debuted at number 6 on the UK Rock Albums chart.The band embarked on a massive world tour which saw them visit the US; Saxon also revisited the UK for a second leg of the tour. 

In October 2012, the band announced that their next studio album would be titled Sacrifice and be released on the 25th of February 2013
On the 11th of December Heavy Metal Thunder - The Movie saw an international release and first Blu-ray release for the band.

Current members

Biff Byford – vocals (1976–present)

Paul Quinn – guitars, (1976–present)

Nigel Glockler – drums (1981–1987, 1988–1999, 2005–present)

Nibbs Carter – bass (1988–present)

Doug Scarratt – guitars (1996–present)

DENIM AND LEATHER

Former members

Graham Oliver – guitar (1976–1996)

Steve Dawson – bass (1976–1986)

David Ward – drums (1976–1978)

Pete Gill – drums (1978–1981)

Paul Johnson – bass (1986–1988)

Trevor Thorton – drums (1998-1999)

Fritz Randow – drums (1999–2004)

Jorg Michael – drums (2004–2005)

Saxon (1979)

Wheels of Steel (1980)

Strong Arm of the Law (1980)

Denim and Leather (1981)

Power & the Glory (1983)

Crusader (1984)

Innocence Is No Excuse (1985)

Rock the Nations (1986)

Destiny (1988)

Solid Ball of Rock (1991)

Forever Free (1992)

Dogs of War (1995)

Unleash the Beast (1997)

Metalhead (1999)

Killing Ground (2001)

Lionheart (2004)

The Inner Sanctum (2007)

Into the Labyrinth (200

Call to Arms (2011)

Sacrifice (2013)

Newcastle strikes again...Its the SCREAMING JETS

I tell ya what...there must be something in the friggin water up Newcastle way methinks...I've only just realised how many bands I dig have come out of the area....sorta like Scotland provided a good percentage of our rockers ...well, so has Newy...I could live without the soccer fans but thats another blog about another favourite thing...

Now, I think that a goodly percentage of orstraylians, if asked, could probably only name one or two Jets titles ...those would be BETTER and F.R.C...c'mon you know you like singing F.R.C...you cant fool moi....you could probably chuck in Blue Sashes or Shivers as well...also top tunes

Anyway....Like all good, classic rock bands, The Screaming Jets were formed in January 1989 in Newcastle by three members of a high school band, Aspect: singer Dave Gleeson, bass guitarist Paul Woseen and guitarist Grant Walmsley. Gleeson and Walmsley had met in 1981 at St Francis Xavier’s College in Hamilton, they first performed together for a school dance at the Newcastle Town Hall

They formed Sudden Impact in 1985, which later became Aspect; Woseen joined in 1988.....Other founding members of The Screaming Jets were guitarist Richard Lara and former The Radiators' drummer Brad Heaney Their first performance was as The Love Bomb at a Newcastle pub in

March.....Renamed as The Screaming Jets, they won the inaugural National Band Competition run by youth radio broadcaster Triple J in November. They relocated to Sydney by early 1990 and supported The Angels on a national tour. In May, they signed with independent label, rooArt.




Their debut extended play (EP), The Scorching Adventures of the Screaming Jets, was issued in December.

Through late 1990, The Screaming Jets became famous OR infamous, depending on which side of the parent /child paradime you were on,  for a series of raucous, sometimes violent, live shows.

BETTER

During shows to launch the debut EP, fights often broke out as the band's faithful Newcastle fans mixed with the new Sydney fans (HMMM...SOUNDS LIKE THE SQUADRONS PARENTS WERE JETS FANS)

In April 1991, The Screaming Jets released their debut studio album All for One which peaked at No. 2 on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Albums Chart and spawned a No. 4 hit single, "Better".The album showed influences from Van Halen, AC/DC and The Angels. It reached the Top 50 on the ARIA End of Year Albums Chart for 1991.Two top 40 singles, "Stop the World" and "Shine On", followed The controversial track "F. R. C." ("Fat Rich C**ts") was a crowd favourite – a live version was released on Stealth Live! (EP, 1991) – which Gleeson would dedicate to Michael Gudinski or Russ Hinze at concerts. At times, "F. R. C." was performed by guest vocalists from Mortal Sin, The Choirboys or The Angels.

Following the album's release, the group relocated to the United Kingdom where they based themselves for over two years. They toured there, the rest of Europe and the United States and supported varied hard rock and heavy metal bands. Their third EP, Living in England, was issued in June 1992 and included cover versions of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" and AC/DC's "Ain't No Fun (Waiting Round to Be a Millionaire)".The EP spawned the title single, "Living in England", which peaked in the top 20 in July.


The Screaming Jets' second album Tear of Thought was released in October 1992 on rooArt in Australia and Europe, and on Atlantic Records in the US. The band supported Ugly Kid Joe on a European tour in 1993, when Heaney was fired mid-tour. He was temporarily replaced by ex-Judas Priest

drummer Dave Holland. A cover single of Boys Next Door's "Shivers" peaked into the Top 20 in February 1993,


while the album eventually reached No. 3 in July 1994.  Heaney was permanently replaced in the line-up by former BB Steal drummer Craig Rosevear, also from Newcastle, in July 1993. In January 1994, after a US tour backing Def Leppard, Lara was replaced by Melbourne guitarist Jimi "The Human" Hocking (ex-Spectre 7). Both "Helping Hand" (March) and "Tunnel" (August) were Top 40 singles from Tear of Thought.

While The Screaming Jets remained only moderately successful overseas, in Australia they became one of the top-drawing live bands of the 1990s, their singles often charted and they achieved the rare distinction of being embraced by both commercial and indie-music focused radio.

In September 1995, The Screaming Jets released their third album, The Screaming Jets, which peaked at No. 5. It was co-produced by the band with Robbie Adams (U2).It was the first CD launched via live Webcast. The double-A sided single, "Friend of Mine" / "Sad Song", was issued in October and reached the top 50. The group continued to tour and started recording their fourth album, World Gone Crazy late in 1996, it was released in August 1997 and peaked into the top 20

The album was produced by Steve James and rooArt had passed their contract to BMG.

Hocking had left by June and was replaced on guitar by Ismet "Izzy" Osmanovic (ex-Judge Mercy).BMG released a compilation album, Hits and Pieces in November 1999. One new track, "I Need Your Love" was issued as a single and the limited edition included an eight-track bonus disc.

By the late 1990s the band were touring less and had not released an album of new material since 1996. As well as undertaking the extensive Last Great Rock’n’Roll Show of the Century Australian tour which was launched in November 1999, the group had started recording their next studio album, Scam, with former Skyhooks producer Ross Wilson.By early 2000 Rosevear left to be replaced by on drums by Col Hatchman.
The Screaming Jets released their fifth studio album, Scam, in October 2000 on Grudge Records through Universal Music.

They were selected to tour with Kiss and Alice Cooper in 2001. In June the band performed their last concert in Newcastle before an extended break from touring and recording. The live album, Live Forever, of the show was released in December 2002. They did not play live again until mid-2004.

Since 2004 they continued to record and tour, though not as much as the the early 1990s and signed with Universal Records. They recorded another EP, Heart of the Matter, which was released in August 2004.

AINT NO FUN

 In November, Hatchman left the group, his last performance was recorded for a live CD (Rock On), and associated DVD (Rock On), both were released in 2005, on Liberation Records. Hatchman was replaced by current drummer Mickl "The Slayer" Sayers formerly of Sydney band Tripguage.

 In October 2006, four Screaming Jets songs were listed in the Triple M Essential 2006 Countdown: "Helping Hand" (voted 447 out of 2006), "Eve of Destruction" (voted 683 out of 2006), "Shivers" (voted 1588 out of 2006) and "My Badger Drinks" (voted 1596 out of 2006)...and I'm proud to say that I voted ...thankyou, thankyou very much

Early in 2007, founding member and guitarist Walmsley left the band and was replaced by Scotty Kingman, who engineered the band's next album, Do Ya. According to Dave, Walmsley left because his external commitments interfered with the band's schedules. Walmsley formed indie roots band, Agents of Peace, in Newcastle with Rod Ansell on harmonica, saxophone, guitar and vocals; Travis May on piano and organ; and Allon Silove on double bass and vocals.

SHIVERS

 In October 2008, The Screaming Jets released Do Ya through StockXchange Music, which is distributed by Sony Music. New songs "141" and "Do Ya" became regular live additions to their set lists. In October 2009, Osmanovich left and Hocking returned to the line-up.

Live shows from The Screaming Jets were infrequent through 2010 and 2011. In September, 2011, The Screaming Jets joined Rose Tattoo, The Baby Animals and The Poor for A Concert For Clarkie - a sold-out show at Sydney's Enmore Theatre in tribute to Greg Clarke.

On 7 January 2012, the Screaming Jets played the Summernats festival in Canberra, to more than 9000 people.

During the show, lead singer Dave Gleeson announced the band would be "taking a break." An emotional farewell took place onstage between band members during the last song.

In May, 2012, lead singer Dave Gleeson announced on his MMMFM radio show The Screaming Jets would reunite "sometime in 2013" to record a new album.....Gleeson also recorded with The Angels doing their new album "Take it to the Streets" and a rocking album it is.....A documentary charting the history of The Screaming Jets is now in production.

In mid-April, 2013, The Screaming Jets will play one live show in Sydney. It will be their first live performance in 15 months.

Current line-up

Dave Gleeson – vocals (1989–present)

Paul Woseen – bass guitar, backing vocals (1989–present)

Jimi "The Human" Hocking – guitar (1993–1997, 2009–present)

Mickl "The Slayer" Sayers – drums (2005–present)

Scott Kingman – guitar (2007–present)

Previous members

Grant Walmsley – guitar, backing vocals (1989–2007)

Brad Heaney – drums (1989–1993)

Richard Lara – guitar (1989–1993)

Craig Rosevear – drums (1993–1999)

Ismet "Izzy" Osmanovic – guitar, backing vocals (1998–2009)

Col Hatchman – drums (2001–2004)

All for One (1991)

Tear of Thought (1992)

The Screaming Jets (1995)

World Gone Crazy (1997)

Scam (2000)

Heart Of The Matter EP (2004)

Do Ya (2008)

and a quick plug for a interesting enterprise

They did want to be the one..Midnight Oil

G'day...

NOW to say that I keep my music and politics as far apart as humanly possible is a given, I'm a firm believer in entertaining, not preaching when it comes to muso's, whether this makes me weird or not..well...I dont give a......

So now, your probably wondering were the hell, I have time for a band like the Oils, and your right, Peter Garretts politicking onstage, whether it comes from a good place or not, I found it all a bit unnecessary...BUT F**k me if they aint a rockin band..



It would be fair to say, that I have a few of their tunes on my mp3 gizmo...these tunes may or may not include classics along the lines of ....Blue Sky Mine, Bus to Bondi, King of the Mountain, U.S Forces and Power and the Passion...BUT...my all time fave Oily tune is "Hercules"..get into it , a true Aussie classic

The band members are pretty shit hot muso's, I must admit, Rob Hirst is an absolute thunderous drummer, Bones I'm sure has killed a bass amp or 3 in his day, Rotsey is a highly underated axe man and Garrett cant dance, but that never stopped him


Midnight Oil, also known as "The Oils" to fans, started in '72, originally performing as Farm with drummer Rob Hirst, and  bass guitarist Andrew James and keyboard player/lead guitarist Jim Moginie.

Vocalist Peter Garrett was studying at Australian National University in Canberra and he answered an advertisement for a singer/synth player spot in Farm  and by 1975 the band was touring the east coast.

 By late 1976, Garrett moved to Sydney to complete his law degree,and Farm changed its name to Midnight Oil by drawing the name out of a hat....also in the hat were the names Televison and Southern Cross, but Midnight Oil was the winner.

One major player of importantance to their development was manager Gary Morris who was able to negotiate favourable contracts with tour promoters and record companies and frustrate rock journalists..like Bruce Elder, who Morris BANNED due to his lopsided reviews, I remember Elders stuff, I dont like the bloke either..so, cudo's to Gary then

 Guitarist Martin Rotsey joined in 1977 and Midnight Oil and with Morris, established their own record label Powderworks, which released their debut album in November 1978, and their first single "Run by Night" followed in December.

Founding bass guitarist James, forced to leave due to illness in 1980, was replaced by Peter Gifford. Gifford was himself replaced by Bones Hillman in 1987.

The Oil’s albums which roared to the top in the Australian charts were 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Red Sails in the Sunset, Species Deceases, Diesel and Dust, Blue Sky Mining, Scream in Blue (Live), Earth and Sun and Moon, Breathe, 20,000 Watt R.S.L., Redneck Wonderland, The Real Thing, Capricornia and Flat Chat....a pretty impressive run by anyone's standards





With  Australian Top Ten singles "Power and the Passion", "The Dead Heart", "Beds Are Burning" and "Blue Sky Mine". Aside from chart success, both "Power and the Passion" and "Beds Are Burning" were listed by Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) in the Top 30 best Australian songs of all time in 2001

HERCULES

Sometime late in 2002, Garrett's urge to shake up Canberra took full control and he announced that he was going full time into federal politics and Midnight Oil disbanded. 

But the boys would reform for two warm-up shows in Canberra leading up to their performance at one of the "Sound Relief" charity concerts, in honour of the victims of the "Black Saturday" fires and the "Queensland floods..I got the dvds of the Sound Wave shows and Garrett was on fire , Hirst was denting his drum rims and the band in general were rocking

Midnight Oil won eleven Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Awards during its career, including induction into the Hall of Fame in 2006. At the induction, ARIA chairman Denis Handlin described Midnight Oil as true legends that always led by example in a uniquely Australian way with music that is powerful, uncompromising, inspiring, entertaining and enduring.

BLUE SKY MINE

In 2010, their album Diesel and Dust ranked no. 1 in the book The 100 Best Australian Albums by Toby Creswell, Craig Mathieson and John O'Donnell

1978: Midnight Oil

1979: Head Injuries

1981: Place without a Postcard

1982: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

1984: Red Sails in the Sunset

1987: Diesel and Dust

1990: Blue Sky Mining

1993: Earth and Sun and Moon

1996: Breathe

1998: Redneck Wonderland

2002: Capricornia

Oil soaked rockers

Peter Garrett – lead vocals, harmonica (1976–2002)

Rob Hirst – drums, vocals (1976–2002)

Jim Moginie – lead guitars, keyboards (1976–2002)

Martin Rotsey – lead guitars (1976–2002)

Andrew James – bass guitar (1976–1980)

Peter Gifford – bass guitar, vocals (1980–1987)

Bones Hillman – bass guitar, vocals (1987–2002)

Other personnel

Gary Morris – manager (1976–2002)

Touring personnel

Charlie MacMahon – didgeridoo (1984, 1986)

Gladdie Reed – trombone (1985–90)

Chris Abrahams – keyboards (1993–94, 2000)

FORGOTTEN YEARS

U.S FORCES