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In this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack is joined by Sandy Deanne of Jay and the Americans. Sandy is a founding member and backing vocalist with Jay and the Americans which he helped form in 1960. Music has been a part of Sandy's life since the beginning with artists like Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Bessie Smith being regular sounds on the family's record player. But It was seeing Elvis on TV and hearing Dion & The Belmonts singing “I Wonder Why” that made him want to make music his career. He formed his first group and wrote his first local hit record in high school. This group was called The Harborlites and would evolve into Jay and The Americans. Originally with Jay Traynor on lead vocals, the group was soon signed by the famous Lieber & Stoller team. Their first big hit would by “She Cried” in 1962 reaching #3 in the charts. Jay Black would replace Traynor and well into the end of the '60s, the group would go on to have more hits such as "Come a Little Bit Closer", "Cara Mia" and "This Magic Moment". They disbanded in 1973. After a three-decade hiatus, in 2006 the band reformed with Jay Reincke on lead vocals and as of 2023 they are still performing. More recently their 1964 song "Come a Little Bit Closer" was featured on the sound track to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, bringing their music to a whole new audience.
In Jack's interview with Sandy Deanne he talks with Sandy about his early music influences, the impact of seeing Elvis on TV, the forming of his first band 'The Harborlites', the signing of the group by Lieber & Stoller, the recording and success of "She Cried", opening for the Beatles on their first US concert, the story of how "Cara Mia" came to be, his thoughts on music today, how he felt about having the band's music featured in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and what the band's future plans are.
"And by now the kids are screaming 'We want the Beatles! We want the Beatles!' and Jay Black had quick wit and we walked out on stage and he went "Hey! wow I'm glad you guys all came to see us tonight!" and they all started laughing and then they shut up and listened and we sang our two songs, got a standing ovation and went back downstairs to the dressing room. While we are getting changed out of our stage clothes we heard them saying 'And now here they are, The Beatles!' and a scream went up. I've never heard anything like this ever again" - Sandy Deanne on this episode of Vinyl Vibes talking about the Beatles first US concert.
Episode Hosted and Produced by Jack Hodgins
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In this episode of Vinyl Vibes Jack is joined by Al Kooper, a songwriter, producer, and well known session musician. Al has been in the music business since he was 14 when he joined The Royal Teens, a well known rock and roll group, in 1958. He co-wrote his first number one hit when he was 21 years of age in 1965, it was called "This Dimond Ring" and was made famous by Gerry Lewis and The Playboys. In the same year, Al played the famous organ riff on Bob Dylan's Like A Rolling Stone, making him in high demand for session work forever after that. Some of the albums Al has been a session musician on include Blonde on Blonde, The Who Sell Out, Electric Ladyland, and Let it Bleed.
Al was a founding member of The Blues Project (1966) and Blood Sweat and Tears (1967), and is featured on studio albums of both groups. Al was a performer at the famous 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival, a festival where many other artist have also performed including the Grateful Dead, The Who, and The Byrds. In 1972 he discovered Lynyrd Skynyrd and would go on to produce their first three albums which included the songs Sweet Home Alabama and Free Bird. He would go to make 11 solo studio albums and perform on many other albums as a session musician in the coming decades.
In this episode Jack talks with Al about his early musical influences, the impact rock and roll had on him as a kid, his time in the Royal Teens, his upcoming 4-CD boxset chronicling his entire music career, his 1972 album A Possible Projection of the Future, playing on Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone, his 1973 cover of John Prine's Sam Stone, his work with BB King, the recording of Super Session, and his discovering and producing of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
"(Mike Bloomfield) just sat down to noodle and out played me out of the room. So, I packed up my guitar and I put it in the corner and I went in the booth where I belonged and then they move the organ player to piano and they took a break to do that and I sat down at the organ and luckily it was turned on because I didn't know how to turn it on....(the producer) says 'what are you doing out there' and everyone in the band laughs and then he laughs and he says 'Ok, here we go, this is Like a Rolling Stone take four'." - Al Kooper on this episode of Vinyl Vibes talking about playing organ on Like a Rolling Stone
The original unremastered version of Jack's interview with Al Kooper can be found here
Episode Hosted and Produced by Jack Hodgins
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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On this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack is joined by Mike Rudd, founder of Spectrum. Mike grew up in Christchurch New Zealand, finding a talent for singing early on. He would join his first major group in 1964, The Chants R&B. After becoming popular around New Zealand, the group moved to Australia in 1966. Soon after their arrival, the band would split leaving Mike without a group. Luckily he came to join Ross Wilson's Party Machine as bass player, despite never having played bass prior. It was while in this group Mike was inspired greatly by the songwriting craftsmanship of Ross Wilson. After leaving Party Machine in 1969, Mike had the idea to create his own group around his own songs. This band would become Spectrum, and the first song he would write would be called "I'll Be Gone". This would become Spectrum's first single and would reach number one in Australia in 1971. It would be the group's biggest hit, and today remains an icon in Oz rock.
1972 would see the beginnings of pub rock with events like The Sunbury Pop Festival taking place. Much of Spectrum’s music was multidimensional and arguably intellectual, a very different sound to the straight forward rock and roll that groups such as Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs were finding popularity with at the time. This lead to Mike forming Spectrum's alter ego, The Indelible Murtceps. This band was devised by Mike to connect with the mainstream pub rock audiences. The band's fourth album would be credited to The Indelible Murtceps and Spectrum. It was called Testimonial and would come out in July 1973 just after the band broke up. It would be the band's last album for over 20 years until the band went back into the studio in 1999 to record their album Spill. The band recorded their latest album, No Thinking, in 2004. Today Spectrum is still avalilbe for gigs and Mike is also gigging with his band The Indelibles.
Jack zoomed Mike to talk about his early music beginnings, his first professional band The Chant's R&B, his time in Ross Wilson's Party Machine, how Ross Wilson inspired Mike, the writing and recording of Spectrums hit "I'll be Gone", the "I'll be Gone" music video, the innovativeness of the group's first album Spectrum Part One, the first rock double album in Australia Milesago, his memories of playing the Sunbury Pop Festival, the formation of the band's alter ego The Indelible Murtceps, the differences in recording as the Indelible Murtceps, the band's fourth album Testimonial, the band's two recent albums, and his work today with The Indelibles.
"After we had demoed it for the first time unsuccessfully, it had been rejected by EMI. Then we somehow found ourselves in the studio with Howard Gable...and recording...I wrote two songs 'Launching Place" part one and part two - first part was an instrumental and the second part was the angry sounding song...so we recorded those...well, I look back on it now and think Howard was clearly unimpressed so he said 'have you got any other songs?', so I said 'we've got this one'...and when we played "I'll be Gone" he said "that's the one". - Mike Rudd on this episode of Vinyl Vibes talking about recording Spectrum's number one hit "I'll Be Gone"
Episode Hosted and Produced by Jack Hodgins
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On this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack is joined by Jay Aston, founding member of Bucks Fizz. Jay was born into a theatrical and talented family, solidifying her skills in music and dance at an early age. In 1981, Jay auditioned to be part of a group called Buck Fizz, a group put together to perform at the year's upcoming Eurovision. She got the gig and the band would win the 1981 Eurovision contest with their song "Making Your Mind Up". As a single, it would be a worldwide smash hit, reaching number one in the UK and number six in Australia. Determined to not allow the group to be one-hit wonders, producer Andy Hill would go on to write "The Land of Make Believe" and "My Camera Never Lies" bringing the group two succeeding number one hits in a row. The group would come to an end 1984 after a near fatal bus crash involving the band.
Jay remained in music, and since 2009 has been performing with The Fizz, a spin-off of the original group Bucks Fizz. The Fizz have released five albums with the most recent being Everything Under the Sun in 2022.
Jack discuses with Jay Aston her early beginnings, growing up in a talented family, her early music work, how she came to auditioned for Bucks Fizz, her memory of winning the 1981 Eurovision, the recording of "Making Your Mind Up", the continued success the group had during '82 and '83, the production work of Andy Hill, the album tracks of the band, her memories of playing on Top of The Pops, the band's the near fatal bus crash, Jay's work post Bucks Fizz, and her work today with The Fizz.
"Cheryl and I could not agree on the skirt length and she went, "oh alright then, we'll come on with the long skirts and you can have the mini-skirts" - I thought that would get us more points - "and we'll rip them off in the middle" and I went yeah! That's a great idea!" - Jay Aston on this episode of Vinyl Vibes talking about the iconic skirt rip in Buck Fizz's 1981 Eurovision performance
Episode Hosted and Produced by Jack Hodgins
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In this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack is joined by Gary Talley, lead guitarist of The Box Tops. Gary joined a group called The Devilles in 1966. Soon after joining the group the band's manager organised a recording session. For the session the band were given a song called The Letter. Despite being the band first single It would become a number one hit in the US and a number four hit in Australia. More recently the song was voted number 372 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". The band would follow up with Cry Like A Baby which would reach number 2 in the US. The bands song "Choo Choo Train", their fourth single, would be featured in the 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The band's last bonafide hit would be "Soul Deep" which would be a top ten hit in Australia. After disbanding in 1970, Gary remained in music and in 1996 the group reformed and today are still on the road. The band's latest album Tear Off! came out in 1998.
Today Gary is still playing with the Box Tops and recently has made three gospel albums with his 97 year old mother Nita.
Jack Zoomed Gary to talk about his early music beginnings, the impact the likes of Elvis and the Beatles had on him, his time in the band In Crowd, how he came to join The Devilles, his early memories of frontman Alex Chilton, how the band came to record The Letter, the success of The Letter, his memories of playing alongside the Beach Boys and The Doors, having Choo Choo Train in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, his thoughts on the film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, the groups work into the later '60s, the band's reformation in the '90s, the bands album Tear Off!, and the Box Tops' music work today.
"We were on a Beach Boys tour...I was back in my hotel room alone on my birthday after the gig and I was thinking "well you know turned 21"...and somebody knocks on the door and I open the door and its our bass player Bill with Dennis, Carl and Al Jardine. The Beach Boys, they had a birthday cake with candles lit...and they sang happy birthday to me". - Gary Talley talking about a Beach Boys tour he did with the Box Tops on this episode of Vinyl Vibes
Episode Hosted and Produced by Jack Hodgins
To hear the full on-demand version of this program, go to https://www.2nurfm.com.au/shows/vinyl-vibes
The website for Vinyl Vibes.
If you like this content, we'd love to hear from you.
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In this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack is joined by Les Gock, guitarist of Hush. Les grew up in Sydney amongst the music of the late ’60s such of that of Jimi Hendrix. In 1972, after performing with his high school band at a talent show, he was asked to join Hush. Originally from the UK, the band's lead singer, Keith Lamb, was aware of the music scene in England at the time and so Hush would become the first glam rock band in Australia. Les would become chief songwriter for the band, and would soon write the band's first single "Get The Feeling". It would be a top 40 hit. The band would follow up with their first album Aloud 'n' Live in December 1973. Over the next year, 1974, the band would release two successful albums Get Rocked! in June and C'mon We're Taking Over in December. 1975 would bring the band to their hight of fame with the top ten hits "Bony Moronie" (A Number 4 hit in Australia) and "Glad All Over” (A Number 8 hit in Australia). Despite this success, it would not be till 1977 the band would follow up with another album. This album would be called Touché and would be the band's last. The album also marked a shift a way from their glam rock sound. Soon after this album, the band would come to an end and Les would go to have a successful career in writing commercial jingles.
Today Les is playing in a charity group called The Interceptors and has recently gotten back into his love for painting.
Jack discuss with Les Gock in the interview his early musical beginnings, the impact that late '60s music such as Jimi Hendrix had on him, his first band in high school, how he came to join Hush, the writing of Hush's first single "Get The Feeling", the recording of the bands first album Aloud and Live, how Get Rocked! came to be, the band's performance on the 2nd episode of Countdown, the covering of "Glad All Over” and "Bony Moronie", the success the band had in 1975, the band's last album Touché, and Les' work post Hush.
"Everything that we did on stage, everything that we were about, was about having a great time, it was about having fun. We didn't go out to change the world, we weren't protesting against Vietnam...we were just writing songs about coming together and having a great time" - Les Gock talking about what Hush was about on this episode of Vinyl Vibes
Episode Hosted and Produced by Jack Hodgins
To hear the full on-demand version of this program, go to https://www.2nurfm.com.au/shows/vinyl-vibes
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If you like this content, we'd love to hear from you.
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In this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack is joined by George T. Babbitt, the original drummer of The Ventures. George grew up amongst '50s rock and roll like that of the Everly Brothers. In 1958 Don Wilson and Bob Bogle formed the Versatones. They needed a drummer and Don's sister recommended her neighbour, the then 17 year old George Babbitt. It was 1959 by this stage, and George would join as the band's first ever drummer. The group would soon call themselves The Ventures. George would play live with the group throughout the year playing songs such as "Apache" and "Perfidia". It was while George was in the group, The Ventures would perform their version of "Walk Don't Run". One Sunday evening in 1959, the group would record their first single "The Real McCoy" on the A-side and "Cookies and Coke" on the B-side. Due to George being too young to play clubs, soon after recording the single, George left The Ventures early 1960.
A few months later in June 1960, The Ventures would release "Walk Don't Run" and it would go number 2 in the US. Along with The Shadows in the UK, they would begin the instrumental music craze of the early '60s, inspiring a generation of musicians. George was still in high school when all this happened, and gave up music after leaving The Ventures. He went on to join the United States Airforce in 1965, and would have a successful career, eventually becoming a general. He would reunite with The Ventures live on stage in 1998 for a performance of "Walk Don't Run" with the United States Air Force Band. Today George is retired, but still plays on his electric drum kit for fun.
Jack phoned George to discuss his early musical beginnings, the impact rock and roll had on him, being a teenager during the rock and roll era, how he came to play the drums, how he came to join The Ventures, the songs he played with The Ventures, the live gigs he played with them during 1959, the development of "Walk Don't Run", how The Ventures came to find their name, the recording of the group's first single, why he left the group, his work with the air force, and his 1998 reunion with The Ventures.
"I was introduced to them by Don's sister, Jackie. She lived next door to my parents which, of course, at the time is where I lived too. Bob and Don had gotten the idea that they wanted to be professional musicians and they wanted to be doing that soon, no more waiting around...They asked me - Jackie recommend the kid next door - so I took my drums over to Jackie's, and Don and Bob got their six-string guitars out - there was no bass at that point - and we played for a while, and they asked me to play." - George Babbitt on this episode of Vinyl Vibes talking about joining The Ventures.
Episode Hosted and Produced by Jack Hodgins
To hear the full on-demand version of this program, go to https://www.2nurfm.com.au/shows/vinyl-vibes
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If you like this content, we'd love to hear from you.
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In this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack is joined by John Bois, bass player of The Dingoes. John grew up in Melbourne amongst the music of the '60s and would join his first professional band The New Dream in 1970. On John's arrival in the band, New Dream's sound changed to bubblegum pop having top-40 hits such as Soft Delights and The Groupie. In 1972 John would leave the band to join Country Radio. It was here John played with future fellow Dingoe's member Kerryn Tolhurst. After having the hit "Gypsy Queen", Kerryn would leave Country Radio to form The Dingoes in 1973. John would soon follow, joining as the bass player for The Dingoes. The band's first single, "Way Out West", would become their signature song and today remains a classic amongst Oz rock. After performing at the 1975 Sunbury Pop Festival, the band received a phone call which would lead to them being managed by Rolling Stones' tour manager Peter Rudge. The band relocated to the United States in 1976. The band would record two albums in the United States, "Five Times The Sun" in 1977 and "Orphans of The Storm" in 1979. They did not manage to break into the US music market. The band would come to an end in 1979.
After the Dingoes, John became a high school teacher. In 2012 he wrote a book about his time in The Dingoes called The Dingoes Lament. In 2016 he returned to music making his first solo album, Tassie Wolf. His most recent album came out in 2022 and is called Work of Art.
Jack Zoomed John to talk about his early musical beginnings, the impact group's like The Easybeats had on him, his time in The New Dream, his work with Country Radio, the influence Country Radio had later on The Dingoes, the formation of The Dingoes, the recording of the band's first album, the writing of Way Out West, Playing at Sunbury '74 & '75, how the band came to relocate to the United States, the recording of albums Five Times The Sun and Orphans of The Storm, the disbandment of the Dingoes, and John's more recent music such as his 2022 album Work of Art.
"Everything we listened to in the '50s and '60s pretty much was from England or America. It got so bad the only way you could get a record on radio was to cover an American song that had already been made. It was almost not believed that Australians could create their own stuff like with the Easys (Easybeats), we had something to do with it...it just stopped happening, people just said we are going to write our own stuff and we are going to talk about what we know." - John Bois on this episode of Vinyl Vibes talking about Australia finding its own sound
Episode Hosted and Produced by Jack Hodgins
To hear the full on-demand version of this program, go to https://www.2nurfm.com.au/shows/vinyl-vibes
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In this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack is joined by Dodie Stevens, '50s music star and singer of Pink Shoe Laces. Dodie has been singing her whole life. She recorded for the first time at age 8 in 1954 with a song called "Merry-Go Merry-Go Round". After making many appearances on TV throughout her young life, her big break came in 1958 when she performed on the TV show Strictly Informal. It was on this show she was discovered by Crystalette Records president, Carl Burns. He contacted Dodie's parents through the TV station and said he was interested in recording her. All he needed was the right song that the then 11 year old Dodie could sing. After some time, Carl Burns called and said he found the perfect song for Dodie. It was called Pink Shoe Laces. She would record the song in late 1958 hitting the charts early in 1959. The song would peak at number 3 in the US and and number 2 in Australia. With her third single Five Pennies, now signed to Dot Records, Dodie's music direction changed to covering standards of the '40s. A music change she now says was detrimental.
In 1963 Dodie would leave the music scene to get married and have a baby. She returned to music three years later in 1966. She would go on to have an extensive career as a backing singer working with the likes of Sérgio Mendes and Brasil '77, Loretta Lynn and Boz Scaggs. Today Dodie is still performing, now alongside her daughter Stephanie. Her most recent music output was her 2019 album Affirmasong: The Game Of Life, an album of motivational songs.
Jack phoned Dodie to talk about her early musical beginnings, the impact Judy Garland had on her, her first recording at age 8 in 1954, her TV performances in the mid '50s, how she came to be discovered by Carl Burns, the recording and success of Pink Shoe Laces, the follow-up single Yes-Sir-Ee, how fame impacted her, her 1959 tour of Australia with The Champs, Her music work into the early '60s, her work as a backing singer, her live music work today with her daughter Stephanie, and her recent album Affirmasong.
"Because I had been trained since I was so young, I had a very mature voice and the songs that I gravitated towards were songs like Judy Garland and they had meaningful messages...so when I heard Pink Shoe Laces...lyrically it was beyond novelty, it was ridiculous...no I didn't like the song...but I'm very proud of it...to this day I am very proud of it." - Dodie Stevens on this episode of Vinyl Vibes talking about singing Pink Shoe Laces
Episode Hosted and Produced by Jack Hodgins
To hear the full on-demand version of this program, go to https://www.2nurfm.com.au/shows/vinyl-vibes
The website for Vinyl Vibes.
If you like this content, we'd love to hear from you.
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In this episode of Vinyl Vibes Jack is joined by Tony Hazzard, a legendary songwriter from the '60s. Tony grew up in Liverpool in post-war Britain. His earliest exposer to music include listening to war time records such as "Run Rabbit Run" but it was rock and rollers like Buddy Holly that captured Tony the most early on. Tony started writing songs while at Durham University. One of his early works was a song called "You Won't Be Leaving". This song would break Tony into the music world when it was recorded as a single by Hermin's Hermits in 1966. After this song however for the next year Tony went through writers block. It was not until he wrote "Ha Ha Said The Clown", a hit for Manfred Mann in 1967, that his writers block was gone for good. Other hits that would follow for Tony would be Listen to Me as recorded by the Hollies and Fox on the Run as recorded by Manfred Mann.
More recently in 2021 Tony released his Selected Lyrics book featuring lyrics throughout his long time in music. In 2022 Tony's latest album came out, Demonstration, an album that features remixed versions of his songs from his first solo album Tony hazard sings Tony hazard.
Jack Zoomed Tony to discuss his early musical beginnings, the war time records he heard in his early childhood, hearing early rock and roll records on Radio Luxembourg, his early songwriting at Durham University, how he came to be a professional songwriter, the writing of his first hit "You Won't be Leaving", how he overcame his writers block with "Ha Ha Said the Clown", the lyrical brilliance of "Fox on The Run", his work with The Hollies, his book "selected Lyrics" and his recent album Demonstration.
"I had a hit with 'You Won't Be Leaving' with Herman's Hermits and then I couldn't write anything for a year...I remember going to a meeting...I think I played three songs and he (Gerry Bron - song publisher) didn't like any of them so I stood up and said 'theres no point in playing the fourth', he said 'no, play it' and it was "Ha Ha Said The Clown" and a big grin came on his face and said its a hit" - Tony Hazzard on this episode of Vinyl Vibes talking about his hit song Ha Ha Said The Clown
Episode Hosted and Produced by Jack Hodgins
To hear the full on-demand version of this program, go to https://www.2nurfm.com.au/shows/vinyl-vibes
The website for Vinyl Vibes.
If you like this content, we'd love to hear from you.
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In this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack is joined by John Hood, founding member of Sid Rumpo. John has been fascinated with the blues since 1964. This interest was sparked by the Rolling Stones, most notably their classic "The Little Red Rooster". At age 15 John got his first guitar and over the next three years would learn to play. In 1967 John would join his first band My Grandfather's Blues. This group, now called The Jellyroll Bakers, would come to an end in 1969. John spent the majority of 1971 working at 78 Records before Sid Rumpo was formed in November 1971 in Perth. Over the course of 1972 the band would become quite popular in Perth. They would win the 1972 state final of Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds and as a result make their way to Melbourne. Sid Rumpo would perform at the iconic 1973 Sunbury Pop Festival and are featured on the triple LP set brought out by Mushroom records featuring live recordings from the festival. In August 1973 John would leave the group. Eight months later Sid Rumpo would record their first album "First Offence" without John. The album would reach 33 on the albums chart in Australia.
John has remained in music and more recently has released over dozen solo albums. He has written two books, his first "For The Love Of Music: The Life and Times of a West Australian Bluesman": is about his own musical journey. His second book "Immersed In Blues: A Musical Journey": is about his journey in blues and his thoughts on the blues.
Jack talked to John via phone about his early musical beginnings, the impact The Rolling Stones had on him, his journey in discovering the origins of the blues in the pre-internet days, his journey learning guitar and harmonica, his time in The Jellyroll Bakers, the formation of Sid Rumpo, how the name Sid Rumpo came to be, the writing of the band's early songs, the bands time playing in Perth, the bands winning of Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds, the band's time in Melbourne, the band's performance at the 1973 Sunbury Pop Festival, why he left Sid Rumpo, his two books and his more recent music work.
"I hate to be frivolous but I was hardly there. We played on the Saturday afternoon and when we finished I listened to Matt Taylor and then I went back to Rob Sunbury's farm that his parents owned...I just didn't like Sunbury. It was all dirty filthy people boozed out of their minds so I just didn't enjoy it- I liked playing- but I didn't like the festival." - John Hood on this episode of Vinyl Vibes talking about the 1973 Sunbury Pop Festival
Episode Hosted and Produced by Jack Hodgins
To hear the full on-demand version of this program, go to https://www.2nurfm.com.au/shows/vinyl-vibes
The website for Vinyl Vibes.
If you like this content, we'd love to hear from you.
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In this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack is joined by Les Hall, guitarist of '60s Newcastle band The Velvet Underground. Les grew up in Maitland joining his first band The Cavemen when he was still in high school. At a time when The Beatles were king, Les learned to play guitar by looking at photos of George Harrison in magazines. Les would make the move to Newcastle in 1968 to join The Velvet Underground. Their early setlist would consist of songs such as Light My Fire by The Doors and Tin Soldier by The Small Faces. They become know for their live performances most notably by front band Steve Phillipson who would light his bomber jacket on fire when the band performed Fire by Jimi Hendrix. The band would go on to record one single in 1970 with a cover of Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love" on the A-side and a cover of Love's "She Comes in Colors" on the B-side. After being told by Easybeat, Stevie Wright, they would sound better with another guitarist, they were joined by future AC/DC member Malcom Young on guitar.
In 1972 the band started backing Ted Mulry playing songs such as "Falling in Love again". The band would eventually split with Les and drummer, Herm Kovac, joining forces with Ted Mulry forming Ted Mulry Gang (TMG). Malcom Young would go on his own path eventually forming AC/DC in 1973. What started off as a Newcastle band turned into two of the biggest groups in OZ rock. TMG would go on to be one of Australia's biggest bands in the mid '70s with songs such as "Jump In My Car". AC/DC would go on to become one of the biggest bands in the world. Today Les still plays with Ted Mulry Gang.
Jack talked with Les live in the studio about his time in his first band The Cavemen, how he came to join The Velvet Underground, the Newcastle music scene in the '60s, the setlist the band played early on, the live gigs with Steve Phillipson, the recording of the bands first and only single, how Malcom Young came to join the band, memories of playing with Malcom Young, and how the band came to come to form into TMG.
"As we were walking out (of the Young residence), heard the noise coming from the bedroom and walked in and there was a big old wardrobe...Malcom slid one of the doors open and said 'that's just Angus'. He was in there playing with -he had an SG-he was playing along to Led Zeppelin on this little record player...We went to walk out and their father walked into the room and...we shook hands, his father pointed to the Wardrobe and said 'he's the one, he's the one'. - Les Hall on this episode of Vinyl Vibes talking about Angus Young
Episode Hosted and Produced by Jack Hodgins
To hear the full on-demand version of this program, go to https://www.2nurfm.com.au/shows/vinyl-vibes
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If you like this content, we'd love to hear from you.
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In this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack is joined by John Bisset, founding member & organist of Fraternity. Fraternity are best known as being the band Bon Scott was lead vocalist of before his AC/DC days.
John grew up in New Zealand listening to the likes of The Shadows and The Beatles. He formed his first group The Shadracks while still in High School playing songs by the likes of The Ventures and The Shadows. He joined motown group, The Action in 1966 and the group left for Sydney, Australia. It was with this group John gave up guitar to play organ. In 1968, John turned up to play a gig with The Action and was told the band no longer existed. Luckily, the organist in Levi Smiths Clefs left at the same time and John soon joined. After recording an album the group, he and other members of the Clefs left to form Fraternity in 1970.
Fraternity recorded their first single "Why Did It Have to Be Me" in October 1970. During the recording the bands album Livestock, In early 1971 Bon Scott joined as lead vocalist. In 1971 the group won Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds, winning a trip to the UK. After the release of the group's second album Flaming Galah and a disastrous trip to the UK, John left Fraternity in early 1973. Bon Scott would remain in the newly re-named Fang till 1973's end when the group returned from the UK. In September 1974 he would join AC/DC.
Jack called John to talk about his early musical beginnings, his first group The Shadracks, the impact the Beatles had on him, his time in his group The Mods, why he and The Action moved to Australia, his time playing the Hawaiian Eye nightclub with The Action, why he started playing organ, how he came to join Levi Smith's Clefs, the recording of The Empty Monkey album, the formation of Fraternity, the recording of Livestock, the arrival of Bon Scott as lead vocalist, Bon's first performances with Fraternity, the recording of Flaming Galah, the bands trip to the UK, John's music work with his band Dimond Cutter in the '80s, and his recent music output.
"He (Bon) was on another dimension as a singer...we played at this night club called Burties...I did the best organ solo I've ever done that night and the crowd was just packed...all of Bon Scott's Melbourne fanbase were there...in my whole music career that night at Burties when Bon first appeared in front of a Melbourne audience, that was the best night of my life playing in a band" - John Bisset on this episode of Vinyl Vibes talking about Bon's first appearance with the band in Melbourne
Episode Hosted and Produced by Jack Hodgins
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In this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack is joined by Dave Burgess, founding member and guitarist of The Champs. Dave recorded for the first time at the age of 17 in 1953 and by 1957 had his first top-ten hit, I'm Available which was made a hit by singer Margie Rayburn. However it is an instrumental song he helped write that he is most remembered for. Dave wrote a song called Train To Nowhere after hearing Bill Justis' "Raunchy". His label liked the song and so in December 1957 he went into Gold Star Studios to record it. After finishing the song, he was told he needed a B-Side for the single. Within moments Dave and the studio musicians he gathered started jamming what would become "Tequila". Within one take the song was recorded and Dave and the session musicians, together became known as The Champs.
By Late March 1958, it was the B-side, "Tequila" that had reached number one on the billboard top 100. By April 1958 the band were playing on The Ed Sullivan Show and by April, American Bandstand. For the song, the band received the first ever grammy award for "Best Rhythm and Blues Performance". "Tequila" has gone down as one of the best tracks of the rock and roll era and one of the most recognised instrumentals of all time.
The band would go on to have other minor hits such as "El Rancho Rock", "Too Much Tequila" and "Limbo Rock" before coming to an end in 1965. Dave has stayed in music since that time producing for the likes of Gene Vincent and Don McLean. In 2020 Dave revitalised The Champs and released the album Tequila Party, the first brand new Champs' album since 1962.
Jack Zoomed Dave to discuss his early beginnings, his first recordings at 17 in the early '50s, his song I'm Available, how "Tequila" came to be, the guitar and amp he used on the recording of "Tequila", his memories of playing on The Ed Sullivan Show, his touring of Australia with the Champs in the '60s, his opinions on AI's usage on music, The Champs album cover of "Go Champs, Go", the break up of The Champs, how the new album Tequila Party came to be, and what's next for Dave.
"They said that's great Dave but we need a B-Side. I said, 'give us a few minutes', so I started playing this riff on the guitar and Danny (Flores) started playing this guitar solo...Buddy Bruce came up with the bridge, I got the idea of Danny to say tequila on it, he always had this whisky voice and was always carrying around this flask of tequila with him." - Dave Burgess on this episode of Vinyl Vibes talking about how The Champs' big 1958 hit Tequila came to be
Episode Hosted and Produced by Jack Hodgins
To hear the full on-demand version of this program, go to https://www.2nurfm.com.au/shows/vinyl-vibes
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In this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack is joined by Gil Matthews, drummer of Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs. Gil could read drum music before he could even read English. By the time he was 11, his drumming took him on a six-month tour of the US. After being in various band in the '60s, Gil became the in-house producer and engineer at Havoc Records in early 1970. In 1971, the recently signed Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs came into Havoc Studios to record The Dawn Song. Gil played drums, produced and engineered the track for the group. He would become the groups full-time drummer soon after.
In late January 1972 the band with Gil on drums would perform to an audience of 35,000 people at the Sunbury Pop Festival. The festival has gone down as Australia's Woodstock. The band's setlist was recorded and released as a double album called Aztecs Live! At Sunbury. The groups next single would be "Most People I Know Think I'm Crazy". Gil produced the single experimenting with many innovative studio techniques. His work on the song paid off and the song is now an Australia rock classic reaching number two on the charts at the time in 1972. The band came to an end originally in 1974 after the release of their album More Arse Then Class.
Since then Gil has remained in music and more recently has founded his label Aztec Records. With His fully analogue studio, his label specialises in reissuing Australian music from the '60s and '70s.
Jack talked to GIl via phone about his early beginnings, his early drumming work along side Buddy Rich, his early work with Havoc Records, the recording process of The Dawn Song, his production work on Most People I Know, analog tape recording techniques he used with the band, the bands performance at the Sunbury Pop Festival in 1972, the band's 1974 album More Arse Then Class, and his work today with his label Aztec Records.
"It is Australia's Woodstock...Sunbury was like the top of the tree, people came all over Australia...kids and dogs and people, smoking dope all over the place -you know diving in the creek out of the tree, girls topless - some naked- the younger generation just let their hair down and wanted to go and hear music" - Gil Matthews on this episode of Vinyl Vibes talking about the 1972 Sunbury Festival
Episode Hosted and Produced by Jack Hodgins
To hear the full on-demand version of this program, go to https://www.2nurfm.com.au/shows/vinyl-vibes
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If you like this content, we'd love to hear from you.
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In this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack is joined by David Fenton, lead singer of The Vapors. Dave saw his first concert when he was Ten. It was The Beatles performing at the the Gaumont Cinema in in August 1963. He was hooked on music from this point onwards and got his first guitar in the same year. He started playing in various acoustic bands during his teenage years such as Magician and Ano Bunny. After doing a law degree in 1978, he formed his first electric group, The Vapors. The group were discovered by Jam Bassist, Bruce Foxton in 1979 and the group were soon playing alongside the Jam. In the same year the band were signed to United Artists. They released their first single "Prisoners" to no charting success in late 1979. In January 1980, with the release of their second single the band would top the charts.
Dave had written a song in late 1977/early 1978 called "Turning Japanese". Although written before their first single, the group held off on recording it for their first single and went with the less successful "Prisoners" instead. Recording with Jam producer, Vic Coppersmith-Heaven, the song took shape in the studio. The single would go to number 1 in Australia and number 3 in the UK.
The band would go on to have two albums before disbanding in 1981. David would go back to being a lawyer after the band. After retiring, he got the band back together in 2016 and they released their first album in over 30 years in 2020, it is called Together and has 12 original songs written by Dave and the band.
Jack Zoomed David to talk about his early musical beginnings, seeing the Beatles in 1963, his first guitar at age ten, his first bands Magician and Ano Bunny, his time studying law, the formation of the Vapors in 1978, the band's first gig at The Lakers Club, the band getting discovered by Jam bassist Bruce Foxton, his memories of playing alongside the Jam, the band's signage to United Artists, the writing of the band's first single 'Prisoners', the recording and success of 'Turning Japanese', The Vapors 1980 tour of Australia, playing on Countdown, the bands first tour of the US, the band's second album Magnets, the disbandment of the band in 1981, their reformation in 2016 and their newest album 2020's Together.
"The lead guitar solo for example, rather then getting one dirty sound and playing it on one guitar, he made me and Ed sit opposite each other playing the same thing -playing the solo- with a clean sound and we did it six times, so there's twelve tracks of lead guitar...it sounded really big and powerful because they were on top of each other" - David Fenton on this episode of Vinyl Vibes talking about the recording process (with the producer Vic Coppersmith-Heaven) on the bands number one hit 'Turning Japanese'
Episode Hosted and Produced by Jack Hodgins
To hear the full on-demand version of this program, go to https://www.2nurfm.com.au/shows/vinyl-vibes
The website for Vinyl Vibes.
If you like this content, we'd love to hear from you.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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In this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack is again joined by Keith Hopwood, rhythm guitarist of Herman's Hermits. When Keith was 18 he wrote his first ever song, 'Don't try to Hurt Me'. It would end up as an album track on the first Herman's Hermits album in 1965. This would begin his journey in songwriting. Since Jack's last interview with Keith, two EPs have been released by Keith. Freedom Calls Chapter One in May 2023 and Freedom Calls Chapter Two in September 2023. In this episode Keith talks about his new EPs and Herman's Hermits B-sides and album tracks.
Herman's Hermits are known for their hits "I'm into Something Good", "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" and "No Milk Today". To hear Kieth discuss these big hits go to Jack's first interview with Keith here.
Jack Zoomed Keith to talk about the making of his Freedom Calls EPs, Keith's first song he ever wrote 'Don't Try To Hurt Me', how reverb was achieved in the '60s, the group's Ed Sullivan Show performance, the group's first US tour in May 1965, his thoughts on The Beatles new song Now And Then, the time he almost met Elvis, the story of the Herman's Hermits stay in Las Vegas, and the band's 1966 Australian tour.
"We had done a very long tour in the states and the last date was Hawaii, so we're in Hawaii but we've finished the tour and Elvis is in Hawaii filming Blue Hawaii, I don't know who spoke to who but look were both here 'can we meet him?"... so they said yeah sure." - Keith Hopwood on this episode of Vinyl Vibes talking about the band's chance to meet Elvis
Episode Hosted and Produced by Jack Hodgins
To hear the full on-demand version of this program, go to https://www.2nurfm.com.au/shows/vinyl-vibes
The website for Vinyl Vibes.
If you like this content, we'd love to hear from you.
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In this episode of Vinyl Vibes Jack talks with Mark Holden, the carnation kid, an Australian '70s pop artist. Mark grew up Listening to the likes of Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell and so he began to write many folk inspired songs during his teenage years. Appearing on shows such as Adelaide Today, Mark would be discovered by the shows host Ernie Sigley. Through Sigley, Mark would make appearances in Sydney and soon come into contact with John Bromall. Bromall would soon get Mark signed to a EMI recording contract.
In 1975 Mark would be signed to EMI and would release his first album Dawn in Darkness. The album was a commercial flop selling a mere two thousand copies. EMI kept their faith in Mark despite this and in April 1976 Mark got a call from Colin Petersen, former Bee Gee drummer, then A&R for EMI. He told Mark he needed to record a song called "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again", a song recorded by Eric Carmen that had not yet come out in Australia. Mark did so with Colin producing the song and it was Marks first pop hit reaching number 13 on the Kent music charts. His next hit " I Wanna Make You my Lady" would come in September 1976 after ABBA manager, Stig Anderson, gave Mark the song. After a performance of the song on Countdown in a white suit with a red carnation, Mark would become known as the carnation kid. He would go to have other hits in the '70s such as "Last Romance" and "Reach Out for the One Who Loves You".
By the tail end of the ‘70s Mark believed his pop career was coming to an end and made his way to the United States in 1980. He would find success in the US as a songwriter in the mid ‘80s writing "Lady Soul" for The Temptations. Mark has remained in music throughout the years and today is working on the production side of things.
"I was in the lift going to The Logies and in the lift was Stig Anderson...manager of ABBA, and I had the length of an elevator ride to hassle him. I said 'Hi I'm Mark Holden, I've got this hit...have you got any songs' and he followed up and sent me a bunch of songs and one of the songs was a song in Swedish, the translation was "I'm Gonna Make You An Angel"...I re-wrote the English lyrics and 'I Wanna Make You My Lady' Was Born." - Mark Holden on this episode of Vinyl Vibes talking about how his hit "I Wanna Make You My Lady" came to be
Episode Hosted and Produced by Jack Hodgins
To hear the full on-demand version of this program, go to https://www.2nurfm.com.au/shows/vinyl-vibes
The website for Vinyl Vibes.
If you like this content, we'd love to hear from you.
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In this episode of Vinyl Vibes Jack talks with Les Hall, founding member and guitarist of Ted Mulry Gang. Les grew up in Maitland during the '50s and early '60s. After playing piano at the insistence of his father, he was inspired to start playing guitar due to George Harrison of The Beatles. In 1964 he would see the Beatles live when they came down under on their world tour. Four years later in 1968 he joined a Newcastle band called The Velvet Underground. It was through this band, in the early '70s, he came to meet and play backing for Ted Mulry. After backing Ted for a little while, Ted Mulry Gang (TMG) was formed in 1972 with Les on guitar, Ted on vocals/bass and Herman Kovacs on drums.
In 1974 the band would sign to Albert Productions and release their first album Here We Are in November of that year. After a failed first single, at the insistence of a Newcastle Radio DJ, the band released Jump In My Car, an album track off their first album. It would go to number one for six weeks and would become an Aussie classic. The band would go on to have 4 more top ten singles and after six albums would disband in 1986. More recently, Les has got the band back together and have released a brand new single and their first album in over 30 years.
Jack zoomed Les to talk about his early years growing in Maitland, how he came to start playing the guitar, his memories of seeing the Beatles live in 1964, how he came to join Newcastle band the Velvet Underground in 1968, the formation of TMG, the recording of the bands first album Here We Are, the writing of Jump In My Car, the guitar and amp used on the Jump in My Car recording, the production work of Ted Albert, how songs such as Darktown Strutters' Ball and Jamaica Rum came to be, his work post TMG, the re-formation of TMG and the band's new single and album.
"It happened at Collaroy Plateau, I was in the bedroom, I'd just listened to a Faces' song called 'Stay With Me', which I really love the feel of, its a really Stonesy feel actually and I was listening to that, that finished and I was fiddling on the guitar and I came up with this riff and I went out to Ted who was in the lounge room watching TV and I said "hey, listen to this" and I played it, he went and got his bass and he followed and we came up with the thing that ended up as Jump In My Car." - Les Hall on this episode of Vinyl Vibes talking about how TMG's hit Jump In My Car was written
Episode Hosted and Produced by Jack Hodgins
To hear the full on-demand version of this program, go to https://www.2nurfm.com.au/shows/vinyl-vibes
The website for Vinyl Vibes.
If you like this content, we'd love to hear from you.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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In this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack is joined by Tony Currenti, an early AC/DC session drummer. Tony grew up in Sicily in the '50s and early '60s listening to local Sicilian artists as well as Elvis and The Beatles. In 1967 he and his family immigrated to Australia where his love for the drums would soon flourish. He started playing drums in local bands around the Sydney area. First he played in a church band before forming a band called Inheritance. This group was signed to EMI and would release a single on the label. In 1971 Tony would meet Harry Vanda and George Young for the first time. As a member of Jackie Christian & Flight, Tony would play drums on a Vanda and Young production for the first time on the band's 1974 single "The Last Time I Go to Baltimore". After recording some tracks one night for the group, George Young asked Tony to stay back and record with Young's younger brothers' band AC/DC.
Over the next few nights Tony would play drums on eight songs with AC/DC for their debut album High Voltage. Seven of these songs would be featured on the album. The final song, not on the album, also called High Voltage would be AC/DC's first top ten single. Tony was asked to join the band twice but had to knock them back both times due to his Italian passport. After AC/DC, he continued to record with Vanda and Young with his drumming being featured on Stevie Wright's "Evie Part 3" and John Paul Young's "Yesterdays Hero". He lost contact with Vanda and Young in 1976 and after three years of playing in various local bands, he would open his own pizza shop in 1979.
Jack phoned Tony to talk about his early childhood in Sicily, the songs on the radio in Sicily growing up, his journey to Australia in 1967, his early days playing in local Sydney bands such as in Inheritance, how Inheritance came to sign to EMI, his meeting of Harry Vanda and George Young, working with Vanda and Young in the studio with Jackie Christian & Flight, how he came to play with AC/DC, why he chose not to join AC/DC, the recording of High Voltage, his drumming with JPY and Stevie Wright, his pizza shop which he opened in 1979 and his music work today.
"We finished at a 11 o'clock and George (Young) said 'midnight my two brothers are coming with their band, would you like to hang around to record some songs'?. I had no idea what to expect but at midnight Bon Scott walked into the studio and he was so happy to see me." - Tony Currenti on this episode of Vinyl Vibes talking about the recording of AC/DC's album High Voltage
Episode Hosted and Produced by Jack Hodgins
To hear the full on-demand version of this program, go to https://www.2nurfm.com.au/shows/vinyl-vibes
The website for Vinyl Vibes.
If you like this content, we'd love to hear from you.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- Visa fler
