Kevin Johnson - Journeys

Oleanders / You Never Know Your Luck (In A Big City) / Ev'ry Day / Paraguayan Sunset / Rollin' (All I've Ever Needed) / I Came To Somerset / The Next Plane To New Mexico / Love Knows Where To Find You / All Our Favourite Songs / The Comeback Trail


Johnson was born in Rockhampton, in northern Queensland. He began playing and singing at night and writing songs in his spare time while working at the Queensland Department of Main Roads. These songs eventually came to the notice of Col Joye, one of Australia's original rock stars, who signed Kevin to his publishing company. For the next couple of years, he wrote songs for singers on the Col Joye label (ATA). After a period of time in Brisbane, he relocated to Sydney and released several unsuccessful singles in the late 60's before securing his first hit with "Bonnie Please Don't Go" in 1971. Following this success he was signed by Tree International, a giant publishing company based in Nashville, Tennessee which enabled him to leave his day job and concentrate on writing. He returned to Brisbane and stayed there for a year writing songs. It was during this time that some of his most introspective songs, like "Shaney Boy" about his eldest son, Shane, "Iridescent Shadows", "Kedron Brook", and "Over The Hills and Far Away, were written.
 
After a year in Brisbane, he moved back to Sydney and continued to write songs for his forthcoming LP. One of these songs was "Rock and Roll I Gave You The Best Years of My Life". Kevin left Tree International and signed with a new Australian production company called Good Thyme, and immediately produced his first single for them, "Rock and Roll I Gave You The Best Years of My Life". This landmark song was picked up immediately for release in the USA and has since become a hit in almost every country in the world. Kevin's version was charted in the US, UK and many European countries. There have been to date scores of recorded versions by various artist around the world, with total sales in the many tens of millions.

Over the years Kevin has written and recorded a number of albums of original material, has headlined concerts, TV, in Europe Australia, and other countries, appeared in the Royal Command Performances before Prince Charles and Lady Diana and the Prince and Princess Michael of Kent and has had his work recognized with numerous awards. His songs have been recorded/played by many famous artists, such as Tom Jones, Roger Whittaker, Mac Davis, Terry Jacks, Val Doonican, Harry Chapin and Cliff Richard to name but a few.

Released in 1978, Journeys is Johnson's fourth album.

Richard Clapton - Prussian Blue

Hardly Know Myself / South Germany / Poor Man's Saviour / Strange Days In Chippendale / Prussian Blue / I Wanna Be A Survivor / Last Train To Marseilles / All The Prodigal Children / Burning Ships / The Lonesome Voyager

Richard Clapton is a singer-songwriter from Sydney who's long and successful career began back in the early 1970's.

Some of his more popular songs include Girls On The Avenue (1975), Suit Yourself (1976), Capricorn Dancer (1977), Deep Water (1977), Goodbye Tiger (1977), (Down In The) Lucky Country (1977), Get Back To The Shelter (1980) and I Am An Island (1982).

Over the  last 40 years Clapton has released more than 20 albums including Girls On The Avenue (1975), Main Street Jive (1976), Goodbye Tiger (1977), Hearts On The Nightline (1979) and The Great Escape (1982). His most recent album, Harlequin Nights, was released in 2012.

He was also the main contributor to the 1976 movie soundtrack Highway One, produced the INXS album Underneath The Colours in 1981 and played with The Party Boys in 1983.

Australian rock music historian, Ian McFarlane has described Clapton as "one of the most important Australian songwriters of the 1970s". He was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1999.

This Richard Clapton's first album, issued in 1973 following his return to Australia from Europe, which is where he wrote these songs.

Crown Of Thorns (featuring Chris Wilson) - Babylon

Story Of Love / Little Fishes / Tumble And Twirl / Don't Take Your Love To Town / Babylon / Crown Of Thorns / Woodblock / Keys To My Heart / Only One / Blondin




Christopher John Wilson (born 1956) is an Australian blues musician who plays harmonica, saxophone, guitar and vocals. He has performed as part of the Sole Twisters, Harem Scarem and Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls, and fronted his band Crown of Thorns. Wilson's solo albums are Landlocked (June 1992), The Long Weekend (March 1998), Spiderman (2000) and King for a Day (July 2002).

In March 1996 Wilson collaborated with Johnny Diesel in a blues project, Wilson Diesel, which issued an album, Short Cool Ones, composed mostly of "soul and R&B standards". It peaked at No. 18 on the ARIA Albums Chart. Outside his music career Wilson has taught English in various secondary schools in Melbourne for about 20 years. (Wikipedia)

This is Crown Of Thorns' second album Babylon, released in 1990.

Player [1] - Game Over

Space Invaders/We're All Players/Under Control/My Babe Is A Cool Player/Fire/Space Suite/Red On The Bottom Line/Microprocessor/Play Me/Game Over



 Player 1 was the brainchild of producers Russell Dunlop and Bruce Brown the two released a single about the game Space Invaders called "Space Invaders" in 1980 it reached #3 nationally and stayed in the charts for 5 months they then released the album "Game Over".
 The album in parts reminds me of Pink Floyd and most of the tracks are Synth. based and typically 80's sounding but there are a couple of tracks on here that almost rock out "We're All Players" and "Fire".

 Russell Dunlop - is a legendary Australian drummer and record producer. His experience spans 30 years and includes performing with Renee Geyer, Doug Parkinson, Kevin Borich, Georgie Fame.
 As a record producer, Russell produced for Kevin Johnson, Mental as Anything and Kevin Borich, having 10 no.1 hits and earning 13 gold and platinum records.

1927 - 1988 - Ish

To Love Me/That's When I Think Of You/If I Could/You'll Never Know/Compulsory Hero/All The People/Nothing In The Universe/Propaganda Machine/Give The Kid A Break/The Mess



1927 are an Australian pop, rock band formed in 1987 with James Barton on drums, Bill Frost on bass guitar, his brother Garry Frost on guitar and keyboards, and Eric Weideman on vocals, guitar and keyboards. They were popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s with their major hit songs "That's When I Think of You", "If I Could", "Compulsory Hero" and "Tell Me a Story". Their multi-platinum number-one album, ...ish (1988) was followed by The Other Side (1990) which peaked at number three. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1989 they won two categories: Breakthrough Artist – Album for ...ish and Breakthrough Artist – Single for "That's When I Think of You". At the 1990 ceremony they won Best Video for "Compulsory Hero", which was directed by Geoff Barter. Late in 1986 Garry Frost (ex-Moving Pictures) saw Weideman on a "Red Faces" talent segment of variety TV show Hey Hey It's Saturday, Frost offered Weideman a spot in a new band, 1927. In 1992 the group released a third studio album, 1927, which reached the top 40; but they disbanded the following year. Weideman reformed 1927 in 2009 with a new line-up.

Electric Pandas - 1984 - Let's Gamble (Wave)

Electric Pandas - 1984 - Let's Gamble 12" Single
Let's Gamble/Crush/Point Blank/Let's Gamble (Extended Mix)



Electric Pandas were an Australian pop-rock band, fronted by vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Lin Buckfield, which formed in Sydney in 1983. Fellow founders were Warren Slater on bass guitar, Mark Stinson on drums and Tim Walter on guitar.[1] Their first release was the single "Big Girls" in 1984 on Regular Records, which peaked into the Top 10 on the Sydney charts. It was followed up by an EP, Let's Gamble. Electric Panda's only album Point Blank was released in September 1985, which peaked at No. 22 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart. After Electric Pandas disbanded in 1987, Buckfield worked in television, eventually on Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Four Corners from 2000.

Doug Ashdown - 1977 - Empty Without You RE-POST 14.09.2018

Are You Lonesome Tonight/Till I Get It Right/Where The Blue Of The Night Meets The Gold Of The Day/Come On Out Tears/Raining In My Heart/Leave Love Enough Alone Part 2/If I Could Live My Life Again/Empty Without You/For Old Love's Sake/Why Don't We Live Together/I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry/Pocketful Of Keys/How Great Thou Art



 Douglas "Doug" Wesley Ashdown (born 1942, Adelaide) is an Australian folk, country singer-songwriter who had a minor hit with "Winter in America" aka "Leave Love Enough Alone", which reached No. 13 on the Dutch Singles Chart in 1978. In 1988 the song was covered by Dutch singer René Froger, and in 1994 by Australian group The Robertson Brothers. Ashdown reached No. 53 on the Australian Go-Set Singles Chart with "The Saddest Song of All" released in August 1970. In 1977, his album, Trees won the TV Week, an Australian television entertainment magazine, won the King of Pop Award for 'Best Album Cover'.


Douglas Wesley Ashdown was born 1942 in Adelaide, South Australia, at the age of 17 he travelled to England to play in a rock band. In 1961 he was back in Adelaide and played guitar alongside Bobby Bright as vocalist in The Bowmen.[1] By 1965, as a solo singer-songwriter, he released his first album, This Is Doug Ashdown. His 1960s popular singles were "Something Strange" in 1968, and in 1969, "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On" (cover of the Jerry Lee Lewis' hit).
In 1970, he signed with the independent label, Sweet Peach, and issued "The Saddest Song of All" in August which peaked at No. 53 on the Australian Go-Set Singles Chart. The song was written by Ashdown and Jim Stewart, who became his long-term producer and co-writer. The associated album, The Age of Mouse, was the first double LP album of original material released by an Australian. Ashdown and Stewart relocated to the United States, living in Nashville. While in Nashville, the pair co-wrote "Just Thank Me", for David Rogers, who released it in 1973—it peaked at No. 17 on the US Country Music Singles Chart. They also co-wrote "Leave Love Enough Alone" which Ashdown released in 1974 upon relocation to Sydney. He had a minor hit with it when it was renamed as "Winter in America" and released in 1976, it peaked at No. 14 in Melbourne and No. 30 in Sydney.
In 1977, his album, Trees won the TV Week, an Australian television entertainment magazine, King of Pop Award for 'Best Album Cover'. Ashdown also worked with science fiction writer/songwriter Terry Dowling on recordings of Dowling's song-cycle "Amberjack", about a stranded time traveller. Ashdown contributed lead vocals and guitar to six of the tracks of Dowling's song-cycle which were broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1977.
He continued to release singles and albums and had minor chart success into the 1980s. As from April 2010, his most recent album was The Folk Centre Concert in 2007.

Sunnyboys - 1982 - Individuals

This Is Real/Individuals/It's A Sunny Day/Leaf On A Tree/You Need A Friend/No Love Around/I'm Not Satisfied/Days Are Gone/You Don't Need Me/Colour Of Love



Australian rock band The Sunnyboys, formed in 1980, were known for their powerful yet melodic songs, many written by frontman Jeremy Oxley. Jeremy and his brother and fellow band member Peter originally hailed from Kingscliff where they were students at Tweed River High and members of garage band Wooden Horse. After moving to Sydney and forming The Sunnyboys, the band moved from playing small inner-city venues to cracking the mainstream music charts very quickly. Their first two albums, Sunnyboys and Individuals both charted into the Top 30 of the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart. The Sunnyboys produced melodic power pop classics and were rewarded with an immediate positive response. However as is the case with many bands, talent and enthusiasm was not enough to keep them together. Jeremy Oxley was battling mental illness and after much internal dissent, and despite critical praise and a number of hits, The Sunnyboys broke up in 1984.
They have reunited sporadically since their original break-up, playing one-off shows in 1998 and 2012.

Billy Thorpe - 1980 - Time Traveller

Poison Ivy/Mashed Potato/Sick And Tired/Over The Rainbow/Funny Face/Love Letters/Dawn Song/Most People I Know/I Am The Sea/Be-Bop-A-Lula/Time To Live/Oop Poo Pa Doo/Captain Straightman/Boogie Woogie/ Cigarettes & Whisky/Out In The Street Again/ It's Almost Summer/Movin' On A Sound/
Bassballs


William Richard "Billy" Thorpe, AM (29 March 1946 – 28 February 2007) was a renowned English-born Australian pop / rock singer-songwriter and musician. As lead singer of his band Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs, he had success in the 1960s with "Blue Day", "Poison Ivy", "Over the Rainbow", "Sick and Tired", and "Mashed Potato"; and in the 1970s with "Most People I Know Think That I'm Crazy". Featuring in concerts at Sunbury Pop Festivals and Myer Music Bowl in the early 1970s, the Aztecs also developed the pub rock scene and were one of the loudest groups in Australia.
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 authored two autobiographies, Sex and Thugs and Rock 'n' Roll (1996) and Most People I Know (Think That I'm Crazy) (1998). According to Australian rock music historian Ian McFarlane, "Thorpie evolved from child star, beat pop sensation and cuddly pop crooner to finally emerge as the country's wildest and heaviest blues rocker [...] 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 died of a myocardial infarction in February 2007 and was posthumously appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in June for his contribution to music as a musician, songwriter and producer.

 

New Link Added 15.01.2021

Richard Clapton - 1978 - Past Hits And Previews

Stepping Across The Line/Girls On The Avenue/Goodbye Tiger/Capricorn Dancer/I Wanna Be A Survivor/When The Heats Off/Deep Water/Blue Bay Blues/Need A Visionary/Suit Yourself



Richard Clapton (born 18 May ca. 1949) is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist from Sydney, New South Wales. His solo top 20 hits on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart are "Girls on the Avenue" (1975) and "I Am an Island" (1982). His top 20 albums on the related Albums Chart are Goodbye Tiger (1977), Hearts on the Nightline (1979), The Great Escape (1982), and The Very Best of Richard Clapton (1982). As a producer he worked on the second INXS album, Underneath the Colours (1981). In 1983, he briefly joined The Party Boys for a tour of eastern Australia and the live album, Greatest Hits (Of Other People) (1983) before resuming his solo career.
Australian rock music historian, Ian McFarlane described Clapton as "one of the most important Australian songwriters of the 1970s". On 12 October 1999, Clapton was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame. As from May 2010, he is writing an autobiography, expected for released in 2014.  New Link Added 02.07.2021

Groop - 1968 - Great Hits From The Groop @320

Mad Over You/Downtown Women/Woman You're Breaking Me/The Gun And Flowerpot Trick/I'm Satisfied/Little Man/Here She Comes/
Empty Words/The Best In Africa/Ham And Eggs


The Groop were an Australian folk, R&B and rock band formed in 1964 in Melbourne, Australia and had their greatest chart success with their second line-up of Max Ross on bass, Richard Wright on drums and vocals, Don Mudie on lead guitar, Brian Cadd on keyboards and vocals, and Ronnie Charles on vocals. The Wesley Trio formed early in 1964 with Ross, Wright and Peter McKeddie on vocals, they were renamed The Groop at the end of the year.
The Groop's best known hit single "Woman You're Breaking Me" was released in 1967, the band won a trip to United Kingdom but had little success there. Other singles included "Ol' Hound Dog", "Best in Africa", "I'm Satisfied", "Sorry", "Seems More Important to Me" and "Such a Lovely Way".
When The Groop disbanded in 1969, Cadd and Mudie formed Axiom with Glenn Shorrock (later in Little River Band). Cadd was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame in 2007, for his work with The Groop, Axiom and as a solo artist.

James Freud - 1980 - Breaking Silence

Modern Girl/The Television's Hungry/The Saviours/Enemy Lines/Butane Babies/Star To Star/19 Again/Mean Modulator/Blue Moon


At the age of 16, Freud formed his first band, Sabre, with high school friend and guitarist Sean Kelly and drummer Ian McFarlane. Their first performance was at Freud's younger sister's slumber party after hearing the Sex Pistols in 1977, Freud formed The Spred with Kelly and three others. When the opportunity came to record a single ("I Wanna Be Your Baby"),later covered by Uncanny X-men , two members were fired and the band changed its name to The Teenage Radio Stars. They performed the single on Countdown. By 1980, Freud was recording as a solo performer with a backing band, with whom he recorded a minor hit single ("Modern Girl") and an album "Breaking Silence" along with a large cast of session musicians. In 1981, they renamed themselves James Freud and Berlin and recorded the singles "Enemy Lines" and "Automatic Crazy" before splitting up in 1982, Freud joined the Models as bassist after the departure of Mark Ferrie, (who now plays bass in the Rockwiz band on SBS) reuniting with old collaborator Sean Kelly. Freud shared lead vocalist duties on some songs, beginning with one of his compositions, "Facing The North Pole In August" off the "The pleasure of your company" album, recorded in 1983. In 1985, 2 Freud-penned hits, "Barbados" and "Out of Mind, Out of Sight",took the Models to numbers #2 and #1 on the Australian top-ten charts respectively.
He remained in the band until they split up in 1988.
After years of battling alchoholism James Freud took his own life on Thursday November 4th.