Southern Sons- 1990 - Southern Sons FLAC

Always & Ever/Which Way/Living This Way/Heart In Danger/Hold Me In Your Arms/Something More/Waiting For That Train/More Than Enough/Hold On To The Memory/The World Is Mine/What I See



Southern Sons is the debut album by Australian music group Southern Sons. The album was released in Australia in June 1990 and reached number 5 on the ARIA charts. A total of 4 singles were released from this album. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1991, the album was nominated for ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist – Album, but lost to Safety in Numbers by Margaret Urlich. The album was re-released in 2009 by Sony BMG. 
Southern Sons was an Australian band, of the early 1990's originally billed as The State, and fronted by lead vocalist and guitarist Irwin Thomas, who was then billed as "Jack Jones", who moved to the Victorian town of Traralgon from the United States in his secondary school years. They are best known for their hits "Heart in Danger", "Hold Me in Your Arms", and "You Were There".

Southern Sons was created as a direct result of songwriter and guitarist Phil Buckle's collaboration on six of the twelve songs on John Farnham's Chain Reaction album in 1990. Buckle's group The State was signed to manager Glenn Wheatley's label Wheatley Brothers Records, and had released one album, Elementary.

 Hearing Farnham's treatment of his songs, Phil Buckle wanted to replace himself as lead vocalist and recruited John Farnham soundalike singer and guitarist Jack Jones, who had auditioned for the band previously but was considered too young. Jones' claim to fame prior to that was playing in a Van Halen cover band, Hans Valen. The group changed its name from The State to Southern Sons after the addition of Jones and made its public debut as support act for Farnham's Chain Reaction Tour, with Buckle and Jones also having played on the album, doing double duty as members of Farnham's backing band.

1990 saw the release of their debut self-titled album, Southern Sons (which spawned three top ten hit singles) and a five-track EP, Train Tracks, released to coincide with Buckle and Jones' return to Southern Sons' duties after a European tour with Farnham.


Their second album in 1992, Nothing But the Truth, came with the departure of guitarist Peter Bowman. After three singles including "You Were There", one of three Phil Buckle songs in the Sydney Dance Company production of Beauty and the Beast, Nothing But the Truth was re-released, with different cover artwork featuring a new look Jack Jones, to include the single "Silent Witnesses". Southern Sons' third and final album, Zone, was released in 1995, self-produced with former member Peter Bowman. Its lead single, "Don't Tell Me What's Right", featured vocals from Men At Work's Colin Hay.

Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) certified Nothing but the Truth as gold for more than 50,000 copies sold within a year after its release. Jones reunited with Farnham in 1999 for his I Can't Believe He's 50 Tour and the Tour of Duty Concert for peacekeeping Australian troops in Dili, East Timor. Buckle has collaborated with several Australian artists such as John Farnham, Rick Price and Rob Mills. Buckle co-wrote many of the songs from Farnham's albums Chain Reaction (released 1990) and Then Again... (released 1993), the most famous song being "Burn for You", which was the ARIA Song of the Year in 1991.
 

Lead vocalist Jones was married to New Zealand-born Australian actress Rebecca Gibney from 1992–1995. The marriage ended in divorce. He reverted to his birth name of Irwin Thomas some years ago, and has recorded under that name with a new band. He also was in a band with INXS member Gary Beers called Mudhead, which released one album. From 2004 until 2011, he was involved with Melbourne band Electric Mary, releasing new music independently. He left Electric Mary in 2011 and relocated to New York City.

Jones and Virgil Donati were part of Tina Arena's backing band for her In Deep tour.

Donati is currently living and working in Los Angeles, running clinics and recording with a variety of artists including Steve Vai. He was a member of U.S. rock band Soul Sirkus in 2005. He also formed progressive metal/jazz fusion band Planet X in 2000 as well as touring with Allan Holdsworth since 2012. He has performed on many other artists albums as a session musician.

Geoff Cain spent several years living in Spain, then returned to Australia. He is now living back in Warrnambool with his family, and is involved in his local music scene.

Peter Bowman left the band before the release of Nothing But the Truth. Since leaving Southern Sons, Bowman has pursued songwriting and record production in the independent music sector, most notably working with Debra Byrne on her Sleeping Child album.

Crossfire - 1989 - Direct To Disc FLAC

 It Coitanly Was/On the Wings Of Albatrocity/Fahannokookin'/Oddball/Satie-ated



 

Crossfire were an Australian jazz-fusion band active from 1974 to 1983, which recorded five studio albums. The primary composers of the group were founding members Jim Kelly (guitars) and Michael Kenny (keyboards, piano). Other members of Crossfire included Ian Bloxsom (percussion, glockenspiel), Greg Lyon and Phil Scorgie (electric bass), Don Reid and Tony Buchanan (saxophones, flute), John Proud, Doug Gallacher, Steve Hopes, and Mark Riley (drums).



Crossfire were a jazz-fusion band formed in Sydney in 1974 with a line-up of Ian Bloxsom on percussion, Tony Buchanan on saxophone, Steve Hopes on drums, Jim Kelly on guitar, Michael Kenny on piano and Greg Lyon on bass guitar. Bloxsom, Kelly and Kenny had been band mates in Southern Contemporary Rock Assembly. The ensemble issued a self-titled debut album late in 1975, with a line-up of Bloxsom; Kelly; Kenny on keyboards and trumpet; Lyon on bass guitar and vocals; John Proud on drums and Don Reid on reeds. Rock Australia Magazine's Felicity Surtees found that the group had "gone past the stage of being just a creative outlet and has become a major part of their lives." Lyon described their style, "what we play is contemporary music. We're influenced by everyone really... It allows everyone to be creative."

 

 Crossfire were the first Australian artists to use direct-to-disc recording for their aptly titled second album, ''Direct to Disc, in late 1978. It was produced and engineered by Alan Thorne and issued by Trafalgar Records/RCA. For the album, the line-up was Bloxsom; Kenny on Wurlitzer piano and flugelhorn; Lyon; and Kelly; joined by Doug Gallacher on drums; and Don Reid on saxophones and flute. Michael Foster of the Canberra Times felt "their music displays many moods — playful and joyous, eerie and sombre — always sensitive, reflecting the influences and experiences of each player." He emphasised "the effect gained by the horns, which seem to hang suspended a lot of the time against a backdrop of the instruments which normally carry rhythm, and the percussion group. The rhythm and percussion instruments often, as is the way since bop, step outside their roles as custodians of time and measure, and establish their own rights to individual actions."

The group's third album, East of Where (1980), was issued on WEA and was co-produced by Kelly, Kenny and Martin Benge. All the tracks were written by Kelly or Kenny. For this album Bloxsom, Buchanan, Hopes, Kelly and Kenny were joined by Phil Scorgie bass guitar. Foster found there was "more humour in this album than in the previous one. The music is of the same genre, but there is a certain wryness in the approach to its work, by one of Australia's most exciting bands." Although "there are times when it gets a little heavy, but generally the music lifts and soars, and is fun to listen to."

Crossfire were the backing band for the American jazz singer Michael Franks on an Australian tour, which provided a live album, Michael Franks with Crossfire Live (1980). In late 1982 they issued their fourth studio album, Hysterical Rochords, again with Kelly, Kenny and Benge co-producing. The line-up was Bloxsom, Buchanan, Hope, Kelly, Kenny and Scorgie. The Canberra Times' W. L. Hoffman noticed that "there are six tunes, all of them interesting and, again, all of them written by [Kelly or Kenny]." Hoffman praised the title track, "it is a neatly structured, very bluesy piece, with Ton Buchanan's saxophone threading through the tune, bringing it all together" while "the sounds continue on the second side, smooth, singing music as is characteristic of Crossfire."

During 1982 Crossfire undertook an international tour through India, Holland, England and the United States. The group's performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival on 16 July 1982 was recorded. It was released as their second live album, Live at Montreux (July 1983). The ensemble were Bloxsom on percussion and mallets, Buchanan on saxophones and shakers, Kelly, Kenny, Lyon and Mark Riley on drums. Eric Myers declared, in the July-August edition of Jazz magazine, that the gig showed the group "playing original music that is an outgrowth of our own culture, can take their place on the international stage with the best of them ... a great moment for Crossfire and a high point for Australian music." The group disbanded later that year. Their performance at the Basement in Sydney was broadcast on ABC radio's The Burrows Collection for the episode, "Ten Years On – The Basement" in August 1984. The gig had included guest vocals from Erana Clark and Barry Leaf.

Crossfire reunited briefly in 1991 and issued another album, Tension Release; with the line-up of Bloxsom, Buchanan, Hopes, Kelly, Kenny and Lyon. In July that year they promoted its release with a series of gigs in Sydney.

Mi-Sex - 1984 - Where Do They Go (Australian Release) FLAC

Only Thinking/Where Do They Go/Antipodes Army/Blue Day/I Lose Control/Don't Look Back In Anger/5 O'clock In The Morning/Why Did You Leave/Stranger In You/Delinquent Daddy/Lady Janice




It was New Zealand that gave birth to Mi-Sex. A name and a sound in 1977 that grew out of combining the collective creative energies of a cabaret singer Steve Gilpin, an art-rock Bass player Don Martin, a talented Southern drummer Richard Hodgkinson, a frustrated guitarist/song writer Kevin Stanton and a funk/dance keyboard player Murray Burns. Together Kevin & Murray forged a song writing partnership that anchored Mi- Sex throughout its four albums. These five new connections quickly dissolved their pasts, as they reinvented themselves, passing into the new era of new wave/electronic music and uniting fully as the sound that was to become Mi-Sex... Mi-Sex (the name originating from a song they performed by the British group Ultravox), recorded their début single, “Straight Laddie” in New Zealand. A punk parody with hints of Ian Duryesque vocals and a snatch of The Stranglers in the keyboards.

 
 Now setting house records in New Zealand Mi-Sex decided to take their new found sound & look to Australia. Within a very short time, on the strength of their highly energized and semi-theatrical live shows, were soon one of Sydney’s most popular bands. Mi-Sex were signed by A&R/record producer Peter Dawkins to CBS. This relationship proved highly successful, and in 1979  released their début vinyl LP, “Graffiti Crimes” with singles “But You Don’t Care” and the prophetic single, “Computer Games” going top ten in New Zealand, Canadian, German & South African charts. Thanks to strong  initial support from the ABC's Double Jay radio station and its nationally televised pop show ''Countdown'', Mi-Sex went number one in Australia.  In November 1979 this culminated in a landmark performance at the Sydney Opera House in the ''Concert of the Decade'' Quote: “Credit must go to this New Zealand band for its international hit single, "Computer Games," which preceded the glut of similar-sounding British chart entrants by a year or more.” 

A follow up album, 1980's “Space Race”, was also a multi platinum hit, with singles “People”, “Space Race“ and “It Only Hurts when I’m Laughing”. 1981 Mi-Sex undertook a ground breaking tour of America & Canada, playing venues with “The Ramones” and “Iggy Pop”, also selling out most of their own East & West coast shows. During this time, back in Australia, MiSex were awarded 'Most Popular Album', 'Best Australian Single' and 'Best New Talent' in the 1980: TV Week/Countdown Music Awards. The band was greeted at the airport with a televised presentation of these awards by Molly Meldrum when they arrived back from America/Canada... In 1981 drummer Richard exited, replaced by Paul Dunningham who spurred the infectious single “Castaway”. Their third album “Shanghaied” was released in 1982 which included “Falling in and Out”and the brooding single “Shanghaied” sung by Kevin Stanton. In 1983 Mi-Sex decided musically to become a 6 piece adding new member Colin Bayley, a previous Wellington band mate of Murray Burns, and songwriter of "I Wanna Be with U" from the “Graffiti Crimes” album. Colin added second guitar, vocals and with Murray, co- wrote the timeless “Blue Day”. 

 This new line up carried on to record album No 4 “Where Do They Go”, produced by Bob Clearmountain. The singles “Blue Day” &  “Castaway” both had strong chart success in several states of the USA & Canada. 1984 Mi-Sex semi-retired from touring & living on the road as one identity. They agreed to take a well deserved break and to seek solo ventures. Always remaining the very closest of friends they came  back together in the late 80’s for two more Australian tours. The summer 1990 saw the band collectively begin writing fresh material and talking of recording again... Sadly that was just before Steve Gilpin’s fatal car crash in November 1991, lapsing into a coma from which he never recovered. Steve died in Southport Hospital on January 6, 1992.... Shortly afterwards the cream of Australian artists and performers collaborated to hold consecutive concerts in Sydney & Melbourne to farewell & celebrate Steve Gilpin’s wonderful life & achievements. Mi-Sex became the sleeping giant laid to rest with Steve.

Peter Doyle - 1989 - Stupidity FLAC

Speechless/Stupidity/What'cha Gonna Do About It/Do It Zulu Style/High Time Baby/Like I Love You/Heigh Ho/Something About You/The Great Pretender/Everybody Loves A Lover/Tweedle Dee/Mr. Goodtime/Lovey Dovey/Something You Got/Go Away/Is This The Dream/




Peter John Doyle (28 July 1949 – 13 October 2001) was an Australian pop singer who had success with a number of Top 40 hits in Australia in the 1960s, then success internationally as a member of the New Seekers in the early 1970s, before resuming a solo career in 1973.



He started his career at the age of 9 appearing on a children's television talent show called Swallow's Juniors and appeared as a regular on that show for the next five years. At the age 10 he made his first recording on a 78rpm acetate, "Lucky Devil"/"If Irish Eyes Were Shining". He was performing in Sunday afternoon pop shows at Melbourne's Festival Hall at the age of 14 and at 16 he was signed to a record contract with Ivan Dayman's Sunshine label (whose roster included top singers such as Normie Rowe and Tony Worsley). This led to regular appearances on Melbourne’s teen TV show, "The GO Show".

 

 From 1965 to 1967 he released ten 45 records in Australia, of which seven made the Top 40, the most successful of which were a cover of Conway Twitty's Speechless (The Pick Up), and a rousing version of Solomon Burke's Stupidity. He was backed by Melbourne band The Phantoms on all these recordings. He then recorded two singles with the band Grandmas Tonic as lead vocalist. His last two singles, once again under his own name, were for the Astor label although he was still backed on them by Grandma's Tonic,(ex-members of Tony Worsley's backing band 'The Fabulous Blue Jays').

May 1968 saw him join the vocal trio 'The Virgil Brothers', Australia's answer to The Walker Brothers. The Virgil Brothers released two singles in Australia in 1968, "The Temptations 'Bout to Get Me" (a Top 5 hit) and "Here I Am". They then relocated to the UK where they recorded their third single, When You Walk Away with producer David McKay. He then quit the trio which broke up soon after.

In 1970, not long after the Virgil Bros had dissolved, he joined the second lineup of The New Seekers. Recommended by melbourne radio DJ Stan Rolfe. This line-up was their most successful and enduring and during his time with them they had a string of international hits, such as Melanie Safka's "What Have They Done To My Song Ma", Delaney & Bonnie's "Never Ending Song of Love" and "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing".

In 1972 The New Seekers came second representing the UK, in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Beg, Steal or Borrow", on which he co-vocalled with Lyn Paul. As well as sharing vocals in The New Seekers he was a talented songwriter and contributed many songs to their albums which included ballads such as "I Can Say You're Beautiful" and "Lay Me Down" and more uptempo numbers like "Boom Town" and "Cincinnati".

 He quit The New Seekers, apparently disillusioned with lack of monetary rewards, in 1973 and resumed his solo career, as a singer-songwriter. He continued working in the UK until 1981, during which period he issued five solo singles, including a cover of The Easybeats "Friday On My Mind", and one album, Skin Deep. During this time in the UK he also recorded advertising jingles for Ribena and Sugar Puffs, provided the vocal for a children's single, "Jungle Ted and the Laceybuttonpoppers" and did backing vocals on Lyn Paul's solo single, "It Oughta Sell A Million". It did not. In 1975 he was offered and declined the job as Little River Band's lead vocalist.

Glen Wheatley asked Peter to join the Little River Band but at this stage, Peter wanted to make his way as a solo performer. By 1976, with the backing of David Mackay, Peter had secured a recording with RCA and his first single, released on 13 August 1976 was an incredible version of the Easybeats' Friday on My Mind. Inexplicably this failed to chart, as did his follow up single, Skin Deep. His album, also entitled Skin Deep , released in 1977, included a variety of musical styles and six songs penned by Peter, but even this failed to give him the solo success he so greatly deserved. It was around this time that Peter met the love of his life, Jane Garner, who later became his wife.

He returned to Australia in 1981 to work with a band called Standing Room Only. In 1982, ex-Wings drummer, Steve Holly invited him to join the group Regis in the US, where he worked for the next five years.

Returning to Australia in 1987, he regularly performed on the club circuit. In 1991 to 1992 he joined the Ram Band in Melbourne on vocals, played bass and keyboards, Colin Cook vocals, guitar and saxophone, Tony Faehse guitar and vocal, Marty Stone guitar, John van Boxtel vocals and drums. This was curtailed when he suffered ill-health in the 1990s. He died in Castlemaine, Victoria, of throat cancer, on 13 October 2001. He is buried at Muckleford Cemetery.

Kate Ceberano - 2009 - Merry Christmas FLAC

White Christmas/Feliz Navidad/Jingle Bell Rock/Santa Baby/I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus/Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas/Santa Claus Is Coming To Town/Jingle Bells/The Christmas Song/Blue Christmas/Happy Christmas (War Is Over)/It's Only Christmas (duet with Ronan Keating)



 Merry Christmas is the first Christmas album recorded by Australian recording artist Kate Ceberano and was certified Gold by ARIA. The album includes a duet with Ronan Keating. Merry Christmas features 12 tracks, the album was re-released in 2010. 

Reviews for Merry Christmas were generally positive. Thomas' music reviewer said, "Get ready to be wowed and well and truly in the Christmas spirit with the exceptional new Christmas album from Australia's much loved and award winning Kate Ceberano! Kate has added her charms to a new level of 'Christmas album', featuring classics with a twist, that only Kate could deliver". Beauty and Lace said, "Kate Ceberano’s Merry Christmas contains classics that everyone is familiar with, twisted to suit Kate’s style. It has a very upbeat and jazzy feel to it that will get your toes tapping and have you singing along before you even realise".

Merry Christmas debuted at number 33 before peaking at 17 in the week commencing 27 December 2009. It re-entered in December 2010, peaking at 35 for the chart issued 26 December 2010.

Kate Ceberano 1989 - Bedroom Eyes (12 inch) FLAC

Bedroom Eyes (Extended Version)/Bedroom Eyes/Kate's Blues


"Bedroom Eyes" is a 1989 song by Australian singer Kate Ceberano. It was released as the first single from her third solo album, Brave, in May 1989 on the Festival Records label. It spent six weeks at No. 2 on the Australian singles charts, and became the 7th highest-selling single in Australia and the highest selling single in Australia by an Australian artist in 1989.

She’s been Australia’s high priestess of pop, an award winning jazz singer, wears the hat of a fine artistic director and, above all that; Kate Ceberano is a songwriter with the talent to take a tune to the top of the charts. 2016 sees the release of the Kate Ceberano Anthology, her 24th album - three Disc, 53 Song celebration of the 30 year anniversary since the release of her 1st album “Bear Witness” with Kate fronting the band I’m Talking. Remarkably, she shows no sign of slowing down, let alone stopping.

 In 2014 Ceberano became the first Australian woman to be inducted into the Australian Songwriters Association (ASA) Hall of Fame. Joining such luminaries as Don Walker, The Easybeats, LRB and The Angels. Time Out Melbourne got it right when they wrote “(the) first thing you notice about Ceberano is her energy, which actually sends the atoms crackling as she walks in the room. Flashing eyes, a ready roar, warm and funny – she’s your dream conversationalist”. Whether it is that soulful voice, her charismatic nature or exotic looks: Kate’s earned her ‘Australian icon’ status. Kate first found fame with her funk band I’m Talking. I’m Talking are acknowledged as the band “who pioneered New York-style art pop in Australia during the Jurassic Period of Pub Rock”. The group was managed by Ken West, now famous for being co-founder of the Big Day Out. The group’s ‘platinum’ debut album included three top ten singles and won the Best New Talent (1984) gong at the Countdown Awards.

Kate followed that up the following year with the award for Best Female Vocalist (1985). Kate won Best Female Singer (1985) at the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) Awards. Like many high-profile musicians, Kate Ceberano uses her celebrity to support and bring awareness to many causes close to her heart; for many years Ceberano has been an Ambassador for the National Breast Cancer Foundation. This role sees Kate help raise funds and awareness about an illness that affects so many lives. Over the 9 years Kate has been a supporter of the NBCF, Kate has also personally donated album royalties to the cause. “I like to be as involved as I possibly can in causes I feel strongly about,” Ceberano said of her appointment. “Yes I am a musician, but if I can do more to help others then I will.”

Stars - 1980 - 1157 Live FLAC

Watching The River Flow/Living A Lie/Cocaine/I'd Rather Be Blind/Paradise/Watch Out For Lucy/Mainline Florida/Since You've Been Gone/Jive Town/Rescue Me/Never Coming Back



Stars were an Australian country rock band formed in Adelaide, South Australia in 1975 and disbanded in 1979. Founding members were Glyn Dowding on drums; Malcolm Eastick on guitar and vocals; Mick Pealing on vocals; and Graham Thompson on bass guitar. They were joined by guitarist, songwriter, Andrew Durant in 1976 and relocated to Melbourne. Thompson then left and was replaced by a succession of bass guitarists including Roger McLachlan (ex-Little River Band) and Ian McDonald.

The band's debut album, Paradise, peaked at No. 11 on the Australian Kent Music Report in 1978 and included their highest charting single "Look After Yourself" which reached No. 21 on the related singles chart. Their second album, Land of Fortune, was released in 1979 but did not reach the Top 50. By that time Durant had been diagnosed with cancer, the band had their last performance on 5 November and Durant died on 6 May 1980 at age 25. A tribute performance by Stars members and other Australian acts followed in August and a double-LP, Andrew Durant Memorial Concert was released in 1981. It peaked at No. 8 on the albums chart with proceeds donated to Andrew Durant Cancer Research Foundation.

 Adelaide band Astra Kahn formed in 1972, including Glyn Dowding on drums, Andrew Durant on guitar, and Malcolm Eastick on guitar and vocals. They disbanded by 1973 with Dowding and Eastick forming Flash in 1974 with Mick Pealing on vocals. In May 1975, Dowding, Eastick and Pealing formed Stars with Graham Thompson on bass. As a country, rock band they were touted as Australian rock'n'roll cowboys and played the local pub and club circuit. They were noticed by pop group, Little River Band's guitarist Beeb Birtles, they signed to Mushroom Records and relocated to Melbourne. Birtles produced their debut single, "Quick on the Draw" which reached the Australian Kent Music Report top 30 in July 1976. Durant joined in August on guitar and became their principal songwriter.

Their second single, "With a Winning Hand" peaked into the top 40 in October. Founding bass guitarist Thompson left and was replaced first by Michael Hegerty and then by Roger McLachlan (ex-Little River Band). The band supported Joe Cocker on his Australian tour in mid-1977. They released their third single, "Mighty Rock" which reached the top 30 in August. By November, Ian MacDonald replaced McLachlan and they released, "Look After Yourself" which became their highest charting single at No. 21. It was issued ahead of their debut album, Paradise (January 1978) which peaked at No. 11 on the Kent Music Report albums chart. The album spawned two more singles, "Back Again" in April and "West Is the Way" in June. In September, founding drummer Dowding was replaced by John James Hackett (ex-Phil Manning Band).

Stars continued touring including supporting The Beach Boys and Linda Ronstadt on their Australian tours in 1978–1979. A second album, Land of Fortune appeared in June 1979, it was produced by Ern Rose and Eastick. By that time Durant had been diagnosed with cancer and Stars performed a last concert on 5 November. A live album, 1157—titled for the number of career gigs—appeared in July 1980, which was produced by Eastick. Durant had died on 6 May at age 25. A tribute performance by Stars members and other Australian acts followed in August and a double-LP, Andrew Durant Memorial Concert was released. It peaked at No. 8 on the albums chart with proceeds eventually donated to Andrew Durant Cancer Research Foundation.

Aidan Nolan - 1974 - Tales From The Sun

Spaceman/One Out On A Limb/Till I Get Me Some Money/Thursday/Wastin' My Time/Melanie Moonbeam/Can't Go On Like This/Rock You/Laughing/Sweet Soft Summer Sound/Q/Down Again



 If your memory is good enough, go back to 1969 to a television program about drug addiction called “No Roses For Michael”, you might also remember the name of the man who wrote the music, being Sydney artist Aidan Nolan. Aidan played with various Sydney rock bands during the late 1960’s including Daisy Roots, their drummer Alan Sandow went on to drum for Sherbet. Other bands he played with were Garage Plus, Papa Skragg’s Patent Leather Nightmare and Pro to name a few. In 1973 he began to lay down tracks for an album, Tales From The Sun, but with the album still not completed, he decided to travel to England. While in London aidan was offered a contract to record cover versions of American songs. Apparently he found great difficulty relating lyrically and, such musical honesty being financially unrewarding, he was down to the ancient art of busking, making use of the excellent acoustics of Green Park station in the London underground. However, it was when John J Francis who produced and arranged "Tales From The Sun" took aidan's album to London, the former street busker was immediately signed to the British Sparks label. The album was released in England and Europe.

 
 By the time aidan nolan was 4 years old he had lived in Sydney, Perth and Adelaide (Australia) and London (UK). Perhaps it was this relentless mobility in those years that created the need for one inner constancy in his life, music. Not the music of others, although there’s no doubt he is influenced as are all artists by those that go before, but for the ability to create a song.  Even the APRA (Australia’s ASCAP) Journal has run an article outlining that aidan was a songwriter at 5!
 Perhaps it has been his continuing geographical and career mobility that keeps forging his songs. aidan has worked and travelled extensively in Europe and Australia.
 

He has been a store-person, landscaper, postal carrier, driver, laborer, busker (street entertainer) and post-university (college) a school-teacher, rising to the lofty (if not culturally shock-inducing) position of Assistant Headmaster in exclusive Australian private schools. Finally, after walking out on that established career and some time in business, he built an international speaking consultancy with clients in the US, Australia, Asia and New Zealand.  Over the years he has lived in small Australian country towns, the Australian state capitals of Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide as well as a number of years in London.
 Now a US citizen and resident of New York, aidan’s early music is experiencing a renaissance of interest that is un-paralleled for an indie artist and a very respectable surge of interest in his contemporary work.  While he has a strong following of all ages, he is particularly of interest with those in their late-teens to mid-thirties, probably because the word is spreading primarily through social media.

Julie Anthony - 1975 - Hello In There FLAC

Hello In There/Light A Light/Sally/Without You/ Loving You/Lovers/Candle In The Wind/Here's That Rainy Day/My Elusive Dreams/I'm Your Song/For Old Love's Sake/Whispering Grass/ a.Goodnight b.Hello In There (Reprise)



Born Julie Moncrieff Anthony, 23 August 1951, Galga, South Australia. Anthony was born in Galga (population 15) and raised on the family farm. In her teens she began singing with a local band and in 1970 won an amateur television talent quest. Her victory and the first prize ($600 and a trip to Tasmania) led to regular appearances on the Adelaide Tonight Show. She moved to Sydney, making television appearances and performing on the club and cabaret circuit, and eventually embarking on international tours. An engagement at the Hong Kong Hilton in 1973 was followed by the lead role in the Australian production of Irene. Three years later she starred in the UK version at the Adelphi Theatre. The Play and Players of London honoured her with the Best Newcomer (Actress) award for 1976. She returned to Australian television and appeared in three national specials, and in the same year she married her manager Eddie Natt. In 1977 she won the Sammy and Penquin awards for Best Television Variety Performer. Tours of America followed and Anthony worked with Bill Cosby, Roy Clarke and Merv Griffin. In 1980 she was awarded an OBE for services to the entertainment industry. Three years later she accepted the role of Maria in The Sound Of Music; following a season in Sydney, the show successfully toured major and regional centres.

 For the 1988 World Expo held in Brisbane, Anthony was invited to sing with the re-formed Seekers, joining the group as lead singer from 1988-89. In 1988 she sang the national anthem at the official opening of Australia’s new Parliament House. The same year she returned to the stage in I Do!, I Do! In 1990, she was awarded AM in the Order of Australia for services to the entertainment industry. In 1994, Anthony further demonstrated her versatility by teaming with jazz musician Don Burrows (reeds/flute) for tours, including a successful appearance at the Jazz and Blues Festival at the Gold Coast International Hotel in 1995. A year later she returned to cabaret with a season at the Tilbury Hotel in Sydney. In her extensive repertoire she demonstrated great conviction, whether singing ‘Amazing Grace’ or material ranging from Stephen Sondheim to the Beatles. In June 1996 she accepted a cameo role as a band singer in the Bruce Beresford film Paradise Road, starring Glenn Close and Jean Simmons. Julie Anthony is one of the best and most durable theatre and variety performers in the post-war Australian entertainment industry. She has won the prestigious Mo Award for Entertainer Of The Year three times, and Best Female Variety Performer nine times. An admirable singer and engaging personality, she has successfully blended her career and family duties.

Eurogliders - 1983 - Pink Suit Blue Day FLAC

Jeepney Talk/Without You/Through Your Window/Laughing Matter/Darkest Hours/Get Me Out Of Here/Touching Me/On The Nightline/ Time/Magneto/Americans



Pink Suit Blue Day is the debut album by Australian indie rock band Eurogliders, released in 1982. Their debut single, "Without You", was released in June and peaked into the top 40 of the Australian Kent Music Report singles chart. A follow-up single, "Laughing Matter" in September did not chart into the top 50. Pink Suit Blue Day, produced by Englishman Lem Lubin, did not peak into the top 50 of the Australian Kent Music Report albums chart.

Guitarist and singer, Bernie Lynch (as Rip Torn) fronted a new wave band, The Stockings, in Perth, Western Australia in the late 1970s. He left in early 1980 to form Living Single with his domestic partner, UK-born vocalist, Grace Knight, which included Crispin Akerman on guitar, Don Meharry on bass guitar, Guy Slingerland on drums and Amanda Vincent on keyboards. By the end of 1981, drummer John Bennetts replaced Slingerland and the band changed their name to Eurogliders. They were signed by manager, Brian Peacock, to their first recording and publishing contracts with Polygram. They recruited Melbourne bass player Geoff Rosenberg to replace Meharry.

In late 1981, Eurogliders travelled to the Philippines capital of Manila, to start recording their first album, Pink Suit Blue Day, produced by Englishman Lem Lubin, which did not peak into the top 50 of the Australian Kent Music Report albums chart. From Manila, they relocated to Sydney where several tracks were re-recorded and the entire album was remixed. They released their first single in June, "Without You", which peaked into the top 40 on the Kent Music Report singles chart. A follow-up single, "Laughing Matter" in September did not chart into the top 50.

Johnny Farnham - 1997 - Memories Of Christmas FLAC

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town/Christmas Is/The Ringing Reindeer/Little Drummer Boy/Jingle Bells/Good Time Christmas/Christmas Happy/ White Christmas/The First Noel/Silent Night/ There's No Place Like Home/Little Boy Dear/It Must Be Getting Close To Christmas/ Everything Is Beautiful


Christmas Is... Johnny Farnham (later re-released twice as Memories of Christmas by Johnny Farnham, with different cover art, at the time of the album's release, he was now recording under John Farnham) is a studio album of Christmas songs recorded by Australian pop singer John Farnham (then billed as Johnny Farnham) and released on EMI Records in December 1970. The single, "Christmas Happy", was also released in December. The album was re-released under the new title of Memories of Christmas, on 13 November 1995 and again on 6 December 1997 with different covers and an altered track list each time.

Background Johnny Farnham's first #1 single on the Go-Set National Singles Charts was the novelty song "Sadie (The Cleaning Lady)" released in 1967. Selling 180 000 copies in Australia, "Sadie (The Cleaning Lady)" was the highest selling single by an Australian artist of the decade. His first Christmas song was a non-album single, "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus", in November 1968.[6] A cover of B. J. Thomas' "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" was released in November 1969 and peaked at #1 for seven weeks in January–March 1970. After his third album, Looking Through A Tear was released in July 1970, a non-album single, "Comic Conversation" was released in October and peaked at #10 on the Go-Set National Top 60 Singles Chart.[9] Farnham recorded his fourth album as Christmas Is... Johnny Farnham, it was released in December and contained Christmas songs but did not chart on the Go-Set National Top 20 Albums Chart. One of the songs, "Good Time Christmas", was written by Farnham. The single, "Christmas Happy", was also released in December.

Eurogliders - 1985 - Absolutely FLAC

Can't Wait To See You/The City Of Soul/What Kind Of Fool/So Tough/We Will Together/Absolutely/Jesse/Moving Away/Enough Love



Absolutely is the third studio album by Australian Indie pop, rock band Eurogliders, released in October 1985. It peaked at #7 on the Australian Kent Music Report albums chart and remained in the charts for 47 weeks, it spawned three top ten hit singles, "We Will Together" in April, "The City of Soul" in September and "Can't Wait to See You" in November. Two further singles, "Absolutely" and "So Tough" appeared in 1986.


Guitarist and singer Bernie Lynch (as Rip Torn) fronted a new wave band, The Stockings, in Perth, Western Australia in the late 1970s. He left in early 1980 to form Living Single, with keyboard player Amanda Vincent. Together, they recruited Crispin Akerman on guitar, Don Meharry on bass guitar and Guy Slingerland on drums through a series of advertisements. The following year, Grace Knight – Lynch's future domestic partner – joined as lead vocalist. By the end of 1981, drummer John Bennetts replaced Slingerland and the band changed their name to Eurogliders. They were signed by manager, Brian Peacock, to their first recording and publishing contracts with Polygram. They recruited Melbourne bass player Geoff Rosenberg to replace Meharry. In 1982, Eurogliders travelled to Manila, capital of the Philippines, to record their first album, Pink Suit Blue Day, produced by Englishman Lem Lubin, which did not peak into the top 50 of the Australian Kent Music Report albums chart. From Manila, they relocated to Sydney to release their first single in June, "Without You", which peaked into the top 40 on the Kent Music Report singles chart.

Eurogliders changed record labels from Polygram to CBS in 1983, they replaced bass guitarist, Rosenberg, with Scott Saunders and travelled to the UK in July. While there, they recruited bass guitarist Ron Francois, formerly of The Sinceros, The Teardrop Explodes and Lene Lovich. With this line-up they recorded This Island, produced by Nigel Gray (also worked with the Police) which was released in May and peaked at No. 4 on the Australian albums chart. The single, "Heaven (Must Be There)", also released in May, reached No. 2 on the Australian singles charts. Released several months later in North America, the single peaked at No. 47 in Canada, and at No. 65 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. The album peaked at No. 140 on the Billboard 200 chart. In Australia, "Heaven" was followed by a domino effect of two more top 10 hits, with "We Will Together" (No. 7, April 1985), and "Can't Wait to See You" (No. 8, November 1985). Their third album Absolutely, which peaked at No. 7, spent 47 weeks in the Australian charts. Between 1984 and 1986, Eurogliders toured Australia, the USA, Canada, Puerto Rico, Japan and New Zealand.

At the height of the band's success, Grace Knight and Bernie Lynch reconciled their relationship and were married in 1985 but the union was short-lived. Despite their marital separation, they stayed together in the band for another four years. Lynch and Knight dismissed Brian Peacock, and took over the band's management. 

In early 1987, journalists documented Lynch and Knight's claim that Bennetts, Francois and Vincent left the band voluntarily. Vincent went to London on a world tour with the Thompson Twins, and stayed in the UK to tour and co-wrote with Boy George. Francois became a session musician in Australia, while Bennets toured with Eartha Kitt, and later worked in the Educational IT industry before founding Monkeydrum Studios.

Reduced to a duo, Lynch and Knight recorded their fourth album (Groove) with session musicians, including Akerman. However, despite Akerman's presence on the album it was clear that Lynch and Knight by themselves were now the Eurogliders, as they were the only people pictured on the album cover or inner sleeve, or on any of the album's associated singles.

Groove peaked at No. 25 on the Australian charts in April 1988. The related single, "Groove" had peaked at No. 13 in February but the next singles, "It Must Be Love" in June, "Listen" in September and "Precious" in March 1989 did not reach the top 50.

For the album tour, Lynch, Knight and Akerman were joined by Guy Le Claire on guitar, Rex Goh on guitar (ex-Air Supply), Lindsay Jehan on bass guitar and Steve Sowerby on drums. Later in 1989, the Eurogliders disbanded. Akerman returned to his visual art background and became a painter, Lynch initially pursued a solo music career; while Knight became a successful jazz singer.

       

Eurogliders reformed in October 2005, with Grace Knight and Bernie Lynch using session musicians including former member, Rex Goh, and they released their fifth studio album, simply called Eurogliders and included the single, "Hummingbird", but neither album nor single peaked into the ARIA top 50 charts. They started touring again in April 2006 and performed on the Countdown Spectacular during June to August, which was a nostalgic tour of Australian bands from the 1970s and 1980s, as featured on the pop television show Countdown with its host Ian "Molly" Meldrum. In 2013, it was announced that the Eurogliders were expected to reform to support The Boomtown Rats on a planned reunion tour of Australia in May. However, the tour was cancelled due to poor ticket sales.

Dingoes - 1974 - The Dingoes FLAC

Come On Down/Boy On the Run/The Last Place I Wanna Be/Way Out West/Pay Day Again/Goin' Down Again/Aaron//My Sometime Lady/Sydney Ladies/Dingoes Lament



The Dingoes with John Lee on drums, Broderick Smith on lead vocals and harmonica, Chris Stockley on lead guitar, John Strangio on bass guitar, and Kerryn Tolhurst on guitar and mandolin, were formed in Melbourne in April 1973. Strangio left in August and was replaced on bass guitar by John Bois, who had been a member of Melbourne '60s pop band New Dream and was later a member (with Tolhurst) of Country Radio. The Dingoes combined R&B, country and rock 'n' roll with songs that used Australian themes and imagery.

The Dingoes were an early signing to the fledgling Mushroom Records label, it issued their debut single "Way Out West" which was jointly credited to Lee, Bois, Smith, Stockley, and Tolhurst although Bois' book confirms that the song was written by Tolhurst alone. A week before the single was released Stockley received a serious gunshot wound during an incident at a party in Melbourne that resulted in a two-month stay in hospital, initially described as an 'accidental shooting', according to music historian, Ian McFarlane's Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop, Stockley was shot by notorious drug dealer Dennis Allen, who was trying to gate crash the party. An eight-hour benefit concert was held for Stockley on 4 November 1973 at Leggett's Ballroom, Greville Street, Prahran. While recuperating, Stockley was replaced by keyboard player Mal Logan (ex Healing Force, Carson), who stayed on, after Stockley returned, until the end of 1974.
 

Released in October 1973, "Way Out West" peaked into the top 40 on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart, and reached #26 in Melbourne, it became their signature tune. The Dingoes appeared at the third Sunbury Pop Festival in 1974, held on the Australia Day long weekend, and their performance featured on Mushroom's Highlights of Sunbury '74, released later that year. The same month, they recorded their self-titled debut LP, The Dingoes, which was produced by John French. Logan contributed keyboards on several tracks, including "Goin' Down" and "Sydney Ladies". "Way Out West" was later covered by James Blundell and James Reyne (ex-Australian Crawl) in 1992, their version peaked at #2 on the ARIA Singles Charts, Smith supplied harmonica for this version.

Lee left in May 1974 to join Ariel and was replaced on drums by Ray Arnott, (ex-Cam-Pact with Stockley, Spectrum, Mighty Kong). The Dingoes was released in June 1974, along with a second single "Boy on the Run", co-written by Stockley and Smith, which peaked at #24 in Melbourne but did not break into the top 50 nationally. The LP reached #24 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart in July, it was the Federation of Australian Broadcasters' "Album of the Year" for 1974. A non-album single, "Smooth Sailing", written by Tolhurst, and backed with "Dingoes Lament" (an instrumental written by Bois), was released in October. During the year The Dingoes toured nationally with various artists including Bad Company, Leo Sayer, Bo Diddley, and Freddy Fender.

 Early in 1975, after appearing at the fourth Sunbury Pop Festival, The Dingoes received a phone call from expatriate Australian roadie Billy McCartney, who had seen them when visiting from the United States, where he had established himself as a tour manager for Elvis Presley and Rod Stewart. Returning to the US, McCartney recommended the band to Peter Rudge, who was then tour manager for The Rolling Stones and Lynyrd Skynyrd, and, after ten months negotiations, Rudge agreed to manage The Dingoes in the US.

The following months frustrated the band—with an expected summons from Rudge at any time, they were unable to commit to long-term tours or to recording—they lost valuable ground in Australia when they could have consolidated on the success of the LP and singles. Meanwhile, they provided two tracks, "Marijuana Hell" and the Percy Sledge cover "When a Man Loves a Woman" to the Various Artists live album Live at the Station which was released on Lamington Records in 1976. An American tour was finally arranged for mid-1976, by the time they arrived Rudge's attention was focused on Lynyrd Skynyrd. Just prior to leaving, Arnott quit the group by "mutual agreement" and Lee returned to the fold, meeting up with the band in North America. Arnott pursued a solo career and was later with Renée Geyer Band, Cold Chisel, and Jimmy Barnes.

The Dingoes signed a two-album deal with US-based, A&M records, on recommendations from McCartney and Rudge, and undertook three months of rehearsals in Canada, then headed for the US, where they set up base in Mill Valley, Northern California, at the start of 1977. They recorded tracks for their A&M album, Five Times the Sun, in San Francisco during January and February, produced by Elliot Mazer (Janis Joplin, Neil Young), with session contributions from keyboardists Nicky Hopkins and Garth Hudson; it featured liner notes by author Emmett Grogan. Five Times the Sun, which peaked at #25 on the Australian albums chart in August, included re-recorded versions of tracks from their first album. "Way Out West" and "Smooth Sailing", released in September, as a double A-single in Australia, did not peak into the top 50 Soon after, band members were granted their prized green cards, allowing them to base themselves in US, in their two-year stay they toured 40 states by road. A serious blow to the band's future came on 20 October when several members of proposed tour mates, Lynyrd Skynyrd, were killed in a plane crash, a tragedy which destroyed the morale of The Dingoes' management team.

 Stockley left the band and returned to Australia in early 1978, initially he joined Greg Quill's new band Southern Cross, and later founded Stockley, See & Mason. He was replaced in The Dingoes by American session guitarist Andrew Jeffers-Hardin, the group had moved east and settled near Woodstock, in upstate New York. In mid-1978, they recorded a third album, Orphans of the Storm, at New York's famed The Hit Factory, and continued to tour around the US until late 1978, but their efforts to enter the US record charts were unrealised. Orphans Of The Storm was released in February 1979, along with a final single, "Into the Night", but by this time Smith had returned to Australia and The Dingoes had split. 

Billy Thorpe And The Aztecs - Best Of FLAC

Over The Rainbow/I Told The Brook/About Love/Hallelujah, I Love Her So/Twilight Time/Baby, Hold Me Close/My Girl Josephine/That I Love/Funny Face/Don't Cha Know/Sick & Tired/Mashed Potato



 Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs were an Australian pop and rock group dating from the mid-1960s. The group enjoyed success in the mid-1960s, but split in 1967. They re-emerged in the early 1970s to become one of the most popular Australian hard-rock bands of the period. Thorpe died from a heart attack in Sydney on 28 February 2007.


Originally a four-piece instrumental group who had put out one surfing instrumental, "Smoke & Stack", they formed in Sydney in 1963. With the advent of the Merseybeat sound, they added a lead singer, Billy Thorpe. His powerful voice and showmanship (which made him one of the most popular and respected rock performers in Australian music), completed the original line-up, which consisted of drummer Col Baigent, bassist John "Bluey" Watson and guitarists Valentine Jones and Vince Maloney (who later played with The Bee Gees). Valentine Jones left the band shortly after Billy Thorpe had joined and was later replaced by Tony Barber.
Chart success

 The group broke through in mid-1964 with a massive nationwide hit, their cover of the Leiber and Stoller classic "Poison Ivy", which famously kept The Beatles from the No. 1 spot on the Sydney charts at the very moment that the group was making its first and only tour of Australia—a feat which resulted in Thorpe being invited to meet the Fab Four at their hotel. Over the next twelve months the band reigned supreme as the most popular 'beat' group in Australia, scoring further hits with the songs "Mashed Potato", "Sick And Tired" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", until they were eclipsed by the emergence of The Easybeats in 1965. The band's recording success confirmed Albert Productions, their recording company, with its worldwide distribution deals through EMI and Parlophone, as one of the most important in Australia's embryonic pop industry.

During 1965 the original Aztecs quit after a financial dispute, so Thorpe put together a new five-piece version consisting of drummer Johnny Dick, pianist Jimmy Taylor, guitarists Colin Risbey and Mike Downes and NZ-born bassist Teddy Toi. This group performed until 1966, scoring further hits with "Twilight Time", "Hallelujah I Love Her So", "Baby, Hold Me Close", "Love Letters" and "Word For Today".

Thorpe went solo in 1967 and for a brief time hosted his own TV show, It's All Happening, but personal problems and a widely publicised bankruptcy brought this phase of his career to an end in 1968. Thanks to Don for the FLAC Files.