Skyhooks - Living In The 70s/Ego Is Not A Dirty Word

MINE

How do you describe Skyhooks?  They're a band who were glam and rock, rude and crude, pop and schmaltz.  And I love the fact that on my favourite album, Living in the 70s, six out of its ten songs were banned on commercial radio.  In fact Skyhooks has the honour of being the first ever song played on the youth radio station Triple J - You Just Like Me 'Cause I'm Good In Bed.

Of course we all loved Skyhooks as teenagers - especially the rudest of the rude songs - Smut - which long before Peewee Herman became infamous for it, described the ins and, er, outs of pleasuring yourself at the movies.  And I was absolutely gobsmacked to see there'd been a video made of that song back then!  Ah, the internets - is there anything it can't give me?

Skyhooks also gave me a feel for Melbourne long before I spent any time there, with their namechecking of neighbourhoods in songs like Balwyn Calling, Toorak Cowboy and When the Sun Sets Over Carlton.  This stood me in good stead when years later I spent time there - oddly enough frequenting The Club in Collingwood - owned by Bongo Starkey, the band's guitarist.  It still has my vote as the best music venue I've ever been to - with sloping floors so even short people like me could see the bands. 

So if you've never heard any Skyhooks songs, take a moment or two on YouTube and expore their weirdness.  It's worth it.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

YOURZ

Skyhooks, the band parents hated but all the kids adored.  There was a time, I remember, in the mid to late 70s when they could do no wrong, at least not according to their fans and the music-loving public at large.  But more so, they were the first really popular Australian band to not only acknowledge their homeland but to write a unique set of songs not directed by overseas trends and fashions but instead following their own game plan.

For a band that wasn't really supposed to be successful, their record of being one of the biggest Australian bands of the time stands unblemished.  They carved their own path out of the musical wilderness and isolation and showed many other Aussie bands that it was not only a good thing to do things your own way, but that in doing so, you could be successful as well. 
Both these album, their debut Living In The 70s and the follow up, Ego Is Not A Dirty Word, still stand as being two of the most interesting and socially-aware albums of the time.  But more so, it gave us local kids stars of our own, who recognised and understood what was going on locally and who had enough balls and showmanship to take the glam-boat and make it their own.  And despite the general disparagement they received from commercial radio and moral watchdogs of the time, they stuck to their guns and gave a big 'up yours' to all their naysayers.  They were punks in satin and makeup, daring the authorities to shut them down.  And boy, did we need them back then.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

For more information go to: http://www.skyhooks-music.com/

Bananarama - The Greatest Hits Collection

MINE

That screaming you hear?  That would be my dear husband, who believes that listening to Bananarama is akin to musical torture.  I, on the other hand, am quite fond of this collection, coming from their heyday in the 80s.  It's just pop bubble and fluff, I'll grant you that.  But it's fun - in the same way Kylie and Madge and all those other girlies are fun.

I will say there are a few songs on the collection that leave me cold, but who doesn't like getting out on the dancefloor to Venus? I love some of the slower ones like Robert De Niro's Waiting and Cruel Summer - Shy Boy gets me singing too.

But I think the best thing about Bananarama is their reputation as a bunch of party girls.  I remember an anecdote told by Triple J DJ Maynard F# Crabbes, who said he'd been getting down with the band at a Kings Cross nightclub some time in the mid 80s, but lost track of them some time during the evening.  When he left to catch a taxi home in the early hours, he tripped over them - sitting in the gutter with one (he didn't say which) having a "monumental spew".  And then cleaning up quickly to appear on breakfast radio somewhere else.  Go, girls.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

YOURZ

Yep, Mine got it right.

Let me put it this way, listening to the little bits and pieces of this collection (and believe me, I tried, folks, I really tried) was like jabbing very sharp objects in my ears.  I just wanted to scrape it all out, put it in a box, take the box for a long drive into the distant hills and bury it a deep hole where it could never get out and torture me again.

Of course, Mine happens to like it, damn it all.  So it will stay.  But I refuse to listen to it again.  This is one you can play when I'm not at home, darling.  Please!

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT

For more information: http://www.bananarama.co.uk/

Before Too Long - Triple J's Tribute To Paul Kelly

MINE

I first heard about this by chance, as these days I spend very little time listening to the radio.  Ironic, given that my job is writing for radio, but the demands of this blog are such that my in-car time is either listening to albums I'm reviewing, or listening to talk radio for the news.  Anyway, I was happening past Triple J for some reason and heard one of the songs being covered, thought it sounded great, and was delighted to hear about the concert.  I then spent far too much time at work listening to the podcast.

So when I saw it had been released as an album, it was very quickly purchased.  We've spoken before about the abilities of Mr Kelly, who I think can wear the title of Australia's premier singer-songwriter (as described by the Sydney Festival) with ease.  Hearing favourites like From Saint Kilda To Kings Cross and the title tracks being performed by some of Australia's finest younger talents is a positive joy.

The only thing left to do is to buy the DVD.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

YOURZ

Paul Kelly has the well-deserved privilege of being one of the very few artists to get multiple posts on this blog (and the only Australian).  I been effusive about the man before so I won't press my luck again.  If you interested, you see it here.  But I will say if you haven't heard anything of his, this is a great place to start. 

On this 3 disc collection, Kelly features on one of the discs doing his own versions of the songs covered, while the other two feature covers.  Triple J picked the cream of Australia's alternative talent to perform a variety of songs from Kelly's back catalog, with everyone from John Butler, nephew Dan Kelly, Clare Bowditch and Megan Washington.  There are some sterling renditions of Kelly classics, none more so than Ash Naylor's version of this compilation's titular track.  But my personal favourite is the raw, dirty version of Sweet Guy, as performed by Adalita of Magic Dirt.  The lyrics are made even more potent with her treatment.  It is pure rock awesomeness.

Have to thank Mine for adding this one to our collection.  It is a truly worthy addition to anyone's collection.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

For more information go to

Frenzal Rhomb - Meet the Family

MINE

It's like The Living End, only bad.  Well, not bad as such, just repetitive and repetitive and - did I mention it's repetitive?  The songs are mercifully short, all in the Hi-NRG punkabilly mould, often involving SHOUTING with bad language sometimes randomly thrown in.  I don't mind swearing in a song if there's a reason for it (actually the last track, You Can't Move Into My House has lots of swearing in it but is quite funny) but most of this album is just really juvenile.

It's designed for boys of about 15-25 who no doubt smoke a lot of bongs before pogoing and performing air guitar while this is turned up to 11.

Here's hoping my husband's grown out of that. (YourZ sez: but, but... oh, alright)

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT

YOURZ

This is great Aussie punk from an uncompromising band of ratbags, some of whom more recently found a modicum of respectability with a morning DJ gig on Triple J, Australia's alternative radio station.  The song titles are mostly designed to get young lads guffawing into their hands.  And the song Guns Don't Kill Ducklings (Ducklings Kill Ducklings) gets a vote for one of my favourite song titles, even though the song is fairly ordinary.

But really, Mine is right. (Mine says: was there ever any doubt?)  I have grown out of this.  In fact, I'd grown out of this years ago.  Oh, there's nothing wrong with what they do - they actually do make some relevant points, albeit couched in punk vernacular.  But it's just not for me anymore.

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT

For more information: http://freindsofron.blogspot.com/