My Seventies Music

Month: April 2010

  • Mother Goose – “Baked Beans” And “This Is The Life”

    New Zealand Seventies band Mother Goose had a hit with "Baked Beans"

    Last night by chance I came across an old favourite from New Zealand in the Seventies: Mother Goose singing their slightly ludicrous “Baked Beans” – which just goes to show you can make a rock song outof anything!

    I had forgotten about Mother Goose, but they actually did pretty well for themselves, having coming up with the idea of mocking themselves by dressing up ridiculously when they performed in the South Island city of Dunedin and then nationally.

    The more they made fun of themselves, the more popular they became: they broke attendance records accross Australasia, and their debut album “Stuffed” was Mushroom Records’ fastest selling album.

    When they went to Australia, what later became top bands queued up to be their support acts, like Midnight Oil, Cold Chisel, Men At Work and The Angels.

    Their first national tour was with international, i.e. British, band Supercharge – this particularly got my attention because a flatmate of mine in Bamberg, Germany in the early Eighties was later in a blues band that had a number of gigs with Supercharge, including when they toured with Chuck Berry.

    Mother Goose moved to the USA in 1978 for a year and did very well, with members of Kiss and Devo becoming fans of their shows in New York.

    After returning to Australia the band continued to attract huge crowds there and also on tours in Canada, eventually breaking up in 1984, with a reunion in 2007 as part of a celebration of 30 years of the “Dunedin Sound”.

    Here now is the “Baked Beans” video, which was so well received it even got shown on TV between prime time programmes in Australia and New Zealand:

    Just to show they didn’t just do humour, here is “This Is The Life”, live in Dunedin, New Zealand:

    Glad I chanced on this one again, hope you enjoyed it too. 🙂

    Paul

  • The Scavengers – “Mysterex” And “True Love”

    New Zealand punk band The Scavengers

    The Scavengers were one of the first New Zealand punk bands in the late Seventies (along with The Suburban Reptiles), most well known locally for their songs “Mysterex” and “True Love”.

    The band was actually formed pre-punk in the mid Seventies by graphic design students at the Auckland Technical Institute and renamed The Scavengers in 1977 when the punk movement started.

    They contributed the two tracks mentioned to a compilation album called “AK79”.
    At first the only video of “True Love” played by The Scavengers I could find was from an “AK79 Show” in 2008 where the sound quality was so bad I didn’t want to inflict it on you. Meanwhile I just found another, shorter one that is bearable (just!) and gives an idea of the original energy.

    In 1979 The Scavengers moved to Melbourne, Australia and again renamed themselves The Marching Girls in 1980.

    I was thinking The Scavengers were the punk trio I engaged for a free rock festival at the Massey University Student Orientation in Palmerston North in March 1980, but unless they came back to New Zealand before renaming themselves, I guess it wasn’t them. Have to do some digging to find the answer to that one.

    Anyway, here is “Mysterex” from 1978:

    In this clip band member at the time Brendan Perry (who now does VERY different things) describes the background to “Mysterex”:

    As mentioned, here is “True Love” at “AK79 Revisited” in 2008 (the other video of the same performance says The Scavengers…):

    Actually, I will give you the option of watching the other video if you like, which includes two girls jumping on the stage and has better video quality (but don’t say I didn’t warn you about the sound!):

    And here is The Scavengers song “True Love” played by the band’s reincarnation Marching Girls some years later, when it was used in the soundtrack of a film called “Dogs In Space”:

    Tamed down a bit by this time… think I prefer the Scavengers version.

    Paul

  • The Knack – “My Sharona” And “Good Girls Don’t”

    "My Sharona" by The Knack (1979)

    One song I remember from 1979 was “My Sharona” by The Knack.

    It was apparently the biggest hit of the year and spent six consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart as well as five weeks at No. 1 in Australia.

    The followup single “Good Girls Don’t”, from the same album “Get The Knack”, peaked at No. 11. The album itself went to No. 1.

    Here’s “My Sharona”:

    This is the “cleaned up” version of “Good Girls Don’t”:

    And here is “Good Girls Don’t” in the the original, “unexpurgated” version:

    I nearly fell off my chair when I heard this version the first time. (Especially on New Zealand radio, I was surprised it wasn’t censored.)

    Incidentally, while preparing this I read that lead singer Doug Fieger passed away just three months ago, on February 14, 2010. Drummer Bruce Gary, who had not participated in more recent reunions, died in 2006. Both were in their mid Fifties.

    Hard to believe when you watch the lively videos, and all the more reason to be thankful that we can.

    Paul

  • Nils Lofgren – “No Mercy” And “Keith Don’t Go”

    Nils Lofgren album "Night After Night" (1978)

    I don’t know a lot from Nils Lofgren, just two songs really, “No Mercy” and “Keith Don’t Go”.

    Nils Lofgren, who has had a long solo career, also worked with Neil Young in the Seventies, as well as playing in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band for 25 years.

    But I didn’t know that until just now…

    Actually I first got to know his 1979 track “No Mercy” (from the album “Nils”) a year or so later through a band I used to write some songs with in Bamberg, Germany, who played it.

    I still remember hearing it the first time crammed into a tiny cellar with just enough room for the band, their equipment and a couple of other people, i.e. right up close!

    Here it is, “No Mercy”, recorded in 1979 (with lyric subtitles in German, how fitting):

    And here is a live version of “No Mercy” twelve years later on German television in 1991:

    The other Nils Lofgren track I am familiar with actually came out a year earlier in 1978.

    It’s from his fourth album “Night After Night”, and is called “Keith Don’t Go” (Keith being Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones):

    Nils Lofgren also plays this one on the acoustic guitar, so here is “Keith Don’t Go” unplugged:

    Which do YOU think sounds better, electric or acoustic?

    Paul

  • Hello Sailor – “Gutter Black” And “Blue Lady”

    1977 album "Hello Sailor" by New Zealand band Hello Sailor

    The 1977 album “Hello Sailor” by New Zealand band Hello Sailor from Auckland was the first record made in New Zealand to be certified gold, producing two top 20 and one top 30 singles in that country: “Gutter Black”, “Blue Lady” and “Lyin’ In The Sand”.

    To be honest, at the time I found Hello Sailor a bit arrogant.

    As it turned out, they bit off more than they could chew by trying to conquer the US market before attempting to break into Australia, but didn’t tackle it seriously (too much partying).

    When they got back, other bands had taken over their patch so to speak. When they did go to Australia that didn’t work out either, and there were other problems with, let’s say, substance abuse. Not long after the band broke up.

    To give them credit though, those with the problems cleaned up their act and went on to other successes, and are meanwhile playing together again.

    Anyway, I couldn’t find “Lyin’ In The Sand”, so here are the other two tracks mentioned. Listening to them again, I recognised both songs, neither of which I have heard for over 30 years.

    This is a live version of “Gutter Black”:

    Meanwhile, “Gutter Black” was used as the title music for a popular New Zealand TV series, Outrageous Fortune. I came across a trailer for it, not what I’d want my kids watching, I must say.

    And here’s “Blue Lady”, also sung live:

    That’s it for today.

    Paul

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