Obscure but Influential: Great Aussie bands of the 80s
Hi all, new here ... yes, yes ... another Johnny-come-lately who saw the spotlight ...
ANYWAY ...
It's a strange synchronicity that I learned of this community today, because I was in a bookshop this morning, leafing through a book called Babylon's Burning: From punk to grunge, and I was pissed off to see that yet again, as with every one of the "history of punk" type books that are so popular now, Australian bands barely rate a mention, despite the fact that there were so many pioneering and influential bands to come out of Australia ("Rock music in the Seventies was changed by 3 bands: The Sex Pistols, the Ramones and the Saints" - Bob Geldof - my emphasis).
The bands I particularly thought of today were feedtime, the Celibate Rifles and the Scientists.
These bands were light years ahead of their time, and were adored by and hugely influential on Seattle bands like Mudhoney and Nirvana. When Mudhoney first toured Australia in the late 80s/early 90s, they were astonished to find that the Celibate Rifles were playing to tiny audiences in dingy pubs. Listening to these bands at home in Seattle in the 80s, guys like Mark Arm had assumed that they must have been big rock stars in Australia.
So, yeah, I was pissed off when I checked out the index to Babylon's Burning, and found that feedtime and the Scientists were relegated to one, throwaway line, where Mark Arm talks about playing their tapes on the Mudhoney tour bus.
Oh, and while we're talking obscure: If anyone can correctly identify the quoted song lyric on my icon, I'll shout them a virtual beer.
ANYWAY ...
It's a strange synchronicity that I learned of this community today, because I was in a bookshop this morning, leafing through a book called Babylon's Burning: From punk to grunge, and I was pissed off to see that yet again, as with every one of the "history of punk" type books that are so popular now, Australian bands barely rate a mention, despite the fact that there were so many pioneering and influential bands to come out of Australia ("Rock music in the Seventies was changed by 3 bands: The Sex Pistols, the Ramones and the Saints" - Bob Geldof - my emphasis).
The bands I particularly thought of today were feedtime, the Celibate Rifles and the Scientists.
These bands were light years ahead of their time, and were adored by and hugely influential on Seattle bands like Mudhoney and Nirvana. When Mudhoney first toured Australia in the late 80s/early 90s, they were astonished to find that the Celibate Rifles were playing to tiny audiences in dingy pubs. Listening to these bands at home in Seattle in the 80s, guys like Mark Arm had assumed that they must have been big rock stars in Australia.
So, yeah, I was pissed off when I checked out the index to Babylon's Burning, and found that feedtime and the Scientists were relegated to one, throwaway line, where Mark Arm talks about playing their tapes on the Mudhoney tour bus.
Oh, and while we're talking obscure: If anyone can correctly identify the quoted song lyric on my icon, I'll shout them a virtual beer.