For a record that states its intentions so boldly, the mix is a little on the tame side. The "full-frontal bass" (delivered by the remarkably vertical "Horizontal Smith") is just that, but the rhythm guitar really could’ve been brought to the fore. For the most part it’s all in the pocket, almost to the point of understatement - it’s not until the final bars that things start to get savage (unless of course you factor in the couplet that begins the first verse, which goes straight to the pantheon of sexist opening salvos). But in the end, the production shortcomings are overshadowed by the sheer meanness of the song. A tough guitar riff pinned down by a one note bassline is a defining element of '70s Oz hard rock, and this example holds its own against the best of them.
Equally, there's an Oz punk 'n' roll tradition of guitarists appropriating pop culture/TV themes as guitar solos (see Radio Birdman, Celibate Rifles). Here, axe-wanker Barrington riffs on Lawrence of Arabia, thereby lending the song its title. What this has to do with the musical culture wars depicted on the sleeve is anyone's guess.
There are at least three other singles on the Phoenix label, each worth hearing for the adventurous of spirit and/or low of standards. Variously, they are: shambolic, Raincoats-like all gal pop with shaky English and even shakier musicianship; oddball hard rock with mild overtones of Chrome circa Blood On The Moon (actually a reissue of The Flush 7” sans sleeve); and punky powerpop in the style of early Scientists. The likelihood that any of those reference points were intentional? Minimal.
Burning Sands Of Bondi
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| Is our man Barrington he of the post-Kuepper Saints? |
Update 18 June 2011
Thanks for the comment Steve. Here's the Youtube video Steve mentions which has a more balls-out version of Burning Sands Of Bondi (with guitar up front, where it belongs), over some great rehearsal room photos. Not quite the Dunedin Sound.
12 comments:
Until now, there was not a single result on google for this record--quite a feat.
I have a copy of this single! I have not listened to it since about 1980.
The name just popped into my head a few moments ago while, so I thought I would go and google it. How surprised was I that there were no other hits, and this post is only a few days old. Spooky!
cont...
Forgot to mention some trivia... I got this single from Steve the Drummer whom I used to work with in Pitt Street, Sydney
Did he give you a ride on his Ducati?
Not the same Barrington...The Barrington I knew had a full head of hair in 1980...
i was the drummer in the aforementioned mighty little ... there is a utube version of burning sands that was recorded at the old double jay studios in clapham place and is much more like the band was live ( ie brutal)...the record was fraught with compromise, an engineer that didn't get us and tom misner telling us to cut verses out of' listening in' that kinda diminished it ... incidentally we were all from dunedin new zealand but formed in sydney ... we were well ensconced while mi sex were still a pink floyd covers band and a leo sayer impersonator ... strangely enough i played in a horrible fey little combo called silent movies which featured ex mi sex drummer richard on keys and future mi sex guitarist colin bayley (kevin's little brother ) thanks for remembering ... one of our number died last year and we all got to play those old tunes before he departed ...barrington (the bastard) morgan could not attend ...and i sold the duke in the 80s for about 3 times what i payed for it ,silly me ... i wish i still had it ... i drew the silly picture too
hi anon , i have forgotton your name but i remember you ... a breath of sanity at a weird workplace ... di dyou know that the legendary alberts studios were above us as we toiled ... i walked into the lift one morning and there were harry vanda and george young ... ac/dc recorded up there , the angels face to face album,jpy's love is in the air ,the tatts bad boy for love ... hope you're well
The singer/songwriter is my Dad, and I've been getting as much stuff from his music career together as I can (thus the YouTube vid of Burning Sands...)
If anyone has a copy of the 7" vinyl that they are prepared to sell, I'd love to hear from you...
Jake
jake@jakekilby.com
Just listened to this on a surfing clip, so disappointed I can't get hold of this single, what an awesome song, wish the guys had an album, very talented. If anyone ever looks here again and knows maybe how I can get the song please leave a comment... Cheers...
Hi Stephen, sorry I never came back to reply 8 years ago.. but here I am now!
You have a good memory. That was me, Debi, back at Greigs in 1978-79. (I recall your NZ roots, but I swore that you’d come from Perth before I met you), I recall you worked in the delivery dock for Greigs Fabrics that shared a goods lift with Alberts Recording Studios. I went in there a few times. The guy who had your job before/after? you, Daryl, well his parents were the caretakers of that side of the building. They lived on the roof of the King Street side and I would go visit his mother, who had MS, during my lunch break. To get up there I would have to go through the studio to get to her garden flat on the rooftop (now Skygarden). I worked on the 4th floor in the same building but in Pitt Street from 1978-1983. They’d partitioned the floor off years before with a 3ft wall to insulate the noise of the recording studio from our offices, but we could still feel the vibrations through the floor. I was lucky enough to get to meet Stevie Wright, the girls from Cheetah, Rose Tattoo, The Angels, AC/DC, JPY and Vanda and Young. I even got to watch them record Down Among the Dead Men (Flash and the Pan), but being 16 at the time, I was just a kid and awestruck with all these famous people. They paid no attention to me while I was there hanging out. Strangely, after 40 years, I still live in Pitt Street, and when I first moved in here, my flat backed onto EMI recording studios (301 Castlereagh - where 301 came from). I was there at 3am with the workmen the night they demolished the 3ft walls in that building and had to lift recording equipment out through the roof to make way for apartments. Weird huh?
I still have your single. It's one of only about a dozen that I own. I just wish I had a record player.
Barry Morgan aka Barrington the Bastard left this world 2 days ago. He will be greatly missed.
Big G
Great band! It would be wonderful if someone would make their recordings available. The track Burning Sands of Bondi has been online for years in both the single version and the Live at The Wireless version, but what about Listenin' In? The Live set is on soundcloud but unable to download (prefer to burn a disc so I can listen at leisure).
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