Last Words' Animal World mask from the Wizard Records press kit |
If you want something done properly, do it yourself. Living in the West of Sydney in 1977, Scottish emigree Malcolm Baxter and Irish transplant Andy Groome took such sage advice to heart. Having arrived in Australia in 1968 and 1969 respectively, they met at the Cabramatta Hostel at which their families first lived. They started playing music together in 1972 and went through a few school bands before some pivotal musical exposures focused their attention.
The Two Malcolms, 1980. |
The first Last Words lineup included ex-Brisbanite, Saints acolyte Jeff Wegener on drums and Mike Smith on bass. As recorded in Pulp fanzine (and reproduced in Inner City Sound), "the band were getting desperate. They've been considering all sorts of attention getting stunts, like: advertising themselves in Ram magazine; beating up journalists, a la Sid Vicious; playing illegally on the Sydney streets; moving to Melbourne; recording a single (even though they can't afford it); or, at worst, breaking up". A single it was to be though, and a novel funding arrangement was brokered. Before the recording Wegener left to Melbourne and the Young Charlatans, and Smith was jettisoned.
Malcolm Baxter: "We wrote Animal World in Andy's bedroom in Miller [a suburb in Liverpool, Western Sydney]. Then a few months later my father went guarantor and we got a loan out to record and press the records. We thought no one would ever put this out, so we will. The Last Words then was myself and Andy - I played the drums and sang, Andy played the guitar and bass. It was recorded on an 8 track at Axent Studios in Kogarah in the winter of 1977".
The record was released on the band's own Remand label in October 1977, with flip side Wondering Why. A few copies sported a stamped die-cut sleeve:
The loan the band took out also extended to a few roneographed posters which were included in copies sent to record shops. Not many of these have survived (well, one that we know of).
The record was well received by those in the know, and why not? It's a truly great record. But was it enough to get our boys out of the Western suburbs?
L-R: Malcolm Baxter and Andy Groome outside Axent Studios, 1977. |
Wizard paid for the June, 1978 recording of six songs with a name producer, Les Karsky, who had worked with Midnight Oil and Boys Next Door. For this phase Baxter and Groome were joined again by Wegener on drums. Rounding out the band was bassist Rique Lee Kendall. Kendall was born in Melbourne in 1958 but had lived in Canada for six years where he had played in legendary Vancouver punk band the Skulls. On his return to Australia he'd played bass as Matt Black on the Thought Criminals' Hilton Bomber EP.
The Wizard issue (ZS-196) was released on 6 November 1978, this time with Every School Boys Dream on the B-side. All copies are on blue vinyl and the period appropriate company sleeve is the Phonogram one above - Wizard switched distribution to RCA sometime around 1979 (around the ZS-300 series of 7"s). We've put the complete press kit put together by Wizard on a separate page, it's well worth a visit. There was a fucking great video too, which if you haven't seen yet, well, do yourself a favour:
L-R: Baxter and Kendall
at the Grand Hotel.
|
"We went to the UK because this was not the music history that Australia wanted. Molly Meldrum banned the Last Words from Count Down and he had never even seen us. The only reason we got to release Animal World on Rough Trade was a friend of ours from Virgin records nicked the 1/4 inch tape of four of the songs from Wizard and brought them to London for us. And with Rough Trade, we got to London and we started work, but Andy and me thought 'We did not come here for this', so we got up one morning and took the blue vinyl Animal World to the BBC and gave it to the John Peel show. Then we went to Rough Trade and gave them a copy. By the time we got home, Rough Trade wanted to sign us and John Peel was playing Animal World and asking who was this band called the Last Words! When the record came out it sold something like 5,000 copies in the first few days and we went to number 8 in the NME alternative charts. The first pressing did not have Wizard on the labels, it was only after Wizard forced Rough Trade to put it on that they did and that was the second pressing".
The third release of Animal World uses the Wizard recording and came out in the UK in 1979 on Rough Trade (RT 022). As detailed by Malcolm, there were two pressings; and despite internet wisdom, Malcolm has set us straight on which came first:
The London era band was Baxter, Groome, Kendall (now Leigh Kendall) and a local, John Gunn (born Hammersmith London, 9 April 1962) on drums. A Rough Trade hype sheet of the time details goings on: "They were quick to pick up followings in places as Chelmsford and Coventry. Derby made them No 8 in the alternative charts. They also have a strong following in Germany and hope to follow it up by playing there in March [1980]". The band played on for a few more years releasing two more 7"s and an LP - selected highlights can be heard on the Retro CD. But, what about those Germans?
The recordings with Eric we'll cover another time, but it segues into today's piece of teeth-gnashery - the
Animal World (Remand) [Download]
Wondering Why [Download]
Animal World (Wizard/Rough Trade) [Download]
Every School Boys Dream [Download]
No Music In The World Today [Download]
11 comments:
Great single[s]. I found a pile of the Remand singles in a Leichhardt op-shop in about 1980. I only bought one copy, unfortunately.
Steve
I have two copies of the Rough Trade single.
One says "Rough Trade" on the "Animal world" side and "Rough Trade & Wizard" on the "No music" side.
The second have "Animal world" printed on both sides but the b-side do play "No music". "Rough Trade" on the a-side, "Rough Trade & Wizard" on the b-side.
As you say, it never ends!!
I thought that all Wizard releases have been distributed by RCA from day one??
You said that some of them have distributed by Phonogram, could you please let me know which ones?
Thx.
The Wizard label listing in The Australian Music Directory (1981) indicates distribution by RCA and Phonogram, as well as the likes of Tempo (presumably earlier releases) and EMI (presumably later ones). The Last Words bio strongly implies that this is a Phonogram-related release, and in our experience the single is usually paired with the company sleeve pictured. Wizard singles with near-adjacent catalogue numbers (e.g. Sham 69 - Angels... 7", ZS-194) sit in our collections with Phonogram sleeves, also. The company sleeve was something we discussed at length when compiling this post, as copies have been known to turn up with RCA sleeves on occasion - perhaps residual unsold stock when distro changed, though that's only a supposition. Equally likely is that those sleeves were swapped by collectors wrongly believing the RCA sleeve to by the correct one.
More info here (end of the second PDF): http://www.australianrecordlabels.com/philipsphonogram.html
Thanks alot for your reply & link, both very useful.
NICK.
I was the ceo of wizard Until i had a legal dispute with my partners and left just after the release of animal world !! Unfortunately i was not in a position to contact any of the artists and anyway was very busy starting my new project called Leo ! and then purchased 7 records and changed the name to Powderworks ! Now 30 years later i am left with all my collection of things from the seventies ! Mainly about 10k vinyl records and Cds and cassettes Plus Master tapes acetates test pressings etc ! I guess i need to set the record straight about many things you may have any misunderstanding on ! so i am writing a book called the wizard of Aus ! please cont
act me at my gallery in Koroit or the F.B page as The Hogarth Collection !!
"(...) but it segues into today's piece of teeth-gnashery - the fabled, legendary, almost completely unknown German sleeve."
the insanely expensive German sleeve:
http://www.popsike.com/LAST-WORDS-7-mint-1978-Animal-World-REMAND-Rec-500-made-cover-VICTIMS-punk/371025307445.html
Can anyone confirm that the band "The Last Words" made a concert at the London, ULU (between 9 and 18 Dec. 1979) with the band Killing Joke ?
Yes, the Last Words played at the University of London as support act of Killing Joke, but not in December 79. It must have been at the beginning of March 80.
Eric Hysteric recorded the (from the sounddesk) with a two-track tape machine, but the tape is lost.
I have their self titled album in my collection, not that i'm a punk or especially a 'the last words' fan, but just because Adrian Sherwood is the producer of this record. I've always wondered how Adrian is related to this record. For this is one of the few records which is produced by him in which i miss his 'signature'. Only in the Grace Slik cover (White Rabbit) I hear some Adrian Sherwood involvement (echo-o-o). So can anyone tell the story about Adrian Sherwood and The Last Words.
BTW. Another anomaly on this record is the guest appearance of Steve Beresford. So if that story can be told too i would be delighted.
Cheers
Alex
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