Terryfoot - Surfside 6 7" Rev PRS-2774, 1980

It's a while since we've proffered a piece of pure powerpop here. Probably because previous posts from that genre haven't garnered the hits. But what the hell, you'll eat your vegetables as well as your meat.

Terryfoot (Terry Foot on the labels) were an obscure and short-lived Sydney band comprising Bruce Bellingham on guitar and vocals, Ian Hill also on guitar and vocals, Carl May on bass, and Zol Almady on drums.

As you would hope, Surfside 6 is an infectious pop track propelled by a hooky riff. Thematically - with surfing, girls, their tight jeans and the way they "smell so good" - we're also in the right place.

Bruce Bellingham has lobbed up more recently as Eric Mackenzie. Life's too short to figure out which is his real name so we'll just quote from his various bits and pieces on the net.

On making his first record:

I remember sitting outside the door of the studio at Double J in Kings Cross in the early '80s and the DJ looked out, saw me and said "come in, what have you got there?". I was promoting a single by my first band Terryfoot which had been pressed at the EMI plant. I would run into Roger Grierson who was up to the same thing with his band, EMI was one of the few places you could get 45s pressed. The DJ invited me in, we had an interview, the song got on "A" rotation. We used to wait at The Sandringham Hotel for the manager to turn up on his motorbike with the keys to the PA cupboard so we could play. It's still going. I hope to play there in the next few months.

On the footsteps in which he followed:

I have been into the sounds of the Stones of the '70s and early '80s, the glam and punk movements, Mick Ronson (David Bowie), The Pistols and The Ramones, pop rock from the '80s of the Cars and Billy Idol/Steve Stevens, some of the very early grunge of Neil Young and Crazy Horse, also Aussie bands AC/DC, The Angels and The Church.

With those influences, it's a pity Terryfoot didn't try to pull off a glam/punk blend à la Supernaut or Branded, but 1980 wasn't 1978. Again, you'll eat what you're given.

Surfside 6 [Download]