Wallaby Beat Visits Maximum Rock 'n' Roll Remote Radio

Some cheat notes from our episode of Maximum Rock 'n' Roll Remote Radio - listen here.

Our friends at Maximum Rock 'n' Roll have started a new series under the MRR Radio umbrella called Remote Radio. They're after peeps to cover their local area and we are more than happy to throw our hat in the ring and do a show on the punk side of Wallaby Beat, covering the blog's greatest hits, some stuff we would have covered if life didn't catch up, some stuff from the label, and some recent reissues that we rate. Contact MRR if you want do do a show from your scene.



Stiletto – Nuclear War
Unreleased, Melbourne 1978
Never released on vinyl, Stiletto were one of a number of Melbourne pub rock bands (Jo Jo Zep, Sports) asked to "react" to punk rock for an ABC late night show Rocturnal. Bassist Celeste Howden's (later in Stray Dags) one note open string bass is a highlight but everything from siren to explosion is great. Unfortunately, none of Stiletto's records sound like this. The drummer was later in the Traitors. Singer Jane Clifton was in Prisoner - Cell Block H.

The Rejected – Nuclear War
From First Offence 7", Sydney 1985
We wrote about The Rejected and their early example of Australian d-beat here. All we can add to the story is to revise the scum stats. The pressing size of 300 quoted in our earlier piece seems to have first appeared in a set sale list drafted by Gus Chambers from Rupture in the late-'90s, and has been repeated uncritically ever since (including by us). In fact, there were two distinct pressings, and the total quantity is larger - probably 500 between the two pressings.

British Jets - Another Day In The City
From only 7", Sydney 1980
Read more about the British Jets single here.

Invader - Don’t Blame It On Me
From only 7", Sydney 1981
Albert Studios, Machine Gun Rock. Read more here.

Flying Calvittos - Squeal Like A Pig
From Goodbye You Spaghetti Punks 7", Sydney 1980
Read more here. Take a deep breath, completists - there appear to have been two pressings of this one, too. Also now reissued on Insolito Records from Berlin.

Plastic EP and the Records - So You Want To Make A Record
Unreleased, Melbourne 1981
Our favourite nutcases. Read more here.

The Screaming Abdabs - We Don’t Wanna
From split LP with City Ram Waddy, Sydney 1978/released 2016
Paris Theatre 1978. Read more here.

City Ram Waddy - Walking The Dog
From only 7", Sydney 1979
Read more here.

Ulsers - Julius Sumner Miller
From Forget Them LP, Adelaide 1981-2/released 2014
We released the Remember Them 7” and the Forget Them LP. Read more here.
Buy it here or in Europe here.

Delegates - Never Let It Get Ya Down
From their only 7", Melbourne 1980.

Squadron Leader! - 1,2,3,4
From their only 7", Melbourne 1981/Gold Coast 1984.
Melbourne punk band who moved to the Gold Coast. The good side of their sole 45.

U-Bombs - It’s Automatic
From Live At The Marryatville cassette, Adelaide 1978
Live At The Marryatville was released by Simon Stretton of Black Chrome on his Tomorrow label, and documents 1978 live performances by the U-Bombs, the Dagoes and the Accountants. Both the U-Bombs and the Dagoes subsequently released their own records but by that stage had evolved beyond punk, making Live At The Marryatville an important document of the early Adelaide scene. The U-Bombs set is fantastic, and the Dagoes' formative, full-throated version of their later "hit" This Perfect Band must be heard to be believed. The third band on the comp, The Accountants, is remembered by Adelaide scenesters as one of the best bands of the era to never release a record, and from the evidence on this recording we believe it (heavy on covers though it may be). See the full track listing of the tape here.

Banana Republik - Make Her Yellow
Unreleased, Sydney 1982
Unreleased, unknown, unhinged. Any info on these geezers welcome in the comments.

Editions - Right To Be Famous
From Aggression cassette, Melbourne 1981
The Aggression cassette came on the Greville label from Melbourne. Drummer Fred Negro was in, amongst many others, I Spit on Your Gravy, The Band Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Brady Bunch Lawnmower Massacre. Singer Sherine was in Big Pig.

Babeez - Mainline Honey
From a Buttercup Records 7", Melbourne 1977/released 2015
A track from the Pacific cassette which was sold at gigs in 1977. The whole thing was also released on a Buttercup LP.

The Last Words - I Hate The Sun
From Product 45 7", Sydney 1977/released 2015
Previously unreleased early Last Words track. Copies here. Malcolm Baxter: "I think we hated the sun more than any political party at that time!"

Public Execution - T.V. Suffragette
From Short Fuse/La Vida Es Un Mus LP, Brisbane 1983
Originally released on a split cassette with Kicks in 1983.

Death Of A Nun - It’s Your Fault
From Swashbuckling Hobo 7", Brisbane 1984/released 2017
Prev unreleased Brisbane punk, named after a 1975 Belgian film. Great guitar solo from Mark Birkys (Hard-ons and Subsonic Barflies). Also featured Mickey Scott and Peter Thompson from the Lompoc County Splatterheads, and Peter Green from the Barflies.

Cheap Nasties - Johnny Is A Heartbreaker
From the Numero Group 7"/cassette, Perth 1977/released 2016
Kim Salmon and members of the Manikins. A really great 7" that came with the recent Scientists 2xLP rerereissue.

The Victims - Elvis Is Dead
From the Culture Shock LP, Perth 1978/released 2014
Recorded live at Hernando's Hideaway in Perth, Australia on 5th of Jan 1978.

The Orphans – Bored
From the Exposed double CD-R, Perth 1978/released 2005
Ross Buncle's band. More info than you can comprehend here.

Arthur Dunstan (a.k.a. Ric Melbourne) - Sea Plane Poo Wong
From The Ric Melbourne Crazy Album LP, Melbourne 1978?
We have no words.

Merv Megastar - Rock 'n' Roll Diskrace 7" EMI Custom 13546, 1984

When we pulled a copy of this single from a box at a recent record fair and read the hype written in sharpie on the plastic outer sleeve ("Merv Superstar [sic] - Oz KBD punk - $1000") we almost spat mouthfuls of banana in the dealer's face (bananas are the perfect record collector food, doncha know). We shouldn't have been so surprised. Perhaps you've seen the dealer in question spruiking a single by the Sharks on a certain online auction site with an $800 opening bid. Yikes. You won't find that turd of a record featured here - ever - but, outrageous misrepresentations aside, Mr Megastar is more than worthy of your time.

So, back to the three assertions in the dealer hype. Let's consider them one-by-one:

1. Merv Superstar? Duh.
2. Oz KBD punk? Well, yes, Merv is Australian so bravo, that's one out of three. Rock 'n' Roll Diskrace is twelve-bar Oz Rock pastiche; She's in Love With A Vacuum Cleaner is a cool pub rocker; and Deviates Have More Fun is 1984's Booker Prize-winning Bachelor Boys: The Young Ones Book as adapted by John Otway. Cliff Richard isn't namechecked but Rat Scabies is, hence the "punk novelty" tag for this post.
3. $1000? Excuse us, we need to wipe half-chewed banana off our computer screens.

Rock 'n' Roll Diskrace [Download]


She's In Love With A Vacuum Cleaner [Download]


Deviates Have More Fun [Download]

Test pressing? Merv proves that he can do it horizontal, or maybe perpendicular.

Norman Gunston - I Might Be A Punk (But I Love You Baby) 7" Mushroom K-6766, 1977

We've already covered Tommy Leonetti's major contribution to the Australian punk rock canon, but the ex-pat American club entertainer cum late-night chat show host has another claim to fame, this time in Australia's class of '77. Leonetti was the inspiration for Norman Gunston, the gormless, toilet paper-clad alter-ego of comedian Garry McDonald. Gunston first appeared in 1973 as a minor character in The Aunty Jack Show; however, it wasn't until 1975 and the first season of The Norman Gunston Show that the character really took flight. Interspersed among set pieces (co-written by Bill Harding of The Mavis Bramston Show) and genuine musical acts, the show spoofed the variety format with two elements that would become Gunston trademarks: "ambush" interviews, and demolition jobs on popular songs. Examples of the former abound on Youtube - Gunston's interview with Sally Struthers is often cited as a highlight, but we're more partial to this encounter with Karen Black as an example of the Gunston oeuvre. In addition, it would be remiss of us not to direct you to this amazing confrontation with Keith Moon. Equally amazing but not as side-splitting is the footage of Gunston making a nuisance of himself at The Dismissal, but we'll leave you to explore that on your own.

Australian press.

Gunston's musical hatchet-jobs were compiled on a 1976 LP called The Popular Ballad Animal, but as 1977 dawned the savvy McDonald saw punk rock as ripe for parody, and this single was the result. If I Might Be a Punk (But I Love You Baby) comes across as an old fart's impression of what punk rock sounded like, well, it's because that's largely what it is. The song was penned by '60s refugees David Pepperell and Ross Wilson: Pepperell had been in The Union, and later co-founded the legendary Archie and Jughead's import record store which eventually became Missing Link; Wilson, despite promising counter-culture credentials with the Pink Finks and Sons of the Vegetal Mother, is best known for his tenure in Daddy Cool and Mondo Rock. I Might Be a Punk's decidedly Carlton-sounding musicianship and sluggish pace add to the old-school feel, and Gunston's characteristic vocal and harmonica solo hammer home the novelty punk terrain. But despite all that, we're pleased to report that it has aged pretty well. The middle-eight is particularly strong - it almost sounds...convincing!

New Zealand press.

I Might Be a Punk was released in May 1977 (which, incidentally, makes it the first Australian "punk" record to follow in the wake of The Saints and Radio Birdman); it stayed in the local top 100 for 10 weeks, and reached a peak of #57. Mushroom must have been sufficiently buoyed by that success to decide that a New Zealand release was in order. That pressing was issued sans sleeve, and these days is seldom sighted, at least from our vantage point north of Norman Gunston's home town.

I Might Be A Punk (But I Love You Baby) [Download]

A live version of I Might Be A Punk later appeared on the Nylon Degrees LP (Mushroom L36700, 1978). Though musically inferior, it's worth hearing for Norman's attempts at gobbing and his accompanying commentary: "When I first performed that song, I must admit I felt a bit of a prick - y'know, when I put the pin through my nose".

Matchbox - Slightly Troppo LP Festival L 36579, 1978

Fifteen reasons why Never Mind The Scallops by Matchbox/Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band remains an Australian novelty punk unknown:

1. Kazoo
2. Ukelele
3. Harmonica
4. Tenor sax
5. Washboard
6. Jug
7. Alto sax
8. Vibes
9. Mandolin
10. Hawaiian steel guitar
11. Joe Camilleri
12. Baritone sax
13. "Mood sympathiser"
14. Natural steel guitar
15. This

Never Mind The Scallops [Download]

Enlarge to reveal the full horror.

(Mick) Flinn (Band) - Do What You Wanna Do, a.k.a. Two Cans of Fosters and a Packet of Potato Chips

This, as they say, is an odd one.

Let's begin at the beginning. Mick Flinn (a.k.a. Mick Flynn) first rose to prominence as bass player for the Wild Colonials, a tough Melbourne beat group which issued three singles on HMV in the mid-'60s. The last of these, a version of The Pretty Things' Get The Picture, has become something of a classic of Australian '60s punk thanks to its inclusion on the first Ugly Things comp LP. For those unfamiliar, we suggest you get acquainted post-haste. Unfortunately, Flinn's discography over the ensuing decade is likely to present as a bit of a wasteland for those whose tastes run to the more ragged. However, elements are instructive for what was to come, hence the digressions into non-Wallaby Beat territory which follow.

After the demise of the Wild Colonials, Flinn joined the Mixtures in 1967, eventually hitting paydirt in 1970 courtesy of that year's "radio ban" - a dispute over royalty payments between commercial radio and Australia's six largest record labels, which led to radio denying airplay for major UK and Australian pop songs. In this climate, many Australian bands re-recorded songs by UK artists which had been successful overseas, and were able to parlay them into local hits unhindered by competition from the originals. Ron Tudor, owner of Melbourne's small Fable label, suggested the Mixtures re-record Mungo Jerry's recent UK hit, In The Summertime - the song became wildly successful, topping the national charts and staying there for six weeks. The Mixtures' follow-up for Fable, a novelty-tinged tune called The Pushbike Song, eclipsed the success of its predecessor, again reaching #1 locally, and charting in the UK (#2) and US (#44). The importation of a demonstrated UK hit, along with the Australian record buyer's appetite for a novelty tune, were lessons that would not be lost on Mick Flinn.

The Mixtures travelled to the UK in 1971, where Flinn remained after the band's break-up. Subsequent UK projects included Springfield Revival and Pussyfoot, but since we practically dozed off just typing the names, we'll skip forward to 1978 and the first of the two records to be considered here. Flinn, backed by UK musicians, joined his contemporaries in updating his sound to a post-'77 world, issuing Doin' It Right and Do What You Wanna Do as a single under the name Mick Flinn Band. 45 Revolutions describes the record as "a rare and rather enjoyable platter", featuring "two Glam Rock songs, updated with Punk re-touches". We certainly hear the punk, but microscopic examination reveals very little trace residue of glam, at least to our ears. However, we will accede to 45 Revs when it notes that sales of the single were "close-to-zero" - this perhaps explains why demo copies proliferate while stock copies are elusive (but do exist, as seen in the second edition of 45 Revs). 

Mick Flinn Band 7" (EMI 2805 [UK], 1978):

Doin' It Right


Do What You Wanna Do

In 1980, Flinn found himself back in Australia undertaking production work for Mike Brady and his label, Full Moon. As a member of MPD Ltd., Brady travelled in the same Melbourne beat circles as Flinn, and the two were labelmates on Fable in the early '70s. After some solo success, Brady subsequently pursued a career writing advertising jingles. Up There Cazaly - one such jingle, composed as the theme for a television football programme - was issued by Fable in 1979, and became the biggest selling Australian single of its time. (As noted last week, it was also parodied in an unreleased song by the Assassins). Brady used the proceeds to establish Full Moon, and with assistance from Astor records, succeeded in breaking his own Australian sales record with the October 1980 release of Joe Dolce's Shaddap You Face. With these two records under his belt, Brady, like Flinn, came to understand the commercial potential of a well-timed novelty song. (For more, click here).

In June 1980, Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps Please, a punk novelty tune by London's Splodgenessabounds, reached #7 on the UK singles chart. Upon his return to Australia, Flinn brought the song to Brady's attention (though Two Pints... had received an Australian release, it was not a commercial success). In a turn of events recalling those of ten years past, Brady proposed "covering" the UK hit for the Australian market, this time with lyrical adaptations to localise the song. (Brady's suggestion would prove to be ironic - in early 1981, a legal injunction was taken out against Elton John to stymie an unauthorised UK adaptation of Shaddap You Face, fronted by Andrew Sachs [a.k.a. Manuel from Fawlty Towers], and released by John's production company).

The resulting Two Cans Of Fosters And A Packet of Potato Chips recycled Do What You Wanna Do's existing backing, with the addition of a new vocal track "Australianising" the Splodge lyrics. The flip, The Barman's Reply, is just that - with the backing track replicated, playing the two songs simutaneously creates a call-and-response. Though the second edition of 45 Revolutions states that the music was also re-recorded, we maintain that the original backing track was subjected to a radical remix. Reverb was added, and Do What You Wanna Do's acoustic guitar track was dumped, thereby eliminating the endearing slightly-out-of-tune feel of the original. In addition, the master tape was sped up, resulting in the song's key being a full semitone higher (and its length being 10 seconds shorter). The combined effect is a punchier, arguably tougher sound, at the expense of the original's rough edges.

In the wake of Shaddap You Face, Two Cans... was also released by Astor and Full Moon. Coming out in late December 1980 (just in time to take advantage of the novelty tune silly season), the single entered the Australian charts on December 22, where it spent a solitary week at #93. A video was shot which helped Two Cans... plumb the depths of the charts, but Mick Flinn never saw it, and neither have we. (If you're in possession of a copy, you know what to do). Needless to say, this was among Brady's least successful novelty tunes, but it would not be long before he bounced back, reverting to type with Mark "Jacko" Jackson's football novelty, I'm An Individual. Flinn himself promptly returned to the UK and, despite periodically reviving the Mick Flinn Band name, gave Two Cans... little further thought (when originally contacted by Wallaby Beat in early 2007, Flinn had not heard the record since its release).

Finally, in a neat cultural exchange, Splodgenessabounds' next hit in September 1980 was a punked up version of Two Little Boys, made famous in the UK in 1969 by former West Australian swimming champion, Rolf Harris.

As a sidenote, The Professor has been known to deride Two Cans..., publicly declaring it to be "awful". Click here to watch The Prof in action with his preferred musical backing to two cans of Fosters.

Flinn 7" (Astor A 7319, 1980):

Two Cans Of Fosters And A Packet Of Potato Chips


The Barman's Reply


May 2019 update

Fred Cass & The Cassettes - Xmas In America (Australian Branch) 7" Fred Cassette Co 00002, 1981

Hmmm, weekend is here and we're low on inspiration. "What about Fred Cass's great At The Weekend?" said the Professor at the weekly meeting. Alright! Then we remembered it's been blogged elsewhere. Oh, no! We scrambled, and here's Fred's second 7". It's not weekend-themed but we hope you'll find something on it for today.

On this one Fred (a.k.a. Lee Cass) is again backed by various members of the Sports (and their daughters), News, Skyhooks and Schizophrenias. Yong Talent Team Xmas 2001, a medley of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer and Jingle Bells, is a cool piece of seasonal kiddie punk. Fans of At The Weekend might also wanna check out the Soft Boys/Heartbreakers-style rave-up of Family Fun Parlour, and fans of Let's Get Married should also like Fred's satire on Australian coupling rituals.

Yong Talent Team Xmas 2001


Merry Xmas Merry Christmas


Family Fun Parlour


Marriage Is A Splendid Thing

Benders - You Make Me Pewk, Incognito MA-12228-A/B, 1979

Malvern Country Club (1975) became Brown Eye (1975) became Lois Lane ('76-79) became the Benders. Pub rock with this one punque rocker. I would've stuck with Brown Eye.

The one intriguing thing about this song (from the Picnic At Oakleigh Rotunda LP) is the nominal similarity to Johnny Demon and the Devils' You Make Me Spew and slight musical similarity to Shut Your Mouth - any member sharing or other cross pollination?

You Make Me Pewk


We're the first to acknowledge that some of the actual music featured in September dropped our mean quality index down a tad so we vowed to make October special. However, late breaking news/contacts on the two records we're working on right now means you're gonna have to wait a week or two. How annoying! Mission accomplished then. And to our favourite annoyed Anonymous commenter, consider this song a thinly veiled message to you, with the veil removed.

Jackson Zumdish / The Popes 7" Agro Fish / Vatican 17171, 1980

The Professor: For a while there The Popes side of this got more column inches in Ugly Things magazine than did analysis of the Misunderstood's 1969 stool samples. Funnily though, while mentioned in dispatches on punk and DIY it didn't make the treatise on novelty punk, where it clearly belongs. I appreciate the Bonzo Dog Band moves but feel that it fails to rise to the hyped heights. Imagine my surprise though when the banner at my local newsagent screamed "The Popes Are Jackson Zumdish". There was a name I knew, and it meant they were Australian. It took me awhile to figure it out but it finally clicked that the Jackson Zumdish side had been played on 4ZZZ in Brisbane when I was growing up. After locating a copy of the record one play confirmed it, I was able to pretty much sing along to it.

We're stuck completely in novelty here, not a skerrick of punk to be heard. But the stupe vocals win me over every time.

Dr Who has some history as a punk rock reference point - see the Cybermen, the Daleks, Dalex, and Dalek I Love You, and the Art Attacks' I Am A Dalek for three examples (but not the K-9s). This is probably the only one to side not with the villains but with the good Dr himself. The idea of swanning around in space and time with a sonic screwdriver and a string of comely assistants does sound kind of appealing, at least more than being a shortarse half-flesh/half-machine foot soldier for a Philip Ruddock lookalike.

One last Aussie punk Dr Who tie-in - which Brisbane punk named his son after Adric, one of Dr Who's rare male acolytes?

Jackson Zumdish - (I Wanna Be) Doctor Who

Born To Be Punched: Look, if you pitch a tent at the prospect of Strop fronting a Four Coachmen jam on Empire State Human, then clearly you and The Professor have a lot to talk about, and (I Wanna Be) Doctor Who will be the perfect soundtrack. Yes, Knup In Your Eye has been unequivocally overrated in some quarters. Yes, the back-spooling tape is a cheap gag that must make every studio engineer groan ("Oh wow, what was that you did there? Rewind the tape, you say? Sounds great, let's use it!"). And yes, dialling down the art student whimsy may have given proceedings more of an air of genuine dementia (yeah, we get it, you're referencing Napoleon and laughing maniacally while being taken away to the funny farm. Very clever). But here the band plays like there's at least one descended testicle between them, and on that criterion alone Knup In Your Eye takes the gong. Add to that the fact that the song ends with an explosion - one of my all-time favourite (non)musical devices - and The Popes get a free pass from me.

The Popes - Knup In Your Eye

Wallaby Beat: Band website here.