When the indie janglers went epic with this rock-out to close their debut LP Foxheads Stalk This Land which is a jangle masterwork. Mother Of God though is a euphoric slab of neo-psych shogaze-y noise pop. A few years later many groups would incorporate a similar contagious upbeat swagger into their world dominating guitar pop aesthetic.
How the hell has this escaped me for over 30 years? It's obvious to say but this sounds a bit like a James Ferraro production circa 2007 but hey Jan was 14 years ahead of that hypnagogic chancer. This video has gained viral notoriety with over 6 million views since it was uploaded in the early days of youtube with the title "worst music video ever" We all know this was wrong as it's one of the greatest music videos ever. Jan's got a touch of the outsider pop magic. Rock'n'roll, Phil Spector, British beat, bubblegum, glam, punk, new wave, synthetic 80s pop: It's all in here swirling around in this classically crafted infectious pop tune.
Jan Terri - Baby Blues [1993]
Jan's pretty versatile. Here she goes country but in a purely Jan way of course. How this video isn't from 1983 is a mystery.
[1994]
Jan Terri - Journey To Mars
This one's a bit more rock. Jan with her gang of space age ladies. Futuristic.
More forgotten VHS gold from my teenage years. This might be the ultimate Rage cult classic. Me and my little sister thought this was the best back in 88/89. It's so funny, so Australian... so excellent.
Green Men might be the most important Australian short film in history. An intimate, insightful document of Strayan 20 something gen Xer's mindset and lifestyle.
He's in his undies, his Reg Grundy's, in his shizenhausen pigsty of a share house, he eats awful slop out of a can, his urine is turning green, his clothes are not too clean, he's desperate, his confidence has been undermined, he's not good enough for you, there's spew - look out cat and dog, VB cans, a George Michael poster, a trip to the milk bar and much much more.
Also contains the greatest verse in all of rock music history:
Here's an old school Rage classic I'd forgotten about. Roddy was a mysterious minor cult celebrity in my house at the time. Here was a guy who'd been in The Scientists, Hoodoo Gurus, The Johnnys, The James Baker Experience, The Dubrovniks etc. but he always seemed to leave these bands after their first single, just before they became successful. I never knew if he was just a loose cannon so they fired him or if he chickened out or he thought the bands had sold out or he was just unlucky. He was probably just a mercurial maverick, definitely a catalyst, a true rock'n'roll outlaw and a fucking deadset legend.
Dynamite Party takes the Aussie 80s garage rock sound towards an obnoxious almost glam metal junction with an insanely dodgy drum sound. The free good time rock'n'roll spirit shines through though.
*Video also features legendary Radio Birdman guitarist Chris Masuak.
Le Hoodoo Gurus - Leilani [1982]
Le Hoodoo Gurus were three guitarists and a drummer. This was their first single on the indie Phantom label. By the time of their second single they'd drop the "Le" and two of their guitarists Roddy & Kimble and become a conventional four piece rock group. Ready to become Aussie rock icons.
*The sound on this video is absolutely shite but worth watching for historical purposes. Roddy's up the back in a blue suit sporting a short hairdo.
Hoodoo Gurus - (Let's All) Turn On [1983]
Whilst Roddy didn't play on The Hoodoo Gurus debut album Stoneage Romeos, four of the tunes on the record were co-written by him including Arthur, Death Ship, Leilani and this the barnstorming classic that opens the LP (Let's All) Turn On.
The James Baker Experience - Born To Be Punched [1985]
Roddy co-wrote and played guitar on this, the B-side to Baker's one and only single I Can't Control Myself. This was a supergroup 80s Sydney style with Salamander Jim members Greg 'Tex' Perkins on bass and Stu Spasm on the other guitar and piano.
The Dubrovniks - Fireball Of Love [1988]
A driving dreamy pop tune with a sublime wall of sound. This is great stuff, almost shoegaze-y and unlike most things Roddy played on.
Haven't heard this since 1983 when I was in grade 6. My girlfriend had this exact haircut. How could you not be a spunk with that do.
In the best film clip of the 80s our spunk Shazza sings into a chicken, empties a garbage bag of rubbish, which includes a can fosters, onto her cheating boyfriend's waterbed, tries to garbage disposal his shoe and much much more. Sharon's acting prowess knows no bounds.
Losing You is a synth-rock pop anthem including some choice 80s saxophone and a singing synth robot at the end.
Melbourne hits and memories keep coming. I don't think I've heard this number 16 chartbuster since 1983 when I was in grade 6. Actually I think I thought Dear Enemy and the previous post's The Little Heroes were the same band until today.
Anyway here's some more synth-rock for your 80s FM radio. Mullets with the left ear pierced was the awesome trend of the day for these fellas who packed out Victorian pubs and clubs four nights a week for a coupla years.
Before chat gpt we had blokes singing to their computers asking it questions about love.
These guys are a lost band. What the hell happened to them? They had Men At Work's producer here but Computer One failed to crack the American top 40, only reaching #58. They only had one more single just scrape into the Aussie top 40, then they were gone.
...but we still have this forgotten futuristic synth anthem from the bogan Kraftwerk.
One Perfect Day is a classic synth-y pop rock ballad. Emotional then and emotional now for very different reasons.
This was peak Australia when everyone seemed confident and everything seemed possible and you belonged here in amongst it. Even really shonky commercial music was tops.
Melancholy adult themes designed to sound great on the FM radio dial.
The upbeat synth-rock of Lady Love was a regional hit in Melbourne but surprisingly only made it to number 43 on the national charts. A triumphant blend of prominent synths and loud guitars are the order of the day here. Legendary Antipodean producer Peter Dawkins captured MEO 245 at an inspired peak during this recording. It's got a certain immediacy and contagious bounciness to meet all your new wave needs.
It' a shame this didn't get released outside of Australia because let's face it Lady Love had Canadian top 10 hit written all over it.
This time we've got Aussie group Boys from Perth with this youthful burst of new wave power pop. How was this not a top ten smash I do not know, only scraping in at number 52. Wait... according to my book When You're Lonely was actually a regional number one hit in Perth. So there you go it's a number one hit and memory to many people over there in WA.
Fashion-wise these guys were regular new wave in black or stripes just like The Pretenders or Blondie but the singer made an interesting choice with his blue singlet. Perhaps it was a strategic marketing ploy as he had teen idol good looks, looked like he could probably put in four quarters of good footy, maybe lay a few bricks, get stuck into a slab, smoke some Winnie Blues and be nice to your mum. Mass appeal assured, well in Perth anyway...
