Brisbane punk rock

The Brisbane punk rock scene between 1975 and 1984 is generally regarded as producing “some of the most anarchistic bands of the Australian punk rock era”. The development of Brisbane’s punk rock movement differed to other cities because of its isolation from the rest of Australia and because the scene received special attention from the local police, which also generated uniquely, antagonistic and “snot” driven punk bands. Whilst these Brisbane bands had the environmental factors at play, it also could be seen from hindsight that the movement can be roughly dissected into three phases. First, there was the pioneering chapter, which lasted from 1975 to 1977. These bands were either innovators or part of the first wave of punk bands. Foremost of all Brisbane bands, The Saints were considered as “Aussie punk pioneers”. Then the second phase could be placed somewhere between 1978 and 1980 in which Ian MacFarlane coined the groups of this period “the second generation.” The last period faceted “the third generation” of punk groups spanning from around 1981 to 1984 and diverged into two categories; the hardcore punk and the post-punk or dark punk.

History

The Pioneers

The Saints came to the attention of the English musical press with the “Stranded” single. This song arrived with much fanfare, as it fitted neatly into the conventional punk sound and attitude in London. Jon Savage, U.K. journalist and punk historian, noted that ‘The Saints’ “had been developing in near isolation for three years, but it took just one review in Sounds (magazine) to make their career.” The Saints arrived in England in 1977 but soon found that their hair and image didn’t fit the idealistic, English punk, stylistic dress codes. Basically the English were hoping for spiky hair and brothel creepers instead they got an image of street bums with attitude. Ed Kuepper, guitarist for The Saints reflected on their arrival in the U.K., “By the time we got here the initial spirit already died out, it was very contrived. There were too many people following slavishly after. We had problems because we didn’t look New Wave.” However, that aside, The Saints reached the U.K. charts with their song “This Perfect Day”, when the Sex Pistols were at their most infamous with their chart topping “God Save The Queen” single. Eventually in 1978 The Saints disbanded but not before releasing two albums, “(I’m) Stranded” and “Eternally Yours” and the classic “Know Your Product” single. It has been said the “[The Saints] created one of the greatest R & B – fuelled rock songs of all time.” The "Prehistoric Sounds" LP was released in 1979 after they had disbanded. The Saints reformed in 1980; however, their punk edge was lost without “Ed Kuepper’s relentless power chords.”

Around 1976 the Leftovers formed, to eventually gain local cult fame due to the stories of the band’s existentialist approach to life. “Everybody was starting to get really bad drug habits and walking over each other’s backs to finance the habits” said The Leftovers’ guitarist, Ed Wreckage, of their demise in a 2000 interview. The Leftovers were plagued by many disasters including regular raids by the Police. In 1979, they released their only single, “Cigarettes and Alcohol” and generally are considered part of Brisbane’s seminal punk history. Most of the members, including Warren Lamond, their singer, have now passed away through tragic circumstances.

Another punk band from the early period was the Survivors. They were included on the "Lethal Weapons" compilation of Australian punk bands that came out in early 1978. Their drummer, Bruce Anthon, a proficient musician, went on to play various instruments for more sophisticated musical groups that did blues or jazz as well.

During this era Brisbane punk rock occasioned mostly halls such as the Hamilton Hall and Toowong R.S.L hall as venues.

Dr.warhol 04:22, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

The Second Phase

The Brisbane punk movement took off following 1978. A lot more bands formed and were given air time on Community radio station 4ZZZ, with it being said that "4ZZZ FM DJs Michael Finucane, Carl (Bill) Rhiner and Andy Nehl were influential in playing the new music." One of the bands that benefited from 4ZZZ airplay was Razar with their song Task Force, the B-side to the Stamp out Disco single. Their music was tight, fast and brash, steered by the energetic guitaring of their guitarist Steve Mee. The song Task Force essentially was about the Queensland Police Task Force special branch. As stated in the Behind the Banana Curtain CD, a compilation of Brisbane bands made by 4ZZZ, "Razar’s Task Force released in 1978 on the Able Label referred to Brisbane’s notorious undercover police." Razar were like a beacon to the local constabulary, as were most high profile Brisbane punk groups, often receiving the law’s special treatment. Dave Darling, a concert promoter, recalled such events, "We encountered problems with police just like everybody else did that tried to run a venue...9 out of 10 of them I don’t think ever made the final song...and disguise them from Task Force knowing they were on, but eventually in the course of the night one of them would find out and next thing you know you had all of them there..."

The Fun Things, originally known as The Aliens, were an outfit that exemplified the Detroit inspired “Sydney Sound” and did homage to the “spirit of their heroes” Radio Birdman with the song called When the Birdmen Fly released on The Fun Things self titled EP. However, songs like Savage easily outshone their homage track on the EP. Although The Fun Things were not as socially rebellious towards Brisbane society in relation to other Brisbane leading punk bands, they nevertheless enjoyed a reputation for tight energetic music. According to Brad Shepherd, singer/guitarist for the group, "The Fun Things were if not gifted plagiarists, at the very least a bunch of excitable Brisbane teenagers with extremely good taste in music."The band members, Brad Shepherd, John Hartley and Murray Shepherd went on to join other bands, most notably in the early to mid 1980s with the Hoodoo Gurus and The Screaming Tribesmen.

Minor players from this second phase included The Humans, The Toy Watches, Swell Guys, The Hard Ons (not to be confused with the later Sydney surf thrash band), The Fujiama Angels, The Young Identities and The Alphabet Children. Most of these bands, with the exception of The Humans, who supported The Stranglers at the Queens Hotel, played rather spasmodically, generally around hall gigs.

Also in 1979 the song was Sunset Strip by The Numbers, later renamed The Riptides recorded an outstanding punk-like tune that had regular 4ZZZ airplay but it is regarded as more pop than punk rock.

Venues that hosted punk gigs during this second phase include The Exchange Hotel, The Queens Hotel, The Curry Shop, The Baroona Hall, The Ahepa Hall, The Silver Dollar Disco, The Brisbane Hotel, Colossus Hall, Cloudland, The Majestic Hotel, Sally’s Coffee Lounge, Caxton St. Hall, Griffith and Queensland Universities and even Pips Nightclub. Other places worth a mention were Rotten Import Records, a shop dedicated to punk music in 1978 and The Elizabeth Street Bar (nicknamed White Chairs) which became an important hang out for those of a Punk/ New Wave/Alternative persuasion during the stretch of 1980 to 1987.

The Third Generation

This phase centred on the early to mid 1980s. The dark mood of the bands reflected the changing dynamics of punk. "As the restrictive measures of punk, and all the clichéd fashion statements it entailed, came to a close, post punk groups took up the gauntlet. These exciting new bands used the DIY spirit to launch a more introspective, even gloomy, but still vibrant sound." said Jason C. Reeher in his review of Post Punk. Many of the Brisbane bands absorbed the darker edge due to the post-punk fashion; however, quite a few still retained their Brisbane seditious punk heritage. The two most prominent post punk-punk groups during this period were the Vampire Lovers, who played glam/goth style of punk with garage tendencies, while the other band, the Mystery of Sixes, leaned much more towards the hardcore punk scene. Both of these bands started at Zits, a.k.a. Kisses, a punk venue in the Fortitude Valley that allegedly had an assortment of criminal connections and various staff members into the black arts. T. Flew suggested in his paper about the music scene in Brisbane of the time, "Part of the reason live music in The Valley was so prosperous during this time was the abundance of illegal brothels and casinos located in the area which were frequented on a regular basis."

The Mystery of Sixes self titled song Mystery of Sixes received substantial airplay on 4ZZZ. Jello Biafra, (Dead Kennedys) reviewed their EP’s songs as such, "this Brisbane band is a little more on the post-punk side. They definitely live in their own world, especially when the Arabic – style vocals on the title song are taken into account. The lyrics have Satanic overtones." Reminiscent of Black Flag, they pumped out their tough music with dark but forceful insight to their hardcore audience. Bez Jobson, their vocalist, diversified their sound by adding percussion to some of their songs. The Mystery of Sixes supported the Dead Kennedys in Brisbane in 1983; however they broke up in 1984.

Meanwhile, the "notorious" Vampire Lovers were the type of group, according to the Bucket full Of Brains magazine, to "embody an enjoyably snotty early eighties zombie-punk-schlock vibe." The Vampire Lovers had a tumultuous kind of spirit that gained much notoriety throughout Brisbane, in which Jeff Dahl (Angry Samoans, Powertrip) claimed that they reminded him "at times of the Pistols, The Germs, The Bonzo Dog Band and even early B-52s but it’s a stew of something much more disturbing. You get the feeling these guys weren't 'playing' punk rockers." The Vampire Lovers featured punk in leopard-print, Axle 'Axe Babe' Conrad whose "uniquely tortured pipes" added another element to the raw guitar work of Matt Nasty. Their punk classic 1983 single Buzzsaw Popstar with its trade mark chant became an instantaneous hit at 4ZZZ. They disbanded in 1984 only to reform in 1988 after the Buzzsaw Popstar single re-release. They changed to a more hard psyche/ metal influenced sound and went on to support Iggy Pop at Easts Leagues Club during his Instinct tour.

Of other Punk bands of Brisbane’s third generation were New Improved Testament, The Upsets, Public Execution, Black Assassins, Pictish Blood, Dumb Show, La Fetts and Strange Glory. Popular venues from this particular time include Amyl’s Nitespace, Zits, The Australian National Hotel, The New Exchange Hotel, The Atcherley Hotel, Whispers, Griffith and Queensland Universities the Factory, Runcorn Hall and the South Brisbane Blind Hall.

Bibliography

• McFarlane, Ian (1999). The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St. Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1.
• Savage, Jon (1991). England's Dreaming: Anarchy, Sex Pistols, Punk Rock, and Beyond. New York: Faber and Faber.