Category: Australian independent label
Location: Melbourne, Victoria
Date: 1966
Ownership: Ivan Dayman (?)
Distribution: Festival Records
| MILESAGO: Australasian Music & Popular Culture 1964-1975 | Industry |
KOMMOTION RECORDS
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Category: Australian independent label
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Notes
The Melbourne-based independent label Kommotion was set up specifically to promote artists who featured on the 0-10 Network TV pop show Kommotion, hosted by top Melbourne DJ Ken Sparkes, which premiered in December 1964. The link between the Kommotion show and label mirrored that between Kommotion's network rival The Go!! Show and the Go!! label (which was distributed by Astor), although in the case of Go!! both TV show and label were run by the same company, DYT Productions.
Kommotion lasted almost exactly one year -- its first release was in Feb. 1966 and the last (Mike Furber's first solo single) was in January 1967. Thus far we have identified seventeen singles, three EPs and only one LP released by the label over that time. The roster comprised the group of performers who were regulars on Kommotion -- singer-songwriter (and former child performer) Greg Anderson, Russ Kruger (well known for his collaborations with The Atlantics), The Vince Maloney Sect, Donna Gaye, Graham Chapman, 'Ja Ar' (NZ-born singer John Rowles) and Mike Furber & The Bowery Boys.
Several of the Kommotion singles were produced by Pat Aulton, who also released a single under the name The Pat Aulton Mob, featuring the Kommotion theme "March of the Mods" (a reworking of the Finnish party dance "Finnjenka"). At least one other was produced by Nat Kipner.
Both Kipner and Aulton were partners with Dayman in the Sunshine label, and Lyn Nuttall's poparchives site states that Kommotion was also owned by Dayman.(6) It is known that Dayman got into financial difficulty sometime in 1966 or early 1967 -- Kommotion folded and Sunshine was taken over by Festival, the labels' manufacturer-distributor (and, presumably, the major creditor).
Following the demise of Sunshine and Kommotion, Kipner set up the very successful Spin label (in partnership with Clyde Packer) and Aulton was hired as the senior staff producer for pop releases at Festival, where he worked from 1966-70 before becoming a freelance producer.
The Kommotion label evidently folded around the same time that Channel 0 cancelled the Kommotion show. It was dropped in early 1967, following the imposition of an Actors Equity ban that prevented the Kommotion cast from miming to pre-recorded music (a standard practice on the show). The Go!! Show was cancelled soon after and the two programs were subsequently replaced by Uptight, which ran from 1968 to 1970.
Discography
Singles
| CAT # | DATE | ARTIST | A-SIDE / B-SIDE |
|---|---|---|---|
| KK 1227 | Apr. 1966 | Mike Furber & The Bowery Boys | "You Stole My Love (Graham Gouldman)" / "It's Gonna Work Out Fine"
Also simulataneously released on the Sunshine label (QK 1227) |
| KK 1242 | Feb. 1966 | Greg Anderson | "I Feel Good" / "When It's All Over" |
| KK 1245 | Feb. 1966 | Russ Kruger | "Baby Baby Don't Go" / "Little Bit o'Soul" |
| KK 1265 | Mar. 1966 | The Vince Maloney Sect | "She's A Yum Yum" (Frazier) / "No Good Without You" (W. Stevenson) Produced by Pat Aulton |
| KK 1314 | May 1966 | Donna Gaye | "Norman - 'Normie'" (John D. Loudermilk) / "Untrue - Unfaithful"
The A-side is a parody rewrite of the Sue Thompson song "Norman", which was a Top Ten hit in Australia in 1961. The Gaye version makes reference to pop idol Normie Rowe and rival vocalists Peter Doyle, Mike Furber and Tony Worsley. (all of whom were signed to Kommotion's sister label Sunshine).(6) |
| KK 1333 | Apr. 1966 | Graham Chapman | "Baby Let Your Hair Down" / "Feel So Good" |
| KK 1358 | May 1966 | The Pat Aulton Mob | "March of the Mods (Finnjenka Dance): The 'Kommotion' Theme" / "What Did The Seagull Say?" |
| KK 1420 | July 1966 | Ja Ar (John Rowles) | "The End" / "You Still Love Her" |
| KK 1420 | July 1966 | Mike Furber & The Bowery Boys | "You" / "That's When Happiness Began" (Produced by Pat Aulton) |
| KK 1434 | July 1966 | Tony Shepp | "Come To Your Window" / "Pretty Dull" |
| KK 1470 | Aug. 1966 | Donna Gaye | "Little Things Like That" / "Bring It All Down" |
| KK 1498 | Oct. 1966 | Vince Maloney | "Need Your Lovin' Tonight" / "Mystry Train" Produced by Nat Kipner, recorded at St Clair Studios, Hurstville, NSW (3) |
| KK 1529 | Oct. 1966 | Ja Ar (John Rowles) | "Please Help Me" / "Girl Girl Girl" |
| KK 1530 | Nov. 1966 | Greg Anderson | "I've Been Unfaithful" / "Mickey's Monkey" |
| KK 1532 | Nov. 1966 | Graham Chapman | "Mr Blue" / "Lover Girl" |
| KK 1559 | Jan. 1967 | Donna Gaye | "Hey Beach Boy" / "Should We Take The Easy Way Out" |
| KK 1602 | 1966 | Mike Furber | "Second Hand People" / "Where Are You"
NOTE: Both tracks reputedly feature The Bee Gees on backing vocals with Max Merritt & The Meteors as the backing band. (5) |
EPs
| CAT | DATE | ARTIST | TITLE / TRACK LISTING | COVER IMAGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KX 11204 | 1966? | Mike Furber & The Bowery Boys | You Stole My Love
"You Stole My Love" / "It’s Gonna Work Out Fine" // "You" / "That’s When Happiness Began" |
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| KX 11253 | 1966? | Mike Furber & The Bowery Boys | Where Are You? | |
| KX 11160 | June 1966 | The Vince Maloney Sect | This is the Vince Maloney Sect
"No Good Without You" / "She's A Yum Yum" // "Sticks And Stones" / "Watch Your Step" tracks 3 and 4 recorded at St Clair Studios, Hurstville, NSW (3) |
Albums
| CAT | DATE | ARTIST | TITLE / TRACK LISTING | COVER IMAGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KL 32 030 | Sep. 1966 | Mike Furber & The Bowery Boys | Just A Poor Boy
"Just A Poor Boy" 2:30 "That’s When Happiness Began" 2:18 "You Stole My Love" 2:48 "Diddy Wah Diddy" 2:26 "Mercy, Mercy" 2:42 "If You Need Me" 2:26 "Love Talk" 1:27 "Stop" 1:58 "You’re Back Again" 2:20 "Take This Hammer" 2:16 "It’s Gonna Work Out Fine" 2:23 "Mailman Bring Me No More Blues" 2:58 |
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References / Links
1. Hank B. Facer
Kommotion Discography
MIRL Discography No. 21, May 1981
2. Rate Your Music: Kommotion Records
http://rateyourmusic.com/label/kommotion_records/
3. Bill Casey
The St Clair Recording Studio: Discography
http://www.hurstville.nsw.gov.au/beegees/discography.htm
4. Vince Maloney webpage
http://www.starclustermusic.de/artists/beegees/maloney/bio/biotext/maloney1.htm
5. Joseph Brennan
Gibb Songs: 1967
http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/beegees/67.html
6. poparchives.com.au
http://www.poparchives.com.au/feature.php?id=622