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MILESAGO: Australasian Music and Popular Culture 1964-1975 |
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Spin me out ...
Spin was set up in 1966 by Clyde Packer, whose
partners included promoter Harry M. Miller. Former Sunshine label
A&R manager Nat Kipner (father of Steve) was hired to manage
the label, and he also produced and wrote many of its early records.
Festival's house producer Pat Aulton produced many other successful
recordings on Spin in the late 1960s including the Dave Miller
Set's "Mr Guy Fawkes", which was named 'Record of the Year'
for 1969 by Go-Set
magazine. Spin Dried is
published from:
Moonlight Publications P.O. Box 234, Castlemaine, Vic. 3450 Orders & enquiries by email: moonlight@impulse.net.au Phone (03) 5472-3759 http://www.ozmusicbooks.com/merchant.ihtml?id=40&step=2 |
Fare ye well ... Beatles friend and assistant and longserving Apple Corps CEO Neil Aspinall died in New York on 24 March 2008. A school chum of both McCartney and Harrison, Aspinall began working for The Beatles at the very beginning of their career, some eighteen months before Pete Best was replaced by Ringo Starr. He was The Fab Four's first road manager, and after the late Mal Evans started working for them Aspinall was promoted to personal assistant, eventually becoming CEO of their new Apple Corps in 1968. He initially only took the job until the group could "find someone better" but he ended up heading the company for almost 40 years. On behalf of Apple, Aspinall was involved in notable court cases against Allen Klein and EMI, and three highly-publicised suits against Apple Computer. He also clashed with former Beatles "court photographer" Robert Whitaker over image rights, with the result that the famed lensman refused to allow his famous mid-60s Beatles pics to be included in the Anthology book. Aspinall and his wife also ran their own film company, Standby Films. He retired from Apple in 2007 without making a public announcement, prompting industry speculation that he was unhappy about a pending music licencing deal with Apple Computers' iTunes operation, but it now appears that he left after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.New releases for '08 Aztec
Music continue their superb series of classic Aussie 70s
rock re-releases with two of the most sought-after albums of that
decade. Mandu's ultra-rare sci-fi concept album To The Shores Of His Heaven,
originally released in 1974, features an all-star backing band
comprising Phil Manning, Barry Sullivan, Gary Young and Peter Sullivan.
The other relase of particular interest is the long-awaited deluxe 2-CD
reissue of Spectrum's groundbreaking 1971 magnum opus Milesago, the album
that gave its name to our humble site. Find out more at:
Scheduled Votary releases for '08 inlcude classic '70s Australian jazz albums originally released on Horst Lieplot's 44 label, including The Col Nolan Syndicate, The Brian Brown Quitet's Carlton Streets, the Charlie Munro Quintet's groundbreaking Eastern Horizons and The Jazz Co/Op, plus more reissues of classic Sven Libaek soundtrack music and, for vinyl freaks, an LP re-release of Inner Space. Copperfield Records is a recently re-activated Aussie indie label, originally set up in the 1970s by studio owner and producer-engineer David Gibson. Sydney musos of "a ceratin age" may remember David's Top Spot Studio in Hurstville, which later moved into the inner-city and was briefly renamed Sound 66. He also established the 60s labels Top Spot and 66Sound, with the latter releasing the classic "Mona" by Sydney garage-punk legends The Creatures. David renamed the studio Copperfield in the 1970s, andamong his credits he engineered and co-produced all of the early 1970s recordings by singer-songwriter (and Double Jay jock) John J. Francis, including John's 1973 hit "Play Mumma, Sing Me A Song". Luckily Gibson still has all the master tapes and he is currently trying to convince Francis to release a compilation of his '70s recordings. Copperfield has just reissued another lost '70s classic, the 1974 Aidan Nolan LP Tales From The Sun. Find out more at: http://www.copperfieldrecords.com.au/index.html |
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NEWS AND EVENTS:
– Promoter Bill Graham opens the Fillmore East in an abandoned movie theatre on 2nd Avenue and 6th Street in New York City. Tim Buckley, Big Brother & The Holding Company and Albert King head the bill on the opening night. - British singer-songwriter Elton John issues his first single, "I've Been Loving You" on the DJM Reocrds label 7 The first Battle of Saigon begins.12 The Federal government makes a reported $50,000 compensation payout to Capt. John Robertson, who was commander of HMAS Melbourne when it struck and sank HMAS Voyager in 1964. - The island state of Mauritius declares independence from British rule. 14 The Australian Army admits to reports that one of its officers tortured a Vietnamese woman suspected of being a spy. 16 A company of US soldiers carries out the infamous My Lai Massacre in Vietnam, slaughtering an estimated 500 defenceless Vietnamese villagers, most of whom are women and children. The US Army covers up the massacre and it is not revealed until March 1969, when US soldier Ron Ridenhour sends a letter detailing the events at My Lai to President Nixon, the Pentagon, the State Department, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and numerous members of Congress. In November 1969 Lt William Calley is charged with ordering the massacre.  - Sen. Robert Kennedy declares his candidacy for the 1968 Democratic presidential nomination. 17 20,000 anti-war demonstrators, including journalist Tariq Ali and actress Vanessa Redgrave, clash with police at a protest outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Sqaure, London, leading to the arrest of 91 people. Mick Jagger briefly joins the protest, which inspires him to write the lyrics for "Street Fighting Man" the following week. – The Bee Gees make their US television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. 19-23 Students at Howard University in Washington DC stage rallies, protests and a five-day sit-in, laying siege to the administration building, shutting down the university in protest over its ROTC program, and demanding a more Afrocentric curriculum.20 Eric Clapton and three members of Buffalo Springfield (Neil Young, Richie Furay and Jim Messina) are arrested in a raid on Stephen Stills’ Los Angeles home for "being in a place where it is suspected marijuana was being used". Stills evades capture by jumping out of a window. 22 A helicopter crashes on the Barracouta offshore oil platform in Bass Strait, killing two journalists and an oil company employee. - French left-wing student activist Daniel Cohn-Bendit (nicknamed "Danny The Red" because of his politics and his red hair) and seven others occupy the administrative offices of the University of Nanterre, setting in motion the chain of events that will take France to the brink of revolution in May. 25 A second royal commission finds that the commander of HMAS Voyager, Capt. Duncan Stevens, was too ill to command at the time of the accident in 1964. Full blame is placed on the executive officers of the Voyager although the commission concedes that the full story can never be known since all the bridge officers, including Stevens, died in the accident. The second report controversially overturns the findings of the first, which laid partial blame with the captain and crew of the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne. - The final episode (#58) of The Monkees TV series is broadcast in the US. 27 Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin, the first person to orbit the Earth, is killed in a plane crash during a training flight. – The Bee Gees open their first headline UK tour at London’s Royal Albert Hall, supported by a 67-piece orchestra, a 50-strong Air Force Band and choir. – The
Beatles reach #1 in the UK with "Lady Madonna". 31 US President Lyndon B. Johnson announces that he will not seek re-election. |
New Australian releases: The Beatles - "Lady Madonna" Blood, Sweat & Tears - "Child Is Father To The Man" James Brown - "I Got The Feelin'" Joe Cocker - "Majorine" The Hollies - "Jennifer Eccles" Incredible String Band - The Hangmans's Beautiful Daughter Joni Mitchell - Joni Mitchell The Moody Blues - Days Of Future Passed The Move - The Move Simon & Garfunkel - Scarborough Fair Go-Set national Top 10 singles -- March 1968 6 March
1968 13 March 20 March 27 March
6 Mar: Win a Hendrix album / Danny Finlay / Ran Jam Big Band / Lynne Goes Curly / Jones 13 Mar: "Easybeat Flop?" / Pat & Olivia Talk To Lily / What's The Use of going to Aust. - Easys Speak from England / A Twilight Exposed / Jim Keays' Secret Desire / Jamie Byrne analysed / Johnny Young on the Bonnie & Clyde explosion / Bee Gees / Stones / Compulsion / "John Bywaters Is Lovely" 27 Mar: The Groove On A Date / Larry's rebels / Wow - Cam-pact! / Somebody's Image / News / Gossip / Johnny F.'s Fave Food Source: Go-Set Australian Charts 1968 compiled by Ed Nimmervol |
| "Fuzzy
Memories": golden oldies you don't hear anymore
"Melborn and Sideny" - The Idlers Five (CBS, 1968) -- Australian Top 40 hit, March 1968
The same is regrettably true of many Australian jazz and 'mainstream' performers of this era -- many who were famous in Australia in their heyday have since been effectively 'airbrushed' out of the history of Australian popular music. This historical bias also does a great disservice to the achievements of these performers. It's worth noting that 'folkies' Lionel Long and Gary Shearston were far better known and sold many more records than most Aussie 'beat' bands. The late Lionel Long is a case in point -- he was a popular, nationally known musician (and an accomplished graphic artist) who hosted his own TV variety series, appeared as an actor in films and on TV, and earned gold records. Yet, despite his many achievements, there is very little information about him on the internet. By contrast, groups who even then were very obscure indeed (e.g. The Missing Links) and who might at best have sold only a few dozen copies of their records, are now feted as rock legends. And there is further irony in the fact that, as Australian folk music historian Malcolm J. Turnbull has noted, prominent folk artists like Long and Shearston often had to endure fierce criticism from folk 'purists' who accused then of "selling out" if they achieved any commerical success. The Idlers Five were based in Melbourne, and performed during the mid-1960s. Like their Sydney contemporaries The Tolmen, there was evidently a comedic/satirical edge to their performance and repertoire. They were a popular act in their hometown and made several appearances on TV. Their first known recording was an LP, The Idlers Five Sing Folk and Gospel Songs, released in 1964 on the independent Tyr label. It is known to have included a cover of Dylan's "Blowin' In The Wind", making it one of the very first covers of a Dylan song by an Australian act. By 1966 they had signed to EMI's HMV label for whom they recorded several singles. Their only major chart success came in early 1968, by which time they had moved to the CBS label, which gave considerable support to Australian folk music. The Idlers Five single "Melborn and Sideny" (the misspelling was deliberate) was a light-hearted take on the perennial rivalry between the two state capitals, namechecking figures like AFL footballer Ron Barassi and Victorian Premier Henry Bolte: "We'd rather live in
Melbourne Their follow-up single "If Pigs Could Fly" evidently did not chart and the band apparently split up around the end of 1968, but not before releasing an EP and a second LP, both titled Melborn and Sydeny. Group member John Tickell (second from left, above) worked his way through his medical studies by performing with the band; he graduated as a physician, and is now also a noted motivational speaker and a successful entrepreneur. SOURCES: Thanks to Bill Casey for the image and additional information 1. Norman Abjorensen Ross Laird
/ Screensound Zbig Nowara Globaldog
Productions February's Fuzzy Memory: "Bottle of Wine" by The Fireballs |
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Vocal
folk quintet The Idlers
Five enjoyed considerable popularity in
the 1960s, but they are now virtually forgotten. They
are by no means alone in this -- as Zbig Nowara points out in his
article
on Gary Shearston, the Australian folk scene has been unfairly
ignored by popular
music historians,
discographers and collectors, simply because the music
the falls outside the
abitrary boundaries of the
'pop' genre.