Blog

OK – here’s yer Chrissy card then. And thanks
for being there for us over 2010. See you in the New Year..

Addlebrain,
oh Addlebrain..



1)
Mick and Robyn Wordley watch the sunset 2) Geoff Miller and
his daughter Andie


3) Recently
divorced Yvonne and Mike at the Beach House 4) The Whitmore
– I hope they washed their hands..


5) Peter
Serk’s gorgeous nieces with Robbo at the Whitmore 6) Tony
McCarthy and Anne at the Lobethal Bierhaus

7) Val
Hunt and Iain Ross with Bill and Chopper Roberts at the Bierhaus

8) The
boys affect cheerfulness at the BLF gig 9) Mike plays a mean
trick on Robbo and Chopper at
the BLF gig



10)
Tony Fossey concedes defeat in the camera shootout 11) Rob Riley
is stunned by Mike’s camera dexterity
gig
report
Beach House Café Thurs. 9.12.10 Whitmore Hotel Fri. 10.12.10

Lobethal Bierhaus & BLF Social Club Sat. 11.12.10 Semaphore
Workers Sun. 12.12.10
Spectrum’s
record smashing SA tour
15.12.10 – Bill came over early
on Wednesday morning and we were on the road by about 9.00.
I didn’t want to get into Adelaide too late as we had a date
for dinner at our old mate Geoff Miller’s place (pic 2)
and the Wordleys (pic 1) were also invited. We
arrived with time to check into the Flinders Lodge before spending
a lovely evening at the Millers’ where Geoff’s wife Ju cooked
up a Korean storm. (My new one glass limit proved to be no imposition
for those that worry about such things).
Daryl and Robbo arrived safely (by air) the next morning and
we tootled on down in two vehicles to Encounter Bay to renew
our riotous acquaintance with the Beach House clientele – and
it was just about a frame-by-frame replay too. Next to the Wild
Thyme Café here in Warburton, the Beach House has to
be the most intimate gig we do, but we did manage to squeeze
Daryl into the mix as well, and despite the space limitations
it’s a great sounding room, which is a big plus for
the band. (A lot of people signed on to the e-mail list that
night, so a big welcome to all of you – we’ll stay in touch).
The next night’s gig at the Whitmore Hotel was a bit of a speccie,
but it was in the Adelaide CBD where we’ve not been sighted
for quite some time, so we figured there could be a market there.
As it turned out there was a very healthy crowd on hand, much
to the relief of our agent, Peter Serk, whose idea it was and
whose gorgeous nieces (pic 5) were manning the door.
Radio 3D’s Michael Hunter (pic 4) was on hand to film
the evening, and despite the usual indifferent lighting, (where’s
Daryl?), and the usual sound limitations he managed fair representations
of Going
Home, But
That’s Alright and Silicon
Valley and put them up on YouTube for your entertainment.
Let me know what you think.
The Saturday was our busiest day with two whole gigs, starting
with the fundraiser for SA Variety at the Lobethal Bierhaus,
which was cooked up by Kerry Philcox, whom, coincidentally,
we first met at the Beach House the last time we were over.
The gig allegedly began at round midday, so we dispensed with
our usual leisurely brekky at the East Tce Continental and headed
for the hills at a bracing 9.30 in the a.m. Lobethal is the
Adelaide equivalent to Melbourne’s Heidelberg and is inundated
with tourists over Christmas checking out their extravagant
Christmas light displays, but it’s not quite as handy being
set in the picturesque rolling hills an hour or so out of town.
We were made very welcome by the Bierhaus staff and given a
delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs, and by the time we’d
eaten the place was beginning to fill up very satisfactorily.
Some old friends turned up too in the shape of Iain Ross and
Val Hunt (pic 7) and my even older friend Tony McCarthy
and his partner Anne. (pic 6) I don’t know if it was
because we felt we were amongst friends or not, but the Bierhaus
performance was a tour highlight, both from the perspective
of our playing and from the audience reaction, and we left Lobethal
in a mild state of euphoria.
Immediately getting lost took the edge off our enthusiasm a
little bit, but actually finding the BLF Social Club in downtown
Para Hills West brought us right back to reality with a tedious
metaphor. I don’t want to upset you, gentle reader, so I won’t
describe the next few hours in any detail, apart from mentioning
that doing an encore in such circumstances goes way beyond irony
– but it did happen.
We were counting on the Semaphore Workers Club on Sunday evening
to take us out on a high – and it didn’t let us down, despite
some crazy moments of equipment malfunction. It was great to
see Rob Riley (pic 11) and he was moved to hug and
kiss us all, with the exception of Daryl whom he didn’t know
from Chopped Liver of course. Comrade Dave Pearse was in fine
form, although he still has the exquisite knack of becoming
invisible at crucial moments behind the desk.
After the show we hunted unsuccessfully for somewhere to eat
in Semaphore before heading back to Chintown in the CBD and
shouting ourselves a fine end-of-year meal accompanied by a
bottle of Moët Chandon. (pic 14)
First thing in the morning Daryl and Robbo caught a flight back
to Melbourne, while Bill and I clambered back into the fully
laden Mitsi and chugged back home, negotiating a 50km swarm
of locusts on the way. (pic 15) Peter Serk is raring
to go on another SA tour, so I’ll let you know the date as soon
as I know. Hooray!

12) Bill
finds an appropriately sized mascot in an arcade 13) They don’t
miss a trick in the Rundle St Mall do they?

14) Damn
that bubbly tastes good! The food was good too.15) The van experiences
its own Day of the Locust

Christmas,
bloody Christmas..


1) Enza
Pantano, Wally and Rosemary Bishop were there. 2) Robbo gets
up close and personal with Ross Ryan



3)
Mark Holden and Ron Peers cuddle up 4) Bill’s Rosemary puts
in a rare appearance at the Debs’ Chrissy do


5) Jim
Keays sings one of his hits 6) Rocky Dabschek is caught unawares
by the Rudd paparazzo camera – again

7) Dom
snaps our table
The
Debs’ Chrissy party
14.12.10 – Well, it was a week
ago and now but a distant memory, so while I’ve got a legitimate
excuse for forgetting some of the more excruciating details
there’s also a warm and fuzzy intention simply to overlook them,
particularly as this was the last luncheon for the year. That
being said, my hearing is so compromised these days that a room
full of similarly afflicted blokes and their menopausal women
cheerfully yelling banter at each other over their three meats
and rocket salads is a daunting prospect, and I think the Debs’
shows do it best. Luckily Bill and Robbo had secured a table
next to the door, about as far away from the source of the racket
as one could get, and Mark Holden, Ross Ryan, Enza and Ronnie
(pics 1, 2 & 3) were sheltering there with us,
so we had good company. The idea of our going to the Chrissy
luncheon in particular is so we can pretend it’s Spectrum’s
very own break up party, but Chopper’s no-show rendered that
idea invalid and when more noisy music started, I took the opportunity
to flee..

The
Maldon Blues Club’s break-up do

1) In
an unassuming lounge in an unassuming pub, the unassuming locals
congregate on a Sunday arvo to party on..



2)
Di, Heather and Lyn Trollop braved the floods 3) Viv Hamilton
came from Castlemaine all of 100 metres away

4) Kinga
Roy spruiks the raffle

gig
report
Maldon Hotel Sun. 28.11.10
Act
of God fails to stop the Maldon Blues Club party
29.11.10 – The alleged creator
of the Universe, Mr God, was moving in manifestly meteorological
ways on the weekend, but the gig at the Maldon Hotel went
ahead as scheduled. It made a change from listening to the
flood reports, the baffling updates on the State election
and the Aussie cricketers being systematically dismantled
anyway, so a good half of the entire town’s population trotted
down to the pub to cop a bit of the full-Monty Spectrum, satisfyingly
augmented as they were with the addition of keyboardist, Daryl
‘Chopper’ Roberts.
Our Blues Club host, Kinga Roy, (pic 4) made us all
feel at home, but I must see if he can come good with a green
room next time – a pub urinal is not the ideal place to change
at the best of times, but this one requires holding your breath
at the same time and so is particularly demanding.
It was great to see the three Trollops (pic 2) after
their scary text messages, and

also very nice to catch up with Viv
Hamiltion (pic 3) after far too long, but almost as
good was the actual enjoyment we got out of playing – I quite
forgot we were due top stop at 6.00 and the set was ominously
drifting on to a 6.30 conclusion before the rest of the band
had a union meeting and called the gig off.

Howqua
Valley vs the Rest of the World


1) Birthday
boy Stephen puts on a smiley face 2) Is this alright? The kid
plays Bill’s Yari




3)
Bill advises on publicity pics 4) It was the toddler’s birthday
too 5) The best fireworks display ever!
gig
report
Stephen Taylor’s 60th Howqua River Sat. 27.11.10
Steve’s
birthday bash turns to mud
29.11.10 – Stephen Taylor (pic
1) saw Bill and me performing at Lex Macarthur’s birthday
party and was mesmerised according to Lex, and so a little while
later I received an enquiry from Stephen as to whether we’d
like to play at his 60th at Howqua Valley, which is nestled
in the rolling hills just out of Mansfield, near Lake Eildon.
It had been raining intermittently all day, so we made plans
for our exit with Stephen even as we arrived, because the field
in which the marquee was pitched, (and where, earlier in the
day, the Howqua Valley vs the Rest of the World annual
cricket match had been aborted after half an hour ), was already
becoming a little, shall we say, sticky. Just as well we did
too, as it turned out.
There was a stutter or two while the generator situation was
sorted, and then we were under way, and as we played the showers
became more and more insistent. Thankfully the rain didn’t spoil
the special part of the evening, which was reserved for the
fireworks display, (pic 5) and I don’t think I’ve seen
(or heard) anything quite so impressive in all my birthday-partying
years. I would even go so far as to describe it as awesome!
We could only follow it with The Song and then play on resolutely
as the audience gradually filtered away until only our hosts
remained. We loaded up the van and then bravely made an attempt
at driving out – and got just ten metres before getting hopelessly
stuck. We hadn’t even got to the muddy part yet! Stephen hooked
our bull bar to the tractor and pulled us the next hundred or
so metres until we reached the safety of the gravel road.
It continued raining most of the night, and the next morning
we received word from The Trollops that they were thinking of
coming up the see us in Maldon but there were rumours that it
might be inaccessible due to flooding. I muttered darkly to
Bill that the last time I’d seen so much rain was when Joan
Kirner’s Labor Party lost office and that it could be an omen.
I think I got that right as it turns out.

Mike
and Bill’s surprise guests, Christian Staehely and his friend
Nick
gig
report
Churchill Café & Larder Mont Albert Fri. 27.11.10
Surprises
abound in Mont Albert
29.11.10 – The first surprise is that there’s
a licensed premises of any description in the wowserish suburb
of Mont Albert. The Churchill Café is the dream child
of Mark Cornehls (who happens to be the Madders’ Brenden Mason’s
butcher) and it was only the second week he’d had music there
– Phil Manning played the previous week – so there’s a certain
amount of suck-it-and-see going on still. For instance, it was
raining, so Bill and I had to set up in the café itself,
rather than the courtyard, as there’s no
shelter from the elements for the
musicians – yet. It was a bit of a squeeze inside, and perhaps
there was the occasional conflict of interests – i.e.
chat vs music – but we eased our way into proceedings and as
the evening progressed there were more and more taking notice
of us and responding.
As we were packing up, who should walk in the door but Al
Staehely’s son, Christian. He and his mate Nick are over
here playing baseball for the Sandy Royals, and ladies, I can
confirm that he’s just as sweet a guy in person as he looks.
He’s keen to catch up with us again at a gig sometime, but of
course there’s bugger all gigs now till the New Year. Luckily
the baseball season’s a long one, so there’s time yet.

The
Station Reunion

1)
The Mick Elliott Band is appraised by the crowd that was there
in the first place – and found to be exactly the same


2)
The musical hits of the arvo, Mason, Stockley and See 3) Anita
Monk winds down from the benefit with Robbo



4)
Robbo chats with local Tom Spanos 5) Joe Creighton chats with
former gonzo journalist, Jenny Brown


6)
Interstate visitors from SA 7) Chris Stockley makes friends
with a jug o’ beer



8)
My co-conspirator, Lena Blomfield 9) David Pepperell remakes
acquaintances
gig report
Station Hotel Sat. 20.11.10
The
Station Hotel reunion finds an audience
21.11.10 – Bill and I arrived
outside the Station Hotel just after the agreed load-in time
of 12.30, fully expectiing Glyn ‘Mother’ Mason to be waiting
for us impatiently, but instead we ran into an irate little
man claiming to be Mark Barnes who vehemently harangued us
for being grey-haired has-beens playing the same crap we’ve
been playing for the last thirty years. And your point is?
Anyway, Bill and I thought nothing more of it, but he came
back again later when the Mick Elliott band was playing, only
to storm out minutes later loudly voicing his dissatisfaction.
I think he was miffed about something, but most people that
I spoke to during the afternoon were delighted about the reunion
in nearly every respect. The opening act, the Mick Elliott
band, (pic 1) was chillingly authentic and Trevor
Young scared the bejesus out of Robbo’s drums. I thoroughly
enjoyed The Pardoners’ set (Sam See and Glyn Mason) and the
Stockley, See, Mason numbers (pic 2) worked absolutely
fine without a rhythm section and went down a storm.
Glyn joined Spectrum for I’ll Take You High and we
cheerfully massacred a couple of Chris Stockley’s songs without
incurring a dummy spit. Michael Bright said his highlight
of the afternoon was seeing David Pepperell dancing to I’ll
Be Gone, but I think everybody had a memorable moment
or two. There is talk we should do it again. What do you
think?

The
Harvey James benefit


1)
The Oakleigh-Carnegie RSL or the Caravan Music Club + moon
2) I’m rudely awakened


3)
Bill cuddles Harvey’s Faye 4) Harv with daughter Alex and
Fender’s Margaret O’Loughlin


5)
Bill wraps up Harv’s sons, Josh and Gabe 6) 3 NRG’s Andrew
Smith was one of many media people in the room


7)
John Grant and Phuil Manning having a chat 8) Jimi Hocking
has a reflective moment


9)
How long since I’ve seen Jenny Brown? 10) Phil Manning assumes
there’s a crowd out there somewhere


11)
Garth Porter joined Ariel for I’ll Be Gone and Launching Place
12) Harv joins in the encore with Faye looking on

13) Part
of the crowd with Alana and Chrissie right up front
gig
report
Caravan Music Club Sat 18.11.10
Harvey
James’ night of nights
23.11.10 – When we got there, Bill remembered
going to the Oakleigh RSL (pic 1) back in the ’60s
when it was a jazzer joint – he thinks the Red Onions Jazz Band
was playing there – and being a rock ‘n’ roller, he didn’t go
in. As it turns out, it’s a wonderful space and the two Anitas
got it just right as far as Harvey’s gig was concerned. Bill
and I were ludicrously early and as a consequence I curled up
under a table in the green room later on to rest my weary bones,
only to be rudely awakened by Bill and Robbo. (pic 2) (Actually,
that’s a pretty amazing shot catching Robbo’s flash like that).

I had some misgivings about the
rigorous schedule of performances Harvey had set himself for
the evening, but he coped manfully all night and managed to
put in an heroic performance.
I was dividing my time between socialising/resting in the
green room and catching acts in the hall, so I certainly didn’t
see everything, but the performances I did see ranged from
honest and heartfelt (in the case of Harvey’s Band of Friends
with his sons Josh and Gabe for instance), to muscular and
electrifying in Ian Moss’ case.
It was especially touching to see the Sherberts (sans
Darryl) back together again – Garth Porter (pic 11)
even joined Ariel for I’ll Be Gone and Launching
Place Part 2, (which he’d never heard before), and Tony
Mitchell borrowed Bill’s Precision for the Sherb’s set, which
might give you an inkling of the camaraderie back stage. A
bit different from the old days when the Sherbs were the enemy.
Ariel had prepared ten songs for our part of proceedings,
but things were running so far behind by that stage that we
cut it back to just the four. The audience had understandably
diminished by this time, (it was a Thursday night after all),
but their singing in I’ll Be Gone was whole-hearted
and actually quite stirring – even for jaded old me.
I’ve had a couple of e-mails from Harv since then. He’s truly
happy that the night happened and that it was by any measure
a wonderfully successful night. Of course, it wouldn’t have
happened without the support of the musicians on stage and
the crew working behind the scenes, but the ultimate kudos
are reserved for the Anitas Monk and Sulcs for pulling the
night together. It was a huge job on very short notice and
I think if you were there you’d agree they pulled it off magnificently.

Mike
Powell – you made it on to the Stop Press page!
gig
report
The Bay Hotel Mordialloc Sun. 14.11.10
Crudd & Pump at The Bay
14.11.10 – Bill stayed overnight because
the flooding at Strathie made car travel uncertain, so we both
had a bowl of Crudd’s porridge-to-the-stars for brekkie to start
off the day. It’s been quite a while since we were last at The
Bay, but not a lot has changed. They still have problems with
the neighbours, so care has to be exercised in what is a very
live room to start with. Matt the bar manager
was very understanding being a musician
himself, and we managed to sound pretty presentable despite
the odd gremlin. Rob Judd rolled up, which was nice to see,
and the Drs Sellers dropped in on their way back from a couple
of days down at Blairgowrie. The Pump and I enjoyed the arvo
too.

Glenn
and Yvonne were down from Qld again – hooray!
gig
report
Lomond Hotel Sat. 13.11.10
The
Lomond
14.11.10 – The occasional showers from
the previous night had morphed into driving rain and cool temperatures
by last night and I was thankful for my Drizabone during the
load in. There’s been a new carpet been laid since last we were
there, and I’m not sure whether it was that that influenced
the sound or not, but it was definitely more subdued than usual.
Anticipating some of the crowd wanted an early night we swapped
the second and third sets and I think the strategy worked –
and anyway, by the third set a more boisterous dance crowd had
blown in, so we might do that again. One of them wanted to know
if we did any Barry Manilow..

1)
Marg Bird, moi, Geoff and Kath McClatchy 2) Mike and Bill catch
up with Rose from TCS after thitry years

3) Trollop
No. 1, Jennie, celebrates with Bill and Mike (Bass)
gig
report
Ferntree Gully Hotel Fri. 12.11.10
It
was a rainy night in Georgia..
13.11.10 – I realised just before we left
for the Ferntree Gully Hotel that the starting time was actually
9.30 rather than 8.30, so I e-mailed The Trollops immediately
– it was Trollop numero uno Jennie’s birthday (pic
3) and they’d booked a booth to celebrate. Bill and I got
there early followed by the afore-mentioned Trollops in festive
mood – to the point that I had to issue a stern ‘don’t peak
too early’ warning. I was delighted when the McClatchys arrived
unexpectedly with Marg Bird (pic 1) and then amazed
when Rose (pic 2) identified herself after the first
set as the receptionist at TCS all those years .
ago. She joined the Trollops later
on the dance floor – you never know, there could be another
Trollops’ initiate as a result!
It was a warm and humid night with a bit of thunder and rain,
(hence the Georgia reference), the band was hot as well and
and the crowd was receptive. As I e-mailed to the agent, Scott
Carne, this morning, it was a most congenial night.

1) Harv
reacquaints himself with the rep’ 2) Faye feeds the bird
Mike
& Bill visit Harv
12.11.10 – I’ve been in constant telephone
and e-mail touch with Harv (pic 1) since he discovered
he was stricken with cancer, but it was still a shock when he
opened the door of his and Faye’s home deep in the backblocks
of Olinda. That first impression was quickly forgotten as Harv
was in good spirits and chatted cheerfully about the many people
who have put their hands up to be involved with next Thursday’s
benefit.
After watching Faye feed the tame King parrot (pic 2)
we worked our way through the repertoire from the Rock &
Roll Scars album. It’s going to be a big night – it’s almost
booked out already!

1) Spectrum
rocks the Ivanhoe Golf Club (pic Jim Z. Kozlevcar)
2) Robbo and Nik reflect on a splendid Cup Day bash
gig
report
Ivanhoe Golf Clubhouse 2.11.10
Nik’s
Melbourne Cup Day bash
3.11.10 – The morning’s weather was intermittent
showers and the afternoon promised more of the same, so Nik
(pic 2) decided to relocate from his backyard to the
Ivanhoe Golf Clubhouse down the end of his street. This year
Daryl was initiated into Nik’s Cup Day ritual – a pleasant change
from wandering around Flemington with a mandolin serenading
drunken racegoers as he did in the ’80s.
We had time to scoff some of the fine food on offer before the
first set – then there was a brief interruption while the race
was run and we were back into it. We had an enraptured audience
and I even got some ladies to join me in a conga line later
in the day!

Way
Out West and INMT


1) Matt
Walker and Brod Smith interrupted by Robbo’s drums at the Willy
RSL


2) Brod
does Brod 3) Rob ‘the Count’ Rowe and Mr Morris Nylon chat on
the patio


4) The
happy crowd take to the floor in Spectrum’s splendid set at
the Willy RSL (Newman)


5) Mr
Morris Nylon goes ape in Some Good Advice
6) Bill looks positively languid in the same song (5
& 6 Newman)



7) Colin
Cook and Tony Cavanagh 8) Terry Dean and Bill 9) Terry Dean
and harpist Anthony Hurry


10) Steve
Pigram reads Shane Howard’s kids’ book 11) Bobby Bright tries
to look bright and happy before his spot
gig
report
Way Out West Willy RSL and In North Melbourne Tonight The Comics
Lounge Sun. 31.10.10
From
the sublime to the gorblimey..

2.11.10 – It seems ages
since we last did the Willy RSL, so we were lookuing forward
to meeting up again with Rob, (pic 3) Wendy and Ernie
– plus all the Willy regulars and a couple of Trollops. The
fact that it was a costume or Halloween party somehow eluded
90% of the audience though, but Spectrum made a token effort
at least, with Robbo a crowd favourite in his kilt, and Daryl
as Chopped Liver and me as my alter ego, Mr Morris Nylon. Bill
had wrecked all his Strathie Bill clobber in the previous night’s
rain and managed only the boots, but got points for just being
there, having to navigate through a forest of fallen trees round
Strathewen.
Brod and Matt ‘Steve Buscemi’ Walker (pic 1) opened
proceedings with a laid-back set that drew rapturous applause.
Brod’s particularly pleased with his new harp amp which has
a fascinating provenance that I’ve forgotten but which I’ll
find out for you.
Then it was our turn. I blended our usual three sets into the
one long (90 min) set, so it could’ve been a little confused,
but actually I was pleased with the way it ran. The crowd liked
it too and obligingly got up and danced at just the right time.
(pic 4) Everybody seemed happy and I’m sure we’ll be
back at the Willy RSL before too long.
Bill and I had to go to the Comics Lounge for the annual In
North Melbourne Tonight bash to perform IBG. This is
the first year for INMT at the Comics Lounge and Athol Guy said
it was a timely move as it was all getting too big for the Polish
Hall. Naturally the show was running well behind and Bill and
I had a considerable wait before our two minutes of fame, so
we brushed shoulders and chatted with most of the host of celebrities
and entertainers in various stages of pre and post-stage tension
in the interim, including Mark Holden, Lisa Edwards, Vicki O’Keefe,
Russell Morris, (who was very nervous about singing the Seekers’
The Carnival Is Over, especially with them all being
in the audience), Paul O’Gorman, Colin Cook, (pic 7)
(who showed me that his teeth had stuck together with chewing
gum), Terry Dean, (pic 8) Anthony Hurry, (pic 9)
Shane Howard and Steve Pigram, (pic10) Bobby Bright,
(pic 11) and a host of others.
By the time we finally got on for The Song, Bill and I were
so drained that we elected to slink away before the final shebang,
which was a shame as it was probably a lot of fun too. Tonys
Cavanagh and Healey and the rest of the organising committee
can be justifiably proud of gathering such an illustrious ensemble
for INMT and the new venue is a considerable improvement,
but the sound arrangements remain painfully inadequate and almost
all the performers were rattled by it – somebody suggested they
should have a benefit for a new PA – and one can only hope that
it’s fixed by the time this worthy and uniquely Melbourne curiousity
comes round again.

Rock
of Ages 3


1)
Billy Kristian and Gil Matthews reminisce about the good times
2) Bill and Warren Pig Morgan are Indelible



3)
Gil showes Bill a part of his enormous collection of albums
4) The studio where Gil re- mastered Milesago



5)
What every home should have – a five Ferrari garage 6) Gil
serves up tea and coffee from his bar of bars
Rock
of Ages 3 – the rehearsal
27.10.10 – It’s a bit of a hike to where
Aztec Music boss Gil Matthews lives in Mt Eliza, but Bill
and I were more than happy to travel there today to rehearse
our small part in the Rock of Ages 3 show with Gil’s
Unnatural Act band, especially given what we’d heard about
Gil’s home. At first glance you’d be hard pressed to imagine
that it’s a home at all – the scale of the place from the
gates onwards is simply breathtaking.
If you’d told me it was a public building,
perhaps a museum for instance, I would’ve accepted that, apart
from the fact that it’s in Mt Eliza, of course. Anyway, Gil
was more than happy to show us round the place; his enormous
record collection, (pic 3) his mastering studio,
(pic 4) his Ferrari garage (or showroom), ((pic
5) and finally his bar to die for. (pic 6) I
told Gil it gave Bill and me something to aspire to, and I
imagine he understood that I was being ironic.
As we arrived we saw Ross Ryan leaving, and half way through
our rehearsal Blackfeather’s Neale Johns arrived, so it must’ve
been a busy day in Gil’s wife’s garage where we were rehearsing.
Brenden Mason (Madder Lake, Blackfeather) was there as part
of the UA band and was commenting on how much work was involved,
especially with the Billy Fields’ material. Billy hasn’t played
in public for a few years apparently and they’re only getting
the one rehearsal with him on the day of the concert.
With Bill taking the bass duties in our two songs, ace bassist
Billy Kristian (pic 1) (The Invaders, Max Merrit’s
Meteors) was temporarily redundant and was taking the occasional
snap to keep himself occupied. I asked him about Ray Columbus
and he said that Ray had now retired from performing due to
ill health, and then we chatted with Warren about the various
musicians who had given music away altogether – a few with
quite some prejudice.
Despite Bill and me not really being rehearsal people, we
enjoyed the rehearsal for what it was and the afternoon in
general. While I reckon Friday night’s Rock of Ages 3
show is going to be quite spectacular, it won’t hold
a prayer to Gil’s Mt Eliza mansion.

1)
Greg McCainsh talks Claptrap 2) Headley oversees Jeff Jenkins
posing a question

Mike on Headley Gritter’s The Party Show
24.10.10 – At 3.15 on Fiday
arvo I got a call from Headly Gritter asking if I’d be interested
in popping down to Triple R at 11.45 on Saturday night to
participate in another episode of his occasionally riotous
The Party Show. At 11.30 I pulled up in Blyth St
behind Greg McCainsh’s car (pic 1) and we strolled
into the studio together to be greeted by Headley (pic
2) in his inevitable aqua-marine sweat shirt. I believe
Greg and I were on the show together the last time, as was
the third guest, Jeff Jenkins, (pic 2) writer for
the popular TV series, My Generation. and with half
a dozen book titles to his credit, including appropriately
the Skyhooks history Ego Is Not A Dirty Word.
There was an array of phone guests too, including Michael
Chugg, Dutch Tilders and Jim Keays, who happens to be on the
bill with Bill and me this coming Friday night at Palms at
Crown for the Rock of Ages 3 concert.
I managed to remember to mention that Spectrum’s playing at
the Willy RSL next Sunday and Brod Smith’s playing on the
bill with us. I reckon he might be able to shed some light
on Headley’s legendary Lithgow Leaper.

1)
Caterpillar boy does his thing 2) Caterpillar boy wonders what
he’s got himself into
gig report
St Andrews Hotel Sun. 17.10.10
The
trio flexes its muscle at St Andrews
18.10.10 – Daryl, (or Dabble as
we now like to call him), couldn’t make this one, so we had
license to go to a few places we hadn’t visited for a while
repertoire-wise. There was an unusually large crowd on hand
as a birthday party was in progress when we arrived, and later
on they proved themselves by singing along as lustily as any
crowd I can remember. Mind you, the Trollops were in attendance
and made sure any newcomers were up to speed.
Caterpillar boy was disporting himself horizontally on the dance
floor as caterpillar boys do, (pic 1) and I took the
opportunity in the blues set to tower over him with mic in hand
– and although I resisted the temptation to utterly intimidate
him, he remained a little unsure of me when dad took the group
photo. (pic 2)
This week is diappointingly devoid of live gigs, so I guess
we’ll all catch up again at the Willy RSL Halloween Special
on Sunday 31st.

1)
Shirley and Dr Wazz had a good old chin wag 2) Phil knew a lot
about Spectrum
gig
report
Westernport Hotel Sun. 10.10.10
Crudd
& Pump do San Remo
11.10.10 – I turned on ABC Classic
Radio this morning to hear the opening strains of Jupiter
from Gustav Holst’s The Planets, which took me back
to a conversation Bill and I had with Phil (pic 2)
at yesterday’s gig down at the Westernport Hotel in San Remo.
Phil was eager to know if I wrote Make Your Stash and
if I knew about its classical precedent, not an uncommon question
from people who know our music, and on this occasion we had
a knowledgeable crowd in the room. I was delighted to see Shirley
(pic 1) arrive as we were setting up – she’d come all
the way from Foster and was planning to stay overnight, (that’s
what I call dedication!), but there were a number of other familiar
faces in the room and they all joined in heartily at the appropriate
moments and requested their favourite Spectrum songs when they
felt like it.
This is not the first time Bill and I have done the Westernport,
but it was probably the most fun. The duo format can be difficult
when the audience is not familiar with our oeuvre,
but as I said, this audience was a bunch of Spectrum-heads,
and those that weren’t were either good listeners or very polite.
I was even able to perpetrate a four-number sampler of my solo
repertoire, which nobody was expecting but which seemed to go
down well
I had the added bonus of Dr Wazz (pic 1) to chat with
on the way there and back, which was quite timely as Bill hadn’t
slept the previous night and just wanted to snooze. I’m now
hoping we might do another one or two forays down to San Remo
over the summer.

Lena
talks turkey with the Station Hotels’ licensee
gig
report
Sally’s 50th b’day party Eltham Sat. 2.10.10
GF2
fails to impact on Sally’s party
4.10.10 – Nobody imagined when Sally’s
birthday party was being planned that there would be two
consecutive Grand Finals, meaning Pies’ tragic Robbo would be
moving heaven and earth to be at both of them. At least with
Robbo recording at my place on Thursday he was able to leave
his kit with me and so could waltz in with thirty minutes to
spare and be set up right on time. (Mind you, the Djembe suffered
terminal skin damage in the process so he might be regretting
that right now).
Anyway, it was a terrific party, starting with the Kinrades’
fabulous grandscaled mudbrick house in a lush bush setting,
through to the guests, all decked out in their best ’70s gear.
The djembe wasn’t the only instrument
casualty however, with my mic lead dying during the speeches,
strange alien noises intermittently coming from my amp and my
nylon-string producing only a sad, farting noise, (flat battery
most likely). Despite losing the plot on a few occasions we
had quite a deal of fun, and while a number of the guests were
clearly mystified as to who and what we were about, (same as
it’s ever been), our hosts and some of their more musical guests
were obviously delighted.
Sadly I left my camera at home, so there are no party pics to
regail you with, but there is an explanation for the pic I’ve
included. I ran into Lena Blomfield at Rudd HQ recently and
we discussed the lapsed Station Hotel reunion idea and agreed
it was too good an idea to be abandoned. With that in mind we
went to the Station and had a chat with David Farquhar, the
licensee. (pic) A date was decided upon – the arvo
of Sat. Nov. 20th – and Spectrum will be playing, with several
other musical guests to join the bill. If you used to go to
the Station in the ’70s and ’80s, get in touch with Lena on
Facebook
and let her know you’re interested in coming.

Mike
and George at Fresh @ Elwood



1)
I think that’s the biggest I’ve seen my name 2) Michael Bright
lights up the room



3)
Chris Stockley gets down with Mandy 4) Pam and Baz flanked by
Martyn (left) and Broc



5) Louie,
Debbie, stuffed toy and Allan Alderson with sister Karen 6)
Gabi, JD and the Spies came into
the cold
gig
report
Ironhorse BBQ Fresh @ Elwood 16.5.10
Mike
and George catch up with some friends at Fresh

17.5.10 – Gabi (pic 6) was
wondering who this George Martin fellow was, but it’s just another
case of my being confusing for the sake of it. I have met the
real George Martin as it happens, but I’m not sure he would
add anything to the idiosyncratic Rudd set list, whereas I’d
be totally acapella without George Martin,
my DCXIRE* model Martin guitar. We don’t get out together much,
so I was a little apprehensive when Chris Stockley rang to confirm
my solo gig this last Sunday arvo at Pat Wilson’s Fresh @ Elwood,
but I’d had a few run-throughs at home during the week and I
thought it felt OK.
I’d forgotten how cold it can get in the courtyard when the
sun drops behind the next door block of flats, so when I was
sound-checking I felt inclined to keep on going rather than
stopping and starting again and a few of my audience missed
the early part of the set as a result. Luckily, Chris and Brighty
(pics 2 & 3) fleshed out the rest of the arvo while
I had my complimentary lunch and chatted to Martyn Sullivan,
Broc O’Connor and the McCulloughs, (pic 4) and the
Aldersons (pic 5) etc.
Now I want to do another one quick, so I don’t lose
momentum. Let’s see – there’s another one due on Sunday June
13th. See you there!

Spectrum
in the Lounge



1)
Robbo talks drums with Lee’s son, Lauchie, as he sets up his
wave drum 2) Bill tunes up the Yari

3) Come
on down! A winner collects her prize from Lee

gig
report
Spectrum in the Lounge at Lee McIntosh’s Frankston 15.5.10|
The
trio goes nuts in Frankston
17.5.10 – This was the second attempt
at this particular gig – the first time was thwarted when
I had my arrhythmia episode a few weeks back – but
in fact it’s the third time we’ve played at Lee McIntosh’s
Frankston home as the stars of her Spectrum in the Lounge
gigs. Lee is a fierce proponent of the Tibetan cause and cooked
us up a very tasty Tibetan menu before we started, and Sally
Dettmer, despite being handicapped with a severely sprained
ankle, was appointed door bitch and sold the raffle tickets
– the raffle was drawn at the start of our second set just
before we launched uinto IBG. (pic 3) We
did two long sets and mixed the repertoire up a bit – it seemed
to go down well..

Mike’s
begging for attention – and Mick Newman gives it to him
St
Andrews gigs
13.5.10 – You might remember I was wondering
where Stan had been, so I was pleased to get a message from
him yesterday asking me to get in touch about some more dates.
I rang him today and we pencilled in some St Andrews gigs
for the next three or four months and it seems that he’s not
been too well either, but the good news is that he’s on the
mend.
Mick Newman sent the pic (left) of me on my knees,
begging you please, from the last time we were at St Andrews,
so I just had to muck around with it a bit.

The
trio at the Mulwala Water Ski Club



1)
Barry and Claire Murnane just happened to be up from Melbourne
as did 2) Phil Seeley posing with Mike
gig
report
Mulwala Water Ski Club 9.5.10
Some
Mothers do ‘ave ’em..
10.5.10. – But not on Mothers
Day at the Mulwala Water Ski Club apparently. Mind you, the
Ski Club is an enormous room, so the fifty or so interested
spectators in attendance were fairly swalllowed up in the vastness
of it all. However, given the number of CDs that were sold,
there was more than a passing interest in what we were doing
and we got a lovely reception all day, so it wasn’t that we
felt entirely unloved – just a couple of hundred more people
in the room might’ve made it feel, well, busy..
Robbo has work on today, so we spurned the accommodation on
offer (at the Quality Motel, no less!) and after downing our
$16.00 complimentary La Porchetta meals, we drove straight home.

For all those NSW e-mailers enquiring about it, I’m talking
today with our agent about a future NSW tour, so stay tuned!

The
Over The Hill Festival



3)
Lex delivers his sermon from the mount + power point presentation
4) Nurse Paula and sister Mary with bro’ Dick

Lex and
Petrina’s Home duet

gig
report
Lex and Pettrina’s place 8.5.10
Lex’s
Over The Hill Festival
10.5.10. – As we found out over the evening,
Lex (McArthur), courtesy of his mother’s unswerving support
in his formative years, is a man blessed with unfettered optimism
and imagination, fortunately surrounded by a dedicated team
(of women) who can help him realise his wildest dreams. So,
why not have your 50th birthday party as a festival, (I particularly
liked the solitary portaloo hired for the blokes – very festival
like), and have a selection of your musical friends and relations
to perform over the evening – and have yourself and your partner
(pic 5) in the prime spot as the stars of the show?
After Lex’s introductory speech (pic 3) Bill and
I started of the musical part of the evening, and as our PA
was the festival PA we hung around to nibble and chat with
the guests (pic 4) and take in the other musical
highlights. I liked Petrina and Lex’s duet, Lex’s girls’ Twist
& Shout and the ‘real’ band, Joe Neptune.

Georgia,
Matt and Karen grabbed the front seats

gig
report
St Andrews pub 2.5.10
St
Andrews goes off without incident
3.5.10 – Robbo’s done something
quite serious to his back and set up a reduced kit as a consequence
– and was wearing a corset. Bill was snotty and my
voice was even more brittle than the night before – only Daryl
was in full health. Nevertheless, it was a typical St Andrews
gig (where’s Stan these days?), and the audience were up on
their feet rocking by the end of the day.
The Trollops made a big effort to come on their big night
out, (some of them were heading off to see the Deep Purple
show), Pete Carolan and Alana were there, and Matt (whose
40th we played at a couple of years ago) took front seat with
Karen and daughter Georgia. (pic)

Kevin
thanks his guests for helping with the party
gig
report
Kevin Gasparini’s b’day party 1.5.10
Kevin’s
party blow-out
2.5.10 – Bill and I arrived far too early,
so by the time the guests started arriving we were well and
truly set up, Kevin had put in place an old sail to block the
fitful northerly and the gas heaters were keeping the deck cheerfully
warm. Kevin and Kath made sure we were fed and comfortable while
people were arriving and then we played the a fairly low-key
first set while people ate and chatted.
It was during the second set, after Kevin’s birthday speech,
(pic) that Bill yelled at me in some alarm and I turned
round to see the PA speaker slowly toppling over under pressure
from the wind, which had grown stronger against Kevin’s predictions.My
guitars were sitting directly in line
with the falling speaker and would’ve
been crushed, so it was lucky that Bill noticed the impending
disaster.
The wind was becoming an increasingly disruptive factor by the
time we played the last few numbers, which ironically was when
the party-goers decided to really enjoy themselves. I was pretty
croaky by then so was glad when everybody joined in and sang
IBG lustily. I suspect the best of the party was yet
to come..

Sarah
Carroll and Chris Wilson
Andy
Baylor benefit a hit
28.12.05 – Given the timing, i.e.
the day after the day after Chrissy, it could have been a fizzer,
but Melbourne’s music community turned up in numbers for the
Rainbow’s benefit night for Andy Baylor. Well, it was more like
the middle of the afternoon when I opened proceedings, but I
enjoyed a better crowd than I’ve been used to even so, and got
a sympathetic hearing too. Immediately after me came Sarah Carroll
(pic) with Chris Wilson backing up on harps, and then
Mark Ferrie and Co. – but by now I was already starting to weary
of the fast life and opted to drift back my comfort zone in
Camberwell.
With Bill Dettmer simultaneously raising money for the cause
down at Beaches in Mornington, Andy will hopefully clear a few
bucks to keep the home fans blowing. I know you’ll join with
me in wishing Andy a speedy recovery

Mike
awaits your pleasure
Mike’s
back at Fresh
23.12.05 – I think I enjoyed it a bit more
indoors last time, so maybe I’ll do that as a matter of course.
It’s either too cold or too hot in the courtyard, although Pat
did mention something about a pagoda being installed.. We’ll
see on Sun. 15th

Andy
Baylor benefit lineup
23.12.05 – I happened to hear
Chick mention this on the radio the other day, so I know that
Chris Wilson and The Spiders, Peter Baylor, Ross Wilson and
a host of other Melbourne luminaries

(and me) will be there this Wednesday
night (the 28th) from 6.00. Sounds fun!

New
Year’s Eve not sorted!
23.12.05 – I’m cool about Chrissy, but
I’m downright sour about New Year’s Eve, and it’s a blessing
Spectrum’s been overlooked again this time around. I might
be compelled to potter down to the Greyhound and take in Twin
Lizzy and Status Quo exponents, Piledriver. I know they did
my piles a power of good at their debut gig, except the gig’s
on Fri. 30th – bugger!

Today
is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday..*
21.12.05 – Those of you Stop Press habitués with still-functional
memories will remember that Bill and I choofed into 3CR not
long ago and did and interview with one Iain McIntyre for
some psixties psychedelic project or other. Well, it’s come
back to bite us – check this out!

Tomorrow Is Today: Australia In The Psychedelic Era
(1966-70)
The mid to late 1960s were a time of immense change in global
popular culture, as well as a period in which radical new
attitudes towards sex, drugs and politics began to emerge.
Due to be published by Wakefield Press in May 2006 and accompanied
during a Melbourne festival by film nights, concerts and an
exhibition, Tomorrow Is Today: Australia in the Psychedelic
Era, 1966-1970 traces the evolution of Australian youth
culture during this heady period.
Featuring chapters on such Australian icons as The Easybeats,
Go Set magazine, The Loved Ones, Spectrum,
Russell Morris and Daddy Cool, Tomorrow Is Today
will be an extensive guide to Australian life in the late
sixties.
On Tuesday December 27th from 4-6pm and on every Tuesday thereafter
in January, music fans and others with an interest in the
period will get a taste of the book/festival and a chance
to hear the Australian music that it covers as contributors
Iain McIntyre and Ian D Marks (co-authors of Wild About
You) present a series of two hour specials on Radio 3CR
855AM. The radio shows will include music and interviews as
follows:
December 27th – The garage rock era: R&B
and primitive rock n roll plus an interview with Herman Marcic
of The Creatures.
January 3rd – 1966: The top proto-psychedelic
tunes of the year plus an interview with Go Set editor Philip
Frazer.
January 10th – 1967: The year’s top
psychedelic pselections plus an interview with Lobby Loyde
of The Wild Cherries.
January 17th – 1968: The year’s top
psychedelic pselections plus an interview with Chris Lofven,
film maker and member of Campact.
January 24th – 1969: The year’s top
psychedelic pselections plus an interview with Bill Putt and
Mike Rudd of Spectrum.
January 31st – 1970: The year’s top
psychedelic pselections plus an interview with Ross Wilson
of The Party Machine and Daddy Cool.
* A
favourite saying of the legendary Hal Todd

A
public service announcement
19.12.05 – It’s pretty self-explanatory
really. This time of the year is hideous enough without the
cacophonous accompaniment of zombie schoolchildren tootling
or scraping an instrument, who are in your face in every shopping
centre to a) earn a few extra bucks so they
can loaf around on the footpath outside McDonalds with their
mates b) simply get out from under their parents’ feet,
or c) somehow publicly justify their parents spending
inordinate amounts of money on teaching their children to play
their chosen instrument of torture to a certain level of competence,
only to never play it again once they leave school. Oh, the
humanity!

Fishy’s
is off, dear..
16.12.05 – I’d just been advised by Yahoo!
that I’d reached my daily limit of e-mails, in which I proudly
highlighted that tomorrow night’s Fishy’s gig was sold out,
when I got a phone call from Peter at Fishy’s saying that
due to a council prohibition on their having any amplified
music on the premises, they were going to have to cancel!
Damn! Apart from anything else, we were looking forward
to playing at the new place. Oh well, there’s always next
year I s’pose. We’ll keep you posted.
As far as I know, my solo gig at Fresh is still on this Sunday
arvo. In the case of inclement weather, I’ll be playing inside.

1)
Ross Ryan has grown one.,. 2) and Mark is growing one..
There
goes another one!
11.12.05 – The weather was fine, and the
new guitar is now behaving itself, so the fourth (?) in my series
of solo appearances at Fresh @ Elwood was set up perfectly.
I’d mentioned in my first set that Ross Ryan and Mark Holden
had taken a shine to the Ariel song I Can Do Anything
that I’d penned back in the ’70s, when as if on cue, Ross Ryan
appeared, only to be followed by none other than Elwood resident
and natural redhead, Mark Holden.
I promptly did another version of ICDA and then accompanied
Pat Wilson on a stirring version of Summertime, and
it was over for another week.

It’s
a Brown Xmas!
9.12.05 – Last night there was a knock on the door,
and when I answered it, there was Ron Brown, (pic),
the mastermind behind the new Daddy Cool DVD, holding a couple
of those precious pink (free) DVDs marked for Bill’s and my
Xmas stockings! Hooray! Santa lives! (Oops! – I sounded
a little excited there. Sorry..)
I’ll give it a spin over the next few days and let you know
what I think

A
website glitch
9.12.05 – As I write there is
no new info coming up on the site. It seems to happen periodically
that our host loses its marbles and can’t identify any of
its clients. It maybe that I find this more frustrating than
you do.

Andy
Baylor benefit
9.12.05 – I’ve put my hand up
for the Andy Baylor benefit at the Rainbow Hotel, Wed. 28th
of this month. Ross Wilson will be there too – I’ll keep you
informed about the lineup.

Mike
back at Fresh @ Elwood this Sunday
7.12.05 – I just spoke to Pat Wilson to
confirm my spot at Fresh this Sunday arvo, and she told me that
they had a full courtyard last Sunday, and as she was under
the (mistaken) impression I was playing that day, she was reassuring
everyone to that effect – but, of course I didn’t show up. Yer
typical bloody rock & roll communication glitch.
So, that was disappointing. I’ve just got George (Martin) back
from Brenden at Real Guitars, and he’s feeling nicely set-up
and ready for action, not to mention I’m also hoping to have
at least one more off-the-wall type tune off by Sunday, so don’t
miss it.

Mike’s at Fresh @ Elwood 130 – 132 Ormond Rd Elwood Sun. 11th
2.00 – 4.00 9531 4130

1)
Spectrum poses with Gary Foley (centre) 2) Busking champion
does his unique thing

3) A
poignant shot of the empty Paramount stage
gig
report
Spectrum
reborn – and nobody came
5.12.05 – It was a coodabeen weekend
in so many ways, particularly in relation to the Paramount Cinema
gig. At first glance, the venue (Level One) is a contender as
a replacement for the Continental Café, and, from a performers’
perspective, but for an all too modest stage and PA, it could
slip into the role tomorrow. The reality is though that it isn’t
the Continental, and so it came as no surprise that only a few
enthusiasts witnessed the first hesitant signs that the keyboard-enhanced
version of Spectrum had re-emerged from an epic hiatus.
It really was quite satisfying from a musical point of view,
the musical exchanges were very reminiscent of the ‘old
days’, and the audience seemed to
enjoy it all as well – it’s just disappointing that there weren’t
more there to share the euphoria. (Incidentally, I’d tried to
watch the Sunbury DVD at home before Bill and I pre-recorded
the Off The Record segment on Thursday, but found it impossible
to do more than skip through it, so I took advantage of the
opportunity to see it all on the big screen at the Paramount.
Spectrum wasn’t there of course, but Billy Thorpe is – in abundance.
I don’t have very fond memories of any of the Sunburys, (however
many), and this document doesn’t really change anything).
The Black GST gig at Edinburgh Gardens was another coodabeen
– but this time it was a potential misadventure to do with the
weather – predictions were for showers, and as there was no
stage or cover provided, it coodabeen awkward. As it turned
out, the showers amounted to a few drops, and while the wind
was pretty gusty, it remained fine throughout. Gary
Foley welcomed us with open arms (pic) and everybody
made us feel welcome and that we were doing something worthwhile,
and it was a pity I felt so drained from the previous night’s
activities, otherwise I might’ve enjoyed it even more.

Robbo
scared me with this pic he sent to my phone..
Venue
for Black GST gig changed
1.12.05 – I was just about to send out
a reminder about this weekend’s gigs, when I got an e-mail from
Maya, saying the venue for the Black GST gig had been moved
to the Edinburgh Gardens in St Georges Rd, North Fitzroy. I
believe we will be found nestled somewhere between the toilet
block and the rotunda. Linguistically speaking it’s an improvement
on the lame ‘rock and a hard place’ cliché, and one might
hope it may enter the language on that basis and not as a result
of anything that may or may not happen on Sunday arvo. (Incidentally,
as well as Rod Quantock, Greg Fleet and Marcus Jones will be
spitting out the odd witticism – wholesome food by Lentil As
Anything).

In case you’re not familiar with
the Edinburgh Gardens, White
Hat says that the gardens ‘are a marvellous combination
of open space, sportsground, barbecue area, gardens complete
with long-established European elm trees, neighbourhood house,
skateboard bowl, tennis and basketball courts, ethnic festivals,
bandstand, bowling greens and bocce links, remnants of the
old Melbourne rail loop, gracious living, living on the poverty
line and a magnificent grandstand dating from its days as
the home of the mighty Royboys.’ And Spectrum on this Sunday..

Mike
and Bill think of smoked mussels with Brian Wise
Mike
& Bill speak Off The Record this Saturday
1.12.05 – To help advertise Spectrum’s
upcoming gig this Saturday night supporting the Sunbury movie
at the Paramount Cinema Restaurant, Bill and I turned up to
Triple R’s new studios opposite the Lomond Hotel in East Brunswick
to speak with Rhythms’ Brian Wise. I even brought one of my
scrap books of the period to help jog everybody’s memory, but
we managed to chat on quite effectively without reference to
actual events. Nobody really knew how many Sunburys there were
– I thought four, but I was out-voted and we settled on three.
It doesn’t really matter – all you’ve got to know is that Spectrum
isn’t in the movie, but we’ll be there in person to bring it
all back home. Triple
R Sat. 3rd 10.00am – 12.00pm

1) Hippies
play at a Sharpie gig 2) Hippies play in a photo booth
Good
news, bad news..
26.4.10 – I was trying to find some other
historical pics when these two turned up. The first one shows
Spectrum playing at Lucifers in 1969 and is probably unique.
Lee Neale is seen playing his Farfisa keyboard, which is no
doubt back in fashion again, if I know fashion.
The next shot was taken in a photo booth in 1972 and was in
that awkward transition period when Bill, Ray and I became a
trio by default for a few weeks. We look pretty happy, don’t
we?
The bad news? The Manningham has decided to pull the plug on
future Spectrum appearances at the world’s most convenient gig.
Bugger.
In other unrelated news, Trevor Courtney
has sent me the CD of the Chants playing on Radio New Zealand
back on the 26th of February. It’s pretty damn fine and Tim
Piper, Trev, Martin Forrer and I sound like we’ve never stopped
playing together. Have a listen to the Chants’ versions of Kingbee,
Sitting
On Top of the World and Dimples
and I think you’ll agree.

The
duo heads south..



1)
Lee (right) and friend warm up for the night 2) Andy is lulled
into a shot by Mike, the phantom paparazzo
gig
report
Westernport Hotel San Remo Sun. 25.4.10
Crudd &
Pump on mercy dash to San Remo
26.4.10
– I don’t get offers from the Pop Shop agency all that
often, so I gather we were the only suckers left to do the Westernport
Hotel last night. As I probably mentioned the last time we did
this gig, it’s really a job for the trio, ’cause in many ways
it’s yer typical noisy, boozy pub gig, but there’s always a
core group of wistful-looking baby boomers, (like Andy for
instance (pic2) ), quietly appreciating what we’re
doing that make the hour and a half trip down the Phillip Island
worh it.
I’d taped up my right ear to allay any further damage until
I get it seen to, (since the SA tour I’m down to about 10% hearing),
which caused a couple of very young boys some concern – I told
them my ear had gone bad and the gaffer was the only thing holding
it on to my head – and it made the gig an interesting aural
experience for me. By ‘interesting’ I mean it was barely tolerable
and particularly hard to judge volume and occasionally pitch,
but I think I bluffed my way through. Lee, (pic 1)
who Bill remembers from Portland a couple of decades ago, and
her friend had fun dancing provocatively very close to our set
up and, in the event, we were obliged to do a couple of encores,
so I guess we must’ve done OK.

We’re
going to South Australia..



1)
The Altschwagers turned up en masse 2) Kerry Philcox organised
a raffle for Variety using our CDs as prizes


3)
Spectrum with te Beach House Café’s Ray Carroll, Angie
and all the family 4) Val presents a smashing feed




5)
Iain Ross and Daz consider life through rose coloured glasses
6) Another Angie at the Sandy Creek Hotel

7) The
full band on stage at the full Semaphore Workers Club (comp.
pics Hunter)
gig
report
Beach
House Café 15.4.10
Old Clarendon Inn 16.4.10
Sandy Creek Hotel 17.4.10
Semaphore Workers Club 18.4.10
Spectrum’s
SA Autumn tour a big hit
21.4.10
– I was hoping that the trip to Adelaide
was going to be a success as well as fun, but in the event it
was far more successful than I anticipated. For the first time
since we used to deal with Joyce Washington at the CBA agency
back in the ’70s, we actually had an agent, (Peter Serk), who
also

works with Phil Manning and Matt Taylor, and he got us
into places we wouldn’t have even thought of, starting off
on Thursday night with the Beach House Café, an hour
or so south of Adelaide at Encounter Bay. It’s actually a
Pizza joint, and there’s no stage as such, so we had to be
fairly imaginative with where we put everything, especially
as we had a lighting tree as well, but it was great fun once
we got going.
We had some friends turn up as well – the Altschwagers (pic
1) who have moved from nearby Kangaroo Island and my
new friend, Kerry Philcox, (pic 2) who’d been corresponding
with me since she found out we were doing the gig and who
organised a raffle for Variety (for children with special
needs) using our CDs as prizes. There was nearly a riot at
the end of the night and we got called back for encore after
encore – I gave up counting after half a dozen!
The next night was at the Old Clarendon Inn, and, unbelievably
after all the fuss the last time we got lost, I ‘Googled’
myself and we took well over an hour to find the place rather
than the suggested forty five minutes. Daryl and Robbo were
(loosely) following the van and were singing ‘Ask the Gonad
Brothers’ to the Leyland Brothers song every time we stopped
to ask a native directions.
The gig was lovely though and a full house to boot – a group
of Spectrum tragics (guys) were singing the ‘we are, we are,
we are’ echo in We Are Indelible and I couldn’t help
thinking that we should introduce them to our very own Trollops
back here in Melbourne. Well, maybe not..
Whenever we asked anybody about the next night’s gig at the
Sandy Creek Hotel, the response was confusing. There’s a dog’s
home and a women’s shelter there apparently and that seemed
to engender some mirth, but we weren’t being told something.
On the way to Sandy Creek we dropped in on my SA mate, Iain
Ross in the Adelaide Hills and had a relaxing hour or two
accompanied by a smashing lunch provided by Val. (pic
4) Iain’s son Jess provided us with another Google map
but we managed to arrive safely at the Sandy Creek Hotel.
There we met with the owner Karin Schneider and her daughter,
who’d spent the past few days setting up several marquees
and were very excited about having us there.
After we’d set up I met (another) Angie (pic 6) with
tatts on her leg who’s an old friend of Chris Bodey’s*, but
I also met a rather dubious biker in the bar who made some
loud observation about how old we were, a line he persisted
with over the course of the night. The mystery of the Sandy
Creek Hotel was finally revealed, and the night unfolded with
bikers glowering to the right, and Spectrumophiles nervously
huddled on the left. And, of course, to cap it all off, it
rained.
(I noticed that Matt Taylor’s doing the Creek soon, but I’m
sure his brand of blues will delight the bikers, rather than
leave them mystified, as did Spectrum).
Finally it was Sunday, the day of the Semaphore Workers Club
gig, the gig we fell in love with last time we came to Adelaide
in September. (pic 7) Sure enough, by 4.30 the place
was nearly full, and shortly after we started playing at 5.00
they had to shut the doors and put out the full-house sign.
Comrade Dave Pearse tells us that since they opened twelve
years ago they’ve only done that twice, both times for Spectrum.
By this stage of the tour I have to say I was feeling pretty
tired and I was prone to sloppiness, but it was a distinct
improvement on our last really sloppy appearance
there – having Daryl with us allows us to pull off the retro
part of the set far more convincingly and I felt far more
comfortable as a result. You can see some of the songs courtesy
of 3D Radio’s Michael Hunter. Launching
Place Part 2, Jamaican
Farewell, (I forgot the first line – I never do
that!), I
Ain’t Superstitious/Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, and
Albatross.
I woke up the next morning feeling very run down and now I’m
riding out a chest infection, but overall it was the best
SA tour we’ve done. Spectrum’s still bloody huge
in Adelaide and we certainly love ’em in return!
* Chris
Bodey ran the Crossing Café in Deniliquin

Baby,
it’s cold outside..



1)
Sunbury again – Mike and Bill 2) Bren Mason and freezing Mike
join Chain (pics – Newman)
gig
report
Manninghamn Sports Bar 11.4.10
A cosy arvo
at the Manningham
12.4.10 – Mick Newman turned up at the
Manningham Sports Bar yesterday arvo – and he’d sent me the
pics above from the previous evening at the Sunbury Back Road
Festival.
The first one of Bill and I (pic
1) must’ve been taken at the same time as the one that
appeared in the hard copy version of The Sunday Age – revenge
of sorts for their choosing not to print the pic that we set
up on the Friday. (See Sunbury prepares to rock below).
The second pic was taken during the jam with Chain with Brenden
Mason, by which time the wind had sprung up and it was bloody
freezing. Robbo tells me that I was right up in the mix and
that Bren was virtually inaudible, which is the opposite of
the impression I had on stage, so I just noodled away obliviously
trying not to get frozen to my strings.
But, to get back to the Manningham: by Sunday the cold weather
had settled in with showers etc. but it was cosy
enough inside. The Trollops weren’t expected, so we were a
little concerned about the size of the crowd – two ordinary
crowds in two days might be a little demoralising. As it happened
we needn’t have worried. Not only did The Trollops show up,
(hooray!), but Alana, Barry and Claire, Bridget and
Dave Rolfe and Marg Bird, plus some people who’d been at the
Sunbury gig the night before and the usual quotient of casual
tourists all made the arvo a treat.
I’d left my wallet at home (Bill left his microphone at home)
but that wasn’t a problem for The Trollops and we had our
traditional post-gig meal in the bistro. Altogether a nice
send-off for our upcoming week in Adelaide.

1)
Bernard rocks on 2) Jarrah Thompson’s Asha flaunts her flute
gig
report
Sunbury Back Road Festival 10.4.10
Sunbury
– the reality

11.4.10 – Ah, what a bitch is reality.
Bernard Lakey’s (pic 1) dream of tapping into the spirit
that drove the original Sunbury festivals rather nose-dived
when only a few hundred punters showed up to savour a mixed
bill that included some of the very same acts that had inspired
the Sunbury generation in the early ’70s.
Everything else went to plan and the staging and the amenities
were testament to the effort that had gone into this to make
the Back Road Festival a success – even the weather held off,
although when the wind did spring up it got decidedly chilly.
As for Spectrum, we had a fine time.
Since our appearance on the Rock of Ages show we’ve made some
changes to our approach to playing on big stages and the band
actually felt comfortable and relaxed. In fact, all the senior
bands performed well and the crowd, such as it was, responded
warmly. Of the assortment of younger bands on the bill I caught
a bit of Jarrah Thompson (pic 2) and told flautist
Asha afterwards that had she been at the original Sunbury she
would’ve laid the audience waste. (She would’ve too).
There will be a post mortem and I guess it’s conjecture at this
stage as to whether there will be another Back Road Festival.
I think it’s obvious that while discomfort was a feature
of the original Sunburys, we were all much youger then and that
the Sunbury generation will no longer tolerate the faintest
prospect of personal discomfort. And if it’s a toss up between
the footy and a rock concert in a (wind-blown) paddock, the
footy will win. I can only say on behalf of the bands that we
appreciate all the effort that Bernard has expended to try to
create a community-based festival from scratch with the music
and musicians that he loves. Re-jigging the formula might see
a different result and if he wants to give it another go I’m
sure there’s enough goodwill out there to help make the concept
a rip-roaring success next time around. (See
Age
review)

1) Phil,
Jan, Kerry, Jack and Mike enliven the paddock
Sunbury
prepares to rock..
9.4.10 – I popped down to the Sunbury Back
Road Festival site this morning to be photographed by Craig,
the Age photographer, with the Madders’ Jack and Kerry, Chain’s
Phil Manning and Jan Preston’s Jan Preston. The stage was taking
shape and was looking less like the back of a truck every passing
minute, but I hope the inclement weather that’s being threatened
holds off or passes harmlessly by – I don’t fancy our chances
if it turns nasty.
Anyway, all things being equal there should be a photo accompanied
by a story in tomorrow’s Age and I hope that a few people turn
up to enjoy the day. Bernard and his enthusiastic band of helpers
deserve a return on their efforts to involve and entertain the
Sunbury community.

SLAM
dunk..



1)
Anne O’Rourke checks her SLAM paperwork 2) Ross Wilson combines
being Mr Mom with political activism


3) Mike
demonstrates his paparazzo skills to Nick Polites 4) Greens
MLC Sue Pennicuik speaks on the petition

5) Choclatté’s
Max plus badge
SLAM
delivers petition
8.4.10 – Anne O’Rourke (pic 1)
has been assiduous in keeping Victoria’s security/licensing
issue to the forefront of local musicians’ minds over the past
few months and invited me along to represent the 60s’ age bracket
as SLAM presented a petition with in excess of 20,000 signatures
to Greens’ MLC, Sue Pennicuik, (pic 4) on the steps
of the Victorian State Parliament yesterday. The petition urges
the Legislative Council to act on the terms of the ‘Accord’
that resulted from the hugely successful demonstration held
while I was in NZ and to ‘institute a proper investigation into
the causes of violence and drunkeness’ that will inevitably
find there is no relationship between those problems and the
presentation of live music in licensed venues. (Age
report) (See 2nd Age
report)
This issue strikes home for Spectrum at the Lomond Hotel, which,
as I’ve mentioned before, is compelled to hire two security
personnel despite having no undue problems with its clientele
in all the years we’ve been playing there.

Byron
Bay Blues Festival



1)
John Mayall ambles onto the Crossroads stage 2) Boris and Hannaford
talk the talk


3) Ross
and Ross and John McAll’s back 4) The crowd prepares
to drop their collective daks during Eagle Rock


5) Il
Duce of Earl before the encore 6) The Boss is utterly exhausted
after the encore
gig
report
Byron
Bay Blues Festival Crossroads stage – 5.4.10
Mike
and Ross lose their shirts at Byron
7.4.10 – I don’t sleep well when I know
I’ve got to get up early and so it was actually no trouble to
rise at 5.00 on Monday morning, half an hour earlier than I’d
intended. I must’ve been snoozing when Ross Wilson’s band arrived
at the Gate and so wasn’t even aware they were on board until
I saw Ross Hannaford going to the toilet. Horto met us at the
Gold Coast airport and drove us to our accommodation at South
Tweed Heads before picking us all up again after lunch and taking
us down to the new Byron Bay Festival site, some forty five
minutes away.
I took the opportunity to see John Mayall’s set (pic 1)
and a bit of Taj Mahal’s set before the slightly compressed
version of Ross’ 5 Decades of Cool show took the stage. I’ll
Be Gone got a fantastic reception, which wasn’t really
matched until Eagle Rock, but the whole show went down
extremely well. (I wasn’t aware that there’s a tradition of
down-trousers when Eagle Rock is played – apparently
this practice has half a dozen dedicated Facebook sites).
When I got back to the motel I realised that I’d left my black
shirt at Byron, and today I heard from Ross that he’d left his
favourite black shirt at Byron too! I think I must be a bad
influence.

St
Andrews by any other name..



1)
The Trollops were in good form at ‘St Annies’ 2) Robbo and Daryl
are sad they’re not in more Stop Press pics



3)
Michael Granat dropped in to say hullo 4) The doctors’ Sellers
and daughter Arna in her new Brunswick St outfit

5) Wazzer
shows how it’s done in NZ (pic – Heather Bass)

gig
report
St Andrews pub 4.4.10
Easter
Sunday at St Andrews
6.4.10 – I don’t think Stan
or I realised when we were doing the booking that our first
gig back at St Andrews this year was going to be on Easter
Sunday, and so it wasn’t our biggest crowd, but it was certainly
up there for enthusiasm.
I always enjoy playing there anyway, and having The Trollops
in attendance (pic 1) means there’s going to be some
dancing to be had – even Dr Wazz joined in! (pic 5)
After we’d packed up, the Sellers, Bill, the Robbos and I
joined The Trollops for a post-gig meal and discussed the
hot issues of the moment – like, where’s Mike’s going to live
now he’s been cast out into the wilderness..

1) Ross
outlines the program 2) Hanna concocts a lick 3) Chet finally
arrives at the rehearsal studio
The
return of Ross’ Five Decades of Cool
1.4.10 – The morning after our Easter Sunday St Andrews’
gig I’ll be leaving on a jet plane for the Byron Bay Festival,
but this year without the rest of the band. I’m to join up with
the Cool entourage for an abbreviated version of the shows we
did in Melbourne and Sydney late last year. Ross has cut one
of my fave Party Machine numbers, Woman of the World,
but favoured me by retaining I’ll Be Gone. Hanna is
lending me his Beatle bass for Virgins, which I’m looking
forward to. I’ll take photos, OK?