The Baddies

I've already done a post on The Baddies, Sydney's unassuming Kings of Punk.

The opportunity to spend the weekend in Sydney, including a night seeing a great line-up of punk bands, is too hard to pass up. So that's what my plans are this weekend.

Featuring The Baddies plus 4 other bands, all playing old school punk rock.

Headliners for the night are the punk all-star supergroup "Megastar Overdrive" starring:-

Guitar: Paul E. Hayward (The Baddies, Young Docteurs)

Guitar: Stephen ‘Bones’ Martin (The Missing Link)

Bass: Clyde Bramley (The Wetsuits, Hoodoo Gurus)

Drums: Paul Larsen (Celibate Rifles)

Vocals: Ripley Hood (Nemesis, Mushroom Planet)

The other bands for the night are Special Patrol Group, Teenage Hookers for Christ and 25th Floor.

If you're in Sydney and get the opportunity, check them out at The Empire Hotel in Annandale.

And while you're there, buy Paul a Coopers. I know he'll appreciate it! I'll be buying him one. May even have one myself. Or two ....

And make sure you check out The Baddies on mp3.com.au if you want to hear some great old-school punk originals.


The Baddies - In The Mood (The Video)

The Holy Rollers (Bands from Perth, Australia)

The Holy Rollers were around for a few years in the mid 1980s and they were one of a couple of bands led by Greg Dear. The Holy Rollers featured his sister Felicity "Flick" Dear on drums, Craig Chisolm on guitar and on bass Kim Williams (of The Summer Suns and the man responsible for the Easter Records and House Of Wax record labels, both of which have released many great Perth bands).

Their sound was different to most of their peers in Perth at the time (which tended to the swamp rock of bands such as the Kryptonics or the Bamboos or the power pop of bands such as The Stems or The Marigolds), closer to the musical stylings of The Triffids, but with influences including the New York sounds of the Velvet Underground and Television.

The Holy Rollers recorded a 7" double A-side single Above The Law / Lifestyle in 1985 and a self titled album in 1986, both released on Easter Records.

My favourite memories of The Holy Rollers were their regular Saturday night gigs at the Shenton Park Hotel with the Marigolds, with each band headlining on successive weeks.

Greg Dear also led The Beautiful Losers and released some solo recordings on cassette in the 1980s. Greg is now performing as a senior lecturer at Edith Cowan University's School of Psychology.

Felicity "Flick" Dear went on to play drums with Charlottes Web, Wooden Fische, Box and Butternut (with Gretta Little from The Rosemary Beads and Sascha Ion from Spank). Flick is now Principal of Djidi Djidi Aboriginal School and plays in a Noongar band called Warangka.

Kim Williams is still active in the Perth scene, and is currently playing in The White Swallows.

The Chevelles (Bands from Perth, Australia)

The Chevelles play power pop, with many songs including the traditional pop theme of girls and with the obvious cars reference (they were aptly named after a 60's Chevrolet aimed at the female market) with tunes full of jangly and crunchy guitars and with some great harmonies.

The Chevelles were formed in 1989 following the demise of The Stems in 1987 (due to tensions between Richard Lane and Dom Mariani) and The Freuds (who also played 60's influenced garage pop). Two members from each of these bands (Richard Lane and Gary Chambers from the Stems and Duane Smith from the The Freuds and Jeff Halley who was the manager of The Freuds and also played in the Sunstones) were in the original line up of The Chevelles.

Since that time the band have had numerous member changes, including a stint by the seemingly ever-present Martin Moon on drums.

There is an extremely extensive biography via their website, which saves me a lot of research time, so go check that out that exhaustive history.

Bizarrely enough, the Chevelles are better recognised overseas as one of Australia’s premier power pop bands, particularly in countries such as Brazil, Spain and France, although they are virtually unknown at home. Go figure?

Superscope (Bands from Perth, Australia)

Superscope play a great mix of heavy guitar riffs and power-pop. The band formed in Perth in 1994 and despite a brief period playing as Rueben Kinkaide have been consistent performers in the Perth band scene since that time. Superscope have also been dogged by regular line-up changes, their only constant being guitarist, vocalist and lyricist Kevin Borruso.

Kevin originally made his name in the early 1990s as a member of The Stonemasons with Joe Algeri before forming his own band in Superscope.

I first saw Superscope at an early gig at the back room at the Grosvenor Hotel, where I was waiting to see another band on the bill that night. But I was blown away by the power (pop) of Superscope.

Their debut release was 1995’s Generally Electric 6 track EP on Citadel Records, produced by Dom Mariani, after which time they occasionally played under the moniker of Reuben Kinkaide.

Following the return of Superscope in 1997, Spinning Top Records released the 1997 EP Popping Crease. The band finally released their debut full length album Torpedo in November 2002 on Zip Records.

Kevin also owns and operates PiZ, a touring company overseeing both national and international artists alike as well as producing events and he also plays with Joe Algeri in Jack & the Beanstalk.

Check out Michael Wylie’s great photos, including lots of Australian and international band shots, at Project Photography.