Sunnyboys were a Sydney based band which went through a number of active periods from 1980-1984, 1987-1989 & again in 1991. I have to admit that I never actually saw them which is unusual given how popular they were at the time.

Jeremy Oxley, Peter Oxley and Bil Bilson had played in a garage band together called Wooden Horse. Richard Burgman completed the original lineup in 1979 when they officially formed Sunnyboys.

They were a high-energy pub rock band that some described as “power pop”. Some see “Pop” as a bad thing but it was meant quite literally. They wrote popular sounding, catchy tunes that really captured the spirit of the Australian music scene in the early eighties. It was rock enough to draw a live crowd and pop enough to be played on the radio. Not a bad combination in my book.

They were the first Sydney band to be signed by Mushroom records and in July 1981 they had their first hit with “Happy Man”. Unfortunately they were a fairly short lived band and they initially broke up in 1984. Jeremy Oxley has tried to revive the band a number of times under various lineups but they’ve never really re-captured their initial success.

Members

• Jeremy Oxley – Vocals, Guitar 1980 – 1991
• Peter Oxley – Bass 1980 – 1984
• Richard Burgman – Guitar 1980 – 1984
• Bil Bilson – Drums 1980 – 1984
• Peter Hincenbergs Drums – 1987 – 1989
• Nick Freedman – Guitar 1987 – 1989
• Bill Smith – Bass 1987 – 1989

Recordings

• The Sunnyboys – 1981
• Individuals – 1982
• Get Some Fun – 1984
• Real Live Sunnyboys – 1984
• Days Are Gone – 1985
• Wildcat – 1989
• Play The Best – 1991
• Shakin’ Live 1991 – 1993
• This Is Real – 2004

Known gigs for Sunnyboys

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Video’s of the Sunnyboys

Other Resources

Sunnyboys listing on Australian Music Database

Skyhooks smash hit single Horror Movie was one of the first 45′s I ever bought with my own money. I still have it!
They were glam rock at it’s best. Well written, catchy songs, peformed beautifully by skilled showmen. It had everything a young westie lad like myself loved.

Formed in Melbourne in early 1973, they gained a loyal audience in the pub scene fairly quickly. As luck would have it one night they scored a support to a band called Mighty Kong & were noticed by the singer Ross Wilson which proved to be pivotal. He later convinced Michael Gudinski to sign them to Mushroom records. Wilson also produced their first three albums Living In The Seventies, Ego Is Not A Dirty Word, and Straight In A Gay Gay World. Not a bad result for a support gig one night!

After being booed off stage at Sunbury in 1974 they had their next big break. Singer Steve Hill quit and was replaced by the legendary Graham “Shirley” Strachan who suited the band to a tee. By the time they returned to Sunbury in 1975 the were a chart topping band and were acknowledge as the best performers at that concert by Rolling Stone.

The next few years saw another two hit albums and a massive touring schedule. The next great challenge, like all Aussie bands, was America and like too many of their contemporaries, they never really took off there.

By 1977 the first cracks started to appear after Red Symonds left to be replaced by Finch guitarist Bob Spencer. Around this time singer Shirley started to dabble in a solo career which eventually saw him leave in 1978. He was replaced by Tony Williams but the band was fading . By 1980 it was all over. They say the brightest lights burn out the quickest & so it was with Skyhooks.

They had numerous reformations over the years but it was all put to bed with the untimely death of Shirley Strachan in a helicopter accident in 2001.

Members

• Red Symons – Guitar, Keyboards
• Greg Macainsh – Bass
• Bob Starkie – Guitar
• Imants “Freddie” Strauks – Drums
• Steve Hills – Vocals
• Peter Starkie – Guitar
• Peter Ingliss – Guitar
• Graham “Shirley” Strachan – Vocals
• Bob Spencer – Guitar
• Tony Williams – Vocals

More info on Skyhooks members at the Australian Music Database.

Albums

• Living In The Seventies – 1974
• Ego Is Not A Dirty Word – 1975
• Straight In A Gay Gay World – 1976
• Tapes – 1977
• Guilty Until Proven Insane – 1978
• Live! Be In It – 1978
• Best Of – 1979
• Hot For The Orient – 1980
• Boxed Set -1983
• Live In The 80′s – 1983
• Latest and Greatest – 1990

Known gigs for Skyhooks

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Video clips

Short and Sweet! – This probably best describes the life of Johnny Dole & The Scabs.

Johnny Dole & The Scabs were one of the first Punk Rock bands in Australia, they played live and recorded in Sydney during 1977 – 1979.

THE BEGINNING

In early January 1977, The Strays were looking for a new drummer to complete their line up and after deciding on the right one, it was time to rehearse and honour a gig commitment four weeks later. During this initial rehearsal period the style of the music was changing and one of the original members decided to leave. This meant that the line up was now a 4 piece and this style was taking the shape of Punk Rock, which was new to the Sydney music scene; their songs were being played faster and grungier.
Embracing the new style was easy for the band as they had all felt it was the right direction, so with this new direction a new name was needed and after careful consideration Johnny Dole & The Scabs were born.

THE FIRST REAL GIG

After more rehearsal where some original songs were now being crafted to suit the new direction, it was time to look for work. Johnny and Peter approached George Kringus, manager of Radio Birdman who booked the bands at the legendary Oxford Funhouse in Taylor Square – Darlinghurst. The bands first gig was on Friday 15th April 1977. The band was well received and they played there 3 more times before the Funhouse closed its doors.

Other regular gigs at the Paris Theatre and supports to both Cold Chisel and The Saints were some of the highlights.

RAY WALSH

During this early stage Johnny Dole’s brother was recruited as manager. Ray Walsh was an ex wrestler who had many contacts in the media and he put these to good use, beginning with interviews and articles in all the local Sydney newspapers including The Sun, The Daily Mirror and The Daily Telegraph as well as music magazines like Ram and Juke.

THE GRAND HOTEL

Because the Oxford Funhouse had closed and there was no other venues at the time that would put on Punk Rock bands Johnny, Peter and Ray went in search of a venue that would. About to give up because of so many knock backs, they tried one last hotel in Broadway before going home and they found the publican Dennis was open to their suggestions. After agreeing to the request of not changing the décor and only putting posters on the walls, the back room of The Grand Hotel opened its doors to Punk Rock for the first time on Friday 16th September 1977.

The Grand Hotel was considered to be ‘the’ Punk Rock venue in Sydney with many notable bands playing there including Rocks, Tommy & The Dipsticks, The Leftovers, Filth, Psycho Surgeons, Blackrunner, Shock Treatment and Mental As Anything to name just some. Punk Rock being what it is, unpredictable at best, The Grand Hotel closed its doors late 1979 but has taken its rightful place in Punk Rock History. Unfortunately The Grand Hotel was bulldozed in the name of future development and is no longer standing, although the lane way where the bands loaded in still is!

RECORDING

As the band were writing more and more original songs, it was decided to record them so Ray approached Sydney radio station 2JJ to see if they were interested. Because Punk Rock was only new and 2JJ were an independent radio station, recording a band like Johnny Dole & The Scabs was quickly considered and Keith Walker was asked to be producer. The band recorded in the ABC Studio 201 where all the live to air concerts were televised. The band recorded all the tracks live then over dubbing the lead guitar and vocals. Eight songs were recorded and all overdubs and vocals were done on the same day, with Keith Walker mixing it soon after. Interviews on 2JJ were arranged so these recordings could be played on air and the songs at the time were well received and had good rotation.

POSSIBLE RECORDING CONTRACT

Ray took the recordings to a number of record companies and arranged a gig for the record company executives to see the band live. This gig, which was at the Journey’s End Wine Bar Woolloomooloo on Saturday 17th December 1977, was a great success with a number of offers being made to the band but unfortunately no contracts were signed. A three year publishing deal with Penjane Music Publishing was signed but without a recording contract the recordings were never released and it wasn’t until many years later that the recordings surfaced, thanks to both Bruce Griffiths (ABERRANT RECORDS) and Steven Danno (Brain Salad Surgery).

FILM CLIP

The band was approached by a student from NSW Uni, with the proposal of doing a video clip to one of the band’s songs, Aggro. As part of her studies, Peita Letchford had been given a grant from the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS), so a time was arranged to film the band at a demolition site at Woolloomooloo. This film clip had never been seen or aired on television and has only recently been located in the archives of the AFTRS and can now be viewed on You Tube. Unfortunately Peita Letchford died of cancer in the late 90’s.

A CURRENT AFFAIR

Next on Ray’s hit list was an interview on Channel 9’s A Current Affair program and true to form, the interview was arranged. Mike Carlton and his crew came to The Grand Hotel and filmed the band performing live. After the gig later that night, the band members were interviewed. Unfortunately Channel 9 has indicated that this interview would no longer be available having been destroyed many years ago.

THE END

The A Current Affair interview was aired January 1978 and not long after this Greg Morris was asked to leave the band in late February 1978. Soon after Greg’s departure, Dave Berry also left and Johnny Dole and Peter Mullany continued with new members but never regained its popularity and soon folded. They then joined forces with Tommy & The Dipsticks to form the band The Crooked Hearts.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Unfortunately Johnny Dole passed away from a drug overdose in 1987.

After The Crooked Hearts disbanded Perry Mullany joined The Broken Toys who then became Sekret Sekret. Becoming disillusioned by the music business he moved to the country.

Dave Berry moved backed to the mountains from where he came and was last known to be playing in blues band Blue Roots.

After Johnny Dole & The Scabs Greg Morris joined Rocks and soon after recorded the sought after six track EP You’r So Boring. After Rocks disbanded, Greg was in many bands including The Prisoners, The Fringe, The Undecided?, That’s Right!, Peabody Deluxe and is now playing in Sydney party/cover band, Mad Cow  http://www.madcowtheband.com.au/ .

BAND MEMBERS

• Johnny Dole – Lead Vocals
• Peter Mullany – Guitar
• Dave Berry – Bass/Vocals
• Greg Morris – Drums/Vocals

ORIGINAL SONGS

• Little Lord Punk (Walsh/Mullany)
• Halfwit Rock ‘N’ Roll (Walsh/Mullany)
• Lucky Country (Walsh/Mullany)
• Aggro (Walsh/Mullany)
• Stuff Your Rules (Walsh/Mullany)
• Blow My Nose (Berry)
• Living Like An Animal (Walsh/Mullany)
• I Don’t Wanna Work (Walsh/Mullany/Berry/Morris)
• All That’s Goin’ On (Walsh/Mullany)
• Psycho Analyst (Walsh/Mullany)
• Hurts My Brain (Walsh/Mullany)

Images

Known Gigs – Line-Up One Only

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Other resources

• Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Dole_%26_The_Scabs
• Listen to Johnny Dole & The Scabs Here: http://www.reverbnation.com/johnnydolethescabs

Stars must be one of the most requested bands in my time working on this site. I get a large number of people asking “Where can I get Paradise Or Land Of Fortune etc”. Up until now the only suggestion I’ve been able to give is to search the 2nd hand stores as they’ve been out of print for some time.

Well, the other day I heard some good news from Mick Pealing. The album “Stars – Live At Bombay Rock” had been re-released on iTunes and here it is folks…

Stars: Live At Bombay Rock

The album was recorded at Bombay Rock in melbourne on the 18th of October 1979
Recording Engineer: Ian McKenzie
Produced By: Malcolm Eastick
Mixing Engineer: Jimbo Barton
Mixed By: Jimbo Barton, Malcolm Eastick and Rob Eastick

Stars – Live At Bombay Rock

1. Look After Yourself
2. Last of the Riverboats
3. Mighty Rock
4. With a Winning Hand
5. Innocent Bystanders
6. Back Again
7. Never Coming Back
8. Wasted Words
9. Redneck Boogie
10. Paradise
11. Watching The River Flow
12. Land Of Fortune
13. Cocaine
14. Song For The Road
15. I’m Ready
16. Watch Out For Lucy
17. Fortunate Son
18. Good Times
19. Blue Monday
20. Gold Fever

Supernaut hit the scene in a big way with their first ever single “I Like It Both Ways” becoming an almost instant hit. Originally formed in Perth around 1974, they took the step of moving to Melbourne early in their career to seek their fortune. Coming to the attention of Molly Meldrum certainly helped and he produced their first album & made sure they were featured on Countdown.

They created quite a bit of talk with their sexually ambiguous lyrics & glam look but that was short lived and even seemed to work against them in the end. Supernaut eventually relocated again, this time to Sydney, and tried to re-invent themselves in a Punk/New Wave style, changing their name to “The Nauts”.

The band recorded one album under that name in 1978 but despite critical acclaim it didn’t sell well & they disbanded in 1980.

Members

• Gary Twinn – Vocals
• Chris Burnham – Guitar
• Joe Burnham – Drums
• Philip Foxman – Bass 1976-
• Randall Murphy – Bass 1974-1976
• Noel Kennedy – Keys – 1978-

Recordings

Singles

• I Like It Both Ways – 1976
• Too Hot To Touch – 1976
• Young & Innocent – 1977
• Kids Are Out Tonight – 1977
• Let’s Spend The Night Together – 1977
• Unemployed – 1978
• Spies – 1978

Albums

• Supernaut – 1976
• I Like It Both Ways – 1995

Images

Videos

More Resources

Rock On Vinyl

The Sports were always a difficult band to categorise for me. They were “Indie” enough to have street cred, they were “New Wave” enough to be current and they were “Pop” enough to be on Countdown.

Formed in Melbourne by Stephen Cummings in 1976, they had a brief but very productive life, finishing in 1981. Cummings had seen success with The Pelaco Brothers & when that ended he grabbed Pelaco Brothers bandmates Ed Bates & Robert Glover, Paul Hitchens on drums and Jim Niven from Captain Matchbox on keys.

Andrew Pendlebury joined on guitar soon after and The Sports were on their way.

After a limited release EP, their first album with Mushroom, Reckless, was produced by another ex-Pelaco Brother Joe Camelleri. Not long after the release of Reckless Martin Arminger replaced Ed Bates on guitar. The band had reasonable success with their next few albums and toured supporting acts like Graham Parker both in Australia and England.

The band eventually started leaking members and just sort of faded away without fanfare in 1981. Stephen Cummings went on to have a successful solo carreer & Martin Arminger has had success as a TV/Film soundtrack composer.

Members

• Martin Armiger — Guitar (1978–1981)
• Ed Bates — Guitar (1976–1978)
• Stephen Cummings — Vocals (1976–1981)
• Robert Glover — Bass (1976–1981)
• Paul Hitchins — Drums (1976–1980)
• Iain McLennan — Drums (1980)
• Jim Niven — Keyboards, Vocals (1976–1980)
• Andrew Pendlebury — Guitar, Vocals (1976–1981)
• Freddie Strauks — Drums (1980–1981)
• Red Symons — Keyboards (1980)

Albums & EPs

• Fair Game (EP) – Zac Records (1977) (limited to 500 copies)
• Reckless – Mushroom Records (1978) #43 AUS
• Don’t Throw Stones – Mushroom/Arista/Sire (February, 1979) #9 AUS
• So Obvious (EP) – Stiff (1979)
• O.K., U.K.! (EP) – Mushroom (August, 1979) #40 AUS
• Suddenly – Mushroom/Arista (1980) #13 AUS
• Sondra – Mushroom (May, 1981) #20 AUS
• The Sports play Dylan (and Donovan) (EP) – Mushroom (1981) #70 AUS
• All Sports – Mushroom (1982) #35 AUS
• Missin’ Your Kissin’ – Raven (1987)
• This Is Really Something – Mushroom (1997)
• Definitive Collection – Festival (August, 2004)

Videos of The Sports

Harvey James, legendary guitarist with bands such as Mississippi and Sherbet, has been diagnosed with lung cancer. The 58 year old is undergoing treatment at the moment and we will bring more info as it comes to hand.

Harvey was a member of Mississippi, which eventually became The Little River Band, way back in early 1970′s. After leaving them he joined Ariel and toured Australia & the UK. He shot to national prominence when he joined Sherbet in 1975 replacing Clive Shakespeare.

Please take a moment to head over to this Facebook page where you can leave him a message of encouragement.

Spy vs Spy, also known as v. Spy v. Spy, The Drug Grannies and The Spies, are an Australian ska/pub rock band from Sydney formed in 1981. They became known for tackling political issues through their music, including racism, homelessness and contemporary drug culture. They were named after a comic strip, “Spy vs. Spy” in the US Mad magazine.
From wikipedia

History

Aside from Midnight Oil, vSpy vSpy are arguably one of Australia’s most politically- oriented rock bands. While Midnight Oil’s politics were those of conscience, Spy V Spy were outspoken representatives of the Street. Primarily they started out as the voice of the homeless squatters of early eighties Sydney, but their songs spoke for everyone who felt under the thumb of The System. They told stories polite Australia didn’t necessarily want told. The original group came from separate corners of the world.

Guitarist Mike Weiley arrived in Sydney from an industrial city in England and almost immediately found a soul-mate at Nelson Bay High School in would-be bassist Craig Bloxom. American Craig had studied in Alaska for a time, and arrived in Sydney in his mid-teens via LA. The group’s token Australian, drummer Cliff Grigg, arrived in Sydney from the Northern Territory, and settled in an inner suburban squat in Glebe that didn’t even have a roof when he first moved in. From the day they met at high school Mike and Craig had talked about music and in around 1980 started talking about forming a band together. Cliff heard about it though mutual friends and Spy V Spy was born. To save on rent and keep from having to find day jobs Mike and Craig moved into Cliff’s squat. They took the name from a regular strip in Mad magazine. Living in a squat had other advantages. They were able to rehearse almost every day. One day they received a call from the Sussex Hotel asking them to fill in for a band who couldn’t make it, and Spy V Spy performed their first gig.

In the beginning their music style was dominated by the ska sound popular in inner Sydney pubs at the time. A year into their life the band recorded its first single. Michael Hutchence of INXS offered to produce, but they turned him down. The single ‘Do What You Say’ was followed by an EP, ‘Four Fresh Lemons’, both recorded for friends on an independent label, Green. The EP’s original pressing was a limited release of 1000 copies. They sold out in 5 days. But the band expected something else to happen, and broke up shortly afterwards.
It took just a few months to realize that Spy V Spy was more fun than the bands they were now playing with, and Spy V Spy reconvened in July 1983 with second guitarist Marcus Phelan. The ska had been dropped for a more straight-ahead rock attack. In 1983 Weiley became sick and confined to a hospital bed for a considerable time. Their equipment was stolen. Phelan left. Things changed with the help of Midnight Oil’s Peter Garrett, who’d become a fan and would attend every performance he could.

Now called vSpy vSpy to avoid legal action from Mad magazine, the group acquired Midnight Oil’s manager Gary Morris and released the mini-album ‘Meat Us Inside’ and its single ‘One Of A Kind’.

Their first album ‘Harry’s Reasons’ contained the singles ‘Injustice’ (about the Aboriginal struggle) ‘Something’ (directed at the media) and the title track, dealing with a friend’s misuse of heroin. Harry was a euphemism for the drug. For their next album vSpy vSpy moved from Midnight Oil’s Powderworks label to WEA. This album, ‘A.O. Mod. TV Vers.’ (standing for Adult Oriented Modified TV Version), contained their “hit” record ‘Don’t Tear It Down’, a plea to the developers bulldozing historic Sydney, and a ode to the scourge of the day, ‘Credit Cards’. ‘A.O. Mod. TV Vers.’ earned vSpy vSpy a platinum record. Without warning, the record company demanded a new album, and within six weeks the band wrote and recorded ‘Xenophobia (Why?)’. The title was inspired by the mood around Australia’s Bicentennial year, but the messages in the songs were universal enough to see the album released in 14 other countries. 1989′s ‘Trash The Planet’ was recorded in England at Richard Branson’s Manor House studios.

Branson kept Irish Wolfhounds as pets at the Manor, one of which savagely attacked Craig. Cliff Grigg was desperately unhappy with his drums sound on that album. His departure from the band at the end of 1991 led to a year’s absence from live performances. Mike and Craig took the opportunity to move to Queensland and went through a period of search and trial of new drummers until their support of a best of collection in June 1992 saw the group’s return, with Mark Cuffe on drums. In 1983 the vSpy vSpy signed a new contract with Sony, and released ‘Fossil’, written in the studio, before breaking up (again) in 1994.

In 1995 – back to calling itself Spy V Spy, the band traveled to Brazil to follow-up on a strong fan base established there through the surfing community. Mike stayed behind, while back in Australia, Craig Bloxom and Mark Cuffe teamed up with Icehouse drummer Paul Wheeler to form a new group, the Shock Poets, allowing Cuffe to leave the drums for the microphone. More Brazil tours followed, and the two groups existed concurrently. In 1997 Mark left to dedicate himself to Shock Poets while Craig left that group to dedicate himself to vSpy vSpy. Paul Wheeler was named as vSpy vSpy’s new drummer. The enthusiasm of Brazilian Spyfans means that vSpy vSpy can stay alive, while maintaining a low profile on the Australian music scene.
From the vSpy vSpy website

Members

• Mike Weiley – Guitar
• Craig Bloxom – Bass, Vocals
• Cliff Grigg – Drums
• Marcus Phelan – Guitar
• Mark Cuffe – Drums
• Paul Wheeler – Drums
• Neil Beaver – Bass
• Mick Laws – Drums

Videos

Recordings

• Harry’s Reasons – March 1986
• A.O. Mod. TV. Vers. – December 1986
• Xenophobia (Why?) – March 1988
• Trash the Planet – November 1989
• Fossil – May 1993
• The Honey Island Project – April 1998
• Demolition – 2004

Images

Known Gigs

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History

Perth, Western Australia, the most isolated capital city in the world. Because of, or in spite of this, it has produced some of Australia’s most influential bands. Like the Scientists before them, the Stems bought garage rock bursting out of the underground in a paisley revolution that very nearly made its way into the national and international consciousness.

The band formed in late 1983 when Dom Mariani, formerly in the band the Go-Stars, was introduced with Richard Lane. Richard had seen Dom in the final few gigs of the Go-Stars and asked Dom for some guitar lessons. The lessons turned into jams, the jams into songs, and the decision was made to start the band. A friend, Gary Chambers was recruited to join the band on drums and bass player John Scuttleworth poached from another local band, the Pink Armadillos and some demo’s recorded. The bands debut gig was supporting the Saints and the Triffids at the Old Civic theatre in Perth. Their sound was influenced by 60’s garage acts ranging from the Electric Prunes, The Standells, The Chocolate Watch Band to the Easybeats. A local Saturday night residency at the Wizbah venue saw throwback covers and a growing list of original songs and a cult following for the band. The bass player decided to leave so a final gig for the band was arranged which drew a large crowd. The success of this gig and freshly written songs in the can saw the band recruit a new bass player, school friend Julian Matthews. Rehearsal and more shows followed. The band recorded their most requested songs and gained a contract with Sydney based label, Citadel Records – the first Perth band to do so.

After the split, Dom continued to record, writing songs for The Someloves, a duo with Daryl Mather, previously of the Lime Spiders, the DM3 – a three piece power pop/garage band and most recently with the Majestic Kelp. Richard Lane went on to record with Gary Chambers in The Chevelles and later with The Rosebuds.

Renewed interest in the band saw a compilation of the early recordings – Mushroom Soup released and the band reform to play a national tour in March 2003. The band also toured Europe with many big festival appearances and a further Australian tour. A Stems and Dom Mariani compilation was released for the overseas market in 2005. The band embarked on a major Australian tour alongside Radio Birdman and Hoodoo Gurus in 2007 and finally saw the follow up to At First Sight, Violets Are Blue in the form of their second album, Heads Up, released through Shock Records on October 6th.

Members

• Dom Mariani, vocals, guitar
• Richard Lane, vocals, guitar
• Gary Chambers, drums (first line-up)
• John Scuttleworth, bass (first line-up)
• Julian Matthews, bass (second line-up)
• Dave Shaw, drums (third line-up)

Discography

• She’s a Monster/Make You Mine 7” – Citadel 011 – 1985
• Tears Me In Two/Can’t Resist 7” – Citadel 01 – 1985
• Love Will Grow – Rosebuds Volume 1 12” EP – Citadel 905 – 1986
• At First Sight/Grooviest Girl In Town 7” – White Label Records K219 – 1987
• At First Sight – Violets are Blue 12”LP – White Label Records L38735 – 1987
• For Always/Mr Misery 7” – White Label Records K294 – 1987
• Sad Girl/My Beach 7” – White Label Records K408 – 1987
• The Great Rosebud Hoax 12” EP – Citadel CITLP512 – 1987
• Dead-Weed Live + Demos (bootleg) Cassette – 1989
• Let Your Head Rest/Don’t Let Me/Tears Me In Two 7” – Zero Hour 001 – 1990 (came with Stems the Illustrated Biography Book
• Buds CD AUS Citadel CITCD512 1993
• Killer Weed CD – Running Circle RUN0011 1996
• Weed Out – The Stems Live at the Old Melbourne 18 April 1986 CD –House of Wax Records, HOWR8 – 1997
• Mushroom Soup (The Citadel Years) CD AUS Citadel citcd555 2003
• At First Sight + Bonus 2CD – Mushroom Records 336272 2003
• Terminal Cool – A retrospective CD – Get Hip Records GH-1130 2005
• Heads Up – CD – Mushroom/Shock ST-707

Other Resources

www.thestems.com.au

About John Swan

John Swan, more commonly known as Swanee, was born John Archibold Dixon Swan in 1952 in Glasgow, Scotland. He came to Australia with his family in 1961 and is the only one of his siblings to keep his natural fathers surname. He is the older brother of Jimmy Barnes and the uncle of David Campbell.

Brief History

Swanee started his musical career as a drummer in the band Happiness before moving on to other bands such as Fraternity, Feather and Cold Chisel. He branched out on his own, under the name Swanee, in 1979, releasing the album “Into The Night”. His first commercial hit was in 1981 with his version of “If I Were A Carpenter” off the album “This Time Is Different” which featured two other hits, “Temporary Heartache” and “Lady What’s Your Name”

In 1987 he replaced angry Anderson as lead singer in Paul Christie’s “Party Boys” where he had another hit with “He’s Gonna Step on You Again” and then “Hold Your Head Up”. He left the band around 1989 to again pursue a solo career that still persists today.

Videos

Recordings

as Swanee (albums):

• Into the Night – 1980
• This Time is Different – 1982
• Ready for Action – 1983
• Days Gone By – 1984
• Bushido – 1985
• Heart and Soul – 1997

as John Swan

• It Could Have Been You (single) – 1985
• You’ll Do Something (single) – 1985
• Angel (single) – 1986
• Have a Little Faith – 2007

with The Party Boys

• He’s Gonna Step On You Again  (single) – 1987
• The Party Boys – 1987
• Hold Your Head Up  (single) – 1987
• Gloria (single) - 1988)

Other Resources

• John Swan’s website
• Australian Rock database

Known Gigs

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