Aussie band posters from the 1980’s
I recently had the good fortune to stumble upon a fantastic collection of ’80s band posters and flyers. They are reproduced here courtesy of Alan Hislop, the original owner of the images.
They bring back so many good memories of bands and venues that have long since past. There’s even one for a concert I went to at Marconi Stadium.
This kind of collection is just priceless and exactly the sort of thing we need to preserve here for future generations.
What gems do you have hidden away in your old photo albums? Let us know in the comments below and I’ll organise to get them published here.
I used to go to the Family Inn (which features in these posters) at Rydalmere regularly. In fact growing up in the western suburbs of Sydney you had a huge choice of venues and bands to see virtually every night of the week. In my area there were always gigs at The Family, the Eastwood Hotel, The West Ryde Hotel, The Local Inn at West Ryde (which often had bands upstairs and downstairs in the nightclub), The Bayview at Gladesville, The Epping Hotel and others. I remember seeing INXS play for free at the Bayview on a Monday night. Some pubs had gigs several nights per week: the Eastwood for example would always have a band on Thurs, Fri and Sat. The Family was often big on a Tuesday night. Despite being a suburban pub, I recall seeing many international acts play at the Family, including: Motorhead, George Thorougood and the Destroyers, Canned Heat, Steppenwolf and more. From memory I believe Motorhead may have been partially responsible for the closure of the Family as a live venue – it was closed due to noise complaints. They were unbelievably loud (and I’m a guitarist who likes his Marshall cranked I can assure you). I think the last gig ever at the Family may have been the Allniters. Can’t recall what year that would have been. Great memories!!
I have a small collection of band and gig posters from Sydney and Canberra circa ’82-’85. I always tried to grab a poster from gigs I attended – quite a few at the Family.
I was at George Thorogood, Canned Heat (more than once I reckon), and The Party Boys featuring Marc Hunter and Joe Walsh. Awesome show that one.
The Family was a great venue. I have The Troggs 83 tour poster featured above but from another venue.
If you would like to feature these posters let me know.
hi there i am a big aust music collector
if you are selling anything music please let me know cheers
There were some really good time had at the family, one act I saw often were D Minor and the discords
Hi Gt, I loved the Family Inn & went there often. Saw some awesome bands including the Allniters. I don’t know if it was the last gig there but I’ll never forget it. It was the middle of summer and it was freakin’ hot! The place was packed and the air-conditioning packed it in. I remember the crowd kept ducking into the toilets to pour water over their heads just to stop from overheating. What a great night!
Hey Mark. Great site by the way. Yeah the place could be a sauna at times – it meant that you needed to replace the lost fluids regularly!! I just remembered a couple more quirks of the Family. For a long time they had can bars separate from the main bar where you could just buy cans of beer. Made it really quick to get a drink even when packed. Also, you could get the large size (750ml) bottles of cider over the bar – I guess it was Strongbow but can’t really remember. Many a punter would be seen with a large bottle in either hand. These were glass bottles and there was never any trouble that I can remember. I guess the place was well run and they knew what the customers wanted.
Hi Mark
We had some posters from the Melbourne Underground Club Scene from 1981 to 1984 that we can give you. Please let us know what email address you need and we’ll send them through. Alternatively we could load them up on a photo sharing site for you.
Regards
Simon Circus
Hi, we have a new Facebook group “ROCKIN AUSTRALIA TOUR POSTERS’ that features a collection of rocknroll posters over the last 50 years – jump on board and relive those memories !
Holy shit, my band The Sunset Strip gets a guernsey! We supported Harem Scarem on a very enjoyable Sydney jaunt. Our drummer came down with some mysterious lurgy so i got subbed from the guitar to drums. God knows what the public made of it. I had NO idea we had any posters of our own on the tour. If you were a fan of the band check out the facebook page. Thanks for the inclusion!
https://www.facebook.com/thesunsetstripaustralia
I have some posters and flyers from Sydney gigs in the 80s. I don’t have a suitable scanner. Guess i could photograph them?
I’m interested in acquiring posters of Screaming Tribesman(Tribesmen?), Lipstick Killers and Hoi Polloi
I’m looking for posters of The Johnnys, from anywhere in Australia. Does anyone know a good (on-line) source? Only looking for dates of gigs at this stage.
I have a poster promoting a Rose Tattoo with The Johnnys gig at Sweethearts. Unknown year but the date is Thursday Dec 26 – a boxing day show.
This would probably make it 1985 about a month after the release of Injun Joe.
Sweethearts was at the Startdust Hotel in Cabramatta.
The Tatts did a NYE gig at Blacktown RSL the following Tuesday.
mate i can help you with johnnys posters cheers
I’m a Corpse Grinders collector myself and would be interested in purchasing any/all posters that so much as mention the Grinders.
Hi … I have a Corpse Grinder poster you may be interested in.
Hi Marietta
Definitely interested; can you please shoot me an email at:
sayzorch@optusnet.com.au
i wouold like to buy your poster please if it is still available cheers
https://www.facebook.com/groups/42275365648/
Hundreds of 80s/90s posters have been uploaded to this Adelaide – focused Facebook group.
enjoyed to see all those posters
i am also a massive collector and archivist
fb site ; nick rock posters