It just shows how ingrained into the musical consciousness these classic slices of garage-mania have become. Mostly that’s down to the enormous influence that Raven’s milestone Ugly Things LP collection – originally issued at the dawning of the 1980s just as the 1960s revival was just kicking off – has exerted in the minds of those willing to absorb the quality of the sounds on offer. It was Australia’s own equivalent of Lenny Kaye’s pioneering Nuggets collection in the US, all of which proved unequivocally that the Australian bands of the era were the equal of anything the Americans had to offer at the time. There was also Glenn A. Baker’s So You Want to be a Rock & Roll Star pair of double LPs (from 1975 and 1977 respectively) that generally put the music into some kind of perspective in the first place – and lest we forget, Glenn A. was one of the masterminds behind Ugly Things as well.

      Certainly upon release at the time, Ugly Things and So You Want to be a Rock & Roll Star were the starting place for me; the first time I heard most of the material. Of course, the Easybeats, Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs, Normie Rowe & the Playboys, the Twilights, the Master’s Apprentices, the Loved Ones, etc were already established as the reigning kings of Australia’s 1960s legacy, but once you started to dig deeper there was a whole other world to explore- an Aladdin’s Cave of buried treasures and hidden delights waiting for rediscovery. For me the music kindled a passion as well as the beginnings of an understanding of a time, place and sound I had been too young to experience first hand. Naturally, there are those who did indeed experience the bands first hand, having grown up in the 1960s. Still, the fact remains that most of these bands really didn’t sell a hell of a lot of records in their day – in comparison with the big guns already mentioned – hence it’s the super rarity factor of many of these original records that adds to the genuine appeal and magic aura the music exudes.

Time has been very good to these recordings, most of them sound as fresh and vibrant as the day they were laid down in the studio. Interest in the world of Aussie garage-punk/R&B/psych recordings has been kept alive over the years with the legitimate reissue of such celebrated albums as the Missing Links’ debut platter and Steve & the Board’s …and the Giggle Eyed Goo plus the release of the It’s a Kave-In! collection on the Kavern-7 label. More recently with the arrival of the digital age Raven has weighed in with the Sixties Downunder CD series and the Canetoad label has brought us everything from the Atlantics to the Punkville compilation. Ascension has reissued a raft of Master’s Apprentices albums and Half a Cow did the definitive history of the Missing Links entitled Driving You Insane. Even UK label Ace got in on the act with the release of a tremendous 4-part CD series of tracks from the Festival Records vault – the … From Down Under series of Board Boogie, Of Hopes & Dreams & Tombstones, Peculiar Hole in the Sky and Hot Generation! And of course Rhino included a generous 13 Australasian tracks on the essential 4-CD Nuggets II box set. On a smaller scale, the Top Shelf label put out a great little 4-track vinyl EP of Creatures material.

Melbourne Discotheque Crowd, 1967

      Finally let’s not forget such opportunistic yet necessary bootleg CDs as Devil’s Children, Pretty Ugly, Datura Dreamtime and A Forest of Goldtops plus, most recently, the LP boot series Before The Birdmen Flew. All of which can only be a good thing, I guess, simply because there’s more of this stuff available than ever before to tempt and intrigue successive generations of 1960s music fanatics. Still, the hardcore collector will have in their possession the genuine articles, the original vinyl artefacts and they will proudly and rightly treasure them. Good on them for tracking them down in the first place.

      There has been a lot written about these bands and recordings over the years. Of course, the likes of Go-Set and Everybody’s covered the scene at the time quite extensively. Then, once again, Glenn A. Baker took up the mantle in the 1970s, becoming the first Australian music historian to write authoritatively about the Aussie 1960s scene. He basically said, ‘this is our recorded legacy, embrace it before it’s lost in the mists of time forever’ – which consequently hasn’t been the case. I’m also among the group of music journalists and historians that have continued to write about the era, the bands and the recordings. In addition I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing many of the musicians involved directly in the development of the Aussie 1960s scene.

      Probably the guy, however, that did most to foster an interest not only locally but also internationally in the music was the late Dean Mittelhauser through his fanzine The Livin’ End and his Kavern-7 label (yes, the home to It’s a Kave-In!). Dean taught me much about an appreciation of the music. He was a good mate, always very generous with his time and his knowledge was second to none. He loved talking about this stuff and his enthusiasm was always infectious. He instilled a deep affection for the music in me and I had to find out more, I had to listen to everything I could from the era.

      I’m the first to admit that the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s are my eras of expertise, having grown up with the music of the time, seeing many of the bands (starting as an impressionable teenager seeing the likes of Ariel, the La De Das, Skyhooks, AC/DC etc), buying the records and then beginning my career as a music journalist in the early 1980s. For me, the equivalent of the Aussie 1960s garage-punk/R&B/psych phase came first hand with the late 1970s punk explosion and the thriving local indie scene of the 1980s. My passion for the music and my thirst for knowledge about the history of our recorded legacy continues unabated.

      Most recently, musician and arch 1960s fiend Ian Marks has written at length and specifically about Aussie 1960s garage-punk/R&B/psych music. His research skills are impeccable and his zeal for the music remains undiminished, and you only have to read his continuing Australian 60s Punk Gallery series in his irreverent and wonderful Foffle zine to know this guy really connects with the music. Now fellow musician and writer Iain McIntyre has likewise taken up the challenge and, in conjunction with Marks, put together this fine collection of articles and interviews on the subject.

      You’ll read about how the Throb recorded Black; how Toni McCann was never a girly girly singer like Little Pattie (and how!); the Creatures adoration for the Rolling Stones; how the Spinning Wheels got that fuzz sound on Shame Shame Shame; how the 15-year old lead guitarist for the Moods came up with the unforgettable Rum Drunk; the wild times experienced by the Missing Links and Running Jumping Standing Still; the Elois’ recollections of their indispensable By My Side; the Chimney Sweeps incredibly primitive take on R&B; the Black Diamonds mastery of both all-out garage-punk ravers and luxuriant powerpop; the Atlantics ride from Bombora to Come On and the Purple Hearts early days on the Brisbane scene. Enjoy the read, some of the anecdotes are marvellous. The passion and treasured memories obviously remain with these musicians.

      At the end of the day it’s the music that will endure. I still feel that surge of adrenaline, that wave of pure excitement whenever the stylus drops into the record groove and Wild About You, Come On, Diddy Wah Diddy, No, I Want, Need, Love You, By My Side or any number of powerhouse ravers comes bursting out of the speakers. Those wailing vocals, those raucous fuzz-tone guitar riffs, those pumping bass lines, those rampaging drum beats – loud, proud and primitive as hell in some cases, melodic yet raw and forceful in others. Never underestimate the power this music holds… it’s contagious, it’s timeless and it’s real!

      I know Ian M and Iain McI (wow, three Ian Ms!) will have their own favourites but I’ll take the liberty here, for my own personal satisfaction, and dedicate this collection of writings and interviews to: Toni McCann, Lobby Loyde, Doug Ford, Andy James, Keith Glass, David Pepperell, Jim Keays, Mick Bower, Mike Furber, Ross Wilson, Gulliver Smith, Dean Mittelhauser, the Throb, the Creatures, the Morloch, the Devil’s Children, Dr Kandy’s Third Eye, the Bitter Lemons, the Atlantics, the Elois, the Black Diamonds, Ubu Films, the Thumpin’ Tum, Cucumber Castle, Light Shades of Dark Part 2, Long Live Sivinanda, Hot Generation, Lonely Sixteen, Blue Roundabout, Wild About You, oh yeah, and the Sun God.

Ian McFarlane is the author of The Encyclopaedia of Australian Rock & Pop (Allen & Unwin Publishers, 1999).

Picture Credits:
All photograps from the collection of former Go Set photographer Jim Colbert. reproduced with permission.