ictv episode 2. roots & influences (local)

CW: The stereotype of punk rock circa 1977 is that it was English, the Sex Pistols and all that, but the real strength of it was that it was actually an idea whose time had come, on a worldwide basis, with little clusters of people all round the globe thinking the same thing at the same time, all quite independently of each other. And as much as it was an attitude as anything else, underpinned by ideas like the anti-corporate DIY ethic, the first step it had to take, in a way, was back to basics, back to where so much began in the garage bands of the 60s, like those compiled on the now legendary 1972 album Nuggets. Here in Australia we had our own roots and in fact our garage bands were some of the wildest of all.

ED WRECKAGE (LEFTOVERS): Oh yeah, I remember the first Saints single, I remember thinking, wow, good, someone else is doing it, but I think at that stage that was as far as it went, apart from bands like Steve and the Board and the Throb back in the 60s, they did some pretty wild stuff.

CHRIS BAILEY (SAINTS): Yeah, I mean there’s a very rich vein of Australian 60s pop music which I still think is world class and the Easybeats are fabulous, as is the Missing Links album and that particular album is, I think it’s the only album that’s more obnoxious than Stranded actually, the recording, everything is just so shitty and crappy and I love it. The Loved Ones were a big fave and all that stuff was getting playing at the parties here.

MICK HARVEY (BOYS NEXT DOOR/BIRTHDAY PARTY): The great tradition in Australian music, I don’t know how you’d define it, there is an individuality to Oz rock... There is a rawness and attitude… we’re not very purist with our connection with that but it’s still an important element. With what we were doing and what we continue to do I hope... I really like that I grew up with the Easybeats and Loved Ones and they are still very important.

LOBBY LOYDE: Even if you look at Gerry Humphreys and the boys, the Loved Ones… That’s harking back to the Purple Hearts days… they made some really unique original music those guys, and they made some of the great all time singles … That was a big collection of people, they made some great music, Running, Jumping, Standing Still was one of the classic bands that never actually got recorded, they were amazing live, absolutely amazing.

LOBBY LOYDE: The first guy I ever saw who was absolutely imbibing was Eric Burdon… he had a small peanut butter or vegemite jar full of lysergic acid and he was dipping his finger in it and drinking it, and all of his band were and they were out of…. and they were at the Thumpin’ Tum and he was walking around and he was absolutely astounded by the intensity of the music and he loved it, it was a great experience and he was saying what’s happening in this city, this is like being in New York… London, Melbourne… and he was quite astounded by it. Another guy who was quite astounded by it was Jimmy Page, when he came out here with the Yardbirds … which is a kind of poppy R&B metal kind of crossover band, he was quite astounded by the intensity of the Melbourne bands. I say to everyone, I think the big metal influence that kind of evolved in England, I think a lot of that started in Melbourne and I don’t know if anyone else in the world would agree with me, but these guys, when they saw it, they were impressed by it … because we had an intensity in this city and in inner Sydney that you just couldn’t get on records, and I think that none of those acts were making albums at that point in time, no one in the world was ever going to hear it, you had to come here and hear it live.