What a difference 50 years makes!

How's this for a cavalcade of talent? Fifty years ago to the day, the Go-Set National Top 40 was a whole lot more killer than filler. 

All the usual suspects are there: The Yardbirds, The Kinks, The Beatles, The Animals, The Who, Nancy Sinatra, Lee Hazlewood... ahem, Engelbert Humperdinck and Harry Secombe...not to mention some fine local hit-makers such as Normie Rowe, The Cherokees (although I confess, 'Minnie the Moocher' leaves me colder than this frosty Melbourne winter's day), Lynne Randell and Ronnie Burns.

But only two bands have more than one song in the chart: The Mamas & the Papas and--of infinitely more interest to this blog--The Master's Apprentices! 

Since June marks the third anniversary of singer Jim Keays' death and a half-century since The Masters' classic self-titled debut album came out, it seems only fair that we consider the group's domination of the hit parade in late-June 1967 a little further...

First cab off the rank is their stormin', riff-tastic debut single 'Undecided', still going strong in 22nd spot after 13 weeks burning up the Top 40 (where it peaked at number 13). To think the band whipped it up in a mere 15 minutes to fill some recording space is a convincing argument that true art is the product of inspiration rather than perspiration. Rock'n'roll simply does not get better than this. Icing on the cake is, of course, the flipside, 'War or Hands of TIme', an anti-Vietnam protest number with a distinctly freakbeat-y sound.

** NB: BE SURE TO READ THE VIEWER COMMENTS. THERE'S SOME REAL HISTORY IN THERE.**

Meanwhile, The Masters' snarlin' follow-up 'Buried and Dead' comes in at 33. Released in May 1967 ('Undecided' came out in October 1966), this gold-plated punker is significant not only for being a dance-floor favourite, but also for being accompanied by one of the country's first purpose-made music videos. As Jim Keays recalled in his memoir, His Master's Voice:

"We had tried a new approach with 'Buried and Dead' by making a film clip for the song. We'd seen a few of them made for overseas acts so we filmed one in a couple of hours at a park in St Kilda. As far as I can remember, it was never shown on TV but I'm pretty sure it was the first proper film clip made by an Australian artist."

Hmmm, I'm not so sure about that (what about The Loved Ones doing 'The Loved One' in Approximately Panther? Or The Black Diamonds' clip for 'I Want, Need, Love You', made for the ABC TV program Be Our Guest? Or even the long-lost 'Witch Girl' video by Holy Go-Go Boots Batman's favourite masked weirdos, The Mystrys?)...but it's certainly an early, and groovy, example of the artform, and here 'tis:

 (Incidentally, as a Southsider, I'm DYING to know which St Kilda park they filmed it in so I can go and soak up any residual genius vibes that might still be floating around. I don't recognise the location from this grainy footage.)

By the time of the Top 40 above, The Masters Apprentices had finally made the move from Adelaide and had been living in Melbourne for some months, gigging up a storm at legendary venues such as The Thumpin' Tum, Sebastians, The Biting Eye and Catcher. (If anyone out there was lucky enough to see them in action, please share your memories in the comments section! Meanwhile, our little 'pipe bending ears' will have to be content with the records...)

And the Australian Top 40 fifty years later? Don't get me started.

Suffice it to say, the lame-arse bunch of performers currently populating the charts (as evidenced HERE)--combined with the disturbing news that sales of electric guitars are plummeting--simply reinforces my belief that rock'n'roll's glory days are well and truly over...or am I just a grumpy Gen Xer? Wait! Don't answer that.

A hot date with a Master's Apprentice (just in time for Valentine's Day)

If you are a girl, are you…
a) Tall, red-haired and sexy
b) Blonde, long-haired and modellish
c) A girl
d) Young, sweet and innocent
e) Slim, dark-haired and lots of fun?


Tough luck if you’re a boy – even a tall, red-haired and sexy one -- you wouldn’t have stood a chance to win a date with any of The Masters Apprentices!

From Go-Set, 3 April 1968

This hilarious quiz/competition appeared in the 3 April, 1968 edition of Australia’s favourite teen magazine Go-Set, hot on the heels of the Masters’ fourth single, ‘Elevator Driver’ (which, as readers of this blog would know, was retitled from a song called ‘Silver People’ given to them by The Groop’s Brian Cadd), and not long after they'd ruffled more than a few feathers with their shenanigans at The Who-Small Faces-Paul Jones Big Show at Festival Hall. 

For those of you whose eyesight ain't what it used to be, here are the questions in close-up. Don't be shy: take the quiz, and find out which member of the group would’ve been your perfect match! After all, it's one of those niggling questions we've all been plagued by at some point. 

So are you a Jim, Gavin, Colin, Peter or Doug kinda gal? Find out below, and do feel free to put the name of your star-crossed Master in the comments section of this post…

A, B, C, D or E?

But wait -- there's more!

After answering the multiple-choice questions, girls then had to give three reasons why they’d like to win a date with their preferred band member. Obviously, a simple, solitary “Cos he’s hot”, “He looks fab in women’s shoes” or “He gives Hendrix a run for his money” wasn’t sufficient...although a combination of the three might’ve done the trick. Mind you, I suspect the judges would’ve been looking for the unique kind of imagination that only an obsessed super-fan could dream up.

The boys around the time of the quiz. L-R: Jim, Peter, Gavin, Colin, Doug

Unfortunately, I don’t have any further information on the competition winner/s, what reasons they gave, which Master they went out with, or whether it was love at first sight. 

Helloooo, ladies! 

We're all about the big issues here at Holy Go-Go Boots, Batman...

(Feeling quizzical? Try the Holy Mop Tops, Batman! quiz, all about the Beatles' 1964 Oz tour.)

Melbourne song of the month: '5:10 Man'/The Master's Apprentices (July 1969)

So it's already two weeks since Jim Keays left us, and I doubt I'm the only person still in shock that he's gone. He was one of Australia's great performers, imbued with the kind of star quality, irreverence and talent you don't see so often these days.

RIP Jim Keays: another legend heads off to the big jam session in the sky. Photo: Faster Louder

I was lucky enough to see an 'incarnation' of the Masters Apprentices (OK, so it was Jim Keays, Doug Ford and a bunch of boganish blow-ins) in Perth almost 10 years ago at the Hyde Park Hotel's back bar, and I had a blast. They kicked off with my favourite Masters' song, 'Undecided', and proceeded to give us a rollicking run-through of their classics interspersed with a few choice covers.

With his long hair, hippy pendant and (if memory serves me correctly, which I think it does) a hat that looked like it'd been pinched from a wizard's wardrobe, Doug Ford seemed a little - ahem - spaced out, but soon warmed up.

Jim Keays, on the other hand, was firing on all cylinders from the get go. In between belting out numbers with the energy and exuberance of a man in his 20s, he shared anecdotes about the band's past, from their early garage-punk days in Adelaide right through to the time he found himself at the urinal next to John Lennon at Apple Studios! He seemed so at ease onstage, like it was his natural habitat.

Set list from Hyde Park Hotel gig, 15 August 2004. That's Doug's autograph on the right, by the way. Jim vanished before I could get to him. Probably saw me coming, hehe...

Anyway, onto this month's song...

This video of the Masters performing their hit '5:10 Man' on the ABC program Hit Scene is a bonafide ripper. As if synchronised dancing, sexy matching outfits and wacky camera work aren't enough, we get a baby-faced (but far from innocent!) Jim singing about square worker-drone types while flirting like a pro with his TV audience. 
Part rock, part pop, all good fun, '5:10 Man' made it to number 16 on the Go-Set charts. Marking the Masters' transition to a tougher, psychy sound, the song established the band's legendary second line-up (Keays, Ford, Wheatley and Burgess) as a force to be reckoned with.

Dig that funny doo-woppy finale!

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