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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Melbourne song of the month: 'You're Good for Me'
Melbourne song of the month: 'Chicago'

Beatlemania is alive and well...

...and Melbourne pop artist extraordinaire Gemma Jones is living proof! That's right folks, today is B-Day - half a century exactly since The Beatles first played Festival Hall - and to mark the occasion, I interviewed Gemma about her own Beatlemania, and her incredible series of paintings that capture the era's hysteric highs, Screaming Fans. 

Neither Gemma nor I were born when The Beatles toured Down Under, but read on and you'll see that the legacy of their Aussie visit lives on — in vibrant shades of orange, pink, minty green and teal — thanks to this most creative and talented of artists. (By the way, for readers who aren't familiar with Gemma's work, see the end of this post for more info. Talk about a one-woman pop-cultural sensation!) 

Gemma - aka Paintergirl - with her treasured Glenn A. Baker book and 'John' painting

Tell me about how your Beatles love affair started?
I was born into a record collection full of Beatles vinyl eight years after the Beatles 1964 tour.  My parents were really relaxed and encouraging with my brother and I flipping records and playing what ever we wanted on the stereo at a really young age (I don't know that I'd be the same) … and The Beatles were an instant favourite amongst the sixties gems. 

I still remember exactly where I was when I heard from the radio on top of the fridge that John Lennon had been shot down.  I guess I can pin point in that moment my loss of innocence. 

An influential book I've held onto since I bought it as a teenager is Glenn A Baker's The Beatles Down Under: The 1964 Australia & New Zealand Tour, which is a whole 130 pages of their crazy visit to Oz 50 years ago.  As many photos of fans as of the Fab Four themselves.

What inspired you to create the 'Screaming Fans' series, and how long did it take you to complete all the paintings?
Screaming Fans were brewing in my bird brain for a few years before they came tumbling out onto canvas. These paintings encompass a whole lot of subject matter very dear to my heart and psyche: girls, the sixties, The Beatles, popular culture and the depiction of femininity. I think the wild, weirdness of Beatlemania has always made me happy. That totally obsessive state of being is all about defying acceptable ways of being and behaving. Extreme misbehaving! It's a kind of beautiful Otherness to me, I guess.

To be honest I can't remember how long the eight paintings took to actually make — but the whole journey of conceptualising, researching and making the works was probably about six months.  

'Not a teenybopper'

Looking at the paintings as a whole, I'm struck by the power of these girls' emotions — their teen-screaming seems to transcend mere fun-loving fandom, and enter into the realm of sexual desperation or frenzy. It's quite a full-on effect, in fact ('Electric Hand' and 'Exploding Star' in particular). Were you aware of this dimension when you were painting them?
Yes!  I just love that cusp between — to be completely simplistic — happiness and sadness.  Or yeah, as you say, fun and frenzy.  Are these girls actually having a good time?  When does love and adoration turn bad?

These are not secret crushes or casual fancies — these are all-engulfing, self-indulgent, overflowing nonsensical passions!  These girls are defying the efforts of their parents, their boyfriends and the newspapers to 'understand' them.

'Electric Hand'

And also the rarity of this kind of public hysteria is great.  I guess we all know those private, behind closed-doors sobbing-letting-go moments, but for a moment like this to leak so loudly into the public domain is pretty powerful and confronting.

The fans are part of this big surge of crowd mentality, but when you look at the photos and the footage, most of these girls are totally caught up in the moment and selfishly unaware of anyone else.  Completely unselfconscious.

Yup — it's electric and it's explosive and its very own power.

'Exploding Star'

What do you think was so special about Beatlemania compared to female hysteria over, say, Frank Sinatra or Elvis?
To be honest, my own blinkered obsession with the sixties mean that I don't really know much about the fandom around either of those two.  But there isn't really anything on my radar that matches Beatlemania.

I was thinking about the kind of easy-going, out-of-a-packet fandom that happens in the age of the internet … click 'like', download the album for free, buy your concert tickets online.  I love the upfront homegrown, humanity of Beatlemania.  Sure, you could buy Beatles wigs and badges — but there was also so much handmade, heartfelt love too.  In that Glenn A Baker book, there are so many great fan drawings of the Fab Four and homemade welcome banners.  Fan mail almost broke the postal system. Fans putting genuine time and energy into expressing their PASSIONS.  It's still absolutely palpable over the ages.

'Love'

I'm making an educated guess here, but is John your favourite Beatle by any chance? And if so, why?
Hahaha, yes John is my all-time favourite Beatle.  I love that non-sucky, tough, smartness (and startarseness) that he embodied.  He was loving and cynical all at once.  He was a totally unpretentious artist   What's not to love?  

He was the true heart and head of the Beatles.  There was plenty more that George, Ringo and that other guy contributed and they are also great — but John is my number one.

'John' - NB: this painting is for sale!

 I heard a theory once that you can tell a lot about someone's personality by which Beatle they like most — do you agree? If so, what conclusions would you draw if someone told you their favourite Mop Top was George, for example?

To be honest, I'm always surprised that anyone would love another Beatle above John.  When someone says that they like Ringo better, I always assume they are just trying to be contrary for the sake of it. Or maybe they just have a thing for drummers?  I dunno. These days, I'm just happy if someone genuinely loves The Beatles, full stop.

I want people to care that much that they bother to have a favourite in 2014!

Whatever I (somewhat jokingly) think about Paul, it did make me sad when #whoissirpaulmccartney was trending on social media.

'She Loves Them'

Have you ever seen one of those Beatles tribute bands (eg. The Bootleg Beatles)? I saw one play in Perth once, and found myself screaming like a teenybopper even though they weren't that great and were wearing ill-fitting wigs. Could Beatlemania have become so entrenched in our collective consciousness that even pale imitations can provoke hysteria?
No, I've never seen a full-blown Beatles tribute band … but I love the idea that they could trigger something in our shared history (or shared hystery?!) that make you want to lose your shit spontaneously.  Could be a kind of therapy, huh?
 
If you could time travel back to Festival Hall in either 1964 to see The Beatles or 1968 to see The Who and The Small Faces, which would you choose and why? (HARD question, I know!)
A hard AND mean question.  I gotta be honest, I think the whole controversy around the 'Big Show' tour of '68 is pretty appealing … and whilst I love The Beatles for being one of my first favourite childhood bands, The Small Faces and The Who have a whole other level of teen adoration and love from me, which harks back to me first unlocking the Mysterious World of Mod.

By the way I still genuinely love Festival Hall because I like to think that the memories of all of those bands and all of those screaming fans still linger. Just as much as I like it when you have to walk across the tarmac and take the rear stairs on to an airplane. Don't tell me you don't turn around and wave and pretend that you're one of The Beatles. [ummm, nup. Never done that myself! Next time...]

'Stars in her eyes'

So, word has it you've got a new exhibition coming up. Tell us more...
My new mini-show is a small exhibition of paintings and prints under the banner 'How Am I Not Myself', which opens at Melbourne's Outré Gallery on 18 July 2014. My friend Victoria Mason (an amazing jeweller) has done a collaboration with me as part of the show too.  You're all invited! RSVP here.

Find out more 

Check out Gemma's website 
Read a review of her 'Screaming Fans' exhibition

Related posts 

Then and now: When American jet-set and Beatlemania came to town  
Holy Mop Tops, Batman! Beatlemania in Melbourne: a quiz

Holy Mop Tops, Batman! Beatlemania in Melbourne: a quiz

G'day, groovers! 
In honour of the fast-approaching 50th anniversary of The Beatles' Aussie tour, I've created this ace (if I do say so myself!) quiz about it -- especially the Melbourne leg of their visit, in keeping with this blog's theme.

Ridgy-didge Beatles

Unfortunately, I thought I'd be able to copy the whole thing into this blog once I was done. But no. That'd be too easy.

Beatlemania, Melbourne-style. Pic: News Corp

So please, if you feel like taking a magical mystery tour through those heady, hysterical June days 50 years back, get your lovely selves over to Go to Quiz and test your Beatles mettle.

Famous five. Pic: Gold FM

Then come back to this page and boast about your score in the comments section of this page! Because I know you'll all do brilliantly. But please don't cry if you don't...

It's enough to make a gal cry... Pic: John Lamb

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Then and now: When American jet-set and Beatlemania came to town

Can you believe that this blue-tiled beauty….

The Southern Cross Hotel in all its glory. Photo: http://www.nealprince-asid.com

…was demolished to make way for this beacon of blandness?

 
Admittedly, by the time it was closed in 1995 (demolition came a few years later), the Southern Cross Hotel  was past its prime, its blue tiles having long since given way to a drab brown façade, but surely its historical significance alone should have ensured its survival?

Designed by Welton Becket, the architect responsible for mid-century LA landmarks such as the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and the Capitol Records Building, the Southern Cross Hotel boasted more than 430 rooms, eight restaurants, Melbourne’s first-ever ten-pin bowling alley (in the basement, no less), a massive ballroom and a shopping plaza. Its vividly coloured interior was masterminded by Neal Prince, director of interior decorating for the Intercontinental Hotel Corporation. 

Wilawa Cocktail Lounge. Photo: http://www.nealprince-asid.com

Southern Cross Hotel plaza, as photographed by Wolfgang Sievers. Photo: NLA

Lifestyles of the rich, famous… and fab

Such was the excitement about this flashy American-style establishment located on Exhibition Street between Bourke and Little Collins, that its August 1962 opening was even broadcast on local TV! Ushering in a new era of world-class accommodation and customer service, the Southern Cross Hotel quickly became the place to stay for visiting dignitaries and celebrities, hosting the likes of Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich and Roger Moore, plus a cavalcade of prime ministers and presidents. Over the decades, it was the venue of choice for the Logies, the Brownlow Medal and various Liberal Party shindigs.

But the Southern Cross Hotel’s main claim to fame was for hosting The Beatles, who stayed there during the Melbourne leg of their 1964 Aussie tour (almost 50 years ago to the day).

John and Paul saying g'day to the heaving throng, June 1964

No less than 20,000 screaming fans crammed the surrounding streets trying to catch a glimpse of the Fab Four — a spectacle that was televised live for those who didn't make the scene. I can’t think of a single star who could pull that off today. But the appearance of John, George, Paul and Ringo on the Southern Cross’s balcony caused pandemonium, and sealed the hotel’s place in history.

Can you imagine this many teenyboppers turning out for One Direction?

After they left, enterprising staff tore up their bed sheets and sold the strips — marked with the name of the Beatle who’d slept on them — to raise money for charity. I wonder if any survive to this day?

Neville Waller, photographer for Everybody's magazine, captured The Beatles hanging out in their twelfth-floor digs.

Nice sandals, George

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Holy mop tops, Batman! Beatlemania in Melbourne: a quiz

Melbourne song of the month: 'Chicago'/The Purple Hearts (April 1967)

Here’s a challenge for you: whack this baby on your car stereo and try to stick within the speed limit. Released in April 1967, three months after they’d broken up, The Purple Hearts’ version of “Born in Chicago” (under the abbreviated title “Chicago”) is a rip-roaring, faith-restoring joyride that leaves The Paul Butterfield Blues Band’s original pirouetting in the dust. Goddamn, I love it!

Unfortunately, I can’t find an online link to include in this post, so unless you’re lucky to own the original 7” (on Sunshine Records - anyone have a copy they want to sell me?), your best bet is the brilliant Half A Cow anthology, Benzedrine Beat.

Originally from Brisbane, The Purple Hearts relocated to swinging Melbourne in early 1966. Their second and third singles, “Early in the Morning” and “Of Hopes and Dreams and Tombstones” (killers in their own right) were recorded at the popular Armstrong’s Studio in South Melbourne, so I’m making an educated guess and assuming “Chicago” was too. 


 
The Purple Heart’s reputation as one of Melbourne’s most dynamic live bands comes across loud and clear in this recording. Frenetic but full of swaggering groove, totally unhinged but perfectly tight, its only fault is that it leaves you gagging for more after a measly 2:21 minutes. Sure, a short song is a good song, but this takes the whole ‘treat ‘em mean, keep ‘em keen’ ethos to another, altogether sadistic level!

Like so many Aussie bands of the 1960s, The Purple Hearts didn’t write their own material, opting instead to cover the r’n’b and blues classics they dug so much. But their creative take on these tracks ensured they ended up with a totally different beast at the end of the process. 

“Chicago” is way tougher-sounding than the original; faster and wilder. Swinging between a soulful falsetto and a deep throaty growl, Mick Hadley’s vocals are impassioned (to say the least) and his harmonica brutal; Lobby Loyde’s guitar, meanwhile, prowls around in the background like a tiger waiting to pounce – which it eventually does, in a lead break so freakin’ cool it hurts. Meanwhile, the turbo-charged rhythm section of Tony Cahill, Rob Dames and Fred Pickard doesn’t let up for a millisecond. If this isn’t a band at the peak of its powers, I don’t know what is.

Here’s the band playing it at a reunion gig in 2006 (I was there! Great gig, so much love in the room – I even managed to give Lobby a hug afterwards). It’s not quite the original line-up, but it’s still got that joyous energy….“Lobby, give it to me!”

RIP Lobby Loyde and Mick Hadley 

Related post:
Melbourne song of the month: 'The Real Thing'/Russell Morris

Dreaming of Denise

Last night I dreamed I was in a band with Denise Drysdale. I was on drums, which I didn’t know how to play (and don’t in real life, either), and she was on guitar. Not only did Denise have some serious guitar chops, but she somehow managed to go-go dance while she played. Needless to say, I felt extremely inadequate in the dream, a feeling that was magnified when I couldn’t decide what to wear for a big gig we were playing, and got so caught up in my wardrobe dramas that I was late for the show. By the time I arrived, Denise had replaced me with one of my work colleagues.

How shallow is my subconscious? Wait: don’t answer that.

Anyway, Denise Drysdale is a Melbourne icon, and a more-than-worthy subject for this blog. Australia’s first and most famous go-go dancer, she’s had an illustrious career over the decades: releasing singles, entertaining the troops in Vietnam, appearing in theatrical productions and becoming one of the country’s most beloved, multi-Logie winning TV personalities. 

 
Moorabbin-born and Port Melbourne-raised, Denise started dancing very young. Her parents were publicans and, not wanting to expose her infant daughter to the no-holds-barred barbarity of the six o’clock swill, Mrs Drysdale sent her off to early evening dance classes. By the age of six, young Denise was winning competitions — and by 17, she was a go-go gal on ATV-0’s Kommotion.

Shaking it like a Polaroid picture

One thing led to another, and she was invited to tour with Ray Brown and the Whispers; after that she scored a recording contract (which included a winsome cover of Fontella Bass’s “Rescue Me”) and went on to perform on 26 episodes of the Bobbie and Laurie-hosted teen show, Dig We Must.

In between all this, Denise ran classes for aspiring go-go gals. The video below shows her in action:



You gotta love her instructions: 
Now relax your back and flop your head around. People aren’t going to look at anything else but your head. They don’t want to see your feet dancing, they want to see your head. And smile, whatever you do.

Yep, they're just looking at your face, Ding Dong!

It was Ernie Sigley who gave Denise her nickname ‘Ding Dong’, when she was his barrel girl on The Ernie Sigley Show during the 1970s. Their working relationship has endured til the current day, and they sometimes tour the club circuit together.

Other TV shows she appeared over the years on have included Hey, Hey It’s Saturday, The Norman Gunston Show, Young Talent Time, Division Four, Bellbird, Melbourne Today and, more recently, The Circle. She even had her own show, Denise, for awhile in the late 90s. Not too many TV personalities can claim a career spanning more than half a century — but then, very few TV personalities can come close to matching Ding Dong’s charm, humour, sense of fun and entertainment value. 

The original raven-haired beauty

And hell, if I’m going to have neurotic dreams about famous Melburnians, I could do a lot worse than Denise… 

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The Go!! Show: they don't make 'em like that anymore...

A pop cultural time capsule: Approximately Panther

“What was the Charleston if not a Victorian go-go?” (Douglas L. Panther)

Where is Douglas L. Panther now? In 1966, he was a writer (or self-proclaimed ‘drunken reporter’) for Go-Set magazine, starring in the fabulous teen documentary Approximately Panther and pontificating on the daily lives of Melbourne’s groovy youth.

But then, much like a one-hit wonder or a one-night stand, he dropped off the radar. At least, as far as I can tell. A fairly extensive Google search reveals a big fat nada in terms of his current whereabouts or activities, which seems odd, as the man was clearly not publicity shy. Maybe he’s changed his name? Gone into witness protection? Been abducted by aliens? To be honest, nothing would surprise me, considering his, well, unique presence in Approximately Panther.

The drunken reporter at work, baby.

“Maybe mini-skirts are simply wide belts?” (Douglas L. Panther)

This half-hour gem of a film, directed by Peter Lamb, takes us on a guided tour of Melbourne’s pop culture scene in 1966. From the discotheques and drag races, to the house parties and radio stations, it’s a fun-filled romp featuring interviews with the likes of a young, very earnest Lynne Randell, Bobby and Laurie, model Jenny Ham, band/venue manager David Flint, and a rather pompous fellow (a poet, apparently) called Adrian Rawlins spouting bollocks about “pop rejuvenation” and how he knows The Rolling Stones.

Lynne Randell chats to Panther about teenagers

Jenny Ham discusses fashion; Panther puffs on a dart

There’s amazing footage of the Running Jumping Standing Still performing for a moving, grooving crowd at legendary discotheque the Thumping Tum, as well as The Loved Ones doing “The Loved One” and Normie Rowe being mobbed at the airport. And then there is Douglas L. Panther.

“There is no such accessory as a hairy chest. More in demand is a combination of masculine beauty with gentlemanly chic-ness and attentiveness to feminine fancy considered effeminate a few years ago.” (Douglas L. Panther)

Nice fringe, Panther.

Usually with a ciggy in his hand and a knowing smirk on his face, young Douglas cuts an unforgettable figure. His longish, brushed-back hair looks like it’s going to spring out of control at any moment, while his half-hearted fringe seems to be wondering why it’s there. When he’s not banging away on his typewriter, he’s discussing “wenches’ expectations” and the erotic motivations behind fashion. He’s hilariously pretentious and strangely endearing at the same time.

But why take my word for it, when you can watch the doco in all its glory here?

Related post:
Melbourne song of the month: 'The Loved One'/The Loved Ones (May 1966)