hardtack

Yeah, it really pisses me off when people dismiss current music and say that nothing beats the 70’s and 80’s or whenever; to me other than the beginning and ending of the decade, the 70’s contained some of the most bland music I’ve heard… but then every decade could lay claim to that depending on where one’s tastes lie. One band that I hadn’t heard a lot until recently, but who’ve fast become one of my favourites is Tropical [censored] Storm. I can’t get to many shows these days (other than my own band’s), but one venue we occasionally play here in Sydney, the Marrickville Bowlo, just recently had three consecutive nights sold out… not bad for a Melbourne band with relatively little exposure up here. There is also a good raft of Japanese bands coming through, which I love! The 5, 6, 7, 8’s, Buddhadatta and Guitar Wolf being just a few. The cost of insurance appears to have killed of a lot of venues in Melbourne and I think that will spread, no doubt. Here in Sydney a couple of the councils have created entertainment districts which will hopefully ensure the survival of a lot of important venues around Newtown, Enmore and Marrickville. Oh, and speaking of Lismore, would you happen to know a guy named Dave Slade? He’s fairly heavily involved in the music scene there.

Yes, I think the last time i saw the Oils live was as the Birkenhead Tavern very early in the 80’s. Hearst always reminded me of Keith Moon as an absolute belter of a drummer. I’m also a big fan of the Backsliders, but again, the last time I saw them was at Bluesfest in 2015 (I think it was). If you get a chance, check out Dom Turner’s Rural Blues.

I saw Mackenzie Theory at the first Sunbury (only Sunbury I went to). Rob did get offered the gig replacing Rutherford in Genesis but at very long notice if I remember what he told me correctly, and in the end didn’t take up the offer. The Sha Na Na this is correct and while I’m not sure if he ever does that anymore, he is still living in L.A. On Steve Cummings, we attended Swinburne together in 1972 and I think you’ll find he was an Essendon supporter; at least that’s the impression I’m getting lately from his Instagram/FB posts during footy season. Sports were one of the great bands of the late 70’s/early 80’s; they had a weekly residency at my local pub back then, every Thursday night at the London Tavern. I’ve had the pleasure of having got to play with Jimmy Niven in a couple of bands here in Sydney before his passing. A lovely guy.

TF Much and Much More Ballroom were also the home of the Ellis D Fogg light shows. Another gig I’d forgotten was a theatre or hall on Dandenong Rd, opposite Chapel St (Astor Theatre maybe?)… they’d have bands playing and I remember one event when Zig & Zag were delivering drug oriented humour. The station in the late 70’s had all these great bands like The Millionaires, The Bleeding Hearts, Stiletto, Bandicoots, Loose Trousers, Kevin Borich Express and even Midnight Oil (so sad to hear of Rob Hirst’s passing today). I occasionally run into Mick Conway as he lives quite close to where I live in Sydney. When I was living in Melbourne in the early 70’s, I was in East Hawthorn almost on Burke Rd Camberwell and used to run into a few of them as they were living above a shop that was just about next door to Camberwell station. Mackenzie Theory played regularly at the Much More Ballroom… Rob is a mad keen Demons supporter and is a Demonlander. Hi @Rob Mac...... !!

Melbourne was always at the forefront of Australian musical output as evidenced by much of the entertainment put on at the TF Much Ballroom, which later became the Much More Ballroom, run by Harold Pinter who went on to start the Reefer Cabaret (I think I’ve got that right). This saw the advent of theatrical acts like the Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band and Lipp Arthur/Lipp and the Double Soul Brothers, featuring one Joe Camilleri. They even put in the odd cameo at the Pram Factory, or was it La Mama. Before Split Enz appeared out of nowhere from across the Tasman, a little theatrical band called Blerta lead by one Bruno Lawrence came over for the Aquarius Arts Festival held at ANU. They drove around the country in a beaten up old bus, stopping and playing at their leisure. My first Split Enz experience was on Manly Beach when they played a New Years Eve showing 1978 (I think it was)… they were a revelation. There were so many great bands to come out of Melbourne in the 70’s and so many great inner city area venues… the Tiger Room, the Station Hotel, the Crystal Ballroom, Martini’s, the Armidale Hotel, the Kingston Hotel and so many more.

Thanks… it’s either a shocking image, or my eyesight is completely screwed… I was trying to figure out who the additional indigenous player was 🤣

My humour laden songs: And finally, for this one, DO NOT listen if you are easily offended, it’s pretty offensive in so many ways…

I’m showing my lack of attention, but who?

Please do… I’ll keep you posted.

Started cycle #2 of this current round of chemo, today. It’s the same poison that they were pumping into me last year, so at least there are no nasty surprises waiting for me. Unfortunately it has meant putting gigs on hold and cancelling a couple we had pencilled in, but I do plan to not let it hold me back this time around…it’s not like it’s going to kill me 🤣 I apologise for removing a lot of my images, but unfortunately the limitations applied to attachment allowances, means that I run out of space very quickly. I’d actually suggest, welcome even, that if you have a Facebook and/or Instagram presence, send me a friend request, I’ll definitely add you as long as you identify yourself, and you’ll be able to follow the secret life of Tim. I’ve attached a few photos from a Terry Serio gig I attended and photographed on Saturday at my local bar (the Butchers Brew). There is also one taken of me by the fiddle player from the Salonistas, Terry’s support band. I hope you like them. Hope to see some of you there… https://www.facebook.com/share/1BpitU3XSp/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Not long ago I watched the movie ‘Weapons’ on HBO Max. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was… I was expecting a run of the mill horror flick, but it turned out to have a few good twists and an injection of quality black humour. Best ‘horror’ movie I’ve seen since ‘Descent’. Recommended!

Ah yes, I was a participant in Demonology until those brothers (were they brothers?) spoiled everything in an effort to take over the site. Hannibal, my arch nemesis RobbieF and others too numerous to mention… plenty of good old fashioned [censored] fights back then… now it’s somewhat like the difference between good old boots and all VFL and the sanitised AFL we now tolerate (not that there’s anything wrong with that) 😁

Trump would cross any road if it meant lower taxes (Boston being a centre for high taxes)? With his history of bankruptcies (6, or is it 7), I imagine he’d walk straight under a bus, which might be a very satisfactory punch line for that joke.

Looking at the signature, I’d be looking into graffiti artists as that is definitely a ‘tag’ as opposed to a regular signature. The photo is interesting just for the fact that it was taken by a local Perth based photographer…the fact that they were together could indicate that the poster was obtained from said photographer? Is it worth attempting to contact this Richard Wainwright chap to see if he has any knowledge of it?

Confidence can often be misread as arrogance…I get the feeling that he has found a place where he feels comfortable and it’s starting to show in his approach to the game.

Ah, I hadn’t realised that Bob was linked (he’s also played with a great little band called Los Romeos Oxidados 😉), and I’d never considered that Greg Macainsh would have sat out injured. Thanks for those snippets!

It is, but unfortunately, what choice do they have? It only takes one troll to bring down a person’s self esteem, so when there’s a pile on, I can’t imagine how bad it must be for the targeted individual. Anyway, I suppose that we can live without that stat…the only important thing is that the club keeps across such things.

I didn’t know that any of them did, and none of their names strike a chord (pun unintended) when I think of the Skyhooks. I’m pretty sure that they’re a Sydney based band as as I see them listed in gig guides every now and then, often a pub somewhere around the Lidcombe(?) area. The only former Skyhook I know that’s living in Sydney, is Bob Spencer, and he’s got no connection with them at all.

I hope they do a better job than my medical specialist. I need to have my height and weight checked before they dose me up, and this week they had me at 183cm & 87.5kg…now, the weight I could gladly take, but I’m 188cm for gawd’s sake! As a child I’d been pointed out as being a bit of a shrinking violet, but they made me shorter than my sons!!

A few assorted things from the dim dark past…

Just wanted to say that I’m absolutely loving how broad your taste appears to be…it’s grand to be an eclecticist!

A festering relationship?

I went to the concert he did for that 1996 tour, at Sydney’s State Theatre… it was so good!

‘Spin’ is the key word… CA went without it, while the MFC used it to excuse their poor selections.

Back on the juice as of today…