4. Funkadelic
FINALLY, a great sounding reissue of their 1970 self-titled debut. “Funky psychelic” (obviously) sums up their sound. Imagine if Hendrix had lived a few more years.
5. Asteroid B612 at Marrickville Bowling Club
Long overdue (but brief) return of one of the greatest live bands I have ever witnessed.
6. The Church at Anita’s Theatre, Thirroul, NSW
I’m not a fan of Enmore Theatre so a trip to the deep south to witness The Church honouring their great singles was worth the long and winding road...and what a great venue Anita’s is.
7. Hoodoo Gurus: 40th Anniversary Edition of “Mars Need Guitars”
A true victory lap for this mighty 1985 album. The bonus disc of demos sounds like it was dubbed from a cassette, but that’s not a bad thing. Great packaging. Some liner notes would have been a good thing, but as Aerosmith once said “Let the music do the talking”
8. Rolling Stones: “Black & Blue” LP/CD Deluxe box
The last of the great R.S albums IMHFO Some great bonus jams (jams in the true sense) and live stuff.
9. “Status Quo Live!: 8 CD box set
One of the very first live shows I ever attended was from this tour. That gig scarred me for eternity (in a good way). This is eight CDs of chugging electric boogie.
10. Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes - "Live at the Greek" CD /LP box set
This pairing of Page and Crowes could have been a chook act, but this multi disc set confirms otherwise. It’s mostly Zep songs with a few other random song choices (eg Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Oh Well’ gets a look in).
11. Buzzcocks – “Oh Shit!” Bootleg (The "Another Music In A Different Kitchen" Demos 1977)
There was a time when bootleggers would go to obscene lengths to obtain rare recordings for release, but now they simply use tracks from CD only releases. These demos tunes have a trashy vibe to them which suits the songs fine.
12. Sick Fizz: Live anywhere.
Sydney’s finest power trio. Go see them and check out their albums.
13. The Exile Co: Live anywhere.
Some ex-Delemmas playing what to my damaged ears, sounds slightly like Velvet Underground during their “Live At Max’s Kansas City” era. Great songs too. New album in 2026, I believe.
14. The Jane Does: Live anywhere!
Great songs, melodic and rockin’ in a new wave kind of way (sort of). New album out in early 2026.
15. Rose Tattoo and Star Crazy at Taren Point Hotel, NSW
The current line-up of Rose Tattoo could be their best since the Albert’s era. Their lead singer only made one or two digs at the LGBTQ+ folks on this night (he must be mellowing). Starcrazy played a solid set which had one foot in 1970s hard rock door and one foot in a Todd Rundgren-ish quirky. melodic kind of way.
16, Cherie Currie at Sydney Crowbar
Great show of early Runaways tunes plus a handfull of covers and new songs
17. Graham “Buzz” Bidstrup book “No Secrets”
Even if you are not a fan of The Angels or any of Buzz’s other bands this is a fine well written interesting tale of a musician who has excelled at not only drumming but also as a producer and artist manager.
18. X - At Home With You
Another 40-year anniversary album (1985 must have been a very good year). This album really shows the band along with producer Lobby Loyde stretching their wings musically and production-wise.
19. Lipstick Killers “Tour De Force” 1979 LP edition
These tracks were originally released as a mail order only cassette during the early ‘80s, then as part of the “Strange Flash” double CD and now finally as a vinyl release (coloured if you were quick). The sound on this edition seems to of benefited from the magic that is a vinyl record. If you turn this up loud enough you will swear you are back at their original stomping ground The Civic Hotel.
Rhino High Fidelity remaster series: Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid”, The Doors’ first three albums and Alice Cooper’s “Love it To Death”.
Remastering can make or break a album. A lot of modern pressings of vintage albums can sound shitty...or even worse they can sound identical to the CD edition. Rhino High Fidelity is righting that wrong. Everything I’ve heard in that series sounds as glorious as they should, often beating the original pressings
Rock in Peace Dear Friends:
James Baker
Steve Vanderschoot: (Rocks during their “Your So Boring” era)
Grahame (Yogi) Harrison: Roadie/tour manager/front of house to the stars (Rose Tattoo, Buffalo, The Johnnys, The Church, Hush ..the list goes on).
Rock In Peace Dear Inspirational Musicians:
Snowy Fleet (Easybeats)
David Johansen,
Brian James (The Damned)
Kimble Rendall (Le Hoodoo Gurus)
Mick Ralphs (Bad Co)
Chris Turner (Buffalo, Rose Tattoo)
Viv Prince (Pretty Things)
Peter McFarlane (Finch, Contraband),
Chris Dreja (Yardbirds)
