THE FARMHOUSE TOP TEN
Hello Barflies, another year nearly gone, another Top Ten and what a wonderful 12 months it has been. I got off the farm a few times for my horrible public transport trips to Melbourne. A thousand-kilometer return trip is getting harder and harder to get motivated to do, but some bands are bloody well worth it. Oh, and family and friends also. Big shout out to my gig buddy, The Tasmanian Bushman. 2023 - bring it on! So folks, here you…here’s my humble Top Ten.
X at The Tote
X live at the Tote Hotel playing ”X-Aspirations” for its 40th anniversary. What a blast this night was. Steve Lucas’s screaming guitar and vocals are always great but at the old stomping ground, the Tote Hotel in Collingwood, they were something else. A memorable night and the gift of a scarf from Kim Volkman made my evening.
THE JOHNNYS
The Johnnys at St Kilda Bowls Club was another wonderful gig. It was made all the better because it was my birthday and Bushy got me a wee bit drunk. And I got a present from Billy Pommer Jr.
COSMIC PSYCHOS
What a band! And the Corner Hotel at Richmond - what a venue! My son was lucky enough to see them the week before in Frankston and then went again with his old man the following weekend. Pass it on, they say. Well I did - successfully in that, one thinks.
ALICE COOPER
“Live From The Astroturf – Good Records TX. 6 October 2015”: About time this got a proper release. I had it on bootleg for a few years. It is the one and only ALICE COOPER GROUP, the originals, the songwriters, the musicians, the tunes that I grew up loving, and to this day still do . Michael Bruce, Dennis Dunaway and Neal Smith - what a band. Ryan Roxie standing in for , and The Coop. It don’t get any better than this. Alice can still sing the shit out ff these songs. Golf is good for the vocal cords.
THE LIBERTINES
The Libertines’ “Up The Bracket” 20th anniversary edition would have been awesome if released on its own but comes with a bonus recording “Live at The 100n Club 10/4/2002” and includes their first two singles that are not on the album, (“The Delaney” and “What A Waster”) plus a fucking great live version of the fabulous tune, “Death On The Stairs”.
THE ROLLING STONES
“The Rolling Stones at El Mocambo 1977” is The Stones at their not-give-a-fuck, sloppy best on this live recording. It features the full set from March 5 with three bonus tunes from the March 4 set. Drug busts, divorce and a Canadian Government wife going missing – they all happened before, during and after these shows. RIP Charlie Watts.
THE CITY KIDS
The City Kids’ “Filth” album is just that - filthy punk rock with big riffs, screaming vocals and a drummer who has to be heard to be believed. One helluva record.
MICK FLEETWOOD’S TRIBUTE TO PETER GREEN/FLEETWOOD MAC EARLY DAYS
If you don’t know your history in English blues, well, the early Mac were the real deal and Peter Green wrote some of their most beloved tunes. Here they are, played with a few guests: Bill Wyman, Dave Gilmour, Kirk Hammett, Johnny Lang, the late Christie McVie, Pete Townsend and Steven Tyler. This four record set is worth every penny.
THE STREET WALKIN’ CHEETAHS
Street Walkin’ Cheetahs’ “All The Covers and More” is just that. It all the Cheetahs’ recordings from their albums, live recordings, jams and what nots as a backing band with guests like Deniz Tek (Radio Birdman), Cherie Currie (The Runaways), Wayne Kramer (MC5) and Cheetah Chrome (Dead Boys) and more. But what I dig is that the Cheetahs’ original guitar player, Art Jackson, is all over this, along with Frank Meyer and Dino Everett. So many great tunes played loud and fast - it’s a double CD of 40 tracks of pure gold.
CULL THE BAND
Cull The Band have a brand spanking, new and shiny, black, two-fisted album out and I’ve only had it a couple of days so haven’t reviewed it. “Punk Traumatic Stress Disorder” is an instant classic from some of South Australia’s finest musicians in Jeff Stephens (Exploding White Mice), Pete The Stud (Blood Sucking Freaks), Ben Gel and W.Shane Forster. They just nail every tune. Look for Cull The Band live in 2023.
I would very much like to give a big shout out to:
The Naked Lunch – “Real Gone” album
Slug – “Caveat Emptor” album
Mick Medew and Ursula – “Love Is Calling” album
The Cone Smashers – “The Dimboola Song” song
Well Barflies, there you go. My Top Ten with a few shouts to some Aussie rockers. Have a safe Christmas and a Happy New Year. All Glory To You.
From The Farmhouse
