External links
- Official website archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
- Garry Gray interview at i94bar
- More recollections at i94bar
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Sacred Cowboys | |
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| Origin | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Genres | Rock, post-punk |
| Years active | 1982–1985, 1987–1991, 1994–1997, 2006–2008 |
| Labels | White, Mushroom, New Rose, Festival, Man Made, Citadel, Siren, Greasy Pole, Shock, Bang! |
| Past members | Terry Doolan Janis Friedenfelds (aka Johnny Crash) Mark Ferrie Ian Forrest Garry Gray Andrew Picouleau Chris Whelan Nick Rischbieth Stephan Fidock Ash Wednesday Penny Ikinger Spencer P. Jones |
| Website | sacredcowboys |
Sacred Cowboys were an Australian post-punk and rock band formed by mainstay Garry Gray, as a lead singer-songwriter, and Mark Ferrie in 1982. The line-up has changed as the group splintered and reformed several times, being active from 1982 to 1985, 1987 to 1991, 1994 to 1997 and 2006 to 2008. The August 2006 line-up was Gray with Stephan Fidock on drums; Penny Ikinger on guitar; Spencer P. Jones on guitar; Nick Rischbieth on bass guitar; and Ash Wednesday on keyboards. Past members include: Johnny Crash (aka Janis Friedenfelds) on drums and Mark Ferrie on bass guitar, who were both ex-Models; Terry Doolan on guitar; Andrew Picouleau on bass guitar; and Ian Forrest on keyboards.
The group have issued six albums: Sacred Cowboys (1984), We Love You ... Of Course We Do (1985), Trouble from Providence (August 1988), Things to Come (July 1996), Cold Harvest (January 2007) and 1982–85: Nailed to the Cross (February 2008). Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, described them as "one of the most confrontational live outfits" with their music as "mixed post-punk moodiness and country raunch over a mutant swamp-blues backbeat".
Sacred Cowboys formed in early 1982 in Melbourne with Terry Doolan on guitar (ex-Fizztops), Janis Friedenfelds (aka Johnny Crash) on drums, Mark Ferrie on guitar (both ex-Models), Ian Forrest on keyboards (ex-True Wheels), Garry Gray on lead vocals (ex-The Reals, The Negatives) and Andrew Picouleau on bass guitar (ex-Metronomes, Popgun Men, X-Ray-Z). [1] [2] Gray and Ferrie based the name from watching "The Groovy Guru", an episode of the US TV comedy series, Get Smart . In it, the Groovy Guru and his rock band, the Sacred Cows, use psychedelic music to control the minds of young people. Initially the group were a covers band playing Creedence Clearwater Revival, Alex Chilton, The Velvet Underground, Captain Beefheart, Suicide and Bob Dylan. [1] They built a reputation as "one of the most confrontational live outfits" in the local scene. [1]
Within six months, Sacred Cowboys had signed with Mushroom Records' White Label and recorded a single, "Nothing Grows in Texas", which appeared in November 1982. After a performance on TV pop show, Countdown , the host Molly Meldrum described them as "the worst group I've seen in five years", a title the band knew meant they were on the right side of the wrong side of the tracks. [1] [3] Gray responded with "[Meldrum] had a very good medium at his disposal but he never really used it to benefit the broad spectrum of music that was available in the country". [3] According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, Meldrum's assessment had "instantly cemented their nefarious reputation as the local scene's enfants terribles . The band's music mixed post-punk moodiness and country raunch over a mutant swamp-blues backbeat". [1] In July 1983 they released a second single, a cover of Chilton's "Bangkok". [1] [2] In the next month they supported US hardcore punk band, Dead Kennedys, at their Melbourne gig. [1]
In December Sacred Cowboys followed with a six-track self-titled extended play on the White Label, which was produced by Tony Cohen (Models, The Birthday Party). [1] [2] At that time Chris Whelan replaced Forrest on keyboards. [1] [2] Early in the next year, a self-titled album on French label, New Rose Records, was issued. [1] [2] Meanwhile, Nick Rischbieth (ex-Related Mechanics) replaced Picouleau on bass guitar and at the same time the band decided to work without keyboards. [1] [2] In 1985 a live, demo compilation, We Love You . . . Of Course We Do, named after a cover of The Rolling Stones single, "We Love You", appeared on Man Made Records. [1] [2] However, by that time the group went off the road and Gray entered a drug rehabilitation centre to treat his heroin addiction. [1] [3] In August 1988 he declared that the treatment was "not easy for anyone but the benefit is to be able to come out and continue working and I had to work better than I have before... not a lot of people can get through that sort of thing... Writing is something I've always enjoyed but now it's a more positive thing". [3] Late in 1984 Ferrie and Friedenfelds formed The Slaughtermen, as a post-punk, alternative, southern gospel group. [1] [2]
Late in 1987 Sacred Cowboys reformed with a line-up of Doolan, Ferrie, Gray and Rischbieth joined by Stephan Fidock on drums (ex-The Reels). [1] [2] Ash Wednesday briefly joined on keyboards (ex-JAB, Metronomes, Einsturzende Neubauten) but left after recording the album, Trouble from Providence. [1] [2] They signed to Sydney-based label, Citadel Records, which released the album in August 1988. [1] It was produced by Ferrie, Doolan, Cohen, and Martin Armiger (Paul Kelly & the Dots, Stephen Cummings). [2] McFarlane described it as "one of the best independent releases of the year". [1] It was also issued by Germany's Normal Records, both in the standard nine-track vinyl LP format and as a CD with six bonus tracks. [1] [2] The band issued two singles from the album, the title track in July and "Hell Sucks" in December. [1] The latter was more popular and became the group's signature tune. Forrest rejoined on keyboards, late in 1990, but the group disbanded again at the end of the following year. [1]
From early 1994 Sacred Cowboys reformed with a line-up of Doolan, Ferrie, Fidock and Gray, joined by Spencer P Jones, then Penny Ikinger on guitar (ex-Wet Taxis, Louis Tillett's Aspersion Caste). [1] [2] They released a compilation CD, seven-track EP, Black City, early that year on the Siren label. [1] [2] In 1997 the Australian edition of Rolling Stone listed it as one of the Top 100 albums of the 20th century. [4] Another album, Things to Come, was released in July 1996. [1] It was recorded at Atlantis and Espy Studios for Greasy Pole Records and distributed by Shock Records. [5] By that time Spencer P. Jones had joined on guitar (ex-Beasts of Bourbon, Paul Kelly & the Coloured Girls). [1] [2] At various times Sydney-based alternative rock, blues rock band, Beasts of Bourbon, has included Doolan, Ferrie, Friedenfelds or Jones of Sacred Cowboys. [1] [2] [6] By 1997 Sacred Cowboys had gone off the road again, Gray moved to France and was living in Montpellier. [4]
In 2005 "Hell Sucks" was selected for Clinton Walker's compilation of Australian punk and post-punk music, Inner City Sounds. Sacred Cowboys reformed in August 2006 with the line-up of Fidock, Gray, Ikinger, Jones, Rischbieth and Wednesday and in 2008 with Mark Ferrie. [7] They played a series of shows in Melbourne, and the remaining line-up recorded the finishing touches to the album, Cold Harvest, which was released on Bang! Records in January 2007. [7] [8] [9] TJ Honeysuckle at i94bar.com noted that Ikinger and Jones were "hugely distinctive presences here" while Gray's vocal delivery "swings easily from snarling to caressing – he has a snake oil seller's charm at times, a cursing preacher's tone at others". [8] Radio station, PBS 106.7FM's review described the album "the songs are narrative in style, a kind of urban uprising driven by dysfunctional dreamers and powerless onlookers". [10] In February 2008 they issued a compilation album, 1982–85: Nailed to the Cross. [11] Amazon's editorial review recalls their early style, "[they] played a wild, dangerous and completely unique brand of rock'n'roll inspired by the artists whose material they cover". [12] The group toured in support of the release until August that year. [12] [13]
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