Rose Tattoo are an Australian rock and roll band, now led by Angry Anderson, which formed in Sydney in 1976. Their sound is hard rock mixed with blues rock influences, with songs including "Bad Boy for Love", "Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw", "Nice Boys", "We Can't Be Beaten" and "Scarred for Life". Their first four albums were produced by Harry Vanda and George Young who also worked with AC/DC. They disbanded in 1987, subsequently reforming briefly in 1993 to support Guns N' Roses on an Australian tour. They reassembled again from 1998 and have since released two more studio albums.
Post is the first solo album by Australian singer-songwriter rock musician, Paul Kelly. Kelly had moved to Sydney by January 1985, after leaving his Melbourne-based Paul Kelly Band and the breakup of his marriage to Hilary Brown.
Ian William Rilen was an Australian musician. He was bass guitarist and songwriter with rock and roll band Rose Tattoo, and led punk rock group X on guitar and vocals. Rilen was born in Bendigo, Victoria, started his musical career in Sydney and later lived in Melbourne.
Sardine v (Sardine) were an Australian post-punk band, formed in 1980 by Ian Rilen on guitar and vocals, and his then-wife, Stephanie Rilen on lead vocals and keyboards. They released a single, "Sabotage" (1982), and an extended play, I Hate You (1983). Other members included Johanna Pigott on bass guitar and Andrew Garton on saxophone. Sardine v disbanded in 1983.
Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs were an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1963. They were active in two incarnations, the first as a beat band from 1963–1967, and as a hard rock band from 1968–1973. They emerged in 1964 with their cover of "Poison Ivy", which kept The Beatles from the top spot of the Sydney charts during the latter's Australian tour. They enjoyed further success through 1965 when the original members quit after a financial dispute.
The Wild Cherries were an Australian rock group, which started in late 1964 playing R&B/jazz and became "the most relentlessly experimental psychedelic band on the Melbourne discotheque / dance scene" according to commentator, Glenn A. Baker.
Cybotron were an Australian electronic, experimental music band formed in 1975 by Steve Maxwell Von Braund on synthesiser, electronic percussion, and alto saxophone; and Geoff Green on keyboard, organ, and synthesiser. The group issued three studio albums, Cybotron (1976), Colossus (1978) and Implosion (1980) and disbanded by 1981. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, noted that they were "a bona fide experimental outfit, and the band's eponymous debut album featured a mix of heavy synthesiser kinetics, organ drones and pulsating electronic beats".
William Richard Thorpe AM was an English-born Australian singer-songwriter, and record producer. As lead singer of his band Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs, he had success in the 1960s with "Blue Day", "Poison Ivy", "Over the Rainbow", "Sick and Tired", "Baby, Hold Me Close" and "Mashed Potato"; and in the 1970s with "Most People I Know Think That I'm Crazy". Featuring in concerts at Sunbury Pop Festivals and Myer Music Bowl in the early 1970s, the Aztecs also developed the pub rock scene and were one of the loudest groups in Australia.
Blackfeather are an Australian rock group that formed in April 1970. The band has had numerous line-ups, mostly fronted by founding lead singer, Neale Johns. An early heavy rock version recorded their debut album, At the Mountains of Madness, which peaked at number seven on the Go-Set Top 20 Albums chart. It provided the single, "Seasons of Change", which was co-written by Johns with lead guitarist, John Robinson. In July 1972 a piano-based line-up led by Johns issued an Australian number-one single, "Boppin' the Blues".
Cosmic Psychos is an Australian punk rock band which formed in 1982 as Spring Plains. The band's first stabilized lineup included Ross Knight on bass guitar and vocals, Peter Jones on guitar, and Bill Walsh on drums. Australian rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, described their music as "arty kind of punk noise, somewhere between The Birthday Party and a more narcotic sounding Ramones". Late in 1984 the group was renamed as Cosmic Psychos. They issued their debut album, Down on the Farm, in December 1985. Several albums have followed and were backed by national tours and international tours to Europe and North America including festivals with Mudhoney, Nirvana, L7, Helmet and Motörhead. In 1990 Jones was replaced by Robbie Watts on guitar. By 2005 Walsh was replaced by Dean Muller on drums. On 1 July 2006 Watts died of a drug overdose, aged 47, and the band continued with John McKeering joining.
Lobby Loyde, also known as John Barrie Lyde or Barry Lyde, was an Australian rock music guitarist, songwriter and producer.
Band of Light were an Australian blues rock quartet formed in October 1972 by Tony Buettel on drums, Phil Key on lead vocals and guitar, Peter Roberts on bass guitar and Norm Roue on slide guitar. Roberts was soon replaced by Ian Rilen on bass guitar. They had a top 20 hit single, "The Destiny Song" on the Go-Set National Charts. The group released two albums, Total Union – which peaked at No. 13 – and The Archer (1974) before disbanding in late 1974. Phil Key died in May 1984 of a congenital heart condition; Ian Rilen died of bladder cancer in October 2006.
Stephen Vert Balbi is an Australian musician and record producer. He was the founding bass guitarist in pub rockers, Noiseworks in 1986 and formed a psychedelic pop group and production duo, Electric Hippies in 1993 with fellow Noiseworks member, Justin Stanley. He joined Mi-Sex in 2011. Balbi issued his debut solo album, Black Rainbow, in October 2013.
Michael Thomas Cocks, known professionally as Mick Cocks, was an Australian musician, most noted for his guitar and songwriting work with Rose Tattoo. His original sound and style heavily influenced Guns N' Roses, who recorded a cover of the Rose Tattoo song "Nice Boys". He was also a member of Heaven, The Headhunters, Illustrated Men, Doomfoxx, Pete Wells' Heart Attack, and the Ted Mulry Gang. On 16 August 2006, Rose Tattoo were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame.
Rose Tattoo is the debut self-titled album by Australian hard rock band Rose Tattoo released in November 1978 on the Albert Productions label. It was produced by the famous Vanda & Young team who have worked with AC/DC, The Angels and Stevie Wright. The album was released as Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw in some markets. Eight bonus tracks were added for the 1990 CD edition for Repertoire Records.
At Home with You is the second studio album from Australian rock band X. It was produced by Lobby Loyde; whereas the band's first album was reputedly recorded in five hours, the second was completed in five days.
X-Aspirations, sometimes simply called Aspirations, is the debut studio album from Australian rock band X. It was recorded in a single afternoon in 1979 at Trafalgar Studios in the band's hometown of Sydney and released the following year on the band's own label. In October 2010, X-Aspirations was listed in the book 100 Best Australian Albums.
Chris Moraitis, who performed as Mándu, was an Australian rock music vocalist. He released his debut solo album, To the Shores of His Heaven, in 1974. He joined Lobby Loyde's Southern Electric group and was recorded on two of their albums, Obsecration and Live with Dubs. According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, Mándu had "a distinctive and emotional voice" and his solo album, "stands as a worthwhile period piece, a work graced with elegant songs, soaring arrangements and fine musicianship." However, in 1980 he "disappeared from view, re-emerging briefly during the mid-1980s with a band called Mándu Bándu."
Shindiggers were an Australian beat pop quartet formed in 1983 by Steve Agar on bass guitar, Pete Andrews on lead guitar, Bill Leggett on vocals and Spud Wildman on drums. They released a studio album, Crash Your Party (1986), before disbanding in 1987. Agar, Andrews and Leggett reformed the band in 1997, with Rodney McMurrich on drums to issue another album, Surf Sex Shindiggers (1998), but disbanded thereafter. A double-album compilation, Maximum Beat, was released in 2008.
Olympic Sideburns were an Australian shockabilly band formed in late 1982. The line-up of Paul Bryant on bass guitar, Peter "Jex" Byron on lead vocals, Maurice Frawley on lead guitar and vocals, Ian Hill on keyboards and Maurice Molletta on drums issued their debut album, The Olympic Sideburns (1985). Calum McAlpine on drums had joined in late 1985 and the group released their second album, Dixie Truck Stop! (1987), before disbanding in 1988. Australian musicologist Ian McFarlane compared their two albums, the latter has "more authentic Rolling Stones/Creedence Clearwater Revival sound as opposed to the previous punk/psychedelic/shockabilly hybrid" of the former. Maurice Frawley died in 2009 and founding guitarist Spencer P. Jones died in 2018.
