Punk rock in Australia

Many of the pioneers, like The Saints, Sydney band Radio Birdman, and young Perth musician Kim Salmon, were highly influenced by proto-punk sounds from Detroit.


A distinct Brisbane punk scene emerged in the 1970s. By 1977, other bands began to form in Sydney, under the influence of Radio Birdman and other local and overseas acts. During the late 1970s, former members of Radio Birdman contributed to several new bands.


These bands and other Australian and overseas punk acts were supported by public radio stations. In Melbourne scene, art rock had segued into punk, then evolved into post-punk, typified by the careers of Nick Cave, Rowland S. Howard and the little band scene. Another pioneering figure of Australian postpunk was Saints founder Ed Kuepper.

1977–80[edit]

By 1977, other bands were starting to form in Sydney, under the influence of local and overseas punk acts. The early Sydney punk scene centred around the Sydney inner city suburbs, and the Grand Hotel in Haymarket in particular. Among the first was the Last Words, from Liverpool in Sydney. (They recorded their first single "Animal World/Wondering Why" in 1977.) Other Sydney bands in 1977 included the Hellcats (featuring Ron Peno, later lead singer of the Died Pretty), the Psychosurgeons (later known as Lipstick Killers), Johnny Dole & the Scabs and the Thought Criminals (who featured Steven Phillip, later of Do-Re-Mi and John Hoey, who was also later in Died Pretty).


These bands and other Australian and overseas punk acts were strongly supported by public radio stations, especially 2JJ. Punk bands like the Reals (featuring Ollie Olsen) and the Babeez (later known as the News) were also being formed in Melbourne. In Brisbane, the Survivors (who showed a 1960s influence), the Leftovers (diverse influences), Razar (contemporary British punk) and the Fun Things (Detroit rock) all followed in the wake of the Saints.


After the British punk scene took off in 1977, both the Saints and Radio Birdman moved to the UK. This proved to be disastrous for both bands. Neither of them fit in with, or were inclined to adjust to aspects of the London scene at the time, such the now-established punk fashion in clothes. Radio Birdman were dumped when their record company got into financial difficulty, and soon broke up. Later recordings saw the Saints adopt soul, blues and jazz influences, although their most successful single, "This Perfect Day" – which reached number 34 in the UK singles chart – was typical of the band's musical style. After another acclaimed single, "Know Your Product", and second and third albums failed to make an impression, EMI dropped the Saints. (Kuepper left in 1979 and Bailey began to pursue a more mainstream musical direction.) Last Words later followed their predecessors to the UK and also failed to make a strong impression.


By the end of 1977, the Melbourne supergroup Young Charlatans had formed from the remnants of earlier bands.^[6][7] They included Ollie Olsen, Rowland S. Howard (guitar, later in the Birthday Party), Jeff Wegener (drums, former member of the Saints, later in the Laughing Clowns) and Janine Hall (later in the Saints). The band recorded the first version of the Howard song "Shivers". In Sydney, a Birdman offshoot, the Hitmen, had started to gig and Ian Rilen formed the longevitous X.


On 8 November 1977 the ABC nightly news magazine program "This Day Tonight" broadcast a feature on Australian punk rock, featuring a live recording of Black Chrome at Adelaide University's Union Hall, with commentary and interviews highlighting the largely negative contemporary attitudes to punk rock. The introductory voice over concluded;


″... but if you're wondering if its going to take off in a big way here, its worth remembering that the quiet streets of Adelaide are a long, long way from the streets of London. The message of punk rock is violence and anarchy; and its a message which has got Adelaide radio stations on the defensive.″[165]


In April 1978 Black Chrome released the single "Australia's God" on their own label Tomorrow Records,[166] but despite the band driving around Australia to the few record shops selling punk rock and delivering it to radio stations around the country, it failed to secure airplay and sold in tiny numbers. "Wallaby Beat" in 2011; "It must be said that of all the original 1977 Aussie bands Black Chrome are the one most shrouded in mystery. The single remains unheard (but not unloved) and the facts we can report are scant... so to the record, perhaps the most singular sounding of the first generation Australian punk records with its restrained fuzz, and strange (moaning?) backing vocals. It's in the lyrics where the punch is packed."[167]


Entrepreneurs began to realise the potential of the growing scene and Michael Gudinski launched the Melbourne-based Suicide Records, which in May 1978 released a compilation, Lethal Weapons. The album included tracks by the Boys Next Door, Teenage Radio Stars (featuring future Models members Sean Kelly and James Freud, and also La Femme members bassist Graham Schiavello and drummer Pete Kidd), JAB (ex-experimental rockers from Adelaide, featuring Bohdan X and synthesizer player Ash Wednesday), the Survivors and X-Ray-Z (former pub rockers from Adelaide). However the royalty rate offered by Suicide was low and both the News and Young Charlatans decided not to get involved. Keith Glass launched the Melbourne-based Missing Link Records, which between 1978–80 released La Femme's singles & Album,^[8] They were the first independent band on Countdown and opened "Suburban pub rock" to local punk bands. Keith Glass also managed the Boys Next Door and released all their music through to the change to the Birthday Party.


Australian chart success eluded all of these bands in the late 1970s. Radio programmers were conservative and unenthusiastic about punk. The above artists who eventually found success either did so overseas, or after a remove of several years in Australia, and/or in different bands.