November 2008
James Young

Rock Reader Vol 1: Underneath The Riffs

What do you call a girl frustrated with her financial situation, setting fire to her credit card receipts? . . . Bernadette.

As the JVG voice-over proclaims, “It’s your station. Triple R!”

With this in mind perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised to see that RRR, the community radio station, seems to be developing its community footprint just as much as it continues to develop its ‘radio’. So it was that in February-March 2008 at the Richmond Boxing Club we saw RRR support creative expression outside the airwaves when it co-presented a play (written by James Gaddas starring Angus Sampson, the Sam Pang produced, Tony Mahony directed ‘Shadowboxing’). And now, Heaven’s above, RRR is presenting a book…

ROCK READER Volume One: Underneath The Riffs is published by Michael Wilkinson and edited by (my wife) Miranda Young (formerly of Mushroom Records) and Jeff Jenkins (author of ‘50 Years of Rock In Australia’ and regular on Brian Wise’s ‘Off The Record’) and in a world-first is presented by RRR. It is a collection of short stories dedicated to sharing Australian music, mainly from the perspective of the crowd rather than the artist. Of the 32 contributors more than half of them have on-air connections to RRR. Miranda didn’t set out to collect RRR stories and RRR Station Manager and icon Kath Letch wasn’t looking for a book dominated by RRR personalities. Instead there existed a shared vision to keep music alive through storytelling.

In this regard, former RRR volunteer presenter Francis Leach catches this sentiment in his reflective tome ‘Melbourne’s Strawberry Fields’ when he writes:

“That’s why for many of us, music has been our lifeline. It gave us a story to tell and a way of telling it that was born of invention and ambition. Draw a psychic map of Melbourne and you get a city defined by its storytellers and songwriters. It’s not written in a street directory or on a tourist map but it lives and breathes in the stories and songs of its army of musicians and self-styled rock gods. It flows with the beer out of the taps and off the stages of its crowded pubs and bars. It gets louder, bigger, brighter, more frightening and dangerous as the years pass in the tall stories that are told. We all know someone who was there when the Stones rocked Kooyong, Nick Cave called the bats of hell to rain down on the heathens in The Seaview Ballroom in St Kilda or Kurt Cobain threatened to implode on stage in front of the teeming masses at The Palace.”

Francis served to be quite the soothsayer in that this absorbing Riffs collection sees specific stories written about the Rolling Stones in 1973 (Molly Meldrum, former RRR Breakfaster), the role of The Birthday Party in the Melbourne music scene (Ed Nimmervol, founding editor of Juke) and Nirvana’s shows at The Palace (Stratos Pavlis, former RRR Breakfaster).

“During the 1973 tour, the Stones were stalked by an Australian woman named Kate. About 25, wearing 1930s-style clothing, Kate appeared at the Kingsgate Hotel in Sydney and demanded to see her “husband”. Keith Richards. It was the poor security guy’s first day on the job, so he went to Keith, who said, “Well, come on, let’s go down and see what my wife looks like.” (M. Meldrum: ‘The Greatest Show On Earth’)

“Australia’s reaction to the latter 70s was never going to follow the rules either. Our record companies had their heads in the clouds – or up their arses – and a generation of Australian music just headed straight overseas, acknowledged and accepted for their difference. Brisbane group The Saints had their “punk” record (I’m) Stranded on radio in London when The Sex Pistols were still thinking about going into the studio. The Sydney’s reaction was the punk-music-as-a-cult-army-marching-under-one-flag Radio Birdman, Melbourne went back to its basement bowels and came up with the provocative come-and-see-us-if-you-dare Birthday Party…” (E. Nimmervol: ‘A Tale Of Two Cities’)

“Nirvana were scheduled to go on at 4.30. Cosmic Psychos did a great set and ended at 3.30 or so and then the wait began. No Kurt at 4pm. No Kurt at 4.30pm. Lots of calls were exchanged. A party was sent out to look for him at his hotel in St Kilda and at the local drug haunts. Owner George has called me in to DJ at the last minute as the crowd was getting restless. The news spread about the last gig and expectations were high. 4.45pm, no Kurt. George was about to cancel the show…About 5pm, a wrung-out man, with a tea towel over his head and no shoes, walks into reception mumbling that he is in the band. The bouncers pick Kurt up and literally throw him into the band room…” (S. Pavlis: ‘Nirvana’)

Molly Meldrum’s Rolling Stones’ insider story from ’73 gives a breath of fresh air to stories involving Keith and possibly rock n roll’s most damaged lungs. Reading about The Stones playing practical jokes on tour promoter Paul Dainty (who is scared of birds) by having hundreds of pigeons let loose in his hotel room, only to discover that Dainty had organised a small flock of sheep for the Tour Manager’s room makes you wonder if today’s rock stars have perhaps lost their sense of fun. The Stones are well represented in this collection with Christie Eliezer’s meticulous examination of the 1995 Voodoo Lounge tour (‘Voodoo Gurus: In Fact It’s a Gas’) and my own ‘War It’s Just A Shot Away’ exploring a self-destruct button masquerading as a backstage meet-and-greet opportunity.

Another well-examined topic is Melbourne’s AC/DC Lane, explored as a symbol by Francis Leach and told as a story by The Age music writer Patrick Donovan who for the first time explains how AC/DC Lane came about. Donovan and late night drinking buddy Beech Watts were the instigators of the campaign to honour AC/DC in Melbourne, in a bid to lure the rock giants back to their most pivotal home hoping for a public performance at Fed Square. As the ‘driver’ of the initiative Donovan wasn’t able to write, in good conscience, about his quest and the Herald Sun’s personal opposition to it in Melbourne’s broadsheet, but he has now in Underneath The Riffs.

Did I happen to mention that my wife Miranda has pulled this entire project together? The one rule I live my life by is a powerful and simple cliché: “Happy wife, happy life.” I have discovered that if my wife is happy and content my life is made blissful. I can come home from my bar, Cherry, b-lind(!) at 2.30am and wake up to a friendly smile. Beautiful. Conversely, if my lovely young wife Miranda, mother of our three beautiful boys, is made to feel unhappy she can, and will, make my life unbearably miserable, we’re talking “eye of newt and leg of toad” here folks, if you know what I mean and I think you do. I’m talking fire-breathing dragon, pulverising my balls into a pikelet. Comprende? So with that in mind I can’t stress enough how HAPPY it will make Miranda if you go out and buy a copy or two of this rockin’ good read. Are we all clear on that?! Good.

With this Rock Reader being more about yarns you might hear at the ‘local’ than stories from qualified journos in respected traditional press, here’s some examples of the kind of writing and insights you’ll find in Volume One of this annual collection:

“The problem was Fred’s chook was frozen stiff. How was he going to have any kind of intercourse with that creature? A quick solution saw Fred and me plus Colin Buckler, Dockers drummer, and Dave Pace, Dockers trumpet player, all standing backstage with cigarette lighters trying to unfreeze this bird so the show could continue…” (‘Frozen Chook’ Paul Stewart)

“To be honest, I really didn’t take it that personally; I mean lamingtons get thrown at gigs all the time, don’t they? Whenever I do my “things to take to a music festival” checklist, I make sure I have a jacket, water, sunscreen and a packet of fucking lamingtons! For a start, who the fuck takes lamingtons to a gig, and if they were that important to remember, why would you waste one on my head?” (‘Gig Missiles & Other Rock Sports’ Fee Bamford-Bracher)

“That night ending with a party that was pepper sprayed and Tas getting taken into the wilds by a couple of strange ladies, only to end up playing cards all night with the ladies spouses…” (‘So There We Were’ Wally Meanie)

It’d really mean a lot to me to keep Miranda happy in this our 13th year of marriage and that’s where you and your book purchasing abilities can assist, kind Triple R subscriber…

“I remember one of the Sydney shows was rained out. During rehearsal, Madonna sees me and yells across the stage, “Michael, I want a whore!” (‘Well I Thought We Would Talk About Madonna’ Michael Gudinski)

“Snarski regarded the interpolator with a mixture of suspicion and ridicule, managing a curt “who are you?” The swiftly delivered reply from the harried, wide-eyed figure (who turned out to be then venue manager Richard Moffat) rendered any questions irrelevant. Someone had phoned in a bomb threat, and the venue cleared out in under a minute.” (‘The Grand Dame And Her Ratty Stages’ Jonathan Alley)

“…Paul’s replacement will be…Biggs. Oh jeez, all right…what must I attempt to, uh, sing? “Defecate On My Face” is the reply, accompanied by maniacal cackling. Well, one rehearsal later, I’m in a balaclava and overalls onstage at the Forum, backed by the Wolfgram Sisters, and…I’m remembering all the word! I’m going to get away with this! But, no…” (‘An Accident Waiting To happen’ Tony Biggs)

You know I can’t afford a Tiffany’s necklace, but at $20 for subscribers you can afford a copy of this ball-tearing book! Go on…

“Four rather hirsute men clinging to each other tasting tears.” (‘A Story? Fuck’ Tim Rogers)

“I seem to recall they were working through ‘Then I kissed Her’ when the stage gave a loud crack and collapsed in the middle, sending everyone including the band (about 30 people) tumbling to the ground.” (‘The Hard-ons At The Club’ Ned Macdonald)

“The entire pub had been taken over by the local bikie gang…There was no way our experimental funk was going to cut it with these guys.” (‘The Rockest Night Of My Life’ Dylan Lewis)

“Before long the trip kicked into another gear, I couldn’t shake the thought that we were watching a TV recording of some sort of guest show program. Worse still, I was positive that I was expected to be interviewed as a guest on this show. I started to move down towards the stage…” (‘A Psychedelic Gig With The La De Das’ Paul Elliott)

These stories really come to life in their glorious fullness within the natural physical surrounds of a paperback book. One you own and paid for, bringing a smile to your lips at every page-turn…

“We decided to drive to the Blackburn Skate Ranch to see Motorhead. My girlfriend, Felicity, and Dave’s girl, Leanne, came over and preparations began. We could now get alcohol at the local, The Mountain View (spew) drive-through. UDLs were purchased and for the first time something else – speed.” (‘Tattooed By Rock n Roll In The Suburbs’ Honest Mick Dooley)

“Hey baby, come an’ join the party!” said the smooth-tongued voice that reminded me of the pimp “Comfort” in the grouse David Soul teen prostitute movie “Little Ladies Of The Night”. Before I could slur any excuse out, I was led into the lounge room.” (‘My Night Of Terror With The Commodores’ Debbie ‘Dinosaur’ Nettleingham)

“Tim uncharacteristically paused to acknowledge the headline band of the evening. Unfortunately, he identified them something along the lines of “L7, or some chick band anyway”…he specifically mentioned the substantial size of the Babes’ lead singer in a not-entirely flattering fashion…this saw a concerned if not angered Babes In Toyland lead singer pursuing a tiny but evasive Tim Hemensley at considerable pace and in varying directions all over the Prince Of Wales, rather in the manner of Godzilla stomping through downtown Tokyo through the bemused citizenry. (‘Down Yester-Rock Lane’ Old Unca Leaping Larry L)

“But my confidence had been dented by the encouraging words of the great man himself, Tone Loc, during the sound check – “What the fuck is that shit?”” (‘Support’ PB Birman)

“By mistake, I arrived early and caught the support act, which was an impressive group called On A Friday; they later changed their name to Radiohead.” (‘The Night My Ears Bled’ Tom Elliott)

Rock Reader Volume One Underneath The Riffs is out now and available at all good book stores including Polyester and Greville Records. It’s also available at RRR and at rrr.org.au Book marketing partner Cherry Rock (that’s my bizzness folks!) has lots of further info including a list of bookstores (fascinating reading I assure you) at cherryrock.com.au

It’s 32 high voltage rock n roll stories to keep Australian rock lore alive, to make reading sexy again and to keep my marriage together. Hey, who knows maybe YOU WILL contribute a story in Rock Reader Volume Two. Cos thanks to Triple R, it’s another way to give voice to the people. It’s your station. Triple R!

James Young
(former Triple R presenter and Program Manager)