Speaking of "Friday"... The second 1987 version of "Friday On My Mind" was rather different fron Gary Moore's rock attack. The brain child of American composer Erik Lindgren, the Space Negros were an experimental ensemble who recorded for Lindgren's Arf Arf label. Pennsylvania-born Lindgren studied music at Tuft's University and later at London's Guildhall School Of Music before embarking on a career in contemporary classical music. A prolific composer whose catalogue ranges from solo piano compositions to full orchestral works, along with sundry "library music" commissions. In 1978 he established his own production facility and began a sideline in recording experimental music. One such project was The Space Negros. The band - ensemble? project? call it what you will - debuted in 1979 with the EP Maximum Contrast From Moment To Moment, issued on the appropriately named Sounds Interesting Records (SIEP 001). Three more singles / EPs followed over the next two years, including a warped reconstruction of The Beatles' "Back In The U.S.S.R." (Arf! Arf! AA003), together with a eight track album pressed as a flexidisc, cassette or 8-track, The Space Negros Tell White Lies (Arf! Arf! 002)). Not even remotely commercial, the band's synthesised doodles drifted into cult status without much effort, and the bulk of the public remained oblivious to their existence. The band released further oddball recordings through the eighties, reaching a peak - of sorts - with the 1987 album The Space Negros Do Generic Ethnic Muzak Versions Of All Your Favorite Underground Punk/Psychedelic Songs Of The Sixties (Arf! Arf! AA 023). The title was accurate, so far as it went: included were the band's versions of twelve songs more or less from the period in question (two done as a medley), from Tomorrow's "My White Bicycle" to The Seeds' "Can't Seem To Make You Mine". Tucked away mid-way through side two was their recreation of The Easybeats' "Friday On My Mind". What to say about this one? Not much other than: hear it for yourself! In parallel with The Space Negros, Lindgren formed the wonderfully named Birdsongs Of The Mesozoic, a "new music" ensemble described by Billboard as "a mesmerising venture into the space age jungle". Hmmm. Birdsongs would release a string of records over the years, beginning with a self-titled EP in 1983 (Ace Of Hearts AH 1008). The Space Negros would however be laid to rest after a final EP in 1990, although their 1987 set was issued on CD in 1992 (Arf! Arf! AA 038). There have also been three CD compilations of flotsam and jetsam from their recording career, for anyone tempted to explore further.
May 1988 saw the release of one of the more interesting explorations of The Easybeats' back catalogue. Sydney post-punk band feedtime were essentially a punked-up power trio who emerged at the tail end of the seventies. Like e.e. cummings, they eschewed the use of capital letters, claiming that "it looked better", although some might have thought it was just a pretentious pose, or a gimmick to attract attention. Featuring a stripped down, power-trio format that prefigured grunge, the band kicked up an impressive noise dominated by a thick-sounding slide guitar (thereby continuing the Australian heavy slide tradition that went back through Rose Tattoo and Buffalo all the way to Carson). A mash up of country blues, garage rock and punk nihilism, the band were never going to be stars but they found a dedicated following for their wall of noise aesthetic. A self-titled, independently-produced debut album appeared in 1985 and did little business but a second set, Shovel, in 1987 was released through Aberrant Records (Shovel 1) and attracted enough interest to warrant a US release (Rough Trade US35). Loud, rough and raucous, the band's sledgehammer style was a perfect fit for the underground noise-core scene, picking up airplay on Radio KCMU, where many Seattle noise merchants picked up on their uncompromising sound. Their third album Cooper S (Aberrant S1; Rough Trade US39) marked something of a departure, with the band treating a dozen or so sixties and seventies classics to their patent thrash sound. Amid the semi-predictable choices from Slade, X, the Stones, the Ramones, the Stooges and the Animals were a startling demolition of The Beach Boys' "Fun, Fun, Fun" and a rare reworking of The Easybeats mid-sixties hit, "Sad And Lonely And Blue", erroneously credited to Vanda (instead of Wright) and Young. After this entertaining diversion, the band cut a fourth album, Suction (Aberrant never1again; Rough Trade US65) with producer Butch Vig before internal stresses pulled the band apart in 1989. After their demise, interest continued to grow and the band reformed for a new album in the mid-nineties, and again for US concerts in 2011/12. Their Easybeats cover has been reissued at least twice: on a Dutch CD pairing their third and fourth LPs (Megadisc (BMG / Ariola) MDC 788611) and on the 4 LP retrospective box The Aberrant Years (Sub Pop SP-980).
I wanted to repost the names and birthdates of the seven Young brothers and the one Young sister: ~Stephen Crawford Young - June 26, 1933 ~Margaret Horsburgh - May 2, 1935 (born Young) ~John Young - May 17, 1937 ~Alexander Young - December 28, 1938 ~William Young - December 15, 1940 ~George Redburn Young - November 6, 1946 ~Malcolm Mitchell Young - January 6, 1953 ~Angus McKinnon Young - March 31, 1955
The names and birthdates come from the Australian government website for assisted passage documents: The collection – National Archives of Australia, Australian Government and paper extracts I received from the General Register Office for Scotland: ScotlandsPerople
and... ~Stephen Young - December 11, 1956 He is the son of Stephen Crawford (R.I.P.) and nephew of uncles Malcolm and Angus and aunt Margaret.
The second notable Easybeats cover for 1988 was another unusual choice. Brisbane band The Saints are often thought of as one of Australia's first punk bands, although there was more too them than that. Emerging in 1976, they looked little different from most bands of the time - long hair, T-shirts, flaired jeans - but they packed a power and an attitude that married the frenzy of The Ramones with the naked, nihilist aggression of The Stooges. Independently pressued, their debut single "(I'm) Stranded" (Fatal Records, no catalogue number) was a remarkable beast (it predated the debut records by The Damned and The Sex Pistols by around three months) and stirred up enough interest for EMI to sign them up. The single was promptly reissued, and also given a UK release (Power Exchange PX 242), winning rave reviews (Sounds: "The best single this week, and every week"). Arriving onto a UK scene where punk was about to explode, the band were in the right place at the right time... and yet... Musically, The Saints were a perfect fit for UK '77. Image-wise though, they were a disaster.They sounded like punks but they looked like hippies! Second single "This Perfect Day" (Harvest HAR 5130) made the UK top forty, the albums Eternally Yours (Harvest SHSP 4078) and Prehistoric Sounds (Harvest SHSP 4094) did okay but local punks never quite trusted them and back in Australia, most music fans had only heard of them thanks to the inclusion of "(I'm) Stranded" and "Erotic Neurotic" on the TV advertised compilations Devastator and Explosive Hits '77 respectively. By the end of the decade, they were falling into disarray. Somehow band leader Chris Bailey kept a version of the band together throughout the eighties, moving on from punk thrash to an inventive post-punk sound and gradually building up a coterie of fans - not much more than a cult but enough to get releases like "Just Like Fire Would" (Mushroom K 9939) and the All Fools Day album (Mushroom L 38522) into the Australian charts. By 1988, they were something of an institution. The band's early recordings had embraced a handful of sixties classics, so it was no real surprise in 1988 when they chose to cover a song by The Easybeats. What was surprising was the choice of song: late 1967 flower pop favourite "The Music Goes 'Round My Head". Hardly the band's biggest hit, the song had gained a bit of retrospective attention when the faster version had appeared on the Absolute Anthology album, which may be where The Saints came across it. However it came about, the band recorded a fine cover in 1988 and following its inclusion on the soundtrack to the oddball Australian film Young Einstein Australia (Mushroom TVL 93282), they pushed it out as a single in November (Mushroom K 694). Buoyed by decent radio play, the song made the Australian charts in February 1989, peaking at #39. The band continued into the nineties, until Bailey called a halt and issued a solo album. They have since reformed and various lineups have continued playing and recording well into the 21st century.
1989 would see a handful of Easybeats-related releases, both reissues and remakes. Straddling both camps were Mike Kennedy's Los Bravos. Kennedy was the original, German-born lead singer of Spanish pop outfit Los Bravos, singing on both of the band's big sixties smashes, "Black Is Black" and "Bring A Little Lovin' ", the latter of which was of course written for them by Vanda and Young, with The Easybeats' own version only appearing in Australia, in 1968, a few months after theversion by the Spanish group. We last encountered Kennedy on post # 954 (see here: The Easybeats: Album by Album Thread (pt3)) when he was still attempting to keep his solo career in working order, but by 1989 the cabaret circuit was the only viable career option left. With Los Bravos having split and reformed a few times over the years, the inevitable conflicts over the name resulted in Kennedy forming his own outfit during the eighties, under the name Mike Kennedy's Los Bravos. Despite the fact that he hadn't had a hit in years, he managed to get RCA to agree to release a single (RCA PB 42915), for which he recorded new versions of his former band's two international favourites. "Black Is Black", as the bigger of the two, took topside honours, while the new version of "Bring A Little Lovin' " went onto the flip. With the band's original versions easy to find, there was little incentive for anyone to pick up tne new versions and the record flopped. That was pretty much it for Kennedy on the recording front, but he continued performing - and making occasional film appearances - well into the 21st century.
I actually got this 45 in 1989 (or thereabouts). I've long since forgotten if I bought it before or after seeing Young Einstein that year. I've also forgotten how I knew the song would be in the film to begin with, as I clearly remember looking forward to it showing up. Regardless, I think it's a faithful reworking of the Easy's original that seems to neatly combine the fast and slow versions. Likewise, Gareth, one important bit of info was that it was produced by Vanda/Young! I wonder how they felt bringing into the world a new version of one their late-60s hits just as the 80s were giving way to the 90s?
Thanks, Team 2! I never knew that Harry and George produced The Saints but I should have spotted it on the label. Poor research on my part, so thanks for filling in the gap. I agree it's a decent cover and I remember hearing it on the radio in the weeks before I left Australia for Europe. I didn't buy it as I was about to leave but I would have done otherwise; I'm always interested in decent or interesting covers.
The Easybeats Collection (CD, Germany, Line / Impact Records IMCD 9.00823 O) Released mid-1989 26 track anthology compiled and marketed by Line Music GMBH. (The CD package carries logos from both the Line and Impact labels.) Titles and credits listed as shown on disc (not necessarily correct) -- For My Women (Wright – Young) Producer – Ted Albert Say That You're Mine (Vanda – Young) Producer – Ted Albert You Got It Off Me (Wright - Young) Producer – Ted Albert Sad And Lonely And Blue (Wright - Young) Producer – Ted Albert Women (Wright – Young) Producer – Ted Albert In My Book (Wright – Young) Producer – Ted Albert Sorry (Wright – Young) Producer – Ted Albert Baby I'm A-Comin' (Vanda – Young – Wright) Producer – Ted Albert Friday On My Mind (Vanda – Young) Producer – Shel Talmy Saturday Night (Vanda – Young) Producer – Shel Talmy Amanda Storey(Vanda - Young) Producer – Glyn Johns Where Old Me Go (Vanda – Young) Producer – Glyn Johns Station On Third Avenue (Vanda – Young) Producer – Glyn Johns Mr. Riley Of Higginbottom And Clive (Vanda – Young) Producer – Glyn Johns Me And My Machine (Vanda – Young) Producer – Glyn Johns Heaven And Hell (Vanda – Young) Producer – Shel Talmy Hello How Are You (longer “Drum” version) (Vanda – Young) Producer -- Vanda - Young Falling Off The Edge Of The World (Vanda – Young) Producer – Vanda - Young The Shame Just Drained (Vanda – Young) Producer - Vanda - Young Good Times (Vanda – Young) Producer - Glyn Johns Land Of Make Believe (Vanda – Young) Producer – Glyn Johns Bring A Little Lovin' (Vanda – Young) Producer – Vanda - Young St. Louis (Vanda – Young) Producer - Ray Singer Can't Find Love (Vanda – Young) Producer – Ray Singer Peculiar Hole In The Sky (Vanda – Young) Producer – Vanda - Young Rock & Roll Boogie (Vanda – Young) Producer – Vanda – Young Line Records was established in Hamburg, Germany in late 1978 by Uwe Tessnow, a former A&R Manager for Teldec (the German combine of Telefunken Electronics and Decca Records). Nearly all of Line’s releases were licensed from companies in foreign territories, some issued under the imprint of their subsidiary label Impact. In 1982 the label licensed and released “The Shame Just Drained” collection with contents identical to its original 1977 Australian Alberts version with only a slight alteration in cover art. The 1980 Australian compilation “Absolute Anthology” was licensed for German release in 1986, this time with the same contents of the double LP expanded to a three-record package and boasting new cover art. In mid-1989 the label offered its first, and only, in-house compilation of Easybeats material, the tracks all chosen from their two previous collections though nonetheless a logical and chronological representation of the group on a single compact disc. Sound quality of the selections is very good and identical to that of the Alberts analogue recordings in use at the time for licensed CD releases.
I can recall seeing import copies of this in the UK in the early nineties. I remember thinking it was unusual in that it was one of the few compilations I'd seen with Tony, rather than Snowy, on the cover.
NUGGETS: A Classic Collection from the Psychedelic Sixties Rhino RNCD 75892 Released 1986 Stepping back to 1986 for a moment, this year saw what was possibly the first appearance of the Easybeats on Compact Disc in the USA. Rhino Records, who had released the 1985 Best of The Easybeats LP (The Easybeats: Album by Album Thread (pt3)), now included the band on one of a series of CD releases that attempted to replicate the legendary 1972 compilation album, Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From The Psychedelic 60s. The 18-track disc included such psych/garage classics as The Standells' "Dirty Water," The Count Five's "Psychotic Reaction," and the Amboy Dukes' "Journey To The Center of The Mind." Four groups, including the Monkees, the Seeds, the Beau Brummels and the Easybeats were represented with two songs each. The song selections for the Easybeats were stereo versions of "Friday On My Mind" and "Heaven and Hell." The latter title was a nice thought for the buyer for two reasons: 1) it had not been included on the previous year's Best of The Easybeats compilation, and 2) it was the original, uncensored version of the song. In his liner notes for the release, Greg Shaw gave the group high praise: "At the height of [their fame], the Easybeats conquered the world with 'Friday On My Mind,' which to my mind is a pop classic easily surpassing anything by the Beatles. It says it all, and does it with a level of urgent intensity rarely heard. 'Heaven and Hell' and other follow-ups failed to repeat this success, though the Easybeats continued making imaginative, dynamic music right through the end of the sixties." Rhino would later greatly expand their Nuggets line with the 1998 4-CD box set of American acts, and its 2001 follow-up featuring the "British Empire" bands (which would include the true mono mix of "Friday"), but at the time of its release, this 1986 CD, according to AllMusic's Bruce Eder, "remains a superb starting point for a collection of mid-60s psychedelic and garage punk music, and it still holds up for content."
Moving on now to the first of three 1989 covers of "Friday On My Mind". Elliot Goblet was - and is - a comic character created by an Australian comedian Jack Levi. The character first to came to public notice via appearances on such mainstream shows as Hey, Hey, It's Saturday. His deadpan delivery of one-liners made him a cult hit during the eighties, and as had happened during the seventies with Gary MacDonald, creator of Norman Gunston, the character became better known than the performer. Following a huge success of fellow comic Austen Tayshus's "Australiana" sketch (a massive seller on 12" single in 1983), Levi / Goblet was one of a host of comic acts (George Smilovivi, The Twelfth Man etc) to go into the studio to capitalise on the sudden demand for comedy records. In this case, the result was the 1984 12" single "A Change Of Pace" (EMI GOB 599), which failed to make any real impact on the record market. Five years later, he tried again, this time with an "amusing" cover of "Friday On My Mind" (Avenue AV 2227). Issued in August of 1989, this release sold a bit better than its predecessor, topping out at # 94 in the Kent Music Report on 25 September. A clip of this recording was posted earlier on this thread, so to avoid unnecessary clutter, I won't post it here again - if you really want to hear it, it's out there in the ether. (I don't recommend it though...) Levi continued performing as Goblet through the nineties and indeed, still performs today, although as with an increasing number of comedians, he makes most of his money through appearing at coroporate events. After years languishing out of print, the Goblet version of “Friday On my Mind” was finally reissued in 2015 on the CD Goblet’s Greatest Bits (Sony Music 88875092042).
August 1989 brought another cover of "Friday On My Mind" from an unlikely quarter. Rickie Lee Jones was one of the last singer-songwriters to emerge from the Warner-Reprise stable during the seventies. Born in Chicago, Jones and her family moved around a lot when she was a child, and after finishing school, she ended up in Santa Monica, where she began singing and writing songs. She was strongly influenced by - and was for a time romantically involved with - Tom Waits and her music reflects a similar wide-ranging palette of styles, with the late night jazzy vibe favoured by Waits in the seventies permeating the tunes she performed around LA's club scene. Signing to Warner's because she wanted to work with Randy Newman's producer, Lenny Waronker, Jones recorded her eponymous debut album, which appeared in March 1979 (Warner Bros. BSK 3296). Buoyed by the infectious hit single, "Chuck E.'s In Love" (Warner Bros. WBS 8825), which hit # 4 in Billboard, the album was a major hit, peaking at # 3 in the Billboard album charts and generating a second hit single in "Young Blood" (Warner Bros. WBS 49018). Critically acclaimed and nominated for four Grammy awards, the album shot Jones to stardom, although the death of close friend Lowell George and the break up of her relationship with Waits took the shine off her success. Her second LP Pirates (Warner Bros. BSK 3432) took an inordinately long time to write and record, finally appearing in July 1981. Despite lacking a commercial hit on the level of "Chuck E.'s In Love", the album was another best seller in the US, peaking at # 5. Rapidly tiring of the pop star game, Jones followed up with a commercially under-achieving 10" mini-album Girl At Her Volcano (Warner Bros. 9238051) before relocating to France and drifting deeper into a jazz-influenced style. Her fourth album The Magazine (Warner Bros. 9251771) suffered from too-prominent synthesiser arrangements and sold less well than its predecessors, bringing her contract with Warners to an end. By the end of the eighties, she had joined fellow Warners refugees Neil Young and Joni Mitchell on the Geffen label, where she teamed up with producer Walter Becker (formerly half of Steely Dan) to record the tracks that became her fifth album, Flying Cowboys (Geffen 9242622). Left off the album was a reworking of The Easybeats' "Friday On My Mind". It might have remained unheard had it not been for the European branch of the label, who brought it to market as an extra track on the 12" and CD versions of the single "Satellites" (Geffen GEF 64T; Geffen GEF 64CD) in August 1989. Although Flying Cowboys went gold in the US, the single did not sell well in Europe, making her cover of The Easybeats' classic somewhat hard to find today. It does not appear to be on Youtube, and it has never been reissued. Jones continued making albums over the next three decades, without ever again finding the audience who had briefly made her one of the great hopes of the LA music scene.
The Best From Down Under (CD, Netherlands, BR Music BRCD-118) Released September, 1989 15-track anthology compiled by label president Bert van Breda Tracks include: Friday On My Mind Hello How Are You Land Of Make Believe She’s So Fine Bring A Little Lovin’ St. Louis Good Times Falling Off the Edge of the World The Music Goes Round My Head Come in You’ll Get Pneumonia It’s So Easy Hard Road Evie (Part 1) Evie (Part 2) Evie (Part 3) Founded in 1983 by Dutch music entrepreneur Bert van Breda, BR Music is a self-described “leading oldies specialist” label with a high profile in western Europe. Van Breda programmed most of his releases himself and the label’s first offering was his own favorite singer, Joe Dolan (who once recorded a Vanda-Young composition titled ‘Audrey’). More commercial and better-remembered artists quickly followed. Over time, BR licensed an impressive array of recordings for distribution in the Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg) and, where possible, purchased some catalogues outright (Demis Roussos, Brotherhood of Man). This release, licensed through Alberts, is unique in that it combined Stevie Wright solo material and Easybeats recordings with no artist differentiation on the package or label. The colourful cover art reproduces a German Polydor single photo sleeve from 1970. (The collection was reissued under the budget-priced Rotation Records imprint as “Friday On My Mind,” RBR 118, in 2000 with the same contents.)
Friday On My Mind / Hello How Are You 45 rpm single, Netherlands, BR-45300 Released September, 1989 Further capitalizing on their license with Albert Productions, BR Music added this double-sided “golden oldie” to their already extensive line of Oldies Hit singles releases. Most of BR Music’s Oldies Singles” line was packaged in photo picture sleeves including this one. (“Friday” had reached Number 1 in the Netherlands in January 1967 and “Hello” had climbed to Number 7 in July 1968.)
Pretty pleased to have just been sent new transfers of BBC TOTP episodes #112 and #179. Each one with a (new) interview with Stevie. #179 also has different voiceover on "Hello How Are You". Looks like another upgrade to my BBC Sessions disc...
Curiously, does anyone have a nice hi-res-ish copy of this image but without the watermarks? It's one of my favourite images of the group. I thought somoene had posted a copy here but I cannot find it. :/
It appears that the copy of "Hello How Are You" that I already had was from show 183, not show 179. So I now have both the "Hello How Are You" appearances...even though the music is exactly the same (other than 179 being a complete version with bass intro and no voiceover). Run times match the online BBC Sessions Catalogue. The intro referring to the "top 20 hit" makes more sense now! So here's the tracks I have now...
Further to the above, there's another difference between the two "Hello..." broadcasts. While the same performance, yes, the second broadcast edits out a chorus at the end. Explains the different track length
The final Easybeats-related release for 1989 is another cover of "Friday On My Mind", this time from France. Record producer Serge Mazeres set up his own Mazeres Disques label in the eighties to release his own work, which was usually aimed at the disco market. He occasionally licensed in foreign releases - Debarge's "I Got You Babe" 12" (Mazeres 60045; 1987) and Eric Burdon's I Used To Be An Animal LP (Mazeres JD 360003; 1989) and its attendant singles being two examples - but for the most part he stuck to self-produced disco records by a host of fairly anonymous and largely interchangeable performers. One of these performers was a red-headed chanteuse known only as Khemi, for whom Mazeres produced an updated version of "Friday On My Mind" with an arrangement by Mario Santangeli, whose work graced dozens of French releases over the years. Two mixes were prepared - the A-side featured "Friday On My Mind (Remix)" while the flip was given over to "Friday On My Mind (Play Back)" (Mazeres 460157). Khemi's single does not appear to be on Youtube. There are however a couple of copies for sale, so I'll order one tomorrow and when it comes, I'll pop it up to the net and post it here for those who want to hear it. The record was not a hit and that appears to be about it for Khemi. Mazeres continued to produce singles into the nineties and when his label folded, he carried on producing for other labels. He later moved into the lucrative field of children's music. BIG thanks to WilliamRSmall for help with this one.
Question - does anyone have a copy of Friends with rim print that is NOT the same as the below? This is a mid-seventies era Polydor label and is the only label I can find examples on line, although I vaguely recall seeing copies with different matrix numbers that may be earlier copies. Basically, what I am learning from collecting other Phonogram releases of the era is that they predominantly used EMI for pressing until 1973ish when they moved to ARC/CBS. Albums seem to have been recut to coincide.
