Obituary - Damien Lovelock

On Saturday 3 August 2019, Damien Lovelock - best known as the vocalist of Australian band CELIBATE RIFLES - passed away at his home on the northern beaches of Sydney, Australia. He was aged 65. The cause of death was cancer.
Lovelock was born Damien Richard Lovelock on 21 May 1954 in Amersham, England, the son of Australians Joan Wilton (a Jazz singer) and Bill Lovelock (a television producer and musician). The marriage dissolved when Bill moved to New York while Joan returned to Sydney with Damien ,who was still but an infant.
Following the move to Australia, Damo (as he became known) joined a band named STREET NOISE. At the age of 26, he answered a ‘Vocalist Required’ notice and joined both Dave Morris and Kent Steedman in 1980 to form the band that became recognised as CELIBATE RIFLES - a band which started as a high-energy Garage Punk band and matured into a streamlined Alt. Rock band that retained that high-energy feel of the earlier years. Although Lovelock was ten years older than the rest of the band, he had no problem matching their energy.
Following the self-released EP, ‘But Jacques, The Fish?’, the band was signed to Hot Records for the release of the 1983 debut album, ‘Sideroxylon’. Following the album’s release Lovelock started a side-project with the acoustic NO DANCE which featured members of Australian luminaries NEW CHRISTS and DIED PRETTY and released a single in 1984 entitled ‘Carnival Of Souls’.
While Lovelock returned and remained the frontman of CELIBATE RIFLES through nine studio album, two live albums, a flurry of EPs, compilation albums, a video album (which included five solo Locklock tracks) and several international tours, he continued with solo projects. In June 1988 Lovelock released his debut solo album, ‘It's a Wig Wig Wig Wig World’, which was followed by the single, ‘Disco Inferno’, in April 1990. His second solo album, ‘Fishgrass’, was released in December 1991 following a single, ‘The Dalai Lama’, the previous October.
Lovelock had an interesting life outside music also, being a fan’s-perspective commentator on the Sunday afternoon sports programme The World Game that aired on SBS in Australia. In the 2000s, he was a regular member of the football panel on Sky News in Australia and also co-hosted ABC Radio Grandstand for a short period.  Another programme he co-hosted was Football Fever on Sky Sports Radio, the final episodes of which aired in March 2010.
Continuing the sports theme, he wrote two books about soccer (plus a cookery book!), was also a known Yoga instructor in Newport, Sydney (and was proficient to such an extent he was hired by the likes of Central Coast Mariners, Sydney FC and the NSW State of Origin team) and had a love of Southampton FC.

Lovelock is survived by his son, Luke. 

I discovered the CELIBATE RIFLES quite late on - somewhere around 15 years ago after I’d already made the move to New Zealand.  I had heard of the band often but crossing paths only occurred on the purchase of ‘Blind Ear’, a late 80s album but one which impressed me enough to search out more. It was also this album which features my favourite CELIBATE RIFLES song - and one very fitting to be an epitaph for Lovelock - ‘Wonderful Life’. For those curious to hear the band, a great place to start is the 23-track compilation, ‘Platters Du Jour’, which collects all of the band’s early singles. Grab it and enjoy.

Show Time!

Leonard - THE DICKIES

DICKIES - RUST - NOWHERE - King’s Arms, Auckland, New Zealand - 26 April 2015 
I would have thought that this was quite a scoop and a sure-fire hit. Legendary LA Punks, THE DICKIES first ever visit to New Zealand, hitting all the major cities - how the fuck could it go wrong? Oddly, New Zealand decided not to attend and the band was greeted with relatively small audiences. May be it’s because the band doesn’t have any new product, and hasn’t had any for some time or may be it’s just a certain NZ apathy. Either way, those who failed to go missed a veritable Punk legend - and a legend that can still cut it. What's more - this wasn't some kinda corporate money-gathering exercise - this was promoted by the stellar Punk Rock Road Trips gang here in NZ - DIY grass-roots stuff that delivers the goods for the love of music and not the fast $$.

First up however was a newish NZ band, NOWHERE. The name may be new, but the trio of faces are familiar as the band includes ex- (and current) members of RITALIN, PCP EAGLES and FREDDY FUDD PUCKER. Have to say, I didn’t pick out any song titles bar ‘Disease’ but the band burned with the kind of intensity LEATHERFACE could muster live around ‘Mush’/’Minx’ era. The whole set left me a bit speechless, particularly one intense instrumental breakdown that highlighted Stuart’s drumming and would not have sounded out of place in a TRAGEDY set. Was good to see the guitarist use a capo on a

NOWHERE

couple of songs too which kept the sound fresh and distinctive. There are several great bands in New Zealand right now, but, on the strength this gig, NOWHERE might just about be the best of the bunch.
Australian bootboys RUST was up next. The band seemed an odd choice to support the DICKIES, but one that several members of the crowd seemed to appreciate (especially if they had no hair and braces [not on their teeth]). While they were certainly impressive and tight at what they did, the whole Skinhead/Oi! thing isn’t my thing. That said, they rocked pretty hard and in your face, fusing a brutish ROSE TATTOO Rock ‘n’ Roll blast with a LOWER CLASS BRATS take on Punk. Had they gone on before NOWHERE, they may have had a greater impact on me, but following NOWHERE they just failed to hold the attention and sounded too pedestrian.

RUST

That left the DICKIES to do their thang. With a back catalogue filled with classics the chances of the band disappointing were virtually zero. Opening with ‘Rosemary’, the band took a few tracks to find their feet. Along with founding members, Stan Lee and Leonard Phillips, were three new faces (to me at least) including a very natty drummer who played the whole gig in a shirt and dickie-bow tie! Last time I saw the band was 12 years ago (at least!) in Brighton, UK and it’s good to see that Leonard is still as theatrical as ever, incorporating the the usual talking penis during ‘If Stuart Could Talk’, the ape mask during ‘You Drive Me Ape’ and even a white towel used as a cape during ‘Gigantor’. He also frequently knocked Stan Lee’s hat off but a roadie (may be personal assistant?) was on hand to quickly replace said Pork Pie Hat.

THE DICKIES

The set did contain a few surprises; I don’t recall hearing ‘Wagon Train’ live before nor ‘The Saga Of Jim Bowie’. I could have done without the waste-of-time ‘Communication Breakdown’ cover in the encore (ditto ‘Paranoid’ too) considering the likes of ‘My Pop The Cop’, ‘Eve Of Destruction’, ‘Cross Eyed Tammy’, ‘Pretty Please Me’ and ‘(Stuck In A Pagoda With) Tricia Toyota’ were omitted.
The set was, as per most DICKIES gigs, littered with Leonard witticisms. This time we heard him state that, despite rumours, the DICKIES is NOT a Hardcore band. Also, that the thing we knew as the Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle did not originate in New York in the mid-late 70s, nor was it in London and those dastardly SEX PISTOLS boys. It was, in fact, The Monkees!!

It would be easy to think that Leonard, Stan and co are past their best - and that could well be true. But as a live experience, the band still makes for a great night’s entertainment and those who decided to stay home and watch New Zealand Does Have Talent... Well... Hang your head in shame.

Show Time!

Ray - HARD ONS

HARD ONS - SHUT THE HELL UP - GRIPPER - GENERATION DEAD - Rhythm, New Plymouth, New Zealand - 9th August 2013

The HARD ONS can now claim the honour of being the first band I have seen in four different countries. What makes that even more confounding is that the band has never really been one of my most favoured; I suppose the fact I have seen them so often is more a testament to the band’s dogged touring spirit rather than any ardent fandom on my behalf. Easily the best gig I’ve ever seen the band do was in a smallish bar in Sydney. It was loud but clear, songs got played and they basically rocked in a huge manner. Unfortunately, this New Plymouth gig - which like the rest of the tour was put on by those wonderful people at Punk Rock Road Trips - was probably the worst I have seen them.

The venue was actually quite smart. It used to be a gay club apparently and this was still evident via a neon blue room at the back and one of those illuminated dance floors akin to Saturday Night Fever’s 70s disco scenes. While The Roxy may have once been a gay bar, I am sure it was never quite like this and it made a slightly surreal setting for four Punk Rock bands.

GENERATION DEAD

First to plug in and fire up was GENERATION DEAD, a trio from Napier on New Zealand’s East Coast. The band’s recent CDEP really impressed, mixing Anarcho politics with noxious and rocking Hardcore Punk sounds. All the tracks on the EP got an airing and the stand out was, again, ‘In Fear Of Fear’ although the sing-a-long HARD SKINisms of ‘Hospital Hill Hooligans’ worked really well live. The sound was pretty good, the guys looked confident and certainly appeared to be into it. Special mention should be made of Matt who was not only a stellar fella but a shit hot bassist. He had a great DISCHARGEian distortion about his sound but played it more like Matt Freeman on speed!!

GRIPPER

Next up we had GRIPPER, a four piece from Nelson - a city at the top of the South Island. The band feature Neil Singleton, who was the original singer in UK Punks THE DESTRUCTORS back in the 80s. It was a solid set of fast, well played Street Punk gear too, featuring tracks from the band’s split with VICIOUS RUMOUR and a few new tunes too. Highlights that come to mind included ‘Public Executions’ and ‘Stalker’. The band has a great sense of humour about it, which is mixed with an uncompromising, out-spoken attitude and delivered with a tight, razor-sharp sound. Guitarist Scott certainly impressed with some frantic riffs that would put many metal guitarists to shame. As good as all the Kiwi bands were, I think GRIPPER may just have been the best band of the night.

SHUT THE HELL UP

The tiny stage suddenly looked even smaller as New Plymouth locals SHUT THE HELL UP launched into their turbo charged, garage-land core. As a five piece, the band made a massive, convulsive sound with the imposing figure of Craig Gunn (formerly the drummer of NZ horror Punks HORROR STORY) on vocals, who spent much of the set on the dance floor giving the band a few more, much-needed, stage inches. Songs? ‘I Need A Drink’ and ‘I Gotta Go’ come to mind, along with the band’s own self-titled anthem. The closing trio of covers pretty much defined the band’s sound - two TURBONEGRO tunes and an incendiary burn through BLACK FLAG’s classic ‘Nervous Breakdown’. Say no more - maximum rock ‘n’ roll indeed.

HARD ONS

So, three excellent New Zealand bands set the night up for Australia’s HARD ONS to dazzle us at 1am - except they didn’t. As always, the band was as loud as can be but in the small confines of Rhythm, it really came out as a bluster of punishing drums, a fuzz of nondescript guitar noise, the odd shout of vocals and, thankfully, Ray’s bass holding things together. There has always been two HARD ONS: the one with Keish that wrote classic songs like ‘There Was A Time’, ‘Where Did She Come From?’ and ‘The Girl In The Sweater’; then there’s the one minus Keish that sees Blackie’s guitar histrionics take over with a bile-laced vocal, unrelenting noise and a general sound that would appeal more to a Black Metal freak than a RAMONES nut. Needless to say I favour the former and this was, distinctly, the latter. I recognised a couple of songs amidst the radio static-esque blur - ‘Watch Your Step Boy’ being one - but ultimately, I got pretty fucking bored. After about 20 minutes I moved toward the back to see if the sound was any better. It wasn’t - but at least I could get a beer.

There’s no doubting HARD ONS rocked, and rocked hard - they always do - but some songs would’ve been nice amidst the noise. So, this trans-Tasman battle saw a resounding 3-0 victory for New Zealand. One the strength of this, I won’t be seeing the HARD ONS in a fifth country - but I would not rule out our paths crossing again.

 

 

 

Show Time!

OFF! - CHAINSAW HOOKERS - PROJECT MAYHEM - Amplifier Bar, Perth, Australia - 3rd December 2011

I'd never been to Amplifier Bar before, but heard plenty of shitty things about it from other people. It seemed like a completely average venue-cum-club to me. Apparently it turns into a townie disco at the stroke of midnight, curtailing any gigs that inexplicably want to run on later than that. Personally, if the bands around here actually shared backlines (like a community) then changeovers would be 5-10 minutes instead of 25 minutes, and a four-band show could be done in under three hours instead of dragging on all bloody night. But I digress.. The stage was a sensible height, with no barrier (something a lot of these places seem to love sticking up) and kinda diagonal in a corner. Overall, the setting seemed good for a band like OFF! to get people moving.

OFF! came on shortly after we got there - having intentionally sat out the first two (rubbish, local) bands in the pub around the corner - but considering the pedigree of the main band, the venue seemed barely half-full - we were able to stand front and center without any problems. Keith Morris fitted the cliché of "seeming shorter in person", and compared to the majority of spare-tired early-Eighties hardcore dudes I've seen still playing in recent years, he looked in pretty great shape for a geezer of fifty-five.

From the live sound on two of their three "videos", and the 'Live At Generation Records' 7" I knew they'd be good, but as soon as they crashed into 'Black Thoughts' everyone went nuts. I can't remember the last time I saw/dodged quite so many stage-divers. The band barely stopped, aside from a brief explanation behind the eulogising song 'Jeffery Lee Peirce', (who was the singer of THE GUN CLUB, and one of Keith's closest friends), The set was something like 16 songs long, which simultaneously seemed to last forever while it was happening, and then seemed to end horribly quickly. The band were tight and energetic, and despite the vocals being a bit low, sounded altogether incredible. After the last notes rang out, the sweaty masses began demanding "ONE MORE SONG! ONE MORE SONG!" (I wanted at least a dozen!), before the band re-appeared. Keith explained that when BLACK FLAG were starting out and they didn't have enough songs for a full-set, they'd do what they were about to do tonight, and start over. So then we got the first two songs over again ('Black Thoughts' and 'Darkness'), I was half hoping they would do the entire lot - but even that pair made the room go mad. All in all, it was an awesome show and clearly they're a band doing it for the love of it, not to make a quick buck. (Their shirts and merch were cheaper than the local bands'.)
Alex Leech (Jerk Store zine)

Obituary - Roland s. Howard

On Wednesday 30th December 2009, Roland S. Howard, guitarist of iconic Australian band, THE BIRTHDAY PARTY, died in a Melbourne Hospital. His death was the result of an on-going battle with liver cancer. He was aged 50.

Howard had been awaiting a liver transplant for some time, and due to his illness, had to cancel several shows including one in Melbourne the day before he died with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Earlier in December, he had to cancel a show after being admitted to hospital. His last public performance was back in October at St Kilda’s Prince Bandroom. According to reports, he struggled through the show, coughing and spitting up blood.

Born on 24th October 1959, Howard’s musical career began in the late 70s with the band The Obsessions, although his first band of note was early Aussie Punks BOYS NEXT DOOR which also included Nick Cave in its line-up. In 1979 he wrote the band’s cult hit ‘Shivers’. BOYS NEXT DOOR eventually mutated into what became the legend that is BIRTHDAY PARTY. Nick Cave fronted the band throughout its tempestuous lifetime, while Howard provided a six-string sonic attack that welded feedback-laced blues riffs with some startling, reverb-drenched, slashing Punk stylings.

Following the band’s split in 1983, Howard went onto play in bands like CRIME AND THE CITY SOLUTION and THESE IMMORTAL SOULS, and collaborate with the likes of HENRY ROLLINS, NIKKI SUDDEN, JEFFREY LEE PIERCE and LYDIA LUNCH.

This year, he released what was his second solo album, the critically acclaimed ‘Pop Crimes’. On the album's title track he prophetically sang, ''I guess that I won't see you tomorrow. On this, our planet of perpetual sorrows''.

Along with music, Howard appeared in several feature-length films, such as Wim Wenders’ 1987 movie ‘Wings of Desire’, 1990’s ‘In Too Deep’ and the 2002 vampire film ‘The Queen of the Damned’ in which he cameod as a musician in a vampire club band. His role in the Australian Punk movement has also been captured in Richard Lowenstein’s documentary, ‘We’re Living On Dog Food’.

Howard's father, brother and sister all live in Melbourne.