Under her spell, what could I do? Say "I'm in love with you"...

Ahh, the Breadmakers. I've been a fan of this band for almost 20 years. In my early teens, living in a small coal-mining town in Central Queensland, my main source for new music was watching/taping late night Rage. One weekend I came across their one and only video for 'Hoodoo Nightspot' and I immediately fell in love. I had no idea they were an Australian band, nor that they were a 'current' band. The song was pure rhythm'n'blues 60s garage rock and I assumed that they had long since retired. Hunting for their records in Rockhampton music stores was a fruitless task and I always came up empty handed.

It wasn't until I moved to Brisbane when I was 16 that I finally started to come across their records and was more than happy to discover that they were from Melbourne and still releasing records (having recorded their first album in 1990). And some many years later when I was living in Melbourne I finally got to see them play a couple of times. I think I may have drunkenly blurted my love to one or two members of the band as well.

My Breadmakers record collection isn't complete by any means, but I have their first five studio records (all released on Corduroy Records) and a couple of 7"'s, and since they're all long out of print and hard to come across in second hand shops these days I thought I should share them with you all over the next couple of weeks. I'm not going to put them up in any particular order. Just whatever is closest at hand when I decide to rip some more records.

First cab off the rank is their Continental Cool EP released by French label Farniente Records in 1996. Both songs on the B-side are taken from their double LP "Cool".

The Breadmakers - Continental Cool E.P. 7" (FAR EP 001)

A1. Continental Cool

A2. Bordeaux Wine

B1. Yeah Yeah Baby

B2. Blues for an Olive

 

Big Bongin' Baby and The Onyas split 7" (Destroyer-009)

6 tracks total, 3 a piece, by the Doyens of Brisbane Punk Rock - The Onyas and Big Bongin' Baby. Released in 1994 on Destroyer Records, the run-out groove has the Bongers on side A and the Onyas on side B so that's what I'm going with for the tracklisting.

A1. Big Bongin' Baby - The Cobra Clutch

A2. Big Bongin' Baby - Trans Am

A3. Big Bongin' Baby - Islam Panty Rock

B1. The Onyas - Run Amok

B2. The Onyas - Papillion

B3. The Onyas - Off The Sauce

Download here

Don't look now but it's... The Daytonas (CORD-006 LP)

Okay, so this blog has been dormant for the last 10 months. No apologies. I had other shit to do. But, I thought it was probably time to dust off the cobwebs and start sharing some more music from my collection.

I thought I'd start with this LP by The Daytonas for two reasons: 1) It's one of my favourite records; and 2) my friend Judy had this record stolen from her car along with a bunch of others many years ago, and recently when she found out I also had a copy I promised her I'd rip it for her.

This LP was put out by Australian label Corduroy Records (now deceased) back in 1994 and it's long out of print. I don't really know anything about the band except they're Swedish - the front cover reads "Hangin' Ten Cool Surf and Hot Rod Songs from Swingin' Sweden!" - and I bought the record purely because of that tag line, and also because anything on Corduroy Records was a genuinely good bet. And a good bet it was. This was a staple in my listening diet of my late teens. 

Corduroy put out another of their records a few years later, a double LP called 'Parabolica', which I'll throw up on this blog another time.

Anyway, enough dribble from me, have a listen.

Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus 10" (SFTRI 271)

 Download here

"It's not that I'm passionate about Christmas as a holiday. Truth is, I'm not particularly fond of it at all. Christmas means more work and extra hassles and I've got enough of both already. It's the songs that I'm crazy about. Don't know why or how but somewhere along the way I've developed a place for them in my otherwise black heart. I like all Christmas songs. I like religious ones, I like traditional ones, and of course most of all I like the rock'n'roll ones. There's Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and the Beach Boys' "Little Saint Nick," there's a version of "Frosty the Snowman" by the Ronettes that is so spirited it can almost make you forget that the world is so fucked up for a few minutes. And don't try and tell me that recording them is not cool cuz both Patti Smith and Keith Richards have turned in versions and Elvis recorded a whole album's worth.
This record may have turned into a slightly different beast than what I had originally envisioned, but all things considered, I think it's a pretty impressive collection. Included on this slab are ten new entries in the sweepstakes for Christmas classics of the future. Sure, maybe a few are a bit tweaked, but a couple of 'em are honest contenders. To hear just one of them one day somewhere down the road blastin' from a radio when Sympathy is nothing more than a bad memory and some boxes cluttering up my swank three-car garage would send this lonesome cowboy straight to moondoggie heaven. Here's hopin' that you'll enjoy a ffew of them today. And don't forget Christmas is Jesus's birthday! Color me... LONG GONE JOHN xx"

Side A:
Shitbirds - Christmas Is a Comin' (May God Bless You)
Junkyard Dogs - Brand New Bike
Claw Hammer - The Night Before Christmas
Devil Dogs - I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday
Rocket From The Crypt - Cancel Christmas

Side B:
Humpers - Run, Run Rudolph
Jackknife - Santa Claus Never Forgets
New Bomb Turks - Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)
Red Aunts - Little Drummer Bitch
Monsieur Jeffrey Evans with Ross Johnson & The AMF - Mr. Blue X-mas (Cut Your Head On Christmas)

Fa la la la la, la la la la...

Prisonshake - Almost Christmas 7" (Scat Records - SCAT 11)

Side A: Almost Christmas
Side B: Hell, Hell, Hell / Almost Christmas (Midnight Twizzle Mix)

"This is a 7" given away gratis with Seven: Scat Records Quarterly #4"

Holly Golightly - Christmas Tree On Fire 7" (Damaged Goods - DAMGOOD 275P)

Side A: Christmas Tree On Fire
Side B: Hear My Call, Here

Picture disc. The original of Christmas Tree On Fire is by Tom Heinl.

Merry Christmas from the Black Lips and the King Khan and BBQ Show 7" (Norton Records - 45-138)

Side A: Black Lips - Christmas in Baghdad
Side B: King Khan and BBQ Show - Plump Righteous

Another swag of Christmas audio treats.

Since I'm working the next two days, I don't really have time to do little write ups for the following records, so just trust me that they're all gold.

The 5.6.7.8's - Rock and Roll Santa 7" (Norton Records - 45-120)

Side A: Rock and Roll Santa
Side B: Harlem Shuffle

Rock'n Roll Santa was originally performed by Little Joey Farr. Harlem Shuffle was originally performed by Bob & Earl and isn't a Xmas song, but it's still great and worth including.

Holly Golightly & The Greenhornes - Little Stars 7" (Damaged Goods - DAMGOOD 211)

Side A: Little Stars
Side B: I Don't Hear You

Both original Holly Golightly tunes. Recorded at ToeRag Studios.

Cedell Davis - For the Love of Jesus: Chapter Four 7" (Fat Possum / Sympathy For The Record Industry - FP/SFTRI 540)

Verse One: Keep On Snatchin' It Back
Verse Two: It's X-mas Time

Edition of 1000.

The Creamers - Bob Kringle / Father Christmas 7" (Sympathy For The Record Industry - SFTRI 100)

Side A: Bob Kringle / Father Christmas

Bob Kringle is an original, and Father Christmas is a cover of a song originally written by the Kinks.
Limited edition of 2000. Engraving by the Pizz on the b-side.

Now "sorry" won't do me no good, 'cause if Christmas can't bring you home, baby, nothing could.

Greg Cartwright. Enough said.

Reigning Sound - If Christmas Can't Bring You Home 7" (Norton Records)

Side 1: If Christmas Can't Bring You Home
Side 2: That's All I Want / Jingle Bell Rock (Live)