Category Memoir with Music
YESTERDAY’S TOMORROW
Named after one of the most odious characters in literature, Britain’s Uriah Heep have been churning out records and touring relentlessly for over forty years. The Allmusic guide lists more than three dozen albums and informs us that there have been over 30 members of the band formed by the wonderfully monikered Mick Box and […]
PRIMITIVE LOVE?
There was a moment during the Year 12 English exam, the one taken by every final year high school student in the State, that hinted at what was to come in the life of a young Vinyl Connection. English is traditionally first off the blocks in the ‘This Is It!’ series of examinations that decide […]
XTC IN EXCELSIS
Back in the car-cassette days of the late twentieth century it was a mandatory part of any road-based holiday to prepare a compilation tape for the journey. These became known as the ‘In-flight Entertainment’ series and included a number of pleasant destinations in the state of Victoria. With the aim of spicing up the listening […]
HOT CROSS SONGS
There are certain sounds and rhythms that grab you tight and shake. Think The Kinks ‘You really got me’ with that distorted, snarling guitar or the irresistible loping boogie of ‘On the road again’ by Canned Heat. The first pop song I ever clocked as having a reference to religion combined – or perhaps appropriated […]
SOCKSY BEAST
When I picked up Tightly Knit in one of my favourite Melbourne record haunts recently a fellow browser said, rather cheekily I thought, “That is one of your earlier records, I expect.” Taken slightly aback, it took me a moment to realise that he was referring to the cover art and the similarity in head […]
TIME OF THE PREACHER
In the mid-80s I shared a house in Kensington. That’s not the Kensington next to Hyde Park in London. It’s the inner city village adjacent to North Melbourne, squeezed between Flemington Racecourse, the railway line, and the Maribyrnong river. It was a good time. Ali and I got on well, sharing some commonalities –uncommunicative mornings, […]
MAGIC MUSHROOM
As part of a rationalisation of his music storage and delivery system, my friend BB gave me a box of CDs to take along to the next Record Fair. Comprising largely jazz from the more exploratory end of the spectrum and progressive music of the kind that defies genre labelling, BB had transferred the music […]
UNCANNY MASTERPIECE
IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING A reflection in two parts by a grateful subject I Has there been a more spine tingling opening to an album than the beginning of In The Court Of The Crimson King? An interstellar wind approaches from the depths of nowhere, fades, then explodes into one of the […]
NOT SUCH A COOL YULE
The first half of 1977 was spent sitting in my room. It wasn’t locked; I just couldn’t find many reasons for leaving. Other than one friendly human being, companionship came in the form of books and records. The small but diverse vinyl collection included a selection of the popular progressive music of the day, some […]
YOU’LL NEVER COME BACK
I was thrown out of Melbourne’s signature university at the end of 1976, having accumulated an impressive collection of ‘F’ grades. That’s not ‘F for Fail’ – though it certainly is well below the plimsoll line of the good ship Pass Mark – but the F at the end of the series A – B […]
GRAHAM: A RECORD STORE TALE
Customers coming into our little suburban record store to buy music seemed to fall into several categories. There were the positively vague. “That song on the radio, it goes Do-de-Do-de Dum Dum Dum… Got that one?” There were the negatively vague. “Don’t suppose you know what that new album’s called, the one with the zither […]
[RE-] LIVING IN THE SEVENTIES
When Skyhooks played Melbourne Uni’s Wilson Hall in 1974 they were just about to erupt into the charts with their game-changing debut album. There was a buzz around the band and the big hall was packed with the ‘I’ve heard they’re good’ curious, the ‘saw them at Martini’s ages ago’ hip, and the ‘Who’s playing […]
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