I love the Greasy Pop label, always have, always will. My main regret is that the bulk of it just isn’t out there on CD yet, let alone digital, so my iPod is bereft of those wondrous sounds of Adelaide. And, frankly, that’s what Greasy Pop was, and still is – the sound of Adelaide, past, present and future.
To be sure there are some Greasy Pop releases out there – most notable amongst them being the Dago’s Pizza Box, but my copy of that got nicked a few years back, so a trip down to Big Star might be in order. I had a pile of singles and E.P.s here at one stage, but, again, they went ‘missing’. I’m not looking at anyone, but I don’t speak to one of my ex girlfriends, and she has an incredible record collection. Work that one out. I was happy, this weekend, to find the Burnside Ballroom flexi disc in a collection of singles that included some Johnny O’Keefe and Charlie Ventura Quartet. That’s right, amongst the She’s My Baby and Basin Street Blues lurked a little plastic flexi single with the Screaming Believers and the Dagos. Brilliant! It’s the first salvo in a long, protracted battle that will only end when I say I’ve had enough.
Now Doug Thomas will pipe up and say, “So bloody what? I’ve got twenty of those bastards left.” Good one ya Doug. Love the guy. He never did any wrong by me, indeed he was always friendly, happy to offer advice and always good to have a band pop by for a gig and a chat. If anyone had problems with him I’ve always suspected that they’d have problems with anyone really.
I’m lucky, in a way, as one of my close pals is slowly, but surely putting all of his Greasy Pop material onto CDs which he then sends to the band members, Doug Thomas and a few other interested, and like-minded, people. I have three so far and can’t wait to visit him again and see what the next lot will consist of. He’s not selling them, neither am I, so don’t bother asking, but it was good to take a long drive and introduce the other half to the joyfull sounds of Liz Dealy and the Twenty Second Sect, The Primevils, the Acid Drops and the Screaming Believers for her fist time. That and the war stories that the music brought to the fore. And frankly I’m glad that the music, in this case, is still as vibrant and healthy as I remember it. Too often you have a sound in your head, but the reality falls somewhat short, in this case the opposite is the case, the sounds in my head are nowhere near as clear, powerful and bright as the reality.
Now to find someone prepared to track some F.A.B. Colour me silly, but Happy People is one of the finest slabs of pure power pop to ever emerge from Adelaide, and yes, I’ve already done a digital transfer of my old single, scratches and all, and it’s on high rotation on the iPod, as it should be.
Bring back Greasy Pop, hell, bring back ALL of that lost Adelaide ‘80s and ‘90s music.
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