The Continuing Adventures Of Your Own Personal Jesus

What do I know about Peaches? Fuck and indeed also all. Seriously. This was a band that definitely slipped past my own radar, but, according to the only web-site information I can find, Peaches were an, “All-girl Sydney group Peaches scored a hit in September, 1978 with a cover version of Clout's 'Substitute'. Peaches' drummer Nanci 'Huck' Kaye previously played with Suzi Quatro.” Well done. What I do know is that these gals are about as sexy as the average house plant. For some perverse reason they kind of remind me of someone’s older sister, done up for a night out on the pop, complete with the slap trowelled on and the hair all flicked up. I just can’t get excited by this image, they’re just, well, asexual to me. If this is supposed to be seductive poses, well, God help them. The one to the right is lifting her leg in some kind of a Bus Stop pose, that is if Bus Stop featured an elk. Beats me what the vocalist is doing and it beats me what the other girl in ...

Years before Ernie Sigley would become one of the most horrid images on national television (second only to Mike Preston really) he was busily hosting as many Jazz and Swing Shows in Adelaide as he possibly could, and he needed to – Bob Francis was right on his clacker. Yes, the same Bob Francis who now abuses little old ladies at night and attempts to run as many people over in his Gopher as is humanly possible. The same Bob Francis who has made a career out of being an angry old bastard who likes to call anyone who doesn't see his own unique point of view 'wankers', loves to call elderly ladies 'silly old bitches', enjoys using the word 'bullshit' a lot and has been told not to drink red wine in the studio anymore.  The closest I ever got to Bob Francis is when he tried to run over my foot in the Central Market about a year ago.  He didn't look too pleased that he missed out on crippling me, and there'd be a few people who'd feel the same and...

I was never a Dio fan, and frankly I was never a huge Black Sabbath fan.  Honestly I thought Ozzy Osbourne would have been the first Sabbath vocalist to die, but, well, wrong again.  Having said that, this video just brought tears to my eyes, for some reason.  Perhaps it might move others, and offer a happier memory of Ronnie James Dio than the usual repeats of Holy Diver or that bloody awful song Stars. There's nothing I can really say about Dio that others can't and won't say far better, other than this song impacted upon me as a child more than Paranoid did, and this song still gives me warm fuzzies more than anything that Sabbath ever did.  So, in closing, I'll leave it to someone who knew Dio better than we did. Ritchie Blackmore : "Ronnie had a unique and wonderful voice. He will be sadly missed in the rock and roll world." Amen, brother, amen.

Ain't that a thing of beauty? Damn straight it is.  I personally think it's one of the best such programmes that I've seen in many a year.  It's perfectly white and has been stored in a book since the show happened, sometime in the early 1960s.  The only flaw in the programme is two small tape marks to the back cover where it was stuck down. Now, how do I know it's been stored for that long?  Because I just bought the book it came in. I like doing the auction circuit if only because you never know what you're going to get. Yesterday I did an on-line auction when a lot came up that consisted of photographs and ‘paraphernalia’. I expected that the latter part of the description meant items like the Dark Tan press kit, so I was happy with that. I logged on, sat back and got ready to bid. I had a limit and that quickly passed. I had no idea what was in the lot but my curiosity was piqued by the high bids placed, so I increased mine and won the lot. Once I got ...

Can't say I was a big fan of Ronnie James Dio, but it's never a happy day when someone with such talent passes away.   He did leave a lot of music behind, if you like that kind of thing, but then again, he was the driving force behind Hear 'N Aid and that one, long exercise in wanking guitars, Stars. Go easy Ronnie.  You've earned that much at least.

You have to love 1970s Australian music. Seriously, you just do.  Case in point - Dark Tan.  Now I'll freely admit that the bulk of the information that I know about Dark Tan mainly comes from this old press kit that I just bought - and before you chuckle, I bought it to get to some definite gems, most of which I'll share in the coming weeks, including some amazing South Australian music memorabilia. Anyway, Dark Tan.  Brilliant band for one reason - the lead singer, Alston Koch, was a dead ringer for Rodney Rude, several years before Rodney Rude was Rodney Rude.  Don't believe me?  Watch the video below and check out Alston about 40 seconds into the clip.  You'll see what I mean. (Left: Alston Koch) See?  You thought I was making things up didn't you?  Well I wasn't.  Alston is a dead ringer for Rodney, only darker and from Sri Lanka, but the eyes and mannerisms are all there.  During his "Hey lady!" lines you just expect Alston...

I love The Bodgies . Clearly one of the most under-rated bands that this city has ever produced, nobody who has seen them can slight them. Full of charisma, they’re the perfect party band for those who like their blues to have a lot of rhythm. I first encountered The Bodgies back in the early 1990s. In my previous life as a fork I was tapped to interview Don Morrison, Head Bodgie, for an anniversary of a radio station where I was trapped at. Don came in with some Golliwogs tunes to play and was highly impressed when I mentioned that not only did I know who the Golliwogs were (Creedence Clearwater Revival before they were CCR) but I was familiar with the songs, having heard them at a young, and impressionable, age. Don liked me and I liked him, and Bodgies Bassist, Frank Lang and the interview went well – at times it was like we were the Three Stooges, such was the interplay between us all, and somewhere between the laughter and Woo Woo Woo came a decent interview. I began to play the...

I went and saw a movie last night – big shock eh? Before the movie there was the usual amount of crap previews, including Robin Hood. So what? It’s Robin Hood. The movie has been done to death since the 1930s, with Hoods such as Errol Flynn, Sean Connery, Carey Ewes, Kevin Costner and quite possibly a pack of other Hoods that I can’t be bothered remembering. Frankly Costner was one of the worst Hoods I’ve ever seen, and the apologists excuse for his accent (that being that the English language was quite different back then so an American accent wouldn’t have been out of the question) is just a large, stinking pile really. But there you have it. The new Hood, as I’ve mentioned previously, is none other than Russell Crowe. Directed by Ridley Scott, the preview looks much like Gladiator Part II, but, hey, I’ll probably go and see it. I’m always up for escapism. What stuns me though is the practice of going to the cinema to see a movie that you know you’re going to hate before you’ve w...

And people wonder why Americans are so fat and unhealthy. Here’s just four reasons why. According to a friend of mine, the first effort comes from, “…Thurman's Cafe. The place was seen on MAN VS. FOOD for their huge portions. Here's the Salsa Burger. I figured it would be a patty with some salsa. This was two large patties on Texas Toast and covered in Salsa, with fries on the side! I did end up eating one patty and had to scrape a lot of the salsa off as it was just too much, even for one patty. Ate the fries though - which were great.” They also sell the disgusting burger you see here, the 4.5 Pounder. “You wouldn't believe the fried cheese burger we saw in Florida,” I was then told, “I’m sorry we didn't take a picture of it. 2 huge hunks of brie deep-fried and put on the burger.” Jesus.  Do people know that what they're eating is killing them, and not slowly and certainly not silently. This last burger comes via a mob called In’N'Out. It costs $200 and ...

“How do you feel Jesus?” So asked Reggie a mere few hours ago. I lied, of course, and said that I feel fine. The truth is that I feel very anxious, nervous, paranoid and a few other emotions thrown in for good measure. You see today isn't the day the teddy bears have their picnic, it's the day that I'll be taking a meeting which will decide one aspect of my employment future. Three people, and myself, in a room, discussing my mental wellbeing and What Happens Next. I’m not overly worried about the three people, unlike the last meeting I had when two people in the room were as hell bent on seeing me sacked as anyone I’ve ever met, as I trust the three people – one totally, the other two have yet to give me reason not to trust them, hence they get my trust by default, plus they’re good people. I hate meetings like this. Of late I’ve found myself wanting to spend more and more time locked up and on my own so I can concentrate on things that make me happy, like writing. I h...

If Richard Todd offered you a dart then you'd better have taken it, and smiled, if you knew what was good for you. Richard was one of the original tough guys. Although he didn't look the part he was a genuine war hero. In World War II Captain Todd participated in the British Airborne Operation Tonga during the D-Day landings and As impressive as that is, it's nothing compared to his later exploits as part of the main assault against Pegasus Bridge near Caen. Here's Todd's own recollection of events, beginning with his sighting of a dead German on the way to Pegasus Bridge. "It was the first time I'd seen a shattered dead body like that," admitted Todd. "I remember thinking, 'Poor sod.' It meant no more than that. "Then, just as we got to Pegasus Bridge, there was a huge explosion about 200 yards away. We thought it was the beginning of the German counter-attack. In fact a German tank had been hit by a bazooka and exploded. ...