PUNK NEVER HAPPENED ???
Reader, some people will tell you punk never happened in Australia.
Some will tell you that this country in the seventies was not the sort of place that could hatch or sustain such a movement.
They're wrong!
Circumstances, especially those that give rise to grassroots,
sub-cultural activity, were different here, but equally suitable.
There was much to stand against; the apathy and bland idiocy that
prevails in our cities. Rampant conformity and boredom on the
political front, we were more than ever a satellite of the USA
and the country was, as always under a two party system owned
and run by bastards and fools.
The dismissal of the Whitlam (Labour) government loomed large
in many people's minds. The new straw boss, Malcolm Fraser, aroused
constant hate and indignation in much of the population over his
eight years in office. Inflation and unemployment rocketed. Culturally,
we were eating the same shit as the rest of the world and no one
was sparing the horses to knock out home grown versions of americano
mass entertainment. Thus, Australian rock'n'roll was blindly serving
up poor fare to its audience. 'Middle of the road' records by
the tonne.
Local versions of the Eagles. A growing deluge of local Disco/Funk
product. The alternative? little more than relic hippy bands,
playing overblown, pointless 'Progressive rock'. Not a pretty
picture; especially if you knew it wasn't good enough, but didn't
know where to turn.
Something had to give; and for one group of people, here's how
it did. In 1974/75, three teenagers attending Melbourne's Swinburne
Community School became close friends with a common interest in
music. Soon, the three put together a band which other friends
passed through. The three were: Gavin Quinn, from a working-class/Trade
Union family; Julie Jordan; and Jarryl Wirth, of the famous Wirth's
Circus family.
Also attending Swinburne was Bruce Milne. Bruce, via an acquaintanceship
with Jarryl, also contributed some ideas to the band. Having left
school early, Gavin and Julie moved to Adelaide. They returned
late 1975 and hooked up with Jarryl again. They revived the band
and in the process, it became clear that all three were keen on
music from bands like Status Quo, MC5, and the New York Dolls,
At this stage, Jarryl played guitar, Julie was being taught Bass,
and Gavin was Drumming. They were working on original songs and
picking up some (very) small time work.
Fallen Angels, as they were known, had a New York Dolls style
image -furs and leather. Very glam, bam thank-you ma'am. Musically,
the Dolls' influence took a hold through 1976. As Fallen Angels
favoured raw and loud songs, in their small world of small bands,
existed individuals who within six months would be constituting
the Melbourne punk scene. One important elder statesman of the
tendency was Keith Glass (ex-Rising Sons, Compact, etc). Fallen
Angels met him at a party they were playing for David Pepperell;
one of the last gigs under that name.
For Quinn & Co, the world turned near the end of 1976. They
became reacquainted with Bruce Milne, who was then given to throwing
parties featuring ad hoc bands. One of them, Antennae & the
TV kids (Bruce's name), played 60's pop material. They were Bruce
Milne (Bass), Gavin Quinn (Drums), Jarryl (Guitar), and Graham
Pitt (Guitar). Antennae & the TV kids played a few parties
and at one of these, Bruce played Gavin and Jarryl their first
Ramones L.P. They were heartily impressed and set about absorbing
this new influence into what they were doing. "The big changeover
was when we heard the Ramones, we incorporated that style into
what we were already doing; stopped using 5/4 feels, which we'd
been experimenting with, we'd been kidding ourselves (it wasn't
necessarily more expressive or musical); and we didn't want it
to be as undynamic as the Ramones; if you look at their music
through a level-meter you'll find it's flat we wanted more dynamics.
We actively made sure there were no spaces in the music; that
was one of the definitions; no space" [Gavin Quinn].
Gavin and Jarryl, the instigators of the band, felt new purpose
and began making changes that would give the reborn Fallen Angels
some presence in Melbourne. At another Milne festivity, Jarryl
met Jeff Rule, then a practicing Rock journo. He was invited to
hear Fallen Angels rehearse at their house in Faraday St; Carlton.
Liking what he heard, Rule took up the managerial reins.
