Also on the agenda was a change of name. In December 1976 Fallen Angels became Babeez. the first Babeez gig, at an established venue, was also in December - a support to the reformed Ray Brown & the whispers at the Tiger Lounge in Richmond. Strange bedfellows, but ... a few more smalltime gigs followed including one at Swinburne Institute.
Babeez had also commenced a developmental effort musically,
A method which would remain constant throughout the history
of the band; work ! work ! work ! Unemployed as a rule, Gavin,
Jarryl, and Julie rehearsed constantly. A rhythm guitarist named
Lenny worked with them at this stage. Gavin and Jarryl began composing
material consistent with their Ramonesque tendencies. There was
much work to do; Julie was still a learner and everyone's equipment
was rudimentary if not shoddy: "I pity the people who heard
Babeez in the early days. It was pretty rough" [Gavin].
Any progress Babeez could make was hampered by their unstable
lineup; no suitable Drummer could be found and they were virtually
limited to only playing live when anyone even passable was in
the chair. Frequently, there was no incumbent and Gavin would
Drum for rehearsals. As 1977 dawned, Babeez began auditioning
drummers by the dozen and their search didn't conclude until December.
A drummer named Alan looked good for a while, but didn't last.
In January, Lenny split and was replaced by one Ian Forrest; he
was apparently good, but only lasted a few months.
The core of Babeez, Gavin Jarryl, Julie, were adopting another
key aspect of what punk really meant - a confrontational and independent
stance on the business of being musicians. They had practiced for
months a no-bullshit approach to live presentation.
They became dedicated to fighting the demands and limitations
on bands, especially as imposed by publicans, promoters, music
media and the 'market'.
Also in January, some extracurricular work arose for Jarryl.
Around the periphery of this small, growing circle, was one Henry
Vyhnal, ex-Pelaco Bros, ex-Millionaires. The Millionaires had
in some ways heralded punk and Henry Vyhnal came to throw much
support behind the movement as it happened here. Henry asked Jarryl
in on sessions for a solo single he was recording, to play on
two Vyhnal originals that the Millionaires had played in their
last days, 'Punk Power' and 'Wake Up Tania'. Also present at these
sessions were Mark Ferry and Ash Wednesday. Ferry was on the loose,
Wednesday was in Jab, recent migrants to Melbourne from Adelaide.
When 'Punk power/Wake up Tania' emerged in march 1977, it became
one of the first few Australian independent releases of the era.
Babeez themselves were working their set over repeatedly at Faraday
St, Carlton throughout the months of 1977; the last pieces were
in place that would keep them removed musically from bankrupt
rock music and anything R& B based.
An interesting contrast presents with The Saints, then making
noise in Brisbane with an approach that was revolutionary, but
firmly anchored in R&B. For them, it never really went away,
while Babeez particularly Gavin were intent on choking out any
such influence. Lyrically, Gavin had been addressing issues.
A few new influences were now shaping exactly how he did it -
The Sex Pistols and The Clash. At the same time, Babeez were highly
selective about how they were effected by the trickle of English
and American punk records getting there: "It appeared to
us at the time that the overseas stuff was just another fashion.
We didn't have much faith in it. Some of it was very interesting
though, so we picked musical influences out of that" [Gavin].
With this much impetus, Babeez had a totally original set going
by February/April 1977.
Despite Jeff Rule's conscientious work, gigs were very few and
far between. Well before punk was a known form here, Babeez were
a punk band with no freedom of speech.
Also in January/February 1977, Gavin had taken an interest 'on
the side'; with another early adherent of punk, Ian 'Ollie' Olsen
(then forming Young Charlatans), he set up what seems to have
been the first 'Noise' band in Melbourne, if not Australia. Using
Cymbals, out of control electric Conga and other odd instruments,
these two put together a live presentation. They called themselves
the Noisy Boys and conscripted Ash Wednesday. With Jab, Wednesday
was working vaguely similar territory, the basic difference being
that Jab were musical!
Gavin explained the philosophy of Noisy Boys thus: We would present
non-music that still had musical roots, that wouldn't be recognised
as music. We wanted to take audio/sound to create a musical effect,
but we didn't want to use harmony or melody." Get it ? Noisy
Boys were just one manifestation of the freely creative atmosphere
among these pioneer punks.
No rules applied to their music or modus operandi, none were consistently accepted anyway. The two gigs Noisy Boys played, both at Richmond's Kingston Hotel, produced interesting reactions. Both were supports, first to Jab, second to an early Paul Kelly band. In both cases the audience was totally polarised; half cheering and applauding, the other half derisive and abusive. The two sides were giving each other even more verbal than the band.
